By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Japan Road in Karatsu – Ignition to Dominion”
May 6, 2026, in Saga, Japan, at Karatsu City Cultural Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World
This venue is a gym. The lights were on, and the crowd was maybe 700. We have Japanese-only commentary today.
* I would have skipped this show entirely, except the tag team main event has interesting stakes. If either Shingo Takagi or Yota Tsuji lose, they will never get a title shot against Callum Newman again. However — Gedo has finally broken me. I just have no interest in watching the House of Torture shenanigans today. I have no interest in the ‘comedy’ of Honma, Taguchi, or Yano today. I have no interest in watching Aaron Wolf get gassed after three minutes of ring work. I’d rather watch two indy shows from this weekend with my time. So, for my own sanity, I’m only checking in on just four of the seven matches.
* The lineup IS thin today. No Konosuke Takeshita, Will Ospreay, Andrade El Idolo, Robbie X, Robbie Eagles, or Mistico, who were on the weekend shows. Still no sign of Zack Sabre Jr. or El Phantasmo. Tomohiro Ishii is still out with an injury. Sanada returned Monday, but he was not in the lineup today.
Results of the matches I did NOT watch come from NJPW1972.com.
1. “House of Torture” Sho and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Taisei Nakahara and Ryusuke Taguchi at 8:47. Sho beat Nakahara with a Boston Crab.
2. Master Wato, Yoh, and Toru Yano defeated Tatsuya Matsumoto, Yoshi-Hashi, and Hirooki Goto at 7:15. Wato beat Matsumoto with a springboard uppercut.
3. Taichi and El Desperado vs. Tomoaki Honma and Shota Umino. Taichi and Shota opened, with Shota hitting some forearm strikes and Taichi hitting some spin kicks to the thigh. Honma missed a Kokeshi. Taichi beat up Honma on the floor. Taichi and Despe worked Honma over in their corner. Shota got in and battled Desperado. Despe hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Umino at 7:00.
Taichi got in and hit some knife-edge chops to Shota’s neck. Shota hit a dropkick at 8:30, and they were both down. Honma tagged back in, but he again missed a Kokeshi. Honma hit a double DDT. Honma hit a soft clothesline on Taichi for a nearfall at 10:30. Taichi set up for a Black Mephisto (Air Raid Crash), but as Honma tried to escape, Taichi sat down on him and got the flash pin. Merely okay. Taichi and Shota jawed at each other some more after the bell.
Taichi and El Desperado defeated Tomoaki Honma and Shota Umino at 11:23.
4. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Ryohei Oiwa and Kosei Fujita vs. Yuya Uemura and Masatora Yasuda. Yuya and Oiwa opened and traded standing switches. Kosei entered at 2:00 and hit a bodyslam on Yasuda and put the Young Lion in a half-crab. TMDK worked over Yasuda. Yuya got a hot tag at 4:30 and battled Oiwa. Oiwa snapped Yuya’s left elbow and hit a splash in the corner.
Yuya applied a cross-armbreaker, but Oiwa escaped and applied his own cross-armbreaker, then a senton at 6:30. Yasuda re-entered and hit a series of forearm strikes on Fujita. Yasuda hit a shotgun dropkick for a nearfall at 9:00. He hit a snap suplex, then another. He hit a third suplex for a nearfall. He went for a Boston Crab, but Kosei escaped, and Kosei applied his Snaretrap leg lock. Yasuda quickly submitted. Good action. Oiwa and Yuya continued to jaw at each other after the bell.
“The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Ryohei Oiwa and Kosei Fujita defeated Yuya Uemura and Masatora Yasuda at 10:36.
5. Aaron Wolf, Boltin Oleg, and Tiger Mask defeated “House of Torture” Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi, and Ren Narita at 8:40. Wolf beat Togo with a head-and-arm triangle submission hold.
6. “The Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice, Oskar, Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, and Daiki Nagai vs. “United Empire” Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young, Henare, Great-O-Khan, and Zane Jay. Yuto-Ice and Henare pushed their foreheads together before the bell, and they opened the match. Yuto-Ice hit a pump kick and a stiff kick to the spine, and they had a standoff. Zane tagged in at 2:30 to face Nagai. Daiki hit a hesitation dropkick in the corner for a nearfall. Everyone started fighting on the floor. Yuto-Ice and Henare fought down an aisle. O-Khan whipped Oskar into rows of chairs at 4:00.
In the ring, Jakob worked over Nagai. Akira hit some blows, and they kept Daiki in their corner. Oskar finally got a hot tag at 8:30, and he battled O-Khan. Oskar hit a running splash on both Zane and O-Khan. He hit a double clothesline on Young and Akira, and he was fired up. Yuto-Ice hit a running knee on Henare. Oskar put O-Khan in a sleeper, but O-Khan bit the forearm to escape at 11:00! Suddenly, everyone was down.
Ishimori entered for the first time and battled Akira, hitting a huracanrana, double knees in the corner, and a rolling DVD. He hit a buzzsaw kick for a nearfall. Akira hit a swinging neckbreaker, and they were both down. Daiki got in and hit a double dropkick. Gedo finally entered for the first time at 13:00, and he hit some jab punches on Young. Zane hit a fallaway slam on Gedo. Young hit a DDT and pinned Gedo. Good action.
“United Empire” Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young, Henare, Great-O-Khan, and Zane Jay defeated “The Unbound Co.” Yuto-Ice, Oskar, Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, and Daiki Nagai at 13:55.
7. “United Empire” Callum Newman and Jake Lee vs. “The Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji. Again, if Shingo or Yota lose, neither will ever get a title match again against Newman. Lee continues to wear face paint that makes him look like DC’s Joker. Shingo and Yota attacked Newman, and we’re underway! Shingo clotheslined him to the floor. Yota whipped Lee into the guardrails. Shingo slammed Newman’s face onto a table at ringside at 1:30. Yota chopped a seated Lee, with the chair tipping over. They brawled throughout the room.
They finally got back into the ring at 3:30, with Shingo hitting some jab punches on Newman. They went back to the floor and looped ringside. In the ring, Lee put on a glove and chopped Shingo at 6:30. The UE kept Shingo in their corner. Yota tagged in and hit a Mafia Kick on Lee, then dove through the ropes onto Newman at 9:00. Lee hit a back suplex on Tsuji for a nearfall. Tsuji hit a Flatliner on Lee, and they were both down.
Shingo tagged back in at 10:30, and he hit a series of jab punches on Lee. Newman hit a double stomp on Shingo’s back. Callum hit some punches and kept Shingo grounded. They traded clotheslines and were both down. Callum hit a hard clothesline on Tsuji at 14:00. Shingo and Yota hit a team back suplex on Callum for a nearfall. Yota hit a backbreaker over his knee on Newman, and they were both down at 15:30.
Newman and Tsuji traded forearm strikes. Yota hit a running knee to the chest in the corner. Yota hit a Frankensteiner for a nearfall at 17:30. Newman hit a low-blow uppercut on Yota! Shingo jumped in and hit some clotheslines on Newman. Callum went for a low blow, but Shingo blocked it, and Shingo hit a low blow! Tsuji hit a Gene Blaster spear on Newman for a nearfall, but Lee made the save. Yota hit a second Gene Blaster to pin Newman! The good action I expected here.
“The Unbound Co.” Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji defeated “United Empire” Callum Newman and Jake Lee at 19:01.
* Yota got on the mic and jawed at Newman. Again, we don’t have any English commentary to translate today.
Final Thoughts: We are approaching the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, and today just felt like a good day to watch half the show. I enjoyed what I saw.
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