By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Road to Dontaku”
April 22, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall
Streamed live on New Japan World
This is the first televised event in Japan since the “Windy City Riot” in Chicago and a show two days later in Taiwan; between the two events, nearly the entire roster was in action. Chris Charlton provided solo commentary as the show began; Shane Haste would join him later.
* The show opened with some footage from Windy City Riot, including scenes of Jon Moxley winning the IWGP TItle from Tetsuya Naito.
1. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Kenta, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori defeated Katsuya Murashima and “Bishamon” Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto at 8:44. Kenta still has his Defy World Title belt with him. They all brawled at the bell. Bishamon hit a double shoulder tackle on Chase. The BCWD began working over Katsuya. Charlton talked about what would happen if Powerhouse Hobbs wins the heavyweight title. Yoshi-Hashi entered and battled Kenta. Chase tripped Yoshi-Hashi at 5:30, allowing the heels to take control. Katsuya hit a bodyslam on Ishimori for a nearfall. Ishimori hit a handspring-back-elbow on Murashim at 8:00, then a shoulder breaker over his knee for a nearfall. He applied the Bone Lock/modified Crossface, and Murashima tapped out. Solid.
2. “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Kosei Fujita defeated El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, Jado, and Shoma Kato at 9:30. Haste and ELP opened, and Haste hit a stiff kick to the spine. ELP hit a dropkick. Nicholls entered, so Hikuleo entered and hit a sideslam on Mikey at 2:00. Jado entered; Sabre tagged in and hit some European Uppercuts on Jado, then he applied a leglock around Jado’s throat. Hiukleo made the hot tag and he dropped Fujita snake-eyes on the top turnbuckle, then hit a Mafia Kick on him.
Hikuleo hit a double clothesline at 6:00. Sabre tried to tie ELP in an Octopus, but Hikuleo made the save. Haste and Nicholls hit a team neckbreaker move on Hikuleo at 8:00. Shoma got the hot tag and he battled Kosei, and Shoma hit a shotgun dropkick and some forearm strikes. Kosei applied a Boston Crab, sat down on the lower back for pressure, and Kato tapped out. The ELP/Hikuleo-Nicholls/Haste exchanges were the best points of the match.
3. “House of Torture” EVIL and Ren Narita and Yujiro Takahashi and Dick Togo and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Shota Umino and Tomohiro Ishii and Boltin Oleg and Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano at 10:07. Shota walked through the crowd and you can see it’s not a sellout tonight. The HoT attacked at the bell and all 10 brawl. The heels began working over Yano in their corner. Ishii got the hot tag at 3:30; he got all the heels to basically hit each other as he avoided their punches. He hit a suplex on Togo. Ren and Umino entered at 5:30 and battled each other, and Ren hit a German Suplex, so Shota hit an Exploder Suplex, and they were both down.
Tanahashi and EVIL entered at 7:00. EVIL hit a low blow uppercut with the ref out of position. Tanahashi shoved the ref and hit his own low blow uppercut! They both writhed on the mat. Oleg entered for the first time. Togo hit his knife-edge chop to Oleg’s groin at 8:30. Oleg caught Kanemaru and applied a bearhug, but Kanemaru quickly escaped. Oleg hit a splash for a nearfall and suddenly all 10 were in the ring. Oleg picked up Kanemaru and hit his gut-wrench suplex. Yujiro hit Oleg with his cane! Kanemaru immediately rolled up Oleg for the cheap pin.
4. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Bushi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, and Shingo Takagi defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” David Finlay, Gedo, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, and Gabe Kidd at 10:27. Yota wore a full (American) football outfit, including helmet and shoulder pads. Shingo came out last for his team, wearing the NEVER Openweight Title. All ten wrestlers immediately brawled to the floor. Kidd and Shingo battled near the entrance area. Meanwhile Gedo leaned Naito across a guardrail and hit him. In the ring, Finlay was brawling with Yota; I really believe we were going to see this pairing in the finals of the New Japan Cup.
Connors was battling Bushi on the floor, then he tossed Bushi into the ring at 3:00, and the BCWD began working Bushi over in their corner. Naito made the hot tag at 5:00 and he hit a deep armdrag on Moloney and a basement dropkick to the back, then a Rude Awakening standing neckbreaker. They traded forearm strikes. Gabe and Shingo made the hot tag and immediately traded forearm strikes. Gabe hit a Saito Suplex at 7:00. Shingo hit a back suplex but he clutched at a sore neck. They hit simultaneous clotheslines with neither man going down, so they traded thudding headbutts, then they traded chops.
Hiromu and Gedo entered at 9:00, and Hiromu hit a shotgun dropkick and a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Finlay entered and hit a Dominator faceplant on Hiromu; Gedo climbed on him for a nearfall. However, Hiromu applied a Triangle Choke, and Gedo immediately tapped out. Good action; I am really looking forward to singles matches of Shingo-Kidd and Finlay-Tsuji. On that note, Kidd ran up to Shingo and they brawled some more on their way to the back.
* Next up, we have a gauntlet series of elimination matches between Just 5 Guys and United Empire. Each mini-match has a 10-minute time limit. Each side has five participants, so that means at least five mini-matches. (NJPW recently did this match and I thought it went well.)
5a. Great-O-Khan vs. Yuya Uemura ended in a time-limit draw at 10:00. They had a feeling-out process on the mat. They brawled to the floor, where O-Khan hit a Mongolian Chop at 4:00. In the ring, Yuya hit a back suplex for a nearfall at 6:30. They are not moving anywhere fast enough of a pace to make me think we’ll see a pinfall or submission in the time limit. O-Khan hit a suplex, and he went to the floor and got a table and set it up at ringside. Yuya hit a uranage at 8:30 and he was fired up. He hit a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall. O-Khan hit a butterfly suplex and they were both down at 9:30. Yuya hit a suplex but we had a draw at 10:00 sharp; thus, both were eliminated and two more faction partners must enter.
5b. Sanada vs. Jeff Cobb ended in a time-limit draw at 10:00. Standing switches to open. Sanada tried a shoulder tackle and just ricocheted off him. Jeff went for a Spin Cycle back suplex but Sanada blocked it at 3:30. They brawled to the floor at 5:00 and up a staircase. Cobb picked him up and held him upside down, but Sanada escaped. Both men raced back to the ring and dove in to avoid being counted out. Cobb hit a standing moonsault at 7:00. Cobb hit a uranage and a superkick. He got Sanada on his shoulders, but Sanada escaped and hit a dropkick to the back at 8:30. Sanada got an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall! He hit a Shining Wizard as we hear the 9-minute call. Cobb avoided Deadfall. Cobb got an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall! Fun spot. Cobb hit a forearm strike that dropped Sanada, but the time limit expired before he could make a cover.
5c. Callum Newman defeated Taka Michinoku at 7:11. Newman is deceptively large, especially compared to Taka. Taka’s shoulder tackle didn’t work, so he gave Callum an eye poke and tied him up on the mat. Callum hit a LOUD chop at 2:30 that dropped Taka. He hit a running kick in the corner and a clothesline for a nearfall. Taka hit a Mafia Kick and they traded kicks. Taka got some rollups for nearfalls. Callum hit a springboard stunner for the pin. Honestly, this should have been shorter.
5d. Douki defeated Callum Newman at 3:52. Douki ran in and attacked Callum immediately to start the next mini-match. They traded forearm strikes. Callum ran the ropes and hit a dropkick, then he hit a plancha to the floor at 2:00. Douki got a Code Red in the ring, and he applied the ‘Douki Chokey’ triangle choke, and Newman submitted!
5e. Douki defeated Francesco Akira at 7:42. Akira hit a baseball slide dropkick to the floor, and they brawled around ringside. (I see the eliminated members of each team are still there. I recall that was the case in the last gauntlet elimination match, too.) They got back in the ring and Akira was in charge. Douki hit a springboard back elbow at 3:00. Douki went for his Daybreak slingshot DDT, but Akira blocked it. Douki got a backslide for a nearfall at 5:00. He nailed Daybreak for a nearfall. Akira hit a doublestomp to the chest and a superkick. Douki hit an enzuigiri. Akira nailed a swinging neckbreaker for a believable nearfall; I really thought that was it. Akira missed the Fireball double knees, and they traded rollups, when Douki suddenly got the pin!
5f. TJP defeated Douki at 2:53. TJP hit a top-rope flying forearm to enter the ring. Douki applied the Douki Chokey. TJP applied his STF. He hit his face wash kicks. Douki hit a dropkick that sent TJP to the floor. Douki hit an Asai Moonsault at 2:00 and they were both down. Douki went for Daybreak, but TJP caught his head and hit a stunner. TJP immediately hit the Mamba Splash for the pin!
5g. TJP defeated Taichi at 14:01; United Empire wins the match. No time limit for the final round. TJP hit the Mamba Splash/frogsplash just seconds into the match! He hit a missile dropkick to the floor, and they fought at ringside. Back in the ring, Taichi was in charge, and he tied up TJP in an Octopus stretch. TJP hit some forearm strikes, but Taichi dropped him with a hard kick for a nearfall at 4:00. The United Empire guys started pounding on the mat to rally for TJP. TJP grabbed Taichi’s right arm and snapped it backward behind his back. He hit a springboard forearm and a Helluva Kick, then his Facewash kicks at 6:00. Taichi hit some Kawada Kicks to the face, so TJP hit his own Kawada Kicks. TJP hooked a leg and hit a back suplex; Taichi popped up and hit a clothesline and they were both down.
Taichi ripped off his tearaway pants and that always gets a pop. TJP leapt off the top rope and hit a DDT for a nearfall at 8:00. They fought on the ropes; TJP went for another Mamba Splash but TJP got his knees up to block it. Taichi hit a Saito Suplex and they were both down at 9:30. Taichi nailed a Buzzsaw Kick. TJP tied him in his Pinoy Stretch/modified STF, but Taichi reached the ropes at 11:00. TJP snapped the right arm across his shoulder. They traded stiff forearm strikes, and Taichi hit an enzuigiri to the forehead at 12:30. Taichi hit a back suplex for a nearfall. TJP nailed a spin kick to the head. They traded clotheslines. TJP grabbed Taichi’s head, dragged him to the mat for a rollup, and scored the pin! An excellent main event.
* TJP got on the mic. “You having fun? We having fun now?” He said a few lines in Japanese; Charlton said TJP said there are a lot of leaders in the UE, but only one “captain.” He told Cobb to go get Sabre’s TV TItle, for O-Khan to retain the KOPW title, for Akira to win Best of Super Juniors, and for Newman to win G1. “Divide and Conquer,” he said.
Final Thoughts: So, TJP is having “his moment” right now in NJPW. Since Will Ospreay left, the commentators have repeatedly told a story about how there is internal conflict in the United Empire over who is the leader. Jeff Cobb on commentary a week or so ago didn’t care and didn’t want to be involved in the strife. This really played out in the ring tonight. TJP has really worked to adapt to the heavyweight style, even if he’s not 100 KG/220 pounds. He’s always delivered in the ring, and they are really giving him the ball right now and seeing if he can run with it. Don’t overlook the fact Douki also scored two pins in the mini-match, too.
This show felt like it reset some storylines in the wake of Naito losing the title. As I noted, it’s hard to not be intrigued by upcoming matches like Kidd-Shingo and Finlay-Tsuji, as well as Sabre-Cobb.
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