Title changes and goodbyes at NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya

January 20, 2024 Neal Flanagan NEWS
Image Courtesy: NJPW

Two titles changed hands earlier on Saturday at the NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya event.

In the main event of the show, EVIL defeated Tama Tonga for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Tama announced early in January that he would be leaving the promotion at the end of the month.

The match had initially ended in a no-contest due to interference, but was restarted. EVIL got the pin with assistance from his House of Torture teammate Ren Narita.

Tama then got emotional as he bid farewell to the Nagoya crowd.

Elsewhere on the card, the Provisional KOPW title also flipped as The Great-O-Khan defeated Taiji Ishimori.

Kazuchika Okada wrestled his final match for NJPW in Nagoya in an eight-man tag. He said his goodbyes to the crowd afterward.

Full results (Courtesy of njpw1972.com)

  • Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima – Time Limit Draw
  • Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi def. Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma
  • David Finlay, Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney def. Jeff Cobb, HENARE, TJP, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman
  • SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. El Desperado & Master Wato
  • Zack Sabre Jr, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita def. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Togi Makabe
  • SANADA, Taichi, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku def. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
  • KOPW –Ishimori Ring Fit Match: Great-O-Khan def. Taiji Ishimori (c)
  • STRONG Openweight Tag Team Titles: Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (c) def. KENTA & Chase Owens
  • NEVER Openweight Title: Tama Tonga (c) vs. EVIL – No Contest
  • NEVER Openweight Title: EVIL def. Tama Tonga (c)

Bruce Lord & Karen Peterson will present a full review of New Beginning in Nagoya later on Saturday for members of the POST Wrestling Café.

About Neal Flanagan 1052 Articles
Based in Northern Ireland, Neal Flanagan is a former newspaper journalist and copy editor. In addition to reporting for POST Wrestling, he co-hosts The Wellness Policy podcast with Wai Ting and Jordan Goodman.
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