New Japan Pro Wrestling finally returns in earnest this weekend with The New Beginning In Sapporo events. Here are all of my statistics and research for night two of the two-nights at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo. You can find statistics and research for night one here.

The primary singles matches include head to head statistics, venue statistics and notes. The undercard has many miscellaneous notes and recent trends.

For more in-depth and up to date statistics on NJPW throughout 2020, follow me on twitter, @TheChrisSamsa, visit my complete and re-organized NJPW 2020 statistics on SportofProWrestling.com, buy the Voices of Wrestling NJPW 2019 Year In Review eBook, and check out the Voices of Wrestling New Beginning Predictions and Preview Columns (Night 1, Night 2 – coming soon!)

KAZUCHIKA OKADA V. TAICHI

  • Taichi and Okada have only faced each other one on one once in their careers. Taichi defeated Okada in 9:00 on April 12, 2008.
  • Taichi is 1-1 in singles matches at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center. He competed against Tetsuya Naito twice at the venue in 2019. He lost to Naito in an IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match on February 3 and he defeated Naito during the G1 Climax on July 15.
  • Kazuchika Okada is 1-2 in singles matches at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center. He was defeated by Naomichi Marufuji during the 2016 G1 Climax Tournament and he was defeated by Bad Luck Fale during the 2018 G1 Climax tournament. His lone victory in the building came at New Beginning 2017 when he defeated Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
ZACK SABRE JR (C) V. WILL OSPREAY

  • Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr. have competed 11 times in singles matches. ZSJ leads the series 7-4 and he also has a 1-0 record against Ospreay in a NJPW ring.
  • A longer match favors Zack Sabre Jr as his average winning match length against Ospreay has been 17:30, almost four minutes longer than Ospreay’s average victory in the series.
  • Ospreay will likely test ZSJ’s stamina as he has in the past. ZSJ’s average winning match length in 2019 was 15:59. Sabre’s victory over Ospreay in the G1 took lasted 20:02.
  • Zack Sabre Jr is 1-1 in singles competition at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center. He lost to EVIL at last year’s New Beginning in Sapporo and he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi during the 2017 G1 Climax Tournament.

HIROMU TAKAHASHI, SANADA, TETSUYA NAITO V. TAJII ISHIMORI, JAY WHITE, KENTA

  • Entering the weekend, Hiromu, SANADA, and Tetsuya Naito are a combined 26-3 thus far in 2020, including Tetsuya Naito’s 11-0 record and Hiromu Takahashi at 10-1.
  • Entering the weekend, Taiji Ishimori, Jay White, and KENTA are a combined 5-14, including KENTA at 0-7 and Jay White at 1-6
  • Hiromu’s fall differential of +8 is the best in NJPW thus far in 2020; he has been the winning fall participant in his last four consecutive matches. Takahashi’s only losing fall since his return was to Robbie Eagles in Takahashi’s first match back during the Road To Tokyo Dome events at Korakuen Hall.

 RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, SHO, YOH, JON MOXLEY V. DOUKI, YOSHINOBU KANEMARU, EL DESPERADO MINORU SUZUKI

  • DOUKI enters the two-night New Beginning in Sapporo events with a 1-11 record over the last 30 days. He has been the losing fall participant in each of his team’s 11 losses.
  • Coming into the two-night New Beginning in Sapporo events, SHO and YOH are 0-4 when teamed with additional partners over the last 30 days. They are 1-5 over this time with their lone victory coming at Wrestle Kingdom when they defeated El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championships.

ROBBIE EAGLES, TOMOHIRO ISHII, HIROOKI GOTO V. BUSHI, EVIL, SHINGO TAKAGI

  • This will already be BUSHI’s 16 match of 2020, second-most in NJPW behind only Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

GABRIEL KIDD V. EL PHANTASMO

  • This will be El Phantasmo’s first singles match in 2020. El Phantasmo’s -7:24 Win/Loss differential was good for second best amongst qualified NJPW wrestlers in 2019. He wins short and he loses long, a sign of a dominant competitor.
  • Gabriel Kidd has competed in two singles matches in NJPW, losing to Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji. El Phantasmo is sure to be his toughest competition yet.

YUYA UEMURA, TOMOAKI HONMA V. TIGER MASK, MANABU NAKANISHI

  • Manabu Nakanishi is 5-1 overall at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center, making this one of Nakanishi’s most successful venues in recent years.

TOA HENARE V. YOTA TSUJI

  • Toa Henare is 3-0 in singles competition against Yota Tsuji, most recently defeating the Young Lion on December 20, 2019 at Korakuen Hall
  • Henare’s average winning match length against Tsuji is 6:10. He could show dominance by executing a quick victory over Tsuji here.
  • Toa Henare ended 2019 with a -57 fall differential; only Yota Tsuji (-60) and Yuya Uemura (-65) had worse. Henare’s 2020 has started a little bit stronger with only a -1 fall differential through six matches, including his winning fall on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome over Tsjuji.