Stipulation Revealed For Minoru Suzuki Vs. Toru Yano At NJPW New Year's Golden Series
The Interim KOPW title will be on the line
New Japan Pro Wrestling have revealed the stipulation for the upcoming Provisional KOPW 2022 match at New Year’s Golden Series between Minoru Suzuki and Toru Yano.
After polling fans as to what the stipulation should be, the results are in, and the two will face off in a ‘Dog Cage Match’ for the Provisional KOPW 2022 title, where the only way to win is by locking your opponent in a dog cage, with the match falling under No DQ rules.
The dog cage stipulation was Yano’s choice, whilst Suzuki wanted to defend his title in a Handcuffs Deathmatch, but fans voted in favour of Yano, with 60.5% opting for the dog cage on a poll hosted on NJPW 1972, and 50.5% on a poll hosted by NJPW Global.
In all, over 22,000 votes were cast, and the match on February 20 is sure to be a spectacle.
Suzuki is the current reigning Provisional KOPW 2022 champion, after defeating Yano at last month’s Wrestle Kingdom 16. However, the rules of the title state that Suzuki will only officially lift the KOPW trophy if he is still the champion at the end of the year.
So far there have only been two official NJPW KOPW wins, Toru Yano in 2020, and Yano again in 2021.