The New Beginning in USA (2019)

Official logo of the event

**The New Beginning in USA (2019)** was a professional wrestling tour promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). The tour's three events took place on January 30 at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California, February 2 at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, February 3 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. This was the sixteenth event under the New Beginning name and the first that was promoted in the United States. As of 2019 the events are available on NJPW World.

## Production

### Background

On December 10, 2018, NJPW held a press conference announcing they would hold two shows in the United States, on January 30 at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California and February 2, 2019, at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the shows being part of NJPW's plan of expansion in the United States. The event would be running in conjunction with the New Beginning in Sapporo and the New Beginning in Osaka being held in Japan. It was also announced that wrestlers who were not working in the shows in Japan would take part of the show in the U.S. The promotion had also promoted four events in the United States between July 2017 and September 2018. NJPW had previously opened their dojo in the United States for the American young lions with Katsuyori Shibata serving as the head trainer.

NJPW began promoting the New Beginning pay-per-view in Japan since February 2011, initially for only one night, but was changed for two nights in 2014, and three nights since 2018, two nights in Sapporo and one night in Osaka. This marks the first event under the New Beginning name to be promoted in the United States.

Tickets for the show were put on sale on December 22 and sold out in twenty minutes and tickets for the second night were put on sale early than expected, leading to the tickets being almost sold. During the Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2019, NJPW World English commentator Kevin Kelly announced that following the success of the ticket sales, NJPW would promote a third show, turning it to a tour, which was later confirmed on January 8, with also being announced additional tickets for the January 30 show.

On January 24, NJPW would announce the match card for the event. The announcement led to some controversy, where fans called the show a ROH show rather than a NJPW show, leading to NJPW posting a statement that Japanese wrestlers wouldn't work the shows due to a visa issue caused by the United States federal government shutdown. *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* journalist Dave Meltzer would confirm the issue claiming that the Japanese wrestlers who were supposed to be involved in the event were Yuji Nagata, Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii.

### Storylines

The New Beginning in USA (2019) featured eight professional wrestling matches in three nights that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

On January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, Beretta challenged Juice Robinson for his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. The following day, at *New Years Dash*, Beretta and Chuckie T. faced Robinson and David Finlay in a match. The match would end with Chuckie T. attacking Finlay and Robinson with a chair, awarding them a victory by disqualification. Chuckie T. would end up attacking Finlay a second time. NJPW would officially announce the title match on January 24. Also announced was a no disqualification between Chuckie T. and Finlay.

## Event

### Night 1

The first match of the event saw Alex Coughlin and Clark Connors, facing each other until the time limit at 10 minutes. In the second match, saw Jonathan Gresham facing Tyler Bateman. The match ended with Gresham hitting Bateman with a Modified Jackknife Hold to win the match at 11 minutes and 36 seconds.  The third match of the event saw Colt Cabana defeating Shane Taylor at 10 minutes and 22 seconds. The fourth match of the show saw K.E.S. (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) facing Villain Enterprises (Brody King and Marty Scurll). The match ended when Smith and Archer hit a *Killer Bomb*on King and Archer pinning him at 13 minutes and 9 seconds to win the match. The fifth match saw Jeff Cobb facing Karl Fredericks. The match ended with Cobb hitting the *Tour of the Island*, pinning him at 6 minutes and 57 seconds to win the match.

In the semi-main event of the show, saw David Finlay facing Chuckie T. in a no disqualification match. The match ended with Finlay hitting the *Trash Panda*, pinning him at 15 minutes and 31 seconds to win the match. The main event saw Lifeblood (Juice Robinson and Tracy Williams) facing Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero). The match ended with Robinson hitting Romero with a *Pulp Friction*on Romero pinning him at 32 minutes and 20 seconds to win the match. After the match, Robinson and Beretta would have a confrontation ahead of their title match and shook hands, and Robinson would close the show addressing the visa issues and thanking the fans.

### Night 2

The first match of the event saw Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors, facing each other until the time limit at 10 minutes. In the second match, saw Colt Cabana and John Skyler defeating Lance Archer and Shane Taylor at 10 minutes and 13 seconds. The third match of the event saw the debut of The Great O-Khan, against Tracer X. The match ended with O-Khan hitting the *Iron Claw Slam* on Tracer X, pinning him at 8 minutes and 57 seconds to win the match. The fourth match of the show saw Villain Enterprises (Brody King and Marty Scurll) facing Jeff Cobb and Jonathan Gresham. The match ended when King hit a *Modified Piledriver*on Gresham, pinning him at 13 minutes and 46 seconds to win the match. The fifth match saw Davey Boy Smith Jr. facing Alex Coughlin. The match ended with Smith hitting the *Bulldog Bomb*, pinning him at 10 minutes and 8 seconds to win the match.

In the semi-main event of the show, saw Lifeblood (David Finlay and Tracy Williams) facing CHAOS (Chuckie T. and Rocky Romero). The match ended with Williams submitting Chuckie with a *Crossface* at 17 minutes and 8 seconds to win the match. The main event saw Juice Robinson making his first successful defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Beretta. After the match, Robinson and Beretta would show respect to each other and Robinson would close the show addressing the visa issues.

### Night 3

The first match of the event saw Karl Fredericks facing Alex Coughlin. The match ended with Fredricks submitting Coughlin with a *Crab Hold* at 9 minutes and 48 seconds to win the match. In the second match, saw Lance Archer and Shane Taylor facing Colt Cabana and Jonathan Gresham. The match ended with Taylor hitt a *Modified Piledriver*on Cabana, pinning him at 11 minutes and 12 seconds to win the match. The third match of the event saw The Great O-Khan against Harlem Bravado. The match ended with O-Khan hitting the *Iron Claw Slam* on Bravado, pinning him at 10 minutes and 34 seconds to win the match. The fourth match of the show saw Marty Scurll facing Clark Connors.  The match ended with Scurll submitting Connors with a *Crossface* Chickenwing at 13 minutes and 51 seconds to win the match.

In the semi-main event of the show, saw Jeff Cobb facing Brody King. The match ended with Cobb hitting the *Tour of the Island* on King, pinning him at 22 minutes and 27 seconds to win the match. The main event saw Lifeblood (Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Tracy Williams) facing CHAOS (Beretta, Chuckie T. and Rocky Romero). Wrestlers worked to eliminate each other, and the last remaining wrestler won. In this match, eliminations could occur via pinfall, submission, disqualification, or being thrown out of the ring over the top rope. Chuckie T. was the first eliminated when Finlay threw him over the top rope at 15 minutes and 57 seconds. Tracy Williams was the second eliminated when Romero threw him over the top rope at 21 minutes and 17 seconds. Followed by that, Berreta would be eliminated after Finlay hit the *Trash Panda*, pinning him at 27 minutes and 39 seconds to eliminate him, followed by seconds Romero would toss Finlay over the top rope. The match ended with Robinson hitting Romero with a *Pulp Friction*on Romero pinning him at 31 minutes and 26 seconds to win the match. After the match, both teams would show respect to each other.

## Results

### Night 3

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6

* (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
* – refers to the video of that match

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 THE NEW BEGINNING USA tour announcement . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2018-12-10.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 【来年1月30日～2月2日、札幌大会と“同日程”でアメリカ2大会が開催！】『THE NEW BEGINNING USA』ロサンゼルス大会、ノースカロライナ大会！ . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2018-12-10.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Rose, Bryan. NJPW returning to United States for New Beginning USA . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2018-12-10.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Third City Added for THE NEW BEGINNING USA Tour in Nashville . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2019-01-08.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 【現地時間・2月2日（土）開催！】『THE NEW BEGINNING USA』の“3大会目”ナッシュビル大会が追加決定！ 1月30日（水）ロス大会のチケットも追加発売！ . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2019-01-08.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Currier, Joseph. NJPW announces venue, ticket info for New Beginning USA: Nashville . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2019-01-08.
7. ↑ LEC inc. has been chosen as the sponsor for THE NEW BEGINNING USA . *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2019-01-17). Retrieved on 2019-01-17.
8. ↑ Paul, Jordan. NEW JAPAN ANNOUNCES EARLY 2019 UNITED STATES DATES . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 2018-12-10.
9. ↑ Katsuyori Shibata to be Head Coach of New Japan Dojo in Los Angeles! . *New Japan Pro-Wrestling* (2018-03-05). Retrieved on 2018-03-09.
10. ↑ New Beginning events 1 . *WrestlingData*. Retrieved on 2019-01-14.
11. ↑ New Beginning &suche=0&seite=2 New Beginning events 2 . *WrestlingData*. Retrieved on 2019-01-14.
12. ↑ THE NEW BEGINNING USA Tour Sells Out, More Seats to be Added!! . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2018-12-25.
13. ↑ 【完売のため“増席”決定！】『THE NEW BEGINNING USA』現地時間・2月1日(金)シャーロット大会は即日ソールドアウト！12月26日(水)～追加席を販売！ . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2018-12-25.
14. ↑ Meltzer, Dave. NJPW New Beginning USA tickets sell out shortly after going on sale . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2018-12-22.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 The NEW BEGINNING in USA – Full card released! . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2019-01-24.
16. ↑ Regarding THE NEW BEGINNING in USA . *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2019-01-24.
17. ↑ Pratt, Emily. The U.S. Government Shutdown Caused Major Card Changes For NJPW’s ‘New Beginning In USA’ Shows . Uproxx. Retrieved on 2019-01-24.
18. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. How Pro Wrestling Works . *HowStuffWorks, Inc.*. Discovery Communications. Retrieved on 2017-01-10.
19. ↑ New Japan Pro-Wrestling 2019-01-04. WRESTLE KINGDOM 13 in TOKYO DOME (January 4th) - Post-match Interview [5th match ].
20. ↑ NJPW NEW YEAR DASH LIVE RESULTS: WRESTLE KINGDOM 13 FALLOUT . Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
21. ↑ THE NEW BEGINNING USA .
22. ↑ THE NEW BEGINNING USA .
23. ↑ THE NEW BEGINNING USA .
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 NJPW "THE NEW BEGINNING USA IN NASHVILLE", 02.02.2019 .

## External links

* The official New Japan Pro-Wrestling website