On the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 16, the duo of Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI became the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.
The CHAOS duo defeated the team of Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi. In doing so, Goto and HASHI became the 92nd IWGP Tag Team Champions.
The tag title match between the two teams was arguably one of the best matches on Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 16. Goto and HASHI were close to picking up the victory on several occasions, but the resilient duo of Taichi and ZSJ managed to break some close pinfalls.
YOSHI-HASHIおめでとう！#njwk16#njwk16Day1 #njpwworld #njpw pic.twitter.com/N1dH6GblGI
— TOHRU (@TOHRU0815) January 4, 2022
Taichi almost pulled off the victory following a Gedo Clutch in the closing stages. However, YOSHI-HASHI kicked out and kept his team in the match.
Eventually, YH nailed a Canadian Destroyer, followed by the GTR from Goto. The two CHAOS stars then teamed up for a combo neckbreaker for the win. With the victory, YOSHI-HASHI has won the IWGP Tag Team Championships for the first time in his career.
YOSHI-HASHI won his second-ever championship in NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 16
YOSHI-HASHI's previous title win in New Japan Pro Wrestling was when he, Tomihiro Ishii, and Hirooki Goto captured the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Titles.
In the build-up to Wrestle Kingdom 16, Goto and YOSHI-HASHI won the World Tag League 2021 and earned a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championships at the Tokyo Dome.
"WRESTLE KINGDOM 16 in TOKYO DOME" January 4th, 2022 Backstage comments!
— njpwworld (@njpwworld) January 5, 2022
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1/4(火) #njwk16 のBSコメントを #新日本プロレスワールド で無料公開中！本日も #njwk16Day2 16:00から生配信📡@abemiho0110 , @zacksabrejr & @taichi0319 pic.twitter.com/9NBug828bD
With their win, the CHAOS duo has now ended ZSJ and Taichi's third reign as the IWGP Tag Team Champions.
Former champions Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi won the tag titles in July at the NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome. The duo defended their titles once in a three-way against Goto & YOSHI-HASHI and SANADA & Tetsuya Naito.
After the match at Wrestle Kingdom 16, the Suzuki-gun duo of Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi showed respect towards the new champions. Taichi, especially, embraced YOSHI-HASHI for pulling off the surprising win.