This was a more athletic and complex version of the Evil and Tomohiro Ishii match it followed. While Hirooki Goto has his critics among the English speaking fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), he showed his high skill level and value on Saturday evening in Japan. Since his training at the NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo in early 2019, he regained the quickness he had when he was a junior heavyweight competitor over a decade ago.
Shingo Takagi showed his impressive blend of speed and power once again as he went blow for blow and counter for counter against Goto. With numerous matches of high quality on night-one of The New Beginning in Sapporo, it’s difficult to say the marquee match was the runaway match of the night — but it would be difficult to argue that another match was able to reach the caliber of brutality and technique which Goto/Shingo was able to reach.
Going into their match at night-one of The New Beginning in Sapporo, Goto and Shingo shared a 1-1 record against one another in singles competition. Their previous matches were at a high standard, but neither were quite as good as what fans of NJPW witnessed earlier today. The two have a remarkable chemistry with one another, aided by Goto’s ability to craft a solid narrative with anyone he wrestles one on one.
Shingo was able to defeat Goto in 20 minutes and 10 seconds after using his Last Of The Dragon technique to win his first singles championship in NJPW. His victory could begin a chapter where the NEVER Openweight Championship becomes a bigger draw for NJPW to use during tours. Since joining NJPW in October of 2018, Takagi has been protected for a time like this. His Best Of The Super Junior finals match drew 7,650 fans at Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall) last year when he lost to Will Ospreay.
There are numerous possibilities in front of Takagi as he embarks on his NEVER Openweight Championship reign. Toa Henare expressed his wishes to chase the title when speaking on the Kayfabe Brothers podcast recently. He would also take to Twitter after Shingo’s victory to acknowledge his desire to challenge the new champion.
https://twitter.com/HenareNZ/status/1223638061239529472?s=20
Tomohiro Ishii is another possible challenger for Shingo in the upcoming months. One-half of Roppongi 3K the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, Sho joined Japanese commentary for the match and could renew his rivalry against Shingo at some point in 2020. Shingo defeated Sho during the Best Of The Super Junior tournament last year after facing off on numerous ocassions within the junior heavyweight tag team division.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds in store for the NEVER Openweight Championship.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get TheOvertimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
