THE REVIEW
The incomparable Shinsuke Nakamura adds a second excellent title defense to his record in 2015, his third overall since winning the belt from Bad Luke Fale in September. The match was built up to look like challenger Yuji Nagata’s return to the spotlight at 46-years-old, even showing his family on-screen in the final moments. It was certainly an emotional defeat, but nobody could have predicted which two stars would ultimately steal the show at Sendai.
Honma-mania Running Wild?
Earlier in the week, rumors began circulating that NEVER Openweight Champion Togi Makabe was either injured or sick, and would not be able to defend the belt in his scheduled match against Tomohiro Ishii. In the opening moments of “The New Beginning”, Makabe’s absence was officially announced, the champion stripped of his title, and a replacement match announced to crown a new champion before the end of the night. Fan favorite Tomoaki Honma filled in at the last minute, and the two challengers tore the house down. The crowd was into the contest from opening bell to closing, more vocal than even the notably hostile Osaka fans.
It’s matches like these that simultaneously reaffirm faith in the wrestling industry, and change the way you think about how it works. If a 46-year-old can go out and have a 5-star match with a guy who’s had one big win in the last year, with very little time to prepare and zero backstory as to why it’s happening, maybe certain promotions need to rethink how complicated they’re making things.
Back to the match. This ultimately poses an interesting situation, as instead of Makabe going into his match with Ishii as the champion, he will have to fight as challenger once again – that’s if New Japan grants him a rematch for the title he never lost. This isn’t unfamiliar territory. It was Makabe who defeated Ishii at Wrestle Kingdom 9 just one month ago to win the belt.
Match of the Year?
2015 is already shaping up to be a significant year in terms of individual wrestling matches. We’re only in February and there are three potential Match of the Year candidates from New Japan, and one from WWE – the triple threat at Royal Rumble.
There’s a whole sea of second tier matches that remain excellent, but fall just short of the top spot. That list includes another three or four matches from the Wrestle Kingdom card, the recent Tanahashi/Styles rematch, and the 4-way women’s match from NXT Takeover: Rival.
There is still WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Money in the Bank, multiple New Japan tournaments, and the possibility of another New Japan English pay-per-view. A little more than a month ago we were talking about Nakamura/Ibushi as the obvious Match of the Year, and we’re already taking a second look. Buckle up.
OSAKA or SENDAI?
There were two major “New Beginning” shows after two weeks of house shows, and I much prefer the later. While the last two matches speak for themselves, the undercard was also marginally more entertaining.
In Osaka, NWA talents Rob Conway and Chase Owens teamed up as a prequel to their individual titles matches in Sendai. While Owens’ loss to Jushin Liger was largely forgettable, I felt they could have brought more to the table given a few extra minutes to work with. Neither under-performed. On the other hand, Conway dropped the NWA Heavyweight Championship to Hiroyoshi Tenzan in arguably the best match pre-intermission. Tenzan was over in a big way, the fans reacted to everything both men did, and they were able to cash in on all the heat manager Bruce Tharpe had garnered during the tour.
While the Osaka show was booked around the Bullet Club and all the titles they now control, Sendai focused on everything else. In fact, the Club lost all three of their matches and managed to build up different programs with each match.
The Time Splitters and Young Bucks provided a nice backing around which New Japan is building the Kenny Omega vs. Mascara Dorada title program.
While Heavyweight Champion Tanahashi picked up the win for their team, Goto and Shibata don’t seem to be leaving the tag title picture any time soon.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately New Beginning in Sendai delivered in match quality, importance and major moments a fair amount more than it’s underwhelming Osaka counterpart. Both shows were good, but the second was superior in almost every way.
While Osaka hit the proverbial “reset button” sending the promotion back into Bullet Club territory, Sendai seemed to move forward playing off significant moments from Wrestle Kingdom, and setting things up for the future. I’m looking forward to seeing more of talents like Jay White, the title match between Omega and Dorada, and much of the roster seems to be stepping things up in preparation for next month’s tournament.
Wednesday’s show left me feeling uncertain, but this weekend has given me a lot more to look forward to.
