NJPW The New Beginning In Nagoya (January 30) Statistics, Research & Broadcast Notes

by | Jan 29, 2021 | Column, NJPW, Preview

NJPW The New Beginning In Nagoya

Date: January 30, 2021

Venue: Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphin’s Arena)

Time: 5:30pm JST

 

Match One:

Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi

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2021 Statistics – Overall

Last 365 Days Statistics – Overall

  • Kazuchika Okada’s +4 Fall Differential is second best in NJPW. He only trails El Desperado (+5)
  • EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi are tied with two others with the most losses to begin 2021 with 8.
  • Kazuchika Okada has quietly amassed the most victories thus far in the beginning of 2021 with 8.

 

Match Two

Kota Ibushi, Master Wato, SHO & Tomoaki Honma vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito

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2021 Statistics – Overall

  • Hiromu Takahashi is tied at the top with Kazuchika Okada with 8 victories on the year.
  • SHO and Tomoaki Honma are both tied with EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi with 8 losses to begin 2021. Honma’s -5 Fall Differential is also the worst in NJPW this year.

Last 365 Days Statistics – Overall

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  • SANADA leads NJPW over the last 365 days with 64 victories.

Match Three:

Loser Must Stop Using The Mongolian Chop
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Great-O-Khan

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2021 Results – Singles

Last 365 Days Results – Singles

  • Great-O-Khan still seeks his first NJPW singles victory since returning from excursion.
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan’s last singles victory was over Katsuya Kitamura in 2018. Prior to that, his last singles victory came over Tama Tonga during the 2016 G1 Climax.

2021 Results – Overall

Last 365 Days Results – Overall

History in Nagoya

  • This will be Hiroyoshi Tenzan’s 30th singles match in Nagoya. He is 19-10 entering tonight’s match with Great-O-Khan, including the beginning of his third IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign in 2004.
  • This will be Great-O-Khan’s first singles match in Nagoya. His opponent, Hiroyoshi Tenzan is fitting here, because O-Khan’s first ever appearance at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium was a loss in a 6 man tag against Tenzan, Kojima, and Liger. Satoshi Kojima pinned Tomoyuki Oka in that match.

 

Match Four

No Disqualification

Satoshi Kojima vs. Will Ospreay

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2021 Results – Singles

Last 365 Days Results – Singles

2021 Results – Overall

  • Kojima’s 2021 hasn’t started as fruitfully as his 2021. He is just 1-7 on the year overall with his only victory coming via a Disqualification.

Last 365 Days Statistics – Overall

  • Satoshi Kojima has quietly been one of the most successful wrestlers in NJPW over the last 365 days. In that timeframe, he has achieved one more victory than Will Ospreay, landing at 37 to Ospreay’s 36.

History in Nagoya

  • This will be Satoshi Kojima’s 24th singles match in Nagoya. He is just 11-12 in Nagoya including a 5 match losing streak. His last singles victory here was in 2010 when he defeated Hirooki Goto.
  • Will Ospreay has competed in singles competition just four times in Nagoya. He is 3-1 including a Best of The Super Juniors victory over Bobby Fish, a New Japan Cup victory over Bad Luck Fale, and a G1 Climax victory over Bad Luck Fale.

 

Main Event

NEVER OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Shingo Takagi [C] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

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2021 Results – Singles

Last 365 Days Results – Singles

2021 Results – Overall

Last 365 Days – Overall

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  • In the last 365 days, only SANADA (64) has more NJPW victories than Shingo Takagi (60).

History In Nagoya

  • This will be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s 31st career singles match in Nagoya. He is 20-10 in Nagoya coming into tonight’s match, including two successful IWGP Heavyweight Championship defenses (12/10/06 vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & 12/4/11 vs. Yuji Nagata)
  • This will be Shingo Takagi’s 15th singles match in Nagoya. He is 10-5 coming into tonight’s match including his defense of the NEVER Openweight Championship last July against El Desperado.
  • The NEVER Openweight Championship has been defended twice in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. Katsuyori Shibata defended successfully against Satoshi Kojima on the Road To Invasion Attack in 2016 and Shingo Takagi defended successfully against El Desperado at last year’s Sengoku Lord.

NEVER Openweight Championship

  • The NEVER Openweight Championship has been decided in 72 matches over the course of just over 8 years. In those 72 matches, a new champion has been determined 31 times or 43.66% of all matches.
  • This will be the first time Hiroshi Tanahashi has challenged for the NEVER Openweight Championship.
  • The NEVER Openweight Championship has been defended twice in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. Katsuyori Shibata defended successfully against Satoshi Kojima on the Road To Invasion Attack in 2016 and Shingo Takagi defended successfully against El Desperado at last year’s Sengoku Lord.
  • Shingo Takagi is quickly ascending the ranks of all-time great NEVER Openweight champions. If successful, this will be Shingo Takagi’s 5th NEVER Openweight Championship Defense. Only Hirooki Goto (7), Katsuyori Shibata (6) and Tomohiro Ishii (6) have more successful defenses of the NEVER belt.
  • Something to keep an eye out for: The longest NEVER Openweight Championship match ever was Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Elgin, landing at 30:57 at Kizuna Road 2018. Given the stature of the competitors in tonight’s event and its Main Event placement, it isn’t out of the question that we’ll see that record broken.