Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Junior Heavyweight Championship will be defended this weekend at NJPW Destruction in Kobe.

Earlier this month, Hiromu Takahashi captured the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, and now his first defense is set for Sunday when he meets Taiji Ishimori. The match came about after Ishimori pinned Takahashi during a six-man tag on the Road to Destruction tour.

NJPW highlighted the historic nature of this defense, noting it will be the first time the GHC Junior Heavyweight title has been defended in an NJPW ring since April 27, 2004, when Jushin Thunder Liger defended against Kotaro Suzuki in Hiroshima.

Takahashi had already been booked to defend against NOAH’s Eita on October 11 at Ryogoku, but with this impromptu title bout now added, he explained that the winner of Sunday’s match will face Eita. Ishimori has agreed to the challenge on the condition that if he wins, he will only defend the belt in New Japan. Takahashi’s victory to claim the title was already met with controversy, and his decisions have sparked frustration among members of the NOAH roster.

For Ishimori, this fight is a return to familiar ground. A former NOAH standout, he has previously held the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship three times, with his last reign in 2017.

Meanwhile, NJPW’s own Junior Heavyweight Championship picture is heating up as DOUKI has declared his intentions to challenge El Desperado. The two will meet in 10-man tag action on the same card in Kobe.

Destruction in Kobe streams live on NJPW World this Sunday, September 28, at 3 a.m. Eastern time.

Updated card for NJPW Destruction in Kobe:

• IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita

• IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Gabe Kidd vs. Shingo Takagi

• Yota Tsuji vs. David Finlay

• GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori

• IWGP Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii & Taichi vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice

• NEVER Openweight Champion Oleg Boltin vs. Don Fale

• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan

• El Desperado, YOH, Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura & YOSHI-HASHI vs. DOUKI, SHO, EVIL, SANADA & Dick Togo