Post by Convoy on Jan 9, 2024 11:51:13 GMT -5
We are in the afterglow of Wrestle Kingdom 18 and a period of change for New Japan, as the annual New Beginning tour arrives later this month. On the cards are many a WK rematch, blood feuds reaching their peak, a technical dream bout renewed and the final shows for long-time Western cornerstones Will Ospreay and Tama Tonga. All that plus the New Japan debuts for both Nic Nemeth (and his formidable tag team with Ryusuke Taguchi) and Matt Riddle. Nearly bookending the tour are two special events - Battle in the Valley in San Jose, CA and Fantastica Mania 2024 in collaboration with CMLL. With all of this happening one-after-another, this thread can serve to discuss everything.
Similar to past threads, I'll spotlight all the big matches on televised events below.
Similar to past threads, I'll spotlight all the big matches on televised events below.
Saturday, January 13th - San Jose Civic - Battle in the Valley
Saturday, January 20th - Dolphin's Arena - The New Beginning in Nagoya
Tuesday, January 23rd - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
Wednesday, January 24th - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
Sunday, February 4th - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
Monday, February 5th - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
Sunday, February 11th - Edion Arena - The New Beginning in Osaka
February 12th thru February 19th - NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania
Cards TBA
Friday, February 23rd - Hokkai Kitayell - The New Beginning in Sapporo
Saturday, February 24th - Hokkai Kitayell - The New Beginning in Sapporo
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
NO DQ: Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley
CONTINENTAL CROWN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Gabe Kidd
Plus:
Matt Riddle & X vs. TMDK (Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.)
STRONG WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP: Giulia (c) vs. Trish Adora
NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) (c) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors)
TJP vs. David Finlay
Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr vs. Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr.
Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu vs. Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)
Kickoff Match 2: Viva Van vs. Stephanie Vaquer
Kickoff Match 1 - STRONG Survivor powered by NJPW Academy: Matt Vandagriff vs. Goldy
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
NO DQ: Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley
CONTINENTAL CROWN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Gabe Kidd
Plus:
Matt Riddle & X vs. TMDK (Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr.)
STRONG WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP: Giulia (c) vs. Trish Adora
NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) (c) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Alex Coughlin & Clark Connors)
TJP vs. David Finlay
Mascara Dorada & Volador Jr vs. Rocky Romero & Soberano Jr.
Shota Umino, Fred Rosser & Jacob Fatu vs. Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)
Kickoff Match 2: Viva Van vs. Stephanie Vaquer
Kickoff Match 1 - STRONG Survivor powered by NJPW Academy: Matt Vandagriff vs. Goldy
Saturday, January 20th - Dolphin's Arena - The New Beginning in Nagoya
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Tama Tonga (c) vs. EVIL
KOPW2024 PROVISIONAL - Rules TBD: Taiji Ishimori (pc) vs. Great-O-Khan
Plus:
Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Just Five Guys (TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA)
Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Guerrillas of Destiny (Hikuleo & El Phantasmo) vs. BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA)
El DespeWato (Master Wato & El Desperado) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP, HENARE & Jeff Cobb) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay)
Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi)
Kickoff Match: Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Tama Tonga (c) vs. EVIL
KOPW2024 PROVISIONAL - Rules TBD: Taiji Ishimori (pc) vs. Great-O-Khan
Plus:
Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Just Five Guys (TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA)
Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Guerrillas of Destiny (Hikuleo & El Phantasmo) vs. BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA)
El DespeWato (Master Wato & El Desperado) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, TJP, HENARE & Jeff Cobb) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, Gabe Kidd, Alex Coughlin & David Finlay)
Tomoaki Honma & Shota Umino vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi)
Kickoff Match: Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima
Tuesday, January 23rd - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: El Desperado (c) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: El Desperado (c) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Wednesday, January 24th - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita
NEVER OPENWEIGHT 6-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita)
Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. SANADA & DOUKI
Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita
NEVER OPENWEIGHT 6-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita)
Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. SANADA & DOUKI
Sunday, February 4th - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney)
Plus:
Callum Newman vs. David Finlay
Jeff Cobb vs. Alex Coughlin
HENARE vs. Gabe Kidd
IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney)
Plus:
Callum Newman vs. David Finlay
Jeff Cobb vs. Alex Coughlin
HENARE vs. Gabe Kidd
Monday, February 5th - Tokyo/Korakuen Hall - Road to The New Beginning
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
FACTION WARFARE GAUNTLET: LIJ vs. J5G
-This five on five match consists of singles bouts with a ten minute time limit.
-The winners will stay on while a time limit draw results in an elimination on both sides.
-Victory is determined when all members on one team are out of the running.
FACTION WARFARE GAUNTLET: LIJ vs. J5G
-This five on five match consists of singles bouts with a ten minute time limit.
-The winners will stay on while a time limit draw results in an elimination on both sides.
-Victory is determined when all members on one team are out of the running.
Sunday, February 11th - Edion Arena - The New Beginning in Osaka
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
STEEL CAGE MATCH: United Empire vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs
SPECIAL SINGLES MATCH: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bryan Danielson
IWGP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) (c) vs. BULLET CLUB (KENTA & Chase Owens)
SPECIAL SINGLES MATCH: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Plus:
Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Just Five Guys (TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA)
Shota Umino, El Desperado, Master Wato & Tomoaki Honma vs. EVIL, SHO, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi
Bishamon vs. Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
Toru Yano & YOH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Boltin Oleg
STEEL CAGE MATCH: United Empire vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs
SPECIAL SINGLES MATCH: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bryan Danielson
IWGP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) (c) vs. BULLET CLUB (KENTA & Chase Owens)
SPECIAL SINGLES MATCH: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Plus:
Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Just Five Guys (TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & SANADA)
Shota Umino, El Desperado, Master Wato & Tomoaki Honma vs. EVIL, SHO, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi
Bishamon vs. Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
Toru Yano & YOH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Boltin Oleg
February 12th thru February 19th - NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania
Cards TBA
Friday, February 23rd - Hokkai Kitayell - The New Beginning in Sapporo
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
IWGP GLOBAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: David Finlay (c) vs. Nic Nemeth
NJPW WORLD TV CHAMPIONSHIP: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Matt Riddle
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: EVIL (c) vs. Shota Umino
SPECIAL SINGLES MATCH: El Desperado vs. SHO
IWGP GLOBAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: David Finlay (c) vs. Nic Nemeth
NJPW WORLD TV CHAMPIONSHIP: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Matt Riddle
NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: EVIL (c) vs. Shota Umino
SPECIAL SINGLES MATCH: El Desperado vs. SHO
Saturday, February 24th - Hokkai Kitayell - The New Beginning in Sapporo
{Spoiler}{Spoiler}
IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. SANADA
Plus:
Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI
BUSHI vs. TAKA Michinoku
Nic Nemeth & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay & Gedo
IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. SANADA
Plus:
Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI
BUSHI vs. TAKA Michinoku
Nic Nemeth & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay & Gedo