New Japan Pro Wrestling: NJPW The New Beginning in Niigata 2016 Review
Location: Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan inside the Aore Nagaoka Arena (3,603 in attendance)
The now annual February “The New Beginning” split shows began in 2011 in Tokyo and Osaka respectively with then IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi tagging with Prince Devitt (now known to many as Finn Balor) to take on Satoshi Kojima and TAKA Michinoku and five days later Hiroshi Tanahashi would defend said IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Satoshi Kojima. In 2012 and 2013, The New Beginning was only one show. Three years ago the format changed again to make it two shows once again. The title of the show is rather literal, usually featuring some title changes and it sets the template for some things we may see the rest of the year in the promotion.
The first show of the tour, took place on Thursday in Osaka and featured a great Junior Tag three way match with Ricochet and Matt Sydal winning the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles. I’d say that is a great honor but those tag belts have been switched around a lot lately. I guess there is always a chance this team could stick with them for a while. Another title you can fully expect to be switched a lot are the newly minted NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Titles, which the Bullet Club B team won over Toru Yano and The Briscoes. These titles are the first championship ever in NJPW for Tama Tonga. Katsuyori Shibata and Tomohiro Ishii had another brutal, but also wrestling filled contest for the NEVER Openweight Championship, which was of the same quality to their Wrestle Kingdom 10 encounter. Finally, to no one’s surprise, Kazuchika Okada retained the IWGP Heavyweight Championship over a Hirooki Goto doing his best Hakushi impression. This makes Goto 0-8 in IWGP Heavyweight title matches for his career. The match certainly did not equal the buildup given to it and we pretty much saw the same Goto we get without the body paint. Okada did provide an interesting development afterwards saying that perhaps a change would be good for Goto and that he should join CHAOS.
Before the events of this show took place, there were certainly a lot of possibilities available. Would there be anything else with Goto and Okada? What about Shibata and Ishii? Would NJPW stick with KUSHIDA as the ace of the the Jr division? Or would they once again cut his title reign short and move it to a rising star in BUSHI, who has been shining in the Los Ingobernables de Japon stable with Tetsuya Naito and EVIL. How would the company handle Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows leaving on this show? Would there be another Bullet Club beatdown? The most important thing would be the main event, which features the former ace in Hiroshi Tanahashi taking on a Kenny Omega who exudes everything you want in a Gajin heel. Would this show be capped off with a huge Omega moment? Or would they stick with the safe bet in Tanahashi? Lots of questions to answer in one show, but by the end I think we have a firm idea of where the company is headed.
Match 1: 6-Man Tag Team Match: Young Bucks & Cody Hall (All Bullet Club) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Captain New Japan
Winners: Young Bucks & Cody Hall (After all three combined for an Indy Taker on CNJ)
This was a fun match, which felt very different from these sorts of six man tags. Captain New Japan and Cody Hall did a lot of the work towards the end, with the Young Bucks stepping in to do what they do from time to time. It felt like the old guys were enjoying being out there with younger talent that not only sell their offense well, but provides unique moments in the match, such as Cody Hall doing a Springboard Elbow and Tiger Mask sending Nick Jackson to the outside on top of his teammates. Cody Hall may finally be moving up from just the BC young boy and becoming a serious member of the undercard. The Young Bucks would greatly benefit from being pushed out of the Junior division and into the Heavyweight tag ranks. It would provide so many fresh matchups and more six man tags like this, instead of the same Jr. Title six mans they are always put into. Young Bucks have certainly been around long enough to merit the move and it also goes along with all the other changes happening with the Bullet Club as well. ***
Match 2: Tag Team Match: ReDragon (ROH) vs. Gedo & Kazushi Sakuraba
Winners: ReDragon (After Chasing the Dragon on Gedo)
Clearly a showcase match here for O’ Reilly as he tangled with Gedo and also held his own wrestling with Sakuraba, which was a sight to behold. I’d love to see that match at some point. I give them credit for doing some fun things in here like the four man sleeper hold spot, but the ending was rather abrupt with a Chasing the Dragon just happening after a double team move. ReDragon look strong after losing in the three way on the previous show. Amazingly ReDragon have still never lost a 2 on 2 tag team match in NJPW. ** and ¾ *
Match 3: 8-Man Tag Team Match: Ten Cozy & (IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions) Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. David Finlay (Young Lion,) Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Winners: Ten Cozy, Ricochet, & Matt Sydal (After a Shooting Star Press by Ricochet on Finlay)
A mixture of young and old that brought something fun to the table. Tenzan and Nakanishi in a chop battle, Taguchi’s Hip Attack comedy, Ricochet and Sydal with the big moves, and athleticism, including a beautiful Double Standing Moonsault. Nagata and Kojima worked hard providing the wrestling and continue to have great interactions in these tag matches. It was just a well done concoction that just worked, further pushing the idea that the NJPW third generation can still do it. Finlay didn’t come in until the lead up for the finish, but his interaction with Ricochet was nice, but once again it kinda just ended after the Ricochet Shooting Star. At least the new Tag Champs look good and Ten Cozy get another win. *** ¼ *
Match 4: Tag Team Match: Michael Elgin & Jay White (Young Lion) vs. Tetsuya Naito & EVIL (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
Winners: Los Ingobernables de Japon (After a STO by EVIL on Jay White)
Naito once again got into with the commentary team pre-match, as Nogami continued the spat of Naito wanting him to say the name of the team and Nogami responding with “Justice” because he’s a big Yuji Nagata fan. This led to Milano Collection AT deciding to get things moving by going into the ring and fist bumping with Naito. Naito picked on Milano during the Fantastica Mania tour as well. Naito trolling the commentary team is just funny and is another tactic to make the fans wait on him to get in the ring. EVIL still looks really uncomfortable with the Scythe and laser show, but he’s fine when it comes to the in-ring action, which is also where Michael Elgin excels. For many of these matches it has been Elgin and EVIL going at it, but this time it was more about Elgin and Naito. It would be interesting to see a match between those two at some point. However, I think we can all agree that Elgin going for the NEVER Championship would be great. The best part about Elgin in NJPW is that he keeps adding things to his moveset. Just in this match he did an Exploder Suplex and a Saito Suplex, along with his other power stuff we normally see. He and Jay White worked well together, but we all knew how this would end. However, it shouldn’t take away from the good match that happened here. ***
Match 5: NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship Match: Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi, & Bad Luck Fale (All Bullet Club) vs. Toru Yano (CHAOS) & The Briscoes (ROH)
Winners AND NEW Champions: Toru Yano & The Briscoes (After Yano pins Yujiro with a Roll-Up)
The Briscoes brought it at the start with Suicide Dives and it seemed like we might get a different pace about this one, but eventually they fell into old hat using some of the stuff from the two previous matches. At least Tonga has sort of figured out Yano and it provided a platform for Yano to have to be one step ahead. This time though he would get a little help from his partners as they pulled Tonga and Fale out of the ring, while also distracting the referee, which allowed Yano to mule kick Yujiro and get the flash pin for the win. This was probably the best match between these two teams, but it also isn’t really saying much because the standard isn’t high. These titles also aren’t really meant to be taken seriously, as they merely serve the purpose as titles you can defend on every show, provide some fun encounters, and have an air of unpredictability around them. Although, I don’t know why Yano and The Briscoes had to lose them in the first place. ** and ¾*
Match 6: 6-Man Tag Team Match: YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii, & (IWGP Heavyweight Champion) Kazuchika Okada (All CHAOS) vs. Juice Robinson, (NEVER Openweight Champion) Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto
Winners: Okada, Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI (After Okada hits Juice with a Rainmaker Lariat)
The last four matches really benefit from great storytelling and it starts here with Hirooki Goto. Goto was visibly shaken, dejected, and almost crying before the match even began. Okada continued to toy with Goto’s emotions when they had interactions and Ishii followed that up as well when they were in the ring together. Goto even got handled by YOSHI-HASHI, which eventually led to Shibata becoming angry at Goto and even kicking him to try to “wake him up” out of this funk. Ishii and Shibata were once again brilliant with some nasty throat chops, Shibata’s kicks, seriously, I think I could watch those two wrestle the entire year. The weirdest thing is probably how much Okada sold for Juice Robinson. They had a long road to the finish with Juice getting the upper hand for quite a bit of time, before Okada eventually shut him down. Goto tried to make one last effort to stop Okada from getting the win, but he was disposed of with a Dropkick. Okada gets the win for his team, but it was once again the after match promo that provided intrigue.
Okada offers Goto a handshake, but Goto walks away and then Okada once again asks Goto to join CHAOS. Shibata was watching all of this intently as well, so perhaps that’s why Goto didn’t oblige on Okada’s offer, but certainly this will be a story that continues to build as we head to New Japan Cup. This was a very good tag match that brought the sum of its part together to tell a great story and sometimes that’s all you need. *** and ½ *
Match 7: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: (Champion) KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI
Winner AND STILL Champion: KUSHIDA (After making BUSHI TAP OUT to the Hoverboard Lock
KUSHIDA dominated early by out wrestling BUSHI, but it wouldn’t last long as Naito and EVIL didn’t waste too much time coming out. EVIL then hit a home run on KUSHIDA by placing his head in a chair and then hitting that chair with another chair, which setup a big close count-out spot, where KUSHIDA came in at the count of 19. This match was all about KUSHIDA overcoming the odds in droves, as he later had to deal with EVIL coming in again, which lead to the first MIST and then BUSHI suicide dives into KUSHIDA. I know people hate interference in matches, especially in their Puro, but this match doesn’t work without it. All of the interference and underhanded tactics led to KUSHIDA having to get as dirty as BUSHI left his face. KUSHIDA gave BUSHI one heck of a Baseball Punch and even ripped at BUSHI’s mask. The match then hit another level when BUSHI used the referee to do the RED MIST, but KUSHIDA kicked out and then kicked out of the Top Rope Lungblower too. The crowd was absolutely insane at this point and fully behind KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA would get in a Lungblower of his own and EVIL and Naito go to get involved again, Taguchi would show up to take out EVIL once and for all. KUSHIDA countering BUSHI and then kicking Naito off the apron in mid move before locking in the Hoverboard was just a great ending. KUSHIDA vanquished Los Ingobernables and retained the title. Just another great story told and a great match that really sends it home that this is KUSHIDA’s time. ****
Match 8: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: (Champions) Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma (G-B-H) vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows (Bullet Club)
Winners AND STILL Champions: Great Bash Heel (After King Kong Knee and Top Rope Kokeshi to Anderson)
A great farewell for Anderson and Gallows here, as all four men worked their butts off. Anderson and Gallows destroyed Honma’s arm for the early part of the match, even taking Honma to the top of the ramp and doing a Backbreaker and Elbow Drop combo on him and Anderson rammed Honma’s arm into the steel post too. Honma was finally able to tag in Makabe, but only after he could barely get Anderson up for the Delayed Suplex because his arm had been taken out. They had some great near falls in this with the TKO Gun Stun and a Bloody Sunday by Anderson that is an obvious ode to his buddy Finn Balor. Gallows would also stop the first Doomsday Kokeshi and hit a Liger Bomb on Honma for another great near fall. Even though Honma and Makabe would wipe them out with their multi-layered tag finish, it really put over how hard Honma and Makabe had to work to finally bring down Guns and Gallows for the last time. Anderson and Gallows bowed to the crowd saying goodbye, as this will be their last pure NJPW show that they wrestle under.
After the match, Tama Tonga comes out and challenges Honma and Makabe to a Tag Title match with a mysterious new member of Bullet Club that will be revealed later. Makabe responds in English that we will take you on anytime and anywhere. It is nice to see Tonga finally doing something on his own and now we have a new Bullet Club member coming soon too. Just another very good match that culminates the feud and what Anderson and Gallows brought to NJPW. *** and ¾ *
Match 9: IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega (Bullet Club)
Winner AND NEW Champion: Kenny Omega (After Boma-Ye and One Winged Angel)
Wow! If you were one of those that thought Kenny Omega couldn’t hang as a Heavyweight or couldn’t replace AJ Styles, well, he just answered both of those questions here with a resounding YES. He just silenced everyone and he did it in his own way. Let’s face it he did have one of the best dance partners ever in Hiroshi Tanahashi, but you have to give the devil his due because everything he did worked. First I want to say that Omega changing his pants to this jet black color is much more fitting of a Heavyweight Heel. Omega sending Yujiro and Cody Hall to the back in the name of the “Smart Marks” was absolutely hysterical. Those same “Smart Marks” knew that it was a ruse, but it didn’t matter because they were going to witness one hell of a match here. Omega stopped Tanahashi from countering a One Winged Angel and turned it into a Shoulder Breaker. From then on, it was about destroying Tanahashi’s arm. He went to the outside and used the barricade, he Suplexed Tana into chairs in the front row, he battered and bruised that arm with vicious shots and submissions. Tanahashi sold it very well, but he also used his patented Dragon Screw to weaken Omega’s leg so that he could lock in the Cloverleaf eventually. I should also note how great Omega was the entire match at selling his injured leg. Part of the reason this match works so well is the sell job both men do on their injured limbs. Eventually, it all built to that moment where Tanahashi would finally get in the Cloverleaf, but the Young Bucks hiding under the ring came in and Superkicked Tanahashi and gave him an Indy Taker. Omega pulled out a FREAKING Styles Clash, which Tanahashi kicked out of literally at the 2.9 and ¾ mark, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kick out that close.
The Reverse Rana by Tanahashi was absolutely SICK, then the Young Bucks throw a trash can at Red Shoes by accident and Michael Elgin shows up to fend them off and carry them away. Tana makes his come back, but Omega rolls out of the way of the High Fly Flow. Omega then uses Boma-Ye’s on Tanahashi, but Tana kicks out again at the last possible second. Omega would eventually get the One Winged Angel and get the win, but my Lord what a match. This is another match that just doesn’t work without the interference and eventually they were disposed of and Omega clearly won it by himself.
After the match, Omega celebrated by singing Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream and that he didn’t care if the Japanese crowd understood English, but thanked them for listening anyway. The final shot is that of Omega cleaning the confetti with the title around his waist. All hail your new IWGP IC Champion. **** and ½ *
OVERALL RATING: 8.5: This was a wonderful show to watch all the way through. Everything on it had a fresh feeling and that’s what many have been clamoring for from New Japan for quite a while. There are new champions, established champions, new challengers, and an undercard that had fun moments. The last three matches were not as stellar as the three from Wrestle Kingdom 10, but each one was still special in its own way. Overall, the two New Beginning shows delivered, aside from maybe the Okada vs. Goto match, but when I was done watching this show, I felt like the name never made more sense. This is a New Beginning for New Japan Pro Wrestling. I just hope that the great aura the company has right now doesn’t fade as the year goes on, because they have absolutely nailed it on every major show in 2016. Many of the New Japan stars will return to action in just a few short days as Ring of Honor will have their two “Honor Rising” shows live on NJPW World and then a shortly after that they will present their first Lion’s Gate Project show from Shinjuku Face. Go watch this whole show, you won’t be disappointed.
