Open The Forbidden Gate

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today in Fukushima.

Today’s event was held at Toyota Crown Arena in Fukushima. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 713.

Match 1: Shoma Kato beat Masatora Yasuda.

Match 2: Katsuya Murashima & Tiger Mask beat Tatsuya Matsunoto & Tomoaki Honma. Murashima pinned Matsunoto.

Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Boltin Oleg, Jackson pinned Taguchi after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 4: Master Wato, Yoh, Toru Yano & Aaron Wolf beat Dick Togo, DOUKI, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.

Match 5: El Deaperado, Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino beat Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Desperado pinned Nagai after Pinche Loco.

Match 6: Jacob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Callum Newman beat Gedo, Robbie X, Drilla Moloney & Yota Tsuji. Khan beat Gedo with Domination Claw.

Main Event: Taiji Ishimori, Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji beat Zane Jay, Francesco Akira & Jake Lee. Tsuji pinned Jay after Gene Blaster. This apparently was Takahashi’s final main event before leaving New Japan next week.

The next event is Saturday at Habikino City Sports Center in Osaka. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

In other news, after a couple days of teasing Syuri vs. Athena for the IWGP Women’s Championship…it’s now official. That match will happen on 2/27 at THE NEW BEGINNING USA.

UPDATE: Injury Report-the promotion now says Moloney was injured today or yesterday. Right triceps. For now he will finish the tour per his request and will be closely monitored by doctors so subject to change.

New Japan finished another tumultuous day for the promotion with the next event on the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour and now impromptu farewell house show series for the departing Hiromu Takahashi. And in not-as-bad news, the announcement that two Young Lions will soon depart for their traditional overseas training excursions.

Today’s event was held at Iwaki City General Gym in Fukushima. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 742.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima beat Masatora Yasuda.

Match 2: Ryusuke Taguchi & El Desperado beat Shona Kato & Tiger Mask. Desperado beat Kato with Nunero Dos.

Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tatsuya Matsumoto, Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto. Jackson pinned Matsumoto after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 4: Master Wato, Yoh, Toru Yano & Aaron Wolf beat Dick Togo, DOUKI, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.

Match 5: Robbie X, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Tomoaki Honma, Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino. OSKAR beat Honma with a nightmare hold.

Match 6: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman beat Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Hiromu Takahashi & David Finlay. Khan beat Gedo with Iron Claw.

Main Event: Daiki Nagai, Drilla Moloney & Yota Tsuji beat Zane Jay, HENARE & Jake Lee. Tsuji pinned Jay after Gene Blaster.

The next event is tomorrow at Toyota Crown Arena in Fukushima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast

It’s traditional for New Japan Young Lions (rookies and second-year wrestlers) to head overseas after their first or second year for more training, although that’s not always the case (Kosei Fujita didn’t). Two more are about to embark on that next step of their careers-Katsuya Murashima, who just won the Young Lions Cup, and Shoma Kato are about to leave for their traditional excursions. Murashima will have his pre-departure match at THE NEW BEGINNING on 2/11 in Osaka, which will be Murashima & Kato vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano. Murashima’s training destination is undecided. Kato will depart after the CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2026 finale on 2/27 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with a match TBA, then he will head to Mexico which probably means CMLL.

It’s not known how long they’ll be gone but these training excursions usually last anywhere from a few months to 1-2 years.

UPDATE: Kato has been confirmed as going to CMLL.

The stunning exodus from New Japan continues…word just broke within the past hour that Hiromu Takahashi will be the latest to unexpectedly depart the promotion. No specific reason given beyond “After careful consideration and discussions with NJPW management, Hiromu Takahashi, who has been a long standing member of the NJPW roster, has decided to leave the promotion”. His final event will be THE NEW BEGINNING on 2/11. No word yet on future plans although he did make several appearances in Pro Wrestling NOAH the last few months and obviously this could open the door to a now-Los Tranquilos De Japon reunion with Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI. We shall see but this is another huge blow to the early days of the new Hiroshi Tanahashi regime.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Some more details are emerging from various social media outlets, some offering rumors & speculation as to why he’s leaving: First, the seemingly official reason-contract expiring and not being renewed. Takahashi reportedly says he is leaving on good terms and it’s not due to dissatisfaction with the promotion and even calls it a “super positive departure”. Also claims it has nothing to do with the departures of Tetsuya Naito & EVIL. The emergence of “a new dream” was a deciding factor, and speculation that, given his age (36) with 15 years in the promotion and also being active in TV and other media that it was time to make a move.

A translation of the below post is the primary source for a lot of this, however I do note this account does not appear to be affiliated with New Japan despite the handle suggesting it, so treat it as unofficial:

Additionally, Takahashi will remain part of/involved with independent promotion SUGAMO Pro Wrestling, which is a comedy-themed promotion based in Tokyo. The promotion confirmed this in their own statement. I was not aware of this until seeing a Twitter post just now.

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the second half of a Tokyo doubleheader.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on TouTube.

The announced paid attendance was 1073.

Match 1: Masatora Yasuda, Yuya Uenura & Shota Umino beat Daiki Nagai, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby). Uemura pinned Nagai after a dragon lariat.

Match 2: Master Wato, Yoh, Toru Yano & Aaron Wolf beat Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & Ren Narita. Wato beat Togo with Vendeval.

Match 3: Jacob Austin Young, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman beat Gedo, Hiromu Takahashi & David Finlay. Akira pinned Takahashi after Crown Fall.

Match 4: Robbie X, Taiji Ishmori, Drilla Moloney & Yota Tsuji beat Zane Jay, Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jake Lee. Moloney pinned Jay after Drilla Killer.

Match 5: Boltin Oleg beat Hartley Jackson.

Match 6: Zack Sabre Jr. beat YOSHI-HASHI.

Main Event: Hirooki Goto beat Ryohei Oiwa.

The next event is tomorrow at Iwaki City General Gym in Fukushima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast. Unless plans change (maybe for Sunday at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2) the rest of the tour is non-televised events.