Yuya Uemura Upsets Fellow NJPW 'Young Lion' At Wrestle Kingdom 18

NJPW Lion's Gate graduates Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura battled each other on their respective Wrestle Kingdom main card debuts at Wrestle Kingdom 18. Uemura snagged the win on Thursday, upsetting his fellow "Young Lion" in his biggest match post-excursion. 

The match opened with chain wrestling back and forth, but as they separated, Uemura charged at his opponent. Tsuji caught him with a spine buster, swiftly following up with a tope suicida to the floor. When back in the ring, Yota Tsuji had almost won with an electric chair drop, but Uemura regained control with an arm drag and dropkick, followed by a backdrop. An ascent to the top rope for Uemura allowed Tsuji to take back control, going for his Gene Blast finisher but for a reversal. Tsuji hit a curb stomp after a pin attempt, but a second attempt saw Uemura reverse with a suplex which gained a near-fall. 

Yuya Uemura took advantage of the situation, landing another deadbolt suplex to score the deciding pinfall. Uemura and Tsuji came through together in 2018 as NJPW "Young Lions" and have spent the last couple of years on learning excursions to the USA, Mexico, and the UK, with Wrestle Kingdom 18 celebrating their return to Japan.

Check out Wrestling Inc.'s live coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 18 here