Tag: road to dominion results

NJPW Road to Dominion results: NEVER Six-Man title match

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW’s Road to Dominion tour continued today with a show in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. 

The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships were on the line in the main event as Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI of CHAOS defended against Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI of Los Ingobernables de Japon. 

Below are results and a report on today’s show. 

**********

Recommended matches —

  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI 
  • Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan vs. Kota Ibushi & Master Wato (at least the post-match angle)

Report —

EVIL, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo (w/Dick Togo)  Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura (11:47)

This was a fun opener. Lots of action and everyone worked hard. 

EVIL and Uemura started off. Uemura out-wrestled EVIL, then tagged Honma. Honma tagged in and was cut off right away. EVIL hit a senton. Owens tagged in to continue the attack. Honma hit a back elbow and tagged Tsuji. 

Tsuji hit Owens with a senton. He went for a splash, but Owens got his knees up. While the other six guys brawled on the floor, Owens worked on Tsuji in the ring. Tsuji got tossed outside and hit with a Togo right hand. 

ELP tagged in for some break dancing and comedy offense. Ishimori tagged in and continued with back rakes on Tsuji. Owens tagged in. He hit a pump kick. Tsuji came back with a suplex, then tagged Tanahashi. 

Tana hit a jumping forearm to Owens, cleared the Bullet Club apron, then hit a baseball slide to Togo. Tana hit Owens with a dragon screw. He went for his Texas Clover Hold. He got it applied. ELP tried to break it up, but Honma intercepted him. EVIL jumped in to break it up. 

Owens blocked a slingblade attempt and hit a jewel heist. Ishimori got a tag. Tana blocked a handspring kick and hit twist and shout. 

Uemura tagged in and hit a running forearm and a back suplex for two. He went for an overhook suplex, but ELP jumped in to break it up. Uemura avoided an airplane spin neckbreaker. He went for a crab, but Ishimori blocked. 

Ishimori then connected with the Bloody Cross for the pin. 

YOH, SHO & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI (10:48)

This was good. I expect YOH and Desperado to have a great match on Monday. Desperado really upped his game at the end of 2020 and has been very good this year. 

YOH and Desperado began with a striking battle. Suzuki-gun turned it into a ringside brawl and cut SHO off. It was his role again tonight to sell most of the way. He came back with a spear to Kanemaru and Taguchi got a hot tag. 

Taguchi ran wild with hip attacks. He used three amigos to set up an ankle lock. Taguchi gave up the hold and went for Dodon, but Kanemaru blocked. Taguchi hit a hip attack, then missed a bumaye. 

YOH and Desperado tagged back in. YOH hit a flying forearm, then used a neckbreaker for a two count. Desperado blocked Direct Drive with a hair pull. YOH hit a jumping knee. Desperado countered with a spinebuster, then tagged DOUKI. 

DOUKI, Kanemaru and Desperado tripled up on YOH. DOUKI hit a springboard double stomp for a near fall. He used a triangle, but SHO saved. Kanemaru took out SHO. Taguchi took out Kanemaru. Desperado took Taguchi out with a spear. YOH hit a dropkick to Desperado. 

YOH blocked DOUKI’s Suplex de la Luna, then used the Stargazer calf killer for the submission. 

YOH and Desperado faced off after the match. Desperado pie-faced YOH, but there was no physicality in the angle besides that. 

Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki defeated Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Gedo (2:24)

They couldn’t top their effort last night, so they didn’t even try. 

Bullet Club jumped Suzuki-gun in the ring before Taichi’s song had finished playing. They fought around the ring on the outside. Sabre was briefly cut off in the ring. 

Tonga and Loa went for a Magic Killer on Sabre. Suzuki and Taichi saved. Sabre used a neck crank and a Clarky Cat to quickly submit Gedo. 

***** Intermission *****

Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan defeated Kota Ibushi & Master Wato (9:07)

O-Khan tried a sneak attack before the bell. Ibushi fought it off and landed a flying mid kick. Wato tagged in, but O-Khan came back on him with an elbow and Mongolian chops. O-Khan and Cobb traded tags and continued beating down Master Wato. 

Wato managed a dropkick and a reverse bulldog. Cobb and Ibushi got tags for a crazy sequence. Ibushi blocked a pop-up powerslam with a hurricanrana. Cobb did some of his impressive power spots and landed a deadlift throw out of the corner. Cobb landed another huge slam and tagged out. That spot was ugly. 

O-Khan tied Ibushi to the tree of woe. He missed a basement dropkick. Ibushi popped up to the top rope and hit a double stomp. Wato tagged in and hit O-Khan with a springboard uppercut forearm and a dreamcast for a near fall. 

Wato used a rolling heel hook, but Cobb broke it up. Cobb just started throwing Wato and Ibushi around. Cobb used a spinebuster on Wato. 

O-Khan used the iron claw to set up the Eliminator on Wato for the pin. 

**********

Ibushi and Cobb had a wild brawl after the match. Tsuji and Uemura jumped in to try to pull them apart. Just when you thought it was over, one of them would break free and the brawl would start all over again. They fought in the ring, then all around the arena. 

This was intense and awesome, a great angle. 

**********

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI to retain the titles (31:15)

This was an excellent six-man. The first ten minutes were slow, but they had to go quite a long time and that’s to be expected. 

Goto pinned SANADA in a tag yesterday, so those two began here. SANADA broke cleanly off the opening lock-up. They briefly grappled to a stalemate. 

Naito tagged in and demanded Ishii. Ishii tagged in, then Naito immediately tagged out to BUSHI. Ishii tried to go after Naito on the apron. As soon as Ishii turned his back, Naito jumped him. LIJ tried a 3-on-1 attack, but Goto and YH saved. CHAOS then went 3-on-1 against BUSHI. 

BUSHI found himself isolated in the CHAOS half of the ring. YH tagged in for some chops. Goto tagged in and the pace slowed. YH tagged back in for a vertical suplex. They were pacing themselves to go a long time. 

Naito grabbed YH from the apron and turned the tide in LIJ’s favor. A brawl broke out on the arena floor between Ishii and Naito. Naito used a kravate over the barricade. YH was then isolated in LIJ’s half of the ring. Ishii and Goto tried to make saves, but Naito and SANADA sent them to the outside. 

YH came back with a headhunter to Naito. Ishii got a tag and beat up all three members of LIJ on his own. Naito was the legal man. Ishii hit a back suplex for a near fall. Naito and Ishii had a crazy striking battle in the middle of the ring. Ishii got the better of the strikes. Naito hit a back elbow and sliding dropkick at the 15 minute call. 

SANADA tagged in for a cool sequence with Ishii. Ishii worked for a German suplex. SANADA avoided it once. Ishii got it on the second attempt. Goto tagged in and dispatched an interfering BUSHI, then hit a wheel kick in the corner on SANADA for a two count. 

Goto teased an ushigoroshi, but SANADA blocked. SANADA took his corner flip bump and hit Goto with an atomic drop. SANADA put Goto in the paradise lock, then broke it with a dropkick. BUSHI and SANADA cleared the CHAOS apron. Goto avoided a TKO and grabbed a sleeper hold. Goto used the sleeper to set up the rolling cradle he won with yesterday, but SANADA kicked out. 

Goto and YH doubled SANADA up and used the finish from yesterday for a near fall, with Naito making the save for SANADA. SANADA kicked at Goto’s spine. SANADA tried an O’Connor roll, but Goto blocked with a kick to the spine. SANADA hit a TKO into a double down. 

YH and BUSHI got tags. BUSHI hit a missile dropkick and a tope suicida. All six guys were down and out on the floor just past the 20 minute mark. 

Back inside, BUSHI used a DDT for a two count. CHAOS went 3-on-1 against BUSHI. Naito saved BUSHI from a headhunter. Naito hit Ishii with a dropkick off a BUSHI sunset flip. LIJ went 3-on-1 against YH. BUSHI hit a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. 

BUSHI missed an MX. Everyone jumped in and hit each other with a big move. Goto hit BUSHI with an ushigoroshi. YH hit a meteora for a two count. 

YH locked BUSHI in the Butterfly Lock at the 25 minute call. YH rolled through and hit a sit-out powerbomb for a two count. BUSHI blocked Kharma and rolled YH up for two. 

Ishii and Naito jumped in and teased their finishers on each other. Naito blocked a brainbuster with a DDT. Ishii no-sold it. Naito hit a flying forearm. BUSHI hit YH with a codebreaker and an MX. Goto jumped in to break it up. SANADA hit a plancha to Goto. 

BUSHI tried the MX again, but jumped off the ropes into a YH lariat. BUSHI went for a tag to SANADA, but Goto pulled SANADA off the apron. Ishii and Goto went for stereo ushigoroshis on Naito and SANADA, but they blocked. BUSHI used the BUSHI roll on YH for a super near fall. BUSHI and YH traded kicks. YH hit a lariat for a near fall at 30 minutes in. 

YH went for Kharma. BUSHI tried to turn it into a codebreaker, but YH got him in the Butterfly Lock. Naito tried to save, but Ishii caught him in a heel hook. BUSHI verbally submitted or the referee called for the stoppage with the Butterfly Lock still locked in. 

**********

Naito and Ishii stared each other down after the match. The best part of all of this is that it looks like a Naito-Ishii singles match will happen at Dominion if they ever get around to announcing a card. 

YOSHI-HASHI cut a quick promo and the champs posed with their titles to close the show.

**********

Here is the announced lineup for Dominion. More matches will be announced at a later date:

NJPW Dominion, Monday, June 7, 5 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. YOH
  • Kota Ibushi vs. Jeff Cobb

NJPW Road to Dominion results: IWGP Tag Team title match

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW’s Road to Dominion tour began today with a show in Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. 

The IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships were on the line in the main event as Guerrillas of Destiny defended against Dangerous Tekkers. 

Kazuchika Okada returned to action in the semi-main event after missing the Road to Wrestle Grand Slam events. 

Below are results and a report on today’s show. 

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Recommended matches —

  • Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
  • Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI 

Report —

Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated YOH, SHO & Yuya Uemura (11:36)

This was a good opener. Suzuki did some cool spots and Uemura and YOH were given the opportunity to shine. SHO’s role was to sell. 

YOH, SHO and Uemura fought off a sneak attack by Suzuki-gun at the opening bell. Suzuki-gun tried a second time and succeeded. SHO was cut off and worked over. 

Suzuki got SHO in a heel hook. Uemura tried to make the save, but Suzuki put him in a heel hook as well, while still keeping the hold on SHO. 

SHO came back with a double spear to Desperado and Kanemaru. YOH got a hot tag and had an extended exchange with Desperado. YOH hit a Pele kick into a double down. YOH tagged Uemura. Uemura and SHO doubled up on Desperado. 

Desperado blocked an overhook suplex and hit Uemura with a spinebuster. YOH saved as Desperado tried Pinche Loco on Uemura. Uemura cradled Desperado for a two count. 

Desperado used the threat of a ref bump to hit a right hand to Uemura. He followed with Pinche Loco and got the pin. 

EVIL, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo (w/Dick Togo) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi (12:38)

This was kind of a mess. Not enough comedy to be a good comedy match, not enough good wrestling to be a good wrestling match. 

Hontai briefly got the advantage on Owens. Honma tagged in and was quickly cut off and worked over. Taguchi got a tag and ran wild with hip attacks. 

Tanahashi and EVIL tagged in for the first real wrestling of the match. Togo tripped Tana from the floor. Tana hit two twist and shouts. He went for a third, but EVIL turned it into a fisherman buster. 

Tiger and Ishimori got tags. Tiger hit a Tiger superplex for a near fall. ELP jumped in for an airplane spin neckbreaker, then Ishimori followed with a Bloody Cross to pin Tiger. 

Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan defeated Kota Ibushi & Yota Tsuji (12:31)

Cobb went after Ibushi before the opening bell and the match started off hot. They did a couple of teases of signature spots, then Cobb rolled outside to slow the pace. O-Khan and Tsuji got tags. 

O-Khan quickly cut Tsuji off with a back elbow and a slam. O-Khan hit Mongolian chops and a double palm strike to the chest. Cobb tagged in for an impressive throw. O-Khan tagged back in and sat on Tsuji’s neck in the corner. Ibushi tried to save Tsuji, but he was sent outside. 

Cobb came back in for a delayed vertical suplex and a near fall. Tsuji hit a dropkick to Cobb for a hope spot. A second dropkick allowed him to tag Ibushi. 

Ibushi hit a springboard dropkick and a plancha to Cobb. He nailed O-Khan with a back elbow on the outside, then peppered Cobb with kicks inside. Ibushi hit a standing moonsault for a two count. 

Ibushi called for Kamigoye. O-Khan saved Cobb, then Cobb hit a pop-up powerslam for a near fall. Cobb called for the Cobbgoye. Ibushi blocked, but Cobb hit a lariat. O-Khan tagged in. He used a standing choke. Ibushi came back with a flying mid kick. 

Tsuji tagged in to meet his doom. He hit a series of strikes to O-Khan. O-Khan fired back with a chop. Tsuji hit a tackle and a splash for a near fall. Tsuji went for a crab, but O-Khan blocked and used a triangle. Tsuji slid out and hit a spear. 

Cobb saved O-Khan. Cobb and O-Khan doubled up on Tsuji. O-Khan hit a facebuster for a two count as Ibushi saved. Tsuji used two quick cradles for near falls. He went for a third, but O-Khan caught him in the claw and hit the Eliminator for the pin. 

Ibushi and Cobb stared each other down after the match, but there was no big angle here. 

***** Intermission *****

Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI (14:31)

This looked like it would be the best match on the show on paper. Had they been in the main event spot and given ten more minutes, they really could have done something special. Still, this was very good.

Shingo and Okada began. Shingo hit a chop. Okada took Shingo down with a snapmare, then sent him rolling outside after a sliding dropkick. They clearly didn’t want to give away too much this early. 

YH and BUSHI tagged in. BUSHI hit a rana and a dropkick and YH was cut off quickly. LIJ traded tags as they worked on YH. Okada, Ishii and Goto saved for YH and helped him cut Naito off. YH and Naito traded chops. Ishii tagged in and backed Naito into the corner. Naito hit a series of forearms. Ishii no-sold, then hit a brutal series of chops and forearms. 

Naito and Ishii traded forearms in the center of the ring. SANADA and Goto jumped in. Naito used the distraction to hit Ishii with a neckbreaker and a dropkick for a double down. 

Okada and Shingo got tags. Shingo hit a vertical suplex for a two count. Okada sold that big. Okada ducked a lariat and hit a running back elbow. He hit a back elbow in the corner and a DDT for a near fall. 

Shingo blocked the air raid crash neckbreaker. They traded strikes. Okada missed a dropkick. Shingo missed a sliding lariat. Shingo ran off the ropes into an Okada dropkick. This was more what would you expect from a tag preview of a big singles match. Good stuff. 

BUSHI and Goto tagged in. Ishii and YH cleared the LIJ apron and they went 3-on-1 against BUSHI. BUSHI blocked an ushigoroshi attempt and hit a backstabber to Goto. SANADA got a tag. Shingo, Naito and SANADA went 3-on-1 against Goto. SANADA hit a TKO for a near fall as Okada made the save. 

SANADA rolled through off a missed moonsault. Everyone jumped in for a big move. Naito took a flip bump for a YH lariat. 

YH hit a headhunter to SANADA, then Goto cradled SANADA for the flash pin. 

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (w/Miho Abe & DOUKI) defeated Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (w/Jado) to win the titles (26:08)

This was absolute madness. It was probably the best match these two teams have had this year. Technically it was far from a masterpiece, but it was a wild brawl between two teams who hate each other. 

Jado and DOUKI made a big show of going to the back before the match began, virtually assuring their involvement later. 

Tonga and Loa tried a double team on Taichi at the outset, but he fought them off. With that plan failing, then went after Miho Abe on the floor. Taichi went to fight for his wife’s honor. Tama grabbed her and forced her to watch as Loa attacked Taichi. Sabre tried to save, but got sent into the barricade. 

Taichi made it back in after a countout tease. He came back with an axe bomber to Tama. Loa and Sabre tagged in. Sabre used an octopus hold. Loa reached the ropes to force a break. Sabre hit a wild tornado DDT and tagged Taichi. 

Taichi hammered away at Loa with kicks. He dared Loa to strike with him, so Loa dropped him with a heavy forearm. They continued to trade. Both hit gamengiri kicks. Sabre used a neck crank on an interfering Tonga. Loa tackled Sabre. Taichi hit a backdrop suplex to Loa for a double down. Loa used an OJK. Taichi fought for a rope break. Taichi hit a rolling elbow. 

Tama and Sabre got tags. Sabre used Barry from Eastenders. Jado ran in and took the ref. Gedo ran in with brass knuckles. DOUKI ran in and slipped while trying a springboard attack to Gedo. DOUKI dragged Jado to the back. Loa saved for Tama. 

G.O.D. hit a Tongan Twist to Sabre for a near fall. Tama hit an assisted gun Stun for a near fall with Taichi saving Sabre. G.O.D. hit Taichi with a Magic Killer. Loa hit a diving headbutt to Sabre. Tonga hit a frog splash for a near fall. 

G.O.D. tried a super powerbomb on Sabre, but he hit a rana out of it. Taichi hit a double axe bomber to G.O.D., then revived Sabre. Sabre hit a PK to Tonga for a two count. Taichi and Sabre went for Zack Mephisto, but Loa saved. Loa got hit with Zack Mephisto. 

Tonga hit a low blow to Taichi and rolled Sabre up for a two count. Sabre blocked a Gun Stun and applied a choke to Tonga. Taichi jumped in for a gamengiri. 

Sabre and Taichi hit a Tensho Zack Driver to Tonga, then Sabre covered for the pin. 

Sabre and Taichi cut short promos after the match, then Miho Abe celebrated with the titles to close the show.

**********

Here is the lineup for tomorrow’s show:

NJPW Road to Dominion, Wednesday, June 2, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —

  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
  • Kota Ibushi & Master Wato vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
  • Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado
  • YOH, SHO & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs. EVIL, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo