Naito Earns GHC Heavyweight Title Shot At Shane Haste

Tetsuya Naito has punched his ticket to a GHC Heavyweight Championship match after defeating Kaito Kiyomiya on Pro Wrestling NOAH’s show on Saturday, July 18. The win sets up a showdown with reigning champion Shane Haste, who retained the title on the same card.

The victory comes shortly after Naito’s run with the GHC Tag Team Championship, which he held alongside BUSHI, came to an end. Rather than take a step back, the New Japan Pro-Wrestling star has immediately pivoted toward NOAH’s top singles prize, beating one of the promotion’s biggest homegrown stars in Kiyomiya to do it.

Naito’s continued presence in NOAH is part of the ongoing working relationship between the promotion and New Japan, which has seen a steady stream of talent exchanges and crossover matches in recent years. Adding a run at the GHC Heavyweight Championship to that mix would mark one of the more significant singles pushes Naito has had outside of his home promotion.

Haste, for his part, showed he’s not an easy out on the same show, successfully defending the title against his own challenger to keep the belt in NOAH hands. Now he’ll have to contend with one of wrestling’s most decorated stars looking to add the GHC Heavyweight Championship to his own résumé.

No date has been set yet for the title match, but with Naito already holding the win over Kiyomiya to earn his shot, it’s likely NOAH moves quickly to book the confrontation. Fans on both sides of the Japan-NOAH crossover will be watching closely to see whether Haste can hold off Naito’s bid for another championship.