NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2024: Night 1 & 2
NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2024 was a two-night event taking place on February 23 and February 24 at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo, Japan. Nights 1 and 2 were the third and fourth events in the New Beginning series of 2024.
Night 2 saw Tetsuya Naito defend the IWGP World Championship against Sanada. Night 1 featured Nic Nemeth challenging David Finlay for the IGWP Global Heavyweight Championship, and Matt Riddle challenging Hiroshi Tanahashi for the NJPW TV Championship.
event info
Promotion: New Japan Pro Wrestling
Date: Night 1: February 23, 2024, Night 2: February 24, 2024
Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Venue: Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell
Start Time: Night 1: 3:00 am ET, Night 2: 12:00 am ET
Network: NJPW World
Broadcast Type: Live
RESULTS
Night 1
| Match | Title/Stipulation |
|---|---|
| Tomoya & Toru Yano vs Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma | Tag Team Match |
| Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Yuji Nagata | Singles Match |
| Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita defeated Boltin Oleg, Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe | 6-Person Tag Team Match |
| YOH, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada defeated Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb | 10-Person Tag Team Match |
| Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) defeated Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura) | 10-Person Tag Team Match |
| Mayu Iwatani defeated Mina Shirakawa | IWGP Women’s Championship Match |
| Sho defeated El Desperado(c) | IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match |
| EVIL(c) defeated Shota Umino | NEVER Openweight Championship |
| Matt Riddle defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi(c) | NJPW World TV Championship Match |
| Nic Nemeth defeated David Finlay(c) | NJPW IGPW Global Heavyweight Championship Match |
Night 2
| Match | Title/Stipulation |
|---|---|
| Tomoya & Toru Yano vs Katsuya Murashima & Tomoaki Honma | Tag Team Match |
| Boltin Oleg, YOH, Togi Makabe, El Desprado & Shota Umino defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, SHO & EVIL | 10-Person Tag Team Match |
| Chaos(YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada) defeated United Empire(Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle) | 10-Person Tag Team Match |
| El Phantasmo & Hikuleo defeated Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga | Tag Team Match |
| Nic Nemeth & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated David Finlay & Gedo | Tag Team Match |
| BUSHI defeated TAKA Michinoku | Singles Match |
| DOUKI defeates Hiromu Takahashi | Singles Match |
| Taichi defeated Shingo Takagi | Singles Match |
| Yota Tsuji defeated Yuya Uemura | Hair vs Hair Match |
| Tetsuya Naito(c) defeated SANADA | IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match |
Storylines
Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA: Tetsuya Naito won G1 Climax 33 tournament to earn a shot at IWGP World Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 18. He ended up beating SANADA to win the title at Wrestle Kingdom. During the New Beginning series, Naito’s LIJ and SANADA’s Just 5 Guys clashed in 10-man tag team matches. Also, Naito and SANADA were announced for a rematch on night 2 of the event in Sapporo.
David Finlay vs Nic Nemeth: Nic Nemeth(fka Dolph Ziggler) came to attend the Wrestle Kingdom 18 event and watched several matches from the front row. David Finlay won the newly introduced IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship that night. After the match, Finlay started an argument with Nemeth which led to an altercation that later continued backstage where Nemeth attacked Finlay and cut a promo against him.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Matt Riddle: After Tanahashi defended the NJPW TV Championship at New Year’s Dash event, a video featuring Matt Riddle aired on the screen where Riddle challenged Tanahashi for the title. The match was later confirmed for the night of New Beginning in Sapporo.