Night-two of The New Beginning in Sapporo was able to eclipse the high standard set by the previous night in the Hokkaido Prefecture. 5,690 fans watched a night full of passionately intense action as New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) put forth a card headlined by Will Ospreay of CHAOS challenging Suzuki-Gun’s Zack Sabre Jr(ZSJ). for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship.
The opening match saw Toa Henare defeat NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yota Tsuji in what was a spirited effort by the current Young Lion. However, Henare showed his development over the past five months, continuing an impressive streak of solid victories. After the match, Henare made references to the English commentary crew regarding a potential challenge against new NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi.
The second match of the evening saw Tiger Mask IV, Manabu Nakanishi, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeat Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe/Tomoaki Honma) and NJPW Doge Dojo Young, Lion Yuya Uemura. Nakashi had several moments to shine during his final match in the Hokkaido Prefecture. He spoke to the crowd briefly after the conclusion of the contest thanking them for their support. Nakanishi will retire from active competition on February 22nd of this month.
The third match saw NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion Gabriel Kidd face El Phantasmo, two years to the day after the two wrestled in a singles match against one another in the United Kingdom. However, Kidd was not able to defeat the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion as he did in the past. El Phantasmo fought back Kidd and was able to win the match comfortably.
The fourth match saw the CHAOS team of Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, and Robbie Eagles against the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) team of NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions Bushi, Evil, and new NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi in a non-title match. The two teams meet on February 6th in a championship match.
The two teams wrestled at a quick pace as the animosity continued to boil over from one night before. Robbie Eagles was able to defeat Bushi with the Ron Miller Special on the second consecutive night to give his team an edge going into the title match next week. Of note, Ishii and Takagi squared off against one another in what could be a prelude to a NEVER Openweight match between the two shortly.
The fifth match continued the team of street style brawls associated with Suzuki-Gun as their team of Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Douki teamed together to face IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi 3K (Sho/Yoh), and Ryusuke Taguchi.
Suzuki and Moxley focused on one another as their fight continued from the night before drawing further attention to their The New Beginning in Sapporo championship match on February 9th. Roppongi 3K and Kanemaru/Desperado squared off against one another, but it was Taguchi who was able to defeat the much improved Douki to give his team the victory. English commentary made notes of The New Beginning in Osaka already being close to a Super No Vacancy Full House, an event boosted by a strong headline Moxley/Suzuki match as a setup to the ‘Double Championship’ marquee.
The sixth match was a prelude to the special singles match between Sanada/Jay White and the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental ‘Double Championship’ between champion Tetsuya Naito and challenger KENTA at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 9th.
The LIJ team of Naito, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, and Sanada defeated the Bullet Club team of Jay White, KENTA, and Taiji Ishimori. Sanada and Ishimori had a sleek exchange of chain and counter wrestling as the match concluded.
Both teams played far fewer mind games than the previous night, yet were able to get under one another’s skin as the build-up to Osaka continues.
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