Night-one of The New Beginning in Sapporo just concluded in front of a crowd of 4,569 fans from the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center. While viewers on New Japan World saw a new style of promotional videos and camera angles to enhance an already top-shelf TV Asahi production — those in the arena had the opportunity to witness a great night of action live.
The opening match saw former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo of the Bullet Club defeat New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) continue their winning streak as they defeated NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yuya Uemura and Tiger Mask IV. The match saw several complex chain wrestling and submission sequences that drew reactions from the crowd.
Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma, and Togi Makabe defeated another NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yota Tsuji, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and the soon to be retired Manabu Nakanishi who will have his last match on the 22nd of this month, in the second match of the evening.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi 3K (Sho/Yoh), Will Ospreay, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated the Suzuki-Gun team of RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr (ZSJ)., Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, and Douki in a spirited Suzuki-Gun style brawl which filled the area with violence, a precursor of what was to come later in the night.
The fourth match highlighted Hiromu Takahashi’s V1 defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 9th against Ryu Lee. Unfortunately for the reigning champion, he and Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) unit mate Bushi were unable to defeat Ryu Lee and his partner Robbie Eagles, in what was a high-paced match with some hard-hitting action blending in with the flare of the current crop of NJPW’s junior heavyweights. Eagles pinned Hiromu to end Takahashi’s return match during the Road To Tokyo Dome tour on December 19th of last year. Therefore, Eagles is likely to be the next in line to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship after The New Beginning in Osaka.
The undercard was perfect in setting the table for what was to come in the headline and marquee matches later during the event.
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