The New Beginning tour continued after the two-night The New Beginning in Sapporo events on February 1st and February 2nd. With the focus now turning to The New Beginning in Osaka on February 9th, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) take to three events at the famous Korakuen Hall, the first of which occurred on February 4th at Korakuen Hall.
The first match saw Ryusuke Taguchi defeat NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion Gabriel Kidd, who is a native of the United Kingdom. Kidd showed a solid foundation in competing against the veteran Taguchi. English commentary mentioned Taguchi plays an important role during the NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion selection process, which previously wasn’t public knowledge to the English speaking NJPW community.
The second match saw former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori of the Bullet Club defeat NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion, Yuya Uemura. The Korakuen live audience gave Uemura numerous large reactions as his spirit showed against his accomplished adversary. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe/Tomoaki Honma) defeated NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yota Tsuji and Toa Henare in the next contest. Henare continued to show his improvement and reiterated his desire to challenge the new NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi in the future.
The fourth match saw Manabu Nakanishi and Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeat the Suzuki-Gun team of Minoru Suzuki and Douki. At The New Beginning in Osaka, Suzuki challenges IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley in the headline slot of the event. The advance of the event is likely already over 11,800 tickets, and a Super No Vacancy Full House of over 12,000 fans is expected.
The fifth match saw the CHAOS team of Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, and Robbie Eagles fall short against the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) team of IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi, and Evil. Eagles who defeat Bushi with the Ron Miller Special on both nights of The New Beginning in Sapporo was pinned by a Hirmou cradle. Eagles pinned Hirmou during his return match to NJPW on December 19, 2019.
LIJ was not able to keep the momentum as the team of IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ Tetsuya Naito, Sanada, and Bushi were unable to defeat the Bullet Club team of KENTA, Jay White, and El Phantasmo in the sixth match of the event. Sanda/Jay White and Naito/KENTA will meet at The New Beginning in Osaka in highly anticipated matches — KENTA’s challenge for the ‘Double Championship’ has garnered enough buzz since Wrestle Kingdom 14 to lead the event to a likely full house.
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