SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NJPW THE NEW BEGINNING USA PPV REPORT
FEB. 27, 2026
TRENTON, NJ
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD ON PPV
Announcers: Walker Stewart & Veda Scott
(1) FRED ROSSER vs. DAVID FINLAY
The ref was checking Rosser’s boots and Finlay ran into the picture and jumped Rosser. Of course, the ref rang the bell to start the match. They went to the floor and traded blows. Rosser got a cable and used it to choke Finlay. Rosser tripped while coming off the ropes on Finlay, but ended up taking him down. They traded chops and Finlay’s chest was red. They traded strikes on the apron, but Finlay poked Rosser in the eye and shoved him into the ringpost.
Finlay took control, but Rosser ended up nailing him with a big snap suplex into the corner. Rosser grabbed Finlay’s legs and snapped him crotch-first into the ringpost. Rosser tossed FInlay around the ringside area. He then ran him hard into the ring barrier. Finlay fired back and reset the count after cutting Rosser off. He lifted Rosser up in basically a deadlift powerbomb and ran him into the ringpost. WOW! Rosser took Finlay too the apron and dropped him back-first onto the mat.
Rosser went for the crossface chickenwing and got it. Finlay struggled, but managed to escape. Rosser got the chicken wing again, but Finlay used his momentum to run Rosser into the corner to break the hold. Rosser went for a pinning combination, but Finlay rolled through and hit a powerbomb for a nearfall. That was impressive. Rosser fired back and hit a big powerslam for a nearfall. Finlay hit Overkill and it was good for the win.
WINNER: David Finlay at 12:20. (***½)
Radican’s Analysis: Rosser and Finlay brought it with the hard-hitting action. Finlay was very impressive. HIs power moves look really good and Rosser sold them well. Finlay getting the win was a big surprise here.
Finlay got on the mic after the match. The fans chanted “Thank you Finlay.” He went to say something, but then tossed the mic down and the fans booed. The Knockout Brothers came out and posed with Finlay on the entrance ramp before he went to the back.
(2) TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. BOLTIN OLEG – Strong Openweight Championship match
This is Oleg’s first appearance in the U.S. for NJPW. Oleg showed his power early, but Ishii returned the favor with a shoulder tackle. Ishii hasn’t defended the title since May of last year when he beat Drilla Maloney at Resurgence. Both men battled for position and Ishii eventually showed his power and lifted Oleg into a suplex for a two count. Both men started throwing hard chops in the middle of the ring. They picked up the pace and traded chops back and forth. They kept going and going and the fans fired up.
Oleg sent Ishii down with a chop and hit a belly-to-belly suplex, but Ishii fired right back with a German. Both men charged at each other and Oleg crumpled Ishii with a clothesline. Ishii got up and hit a Saito suplex and then both men collapsed. Oleg blocked a sliding lariat attempt from Ishii, but Ishii headbutted him down to the mat. Oleg lifted Ishii up a short time later and Ishii tried to fight out of it, but Oleg hit a short range Kamikaze for a nearfall. Oleg hit a pop-up F5. He then hit Kamikaze for the win.
WINNER: Boltin Oleg at 14:02. (****¼)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a really good hard-hitting match that played well to Oleg’s strengths. Ishii is the perfect opponent to make Oleg look good, as he wrestles his style. The strike exchanges and power exchanges in this match were great.)
(3) RICOCHET vs. TAIJI ISHIMORI – AEW National Championship match
These two have never wrestled a singles match before. Ricochet sent Ishimori to the floor and hit a spaceman plancha to the floor. Ricochet then slowed the pace while working Ishimori over inside the ring. Ishimori fired back with a flipping kick off the ropes a short time later and both men were down on the mat. Ishii went for a flip dive over the top to the floor and got caught on the ropes, but Ricochet did a good job to catch him and make the move look like it still had an impact.
Ishimori got the bone lock. Ricochet tried to roll through, but Ishimori held onto it. Ricochet then picked up Ishimori and hit a northern lights suplex and then a brainbuster and a standing moonsault for a two count. He hit a standing SSP for another near fall. Ricochet hit a big clothesline, but Ishimori hit a poison rana out of nowhere. He then hit a Scorpion Death Drop variation for a nearfall. Ricochet ended up struggling with the work done on his shoulder, but he managed to get the win with the Spirit Gun.
WINNER: Ricochet to retain the AEW National Championship at 14:29. (***¼)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was good in spots, but the crowd never really got into it and they hated the finish.)
(4) EL DESPERADO & KUSHIDA vs. BUSTAH & THE BRAIN (Alec Price & Jordan Oliver)
Oliver and Price jumped their opponents as they made their entrance and maintained the upper hand for a long period of time. Kushida cut off Oliver and hit a cartwheel dropkick to stop his momentum. Desperado and Kushida focused their attack on Oliver’s arm. Oliver finally made the hot tag to Price, who hit a missile dropkick on Kushida. He then hit a pop-up dropklick on Desperado.
Oliver tagged back in and went at it with Kushida. Kushida went for a handstand springboard, but Oliver turned it into a German. Desperado and Price tagged in and went at it. Price made a blind tag and both teams went back and forth. Kushida got wiped out and Desperado was about to take a super acid bomb, but Kushida ran into the ring and took down Price off the top to the floor with a hurricanrana. Everyone ended up down on the mat after a rapid-fire exchange.
Price blocked Pinche Loco and got a rollup for a nearfall. Price hit a combination of kicks and a springboard cutter, but Kushida broke up the win. Oliver tried to help Price, but Kushida held him back as Desperado hit Pinche Loco for the win.
WINNERS: Desperado & Kushida at 13:57. (***1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: The action was good from start to finish, but it felt like the outcome was predictable,as Kushida and Desperado worked well together and had more of a plan of attack to win the match than Oliver and Price. Some of the fast-paced sequences in this match were really nicely executed.)
A video aired announcing that G1 Climax would begin on July 11 in Chicago.
(5) EL PHANTASMO vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (w/Rocky Romero) – NJPW World TV Championship match
This match has a 15 minute time limit. The announcers discussed how ELP had had a number of draws as NJPW World TV Championship. Stewart said ELP wanted a definitive win tonight over Takeshita. Takeshita worked over ELP on the floor and Romero danced around ringside. They went to the apron and Takeshita nailed ELP with a big DDT. ELP ended up down on the floor and barely beat the 20 count. A “f–k Don Callis” chant rang out in the crowd.
ELP mounted a comeback and utilized his high-flying to maintain the upper hand on Takesthia. ELP played some air guitar a la Tanahashi. He tossed the guitar back to the crowd and hit a running boot, but Takeshita blocked it and placed him up top. They went back and forth and Paul caught him with a tope suicida.ELP went up to the top rope and hit a moonsault over the guardrail and into the crowd to wipe out Takeshita. Takeshita blocked Sudden Death. ELP then blocked a Blue Thunder Powerbomb attempt. Takeshita blocked ELP and hit a Blue Thunder Powerbomb.
ELP went up top and missed a moonsault. He hit Sudden Death, but Takeshita fired right back with a right hand and both men went down. They got up and Takeshita hit a big exploder. He then nailed ELP with a power drive knee. He made the cover, but ELP cut him off at the last second.
With one minute left, ELP hit a Canadian Hammer and then CR2 on Takeshita, but he kicked out! There was 30 second left in the time limit. ELP went up top. He went for Thunder Kiss ‘86, but Takeshita blocked it. Takeshita went for Raging Fire, but ELP blocked it and hit Raging Fire as the time limit expired.
WINNER: n/a – time limit drawn at 15:00. ELP retains THE NJPW World TV Championship. (***¾)
ELP got on the mic and said they already did a time limit draw and it sucked. He said Takeshita did a time limit draw with Moxley and it sucked. He asked if Trenton wanted to see a time limit draw and the fans booed. He asked the fans if they wanted five more minutes. ELP said the boss isn’t there, so he asked Takeshita if he agreed. Takeshita went to leave and the fans booed. Takeshita then paused and turned around to a big pop.
Restart – 5 minute time limit
Both men began trading bombs once Takeshita got into the ring. They traded pinning combinations for a series of two counts. ELP hit a Canadian Destroyer and the fans booed. Takeshita hit a pair of big moves and ELP got right up only to run into a clothesline. Takeshita hit CR2 and ELP kicked out at the VERY last second. ELP nearly got a flash pin with a pinning combination. Takeshita hit a power drive knee and raging fire and it was good for the win.
WINNER: Takeshita in 3:00 of overtime to become the new NJPW World TV Champion. (****)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a great match. They had some great counter sequences and fighting spirit sequences that fired the crowd up. The restart was a great call, as the crowd really came up for the overtime portion of the match that closed things out.)
(6) THE KNOCKOUT BROTHERS (Yuta-Ice & Oskar) vs. GATES OF AGONY (BIshop Kaun & Toa Liona) – IWGP Hvt. Tag Team Championship match
Kaun and Yuta kicked off the match trading blows. Yuta got cut off and Leona and Kaun worked in tandem to take him down. They continued to tag in and out to wear down Yuta. Yuta mounted a comeback with some help from Oskar to neutralize Liona. Yuta put the boots to Leona in the corner and then hit a spinning thrust kick. Liona then ran in out of nowhere and wiped him out.
Oskar went after Kaun on the floor, but Leona ran him over with a big shoulder tackle. Yuto continued to take a beating with Oskar down on the floor. Yuto countered Kaun and hit a big suplex. Oskar got back up on the apron and the fans fired up for the hot tag. Oskar and Leona tagged in. They went to opposite corners and rammed into each other several times shoulder-first. They then began trading chops as the fans fired up.
They hit clothesline at the same time over and over, but neither man would go down. They paused and then went at it again. Oskar had the upper hand, but Kaun ran in to help cut him off. Oskar fought off both men. He hit a big spinning slam on Liona and the crowd applauded.
Oskar missed a leg drop on Liona and the action broke down when Yuto ran into the ring. Liona ended up hitting a double Samoan drop on Yuta and Oskar. WOW! Oskar tried to wipe out the Gates of Agony, but took a double slam. Liona made the cover for a near fall. Yuta was nowhere to be seen as Gates of Agony went for another double team move. Oskar hit a double clothesline off the ropes and everyone was down. Yuta popped up on the apron and got the tag. Yuta went to town on Kaun in the corner and hit some brutal knee strikes to Kaun’s jaw. He then got a running start and hit a big double knee strike.
Kaun ducked a running kick and hit a gut buster on Yuta. Yuta fired back and made the cover, but Litona broke up the pin with a light kick to Ice’s head. Ice smiled and spit in Liona’s face. He then peppered him with some hard slaps to the face. He ducked a slap from Liona and clocked him with a big slap. Liona fired back and took him down with a kick as the 15 minute mark passed.
Liona went for a choke, but Oskar grabbed a sleeper from behind. The Knockout Brothers hit a double powerbomb on Liona. Kaun then came back into the ring and wiped out Oskar. He took Ice down with a lariat. Ice and Oskar ended up isolating Kaun and they pinned him with the KOB.
WINNERS: The Knockout Brothers in 16;00 to retain the IWGP Hvt. Tag Team Championship. (****¼)
(Radican’s Analysis: These two teams had great chemistry. Gates of Agony had a fantastic gameplan to isolate Yuta early and keep the numbers game to their advantage throughout the match. The ref was very liberal in letting men run in and out of the ring to join in on the action, but it was done really well if you like this style of tag.
The hard-hitting exchange between Yuta, who absolutely plastered Liona with some big slaps to the face really picked up the pace leading into the finish.)
(7) SYURI vs. ATHENA – IWGP Women’s Championship match
Athena is the ROH Women’s World Champion, but her title isn’t on the line. The announcers fretted over what might happen if Athena held both titles. They had a fast exchange and both women hit a shoulder tackle at the same time before coming to a stalemate. Syuri hit a shotgun dropkick to send Athena into the corner. Syuri went after Athena’s arm, but she managed to escape to the floor only to eat a knee from Syuri. She charged at Athena a short time later, but Athena caught her and tossed her into the guardrail.
Athena got a front chancery and swung Syuri around before hitting a senton for a 2 count. Syuri fired back and hit Athena with some stiff kicks. SHe made the cover, but only got a 2 count. She then went back after Athena’s arm. She got a Fujiwara armbar variation, but Athena rolled her up to escape the hold. A short time later, Athena got the Koji Clutch. She cranked on the hold before letting go and hitting several blows on Syuri from the mount.
Athena struggled, but managed to eventually get to the ropes. Athena went for a springboard, but Syuri cut her off and hit a big DDT. She then went back after Athena’s arm with a triangle. Athena tried to slam Syuri out of it several times and she wouldn’t let go. She finally hit a sit-out powerbomb to break the triangle and it was good for a near fall.
The 15 minute mark came and went as both women got to their feet and exchanged strikes. They went back and forth cutting each other off. Syuri hit a German, but Athena got right up and dumped Syuri on her head. Athena blocked a kick and hit a tombstone for a good near fall. Athena sold disbelief that Syuri kicked out. Syuri caught Athena with a headbutt and got her on her shoulders before slamming her down to the mat with the Syu-Sakai.
WINNER: Syuri in 17:00 to retain the IWGP Women’s Championship. (***¾)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a little slow to get going, but the crowd got into it as it progressed and it was really good. I never felt that Syuri was in danger of losing, but the action was so good that it was hard not to be mesmerized by her attack on Athena’s arm throughout the match.)
After the match, Athena denied Syuri a handshake. Syuri took the ROH Women’s Championship from her before handing it back.
The lights went out and a video played. A woman said she carried the weight of her last defeat with pride and not shame. It was Alex Windsor. She said on March 8 at the Indigo 02 at Pro Wrestling Eve’s Wrestling Queendom VIII event, she was going to challenge Syuri for her NJPW Strong Women’s Championship.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.