Yota Tsuji Defeats Yuya Uemura In Hair Vs Hair Match

By: Lewis Carlan

On February 24th, New Japan Pro-Wrestling presented it’s The New Beginning in Sapporo Night 2 event. The co-main event featured two talents that are expected to lead NJPW into the future in the form of Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura. The two young stars continued their rivalry in a match that featured a Hair vs Hair stipulation. This stipulation was suggested by Tsuji on February 5th at the The Road to New Beginning at Korakuen Hall. Tsuji stated before he can pursue the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, he needed to end his dispute with Uemura which led to the Hair vs Hair challenge.

From the beginning to the end of the encounter, both wrestlers fought hard in an effort to prevent them from being the one who would lose their hair. The tense match featured a number of near falls and crowd pleasing action but in the end it was Tsuji who prevailed. The battle concluded when Uemura put Tsuji down with a German Suplex only to have Tsuji spring up and hit a Gene Blaster which enabled him to score a pinfall win over his rival. As he earned the right with the victory, Tsuji proceeded to cut through the pony tail of Uemura as the crowd gasped during the process. Tsuji began shaving the rest of Uemura’s hair but Uemura, showing that he had accepted the defeat, grabbed the head shaver and removed a strip on his own.

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Backstage after his loss, Uemura stated despite losing his hair, he will continue to train as he normally does and has his sights set on the upcoming New Japan Cup. The New Japan Cup is set to begin on March 7th at Korakuen Hall and run through Match 20th.