By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Road to Tokyo Dome”
December 22, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall
Streamed live on New Japan World
Chris Charlton provided commentary. A good crowd. (Later in the show, a brawl went into the stands and it was clear it was a sellout, but there were a lot of empty seats when the opener began.)
1. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Shoma Kato. Shoma hit a dropkick early on and immediately put Hiromu in a Boston Crab, but Hiromu scrambled to the ropes and went to the floor. Shoma followed, so they brawled at ringside. Back in the ring, they traded chops at 3:00. Hiromu applied a Boston Crab, but Shoma reached the ropes. Hiromu reapplied it, and this time Kato tapped out. Basic but fine.
Hiromu Takahashi defeated Shoma Kato at 6:05.
* The next match was slated to be a tag match, but Hiroyoshi Tenzan is sick, so this has been turned into a singles match. It means Boltin Oleg’s partner, Toru Yano, also has the night off; he is on commentary instead.
2. Boltin Oleg vs. Satoshi Kojima. They traded shoulder tackles. Charlton talked about Kojima’s high winning percentage in singles matches in 2024. Kojima backed him into a corner and hit his rapid-fire chops at 2:30, then a DDT. Oleg flipped Kojima around in his arms, then hit his gut-wrench suplex at 4:30, but he missed a Vader Bomb. Satoshi hit a Koji Cutter. Oleg hit a shotgun dropkick. He went for Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll), but Kojima blocked it. Moments later, Oleg hit the Kamikaze for the pin. Adequate; it felt like this was at three-quarters speed.
Boltin Oleg defeated Satoshi Kojima at 6:26.
3. “United Empire” Jeff Cobb & Jakob Austin Young vs. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa vs. “House of Torture” Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi in a three-way tag. The HoT attacked from behind on the floor; they all got in the ring and we officially started seconds later. The massive Hartley and Cobb squared off and traded forearm strikes. Cobb hit a standing moonsault on Oiwa. Ren struck Jakob with his push-up bar, then hit the Double Cross (X-Factor) faceplant on Jakob for the pin. Surprisingly short.
Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Jeff Cobb & Jakob Austin Young vs. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa in a three-way tag at 4:03.
* Narita and Takahashi were alone in the ring. Santa Claus came to the ring (clearly Jado). Charlton said Santa has clearly put the House of Torture on the ‘naughy list.’ Ren opened a present and it was light-up glasses. The room went dark and ELP’s music played! The crowd popped as El Phantasmo came to the ring! He’s back! (We were told two months ago he was dealing with a medical issue that sounded serious!) The crowd chanted “ELP!” He looked quite emotional as he spoke in Japanese, and he told the crowd he has beaten his cancer scare. Takahashi and Narita attacked, so ELP beat them up. He announced he will wrestle on Monday! And he’s free for a match at the Tokyo Dome! Oiwa and Cobb rolled back into the ring. ELP asked them if it was okay and they said yes. SO, a three-way of Cobb vs. Oiwa vs. Ren at Wrestle Kingdom will now be a four-way!
4. El Desperado and Master Wato vs. “Just 4 Guys” Douki and Taka Michinoku. Wato and Despe were teaming before Wato tore his ACL; Desperado was always a reluctant partner. Desperado and Douki opened and they traded loud overhand chops. Taka entered and kicked out Desperado’s left knee. Wato entered at 3:30 and hit a leaping elbow drop on Douki. Taka tied up Wato on the mat and cranked back on his head. Desperado hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Taka and went for a Stretch Muffler, but Douki made the save. Wato hit a flip dive to the floor. In the ring, Taka hit a running knee on Despe for a nearfall. However, Desperado locked in the Stretch Muffler, and Taka tapped out. Desperado and Douki continued to jaw after the bell.
El Desperado and Master Wato defeated Douki and Taka Michinoku at 8:33.
* Hartley Jackson joined Charlton on commentary. He’s Australian and he has a gruff, scratchy voice that matches his look.
5. Kevin Knight vs. Francesco Akira vs. Robbie Eagles vs. Drilla Moloney in a four-way. All four fought at the bell with some quick reversals. Eagles and Akira traded deep armdrags. Drilla hit some loud chops on Akira on the floor. In the ring, Akira stepped on two guys’ shoulders and hit a huracanrana on Moloney at 4:00. Eagles hit a basement dropkick, then a mid-ring Sliced Bread on Moloney for a nearfall. They did a creative Tower of Doom spot and were all down at 6:00. Akira hit a doublestomp on Eagles’ chest. Akira hit a superkick on Moloney, then a flip dive to the floor on the other two at 7:30. Akira accidentally collided with the ref. Clark Connors ran in from the crowd and struck Akira with a chair. Knight leap-frogged being struck by the chair! TJP ran to ringside and brawled with someone. Eagles and Drilla traded rollups, with Eagles getting a pin. Really good action.
Robbie Eagles defeated Kevin Knight, Francesco Akira, and Drilla Moloney in a four-way at 9:20.
* Kushida hopped in the ring as well, so nearly all the participants of the four-team juniors tag match were in the ring.
6. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Bushi, Shingo Takagi, and Yota Tsuji vs. “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Sanada, and Gedo. Finlay was 19-5 in singles matches in 2024, the second-highest winning percentage in NJPW this year, behind only Zack Sabre. Finlay and Yota opened with an intense lockup. Bushi dove through the ropes but he accidentally struck Tsuji at 2:30. The fight went into the stands and up onto the landing half-way up the seating area at Korakuen Hall. Gedo and Bushi got back into the ring at 4:30, and Charlton said Gedo’s overall 2024 record was 9-78-2! Sanada untied Bushi’s mask and was booed. They started doing spots where everyone was hitting the groin of another. Shingo tagged in for the first time and battled Sanada, and he hit a senton for a nearfall at 7:00.
Sanada kicked the ropes to crotch Shingo. Shingo hit a DDT on Finlay and they were both down. Tsuji tagged back in and hit some blows on Finlay, then a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee. Really good energy to this one. Finlay hit the Irish Curse backbreaker over the knee on Tsuji for a nearfall at 9:30. Gedo got back in and hit some jab punches, but Tsuji hit a Stomp for a nearfall. Bushi hit a dive through the ropes, this time hitting Sanada. Meanwhile, Tsuji hit a jumping knee on Gedo, then the Gene Blaster (spear) for the pin. Good action, easily best of the night so far. Tsuji and Finlay continued to brawl after the bell, with Yota hitting a Gene Blaster on David as well.
Yota Tsuji, Bushi, and Shingo Takagi defeated David Finlay, Sanada, and Gedo at 12:13.
7. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre J. and Kosei Fujita vs. Shota Umino and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Sabre and Shota opened with basic reversals and a feeling-out process. Kosei and Tanahashi entered, with Kosei hitting a flying kick to the chest at 4:30. Sabre got back in and hit some European Uppercuts on Hiromu. Kosei hit a LOUD chop on Hiroshi as they kept him in the TMDK corner. Shota got the hot tag at 9:30 and he cleared the ring. Sabre and Shota traded European Uppercuts, and Zack hit a basement dropkick to the back of the head at 11:30.
Tanahashi hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Kosei, then on Sabre. Charlton was worried that Shota may have re-injured an ankle that caused him to miss a day of World Tag League. Hiroshi hit his second-rope somersault senton. Sabre tied Hiroshi in an Octopus Stretch, but Hiroshi escaped at 14:00. Hiroshi tried to get in a Texas Cloverleaf, but Sabre blocked it, and Sabre applied a Triangle Choke! Sabre snapped Hiroshi’s neck between his ankles, but Hiroshi hit two Twist-and-Shout neckbreakers. Sabre immediately nailed the Zack Driver for the pin on Hiroshi! Really good action.
Zack Sabre J. and Kosei Fujita defeated Shota Umino and Hiroshi Tanahashi at 15:53.
* The ropes were taken down, as we have a ‘sumo wrestling match’ coming up.
8. Great-O-Khan vs. Taichi for the KOPW Trophy. I hate the KOPW title; this is like putting R-Truth defending the 24/7 title in the main event. We have multiple rounds of action, and this first match is the sumo match, where the goal is to push someone out of the ring to the floor. Taichi tossed him to the floor at 1:57 to win that round. The next phase of this match is that Yoshinobu Kanemaru will be the special referee; the ropes were put back on. Ugh, this is bad; it takes so long to put the ropes back on. It took much longer to put the ropes back on than the sumo match itself. Kanemaru finally came to the ring, holding his whiskey bottle, and the second phase of the match can get going.
We have a bell; my stopwatch was reset to zero. Taichi made his first cover, but Kanemaru’s count was really slow. He then made a super-fast count in O-Khan’s favor! Kanemaru kicked Taichi in the gut at 7:00, and held Taichi’s arms, allowing O-Khan to hit a straight right punch to the jaw. Oof this was bad. Kanemaru hit a back elbow on Taichi, so this was basically a handicap match now. O-Khan got a nearfall on a quick count, but Taichi was still able to kick out. O-Khan hit Taichi in the face with the whiskey bottle and he applied a Claw to the forehead. Kanemaru called for the bell, with O-Khan winning the second fall at 8:51. O-Khan had a stack of money and gave it to Kanemaru.
Taichi got on the mic. This final fall will be a last man standing match, with pinfalls anywhere in the building! The stopwatch was again reset to zero. They brawled into the shorter set of bleachers. They made a pile of chairs on the floor, and O-Khan hit a snap suplex onto the pile at 5:00. Taichi got to his feet at the eight-count. (Why didn’t they just do the falls count anywhere match and skip the first two rounds of silliness?) They went up the taller side of bleachers and fought on the landing half-way up. Taichi whipped him into a wall at 8:00. They finally fought back to ringside, and O-Khan got a table from under the ring. Taichi tossed O-Khan off a four-foot-tall stage, with GOK crashing through a table on the floor at 15:00. O-Khan got up at the nine-count.
They got back into the ring! Taichi hit some clotheslines that staggered O-Khan, but he didn’t fall. They both collapsed but both got up before the 10-count. GOK hit his Mongolian Chops. They traded forearm strikes. O-Khan applied a front guillotine choke. Taichi tapped at 20:00, but that’s not how you win the match. O-Khan finally let go of the hold, but Taichi got up at the nine-count. Taichi hit a back suplex. O-Khan hit the Eliminator (chokeslam move to the forehead) and they were both down at 23:00. O-Khan tried to get up but couldn’t, and we have a draw! Taichi and Great-O-Khan shook hands and got applause.
Great-O-Khan vs. Taichi went to a draw/no contest in the final fall at 23:31: GOK retains the KOPW belt.
* O-Khan got on the mic and praised Taichi. He was winded and I don’t blame him; they were out there a long time! He dropped the KOPW title belt on the mat, and said that there should be a Rambo (a version of a Royal Rumble) on Jan. 4 to determine a new No. 1 contender for the belt.
Final Thoughts: The highlight of the show, the most notable thing here, is the surprise return of El Phantasmo. What a nice, feel-good story right at the end of the year. The LIJ-BCWD six-man tag was really good and takes best match of the night. Sabre’s tag takes second.
There was no need to do three rounds for the main event; it probably went more than 40 minutes, between taking down the ropes, having the sumo match, putting the ropes back on, and having the next two rounds. The final round was a decent standalone match, though, after they got the silliness out of the way.
NJPW is right back here in Korakuen Hall on Monday for the final show of 2024, featuring Shota Umino and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa in the main event.
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