石井智宏
Another rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 9 was scheduled for February 14 at NJPW The New Beginning in Sendai between Togi Makabe and Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight Championship. When Makabe was sidelined with influenza, NJPW stripped him of the title and scheduled another match, in which Ishii defeated Tomoaki Honma for the now-vacant title. Ishii and Makabe had their title rematch on April 29, when Makabe regained the NEVER Openweight Championship.