New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Sept. 22 Destruction in Kobe card just got an exciting addition that might wind up main eventing.
NJPW announced that Jay White will take on IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito for his belt. This is of course a rematch of their G1 match that saw White earn a title shot after Gedo distracted Naito. That saw White advance to the G1 finals where he lost to Kota Ibushi.
Here’s how NJPW describes the match:
In Long Beach on August 25, White would take to the microphone and declare that he and he alone deserved to be Intercontinental Champion, and would go on to become the first ever double Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 14. Naito has long declared double gold to be his ambition, and Kota Ibushi stated after winning the G1 Climax that he too had designs on the unprecedented feat.
For White, the first step is seizing the title from Naito. Jay White’s one and only Intercontinental Championship match was at Wrestle Kingdom 12, when he took on Hiroshi Tanahashi on return from excursion. White fell short, but quickly shot to stardom afterward.
Naito will be making the first defence of his fourth reign as IWGP Intercontinental Champion, but hasn’t been entirely successful of late with the belt, with his last two reigns as champion ending at one and zero defences respectively. Naito will be hungry for revenge, and eager to keep his Tokyo Dome dreams strongly alive.
Also announced for the event are the final two matches of the Young Lion Cup and Ren Narita facing off against Clark Connors.
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