NJPW Royal Quest: KENTA must defeat Tomohiro Ishii

By Patches Chance | Aug 30, 2019

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 12: Kenta looks on during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 29 at Nippon Budokan on August 12, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images) /

NJPW Royal Quest descends upon London’s Copper Box tomorrow, but no one needs a win at Royal Quest like KENTA.

After admitting defeat in his attempts to thrive within WWE and 205 Live, KENTA made his triumphant return to his home country by entering the annual NJPW G1 Climax tournament. Based on the way things got started, KENTA looked like an early favorite to win A Block and make it to the finals.

He opened the tournament with an enormous victory over Kota Ibushi. The two put on a spectacular match, but KENTA was in dire need of a statement-making win in his first match back in Japan. Keep in mind, this is the same man who lost his finale WWE match to Akira Tozawa on 205 Live in January of 2019.

Effectively wiping the slate clean of that experience, KENTA followed his win over Ibushi by defeating 8-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and 3-time G1 Climax winner Hiroshi Tanahashi. There was no denying that KENTA was on a roll.

He followed those two huge wins up with strong victories over Lance Archer and EVIL, but things all started to fall apart after that. On July 27, KENTA stood his ground against reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada for 26 minutes and 53 seconds. Unfortunately, when the bell sounded it marked KENTA’s first loss in NJPW.

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From there, things continued to spiral. KENTA wouldn’t get another win in the G1 Climax tournament, subsequently losing to Sanada, Bad Luck Fale, Will Ospreay, and Zack Sabre Jr.

Now, KENTA has a chance to right that wrong. He completely folded once the G1 Climax stopped going his way, but at NJPW Royal Quest he has his first championship opportunity in NJPW.

Tomohiro Ishii is in his fifth reign as NEVER Openweight Champion after defeating Taichi for the title at Dominion back in June. We’ve seen the NEVER Openweight Championship go to a mix of hard-hitting competitors well-versed in strong style as well as young up-and-comers like Will Ospreay and Jeff Cobb.

While relatively new to NJPW, a reign as NEVER Openweight Champion would be a great step as KENTA continues to carve out his place in the company. We can expect a violent clash as he takes on Ishii.

Both KENTA and Tomohiro Ishii are arguably the hardest hitting wrestlers on the entire planet, and there’s no doubt they won’t be holding anything back in London. Ishii has had yet another strong reign as champion, but it’s time for KENTA to take control.

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If he can survive the physical onslaught of The Stone Pitbull, it would be amazing to see KENTA lift the massive champion onto his shoulders for a Go To Sleep to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship. It’s a win he needs, and one that will give us a new chapter for the man briefly known as Hideo Itami.