Five Title Matches Set For NJPW New Beginning

New Japan Pro Wrestling has revealed the cards for their upcoming New Beginning shows. The cards are highlighted by five championship matches taking place on the second night of shows in Sapporo and the show in Osaka.

The most notable is the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jay White. White defeated Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 13 and later challenged Tanahashi to a title match. Jay White attacked Tanahashi at New Years Dash and laid him out with the assistance of the Bullet Club. Tanahashi won the title for the record eighth time when he beat Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 13. White vs. Tanahashi will be the main event of New Beginning in Osaka on February 11th.

An interesting match is the IWGP Intercontinental Championship match between Tetsuya Naito and Taichi. Taichi pinned Naito in a ten-man tag team match, setting himself up as a challenger. Taichi had a reign with the NEVER Openweight Championship in 2018. The reign did not impress a lot of the audience as Taichi has been criticized for his in-ring work. Naito won the Intercontinental title for the third time when he defeated Chris Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Their match will main event the New Beginning in Sapporo Night Two event.

New Beginning in Sapporo Night Two will be the show dedicated to Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Suzuki-Gun. In addition to the Intercontinental title match, both sets of tag team titles will be defended against Suzuki-Gun. The IWGP Tag Team Championships will be defended as EVIL and SANADA will face Zack Sabre Jr. and Minoru Suzuki. Meanwhile, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships will be defended by BUSHI and Shingo Takagi against El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

The final title match will be for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. New champion Taiji Ishimori will make his first title defence against Ryusuke Taguchi. Ishimori won his first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship by defeating KUSHIDA with the Bloody Cross at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Ryusuke Taguchi is a former two-time Junior Champion and a four-time Junior Tag Team Champion. The match will take place at New Beginning in Osaka.

The full cards for the New Beginning events are as follows:

The New Beginning in Sapporo Night One

• Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale
• Zack Sabre Jr. vs. EVIL
• Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA
• Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
• Ryusuke Taguchi, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Togi Makabe vs. Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tiger Mask IV vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku
• Manabu Nakanishi & Toa Henare vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino
• Ren Narita vs. Yuya Uemura

The New Beginning in Sapporo Night Two

• IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match – Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Taichi
• IWGP Tag Team Championship Match – EVIL & SANADA (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr.
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match – Shingo Takagi & BUSHI (c) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jay White, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
• Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Togi Makabe vs. Taiji Ishimori, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ren Narita vs. Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku
• Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV vs. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino
• Toa Henare vs. Yota Tsuji

The New Beginning in Osaka

• IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match – Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Jay White
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match – Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
• Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
• Tomoaki Honma & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
• Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
• EVIL & SANADA vs. Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku

Which show are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter or on Discord!

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