NJPW announces Destruction cards, King of Pro Wrestling matches

[cero2k]

Source: f4wonline.com

New Japan announced their big matches for the next couple of months this evening as full cards for all three Destruction shows have been released, as well as key matches for King of Pro Wrestling in October.

IWGP Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada will square off against the person who beat him during the G1 Climax tournament, EVIL, at King of Pro Wrestling. Tetsuya Naito will also look for his win back as he will take on Tomohiro Ishii for the Tokyo Dome briefcase.

Destruction this year will consist of three big events spanned across the month of September. On the 10th in Fukushima, NEVER Openweight champion Minoru Suzuki will defend against Michael Elgin. NEVER Six Man tag team champions EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI will defend against the Chaos trio of Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Rocky Romero.

The second show, held in Hiroshima on September 16hj, will have IWGP Intercontinental champion Hiroshi Tanahashi going against the man who beat him during the G1, Zack Sabre Jr. IWGP Jr. tag team champions Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi will mark their first defense of the titles, squaring off against the Suzuki-gun duo of Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi for the IWGP Jr. titles. In what is being billed as their final match, Roppongi Vice will face Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens.

The final show in Kobe on September 24th will have the first ever defense of the IWGP United States championship as champion Kenny Omega will defend against Juice Robinson.

War Machine will battle Guerillas of Destiny and the returning Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles. This match will go down on all three shows, all for the title.

Full cards can be seen below, along with dates and the times they will air live on New Japan World.

Destruction in Fukushima (September 10th, 3:00 a.m. EDT)
Minoru Suzuki vs. Michael Elgin for the NEVER Openweight title
EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Rocky Romero for the NEVER Six Man titles
Tomohiro Ishii and Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi
Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. Kenny Omega and Bad Luck Fale
War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny vs. Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi and Ricochet vs. Takashi Iizuka, Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi
Baretta and Jado vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
Tomoyuki Oka and Katsuya Kitamura vs. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI
Yuji Nagata and Hirai Kawato vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Shota Umino

Destruction in Hiroshima (September 16th, 5:00 a.m. EDT)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP Intercontinental title
KUSHIDA vs. El Desperado for the IWGP Jr. title
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Will Ospreay and Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi
Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. Kenny Omega and Bad Luck Fale
War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny and Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles
Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles
Kota Ibushi, Michael Elgin and Togi Makabe vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka and Taka Michinoku
Roppongi Vice vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Jado

Destruction in Kobe (September 24th, 3:00 a.m. EDT)
Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States title
Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Rocky Romero vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI
War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny and Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Ricochet vs. Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi
Hirooki Goto, Baretta and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
Togi Makabe and David Finlay vs. Michael Elgin and Katsuya Kitamura
Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Taka Michinoku and El Desperado
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hirai Kawato vs. Tomoyuki Oka and Shota Umino

King of Pro Wrestling (October 9th)
Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL for the IWGP Heavyweight title
Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the Tokyo Dome match briefcase

[Big Red Machine]

Um... so when is Kenny Omega getting his title shot? He not only beat Okada (and, by the way, also EVIL) in the G1, but he also went to a draw in his last title shot. Shouldn't he be first in line?

[cero2k]

Um... so when is Kenny Omega getting his title shot? He not only beat Okada (and, by the way, also EVIL) in the G1, but he also went to a draw in his last title shot. Shouldn't he be first in line?

There's Power Struggle unless they're holding it to another US show. They may also not want them fighting while Kenny has the US title, they rarely do IC vs IWGP match anyway

[NWK2000]

Um... so when is Kenny Omega getting his title shot? He not only beat Okada (and, by the way, also EVIL) in the G1, but he also went to a draw in his last title shot. Shouldn't he be first in line?

Have Kenny drop the title to Juice, have Okada vs Naito (please don't have Ishi win) and then Kenny

[cero2k]

Um... so when is Kenny Omega getting his title shot? He not only beat Okada (and, by the way, also EVIL) in the G1, but he also went to a draw in his last title shot. Shouldn't he be first in line?

Have Kenny drop the title to Juice, have Okada vs Naito (please don't have Ishi win) and then Kenny

you mean after Wrestle Kingdom? nah, Naito is definitely winning the title at WK, he's the hottest ticket in town. I think that Naito gets the title, Kenny defeats Naito in the US for the title or at dominion, Okada wins G1 Climax 28 and Okada vs Omega IV happens until WK 2019. we need to rest between III and IV IMO

[Big Red Machine]

Um... so when is Kenny Omega getting his title shot? He not only beat Okada (and, by the way, also EVIL) in the G1, but he also went to a draw in his last title shot. Shouldn't he be first in line?

Have Kenny drop the title to Juice, have Okada vs Naito (please don't have Ishi win) and then Kenny

you mean after Wrestle Kingdom? nah, Naito is definitely winning the title at WK, he's the hottest ticket in town. I think that Naito gets the title, Kenny defeats Naito in the US for the title or at dominion, Okada wins G1 Climax 28 and Okada vs Omega IV happens until WK 2019. we need to rest between III and IV IMO

That's all fine and dandy except that it makes no sense whatsoever that Kenny Omega will be waiting over a year to get a title shot, especially when Okada isn't defending the belt at any of the Destruction shows. If you didn't want Kenny to get another title shot until Dominion of next year you shouldn't have had him go to a draw with the champ at Dominion this year and certainly shouldn't have had him beat the champ in this year's G1.

[cero2k]

That's all fine and dandy except that it makes no sense whatsoever that Kenny Omega will be waiting over a year to get a title shot, especially when Okada isn't defending the belt at any of the Destruction shows. If you didn't want Kenny to get another title shot until Dominion of next year you shouldn't have had him go to a draw with the champ at Dominion this year and certainly shouldn't have had him beat the champ in this year's G1.

no, disagree. You needed to show that the One Winged Angel can defeat Okada and within 30 minutes so that when Okada vs Omega IV happens, we don't think that Okada will just win once again, now IV will be the ultimate tie breaker where we know both guys have a good chance to win. Moreover, Kenny's title shot is lost when Naito wins the title at WK because Naito defeated Kenny. And finally, Kenny IS a champion himself, he needs to focus on that too, that is what makes titles mean something, Nakamura and Tanahashi didn't go chasing Okada while they held the IC titles.

the only reason to do Okada vs Omega IV at Power Struggle IMO is if Kenny is not staying and you should just go and have Okada beat Omega so that Kenny leaves and Okada stays as the true ace of NJPW

[NWK2000]

Have Kenny drop the title to Juice, have Okada vs Naito (please don't have Ishi win) and then Kenny

you mean after Wrestle Kingdom? nah, Naito is definitely winning the title at WK, he's the hottest ticket in town. I think that Naito gets the title, Kenny defeats Naito in the US for the title or at dominion, Okada wins G1 Climax 28 and Okada vs Omega IV happens until WK 2019. we need to rest between III and IV IMO

That's all fine and dandy except that it makes no sense whatsoever that Kenny Omega will be waiting over a year to get a title shot, especially when Okada isn't defending the belt at any of the Destruction shows. If you didn't want Kenny to get another title shot until Dominion of next year you shouldn't have had him go to a draw with the champ at Dominion this year and certainly shouldn't have had him beat the champ in this year's G1.

I personally want Omega to turn complete babyface, have Okada drop the belt to someone else, and then have that person drop it to Omega. I'm just tired of Okada vs Omega and don't think Omega is the guy that should dethrone Okada, but I seem to be the only person who thinks so.

[Big Red Machine]

That's all fine and dandy except that it makes no sense whatsoever that Kenny Omega will be waiting over a year to get a title shot, especially when Okada isn't defending the belt at any of the Destruction shows. If you didn't want Kenny to get another title shot until Dominion of next year you shouldn't have had him go to a draw with the champ at Dominion this year and certainly shouldn't have had him beat the champ in this year's G1.

no, disagree. You needed to show that the One Winged Angel can defeat Okada and within 30 minutes so that when Okada vs Omega IV happens, we don't think that Okada will just win once again, now IV will be the ultimate tie breaker where we know both guys have a good chance to win. Moreover, Kenny's title shot is lost when Naito wins the title at WK because Naito defeated Kenny. And finally, Kenny IS a champion himself, he needs to focus on that too, that is what makes titles mean something, Nakamura and Tanahashi didn't go chasing Okada while they held the IC titles.

[/quote]
So you can have Kenny get the win on Okada with the One-Winged Angel when you're ready to set up the big match.

Kenny losing to Naito should in no way mean he loses his title shot. Marufuji beat Okada last year and then lost to a bunch of guys but didn't lose his title shot. Same with Zack and Tanahashi this year. If you beat the champ then you deserve a title shot so that one of you can prove that said win either was or wasn't a fluke and so we have no doubt about who deserves to be the champion. If you win the title and someone who recently beat you steps forward and says "Hey! I just beat that guy. I want a title shot!" then the company should book that match, too, but you don't lose the title shot just because you lost to someone else.

Successfully defending your title against a challenger who has truly earned the shot is what makes a title mean something. If the idea is supposed to be that Kenny is too busy defending his US Title then they need to show us that by booking him in defenses on all of these shows. That's not happening. What is happening is the same thing that has happened for New Japan the past few years, which is that the IC and IWGP Heavyweight champions only defend their belts once or twice between big shows, even though New Japan is increasing the number of PPV shows they book. If Kenny has done something to deserve a title shot (which he obviously has), and Kenny isn't defending his belt at Destruction and Okada isn't defending his belt at Destruction, there is absolutely no reason why Okada shouldn't be defending the belt against Omega at Destruction other than that Gedo is a sh*tty booker who doesn't understand how to book the fall-out from a round-robin tournament, which is a big problem when your two biggest tournaments of the year are both round-robin tournaments.

[Big Red Machine]

you mean after Wrestle Kingdom? nah, Naito is definitely winning the title at WK, he's the hottest ticket in town. I think that Naito gets the title, Kenny defeats Naito in the US for the title or at dominion, Okada wins G1 Climax 28 and Okada vs Omega IV happens until WK 2019. we need to rest between III and IV IMO

That's all fine and dandy except that it makes no sense whatsoever that Kenny Omega will be waiting over a year to get a title shot, especially when Okada isn't defending the belt at any of the Destruction shows. If you didn't want Kenny to get another title shot until Dominion of next year you shouldn't have had him go to a draw with the champ at Dominion this year and certainly shouldn't have had him beat the champ in this year's G1.

I personally want Omega to turn complete babyface, have Okada drop the belt to someone else, and then have that person drop it to Omega. I'm just tired of Okada vs Omega and don't think Omega is the guy that should dethrone Okada, but I seem to be the only person who thinks so.

If not Omega then who? Naito already did it, Tanahashi can't as per the stips of their WK match last year, I don't see them putting that belt on Elgin, and no one else is even close to that level.

[cero2k]

So you can have Kenny get the win on Okada with the One-Winged Angel when you're ready to set up the big match.
Except IV has Okada as the challenger in my idea, Okada can't earn a title shot by losing to Omega.
Doing IV right now would be shittier booking than Nakamura vs Cena on free TV, Omega/Okada IV, the ULTIMATE tie breaker should be used to sell a Dome or a US arena, not just a sumo hall

Kenny losing to Naito should in no way mean he loses his title shot. Marufuji beat Okada last year and then lost to a bunch of guys but didn't lose his title shot. Same with Zack and Tanahashi this year. If you beat the champ then you deserve a title shot so that one of you can prove that said win either was or wasn't a fluke and so we have no doubt about who deserves to be the champion. If you win the title and someone who recently beat you steps forward and says "Hey! I just beat that guy. I want a title shot!" then the company should book that match, too, but you don't lose the title shot just because you lost to someone else.
Marufuji got his title shot because Okada was still the champion. If you beat champion and that champion loses the title before you get your title, you shouldn't get a title shot against the new champion, ESPECIALLY if the new champion has a win on you.

Successfully defending your title against a challenger who has truly earned the shot is what makes a title mean something. If the idea is supposed to be that Kenny is too busy defending his US Title then they need to show us that by booking him in defenses on all of these shows. That's not happening. What is happening is the same thing that has happened for New Japan the past few years, which is that the IC and IWGP Heavyweight champions only defend their belts once or twice between big shows, even though New Japan is increasing the number of PPV shows they book. If Kenny has done something to deserve a title shot (which he obviously has), and Kenny isn't defending his belt at Destruction and Okada isn't defending his belt at Destruction, there is absolutely no reason why Okada shouldn't be defending the belt against Omega at Destruction other than that Gedo is a sh*tty booker who doesn't understand how to book the fall-out from a round-robin tournament, which is a big problem when your two biggest tournaments of the year are both round-robin tournaments.
Kenny IS defending at Destruction and you're totally basing the 'sh*tty' booking based on three shows.
There's still Power Struggle, all other shows have titles being defended in the main event. All important while Okada feuds with LIJ towards EVIL AND Naito

[Big Red Machine]

So you can have Kenny get the win on Okada with the One-Winged Angel when you're ready to set up the big match.
Except IV has Okada as the challenger in my idea, Okada can't earn a title shot by losing to Omega.
Doing IV right now would be shittier booking than Nakamura vs Cena on free TV, Omega/Okada IV, the ULTIMATE tie breaker should be used to sell a Dome or a US arena, not just a sumo hall
Then they should have either booked a much bigger building for one of these shows or else had Kenn win the G1.

Kenny losing to Naito should in no way mean he loses his title shot. Marufuji beat Okada last year and then lost to a bunch of guys but didn't lose his title shot. Same with Zack and Tanahashi this year. If you beat the champ then you deserve a title shot so that one of you can prove that said win either was or wasn't a fluke and so we have no doubt about who deserves to be the champion. If you win the title and someone who recently beat you steps forward and says "Hey! I just beat that guy. I want a title shot!" then the company should book that match, too, but you don't lose the title shot just because you lost to someone else.
Marufuji got his title shot because Okada was still the champion. If you beat champion and that champion loses the title before you get your title, you shouldn't get a title shot against the new champion, ESPECIALLY if the new champion has a win on you.
I disagree that you lose your shot if the champ you beat loses the belt. Beating the champion should automatically entitle you to a title shot. The company should be acting as soon as possible to schedule your shot for you.

Successfully defending your title against a challenger who has truly earned the shot is what makes a title mean something. If the idea is supposed to be that Kenny is too busy defending his US Title then they need to show us that by booking him in defenses on all of these shows. That's not happening. What is happening is the same thing that has happened for New Japan the past few years, which is that the IC and IWGP Heavyweight champions only defend their belts once or twice between big shows, even though New Japan is increasing the number of PPV shows they book. If Kenny has done something to deserve a title shot (which he obviously has), and Kenny isn't defending his belt at Destruction and Okada isn't defending his belt at Destruction, there is absolutely no reason why Okada shouldn't be defending the belt against Omega at Destruction other than that Gedo is a sh*tty booker who doesn't understand how to book the fall-out from a round-robin tournament, which is a big problem when your two biggest tournaments of the year are both round-robin tournaments.
Kenny IS defending at Destruction and you're totally basing the 'sh*tty' booking based on three shows.
There's still Power Struggle, all other shows have titles being defended in the main event. All important while Okada feuds with LIJ towards EVIL AND Naito
Kenny isn't defending the belt on all of the shows. There is no reason this match can't happen in Hiroshima. We really don't need to straight Finlay & Juice vs. Omega & Fale matches, do we? And member of CHAOS could sub for Okada in the ten-man. Surely three random tag matches against Okada will not do anything more to build up Okada vs. EVIL than of them will.
There might still be Power Struggle, but that doesn't answer the fact that 1) Kenny deserves his shot first because of the draw, and 2) as you said, they shouldn't waste Omega vs. Okada in a smaller building, and if they were going to run a dome for Power Struggle, we would have heard about it already.
I am basing my assessment of Gedo's booking not just on these three shows, but on everything. I hate the fact that he has severaly cut down on the number of title defenses despite having many worthy challengers, as it makes it feel like the promotion is constantly just spinning its wheels (especially when you combine this factor with the state of the various tag team divisions in the company).