NJPW “THE NEW BEGINNING in HIROSHIMA”, 2/9/2014 [Sun] 15:00 @ Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
5,040 Spectators (overcrowded sellout)
(1) Kota Ibushi & BUSHI vs. El Desperado & Jushin Thunder Liger
◆Winner: Desperado (8:46) with the Guitarra de Angel on BUSHI.
~ Desperado claims yet another win over Ibushi’s teammates.
(2) Minoru Suzuki vs. Tama Tonga
◆Winner: Suzuki (5:32) following the Gotch style Piledriver.
(3) Special Tag Match: Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka
◆Winner: Iizuka (9:16) via foul, Sakuraba with Iizuka’s Iron Finger.
(4) Special Single Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Michael Tarver
◆Winner: Tarver (9:15) following the 1.9 (One Point Nine).
(5) NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: [125th Champion] Satoshi Kojima vs. [Challenger] “BIG DADDY YUM-YUM” Byron Wilcott
◆Winner: Kojima (11:04) following a Lariat.
~ 1st Successful Defense.
~ Tarver attacked Kojima after the match, Tenzan made the save.
(6) Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi
◆Winner: Ishii (11:27) following the Vertical Drop style Brainbuster on Honma.
~ Ishii with the final prelude victory heading into the NEVER title match on 2/11.
(7) Special 8 Man Tag Match: Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. Prince Devitt, Bad Luck Fale, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson
◆Winner: Devitt (11:28) following the Bloody Sunday on Taguchi.
(8) Special Tag Match: Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI
◆Winner: Goto (14:38) following the Shouten Kai on HASHI.
~ Goto picks up the last prelude win heading into the IWGP title match against Okada on 2/11.
(9) IWGP Tag Championship Match: [64th Champions] “The Machine Gun” Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. [Challengers] “K.E.S.” Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
◆Winner: Anderson (12:38) following the Magic Killer on Smith.
~ 1st Successful Defense.
(10) IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: [7th Champion] Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. [Challenger] Shinsuke Nakamura
◆Winner: Tanahashi (22:32) with a Dragon Suplex Hold.
~ 1st Successful Defense.
Earlier in the day, Tanahashi announced that he will not be competing in March’s NEW JAPAN CUP tournament. Instead he stated that the winner can chose which title he wants to compete against, and the runner-up will receive the other title match.
Keep in mind that this just follows suit as the NEW JAPAN CUP is primarily held to build up contenders for the IWGP Heavyweight belt, so the main champion, now champion(s), are excluded.
~ Next up is THE NEW BEGINNING in Osaka on 2/11.
NJPW Event Cards for January & February 2014
https://puroresuspirit.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/njpw-event-cards-january-february-2014/
Puroresu Spirit 