SANADA proved the doubters wrong on Saturday. In the thrilling main event of Feb. 19th’s New Years Golden Series event, the longtime underdog won his first singles title in New Japan Pro Wrestling. SANADA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in a gripping 30min contest, besting The Ace in his first defense of the newly won US Title.
The win stops the downward spiral SANADA has been on since losing the G1 Climax finals in 2020. After a long, dark night of the soul, the multi-time tag champion is finally a champion on his own. He is one step closer to being the star so many have said he could be.
／#NJPW 新春黄金シリーズ(2/19)を公開‼️
＼IWGP USヘビー級選手権試合??
両者一歩も引かない凄まじい激闘?
果たして勝つのは⁉️? @tanahashi1_100 × @seiyasanada
? #njpwworld で配信中??視聴&登録⏩https://t.co/Tj7UBINMhP#njpw #njgolden pic.twitter.com/4TXYO0Eekh
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) February 19, 2022
SANADA was not the only one raising NJPW gold for the first time. Master Wato won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with veteran Ryusuke Taguchi. Taguchi’s quest to be the 69th IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship was finally fruitful, as the combination of youth and experience bested three other teams to win the titles. Both SANADA and Wato & Taguchi’s wins point NJPW in a fresh new direction, now in their 50th year of operation.
The Heavyweight Tag Team Title match between those two matches however was a return to form. Eschewing the Memphis wrasslin’ tactics of House of Torture, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI retained their IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with good ol’ fashioned strong style gusto.
CHAOS also got a dominant win over House of Torture in the undercard tag matches. House of Torture needs to come up with new tactics, as it seems their rivals have their number. Unlike Tanahashi or the Jr. Heavyweight Tag division, House of Torture will get a chance at revenge on Sunday, as they’ll put their NEVER 6-Man Titles on the line against the CHAOS duo and YOH.
Elsewhere on the card, Great-O-Khan continued his winning ways, this time crushing Tomoaki Honma. Tetsuya Naito also continued to lead Los Ingobernables de Japon to victory against another combination of Okada + [insert former IWGP Heavyweight Champions]. This time Okada teamed with Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima to no avail. It was Okada’s last chance to make a mark on Naito before their World title match on Sunday.
Here are the full results:
2/19
NJPW New Years Golden Series
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Suzuki-gun (DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku) def. Togi Makabe & Kosei Fujita by submission. (6:59)
DOUKI submitted Kosei Fujita via Italian Stretch. - Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Minoru Suzuki) def. Toru Yano & Ryohei Oiwa by submission. (8:02)
Taichi submitted Ryohei Oiwa via Stretch Plum. - CHAOS (YOH & Tomohiro Ishii) def. House of Torture (SHO & Dick Togo) by submission. (10:37)
YOH submitted Dick Togo via Out Of Print. - Great-O-Khan def. Tomoaki Honma by pinfall via Eliminator. (12:15)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. Kazuchika Okada, Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima by pinfall. (18:03)
Shingo Takagi pinned Yuji Nagat via Last of the Dragon. - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Six or Nine (Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi) def. Flying Tigers (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) (c), Bullet Club’s Cutest Tag Team (El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori) & Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) by pinfall. (12:22)
Rysuke Taguchi pinned Tiger Mask via No. 9 - IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) (c) def. House of Torture (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) by pinfall. (16:55)
YOSHI-HASHI pinned Yujiro Takahashi via Shoto. - IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match: SANADA def. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) by pinfall via Japanese Clutch Pin. (29:26)
New Japan Pro Wrestling will return with the last night of New Years Golden Series on Feb. 20th at 12am ET on NJPWWorld.com. The card is available HERE.
