2022 has officially begun for New Japan Pro Wrestling. NJPW kicked off their 50th Anniversary Year by doing away with the New Beginning branding for their winter tour, and returning to the New Years Golden Series of old. Night 1 brought plenty of action as the road toward Sapporo begins.
In the main event, the plucky team of Shingo Takagi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito were able to defeat three of the most prominent IWGP Heavyweight Champions of the 21st Century, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yuji Nagata & current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. Naito got the better of Nagata to win the match and send a message to Okada. The two will face off for Okada’s title in the main event of February 20th’s Golden Series finale.
Naito wasn’t the only title contender in Los Ingobernables de Japon to get the better of their future opponent. SANADA will face Hiroshi Tanahashi on February 19th for Tanahashi’s IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
.@tanahashi1_100 & @seiyasanada "???"
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Also sending a message was Master Wato. Wato doesn’t feel that IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado is taking him seriously enough. He tapped out Desperado’s dear friend DOUKI and the two got into a confrontation ahead of their February 11th title match.
Elsewhere on the card, Hiromu Takahashi once-again donned the furry mask he wore in CMLL and was Kamaitachi once again. He challenged Young Lion Ryohei Oiwa to unmask him during their match on Thursday, promising 10,000 Yen if he did. Not only did Oiwa fail to unmask Kamaitachi but he submitted to a rudimentary Boston Crab. Oiwa’s dojo comrade Yuto Nakashima was also tapped out in a brutal and brief match with Great-O-Khan.
Toru Yano got to play mind games against KOPW 2022 Trophy Holder Minoru Suzuki, as Satoshi Kojima picked up the win against Suzuki-gun in 6-man tag action. Plus CHAOS once again came to blows with House of Torture.
Here are the full results:
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NJPW New Years Golden Series: Night 1
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Great-O-Khan def. Yuto Nakashima by submission via Cross Armbreaker. (5:35)
- Special Challenge Match (If Oiwa unmasked Kamaitachi, Oiwa would win 10,000 Yen): Kamaitachi (Hiromu Takahashi) def. Ryohei Oiwa by submission via Boston Crab. (7:24)
- Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe def. Bullet Club (Jado & Taiji Ishimori) by submission. (8:59)
Tiger Mask submitted Jado via Stepover Armbreaker. - Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma def. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) by pinfall. (9:12)
Satoshi Kojima pinned TAKA Michinoku via Lariat. - Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan def. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) by submission. (10:51)
Master Wato submitted DOUKI via Koji Clutch. - CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH) def. House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo & SHO) by pinfall. (11:41)
Tomohiro Ishii pinned Dick Togo via Vertical Drop Brainbuster. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi) def. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuji Nagata) by pinfall. (20:16)
Tetsuya Naito pinned Yuji Nagata via Destino.
New Japan Pro Wrestling will return live on February 7th at 4:30am ET for Night 4 of New Year’s Golden Series on NJPWWorld.
Nights 2 & 3 will be available on VOD around January 22nd and 29th respectively.
