By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Road to The New Beginning”
January 24, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall
Streamed live on New Japan World
Walker Stewart provided solo commentary as the show began, as Chris Charlton is sick. To my surprise, no one joined him on commentary later. A good-sized crowd tonight, as Stewart reminds us this is Kazuchika Okada’s final NJPW match in this building before his contract expires. This is a sellout.
1. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tiger Mask at 6:33. It feels strange to see Sabre come to the ring without that TV Title. They traded mat reversals early on. TM hit some roundhouse kicks to the chest at 4:00. Sabre fired back with running European Uppercuts in the corner. Tiger Mask got a backslide for a nearfall. Sabre switched to a crossarm breaker. Tiger Mask grapevined a leg on the mat. Sabre applied a double-armbar and Tiger Mask tapped out. Exactly what you’d expect here.
2. “Bullet Club” Kenta, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and “Guerrillas of Destiny” Hikuleo and Jado at 6:23. The BC attacked at the bell. Ishimori tied up Taguchi on the mat and the BC worked him over. Taguchi finally hit an enzuigiri, and he made the hot tag to Hikuleo at 3:30. Hikuleo hit a Mafia Kick, then a double clothesline, then a running Bulldog Powerslam on Ishimori for a nearfall. Kenta grabbed Hikuleo’s knee and snapped it over his shoulder. Jado got in and applied a crossface on Ishimori at 6:00. However, Ishimori somehow flipped Jado over, rolled him up, and got the pin.
3. “House of Torture” EVIL, Sho, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Yujiro Takahashi (w/Dick Togo) defeated Tama Tonga, Yoh, Tomoaki Honma, and El Desperado at 10:57. A really nice ovation for Tama, who also is having his last Korakuen Hall match under an NJPW contract. The HoT attacked from behind. Sho tried to untie Desperado’s mask and they traded offense as the match got underway; on Tuesday, Sho attacked Desperado in a backstage interview segment, so this feud is just starting. Sho and former partner Yoh traded offense. On the floor two heels hit a suplex on Yoh onto the bare wood floor at 4:00. Back in the ring, the HoT took turns working over Yoh.
Yoh hit a flying forearm on Kanemaru for a nearfall. Tama made the hot tag at 7:00, hit a Stinger Splash and peeled off his vest. He hit a hard clothesline on EVIL, but then he tagged in Honma at 8:30. Honma hit some chops and a bulldog on EVIL, but he missed the Kokeshi falling headbutt. Desperado jumped in the ring and hit a spear on EVIL. Yoh hit a dropkick and a plancha on Kanemaru. Honma nailed a leaping headbutt on EVIL for a nearfall. Togo distracted Honma, allowing EVIL to hit the Everything is Evil uranage for the pin. Again… what you’d expect here. The match was good when Tama and Desperado were in the ring.
* Sho hit Desperado in the head with the light heavyweight title after the bell. Sho untied the mask, ripped it off, and ran to the back holding his trophy. Some Young Lions at ringside covered Desperado’s head, and the crowd loudly booed Sho for stealing the mask.
4. “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, and Clark Connors defeated “United Empire” TJP, Francesco Akira, Henare, Great-O-Khan, and Callum Newman at 6:31. UE came out first. They met the BCWD as they walked to the ring and they all brawled on the floor. In the ring, Henare and Kidd traded offense. Coughlin hit a fallaway slam on O-Khan at 3:00. TJP and Akira hit stereo superkicks. Newman entered and hit a flying knee to Finlay’s chest. Connors hit a Pounce on Akira that sent him flying to the floor. Connors dragged him back into the ring and hit a team neckbreaker move on Akira.
Akira and TJP hit their team X-Factor faceplant, and TJP hit a plancha to the floor at 5:00. Akira missed the Fireball double knees, but he hit a doublestomp on Clark, then a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. Connors fired back with a powerslam, then a spear, and he nailed the No Chaser spike DDT for the pin! That wrapped up quickly. Wow that was a lot of offense in a match that short. This feud has felt really inspired. The War Dogs kept beating up the UE after the match.
5. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, and Bushi defeated “Just 5 Guys” Taka Michinoku, Yuya Uemura, and Taichi at 10:11. J5G attacked from behind. Shingo paired off with Taichi in the ring, while Yota and Yuya fought on the floor. Taichi hit a pair of Mafia Kicks on Shingo. Yuya and Yota got in the ring at 2:30 and they traded chops. Uemura hit a back suplex for a nearfall. Bushi and Taka tagged in at 6:00 and traded offense. Bushi hit a basement dropkick to the knee. He dove through the ropes and barreled into Taka. In the ring, Taka tied up Bushi on the mat and cranked back on his head.
Shingo made the hot tag at 8:30 and he hit a sliding clothesline on Taka. He set up for a piledriver but Taichi broke it up. Shingo hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Taichi. Taka hit a running knee on Shingo’s head, but he couldn’t get him up for a bodyslam. Shingo nailed a Pumping Bomber clothesline for a believable nearfall. Shingo immediately hit a standing powerbomb with a jackknife cover to pin Taka. Fun match. Uemura and Tsuji kept fighting at ringside; the ring bell was repeatedly hit, trying to tell them to separate.
6. “Just 5 Guys” Sanada and Douki defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito at 9:14. Naito and Sanada opened with basic mat reversals. Hiromu and Douki entered at 1:30 and they traded faster reversals. Naito re-entered and worked over Douki’s left arm. Sanada got in and dropkicked Naito at 5:30. Douki hit a Northern Lights Suplex on Hiromu for a nearfall. He set up for Daybreak slingshot DDT but Hiromu caught him. Naito hit a tornado DDT on Douki, and Hiromu hit a Time Bomb swinging slam on Douki for a believable nearfall at 8:30. Hiromu hit a clothesline on Douki. Douki mousetrapped Hiromu’s arms, got a seatbelt cover, and got a pinfall out of nowhere! That was a pleasant surprise. Hiromu had a fun, exaggerated temper tantrum and he stormed to the back.
7. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomohiro Ishii defeated “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Kosei Fujita (w/Sabre Jr.) to retain the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Titles at 22:14. This crowd was LOUD with an “Okada!” chant, and he opened against Fujita; they brawled to the floor, where Okada hit a bodyslam on the thin mat. Fujita tried some forearm strikes on Ishii, who completely no-sold them. Tanahashi hit a second-rope flipping senton for a nearfall at 2:30. Ishii tagged in and hit some loud chops; Fujita fired back with his own. This crowd is really into this match, and Ishii applied a Boston Crab, but Fujita made it to the ropes at 4:30. Stewart reiterated that Kosei is just 21 years old.
Kosei hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Tanahashi! He tagged in Haste, who hit a dropkick on Tanahashi, then a cannoball in the corner for a nearfall at 7:00. Ishii entered and hit a back suplex on Haste for a nearfall. Nicholls hit a team suplex on Ishii. He hit a Death Valley Driver on Ishii for a nearfall at 10:30. Okada entered and hit a double DDT on Haste and Nicholls, then a flapjack on Fujita. Okada’s team hit a team flapjack on Fujita. Ishii hit a hard clothesline on Nicholls for a nearfall. Fujita hit a huracanrana on Tanahashi, then a flip dive onto Hiroshi on the floor at 12:30. In the ring, Haste and Nicholls hit a Tankbuster/team Death Valley Driver move on Ishii for a believable nearfall.
Haste and Nicholls hit another Tankbuster on Ishii for a believable nearfall at 14:00. Hiroshi hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip. He and Ishii hit stereo Dragonscrews on Nicholls and Haste, and the 15-minute call is right on. Okada and Kosei got back in, but Kosei was worn down and Okada was smiling, aware he had the advantage. Kosei hit a springboard dropkick for a nearfall. Fujita tied up Okada’s legs and cranked back on his head, and the crowd was insanely loud. Okada escaped and he applied the Money Clip at 18:00; he let it go when Haste jumped into the ring. Fujita hit a German Suplex with a bridge for a believable nearfall!
Okada hit a German Suplex. He missed the Rainmaker but he hit a dropkick to the jaw. He hit some short-arm clotheslines, but he couldn’t hit the Rainmaker, and Fujita got another rollup for a nearfall at 20:00. The babyfaces surrrounded Fujita. Tanahashi hit a Sling Blade and Ishii hit a sliding clothesline. Okada hit a dropkick on Fujita, then a top-rope elbow drop, then the Rainmaker for the pin. That was fantastic.
* Okada shook hands with everyone and he hugged Sabre (I like that Zack was at ringside but never tried to interfere). He got on the mic and before he finished his first sentence, he was crying. He posed with Ishii and Tanahashi as they showed off their title belts. I’m not sure who is taking the titles from them now. The camera panned to Toru Yano and Yoshi-Hashi, who were doing commentary and Okada shook hands with them, too, and he waved at the fans as he left. Stewart said the titles will be vacated!
8. Shota Umino defeated Ren Narita at 33:49. Shota immediately whipped Ren repeatedly into the guardrails at ringside. Walker reminded us they had a 20-minute draw during G1 Climax last fall. In the ring, Shota remained in control. No signs of the House of Torture (yet!) as Shota tied up Ren on the mat. Ren kicked Shota off the ring apron at 4:00, sending Shota flying into the guardrail. It was now Ren’s turn to whip Shota into the guardrails several times, and he kicked Shota so he fell over the guardrail and into the front row. Ren choked Shota with his workout bar. Stewart noted that Shota’s father is the referee and he’s likely to let them go further than usual because Shota doesn’t want this to end in a DQ.
They brawled through the crowd, up one of the short bleachers, and Ren slammed Shota’s head against a wall at 8:00. Shota barely got back into the ring before being counted out. Ren dominated the offense for a couple of minutes. Shota hit a dropkick to the face at 11:30. Ren did a slingshot to hit Shota’s throat onto the bottom rope and he regained control of the match. Ren hit some blows that Shota no-sold as he looked angry. Shota trapped Ren’s head in the corner and kicked his face, then he hit a series of kicks in the corner at 16:00. They fought back to the floor and up the larger bleachers. Shota repeatedly slammed Ren’s head onto an open chair at 18:30.
Shota grabbed one of those unbreakable Japanese tables from ringside, and he brought it up to where Ren was lying in the bleachers. He placed it across an entry way! He powerbombed Ren through the table, and Ren fell to the ground and rolled down the staircase into the concourse! (This seemedl like it could have been dangerous move but they did it well. I think this is the first time I’ve seen the concourse of Korakuen Hall, too!) They re-entered the arena, with Shota dragging him back to ringside. Shota pulled out another table! In the ring, he hit a missile dropkick, then a CrossRhodes swinging neckbreaker and a sideslam for a nearfall at 22:30. Shota hit a running Sliced Bread for a nearfall.
They went to the floor, where Ren hit a belly-to-belly suplex, tossing Shota onto the table, which was leaning against a guardrail, and they were both down on the floor at 24:00. Ren got in first; Shota dove in at the 19-count. Ren hit a running knee to the throat as the 25-minute mark is right-on. Ren hit a second-rope kneestrike for a nearfall. Ren hit a low blow and a German Suplex for a nearfall. He hit an Exploder Suplex with a bridge for another nearfall, then a Northern Lights suplex. Shota hit a DDT and they were both down at 27:30. Shota hit an “Impact DDT” as Stewart called it for a nearfall. EVIL and Dick Togo appeared at ringside! The crowd booed. The ref got knocked out, and all of the HoT stomped on Shota.
Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Shota’s groin as we hit 30:00. The lights went out! The lights came back on and Tama Tonga was in the ring. EVIL hit a low blow on Tama. Desperado ran into the ring and hit the Angels Wings on Sho, while Tama hit a Gun Stun on EVIL. Just like that, we’re back to our two fighters. Shota hit a German Suplex and a half-nelson suplex for a nearfall. Ren hit his head-capture suplex with a bridge for a believable nearfall, and he applied a sleeper. Shota hit a rolling elbow then the Death Rider double-arm DDT for a nearfall. (Stewart remarked we’re “well past 25 minutes”; he didn’t hear the 30-minute call.) Shota hit another Death Rider for the pin! An excellent match.
* Desperado (who of course has a mask on again) spoke on the mic first. Tama then spoke and he said “thank you, so so much. Shota, I’m proud of you, but I want you, before I go, I want you to do something for me. I want you to kick EVIL’s ass. Take the NEVER open champion.” He reiterated that he loves the New Japan fans. Shota then spoke on the mic to close out the show.
Final Thoughts: I have fully acknowledged on the three NJPW shows in the past week that there was nothing “must-see,” but the six-man tag was definitely a must-see match, and it should have been last. However, Shota-Narita was equally good. That bump by the staircase was potentially dangerous but they did it well. Those two matches were great.
Once again, the undercard highlight was the inspired United Empire-Bullet Club fight, even though it was short.
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