The Road to The New Beginning continued on January 28th from the Nices Arena (Yurihonjo Arena) in Akita, Japan. The event drew a crowd of 1,431 as New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) prepares for a big first nine days of February.
NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yota Tsuji defeated NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion Gabriel Kidd during the first match of the night. The second match saw Bullet Club members and former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo defeat Tiger Mask IV and his protege NJPW Noge Dojo Young Liion Yuya Uemura.
Great Bash Heel (G.B.H.) [Togi Makabe/Tomoaki Honma] defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Manabu Nakanishi in the third match. The fourth match saw another preview of The New Beginning in Osaka Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match, where Roppongi 3k (Sho/Yoh) will make their V1 defense of the title against Suzuki-Gun members Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado. However, the challengers were successful in another trios match on the 28th when they and Minoru Suzuki defeated Roppongi 3k and Toa Henare.
The fifth match again highlighted the second of two headline matches for night-one of The New Beginning in Sapporo, and the marquee match for the event. Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomohiro Ishii, and NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto defeated the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) team of Bushi, Evil, and Shingo Takagi. Evil and Ishii meet on February 1st in Osaka, and Goto makes his V1 defense against Takagi the same night.
Per custom during the tour, the night-two headline and marquee matches were highlighted in the sixth match. The CHAOS team of Robbie Eagles, Will Ospreay, and Kazuchika Okada defeated Douki, Taichi, and RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr (ZSJ). Ospreay challenges ZSJ for his championship on February 2nd while Taichi and Okada face in a special singles match.
The marquee match on the 28th saw the LIJ team of Sanda, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takashi, and IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ Tetsuya Naita defeat the Bullet Club team of Gedo, Jay White, and KENTA. On February 9th at The New Beginning in Osaka Sanada and Jay White meet in one of the headline matches while KENTA makes the V1 challenge against Naito for the ‘Double Championship.’
The next Road to The New Beginning event is today from the New Amori Prefecture Sports Park Maeda Arena.
