NJPW Royal Quest: KENTA becomes Never Openweight Champion

In the first title change of the night, KENTA ended Tomohiro Ishii’s fourth reign to become the new Never Openweight Champion at NJPW Royal Quest.

At the NJPW G1 Climax 29 Finals, KENTA shocked the wrestling world when he turned on his partners Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi and aligned himself with Bullet Club. The former Pro Wrestling Noah stalwart instantly became one of the most hated men in Japanese wrestling as he turned his back on his longtime friend, Katsuyori Shibata.

At NJPW Royal Quest, Ishii sought revenge against KENTA in a match for the Never Openweight Championship. The challenger entered to a chorus of boos and from the beginning, he and the champion were at each other’s throats.

The match was just as hard-hitting as you would expect. There were stiff kicks, heavy forearms, headbutts, and a copious amount of open hand slaps. KENTA got in most of his trademark offense, but Ishii withstood everything he could dish out.

He eventually got the better of the newest addition to the Bullet Club, who he looked dazed towards the end of the match. However, the Guerillas of Destiny interfered to keep him in the match. They hit Ishii with Guerilla Warfare and quickly laid KENTA on top of him for the pin. But the champion defiantly kicked out in the best near fall of the bout.

Ishii looked strong all the way to the end, but he ultimately fell victim to a GTS. So, KENTA is the new Never Openweight Champion. This is his first title win since the start of 343-day reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion in January of 2013.

This certainly isn’t the end of his feud with Tomohiro Ishii and Chaos. There will more than likely be a rematch sometime down the road, but it will be interesting to see who else steps up to challenge him.