Hiromu Takahashi To Relinquish IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

With the reveal of the cards for the NJPW Destruction 2018 tour comes the unwelcome news that Hiromu Takahashi will relinquish his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

The news broke at tonight’s official NJPW press conference ahead of the Destruction shows. Takahashi did not receive the news himself, preferring to remain unseen until his return. However, Takahashi sent ‘Belt-san’ as his representative – because of course he did.

In a wonderfully surreal ‘interview’, Belt-san spoke with chairman Naoki Sugabayashi, who explained that NJPW officials want Takahashi ‘to be healed up 1000%’ before he returns to the ring.

Therefore, Sugabayashi explained, the decision was made to ask Takahashi to give up the belt. Though initially distraught, Belt-san agreed with Sugabayashi’s decision.

It was subsequently revealed that the next IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion will be decided via a tournament. KUSHIDA will take on BUSHI at Destruction in Kobe on 23^rd September, while Will Ospreay is pitted against Marty Scurll on 30^th September at Fighting Spirit Unleashed in Long Beach. It’s not all bad new, though: it was also revealed that beloved veteran Satoshi Kojima will make his return from injury on 9^th September, at Road to Destruction.

Takahashi was injured during his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship defence against Dragon Lee at July’s G1 Special, in which a Phoenix-Plex spot went wrong. Despite the injury Takahashi continued the match for several minutes, picking up the win and successfully defending his title. Since then, information has been scarce as to the nature of the injury, and how long Takahashi is likely to be out for.

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It’s believed that Takahashi suffered a broken neck, though it is thought he will not require surgery. But the severity of the injury means he is likely to be out of action for anywhere between 9-12 months, leaving him unable to defend his title.

With such a long projected recovery time, it makes logical sense that Takahashi should be stripped of the title, but the news comes with mixed emotions.

It was only in June that he regained ‘Belt-san’, topping off a highly successful Best Of The Super Juniors tournament with a win over Will Ospreay. To see him so badly injured on his first title defence and subsequently stripped of the title feels more than a little unfair.

But in his interview with Belt-san, Sugabayashi hinted that Takahashi may be in line for a title shot on his return, stating that ‘the belt is waiting for his comeback’. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but let’s hope for a speedy recovery – and that Belt-san will soon be back where he belongs.