Tag: Njpw Wrestling Dontaku

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night two live results: Callum Newman vs Shingo Takagi

Posted on by Corey Michaels

Night two of Wrestling Dontaku 2026 takes place today.

Night two of the two-night event is also set for the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan.

The full lineup for the show is as follows:

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman retained against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, & Oleg Boltin lost their titles against Will Ospreay, HENARE, & Great-O-Khan
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita lost their titles to El Desperado & Místico
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defeated Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi defeated Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH, & Master Wato defeated Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defeated Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma
  • Gedo & Daiki Nagai defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita retained against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda defeated Taisei Nakahara

Our live coverage kicks off beginning at 3 p.m. Japan Standard Time.

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Pre-show

Masatora Yasuda versus Taisei Nakahara

The pair grappled to start the night. Yasuda suplexed Nakahara and applied a Boston Crab. Nakahara submitted to the hold.

Main Card

Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Chase Owens for the NJPW World Television Championship

Owens jumped Takeshita before the bell; fortunately for the champ, he subverted this with a DDT on the floor. The challenger recovered by kicking his opponent into the blue steel guardrails and spiking him onto the apron moments into the match. Trading knee strikes, a C-Trigger by Owens got the better of Takeshita. Yujiro Takahashi blindsided Takeshita to lend Owens time for a comeback for his finisher, High Noon.

Owens tossed the referee into Takeshita. Takahashi pulled Takeshita in a full-nelson while Owens pulled out a branding iron. House of Torture descended upon Takeshita. Shota Umino showed up in support of the champion, and eventually, multiple babyfaces of the roster soon joined. Takeshita flung the referee back into action. Owens blasted Takeshita with horse stirrups. Takeshita responded with two Power Drives and a Raging Fire.

Post-match: Still wondering where his NJPW World Television Championship was, Takeshita immediately found himself submerged in darkness. A video showed the masked man from Sakura Genesis strutting around backstage. They entered, appearing behind Takeshita, delivering a Skull End. It was SANADA.

The story of Takeshita finding his place among the babyfaces, despite being seen as an outsider, was wholesome. That said, it would make sense to have this type of support whenever House of Torture matches happen, because come on, they’re an ongoing nuisance, and their tomfoolery can almost always be assured. It was a nice surprise to see SANADA, though.

Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai & Gedo) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto

Nagai survived a grapple fest with Taguchi on the mat, but an extended running of the ropes left him winded. Gedo struck Taguchi with punch after punch and walked away from a Funky Weapon. Taguchi hit a successful one moments later. Matsumoto collaborated with Taguchi with a double-Funky Weapon. Nagai executed a Spinebuster on Matsumoto and finished him off with a Flying Headbutt.

A more serious outing for Taguchi. I’ve seen everyone take note of Nagai’s performances as of late, and I’m pleased. His work ethic and time given have paid off in dividends. Come the Best of the Super Juniors, I believe he’ll cement that 2026 is his breakout year.

Knockout Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) defeated Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma

Ice readily handled Honma, and OSKAR’s additional pressure paved the way for his partner to land a shot at the veteran’s midsection. Failing a Bomboclat, Ice shook off his knee pain only to drop at Honma’s lariat. Umino tripped OSKAR with a drop toehold and applied an STF. OSKAR took advantage of Honma missing his Kokeshi with a leg drop. Umino flattened OSKAR with a Tornado-DDT, setting up a double-Kokeshi with Honma.

Honma refused OSKAR’s Nightmare Sleeper, returning fire with a Rocket Kokeshi. OSKAR reapplied the Nightmare Sleeper, swinging Honma around until grounding him. There, he submitted the seasoned wrestler for another Knockout Brothers win.

Knockout Brothers, by the time 2026 closes, will be in the top conversation of tag team of the year, if not the ultimate decisive topic.

Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH, & Master Wato defeated Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

House of Torture forewent their entrance to ambush Wolf during his solo march to the ring. Yano denied starting the match with Fale, leaving it to Tiger Mask. He dodged each interference, Super Driving SHO. Wato dizzied Kanemaru and SHO with Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreakers. Fale pressed his weight on Wato in a surfboard stand. YOH leapt in with dropkicks abound to the House of Torture. Togo dropped to a neckbreaker from the hot tag. Wolf charged in, knocking over Narita and landing an elbow drop.

Takahashi distracted the referee so that Narita could secure a leg hold on Wolf. House of Torture ran a train on Wolf and coordinated a Dick-to-Dick Contact, a series of words I didn’t expect to type. Despite this isolated focus, Wolf triumphed over House of Torture with an Angle Slam.

Post-match: Tiger Mask thanked the fans

I had fun with this one, despite it being a House of Torture match. Wolf in the closing stretch kept the drama, while staunchly holding hope throughout.

Taichi & Yuya Uemura defeated TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa)

Uemura outgrappled Oiwa, enforcing strict pressure on the left arm. Jackson teased a sumo-style standoff with Taichi before shouldering him flat. Uemura gave the Aussie an arm drag and Oiwa a bulldog. Oiwa took Uemura to the mat with a side headlock. TMDK aligned to drain blood from Uemura’s head with a double-vertical suplex. Oiwa tied Uemura into a figure four leglock.

Uemura swung a comeback with a judo toss and snap arm twist. Oiwa quelled a Taichi uprising, crushing him with an elbow drop. Uemura’s shoulders bounced off the mat via Jackson tossing him mid-powerbomb. Taichi attacked Jackson from behind, but he responded with a senton. Returning to the sumo tease from earlier, Taichi and Jackson engaged in close grappling, with the former gaining the advantage with a hip toss. A Black Mephisto thwarted Jackson once and for all, gifting Uemura and Taichi the pinfall victory.

Post-match: Oiwa and Uemura shared impassioned words, but Taichi interrupted. He proposed that he and Uemura team up against Oiwa and the absent Zack Sabre Jr and hold nothing back in the World Tag League.

Jackson continues to be one of the most entertaining parts of any match he’s in. The sumo spots with Taichi were well worth the price of admission.

Unbound Co. (Drilla Moloney, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori & Yota Tsuji) defeated United Empire (Francesco Akira, Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay)

X and Ishimori contended with Young, but Akira cut them off, especially with Samato Knees to Ishimori’s head. Moloney’s Drilla Killa missed its mark on Jay, yet that didn’t deter him from an explosive powerbomb. Tsuji cracked Jay’s spine with a Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker and applied a Boston Crab. Jay ultimately tapped out.

Small detail, but I loved how Tsuji’s disappointment in losing both of his titles flickered both in his entrance and in the match, and he still put on a smile. That’s an element of realism that speaks so much to his character at this juncture.

El Desperado & Místico defeated Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita (c) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Desperado nearly met Fujita at every turn, but he was one step ahead with a dropkick to the solar plexus. Místico ate a tijeras takedown from Eagles. He’d mount a comeback with an arm drag from the top rope. Eagles found himself flat after a flying headscissors. La Mistica from the luchador transitioned into a pin attempt by Eagles. Desperado followed a Spinebuster to a Stretch Muffler to Fujita. Místico rocked Fujita with a tope suicida, which was met by Eagles soaring for a tope con hilo.

Following a train wreck that was Desperado’s dive to Fujita outside and into the barricade, the champion and challenger narrowly beat the 20-count. Throughout the match, Místico repeatedly tried La Mistica, but eventually employed it successfully. Though Eagles displayed a heated fire with strikes and kicks to Desperado, the latter quelled the former’s momentum by way of a spear. Fujta engaged in an armbar. Místico locked in a Numero Dos to Eagles, while Desperado returned to a Stretch Muffler on Fujita. Both members of TMDK tapped, leaving their masked opponents the new champions.

Music rights are frustrating, because I’m a huge fan of “Me Muero”. I’m sure it sounded great in the arena, as I can barely make out amid the commentary beneath the dubbed license-free music. Anyways, this match is a must-watch. Desperado has a new breath of life injected in partnership with Místico, who feels like a global superstar right now.

United Empire (Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Will Ospreay) defeated Bishamontin (Hirooki Goto, Oleg Boltin & YOSHI-HASHI) (c) for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship

HENARE and Khan pounded YOSHI-HASHI, warranting a save from Goto. Boltin tried to intervene, as did Ospreay. Khan clobbered Boltin’s arm outside, whereas HENARE tormented YOSHI-HASHI more with Ospreay swirling him about. YOSHI-HASHI soon fought out of his predicament with a dropkick to HENARE’s shin. Goliaths collided as Boltin and HENARE charged each other. Boltin caught his New Zealand opponent and nauseated him with his Boltin Shake. HENARE bounced back with a senton to Boltin. Ospreay met Boltin with a flying elbow, taking him and YOSHI-HASHI out with a dive into the guardrails.

Goto absorbed the chops, and the Kawada Kicks from Ospreay to unleash elbows. HENARE caught Goto with a Spinebuster. Ospreay plunged a 450-Splash onto Goto. Boltin rescued Goto in the nick of time, catching an Oscutter and turning it into a Kamikaze. HENARE and Boltin flung each other into the barricades, eventually wearing each other out on the concrete. Khan and HENARE convened for gut punches to YOSHI-HASHI and an assisted powerbomb. YOSHI-HASHI employed lariats to everyone, including an incoming Ospreay. Boltin returned to action, driving Khan to the corner for Bishamon to pick him apart. Ospreay devastated Goto with a Sky Twister Press outside. Khan and HENARE hoisted YOSHI-HASHI aloft for Ospreay to down him with a Hidden Blade. Khan pinned YOSHI-HASHI with an Iron Claw to add more gold to United Empire.

Post-match: Boasting their win, United Empire asked who was next. Out came OSKAR and Yuto-Ice, who didn’t challenge for the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship. Instead, they put their titles on the line against HENARE and Khan.

If this match were a sandwich, the back-and-forths with HENARE and Boltin were the meat. Ospreay’s that condiment that, while not needed for United Empire’s new vision, made it taste all the better. Bishamon was the bread that kept it together, while Khan was very sparse lettuce, only later throwing in some juicy tomato.

Main Event

Callum Newman (c) versus Shingo Takagi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship

Newman unwisely sought to trade forearms with Takagi, but rebounded with his flurries of kicks. Sensing his sudden Oscutter would be shrugged off, Newman opted out to restrategize. Takagi grew tired of Newman wasting time meandering outside and returned him to the cerulean blue, where he struck with a lariat. Newman recovered, introducing his challenger to the steel guardrails. Before the dispersed crowd, Newman deployed a dropkick that drove Takagi into a swathe of chairs. Newman taunted Takagi, putting his arm around his wife and Stardom talent Natsupoi.

Back in the ring, Newman drove his fist into Takagi’s ribs. Takagi spun a comeback with a Tornado-DDT. Newman’s head bounced nastily off the floor from Takagi’s tope con hilo. Ducking a sliding Pumping Bomber, Newman punted Takagi flat. Stripping Hiroshi Tanahashi’s table with the ring bell and Heavyweight Championship clean, Newman plummeted Takagi into its unforgiving wood. Both men traded suplex after suplex, with Newman promising to respond but instead collapsing in exhaustion. The same fate befell Takagi after a forearm exchange. Resorting to pulling each other’s hair, Referee Red Shoes humorously chastised both men.

Takagi readied a Pumping Bomber, but Newman dropped once more to the mat. Playing dead, Newman waited as Red Shoes checked him. He surprised Takagi with an attack, but feigned a knee injury. Pulling Red Shoes out, Newman directed traffic for Zane Jay and Jake Lee to attack Takagi and Daiki Nagai. Yota Tsuji came to Takagi’s aid, but Newman stomped him. Plunging his Excalibur finisher into Takagi, he followed with Made in Essex and Prince’s Curse to no avail. Denying a low blow, Takagi crashed Newman to the mat with two Made in Japans and a Pumping Bomber. Neither of those did the trick, nor a Raging Dragon. Will Ospreay, on the outside, urged Newman to return to his feet. Out of Red Shoes’s view, Newman hit a low blow and a Prince’s Curse to Ospreays’ chagrin. Newman repeated this process after suffering a poisonrana, this time succeeding his low blow with a Make Way.

Post-match: United Empire in its entirety (even IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Andrade El Idolo) joined to celebrate with Newman. Ospreay was the only one looking disappointed. He argued with Newman’s approach to things. Newman responded that if Ospreay was going to hang out with the Death Riders in AEW, he’d have to strike Takagi in his stead. Ospreay begrudgingly obliged. Newman shifted focus to Tsuji and Takagi, stating that at Ignition to Dominion, they’d face him and Jake Lee; whoever could pin Newman would face him at Dominion.

Newman was such a nasty heel. He gained heat so easily, with even his fake selling spots hitting hard. Moreover, Takagi made what seemed a foregone conclusion for a title retention look all the more unpredictable with his story. There’s almost a “Paradise Lost” situation boiling with Ospreay, and I’m here for it.

Final Thoughts

If this is Gino Gambino’s last night on commentary again, I’m going to be sad. He added so much and had so much chemistry with Chris Charlton and Walker Stewart to both nights of Wrestling Dontaku. He’s unabashedly heel, and hilariously so.

Night Two, from top to bottom, was a blast. The three title matches that culminated the show were particularly awesome. New champions in Místico and El Desperado finished what was an incredible effort by them and TMDK. The same could be said of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship match with Bishamontin and United Empire, with Will Ospreay for their new belts. For Newman to retain as a chickenshit yet effectively devastating heel against a hopeful and dynamite Takagi was an incredible display.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one live results: Yota Tsuji vs. Andrade El Idolo

Posted on by Corey Michaels

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku begins today.

The first night of the two-night event from the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan, began on Sunday with the IWGP Global Championship on the line. Yota Tsuji defends against Andrade El Idolo in the main event.

Also, Gino Gambino made his return to NJPW commentary.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 Night one (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji lost his belt to Andrade El Idolo
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita retained against Oleg Boltin
  • Aaron Wolf defeated Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X, & Daiki Nagai defeated Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young, & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino defeated Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Will Ospreay, HENARE, & Great-O-Khan defeated Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, & Tatsuya Matsumoto
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado, & Místico defeated Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles, & Kosei Fujita
  • OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defeated Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda
  • Toru Yano, YOH, & Master Wato defeated Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Taisei Nakahara

Our live coverage begins at 6 p.m. Japan Standard Time.

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Toru Yano, YOH, & Master Wato defeated Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Taisei Nakahara

Yano battled his way out of Nakahara and Taguchi’s early plot, dodging their every move. Wato bounced Taguchi’s rather sensitive region and poked him on the shoulder to slowly fall to the mat. Taguchi waddled out of Wato’s Funky Weapon and a charging YOH. Nkaahara stomped and chopped at Wato, who swung a comeback by way of a dropkick. With but an uppercut, Wato scored the win for his team.

Strong comic relief from Yano and Taguchi, as usual. The genital pain is one that Taguchi excels in humorously. Yano missing his moves was an underratedly funny part of this.

OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defeated Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda

Honma had to wind down an emphatic Yasuda, who charged to a bewildered OSKAR and Ice before the bell. As soon as it rang, Yasuda kicked Ice off the apron. OSKAR sent both of his opponents down with a push and eluded Honma’s Kokeshi. Honma kept OSKAR subdued outside, while Ice nearly succumbed to a jackknife pin. Ice kicked Yasuda straight down and followed up with a thunderous right knee to completely knock him out, ending the match.

Huh. Well, okay. An entertaining, short squash.

Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado, & Místico defeated TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles, & Kosei Fujita)

Desperado and Fujita traded chest-reddening chops, culminating in the former spilling outside. Místico dazed Eagles with some excellent arm work, softening him up so Taichi could kick him flat. Jackson tackled Taichi and punctured him with an elbow drop.

Uemura met Oiwa after the latter dominated Taichi. Jackson came in for the assist, as did Fujita, but all of TMDK fell to adrenealine-fueled dropkicks. Oiwa trapped Uemura’s arm, tightened in a Cobra Twist Abdominal Stretch. Jackson drove the oxygen out of Uemura’s lungs with a well-placed senton. Místico and Desperado dropkicked Fujita and Eagles. Jackson burst through Uemur once again, this time by a Big Crossbody. Uemura surprised him with a quick Frankensteiner to secure the victory.

Post-match: Eagles and Fujita teased a challenge to defend their IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship. Místico took the bait gleefully and issued the challenge, to which Eagles accepted for Wrestling Dontaku, Night Two, on May 4.

Though his time was sporadic in the match, Místico’s spots were so fluid. It’s no surprise why he’s CMLL’s biggest draw right now. Uemura and Jackson shone brightest here with the time they were given.

United Empire (Will Ospreay, HENARE, & Great-O-Khan) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Tatsuya Matsumoto

Bishamon overwhelmed Ospreay, and they joined Matsumoto in clobbering his tender spine. Ospreay recovered with a scoop-and-slam on Matsumoto. In the crowd, Khan pinned Goto to the concrete as he sat proudly on a chair. Goto threw a lariat at Ospreay, and YOSHI-HASHI rescued him from Khan with a superkick. Matsumoto unwisely charged at Khan, yet succeeded in rocking him with an uppercut. Khan rendered Matsumoto unconscious with his Iron Claw, repeatedly slammed his cranium to the mat, and pinned him.

Ospreay continually seeing himself at odds with what United Empire had become really sells the heaviness of the inevitable turn the team will have against him. If NJPW is building this up to Forbidden Door, color me intrigued. Considering United Empire helped him in AEW against the Death Riders, the thought of Ospreay aligning with them in All In or Forbidden Door has me wondering.

Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino defeated House Of Torture (Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi)

Takeshita, conspicuously missing his NJPW World Television Championship, demanded that Owens give it back. Owens played the fool before sending him outside and flipping Umino over his shoulder. Takahashi charged Takeshita into the ring post. Takeshita dove outside, clattering Takahashi into the barricade. The Alpha then rocked Owens with an elbow. Owens responded with a Snapmare Driver. Takeshita ate a Z-Trigger and let loose a Knockout Shot.

Umino and Takeshita aligned to elbow hte House of Torture before accidentally bumping into each other. Following a tense stare, Takeshita pushed Umino out of the way to take the brunt of their ambush. Umino didn’t let his effort fall in vain, as he turned the page for his patented Second Chapter to pin Takahashi for the 3-count.

Takeshita’s learning to work with people better, or maybe it’s because Umino isn’t a nasty little gremlin like Kazuchika Okada. Gino Gambino on commentary was funny during this match with Takeshita’s supposedly stolen belt.

Unbound Co. (Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X, & Daiki Nagai) defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young, & Zane Jay)

Unbound Co. struck as though preemtively so, leading X and Ishimori room to batter Akira. Nagai took the subsequent opening to kick and strike Akira. Lee hurled Nagai into Newman’s boot in the corner. Newman taunted Nagai’s feeble elbow strikes until the latter’s Shotgun Blast kicked him into the corner. Takagi neutralized Jay’s dropkick attempt with a shoulder tackle. Moloney coordinated an offense with Takagi where they punched the young United Empire member to the mat. Nagai dove onto Newman outside, while X did the same to Lee, Akira, and Young. Moloney chopped down Jay, resulting in a brainbuster and a gore. His Drilla Killa put Jay down for the count in the pinfall.

Post-match: Takagi and Newman got in each other’s faces, shoving until they brawled.

United Empire continues to feel like the biggest threat in NJPW right now, and under Newman’s reign, that’s a fun thing to toy around with.

Don Fale defeated Aaron Wolf

Neither wrestler wasted a second, with the more tenacious Wolf charging his collossal opponent to one knee. Fale mercilessly threw Wolf into the sea of chairs ouside and sat on his chest. Wolf had enough of Fale’s bullying and flung him into the barricades, again and again. With a Judo Toss and elbow drop, Wolf inched closer to victory. Thanks to Chase Owens distracting Referee Marty Asami, Wolf’s hold on Fale bore no fruit. Fale and Owens niftily knocked out Asami so they could clobber Wolf and fling him into an exposed turnbuckle.

In the nick of time, Wolf rolled away from Fale’s devastating elbow drop. Baiting Fale into the corner, Wolf tossed him there again and miraculoulsy dropped him with a scoo-and-slam. With an Angle Slam, Wolf stood tall over his biggest obstacle so far with a pinfall win.

Slow build in a short match, but it made every glimpse of hope become an outright extended vision. To have me feel this amped in a match featuring Chase Owens and Don Fale should be a crime.

Ren Narita (c) defeated Oleg Boltin for the NEVER Openweight Championship

Narita executed a premeditated ambush on Boltin. Once the bell rung, however, Boltin came alive, knocking Narita outside. Dick Togo caught Boltin’s attention, lending enough time for Narita to strike his challenger with a steel chair. Narita swung Boltin into rows of chairs in front of a frightened Fukuoka crowd. The champion wrenched Bolltin’s arm against the lowest arm of the turnbuckle. Boltin powered up to convert Narita’s cross-arm hold into a ruinous powerbomb. Though Narita adorned Boltin’s arm with a steel chair for malicious purposes, the challenger used it against his foe. A Boltin Shake and Boltin Splash crushed Narita. Yoshinobu Kanemaru tried to spit whiskey into Boltin’s face, but he sneakily did it first to reduce the odds against him.

SHO arrived, temporarily distracting Boltin until Aaron Wolf came out to carry him off. Narita ensnared Boltin with a Guillotine Choke and a Double Cross. Boltin unleashed a Kamikaze but couldn’t capitalize due to his weak shoulders. The challenger writhed enough to break Narita’s cross-arm. Countering another cross-arm, Boltin nearly used it to end Narita’s reign with another powerbomb. Unfortunately, Togo returned with a low blow. Narita submitted Boltin with one last cross-arm.

The shenanigans in this match must’ve been the monkey’s paw for any hope of another House of Torture comeuppance after the prior bout. Shame.

Main Event

Yota Tsuji (c) versus Andrade El Idolo for the IWPG Global Heavyweight Championship

The main event saw these competitors sprinting full speed ahead, with Idolo and Tsuji sharing a Tranquilo pose after a standstill. In the corner, Tsuji hammered his fist into Idolo’s skull; the challenger usurped control with a spike into said corner. The AEW talent grounded the Global Heavyweight title holder with a headlock narrowly broken by the ropes. Idolo caught Tsuji on the ropes, springboarding off with a Spanish Fly. A Tsuji-cita swung a comeback for the champion. Idolo demolished Tsuji with a Running Double Knee Smash.

Tsuji unsheathed a Curb Stomp on a rope-perched Idolo, who transitioned it into a powerslam on the apron and followed with a tornillo. Returning to the ropes once more for a Marlowe Crush, Tsuji thwacked Idolo with a chop and executed the move on the ropes. Pivoting with surgical precision, Tsuji surprisingly sent Idolo flying with a hurricanrana. Tsuji unleashed anothe Spanish Fly. Idolo sensed a Gene Blaster and cut it off with a Spinning Back Elbow. In the final stretch, these fatigued wrestlers chopped a cloud of mist off each other’s chest, exposing gnarly welts. Tsuji headbutted Idolo and they traded pin attempts. His last hopes being a Schoolboy Suplex and a Hammerlock DDT, Idolo’s hopes were in vain. In a brutal spot, Idolo DM’d Tsuji into the ring post, and again on the mat to become the new IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion.

Post-match: Idolo, relieved, stated that he “did it”. Acknowledging the feelings his win may bring while being an AEW talent, he encouraged a new challenger to step up. Out came Drilla Moloney and Shota Umino, both arguing en route to the ring. Idolo proposed making the upcoming bout a triple-threat match for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Champoinship.

Whoa. I didn’t expect that outcome. Tsuji began the year with a double championship reign, and having both end so soon is a genuine shocker. The match itself justified it, too. These men took each other to the limit. They left a damning mark on one another, making the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship feel like a life-or-death accolade to win. That’s what’s beautiful about this art, having something to fight for that you paint your opponent with your blood, sweat, and tears to win it. The cherry on top is his post-match promo, excellently delivered, making previous comments about his language barrier structures feel a relic of the past.

Final Thoughts

I’ve some mixed feelings on this card, to be honest. Aaron Wolf squeaking out a win against Don Fale feels like a step in the right direction (though I’d rather he have moved onto someone else). The growing dissent between Will Ospreay and United Empire is sowing seeds that can grow into something amazing as the summer stretches on. Gino Gambino’s return to NJPW commentary provided a fresh outlook, especially in the perspective of someone who’s been away for so long. Welcome back, Gino.

As if Andrade El Idolo and Yota Tsuji’s match at New Beginning in USA didn’t deliver enough, they executed a great main event. I’d say this was a fair trade-off for the Gabe Kidd injury that removed him from this match. Nevertheless, this is Andrade’s year. His post-WWE run has left him feeling a star, and it’s time to belt him up to cement that.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one preview & predictions: Andrade El Idolo steps in

Posted on by Ian Carey

The first night of Wrestling Dontaku takes place on Sunday, May 3, and could see some new champions crowned and/or storylines develop.

Below are previews and predictions for the big matches booked for the show, which takes place at the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan.

IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Andrade El Idolo

NJPW will have to shift from whatever it had originally planned, as Gabe Kidd was supposed to challenge Tsuji for the title. The bout also seemed likely to move forward the storyline of Kidd representing AEW against New Japan Pro Wrestling after previously serving as a defender of NJPW, particularly against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Dynasty in 2025.

With Kidd injured, Andrade was announced as the replacement. It is a rematch from the most recent IWGP Global Heavyweight title defense, which took place at NJPW The New Beginning USA in Trenton, New Jersey on February 27. Tsuji successfully retained over Andrade there.

I think the situation here calls for a title change, even though Tsuji just dropped the IWGP World Heavyweight title to Callum Newman.

Tsuji has said that he feels the role of the Global title is for him to defend it either overseas or against wrestlers from outside New Japan. It seemed like that story was leading to Kidd winning the title and Tsuji having to win it back to protect the honor of New Japan, but with Kidd’s injury, I don’t know where things go from here.

I think Andrade probably picks up the role Kidd was going to play, although he’ll do it in a different way, with more taking off his pants than Kidd would have done.

Prediction: Andrade El Idolo wins the title.

NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Boltin Oleg

Buckle up, everyone. Two of the three singles matches planned for Wrestling Dontaku involve House of Torture. If you love interference in your wrestling, this is going to be the show for you.

Boltin Oleg is a guy NJPW seems invested in, just not quite as invested as they are in some other guys.

He had a good showing in the New Japan Cup, but lost to Yuya Uemura in the semifinals. He defeated Narita in the quarterfinals, leading to this title match in Fukuoka. Oleg also beat Narita during the 2024 G1 in their only other singles match.

If Oleg wins, it would be his second reign with the NEVER Openweight title. He previously held it from Dominion last June to King of Pro-Wrestling in October, winning it from Konosuke Takeshita and losing it to EVIL.

I just don’t see any real benefit to having Narita keep the title here. It feels like the right time for Oleg to win it back.

Prediction: Boltin Oleg wins the title

Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale

The rematch we’ve all been waiting for.

At some point, Wolf is going to have to wrestle. Like, actually wrestle full matches. Evidently, NJPW does not feel as though we’ve reached that point yet.

This will be a House of Torture interference fest, similar to their singles bout in the first round of the New Japan Cup on March 4. Fale won that match, but I’m expecting a different result here.

Wolf’s record is one win and two losses in singles matches at this point, with his only win having come against EVIL for the NEVER Openweight title in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom. He lost the title to Narita at The New Beginning the following month, then lost to Fale in the New Japan Cup.

If NJPW wants to take advantage of Wolf’s popularity, he should probably win a few matches. And he should definitely avenge previous losses to show he’s getting better, or he’s learned to watch out for Dick Togo’s antics or something. I’m expecting that’s what will happen here.

Prediction: Aaron Wolf wins

We will have live coverage on the front page for both nights of NJPW Wrestling Dontaku. The full lineups are below:

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 Night One (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Andrade El Idolo
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Boltin Oleg
  • Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku Night Two (Monday, May 4): 

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin Oleg defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara

Andrade El Idolo challenges Yota Tsuji to IWGP Global title rematch

Posted on by Ian Carey

Andrade El Idolo is going to get another shot at the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.

The Road to Wrestling Dontaku began on Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. On the show, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Daiki Nagai, and Gedo defeated Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee, and Zane Jay, with Tsuji pinning Jay after a Gene Blaster.

After the match, a video played on the screen with Andrade challenging Tsuji for an IWGP Global title shot. Andrade unsuccessfully challenged Tsuji for the belt at The New Beginning USA show on February 27.

In the video, Andrade said:

“Last time, I didn’t lose. That match was to study you, to figure out how to beat you. Everything happens for a reason. I don’t know what happened with Gabe Kidd, and I don’t care because I beat him.

So I challenge you for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.

But I want this match not in the United States, not in USA. I want this match in Japan because I want to embarrass you in front of your own people. Just tell me where, when, and at what time. See you there, because this title is mi destino.”

Tsuji responded by saying he would be waiting for him on May 3, which is the date for night one of Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka.

NJPW1972.com later revealed the match has been made official.

Tsuji was originally scheduled to defend the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Gabe Kidd on the show. However, Kidd suffered a shoulder injury at AEW Dynasty, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced last week that he would not be cleared in time for Dontaku.

The updated lineup for next month’s shows in Fukuoka is below.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 —

Night one (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Andrade El Idolo
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Oleg Boltin
  • Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

Night two (Monday, May 4): 

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara

NJPW reveals Wrestling Dontaku 2026 lineups

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Sakura Genesis now in the rearview mirror, NJPW’s attention turns to Wrestling Dontaku 2026.

The two-night Dontaku event is being held in Fukuoka on Sunday, May 3 and Monday, May 4. Headlining the second night is an IWGP Heavyweight Championship defense by Callum Newman, who is putting his title on the line against Shingo Takagi. Newman — the 2026 New Japan Cup winner — dethroned Yota Tsuji for the belt at Sakura Genesis this past weekend.

At 23 years old, this is Newman’s first IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign. He’s one of the top foreign wrestlers in NJPW and the leader of United Empire.

United Empire has a big night at Wrestling Dontaku night two. In the semi-main event, the group is challenging for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. The match has AEW’s Will Ospreay — who is returning to Japan once again for both nights of Dontaku — teaming with HENARE & Great-O-Khan against champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin.

Tsuji still holds the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and will be defending that title in the night one main event. His challenger is Gabe Kidd, who is now waging war on NJPW after joining AEW.

Plus, there is more international representation on the cards with top CMLL star Mistico competing in tag matches.

The shows will stream live on NJPW World. Here are the announced lineups:

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 —

Night one (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Gabe Kidd
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Oleg Boltin
  • Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

Night two (Monday, May 4):

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara

Tetsuya Naito wrestles final match under contract at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Tetsuya Naito has wrestled his final NJPW match, at least for now.

Naito finished his contractual obligations at Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka on Sunday morning. Teaming with another departing star in BUSHI as well as Hiromu Takahashi and Shingo Takagi, LIJ scored the win over Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, Taka Michinoku, and Shota Umino when Takagi pinned Michinoku.

After the match, the four men raised each other’s hands in victory as the crowd cheered for Naito. The four then did the LIJ salute as Naito’s music played. The four then posed near the entrance ramp one last time before making their exit.

After Yota Tsuji successfully defended his IWGP Global title against Yuya Uemura, the rest of LIJ came out again and all five members posed before Naito and BUSHI made their exit. Tsuji said he didn’t know if LIJ would continue, but they would always be ingovernable and will always be connected.

Fans across the world were stunned when it was announced last month that Naito and NJPW mutually agreed to not renew his contract after negotiations fell through. According to Bryan Alvarez, money issues may have resulted in the two parties parting ways.

“The impression I have gotten when it comes to Naito is simply that he wanted a lot more money than they were willing to pay him. Good chance this had been awhile in the making,” he wrote.

Naito started as a young lion for the company back in 2005. By 2014 he had reached the main event scene, and one year later he became a star by forming the Los Ingobernables de Japon stable. He held the IWGP World title twice, the IWGP Heavyweight title three times, and was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 2022.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night two live results: Naito’s farewell match

Posted on by Corey Michaels

It’s sure to be an emotional night in Fukuoka as Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI bid farewell to NJPW on day two of Wrestling Dontaku.

Naito and BUSHI have announced that they are leaving the promotion — Naito due to being unable to come to terms on a new contract, and BUSHI ostensibly leaving out of loyalty to Naito — following today’s show. They will team with Shingo Takagi and Hiromu Takahashi of Los Ingobernables de Japon against Shota Umino, Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi, and TAKA Michinoku.

The NJPW farewell for Naito and BUSHI will not headline today’s show, though, with two title matches on top.

In the main event, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto defends against Callum Newman.

In the semi-main position, IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Yuya Uemura in the remarkable 51st singles meeting in their careers. Most of their bouts came as both came up in the Young Lion system together, including 22 time limit draws.

**********

Pre-show

Katsuya Murashima & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Hitamaru Sasaki & Jet Wei

Sasaki and Taguchi may have wrestled to a stalemate, but Wei had to reach for Sasaki as Murashima was too much, even with his marks of war. Taguchi attempted to make the save for a worn Murashima, but Sasaki sent him flying into his partner. The wily veteran Taguchi made a comeback for his team, sending hip attacks to both Sasaki and Wei. Taguchi won the match with an ankle hold on a helpless Wei.

Post-match: Sasaki and Murashima bowed on the outside. The Kyushu wrestler then refused to shake Taguchi’s hand.

BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gedo & Taiji Ishimori) defeated Batten Blabla & Mentai Kid

Kid’s offense immediately exhausted Ishimori, while Blabla’s antics confused him and Gedo. Despite the comedic hijinks, Blabla faced the vicious bites of the War Dogs. Kid nearly made a save with the Mentai Splash. Ishimori finished off Blabla with a Gedo Clutch as a pin for the 3-count.

Master Wato & YOSHI-HASHI vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)

YOSHI-HASHI had been incapacitated near the start, leaving United Empire (notably Khan) to weaken him with knees and kicks. Khan sat on Wato, adding his immense weight while Young worked on the junior heavyweight’s arm. The wide spread of tools under Khan’s collection proved cumbersome for YOSHI-HASHI, particularly the Iron Claw, but a surprise DDT saved him. Wato resisted Young’s German Suplex, countering with his own patented Tsutenkaku German Suplex.

YOSHI-HASHI’s in-ring has become more decisive and urgent, keeping him and World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto in the tag team title radar while his partner defends his singles gold.

STARS (Hazuki & Koguma) & Maika defeated Neo Genesis (AZM & Starlight Kid) & Yuna Mizumori

Koguma started off against Kid, carefully dictating her slower pace to counter her masked opponent’s high speed. Mizumori writhed and crawled after STARS centered their focus on her. The colorful wrestler fought back with some kicks and even a dropkick of her own. AZM and Kid combined their quick offense to tenderize Maika and Koguma.

Maika planted AZM in the center of the ring with a vertical suplex. Mizumori combined her comeback with Kid and AZM for a synchronized Dropkick. Hazuki and Koguma flew over the top rope to knacker all of their opponents and drag Mizumori into the ring. Hazuki won the match with a Brainbuster over Mizumori.

Joshi wrestling is one of the best things in the pro wrestling industry. Maybe someday, Stardom will see in Hazuki what fans have for a long time. Give her a push.

El Phantasmo & Oleg Boltin defeated The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita & Rocky Romero)

Resuming last night’s war of attrition, Takeshita avoided every single move Phantasmo could think of. The pair then moved onto dismantling Boltin. Romero sought to use his agility to take down Boltin, who then dizzied them by way of his Boltin Shake. Boltin dropped Romero on the mat during a Kamikaze, thus winning the match for he and Phantasmo.

A lot of dynamite moves, one that will make initial viewing feel must-see. I’m glad this isn’t feeling like a one-and-done, that Phantasmo and Takeshita have more to communicate in the ring.

Be-Bop Tag Team (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano), Ryota Chikuzen, TAJIRI & YOH defeated TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

TAJIRI and Sabre in a rare instance locked up, with the legend calmly and immediately powering out of the Brit’s holds and submissions. Eagles and YOH fired like cannons, with the former taking advantage of Fujita’s in-ring assistance. Yano opened the turnbuckle, aiming to send the junior heavyweights into it, instead receiving harsh opposition by Jackson.

Chikuzen blasted Oiwa with chops, eventually knocking him down with the alliance with Tanahashi. Jackson splashed heavily into the corner Tanahashi lay dazed at, followed with a fierce lariat. TAJIRI hit Jackson with his famous green mist, leaviding Tanahashi to end the match courtesy of a High-Fly Flow.

The guest wrestlers tonight have made for a great show. Whether it’s the Kyushu locals or legends like TAJIRI, they’ve added a specifically different flavor in wrestlng that made the matches special.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated Just 4 Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku), Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii

Taichi suffered the brunt of the offense at first, but Ishii moved like a madman, especially to Takahashi with a Dangerous Driver. Naito made a hot tag, sending Taichi out with a Destino. Los Ingobernables de Japon trapped Michinoku alone and all combined for a dropkick. Naito unleashed a Destino again on Taichi, meanwhile BUSHI flew like a heat-seeking missile to Umino on the outside. Takagi finished the match for his team via a Last of the Dragon on Michinoku for the win.

Naito and BUSHI’s final match went about as usual, and I wouldn’t have had it any different. Ishii, Uminio, and Just 4 Guys filled their roles excellently. The years Naito and BUSHI have added to NJPW’s legacy, with the former’s big matches easily slotting into the pantheon of all-time great matches. Whether Los Ingobernables de Japon moves on or not without them remains to be seen, but what they’ve given us is more than enough now.

Yota Tsuji (c) defeated Yuya Uemura for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship

Champion and challenger had a staredown and a lockup twice that stretched onward. Uemura targeted Tsuji’s left arm and shoulder. Tsuji repaid in kind with Uemura’s right arm. Firmly in control, Tsuji moved from Uemura’s arm to his torso. Uemura stunned Tsuji with a Back Body Drop. Tsuji sent Umino falling to the outside with a hurricanrana and into the barricade with a tope suicida.

Unresponsive in the corner, Uemura suffered a splash from Tsuji in the corner, yet he turned it around by working the legs of Tsuji with a figure-four leglock. The moment Tsuji began powering out of the Nelson lock that Uemura had him in, the more immediate Uemura gave a reverse Canadian Destroyer. Uemura aimed for a huge Splash but landed flat. Tsuji wrenched Uemura’s arm unforgivingly, A series of suplexes nearly took out Takagi, as did a Backbreaker. Stealing Hiroshi Tanahashi’s High-Fly Flow, Uemura found no success in emulation. Uemura desperately reached for a Dead Drop, but Tsuji ended the match instead with a Gene Blaster, thus retaining his championship.

Post-match: Uemura bade Tsuji his respect and departed. The rest of Los Ingobernables de Japon came out, with Tsuji kneeling in the spot Naito used to. Naito and BUSHI left, with emotion visible on their faces as the crowd called to them. Gabe Kidd then greeted Tsuji, challenging him for the championship on June 15’s Dominion event.

The rivarly between these two will carry into further in their careers. They’re meant to do this forever, with the chemistry to prove it. As for Tsuji’s kneeling, Chris Charlton mentioned that this could be a figurative passing of the torch which I find particularly interesting if it happens.

Main Event

Hirooki Goto (c) defeated Callum Newman for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship

Goto started off strong, but Newman thwarted him on the outside with a plancha. He followed up with slingshots to the steel barricades and kicks to the back. Hitting a substantial vertical drop from the top rope, Goto worked on the shoulders of Newman. Newman reached high air with an impressive dropkick and a tope con hilo to flatten the champion. A quick battle of wits and strategy led to a simultaneous DDT on Goto and Ushigoroshi on Newman. Merciful as he tried to be, Goto kept providing forearms and elbows to Newman—until he spat in the champ’s face. For that, Goto immediately sent him to the mat.

A GTR nearly ended the match; despite Goto’s control of the match, he had issues dispatching the challenger. An Oscutter 2.0 quelled Goto’s momentum, but also left Newman weak and defenseless on the ground. Newman broke the count early, whilst Goto barely did it in time. A shock Rainmaker nearly gave Newman the pinfall, but Goto remained resilient, albeit horizontal. Another Oscutter 2.0, but Newman flipped and dropped to a Rainmaker. Goto’s Shouten Kai rendered Newman immobile in the ring, but not enough for pinfall. After two GTRs, ultimately Goto won the match.

Post-match: Zack Sabre Jr and Shingo Takagi emerged to issue their respective challenges, with Sabre having first dibs.

Very well done and deserving of being a main event spot. Though most will be talking more about Naito and BUSHI’s departures, this match should hopefully change some questions around Newman. Just another day at the office for Hirooki Goto.

Night Two had more must-watch matches for sure. The goodbye to Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI, Tsuji versus Uemura, and Hirooki Goto’s successful title retention in a star-making performance for Callum Newman stand among the rest of tonight’s wrestling proceedings. The economy may be rough, but creatively, NJPW has a bright future.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one live results: Dogpound cage match

Posted on by Corey Michaels

Night one of NJPW Wrestling Dontaku will be headlined by a Dogpound cage match.

Two of Bullet Club’s sub-factions will square off inside the steel cage, with EVIL, SANADA, SHO, Ren Narita, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru of House of Torture taking on the War Dogs five-some of David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, Taiji Ishimori, and Drilla Moloney.

In today’s semi-main, Shingo Takagi goes one-on-one with Shota Umino in their fourth career singles meeting. Umino holds a 2-1 edge in their singles matches.

Hiroshi Tanahashi will face Zack Sabre Jr. on the undercard as the Ace’s retirement tour continues.

NJPW World TV Champion El Phantasmo will defend his title against Konosuke Takeshita.

Three multi-man tag matches round out today’s undercard, including the penultimate bouts in the NJPW careers of Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI, both of whom have announced they will be leaving the promotion following tomorrow’s night two event.

Young Lions Katsuya Murashima and Daiki Nagai square off on the pre-show beginning at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time.

**********

Pre-show

Katsuya Murashima defeated Daiki Nagai

Nagai spent the first half of the match targeting Murashima’s weak left knee. However, the latter gritted his teeth with some forearms and a slam. Nagai regained momentum, nearly securing favor with a Sharpshooter. The battered and bruised Murashima made a spirited comeback, sinking in a deep Bostom Crab, unforgivingly dragging Nagai back to the center during any attempt to escape. With no other alternative, Nagai tapped out.

Main Card

Master Wato, Oleg Boltin, Toru Yano & YOH defeated TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa)

YOH and Eagles wrestled to a stalemate, but Wato fared better with wearing down Fujita. Yano attempted the same with Oiwa by stripping the turnbuckle pad from the ring post, only to succumb to the swathe that was TMDK. This led to the gargantuan collision of Boltin and Jackson. The latter had the advantage due to the Kazakh wrestler’s taped up and injured leg, however, Boltin’s will won out.

Both teams saw a heavy deployment of topes, eventually reuniting Jackson and Boltin in the ring once more. Jackson nearly punctuated the match with a German Suplex. Ultimately, Boltin unleashed a thunderous Kamikaze slam to finish the match in his favor to the prone Jackson.

YOH and Wato’s Junior Tag Team chemistry had its shining moment, but the real star of the show was the clashes between Jackson and Boltin. Fans of big man on big man violence will be satisfied by the morsels left in this 8-man tag.

Just 4 Guys (Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura) & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji)

Before the match could start, Naito began has traditional disrobing fare, only to re-button his shirt and zipping his pants back up and disrobe again. As Tsuji and Uemura locked up, Chris Charlton wonderfully painted a picture of their very early history. Naito and BUSHI combined their offense to topple Michinoku. A fired-up Ishii wiped out the opposing forces of LIJ, going so far as to endure Naito and Takahashi’s combined efforts.

Taichi and BUSHI met in the ring; the masked wrestler’s lighter offense overwhelmed his taller opponent, but couldn’t diminish his power. Uemura and Tsuji met in the ring once more, leading to the LIJ member being chased out. Ishii proceeded to handle the remaining members. Taichi pinned BUSHI with a Dangerous Backdrop to win the match.

Naito and BUSHI’s impending departures felt nonexistent in this match. As though Los Ingobernables de Japon would never die, everyone worked in tandem. Ishii brought an energy to the match that made it a blast. If you’re a fan of Taichi, Uemura, and Tsuji, this match will be up your alley.

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)

Tomorrow’s main event started the match, with Newman defiantly asking the best of Goto. Taguchi brought levity with his signature comic relief, which Khan played off well before striking with his painful chops. Hilariously, this nearly ended the match after Taguchi suffered a Thumb-in-the-Bum by Khan. Young followed the offense on Taguchi with his high-speed precision. Newman sought to finish Taguchi in the face of Goto, but the champion tagged in and wrought a torrent of pain upon the Brit.

Young and YOSHI-HASHI greeted each other with athletic prowess, yet Khan provided a handy assist. Unsatisfied with his earlier punishment, Taguchi was reintroduced to the mat by Khan. YOSHI-HASHI and Taguchi kept Khan and Newman at bay before finishing off Young with a Shoto to a resounding drop. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Young for the victory.

An equal balance of urgency with Goto and Newman’s impending clash tomorrow with the comedy of Khan and Taguchi. With these elements in play, the small roles of YOSHI-HASHI and Young were the glue that kept the match together.

El Phantasmo (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (with Rocky Romero) for the NJPW World Television Championship ended in a timeout

An opportunistic Takeshita took advantage of Romero’s distraction of Phantasmo to daze him with a tope. Outside of the ring, Takeshita and Romero used the environment to soften the defending champion. At the last second, Phantasmo dodged the charging Takeshita, who spilled to the outside. Dispatching the challenger and associate, he soared onto Takeshita’s body past the barricade. Resuming control, Takeshita almost dropped Phantasmo on the apron, only for himself to be piledriven on it instead. This saw Takeshita teeter precariously towards a 20-count loss, only to break the count at 19.

A saga of exchanges concluded with Phantasmo hoping for a Superkick finish, but instead found Takeshita dropping Phantasmo’s body on the mat in its place. Phantasmo reached for a running knee, but Takeshita countered with a surprise Blue Thunderbomb, followed by a Poisonrana. A mistimed pin after a lariat prevented Phantasmo from a pinfall after a powerbomb, as the clock ran out.

You will not go wrong seeking out this match. At one point Takeshita collapsed before Phantasmo could do a running knee, and it heightened the drama, even if it seemed like he was playing possum. I’m not sure if that awkward pin after Phantasmo’s lariat was planned or not, but it worked to their credit as it left me wanting more.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

The Ace found himself ensnared by Sabre’s technical trappings, yet found his way out due to his classic dynamic offense. Sabre mockingly kicked meekly at Tanahashi, only provoking his ire, leading to a Senton. Sabre’s long legs momentarily swung the match into his control, but Tanahashi endured. The pair wrestled for the chance to backslide pin the other, with Tanahashi opting for a Twist and Shout. A Zack Driver quelled Tanahashi’s momentum, gifting him with ample time to recover his worn knee. After a successful High-Fly Flow, Tanahashi reached for another, only for Sabre to transition it into a triangle choke. Wearing The Ace down into near unconsciousness, Sabre pinned Tanahashi after a Zack Driver.

One of the most underrated recurring matchups in the 2010s, Sabre and Tanahashi delivered once again; the dynamic of Sabre’s technical style and Tanahashi’s explosive movement has evolved, with one man still well into the prime of his career while the other is bittersweetly close to his twilight.

Shingo Takagi defeated Shota Umino

No love lost between these two as Takagi charged Umino and unleashed his fury on him; Umino indeed responded in kind as the pair brawled to the outside. Takagi spitefully gained power with lariats and the surrounding environment to his advantage. Obtaining wrist control, Takagi followed up with a series of lariats and put an exclamation point to it with a powerbomb.

Takagi withstood a frenzied comeback from Umino, dodging a lariat and dragging him to a Tornado DDT. Umino recovered after a sliding lariat from Takagi, firing back with a Tornado DDT of his own. Takagi’s dominance faded as Umino reached for subsequent lariats, with one seemingly decisive pin ending in a 1-count. A Pumping Bomber so powerful it could’ve been felt through the arena somehow wasn’t enough to put Umino away, but left the crowd in rapturous chants for the Dragon. Takagi ended Umino with finality with a Last of the Dragon for the win. As Umino lay with a bloody nose, Takagi showed signs of disrespect and smack-talked Konosuke Takeshita at a nearby commentary table.

Wonderfully physical. Several times throughout I sat convinced that these men really hated each other. However Umino’s character goes from here, this may undoubtedly be a match to look back on.

Main Event

BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors, David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd & Taiji Ishimori) defeated House Of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SANADA, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) in a Steel Cage Match

Each War Dog found their House of Torture member to assault. Kidd and Narita traded chair shots. Moloney had gotten the better of SANADA when Dick Togo gave him a low blow. house of Torture proceeded to carve into his forehead with a fork as he screamed in dear agony. The would-be savior Connors was sent into an exposed ring post and ground against the cage for his troubles. Narita, meanwhile, repeatedly drove Kidd’s skull into a nearby table.

The flock of vultures that were the House of Torture continued picking at Moloney when the War Dogs came to his aid. Finlay sacrificed himself by vertical suplexing himself and SHO into the crowd of War Dogs and House of Torture members. Back inside the ring, Connors and Kanemaru dueled with a baseball bat and kendo stick, respectively as Narita destroyed a chair over Ishimori’s skull. Connors endured a Whiskey Breath by Kanemaru before unleashing a Gore to SHO and Kanemaru. Finlay wielded his shillelagh against EVIL, furthermore dropping him with a Gun Stun, followed by Oblivion.

Gedo entered the cage, falling onto him as he lay on a table which didn’t break. EVIL broke apart Finlay’s shillelagh before driving a splintered end to his forehead, followed by strikes wrapped in steel chain. Moloney came to Finlay’s rescue, landing a loud guitar shot to SANADA’s skull, bloodying it. In return, SANADA flipped Moloney over his shoulder directly through a table. A crimson-soaked Kidd weathered Narita’s biting of his skull with a headbutt and a lariat. They grinded each other’s flesh on a barb-wire wrapped table, painting everything with their claret. Kidd then concluded the match with a Piledriver to Narita on the same table for the win. The House of Torture are now out of BULLET CLUB.

Post-match: EVIL handcuffed Finlay to the cage and wrapped the steel-chained dog collar tightly around Finlay’s neck leaving him to hang into unconsciousness.

A plunder match that delved into pure chaos and madness. So many high spots, from the use of Finlay’s shillelagh to the barb-wire table. Moloney falling into the unflinching bare table was a pain I admittedly winced at. Hilariously, Gedo’s dive from the top of the cage is one of the worst I’ve seen in any company. Not perfect by any stretch, but it was every bit as ugly as it needed to be. Though they’ve been rivals for a while in this feud, Narita and Kidd excelled in this and barely stood out. That’s not a knock on them, that’s a compliment to everyone involved for making such a memorable and entertaining bloodbath.

There were some fun multi-man matches, but NJPW World Television Championship match and the intimate bout between Takagi and Umino will satisfy any itch for singles competition. However, for the spectacle alone, this year’s steel cage match is must-watch. My adrenaline was still pumping ten minutes after the match ended. What a way to celebrate twelve years of BULLET CLUB, one of wrestling’s most important factions to ever exist.

NJPW announces lineups for Wrestling Dontaku, other events

Posted on by Ian Carey

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced several matches for upcoming shows.

This year’s Wrestling Dontaku on May 3 & 4 will mark the 12th anniversary of Bullet Club forming at the event in 2013. Two rival sub-groups of the faction will headline night one of the event this year in a Dogpound Steel Cage match — the second such match in NJPW history.

“This violent, dangerous bout sees entrants from each side join the ring until all ten members are involved, and one pinfall or submission ends the anything goes bout,” NJPW1972.com describes the bout’s rules.

The only other Dogpound Steel Cage match in NJPW took place at New Beginning in Osaka last year, where the Bullet Club War Dogs defeated United Empire in the War Games-style bout.

Also announced, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto will defend his title against Callum Newman on night two of Wrestling Dontaku. Newman recently vacated one-half of the IWGP World Tag Team titles after Jeff Cobb announced he’s departing the company following his match against Hiroshi Tanahashi on April 19. Cobb had been calling for a shot at Goto, but with him now stepping away, Newman has called for the opportunity to challenge for the title.

Other upcoming title matches include Bishamon vs. The United Empire to crown new IWGP World Tag Team Champions following Newman & Cobb vacating the belts.

Konosuke Takeshita is also scheduled for both nights of Wrestling Dontaku, teaming with a mystery partner. This follows Don Callis stating that the Callis Family is recruiting new members due to injuries to Mark Davis and Brian Cage.

Below are the newly announced cards:

Road to Wrestling Dontaku – April 19 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan:

  • Elimination Tag Match- Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino, Taichi, YOSHI-HASHI & TAKA Michinoku vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI)
  • Ryusuke Taguchi, El Desperado & Hirooki Goto vs United Empire (Callum Newman, Templario & Jakob Austin Young)
  • War Dogs (Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (SANADA, Ren Narita & SHO)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jeff Cobb (Cobb’s final match in NJPW)
  • Master Wato, YOH, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano vs TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita)
  • Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Katsuya Murashima & Daiki Nagai 

NJPW Wrestling Redzone – April 26 at The Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima, Japan:

  • IWGP World Tag Team Championships: Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan)
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Taichi vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito

NJPW Hizen no Kuni – April 29 at the Saga Arena in Hizen, Saga, Japan:

  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) defend against Master Wato & YOH
  • NJPW World TV Champion Great-O-Khan defends against El Phantasmo
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masatora Yasuda

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku – May 3 at the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan

  • Dogpound Steel Cage Match: WAR Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Maloney, Clark Connors & Taiji Ishimori) vs. House of Torture (EVIL, SHO, SANADA, Ren Narita, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Shota Umino
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Jado & El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & A Mystery Partner
  • Ryusuke Taguchi, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Jakob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
  • TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii & Yuya Uemura vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji
  • Master Wato, YOH, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano vs. Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa
  • Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Nagai

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku – May 4 at the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto defends against Callum Newman
  • IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Yuya Uemura
  • TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino vs. BUSHI, HIromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi
  • TAJIRI, Chikuzen Ryota, YOH, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.
  • El Phantasmo & Oleg Boltin vs. Konosuke Takeshita & A Mystery Partner
  • Stardom showcase: Wrestlers from Stardom face each other
  • Master Wato & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jakob Austin Young & Great-O-Khan
  • Batten Burabura & Mentai Kid vs. Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
  • Katsuya Murashima & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jet Wei & Hitamaru Sasaki

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night two live results: Moxley vs. Narita IWGP title match

Posted on by Chick Fritts

Jon Moxley defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in the man event of night two of NJPW Wrestling Dontaku. 

Moxley will put the title on the line against Ren Narita in the main event of today’s show. Moxley defeated Tetsuya Naito for the belt at last month’s Windy City Riot event. The winner of this match will defend against Shota Umino on next Saturday’s Resurgence pay-per-view in California. 

Three more title bouts are also set for today’s show. 

Nic Nemeth will make his second IWGP Global title defense in as many days as he faces David Finlay. Nemeth defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in yesterday’s main event. 

Shingo Takagi will defend the NEVER Openweight title against Gabe Kidd. 

Bishamon’s Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend the IWGP Tag Team titles against KENTA & Chase Owens. 

A series of tag team matches fill out today’s undercard, including two tag bouts on the pre-show beginning at 1:20 a.m. Eastern time.

TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) defeated Tiger Mask & Shoma Kato

TMDK spent a lot of time in this match picking apart their opponents. Kato tried challenging the veteran pair but couldn’t keep up for most of the runtime. Towards the end, Kato did gain a bit of footing, but it wasn’t enough. TMDK hit Kato with the power bottom to win the match.

Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan (United Empire) defeated DOUKI & Yuya Uemura (Just 5 Guys)

This match opened with an athletic exchange between DOUKI and Akira. Once Uemura tagged in, the pace slowed slightly, leading into a striking segment as O-Khan joined the action.

Akira and DOUKI tagged back in after a long time on the apron. Another athletic exchange followed, ending with a quick pin from Akira. 

Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. (TMDK) defeated Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb (United Empire)

This was solid. I loved the rib-work here and Fujita also added quite a bit. Good stuff.

The match kicked off with UE gaining a lead over Fujita. Once ZSJ tagged in, the match began to turn around for TMDK. To keep ahead, UE turned their attention to ZSJ’s ribs, which were worked over in yesterday’s TV title match.

With ZSJ on the defensive, Fujita was forced to tag back in. This time, Fujita held his own against UE, gaining enough of an upper hand for ZSJ to recover.

When ZSJ tagged back in, he took the fight to Newman. Newman tried targeting the ribs but wasn’t able to keep ZSJ down. ZSJ hit the Zack Driver and pinned Newman for a TMDK victory. 

Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo), El Desperado & Shota Umino defeated House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)

Ugh.

HoT kicked off this match with a beatdown in their typical faction. This led into extended periods of babyface isolation.

GoD were able to work together to overcome HoT’s isolation, at least for a while. This ended once HoT cleared the ring of GoD and turned their attention to Shota.

Eventually, the babyfaces managed to clear the ring of HoT. This left Shota free to focus on Yujiro. After a short offensive sequence, Shota hit Yujiro with Death Rider and won the match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Oleg Boltin defeated Just 5 Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)

This was fine. Oleg looked good as always.

Oleg started the match by establishing a strong lead over TAKA. Taichi stepped into the ring to challenge Oleg but also struggled to challenge Oleg. Only after being tossed around, Taichi landed a kick, opening the door for a J5G comeback.

J5G established a strong lead over Oleg that eventually set up the hot tag to Tanahashi. Tanahashi tried for all of his signature offenses but was overwhelmed by the J5G double team. TAKA secured a facelock that forced Oleg to make the save. Once Oleg hit the ring, Tanahashi was able to hit Taka with a sling blade and High Fly Flow to win the match.

After the match, Taichi and Oleg came to blows outside the ring. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) defeated BULLET CLUB (Clark Connors, Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney & Gedo)

This was one of the most lifeless War Dog matches I’ve seen.

The match opened with a short stint of LIJ control that ended once the War Dogs pulled Tsuji to the floor. From there, they wrestled a HoT-style match using weapons and underhanded tactics to take the lead.

Tsuji eventually secured the tag to the Hiromu, who tried turning the match around. Naito entered the match next and, with help from the rest of LIJ, gained a significant lead. Naito then hit Moloney with Destino, winning the match.

IWGP Tag Team Championship: BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (c)

This was bad.

The BC pair started the match by rushing Goto, establishing a lead that led to an extended isolation period. Once YH tagged in, he reversed momentum momentarily, but a lariat forced a match reset around the five-minute mark.

After the reset, Owens and Goto began trading moves. A short distraction allowed Owens to hit Goto with one of the tag belts, leaving Owens back in the driver’s seat. Owens landed a ton of heavy offense but failed to put Goto away.

YH hit the ring to help Goto, but another distracted referee allowed KENTA to land a chair shot. Goto was able to recover in this time, landing a double lariat to regain the lead. A GTW to Ownes scored a nearfall.

With Owens on the back foot, KENTA distracted the referee again. This allowed Owens to hit Goto with a low blow. KENTA followed up with a running knee. Owens then pinned Goto to win the match and the belts.

Owens and KENTA are once again tag champions.

After KENTA and Owens collected their belts, GoD and TMDK came to the ring to challenge the new champions.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) defeated Gabe Kidd

This match was wild—an absolute brawl for the ages.

Kidd kicked off the match with an intense staredown in the middle of the ring. Once the bell rang, both men ran at each other in an intense opening sequence. Both men traded heavy strikes until Kidd landed a suplex, gaining the first advantage of the match.

On the outside, Kidd connected with chops, whips, and headbutts to further his lead. Kidd whipped Shingo into the barricade so hard that the feed went out. To follow up, Kidd dropped Shingo with a chair shot and a suplex on the floor, nearly ending the match with a countout.

Back in the ring, a brainbuster hit Shingo, causing him to collapse. With a downed Shingo, Kidd turned his attention to Desperado. After spitting on Desperado, Kidd ran around the ring, giving Shingo time to recover. Shingo was able answer Kidd’s control with a barrage of strikes.

Shingo’s lead was cut short after Kidd landed a big suplex for a match reset at the ten-minute mark. Shingo was able to land a suplex of his own to take the lead back.

Shingo placed Kidd on the top rope. On the top, Kidd locked in a choke that forced the referee to break it up. Kidd then hit a brainbuster for a two-count. Kidd followed up with a superplex, but Shingo powered up and hit Made in Japan.

Another strike battle took place after Kidd reversed Shingo’s attempt to finish. After trading lariats, slaps, and headbutts, Shingo took Kidd’s head off with a pumping bomber. The follow-up Made in Japan was reversed into a piledriver. Before Kidd could follow up, Shingo landed a sliding lariat, grounding both men.

Another major strike-off ended with Shingo flooring Kidd. Shingo then tried for Last of the Dragon again, but again, Kidd hit another piledriver. The follow-up headbutt knocked Kidd loopy, making him unable to pin Shingo.

When Kidd tried for another piledriver, Shingo reversed. A quick sequence ended with a pumping bomber and driver of his own for a convincing nearfall. Finally, Shingo landed Last of the Dragon to win the match and retain his belt.

IWGP Global Championship: David Finlay defeated Nic Nemeth (c)

Finlay met Nemeth on the entrance ramp, kicking this match off with a brawl. Both men traded momentum on the outside before working their way to the ring.

In the ring, Finlay utilized basic strikes to take control. He then threw Nemeth back to the floor, where he drove him into the barricade. Once Finlay returned to the ring, he maintained this lead with more simplistic offense. Nemeth eventually fired back with some strikes and typical moves of his own.

After a reset, both men rolled to the floor. Finlay followed up by darting Nemeth into the turnbuckle post. Finlay then ran a lap around the ring for a running strike of sorts, but Nemeth sidestepped him, sending him crashing into the barricades.

Back in the ring, Finlay hit Oblivion for a nearfall. Finlay was able to maintain his momentum until Nemeth landed a Famouser from out of nowhere. Finlay held on, answering with a pair of powerbombs and an overkill. Finlay then pinned Nemeth, winning the match and the Global title.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Jon Moxley (c) defeated Ren Narita

House of Torture jumped Moxley on his way to the ring. Narita then attacked Moxley with a chair to further his opening lead. To keep Moxley behind, HoT handcuffed Shota Umino and left him on the ramp after dropping him with a chair.

In the ring, HoT beat down Moxley, but Moxley rallied, clearing the ring without help. Moxley then hit Narita with a chair and whipped him in and out of the ring.

Narita answered Moxley with a knee before beating him down with a barricade. Narita continued the assault in the ring, landing whips, knees, and suplexes to establish a lead.

Moxley cut off Narita’s lead with a curb stomp and a tope, completely reversing momentum. Moxley then set up a pair of tables. HoT tried distracting Moxley, but he responded by throwing Narita through the hardware.

Moxley continued to drop, strike, and slam Narita with ease for quite a while. Moxley locked in the sleeper, but a ref bump allowed HoT to rush the ring. El Desperado left the cometary booth to help Moxley.

Narita tried for the double cross, but Moxley avoided the finish; this led to a strike exchange where Narita held his own. Narita hit a suplex before climbing to the top rope, where Moxley met him for a superplex.

After Moxley hammered Narita with elbows and locked in a choke, the lights turned off. Once the lights returned, EVIL and Dick Togo were in the ring beating down Moxley. They hit the Magic Killer, choked him with a wire, and dropped him with the frame of a chair.

Somehow, Umino freed himself from the handcuffs and was able to make the save. After clearing the ring of HoT, Umino threw Narita to Moxley. Moxley landed a pair of Death Ridders and pinned Narita to retain the IWGP title.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one live results: Nemeth vs. Tanahashi title match

Posted on by Chick Fritts

NJPW’s two-night Wrestling Dontaku event kicks off today with a show headlined by an IWGP Global Championship bout. 

Nic Nemeth will make his first defense of the IWGP Global Championship in the main event against company president Hirsohi Tanahashi. 

A special singles match is in the co-main event position, with David Finlay facing Yota Tsuji. 

NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. will defend his title against United Empire’s Jeff Cobb. 

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley will team with Shota Umino and El Desperado against Ren Narita, EVIL, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Moxley defends his title against Narita in the night two main event. 

LIJ’s Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI face Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, and Gedo of Bullet Club War Dogs. 

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and Tiger Mask take on KENTA, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori. 

Hikuleo, El Phantasmo, and Jado face Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Kosei Fujita. 

Taichi and Yuya Uemura take on Great-O-Khan and Callum Newman. 

DOUKI and TAKA Michinoku face SHO and Yujiro Takahashi in the main card opener. 

The pre-show kicks off at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time with Togi Makabe and Katsuya Murashima vs. Boltin Oleg and Shoma Kato.

Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato defeated Togi Makabe & Katsuya Murashima

This pre-show match wasn’t anything special. Kato and Murashima looked fine but didn’t stand out. Like always, Oleg was presented strong and was a highlight here.

In the end, Oleg dropped Murashima to win the match for his team.

SHO & Yujiro Takahashi (House of Torture) defeated DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku (Just 5 Guys)

HoT started this match by rushing their opponents. As soon as J5Gs began to gain some footing, they took the action to the floor and retook their lead. From here, HoT maintained a strong lead for quite some time.

When J5G began to rally, Takahashi distracted the referee long enough to hit TAKA with his cane. Pimp Juice followed, leaving HoT with a win.

Taichi & Yuya Uemura (Just 5 Guys) defeated Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman (United Empire)

O-Khan and Uemura opened the match with a grappling showcase before tagging out to Taichi and Newman. After a short sequence between this pairing, O-Khan tagged back in, establishing a short lead before a two-sided knockdown forced a double tag.

Newman rushed Uemura, gaining a solid lead with fast offense. In the closing sequence, Newman tried for multiple finishing attempts. In the final moments, Uemura stuffed the OsCutter, and hit a sudden deadbolt suplex to win the match.

Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Jado) defeated TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)

Hikuleo and Nicholls kicked things off with a striking battle. Hukuleo won out, but a match breakdown followed soon after. Eventually, Hikuleo retook the lead by taking down Nicholls and Haste.

Once ELP was tagged in, TMDK reversed the momentum. They triple-teamed ELP, gaining a strong lead. Before they could close the match, ELP rolled up Haste to score a quick win.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Tiger Mask

Before the opening bell, the BC trio took the fight to the floor. Once the match found its way to the ring, the babyfaces were in control for a short time before BC resorted to their normal tactics to reverse momentum.

Owens and TMIV had a fairly extensive back-and-forth, ending with a Tiger Driver nearfall. Once Owens kicked out, he dropped TMIV, leading to a match breakdown. Once the ring cleared, Owens hit at C-Trigger and package piledriver to win the match.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) defeated BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd & Gedo)

The War Dogs cleared the ring as soon as the match began, leading to a showdown between Moloney and Naito. Meanwhile, Kidd and Shingo began to fight deep into the crowd. Connors and Hiromu followed their example, nearly leading to a count-out early in the match. Back in the ring, the Dogs worked to isolate Hiromu from his team.

Shingo eventually tagged in to challenge Kidd, leading to a powerful exchange. Once they calmed down, LIJ was free to work on Gedo. After everyone got their lick in, BUSHI forced Gedo to submit with a figure four variation.

After the match, Kidd challenged Shingo to a fight on the outside. Shingo denied the impromptu fight, responding with, “See you tomorrow.”

House of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated El Desperado, Jon Moxley & Shota Umino

HoT tried to rush the faces as the match began, but Moxley held them off. Once Umino was tagged in, HoT utilized their typical tactics to establish a lead.

Moxley and Narita eventually came to blows. Moxley dominated Narita, forcing Kanemaru to get involved. Moxley responded with a cutter before tagging in Desperado.

Desperado and Umino worked together to finish Kanemaru, but Narita distracted the referee. Dick Togo tried choking Desperado with his wire, but Moxley pulled him off. This led to a fight on the floor and a fully occupied official. Kanemaru then spit a mouthful of whiskey into Desperado’s eyes, bumped him into an exposed corner, and rolled him up to win the match for HoT.

After the match, HoT beat down Moxley, forcing Umino to make the save.

NJPW World Television Championship: Jeff Cobb defeated Zack Sabre Jr. (c)

This match was great, even if it fell apart slightly in the closing moments. This was built entirely around a rib injury, and they more than pulled it off.

In the opening exchange, ZSJ wrestled Cobb to the mat. Cobb responded post-rope break by taking ZSJ to the mat himself. Once Cobb proved capable, he began throwing ZSJ around the ring, establishing a significant lead.

A DDT from ZSJ opened the doop for a rally, but damage from Cobb’s offense was taking its toll on the champion. ZSJ managed to land a few strikes before hitting a suplex. Unfortunately for ZSJ, Cobb responded with a suplex of his own to retake the lead.

Cobb floored ZSJ before landing a moonsault for a nearfall. When Cobb tried to follow up, a desperate ZSJ landed a Zack Driver for a nearfall of his own. Once Cobb kicked out, he hoisted ZSJ to the top rope, but ZSJ transitioned to a sleeper from the corner. ZSJ then hit a mean powerbomb for a nearfall.

ZSJ tried for a kick, but Cobb reversed into a quick pin. Once ZSJ kicked out, the pair went back and forth until Cobb landed the F 5000. Cobb attempted a Tour of the Islands next, but ZSJ reversed. ZSJ then secured a submission on the mat, but Cobb managed to power through and hit Tour of the Islands. Cobb then pinned ZSJ to win the match.

For the first time this decade, Jeff Cobb is a singles champion in New Japan.

David Finlay defeated Yota Tsuji

Finlay established the match’s first lead by driving Tsuji into the barricade on the floor. Back in the ring, Finlay began to pick apart Tsuji with simplistic offense.

Tsuji eventually fired back with a splash and a rana, sending Finlay to the floor. A massive tope then sent Finlay up and over the first row of guard rails. Back in the ring, Tsuji utilized body scissors to cement his lead.

A dominator from Finlay placed him back in the driver’s seat. This was somewhat short-lived as Tsuji fired back with a backbreaker and a powerbomb for a nearfall. Tsuji then tried for his top rop curb stomp, but Finlay reversed into a cutter, buckle bomb, and oblivion for a false finish.

An inside cradle from Tsuji put Finlay back on the defense. Tsuji hit a curb stomp but collapsed right after, allowing Finlay to hold on. Finlay followed up with a collection of uppercuts.

A sudden knee from Tsuji opened the door for a rally. A powerbomb and curb stomp grounded Finlay long enough for Tsuji to land his top rope curb stomp.

When Finlay tried for Gene Blast, Gedo distracted him momentarily. Finlay hit a spear of his own, but Tsuji held on. Tsuji hit a quick spear before setting up for Gene Blast. When Tsuji tried for his finish, Finlay cut him off with a shillelagh strike. Finlay followed up with Overkill, his brainbuster knee strike variation, to win the match.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Nic Nemeth (c) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

This match kicked off with a prolonged feeling-out process. Nemeth eventually gained the upper hand by working on Tanahashi’s leg. A big DDT at the 10-minute mark scored Nemeth a nearfall.

Tanahashi caught Nemeth with a few strikes and a senton to take the lead. This was short-lived, however, as a double cross body acted as a match reset.

Tanahashi hit a sling blade and a standing body press to set up the first High Fly Flow attempt of the match. He missed.

Nemeth tried for Danger Zone, but Tanahashi answered with Twist and Shout and a sling blade for a two count. This led to Tanahashi’s second High Fly Flow attempt. Nemeth reversed. This left Nemeth free to hit Danger Zone twice, winning the match and retaining his Global Championship.

During Nemeth’s celebration, David Finlay hit the ring to attack the champion. Nemeth fought back, forcing a break up. Nemeth then challenged Finlay for a title match tomorrow night.

Tag match announced for NJPW Wrestling Dontaku

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has announced a new addition to the card for Wrestling Dontaku 2024.

Night two of the event will feature a Frontier Zone match with Togi Makabe & Katsuya Murashima teaming up against Jet Wei & Naoki Sakurajima. In Frontier Zone matches, NJPW wrestlers face off against competition from smaller promotions. The concept debuted in October 2023.

Wei and Sakurajima both wrestle for Kyushu Pro Wrestling. Wei, who is from Taiwan, is also representing his home promotion PUZZLE.

Katsuya Murashima and Togi Makabe will represent NJPW in the face of new faces from Kyushu Pro-Wrestling. Kyushu Pro have already been represented in the Frontier Zone before the World Tag League finals last December, but this time, new faces include Jet Wei, currently in his second excursion to Kyushu from his home in PUZZLE. With PUZZLE itself having been represented at Wrestling World 2024 this past weekend, how will Wei represent his host and home promotions, as well as his home country?

Wei’s partner will be Naoki Sakurajima. A 16 year veteran of the independent scene, Sakurajima brings a no nonsense hard hitting style to the ring, which has seen him compete in Osaka Pro, IGF, Wrestle-1 and others. Will he make a powerful mark on May 4? Don’t miss the Frontier Zone at Dontaku!

Wrestling Dontaku is being held in Fukuoka on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4. Makabe & Murashima vs. Wei & Sakurajima will be the pre-show match on night two.

Makabe & Murashima are also teaming together in the night one pre-show match, taking on Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato. Murashima and Kato are both Young Lions who debuted in November of last year.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2024 —

Night one (May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Nic Nemeth defends against Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Yota Tsuji vs. David Finlay
  • NJPW World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Jeff Cobb
  • Jon Moxley, Shota Umino & El Desperado vs. Ren Narita, EVIL & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gedo
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. KENTA, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori
  • Hikuleo, El Phantasmo & Jado vs. Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Kosei Fujita
  • SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura vs. Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Callum Newman
  • DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku vs. Yujiro Takahashi & SHO
  • Togi Makabe & Katsuya Murashima vs. Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato

Night two (May 4):

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley defends against Ren Narita
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi defends against Gabe Kidd
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against KENTA & Chase Owens
  • Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. David Finlay, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gedo
  • Nic Nemeth & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA & Taichi
  • Hikuleo, El Phantasmo, Shota Umino & El Desperado vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita vs. Jeff Cobb & Callum Newman
  • Yuya Uemura & DOUKI vs. Great-O-Khan & Francesco Akira
  • Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
  • Togi Makabe & Katsuya Murashima vs. Jet Wei & Naoki Sakurajima

Jon Moxley’s first IWGP World title defense set for NJPW Wrestling Dontaku

Posted on by Ian Carey

Jon Moxley will defend his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time next month. 

Wrestling Dontaku is scheduled for Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4 at the Fukuoka International Center. NJPW recently revealed the lineups for both nights. 

The show on May 3 will see the NJPW World TV title and the IWGP Global Championship defended. Nic Nemeth will make his first defense of the Global title against Hiroshi Tanahashi on the show. This match likely would have taken place at Windy City Riot had Tanahashi not suffered an ankle injury. 

Fresh off regaining the NJPW TV title from Matt Riddle on Friday, Zack Sabre Jr. will defend his belt against Jeff Cobb on the first night of Wrestling Dontaku as well. Cobb and ZSJ went to a time-limit draw at Wrestling Dontaku last year before ZSJ defeated Cobb the following month at Dominion. Cobb then defeated ZSJ in the G1 last summer to even up their head-to-head series at 1-1-1. 

On May 4, the IWGP World Heavyweight, IWGP Tag Team, and NEVER Openweight titles will be defended. 

Moxley will defend his IWGP Heavyweight title against Ren Narita on the show. Narita attacked Moxley following the main event of Windy City Riot on Friday as Moxley was attempting to announce he was giving a title shot to Shota Umino. 

Shingo Takagi will defend his NEVER Openweight Championship against Gabe Kidd on the show as well. Kidd attacked Takagi at Sakura Genesis after Takagi won the title from EVIL. Kidd then cut a promo that was heavily critical of NJPW before issuing a challenge to Takagi. 

An IWGP Tag Team title rematch from Sakura Genesis has also been announced. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI will put their titles on the line against former champions KENTA and Chase Owens. 

The next IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match has been announced as well. SHO will defend against DOUKI on April 29th’s Satsuma no Kuni event. 

Upcoming NJPW title matches:

  • Road to Wrestling Dontaku on Tuesday, April 23: NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, & Boltin Oleg defend against Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, & EVIL
  • Road to Wrestling Dontaku on Saturday, April 27: Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls defend against El Phantasmo & Hikuleo
  • Road to Wrestling Dontaku on Saturday, April 27: KOPW 2024 Provisional title holder Great-O-Khan defends against Yuya Uemura
  • Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni on Monday, April 29: IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors defend against BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni on Monday, April 29: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion SHO defends against DOUKI

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku on May 3, 2024 lineup —

  • Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima & Togi Makabe
  • TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI vs. SHO & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, & SANADA vs. Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, & Great-O-Khan
  • Jado, El Phantasmo, & Hikuleo vs. Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, & Mikey Nicholls
  • Ryusuke Taguchi, YOSHI-HASHI, & Hirooki Goto vs. Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens, & KENTA
  • BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, & Tetsuya Naito vs. Gedo, Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, & Gabe Kidd
  • El Desperado, Shota Umino, & Jon Moxley vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ren Narita, & EVIL
  • NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Jeff Cobb
  • Yota Tsuji vs. David Finlay
  • IWGP Global Champion Nic Nemeth defends against Hiroshi Tanahashi

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku on May 4, 2024 lineup —

  • Boltin Oleg & Shoma Kato vs. Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
  • DOUKI & Yuya Uemura vs. Francesco Akira & Great-O-Khan
  • Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb
  • El Desperado, Shota Umino, El Phantasmo, & Hikuleo vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, & EVIL
  • Nic Nemeth & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi & SANADA
  • BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, & Tetsuya Naito vs. Gedo, Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors, & David Finlay
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defend against KENTA & Chase Owens
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi defends against Gabe Kidd
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley defends against Ren Narita

 

New champions crowned at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku

Posted on by Ian Carey

Several titles changed hands at Wrestling Dontaku on Wednesday. 

The show took place from the Fukuoka Convention Center and was headlined by SANADA defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi. 

Hikuleo won the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship in the first title match of the night, defeating Bullet Club’s KENTA. The finish of the match saw KENTA hit a low blow followed by a Busaiku knee but Hikuleo countered a second knee attempt into a powerslam and then followed that up with a chokeslam for the win. 

In the second title match of the night, NJPW TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. and Jeff Cobb went to a 15-minute time-limit draw. ZSJ retains as a result. Chris Charlton mentioned on commentary that ZSJ will not be happy with this result and his program with Cobb will likely continue. 

New NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions were crowned at Wrestling Dontaku. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomohiro Ishii defeated El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita. The finish saw Okada pin Narita after a Rainmaker. After the match, the new champions were confronted by Shota Umino, who revealed that his former mentor, Jon Moxley, will return to Japan next month. It was teased on commentary that Mox, Umino, and a partner could challenge for the titles at Dominion on June 4. 

Wrestling Dontaku 2023 also marked the 10-year anniversary of Bullet Club. At Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Karl Anderson turned on Hiroshi Tanahashi and aligned with Prince Devitt, Tama Tonga, and Bad Luck Fale to form the faction. On today’s show, the group’s new leader David Finlay defeated Tonga for the NEVER Openweight Championship. 

After hitting a powerbomb on the ring apron and tossing Tonga into the post on the outside, Finlay had a clear advantage. He hit several power bombs on Tonga in the ring but refused to pin him in an attempt to get Jado to throw in the towel. After hitting his finisher a third time he finally pinned his opponent and won the title. Tonga had to be taken to the back on a stretcher. 

After the match, Finlay was attacked by El Phantasmo, who was recently thrown out of Bullet Club at Sakura Genesis. Phantasmo tossed Gedo out of the ring and then delivered a superkick to the new champion. Finlay tried to escape by Phantasmo dove out of the ring on top of him and continued his attack. He was eventually pulled off of Finlay by the young lions at ringside. 

In the night’s main event, SANADA successfully retained his title against Hiromu Takahashi. The finish of the match saw SANADA hit a shining wizard after several near falls and follow it up with his Deadfall DDT for the win. 

After SANADA made his post-match comments, a video similar to the ones that have been airing all tour was played. Yota Tsuji then returned to NJPW and attacked SANADA and the rest of the Just Five Guys stable. Tsuji held up the IWGP title over SANADA as the show came to a close. 

Elsewhere on the card, Aussie Open reclaimed their IWGP Tag Team title belts that had been physically stolen earlier on the tour by House of Torture’s EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi. They then challenged Bishamon and EVIL & Takahashi to a triple-threat match for the titles. 

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku on 5/3 results:

  • CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)
  • United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)
  • Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) & Shota Umino defeated United Empire (Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira & TJP)
  • Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)
  • NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Hikuleo defeated KENTA (c)
  • NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Jeff Cobb (Time Limit Draw)
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) (c)
  • NEVER Openweight Championship: David Finlay defeated Tama Tonga (c)

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA (c) defeated Hiromu Takahashi

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku live results: Five title matches

Posted on by Chick Fritts

Five title bouts headline today’s NJPW Wrestling Dontaku show. 

In the main event, SANADA defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi. 

In the semi-main, Tama Tonga puts the NEVER Openweight Championship up against David Finlay. 

Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita will defend the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship against Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii. 

Zack Sabre Jr. defends the NJPW World Television Championship against Jeff Cobb. 

KENTA defends the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship against Hikuleo. 

Cards for the Best of the Super Juniors tournament will also be announced during today’s event. 

The undercard: 

  • Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
  • Shota Umino, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Aaron Henare, TJP & Francesco Akira
  • Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita vs. Aussie Open & Great-O-Khan
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & YOH vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahahsi, SHO & Dick Togo
  • Young Lion gauntlet match (will not air on the broadcast): Ryohei Oiwa vs. Yuto Nakashima vs. Oskar Leube vs. Boltin Oleg

Our live coverage begins at 5 a.m. Eastern time. 

**********

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)

This match opened with Bishamon attacking EVIL and Yujiro, who had stolen the IWGP tag belts earlier in the tour. From here, the match continued in a brawl until Bishamon was alone in the ring with Togo. They hit Togo with Shoto and pinned him for a quick pin.

After the match, the fighting continued. Aussie Open made the save and took their belts back. Fletcher then made the challenge to Bishamon and HOT for a three-way title match.

United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)

Fujita tried to challenge as the match began, only to be outclassed by all of UE. Once Fujita finally tagged out, Aussie Open and Haste/Nicholls traded moves long enough for Fujita to recover.

When O-Khan and Fujita came to blows again, Fujita held his own. A German suplex to O-Khan forced Aussie Open to break up the tag. O-Khan responded with a suplex of his own and a sheep killer to win the match.

Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) & Shota Umino defeated United Empire (Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira & TJP)

Shota started the match by squaring off with Henare. Henare won out in the opening exchange, leaving the rest of UE free to isolate Shota for some time. Shota eventually tagged out to Knight, who was able to turn the match around for his team.

The match broke down with both teams hitting dives and fighting on the floor. Through all the chaos, KUSHIDA secured an inside cradle and pinned TJP for a sudden win.

After the match, Intergalactic Jet Setters and Catch 22 stared each other down. Henare and Shota also stared each other down post-match, but I think that was so they wouldn’t feel left out.

Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)

This match opened with a scramble, and J5G were able to isolate Naito from his team, at least in the early moments.

Taichi and Shingo soon came to blows. Both men traded strikes as if the KOPW belt was on the line before passing off the match to others.

There was a brief struggle for control before J5G secured three separate submissions in the middle of the ring. Taichi’s stretch plum forced BUSHI to tap out, leaving J5G with another win.

BOSJ Cards

May 12 – A Block: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Mike Bailey | Titan vs. TJP | Lio Rush vs. SHO | KUSHIDA vs. DOUKI | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Taiji Ishimori – B Block: El Desperado vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru | YOH vs. Robbie Eagles | Master Wato vs. Francesco Akira | BUSHI vs. Dan Moloney | Kevin Knight vs. Clark Connors

May 13 – A Block: Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI | Titan vs. Taiji Ishimori | SHO vs. Mike Bailey | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Lio Rush | KUSHIDA vs. TJP – B Block: YOH vs. Master Wato | El Desperado vs. BUSHI | Kevin Knight vs. Francesco Akira | Robbie Eagles vs. Clark Connors | Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Dan Moloney

May 14 – A Block: Lio Rush vs. Hiromu Takahashi | TJP vs. Mike Bailey | KUSHIDA vs. Titan | DOUKI vs. Taiji Ishimori | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. SHO – B Block: El Desperado vs. Master Wato | YOH vs. Dan Moloney | Robbie Eagles vs. Francesco Akira | BUSHI vs. Clark Connors | Kevin Knight vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

May 16 – A Block: Lio Rush vs. Taiji Ishimori | Hiromu Takahashi vs. SHO | KUSHIDA vs. Mike Bailey | DOUKI vs. TJP | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Titan – B Block: Master Wato vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru | El Desperado vs. Kevin Knight | Francesco Akira vs. Dan Moloney | BUSHI vs. Robbie Eagles | YOH vs. Clark Connors

May 17 – A Block: KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori | Titan vs. Mike Bailey | Lio Rush vs. DOUKI | TJP vs. SHO | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi – B Block: El Desperado vs. YOH | Master Wato vs. Dan Moloney | Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Robbie Eagles | Francesco Akira vs. Clark Connors | Kevin Knight vs. BUSHI

May 18 – A Block: KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi | Lio Rush vs. Titan | Taiji Ishimori vs. SHO | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. TJP | Mike Bailey vs. DOUKI – B Block: Master Wato vs. Robbie Eagles | YOH vs. Francesco Akira | El Desperado vs. Clark Connors | Kevin Knight vs. Dan Moloney | Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. BUSHI

May 19 – A Block: Hiromu Takahashi vs. TJP | Taiji Ishimori vs. Mike Bailey | KUSHIDA vs. Lio Rush | Titan vs. SHO | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. DOUKI – B Block: El Desperado vs. Dan Moloney | YOH vs. BUSHI | Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Francesco Akira | Kevin Knight vs. Robbie Eagles | Master Wato vs. Clark Connors

May 21 – A Block: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori | Lio Rush vs. TJP | Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Mike Bailey | Kushida vs. SHO | DOUKI vs. Titan – B Block: El Desperado vs. Francesco Akira | YOH vs. Kevin Knight | Robbie Eagles vs. Dan Moloney | Master Wato vs. BUSHI | Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Clark Connors

May 23 – A Block Finals – KUSHIDA vs. Ryusuke Taguchi | Hiromu Takahashi vs. Titan | DOUKI vs. SHO | Lio Rush vs. Mike Bailey | TJP vs. Taiji Ishimori

May 24 – B Block Finals – BUSHI vs. Francesco Akira | El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles | Master Wato vs. Kevin Knight | YOH vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru | Dan Moloney vs. Clark Connors

May 26 – BOSJ Semi-Finals – A Block Leader vs. B Block 2nd Place | B Block Leader vs. A Block 2nd Place

May 28 – BOSJ Finals

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Hikuleo defeated KENTA (c)

Hikuleo opened the match with a big boot, resulting in a knockout scare. KENTA baited Hikuleo while selling the boot, launching a prolonged attack on the leg.

During what started as a comeback, Hikuleo knocked out the referee with a big boot. KENTA took advantage, using a kendo stick to beat down Hikuleo. Hikuleo powered through, broke the stick, and hit KENTA with a powerbomb, but the referee remained down during Hikuleo’s pin attempt.

KENTA took control back as the referee returned to his senses. Hikuleo caught KENTA with a powerslam to turn momentum in his favor. A chokeslam from Hikuleo allowed him to pin KENTA, and win the Strong belt.

NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Jeff Cobb (Time Limit Draw)

Cobb established control early, using his strength to withstand ZSJ’s wrestling. ZSJ focused on Cobb’s leg, even while on the defensive.

A gut-wrench superplex from Cobb at the 10-minute mark was answered with a rally from ZSJ. Cobb held on before trying to close with Tour of the Islands. ZSJ reversed Cobb’s finish into a choke, but Cobb powered trough, launching ZSJ across the ring with a suplex.

With three minutes remaining, ZSJ started attempting desperate roll-ups. ZSJ then turned to strikes, which opened the door for Cobb to land Tour of the Islands. ZSJ rolled to the floor before Cobb could pin him. With the final seconds closing in, Cobb lifted ZSJ for multiple powerbombs, each time being caught in an arm bar. This played out until the clock expired, resulting in a time-limit draw.

After the match, both men seemed visibly frustrated with being unable to close. A rematch would be unsurprising.

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) (c)

The match opened with Tanahashi attempting to prove he was good to go following his recent injury. Strong Style were able to gain the upper hand until Narita tagged in.

Narita and Okada came to blows early, with Okada punishing Narita outside of the ring. A side eye from Tanahashi got Okada to calm down and return to the ring. After continuing his bullying for a while in the ring, Okada tagged Tanahashi back into the match.

Narita was able to tag to Suzuki, escaping punishment, at least for a moment. Tanahashi and Suzuki went back and forth for control, trading strikes and moves, but never giving up too much. Suzuki changed this trend with a targeted attack on Tanahashi’s broken ribs. Ishii saved Tanahashi from his anguish, buying him some time to recover.

Ishii then tagged in, as did Desperado, leaving the rivals free to go to war. Desperado was one foot ahead but failed to hit his finish. Ishii answered with a German and Desperado a spear. Desperado tried for Pinche Loco multiple times but was unable to connect. Ishii dropped Desperado with a headbutt, prompting another double tag.

Narita and Okada started fighting again. This time, Narita led the action to the floor and maintained a lead against Okada. Back in the ring, Narita continued to control the pace. Narita scored multiple near falls on Okada with suplexes before locking in a cobra twist that forced Ishii to make the save.

It took Tanahashi, Ishii, and Okada to take control back from Narita. Okada landed an air raid crash, a dropkick, and a landslide to set up the rainmaker. After connecting with the rainmaker, Okada pinned Narita to win the match and the Never Six Man belts for the dream team.

After the match, Shota Umino walked to the ring. He queued up an announcement for Jon Moxley’s return at Dominion, presumably for a six-man title match. The third man on the team is still unannounced. 

NEVER Openweight Championship: David Finlay defeated Tama Tonga (c)

Before the match could even begin, Finlay attacked Tama. Finlay and Tama then brawled to the floor before fighting deep into the crowd. The pair returned to the ring for a moment, but it didn’t take long for them to wander outside again. This time, Tama whipped Finlay into the barricade, establishing a strong lead.

Tama attempted Supreme Flow, but Finlay blocked with his knee. Finlay followed up with an Irish curse and a barrage of crossface strikes.

Tama turned the match around with a bloody Sunday before locking in a sharpshooter. After Finlay escaped, Tama climbed to the top, but Finlay shoved him off, sending him crashing to the floor. Finlay followed up with an apron powerbomb and a brutal throw into the turnbuckle post, nearly leaving him with a count-out victory.

Back in the ring, Finlay hit an eliminator, three powerbombs, and several intense strikes. With the end in sight, Finlay hit Oblivion twice but refused to pin Tama, trying to get Jado to throw in the towel. After the third Oblivion, Finlay gave in and pinned Tama to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.

After the match, a masked man walked to the ring and attacked Finlay. After clearing the ring of Gedo, the man removed his mask, revealing El Phantasmo. Phantasmo unloaded on Finlay, inside the ring and out.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA (c) defeated Hiromu Takahashi

Hiromu gained an early lead after landing an apron dropkick which he followed with a dropkick into the barricade. Hiromu connected with a rana and a falcon arrow to slow SANADA’s attempt to fight back.

SANADA landed a dropkick and a plancha to put Hiromu on the backfoot. Hiromu bounced back after escaping a dragon sleeper by connecting with a DDT and a slam into the corner.

SANADA held on through Hiromu’s advance before finally securing a dragon sleeper. Hiromu escaped, but SANADA followed up with a moonsault. On SANADA’s second moonsault attempt, Hiromu blocked and hit timebomb for a nearfall.

When Hiromu tried for timebomb again, SANADA escaped and hit a shining wizard. Hiromu held on, landing a German suplex in response. SANADA continued to advance, however, landing forearms to knock Hiromu senseless.

In a last-ditch, Hiromu landed a cutter and a dynamite plunger, a lariat, and timebomb 2; SANADA kicked out. SANADA tried for shining wizard, but Hiromu blocked. As Hiromu tried to follow up, SANADA caught him in Skull End. SANADA then hit another moonsault for another nearfall.

Hiromu tried for a Hiromu-roll, but SANADA answered with a shining wizard. To close, SANADA hit Deadfall and pinned Hiromu.

After the match, and SANADA’s closing promo, the video package with dinosaurs, falling buildings, and exploding planets played again. A monstrous Yota Tsuji walked out and attacked all of J5G, leaving them lying. Tsuji speared SANADA into the floor before taunting him with the IWGP belt.