Yota Tsuji will make the first defense of his IWGP Heavyweight Championship at New Beginning in Osaka next month.
The expected match between Tsuji and Jake Lee was confirmed on Tuesday’s Road to New Beginning card after a ten-man tag and a beatdown of the Unbound Co.
The United Empire’s Jake Lee, Callum Newman, Great O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young defeated Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo after Lee hit the FBS on Takagi and pinned the former IWGP champion.
Lee continued his attack, laying out members of the Unbound Company with knee strikes to the body, and then addressed Tsuji, stating that he had taken everyone out and now it was Tsuji’s turn. He issued a challenge for the belt. Tsuji accepted the match for February 11 in Osaka in his first title defense since defeating Konosuke Takeshita at Wrestle Kingdom 20.
It will be Lee’s first 1-on-1 match since August 12, 2024, during the G1 Climax, as he spent the remainder of the year in tags before suffering a devastating knee injury, which took him out for fifteen months. He returned at Wrestle Kingdom 20 as a mystery partner for the United Empire.
New Beginning in Osaka – February 11:
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- IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji © vs. Jake Lee
- No. 1 Contenders Match for IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Gabe Kidd vs. Andrade El Idolo
- NEVER Openweight Championship: Aaron Wolf © vs. Ren Narita
- IWGP Tag Team Championships: OSKAR & Yuto-Ice © vs. Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino
