NJPW New Beginning In Hiroshima Day 1 Results

New Japan Pro-Wrestling is seemingly determined to break records in 2021. Fans have already witnessed the longest match in Tokyo Dome history and the longest NEVER Openweight Championship match in history and another record was broken earlier today as Hiromu Takahashi and SHO faced off in the longest IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title match in history at The New Beginning In Hiroshima.

Takahashi and SHO battled back and forth throughout the 36-minute match and told a story of SHO being unable to connect with Shock Arrow. The Roppongi 3K member went for his finisher on three occasions but Takahashi repeatedly blocked the move with Headbutts. SHO even hit a Cross-Arm Piledriver to soften up The Time Bomb but Hiromu once again countered Shock Arrow, this time with a Victory Royal.

The champion then connected with Time Bomb but SHO stunned the audience in Hiroshima and Kevin Kelly when he somehow powered out before the count of three. This only enraged Takahashi, though, who followed up with a vicious Clothesline and Time Bomb 2 to retain the championship.

Hiromu only had moments to recover after the match before the next challenger stepped forward as El Phantasmo leapt from the English commentary table and set up for Sudden Death. BUSHI charged to the ring to save his stablemate, but he was quickly tossed out of the ring by Taiji Ishimori. ELP then went for Sudden Death again as Hiromu got to his feet, but the champion managed to duck and fought off both of his Wrestle Kingdom 15 opponents.

Phantasmo then said he was sick of Hiromu making him and Ishimori look like fools and declared he won't leave Japan until he defeats The Time Bomb for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Takahashi had a quick riposte, though, and said he will face ELP for the title if Phantasmo and Ishimori will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against him and BUSHI first.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. SHO wasn't the only title match on the show and Guerrillas Of Destiny defended the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Dangerous Tekkers in the semi-main event.

Both teams battled back and forth for 29 minutes and enjoyed spells on top, but the finish of the bout was heavily criticised as G.O.D retained the gold by disqualification.

The story of the match centred around Taichi's quest to reclaim the iron glove and G.O.D taunted The World's Sliest Wrestler in the early going by bringing multiple bags to the ring. Taichi ultimately searched through all of them but found nothing except soft toys and a pink bra.

The action then moved away from comedy and Dangerous Tekkers almost picked up the win after 25 minutes with Zack Mephisto, but Tanga Loa pulled the official out of the ring before he could count to three. This resulted in Jado making his way to ringside with the iron glove and both teams battled over the item before a crazed Taichi eventually reclaimed it and took out Tanga Loa and Jado.

Only Tama Tonga stood in Taichi's way and the Bullet Club member begged for mercy. The referee had recovered by this point, though, and he urged Taichi not to use the weapon, but the NJPW star couldn't help himself and decked Tonga, drawing the disqualification.

The end of the match only fuelled Taichi's anger and he took out every perceived enemy in sight before collapsing to the mat with exhaustion.

Elsewhere on the show, BUSHI picked up a pinfall victory over Master Wato with Terrible and MX. The two junior heavyweights had been feuding since New Year Dash and the result came as a surprise to many, particularly with Master Wato being the younger wrestler.

The rest of The New Beginning In Hiroshima built towards tomorrow and future shows as Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji & Gabriel Kidd, Chaos vanquished Bullet Club in a 10-man tag team match which featured a brief brawl between Kazuchika Okada and EVIL after the bell and Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma after El Ingoberable caught Honma with Destino.

Check out the results below: • Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Yuya Uemura, Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji • BUSHI def. Master Wato • Toru Yano, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI def. Yujiro Takahashi, EVIL, Jay White, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori. • SANADA & Tetsuya Naito def. Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma • Guerrillas Of Destiny def. Dangerous Tekkers by disqualification - IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship• Hiromu Takahashi def. SHO - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship