NJPW announces Kazuchika Okada’s farewell matches

Kazuchika Okada’s final two matches in NJPW have been announced.

The company released full cards for their upcoming New Beginning in Sapporo cards on February 23 and 24. Okada will team with his fellow CHAOS stablemates in two ten man tags against members of the United Empire.

February 23 will see Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH take on Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman. In his final match with the company on February 24, Okada will team with Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ishii, Goto, and YOSHI-HASHI against Matt Riddle, Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Henare, and Akira.

Tama Tonga’s final match with NJPW will also be held on the 24th. He will team with Tanga Loa to take on fellow Guerillas of Destiny stablemates Hikuleo and ELP.

The singles match between El Desperado and SHO on the 23rd has now been turned into a title match after SHO stole the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title during The New Beginning in Osaka on Sunday.

Here are the full cards for both nights of The New Beginning in Sapporo:

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

  • IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends against Nic Nemeth
  • NJPW World TV Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defends against Matt Riddle
  • NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Shota Umino
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado defends against SHO
  • IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani vs. Mina Shirakawa
  • Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, and BUSHI vs. SANADA, Taka Michinoku, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI, and Taka Michinoku
  • Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH vs. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Henare, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman
  • Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, and Boltin Oleg vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, and Ren Narita
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Yuji Nagata
  • Toru Yano & Tomoya vs. Tomoaki Honma & Katsuya Murashima

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

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defends against SANADA
  • Hair vs. hair: Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI
  • BUSHI vs. TAKA Michinoku
  • Nic Nemeth & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay & Gedo
  • Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) vs. Guerillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo and Hikuleo)
  • Kazuchika Okada’s NJPW farewell match: Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Matt Riddle, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Henare, and Francesco Akira
  • Shota Umino, El Desperado, Togi Makabe, YOH, and Boltin Oleg vs. EVIL, SHO, Ren Narita, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi
  • Toru Yano & Tomoya vs. Tomoaki Honma & Katsuya Murashima