| The New Beginning in Sapporo (2018) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | January 27-28, 2018[1] | ||
| City | Sapporo,Hokkaido,Japan[1] | ||
| Venue | Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center[1] | ||
| Attendance | Night 1: 4,862[2] Night 2: 5,140[3] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| The New Beginning chronology | |||
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The New Beginning in Sapporo (2018) was aprofessional wrestling event promoted byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 27 and 28, 2018, inSapporo,Hokkaido, at theHokkaido Prefectural Sports Center. The first night of the event featured nine matches, two of which were contested forchampionships, while the second night featured two championship matches out of nine matches overall.
In the main event of the first night,Minoru Suzuki defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi to become the newIWGP Intercontinental Champion,[1] and on the second nightJay White defeatedKenny Omega to become the newIWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.[1] This was the thirteenth event under theNew Beginning name and the second to take place in Sapporo.
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Don Callis (English-language announcer) |
| Kevin Kelly (English-language announcer) | |
| Ring announcers | Makoto Abe |
| Referees | Kenta Sato |
| Marty Asami | |
| Red Shoes Unno | |
| Tiger Hattori |
In recent years, NJPW has held the opening day of theG1 Climax tournament inSapporo. With The New Beginning in Sapporo, the promotion revived an old tradition of holding a show during the annualSapporo Snow Festival, resulting in the show being promoted under the subtitleFukkatsu! Yuki no Sapporo Kessen (復活！雪の札幌決戦; "Revival! Sapporo Showdown in Snow").[4] The event aired worldwide on NJPW's internet streaming site,NJPW World, with English commentary provided byKevin Kelly andDon Callis, the latter of whom replaced Kelly's previous broadcast partnerSteve Corino.[5]
The New Beginning in Sapporo featured nineprofessional wrestling matches for each night, which involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[6]
At New Year’s DashKenny Omega tried to bring “Switchblade”Jay White into theBullet Club. White seemingly accepted the offer but rejected it hitting Omega with “Blade Runner”. The next day White joined Chaos and a match between the two was made with theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championship on the line.
| No. | Results[1] | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juice Robinson defeatedKatsuya Kitamura | Singles match | 9:16 | ||
| 2 | Suzuki-gun (El Desperado,Taichi,Taka Michinoku, andYoshinobu Kanemaru) defeatedJyushin Thunder Liger,Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino, andTiger Mask IV | Eight-man tag team match | 8:32 | ||
| 3 | Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii andToru Yano) defeatedBullet Club (HIKULEO andYujiro Takahashi) | Tag team match | 6:16 | ||
| 4 | Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale,Chase Owens,Tama Tonga, andTanga Loa) defeatedTomoyuki Oka,Hiroyoshi Tenzan,Manabu Nakanishi, andTogi Makabe | Eight-man tag team match | 9:04 | ||
| 5 | Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki andTakashi Iizuka) defeatedToa Henare andMichael Elgin | Tag team match | 8:18 | ||
| 6 | Bullet Club (Cody,Hangman Page, andMarty Scurll) defeatedDavid Finlay,Kota Ibushi, andKushida | Six-man tag team match | 10:30 | ||
| 7 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi,Evil,Hiromu Takahashi,Sanada andTetsuya Naito) defeated Chaos (Gedo,Hirooki Goto,Kazuchika Okada,Will Ospreay, andYoshi-Hashi) | Ten-man tag team match | 12:19 | ||
| 8 | Roppongi 3K (Sho andYoh) defeatedThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) | Tag team match for theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship | 22:34 | ||
| 9 | Jay White defeatedKenny Omega (c) | Singles match for theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championship | 29:54 | ||
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