NJPW: The New Beginning in Sapporo Night One Results
Singles Match: Michael Elgin vs. Katsuya Kitamura
The two canceled each other out in the strength department early on. Elgin hit his stalling vertical suplex. He cracked Kitamura with a forearm for a near fall.
The two got into a battle of who can land the next suplex. This time Kitamura won that battle. He hit a gutwrench suplex for a two-count. Elgin landed a dropkick from the middle rope.
Kitamura barely kicked out of a Falcon Arrow. Elgin went for the buckle bomb, but Kitamura reversed. Kitamura ducked a clothesline and nailed the spear. He went for the Jackhammer, but Elgin rammed him into the corner.
Three hard lariats finally took Kitamura down. Elgin hit the buckle bomb, followed by the Elgin Bomb for the three-count.
Winner: Michael Elgin
10-man Tag Match: Kushida, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Iizuka
The members of Suzuki Gun immediately attack their opposition. El Desperado choked Liger against the corner. Liger landed a tilt-a-whirl on El Desperado, while Tiger Mask hit his Tiger Driver on Kanemaru.
Taichi nailed Liger with his bell hammer. Taichi landed an enzuigiri to Liger. Taichi did his signature routine of pulling off his own pants. Finally, Liger hit the shotei and tagged in Tenzan.
Tenzan hit Mongolian chops on Iizuka, who later bit him in the head. Kushida was tagged in, but was outnumbered by Suzuki Gun. Nakaninishi had enough and nailed a an overhead powerslam on two members of the group.
Kushida locked in the Hoverboard Lock on Taka Michinoku to force the tap.
Winners: Kushida, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Tag Team Match: Tomohiro Ishii & Toro Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Takahashi tried slapping Ishii, but it failed miserably. Ishii sent Takahashi crashing to the mat and crawling to Owens for a tag. Owens asked for Yano and his wish was granted.
Yano went for the padding in the corner, but was kicked by Takahashi. Yano was choked by Takahashi’s walking stick. Yano kicked out of a leg drop.
Takahashi and Owens doubled teamed Ishii. Owens became the legal man at this point. He landed a knee to Ishii for a near fall. Owens went for the Packagage Piledriver, but couldn’t get it.
Owens inadvertently cracked Takahashi with a kick. This allowed Ishii to hit the brainbuster for the win.
Winners: Tomohiro Ishii & Toro Yano
Never Openweight 6-Man Tag Title Match: Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale (C) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe & Toa Henare
Taguchi and Loa got things started. Taguchi’s hip attack had no effect on Loa. He dropkicked Loa low and landed multiple hip attacks with Loa on the bottom rope.
Now Henare and Tonga were the legal men. Tonga blasted Henare with a dropkick and multiple legdrops. Fale threw Makabe into chairs in the crowd and choked him with a cable.
Loa landed a Jackhammer on Henare, but Taguchi broke up the pin. Fale was now in and chopped the chest of Henare. Fale charged at Henare in the corner, but missed.
Makabe was now tagged in. He nailed Fale with his signature punches in the corner. Fale ran into a hip attack from Taguchi. Makabe hit a lariat on Fale, but Loa broke up the pin.
Henare got a near fall off a top rope shoulder block. Taguchi played coach and sent his teammates to attack Tonga in the cormer. Henare nailed the spear, but Fale broke up the pin.
Henare barely kicked out of Tonga’s flapjack. He locked in a half nelson submission hold on the ground to force the tap.
Winners And STILL Never Openweight 6-Man Tag Champions: Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale
6-Man Tag Match: David Finlay, Juice Robinson & Kota Ibushi vs. Marty Scurll, Hangman Page & Cody
Finlay and Scurll got the match started. Finlay got a hold of the arm and Scurll couldn’t find a way to break it until hitting a back elbow. He bounced off the rope and ran into a dropkick.
We now have Cody and Ibushi in the ring. Instead, Cody decided to tag in Page. Ibushi landed a kick to the body and a standing moonsault for a two-count.
Juice was tagged in and landed some punches. He connected with a spinebuster. Scurll was now the legal man and he ate some punches. Cody distracted Juice and Scurll landed a superplex.
Cody was tagged in and worked on the leg. Finally Ibushi and Cody were in the ring. They exchanged strikes. Ibushi went for a standing moonsault, but Cody got the knees up. Ibushi got the upperhand and landed a standing corkscrew.
Cody accidentally nailed Scurll with the Disaster Kick. Juice then landed his axe kick on Ibushi by accident. The bevy of miscommunication continued with Finlay spearing Juice. Page landed Rite of Passage on Finlay for the win.
Winners: Cody, Mary Scurll & Hangman Page
Tag Team Match: Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito
Hiromu and Naito attacked their opponents before the bell rang. Naito hit Yoshi-Hashi with his own stick. Naito wanted Japanese commentator Milano to hit Yoshi-Hashi with the stick.
Yoshi-Hashi threw Naito into the barricade. Back in the ring, Ospreay was tagged in. Hiromu dropkicked Ospreay in the knee. Naito stomped Yoshi-Hashi in the crowd.
Naito and Yoshi-Hashi would later be back in the ring. Naito landed his signature dropkick with his opponent in a sitting position. He tagged in Hiromu, but Yoshi-Hashi gained the edge and tagged in Ospreay.
A hard kick was there for Ospreay. He landed a modified 619. Hiromu landed a dropkick to the knee. Ospreay responded with a dropkick in the corner. Hiromu stopped the momentum with a pop up sitting powerbomb.
Naito was tagged in, but ate a springboard forearm. Naito went for a top rope hurricanrana, but Ospreay landed on his feet and landed a German suplex.
With the referee distracted, Naito landed a low blow on Ospreay and pinned the IWGP juniro heavyweight champion.
Winners: Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito
After the bout, Naito kept ignoring Yoshi-Hashi and was attacked for it. For the most part, Naito didn’t even bother responding to the attacks in the crowd. In fact, he went back in the ring and posed with Hiromu.
6-Man Tag Match: Gedo, Hiroki Goto & Kazuchika Okada vs. Bushi, EVIL & Sanada
Okada and Sanada got the match started. The two canceled each other out and soon we saw Gedo and Bushi in the ring. Goto, Okada, and Goto triple teamed Bushi and did their Chaos pose.
Gedo tried unmasking Bushi, but Sanada grabbed a hold of his beard. The action spilled to the outside. Sanada trapped Gedo in the Paradise Lock and nailed him with a dropkick.
Goto was in and he suplexed Bushi on top of EVIL. Goto landed a clothesline on Sanada and tagged in Okada. A DDT was there for the IWGP heavyweight champion.
Sanada reversed the Rainmaker with a high angle back suplex. Bushi was tagged in and landed a missile dropkick followed by the Bushiroonie. Okada got triple teamed, but Goto broke up the pin attempt.
Bushi went for the middle rope codebreaker, but was cut off. Okada and Goto teamed up on Bushi. Okada locked in a cobra clutch hold and forced the tap.
Winners: Gedo, Hiroki Goto & Kazuchika Okada
After the match, Okada called Sanada into the ring to get him to speak. Sanada got in the ring and threw the mic. Okada chased after Sanada and threw him to the ring post.
Okada went under the ring and threw a bag inside. Okada nailed Sanada with a tombstone. He shoved Okada bucks in Sanada’s mouth and choked him out with the cobra clutch.
6-Man Tag Match: Sho, Yoh & Jay White vs. Young Bucks & Kenny Omega
Jay White wasted little time, taking out Young Bucks and attacking Omega from behind. A big boot was there for Omega. Sho and Yoh were in the ring with the Young Bucks.
Yoh was triple teamed in the corner with kicks. Omega teased his Terminator dive, but White put a stop to that. Sho and Yoh took out the Bucks with sentons.
Omega went for a knee, but Yoh pulled his leg. White reluctantly tagged in Sho. Omega was able to bulldog both men. He tagged in Nick Jackson, who dropkicked White and went to town on Sho and Yoh.
Omega took out Sho, Yoh, and White with snap dragon suplexes. The Bucks and Omega nailed Sho with superkicks. White broke up a sharpshooter on Sho.
V-Trigger found the mark on Sho. Omega went for a One-Winged Angel, but White interrupted. Bucks went for a Meltzer Driver assisted by Omega on Yoh. They nailed it for the three-count.
Winners: Kenny Omega & Young Bucks
After the bout, White nailed Omega with the Blade Runner.
IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi (C) vs. Minoru Suzuki
The two were in a feeling out process early in the match. Tanahashi targeted the arm and Suzuki returned the favor. Suzkui actually didn’t cheap shot the champion on a break.
Suzuki locked in a leg lock. Tanahashi stood up to reverse it into his own submission. The champion stomped the challenger’s leg, but Suzuki laughed. Suzuki connected with a headbutt, followed by his signature armbar using the ropes.
Suzuki threw the champion into the barricade. He grabbed a chair and attacked Tanahashi with it. The challenger landed some hard kicks to the body. Tanahashi got back in the ring and Suzuki continued his kicking spree.
They got into a brief chop battle until Suzuki reversed a chop attempt into a Fujiwara armbar. Tanahashi egged Suzuki on to keep kicking him. The champion downed the challenger with a forearm.
Tanahashi landed a senton off the top rope for a two-count. Suzuki threw his opponent into the corner and landed a big boot. Tanahashi caught a kick, but lost the dragon screw. They engaged in a striking battle that ended with Tanahashi getting the dragon screw.
Tanahashi locked in the Texas Cloverhold. The challenger was able to get to the bottom rope. Suzuki delivered a dropkick right to the jaw of the champion. He applied the sleeper hold, but was pushed off.
Tanahashi connected with the slingblade. He went for the crossbody and got it. The champion couldn’t follow up because of the way he landed on his knee.
The champion struggled to climb the top rope. He went for High Fly Flow, but Suzuki got the knees up. He applied a heel hook. Tanahashi finally got to the bottom rope.
Suzuki locked in the figure four. Tanahashi rolled over and found the ropes again. Suzuki landed his trademark clap combination. He locked in the sleeper hold and went for the Gotch Piledriver. Tanahashi swept the legs and locked in the Texas Cloverhold.
Suzuki countered into an inside cradle for a two-count. Tanahashi hit slingblade for a near fall. Tanahashi was dropkicked in the knee. Suzuki once again applied the heel hook. The champion made it to the bottom rope.
Suzuki shoved referee Red Shoes aside and kicked the champion in the leg numerous times. He went for the Gotch Piledriver again, but hit it this time. Instead of pinning Tanahashi, he locked in the heel hook again.
The challenger readjusted and applied the heel hook yet again. Red Shoes had seen enough, we have a new IWGP intercontinental champion.
Winner And NEW IWGP Intercontinental Champion: Minoru Suzuki
After the match, Tanahashi was taken out on a stretcher. Suzuki talked about his title win to close out the show.
