Jake Lee & Francisco Akira Score Big Win at NJPW Road To THE NEW BEGINNING in Korakuen Hall

By: Lewis Carlan

The New Japan Pro-Wrestling Road To THE NEW BEGINNING tour rolled into the world famous Korakuen Hall as 1,234 fans were on hand for the event.

The main event was a huge tag team bout as the IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji teamed with Taiji Ishimori as they faced United Empire’s Jake Lee & Francesco Akira. This match served as a preliminary for the Feb.11 IWGP Heavyweight Title bout between Tsuji and challenger Lee at THE NEW BEGINNING in OSAKA.

As expected, the main event was an action-packed affair with both teams attempting to emerge victorious. In the end, it was Francesco Akira hitting his Crown Fall finisher on Ishimori that ended the bout at the 19:32 mark giving the victory to the United Empire duo.

After the bout, Akira addressed the crowd and proclaimed that Jake Lee will be the next IWGP Heavyweight Champion. In addition, Akira put the entire NJPW Jr. Heavyweight division on notice which hints that he could attempt to position himself for an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title opportunity against current champion DOUKI.

In other action, David Finlay & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young in the co-featured tag team bout.

The NJPW Young Lion Cup 2026 came to a close when Katsuya Murashima defeated Shoma Kato in the finals to win the tournament.

Photo Credit: NJPW

Here are the full results for NJPW Road To THE NEW BEGINNING on Feb. 1st courtesy of purolove.com:

• Young Lion Cup – Final: Katsuya Murashima defeated Shoma Kato (11:15) with a crab hold.
• Yuto-Ice, OSKAR & Gedo defeated Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura & Tiger Mask (9:03) as Yuto Tiger pinned after the knockout.
• Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita defeated Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Oleg Boltin & Ryusuke Taguchi (9:42) after a TM clutch by Oiwa against Taguchi.
• Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Zane Jay defeated Drilla Moloney, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai (11:26) after a sit-down jumping powerbomb by HENARE against Nagai.
• Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato defeated Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, DOUKI & Dick Togo (10:21) after a Tsutenkaku German Suplex Hold by Wato against DOUKI.
• Special Tag Match: David Finlay & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young (18:52) after overkill Finlay against Young.
• Main Event Special Tag Match: Jake Lee & Francesco Akira defeated Yota Tsuji & Taiji Ishimori (19:32) after Akira’s crown fall against Ishimori.