EVIL becomes a two-time NEVER Openweight Champion. Tomohiro Ishii's reign lasted 52 days with zero successful defenses.

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House of Torture make their first successful defense of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships, which they have held for 60 days.

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I listed them all out here. Maybe I missed one or two but I don’t believe so;

Ishii vs. KUSHIDA (Invasion Attack 2014)

Ishii vs. Ibushi (Back to Yokohama Arena 2014)

Shibata vs. Fish (Destruction in Tokyo 2016)

Shibata vs. O’Reilly (KOPW 2016)

Ibushi vs. Ospreay (Wrestle Kingdom 13)

Ospreay vs. Cobb (G1 Supercard)

Takagi vs. SHO (Dominion 7.12)

Takagi vs. Desperado (Sengoku Lord in Nagoya 2020)

I completely understand that you can’t have Openweight matches all the time mainly because Juniors can’t be beating Heavyweights too often and you don’t want to have Juniors getting their asses kicked all the time.

But I think only 8 in 77 is kind of ridiculous. What’s the point of it being Openweight then. It’s really the only time save for a rare Junior appearance in a G1 or NJC that you’re getting a singles between two of the weight classes, why not use it more often?

What bums me out is that we’re probably going to get even less now that the NEVER title is the secondary title in NJPW. But hey, maybe it’s how we get Naito vs. Hiromu.

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Jay White defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi by pinfall after the Blade Runner. Jay White is the first Quadruple Crown Champion, having won the IWGP US Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, IWGP Heavyweight and NEVER Openweight titles. He has challenged David Finlay for his newly won title to avenge his loss at the New Japan Cup 2021 Quarterfinals.

Time: 39:01

Posted this thread for u/EvanDeadlySins.

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I recently saw a tweet asking fans to pick their favorite secondary champions in pro wrestling (Darby Allin, Johnny Gargano, Josh Alexander, etc.) Naturally, being the Nooj mark that I am, I thought of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship being absorbed into the new IWGP WHC and the United States Championship rarely if ever being defended under the company's umbrella (I am eagerly looking forward to the Nagata match on Wednesday!) Then it dawned on me, what about Tanahashi? I thought about Tana's remarks regarding how he wanted to establish the NEVER Openweight Championship as a top tier title going forward.

With a name like The Ace attached to it, do you consider the NEVER Openweight Championship to be the premier secondary championship of Nooj's heavyweight division and if not, is it possible it can get to that point in the foreseeable future?

Could it perhaps even take the main event match at Wrestle Kingdom? NJPW have made a much bigger deal about that title since Shingo won it. Before that, I feel like it was just another belt. If someone like, say, Okada was to challenge for that championship I don't see any way that Okada vs Tana doesn't headline the Tokyo Dome.

Shingo Takagi retains the NEVER Openweight Championship. This is his first successful defense in 56 days.

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https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/prores/njpw/2769153/

A summary of the article :

>There is something to note about his behavior as a new champion. He has never worn a belt around his waist in the opening series. One of the reasons is the advice of his ally Katsuyori Shibata (41).

>(Tanahashi) : "I was told, 'I don't want Tanahashi to wrap it around his waist. Tanahashi-kun should aim for the IWGP (Heavyweight Championship).' That's the advice Shibata gave me. Shibata never wore a belt around his waist when he was the NEVER champion."
>
>Tanahashi reportedly sympathized with the idea. However, he didn't firmly say, "I won't wear it" from the beginning.

>(Tanahashi) : "I want to wear it up with a feeling that everyone is satisfied with. If you see the direction to go by wearing NEVER, wear it proudly. You have an image of Mr. Ishii and Mr. Shibata, don't you? You don't have to change everything, but I won't wear it up until I see the destination of the new NEVER."

>(Tanahashi) : "It's going to be a question of why I took it. In the end, I want to face with Ishii. It's a battle between the new NEVER and the old NEVER. For example, there is a plan like that,"

>On February 28th, Tanahashi commented on his first defense against the Great-O-Khan at the Osaka Castle Hall. He initially claimed that he "doesn't understand" O'Kahn's challenge at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, but decided to fight again and said, "At first, I was like, 'Why?' But, with Covid, you can't say 'why' when it's decided. Accept it and move forward. That's how you live your life. I'll make him write a pledge like 'I won't try it again.' So, I've changed my mind.

So as everyone knows and is rather upset by, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, a title that has build an incredible lineage since its debut in 2012, has been dissolved, merged with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to form a singular IWGP World Heavyweight championship. The move was heavily criticized by fans both in Japan and overseas, as the belt had become extremely popular. And while many felt New Japan stood to drop a couple of their championships, this was probably one of the least popular choices.

So what to do? Well, there's a simple option, with what has become defacto secondary belt in the promotion, the NEVER Openweight Championship. Created in 2013 as the main title for NJPW's NEVER brand, which would be essentially their version of NXT focusing on younger, freelance, and foreign talent, the title has had wavering status over its life, being used to promote lower card talent, being used as effectively the "Strong Style" belt for guys like Ishii, Shibata, Makabe, Suzuki, and Goto to have brutal hoss matches, and as a way to bridge the gap for guys moving from Junior to Heavyweight like Taichi and Ospreay. But at the end of the day, the belt means nothing, and NJPW Strong, which has taken over for NEVER to focus on younger and foreign talent, just got their own Openweight championship, thus making the NEVER title mean even less.

So what to do? If I may armchair book a moment, let's say Jay White beats Tanahashi for the title as most expect at Dontaku. Have him cut a promo raising many of the concerns I just had above - Jay is not beyond criticizing his home promotion, so it would be in character. And then, put forward the idea to turn the NEVER Openweight title into the new IWGP Intercontinental title. Thus, the IC belt is back, the belts are easier to understand as they have consistent naming, and the NEVER name can finally be put to rest.

Of course, there's one problem with that, the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag titles. I propose three options. 1, make the belts the IWGP Six-Man tag team titles, again to have consistent naming. 2. Keep the belts as is, because nobody cares about them. 3. Drop the belts entirely, again, because nobody cares about them.

Hey guys, I know the result, but I did not watch the fight yet. The fight was clean or Jay cheated a lot? I don´t like interferences during the match. Thanks!

I'm not saying they are bad looking belts, hell, I don't think I would mind the six-man titles to be the same, but I seriously think the singles belt looks busted to all hell, sideplates coming out, the front almost looks like tin colored, the design is very generic even though I do enjoy the shape.

Overall, if it's going to be the 2nd belt in NJ, considering Tanahashi and Jay White have held it recently, it at least needs to look like a big deal, and the current design doesn't translate that very well.

Minoru Suzuki is the 30th NEVER Openweight Champion, and is now a two-time NEVER Openweight Champion.

Shingo Takagi's reign lasted 209 days with 3 successful defenses.

NJPW World Replay inks:

• English commentary: https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00568_2_1

• Japanese commentary: https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00568_1_1

The road to The New Beginning in Nagoya came to an end tonight live from Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphin's Arena) in Aichi, Japan, on NJPW World.

In the main event we had Hiroshi Tanahashi taking on Shingo Takagi for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Also on the show we had Satoshi Kojima taking on Will Ospreay in a special singles match, Great-O-Khan taking on Hiroyoshi Tenzan in a "Loser must stop using the Mongolian Chop" match, and many multiple tag team matches.

Latest NJPW articles and news:

• SPOILER Arrives on NJPW STRONG
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