NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
April 22, 2017
1. Hirai Kawato def. Shota Umino. Umino is one of the new Young Lions that debuted at the recent Lion’s Gate show.
2. Yoshi-Hashi def. Tomoyuki Oka. This was basically a showcase for Oka, since it’s not a major show, but it isn’t minor in the sense that it aired live on NJW; the perfect opportunity to give the impressive Young Lion a good amount of time to work a singles match against a popular mainstay.
3. TAKA Michinoku & Takashi Iizuka [Suzuki-Gun] def. Toru Yano & Jado [Chaos]. Imagine literally every Suzuki-Gun match involving Iizuka, and you’ve probably nailed it. Nothing to see here.
4. Tama Tanga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club] def. David Finlay, Katsuya Kitamura, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan. A decent match and a good spot for Kitamura, who was given the bulk of the match to work with a ton of veterans and current mainstays. Takahashi got the pin with his DDT on Kitamura in the end.
5. Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto & Roppongi Vice [Chaos] def. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & Desperado [Suzuki-Gun]. A good amount of action between Goto and Suzuki, but Ospreay and Desperado had some good exchanges too. A possible teaser for the Best of the Super Juniors rapidly approaching.
6. Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, Bushi, Evil & Sanada [Los Ingobernables de Japon] def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson, Yoshitatsu & Ricochet [Taguchi Japan]. Four singles matches built up in one giant 8-man tag between a large group of guys who have really found some excellent chemistry together. Naito and Tanahashi looked great as expected, and Takahashi/Ricochet is going to be incredible.
7. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale [Bullet Club] def. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii [Chaos]. Fale actually pinned Okada clean after hitting his own Rainmaker and a Tombstone Piledriver. Message sent. After the match Fale continue his assault, and Omega instructed him to splash Ishii. Omega cut the post-show promo and vowed to take out Ishii from his hit list, as Fale became the new world champion. Fairly obvious what this is building towards.
