It is a true dream card in early February for NJPW. New Japan Pro Wrestling has used the momentum from the excellent Wrestle Kingdom weekend to set up what could be one of their best wrestling cards of the year – New Beginning in Osaka 2020
The final New Beginning show will have eight matches, a hard-hitting grudge match, and five titles on the line. One of those matches has the first-ever defense of the double Championships. The semi-main event has the dream match of Minoru Suzuki versus Jon Moxley. Let us look at the great card in Osaka.
Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi vs Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe
The Manabu Nakanishi Retirement Tour hits Osaka one last time. The 53-year-old wrestler is going to officially retire on February 22nd. But he gets one last spot on a major New Japan card.
He is teaming with three major stars from his generation of Young Lions. His opponents are four of his biggest rivals. It should be a fun way to start the night in Osaka.
Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)(c) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Sho and Yoh are in their fourth reigns as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. That ties them for the second most reigns as a team in New Japan history. This accomplishment comes with a big asterisk. They have only successfully defended the title once. Can that change on Sunday night?
They will fight against the Suzuki-Gun duo. At New Year’s Dash, Bushi hit Sho with the mist allowing El Desperado to pick up the win in the Fatal 4 Way. We know Suzuki-Gun will try to cheat. Can Roppongi 3K overcome that and retain their titles?
Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, David Finlay & Juice Robinson vs BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
It seemed so simple. We were going to get an exciting match-up with FinJuice defending their newly won tag titles against Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi. But in Atlanta on the New Beginning USA Tour, Guerrilla of Destiny got their tag team rematch. They used a belt shot to pick up their sixth tag team title reign. Bullet Club was on top of the tag division again.
We know FinJuice will be out for revenge. What will Ibushi/Tanahashi think after their potential tag team chance has been taken away? It will be fun to see all these interesting elements in this eight-man tag team match.
CHAOS (Will Ospreay & Kazuchika Okada) vs Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Junior & Taichi)
It is the fallout from the New Beginning shows in Sapporo.
Will Ospreay lost in a classic match for the British Heavyweight Championship against Zack Sabre Jr. He seemed unfazed as he defeated Zack in an elimination tag match on Tuesday. He will also get a rematch for the British Heavyweight title in London on Valentine’s Day. It is time to keep his momentum going in this tag match in Osaka.
Taichi came up short against the Rainmaker last week as well. He has vowed revenge and wants another shot against Okada. If he is going to get it, he will need to win in Osaka on Sunday night.
SANADA vs Jay White
The only singles match on the card that isn’t for a title but the stakes are quite high. It will be the first-ever meeting between these two talented wrestlers. Their rivalry has quickly become very heated since Wrestle Kingdom.
In the main event of New Year’s Dash, SANADA pinned Jay White. He didn’t take it well and attacked SANADA with steel chairs after their match. In Sapporo, chairs were used again as Jay White cheated to defeat SANADA in a tag team match. Can SANADA overcome the cheating of the Bullet Club leader to win in Osaka?
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs Ryu Lee
The long rivalry is back again. This will be their 19th singles match against each other. These two seem to be fighting against each other forever.
It seemed we would never see this match again. Two years ago in San Francisco, these two were facing each other when Takahashi suffered his tragic neck injury. It took 530 days for Takahashi to return to the ring again.
During Jyushin Thunder Liger’s retirement match, Takahashi and Ryu Lee tagged together to defeat the legend’s team. This led to Ryu Lee challenging his old rival yet again for his newly won Junior Heavyweight title. As the past tells us, this should be easily one of the most fast-paced and exciting matches of the entire New Beginning shows. I cannot wait.
IWGP United States Championship
Jon Moxley (c) vs Minoru Suzuki
The dream match is here.
Ever since joining New Japan last year, Jon Moxley has talked openly about how much respect he has for Minoru Suzuki. It is quite clear in that their wrestling styles and personalities are very similar. It was only a matter of time before the dream match actually happened.
After retaining the United States Championship on the last night of Wrestle Kingdom, Jon Moxley was attacked in the Tokyo Dome by Minoru Suzuki. This feud grew as Moxley got his revenge at New Year’s Dash. The only time they have met in competition so far was a tag match in Sapporo last week as Suzuki picked up the victory over Moxley. Can Jon Moxley get his revenge in their first-ever singles match? The stakes are very high.
Double IWGP Intercontinental & Heavyweight Championship Match
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs KENTA
Naito had finally gotten his moment. He has defeated his rival Okada in the Tokyo Dome and was celebrating being the first-ever Double Champion. It seemed like the perfect way to end the show. Then KENTA brutally attacked Naito to a stunned and angry Wrestle Kingdom crowd. This disrespect continued as KENTA attacked Naito against after New Year’s Dash.
Naito vowed revenge and agreed to defend both titles in Osaka. Can Naito get his revenge against KENTA who has disrespected him at every turn? Or can KENTA quickly end the dream reign so quickly on Sunday? It should be exciting to see it their first-ever singles match-up.
