NJPW was at Korakuen Hall today for another Road to Wrestling Dontaku event. Kazuchika Okada and YOH teamed up in the main event to battle future opponent SANADA and BUSHI in the main event.
The participants for this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament was also announced, and you can check out that information here.
Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Toa Henare defeated Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura and Shota Umino
Tsuji was highlighted during parts of the match, attacking Kojima before the match started. He got in some shine against Nagata, as did Umino. Henare cut off Uemura with a giant headbutt and suplex. He then scored the win following the uranage, which he calls the Toa Bottom. Fine opener.
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Ren Narita
Suzuki zoned in on Liger, since they will be squaring off in another tag match tomorrow as part of Liger’s 30th anniversary under the gimmick. A solid match, not much more. Suzuki wore him down with a half crab. Narita kicked out of an assisted spear by Desperado, but fell to the angel’s wings.
Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi and Taka Michinoku defeated Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI and Rocky Romero
Same structure as the other matches. Story was that Romero, as a result of the Ibushi/Naito storyline, was shuffled to teaming without his CHAOS teammates. He and Taichi were at it near the end, with Taichi eventually cutting him off and submitting him with a new neck crank submission.
Sabre attacked YOSHI-HASHI after the match, taking his arm, then took down the young boys that tried to stop him. That could be a future program.
Juice Robinson, Mikey Nicholls, Toru Yano and Togi Makabe defeated Guerillas of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens
The commentators pushed there was some dissension between Jado and Tama Tonga on social media. They argued in the ring, but then Jado attacked their opponents with kendo sticks, so it was pretty much just a swerve.
Yano immediately took out one of the turnbuckles. Heels were in control but Juice made the same for his team as the crowd came alive. Owens tried for the package piledriver, but Nicholls cut him off. Robinson came in with a punch, then Nicholls pinned Owens with the Mikey bomb.
Hirooki Goto, Dragon Lee and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Taiji Ishimori and Hikuleo
Goto and Jay White were the highlights here as the two faced off during the match. Hikulelo also got some time to shine and is progressing well, After Goto sent White out, Hikuleo came in and ate the GTR, giving Goto the win.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and Shingo Takagi defeated Kota Ibushi, Tomohiro Ishii and SHO
Both EVIL and Naito worked on Ibushi for a good while. EVIL was working on Ibushi when Ishii came in and kicked him square in the back. EVIL responded by giving Ishii a punch that sent him to the floor. Ibushi finally tagged in Ishii who came in like a ball of fire against EVIL.
Takagi and SHO had a short sprint before Naito came in and have him a hurricanrana off the top rope. Everyone came in and did a big move. SHO hit his deadlift German suplex on Naito, but he kicked out. He went for the shock arrow, but Naito blocked in and Shingo came in for the assist.
Takagi laid out SHO with the pumping bomber, then Naito pinned him following the Destino. This was easily the best match of the night, a great six man tag with a hot crowd.
Kazuchika Okada and YOH defeated SANADA and BUSHI
A very good main event. YOH and BUSHI looked great here, as did Okada and BUSHI when they were in. They stepped it up and had a really fun match.
Juniors and heavys paired off early. BUSHI reddened YOH’s chest with hard slaps, it looked ugly. Okada and SANADA came in and did their part. SANADA put Okada in the paradise lock and dropkicked him.
BUSHI and Okada went at it on the outside, but SANADA catches Okada with the skull end. He escapes and counters by driving him and BUSHI over the guardrail with a kick. YOH, who was at the bleachers area in the crowd, jumped off with a tope con hilo that wiped everyone out.
YOH and BUSHI had another hot exchange toward the end before Okada laid out BUSHI with the dropkick and a tombstone. Okada sunk in the cobra clutch (which could play in a role in his upcoming match against SANADA), then hit the rainmaker for the win.
Both Okada and YOH cut promos to close out the show. YOH had to repeat his catchphrase several times for whatever reason.
NJPW continued their Wrestling Dontaku tour today in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.
The show was well-paced and easy to watch, but featured little in the way of must-see matches.
The undercard saw the continuation of some feuds, the highlight being the 10-man tag.
In a late switch, Rocky Romero’s spot in the 10-man was taken by Kota Ibushi. Ibushi’s team faced off against Tetsuya Naito’s LIJ squad. The issues between Ibushi/Naito, which have produced a series of classic matches, look to be continuing.
Naito challenged Ibushi at the conclusion of Saturday’s show, which led to the change in today’s card. Ibushi will be slotted in tags against Naito for the remainder of the tour as well.
The Young Lion team worked over Honma at the outset. Nagata tagged in and reversed his team’s fortunes. Kojima saw some action and used a half crab on Uemura, but Tsuji broke it up with chops.
Honma tagged back in and hit a kokeshi. Nagata used a full crab on Uemura, who reached the ropes. Uemura hit a dropkick, and Narita tagged in. I’ve been impressed with Narita on this tour. He hit a belly-to-belly on Nagata for a near fall. Nagata hit his own belly-to-belly and tagged Kojima.
Kojima hit machine gun chops on Narita. He went for his top rope elbow, but Tsuji cut him off. Tsuji, Narita and Uemura hit a triple dropkick on Kojima, which was awesome. It got a nice reaction.
Tsuji used a full crab on Kojima, but Honma broke it up. Tsuji hit Honma with a spear, but Kojima recovered and hit a Koji Cutter for a near fall. He followed with a lariat for the pin. A good opener.
MINORU SUZUKI, YOSHINOBU KANEMARU & EL DESPERADO DEFEATED JUSHIN LIGER, TIGER MASK IV & SHOTA UMINO
They continued the storyline that kicked off on Saturday, with Suzuki going after Liger. Suzuki-gun jumped their opponents right as the bell sounded, and they focused their assault on Liger.
The match spilled into the crowd, and Suzuki rearranged the chairs in the first few rows, dropping them on Liger. Suzuki also used a triangle over the ropes. Desperado and Kanemaru went for Liger’s mask, but he managed to keep it on.
Liger finally made a tag to Tiger Mask. Tiger ran wild with kicks and knee strikes. He hit Kanemaru with a Tiger Driver, but could not follow up with a cover. Umino and Suzuki tagged in. Umino hit a missile dropkick.
Umino went for a fisherman buster, but Suzuki blocked it. Suzuki locked on a choke, but Liger broke it up. Liger and Suzuki traded strikes, with Suzuki getting the better of the exchange.
Umino picked up a series of near falls off a cradle, a roll-up, and a backslide. Suzuki recovered and hit the Gotch piledriver for the pin.
The match was good, all action. Although the real highlight here was the continuation of the Liger vs. Suzuki issue.
ZACK SABRE JR., TAICHI & TAKA MICHINOKU DEFEATED YOSHI-HASHI, ROCKY ROMERO & TOA HENARE
Aside from the opener, this was the only match on the show without a clear storyline purpose.
Romero started off for his team, and he had his working boots on. Suzuki-gun used some underhanded tactics and turned the match into a brawl. Taichi went after Henare with a chair in the crowd.
Suzuki-gun worked Romero over. YOSHI-HASHI and Sabre got tags, and they had a nice exchange. Sabre gave YOSHI-HASHI a good bit of offense before taking over and working on the left arm.
Henare and Taichi tagged in. Henare hit a spear. Henare missed a charge into the corner. Taichi took his pants off and hit a buzzsaw kick for a two count. Taichi hit a lariat, then used a stretch plum on Henare for the submission.
A crazy match. Great stuff. If you watch one match from this show, make it this one.
EVIL and Ishii started off. They teased their finishers and countered out of them. Okada and SANADA did the same. SHO, YOH, Shingo and BUSHI also did a series of teases and counters of their trademark spots.
Ibushi and Naito entered, and they went about a thousand miles an hour. Ibushi went for a standing moonsault, but Naito got his knees up. YOH ran wild with dragon screws. BUSHI hit a codebreaker. YOH hit a falcon arrow.
The chaos continued as everyone jumped in for a big move.
The finish saw SANADA use a giant swing into the Skull End on YOH, who tapped out.
After the bell, EVIL and Ishii went at it again. Ishii nailed EVIL with a headbutt from the apron.
BAD LUCK FALE & CHASE OWENS DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON & MIKEY NICHOLLS
This was quick. They tried to tell a story, but the crowd wasn’t that into it. This was the weakest match on the show to this point.
Owens used a backbreaker to break a Juice headlock, while Fale took Nicholls to the floor. Juice hit a full nelson slam into a double down. Fale and Nicholls tagged in. Nicholls dropped Fale with two lariats.
Fale hit a shoulder tackle, then tagged Owens. Owens hit a series of strikes. He used a running knee for a near fall. Juice and Fale jumped in. Juice tried to slam Fale, but he failed. He did connect with a cannonball.
Nicholls hit a sliding lariat and a Mikey Bomb on Owens, but Fale broke up the pinfall. The ref took a bump. Fale hit Nicholls with a Grenade, and Owens used a package piledriver on Nicholls for the pin.
NEVER OPENWEIGHT SIX-MAN TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: TOGI MAKABE, TORU YANO & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI DEFEATED TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & HIKULEO TO RETAIN THE TITLES
I have probably missed at least one ref bump and two weapons shots in recapping the action here. This was very silly.
Bullet Club jumped the champs before the bell, and they brawled all around the arena. The crowd was quiet for this. Tonga and Loa doubled up on Yano in the ring, and the crowd started to get into it.
Yano started making a comeback. He untied a turnbuckle pad. Jado cut him off with a kendo stick shot from the floor. Hikuleo sent Yano into the exposed buckle. The challengers continued working over Yano for several minutes.
Yano finally got free and made a tag to Taguchi. Taguchi ran wild with hip attacks. Makabe made a tag, then hit 10 punches in the corner on Tonga. He followed with a northern lights suplex for a two count.
Hikuleo and Loa jumped in to save Tonga. They tripled up on Makabe. Tonga hit a splash. Loa made a cover, but he was not the legal man. Referee Red Shoes made the correct call.
While Hikuleo took the ref, Jado jumped in. He swung the kendo stick, but accidentally hit Tonga. Makabe hit the King Kong knee drop for a near fall.
There were more shenanigans. Hikuleo took the ref again, and Loa jumped in with the kendo stick and hit Makabe. Yano used a chair on Hikuleo from the floor, and Makabe covered for a near fall.
Makabe followed with another knee drop off the top on Hikuleo and picked up the win.
After the match, Makabe laid out Tonga and Loa, while Yano ran off with all of the Guerrillas of Destiny’s titles.
TAIJI ISHIMORI & JAY WHITE DEFEATED HIROOKI GOTO & DRAGON LEE
Ishimori and Lee have fantastic chemistry. They face off on May 3 for Lee’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, and I cannot wait for that match.
Ishimori and Lee started off here, and they had a brief, electric sequence. White and Goto tagged in. White used a side headlock, then dumped Goto over the top rope with a Saito suplex. Goto and Lee ended up whipped into the barricade. Ishimori went for Lee’s mask.
They teased a countout with Goto on the floor. He made it back in at 19, but White immediately sent him back to the floor. White sent Goto into the ring frame and the barricade, targeting his back.
Ishimori tagged in and continued to work on Goto’s back. White tagged back in for more chinlocks. Goto made his own comeback, hitting a double sledge on White and a lariat on Ishimori.
Lee got a tag. He ran wild with dropkicks, hitting White once, and Ishimori three times. Ishimori countered a Desnucado, sitting down for a near fall. The two traded strikes. Ishimori hit La Mistica, then a standing Spanish Fly into a double down.
Goto asked for a tag, but Lee refused, wanting to continue fighting Ishimori. Lee hit a snap German suplex, a poison rana, and a lariat into another double down. This time, both men tagged out.
Goto hit White with a mid kick. He followed with a lariat in the corner, a wheel kick, and a Saito suplex for a two count. Goto went for an ushigoroshi, but White countered with his own Saito suplex.
White used a DVD for a two count. He hit a lariat and went for a Kiwi Krusher, but Lee saved Goto. Ishimori entered to go after Lee. Goto hit a lariat on White, and all four men were down.
Goto and White teased their finishers. White hit a flatliner and followed up with a suplex. Goto blocked a Blade Runner, hit a headbutt, then used an inverted GTR for a near fall.
Goto went for another GTR, but Gedo jumped on the apron for a distraction. White went for the Blade Runner, but Goto hit him with an ushigoroshi. Ishimori jumped in and also ate an ushigoroshi. Lee hit a suicide dive.
Goto went for an ushigoroshi on Gedo, but White hit a low blow, then hit the Blade Runner for the pin. The screwy finish didn’t help things, but this was a good main event.
Ibaraki was home this morning to the first Road to Wrestling Dontaku card, headlined by a ten man tag team match pitting members of CHAOS against members of Los Ingobernables de Japon. Here are results from this morning’s event:
Yota Tsuji defeated Yuya Uemura
Basic, simple opener. Most young lion singles matches end in draws, but Tsuji got the submission win here with the boston crab, marking the first singles win of his career.
Toa Henare defeated Ren Narita
Another pretty basic match, the kind of formulaic bout you’d see between a young lion and someone further up the card. Narita made a hot comeback, but Henare cut him off with a headbutt and won with the uranage.
Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado defeated Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Shota Umino
A good match. Match started with the usual Suzuki-gun brawling. Kanemaru gave Umino a guillotine leg drop across the barricade. Suzuki-gun made sure to work over him a lot. He got some close near falls on Suzuki, but quickly fell to a Gotch piledriver once Suzuki connected.
Guerillas of Destiny and Taiji Ishimori defeated Togi Makabe, Toru Yano and Tomoaki Honma
Bullet Club basically did what Suzuki-gun did and brawled with their opponents throughout the crowd. It’s okay if one stable does it, but two is kind of overkill. Another okay match. Honma survived a Jado kendo stick shot, but was no match for Tanga Loa’s sitout piledriver, which ended the match.
Yano once again took possession of the IWGP tag belts after the match, which led Tama Tonga to chase after him into the back.
Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto, Mikey Nicholls and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens and Hikuleo
Juice has very…loud new ring gear. Another formulaic tag match, but people did get into Juice. Hikuleo seems more confident in the ring even though he’s still pretty green. Juice cut him off and hit the pulp friction for the win. Fale stared him down after the match, as that is the next US title program.
Kota Ibushi, Jushin Thunder Liger and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi and Taka Michinoku
Naturally, the highlight was the faceoff between Sacre and Ibushi, who go at it at the end of this month. Taichi set hits sights on Liger, who he threw into a bunch of empty chairs outside the ring. This ended up being another solid match that the crowd got into. Ibushi took out Sabre with a dive to the floor as YOSHI-HASHI hit a lariat on Michinoku. He followed up with karma and scored the pinfall for his team.
Suzuki-gun jumped the faces after the match. Sabre laid out Ibushi with the Zack driver and held both the IC and British Heavyweight titles over the fallen Ibushi.
Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA and Shingo Takagi defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Roppongi 3K
SANADA and Okada, the two that will face off next month for the IWGP title, squared off first. EVIL and Ishii had a huge striking battle, while the two junior tag teams went after each other as well. Naito, whose storyline on this tour seems to be that he has nothing to do, paired off with Rocky Romero.
SANADA tried to put Okada in a paradise lock at one point, but failed to do so. That may play into their future match. EVIL put Ishii in the sharpshooter, then Naito scored the win over Romero with the Destino. A fine house show main event, but nothing special in the larger scope of things.
Naito closed off the show with a promo and the LIJ roll call.
Two big singles matches made Road to Wrestling Dontaku a memorable show.
This morning’s show at Korakuen Hall had a big main event, where Jay White finally delivered in a big way, squaring off against David Finlay who proved he can hang at a main event level. Meanwhile, Henare and Tomohiro Ishii had a hell of a brawl, made great by the heat throughout the entire match. If you need to watch only two matches from this card, those are your best choices though there was a ton of great build towards the Wrestling Dontaku shows next weekend.
Here are results from this morning’s card:
Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tomoyuki Oka defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ren Narita and Shota Umino
Umino was eager to get in and showed a lot of fire throughout the match. Nagata locked Umino in an armbar, but his team broke it up. Umino struck Nagata with some hard slaps, but Nagata took him down, landed an exploder and sunk in the Nagata lock for the submission victory in a solid opener.
Taichi, Taka Michinoku and Takashi Iizuka defeated SHO, YOH and Rocky Romero by DQ
This is the third time these three are facing one another on the tour. Last time, Iizuka caused a DQ by using the iron fingers of death. This played to the finish of tonight’s bout as Iizuka was looking to use them again on SHO, but he escaped. He went to use it again, but this time SHO’s teammates kept him at bay.
It still ended in a DQ, unfortunately. Taichi was about to use the microphone stand as a weapon. SHO got in a tug of war with him, and Taichi let it go. It struck the referee on accident, and since SHO was holding it he was disqualified. This isn’t a particularly interesting feud on this tour.
Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin and KUSHIDA defeated Will Ospreay, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI
KUSHIDA and Ospreay started things out with a opening stretch that you gotta see, it was amazing. Basic, solid back and forth match that was pretty solid overall. Makabe picked up the win with the King Kong Knee drop on Yano.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Henare
This was great. Ishii can get anyone into a match and knows how to make his opponents look great. Henare has a ton of potential Still green in some areas, but knows what kind of style he wants to do and demonstrated it here with Ishii, who was more than up to the task.
Things start off pretty basic. Some test of power spots. Ishii caught him in a Boston crab, but Henare escaped. Henare fired back with a shoulder tackle, then another off the top rope. Ishii cut him off, lands a number of forearms and plants Henare with a German.
Ishii hit a belly to back suplex, but as he was going for something else Henare trapped him in a pop-up Samoan drop. Henare got the better of Ishii in a slap battle and hit a spear for a great near fall. Ishii fought back, but ate another lariat by Henare.
Ishii rebounded and hit the sliding D, but Henare kicked out. He went for the brainbuster, but Henare turned it into a cradle. Henare went for a uranage but Ishii blasted him with a lariat that turned him inside out. He followed that with the brainbuster for the win.
Minoru Suzuki, Killer Elite Squad, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Desperado defeated Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi
Suzuki-gun had new music tonight as they came to the ring. It was fine.
LIJ jumped Suzuki-gun at the bell, but the tides soon turned as everyone brawled out of the ring, including Suzuki and Naito who battled into the crowd. Heels worked over BUSHI for a bit before tagging in SANADA, who cleared house.
Eventually it went to Naito and Suzuki, the latter working on the former’s bad leg which will very likely play a big part in their Intercontinental title match. It became a melee from here. BUSHI tried to take out Suzuki but it was of little use. He then grabbed Takahashi and planted him with the Gotch piledriver for the win.
Suzuki said some words after the match, all while resting his foot on Naito’s body. He made his exit, but Naito got on the mic and said some words to Suzuki, which he didn’t like.
Another video for the return of Bone Soldier. You’re all so excited, I’m sure.
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto and Gedo defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Juice Robinson
Tanahashi and Okada went it at it. Story seems to be that heading into their match at Wrestling Dontaku, Okada is dominating Tanahashi, as he did so early on in the bout as well as after. After Goto and Juice went at it, Taguchi and Gedo were in the ring. Taguchi dominated until Okada broke things up and worked over Taguchi.
Taguchi’s teammates came to the ring to break things up, but Okada preserved and hit the elbow. Tanahashi tried to interfere, but Okada took him out with a dropkick. Okada looked like he was about to finish Taguchi, but instead leapt out of the ring and tombstoned Tanahashi. Back in the ring, Taguchi tried to outcounter Okada, but instead Okada caught him on the floor with the cobra clutch. Taguchi tapped soon after, ending a relatively fun bout.
Okada grabbed Tanahashi after the match like he was going to tombstone him on the outside again, but referees and other personnel stopped it before it could happen.
Jay White defeated David Finlay to retain the IWGP United States title
Great main event. The question here was if Finlay would bring it at this level, and the answer is a resounding yes — he was a great babyface here and people bought into him quickly, especially when he sold. White felt more in his element here than in recent high profile matches and it resulted in a great, heated match.
Very fast paced back and forth to start things off. Finlay got the advantage and took him into the crowd, where he threw White into nearby chairs. White cut him off and hit a neckbreaker off the middle rope.
White wore down Finlay with submissions, including the Muta lock. Finlay took White and clotheslined him to the floor. More fast action follows inside the ring. White blasts Finlay with a German suplex and connected with a brainbuster. White, in a callback to their Young Lion days, put Finlay in a in a Boston crab then transitioned into the liontamer position before Finlay escaped.
White backdropped Finlay out of the ring and onto the floor, then followed with a snap back suplex. Back in the ring, Finaly dodged a turnbuckle shot and does it to White instead. He clobbered White in the back of the head with a lariat and hit a spear for a nearfall.
Finlay went for the stunner, but White spit at him instead, which Finlay didn’t like and retaliated with a STO. At this point, he introduced a table into the match . Both men fight on the apron as Finaly finally connected with a death valley driver. White somehow finds the wherewithal to grab Finlay and powerbombed him onto the table, which didn’t break, because this is Japan.
The two struggled to their feet as they exchanged blows. White went for the bladerunner, but White connected with a lumbar check and a last shot. Finlay lifted White up for something, but he countered and hit the bladerunner for the win.
After the match, White said that it was a valiant effort on Finlay’s part and that he deserved to be in main events. But he doesn’t deserve to be in the ring with him and tells the attendants to take him out in not so nice terms. He asks who is next, as he doesn’t know. He’ll keep an eye on the match between Okada and Tanahashi. He finished by saying either way, they will bleed with the Switchblade.
New Japan Pro Wrestling ran something of a “B show” in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on Saturday.
The legendary fifth-floor venue hosted its second consecutive event, kicking off the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and top contender Hiroshi Tanahashi did not wrestle on the show, and the main event served to further the IWGP Intercontinental, Tag Team, and Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title feuds, featuring the warring Suzuki-gun and Los Ingobernables de Japon stables.
The undercard featured another tag battle between the Taguchi Japan squad and the CHAOS faction, which saw United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, and Junior Heavyweight title holder Will Ospreay in action against their future challengers, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and KUSHIDA.
Below are the results from Korakuen Hall —
– Ren Narita defeated Yota Tsuji via submission with a Boston Crab.
– Yuji Nagata defeated Shota Umino via submission with a Nagata Lock.
– Tomoyuki Oka, Ryusuke Taguchi & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi, Tiger Mask IV & Hiroyoshi Tenzan when Oka made Yagi tap out to a Boston Crab.
– Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Takashi Iizuka defeated Roppongi 3K (SHO, YOH & Rocky Romero) when Taichi pinned SHO after a Tensho Juji Ho.
– Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Toa Henare & Togi Makabe when Ishii pinned Henare after a vertical brainbuster.
– David Finlay, KUSHIDA, Juice Robinson & Michael Elgin defeated IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jay White, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
White and Finlay started off, and White looked motivated to match Finlay’s recent intensity. He teased using a chair, but thought better of it. Ospreay and KUSHIDA tagged in and did an electrifying sequence — some really state of the art stuff from two of the best in the world.
Ospreay started selling his neck, and the Taguchi Japan team went to work on the champ. Ospreay initially countered some of Elgin’s power moves, so Elgin went to an enzuigiri and a slingshot neckbreaker to vary his attack. Robinson, Finlay, and KUSHIDA all used axe handles off the top to continue pounding on Ospreay’s neck.
Ospreay finally made a tag to Goto, who did a sequence with Robinson that led to a double down. YOSHI-HASHI and Elgin tagged in, and Elgin sold a lot for him. Elgin recovered and hit a flying headscissors, which didn’t lead to anything. It was a wasted spot.
Elgin hit a fallaway slam and a press slam for a near fall. He went for an Elgin Bomb, but Ospreay cut him off. The match broke down into an eight-way, with White, Goto, and KUSHIDA all hitting finishers.
With the ring cleared, YOSHI-HASHI hit a lariat on Elgin for a near fall. He went to the top for a crossbody, but Elgin caught him and turned it into a buckle bomb, followed by an Elgin Bomb and a pinfall. The last two minutes or so were good.
After the bout, Finlay taunted White, and White hit Finlay with a Blade Runner.
– Suzuki-gun (IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Killer Elite Squad) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA)
Did you know that sometimes Suzuki-gun jumps their opponents before the bell? You would think that their opponents would employ this strategy themselves far more often than they do.
Suzuki went to work on Naito, who was the most over guy on the show by a wide margin. Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer did the same, before Naito made a tag. Naito and Suzuki brawled around the ring and in the crowd, with Suzuki getting the best of it. EVIL and SANADA got a little bit of offense on Smith, but were cut off. Several minutes of the match were spent on Suzuki-gun getting the heat on EVIL.
Kanemaru escaped a backslide, shoved the ref, hit a low blow on BUSHI, and pinned him for the first elimination. Naito quickly used a bridging combination to pin Kanemaru. Naito and Suzuki brawled to the apron, and Suzuki teased hitting the Gotch piledriver, but Naito evaded it and pulled Suzuki to the floor, going down with him. The two brawled to the back.
Smith was next out, thrown over the top by SANADA with a Dragon Screw of sorts. Archer quickly tossed SANADA after escaping a Paradise Lock attempt and hitting a Pounce. Archer then eliminated EVIL over the top rope, before Takahashi sent him up and over.
The final few minutes saw Desperado and Takahashi as the final two, with Desperado taking the bulk of the offense on Takahashi. They did more strong style power stuff than you might expect. Takahashi got a near fall, but while Desperado took the ref, Kanemaru reappeared, blowing mist in Takahashi’s eyes. Desperado took advantage and scored the victory for Suzuki-gun with a roll-up
The top two matches featured some good action, but this second show of a long tour is not required viewing.
New Japan kicked off the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour with a star-powered main event on Friday.
The first of two consecutive nights at Korakuen Hall was capped by an elimination match featuring four of the five singles champions in the promotion, as well as the top contender for the IWGP Heavyweight title, longtime company ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Tana is set to challenge champ Kazuchika Okada for the promotion’s most prestigious title at Wrestling Dontaku next month. But first, the two and their respective stablemates will do battle in a series of tag matches on this tour.
Below are the night one results:
– Tetsuhiro Yagi defeated Yuya Uemura
Yagi won via submission with a Boston crab.
– Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tomoyuki Oka
Nakanishi won via submission with an Argentine backbreaker.
Match ended when Ishii pinned Henare after a Vertical Brainbuster.
– BUSHI & Hirmou Takahashi & IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA defeated Killer Elite Squad & IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
The Suzui-gun team jumped the LIJ team before the bell and cleared the ring, staying true to the Suzuki brand. SANADA fired back and hit Archer with a sweet dropkick, but was cut off by Kanemaru when going for the Paradise Lock. Kanemaru ended up in the hold himself, which didn’t get as big of a reaction as it typically does. Archer hit a Pounce and Suzuki-gun asserted control of the match.
SANADA was left to fend for himself for several minutes, until Takahashi made it back to the apron and got a tag. He scored a nearfall on Desperado after a low dropkick. EVIL tagged in and did some spots with Smith, who got a nearfall after a suplex. He scored another nearfall after a bodypress from Archer.
Archer missed the Hart Attack, and EVIL hit Smith with a DDT. BUSHI and Kanemaru tagged in, and the finish saw BUSHI kick out of Deep Impact and small package Kanemaru to score the pinfall for Los Ingobernables.
There was nothing wrong with this, but it didn’t have nearly the heat that you would expect from a semi-main at Korakuen.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Michael Elgin & KUSHIDA defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, IWGP United States Champion Jay White, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI in an elimination match
Tana did Taguchi’s captain spot and everyone ran wild on Jay White. Finlay looked good, and I continue to be impressed with the intensity he has shown in the early stages of his U.S. title quest. Finlay was cut off by the Chaos team, and Ospreay and White went to work on him. Ospreay had kinesio tape across his neck and traps.
Okada and Tana had a staredown, with the Ace attempting to take the Rainmaker’s focus away from attacking Finlay. Okada used a chinlock and transitioned to a standing side headlock, but Finlay used a suplex to escape and tagged in Tana. Tana ran wild on the entire Chaos team, including hitting a duel Dragon Screw on White and Goto.
Tana and Okada paired off and did a sequence together, which included Okada bumping a lot for Tana. Okada looked like he was hurting. Ospreay got a tag, and his next challenger, KUSHIDa, tagged in fr a great back and forth. KUSHIDA worked over Ospreay’s neck. Ospreay hit a 619, and KUSHIDA countered a springboard elbow attempt into a flying armbar. They went to the apron and teased a Spanish Fly, playing off the last Ospreay/Scurll match, bt Ospreay blocked it.
The eliminations started coming quickly near the fifteen minute mark, as Ospreay and KUSHIDA both went out when Ospreay hit a vertical suplex on KUSHIDA on the apron, and they rolled to the floor. Elgin tossed out YOSHI-HASHI. Goto tossed Elgin. Goto was thrown out by Juice, his next challenger. Juice was quickly thrown out by Okada.
Okada and Tana did another series of spots, and Okada applied the Cobra Clutch, but Tana slipped out and applied the Cloverleaf. White saved for Okada. Okada hit a dropkick to a prone Tanahashi as he sat on the top rope. They teased a duel elimination on the apron, and both were knocked to the floor by White and Finlay, leaving them the focal point of the closing minutes of the bout.
Finlay got a nearfall with a backbreaker, but White took control of the match, repeatedly firing Finlay into the turnbuckle pad. White tossed Finlay to the apron and teased a suplex to the floor, but tossed him back inside and hit one of his own.
The finish saw Finlay go for a cutter, dodge a Blade Runner, then hit the cutter, and clothesline White over the top for the victory. This was fun once they got down to the eliminations.
I understand the reasoning behind the advent of these elimination matches, in that they provide a way to beat guys without them having to do jobs, which is useful when booking some variation of the same tag match night after night on these tours. That said, the winners and losers of them have a lot less impact.
The first of three big events for New Japan Pro Wrestling took place this morning at Road to Wrestling Dontaku, with two titles on the line. Here are the results from Hiroshima:
– Tomoyuki Oka, Hirai Kawato & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Katsuya Kitamura, Shota Umino & Tiger Mask when Oka submitted Umino with a Boston crab.
Solid opener — Umino is still very green but throws a good dropkick. He also sold well in the end.
– Will Ospreay & Toru Yano defeated TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado when Ospreay pinned Michinoku with the Ozcutter.
This was a short, simple match. Yano did his comedy, which led to an Ospreay hot tag, with him getting business done rather quickly.
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & David Finlay defeated Guerrillas of Destiny & Chase Owens when Tenzan submitted Owens with the Anaconda Vise.
Another short match, though it was decent for what it was.
– Roppongi Vice defeated Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag titles
Good match. There were some nice callbacks from their various tag matches during it and the action was pretty strong overall.
They brawled around the ring early. Desperado, who decided to interfere freely, was taken out as Baretta wiped out the heels with a tope con hilo. After some back and forth, Taichi got the ring bell hammer, which he’s taken a liking to lately, and tied it to his boot, then struck Baretta with it. Kanemaru followed with a moonsault, but Baretta kicked out.
After teasing some back and forth on the turnbuckle, Baretta managed to lead a Tower of Doom spot, sending everyone crashing to the mat. Baretta kicked out of a tornado DDT by Kanemaru.
He went to finish him off with his DDT, but Romero came back with a super hurricanrana off the top rope and followed that with a suicide dive, taking out Taichi. They followed with the Strong Zero as Baretta pinned Kanemaru to win the titles.
Romero said no one wanted Suzuki-gun, Taichi or Kanemaru in New Japan anymore. He called out the Young Bucks after the match, so that is likely the next title program. Taichi wasn’t happy and nearly threw a table at the new champs as the heels made their exit.
– Ryusuke Taguchi, Yoshitatsu, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ricochet defeated SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi when Robinson pinned SANADA with the Pulp Friction.
This was a pretty good match, with lots of action throughout. The heels all ganged up on Taguchi at one point while he was posing. Ricochet looked amazing during the time he was in, just drilling everyone with perfect shots. He makes it look so easy when it absolutely isn’t. Robinson and SANADA had some really good back and forth before the eventual finish.
– Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii when Fale pinned YOSHI-HASHI with a tombstone.
They had a slower-paced match than the previous one. It was still alright, though nothing to write home about. Fale and the rest of the heels laid waste to the faces after the match, giving them the clear advantage heading into Dontaku.
– Minoru Suzuki defeated Hirooki Goto to win the NEVER Openweight Championship
This was a really good match, not a match of the year contender or anything but a good title match and a great main event for this type of New Japan card. It’s very apparent they learned nothing from Shibata’s injuries last month as there were A LOT of shots to the head from both guys, both with forearms and a chair shot late into the match.
I can’t really defend it — it’s New Japan, things are different there when these kinds of situations occur and that’s unfortunately just how it goes.
Suzuki and Goto brawled early, going outside of the barricade and going into the crowd. As Suzuki left, Desperado once again got involved, continuing Suzuki’s work. It was a pretty solid match for the first part but not really anything that interesting. It started to heat up once they both exchanged some forearms in the corner.
Suzuki started working over one of Goto’s hands as this soon became a tougher, rough contest between the two, landing big shots against one another. Goto went for the ushigiroshi twice but Suzuki was able to counter both times before wrenching in a sleeper. Goto eventually did land the ushigiroshi, laying Suzuki out.
Goto went for the GTR until Suzuki countered, eventually laying Goto out with a great looking dropkick. Suzuki distracted the ref long enough for Desperado to come back in with a steel chair and whack Goto square in the head with it. It might have been gimmicked, not really sure, but why would you want to do that anyway after all this turmoil in the last month with Shibata?
Goto tried to fight back but left himself open to major blows to the head and face. Suzuki put him in the sleeper, then pinned Goto with the Gotch piledriver to win the NEVER title.
Suzuki cut a promo, then celebrated with confetti as Desperado held the Suzuki-gun flag to close out the show.
Check the two title matches out as they’re both really good. Taguchi Japan vs. Los Ingobernables tag was also really good. This wasn’t a bad show at all overall.
New Japan was back for a second Korakuen Hall show this weekend as they continued the build towards Wrestling Dontaku and other big events slated for the next couple of weeks. Here are some quick results from this morning’s show:
– Tomoyuki Oka & Hirai Kawato defeated Shota Umino & Katsuya Kitamura when Oka submitted Umino with the Boston crab.
Oka/Kitamura and Umino/Kawato worked one another early. Umino briefly escaped a Boston crab attempt by Oka but a powerslam and a second Boston crab attempt sealed the deal.
– Will Ospreay & Jado defeated Taka Michinoku & El Desperado when Ospreay pinned Michinoku with the Ozcutter.
This was a basic, solid match. Jado was worked on for a lot of it. Ospreay did his thing and looked good.
– Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & David Finlay when Takahashi pinned Finlay.
They had an okay match, but nothing out of the ordinary. Finlay and Yujiro had some good back and forth towards the end. Finlay kicked out of the Miami Shine before falling to the Pimp Juice DDT.
– Roppongi Vice, Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto defeated Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Yoshinobu Kanemaru when Yano pinned Iizuka with a roll-up.
Suzuki and Goto brawled around the ring, with Suzuki freely using a steel chair as a weapon. A lot of the focus was on them, which made the match pretty solid for what it was. With the help of Roppongi Vice, Yano was able to block the iron fingers and roll up Iizuka for the win.
– Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI & SANADA defeated Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi & Yoshitatsu when SANADA submitted Yoshitatsu with the Skull End.
This was a bit slow, but turned out fine with Ricochet and Takahashi’s program getting a push here. Takahashi now has dolls with his and Ricochet’s name on them; I guess because he’s weird. BUSHI threw down Yoshitatsu as everyone came in. SANADA floated over Yoshitatsu and submitted him for the win.
– Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii when Owens pinned YOSHI-HASHI.
Of course, the two big feuds highlighted here were Okada/Fale and Ishii/Omega, who continued where they left off from last night. YH had Owens set up for Karma but Fale came in and broke it up. He laid out Okada with the Grenade, then laid out YOSHI-HASHI with a tombstone. He dragged the lifeless Owens on top of YH so he could pick up the win. This was another solid tag team match with good action.
Ishii and Omega had a staredown after the match, with Omega backing off first. It looked like somewhere during the match Ishii busted his nose as it was bloodied up.
– Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated EVIL & Tetsuya Naito when Tanahashi pinned EVIL with the High Fly Flow.
They had a great match; easily the best match New Japan put on this weekend. Robinson jump started things by laying out Naito with a tope. Naito had Robinson in the Destino, but that was countered into a lungblower by Robinson.
The action really picked up towards the end as everyone countered one another and laid everyone out. Juice caught EVIL and assisted Tanahashi with a slingblade but Naito crotched him. Robinson took care of Naito and laid out EVIL with the Pulp Friction. Tanahashi followed with the High Fly Flow for the win.
Both Robinson and Tanahashi played the air guitar to close out the show.
Here are some quick results from this morning’s Road to Wrestling Dontaku show, which took place at Korakuen Hall:
– Hirai Kawato defeated Shota Umino via submission with a Boston Crab.
This was Umino’s debut on a regular New Japan card after making his wrestling debut last week at Lion’s Gate Project 4. They had a short match and both looked good.
– YOSHI-HASHI defeated Tomoyuki Oka via submission with Karma.
They were given a long time and worked a pretty good, decent match that the crowd got into. It seems pretty clear they are super high on Oka, who is continually improving. He got a lot of offense in before being taken down and submitted.
– Taka Michinoku & Takashi Iizuka defeated Toru Yano & Jado after Michinoku pinned Jado with a roll-up.
Not very interesting — a lot of brawling and silliness. Iizuka used the iron fingers to strike Jado in the throat and Michinoku followed it with a roll-up.
– Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defeated David Finlay, Katsuya Kitamura, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan when Takahashi pinned Kitamura with the Pimp Juice DDT.
Kitamura was in for a lot of the match. It was your typical quick-paced New Japan undercard multi-man match, with good action overall.
– Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay & Roppongi Vice defeated Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Desperado when Ospreay pinned Desperado with the Ozcutter.
Suzuki targeted Ospreay early and wrapped one of his legs around with a chair, but it didn’t play much into the finish of the match. Goto worked a lot of the match, which was another solid undercard bout.
– SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito defeated Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yoshitatsu & Ricochet when SANADA submitted Yoshitatsu with the Skull End.
Another solid match. Ricochet looked really good; it’s already clear he and Takahashi have some good chemistry.
– Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada when Fale pinned Okada with a tombstone.
This started off slow at first, but picked up as everyone paired off with their rivals. Omega looked great, putting on all sorts of great offense on Ishii. Okada went for the Rainmaker near the end but Fale countered with one of his own, then tombstoned Okada for the win.
Fale went to beat up Okada in the corner after the match. Gedo tried to aid Okada, but his efforts were futile as Fale quickly got rid of him. Omega started to cut a promo when Ishii grabbed him by the waist. He had Fale splash him in response. Omega told the crowd that Ishii was next on his hit list, and Fale would be the next champion.
