| Destruction (2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the October 9 event | |||
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | September 24, 2023 October 9, 2023 | ||
| City | Kobe, Japan Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Venue | Kobe World Memorial Hall Ryōgoku Kokugikan | ||
| Attendance | Night 1 (4,212)[1][2] Night 2 (5,002)[3] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
| |||
| Destruction chronology | |||
| |||
Destruction (2023) was a series ofprofessional wrestlingevents promoted byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 2023:Destruction in Kobe on September 24, andDestruction in Ryōgoku on October 9. These are events twenty-four to twenty-five in theDestruction chronology.
After taking a hiatus from 2020 to 2022, Destruction had two events taking place in late September and early October 2023. This was also be the first time sinceDestruction '11 that a Destruction event was held atRyōgoku Kokugikan.
The two Destruction events featuredprofessional wrestling matches each that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[4]
The first night of the event from September 24 started with two preshow bouts broadcast live on NJPW'sYouTube channel. In the first one,Clark Connors andDrilla Moloney defeatedKevin Knight andTiger Mask in a non-title match, and in the second one,Sanada,Douki andYoshinobu Kanemaru picked up a victory overDick Togo,Evil andYujiro Takahashi in six-man tag team action.[5]
On the first main card confrontation,El Phantasmo,Hikuleo,Tama Tonga,Tanga Loa andJado outmatchedAlex Coughlin,Chase Owens,David Finlay,Gabe Kidd andGedo in ten-man tag team action. Next up,Lio Rush andYoh defeatedBushi andHiromu Takahashi, ahead of Rush's and Takahashi'sIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match. Next,Bad Dude Tito andZack Sabre Jr. picked up a victory over two thirds of theNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team ChampionsKazuchika Okada andTomohiro Ishii. On the sixth match,Sho defeatedTaichi to become theProvisional KOPW Champion of 2023.Yoshinobu Kanemaru defectedJust 5 Guys to joinHouse of Torture. Next,Hirooki Goto andYoshi-Hashi defeatedMikey Nicholls andShane Haste to secure the second consecutive defense of theIWGP Tag Team Championship in that respective reign. Next up,Shingo Takagi defeatedGreat-O-Khan in singles competition. In the semi main event,Tetsuya Naito defeatedJeff Cobb to retain theTokyo Dome IWGP World Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate.[6]
In the main event,Will Ospreay defeatedYota Tsuji to retain theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championship for the first time in that respective reign. After the bout concluded,NJPW World Television ChampionZack Sabre Jr. joined Ospreay in the ring ahead of their collision atRoyal Quest III.[7]
The night started with theten-man tag team match confrontation between NJPW nativesYoshi-Hashi,Toru Yano,Yoh,Tiger Mask andRyusuke Taguchi, andDDT Pro-Wrestling's Takeshi Masada and Kazuma Sumi, Kengo andPro Wrestling Freedoms' Takahiro Katori and Jun Masaoka. The NJPW natives team picked up the victory after Taguchi pinned Katori. Due to Masada being the time'sIronman Heavymetalweight Champion, Yano and Taguchi tried to pin him multiple times but were unsuccessful as Masada held on to his title because otherwise he would have got fired by DDT.
In the first main card bout,Just 5 Guys presentedYuya Uemura as their newest member after he concluded his foreign excursion. He alongside new stablematesTaichi andDouki defeatedYujiro Takahashi,Sho andYoshinobu Kanemaru. Next up,Tanga Loa defeatedChase Owens in singles competition. Next up,Tetsuya Naito,Shingo Takagi,Yota Tsuji andBushi defeatedGreat-O-Khan,Jeff Cobb,Henare and Callum Newman in eight-man tag team action. Next up,Clark Connors andDrilla Moloney defeatedKevin Knight andKushida to retain theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the second time consecutively in that respective reign. Next up,Master Wato,Shota Umino andYuji Nagata defeatedMinoru Suzuki,El Desperado andRen Narita in six-man tag team action. Next up,Hikuleo andEl Phantasmo defeatedGabe Kidd andAlex Coughlin to win theStrong Openweight Tag Team Championship, ending the champions' reign on their very first defense. In the eighth bout,Kazuchika Okada andTomohiro Ishii) andHiroshi Tanahashi defeatedImpact World ChampionAlex Shelley,Impact X Division ChampionChris Sabin andJosh Alexander to retain theNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship for the third time consecutively in that respective reign. Next up,Tama Tonga defeatedDavid Finlay to win theNEVER Openweight Championship in a match which continued both of the wrestler's feud at the time. In the semi main event,Hiromu Takahashi defeatedYoh andMike Bailey to secure the sixth consecutive defense of theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in that respective reign. After the bout concluded,Taiji Ishimori returned from an injury and laid a title challenge for Takahashi.[9][10]
In the main event,Sanada defeatedEvil to secure the fourth consecutive defense of theIWGP World Heavyweight Championship in that respective reign. After the bout concluded,G1 Climax 33 winnerTetsuya Naito stepped up to remind Sanada of their scheduled match for Wrestle Kingdom 18.[11][12][13]
| No. | Results[14] | Stipulations | Times[3] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1P | Chaos (Yoshi-Hashi,Toru Yano andYoh),Tiger Mask andRyusuke Taguchi defeatedTakahiro Katori,Takeshi Masada,Kazuma Sumi,Kengo, andJun Masaoka bysubmission | Ten-man tag team match | 8:14 | ||||
| 2 | Just 5 Guys (Taichi,Douki andYuya Uemura) (withTaka Michinoku) defeatedHouse of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi,Sho andYoshinobu Kanemaru) (withDick Togo) bypinfall | Six-man tag team match | 7:57 | ||||
| 3 | Tanga Loa (withJado) defeatedChase Owens (withGedo) | Singles match | 8:05 | ||||
| 4 | Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi,Yota Tsuji,Bushi andTetsuya Naito) defeatedUnited Empire (Callum Newman,Great-O-Khan,Jeff Cobb, andHenare) bypinfall | Eight-man tag team match | 7:44 | ||||
| 5 | Bullet Club War Dogs (Drilla Moloney andClark Connors) (c) defeated Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight andKushida) bypinfall | Tag team match for theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship | 13:28 | ||||
| 6 | Master Wato,Yuji Nagata, andShota Umino defeated Strong Style (Ren Narita,Minoru Suzuki, andEl Desperado bypinfall | Six-man tag team match Match seven in aBest of Seven Series (Series tied 3-3-1) | 14:10 | ||||
| 7 | Guerillas of Destiny (Hikuleo andEl Phantasmo) (withJado) defeatedBullet Club War Dogs (Alex Coughlin andGabe Kidd) (c) bypinfall | Tag team match for theStrong Openweight Tag Team Championship | 13:12 | ||||
| 8 | Chaos (Kazuchika Okada andTomohiro Ishii) andHiroshi Tanahashi) (c) defeatedThe Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley andChris Sabin) andJosh Alexander bypinfall | Six-man tag team match for theNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship | 15:40 | ||||
| 9 | Tama Tonga (withJado) defeatedDavid Finlay (c) (withGedo) bypinfall | Singles match for theNEVER Openweight Championship | 19:39 | ||||
| 10 | Hiromu Takahashi (c) defeatedYoh[c] andMike Bailey bypinfall | Three-way match for theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship | 17:53 | ||||
| 11 | Sanada (c) defeatedEvil bypinfall | Lumberjack match for theIWGP World Heavyweight Championship The lumberjacks consisted of the members of bothJust 5 Guys andHouse of Torture. | 28:01 | ||||
| |||||||