New Champions Crowned At NJPW Road To Wrestling Dontaku

KUSHIDA is a champion in New Japan Pro-Wrestling once again.

The Time Splitter and Kevin Knight challenged The United Empire's TJP and Francesco Akira for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships at today's Road to Wrestling Dontaku event. After both teams had fought back and forth, KUSHIDA rolled Knight into a Jumping DDT as they connected with their Culture Crash finisher on Akira for the victory.

The victory marks KUSHIDA's biggest win since he returned to NJPW in 2022 after three years in WWE. It also begins his third reign with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles, having previously held the belts as one-half of The Time Splitters with Alex Shelley. Today marks the first time Kevin Knight has held gold in New Japan. 

Francesco Akira and TJP had been IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions for 311 days before today's loss. They successfully defended the belts on four occasions.

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship was also on the line at today's Road to Wrestling Dontaku event. Hiromu Takahashi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru to retain his title. The Time Bomb will now advance to Wrestling Dontaku and challenge SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title on Wednesday, May 3.