The New Beginning series takes a look at both New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) New Beginning tours taking place in Japan and the United States.
The second stop in The New Beginning USA tour sees New Japan of America (NJoA) travel to Nashville, Tennesse where the War Memorial Auditorium will place host.
While Colt Cabana and Toru Yano team to take on Clark Connors and TJP, Yoshi-Hashi faces Karl Fredericks, and the team of Alex Coughlin/Ren Narita meets Misteriso and Alex Zayne — three singles matches stand out.
Former Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) World Champion, Ring Of Honor (ROH) Television Champion, and NEVER Openweight Champion Jeff Cobb faces former 2x NEVER Openweight Six-Man Team Champion, All Asia Tag Team Champion, National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Champion, 7x International Wrestling Grand Prix Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, 3x All Japan Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Champion, NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 2x Triple Crown Champion, and 2x IWGP Heavyweight Champion — Satoshi Kojima.
This is the first time Cobb and Kojima will face off in singles competition in what could be dubbed ‘The Battle Of Impressive Accolades.’ Cobb would like to continue his impressive form after he and Mikey Nicholls had an impressive World Tag League run to finish 2019. On the other hand, Kojima wants to prove that he remains a threat in NJPW.
Yuji Nagata who is the only person to win the G1 Climax (2001) [NJPW], Champion Carnival (2011) [AJPW], and Global League/N-1 Victory (2013). Added to his legacy are his two New Japan Cup victories (2007, 2011) to go along with a plethora of championship victories. Nagata will wrestle former IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Lance Archer for the first time in the fifth match of the night.
Archer will attempt to move one step closer to earning a future championship match after losing the title to Jon Moxley on night-one of Wrestle Kingdom 14, while Nagata will look to begin one last run in his historic career.
Former NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champion, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, NEVER Openweight Champion, and IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion has his highest-profile singles match since losing to Juice Robinson in the first round of the 2018 New Japan Cup. Yujiro takes on the former RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, 2x IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and 8x IWGP Heavyweight Champion — Hiroshi Tanahashi.
A victory for Tanahashi puts him back on the right path after losing to AEW World Champion Chris Jericho on night-two of Wrestle Kingdom 14. A victory for Yujiro would nearly guarantee his placement in this year’s New Japan Cup.
The marquee match of the night sees NJPW/CHAOS (Rocky Romero, Kota Ibushi, and IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions FinJuice [Juice Robinson/David Finlay]) meet Bullet Club (Jado, Chase Owens, and Guerrillas Of Destiny [Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa]).
