Katsuhiko Nakajima retains AJPW Triple Crown Championship, will face NXT’s Charlie Dempsey on January 3rd

December 31, 2023 Neal Flanagan NEWS
Photo Courtesy: AJPW

Katsuhiko Nakajima successfully defended his AJPW Triple Crown Championship on Sunday and will go on to face NXT’s Charlie Dempsey on January 3rd.

Nakajima was victorious against Kento Miyahara in the main event of ‘AJPW MANIAx’ at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo.

Sporting a short-cropped haircut, Nakajima was flanked by legendary booker Hisashi Shinma as he came to the ring.

Shinma, 88, was a past Chairman of NJPW who worked closely with Antonio Inoki in its formative years. He also preceded Jack Tunney as the on-screen President of the World Wrestling Federation from 1979 to 1984.

Nakajima retained his title by forcing a submission from Miyahara at the end of a 25-minute match.

All Japan stages its two-day New Year Giant Series on January 2nd and 3rd, with Nakajima defending his title again on day two, this time against Charlie Dempsey of NXT.

Dempsey was revealed as NXT’s candidate to challenge for the title by his father, William Regal. Dempsey prevailed in a tag match on Sunday’s card, teaming with Yuma Anzai against Tatsumi Fujinama & LEONA.

Elsewhere on the card, El Lindaman lost his AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title to Dan Tamura. Yoshitatsu also announced that he was leaving the promotion.

AJPW MANIAx 2023 results (courtesy of Purolove)

  • Minoru Tanaka , Naruki Doi & Koji Iwamoto def. Black Menso-re, Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe
  • Takao Omori, Ryuki Honda & Ryo Inoue def. Mitsuya Nagai, Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi
  • Yuma Aoyagi & Yoshitatsu def. Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe
  • Jun Saito def. Rei Saito
  • Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana def. Shotaro Ashino & T-Hawk
  • Yuma Anzai & Charlie Dempsey def. Tatsumi Fujinami & LEONA
  • AJPW vs. DDT: Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima def. Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO
  • AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Dan Tamura defeats El Lindaman (c)
  • Minoru Suzuki, Davey Boy Smith Jr & Hokuto Omori def. Suwama, Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato
  • AJPW Triple Crown Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) def. Kento Miyahara
About Neal Flanagan 1035 Articles
Based in Northern Ireland, Neal Flanagan is a former newspaper journalist and copy editor. In addition to reporting for POST Wrestling, he co-hosts The Wellness Policy podcast with Wai Ting and Jordan Goodman.
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