By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “The New Beginning in Nagoya”
January 20, 2024 in Aichi, Japan at Dolphin’s Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
This is a small arena. Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton provided English commentary.
This is the first show after the news that Kazuchika Okada will be leaving the promotion. However, this show also marks the final singles match for Tama Tonga, who has stated he will be competing in the United States. This also is a bit of a new beginning for NJPW, as Young Lions Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima have graduated and left on excursion. In comparison to those big guys, the new Young Lions are rather tiny.
1. Katsuya Murashima vs. Shoma Kato ended in a time-limit draw at 10:00. Katsuya looks like a 20-year-old Taka Michinoku. Kato is equally short. A very safe, basic match for these Young Lions; they rolled around on the mats, and with them of the same size and identical black trunks, it is easy to lose track of which one is which. Katsuya extensively tied up a leg on the mat; he applied a half-crab but Shoma reached the ropes at 8:30. I realized then we were headed to a draw. Sure enough, Katsuya re-applied it a bit later and Shoma screamed in pain but held on until we reached 10 minutes sharp.
2. “House of Torture” Yujiro Takahashi and Ren Narita defeated Shota Umino and Tomoaki Honma at 9:47. Ren is again wearing his long black robe that shrouds his face. Ren and Shota started at the bell, but Ren tagged out before locking up. Honma got in; Ren raked Honma’s eyes and kept him grounded, and the HoT extensively worked him over. Shota got a hot tag at 5:00 and hit a double Shotgun Dropkick. He hit a fisherman’s suplex on Yujiro for a nearfall. Yujiro dropped Shota throat-first on the top rope. Ren tagged in and began beating up Shota; he did a slingshot under the bottom rope, again hitting Shota’s throat against the ropes.
Shota fired back with a tornado DDT at 7:30 and they were both down. Honma hit the Kokeshi falling headbutt for a nearfall. Ren hit an Exploder Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. Honma hit a leaping headbutt for a nearfall; that looks unnecessarily dangerous. Yujiro hit Honma with his staff. Ren immediately hit an X-Factor faceplant to pin Honma. Okay action; as per usual, Shota barely got his hands on Ren.
3. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Drilla Moloney, David Finlay, Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin, and Gabe Kidd defeated “United Kingdom” Jeff Cobb, Henare, TJP, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman at 11:58. All 10 brawled on the floor to open. In the ring, Cobb hit a double clothesline, then a dropkick. He held Connors upside down for a few seconds, then tossed him across the ring. Henare entered and hit a stiff kick to Clark’s spine and a senton. Callum quickly ran the ropes and dropped Clark with a kick at 3:30. Coughlin tagged in and he dropped Callum with a stiff forearm. Finlay entered and he tied up Newman on the mat. Kidd entered and hit some clotheslines and an Exploder on Newman for a nearfall at 6:30.
Moloney and Newman traded forearm strikes. TJP finally made the hot tag and he hit an inverted DDT on Moloney, then some Facewash kicks on Connors. Moloney hit a spinebuster and a doublestomp on TJP. Henare hit a Samoan Drop. Coughlin hit a fallaway slam on Cobb. Connors hit a powerslam on Akira. Newman tagged back in at 10:30 and brawled with FInlay. Finlay nailed the uranage over his knee for a believable nearfall. Newman got a rollup for a nearfall, but Finlay hit an enzuigiri, then a standing powerbomb for the clean pin on Newman.
4. “House of Torture” Sho and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated El Desperado and Master Wato at 8:15. Desperado has his IWP Junior Hvt. Title wrapped around his neck so the plate is along his back. Desperado demanded former teammate Kanemaru start, but Kanemaru refused. So, Wato and Sho opened. Kanemaru pulled Wato to the floor and whipped him into the guardrail. The HoT began working over Wato in the ring. Wato hit some roundhouse kicks to Kanemaru’s chest at 4:00. Desperado tagged in and hit a shoulder tackle on Kanemaru, then a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall.
Sho entered and began kicking at Desperado’s left knee. Wato hooked both of Sho’s arms and got his Mousetrap Slam for a nearfall at 7:00. Sho hit a spear on Wato for a nearfall. Kanemaru got his bottle of whiskey, took a swig, and he sprayed it in Wato’s face. Sho nailed the Shock Arrow cross-arm piledriver to pin Wato. Okay action; I can’t pretend to be excited about the upcoming Kanemaru-Desperado singles match.
5. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls, and Shane Haste defeated Kazuchika Okada, Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomohiro Ishii at 10:42. Hiroshi had both his six-man tag belt and his TV belt. A nice pop for Okada; no sense of anger from this crowd. Ishii and Haste opened and immediately traded forearm strikes, and Ishii hit a Brainbuster. Tanashi entered at 1:00, but TMDK began working him over. Sabre and Fuita did a wishbone and snapped HIroshi’s legs apart. Okada finally made the hot tag at 5:00 and he hit a hard back elbow that dropped Nicholls, then a double DDT on Nicholls and Haste for a nearfall.
Okada hit a neckbreaker over his knee on Nicholls. Fujita hit a springboard dropkick on Okada for a nearfall at 7:00. Okada hit a flapjack faceplant on Kosei. Togi entered for the first time and he hit some punches in the corner on Kosei. Okada hit a dropkick. Togi dropped Sabre with some clotheslines at 10:00, but he missed a top-rope kneedrop. Sabre immediately hit a running knee to the chest, then he applied a leglock and tied Togi in a pretzel until he tapped out.
6. “Just 5 Guys” Yuya Uemura, Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Sanada, and Douki defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Bushi, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, and Tetsuya Naito at 9:01. Sanada and Naito opened and the crowd was loud as they traded basic reversals. Hiromu tagged in at 1:30, so Douki also entered. Shingo and Taichi traded offense; these two are destined to fight forever. Yuya and Yota entered right at the 5:00 call and they traded armdrags. Yuya hit a side suplex. Taka entered for the first time to face Yota. “That’s a choice,” Charlton quipped.
Bushi hit a missile dropkick on Taka, then he dove through the ropes on Taka. In the ring, Taka and Bushi traded more kicks and they were both down. Sanada made the hot tag at 8:00, and LIJ got some quick offense on Bushi. Sanada applied the Skull End but he let go to fight Naito, who had entered to make the save. Sanada re-applied the Skull End dragon sleeper on Bushi, and Bushi tapped out. Good energy.
7. Great-O-Khan defeated Taiji Ishimori to win the KOPW 2024 Trophy at 10:00. The rules were explained in Japanese with the on-screen graphic, and Charlton explained it. The KOPW is usually the comedy title with weird stipulations for each match. Whoever has the belt at the end of 10 minutes will be the champion, but we have 3 three-minute rounds, with an exercise routine between each round. Very convoluted. We have an on-screen countdown clock. O-Khan tied up Ishimori, but Taiji escaped and literally ran away until the first 3-minute rounded ended. So, they got in the ring and did some exercises, which clearly winded O-Khan more than Ishimori. The second round began, and O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops and a suplex.
O-Khan applied a Koji Clutch on the mat, and Ishimori was close to passing out, but the time expired on the second round, so they have more exercises to do. Walker Stewart was shocked that the ref didn’t rule that was a win for O-Khan. The third round began but O-Khan is winded and can barely stand after a series of stomach crunches. (Undoubtedly, Ishimori is in fantastic shape and these exercises didn’t faze him at all.) Ishimori applied the Bone Lock/modified STF, and O-Khan looked like he was going to pass out, but the third-round expired, and they had more exercises to do. O-Khan is winded and I don’t think this was a lot of acting, either.
O-Khan had to do another workout set, including some “mountain climbers.” Taiji playfully kicked at O-Khan as GOK was doing the exercises. GOK hit a punch to the chest but he couldn’t get the Sheepkiller. Taiji tried for the Bonelock. GOK hit the Claw Slam to the face and he collapsed. He did NOT cover Taiji, but his arm did land on the title belt. The 10-minutes expired and O-Khan was declared the winner! He was the last man “holding the title” at the end of the time period! What a silly finish. This was more entertaining than it had any right to be, largely for the workout routines between rounds.
8. “Guerrillas of Destiny” Hikuleo and El Phantasmo (w/Jado) defeated “Bullet Club” Kenta and Chase Owens to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles at 21:35. This is the first time Owens and Kenta have teamed up in a regular tag match. ELP and Kenta opened but Kenta was hesitant to tie up. ELP hit a second-rope kneedrop on Owens’ head at 3:30, then a nice dropkick to his jaw, then a second-rope crossbody block. Kenta pulled ELP to the floor and whipped him into a guardrail. In the ring, the BC kept El Phantasmo in their corner. Hikuleo finally got the hot tag at 11:30 and he hit a snake-eyes on the top turnbuckle, then a shoulder tackle on Kenta. He hit a double clothesline.
Chase tried to hit his package piledriver on Hikuleo but he couldn’t get him up. Kenta hit a dropkick in the corner on Hikuleo, then a top-rope doublestomp to the chest for a nearfall at 14:30. Hikuleo went for a Mafia Kick but Kenta caught the leg and he snapped it. Hikuleo hit a powerslam and they were both down. ELP hit a Lionsault on Kenta. Kenta put ELP’s feet on the ropes and he hit a DDT for a nearfall at 16:30. Kenta hit some spinning back fists. He tried to hit Go To Sleep but ELP turned it into a rollup for a nearfall. Nice. Kenta tied up ELP’s head and cranked back. ELP put Kenta on his shoulders and spun him to the mat and got a nearfall at 19:00.
Owens grabbed Hikule’s legs and crotched him around the ring post. Kenta hit a discus clothesline on Phantasmo. The BC hit a team neckbreaker on ELP for a believable nearfall at 20:30. ELP hit a superkick on Chase for a nearfall. ELP hit a Burning Hammer on Owens. Hikuleo hit a chokeslam on Kenta, at the same time ELP hit his CR2/modified Styles Clash on Owens for the pin. Okay match that just started a bit too slow.
9a. EVIL vs. Tama Tonga for the NEVER Openweight Title ended in a no contest at 3:00. Again, Tama has announced he is leaving Japan; I think he’s an obvious choice for the WWE roster. In recent weeks, EVIL has “broke into the NJPW servers and erased any mention of Tama being the NEVER Openweight champion,” and this footage was shown. Tama attacked EVIL as Tama entered the ring and they immediately brawled to the floor. Tama grabbed scissors and went to cut EVIL’s hair, but EVIL broke free. Suddenly the House of Torture hit the ring, so Desperado, ELP, Jado and Hikuleo returned to make the save, and everyone was fighting in the ring. The referee ruled the match a no contest.
* Tama Tonga got on the mic. Tama asked the match be restarted, but this time as a lumberjack match.
9b. EVIL defeated Tama Tonga in a lumberjack match to win the NEVER Openweight Title at 17:58. EVIL almost immediately rolled to the floor but was tossed back in. They brawled to the floor again so we had 10 guys fighting outside the ring. The HoT peeled back the thin mat and they hit a back suplex on Tama onto the floor. Sho tossed Tama back into the ring, where EVIL took control. Tama got tripped by the HoT, so Desperado tripped EVIL. They finally got to their feet with Tama hitting some punches on EVIL, then on the HoT as they hopped on the ring apron.
Tama hit a Blue Thunder Bomb at 8:00; he went to the top rope but EVIL rolled away. Tama hit a plancha to the floor on the HoT. EVILL tried to head to the back with the title belt but Hikuleo cut him off. Tama hit a rolling Death Valley Driver, then a top-rope frogsplash for a nearfall at 10:00, and he set up for the Gun Stun, with all his lumberjacks pounding together on the mat. However, EVIL hit the Magic Killer (aided by the unwilling referee.) On the floor, Yujiro hit a DDT onto the thin mat; in the ring, EVIL got a nearfall. EVIL nailed Darkness Falls slam for a believable nearfall at 12:00. Tama nailed the Tongan Twist and they were both down. Tama went for a German Suplex but EVIL grabbed the ref to prevent him from going over.
Dick Togo struck Tama in the head with a chair, allowing EVIL to get a nearfall. So, Jado hit EVIL in the head with a kendo stick, allowing Tama to get a nearfall at 15:00. Everyone started jumping in the ring and fighting each other. Hikuelo hit a double clothesline. ELP hit an impressive springboard moonsault to the floor. Meanwhile, EVIL swung the title belt at Tama but Tama ducked it. Tama went for Gun Stun but EVIL blocked it. Seconds later, Tama nailed the Gun Stun for a believable nearfall. Tama nailed the Jay Driller for a visual pin but the ref was pulled from the ring! Togo choked Tama with his chain, so Tama hit another Gun Stun on Togo. Ren Narita struck Tama in the back of the head with a weapon! EVIL immediately hit the Everything is Evil uranage for the pin! New champion! Not the result anyone wanted, but you had to get the belt off of Tama.
* Tama got on the mic. He said something in Japanese first and got a nice applause. He switched to English and thanked the fans. “Thank you for taking care of me, thank you for giving me a home, thank you for giving me a chance to know you,” he said. “I love you.” A nice way to close out the show.
Final Thoughts: I am a big fan of Tama, particularly when he’s working with a wrestler better than him (Ospreay, Shingo, etc.) But a match with EVIL needed all these tricks and interference. I really wanted to see Tama win, but I completely understand the decision to have EVIL take the belt. While I really do think Okada is a better fit for AEW, I hope Tama Tonga is a surprise debut in the WWE Royal Rumble.
I have written this before, but I truly feel like Kenta’s best matches in 2023 happened in the United States, frequently on indy shows. This pairing with Chase Owens just didn’t work for me. So, neither of the top matches were ‘must-see’ matches. NJPW has several more shows this week.
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