New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the final match cards for their upcoming DESTRUCTION events taking place throughout September.
In the interest of expanding their tour to as many cities as possible and maximizing ticket sales, the promotion has once again opted to split up their title matches and main events into three events rather than promoting one giant supercard. The benefit of this model is they have more time to set up marquee matches, but the end result is several shows featuring an overwhelming amount of random, multi-man tag team matches.
The 9/15 Destruction in Hiroshima will feature Kenny Omega’s second defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Tomohiro Ishii, who laid claim to the #1 contendership during the G1 Finals. The Bullet Club OGz will also defend the NEVER 6-Man titles against an eclectic team of Ryusuke Taguchi, David Finlay and IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson.
9/17 Destruction in Beppu has only one title match, with Hirooki Goto defending the NEVER Openweight Championship against Taichi. Oh boy! The main event will see Tetsuya Naito face Minoru Suzuki in a special singles match.
Finally, the 9/23 Destruction in Kobe will see Hiroshi Tanahashi defend his G1 Climax contract against his long-time career rival Kazuchika Okada. The two fought to a time limit draw in the block finals of this year’s G1 Climax tournament. Kushida and Bushi will also face off in the first round of a tournament meant to crown a new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Featured below are the full match cards for all three upcoming DESTRUCTION events, kicking off on September 15th in Hiroshima, Japan.
DESTRUCTION IN HIROSHIMA
September 15, 2018
— Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Kushida vs. Rocky Romero & Roppongi 3K
— Bad Luck Fale vs. Toa Henare
— Michael Elgin & Ayato Yoshida vs. Killer Elite Squad
— Will Ospreay, Chuck Taylor & Berretta vs. Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
NEVER 6-MAN TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP
— Guerrillas of Destiny & Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi
— Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano & Gedo vs. Taichi, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
— Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Sanada & Bushi vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taka Michinoku & El Desperado
— Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada, Yoshi-Hashi & Jay White
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
— Kenny Omega (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii
DESTRUCTION IN BEPPU
September 17, 2018
— Tencozy & Yota Tsuji vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuya Uemura
— David Finlay & Ren Narita vs. Shota Umino & Toa Henare
— Ayato Yoshida vs. Takashi Iizuka
— Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero & Roppongi 3K
— Chuck Taylor & Beretta vs. Killer Elite Squad
— Bushi, Sanada & Evil vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
— Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi & Jay White
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
— Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Taichi
— Tetsuya Naito vs. Minoru Suzuki
DESTRUCTION IN KOBE
September 23, 2018
— Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
— Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Roppongi 3K
— Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
— Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi & Ayato Yoshida vs. Hiroshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
— Chuck Taylor & Beretta vs. Killer Elite Squad
— Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Toa Henare vs. Jay White, Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay
— Sanada, Evil & Tetsuya Naito vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku
IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
— Kushida vs. Bushi
G1 CLIMAX 28 CONTRACT DEFENSE
— Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada