NJPW The New Beginning live results: Finlay vs. Nemeth Global title match

Nic Nemeth makes his NJPW in-ring debut challenging David Finlay for the IWGP Global Championship at today’s The New Beginning in Sapporo. 

Finlay vs. Nemeth for the Global title headlines today’s show that also features the first night of Kazuchika Okada’s two-night NJPW farewell tour, with The Rainmaker taking part in an eight-man tag. 

Four more title bouts are also set for the card.

In the semi-main, Hiroshi Tanahashi defends the NJPW World TV Championship against Matt Riddle in Riddle’s first match in Japan since joining NJPW earlier this year. 

EVIL defends the NEVER Openweight Championship against Shota Umino, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado defends against SHO, and Mayu Iwatani defends the IWGP Women’s Championship against Mina Shirakawa in the other title matches.

Okada teams with Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, & YOH against United Empire’s Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira, & Callum Newman. HENARE was pulled from this match due to an injury.

LIJ face Just Five Guys in a 10-man tag, Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Boltin Oleg take on Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a trios match, plus Zack Sabre Jr. faces Yuji Nagata in a singles bout to kick off the main card. 

Toru Yano & Tomoya take on Tomoaki Honma & Shoma Kato on the pre-show beginning at 2:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Pre-show: Toru Yano & Tomoya defeated Tomoaki Honma & Shoma Kato 

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Yuji Nagata

Nagata opened the match with leg kicks that sent ZSJ to the mat. ZSJ responded with a kick to the arm, which he focused from here on. Nagata fired back with more kicks before hitting a suplex.

On the mat, Nagata turned to the Nagata-Lock 1, forcing ZSJ into the ropes. The groundwork continued from Nagata as he transitioned to the Nagata-Lock 2. ZSJ eventually slipped free, transitioning into a cross-arm breaker, which won ZSJ the match.

House Of Torture (Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Oleg Boltin, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tomoaki Honma

House of Torture opened the match with a team attack on their opponents. Oleg responded by taking out all of HoT by himself. Taguchi tagged in after Oleg and unloaded on HoT with a barrage of B-triggers.

Taguchi’s momentum was short-lived. After a missed B-trigger, HoT began picking him apart. Once Makabe tagged in, the babyfaces saw a little more success before falling again to HoT tactics. With a distracted referee, Narita hit Makabe with his pushup bar before landing the Double Cross to win the match.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jeff Cobb)

Okada and O-Khan opened the match to raucous chants for Okada. O-Khan caught Okada with a slap before turning to the claw. In a strong position, O-Khan attempted the eliminator, but Okada reversed. Okada then tagged out to YH.

After a bit of a back-and-forth, Akira and YOH entered the fray. They had a competitive athletic sequence before Ishii joined the match. Ishii took out all of UE before facing off with Cobb. Ishii hit a suplex before tagging back to Okada.

Cobb dropped Okada and tagged out to Newman, who wanted to prove himself against the departing Okada. He unloaded with strikes before hitting an OsCutter, which forced Ishii to make the save. A match breakdown followed, with everyone hitting the ring. CHAOS emerged from the struggle with control, allowing Okada to drop Newman with a rainmaker, winning him the match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) defeated Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

This match opened with a brawl between teams. Things continued to escalate until Uemura and Tsuji were left alone in the ring. Uemura avoided a Gene Blaster, locking in a Boston crab in response. Tsuji fought back, leading to a competitive back-and-forth ending with a match reset.

Taichi and Shingo entered next. They traded heavy strikes, forcing a tag to TAKA. Shingo overwhelmed TAKA on his own, but the rest of LIJ helped him keep the ring clear. He dropped TAKA with a pumping bomber, winning the match for LIJ.

IWGP Women’s Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa to retain the title

This was comfortably the best match of the night. It wasn’t quite fantastic, but it kept moving in exciting ways.

This match opened with both women running at each other, kicking off a fast back and forth. The frantic pace continued as Mina began to focus the legs, establishing control. Mina then hoisted Mayu onto her shoulders, but Mayu reversed into a poison-rana.

A striking battle led to another stent of Mina control. After landing her electric chair variation, Mina turned her attention back to the legs, locking in a figure four. After an excruciating battle on the mat, Mayu escaped to the bottom rope. Mina dropped Mayu with heavy strikes, followed by a DDT.

Mina attempted the glorious driver, but Mayu escaped to hit a tombstone. Mayu followed up with a top rope dropkick, a top rope double stomp, and a moonsault for a convincing nearfall. A dragon suplex scored another near-fall for the champion. After another dragon suplex, Mayu successfully pinned Mina, winning the match and retaining her belt. 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: SHO defeated El Desperado (c) to win the title

This match was painful. When it wasn’t slow, it was frustrating. The reign of SHO is going to be dreadful.

This match opened with a brawl on the ramp. Desperado dominated SHO in the opening, gaining a solid lead before the match even started. After the opening bell, Desperado attacked the legs, locking in the stretch muffler, forcing SHO into the ropes. SHO tried to escape to the outside, but Desperado maintained his pursuit.

On the floor, SHO shoved the referee and hit Desperado with the IWGP Junior belt. Back in the ring, SHO hit a lariat and locked in a snake bite. A nasty power breaker set Desperado up for a package piledriver, but SHO’s leg failed him. Desperado then turned his attention back to SHO’s leg, but he struggled to follow up.

SHO attempted another piledriver, but Desperado reversed into a spinebuster. A dragonscrew led to a stretch muffler in the middle of the ring, but the lights turned off before SHO tapped. Once the lights turned back on, Yoshinobu Kanemaru was attacking Desperado. Before SHO could deliver a strike with his wrench, Taguchi ran to the ring, landing two hip attacks before carrying Kanemaru to the back.

With HoT gone, Desperado continued his attack, driving SHO into the ring post before returning to leg whips. Desperado locked in the stretch muffler again, but SHO powered out. SHO shoved Desperado into the referee and hit a low blow to stop his advance.

SHO tried hitting Desperado with the belt again, but Desperado responded with a punch. Desperado attempted to follow up with a tope, but SHO cut him off with a stunning chair shot. SHO landed another chair shot while the referee tried to come to.

SHO attempted a third chair strike but was interrupted by the referee. This distraction allowed Desperado to hit a low blow and a baseball swing chair shot of his own. As the referee’s count climbed, SHO managed to roll into the ring. As Desperado tried to beat the count, Ren Narita emerged from under the ring and held him down. The referee counted to twenty, leaving SHO with a stolen win and the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion.

NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL (c) defeated Shota Umino to retain the title

This was another insufferable House of Torture match.

Shota opened the match by striking down EVIL. Once Shota established a bit of a lead, he tried taking care of Dick Togo on the outside. This gave EVIL the time to catch Shota and gain control.

EVIL slammed Shota into the barricade and taunted him with the NEVER belt. Back in the ring, EVIL attacked the eyes, whipped Shota into an exposed corner, and attempted a couple of pins. When that didn’t work, EVIL threw Shota to the floor, allowing Togo to get in some licks.

Shota eventually landed a dropkick, leading to a short rally. A quick distraction from EVIL and a forearm left EVIL back in the lead. Shota responded with a diversion of his own to retake control. Shota locked in a crossface in the center of the ring, prompting Yujiro Takahashi to ring the bell. This distraction led to a ref bump and all of HoT attacking Shota.

EVIL attempted Everything is Evil, but Shota reversed it into twist and shout. Before Shota could capitalize, EVIL bumped the referee again. Togo choked Shota with his wire. Shota survived somehow, and launched into a rally.

Shota attempted multiple signatures, but EVIL kept slipping free. Finally, Shota hit a gun stun for a nearfall. When Shota attempted Deathrider, EVIL pushed Shota into the exposed corner and drove him into the mat. EVIL then hit Everything is Evil to retain his title. 

NJPW World Television Championship: Matt Riddle defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) to win the title

This match was fine.

This match opened with a scramble that turned into standing grappling. Slightly outclassed, Tanahashi fled to the floor. On the outside, Tanahashi gained a short lead, but Riddle regained his footing back inside. A corkscrew BroTon left Riddle comfortably ahead.

Tanahashi blocked a top rope dive with his knees before hitting a twist and shout and sling blade for a nearfall. A dragonscrew into the ropes only furthered Tanahashi’s lead.

Riddle challenged Tanahashi with strikes before hitting BroDerek. Riddle pinned Tanahashi, winning the match and taking the NJPW World Television championship.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Nic Nemeth defeated David Finlay (c) to win the title

Finlay started the match by attacking Nemeth from behind. When the bell sounded, Nemeth was ready with a superkick. Nemeth then slammed Finlay into various objects around the ring.

Finlay regained his footing by spearing Nemeth through the barricade. Back in the ring, Finlay picked apart Nemeth. As Nemeth began to wiggle his way back into the match, the action returned to the floor.

Nemeth attempted another superkick, but Finlay sacrificed Gedo. Finlay then hit Nemeth with a shillelagh before brutally attacking the leg. Nemeth eventually answered Finlay’s advance with an Olympic slam, resetting the match.

Finlay stayed on top by driving Nemeth into an exposed corner. Finlay, to continue his attack on the leg, threw Nemeth to the floor in a standing position. Back in the ring, Finlay locked in a figure four leglock. Once Nemeth escaped from the leglock, Finlay dropped him with a lariat. This left Finlay free to pick apart Nemeth even further.

After minutes on the back foot, Nemeth began to rally. He slammed Finlay into the exposed corner before hitting a famouser to score a nearfall. Nemeth’s rally was short-lived, though, as Finlay quickly responded with Oblivion.

Finlay attempted Oblivion again, but Nemeth cut him off with a headbutt. After another headbutt, Nemeth hit Danger Zone (formerly the Zig Zag) and pinned Finlay in the middle of the ring. Nic Nemeth is IWGP Global Champion.

Nemeth cut the show ending promo while being showered in confetti. Before leaving Nemeth asked Tanahashi to be his partner tomorrow. Tanahashi is already booked tomorrow, so who know how that will work out.