The first night of NJPW’s Road to The New Beginning was wall-to-wall tag team matches. We saw some decent matches but there weren’t too many eventful happenings. The bouts spotlighted the main event feuds coming up between Sanada and Ibushi, Tanahashi and Takagi as well as Kojima and Tenzan versus The United Empire.
Tanahashi and Takagi collided in their tag team match as Tomoaki Honma, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi faced Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and Sanada). Tanahashi actually fended off Takagi really well until The Ace punched him while he was standing and minding his own business on the ring apron. Shingo demanded to be tagged in. Holding his jaw, Shingo pounded The Ace into the mat with sledgehammer blows. Tanahashi got back to his feet. The two squared off peppering each other with forearms to the face. Shingo won that showdown.
Hiromu shows Sho what their upcoming match is all about. Courtesy: NJPW.
Tetsuya Naito gave his team the win with a Destino to Honma. Shingo took a moment to yell at a fallen Tanahashi who was laying on the floor dazed after the beating he took.
Young Master Wato got another notable win of his career by beating Bushi with a bridging pin. Wato had no choice but to carry the ball for his team as Sho suffered a Sunset Bomb on the arena floor from Hiroshi Tanahashi early on in the match.
The show was limited to just two hours because of Tokyo’s current pandemic policies.
Road to New Beginning Night 1 Results
Yota Tsuji, Satoshi Kojima versus The United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan)
Kojima gets some revenge for his pal Tenzan delivering his machine gun chops to Ospreay. Tsuji gets beaten from pillar to post. He is pinned by Khan’s big boot and the Eliminator.
Winners: The United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan)
Suzuki-gun (Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki) versus Bullet Club (Gedo, Jado, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori)
El Phantasmo adjusts his boot while preparing to super kick El Desperado. Kanemaru takes Phantasmo down and tries to remove his boot to look inside. He has felt that boot before and has his suspicions. Douki leaps off the ropes, takes a super kick, is knocked out and pinned. Kevin Kelly says he has never seen a super kick so deadly as El Phantasmo’s. Strange that.
Winners: Bullet Club (Gedo, Jado, El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori)
Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada) versus Bullet Club (Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi and Evil)
Evil delays the start of the match because he refuses to get into the ring and face Okada. Togo gets a GTR for his troubles and is pinned by Goto. Evil and Okada share a staredown.
Winners: Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada)
Tomoaki Honma, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi versus Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and Sanada)
Winners: Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and Sanada)
Master Wato and Sho versus Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi)
Winners: Master Wato and Sho