The future of New Japan Pro-Wrestling grew cloudy following Wrestle Kingdom 6, as the buyout of all shares in the company by Bushiroad was announced, while the main event ascendance of Kazuchika Okada generated some headlines, though after his failure in TNA, it did make the roster look second-rate for Okada to come and immediately be named the top contender. There was no reason to believe a resurgence was coming, and while the promotion had been a staple of puroresu for many decades, it felt like it had run it's course. Fans had been there and seen it all with New Japan, and there just wasn't much a hook to win their attention back. They had no way of knowing the grand plans Bushiroad had in store, which begin to take motion on this historic night.
- The New Beginning 2012 comes to you from the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan, a former sumo venue that has become a spiritual home for New Japan in the years following this night. We are about two weeks removed from the Bushiroad takeover, and about five weeks out from Wrestle Kingdom, as this show goes live.
- The first two matches are missing on NJPW World, so we move to the third contest, which a Wrestle Kingdom rematch, as Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag titles against Davey Richards and Rocky Romero of the No Remorse Corps. I thought this was an starring performance for Richards, who works well as a base for the other three, providing a more ruthless nature with his strikes and grappling. The champions are largely in control early, with Devitt stopping Rocky's lariats in the corner with one of his own, Taguchi showing off with his double DDT spot and flying back elbow, and a great car crash spot, as Devitt dropkicks the challengers, who fall on top of each other while attempting a wheelbarrow splash. Devitt and Taguchi cycle through their array of tremendous tandem moves, breaking out a double Tope con Hilo, a wheelbarrow Codebreaker, and one heck of a Bloody Sunday delivered by Devitt, as Taguchi ensure extra impact on Rocky's neck by lifting him up in the air. Davey and Taguchi go at it, with the latter getting a huge pop for a gorgeous roll through on a lifted powerbomb, and almost scoring the win with his chicken wing facebuster, only for Rocky to bum rush through Devitt to make the save. A stellar near fall on Taguchi follows, as the challengers hit both an Electric Chair/diving knee smash, and Torture Rack/diving knee smash combos, but Devitt sneaks in underneath the camera to break up the pinfall. Rocky takes out Devitt with a brutal dive, knocking the Irishman over the barricade and into the crowd. Taguchi gets one more valiant moment, kicking out of a Buzzsaw kick by Davey, but a folding powerbomb, the move that couldn't get the job done at Wrestle Kingdom, is enough here, as Richards and Romero regain the gold. These junior heavyweight tag matches are always action-packed, and I thought this flowed better than their match at Wrestle Kingdom, with more spots to keep the action moving and the crowd on the edge of their seats.
- Suzuki-gun (Suzuki, Lance Archer, Yoshihiro Takayama, Taichi, and Taka Michinoku) is on the warpath after their leader's loss in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, as they lay waste to the quintet of Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe, Kushida, Tiger Mask, and Wataru Inoue in an Elimination match. I don't love the rules New Japan has with this style, as eliminated participants are allowed to hang around ringside, taking attention away from the in-ring action. Those on the outside aren't super active in this one, but I would much rather they do the WWE approach of just having them leave, so they can properly sell the beating they took and allow for a more concentrated story to be told. Archer is set up as the big star of this one, taking out Kushida, Tiger Mask, and Inoue, as well as constantly proving to be a difference maker whenever his boss needs a hand. The gaijin monster heel is a trope that New Japan has frequently gone back to the well on, but history has proven that investing in Archer was a smart call, so it's difficult to hate the predictability. This match really steps up a notch once it's down to Suzuki (with assistance from Archer and Takayama) fighting Nagata and Makabe. The slapfest between Suzuki and Nagata was awesome, the two old bulls locking horns again, and Makabe's final stand was highly entertaining, as he sells pure hatred and desperate desire to perfection. Ultimately, Makabe goes down to the Gotch-Style Piledriver from Suzuki.
- The IWGP Heavyweight tag belts are decided in another Wrestle Kingdom rematch, as TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) defend against Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson. The war these two teams engaged in a month ago was a highlight on that otherwise mediocre night, and while they didn't match that level of intensity, this was still fun. Bernard and Anderson spend a good portion of the match working Kojima's knee, tying him up in knots and stomping away at the ligament. Tenzan provides the jolt of electricity to get the crowd going with his hot tag, lariating everyone in sight, tossing Anderson with an overhead suplex, and even busting out an Anaconda Vise, which I had no idea was in his moveset, but he cinches it in well. I love the way Anderson sold being chopped by Kojima, flailing around and almost toppling out of the ring, it's goofy but still put the move over. Big men start flying everywhere, as the challengers hit a series of splashes on Tenzan, Bernard powerbombs Tenzan almost through the mat, Kojima takes the Magic Killer, and kicks out of it. The champions nail a TenKoji Cutter (their version of a 3D), Anderson hits the Gun Stun on Tenzan, and that leaves Kojima to deal with Bernard. The Osaka crowd desperately wants Kojima to bring this one home, and he almost falters at the final hurdle, as a chokebomb by Bernard gets a near fall. Kojima recovers to blast Bernard off his feet with an emphatic lariat, retaining the gold in tremendous fashion. These two teams work perfectly together, and while their matches are never going to be technical showpieces, watching big meaty men crash and burn will never not be entertaining.
- The IWGP Intercontinental Championship is a figurehead of New Japan's on-going push into the US, coming into existence during a tour of the East Coast the previous year. It started from humble beginnings, as MVP and Toru Yano tussled over the new prize, before being elevated slightly while in the possession of Masato Tanaka, and now, the top brass seeks to establish it as a true, highly sought-after belt by giving it a high spot on this card, with Tanaka defending in a belter against Hirooki Goto. These two men holding nothing back, and Goto transforms into the coolest human being on the planet for these 13 minutes of wrestling, looking like a real-life superhero as he pummels Tanaka. The champion gets the better of the early exchanges, but Goto's power is always lurking, and Tanaka can only hope to contain him. The crowd goes nuts for Goto's Saito suplex, and brief no-sell of a superplex, but what really sells Goto's monstrous status is a kneeling lariat he delivers to Tanaka, nearly caving in the champion's chest, as Goto goes on the attack. How Tanaka's neck didn't cave in after Goto's top rope Ushigoroshi is beyond me, that move was nuts, and executed to perfection. Tanaka rallies for a comeback, but his rolling forearm is stopped in brutal fashion, as Goto catches the champion with multiple, cringe-inducing headbutts, before he lifts Tanaka, not a small man, mind you, right off his feet into an amateur wrestling carry, pulverizing Tanaka's neck with another sick Ushigoroshi. The match-ending Shouten Kai served as some kind of mercy, Tanaka was simply out of his league on this night. This was a spectacle of violence, and one that needed no weapons or blood to induce a sense of danger. The crowd was ravenous for it all, and extremely ready to see Goto as champion, which is the exact boost of prestige the Intercontinental title needed.
- Tetsuya Naito rebounds from his loss to the legendary Keiji Mutoh at Wrestle Kingdom by putting on a show in his match with Shinsuke Nakamura, en route to an impressive victory. Naito's grappling is smooth as silk, and his aerial moves crisp and awe-striking, with gorgeous dropkicks, a terrific flip senton, and a flying shoulder block that got serious hangtime. Unfortunately, Nakamura didn't really hold up his end of this singles clash, as his offense lacked intensity, with a lot of rest holds and kicks, some of which connected well, but a lot of which just bored me. Nakamura's Boma Ye to the back got a pop, but that's the only highlight I could find for him offensively in this one. Nakamura and Naito do flash chemistry on a few pinfall attempts by the latter, as they move quickly through Naito's victory roll and leg-hooked backslide (I guess that's what you'd call it?), before Naito ends it with the Stardust Press. I think these two were capable of something great, but stalled for way too long for me to consider this anything approaching that kind of praise.
- Main event time, as Hiroshi Tanahashi defends the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada, who enters his first pay-per-view main event with several victories in tag matches against the champion throughout the past month. Okada has yet to find the full move-set that would make him famous, but I didn't feel like he was out of his depth in any way. He oozes confidence in a way that belies his youth and inexperience, and Tanahashi is the exact right opponent, a gifted performer with a knack for making anyone that works with him look good. Okada's work on the neck of Tanahashi was snug, and played well of the natural sympathy that Tanahashi can draw from the audience, which grows even stronger when it's revealed that Tanahashi has had a tooth knocked out. The camerawork, often lauded by New Japan fans, is stellar throughout this match, capturing just the right angle to sell the struggle these men are going through. Okada's desperate fight to escape Tanahashi's Cloverleaf, and Tanahashi's bloody, disfigured mouth, are both showcased to perfection, turning this into something of an artpiece. Once champion and challenger hit the final gear, you completely forget about Okada's lack of a meaningful past, as the two men tell a gripping final chapter of this clash. Okada takes flight for an elbow drop, Tanahashi lands the High Fly Flow, and Okada comes an eyelash from claiming the monumental upset with a crisp DDT. The Rainmaker lariat just can't connect, as Tanahashi, the grand master, is two steps ahead. He counters the Rainmaker and lands a Dragon suplex out of nowhere, and that surely has to do it, but Okada finds the strength within himself to avoid defeat. The two crisscross in one final sprint, and Okada finally lands the Rainmaker, turning Tanahashi inside out. But even though Okada has landed the fatal blow, the observers in Osaka can't make themselves believe the impossible has happened until it does, as Red Shoes slaps the mat for a third time, greeted by a gasp of shock and fury. It's an incredible moment, and while Okada could've been a superstar, and maybe even a future champion, if he had come up short here, this night was the mythical conquering that he needed. New Japan put their eggs all in one basket, and while it was a call that many at the time likely believed could not and should not happen, it proved to be the catalyst that jettisoned this promotion to the top of the industry.
8/10
While no match was an outright classic, the Intercontinental and Heavyweight title bouts were both highly entertaining, and provided two monumental title changes. This was just the pallet cleanser I needed after being disappointed by Wrestle Kingdom 6, and I would highly recommend checking this event out, it was a strong card.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: Day 5 of the 2012 New Japan Cup, where Hiroshi Tanahashi, Karl Anderson, Togi Makabe, and Hirooki Goto battle it out in the semi-finals and finals of the annual tournament, with the winner earning a title shot. See you soon.
- Henry
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