New Japan Pro Wrestling returns tonight, with their first major show since the conclusion of an incredible Wrestle Kingdom 11 event on January 4th. The New Beginning in Sapporo will air live on New Japan World with English commentary. The major focus of tonight’s show will be the returning Suzuki-Gun, who has an opportunity to take three championships from the Chaos faction, including the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as Kazuchika Okada defends against Minoru Suzuki in the main event.
Our coverage begins at 1:00AM EST / Midnight CT / 10:00PM PST / 6:00AM GMT.
NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo
February 5, 2017
– The show kicks off with a recap video from New Year Dash, where Suzuki-Gun returned and laid waste to the entirety of the Chaos faction. They’re also running down the card for next week’s New Beginning in Osaka show, which is headlined by Himoru Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee for the juniors belt, and Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin for the Intercontinental title.
KUSHIDA & HIRAI KAWATO vs. EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU (Suzuki-Gun)
Kawato begged his mentor to start this one, and got absolutely taken to the woodshed as a result. They ganged up on him, throwing him into the barricade, double-teaming, and just beat the crap out of the kid as the referee tried to get control. Suzuki-Gun already giving refs hell, I see… Kushida made a hot tag and started throwing dropkicks, then did a great spot where he rolled up Kanemaru then back bridge suplexed Desperado into a double pin situation. He hit the handspring back elbow on both, then tagged in Kawato who came in with a ton of momentum, throwing great looking dropkicks and splashing Desperado in the corner. He locked in a Boston Crab but broke it to defend against Kanemaru, then turned around into a big spinebuster for two. Kawato almost tapped to a single leg crab, but pulled out a surprise roll-up for a nearfall. He tried a few more pin combos, but got caught with a spear and the Blue Thunder Bomb to put him away. Fun opener, and Kawato looked really good. Winners: Suzuki-Gun.
YUJI NAGATA, SATOSHI KOJIMA & HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs. HENARE, YOSHITATSU & TOMOYUKI OKA
A very basic, short six-man tag. Tenzan beat everyone up early, and Yoshitatsu made the same mistake he always makes, which is trying to do literally anything against anyone. The bulk of the match was Nagata working with his young lion, Tomoyuki Oka, who is a big bulky dude not dissimilar to his mentor. Oka put him in the Boston Crab but Kojima broke it up, and a brawl broke out around ringside. Nagata made Oka tap to the crossface. Winners: Nagata, Kojima & Tenzan.
TIGER MASK, JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER & KATSUYORI SHIBATA vs. GEDO, JADO & WILL OSPREAY (Chaos)
Shibata and Ospreay go at it right away, which was the theme for the entire match. Shibata tried to take his head off and Ospreay kept avoiding his kicks and trying to lock him down. Liger tagged in and Chaos ran some interference so Gedo could poke his eyes and grab at his mask and do Gedo things. A brawl broke out and Ospreay kicked Shibata off the apron for no reason, so I’d bet he has about one week left to live. Liger hit a double DDT on the bookers and Tiger Mask came in, clearing house. Ospreay came back and hit him with the corkscrew roundhouse kick and the OsCutter to put him away. Immediately after the match Shibata attacked him from behind, lighting him up with elbows, but Ospreay dropped him with an OsCutter too, and posed with the RevPro title. Winners: Chaos.
YOSHI-HASHI (Chaos) vs. TAKASHI IIZUKA (Suzuki-Gun)
Iizuka brutally assaults Tacos as soon as the match begins, throwing him into the barricade several times, hitting him with chairs, and throwing him into the commentator tables. After a few more chair shots and the beating of a lifetime, he somehow manages to roll back into the ring at the count of 19, barely conscious. Iizuka continues his attack, choking him out with a microphone cable and hanging him over the ropes while the referee was busy dealing with Desperado on the outside. Somehow Tacos managed to mount a comeback, which seems unbelievable given that he should be actually dead after all that. Iizuka gets his knees up to block a swanton bomb, and tries to put on some kind of weird metal glove (genuinely looks like tin foil), but Yoshi-Hashi dodges it and drops the big man with a backbreaker. He hoists him up and hits Karma for the win. Seriously, how is he alive… Winner: Yoshi-Hashi.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI, MICHAEL ELGIN, MANABU NAKANISHI, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & DRAGON LEE vs. TETSUYA NAITO, SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI & HIROMU TAKAHASHI (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
Takahashi and Dragon Lee go right after each other with a great exchange of grapples, but neither really has an edge over the other. Big Mike wants Naito but ends up getting attacked by every other member of the faction instead. He starts throwing rolling elbows and eventually takes them all down, then gets his hands on Naito with a big stalling vertical suplex. Taguchi tags in and has a few seconds of offense, doing a funny spot where he and Naito just ran the ropes for like 30 seconds, before losing all momentum for his team. The match devolves into everyone beating up Taguchi at this point, with LIJ running interference and distracting the referee so they can take turns picking him apart. Tanahashi finally makes an appearance in the match, cleaning house, but he runs into a massive lariat from Evil. Takahashi and Dragon Lee have another great exchange, throwing some snap suplexes, but but they break even and neither really has the advantage over the other. LIJ clears the babyfaces off the apron, but Tanahashi comes back and takes them all out again. He tries for the High Fly Flow but it’s blocked by Naito, until Big Mike makes the save and powerbombs Naito out of the ring onto all of his teammates. Tanahashi goes up top and hits the HFF to the floor, taking out the pile. Back in the ring, Dragon Lee hits Bushi with the Phoenix-plex for the win. Really great match, that got me pumped for both the upcoming title matches in Osaka, and teased some big things for Tanahashi and Evil down the line as well. Winners: Tanahashi, Elgin, Nakanishi, Taguchi & Dragon Lee.
IWGP JR. TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
ROCKY ROMERO & BARETTA (c) (Chaos) vs. TAKA MICHINOKU & TAICHI (Suzuki-Gun)
The story of this match was Roppongi Vice taking virtually every form of outside interference and distraction in the book, and having to fight back against it. Taichi’s girlfriend Miho Abe tried to seduce the champions at the start, then went after the referee while Suzuki-Gun beat them down. The singled out Rocky at first, then after Baretta made the hot take, Desperado caused more distraction and they beat him down. They attacked him with the stick end of a hammer, which seems like the least effective way to use a hammer in combat, but okay. Eventually Rocky managed to mount a comeback, hitting his never-ending lariats spot in the corners and taking them both down with a double lariat, but the numbers game was just too much. A few great dives to the outside from just about everyone, and Taka Michinoku showing off that he’s still great at 43. Taichi tried to use a chair but Baretta took it and beat down Desperado until the referee grabbed it from him, causing enough distraction for the heels to once again take him down. After about the 20th spot of interference from Suzuki-Gun, the champions shook them off once last time and hit the Strong Zero to retain. Great match. Winners and Still Champions: Roppongi Vice.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
HIROOKI GOTO (c) (Chaos) vs. JUICE ROBINSON
Juice goes right after the champion, tossing him to the floor and following up despite protest from the referee. They brawl around and Juice comes up empty on a cannonball into the barricade, crashing through it and doing damage to his back. Goto throws him back in the ring and starts to slowly pick away at the injury. He locks in a Boston Crab but Juice finds a way to throw him to the floor and comes over the ropes with a crossbody dive to take them both out. They battle back into the ring and Juice hits a STO-backbreaker combo into a Russian leg sweep, then follows up with a running frog splash for two. They go back and forth with Juice blocking a ushigoroshi attempt and Goto blocking the Unprettier, throwing punches and chops at each other. The challenger gets a double knee gutbuster and a crescent kick for a nearfall. Both guys have taken a lot of damage and just start swinging away. Juice tries to climb the ropes, Goto blocks it with a spinning wheel kick, but Juice ends up planting him with a powerbomb from the second rope anyways. More finisher blocks from both guys, and Goto starts hitting him with lariats and Robinson takes them and begs for more. He comes out of nowhere with a massive lariat for a nearfall. Goto blocks the Unprettier once again and looks like he’s going to hit a Hangman’s DDT, but turns it into the GTR off the second rope in a brutal spot. He picks him up and hits the GTR again and this time picks up the win. Great match. The best singles of Juice’s career so far, by a wide margin. Winner and Still Champion: Hirooki Goto.
IWGP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
TORU YANO & TOMOHIRO ISHII (c) (Chaos) vs. TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA vs. DAVEY BOY SMITH JR. & LANCE ARCHER (Suzuki-Gun)
Comedy from Yano early on, as he gives Lance Archer the run-around, refusing to lock up and yelling his lungs out from the safety of the ropes. He tags out to Makabe who starts throwing hams at the KES big man, until Yano makes a blind tag and takes off one of the turnbuckles. More comedy gestures until Archer wrecks him from behind with a Full Nelson Bomb. Smith tags in and continues control over Yano for several minutes until Ishii makes the hot tag and suplexes everyone. Honma tries and fails to hit a headbutt, as per usual, and ends up taking a lot of damage from KES, who are just dominating this match. Makabe sets him up and Honma finally hits a series of headbutts on Smith, including a top rope dive, but Yano breaks up the pinfall. Archer comes out of nowhere flying off the top rope (seriously that dude is huge) and takes everyone down. Chokeslam to Yano, but Honma’s in to make the save. Makabe finally tags in and runs through KES with lariats for them, then the tag champions. He hits a spider suplex on Yano off the second rope, but is caught with the Hart Attack. All semblence of order has broken down at this point, and the finish comes with Yano rolling up Makabe with a handful of tights to steal the win. Winners and Still Champions: Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
KAZUCHIKA OKADA (c) (Chaos) vs. MINORU SUZUKI (Suzuki-Gun)
Okada backs the challenger into the ropes to start, sticking to his formula and letting him go with his signature, sarcastic chest pat. Suzuki returns the favor and appears to do the same, then goes after Okada’s knees. The champion rolls to the floor to reevaluate, and appears to be favoring his knee a bit, as Suzuki stands in the ring staring him down. He starts throwing kicks but Okada fires up and asks him “again, again” and the crowd comes alive. Okada with a seated dropkick, and he escapes an armbar in the ropes by sending the challenger into the barricade. We’re seeing a different, aggressive shade of Okada as he goes to the floor and hits a Hangman’s DDT off the barricade, still favoring the leg quite a bit. They go into an exchange of some devastating uppercuts before brawling back to the outside and battling into the barricades. Taichi runs over and tries to hit Okada from behind and the champ goes crazy on him, buying Suzuki enough time to take advantage. The brawl continues as they destroy the commentary area, with Suzuki hitting him with chairs and various pieces of ringside equipment. He wraps Okada’s knee in the barricade and cranks away on it, as Taichi takes Gedo down elsewhere. More chair shots and stomps to the knee, and the champion is basically helpless at this point, with the crowd screaming out and Suzuki just smiling devilishly.
Eventually the fight makes its way back to the ring. Suzuki hangs him up in the ropes and hits a running dropkick, just having his way with the ace, making sure to roll outside and beat down Gedo every once in awhile for good measure. He locks in a heel hook and transitions into a trailer hitch as Okada tries to struggle free, then adds a crossface to it. Suzuki is just a master submission specialist, and is showing it off here. When the champ gets to the ropes, he lets up on the hold and just toys with him, sarcastically kicking away at his head and landing brutal elbows every time he looks to build momentum. The crowd rallies behind their star and Okada gets to his feet and fires up, landing kicks, a running knee, then a neckbreaker. Running forearm strike finds its mark, followed by a DDT and Okada barely manages to kip-up on his bad knee, getting a two-count off a rolling elbow. He goes to the top rope, but Okada goes down on his knee, and is met with a running boot and penalty kick to put him back down. Suzuki locks in a kneebar, and at this point Gedo is actually telling him to give up just to survive the match…
The methodical beat down and destruction of Okada’s knee continues. Out of nowhere he hits his signature top rope dropkick sending the challenger to the floor, but can’t follow up. Again he goes to the top rope, this time going coast-to-coast on a huge dropkick for two. He goes to the well again and connects with the top rope elbow drop. Okada signals for the Rainmaker, but Suzuki counters immediately back into the kneebar, this time trapping the arm. He looks like he’s about to tap out, and Gedo gets on the apron with a towel, but just before he’s about to throw it in the champion just barely gets his fingers on the bottom rope to break the hold. Okada can’t even stand now; Suzuki throws him into the ropes but he just collapses. The Figure Four is locked in, and Okada is just screaming out in agony… Again Gedo has the towel, and again he claws his way back to the ropes. Suzuki is toying with him again, and Okada hits an Attitude Adjustment out of nowhere! Okada starts throwing elbows and uppercuts, but Suzuki throws the referee in the way and he goes down.
Taichi and the Killer Elite Squad run out and beat the hell out of Okada. Yano and Ishii make the save and the champion pops up with a six star dropkick on Suzuki in the middle of the ring, as Gedo has joined the fight at ringside. Okada goes for the Tombstone but instead motions for the Gotch Piledriver, which is Suzuki’s finisher, but it’s countered back into a leg lock yet again… Okada is creaming in pain, even grabbing at the shirt of the referee for help, but he refuses to quit. He claws his way to the ropes, but it’s taken back to the center of the ring and reapplied with even more force. The difference is this time, Gedo is gone and there’s nobody to throw in the towel for him. For what must be the hundredth time, Suzuki stands up and reapplies the leg lock with even more pressure. Okada uses his good knee and starts kicking the challenger in the face while Suzuki is just screaming at him for more, cranking the hold tighter and tighter. The referee is just begging Okada to give up, but once again…he gets to the ropes.
Suzuki makes the mistake of letting things go face to face, as they trade elbows and chops. Okada throws a huge slap that rocks the challenger, just looking completely exhausted and utterly broken. They throw another dozen slaps and then just start hammering away with closed fists. Suzuki goes for a sleeper but Okada counters into a neckbreaker! He signals for the end, but Suzuki takes him down with a dropkick out of the champion’s wheelhouse. He fires off with dozens of blows, and Okada is just completely out on his feet. The sleeper is applied, but somehow Okada fights through it and stands back up! Suzuki tries for the Gotch Piledriver again, but Okada rolls through it and hits him with the Rainmaker! Both guys are down, but he still has a hold of the wrist, and goes for second Rainmaker, but Suzuki fires away with shot after shot; another Rainmaker out of nowhere! He goes for a third Rainmaker, it’s countered, but Okada trainsitions into a German suplex and hits the third Rainmaker! 1…2…3! Winner and Still Champion: Kazuchika Okada.
