It was a huge night for Los Ingobernables de Japon, one of the hottest factions in the world, as a record six titles changed hands at Wednesday’s Wrestle Kingdom 11 event at the Tokyo Dome.
In the third match of the main card, LIJ members Bushi, Sanada, and Evil (former ROH star Watanabe) won a four team gauntlet match against champions David Finlay, Satoshi Kojima and Ricochet, as well as two teams from the Chaos and Bullet Club factions, to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions. And while it didn’t look good for group leader Tetsuya Naito, after six titles had changed hands consecutively throughout the night, the charismatic El Ingobernable managed to retain his IWGP Intercontinental Championship against former ace of the promotion Hiroshi Tanahashi, in the semi-main event of the evening.
While LIJ left Wrestle Kingdom with each member of their sporting gold, it wasn’t nearly as good of a night for the promotion’s other major heel faction, Bullet Club. Five-time IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions the Young Bucks lost their straps to Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta in the first title match of the night, while the Guerrillas of Destiny Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa lost the IWGP Tag Team titles to Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii of Chaos, in a triple threat match that also included Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma, the 2016 World Tag League tournament winners.
New Japan veteran Hirooki Goto also had a good night at the Tokyo Dome, overcoming his greatest rival and a career of disappointments in big matches to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship in a stellar bout against fellow strong-style expert Katsuyori Shibata. Kushida also lost the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title to the returning Himoru Takahashi, the former Kamaitachi, while Adam Cole became the first ever three-time Ring of Honor World Champion in history by defeating career rival Kyle O’Reilly.
