A NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title match has been added to the card for NJPW’s The New Beginning in Hiroshima night two.
After a challenge that was issued by Jay White at Tuesday’s Road to The New Beginning show, NJPW has announced that White, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa will challenge for Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI’s NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles at The New Beginning in Hiroshima night two. The show is taking place on Thursday, February 11.
White made his return to NJPW at Monday’s Road to The New Beginning show and then returned to action on Tuesday. He’s also been added to the cards for NJPW’s two remaining Road to The New Beginning shows and The New Beginning in Hiroshima night one.
The New Beginning in Hiroshima night one is taking place on Wednesday, February 10 and will now feature White, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo facing Ishii, Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano. Tonga & Loa are defending their IWGP Tag Team titles against Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi at the show.
The New Beginning in Hiroshima night one will begin at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time. Night two will start at 1 a.m. Eastern. Both shows are airing live on NJPW World.
Here are the updated cards:
The New Beginning in Hiroshima night one (Wednesday, February 10) —
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi defends against SHO
IWGP Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defend against Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma vs. SANADA & Tetsuya Naito
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
Master Wato vs. BUSHI
Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura & Gabriel Kidd vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
The New Beginning in Hiroshima night two (Thursday, February 11) —
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi defends both titles against SANADA
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against Jay White, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
The Guerillas of Destiny are once again the IWGP Tag Team champions.
GoD regained the titles for a seventh time tonight, defeating Dangerous Tekkers, Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi. The finish of the match had Tama Tonga strike Taichi with his own fingers of doom glove. Tanga Loa then pinned Taichi with his sitout piledriver, giving their team the win.
Taichi and Sabre held the titles for 176 days, defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi at Dominion on July 12. With their seventh title win, GoD have now surpassed Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) for the most IWGP Tag Team title reigns as a team in history.
GoD received a title match after winning the 2020 World Tag League, defeating Juice Robinson and David Finlay in the finals. It was the first time they had won the World Tag League after appearing in the finals for the last four years.
The full card for the Best of the Super Juniors/World Tag League finals has been revealed.
The Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals will headline the card. Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado advanced to the finals on Sunday morning’s card. The World Tag League finals will serve as the co-main event, with David Finlay and Juice Robinson squaring off against The Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa).
Tag matches round out the undercard. Wrestle Kingdom 15 opponents Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito will face off in a tag match. Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay will also face off in a six-man tag team match. A match between the Bullet Club and CHAOS stables will open the card.
Here is the full card for Friday’s show, which takes place at Budokan Hall:
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado in the Best of the Super Juniors 27 finals
David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa in the World Tag League 2020 finals
Kota Ibushi and Master Wato vs. Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI
Shingo Takagi and SANADA vs. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Toa Henare vs. Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, and Great-O-Khan
Toru Yano, SHO, and Robbie Eagles vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori
What was originally a special tag team match has turned into a IWGP Tag Team title match.
The Guerrillas of Destiny will now defend the titles against the team of Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI on September 15 in Beppu.
NJPW made the tag team title match following a six man tag team match that took place this morning at a Road to Destruction event in Korakuen Hall. YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii and Rocky Romero teamed together to defeated The Guerillas of Destiny and Jado after YH submitted Jado with the butterfly lock.
After the match, the Guerrillas of Destiny laid out Ishii ringside and looked to finish off YOSHI-HASHI with a magic killer. Ishii made the save, however, and sent them packing as he and YOSHI-HASHI posed with the titles.
The title match will the co-main event of Destruction in Beppu. New RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend the title against former champion Zack Sabre Jr. in the main event.
The IWGP Tag Team titles and Revolution Pro Wrestling British Cruiserweight Championship will be on the line in matches at NJPW Southern Showdown in Melbourne, Australia this Saturday.
NJPW has announced that IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) will defend their titles against Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls in Melbourne. El Phantasmo will also defend the RevPro British Cruiserweight Championship against Rocky Romero.
Both matches were announced as non-title when the card for Southern Showdown was first revealed.
Robinson & Nicholls defeated Tonga & Loa in a non-title match at NJPW’s Kizuna Road show this Tuesday. After the match, Robinson & Nicholls said they wanted the Tag Team titles.
Phantasmo retained his British Cruiserweight title against Ryusuke Taguchi at Tuesday’s Kizuna Road show. In his post-match comments, Phantasmo said the British Cruiserweight title would be on the line against Romero.
Phantasmo vs. Romero is a rematch from this year’s Best of the Super Juniors. Romero defeated Phantasmo in their tournament match.
Southern Showdown in Melbourne is airing live exclusively as an iPPV on Fite TV at 5 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday morning. It will then be uploaded to New Japan World 72 hours after the event.
Here’s the card for the show:
Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay defending against Robbie Eagles
IWGP Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defending against Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls
RevPro British Cruiserweight Champion El Phantasmo defending against Rocky Romero
Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
NJPW continued their Wrestling Dontaku tour today in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.
The show was well-paced and easy to watch, but featured little in the way of must-see matches.
The undercard saw the continuation of some feuds, the highlight being the 10-man tag.
In a late switch, Rocky Romero’s spot in the 10-man was taken by Kota Ibushi. Ibushi’s team faced off against Tetsuya Naito’s LIJ squad. The issues between Ibushi/Naito, which have produced a series of classic matches, look to be continuing.
Naito challenged Ibushi at the conclusion of Saturday’s show, which led to the change in today’s card. Ibushi will be slotted in tags against Naito for the remainder of the tour as well.
The Young Lion team worked over Honma at the outset. Nagata tagged in and reversed his team’s fortunes. Kojima saw some action and used a half crab on Uemura, but Tsuji broke it up with chops.
Honma tagged back in and hit a kokeshi. Nagata used a full crab on Uemura, who reached the ropes. Uemura hit a dropkick, and Narita tagged in. I’ve been impressed with Narita on this tour. He hit a belly-to-belly on Nagata for a near fall. Nagata hit his own belly-to-belly and tagged Kojima.
Kojima hit machine gun chops on Narita. He went for his top rope elbow, but Tsuji cut him off. Tsuji, Narita and Uemura hit a triple dropkick on Kojima, which was awesome. It got a nice reaction.
Tsuji used a full crab on Kojima, but Honma broke it up. Tsuji hit Honma with a spear, but Kojima recovered and hit a Koji Cutter for a near fall. He followed with a lariat for the pin. A good opener.
MINORU SUZUKI, YOSHINOBU KANEMARU & EL DESPERADO DEFEATED JUSHIN LIGER, TIGER MASK IV & SHOTA UMINO
They continued the storyline that kicked off on Saturday, with Suzuki going after Liger. Suzuki-gun jumped their opponents right as the bell sounded, and they focused their assault on Liger.
The match spilled into the crowd, and Suzuki rearranged the chairs in the first few rows, dropping them on Liger. Suzuki also used a triangle over the ropes. Desperado and Kanemaru went for Liger’s mask, but he managed to keep it on.
Liger finally made a tag to Tiger Mask. Tiger ran wild with kicks and knee strikes. He hit Kanemaru with a Tiger Driver, but could not follow up with a cover. Umino and Suzuki tagged in. Umino hit a missile dropkick.
Umino went for a fisherman buster, but Suzuki blocked it. Suzuki locked on a choke, but Liger broke it up. Liger and Suzuki traded strikes, with Suzuki getting the better of the exchange.
Umino picked up a series of near falls off a cradle, a roll-up, and a backslide. Suzuki recovered and hit the Gotch piledriver for the pin.
The match was good, all action. Although the real highlight here was the continuation of the Liger vs. Suzuki issue.
ZACK SABRE JR., TAICHI & TAKA MICHINOKU DEFEATED YOSHI-HASHI, ROCKY ROMERO & TOA HENARE
Aside from the opener, this was the only match on the show without a clear storyline purpose.
Romero started off for his team, and he had his working boots on. Suzuki-gun used some underhanded tactics and turned the match into a brawl. Taichi went after Henare with a chair in the crowd.
Suzuki-gun worked Romero over. YOSHI-HASHI and Sabre got tags, and they had a nice exchange. Sabre gave YOSHI-HASHI a good bit of offense before taking over and working on the left arm.
Henare and Taichi tagged in. Henare hit a spear. Henare missed a charge into the corner. Taichi took his pants off and hit a buzzsaw kick for a two count. Taichi hit a lariat, then used a stretch plum on Henare for the submission.
A crazy match. Great stuff. If you watch one match from this show, make it this one.
EVIL and Ishii started off. They teased their finishers and countered out of them. Okada and SANADA did the same. SHO, YOH, Shingo and BUSHI also did a series of teases and counters of their trademark spots.
Ibushi and Naito entered, and they went about a thousand miles an hour. Ibushi went for a standing moonsault, but Naito got his knees up. YOH ran wild with dragon screws. BUSHI hit a codebreaker. YOH hit a falcon arrow.
The chaos continued as everyone jumped in for a big move.
The finish saw SANADA use a giant swing into the Skull End on YOH, who tapped out.
After the bell, EVIL and Ishii went at it again. Ishii nailed EVIL with a headbutt from the apron.
BAD LUCK FALE & CHASE OWENS DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON & MIKEY NICHOLLS
This was quick. They tried to tell a story, but the crowd wasn’t that into it. This was the weakest match on the show to this point.
Owens used a backbreaker to break a Juice headlock, while Fale took Nicholls to the floor. Juice hit a full nelson slam into a double down. Fale and Nicholls tagged in. Nicholls dropped Fale with two lariats.
Fale hit a shoulder tackle, then tagged Owens. Owens hit a series of strikes. He used a running knee for a near fall. Juice and Fale jumped in. Juice tried to slam Fale, but he failed. He did connect with a cannonball.
Nicholls hit a sliding lariat and a Mikey Bomb on Owens, but Fale broke up the pinfall. The ref took a bump. Fale hit Nicholls with a Grenade, and Owens used a package piledriver on Nicholls for the pin.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT SIX-MAN TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: TOGI MAKABE, TORU YANO & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI DEFEATED TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & HIKULEO TO RETAIN THE TITLES
I have probably missed at least one ref bump and two weapons shots in recapping the action here. This was very silly.
Bullet Club jumped the champs before the bell, and they brawled all around the arena. The crowd was quiet for this. Tonga and Loa doubled up on Yano in the ring, and the crowd started to get into it.
Yano started making a comeback. He untied a turnbuckle pad. Jado cut him off with a kendo stick shot from the floor. Hikuleo sent Yano into the exposed buckle. The challengers continued working over Yano for several minutes.
Yano finally got free and made a tag to Taguchi. Taguchi ran wild with hip attacks. Makabe made a tag, then hit 10 punches in the corner on Tonga. He followed with a northern lights suplex for a two count.
Hikuleo and Loa jumped in to save Tonga. They tripled up on Makabe. Tonga hit a splash. Loa made a cover, but he was not the legal man. Referee Red Shoes made the correct call.
While Hikuleo took the ref, Jado jumped in. He swung the kendo stick, but accidentally hit Tonga. Makabe hit the King Kong knee drop for a near fall.
There were more shenanigans. Hikuleo took the ref again, and Loa jumped in with the kendo stick and hit Makabe. Yano used a chair on Hikuleo from the floor, and Makabe covered for a near fall.
Makabe followed with another knee drop off the top on Hikuleo and picked up the win.
After the match, Makabe laid out Tonga and Loa, while Yano ran off with all of the Guerrillas of Destiny’s titles.
TAIJI ISHIMORI & JAY WHITE DEFEATED HIROOKI GOTO & DRAGON LEE
Ishimori and Lee have fantastic chemistry. They face off on May 3 for Lee’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, and I cannot wait for that match.
Ishimori and Lee started off here, and they had a brief, electric sequence. White and Goto tagged in. White used a side headlock, then dumped Goto over the top rope with a Saito suplex. Goto and Lee ended up whipped into the barricade. Ishimori went for Lee’s mask.
They teased a countout with Goto on the floor. He made it back in at 19, but White immediately sent him back to the floor. White sent Goto into the ring frame and the barricade, targeting his back.
Ishimori tagged in and continued to work on Goto’s back. White tagged back in for more chinlocks. Goto made his own comeback, hitting a double sledge on White and a lariat on Ishimori.
Lee got a tag. He ran wild with dropkicks, hitting White once, and Ishimori three times. Ishimori countered a Desnucado, sitting down for a near fall. The two traded strikes. Ishimori hit La Mistica, then a standing Spanish Fly into a double down.
Goto asked for a tag, but Lee refused, wanting to continue fighting Ishimori. Lee hit a snap German suplex, a poison rana, and a lariat into another double down. This time, both men tagged out.
Goto hit White with a mid kick. He followed with a lariat in the corner, a wheel kick, and a Saito suplex for a two count. Goto went for an ushigoroshi, but White countered with his own Saito suplex.
White used a DVD for a two count. He hit a lariat and went for a Kiwi Krusher, but Lee saved Goto. Ishimori entered to go after Lee. Goto hit a lariat on White, and all four men were down.
Goto and White teased their finishers. White hit a flatliner and followed up with a suplex. Goto blocked a Blade Runner, hit a headbutt, then used an inverted GTR for a near fall.
Goto went for another GTR, but Gedo jumped on the apron for a distraction. White went for the Blade Runner, but Goto hit him with an ushigoroshi. Ishimori jumped in and also ate an ushigoroshi. Lee hit a suicide dive.
Goto went for an ushigoroshi on Gedo, but White hit a low blow, then hit the Blade Runner for the pin. The screwy finish didn’t help things, but this was a good main event.
A match for both the ROH and IWGP tag team championships has been set.
At this morning’s Honor Rising event, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated EVIL and SANADA for the IWGP tag team titles. The Briscoes also won their match, retaining the ROH tag team titles against Juice Robinson and David Finlay in the main event.
After the main event concluded, Jay Briscoe got a mic and challenged GoD to a title for title match on April 6 at the G1 Supershow. GoD then came out, with Tanga Loa accepting the challenge on behalf of his team. The four then had a staredown, lifting both sets of titles in the air.
A few days later, New Japan officially confirmed that both champions will face one another. The ROH tag team championships will be defended on the ROH 17th Anniversary show, with the Briscoes defending against Brody King and PCO. The winners of that match will likely face GoD.
This would be the first match officially set for the G1 Supercard, which will take place at Madison Square Garden. It was announced earlier this week that the winner of next month’s New Japan Cup tournament will face IWGP Heavyweight champion Jay White for the title.
Just as we finish with one tag team tournament, another begins.
New Japan starts their World Tag League tonight in Kanagawa. Much like the last tournament, blocks have been eliminated for this year’s tag league. Instead, everyone will fight one another, with the top two winners advancing to the finals on December 9.
Tournament matches tonight include The Guerillas of Destiny vs. Togi Makabe and Toa Henare, Chuckie T & Beretta vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata and David Finlay & Juice Robinson vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino.
A ten man tag team match will headline in the main event. The CHAOS contingent of Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOH and SHO will take on Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI and Shingo Takagi.
Join us for live coverage starting 4:30 a.m. EDT. There will be English commentary.
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Jeff Cobb and Michael Elgin defeated Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura
Good opener. Cobb and Elgin gel well as a team. Both Uemura and Tsuji looked good; the former stood out more in this match than in others I’ve seen him in. Cobb got the win for his team after pinning Tsuji with the Tour of the Islands.
Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi defeated Tomoaki Honma and Ren Narita
Taka Michinoku, who’s in a middle of a scandal in Japan, accompanied Zack Sabre Jr. to the ring and cut his usual promo.
This was very much like the previous match, though this felt longer. Honma’s fine in these tag matches but he comes off as slow at times, which is pretty sad. But it’s also a legit miracle he’s still wrestling after being paralyzed for a short period.Taichi controlled the last few minutes of the match, busting open Narita’s nose. He then struck him with a kick to the temple for the win.
Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka and Desperado defeated Killer Elite Squad and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Both teams brawled to start things off. Iizuka took to bit both Archer and Smith. Archer went to chokeslam Iizuka but he managed to escape by biting Archer’s hand. Kanemaru and Desperado, the current IWGP Jr. tag champions, battled one another as well.
KES had the killer bomb on Suzuki but Iizuka broke it up. Kanemaru came in with an enziguri on Suzuki, but he quickly cut off Kanemaru and pinned him with the Gotch piledriver. This was okay, but only interesting because of the Suzuki-gun interfighting.
World Tag League: David Finlay & Juice Robinson defeated Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida
This was worked like a slightly better version of the opener. The young lions looked great — Yoshida definitely has something and Umino is the best overall young lion in the promotion right now so they gel well here.
Umino went off on both Finlay and Juice with strikes. The two countered with a double flapjack. Finlay then hit the stunner for the win, right as Juice took out Yoshia with a crossbody off the top rope.
World Tag League: Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tencozy
I liked this match. These four haven’t been around much this year, so this was a nice highlight reel for them. Nakanishi was thrown into the barricade as Nagata had Kojima in the armbar. He took out the returning Tenzan and speared Kojima. He then connected with the exploder suplex for the win. This was fun.
World Tag League: Best Friends defeated Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi
This was very fun, the best match of the show up to this point. Chuck Taylor and Hangman Page in particular were great here. Beretta was right behind them and Yujiro, well, he was there.
Page powerbombed Chuckie T and tagged in Yujiro, who went for the Tokyo Pimps on Beretta. Chuckie T pushed Hangman off the top rope and the two ended up hitting Roppongi Vice’s old finish, the Strong Zero, for the win.
World Tag League: Guerillas of Destiny defeated Togi Makabe and Toa Henare
This was just…there. It was fine, but it felt like just two teams having a wrestling match for 90% of the bout. The last 10% was at least pretty heated.
Makabe made a comeback and tagged in Henare as they did a double ten count in the corner. Loa fired back and hit a blue thunder bomb. Makabe came in and hit the ropes, which allowed Jado to strike Makabe with the cane. Loa blocked the gun stun and hit a samoan drop. Loa came back with a big lariat and connected with the sitout piledriver for the win.
Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI and Shingo Takagi defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Roppongi 3K
This was pretty good, but felt like a shorter version of the usual ten man tag matches they do on these tours. Nothing wrong about it, solid overall, but nothing you need to go out of your way to see.
Sure enough, things get crazy not that far into the match as LIJ quickly takes things to the outside. Once things settled down, LIJ began working over Yano, who was up to his usual antics. Okada came in and ran wild, doing a million things at once and taking out most of LIJ.
SHO and YOH are tagged in and take on BUSHI, then Naito. EVIL takes guard as Naito eventually picks up the win with the Destino on YOH.
All of LIJ cut a promo in the ring, with Naito doing the LIJ roll call (twice, as he forgot to include himself in the first) to close out the show.
Current World Tag League Standings:
David Finlay & Juice Robinson: 2
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi: 2
Best Friends: 2
Guerillas of Destiny: 2
Togi Makabe & Toa Henare: 0
Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi: 0
Tencozy: 0
Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida: 0
Three matches are official for NJPW’s next show in the United States.
Cody Rhodes challenging for Juice Robinson’s IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, The Young Bucks defending their IWGP Tag Team titles against Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa, and Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll in an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship tournament semifinal match have been announced for Fighting Spirit Unleashed, which will take place at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on September 30.
Ospreay vs. Scurll is part of a four-man tournament to decide the next Junior Heavyweight Champion. KUSHIDA will face BUSHI at Destruction in Kobe on September 23 in the other semifinal match, and the finals will be held at King of Pro Wrestling on October 8.
Hiromu Takahashi had to relinquish the Junior Heavyweight title after suffering a neck injury at last month’s G1 Special in San Francisco.
Cody was set up as Robinson’s next challenger when he pinned Robinson during a tag match at the G1 finals. The Young Bucks and Tonga & Loa are on opposite sides of the feud between the Bullet Club and the Bullet Club OGs, and Tonga, Loa, & Taiji Ishimori won the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles from The Young Bucks & Scurll at the G1 finals.
