NJPW New Beginning in Osaka
2/10/18
Osaka, Japan
Quick Results:
- Yuji Nagata defeated Katsuya Kitamura
- Non-title Match: Suzuki Gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) w/ Rocky Romero.
- Togi Makabe. Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA, and Rysuke Taguchi defeated Suzuki Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taka Michinoku, Taichi, and Takashi Iizuka).
- Chaos (Jay White, Toru Yano, and Tomohiro Ishii) defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay, and Toa Henare.
- Bushi defeated Gedo.
- Tetsuya Naito defeated Yoshi-Hashi.
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) defeated Hiromu Takahashi to retain.
- NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto (c) defeated EVIL to retain.
- IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Sanada to retain.
Blog:
Going in to this show, I do not believe the crowd expected a title change. However, Sanada's (and Okada's) performance in the main event did a great job in making the live crowd believe that this would be Sanada's night. The undercard featured about 3 premier matches while the rest were sort of there to just further some stories.
I like the trial series that Kitamura is going through, as working with veterans is a good way for him to polish up in the ring. His match with Nagata was a solid opener, however I would have liked to see him get the win here. He is in prime shape while Nagata is on the tail end of his career. They could say that Nagata's experience won him the match but I was not a fan of the result.
The Jr. Heavyweight tag match probably would have been a better opener. 3K and Suzuki Gun had a great match that told the story of Sho's back injury, causing his team to lose by submission. This was great, as every time 3K looked to end the match, Sho's back would give out, making him unable to perform a move. This will probably lead to a tag title match for Suzuki Gun but I hope to see 3K retain the belts.
It was strange that Desperado and Yoshinobu did not stick around for the next match. The babyfaces attacking Suzuki-Gun before the match was a great call, since Suzuki Gun usually jumps them. The match was pretty much a showcase for Makabe and Suzuki, as everyone else did not really contribute much. Makabe will eventually challenge Suzuki for the Intercontinental title. This wasn't a good use of Elgin and KUSHIDA who could have had a better match elsewhere on the card.
Jay White getting his own entrance despite being a member of Chaos was great and it made him seem like more of a star. His "Switchblade" character is coming along great, despite a slow start. He was the star of this match and his finish via ref stoppage was great. He refused to get the pin and instead kept striking Henare until the referee stopped the match.
Rey Mysterio appeared on the big screen and challenged Jushin Liger to a match. This is a great get for New Japan and should get them a lot of buzz.
Bushi and Gedo had a better match that I expected. LIJ is very over in Japan so the evil looking Bushi was treated as a babyface. Gedo played heel while trying to rip off the mask while Bushi had hedge clippers to cut off Gedo's beard. As ridiculous as it was, I enjoyed this match.
Yoshi-Hashi and Naito had the match of the night up to this point (and the same would hold true for the Ospreay/Takahashi match). Yoshi-Hashi dominated most of the match before losing to two Desitino's by Naito. Yoshi-Hashi looked strong here and looks to be moving his way up the card. The announcers brought up how he has never won a title in New Japan and that can be a great storyline moving forward. Naito was attacked by Taichi after the match which the announcers acknowledged but then quickly moved on. A storyline feud between LIJ and Suzuki-Gun can be great but this was a strange start to it.
Will Ospreay continues to impress while Hiromu was able to hang with the "Aerial Assassin". This was a fast paced match in the beginning that slowed down at times to sell an Ospreay neck injury but then it continued. Hiromu had some good nearfalls after blocking the Oscutter twice. While I can't name all the spots in this match, Ospreay hit a reverse rana off the top rope and an inverted 450 while Hiromu hit a great Canadian Destroyer type move. Ospreay finally gets the win following an Oscutter and this was again, the match of the night up to this point.
Evil and Goto had to follow this match which was not an easy task. Goto gets the win but this match was placed poorly here.
As mentioned earlier, on paper it looked like Okada would win but both men worked hard and gave Sanada some believable nearfalls here. Sanada hit a piledriver on the entrance ramp and one in the ring later on in order to weaken Okada and give the sense that the champ was in danger. Sanada even hit a Rainmaker while Okada locked in the Skull End dragon sleeper move. The crowd was buying Sanada as a main eventer here. Okada got the win as expected but this match was unbelievably good. This was a long match timewise but it flew by. They had the crowd from start to finish. Okada will compete in the New Japan cup this year.
Overall, this was another strong card from New Japan. The order of matches could have been changed up a bit but the show itself was great. Most matches served a purpose, whether it was to set up a title match or to highlight a certain talent. The eight man tag was the low point of the show for me while the Jr. Heavyweight and Heavyweight title matches were the two standouts.
Match of the Night: Tetsuya Naito vs. Sanada
Honorable Mention: Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Yoshi-Hashi and Naito had the match of the night up to this point (and the same would hold true for the Ospreay/Takahashi match). Yoshi-Hashi dominated most of the match before losing to two Desitino's by Naito. Yoshi-Hashi looked strong here and looks to be moving his way up the card. The announcers brought up how he has never won a title in New Japan and that can be a great storyline moving forward. Naito was attacked by Taichi after the match which the announcers acknowledged but then quickly moved on. A storyline feud between LIJ and Suzuki-Gun can be great but this was a strange start to it.
Will Ospreay continues to impress while Hiromu was able to hang with the "Aerial Assassin". This was a fast paced match in the beginning that slowed down at times to sell an Ospreay neck injury but then it continued. Hiromu had some good nearfalls after blocking the Oscutter twice. While I can't name all the spots in this match, Ospreay hit a reverse rana off the top rope and an inverted 450 while Hiromu hit a great Canadian Destroyer type move. Ospreay finally gets the win following an Oscutter and this was again, the match of the night up to this point.
Evil and Goto had to follow this match which was not an easy task. Goto gets the win but this match was placed poorly here.
As mentioned earlier, on paper it looked like Okada would win but both men worked hard and gave Sanada some believable nearfalls here. Sanada hit a piledriver on the entrance ramp and one in the ring later on in order to weaken Okada and give the sense that the champ was in danger. Sanada even hit a Rainmaker while Okada locked in the Skull End dragon sleeper move. The crowd was buying Sanada as a main eventer here. Okada got the win as expected but this match was unbelievably good. This was a long match timewise but it flew by. They had the crowd from start to finish. Okada will compete in the New Japan cup this year.
Overall, this was another strong card from New Japan. The order of matches could have been changed up a bit but the show itself was great. Most matches served a purpose, whether it was to set up a title match or to highlight a certain talent. The eight man tag was the low point of the show for me while the Jr. Heavyweight and Heavyweight title matches were the two standouts.
Match of the Night: Tetsuya Naito vs. Sanada
Honorable Mention: Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi
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