New champions crowned at NJPW Road to The New Beginning

El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori are the new IWGP Jr. Tag Team champions following tonight’s title match at Road To The New Beginning.

The duo defeated El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a match that featured three different referees being laid out throughout the course of the match. ELP eventually picked up the win for his team after superkicking Kanemaru. ELP’s gimmick during recent tours is scoring wins with what opponents suspect to be a loaded boot. In a backstage interview, ELP took off his boot and showed that nothing was inside.

After the match, ELP cut a promo praising his new superkick finish, calling himself an all-time great striker.

Desperado and Kanemaru had held the titles for 132 days, defeating Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI in a tournament final on September 11. The titles were previously vacated after YOH of Roppongi 3K suffered a torn ACL.

The next major NJPW show will be on January 30 with The New Beginning in Nagoya. Shingo Takagi will defend the NEVER Openweight championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event.