Update On NJPW Championships After David Finlay Destroyed Current Title Belts
Say goodbye to the NJPW United States and U.K. Championships.
Over the weekend, David Finlay laid waste to both titles at the conclusion of NJPW Power Struggle, and now it would appear that NJPW is making the call to retire both belts and move forward with something entirely new. During today's Wrestle Kingdom 18 press conference, NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi stated that a new title would be established in light of recent events.
"Regarding the IWGP U.S. belt, we will establish a new title. It is true that fans were confused whether it is a U.S. belt or a U.K. belt, so we created a new one. We will announce the details soon," he said (via Fightful).
Established in 2017 as the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship — and rebranded by Will Ospreay as the IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship over the summer — the title was successfully defended by Ospreay against a game challenger in Shota Umino over the weekend. But, after the bout, Ospreay called out Jon Moxley who was in attendance and was more than ready to come to the ring to confront the titleholder. That is, until David Finlay crashed the party, taking out both Moxley and Ospreay before he proceeded to smash both belts to bits with a mallet — setting New Japan Pro-Wrestling off on this new course of action.
The three men will now tangle on January 4 at Wrestle Kingdom 18 in a threeway match with this new championship hanging in the balance.