Last stop on the Road to The New Beginning
After a month of battles in Korakuen Hall and across Japan, the Road to The New Beginning makes its final stop Monday February 8. New Beginning in Hiroshima is just two days away, and tonight gives competitors one last chance to assert themselves before major action in Sun Plaza Hall Wednesday and Thursday.
Watch all of The New Beginning LIVE and in English on NJPW World!
Main event: SHO & Kota Ibushi vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi)
Tonight’s main event sees previews of both main events in Hiroshima as SHO and Hiromu Takahashi face off before they do battle for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship as do SANADA and Kota Ibushi before their match for the double IWGP titles. SANADA has shown trademark caginess toward Ibushi through the majority of this month’s tour, not giving much to go on in his backstage comments. Yet after his victory on Wednesday night in Korakuen Hall, Cold Skull dropped the lights and promised the same illuminative gift for his post Hiroshima celebration.
With little in the way of a war of words with SANADA, Ibushi has been more focused between his matches in honing in on what SHO and Hiromu have to say. Takahashi has been pushing his CHAOS challenger to show his own fire and passion for the IWGP Jr. heavyweight Championship, while Ibushi, perhaps thinking past SANADA, has been hovering over the junior heavyweight contenders. With the time for talk running out, it’s now down to action, something all four men deliver better than anyone. What will emerge from this intense main event Monday?
4th Match: Master Wato & Tomoaki Honma vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI)
Our semi main event sees Hiroshima opponents Master Wato and BUSHI square off, while Tomoaki Honma continues to be a thorn in Tetsuya Naito’s side. Honma has eaten loss after loss on the current tour as Naito repeatedly brushes off requests for a matchup. Meanwhile Wato vs BUSHI is confirmed and official for Wednesday and night one in Hiroshima; while Wato has shown his ability to fly and strike at BUSHI, the jet black deathmask remains confident, stating that ‘after all, I called you out, so I can’t possibly lose now, can I?’. 48 hours before they go head to head, Wato will need to impress himself on his masked opponent tonight.
3rd Match: Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI) vs BULLET CLUB (Jado, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
Dangerous Tekkers and the Guerrillas of Destiny will face off on Monday night for the last time before their IWGP Tag Team Championship rematch on Wednesday. Ever since Tama Tonga stole Taichi’s Iron Finger From Hell after using it to help G.o.D to their Tokyo Dome title victory, the ‘good bad guy’ has grown ever more devious, as well as seemingly losing his grip on sanity. The original holder of the fingers Takashi Iizuka was a wild and uncontrollable monster, and Taichi has often commented on the seemingly mystical powers encased within the metal glove.
Tama Tonga has been behaving even more unpredictably than normal since taking possession of the iron, but superstition or not, G.o.D have been effective on this tour. Indeed, with a NEVER 6-Man title shot on night two in Hiroshima, they could walk out of New Beginning as double champions, but they have a tough mountain to climb against their challengers first. Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. have been incensed ever since losing the tag titles at Wrestle Kingdom, and are determined to make G.o.D’s seventh tag reign a short one. What will happen as both teams make one last power play before Hiroshima?
2nd Match:CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro ishii & Hirooki Goto) vs BULLET CLUB (EVIL, Jay White & Yujiro Takahashi)
Six man tag team action will see CHAOS and BULLET CLUB’s ongoing issues continue, and while Okada and EVIL’s feud continues to progress, the focal point may well be Jay White in this bout. After physically decimating YOSHI-HASHI in a three on one environment Tuesday, Wednesday’s follow-up match saw swift retribution from CHAOS. Tomohiro Ishii was furious in the ring, and outside of it on commentary, Hirooki Goto took matters into his own hands, reaching over the fence and attacking the Switchblade.
Backstage, White urged NJPW officials to make sure there were consequences for Goto’s actions, asking for him to be removed from Thursday’s NEVER 6-Man Championship bout. Whether or not there are official sanctions on Goto as far as Hiroshima is concerned, this six man contest is certainly taking place, and Goto and Ishii will definitely want a piece of Jay White tonight.
1st Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Gabriel Kidd & Yuya Uemura vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
The night kicks off with Ryusuke taguchi teaming with Gabriel Kidd and Yuya Uemura against Suzuki-Gun. Kidd and Uemura have continued to take great strides in the ring, but they’ll have to do a lot of growth very quickly to stay in the game against the former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, headed to the ring by the furious Suzuki. As Uemura continues to gun for the singles match with the King he’s been asking for for a year at this point, will he live to fight Suzuki one on one after tonight?
