Two title matches official for NJPW New Beginning in Osaka
Coming out of Wrestle Kingdom 20, the first two matches are now official for NJPW’s next major event.
The New Beginning in Osaka is set to be held at Edion Arena on February 11. We now have our first two match announcements for the show, with NJPW confirming that the IWGP Tag Team titles and NEVER Openweight Championship will be on the line.
NJPW New Beginning in Osaka 2026 (Wednesday, February 11) —
- IWGP Tag Team Champions The Knock Out Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) defend against either Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura or Tomohiro Ishii & Taichi
- NEVER Openweight Champion Aaron Wolf defends against Ren Narita
The challengers for OSKAR & Yuto-Ice will be finalized when Umino & Uemura face off against Ishii & Taichi in a number one contender’s match at a Road to New Beginning event on January 19. Both of those teams confronted OSKAR & Yuto-Ice at New Year Dash looking to get a shot at the titles.
WWE is rumored to have been interested in signing OSKAR & Yuto-Ice when their NJPW contracts are up — but the two declared that they aren’t going anywhere after retaining against Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa at New Year Dash.
Wolf, an Olympic gold medalist in judo, won the NEVER Openweight Championship in his pro wrestling debut by defeating EVIL at Wrestle Kingdom 20. Narita is now looking to bring the title back to House of Torture,
Before the Osaka event, there will be a few title bouts happening on the Road to New Beginning tour as well:
Monday, January 19:
- NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson defend against Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin
Tuesday, January 20:
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against El Desperado
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita defend against SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.