Rising NJPW star Yuya Uemura has won the first championship of his career.
At Saturday's Road to Wrestling Dontaku show in Hiroshima, the 29-year-old Uemura defeated Great-O-Khan to claim the provisional KOPW 2024 Championship. It was a Rural Revitalization match with three different stipulations. Uemura won the two-out-of-three falls match 2-1.
It ended with Uemura winning a tables match. They had split the first two sillier stipulations, with Uemura winning a Mazda tire carrying contest and Great-O-Khan winning a Hiroshima lemon eating contest.
Rural Revitalization was a match proposed by Great-O-Khan as he attempted to defend the KOPW title around Japan and at smaller shows while champion. O-Khan had held the title since January.
Following an excursion to the United States, Uemura returned to NJPW last October. He's a member of Just Five Guys with SANADA, Taichi, DOUKI, and TAKA Michinoku.
The provisional KOPW Championship is defended throughout the year in matches where each wrestler proposes a stipulation. A fan vote is then held to determine which stipulation is chosen.
The wrestler who holds the KOPW title at the end of 2024 will be declared the official champion for this year. A new champion will then be crowned at the start of 2025.
More must-reads: