New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/20/2024 The New Beginning in Nagoya 2024

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/20/2024 The New Beginning in Nagoya 2024

The card for this one looks legitimately abysmal. The top matches here may be the worst top matches NJPW has ever booked and the most interesting things on this are throwaway multi-man tags.

Here's what I saw:

Katsuya Murashima vs. Shoma Kato

They do some amateur wrestling. Kato takes a headlock takeover and puts a headscissors on. KM side headlocks him then Kato headscissors him. Kato side headlocks him then shoulders him over. Kato fujiwara armbars him then does a regular armbar. Kato rolling kimuras him.

Kato hits forearms then stomps him. KM bangs Kato's knee off the mat then KM legbars him. KM hits stomps then Kato dropkicks him. Kato single leg crabs him. KM breaks it then Kato single leg crabs him again. The time limit then expires.

It was what it was. Not awful or anything but it was just them trading submissions and going to a draw. Not exactly must see tv here. No real highlights here. Kato has some skin condition that causes red spots all over his skin. He's probably going to have to cover it up somehow as it is distracting.

United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, HENARE, Jeff Cobb & TJP) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, David Finlay, Drilla Moloney & Gabe Kidd)

The Bullet Club are outside and the fight starts there. Everyone pairs off and fights. Cobb hits a double lariat in the ring then  dropkicks Clark. Cobb throws Clark on a suplex then Henare kicks Clark in the back and sentons him. Kiid and Henare trade forearms then Henare hits a hard shot to the gut.

Kidd bites Henare then Henare shoulders him and Clark over. Newman runs the ropes fast then face kicks Clark. Alex no sells Newman's forearms then yanks him into an overhead suplex. Alex kneels on Newman's neck then Finlay throws Newman hard into the buckles. Clark elbow drops Alex for 2.

Kidd hits chops and headbutts on Newman then corner lariats him. Kidd exploders him for 2. Newman takes a 2v1. He takes shots from Drilla then trips him into a double stomp on the back. TJP top rope crossbodies Clark then elbow slices Drilla. 

TJP facewash kicks Clark. Clark is in tree of woe and takes a baseball slide + a top rope double stomp. Drilla spinebusters TJP then double stomps him. Henare po-up samoan drops Henare. Kidd uppercuts and brainbusters Henare. Cobb crossbodies Kidd then standing moonsaults him. Alex fallaway slams Cobb then Akira jumps off of TJP's back to dropkick Kidd on the apron. Clark powerslams Akira then TJP tornado ddt's Clark.

Finlay blue thunders Newman then running euros him. He hits a uranage backbreaker for 2. Finlay hits headbutts on Newman then Newman spinning forearms him. Finlay back elbows him then is rolled up for 2. Newman step up enzugiri's him and Finlay lariats him. Finlay powerbombs him and gets the win.

It was a rushed multi-man tag match. People would come in and get out before I could finish typing it up here and it wasn't that interesting.

Callum Newman takes a group beat down after. TJP and Henare scare them off with chairs.

CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Okada got a pop for his entrance here but it was no mistake that they had his team come out together and kept the entrance brief.

Ishii and Shane trade forearms to start. Shane snapmares him and dropkicks him in the back of the neck. Ishii suplexes him. Tana gets in and takes a knee from the apron from Mikey. Tana euros Shane then is dropkicked by him. Zack armwringers Tana then him and Kosei take Tana down and split his legs. They then stomp his arms.

Tana takes a two person double chop from Shane/Mikey then Shane chinlocks him. Tana hits forearms on Mikey then is knee'd. Tana hits a twist and shout on him. Okada running back elbows Mikey then double ddt's Mikey and Shane. Okada over the back neckbreakers Mikey on his knee then slams him.

Mikey throws Okada off the top then Kosei dropkicks Okada. Kosei hits forearms on him then hits a big chop. Kosei springboard dropkicks him then Okada flapjacks him. Togi gets in. He hits corner punches on Kosei then Kosei slips out and dropkicks him. Kosei spinning heel kicks him.

Zack euros Togi and pump kicks him arm. Zack kicks his other arm and stomps it. Tana dragon screws Zack then he and Ishii hit stereo dragon screws. Kosei dropkicks Tans and Ishii then Okada dropkicks him. Togi lariats Zack then misses a knee off the top. Zack PK's him for 2 then leglocks him. Togi taps out.

This was a rushed multi-man tag that maybe went a little over 10 minutes. This was Okada's first match since the news of him leaving came out and it was pretty hard to ignore here. It was a waste of one of Okada's last NJPW matches with few highlights. Kosei looked good, but he's destined for the juniors division and I don't expect this mini-push of his to sustain itself longterm.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

Nait boots Sanada from the ropes then both miss baseball slides. Sanada headlock takeovers him, is put in a headscissors then they stand off. HT and Douki go at it. HT corner lariats him then flying headscissors him. HR hits another corner lariat and a basement dropkick. Douki is stomped by 5 people then flying armdrags Bushi. Douki cartwheel back elbows Shingo.

Taichi kicks Shingo in the back then side kicks him. Shingo hits punches and a lariat. Taichi corner lariats him then hits a chop. Shingo shoulders him over and is face kicked down. They lariat each other at the same time and both go down. Yuya armdrags and dropkicks Yota. Yuya flying forearms him then Yota goes for a face kick and both fall over.

Yuya back body drops Yota then backdrops him. Taka eye pokes Yota then takes a curb stomp. Bushi commes off the top and dropkicks Taka. Bushi step up enzugiri's Douki then topes Taka outside. Taka flying back kicks Bushi.

Sanada gets in and knocks his opponents off the apron. Bushi takes shots from most of his opponents then everyone starts coming in to get a move. Taak superkicks Bushi and holds him for a Sanada shining wizard. Sanada puts skull end on Bushi and taps him out.

It was a throwaway 10 person tag that only got around 9 minutes. We saw a little of everyone and a lot of no one. No major highlights here or things of note.

Yuya and Yota fight outside though the camera misses most of it. 

NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Title Ten Minute Ishimori Ring Fit Match - Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Great-O-Khan

Whoever physically holds the title after 10 minutes wins here. There's also going to be some kind of 3 minute period with 30 second training intervals inbetween.

Khan boots him and hits a mongolian chop. Taiji hits a springboard la silla. Khan grounded claw chokes him then euros him. Khan throws him across the ring. Taiji goes out and runs around the arena. Khan chases him then they have to do exercises for 30 seconds.

Khan uppercuts him then mongolian chops him. Taiji handsrpings then is suplexed off of it. Khan arm triangles him then hip throws him into another arm triangle. They exercise again for 30 seconds.

Taiji boots Khan in the knee then Khan falls over due to fatigue. Taiji takes a turnbuckle pad off and Khan's shoulder is sent into the exposed buckle. Taiji rolls him up for 2 then does a border city stretch. This period ends and they do 30 seconds more of exercises.

Taiji pushes the ref away and Khan punches him in the gut. Taiji puts him in another border city stretch. Khan hits a chokeslam and the time limit expires. Khan wins by default despite no falls here due to having his hands on the title at 10 minutes.

This was stupid stuff. It wasn't wrestling and it wasn't funny.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Title Match - Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) (c) vs. BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA)

ELP = El Phantasmo

Kenta and ELP stall to start this then Chase stalls as well. ELP then stalls outside and Hiku shoulders both opponents over. Chase and Kenta take stereo atomic drops. Hiku and ELP hit running corner moves on both then ELP 2nd rope elbows Chase.

ELP forearms Chase down then dropkicks him. Chase lariats ELP. ELP springboard twisting crossbodies him then Kenta stops ELP's asai moonsault. ELP is sent into the rails outside. Kenta back elbows ELP then Kenta and Chase split ELP's legs. Chase backdrops ELP. Kenta snapmares ELP and kicks him in the back.

Kenta drives ELP into the rails outside. Back in the ring, ELP sunset flips Kenta then hurricanrana's Chase. ELP hits a step up enzugiri then tags in Hiku. Hiku shoulders Chase over and hits snake eyes and a shoulder on Kenta.  

Hiku double lariats his opponents then Chase drops him with a knee lift. Hiku blocks Chase's sunset flip then Kenta throws Hiku back onto Chase's knees. Hiku then takes a corner dropkick from Kenta. Kenta top rope double stomps him for 2. Kenta hits slaps on Hiku then Hiku powerslams him. ELP top rope swantons Kenta then asai moonsaults him. ELP then tornado ddt's Chase off of the apron. Kenta then bridging ddt's ELP as he re-enters the ring.

Kenta hits spinning chops then ELP counters his go to sleep with a cradle. ELP rolls him up, is pushed into the ropes and Chase ddt's ELP over the middle rope to the apron. Hiku comes in and helps out. Kenta face kicks Chase on accident then Kenta takes a head kick + ufo spinning neckbreaker.

Kenta spinning lariats ELP then ELP is double hiptossed into a powerbomb + neckbreaker combo. ELP rolls up Chase for 2 then superkicks him. ELP burning hmmers Chase and Kenta tries to break it up with a top rope double stomp but nails Chase instead. Kenta takes a Hiku chokeslam and ELP hits a CR2 on Chase to win it.

It wasn't great or anything but was tolerable. It really didn't need the stalling to open this match up though.

NEVER Openweight Title Match - Tama Tonga (c) vs. EVIL

This is Tama's last NJPW match as presumably, he is going to WWE.

Tama nails Evil before it starts then sends him into the rails outside. Tama goes to cut Evil's hair and House of Torture get in and beat him. Despite the ref being 5 inches away from HoT, he doesn't see the interference. Shota Umino, Wato, Phantasmo, Hikuleo and Jado then come down and join the fight. The ref throws this match out.

Tama asks to make this a lumberjack match.

NEVER Openweight Title Match - Lumberjack Match - Tama Tonga (c) vs. EVIL

Tama hits euros then has his eye raked. Tama back elbows him. Evil tries to slide out but is thrown back in. Tama is thrown out. He is beaten by HoT and then the two squads fight out there. Tama is suplexed on the floor by Kanemaru and Togo. Tama is thrown into the rails and knocks the timekeeper over. Evil tells Tama he is fired.

Tama is thrown into the exposed buckle then thrown out. Tama is then beat up by HoT outside. Tama and Evil both get tripped by the other crew outside. Tama hits a punch flurry then hits lariats. Tama knocks HoT off the apron then blue thunders him. Tama plancha's HoT outside. Evil goes to run away and is stopped by Hikuleo. Phantasmo then twists Evil's nipples.

Tama rolling death valley drivers Evil then top rope splashes him for 2. Evil twisting neckbreakers him and knocks the ref down. Yujiro ddt's Tama on the floor. Evil hits darkness falls for 2. Evil lariats him then Tama hits a tonga twist.

Tama hits chops the nsends Eivl into the exposed buckle. Evil grabs the ref to avoid being german suplexed then Tama rolls him up. Togo hits Tama with a chair and Evil rolls him up for 2. Jado hits Evil with a kendo stick for 2. Tama splashes the ref on accident. Ren face kicks Tama then Shota dropkicks Ren. All of the seconds fight.

Tama dropkicks Evil then Evil blocks a cutter. Tama cutters Evil for 2. Tama jay drillers him and the ref is pulled out during the count. Togo chokes Tama with a weapon then Jado hits him with a stick. Tama cutters Togo then Tama is hit with a weapon. Evil hits everything is evil and wins it.

It was garbage as expected with tons of interference, ref bumps and the usual shenanigans.

Tama does a promo after. He thanks the fans. He thanks the fans for giving him a home and a chance. He says he loves the fans.

Overall thoughts: The card for this looked bad and it wasn't a good show. The Never Openweight Title match had the usual shenanigans and the KOPW match was a joke. The Strong Tag title match didn't really need to go 21 minutes but it was tolerable. Most of the top stars here were wasted in short, rushed multi-man tags that were largely forgettable. They also opened the show with a 10 minute draw in a young lions match which really wasn't necessary. Finally, the news of Okada leaving left a dark gray cloud hanging over this show and with this show being bad, it didn't exactly paint a good outlook for the future. Skip this.