New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) presented The New Beginning in Osaka yesterday in front of a Super No Vacancy house of 11,411 — more than doubling the attendance for the 2019 event. The high attendance brought an end to a lucrative The New Beginning tour, which spanned Japan and the United States.
The opening match saw Yuji Nagata, TenCozy (Satoshi Kojima/Hiroyoshi Tenzan), and the soon to be retiring Manabu Nakanishi capture a victory over Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe/Tomoaki Honma), Ryusuke Taguchi, and Toa Henare — in Nakanishi’s final match in Osaka. The former 3x IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and IWGP Heavyweight Champion will retire from in-ring competition on February 22nd. After the competitive match, Nakanishi gave a heartwarming address to the crowd — acknowledging he got his start in Osaka and thanking them for their support.
The third match saw Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and FinJuice (Juice Robinson/David Finlay) defeat the Bullet Club team of IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa), Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi when Tanahashi rolled Loa up with a Vertical Cradle, to put an end to what was an exciting match.
Bullet Club attacked their opponents after the match; however, Tanahashi and Ibushi will receive a championship match against the newly crowned IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions shortly on February 21st at New Japan Road.
The fourth match saw a preview of the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship match happening from York Hall in London on February 14th at High Stakes. The CHAOS team of Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay defeated the Suzuki-Gun Dangerous Tekkers team of Zack Sabre Junior (ZSJ)and Taichi. Despite falling to the Rainmaker technique, Taichi saw his stock rise during The New Beginning tour, he and ZSJ look to be a formidable duo in tag team and singles action.
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