The Road to New Beginning sees first Korakuen bouts of 2023

After a month away from the hallowed Korakuen Hall, the first Korakuen events of 2023 will see action on the Road to the New Beginning on January 24 and 25, with plenty to look forward to.

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The main event on January 24 will see Shota Umino team with Toru Yano and the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada of CHAOS to face Los Ingobernables De Japon’s Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and SANADA. Feberuary 11 will see Shingo Takagi take on Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, while more immediate concerns surround Shota Umino and Tetsuya Naito’s special singles match on February 3 in Sapporo. It’s sure to be a hotly contested trios affair to round up the first Korakuen event of the year.

Another preview will take place when Will Ospreay and TJP will face Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. After a violent brawl in Ota on January 5, Ospreay and Taichi are on a collision course in Taichi’s home town of Sapporo to kick off February. Meanwhile, TJP and Francesco Akira are preparing to defend IWGP Jr. Tag Team gold against Kanemaru and DOUKI, and after a pair of losses to the former Suzuki-Gun side, need to make a statement tonight. 

January 25 will see YOH and Ryusuke Taguchi join Okada for a six man battle with Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI.  After a Direct Drive at New Year dash, YOH was quick to challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, that match now official for Sapporo. Can the CHAOS member keep his momentum going?

Umino and Naito’s issues will continue when he and Tomoaki Honma face SANADA and Tetsuya Naito. It will be a tough climb for the relatively unfamiliar combo of Umino and Honma to take on former IWGP Tag team Champions in Naito and SANADA, as the LIJ duo seek to put the young Shooter in his place.