Two titles change hands at NJPW The New Beginning USA

A pair of new champions have been crowned tonight at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s The New Beginning USA show in Trenton, New Jersey.

The first was Oleg Boltin, who pinned Tomohiro Ishii with a Verdict (F5) and Kamikaze (rolling fireman’s carry slam) to win the STRONG Openweight championship. 

It’s the first STRONG Openweight championship for Boltin, and the second singles title in New Japan—he held the NEVER Openweight championship for 120 days last year. He is also a three-time winner of the Never Openweight Six-Man Championships, including his current reign along with Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi.

The match ended Ishii’s first reign as STRONG Openweight champion. He had won the belt from Gabe Kidd at Windy City Riot in Chicago, Illinois, last April.

The second new champion on the show was Konosuke Takeshita, who defeated El Phantasmo to win the NJPW World Television championship. The match originally ended in a time limit draw, but ELP challenged Takeshita to an overtime period. Takeshita accepted and went on to win with a powerdrive kneestrike and raging fire. 

This is Takeshita’s first reign as NJPW World Television champion. He is also a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and NEVER Openweight Champion.

ELP is now a two-time former NJPW World Television champion. He originally won the belt from Ren Narita at Wrestle Kingdom 19 in January of 2025, in a four-way that also included Jeff Cobb (now known as JC Mateo on SmackDown) and Ryohei Oiwa. He lost the belt to Great-O-Khan the following April, but regained it later that same month.