NJPW “THE NEW BEGINNING”, 2/12/12 (WPW/PPV)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
6,200 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Yujiro Takahashi & YOSHI-HASHI beat Tomoaki Honma & King Fale (7:51) when Takahashi used the RCT on Fale.
2.
Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii beat Jushin Thunder
Liger, Captain New Japan & Tama Tonga (8:35) when Yano used the Oni
Koroshi on Tonga.
3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Davey
Richards & Rocky Romero beat Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (c)
(15:10) when Richards used a powerbomb on Taguchi to become the 31st
champions.
4. Elimination Match: Minoru Suzuki, Yoshihiro Takayama,
Lance Archer, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi beat Togi Makabe, Yuji
Nagata, Wataru Inoue, Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA (23:08). Archer used the
Blackout on KUSHIDA (7:14). Archer used the Texas Tornado on Tiger
(7:56). Archer threw Inoue over the top rope (10:32). Makabe threw TAKA
over the top rope (11:11). Suzuki threw Nagata over the top rope
(19:43). Suzuki used a Gotch-style piledriver on Nagata (23:08).
5.
IWGP Tag Team Title: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (c) beat
Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (17:47) when Kojima used a lariat on
Bernard (1st defense).
6. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Hirooki Goto beat Masato Tanaka (c) (13:26) with the Shouten Kai to become the 3rd champion.
7. Special Singles Match: Tetsuya Naito beat Shinsuke Nakamura (17:38) with a Stardust press.
8. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada beat Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) (23:22) with the Rainmaker to become the 57th champion.
*
The foundations of the Japanese pro wrestling industry have been shaken
to the core after 24-year-old Kazuchika Okada ended the epic IWGP
Heavyweight Title reign of Hiroshi Tanahashi today at a sold out Osaka
Prefectural Gymnasium. The scenario has been repeated a hundred times –
young upstart returns from abroad to challenge the ace, fights bravely,
before falling. But he didn’t fall! In a stunning outcome, Okada downed
Tanahashi with his Rainmaker to end a 1 year, 1 month record-breaking
reign and in doing so stunned New Japan fans worldwide. Few realized the
show title “THE NEW BEGINNING” could be so literal and this wasn’t the
only result that surprised people as Okada’s next challenger also pulled
off a huge win…
* Tetsuya Naito, so often on the losing end in
his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, finally showed the results of his
growth as a pro wrestler by beating the CHAOS leader today with his
Stardust press. After defeating Nakamura and after Okada’s title win,
Naito headed to the ring and challenged the new IWGP Heavyweight
Champion to a match on New Japan’s 40th anniversary Korakuen Hall show
on March 4th. And so on the day when the two men who brought New Japan
out of the dark, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura, were beaten by
two fast rising stars, a whole new generation announced its arrival in
the biggest way possible.
* A man who has also been in Tanahashi
and Nakamura’s shadow for so long, Hirooki Goto, also took a step
forward on a tumultuous day by defeating Masato Tanaka to become the
IWGP Intercontinental Champion. This long and competitive feud continued
with Goto scoring a major victory for his career as it gives him the
first heavyweight title of his career. Yujiro challenged him to a title
match afterwards.
* On a day dominated by young generations, the
revived and rejuvenated legendary tag team TenKoji also starred by
making a successful V1 defense of their IWGP Tag Team Title against the
team whose record-breaking reign they ended at the Tokyo Dome, Bad
Intentions. Kojima sunk Bernard with his lariat to ensure he and Tenzan
held on to the prestigious belts.
* Three of four titles changed
hands today and the first saw the “No Remorse Corps” Davey Richards
& Rocky Romero win back the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title from “Apollo 55″
Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi in the champions’ first defense
since beating the gaijin tandem to regain them at the Tokyo Dome. This
see-saw feud continued and may yet see more matches, but today’s came to
a climax when Richards powerbombed Taguchi to make No Remorse the 31st
champions.
