Welcome to this POST Wrestling report on New Japan Pro Wrestling’s the New Beginning in Hiroshima night 2. The event took place in Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall in Hiroshima.
- Gabriel Kidd, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr & Taichi – Fun opener with fired up Young Lions and good stuff between Sabre Jr & Kidd
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs Master Wato, Tomoaki Honma & SHO – A poor undercard tag that exposed Honma and Wato’s issues
- El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi vs BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito – An okay but uninspiring undercard tag with funny post-match antics
- Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs Dick Togo & EVIL – This was more of an angle than a match.
- Kazuchika Okada vs EVIL – Decent at times. Brief glimpses of what EVIL could be if they played to his strengths.
- NEVER 6 Man Tag Team Championship: YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga & Jay White – A good 15-minute match stretched out to over 25 minutes.
- IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) vs SANADA – A story of 2 evenly matched opponents. Shorter than expected but SANADA felt emotionless and the execution was often sub-par.
Gabriel Kidd, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr & Taichi
Both Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura brought a lot of fire against Taichi before the Suzuki-gun team isolated Uemura. Eventually, Uemura escaped Zack Sabre Jr’s clutches and he tagged in Gabriel Kidd. The sequences between Sabre Jr and Kidd were good and Tsuji saves Kidd when things looked dicey. The Young Lions cleared the ring, with Tsuji and Uemura using a double dropkick. The final stretch was between Kidd and Sabre Jr. Kidd came close to hitting the double-arm suplex before Sabre Jr out-thought him and won the match with an armbar.
Zack Sabre Jr submitted Gabriel Kidd (8:51)
This was a fun opener. The Young Lions looked good as a unit against Suzuki-gun and they now seem to have picked specific targets for their aggression. The finishing stretch between the 2 Brits on the roster was good and this made me want to see a singles match between Sabre Jr and Kidd in New Japan.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki vs Master Wato, Tomoaki Honma & SHO
This started with Minoru Suzuki and Tomoaki Honma engaging in a slap fight. Sadly, this match did not hide Honma’s limitations and unsteadiness. SHO & El Desperado had a decent segment before the match quickly broke down. After that, it was down to Master Wato vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru, where Wato won with one of the worst Jackknife cradles that I can remember seeing.
Master Wato pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru (8:07)
This was a short undercard filler. The interactions between SHO and Desperado were decent but nothing that will stand out by next week. This match somehow managed to expose both Honma and Wato. Honma’s physical condition is excusable but the finish from Wato just looked bad. Even when he wins Wato comes across as a loser.
El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi vs BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito
The Bullet Club team isolated BUSHI with a hodge-podge of comedy heel antics. BUSHI escaped with a flying head scissors, making the hot tag to Hiromu Takahashi. The hot tag was fun, with Hiromu taking on both Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo. Naito and Yujiro tagged in, with Naito quickly taking control until Yujiro used his head. Well, he used his teeth. As everyone got involved in the match, they did a good job of teasing Phantasmo’s loaded boot superkick. LIJ cleared the ring, BUSHI hit a tope and Tetsuya Naito pinned Yujiro with a lackadaisical Destino.
Tetsuya Naito pinned Yujiro Takahashi (9:54)
This was another basic 6-man tag match. It did not have the lows of the last match, but it was not that good either. The teases of El Phantasmo vs Hiromu Takahashi were good but honestly, the best part of the match was Hiromu and Naito clowning around afterward. The action was mostly “ironic” Bullet Club antics but any match that focuses on Naito vs Yujiro in 2020 is always going to struggle to hold people’s interest.
Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs Dick Togo & EVIL
Kazuchika Okada got his hands on EVIL early on, showing some aggression as he threw EVIL around on the outside. EVIL got the upper hand using a chair and the match went to a double count-out.
Okada attacked EVIL with a chair and cut a promo in the ring, challenging EVIL to a 1 on 1 match. EVIL accepted by charging the ring as Dick Togo went to the back.
Double Count Out (1:27)
This was just an angle to set up the following surprise singles match.
Kazuchika Okada vs EVIL
The crowd loved this, as you could tell from the audible stamping of feet and the loud clapping. In a very un-Okada-like fashion, this started hot and they quickly got to the Money Clip. EVIL showed intensity and it was good to see him rely on his power and timing instead of getting Uncle Dick to save him repeatedly. As I typed that sentence Dick Togo came out and attacked Okada for a DQ.
After the match, Yano tried to make the save but Togo choked Okada with the garotte.
Kazuchika Okada beat EVIL by DQ (5:41)
At times this was not bad. It had a good pace and EVIL looks a lot better when the flow of the matches is not 100% decided by Dick Togo’s interference. This was a brief tease of what EVIL could be if New Japan ignored their obsession with match length and interference.
NEVER 6 Man Tag Team Championship: YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga & Jay White
If Tama Tonga won, then he would become the first five-time NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Champion. Not that you would call that a big achievement. The match started with Jay White and Tomohiro Ishii in the ring. The CHAOS trio showed their teamwork early on, and this was a constant theme for the match. The Bullet Club eventually isolated YOSHI-HASHI, in and out of the ring, and kept this going for a long time. While this was happening, White took cheap shots at Ishii.
Eventually, YOSHI-HASHI made the hot tag to Hirooki Goto, who out-thought Tama Tonga and out powered Tanga Loa. White and Ishii tagged and initially this was very counter-heavy in that overly choreographed, dance-like fashion that White is occasionally guilty of. White then started picking apart Ishii until things broke down when the Bullet Club came out on top by using the numbers advantage to overcome Ishii & Goto.
The match then broke down again, ending with an even longer counter sequence between Ishii and White. Both men tagged out and YOSHI-HASHI took on Tanga Loa. YOSHI-HASHI had to fight off the Guerrillas of Destiny 2 on 1, taking a lot of punishment until Goto made the save. The CHAOS team then used their teamwork to regain momentum until White low blowed YOSHI-HASHI. The Bullet Club then isolated YOSHI-HASHI again but he was saved from a Superbomb by his team-mates. Goto took out Tama Tonga with a Plancha and Ishii got rid of White with a German Suplex. YOSHI-HASHI hit a Lariat and applied the Butterfly lock, only for Jado to interfere with the Kendo Stick. Even then it was not enough as YOSHI-HASHI used a quick roll up to pin Tanga Loa and win the match. Afterward YOSHI-HASHI challenged the Guerillas of Destiny to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag team titles.
YOSHI-HASHI pinned Tanga Loa (27:01)
The NEVER trio of YOSHI-HASHI, Goto, and Ishii have often been a highlight in these title matches. This one was good, but it struggled to be anything better than that. The main problem was that it felt quite repetitive, with a lot of padding and similar segments to fill out the time. 2020 the NEVER 6-man tag title matches never got to the 20-minute mark. The last 2 defenses were over 25 minutes long.
YOSHI-HASHI is good as the heart of these matches but Tanga Loa was not a good choice of opponent, especially when YOSHI-HASHI had the advantage. The other main criticism is that the sequences designed to be the highlight, between Ishii and White, felt excessively choreographed and dance like in the counter sequences. They need to be careful with what feels like the eventual singles match between these 2.
IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) vs SANADA
Coming into this match, Ibushi’s history as DDT’s top Champion suggested that he might be in trouble. Despite holding the KO-D Openweight Championship 3 times, he always failed on his 2nd or 3rd title defense. Even then, those successful defenses included a blow-up doll (twice) and one of my favorite bad wrestlers (DJ Nira). So Ibushi has a track record of struggling to defeat strong opponents when he is a top guy. This was SANADA’s 4th attempt at winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. His 3 previous attempts were all against Kazuchika Okada, and all 3 went over 30 minutes.
The match started with an exchange of deliberate but decent mat wrestling. SANADA dodged an Ibushi dive and hit a Magic Screw using the barricade, before working over Ibushi’s neck in the ring. Ibushi saw an opportunity and gained control with fast-paced strikes and aerial moves. That was quickly ended by SANADA, who hit the double leapfrog dropkick and a Plancha to a lot of applause. That was despite the dropkick not being any higher than Ibushi’s navel. Ibushi would then hit a Plancha of his own. Both wrestlers displayed their athleticism but Ibushi constantly looked crisper and more energetic.
After a forearm exchange, they traded Suplexes around the 15-minute mark. Ibushi hit the Last Ride sit-out Powerbomb for 2 but SANADA countered the Kami-Go-Ye with a knee strike. SANADA avoided an Ibushi lawn dart and hit one of his own. That was followed up with a superplex into a Magic Screw for a 2 ½ count for SANADA. Ibushi managed to force his way out of a Skull End. SANADA put him back into the hold, only to release it himself so he could hit the Moonsault. A Moonsault that, to no one’s surprise, missed. After a series of counters Ibushi finally hit the lawn dart and followed it up with an attempted 2nd rope German Suplex. SANADA countered that with an awful looking TKO off the apron.
SANADA used the Tiger Suplex and a Skull End giant swing but Ibushi fought back with running knees. A second Kami-Go-Ye attempt is reversed to a pop-up cutter. That let SANADA hit a Moonsault to the back but a 2nd Moonsault was countered by Ibushi raising the knees. In maybe the best spot of the match, Ibushi countered a Japanese Leg roll clutch into a reverse Kami-Go-Ye but the follow-up Kami-Go-Ye was not enough to pin SANADA. That kick out got a massive pop. SANADA countered another Kami-Go-Ye into a roll-up and a 2nd pinning combination led to a really close near fall. In the end, Ibushi was 1 step ahead of SANADA, hitting the Kami-Go-Ye to win the match.
Afterward, Tetsuya Naito came out and challenged Ibushi to an IWGP Intercontinental title match as he did not want Ibushi to unify the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles. Ibushi replied with a Tranquilo of his own and accepted the challenge. So, it looks like New Japan is splitting the IWGP double championship.
Kota Ibushi pinned SANADA (27:51)
You could tell that the Japanese crowd loved both this match and SANADA. Personally, I would struggle to call this anything more than decent. Despite being relatively short at only 27 minutes long, the match somehow felt even longer. A large part of that was SANADA’s silent offense and lack of mannerisms just felt soulless, with Ibushi’s being the only one who injected any real emotions into the proceedings. There were some great spots and ideas at times but often the execution ranged from sub-par to woeful. Many of SANADA’s best moments ended up looking poor. Ibushi did well but I know that I am just not able to engage with SANADA in these big matches. People with more of a tolerance to SANADA will find this to be good but not as good as their G1 Climax match last year.
Show Summary
This show was a good example of the disconnect between the Japanese audience and me as a western fan. The crowd was incredibly loud at times. The reactions for the surprise Okada vs EVIL match and for certain points of the Ibushi vs SANADA match were incredibly loud for a COVID era Japanese crowd. They clearly loved a lot of things on this show, including SANADA. For me, the show was subpar, at a level that I have sadly come to expect for these New Beginning shows.
The NEVER 6-man tag title match was good but honestly, it was 10 minutes too long and the padding clearly interfered with the flow of the match. The surprise Okada vs EVIL match was decent and gave a glimmer of hope regarding my criticisms of how New Japan has used EVIL before Dick Togo slammed the door in my face. Obviously, the true “forbidden door” in New Japan is the one that lets EVIL play to his strengths.
I really did not enjoy the main event. It felt like it was 10 minutes longer than it actually was. SANADA’s stoicism and lack of reactions hurt my interest and even by his standards the execution was shoddy here. Ibushi did his best to insert energy into the match but it felt like a synchronized dive with a high difficulty where the 2 performers were on different pages. This was not as good as their G1 Climax match from last year. Honestly, if you have not seen anything from the New Beginning tour then my recommendation is to skip this show, skip yesterday’s shows, and just watch the New Beginning in Nagoya show.
