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The Fallout From Wrestle Kingdom 19 & Wrestle Dynasty

After the unfortunate accident that befell DOUKI at Wrestle Kingdom, El Desperado was unceremoniously awarded the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. While the circumstances were not ideal, Despe vowed to make the most of this opportunity.

Battle in the Valley

First order of business for Despe was taking part in a Lucha Gauntlet match at Wrestle Dynasty. It was a chaotic match, 8 entrants with only one fall, featuring stars from both CMLL & NJPW. However, the one who was able to stand tall in the end was New Japan’s own Taiji Ishimori, pinning the new Junior champion of all people. This led to a Junior title match between the two at Battle in the Valley in the US, taking the main event of the show. Despe’s previous title reign ended on his very first defense, but this time, he would be able to last a bit longer than that, redeeming the loss at Dynasty by beating Ishimori.

Road to the New Beginning

The next order of business for Despe was Fujita. Fujita has been on a tear through New Japan recently, breaking several records as the youngest to do many things. He’s been the youngest winner of Super Junior Tag League, and the Youngest IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. However, before he is set to defend those tag titles for the first time, he’s looking to add “youngest IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion” and “youngest double champion” to that list of accomplishments. During the Lucha Gauntlet match at Wrestle Dynasty, he was moments away from pinning Despe himself, but he had the moment snatched away by Ishimori. With Ishimori now taken care of, Fujita now wants to assert his challenge for the title, and that would happen on the Road to New Beginning in Korakuen Hall.

Despe & Fujita have faced off twice before: once when Fujita was a young lion, and once in last year’s BOSJ tournament, and both times Despe won. Fujita is looking to break a lot of records here in his first ever IWGP Junior title challenge in one fell swoop, adding breaking his losing streak to Despe to the mix. However, despite his best efforts, history would not be made on this night, as he was unable to defeat Despe on this occasion.

Anniversary Show

The next chapter for the Junior title came very quickly, as after Fujita’s loss, another young gun came out to make a challenge. This time, it was United Empire’s Francesco Akira. The two called back to their BOSJ match from a few years ago, where Despe tortured Akira’s leg. Despe continued to taunt the young man, which angered him more, and caused Akira to attack Despe then and there. His wish was granted, however, and Akira would have his own first ever IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match at New Japan’s anniversary show. It was an intense match, but Despe managed to take out another young contender.

Road to Sakura Genesis – Jr. Genesis

The next title match for Despe continued a trend of first time challengers and BOSJ callbacks. However, this time, Despe was the one to initiate. The result that seemed to weigh the heaviest on Despe’s mind from last year’s BOSJ was from his match with Clark Connors, where he won only via DQ. Wanting to settle things properly, he called out Connors. Connors accepted, but he wanted it to be a hardcore match. Despe’s been developing a taste for death matches recently, so he gladly accepted.

The match was set. It would be El Desperado vs Clark Connors. It was a hardcore match, so it came with all the plunder and chaos you’d expect and more. The two men battered each other with all their might, taking out their anger with each other on each other. It came right down to the wire, both men spending all that they could, but it would be El Desperado that outlasted Clark Connors, logging another successful defense.

Road to Wrestling Dontaku

Next for Despe was another first time challenger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title: Templario. Templario is a relative newcomer to New Japan. He’s previously appeared in New Japan shows, but primarily just in the Fantastica Mania tours. However, Templario has recently aligned with United Empire, and is making his first non-Fantastica Mania appearance in Japan for NJPW on the Road to Wrestling Dontaku. It was a valiant first showing for Templario for IWGP gold, but he was ultimately unsuccessful, as Despe retained his title, just in time for the biggest event of the year for junior heavyweights: the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

Best of the Super Juniors 32

This was set to be a big tournament for Despe. He would be both the IWGP Junior champion and the winner of last year’s tournament, so he had a target painted on his back. Still, he went on a tear in B Block, putting on some of the best matches of the tournament. While he was up and down the rankings all throughout the tournament, he was still a contender going into the last day, staying in contention right up to the last minute, until YOH won the last match of B Block, matching Despe’s score but winning the tie-break with his win over Despe. Alas, Despe would end up in #2 in B Block, failing to make the finals. 

The ones who did end up in the finals, however, were YOH, the winner of B Block, and the winner of A Block, Kosei Fujita. The two met in the finals, both having never won the tournament, but it was a moment of history, as TMDK’s Kosei Fujita, the Japanese Young Punk, beat YOH in the finals, winning his first BOSJ tournament, and becoming the youngest ever BOSJ winner. With this win, he was set to go on to Dominion to face El Desperado for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship once again.

The Future of the Junior Title

At least, that’s what would’ve happened. Unfortunately, Despe’s been a bit busy with his extracurriculars. One of the things I haven’t been mentioning about Despe are his indie appearances, particularly those involving one Jun Kasai, the Crazy Monkey himself. Despe’s been a part of two matches with Kasai this year, both of which were death matches, both had the two as opponents (though neither were 1-on-1), and both had Jun Kasai pinning El Desperado. It seems as if Kasai has Despe’s number, and that’s been weighing heavily on both men’s minds. Then, on the day of the BOSJ finals, Jun Kasai himself came to New Japan to personally hand Despe an invitation. It was for a proper 1-on-1 match between the for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, and while it hasn’t been announced as such, it will likely be another deathmatch, Kasai’s specialty.

With two challenges on his plate, Despe has his attention split, and must choose which one to prioritize. Ultimately, he decided to answer Kasai’s challenge first, with that match happening at the aptly named Death Pain Invitacional event. Fujita was okay with this, as he didn’t want to face an El Desperado that wasn’t 100% focused on him, allowing for no excuses, even if it means that the champion that he’ll face with his BOSJ win would be Jun Kasai. As a result, Despe’s next title match will be against Jun Kasai, taking place about a week after Dominion. Who will walk out as champion? Who will be able to walk out at all? At least one thing is for sure: it’s set to be a brutal and bloody affair.

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