New Champions Crowned
The New Beginning tour saw two huge title changes. The IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles, as well as the NEVER Openweight Title both found new holders in Tokyo & Nagoya respectively.
In a rare heel vs. heel contest, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori upset IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado. A thrilling bout, that saw the division’s trademark athleticism on display, as ELP & Bone Soldier ended the Suzuki-gun tandem’s 134-day title reign. This is ELP & Ishimori’s 2nd IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
NJPW Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi won the NEVER Openweight Title on Jan. 30th. A historic 35+ minute war, the longest in the belts history, pushed both Tanahashi and former-champion Shingo Takagi to their physical limits. The win marks the first time that Hiroshi Tanahashi has held the cross-divisional title.
The Empire Makes Their Mark
Will Ospreay & The Great-O-Khan used the Road To New Beginning tour to reestablish themselves as a brutal force in NJPW. After a New Year’s Dash attack on Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima that sent Tenzan to the hospital, both teams spent the tour getting DQ and no contests, one after the other, in a vicious, heated rivalry, the likes of which hasn’t been see in a long time.
The brawls culminated in Nagoya, where Hiroyoshi Tenzan lost a staple of his offensive repetoire, The Mongolian Chop, while Satoshi Kojima was beaten to a pulp by the Commonwealth Kingpin. Neither team has been heard from, as they recover from their battle in Nagoya.
1/30
New Beginning In Nagoya
- CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano) def. Bullet Club (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) by pinfall. (7:40)
Toru Yano pinned Yujiro Takahashi via School Boy. - Master Wato, Kota Ibushi, SHO & Tomoaki Honma def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) by pinfall. (11:32)
SHO pinned BUSHI via Shock Arrow. - Custody of Mongolian Chop Match: Great-O-Khan def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan by pinfall via Eliminator. (12:45)
- No Disqualification Match: Will Ospreay def. Satoshi Kojima by pinfall via Stormbreaker. (16:57)
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi def. 31st Champion Shingo Takagi by pinfall via High Fly Flow. (35:40)
NEXT PAGE: Full Road To New Beginning Results
