New Japan Pro Wrestling will present a Road to Sakura Genesis show at Korakuen Hall on Thursday.
Two title matches are scheduled for the event. DOUKI will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against YOH in the main event. DOUKI is seeking his seventh successful defense across two reigns, which would move him past Will Ospreay, Nobuhiko Takada, and Ryusuke Taguchi in that category. YOH will be looking to win the title for the first time.
In the semi-main event, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships will be on the line. Champions Robbie X and Taiji Ishimori will look to defend the titles for the first time since winning them at NJPW’s 54th Anniversary Show on March 6, when they defeated the Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita).
Outside of the title bouts, the show will feature several multi-person tag matches and Konosuke Takeshita is also scheduled to face Tetsuya Matsumoto in singles competition.
***********************************
Shota Umino & Tiger Mask defeated KUSHIDA & Masatora Yasuda
Tiger Mask started things out with Yasuda, eventually isolating him from KUSHIDA by use of kicks. Umino overwhelmed the Young Lion momentarily with forearms, but KUSHIDA grounded him with arm holds. Yasuda collapsed after a gnarly chop from Umino, giving way for a beheading lariat and stole Konosuke Takeshita’s Raging Fire to win the match.
Post-match: Tiger Mask thanked the Korakuen Hall crowd for attending the show. He confirmed his final show would be in the famed venue on July 7. The masked veteran declared he’d be giving his final performance his full effort. Umino nearly left but decided to sit in on Takeshita’s title defense, which was next.
KUSHIDA was the perfect glue to this; while Umino and Tiger Mask sold their respective stories and Yasuda played the part his part as a typical Young Lion. There were quite a few moving parts to latch onto in what was ultimately a simple opener, and that’s a win in my book.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tatsuya Matsumoto
Matsumoto grappled a stoic Takeshita to the ropes and swung for the fences with his chops. Takeshita responded by swiftly wrenching control to the point he scoop-and-slammed the Young Lion on the padding outside. Matsumoto unwisely sought to flip his opponent over on the hard, exposed wood floor, cursing himself with another scoop-and-slam by Takeshita. Despite an unearthly loud chop to Matsumoto, Takeshita found himself on the surprising receiving end of a comeback by way of a shoulder tackle. A series of forearms and a Blue Thunderbomb quelled Matsumoto’s hopes, as Takeshita gained the pinfall victory.
Takeshita did his duty in selling his dominance ahead of his bout with Umino, very well done. However, that wasn’t even my main takeaway from this. The way Matsumoto wrestled, even in kayfabe, made this match a great spotlight for Matsumoto. Being a Young Lion and bringing such a fiery fight to a current champion who is shared among various wrestling promotions, that’s going to give him something to puff his chest about, even in defeat.
El Desperado, Taichi & Yuya Uemura defeated Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) & Master Wato
Wato briefly dropped Desperado with a tijeras takedown, but Uemura and Taichi. A nasty leg hold from Taichi weakened Wato as Uemura kept him alienated from his veteran partners. Makabe rampaged through the opposing team but couldn’t keep Uemura down; a Flying Crossbody sent Makabe to the mat. A King Kong Lariat trounced another Uemura comeback attempt.
Desperado and Taichi caught Wato, tripping him up into an accidental Kokeshi to Honma. Makabe halted Taichi’s hold on Honma, who got his revenge by way of his own Kokeshi. Taichi avoided another Kokeshi, answering with a sliding lariat. Honma endured more Taichi offense to unleash a Rocket Kokeshi. Taichi threatened Honma with a Black Mephisto, which the veteran leveraged into a pin attempt that reversed into a deep-sinking jackknife pinfall.
Post-match: Uemura and Makabe had a brief spat, which Wato, Desperado, and a Young Lion had to separate.
Honma’s downright funny in some of these multi-mans these days. I enjoyed the team of Taichi, Desperado, and Uemura.
House Of Torture (Chase Owens, Don Fale, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI), Aaron Wolf, Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano
Goto persevered after Owens tied him on the ropes. His comrades recovered from the traditional House of Torture opening beatdown to rain fists on the American. After Kanemaru and Takahashi weakened Goto further, Boltin entered the fray by decimating everyone, with a Double Suplex eliminating Takahashi and Owens. Narita fared little better, as he suffered a Boltin Shake and a Torture Rack. Kanemaru struck the Kazakh’s leg to help Narita sneak in a kneebar.
Wolf excited Korakuen Hall as his hot tag repeatedly dazed Fale. The massive Fale used his full weight to halt Wolf’s momentum, and a thumb jab to the midsection worsened things. Wolf unsheathed a suplex to the gargantuan Fale. Yano stripped a turnbuckle of its pad, which begat a House of Torture train steamrolling him in the opposite corner. Fale held the referee to the mat so that Owens and Kanemaru could overcome Yano with the latter’s whiskey bottle. An elbow drop secured victory for Fale and his cohorts.
Post-match: House of Torture ended things as they’d started, with yet another beatdown.
The only thing I found myself liking about this match was the comeback spots from Bishamon, Boltin, Wolf, and Yano. House of Torture did sell the offense of these five men well. As is well-documented by like-minded fans, I find that it isn’t necessarily heat I’m feeling towards House of Torture, but fatigue.
TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.) defeated Unbound Co. (Gedo, OSKAR & Yuto-Ice)
Ice subdued Oiwa, battering him with kicks and setting up a perfectly-placed Bomboclat. Oiwa battled his way out with a Tenzan Suplex. OSKAR caught Sabre immediately, denying any heated strike to permeate past his rage as he hurled the orange-clad Brit across the ring. Sabre worked on OSKAR’s knee, warranting a bodyslam to usurp his comeback. Jackson absorbed Gedo’s strikes like they were wads of paper thrown at him until he delivered a lariat. Missing a senton, Jackson found himself at the mercy of a headlock. Jackson took little time in recovering, finishing off TMDK with a Jagged Edge to Gedo for the win.
OSKAR and Sabre’s heat has built up so nicely that their confrontations in this match were earned, as were Oiwa and Ice. I liked this as a vehicle to get a Jackson pinfall victory, too. Not mind-blowingly spectacular, but a satisfactory and thoroughly entertaining match nonetheless.
United Empire (Callum Newman, Jake Lee & Zane Jay) defeated Unbound Co. (Daiki Nagai, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji)
United Empire pulled a page out of House of Torture’s playbook and struck as soon as the bell rang. Newman faced Tsuji in the ring, with the latter raining down fists in the corner. Takagi and Nagai joined Tsuji as the two splashed on Newman’s midsection. Enduring a lariat, Tsuji retaliated with a Seventeen Cross. Nagai dropkicked Lee, to which Newman exploited with a lariat and Excalibur to end the match.
Post-match: Takagi flung Newman off of Nagai. Lee brawled with Takagi, with Jay and Newman taking cheap shots at Tsuji. Newman, believing himself to be carrying the company, expressed his confidence in the Ryogoku Sumo Hall show. Takagi returned with a steel chair to chase off United Empire.
Nagai is coming into fine form; the more he’s been giving these closing moments, even if he takes the pin or taps out, makes him easier to root for. Given their limited interactions thus far, I think Newman and Tsuji will have excellent chemistry at Sakura Genesis.
Unbound Co. (Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori) (c) defeated United Empire (Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Ishimori waited for an opening in Akira’s arm control to daze him with a hurricanrana and dropkick. Akira thwarted Robbie’s Ishimori-assisted escalara, granting Young an opening to stomp a mudhole into the Bone Soldier. Robbie gave Ishimori a moment of respite as he unleashed a spirited offense, which culminated in a Flying Crossbody that rendered Young and Akira horizontal.
Young hit a Brainrot, leaving Robbie clutching his head. Ishimori’s Superstar Quebrada disoriented Akira, allowing him to apply the Bone Lock. Engaging the Bone Lock once more, Ishimori pivoted to grapple his Italian prey in the middle of the ring. Although a Jakob’s Ladder undoubtedly left him with a headache, Robbie mounted a comeback, aiding Ishimori with a Bloody Killer. Two 450-Splashes later from Robbie and Ishimori were enough for the former to gain the pinfall over Young to retain the titles.
Post-match: Kosei Fujita congratulated Robbie and Ishimori on their first title defense. He then issued a challenge for their belts. Ishimori replied in confirmation, telling Fujita to bring Robbie Eagles so they could run it back.
Young and Robbie have come a long way. I extend this mostly to Robbie, who was in spectacular form tonight and had Korakuen Hall’s attendees loud and enthralled.
Main Event
DOUKI (c) defeated YOH for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
YOH surprised DOUKI by striking first, unrelenting, tauntingly so, as he flung the champion into rows of chairs. Speaking of, he adorned one onto the head of DOUKI and threatened to swing another onto it when Referee Red Shoes denied him. Taking advantage of this distraction, DOUKI struck YOH with a pole. They found in the stands, leaving YOH staggering back down to the ring after DOUKI banged his knee on the floor. DOUKI returned outside to swing YOH’s leg into the ring post and pulled him back to the mat for a knee hold.
YOH managed a comeback with a lofty forearm spot. He then sent DOUKI into a table, knocking over President Hiroshi Tanahashi in the wreckage. Resuming focus on YOH’s weak right knee, DOUKI torqued it as strictly as possible. War erupted, with its munitions being forearms. YOH employed a Dragon Suplex. DOUKI mule-kicked Red Shoes so he could carry out his black mirror. Testing it out on Master Wato on Japanese commentary before failing ot do so on YOH. Using EVIL’s Darkness Falls, YOH refocused with a Scorpion Deathlock. SHO charged in, ringing the bell and attacking an innocent Young Lion with the hammer.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru accompanied SHO for an assault, but the latter suffered a kick to the midsection. Taking a swig of Kanemaru’s whiskey, YOH pulled SHO in for a kiss to spit the whiskey in his mouth. Referee Marty Asami took Red Shoes’s place, and then Referee Kenta Sato replaced Asami. Dick Togo united with DOUKI for a Magic Killer. Placing YOH’s head in a chair, Togo swung another onto it. DOUKI attempted Everything is Evil, to no avail. A Suplex de la Luna did the trick, securing a title retention.
Post-match: DOUKI demanded Tanahashi wrap the belt around his waist. When he was set to oblige, Tiger Mask approached with a challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
There’s something poetic about matches where House of Torture’s interferences and dirty tactics are unable to get the job done, but rather rely on tried and true clean techniques to win.
Final thoughts
Overall, a decent go-home show. Everything was either average to great (mainly the Junior Heavyweight matches), with the ten-man tag being the only sour spot. The key points of Tiger Mask’s impending retirement, Newman versus Tsuji, Knockout Bros versus TMDK, and the ascensions of Tatsuya Matsumoto, Daiki Nagai, Robbie X, and Hartley Jackson were particular standouts.
