Tag: Njpw Road To Tokyo Dome 2023

NJPW’s final title matches of 2023 will be held on today’s Road to Tokyo Dome event at Korakuen Hall. 

In the main event, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Tomohiro Ishii will defend the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship against United Empire’s Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, & HENARE. 

The KOPW 2023 Champion will also be crowned on today’s show in a whiskey bottle ladder match, as provisional title holder Taichi defends against Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a match where a whiskey bottle will be suspended above the ring and can be used as a weapon. 

Second from the top, a preview of the Wrestle Kingdom 18 main event will take place in a six-man tag, with IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA teaming with Yuya Uemura & DOUKI against SANADA’s Wrestle Kingdom challenger Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, & BUSHI.

Holiday favorite Masked Horse will return on the show in the opening contest, teaming with Masked Boltin against Tiger Mask & Toru Yano.

Before the show began, Tanahashi stood in the ring, surrounded by the rest of the roster on the outside, for a tribute and 10-bell salute to Osamu Kido.

Masked Horse (Ryusuke Taguchi) & Masked Boltin (Oleg Boltin) defeated Tiger Mask & Toru Yano

This opener was a fun time.

After the opening bell, Yano’s masked opponents rushed him, prompting Yano to remove the corner pads. Boltin ignored this antic, picking Yano up, rag dolling him before hitting a suplex. After TMIV tagged in, the beatdown continued for a while. TMIV attempted to rally, but Hourse caught him in the Kido clutch, winning the match for his team.

TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated Young Blood (Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima) 

This match was excellent. Leube looked terrific in the final stretch. Young Blood seems to be the team to watch going forward.

Fujita and Nakashima opened the match with a strike-off that turned into a grappling battle. Nakashima then tagged out, allowing the Young Blood pair to double-team Fujita and ZSJ, establishing a solid lead. Unfortunately for the lion pair, their focus on ZSJ would open the door to being out-grappled, which they were as soon as the opportunity arose.

ZSJ, with help from Fujita, took control of the ring. Fujita let the lead slip eventually, opening the door to a hot tag into Leube. Leube and Nakashima then took out Fujita, forcing ZSJ to hit the ring, who they also beat down.

A sudden suplex from Fujita led to a double tag. What was an expected comeback from ZSJ ended up being a solid advance from Leube, who used his size to dominate while standing. After eating a PK, Leube dropped ZSJ with a strike but was caught in a choke when he attempted to follow up. The choke ended Leube’s control and the match, leaving TMDK with a win.

BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gedo) defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP)

Before the match could begin, Connors and Moloney came to the ring, escorting a casket. Moloney then cut a short promo on UE, prompting a brawl on the outside.

Once the match began, Moloney and Newman traded strikes in the middle of the ring. The War Dogs gained control by pulling Newman to the floor, using weapons on the outside to put him on the back foot. An isolation segment followed.

A hot tag to Akira and a follow-up tag to TJP led to a UE rally. Gedo eventually ended up legal, leaving him open to a prolonged beatdown from UE. Catch 22 then hit Gedo with their double knee and won the match.

Once the match was over, the War Dogs beat down the winners, hitting Akira with their finish before leaving the rings. After recovering, TJP cut a promo on the War Dogs, hyping their match for WrestleKingdom. Catch 22 then challenged the junior champions to a coffin match tomorrow, which is now official.

House of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita & SHO) defeated Master Wato, Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma

Ren wore a hooded cape to the ring, confirming his embrace of evil.

HoT started the match by rushing their opponents, leading to a prolonged, disorderly beatdown. In the ring, Wato was on the receiving end of HoT’s wrath until he tagged out to Shota. Shota unloaded on the traitorous Ren with loud forearms and other snappy offense, forcing the rest of HoT to hit the ring. Shota also overwhelmed the rest of HoT, but this gave Ren enough time to sneak into the match.

EVIL tagged in, leading to a match reset. The babyface trio rallied, forcing the rest of HoT to get involved. Honma scored a nearfall with Kokeshi but became distracted by HoT antics. Ren struck Honma with a wooden pushup bar before EVIL won the match with Everything is Evil.

After the match, HoT attempted a beatdown, but Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa made the save. Last night, HoT attacked Kaito and Oiwa on NOAH’s Star Navigation show. Once they ran off HoT, Kaito offered a handshake to Shota, who accepted after a moment of hesitation. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi) defeated El Desperado & Satoshi Kojima

Desperado and Hiromu opened their match with a lot of what they always do—some back-and-forth wrestling and some back-and-forth striking in the middle of the ring. Hiromu eventually hit a spinebuster, leading to a double tag.

Kojima and Shingo went at each other to a raucous crowd. Kojima landed early, but a sliding lariat from Shingo left him far ahead. The follow-up pumping bomber scored Shingo a nearfall. Shingo attempted another, but Kojima ate it, forcing Shingo to try again. Finally, Shingo hit a pumping bomber while Hiromu and Desperado fought on the floor, scoring him a pinfall victory.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA & Yuya Uemura) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) 

Uemura and Tsuji opened the match fast. Uemura landed a few arm drags before focusing the arm on the mat. Once Uemura established a lead, he tagged out to DOUKI. DOUKI could not maintain control in the ring, leading to a LIJ-favored fight on the floor.

Back in the ring, LIJ worked to isolate DOUKI. SANADA tried to interrupt the isolation, prompting Naito to spit in his face before sending him to the floor. An awkward back spring elbow busted Naito’s brow and freed DOUKI to make the tag, leading to a SANADA rally. A quick neckbreaker allowed Naito to escape SANADA’s offense.

Tsuji and Uemura tagged in, leading to a desperate struggle for control in the closing moments. Both men traded momentum before a curb stomp left Uemura flattened. BUSHI and Naito then hit the ring, gaining an even more significant advantage before the other J5Gs made the save.

With help from the rest of J5G, Uemura regained his footing. SANADA then locked BUSHI in the Skull End before passing him to Uemura for the finishing suplex. 

NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Championship Whiskey Bottle Ladder Match: Taichi (c) defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Ugh. From needless interference, inconsistent selling, and pointless overindulgence, this match was a total slog. Oh, and it went 30 minutes. If it wasn’t actively infuriating, it was horrifically boring.

A whiskey bottle ladder match is a ladder match with a bottle of whiskey hanging above the ring. The first person to climb a ladder and claim the bottle is allowed to use it. You win the match with a pinfall or submission. It’s basically a neutered coal miner’s glove match.

Once the match began, Kanemaru rushed Taichi before grabbing a ladder and attempting to grab the bottle. Of course, Taichi threw him off, but Kanemaru tried again seconds later. Once Kanemaru realized it wouldn’t be that easy, he removed the turnbuckle pad and whipped Taichi into the exposed corner and the ladder placed in the other.

Kanemaru tried driving Taichi into the corner with a ladder, but Taichi reversed; this, unfortunately, sent both men to the floor because ladders have two ends. Kanemaru then hit Taichi in the leg with the ladder, leaving him free to climb the ladder and retrieve the whiskey.

After taking a swig of the whiskey, Kanemaru spat a mouthful into Taichi’s face. Taichi got ahold of the bottle, but he was not allowed to use it due to the stipulation. Once the referee took the bottle from Taichi, Kanemaru poured it all over him and continued attacking the leg.

Eventually, Taichi landed an enziguri, giving him time to rip off his pants. The post-pants pause gave Kanemaru enough time to drop Taichi again. Kanemaru locked in the figure four and spat another mouthful of whiskey at Taichi, but Taichi survived by reaching the bottom rope.

A backfire from Kanemaru allowed Taichi to land a head kick, gaining a lead for the first time in a while. Taichi grabbed the whiskey bottle again, ignoring the referee’s warning. Even with all the theatre, Taichi decided not to use the bottle.

Taichi set up to win the match, only for the lights to go out. Once the lights came on, SHO, EVIL, and Dick Togo were in the ring. They took out the referee and beat down Taichi. Ren Narita and Yujiro Takahashi hit the ring with more whiskey, which they used to fill a bucket. After HoT tried to drown Taichi in the bottle of whiskey, the rest of J5G hit the ring to make the save. J5G ran off HoT, leaving Kanemaru and Taichi alone once more.

Even after the extended beatdown and surviving a murder attempt, Taichi was able to make it to his feet. He dropped Kanemaru with a lariat for a nearfall. Kanemaru responded with Touch Out, but Taichi kicked out. Kanemaru followed up with a moonsault onto a ladder; Taichi kicked out. Kanemaru, now desperate, climbed to the top of the ladder for Deep Impact, but Taichi interrupted him with a low blow on the descent.

After failing to close with three finisher attempts, Kanemaru needed help. Togo hit the ring to pass Kanemaru the bucket of whiskey, but Taichi interrupted him, violently spilling the whiskey into Kanemaru’s face. Taichi then hit a superkick and Black Mafisto to win the match.

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated United Empire (Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jeff Cobb)

Okada and Cobb opened the match with collar-and-elbow work. Once both men proved to be on equal footing, Cobb taunted Okada with Bryan Danielson’s old “Yes!” chants. Cobb then tossed Okada across the ring and stretched him. Okada’s team hit the ring, saving him from Cobb’s advance.

The champions traded tags, slowly working over Cobb with the preferred offense. Cobb held on, tagging out to O-Khan, who managed to retake the lead. UE then began to work together to isolate Ishii. The eventual tag to Tanahashi gave the champions a second wind, but a throw put UE right back in the driver’s seat.

UE took their time picking apart each of their opponents. UE went uncontested for minutes at a time. Even after tags and momentary momentum shifts, UE managed to hold on to control.

In a full-fledged match breakdown, both teams began to swing for the fences. Ishii crushed HENARE with a powerbomb and a lariat. UE responded with a triple powerbomb that forced Okada to break up the pin.

A pair of miscommunications from both teams left Ishii and HENARE alone again. HENARE hit a knee in the corner and a slam for a neafall. Streets of Rage was interrupted, leading to another breakdown. Tanahashi hit Cobb with a sling blade as Okada hit HENARE with a tombstone. Ishii landed a lariat, but Henare was able to kick out.

HENARE and Ishii began to trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Ishii tried running at HENARE, but HENARE caught him with a spine buster for a near fall. A headbutt and a kick led to another Streets of Rage attempt, but Ishii answered with a headbutt of his own. After HENARE kicked out of a sliding lariat, Ishii hit him with his brainbuster to win the match and retain his team’s belts.