NJPW “Road to Destruction” results (9/14): Vetter’s review of Hiroshi Tanahashi, Boltin Oleg, and Toru Yano vs. Evil, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi for the Never Openweight Six-Man Tag Titles

By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)

New Japan Pro Wrestling “Road to Destruction”
September 14, 2024 in Hokkaido, Japan at Noboribetsu City General Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World

This show had Japanese-only commentary. This is a large gym, with bleachers on two sides of the venue that are packed, and attendance is maybe 1,500 fans; this very well might be a sellout.

* The BIG news since the last show is that Jake Lee injured his foot and is out of action. That match on Wednesday was weird, with Gabe Kidd taking a pinfall out of nowhere to end it early. I now wonder if they wrapped up early because they were aware of Lee’s injury, which I admittedly didn’t notice as I watched the show. Either way, Lee is out of his match today, so NJPW pulled Tomoaki Honma from an eight-man tag, turning it into a six-man tag.

1. Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Nagai Daiki and Masatora Yasuda. This was my first time seeing Kazushi, who has blondish hair and clearly in his 50s or even 60s. He opened against Daiki, who has shaved sides of his head. Yano and Yasuda, who has a much better physique than Nagai, traded blows. Yasuda stomped on Sakuraba and applied a Boston Crab at 7:00. Sakuraba applied a Figure Four, and Yasuda tapped out. Basic.

Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Nagai Daiki and Masatora Yasuda at 7:23.

2. A 20-man Ranbo. This is like a Royal Rumble, but with pins allowed. In the past, the match has stopped when there are four men left. Katsuya Murashima was No. 1 and Shoma Kato was No. 2, so our Young Lions are opening. Yuma24 was No. 3 at 2:00; I don’t know him but he wore black-and-blue pants. Tomoaki Honma was No. 4, so at least he’s still in action today. Tiger Mask was No. 5 at 5:00. Kosei Fujita was No. 6. Katsuya was tossed to be the first out. Jado was No. 7 at 8:00.  Ryusuke Taguchi was No. 8; there are so few guys worth caring about here; I really only like Fujita of these first eight. Taguchi rolled up and pinned Kato.

Francesco Akira was No. 9 at 10:30; he could be a finalist. He superkicked and eliminated Yuma24. Taka Michinoku was No. 10. Tomoya was No. 11; he is bald with a decent physique. He immediately hit a delayed vertical suplex on Honma to show off his strength. Tomoya and Fujita traded chops. Hiroyoshi Tenzan was No. 12 at 15:00. The retired Takashi Iizuka was No. 13; he might be 60, but he got a massive pop. He looped the whole building before finally getting into the ring. He has the oversized silver claw. Akira was struck and fell to the floor and was eliminated. Iizuka struck Tenzan with the claw! Taka jumped on Tenzan and pinned him at 19:00.

Taichi entered at No. 14; he definitely should be a finalist. Iizuka attacked one of the commentators at ringside! Taichi saved the guy and threw Iizuka back into the ring. Iizuka and Taichi were tossed! So much for my prediction that Taichi would be there at the end. Yoshinobu Kanemaru was No. 15 at 22:00. I’m seeing eight in the ring. Sho was No. 16. Fujita got knocked to the floor and eliminated; the only guy I cared about! Tiger Mask was tossed. Douki was No. 17 at 24:00. He hit a springboard double back elbow. Douki and Kanemaru brawled on the apron and they both fell to the floor. Sanada was No. 18. Taka was rolled up and pinned as Sanada walked to the ring. Sho grabbed his wrench and the ref tried to take it. Sanada tossed Sho. Suddenly, we had just Jado, Honma, Sanada, and Tomoya in the ring. 

Shota Umino was No. 19. At least they have some stars for the end of the match. Shota tossed Tomoya. Jado was eliminated, too. Zack Sabre Jr., carrying his G1 Climax trophy, was No. 20 at 29:00, so our final four was Sabre, Umino, Sanada and Honma. Sabre and Honma immediately traded forearm strikes. Sabre tied up Honma, who tapped out. Shota, Sabre and Sanada traded forearm strikes, and they began rolling up each other. Sanada got pushed off the apron to the floor and was eliminated at 32:30. Sabre hit a Pele Kick to Shota’s shoulder, then he dropped him with a forearm. Shota hit a Hidden Blade to the jaw for a nearfall. Sabre applied an Octopus stretch. Shota knocked Sabre off the apron to the floor to win the Ranbo. (This is better than having a ‘final four’ match later. Passable but I don’t know why you don’t mix in some of the better wrestlers early in the match.

Shota Umino won the Ranbo at 34:39. He was presented with an envelope for winning.

3. Tomohiro Ishii and “Bishamon” Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto vs. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, and Gedo. Again, this is the match where Honma and Jake Lee were pulled. The BCWD attacked and all six immediately fought to the floor and into the crowd. Gedo choked Ishii. Kidd and Goto traded forearm strikes. They got into the ring, and Gedo hit some punches that Ishii no-sold. Finlay jumped in and attacked Ishii and kept him grounded. Gedo hit Ishii in the head with the ringside hammer, and the BCWD took turns working over Ishii in their corner. Yoshi-Hashi finally got a hot tag at 7:30.

Finlay hit an Irish Curse backbreaker over his knee on Yoshi-Hashi. Goto got a hot tag and he traded forearm strikes with Kidd. (I think they are turning Kidd’s surprising pinfall loss to Goto on Wednesday into an angle for those two to fight.) Goto hit a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall at 9:30, then a brainbuster for a nearfall on Kidd. Kidd hit a decapitating clothesline, then his own brainbuster for a believable nearfall. Kidd hit a piledriver and scored the pin. That was really good action in the final few minutes. Finlay attacked Yoshi-Hashi after the bell.

Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, and Gedo defeated Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi, and Hirooki Goto at 10:53.

* Kidd got on the mic. He said Lee is injured because of them. He made some type of challenge to Goto.

4. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi, Testuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, and Hiromu Takahashi vs. “United Empire” Jakob Austin Young, Callum Newman, Henare, Jeff Cobb, and Great-O-Khan. Shingo and Henare jawed before the bell; we really don’t need to see that again already. The UE attacked LIJ to get this going, and like the prior match, most guys spilled to the floor. In the ring, O-Khan beat up Naito and hit his Mongolian Chops. LIJ began working over Callum in their corner. Henare and Shingo brawled into the crowd. Naito and O-Khan also fought on another side of the floor. In the ring, Callum stomped on Hiromu at 5:00, and now the UE began working over Hiromu. Jakob hit a flying forearm in the corner on Hiromu. Cobb hit a delayed vertical suplex. Hiromu went for a flying crossbody block at 7:30 and bounced off of Cobb’s chest.

Tsuji got the hot tag to enter for the first time, and he hit a huracanrana on Cobb. Cobb hit a diving forearm, then a standing moonsault on Tsuji for a nearfall at 9:00. Tsuji stomped on his head and they were both down. Really good interaction between these two here. Shingo and Henare got in and traded more shoulder tackles. They traded clotheslines and both collapsed at 12:00. Bushi entered for the first time and hit a basement dropkick on Henare’s knee. Callum hit his sprinting Mafia Kick. Naito hit an enzuigiri on O-Khan. Bushi hit a Rewind Kick on Henare. Henare applied the Full Nelson on Bushi, sat down on the mat, and Bushi tapped out. Fast-paced final few minutes.

Jakob Austin Young, Callum Newman, Henare, Jeff Cobb, and Great-O-Khan defeated Bushi, Testuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji and Hiromu Takahashi at 14:10.

5. Toru Yano and Hiroshi Tanahashi and Boltin Oleg vs. “House of Torture” EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi and Dick Togo for the NEVER Openweight Six-man Titles. HoT attacked before Tanahashi and Oleg had even removed their robes. Oleg splashed on Togo in the corner at 2:00, then hit a double shoulder tackle on the other two. The HoT began stomping on Yano. Takahashi jabbed his walking staff into Yano’s chest at 5:00. Takahashi got a nearfall and the bell rang, but of course it was just another HoT member ringing it. Oleg got a hot tag at 6:30 and he hit a double suplex. He hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Yujiro, then a gut-wrench suplex. The HoT began working over Oleg’s left arm, and EVIL tied up Oleg’s arms.

Oleg hit a dropkick on EVIL at 10:00. Tanahashi got in and bodyslammed EVIL. EVIL tied Tanahashi in a Sharpshooter. Hiroshi hit a Twist-and-Shout neckbreaker, and they were both down. Yano and Togo got in at 12:30. Togo hit his knife-edge chop on Yano’s groin and got a nearfall. Tanahashi’s team took turns slamming onto Togo in the corner. The ref was bumped. Sho and Yoshinobu Kanemaru ran into the ring at 14:30 and it was a 5-on-3 beatdown. EVIL and Togo hit a Magic Killer on Yano for a nearfall, but Hiroshi made the save. Togo hit a Pedigree on Yano. Oleg hit a Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll) on Togo. Tanahashi hit a High Fly Flow on Togo. Yano hit a standing powerbomb and pinned Togo. Solid match.

Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Boltin Oleg defeated EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, and Dick Togo to retain the NEVER Openweight Six-man Titles at 16:53.

Final Thoughts: A solid main event. The problem is that Oleg is the only guy who is over out of those six. Tanahashi is fairly immobile these days so keeping him hidden in six-man tags is the best option for him. I’ll actually go with Ishii’s six-man tag for best match.

The Ranbo was fine, but as I noted, we had almost nobody who was over in the first 15 or so entrants. In fact, NONE of the first 17 entrants were in this year’s G1 Climax tournament.