Post by MAX Office on Apr 4, 2019 17:19:04 GMT -5
The Royal Road Championship is designed to showcase pro-wrestling at its purest. A creation of former General Manager Masaaki "Genki" Sano, who was a huge fan of in-ring technicians, said that he had long wanted to create a belt "where fighters compete on the foundation of professional wrestling" but former owner Chikashi Enatsu, who preferred more glitz and glamour, did not support the move. So as soon as Enatsu liquidated his ownership in November 2018, Sano began plans to commission the title.
As MJPW embarked upon its worldwide super tour, TOUKON ROAD, the first leg of the tournament feature the inaugural tournament for the new championship. Sixteen fighters competed, consisting of eight members of the regular roster and eight freelance and dojo students, but in the end it was heavyweight "Mountain" Shinjiro Nakama versus junior heavyweight "Burning Heart" James Edwards in the final round. A mighty battle did ensue, but ultimately - the Mountain could not be denied.
Unlike the Heavyweight and Jr. Heavyweight titles, this is an Openweight title - meaning fighters from either weight class can compete for it.
The Royal Road title also has a slight variance of rules from other titles:
- 30 minute time limit
- If the time limit expires, the match goes to a panel of three judges who score the fighters on technical ability shown in the match.
- There are no ring outs. If a fighter falls out by accident, the match is stopped and restarted if the fighter is able to continue, but if a fighter exits the ring on purpose then a disqualification will occur.
- The fight can also be fought under the company’s “sport form” rules which emphasize the shoot-style element of combat. In this case, the above rules are rendered null and the “sport form” rules are fully adopted in their place.
SHINJIRO NAKAMA
2/23/2019 in New Delhi, India - ?? Days as Champion
Defeats James Edwards by pinfall in 18:38 with a high-angle German suplex hold to win a tournament to become the first champion.
V1 - Defeats Hiro Minamoto by pinfall in 15:59 with a running knee strike on 3/9/2019 in Stockholm, Sweden.
V2 - defeats AJ Knight by judges' decision (split) in 30:00 on 3/20/2019 in Paris, France.
V3 - defeats GRIM by pinfall in 13:58 with a running knee strike on 3/30/2019 in Vienna, Austria.
V4 - defeats Chris Ravenna by pinfall in 25:33 with a high-angle German suplex hold on 4/13/2019 on the TOUKON Sakura Maru in the Pacific Ocean.