IWGP Women’s Title match added to NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo

A new match has been added to the lineup for NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo. 

Mayu Iwatani will defend her IWGP Women’s Championship against Mina Shirakawa on the February 23 show, which will be night one of the two-night event. The news was announced at Stardom’s show in Osaka on Sunday. 

Shirakawa and Iwatani have met twice previously in singles competition. Iwatani defeated Shirakawa in both the 2021 and 2022 5Star Grand Prix tournaments. 

Iwatani defeated Mercedes Mone for the title at All-Star Grand Queendom last April. She has since defended it successfully against Hayashashita, Stephanie Vaquer, and Syuri. 

In Sunday’s subscriber exclusive by our own Dave Meltzer, it was noted that Iwatani is the only wrestler under a long-term contract with Stardom due to the upcoming movie on her life that is coming out. 

Iwatani teamed with AZM, Utami Hayashishita, and Nanae Takahashi on Sunday in a win over Giulia, MIRAI, Syrui, and Suzu Suzuki. 

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, Friday, February 23 —

  • Kazuchika Okada match TBA
  • IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends against Nic Nemeth
  • IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani vs. Mina Shirakawa
  • NJPW World TV Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defends against Matt Riddle
  • NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Shota Umino
  • El Desperado vs. SHO
  • Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku
  • Toru Yano & Tomoya vs. TBA

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, Saturday, February 24 —

  • Kazuchika Okada’s final NJPW appearance
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defends against SANADA
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI
  • BUSHI vs. TAKA Michinoku
  • Nic Nemeth & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay & Gedo
  • Toru Yano & Tomoya vs. TBA