New Japan ran the first half of THE NEW BEGINNING IN SAPPORO today, kicking off a big weekend doubleheader in chilly Hokkaido with title matches and major single matches.
Today’s event was held at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kita Yell in Hokkaido and can be watched on demand on New Japan World in Japanese and English.
The announced paid attendance was 3073.
Match 1: Great-O-Khan beat Oskar Leube by submission.
Match 2: Ryohei Oiwa, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki beat Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi, Sho & EVIL. Narita beat Togo with a cobra twist.
Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yuto Nakashima, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto. Fujita beat Nakashima with a double armlock.
Match 4: Master Wato, Hikuleo, Tama Tonga & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, KENTA & Jay White. Wato pinned Ishimori.
Match 5: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Shingo Takagi beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada. Takagi pinned Taguchi after Last of the Dragon.
Match 6: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Francesco Akira & TJP beat DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru to retain the titles. Akira pinned DOUKI after Fireball. V4 for the champs.
Match 7: Will Ospreay beat Taichi.
Main Event: Tetsuya Naito beat Shota Umino. This went over 32 minutes.
The second half of the doubleheader is tomorrow with 3 title matches including the first defense of the NJPW WORLD TV Championship. Live streaming on New Japan World in Japanese and English will begin TONIGHT at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. Live results will be posted here.
