During a press conference this morning, former IWGP Championship Kazuchika Okada introduced a new gimmick match based accolade that’s being added to New Japan Pro Wrestling later on in the Summer. Okada went on to state that this new addition will not be treated like a traditional championship, there will be no physical belt but will instead be awarded to someone and then reset at the end of the year after a trophy is awarded to the final champion of the year.
The first KOPW 2020 Champion will be crowned over the course of a two-night tournament which will take place across the Summer Struggle tour in August. Stipulations of said tournament matches will be determined by a fan vote based on a selection of different match types chosen by the wrestlers themselves. Expect some carny shenanigans akin to classic Japanese gimmick matches in the coming weeks.
Here’s hoping this gives a chance to the undercard wrestlers to shine at upcoming NJPW events. Mainstay performers like Minoru Suzuki, Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii could benefit from competing in an assortment of different gimmick matches, with the added importance of it being for a championship.
Who would you like to see win the inaugural KOPW 2020 championship in August? Which match types would you be excited to see voted for first? Let us know in the comments below.
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