IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match Set For King Of Pro Wrestling

Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay today at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed. The win earns him a spot in the finals of a 4-man tournament to declare a new champion. Former champion, Hiromu Takahashi, was forced to vacate the title due to injury in August.

Kushida defeated Bushi at Destruction in Kobe on September 23rd to advance to the finals as well.

Marty Scurll vs Kushida for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship will take place at King of Pro Wrestling on October 8th, 2018.

Kushida is a 5x former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. He’s defended the title 8x and held it a combined 586 days, good for 7th all-time.

Marty Scurll won the title for the first and only time at Power Struggle 2017. He would lose it 60 days later at WrestleKingdom 12 to Will Ospreay.

Scurll and Kushida have met 3 times previously, twice in Ring of Honor and once in NJPW. Kushida has won all 3 matches. He defeated Scurll twice in 2017 in ROH, first to win the TV title and then again to defend it. They met for the 3rd time at the Best of the Super Juniors this May.

Scurll’s victory over Ospreay avenges the most recent match between the two. Ospreay defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Scurll at Sakura Genesis in April. Prior to that, Scurll had defeated Ospreay 5x in a row.