NJPW The New Beginning in Nagoya live results: NEVER title match
Tama Tonga vs. EVIL headlines today’s NJPW The New Beginning tour opener in Nagoya.
Tonga defends the NEVER title against EVIL in the main event in his first defense since defeating Shingo Takagi for the title at Wrestle Kingdom 18.
The NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team titles are on the line in the semi-main as El Phantasmo & Hikuleo defend against KENTA & Chase Owens.
The provisional KOPW 2024 title is up for grabs as Taiji Ishimori defends against Great-O-Khan in a 10-minute time limit match with cardio breaks every three minutes.
Los Ingobernables de Japon face Just Five Guys in a 10-man tag, with Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI facing SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku.
Kazuchika Okada will have his final NJPW match in Nagoya in an eight-man tag, with Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Togi Makabe taking on Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita.
El Desperado & Master Wato face Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SHO in tag team action.
United Empire will take on Bullet Club War Dogs in a 10-man tag, with Jeff Cobb, HENARE, TJP, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman vs. David Finlay, Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney.
Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi kicks off the main card.
New Young Lions Shoma Kato & Katsuya Murashima go one-on-one on the pre-show at 2:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi (House of Torture) defeated Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma
For a House of Torture match, I enjoyed this quite a bit. It wasn’t great, but the Narita/Umino teases left me wanting more, and the interference wasn’t over the top. This was a totally fine match.
The match opened with the babyfaces getting an early upper hand. A missed Kokeshi from Honma prompted Narita to hit the ring, leading to a short assault from HoT. Narita took care of Umino on the floor before working alongside Yujiro to wear down Honma.
Umino tagged in eventually and kicked off a solid offensive rally. Once Narita tagged back in, he retook advantage for HoT but spent time taunting Narita. The opportunity provided to Umino allowed him to land a DDT and tag out, leading to a double-team sequence with Honma.
Honma missed a lariat, which Narita capitalized on with a suplex. Honma fired back, landing a couple of strikes and a rocket Kokeshi. Narita finding himself on the back foot prompted a referee distraction. Yujiro hit Honma with his cane, leaving Narita free to land the double cross.
David Finlay, Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney (BULLET CLUB War Dogs) defeated Jeff Cobb, HENARE, TJP, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman (United Empire)
This was solid, but compared to the insane brawl from Jan 5, it felt cold. It had its moments but lacked the intensity I’ve come to expect from the War Dogs.
This match opened with a UE-initiated brawl. On the outside, the War Dogs gained control. Once the match entered the ring, Cobb tossed around the Dogs before tagging out to HENARE. Kidd challenged HENARE to a continued strike-off, which they had started on the outside of the ring. HENARE took out Kidd and Connors before passing the match to Newman, who continued to make gains for UE.
Coughlin tagged in to meet Newman. He tossed Newman to the mat as the rest of War Dogs jumped their opponents on the outside. Finlay tagged in next, helping to further this newfound BC lead. Kidd and Moloney continued the trend, slowly wearing down Newman.
A double stomp to Moloney allowed Newman to tag out to a fresh TJP. TJP scored a nearfall with help from Akira, provoking BC to hit the ring. This distraction led to a match breakdown with a handful of one-on-one interactions. Once the fog cleared, the now-legal Finlay and Newman were left in the ring.
Newman tried his best against Finlay, countering a bit of offense and scoring a near fall from a trap pin. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough, as Finlay landed a powerbomb before pinning Newman.
After the match, the War Dogs beat down Newman before UE made the save.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SHO (House of Torture) defeated El Desperado & Master Wato
This was a by-the-book HoT match. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
Wato opened the match with a bit of momentum, but a sneaky attack from Kanemaru led to a prolonged HoT control sequence. The eventual tag to Desperado resulted in a babyface rally. Wato continued this advance after tagging back in, but HoT’s focus on Wato’s knee left him less than fully effective.
SHO grabbed the referee, allowing Kanemaru to distract Wato. SHO then hit Wato with a spear. This wasn’t enough to close the match, so Kanemaru spat his whiskey in Wato’s face before SHO hit him with his wrench. This was sufficient, leaving SHO with the easy pin.
After the match, SHO continued to attack Wato with the wrench.
Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita (TMDK) defeated Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Togi Makabe
This was another solid match that left me excited for what is to come. Fujita was a star, and I imagine he will be a focal point in Okada’s final NEVER Six defense.
Ishii and Haste opened the match with a striking battle before Tanahashi tagged in. Tanahashi held his own before being challenged by Fujita. Fujita was able to get the best of Tanahashi, opening the door for a TMDK stint of control. After being dominated by TMDK, Tanahashi tagged out to Okada. Okada overwhelmed TMDK singlehandedly.
A stray strike from Fujita slowed Okada’s advance. Fujita then tagged in and began picking apart Okada. Okada eventually bucked off the young challenger before tagging out to Makabe. Fujita caught Makabe with a spinning kick before tagging out to ZSJ.
A match breakdown saw the dream team retake advantage, but again, Fujita reversed the flow of momentum for his team. Okada floored Fujita with a dropkick to stop his offense, leaving Makabe and ZSJ alone in the ring. Makabe tried his best to meet ZSJ but failed. ZSJ caught Makabe in a leg submission, forcing him to tap out.
After the match, Okada waved goodbye to the crowd as his music played.
SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku (Just 5 Guys) defeated Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
This was a typical 10-man showcase tag. It was a rehash of Wrestle Kingdom’s previews without a looming Tokyo Dome.
Naito and SANADA opened the match. Naito taunted SANADA, prompting a back-and-forth sequence that left both men on equal footing. This led to a double tag, with Hiromu and DOUKI entering the match. An athletic sequence followed before another double-tag left Taichi and Shingo legal.
Shingo and Taichi traded heavy blows before tagging out to Uemura and Tsuji. Uemura gained control over Tsuji before tagging out to TAKA. TAKA was immediately overwhelmed by Tsuji. BUSHI tagged in next, which allowed TAKA to turn things around.
After knocking BUSHI to the mat, TAKA tagged out to SANADA, who began to isolate BUSHI from his corner. This led to a brief scuffle between teams, but J5G held onto their lead. Once the ring was clear, SANADA hit BUSHI with a shining wizard and locked in the skull end to win the match.
KOPW 2024 Ring Fit Match: Great-O-Khan defeated Taiji Ishimori (c)
As you probably expect, this was an odd KOPW match. There was a 10-minute time limit with breaks every 3 minutes. During the breaks, each man had to complete an intense round of cardio.
The match itself was a total stinker. The stipulation was bizarre, and O-Khan, who I typically enjoy, looked sad.
The first period opened with a back-and-forth, with both men gaining short leads. As the first break approached, Ishimori fled O-Khan, winding him before the first cardio session. Ishimori finished his cardio with ease, while O-Khan took a while longer.
During the second period, O-Khan took control with a suplex, but he was visibly struggling. O-Khan’s lead continued into the break, forcing the referee to pull him off. Ishimori sprinted through the second workout while O-Khan was doing squats until the allotted time ended.
In the third period, O-Khan fell to his knees from exhaustion. Ishimori then drove him into the turnbuckle post before attempting a couple of quick pins. Ishimori locked in a bone lock in the final seconds of the period. O-Khan begged the referee to spare him from the cardio, which he struggled to do. O-Khan failed to finish the set, resulting in overtime cardio until he completed the 30 reps. Ishimori taunted O-Khan during his struggle, but he did ultimately finish his assigned lunges.
During the last period, Ishimori kept grounded until 10 seconds remained. O-Khan hit Ishimori with a chokeslam but fell forward onto the KOPW belt instead of Ishimori. Once the timer expired, O-Khan was announced as the winner, to the shock of everyone, including the English announcement team. Apparently, the winner was the last person to touch the belt, but no one but the referee and O-Khan knew.
Great-O-Khan now holds the KOPW 2024 championship.
NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship: El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (c) (Guerrillas of Destiny) defeated Chase Owens & KENTA (BULLET CLUB)
This was as dull as dishwater—a horrifically boring 20-minute match in which nothing happened. There is nothing I’m less interested in than the rematch scheduled for Feb 11.
This match started slowly, with neither team wanting to engage. Eventually, Hikuleo surprised a distracted BC, leading to a double-team sequence from GoD. It took another surprise attack, this time from KENTA, for BC to inch their way back into the match.
BC slowly picked apart an isolated ELP. After minutes on the back foot, ELP escaped to Hikuleo, who overwhelmed BC. It took KENTA and Owens together to challenge Hikuleo’s control. In tandem, BC slowed down Hikuleo, but he still flipped the match on its head.
After recovering for some time, ELP tagged in and landed a dive to the floor. KENTA responded with a boot and green killer for a nearfall. KENTA then led an unchecked offensive sequence for a while, but Hikuleo eventually made the save. This let ELP land UFO for a nearfall of his own.
Owens hit the ring to save KENTA, leading to another stint of BC control. ELP held off the advance, hitting Owens with a burning hammer variation. KENTA tried breaking up the pin with a double stomp but landed on Owens instead. ELP then hit Owens with CR2 to win the match and retain their STRONG belts.
NEVER Openweight Championship Lumberjack: EVIL defeated Tama Tonga (c)
This was bad. The false start only ensured a ton of unnecessary interference. The actual meat and potatoes of the match were uninteresting at best and infuriating at worst.
Tama opened the match by rushing EVIL. He downed EVIL before trying to cut his hair. All of HoT then hit the ring and began to beat down Tama. GoD then ran to the ring, as did a handful of others from Hontai. The units fought in the ring until the referee called for the bell.
Not wanting his final singles match in New Japan to end this way, Tama asked for a restart with the two factions acting as lumberjacks. The referee agreed, and the match began again.
The opening moments of the restart saw EVIL throwing Tama to the HoT lumberjacks, who slammed Tama onto the exposed floor. EVIL then drove Tama into the barricade before taunting Tama with a live microphone. Back in the ring, EVIL choked Tama with a shirt.
After minutes under EVIL’s control, Tama began to fight back. He landed a lariat before diving onto the lumberjacks. EVIL also found himself on the floor, where ELP twisted his nipples. Back in the ring, Tama landed supreme flow for a nearfall.
EVIL fought back by using the referee for an assisted Magic Killer. This did as much damage to the referee as it did EVIL, allowing another HoT beatdown on the floor. Back in the ring, the match reset after a double drop.
Tama shoved EVIL into an exposed corner, but EVIL kicked out of the follow-up pin. Tama ate a chair shot on the rebound, but Jado hit EVIL with a kendo stick to even the score. The factions began to brawl in the ring again until no one was left standing.
EVIL tried a belt strike, but Tama ducked it. EVIL stuffed the gun-stun twice, but Tama landed the third; EVIL kicked out. Tama then hit his driver, but Togo pulled the referee before Tama could win the match. Togo began choking Tama with his wire, forcing Jado to make the save. Narita then hit Tama in the back, leaving EVIL free to land Everything is Evil. Evil pinned Tama, winning the match and the NEVER Openweight championship.
After the match, a teary-eyed Tama Tonga said goodbye to Nagoya.