Naito gets over first defence hump; SHO on agenda in Anniversary match
The main event of New Beginning in Sapporo saw the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at stake, Tetsuya Naito defending in a direct Wrestle Kingdom rematch against SANADA.
The match started with SANADA working against an all Naito crowd, and after early jockeying for position, the challenger looked to silence chants for the champion with a Paradise Lock. That didn’t work, and after a walk out of bounds following a trademark Naito taunt, SANADA found himself drilled with an elevated DDT from the apron to the floor. With sights set on the neck of his opponent, Naito used his leg Nelson on the outside to almost get a countout before homing in back inside.
When Naito went up for a Frankensteiner on SANADA though, the challenger took out the base of Naito and in so doing, the champions skull cracked the ring post. Capitalising, SANADA used a neckbreaker of his own off the top and found Skull End. Naito faded but was propped up by the chants of the crowd; as the challenger tried to silence the fans again with a Moonsault, he only hit the knees of the champion.
Naito again went to the neck of SANADA, and landed a huge Frankensteiner off the top strand. The end grew nearer when Naito countered a TKO with a half Destino, but the full version couldn’t land, and instead a pair of moonsaults almost led to a new champion. A Shining Wizard later and SANADA set for Deadfall, but a tornado DDT style counter instead had the challenge get in a snug front chancerie.
Challenger escaped but walked into a Deadfall attempt from the champion. SANADA handspring out the move though, and it was a Shining Wizard to the back of Naito’s skull that had hearts in the mouths of the Naito faithful. Another Deadfall would do it, but another tornado DDT counter, this time into a small package hold, and the champion had retained.
