- Togi Makabe & Toru Yano def. Katsuya Murashima & Shoma Kato (8:16)
- Hiromu Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori def. Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young (9:40)
- Drilla Moloney & Shingo Takagi def. Great-O-Khan & HENARE (9:24)
- YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Boltin Oleg def. Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson (NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships) (12:21) (Recommended)
- Andrade El Idolo def. Gabe Kidd (IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship #1 Contenders) (14:23)
- Callum Newman def. David Finlay (13:55)
- Ren Narita def. Aaron Wolf (NEVER Openweight Championship) (2:08)
- OSKAR & Yuto-Ice def. Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura (IWGP Tag Team Championships) (19:37) (Recommended)
- Yota Tsuji def. Jake Lee (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (23:40)
Yota Tsuji successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time on Wednesday night, taking out United Empire’s “jester” in a 23-minute main event showdown.
Following a strong closing sequence, Tsuji scored the pinfall win against Jake Lee to close out NJPW New Beginning in Osaka today from the EDION Arena Osaka in Japan.
In his first singles appearance since capturing the title at Wrestle Kingdom 20 last month inside the Tokyo Dome, Tsuji had a physical main event showdown against Lee.
Tsuji tried to put away Lee with a Gene Blast spear near the 20-minute mark, but the challenger blocked the move with a knee to the head. Lee’s closest moment to a win followed when he dropped Tsuji with a chokeslam for a near fall.
Tsuji battled back into the match, scoring a headbutt and a spear for a two-count of his own. Lee powered back up after taking a pair of Curbstomps from the champ, but was finished just moments later after taking a second spear.
The matchup was Lee’s first singles appearance since returning from injury last month, coming back after a year-and-a-half layoff due to a knee injury. The former NOAH and AJPW champ was challenging for the IWGP title for the first time since he initially joined the promotion back in 2024.
Tsuji took down AEW’s Konosuke Takeshita to capture the IWGP title last month, ending his reign after 83 days. A passionate Tsuji had a motivating speech after the match but later turned the attention to Hiromu Takahashi, who had his send-off match earlier in the night.
Knockout Brothers take down Uemura & Umino in rematch
The Knockout Brothers had yet another stellar showing in the co-main event of the night, taking down the duo of Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura in a 19-minute showdown.
The champs had an electric final stretch against Uemura. After Umino was taken out of the mix by the double-team KOB piledriver, Uemura found himself fighting a two-on-one battle. While he put up a fight with a long series of moves, including an impressive German Suplex to OSKAR, it wasn’t enough to win the match.
OSKAR tossed Uemura head-first into a nasty knee strike from Yuto-Ice, then was able to set up another KOB piledriver for the pinfall win.
The Knockout Brothers have quickly become one of NJPW’s hottest acts since returning from excursion last year. The IWGP Tag Team Champions have now taken down Umino and Uemura twice, with Wednesday being a follow-up to an impressive meeting at King of Pro Wrestling back in October. The duo also had a high-profile win last month at New Year Dash, beating Ryohei Oiwa and Zack Sabre Jr.
It was announced after the match that AEW’s Gates of Agony tag duo will take on Yuto-Ice and OSKAR at NJPW’s New Beginning in USA card later this month. Ricochet also revealed during the video package that he will defend his AEW National Championship against Taiji Ishimori as part of that upcoming card.
Aaron Wolf loses NEVER title in just two minutes
A shocking result came in the third-highest contest of the night, as Olympian turned pro wrestler Aaron Wolf dropped his NEVER Openweight Championship to Ren Narita in just over two minutes.
Constant interference from House of Torture allowed Narita to eventually put Wolf away with a Hell’s Guillotine kneedrop for the pinfall victory.
The result not only put an end to Wolf’s first-ever title reign but also marked his first singles loss in the industry. It’s a significant setback for the talent who entered NJPW last year with tons of fanfare and buzz.
Wolf’s first-ever match came in a huge spot, competing high up on the Wrestle Kingdom 20 card at the Tokyo Dome in January. The match, which ended up being a success, saw him overcome EVIL, who has recently departed the promotion.
David Finlay says goodbye following loss
In what felt like a send-off match for David Finlay, he lost in just under 14 minutes to Callum Newman in the headlining match as part of a Unbound Company vs. United Empire series on Wednesday’s card. Newman was put over hard in the match, ending a long series of moves on Finlay with a hard lariat, then a Prince’s Curse DDT for the pinfall victory.
Finlay, who reportedly has attracted international interest as of late, bowed to the crowd after his loss and looked to be tearing up. The 32-year-old has spent nearly all of his 13-year career as an NJPW talent, training through their Young Lion system in the mid-2010s before debuting as a babyface talent. He became Bullet Club’s de facto leader following Jay White’s departure in 2023, leading the group as they entered a new “War Dogs” era.
Finlay’s father, Fit Finlay, has notably worked in a backstage role for WWE since 2012.
Earlier in the night: Andrade earns title shot, Hiromu Takahashi gets send-off match & more
Here are a few more headlines from earlier in the evening:
AEW’s Andrade El Idolo earned himself a shot at Yota Tsuji’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship on Wednesday night, beating Gabe Kidd in a #1 contender’s match. After putting away Kidd with a spinning back elbow into his DM finisher, Andrade lined himself up for a February 27 title bout against Tsuji as part of NJPW’s New Beginning USA card in Trenton, New Jersey.
The duo of Bishamon and Boltin Oleg retained their NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships early in the night, overcoming the TMDK trio of Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson. This match put a significant spotlight on Jackson, who had already entered this match with some buzz following a Korakuen match against Oleg from last week. While he had a solid run late in the match, a Bishamon Shoto into a frogsplash from Oleg caused him to get pinned in 12 minutes.
Hiromu Takahashi had a send-off match to start the main card, winning alongside Taiji Ishimori in his final appearance before departing NJPW. The promotion gave Takahashi a lengthy video package beforehand recapping his 15-year run with the company, becoming one of the biggest modern junior heavyweight names in the promotion’s history along the way. The 36-year-old hasn’t offered many clues as to where the next chapter of his career take place, if he will be continuing his pursuits in a place like NOAH, or taking his talents to a U.S. company like WWE or AEW.
On the other hand, Drilla Moloney confirmed his re-signing with NJPW following a tag win with Shingo Takagi. Moloney has been with the promotion since 2023, but his last contract was reportedly up at the start of this year.
In his final appearance before heading out for an excursion, Young Lion Katsuya Murashima lost in a tag bout alongside fellow trainee Shoma Kato against Togi Makabe and Toru Yano during the pre-show. While Murashima gave Makabe trouble with a Boston Crab attempt then a roll-up pin, he eventually was taken out with the vet’s King Kong kneedrop. It’s unclear where Murashima will go for his excursion, whether it be in the U.K., Mexico, America, domestically, or somewhere else.
