January 11th marks a landmark day in the Japanese Calendar. Nationally, the country is set to celebrate its National Foundation Day, a public holiday marking the ascension of the first emperor of Japan. For wrestling fans, the event is marked with two major events from its biggest companies! First up, the morning sees Pro Wrestling NOAH run its second Legacy Rise event of the year, featuring the world title up for grabs and a focus on their Jr Tag League. Following this, New Japan Pro Wrestling, a company rife in uncertainty and incoming departures, host its annual New Beginning In Osaka card, featuring matches with major implications for the company. In this article I will break down NOAH Legacy Rise with everything you need to know ahead of the show. To read the accompanying preview for New Beginning in Osaka you can find it on our website later tonight!
Yoshiki Inamura vs Takashi Sugiura- GHC Heavyweight Championship
The main event of NOAH’s Legacy Rise sees GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshiki Inamura make his 4th defence of the gold against veteran Takashi Sugiura. This match continues Inamura’s battles against NOAH’s top heel stable Team 2000X, having already dispatched fellow stablemates Ozawa and Masa Kitamiya across January defences. Despite Sugiura’s pedigree as a 4 time GHC Heavyweight Champion and one of NOAH’s most respected talents, it seems highly unlikely that the 50 year old will walk away with the strap here. Indeed, it seems eyes are already turning towards Kaito Kiyomiya, who seems destined for a shot at whoever emerges victorious here. However, do not count out this match as a potential barnstormer, with both men extremely hard hitting workers with a background in martial arts. The result may seem predictable, but the war that could ensue may be one for the ages!
Naito and Bushi (c) vs HAYATA and KENTA- GHC Heavyweight Tag Championships
The tag titles will also be up for grabs as champions Los Tranquilos De Japon take on representatives of the newly formed White Raven Squad. The champions, former New Japan talents Tetsuya Naito and Bushi, won the gold from Kenoh and Naomichi Marufuji at the New Year show, and since then have made just one appearance, a loss in 6 man tag team action to the challengers HAYATA and KENTA. The buildup to this match saw huge crowd reactions for interactions between stars Naito and KENTA, who previous to Naito’s arrival in NOAH had not faced off inside a NOAH ring in 12 years, and not faced in singles competition for any promotion in 4. The tag partners seem altogether less over with the NOAH faithful, with a warm up match in the build up between Bushi and HAYATA, which Bushi won, receiving widely negative reviews. With the notorious instability of the Heavyweight Tag Titles (8 sets of champions in the last year) anything could happen. However, with Naito arguably NOAH’s biggest draw, it would seem silly to strip the belts from them so early in their reign, and so I expect a retention from the champs here.
Junior Tag League
The other notable focus of this show is the continuing Junior Tag League, which began last Friday February 6th. With the tournament still in its early stages it’s a bit close to call in terms of standouts, but there is much to enjoy here. The biggest match to look out for is the battle of brothers as Dragon Bane and Alejandro take on Alpha Wolf and Kai Fujimura. Over the past month both Wolf and Fujimura have turned on former partners Bane and Alejandro to join Yoshitatsu’s Team 2000x. As a result this promises to be a fascinating clash, especially given both teams won their opening encounters on Friday. The Jr Tag Champions Daga and Daiki Odashima also look to regain momentum after an opening day loss as they take on Eita and NOAH’s newest young talent Katsumi Inahata. Inahata is showing great promise as a future heavyweight star. Finally, for UK wrestling fans, look out for former Progress and Rev Pro stars stalwarts Keiron Lacey and Mark Trew as they battle AMAKUSA and Black Menso-re.
Shinjiro Otani Appearance
To round off the show, we have an advertised appearance from the former legendary Junior Heavyweight Shinjiro Otani. Otani, most known for his work in Zero-1 was sadly paralysed from the neck down in a freak in-ring accident in 2022 while facing Takashi Sugiura, the man who coincidentally is fighting for the world championship in the main event. While it is advertised only as a pre show appearance, there is a small possibility of some interaction between Otani and Sugiura ahead of the main event. More likely however is a simple, heartwarming charity appearance for a legend of the sport.
But what do you think? What match are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments below and make sure to tune in for my New Beginning In Osaka preview!
Photo Credit- Pro Wrestling NOAH- February 2026
