By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Road to Dontaku”
April 29, 2024 in Kagoshima, Japan at Kagoshima Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
This appears to be a small arena; the lights were low so I can’t really see the crowd, but the ring was well-lit.
1. Boltin Oleg defeated Katsuya Murashima at 6:05. Oleg wore his six-man title belt; he has a significant size and strength advantage, and he kept Katsuya grounded. Katsuya hit a dropkick at 5:00 and he tied Oleg in a Boston Crab, but Boltin powered out. Oleg hit his gut0wrench suplex, then his forward Finlay Roll for the pin. Decent action; Murashima really got in little offense.
2. “Just 5 Guys” Yuya Uemura, Taichi, and Taka Michinoku defeated Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, and Hiroshi Tanahashi at 8:17. Yuya wore his newly-won KOPW title belt. Taichi and Togi opened and immediately traded overhand chops, and Taichi hit his spin kicks to the thigh. Yuya tagged in at 2:30 and hit a bodyslam on Makabe for a nearfall. Tanahashi entered at 4:30 and hit his second-rope summersault slam on Taka for a nearfall. Yuya tagged in and traded forearm strikes with Tanahashi, and Hiroshi hit a Twist and Shout neckbreaker. Tiger Mask entered for the first time at 6:30 and hit some Yes Kicks to Uemura’s chest, then a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a Tiger Driver for a nearfall. Uemura hit a sideslam, then a top-rope crossbody block for the pin on Tiger Mask. Solid.
3. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste, and Kosei Fujita defeated “United Empire” Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman at 8:38. O-Khan and Fujita opened, and Kosei hit a head-scissors takedown. Akira tagged in and hit dropkicks on Haste at 2:00. Haste hit a brainbuster. Sabre entered and hit a European Uppercut on Akira. Akira hit a doublestomp on his chest at 4:00. Cobb tagged in and hit shoulder tackles on Haste and Nicholls.
Nicholls hit a DDT on Cobb. Sabre and Cobb squared off at 6:00 and traded forearm strikes. Sabre applied a Triangle Choke, but Cobb powered out and hit a suplex. Sabre snapped Newman’s neck between his ankles and got a nearfall at 7:30. Newman hit a dropkick into the corner on Zack. Sabre hit his Pele Kick to the left shoulder, and he applied a crossarm breaker, and Newman tapped out. Good action, and as expected, highlighted by the Sabre-Cobb exchange again.
4. “House of Torture” EVIL, Ren Narita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, and Dick Togo defeated El Desperado, Shota Umino, Hikulelo, El Phantasmo, and Jado at 11:08. Togo opened, turned around, and saw Hikuleo across from him. The humor of Hikuleo putting his hand on Togo’s head to block him from getting close enough to punch or kick him. The babyfaces took turns beating up Togo. The HoT began working over Desperado. Desperado hit a spear on Kanemaru at 6:00. Umino got the hot tag and battled EVIL, and hit a basement dropkick.
Narita entered at 8:00 and stomped on Shota, then hit a senton for a nearfall. Shota hit a tornado DDT on Ren and they were both down. Jado entered for the first time and battled Ren. Togo choked Jado with his wire, and Ren hit Jado with his push-up bar, then covered him for the cheap pin. Pretty basic.
* The BLOCKS were announced for Best of Super Juniors! Block A will be: El Desperado, Kosei Fujita, Blake Christian, Kevin Knight, Clark Connors, Bushi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Titan, TJP and Hayata. Block B will be Kushida, Taiji Ishimori, Hiromu Takahashi, Drilla Moloney, Douki, Sho, Francesco Akira, Robbie Eagles, Ninja Mack and Dragon Dia, a late-replacement for the injured Ryusuke Taguchi. I admittedly haven’t seen Dragon Dia before, but I’m sure I will enjoy him more than the juvenile antics of Taguchi.
5. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Kenta, Taiji Ishimori, and Chase Owens defeated Tomoaki Honma and “BIshamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi at 9:49. Honma and Ishimori opened. Kenta hit a DDT on Goto at 2:00 and tossed him to the floor, where his teammates beat up Goto. In the ring, Ishimori choked Goto with a T-shirt. Goto finally hit a clothesline on Kenta and made the hot tag to Yoshi-Hashi at 5:00. Yoshi-Hashi and Chase traded forearm strikes and they were both down. Honma entered but he missed a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Honma hit a DDT-and-Flatliner combo on two opponents. Owens swung a belt at Honma but missed. Honma got a rollup on Kenta for a nearfall, then he hit a headbutt that dropped Kenta. Honma went for a Kokeshi, but Kenta grabbed his Defy title belt, and Honma’s head hit the belt! Kenta immediately hit a running knee to pin Honma.
6. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, and Yota Tsuji defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, and Gedo at 12:43. Taichi was shown on Japanese commentary. The BCWD attacked before the bell, and all six rolled to the floor. Naito grabbed Gedo by his beard in the ring and yanked on it. Meanwhile, Finlay was beating up Yota on the floor. Kidd was keeping Naito grounded in the ring. Naito hit a standing neckbreaker at 6:30 and they were both down. Shingo got in and hit some shoulder tackles. He hit a DDT on Kidd, then a suplex. They got up and traded forearm strikes.
They hit clotheslines, then headbutts, then punches. They finally both collapsed at 9:30. Tsuji and Finlay got back in, and Yota hit a backbreaker over his knee. Finlay hit some European Uppercuts, then a backbreaker over his knee at 11:30. Gedo entered and hit a chinbreaker on Yota and some jab punches. Yota hit a Curbstomp to Gedo’s head for the pin. Good match; NJPW definitely has me intrigued to see Finlay-Tsuji and Kidd-Shingo singles matches.
7. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney defeated “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Hiromu Takahashi and Bushi to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles at 19:03. I admittedly had forgotten BCWD even hold these belts. Connors and Hiromu opened and traded clotheslines. LIJ hit some quick team offense on Clark. Bushi hit a huracanrana on Drilla. Clark hit a powerslam. Drilla slammed Hiromu onto the ring apron at 2:30 and they beat up Hiromu on the floor; he dove back int the ring before being counted out. Hiromu and Clark traded chops, with Connors getting the better of the exchange, and Clark got a nearfall at 6:00, and he kept Hiromu grounded.
Hiromu hit a basement dropkick on Connors’ knee. Bushi got the hot tag at 9:00 and he cleared the ring and was fired up. He hit a DDT on Connors for a nearfall. Bushi tied Connors in a Figure Four, but Connors reached the ropes. Connors nailed a Pounce at 10:30 that sent Bushi flying. Hiromu and Drilla tagged in, and Hiromu hit a basement dropkick. Drilla hit a brainbuster for a nearfall. Bushi hit some dropkicks on Connors, and he applied a modified Figure Four Leglock at 14:30; Hiromu also had Drilla in a Triangle Choke, but Drilla stood up and slammed Hiromu onto Bushi to free Connor, and everyone was down.
Hiromu hit a Superkick on Drilla, then a Death Valley Driver at 17:00. Bushi leapt off the second rope, but Connors cut him in half with a spear! Bushi went for a backslide on Clark, but Drilla picked up Bushi and hit his swinging piledriver! Clark hit a No Chaser spike DDT on Hiromu, who rolled to the floor. Clark then hit a second-rope spear on an upside-down Bushi for the pin. A really good match but I never thought the belts were in danger of changing hands.
* Entering our main event, I must remind readers that Sho had ‘tricked’ Douki into signing a contract for a NON-title match. However, Douki showed off a contract that IS for a title match.
8. Sho defeated Douki to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title at 23:57. Sho shoved the contract in his mouth and attempted to eat it; Douki attacked him to begin the match. He tied up Sho’s left leg. No signs of any of the House of Torture … yet. They brawled to the floor at 4:00, went past the guardrail, and brawled alongside a wall. Back in the ring, Sho worked over Douki’s left leg, and he applied a Figure Four Leglock at 8:00, but Douki reached the ropes. The ref got bumped and sure enough, Kanemaru entered the ring and attacked Douki at 12:00, but Douki tossed Kanemaru to the floor. Sho hit a low blow on Douki and shoved him into the ref. Togo jumped in the ring and stomped on Douki. Taka and Uemura hopped in the ring for a save, but EVIL and Yujiro attacked them.
Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Taka’s groin. The ref was shoved back into the ring but Sho only got a nearfall at 14:30. Sho hit a Lungblower move to the back for a believable nearfall. Douki applied the Douki Chokey, but Sho managed to turn it into a piledriver for a believable nearfall. Douki again applied the Douki Chokey! The HoT tried to jump in the ring but were stopped. The bell sounded and Douki released the hold at 17:30! However, it was Togo who hit the bell. EVIL and Yujiro again jumped in the ring and attacked Douki. Taichi, who had been handcuffed to a guardrail, got free, got in the ring, and hit some clotheslines.
Taka hit a knife-edge chop to Togo! About time someone did the move back on him! The HoT and J5G brawled to the back! We are back to just Sho vs. Douki. Douki rolled to the floor and grabbed a long metal pipe. He shoved it into Sho’s stomach, then he used it along Sho’s throat as he hit a Gory Bomb. Douki put Sho on his shoulders, swung him to the mat, and got a nearfall at 22:00. This crowd was HOT. Douki hit a Dragon Suplex with a high bridge for a nearfall, but Kanemaru pulled the ref from the ring. Douki clotheslined Kanemaru. Narita entered the ring and hit an X-Factor on Douki, and he rolled Sho on top of Douki. Ren threw the ref back into the ring, who made the three-count. Exactly what you’ve come to expect from House of Torture matches.
Final Thoughts: I really didn’t expect any title changes here so I’m not really disappointed. The House of Torture interference sure goes over the top and becomes frustrating, but that’s why they are such hated heels, too. I am on-board with a Douki push and I’ve written this before, that I wouldn’t mind if he goes on a Master Wato-style run in BoSJ this year. I will reiterate that I’m far more interested in Cobb-Sabre, Kidd-Shingo and Finlay-Tsjuji in upcoming singles matches than the top matches of this show.
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