After skipping their traditional west coast visit first, much to my dismay after attending last year, New Japan begins their 2026 US slate today with the second event of their unique same-day doubleheader, “THE NEW BEGINNING IN USA”. On paper it’s a blowout event and more with 6 title matches being advertised-5 of them are New Japan title matches. First up is a STRONG Openweight Championship match as Tomohiro Ishii defends against Boltin Oleg. The second one is NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo defending the title against Konosuke Takeshita. Third, IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) defend their titles against the All Elite Wrestling duo of Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun. In the Semfiinal, IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri is challenged by Athena in a potential show-stealer. And finally, the main event will be Yota Tsuji defending the IWGP Global Championship against Andrade El Idolo. But not the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, at least not that we know of.
Today’s event will be held at Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton, NJ and can be watched LIVE as a PPV on New Japan World in Japanese & English. The PPV is available outside Japan for $19.99 US and in Japan for 2990 Japanese yen (just under $20).and includes the live broadcast and unlimited on demand replays until 4/30/2026 (subject to change). A paid monthly New Japan World subscription IS NOT REQUIRED to buy the PPV. There are 8 matches scheduled and with 6 title matches there is marathon potential and potentially a late night ahead for those attending given the start time-it could run as long as 6 hours but I’m guessing the total running time will be closer to 4 hours. Also, due to potential delays in my post-work commute and an early start time for me there could be a delay of a few minutes in early results as I would be watching from the beginning and playing catch-up.
Today’s lineup:
Fred Rosser vs. David Finlay
STRONG Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Boltin Oleg for the title
AEW National Champion Ricochet vs. Taiji Ishimori for the title
KUSHIDA & El Desperado vs. Alec Price & Jordan Oliver
NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the title*
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto Ice vs. Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun for the titles
IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. Athena for the title
IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Andrade El Idolo for the title**
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET (Made it home in time so live results from the start).
*-You will also be able to watch this match on demand FOR FREE on YouTube at a later date.
**This match is only for the Global title and not the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The next Heavyweight title defense was announced yesterday for SAKURA GENESIS on 4/4 in Tokyo against the 2026 New Japan Cup winner.
5 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton, NJ. Commentary will begin after the opening video with today’s lineup.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The venue’s full capacity is over 8000 but as of today the setup was for roughly 3000 with ticket sales as of midday at an estimated 2600. We’ll see if same-day pushes it up to a sellout but I’m going to go a little short and predict a crowd of 2800. (It did previously sell out a couple times and additional seats were added) (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 2605)
The matches will begin shortly.
The matches begin at 5:03 PM PT/8:03 PM ET. Your Japanese hosts-working remotely in Japan-are an unnamed host whose name I didn’t catch (Haruo Murata is likely at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo for a Stardom event in about 90 minutes), Milano Collection A.T., Miki Motoi (Yayyy!) & Shingo Takagi (DA DA DAAAA!). Your English hosts are Walker Strewart & Veda Scott.
Match 1: Fred Rosser vs. David Finlay. 15 minute time limit
Result: David Finlay beat Fred Rosser. Afterawrds, Finlay with microphone. He took in crowd chants but ultimately threw down the microphone without saying anything and left. OSKAR & Yuto Ice were standing at the entrance and did a 2 Sweet with him.
Match 2: STRONG Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Boltin Oleg for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Boltin Oleg beat STRONG Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii to win the title. Oleg becomes the 9th STRONG Openweight Champion.
Match 3: AEW National Champion Ricochet vs. Taiji Ishimori for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: AEW National Champion Ricochet beat Taiji Ishimori to retain the title.
Match 4: KUSHIDA & El Desperado vs. Alec Price & Jordan Oliver. 30 minute time limit
Result: KUSHIDA & El Desperado beat Alec Price & Jordan Oliver. Desperado pinned Price after Pinche Loco.
Match 5: NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the title. 15 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw. As a result, Phantasmo retains the title. V7 for Phantasmo. Afterwards, Phantasmo with microphone. After heavy boos, he teases 5 more minutes. Which led to…
Match 5 (continued): NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the title. 5 minute time limit
Result: Konosuke Takeshita beat NJPW WORLD TV Champion El Phantasmo to win the title. Takeshita becomes the 10th NJPW WORLD TV Champion. Guess 5 more minutes backfired. But it at least salvaged what was otherwise a disappointing match before the end. Phantasmo was closing in on the record for longest reign to date, which is one year (Zack Sabre Jr. during inaugural title reign) but has to settle for 10 months and second-most defenses, although his 7 was nowhere near Sabre’s record of 16.
Match 6: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) vs. Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto Ice beat Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun to retain the titles. Ice pinned Kaun after KOB. V4 for the champs.
Match 7: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. Athena for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri beat Athena to retain the title. V2 for Syuri.
After Syuri left, a promo video was shown for the potential next challenger…Alex Windsor. For the STRONG Women’s Championship. That match apparently will happen at a Pro Wrestling EVE event on 3/8 in London, England.
Main Event: IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Andrade El Idolo for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Main Event: IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji beat Andrade El Idolo by submission to retain the title. V3 for Tsuji. Afterwards, Tsuji did the closing promo in English.
A good show overall but a couple matches mostly disappointed and the main event finish was anticlimactic-a Boston Crab of all things. Still worth the $20 for the replay.
The next US event currently is scheduled for 4/16 in Las Vegas for an El Desperado Produced event. After that it’s looking like the next one will be Chicago in August for a G1 CLIMAX-type event.
The next event is the New Japan Cup, the annual March openweight single tournament, starting on Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. All Cup events will be available live & on demand.
2/28/2026 UPDATE: You can now watch Phantasmo-Takeshita DOR FREE on YouTube.