New Japan Pro Wrestling will be holding a four-man tournament to crown a new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, with one first-round match to be held at Fighting Spirit Unleashed in Long Beach, CA.
During NJPW’s Destruction Press Conference, NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced that as a result of a neck injury suffered at NJPW’s G1 Special in the USA this past July in San Francisco, Hiromu Takahashi would be relinquishing the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Sugabayashi also announced that the promotion will be holding a four-man tournament for the vacant title. The finals are set to take place at Ry?goku Sumo Hall on October 8th in Japan.
The first of the two first-round matches will be between Kushida and Bushi. The match is currently scheduled to take place at Destruction on September 23rd at Kobe World Hall in Japan.
In the other first-round match, Marty Scurll will face Will Ospreay at Fighting Spirit Unleashed at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach on September 30th.
On September 4th, 2016, Scurll and Ospreay, along with Trevor Lee, were part of the finals of PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament. During the match, Scurll and Lee would team up with each other to eliminate Ospreay. Scurll would then go on to defeat Lee to win the tournament. Scurll and Ospreay’s last singles match against each other took place on April 1st at Sakura Genesis 2018. The match would receive a Five-Star rating from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
NJPW’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed is also scheduled to feature IWGP US Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson defending his title against Cody. Plus the Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) will defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against the Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa).
Fighting Spirit Unleashed takes place September 30th, 2018 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA at 5:00 pm. Tickets are available now at www.longbeachstate.com.
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