Shingo Takagi Wins NEVER Openweight Championship At Fighting Spirit Unleashed
Shingo Takagi defeated Tama Tonga at NJPW’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed event to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion.
Shingo Takagi Is The New NEVER Openweight Champion
NJPW’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed event took place live from Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, October 28. The card featured four championship matches and, although the other champions successfully defended, one title did change hands at the event.
Tama Tonga was set to make his first NEVER Openweight title defense at Fighting Spirit Unleashed. After nearly 30 minutes of in-ring action, Shingo Takagi would be crowned the new champion in the main event of the evening.
Tama Tonga was in his third reign as the champion, having won the title at Destruction in Ryogoku on October 9. The match against Takagi was set to be his first title defense but he would be unsuccessful in his quest to retain gold, ending Tonga’s reign at just 19 days. This is the shortest title reign in the championship’s history.
For Takagi, this marks the beginning of his own third reign with the NEVER Openweight Championship. Takagi last held the championship in early 2021, and the new champion is not wasting time as he is already looking towards anyone who dares to challenge him first.
Trent Beretta made an appearance and made the challenge for Takagi’s gold at Lonestar Shootout. That event takes place on Friday, November 10 live from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.
NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed Full Results
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Shingo Takagi def. Tama Tonga (c) – TITLE CHANGE
- Special Tag Team Match: SANADA & Yuya Uemura vs. Tetsuya Naiito & Hiromu Takahashi – Time Limit Draw
- STRONG Openweight Championship Match: Eddie Kingston (c) def. HENARE
- STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championships Match: Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (c) def. Alex Zayne & Lance Archer
- STRONG Women’s Championship Match: Giulia (c) def. HYAN
- Atlantis 40th Anniversary Match in the USA: Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico & Atlantis Jr. def. Adrian Quest, Tiger Mask, Soberano Jr & Rocky Romero
- Singles Match: Gabe Kidd def. Tom Lawlor
- Tag Team Match: Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis def. Johnnie Robbie & Lluvia
- STRONG Openweight Championship No. 1 Contenders Four-Way Match: Satoshi Kojima def. Fred Rosser and Jeff Cobb and Alex Coughlin
- Six-Man Tag Team Kickoff Match: Danny Limelight, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson def. Baliyan Akki, Titus Alexander & Jakob Austin Young
- STRONG Survivor Kickoff Match: Matt Vandagriff def. Buck Skynyr