The New Beginning USA is New Japan’s first show in the United States since May of 2025. I covered the STRONG title defenses that occurred for the rest of 2025 in a dedicated post, but two title defenses happened in the first week of 2026 prior to the New Beginning event:

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship
Los Hermanos Chávez (Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja) vs. World Class Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)
CMLL Sin Salida 2026 – Mexico City, Mexico – 1.2.2026

Los Hermanos Chávez have been champions since 11.14.2025 and this is their first defense. The WCWC challenged Los Hermanos on the December 17th edition of CMLL Informa. They lost the STRONG tag titles to the United Empire at “Resurgence” and are looking to win them back from the team that unseated the Empire. The Wrecking Crew took control with two suplexes to Roja back first onto the ring apron. As he recovered, Isaacs and Nelson double teamed Oro in the ring. When Roja came to his rescue, a Pounce from Nelson ended his efforts quickly. Ross broke through a double clothesline and tagged Oro back into the match. Oro launched Roja into the WCWC, who sent them to the floor with a double dropkick, and then Los Hermanos followed with stereo suicide dives. Back in the ring, Nelson is taken down with stereo superkicks, and Isaacs has to save him from being pinned. Isaacs also wipes out Los Hermanos with a double clothesline, leading to Nelson taking out Roja with California Love (springback Ace Crusher) and Isaacs landing Hush Money on Oro for stereo two counts. Isaacs also gets two on Oro with a pop-up powerbomb. Oro Falcon Arrows Nelson, and Roja drops Isaac onto Nelson double underhook facebuster from the second turnbuckle for stereo two counts of their own. Los Hermanos duck another double clothesline attempt from Isaacs and dropkick him the floor. Oro follows with a Bermuda Triangle. Nelson is able to land a flying frog splash onto Roja. Roja however slips out of a slam attempt and gives Nelson a spinebuster. He then turns Nelson over into a pendulum crab (Campana Invertida) until Nelson verbally submits at 12:51. This was rock solid yet unremarkable. Both teams more or less wrestled their usual match and those two matches did blend together fairly seamlessly. It moved at a really good pace and peaked in the final couple of minutes. I just don’t know if either team brought out the best in the other. Still, it was a good first defense for Los Hermanos. ***

NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship & IWGP Women’s Championship
Saya Kamitani vs. Syuri
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 – Tokyo, Japan – 1.4.2026

Kamitani has been NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion since 9.27.2025 and this is her second defense. Syuri has been IWGP Women’s Champion since 10.13.2025 and this is her first defense. When Syuri’s speed and kicks got her control in the early going, Kamitani turned to her bag of tricks to turn things around: pulling the referee in Syuri’s way, and having her stablemates in HATE trip Syuri and bring her to the floor. When they did, Kamitani followed out with a high crossbody onto everyone. Syuri ends a forearm strike exchange back in the ring with a knee to Kamitani’s jaw. Kamitani cuts off Syuri on the top turnbuckle, bringing her down with a super Frankensteiner before giving her a bridging Northern Lights suplex for two. Syuri is also able to cut off Kamitani on the top turnbuckle. She brings down Kamitani with an arm capture suplex, holding onto the arm upon landing and converting into a double shoulder stretch. Kamitani has no choice but to get to the ropes to escape. Syuri, however, uses the positioning to give Kamitani an elevated DDT for two. Kamitani uses Syuri’s own momentum to schoolgirl her up into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Syuri gets her shoulder up at two after taking Kamitani’s Star Crusher. Kamitani scurries when Syuri goes after her arm again, so Syuri takes her down with a running knee strike. She also plants Kamitani with an Emerald Flowsion for two. Some back and forth leads to Syuri knocking out Kamitani with a Buzzsaw Kick. Kamitani barely gets her shoulder up before the three count. Another Buzzsaw Kick and Syu-sekai (an electric chair into sitout side powerslam) gets Syuri the pin and the STRONG Women’s title at 12:09. For a match with the most popular in Japan at the time (Kamitani), this received a tepid response. Like a lot of the women’s matches in past Wrestle Kingdom events, it also felt rushed. They are deserving of this large stage and audience, yet were clearly presented as relatively unimportant. Put this in front of a hot STARDOM crowd with some more time and it would be a totally different scenario. As it stands, it was a very good but unmemorable bout. ***¼

Trenton, NJ – 2.27.2026

Commentary is provided by Walker Stewart & Veda Scott.

David Finlay vs. Fred Rosser

Rosser is a New Jersey native and has the crowd behind him. Despite Finlay Thesz Pressing Rosser before the bell, Rosser is able to turn things around fairly quickly, choking Finlay with a cord on the floor and battering him with clotheslines in one of the corners back inside of the ring. When he attempts a backdrop on the apron, Finlay drives him back first into the ring post. Any time Rosser is able to get in some offense, Finlay cuts him off with a back attack. Rosser gives him a taste of his own medicine with a back suplex into the corner. As Rosser is doing damage on the floor, Finlay powerbombs him back first into the ring post. Rosser sends a charging Finlay to the apron and successfully pulls off his back breaker onto the apron. Rosser follows up with a lariat for two. Rosser pulls Finlay down into the crossface chicken wing after giving him the Gut Check. Finlay rolls back, pinning Rosser’s shoulders, forcing Rosser to release the hold. When Rosser goes for it again, Finlay runs Rosser head first into the turnbuckles. Rosser initially escapes Into Oblivion, but Finlay is able to pull off a powerbomb for two. Rosser blocks Overkill and delivers a running Death Valley Driver for two. Finlay slips out of a slam attempt from Rosser and small packages him for two. As Rosser is getting to his feet, Finlay takes him down with Overkill for the pin at 12:20. The story here was simple yet effective, and it got the crowd engaged. Rosser simply being placed against Finlay reasserts his place on the NJPW U.S. pecking order. He had a couple noticeable slip ups but nothing that deterred from the match’s flow. A solid way to start the show and for Finlay to officially exit New Japan. ***

Rumors of Finlay leaving New Japan had been swirling before this show, leading to fans chanting “Thank you Finlay” after the match. Finlay grabbed a microphone, but would end up dropping it and leaving without saying a word. Finlay would be met by OSKAR and Yuto-Ice on the entrance stage, Finlay’s most recent recruits into the now dormant BULLET CLUB War Dogs. All three of them would throw up the single gun salute together and embrace before heading backstage. The following Wednesday, March 4th, Finlay would officially debut for AEW. Finlay, along with Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors, were now simply known as “The Dogs.” They would all be announced as “All Elite” that night on X, officially exiting New Japan Pro Wrestling.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Oleg Boltin

Ishii has been champion since 4.11.2025 and this is his second defense. Ishii has not defended the title since Resurgence, which I find to be unacceptable. This is Oleg’s U.S. debut. Both competitors have their left shoulders taped up. You would think that would prevent them from charging at each other with shoulder blocks, but it didn’t – they just used their other shoulder. Ishii’s chops to Oleg inched closer to Oleg’s throat, which is not typical behavior from the Stone Pitbull these days. This does not prevent Oleg from utilizing his strength advantage to toss Ishii around the ring. Oleg mistakenly forearm struck Ishii, leading to Ishii shutting Oleg down with an elbow to the jaw. Oleg does win over the crowd by winning a tough chop battle against Ishii, and then taking him down with a belly-to-belly suplex. Ishii stumbles back to his feet and German suplexes Oleg. Oleg also gets back to his feet, only to find himself taken down with a Saito suplex. Both men stumble before falling back to the mat. Oleg blocks a sliding lariat and breaks out of a full nelson. Ishii headbutts Oleg in the jaw before Oleg can strike. He lands a sliding lariat for two. Oleg shotgun dropkicks Ishii to the turnbuckles. Ishii fails to elbow his way off of Oleg’s shoulders, with Oleg pulling off the Kamikaze (Finlay roll) for two. Ishii does escape the second attempt and nails Oleg with a jump-up enzuigiri. Ishii turns him inside out with a lariat for two. Oleg escapes a brainbuster attempt and plants Ishii with an F5. The Kamikaze gets Oleg the pin and the title at 14:02. Oleg trying to “out Ishii” Ishii was a really engaging story to follow. It’s also a smart way to ingratiate Oleg to the audience, as U.S. fans know and love Ishii. You are risking them turning against Oleg in defeating someone who is so beloved, and yet, this approach clearly worked, as the crowd accepted and cheered Oleg’s title win. It also gave us a bit of a deviation from the usual Ishii match which I always appreciate. Here’s to hoping Oleg’s defenses are more frequent than Ishii’s were. ***¾

AEW National Championship
Ricochet vs. Taiji Ishimori

Ricochet has been AEW National Champion since 11.22.2025 and this is his seventh defense. This is also a first time singles match, with Ishimori and Ricochet only having wrestled each other twice before in tag matches in 2016. To give you an idea of the make-up of this audience, and perhaps how much they cared about this bout, they teased Ricochet for being bald to start the match, and pretty much any time he was on offense. He pulled Ishimori into the top rope while Ishimori was on the apron, bouncing Ishimori to the floor, where Ricochet wiped him out with a twisting plancha. Ricochet also sent Ishimori into the ring post and guardrails. When Ricochet grabs Ishimori’s hair during his beatdown, Ishimori pokes him in the eyes in response. Ishimori then takes down the champion with a back handspring enzuigiri. Ishimori biffs on a tope con hilo, hitting the top rope, but he does still move forward and land onto Ricochet. Ishimori cinches on the Bone Lock back in the ring. When Ishimori prevents Ricochet from getting the ropes, Ricochet muscles Ishimori up from the mat into a Northern Lights suplex. Ricochet follows up with a suplex and lionsault for two. The Bone Lock injured Ricochet’s shoulder, making him unable to lift Ishimori up into Vertigo.. Instead, Ishimori gives a Code Breaker to his upturned shoulder. Ricochet weaves under a clothesline and takes down Ishimori with a short-arm clotheslines. Ishimori counters the Benadryller with a reverse Frankensteiner, and gets two with an inverted implant DDT of his own. When he goes for another back handspring, Ricochet instead catches him with a Death Valley Driver. Ricochet follows up with Vertigo and the Spirit Gun for the pin at 14:29. Unfortunately, the crowd’s apathy did not disappear at any point during this match. It doesn’t help that Ricochet went against someone who has never been in AEW, rarely wrestles in the U.S., and until recently had been a heel for many years. I think a lot of people also expected a more fast-paced “junior style” match, and they took the more methodical route. Not bad by any stretch but far from either man’s best. ***

El Desperado & KUSHIDA vs. Alec Price & Jordan Oliver

This is Price’s NJPW debut, and Oliver’s first NJPW match since the All Star Junior Festival in August 2023. They attack Desperado and KUSHIDA before the bell, leading to both teams battling it out on the floor. Price ends things by landing a tope con hilo off of the entrance stage onto both opponents. KUSHIDA is isolated back in the ring until he is able to snap both Oliver and Price’s shoulders across his own shoulder at the same time. Desperado and KUSHIDA dismantle Oliver’s shoulder, with Desperado antagonizing Price on the apron along the way. Oliver cuts off Desperado’s leapfrog with a mid-air side slam. Oliver tags in Price, who comes in with a flying dropkick to KUSHIDA and a pop-up dropkick to Desperado. Desperado evades a Blockbuster and sweeps Price into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Desperado also gives Price a spinebuster. Oliver counters KUSHIDA’s back handspring into a German suplex. Price and Oliver take down Desperado with tandem offense. They knock KUSHIDA off the apron before attempt a super Acid Bomb. KUSHIDA saves Desperado by taking out Price with an avalanche Frankensteiner. Price blocks Pinche Loco with a small package for two, and then takes him down with a flying Blockbuster. KUSHIDA breaks up the pin and also knocks Oliver to the floor with a double back handspring kick. A pair of shotei’s from Desperado and Irabu punches from KUSHIDA lead to Desperado putting away Price with Pinche Loco at 13:57 (KUSHIDA kept Oliver in a Hoverboard Lock to prevent him from breaking up the hold.) This was the junior heavyweight exhibition that I believe the crowd wanted the previous match to be – it was fast paced, exciting, and dynamic. The teams had instant chemistry with each other, which is more impressive when you consider Desperado and KUSHIDA had never teamed before. I really hope Price and Oliver are in Best of the Super Juniors. ***½

NJPW’s next U.S. show is during WrestleMania weekend, as Desperado brings his Death Pain Invitational to Vegas. During a post-match interview, Desperado presented both Price and Oliver with invitations to the show.

NJPW World Television Championship
El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita

El Phantasmo has been champion since 4.29.2025 and this is his seventh defense. Phantasmo defended the title against Takeshita during this reign, just four days after winning the title, and that match went to a Time Limit Draw. Rocky Romero is in Takeshita’s corner. Takeshita cuts off ELP mid-pescado with a hard forearm shot. Takeshita then sends him crashing into the barricades twice before giving him a DDT on the ring apron. ELP makes it back in the ring just before he is counted out and at the 5:00 time marker. After taking more damage from Takeshita back in the ring, ELP manages to take out the champion with a suicide dive. ELP then dumps Takeshita into the front row and follows with top rope moonsault! The 10:00 time marker is indicated as a fan helps ELP to his feet. In the ring, ELP lands a top rope splash and lionsault combo for two. Takeshita pulls ELP into a Blue Thunder Bomb after blocking Sudden Death. ELP rolls through and looks for CR-II. Takeshita counters into the Blue Thunder Bomb for two, and the timekeeper calling out a 3 minute warning. Takeshita holds onto the top rope to avoid a super Frankensteiner. They knock each other out with Sudden Death and the World Class elbow with 2 minutes remaining. Takeshita nails the Power Drive Knee for two. With one minute remaining, he looks for Raging Fire. ELP slips out and drops Takeshita with a Canadian Hammer. CR-II gets ELP a very close nearfall. 30 seconds remain as ELP ascends to the top turnbuckle. Takeshita gets his knees up to block Thunder Kiss ‘86. ELP counters Raging Fire into a Falcon Arrow, and the 15:00 time limit expires just as ELP covers Takeshita.

ELP says they already had a time limit draw and it sucks. The fans agree, so ELP asks Takeshita to return to the ring so they can restart the match with 5 more minutes. Takeshita re-enters the ring and the match is restarted! A strike and boot exchange leaves ELP on his knees. Takeshita pulls down his knee pad before going for the running knee. ELP counters with a roll-up for two. They trade pin attempts on the mat, leading to ELP spiking Takeshita with a Canadian Destroyer. He looks for CR-II but Takeshita pulls him up into the Hitodenashi Driver! A German suplex follows. ELP is fired up, but Takeshita takes him out with a lariat. ELP kicks out at two, so Takeshita plants ELP with a CR-II of his own. ELP gets his shoulder up just before the three count, shocking Takeshita. ELP surprises Takeshita with a crucifix pin. Takeshita kicks out and blasts ELP with a pumping knee. Raging Fire then gets Takeshita the pin and the title at 2:43 (17:43 total). It was nice to see ELP, who is under-appreciated by fans at large, getting to look so strongly against some universally beloved like Takeshita. It was even better to see the fans get behind ELP and hope he would retain his title. While this had some of the usual bloat that you get with a time limit draw, it was still well built and executed. The drama of the encroaching time limit felt earned. Very good stuff. ***¾

IWGP Tag Team Championship
Knockout Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) vs. Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)

Knockout Brothers have been champions since 9.28.2025 and this is their fourth defense. This is both of their first matches in the U.S. GOA competed in the 2023 World Tag League, where they went 2-7. They did, however, defeat OSKAR twice in non-tournament matches, and teamed with Yuto four teams in non-tournament matches. At the time, OSKAR and Yuto-Ice were young lions, and since then went on excursion in Australia and Europe, and have become the powerhouses of the Heavyweight tag division since returning last Summer. The fact that the Knockout Brothers had “surpassed” GOA in terms of achievements seems to have put a chip on their shoulder. The aggressive GOA double teamed Yuto-Ice to start the match. The champions mounted a short comeback before Liona pounced OSKAR into the guardrails. GOA went back to their onslaught on the only good ICE while OSKAR was out cold. OSKAR had finally made his way to the apron as Yuto-Ice suplexed Kaun, finally bringing in the German Giant to go strike for strike with Toa Liona. He impresses the crowd by fighting off both of the GOA himself and giving Liona and bodyslam. Liona showed an even bigger display of strength with a stereo fallaway slam and Samoan Drop on the champs. The GOA regained steam after that, picking up a couple of nearfalls along the way, but had their momentum halted with a double clothesline from OSKAR. Yuto-Ice battered Kaun in the corner before busting out the beloved Bombaclat knee strike. Yuto-Ice has Kaun pinned after a PK, but a kick to the back of his head from Liona broke up his cover. OSKAR would assist with a tandem powerbomb on Liona. Kaun lariated through Yuto-Ice and got a two count with Greetings From Ghana. Kaun fought out of the KOB initially, but after a dropkick to the skull from Yuto-Ice, the KOB (punt kick into a running tombstone piledriver) got the Knockout Brothers the pin at 17:58. I was delighted to see this audience take to the Knockout Bros, as they, especially Yuto-Ice, have been my favorite act to follow in wrestling for half a year. While this wasn’t as good as some of their defenses in Japan, this was a really good introduction for them to the Western audience. They got to show off their tenacity and strength against big, hard-hitting tandem. GOA have also improved since they were last in New Japan by quite a bit, and as an ROH fan, I love seeing Kaun getting this spotlight. Hopefully we see much more of OSKAR and Ice in the U.S. as part of NJPW. ***¾

IWGP Women’s Championship
Syuri vs. Athena

Syuri has been IWGP Women’s Champion since 10.13.2025 and this is her second defense. Athena is the current ROH Women’s Champion, holding that title since December 2022. This is her first standalone NJPW show. Athena slips to the floor after escaping a shoulder lock from Syuri. When Syuri goes after her, Athena catches her in a slam position and throws her back first into the guardrails. Athena does not relent, hammering Syuri with a hard running forearm smash in the corner, and then swinging her around in a front chancery. Athena does further damage to the neck with a cravate. Syuri evades a corner attack and spikes Athena with a wheelbarrow bulldog. Syuri continues the shoulder damage done earlier in the match with a hammerlock superplex. Syuri holds onto Athena’s shoulder and stretches both out behind Athena’s back. Athena uses the ropes to escape Syuri’s grasp, and also gives Syuri a neckbreaker on the top rope. When Athena tries to slingshot back into the ring, Syuri gives her an elevated DDT and then attempts a cross armbreaker. She puts on a triangle choke, and it takes Athena three powerbombs to escape. Athena ducks a Buzzsaw kick and superkicks the champion. Syuri does damage to Athena’s mid-section before giving her a release German suplex. Athena retaliates with a Saito suplex. Athena blocks a high kick and gives Syuri a tombstone piledriver for two. Syuri evades Athena coming off of the top turnbuckle. She delivers a Buzzsaw kick and a headbutt before pulling off the Syu-sekai for the pin at 17:56. It may not be too surprising to hear there were boos over this victory, as despite being a heel, Athena is well liked and respected by the U.S. audience. After watching her for over three years as a defending champion in ROH, it was interesting seeing her play challenger in a promotion that is not her home. She still had some of that same “edge” that she does in ROH but that edge was more subdued in this bout. My main point of comparison for this match is Athena’s ROH title defenses, and while this wasn’t at the level of her best title defenses, it was still quite good. I do wonder why Syuri defended this title instead of the STRONG title, though. ***½

A video plays after the match where Alex Windsor challenges Syuri to a STRONG Women’s title bout at Pro-Wrestling EVE’s Wrestle Queendom event in London on March 8th. The match would be made official shortly after.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
Yota Tsuji vs. Andrade El Idolo

Tsuji has been champion since 10.13.2025 and this is his third defense. He is also the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Andrade earned this title match by defeating Gabe Kidd at The New Beginning in Osaka sixteen days earlier. Both are also former Los Ingobernables de Japon members, as Andrade illustrates with a Naito pose in the ropes during the early stages of the contest to taunt Tsuji. After sending Andrade back first into the guardrails, Tsuji holds up his title belt to remind everyone he is the champ. Andrade shoves out Tsuji’s legs to counter the Marlowe Crash, sending Tsuji crashing down to the mat from the top turnbuckle. Tsuji ends Andrade’s offensive stride with a Gut Check and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Tsuji attacks Andrade’s back and legs before giving him a Marlowe Crash on the middle rope for a two count. Andrade counters a suplex into the Three Amigos. Tsuji gives Andrade a taste of his own medicine by kicking his legs out when Andrade is standing on the top rope. Andrade however is able to regain his balance and take down Tsuji with an inverted Spanish Fly for two. Andrade then pulls off his double jump moonsault, but misses double knees in the corner. Tsuji brings down Andrade with a super Frankensteiner and puts him in the crosshairs for the Gene Blaster. Andrade rolls up Tsuji to block and pulls him up into the Sombra Bomb for two. As they exchange strikes, Tsuji delivers some shots to Andrade’s mid-section. He takes a page out of his partner Shingo’s book, giving Andrade a Gallon Throw. Andrade evades the Gene Blaster again, this time cutting off Tsuji with a dropkick. He drops Tsuji with The Message for two. Double knees and Andrade’s rolling back elbow also only get him a two count. Tsuji counters Andrade’s reverse piledriver with a Destroyer. After a reverse suplex, Tsuji is poised for the Gene Blaster again. Andrade insteads spears Tsuji himself. Andrade looks for a figure four, but Tsuji small packages him before it can be applied. Tsuji gets in a spear when they get back to their feet and then finally hits the Gene Blaster, but only for two! Tsuji locks on the Boston Crab, the move that defeated Konosuke Takeshita in the Tokyo Dome and Gabe Kidd in Sumo Hall, to submit Andrade at 26:44. Between Wrestle Kingdom and tonight, there is no doubt Yota Tsuji is THE man in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He’s the complete package of charisma and ability and someone you can see help usher in an era of renewed interest. All match long they made us wait and wait for the Gene Blaster, and when we finally got it, it was so satisfying. Even more satisfying, though, was Tsuji going to the tried and true New Japan submission hold to retain his title against one of his toughest opponents to date. Andrade for his part was impressive both in his offense and his generosity in bolstering Tsuji’s profile. It was a great main event for New Japan’s first U.S show in nine months and hopefully means more Andrade in the future. ****

Tsuji thanks Andrade for the match and says he appreciates the history they share. They shake hands and Andrade exits the ring. Tsuji introduces himself to the crowd enthusiastically with both of his titles on his shoulders. He says it’s his time, his era, and that he believes New Japan Pro Wrestling is the best. He then ends by thanking the fans for coming and holding both of his belts up high.

For many U.S. shows dating back to 2021, you always felt like New Japan was relying on the wrestlers from the “Elite” era to bring in an audience. With all of those wrestlers now in other companies, they needed to move on from that and get this audience used to its contemporary stars. On that front, I think this show was successful. Oleg Boltin, the Knockout Brothers, and Yota Tsuji were presented to be just as important as they are in Japan and were well-received by the crowd. In-ring, it was also a success. There were matches I don’t think reached their potential but there was not one bad match on the show. Adding people like Alec Price and Jordan Oliver also added freshness to the show. I am very happy with New Japan’s first U.S. show of 2026