By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
NJPW “Road to Destruction”
September 10, 2023 in Chiba, Japan at Togane Arena
Streamed on New Japan World
The venue is a gym with perhaps 1,500 people but it appears to be fairly close to a sellout. No English commentary today.
* The big news coming out of Saturday’s show was a knee injury to Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Also, Boltin Oleg is out due to an infection in his wrist, so we have some re-worked lineups. For instance, Jado has been added to the first match.
1. Jado, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tiger Mask, and Togi Makabe vs. Tomoaki Honma, Oskar Leube, Yuto Nakashima, and Satoshi Kojima at 11:08. I think we have six guys in their 50s (or close to it!) with two Young Lions here. Honma and Makabe started. The tall Leube battled Tenzan. Jado, then Tiger Mask, took turns working over Leube. Tenzan and Kojima entered at 6:30; this is why I hate these random tag matches because these two are usually teammates but are facing each other here. Tenzan hit a suplex on Satoshi for a nearfall.
Kojima hit his rapid-fire chops in the corner on Makabe. Yuto tagged in and battled Togi. Leube hit a shoulder tackle that dropped Makabe for a nearfall at 9:30. Honma hit a Kokeshi falling headbutt on Makabe. Togi nailed a top-rope kneedrop on Yuto’s forehead for the pin. Acceptable.
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano defeated Ryusuke Taguchi and Yoh at 7:58. Taguchi and Yano started, with Yano immediately removing a corner pad, and they did some comedy over the pad. Yoh and Tanahashi entered at 2:00 and they traded mat reversals; Yoh stood up and played air guitar, mocking Hiroshi. Tanahashi hit a second-rope twisting crossbody block. Taguchi applied an anklelock on Tanahashi, then he hit some snap suplexes. Tanahashi fired back with the Twist and Shout neckbreaker at 6:30. Yano entered and he slapped Taguchi in the back of the head. Yano hit a low-blow uppercut on Taguchi and scored a rollup for the cheap pin. Meh.
3. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste, and Bad Dude Tito defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, and “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi at 9:53. I could have just skipped those first two matches and gone sraight to this one. Haste and Yoshi-Hashi started; Haste hit a basement dropkick and he posed. Goto flipped teammate Y-H onto Nicholls and Haste. Tito hit a slingshot senton for a nearfall at 2:00 on Goto, and TMDK worked over Goto on their corner. Sabre applied an armbar on the mat but Ishii made the save at 4:00. Goto hit a double bulldog.
Okada made the hot tag and he battled Tito, hitting a DDT for a nearfall at 5:30, then a top-rope crossbody block. Tito hit a second-rope Blockbuster and he tagged in Sabre. Sabre snapped Okada’s neck between his legs. Okada hit a neckbreaker over his knee and he tagged in Ishii for the first time at 7:00. Sabre hit a Pele Kick on Ishii’s arm. Ishii hit a Saito Suplex. Goto hit a plancha to the floor on several opponents. In the ring, Ishii hit a German Suplex on Tito. Sabre got an inside cradle on Ishii for a nearfall. Okada hit a dropkick. Sabre got another rollup to pin Ishii out of nowhere. Yes, that was far, far better than the first two matches.
4. “United Empire” Henare, Jeff Cobb, and Great O-Khan defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, and Bushi at 13:51. A day ago, these factions were in a 27-minute elimination match but Bushi had less than a minute of ring time. UE attacked and they all brawled at the bell. Naito and Cobb fought in the ring, while O-Khan slammed Shingo’s back into the guardrail. LIJ cleared the ring and posed at 1:30. Cobb hit a dropkick on Naito. O-Khan and Shingo were now brawling against a wall, far from the ring. Henare entered and hit some gut punches on Naito, then a senton at 4:00. The UE worked over Naito in their corner.
Shingo finally made the hot tag at 8:00 and he hit a suplex on O-Khan for a nearfall. They traded forearm shots. Bushi entered at 10:30 and battled Henare, and Bushi nailed a dive through the ropes, then a top-rope missile dropkick in the ring. Henare hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Bushi, then a running knee to the chest for a nearfall at 12:30. Henare applied a Full Nelson but Naito made the save. Cobb hit a swinging slam on Naito. Henare again applied the Full Nelson, fell backward to the mat, and Bushi tapped out. Good match.
5. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Yota Tsuji and Hiromu Takahashi defeated “United Empire” Will Ospreay and Callum Newman at 9:58. Ospreay and Yota charged at each other at the bell and traded forearm shots. The 21-year-old Newman entered and battled Yota. Hiromu entered and hit a basement dropkick on Newman at 3:30. Newman hit a dropkick on Tsuji. Ospreay re-entered and hit a handspring-back-spin kick, then a top-rope flying forearm on Yota for a nearfall at 5:00. Yota fired back with a hard knee to Opsreay’s chest. Ospreay went for a running Shooting Star Press but Yota got his knees up.
Newman and Hiromu tagged in; Newman runs the ropes FAST and he tripped up Hiromu on a leapfrog. Hiromu hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall at 7:30. Callum hit a Tiger Suplex. Yota hit a faceplant on Ospreay. LIJ hit a series of kicks on Newman. HIromu hit a Death Valley Driver into the corner on Newman, then the Time Bomb swinging sideslam for the pin. Good action. Yota and Ospreay continued to jaw at each other; their big singles match is set for Sept. 24.
6. “House of Torture” EVIL, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi, and Dick Togo defeated “Just 5 Guys” Sanada, Taichi, Taka Michinoku, and Douki at 11:46. Again, Taka is taking Kanemaru’s spot in this match. I noted this the other day, but Sho’s hair is a light brown now. Taichi and Sho have been feuding and they opened the match, with Taichi hitting a superkick that dropped Sho at 1:30. Douki entered and hit a doublestomp on Sho’s stomach. Suddenly all eight were brawling on the floor. Back in the ring, HoT worked over Douki. Sanada made the hot tag at 6:00 and hit a dropkick, then he tied Sho in the Paradise Lock. Sanada and Yujiro bit each other’s thumbs. EVIL entered and he choked Sanada with a T-shirt at 8:00. Sanada stood on the ring apron and EVIL shoved him off, with Sanada flying into the guardrail.
In the ring, EVIL hit a suplex for a nearfall on Sanada. Sanada hit a dropkick, and he tagged in Taka at 9:30, who hit a Mafia Kick on EVIL. The J5G team all hit kicks on EVIL, and Taka got EVIL on the mat and cranked back on his head. Yujiro accidentally hit a clothesline on Sho, and Taka hit a Michinoku Driver on Yujiro. Taka rolled up EVIL for a nearfall. However, EVIL hit the Everything is Evil uranage for the pin on Taka. They kept brawling after the bell. EVIL still has Sanada’s title belt.
* The main event is the first match in a “best of seven” series.
7. Yuji Nagata, Master Wato, and Shota Umino vs. “Strong Style” Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Ren Narita ended in a time-limit draw at 30:14. All six brawled at the bell. Minoru and Yuji traded mid-ring Mafia Kicks. Wato and Desperado entered at 2:00, with Wato working the left arm. Shota and Ren tied up at 4:00; I wrote this a day ago but I like how NJPW has pushed the idea these two will be fighting for the next 20 year, just like Nagata and Suzuki have for the past 20 years. They traded shoulder tackles until Shota finally went down. Shota hit a stiff kick to the spine at 6:30. Nagata’s team began working over Ren in their corner.
Ren finally hit a spin kick on Nagata and he made the hot tag to Minoru at 10:00. Suzuki hit a Helluva Kick on Nagata. They traded forearm shots. Suzuki applied a cross-armbreaker in the ropes, and they brawled to the floor, where Suzuki slammed a guardrail door on Nagata at 11:30. They brawled into the crowd, far away from ringside. Suzuki picked up a guardrail and jabbed it into Nagata’s ribs. They returned to the ring but Nagata was clutching his abdomen. Desperado tagged in and he put the boots to Nagata as SS kept Yuji in their corner. All three applied submission holds on Yuji. Yuji and Suzuki again traded forearm shots. Suzuki tried to get a Gotch-style piledriver but Nagata blocked it at 17:00.
Minoru hit a Helluva Kick as they kept working over Yuji. Suzuki applied a sleeper on the mat; Yuji’s teammates tried to make the save, but Desperado and Ren kept them at bey. Yuji was on the verge of passing out but he reached the ropes at 20:00. Yuji hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Desperado. Wato finally made the hot tag and he hit a leg lariat on Desperado. Wato hit a flip dive to the floor. Desperado hit a spinebuster at 23:00 and they were both down. Ren and Shota re-entered and traded kicks, then forearm shots. Shota nailed a sideslam for a nearfall at 25:30. Ren hit an enzuigiri. Suzuki got the hot tag, but Shota caught him with a dropkick, and he tagged Nagata back in.
Nagata hit some spin kicks to Suzuki’s chest then a Helluva Kick, then a Tiger Suplex for a nearfall. Suzuki hit running penalty kicks to the chest. Nagata pushed Suzuki to the mat and cranked back on Suzuki’s head, but Minoru grabbed the ref to break free. They got up and traded more forearm shots, then openhand slaps to the face and this went on and on! Finally Nagata hit an Exploder Suplex; he went for the cover but the 30-minute time limit expired, so after all of that, we don’t even have a winner. (I stand by my clock having it at 30:14 but I’m just being picky.)
* Strong Style left the ring, leaving Nagata to address the crowd.
Final Thoughts: The main event was fine but I’m not sure I need to see another six rounds of that, and it sure was a flat finish with this guy and with the crowd attending the show. The extended beatdown of Nagata for several minutes was repetitive and seemingly designed to just be there to chew up the clock. This is definitely a skippable show with the non-finish of the main event. And those first two matches aren’t worth checking out. I am definitely missing both the Bullet Club and Tama’s revamped Guerillas of Destiny, as there were just many older guys on tour.
On the positive side, TMDK vs. Okada’s team was really fun for the time given, and I’m really looking forward to Tsuji-Ospreay.
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