M. Ish | Monthly Puroresu
By: James Carlin
Many big statements were made to start of the two-day weekend in Sapporo for New Japan’s New Beginning tour.
The most notable, perhaps, was Nic Nemeth upsetting David Finlay to become IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. In the lead up to the bout, Finlay had shown his determination to close Nemeth’s second chapter of his wrestling career at the press conference only to eat his words as the Wanted Man dethroned him on his first defence.
Post-match, Nemeth got onto the mic and promised to defend the title anywhere and everywhere, as well as directly asking to team with his idol Hiroshi Tanahashi tomorrow night. Nemeth proved that not only could he succeed in uncharted territory, but that he’s here to show the world who he really is and that he wants to go global with his newly won championship.
NEW IWGP GLOBAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION @NicTNemeth
Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/9iZJzPha5l#njnbg #NJPW #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/tu550YdtGI
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) February 23, 2024
Nemeth wasn’t the only outsider who captured gold in Sapporo as Matt Riddle defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in his Japanese debut for NJPW to become the new World Television Champion. But the celebrations didn’t last long as he challenged inaugural champion Zack Sabre Jr. to fight for the title the Frontman once held.
Sabre Jr. declined his offer, instead hinting that another member of TMDK would instead accept Riddle’s offer to fight for the belt. Riddle will be facing Bad Dude Tito on February 29th back in America for MLW; and Tito may be the TMDK member to challenge Riddle for the belt overseas.
The King of Bros is back on top and your new Television Champion! Thank you everyone for supporting me and showing me love 🤙 #njpw #njpwworld #bro #stallion #tvchampion #rudedude #sapporo pic.twitter.com/Hd7kgElVVL
— matthew riddle (@SuperKingofBros) February 23, 2024
To no one’s surprise, the dastardly tricks of House of Torture continued in Sapporo as EVIL kept ahold of his NEVER Openweight Championship against Roughneck Shota Umino. However, his stablemate also found success as SHO defeated El Desperado by count-out to become the 95th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. This was Desperado’s second defence of the title after defeating Hiromu Takahashi at the Tokyo Dome earlier this year.
“Souled Out” Ren Narita emerged from under the ring outside of the referee’s sight to choke the champion during the twenty count, allowing SHO to capitalize and get into the ring as Deperado was immobilized following multiple chairshots to the head by SHO.
In a sickening display, SHO scored a cheap countout victory to take the rich IWGP Junior Heavyweight prize from El Desperado in Sapporo.#njnbg report:https://t.co/VZp9nWVXBO
Watch the replay!https://t.co/JV7Gggw2Nn#njpw pic.twitter.com/EhcvpmXT1K
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) February 23, 2024
The second night in Sapporo has only one title on the line – The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. SANADA will look to reclaim the belt he lost from his former Los Ingobernables leader Tetsuya Naito and prove that Just 5 Guys can still reign supreme despite the noticeable blip at the Tokyo Dome that enabled Naito to finally do his ought-after roll call that had been disrupted by KENTA many years before.
Although not a championship, the dignity of two will be on the line when Yota Tsuji faces Yuya Uemura in a hair vs. hair match admist the rivalry between their two factions. Much like Giulia vs. Tam Nakano in 2021, the result of the match becomes a constant reminder for the loser of what they have lost. Tsuji is very proud of his hair, but does the Gene Blast have what it takes to keep it on his head, or does the future forsee him becoming like Giulia and going bald moving forward?
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Yuji Nagata
House of Torture (Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Boltin Oleg, Togi Makabe, & Ryusuke Taguchi
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI def. United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Francesco Akira, & Callum Newman)
LIJ (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, & BUSHI) def. Just 5 Guys (SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI, & TAKA Michinoku
IWGP Women’s Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) defeats Mina Shirakawa to achieve V4
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: SHO defeats El Desperado (c) by count-out on champio’s second defence
NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL (c) defeats Shota Umino to achieve V1
NJPW World Television Championship: Matt Riddle defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) on champion’s second defence
IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Nic Nemeth defeats David Finlay (c) on champion’s first defence
Date:
February 24, 2024
Category:
Latest News