By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Road to Strong”
June 10, 2023 in Chiba, Japan at Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 1
Streamed on New Japan World
This is a small gym with a crowd of 600 to 800. We have Japanese-only commentary.
1. Kosei Fujita defeated Yuto Nakashima at 7:08. Basic Young Lions matchup, with Fujita hitting a German Suplex with a bridge for the pin.
2. Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma defeated Boltin Oleg and Oskar Leube at 8:33. Basic match with Honma hitting a Kokeshi falling headbutt off the second rope to pin Leube.
3. Yoshi-Hashi, Toru Yano, Yoh, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated “House of Torture” EVIL, Sho, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi at 9:23. All eight brawled at the bell. EVIL choked Yano with his shirt and got a nearfall at 4:00, and the HoT worked over Yano. Yoshi-Hashi got in and hit a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker on Yujiro. Yoh entered at 7:00 and battled Togo. The heels all hit moves on Yoh. However, Yoh hit the Direct Drive double-arm DDT to pin Togo. Solid.
4. “United Empire” Aaron Henare, TJP, and Francesco Akira defeated “Bullet Club” Clark Connors, Drilla Dan Moloney, and Gedo at 12:50. At Dominion, Moloney — who had just joined United Empire — turned on his teammates to join Connors in Bullet Club. The on-screen graphic listed him as “Drilla Moloney” not “Dan.” The Bullet Club came to the ring first. The UE ran to the ring, and BC fled. The match got going and Akira hit a Doomsday Senton for a nearfall at 3:00. Connors whipped Akira into the rows of chairs on the floor, and the BC worked over Akira extensively.
Gedo got a small hammer or mallet and hit Akira at ringside. TJP finally made the hot tag at 8:00 and he hit his series of Facewash kicks in the corner on Moloney, but he missed the Mamba Splash frogsplash. Connors and Moloney hit a high/low move on TJP for a nearfall at 10:30. Henare and Gedo tagged in, with Aaron hitting some gut punches, then a double clothesline. TJP and Akira hit double dropkicks, then stereo planchas to the floor. That left just Henare and Gedo in the ring, and Henare applied the Full Nelson, and Gedo tapped out.
* They kept brawling after the bell. Moloney hit a second-rope kneedrop on the back of Akira’s head.
5. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Alex Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd defeated Hirooki Goto and Ryhei Oiwa at 12:03. One of the major stories coming out of Dominion last week was the formation of the BCWD, and they immediately made it clear they want a title shot from Yoshi-Hashi and Goto. Kidd jawed at Yoshi-Hashi, who was on commentary at ringside. Everyone brawled on the floor before getting in the ring. In the ring, Coughlin hit a bulldog powerslam on Oiwa, and the heels worked over Oiwa extensively.
Goto finally made the hot tag at 7:00, and he brawled with Coughlin, trading stiff forearm shots. Oiwa got back in and traded blows with Kidd. Oiwa hit a gutwrench suplex for a nearfall at 10:30. However, Kidd hit a piledriver to pin Oiwa. They continued to beat up the babyfaces after the bell. Kidd got on the mic and said, “We are coming for both your belts.” However, they don’t want to fight for both belts on one night; they want to have a match for one tag title belt, then another match the following night for the other tag title belts.
6. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, and Master Wato defeated Shota Umino, Tiger Mask, and “Strong Style” Ren Narita and El Desperado at 10:00. Narita and Shota — teammates! — shoved each other before the bell, and Narita tossed Shota to the floor so he could start the match against Okada. Narita hit a Northern Lights Suplex, and Okada went to the floor. Wato and Desperado tagged in at 2:00, with Wato hitting some Yes Kicks and he applied the Vendeval headlock. Tanahashi entered at 4:30. Desperado hit a spinebuster. Shota Umino tagged in and he cleared the ring, hitting a fisherman’s suplex on Tanahashi for a nearfall.
Okada and Umino brawled on the floor. Ishii tagged in and hit several shoulder tackles at 6:30. Ishii and Umino traded forearm shots. Tiger Mask entered and brawled with Ishii; he went for the Tiger Bomb but Ishii blocked it. Desperado nailed a spear on Ishii! Tiger Mask immediately hit a Tiger Bomb/butterfly powerbomb on Ishii for a nearfall. Okada hopped in and hit a neckbreaker over his knee on Tiger Mask. Wato nailed a flip dive to the floor to take out a few opponents. In the ring, Ishii nailed a brainbuster to pin Tiger Mask. After the bell, Narita and Umino jawed, nose-to-nose, but Narita turned and left before any punches were thrown.
* NJPW’s Survivor Series-style elimination matches allow for wrestlers to be pinned, submitted or be thrown over the top rope to the floor. I admittedly don’t like this rule, as it allows top wrestlers an ‘out’ of being eliminated without being pinned. NOTABLE in the next match is this will be Yota Tsuji’s debut as a member of LIJ.
7. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi defeated “Just 5 Guys” Sanada, Taichi, Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Taka Michinoku at 19:51. Sanada and Tsuji started (a reminder that Sanada beat Yota last week at Dominion.) Sanada was nearly tossed to the floor in the first minute, but J5G helped him stay in. Hiromu and Kanemaru entered at 3:00. Just 5 Guys worked over Hiromu for several minutes. Tsuji got in the match and he hit a powerbomb to pin Taka at 7:40. Sanada and Shingo traded offense, with Shingo blocking a Paradise Lock. Sanada applied a Skull End submission hold.
Sanada and Shingo fought on the ring apron. There was some in-ring action, and Hiromu was thrown against the ropes, causing both Sanada and Shingo to fall to the floor and be eliminated at 13:14. Taichi tossed Bushi at 14:32. Naito immediately tossed Taichi at 14:44. Kanemaru tossed Naito at 15:40; it looked like Naito was actually trying to hold on but couldn’t do it. Hiromu tossed Kanemaru at 17:03. Douki kicked Hiromu off the ring apron, but Tsuji, standing on the floor, caught Hiromu! Tsuji walked around the floor, taking his time before finally setting Hiromu butt-first on the ring apron. However, Douki hit a dropkick to send Hiromu right back to the floor and eliminating him at 17:58.
Just like that, it is just Douki vs. Yota Tsuji. Douki hit the Daybreak slingshot DDT for a nearfall. However, Yota hit a Rollins-style Stomp to the head, then a spear, to score the pin. Yota was the sole survivor for his team. LIJ celebrated in the ring, and Yota spoke on the mic to close the show.
Final Thoughts: Essentially the Raw after a good ‘Premium Live Event.’ NJPW shuffled the board a bit — Maloney, Coughlin, Connors, Kidd in Bullet Club, Tsuji in LIJ — and moved some new storylines forward. Of course, we are headed toward G1 Climax, with 32 competitors involved, and many of those wrestlers weren’t present for this show.
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