Tag: njpw

THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA, New Japan’s first major event of February, is now in the books. And it was a new beginning indeed as the promotion said farewell to Will Ospreay (now headed full-time to All Elite Wrestling) and witnessed what likely is Ace vs. Rainmaker-The Final Chapter.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. This event aired live in Japan as part of WORLD PRO WRESTLING 2024 LIVE on TV Asahi.

The announced paid attendance was 5327, a legit advance sellout. Had they not blocked off about 1/4 of the seating for the stage & entrance area, it could have been even higher. (Also worth nothing that’s higher than the venue’s normal full capacity, which is 5000 for sumo)

Match 1L Yoh & Toru Yano beat Boltin Oleg & Ryusuke Taguchi. Yoh pinned Taguchi with Kid Clutch.

Match 2: YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Newman after Shoto.

Match 3: Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, Sho & EVIL beat Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, El Desperado & Shota Umino. Sho pinned TM 4 after Shock Arrow. Afterwards, Sho stole the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship belt from Desoerado and demanded a title match on 2/23. Desperado agreed…but with a potential stip: If Sho loses, he would leave House Of Torture (and thus Bullet Club) and join STRONG STYLE.

Match 4: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. SANADA beat BUSHI with Skull End.

Match 5: The Final Chapter-Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi. Afterwards, the two embraced in the ring to end their iconic 12 year rivalry between perhaps the two greatest ever in New Japan, or at least in our generation. Okada will appear at the doubleheader later this month in Hokkaido then he is headed elsewhere to continue his career-the rumor mills strongly suggest he is headed to All Elite Wrestling but that is not definite.

Match 6: Chase Owens & KENTA beat IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Hikuleo to win the titles. Owens & KENTA become the 101st IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. KENTA pinned Hikuleo after Taiji Ishimori interference and a belt shot.

Match 7: Zack Sabre Jr. beat Bryan Danielson (All Elite Wrestling). They went nearly 33 minutes.

Main Event: In a Dog Pound Cage Match with staggered alternating entries every 2 minutes, Drilla Moloney, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & David Finlay beat Francesco Akira, TJP, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay. Finlay pinned Ospreay after Overkill. 64 minutes of perhaps the most violence ever seen in New Japan. Afterwards, United Empire stayed behind for a final curtain call for Ospreay as this was his last match in New Japan as a full-time member before he heads to AEW full-time. But with the two promotions having a working agreement, the door will undoubtedly be open for The Aerial Assassin to come back now & then. And he promised the fans they would see him again.

The next event is NJPW PRESENTS CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2024, the (usually) annual crossover series with the CMLL promotion in Mexico, beginning tomorrow at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. The series will run every day over the next 8 days except Wednesday.

New Japan wrapped up the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING 2024 Tour today with a house show in Ibaraki.

Today’s event was held at Koga City Yes Central Athletic Park Hanamomo Gymnasium in Ibaraki. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 657.

Match 1: Shoma Kato & Boltin Oleg beat Katsuya Murashima & Yuji Nagata. Oleg pinned Murashima after Kamikaze.

Match 2: Toru Yano, Yoh & El Desperado beat Yujiro Yakahashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho. Yano pinned Takahashi.

Match 3: Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma & Shota Unino beat Dick Togo, Ren Narita & EVIL. Umino pinned Togo after Death Rider.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Ishimori pinned Jado.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, YOSHI-HASHI & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sabre beat TM 4.

Match 6: Dtilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay beat Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, HENARE, TJP & Great-O-Khan. Finlay pinned Newman after Overkill.

Main Event: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Ueamra, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. SANADA beat BUSHI with Skull End.

The next event is THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA Sunday at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Osaka. The event is a legit advance sellout. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET. The live broadcast is available OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY. This will be a live TV Asahi broadcast in Japan.

New Japan ran the penultimate event of the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING tour today.

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

The announced paid attendance was 889.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima & Boltin Oleg beat Shoma Kato & Toru Yano. Oleg pinned Kato after Kamikaze.

Match 2: Yujiro Takahashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho beat Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuji Nagata & El Desperado. Sho pinned Taguchi.

Match 3: Yoh, Tiger Mask & Shota Umino beat Dick Togo, Ren Narita & EVIL. Umino pinned Togo after Death Rider.

Match 4: Taiji Ishinori, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Ishimori pinned Jado.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, YOSHI-HASHI & Hiroshi Tamahashi. Sabre beat Honma with Clarky Cat.

Match 6: Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay beat Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP, HENARE & Great-O-Khan. Finlay pinned Newman after Overkill.

Main Event: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. SANADA beat BUSHI with Skull End.

The tour-ender is tomorrow at Koga City Yes Central Athletic Park Hanamomo Gym in Ibaraki. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING Tour today with the first of a few untelevised house shows this week.

Today’s event was held at Wing Hat Kusakabe in Saitama. There is/was no live or on demand broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 493.

There were last-minute changes to the card again due to the continued absences of Jeff Cobb, HENARE & Gabriel Kidd. All were to have been in Match 6, a 10-man tag match. Great-O-Khan was a replacement for Cobb & HENARE and it became an 8-man tag.

Match 1: Katsuya Murashima & Boltin Oleg beat Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma. Oleg pinned Kato after Kamikaze.

Match 2: Toru Yano, Yoh & El Desperado beat Yujiro Takahashi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Sho. Yano pinned Takahashi.

Match 3: Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuji Nagata & Shota Umino beat Dick Togo, Ren Narita & EVIL. Umino pinned Togo after Death Rider.

Match 4: Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Ishimori pinned Jado.

Match 5: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sabre beat TM 4 with Cattle Mutilation.

Match 6: Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay beat Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP & Great-O-Khan. Finlay pinned Newman after Overkill.

Main Event: BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, SHingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA. Naito pinned ? after Destino. (New Japan’s Japanese website currently doesn’t say who pinned who but from the finisher I know it was Naito. If I had to guess who took the fall it would be either TAKA or DOUKI. When/if I find out this will be updated)

The next event is Thursday at Iwaki City Gym in Fukushima. There will be no live or on demand broadcast.

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 FOR FREE! (Mobile/tablet users will likely need to download and use the NJPW WORLD app to watch, same for smart TVs) This was an ABEMA simulcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1015.

There were last-minute changes to the event following yesterday-HENARE & Gabriel Kidd were not medically cleared after their Double KO and Jeff Cobb remained out after a Bullet Club beatdown pre-event. He was off yesterday due to injury but appeared for a pre-event autograph session.

Pre-show Match: Katsuya Murashima vs. Shoma Kato went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 1: Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Jado, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. KENTA pinned Jado.

Match 2: Boltin Oleg, Yoh, Tomoaki Honma, El Desperado & Shota Umino beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, Sho & EVIL. Umino pinned Takahashi after Death Rider.

Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sabre beat Makabe with an armbar.

Match 4: Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP & Great-O-Khan beat Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay by DQ. Finlay DQ’d. Chair use.

Main Event: In an elimination match series with 10 minute time limits (more like a gauntlet match), Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji beat SANADA, DOUKI, TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Yuya Uemura. In the final deciding match, Tsuji beat Uemura. Afterwards, Tsuji requested his 2/24 match against Uemura be changed to a Hair vs. Hair Deathmatch, and then set his sights on Naito and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship after that. But first Naito has to defend against SANADA and Tsuji presumably would have to win the New Japan Cup…

The next event is tomorrow at Wing Hat Kusakabe in Saitama. There will be no live or on demand broadcasts. In fact, there are no more broadcasts for the tour. The next live broadcast is THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA on Sunday at Osaka Prefectural Gym in Tokyo beginning at midnight PT/3 AM ET. The New Japan World broadcast will be available OUTSIDE JAPAN ONLY. This will be a TV Asahi live broadcast in Japan.

UPDATE: Cobb, Kidd & HENARE are all off tomorrow now. They were to have been in a 10-man tag match. Great-O-Khan is a replacement for Cobb/HENARE and it’s now an 8-man tag. Also, for 2/24 the Tsuji-Uemura Hair vs. Hair Match is now official. The loser loses his hair.

New Japan continued the Road To THE NEW BEGINNING tour today with the first 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.

The announced paid attendance was 1433, a legit sellout.

There was a last-minute change to the card today because Jeff Cobb was removed a few hours before due to injury. Left thigh. He was to have faced Alex Coughlin. Great-O-Khan was the replacement. Cobb still was at a pre-event autograph session…and reportedly got a Bullet Club beatdown there.

Match 1: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, Sho & EVIL beat Boltin Oleg, Togi Makabe, YOSHI-HASHI, El Desperado & Shota Umino. EVIL pinned Makabe after EVIL. After the match, EVIL went nWo on the NEVER Openweight Championship, spraying the belt with black spray paint.

Match 2: Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens & KENTA beat Tomoaki Honma, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo. Owens pinned Honma after a package piledriver.

Match 3: Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sabre beat Taguchi with a sleeper hold.

Match 4: TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA beat BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito. Uemura beat Tsuji with an armbar.

Match 5: Great-O-Khan beat Alex Coughlin.

Match 6: HENARE vs. Gabriel Kidd went to a Double KO.

Match 7: David Finlay beat Callum Newman.

Main Event: Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors beat IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Francesco Akira & TJP to win the titles. Moloney & Connors become the 75th IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Connors pinned Akira after Full Clip. Bullet CLub stands tall again and of course sends the crowd home very unhappy.

The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET, and you can watch live and on demand FOR FREE! This will be an ABEMA simulcast in Japan.