New Japan’s first official (post-Tokyo Dome) blowout event of the year, THE NEW BEGINNING, is now in the books.
Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY on New Japan World. This event aired in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING LIVE 2025 exclusively on TV Asahi.
The announced paid attendance was 5502, a legit advance sellout. If indeed legit that’s maximum capacity and then some as the venue’s normal full capacity, which is primarily for sumo, is roughly 5000.
Pre-show match: Jeff Cobb & Francesco Akira beat Katsuya Murashima & El Desperado. Akira pinned Desperado.
Match 1: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Togi Makabe.
Match 2: Drilla Moloney beat Shingo Takagi.
Match 3: Great-O-Khan beat Shota Umino. Afterwards, Umino cut off his hair.
Match 4: SANADA beat Taichi. Afterwards, a post-match Bullet Club beatdown on Taichi occurred until Yuya Uemura returned from injury to make the save.
Match 5: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles beat Rocky Romero & Yoh to retain the titles. Fujita pinned Romero after Abandon Hope. V1 for the champs. Next up: Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X.
Match 6: NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita beat Boltin Oleg to retain the title. V3 for Takeshita. Next up: Ryohei Oiwa.
Match 7: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito beat IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Matt & Nick Jackson to win the titles. Takahashi & Naito become the 107th IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Naito pinned Nick Jackson after Destino. This may be the first time, or first time in a long time, a Junior Heavyweight (Takahashi) holds half of the Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
Match 8: IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd went to a Double KO. As a result, Tsuji retains the title.V2 for Tsuji. Afterwards, EVIL made a surprise return after vanishing following the 1/11 event in the US and, after a beatdown on Kidd, announced that Kidd and the rest of the War Dogs sub-faction are out of Bullet Club. It’s almost all about House Of Torture now outside of maybe Ishimori & Gedo.
Main Event: Hirooki Goto beat IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. to win the title. Goto becomes the 12th IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. The one New Japan title that has eluded him for 23 years and 8 prior tries no longer does…Bridesmaid no more. Goto celebrated with his children in the ring afterwards and dedicated the victory to his late father. Next/first up: Based on backstage comments/happenings, Goto wanted to give Tanahashi one last shot at the title before President Ace retires at Tokyo Dome 2026. If what they said proves true, that match will happen on 3/6. And if Goto retains, he then vowed to defend against the oldest at 56 years old, Yuji Nagata, who will do his best to defy father time and the odds yet again like he did a few years ago when he won the All-Japan Triple Crown. What’s New Is…Old Again? However, the New Japan Cup is right around the corner too so plans could change.
The next event is CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2025, the (usually) annual crossover showcase featuring wrestlers from Mexico’s CMLL promotion (which is a partner of New Japan), starting on 2/19 at Kadoma Sports Center in Osaka. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. This year’s series consists of 8 events total but only the last 2 (both at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo) will be available on New Japan World.
UPDATE: It’s now official. Goto-Tanahashi will happen on 3/6 for the title. Also added to 3/6 is El Desperado vs. Francesco Akira for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship & NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. TBA for the title with TBA being an open challenge.
