NJPW announces New Beginning in Sapporo and Osaka lineups

Coming out of Wrestle Kingdom 14 weekend, NJPW has confirmed the lineups for their next major shows.

The New Beginning in Sapporo will take place across two nights on Saturday, February 1 and Sunday, February 2. A NEVER Openweight Championship match will headline night one, with Hirooki Goto defending his title against Shingo Takagi.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL will be the semi-main event on night one in Sapporo, and Kazuchika Okada & Jon Moxley will team up for the first time against Taichi & Minoru Suzuki. That tag match will be a preview of two singles matches that are set for the tour.

Okada vs. Taichi is the main event of night two of the New Beginning in Sapporo, and the Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship will be on the line as Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Will Ospreay in the semi-main event.

The New Beginning in Osaka will then be held on Sunday, February 9. IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito defending both of his titles against KENTA had already been confirmed for the show. Three other title matches have now been added: Moxley vs. Suzuki for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryu Lee for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, and SHO & YOH vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles.

SANADA vs. Jay White will also take place in Osaka.

Both Sapporo shows are being held at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center, while Osaka-jo Hall is hosting the Osaka event. Here are the full cards:

New Beginning in Sapporo night one (February 1) —

  • NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto defending against Shingo Takagi
  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL
  • Kazuchika Okada & Jon Moxley vs. Taichi & Minoru Suzuki
  • Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. KENTA & Jay White
  • Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Ryu Lee & Robbie Eagles
  • Will Ospreay, SHO, YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
  • Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Yota Tsuji
  • Tiger Mask IV & Yuya Uemura vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo

New Beginning in Sapporo night two (February 2) —

  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Taichi
  • RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defending against Will Ospreay
  • Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi vs. KENTA, Jay White & Taiji Ishimori
  • Jon Moxley, SHO, YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
  • Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Robbie Eagles vs. Shingo Takagi, EVIL & BUSHI
  • El Phantasmo vs. Gabriel Kidd
  • Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV
  • Toa Henare vs. Yota Tsuji

New Beginning in Osaka (February 9) —

  • IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito defending against KENTA
  • IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley defending against Minoru Suzuki
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi defending against Ryu Lee
  • SANADA vs. Jay White
  • Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions SHO & YOH defending against El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ryusuke Taguchi