Fans Set To Vote On Stipulations For Big NJPW Dominion Match
KOPW 2022 Provisional Trophy Holder Shingo Takagi and his NJPW Dominion opponent Taichi have presented the possible stipulations for this Sunday's KOPW 2022 match in Osaka. At a press conference on June 7th, the two competitors laid out their ideas and talked a little bit of trash. Starting at 8 am ET on Wednesday, fans will vote on social media, as to which of the two stipulations they would like to see on June 12th.
Taichi was the first to pitch his stipulation: A no time limit, limited-finishers, ten-count match. He then went on to explain what each part of the stipulation means.
No time limit is self-explanatory: there will be no time limit. The "limited finishers" stipulation refers to the two moves that both men have been using to beat each other since their last KOPW 2022 match on April 25th, which saw Takagi win the provisional trophy from Taichi. Taichi has beaten Takagi with the Gedo Clutch pin, while Takagi has made use of the Ground Cobra Twist pin lately. Under Taichi's proposed rules, these are the only two moves that either man would be able to use to obtain a pinfall. Which brings us to the "ten-count" stipulation.
The last time these two faced off they had to get a combined "thirty-count," meaning each wrestler must pin their opponent for a combined count before the match could end. The "thirty-count" match went nearly 35-minutes, and thus a much more streamlined "ten-count" has been proposed for this match.
Shingo Takagi's proposed stipulation was much simpler: A 10-minute unlimited pinfall scramble match. Both men wrestle for 10-minutes straight and the wrestler with the most pinfalls at the end wins.
"It's simple as can be. Whatever happens, ten minutes to settle it." Takagi said at the press conference, addressing the long-winded nature of the two men's last battle. "Last time, we had no time limits and a 30 count. I think in the opening moments of that we took our time a little as a result."
Taichi played dumb with Takagi's stipulation, and accused Takagi of stealing it from an NJPW YouTube program. Takagi instead insisted that his idea came out of wanting "Taichi to suffer." NJPW Dominion will take place on June 12th at 1am ET on NJPWWorld.