Tag: New Beginning In Nagoya

NJPW reveals full card for New Beginning in Nagoya

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A NEVER Openweight title match headlines NJPW’s New Beginning in Nagoya.

The show on January 20 will see Tama Tonga defend the NEVER title against EVIL. At Wrestle Kingdom 18, Tonga defeated Shingo Takagi to win the title. However, the following day at New Year Dash saw EVIL attack Tonga, cutting off a piece of his hair. Tonga said in a post-match interview following Wrestle Kingdom that he will be leaving NJPW at the end of the month.

The KOPW 2024 title will also be on the line, with Taiji Ishimori facing Great-O-Khan. After Ishimori won the title at New Year Dash, the two had a shouting match backstage. Other matches will see Hikuelo & TJP face off against KENTA and Chase Owens before their February 11 IWGP Tag Team title match in Osaka and a ten man tag team match with Los Ingobernables de Japon squaring off against Just Five Guys.

Here is the full card for NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya:

  • NEVER Openweight title: Tama Tonga defends against EVIL
  • KOPW 2024: Taiji Ishimori defends against Great-O-Khan
  • Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI) vs. Just Five Guys (SANADA, Taichi, Taka Michinoku, DOUKI, and Yuya Uemura)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, and Togi Makabe vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste, and Kosei Fujita
  • Guerillas of Destiny (Hikuleo and El Phantasmo) vs. Chase Owens & KENTA
  • El Desperado & Master Wato vs. SHO and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP, Henare, & Jeff Cobb) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabe Kidd, and Alex Coughlin)
  • Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino vs. House of Torture (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi)
  • Kickoff match: Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima

NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya notes: Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan

Posted on by Ian Carey

NJPW kicked off The New Beginning series Sunday in Nagoya. 

The provisional KOPW Championship was on the line in the main event as Shingo Takagi successfully defended against Great-O-Khan. The match was contested under modified MMA rules, including lumberjacks on the outside. Victory could only come via KO or submission and both competitors wore a martial arts gi. 

Not only was Takagi defending his KOPW Championship against Khan, his title shot against Kazuchika Okada at The New Beginning in Osaka was on the line as well. 

Takagi put Khan to sleep with a katahajime to retain the title. 

Following the match, Okada came to the ring to confront his upcoming challenger. Takagi suggested that their match on February 11 in Osaka be a title vs. title bout contested under KOPW stipulations. Okada responded that IWGP competition is “wrestling as it should be” and declined the offer. Their match will be for just the IWGP World title and will be contested under traditional rules. 

Okada was also asked backstage about a recently announced match between him and GHC Champion Kaito Kiyomiya at Keiji Muto’s retirement show on February 21. Kiyomiya and Okada were disqualified for continued brawling on the outside during Saturday’s show in Yokohama. Okada would later say he won’t take part in the match and that NJPW scheduled it without his consent. 

Full results from NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya on January 22, 2023:

  1. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano defeated Yuto Nakashima & Oskar Leube
  2. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Ren Narita defeated House of Torture’s EVIL, Sho, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi
  3. TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr, Mike Nicholls, Shane Haste, and Kosei Fujita defeated Ryohei Oiwa and CHAOS’ Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, & YOSHI-HASHI
  4. Bullet Club’s El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Master Wato, & Jado
  5. United Empire’s Will Ospreay, TJP, Francesco Akira, & Aaron Henare defeated Just Four Guys’ Douki, Taka Michinoku, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  6. Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, CHAOS’ Kazuchika Okada, & YOH defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon’s Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & BUSHI
  7. KOPW Provisional Championship: Shingo Takagi defeated Great-O-Khan to retain

Shingo to face Great-O-Khan in MMA rules match at NJPW New Beginning

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The rule set has been determined for Shingo Takagi and The Great-O-Khan’s KOPW title match at The New Beginning in Nagoya.

Takagi will defend the provisional KOPW title against O-Khan in an MMA rules match at the Sunday, January 22 event. The stipulation was proposed by O-Khan and beat Takagi’s proposed stipulation (cumulative 30-count pinfall match) in a fan vote. The voting was 60.7 percent for O-Khan’s stipulation to 39.3 percent for Takagi’s.

In the MMA rules match, each wrestler may wear a martial arts gi and the bout can only be won by knockout, TKO, or submission. There will also be wrestlers serving as lumberjacks outside of the ring for the match.

O-Khan said about the stipulation:

We shall both wear martial arts gi, which can be used for submissions. The only way to win is via KO, TKO or tapout. And in case you are so scared that you attempt to escape the ring, let’s use lumberjacks as well, shall we? Bring anybody you wish. [My] United Empire teammates will of course be present. So let us have a proper fight, one on one with a clear winner like men.

Because O-Khan’s stipulation won the fan vote, Takagi’s number one contendership status for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will also be on the line in the match. Takagi is scheduled to challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World title at The New Beginning in Osaka on Saturday, February 11.

Takagi ended 2022 as NJPW’s official KOPW champion. He became the provisional champion for 2023 by defeating Toru Yano, SHO, and O-Khan in a four-way match at New Year Dash earlier this month.

Takagi vs. O-Khan will be the main event of The New Beginning in Nagoya. The show is airing live on NJPW World.

NJPW The New Beginning in Nagoya (Sunday, January 22) —

  • MMA rules match: Provisional KOPW 2023 Champion Shingo Takagi defends against The Great-O-Khan
  • Kazuchika Okada, Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOH vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
  • Will Ospreay, Aaron Henare, TJP & Francesco Akira vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Master Wato & Jado vs. KENTA, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
  • Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita
  • Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Tomoaki Honma vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
  • Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. Yuto Nakashima & Oskar Leube