By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Wrestling Dontaku”
May 3, 2024 in Fukuoka, Japan at Fukuoka Convention Center
Streamed live on New Japan World
Chris Charlton provided solo commentary as the show began but he said El Phantasmo will join him later. This is an arena and the crowd is maybe 1,500-2,000.
* Notable is that Sanada is off this tour due to some type of illness or injury. I admittedly didn’t notice his absence on the last show I watched and reviewed.
1. Shoma Kato and Boltin Oleg defeated Togi Makabe and Katsuya Murashima at 6:57. Oleg opened and hit shoulder tackles on Makabe. Togi hit a bodyslam on Kato. The Young Lions brawled. Charlton talked about Ryusuke’s bicycle accident that will keep him off this show and the Best of Super Junior’s tournament. Oleg flipped Makabe in his arms at 4:00, before hitting his gut-wrench suplex, and Charlton called him a “genetic freak.” Oleg put Katsuya in a Boston Crab. He hit his Kamikaze (forward Finlay Roll) on Murashima for the pin. Basic but fine.
2. “House of Torture” Yujiro Takahaski and Sho defeated “Just 5 Guys” Douki and Taka Michinoku at 7:35. Sho got on the mic and told Douki “there is no way you are winning the tournament so you might as well forfeit now.” The HoT then attacked to begin the match. Yujiro tripped Taka, dragged him to the floor, and shoved him face-first into the ring post. Sho then beat up Taka in the ring. Douki entered at 3:30 and hit a double back elbow. Sho hit a spear on Douki. Douki suplexed Sho and they were both down. Taka and Yujiro tagged back in at 5:30. Taka hit a Mafia Kick and a superkick for a nearfall. He applied a crossface on the mat and cranked back on Yujiro’s head. Yujiro hit Taka with his cane while the ref was distracted, then he nailed Pimp Juice/leaping DDT for the cheap pin.
3. “Just 5 Guys” Yuya Uemura and Taichi defeated “United Empire” Great-O-Khan and Callum Newman at 9:10. Charlton noted here that Sanada was supposed to be in this match but was pulled due to a “health concern.” Yuya and O-Khan opened with basic standing switches as Charlton talked about the “All Together” show on Monday featuring wrestlers from six different Japanese promotions. Yuya worked the left arm. Taichi and Newman entered at 4:00. O-Khan hit his Mongolian Chops on Taichi. Newman hit his Mafia Kick at 7:00, then a snap suplex on Yuya and a penalty kick for a nearfall. Yuya came off the top rope, but Newman caught him with a dropkick at 8:30. Newman and Yuya traded kicks, and Yuya nailed the Deadbolt double-underhook suplex for the pin. Solid action.
4. “Guerrillas of Destiny” El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, and Jado defeated “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Kosei Fujita at 6:54. Hikuleo and Nicholls opened and immediately traded forearm strikes. Haste entered and worked over Jado. Fujita and Jado swore at each other (in English!) as they traded kicks. Haste hit some chops on Hikuleo at 4:30 that Hikuleo no-sold. Hikuleo hit a double clothesline. He hit a big boot on Haste. ELP entered and traded offense with Haste. Phantasmo got a rollup on Nicholls out of nowhere for the pin! Charlton shouted that he “had the tights!” but I couldn’t see that from my view of the pin.
5. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Kenta, Chase Owens, and Taiji Ishimori defeated Tiger Mask and “Bishamon” Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi at 7:37. All six brawled at the bell. Ishimori grounded Goto and choked him with a T-Shirt. BCWD worked over Yoshi-Hachi. Tiger Mask hit a Tiger Driver on Owens for a nearfall at 6:30. Owens hit a back suplex on Tiger Mask for a nearfall. Owens then nailed the Package Piledriver for the pin on Tiger Mask. This one never got out of first gear.
* El Phantasmo joined commentary here.
6. “Los Ingobernobles de Japon” Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi defeated “Bullet Club War Dogs” Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, and Gedo at 11:18. The BCWD attacked to open the match. Naito traded offense with Moloney. Meanwhile, Shingo and Gabe brawled to the floor, over the guardrail, and into the crowd, and over to a wall. We now see Clark Connors and Hiromu also have brawled to a wall. Hiromu dove back into the ring at the 19-count at 4:00, but the heels kept Takahashi grounded. Hiromu hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip on Connors at 7:00.
Gabe and Shingo tagged in and immediately hit shoulder tackles, then switched to forearm strikes. (I have very high hopes for this singles match on Saturday!) Gabe hit a suplex. They traded punches and both collapsed at 9:30, and this crowd was hot. “When was the last time there was a match this anticipated for the NEVER Openweight TItle?” ELP asked. Bushi and Gedo entered, and Bushi hit a twisting neckbreaker. Drilla hit a doublestomp on Bushi’s chest. Naito hit a standing neckbreaker on Drilla. Bushi applied a modified Figure Four Leglock, and Gedo tapped out.
7. “House of Torture” EVIL, Ren Narita, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (w/Dick Togo) defeated Jon Moxley, Shota Umino, and El Desperado at 8:53. The heels attacked from behind before ring introductions. Ren hit a blow on Moxley; Jon dropped him with a clothesline, and those two brawled to the floor. In the ring, Moxley and Shota hit some team moves on Ren. Shota got whipped into an exposed corner at 2:30. The heels hit a team snap suplex on Shota onto the thin mat on the floor.
Moxley got the tag and he hit a German Suplex on Narita at 6:00. He backed Ren into a corner and hit repeated punches to his forehead. Ren applied the Cobra Twist/abdominal stretch. Kanemaru and former Suzuki-Gun teammate Desperado traded offense. Togo jumped in the ring and choked Desperado with his wire at 8:30. Moxley hit a plancha to the floor and that surprised ELP. Kanemaru sprayed whiskey in Desperado’s eyes, rolled him up, and got the flash pin! The HoT continued to beat on Moxley after the match. Phantasmo said that ticking off Moxley the night before a title match is not something he would do.
8. Jeff Cobb defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to win the New Japan TV Title at 13:27. A reminder there is a 15-minute time limit for TV title defenses. A feeling-out process early as Charlton reminded us they previously went to a time-limit draw. Zack sold a rib injury after a hip toss at 3:30. Jeff stepped on Sabre’s stomach, and he hit a belly-to-belly overhead suplex. Sabre hit some European Uppercuts; Cobb hit a hard forearm that stunned Sabre. Sabre hit a hard punt kick at 7:00 but sold that rib injury. Sabre hit a German Suplex, so Cobb hit one.
Cobb hit a standing moonsault for a nearfall at 9:00. Sabre hit a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Sabre hit a standing powerbomb. Sabre went for a rear-naked choke but Cobb rolled out and hit a release F5. Cobb went for a Tour of the Islands powerslam but Sabre blocked it. Cobb hit a Dragunov-style diving forearm; he went for a second one but Sabre caught the arm and turned it into a crossarm breaker. Nice reversal. Cobb stood up with the arm hold still locked in, hit the Tour of the Islands, and scored the pin! New champion! I admittedly didn’t expect that.
* A nice video package for the next match, with Finlay hammering home the point he should have won the New Japan Cup.
9. David Finlay (w/Gedo) defeated Yota Tsuji at 22:21. A feeling-out process and Finlay rolled to the floor and stalled. Finlay repeatedly rammed Yota back-first into the guardrail at ringside at 2:30, and David was in charge back in the ring, and he kept Tsuji grounded. Finlay hit a senton at 7:00. Yota hit a snap suplex into the corner, and Finlay sold pain in his neck. Yota dove through the ropes and barreled onto Finlay at 9:00, with Finlay falling hard backwards into the guardrails. In the ring, Yota hit a gutbuster double knees to the stomach, and he applied a leg lock around Finlay’s waist, but Finlay reached the ropes at 11:30.
Finlay nailed a Blue Thunder Bomb, then a Dominator face plant off his shoulders for a nearfall at 13:30. Tsuji fired back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee, then a modified Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Yota came off the ropes but Finlay caught him with a stunner. Finlay hit a Buckle Bomb, then Oblivion for a nearfall at 16:00! Charlton said that was a great combo that would put away most men. Tsuji hit a modified Flatliner and a Stomp on the head, and they were both down. Finlay hit a series of European Uppercuts. Yota hit a jumping knee for a nearfall at 20:00. He hit another Stomp to the head, then a top-rope stomp to the head for a nearfall.
Tsuji set up for the Gene Blaster (spear) but Gedo distracted him. Finlay hit his own spear and a Stundog Millionaire. Tsuji hit a second Gene Blaster; he set up for a third one, but FInlay side-stepped it, and David may have struck Yota with the shillelagh. Finlay hit the Overkill/pop-up knee strike to the sternum for the tainted pin. Finlay leaned into the camera and said “I’m the real Cup winner,” and added he wants a shot at the winner of the main event.
10. Nic Nemeth defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title at 17:21. Hiroshi has been fairly immobile in his two weeks back from injury so we’ll see how this goes. They traded mat holds early on. Hiroshi hit a Dragonscrew Legwhip at 5:00. He hit a second-rope crossbody block. Nemeth worked the left leg. They got up and traded forearms. Nemeth nailed a leaping DDT for a nearfall at 10:00. Tanahashi hit his second-rope summersault senton for a nearfall. They each ‘skinned the cat’ to climb back into the ring, then they hit simultaneous crossbody blocks and both were down at 12:30.
They got up and Hiroshi hit a series of forearm strikes; Nic hit a headbutt. Tanahashi hit a Sling Blade clothesline, then a top-rope crossbody block for a nearfall at 14:00. However, he missed a High Fly Flow frog splash. Tanahashi charged, but Nic caught him with a superkick for a nearfall. Tanahashi hit a Twist and Shout neckbreaker at 16:00, then another Sling Blade for a nearfall. Tanahashi again went for a High Fly Flow, but Nemeth got his knees up to block it, and Nic got a believable nearfall. Nemeth hit the Danger Zone, then a second one, for the clean pin. I like that Nemeth opted to hit two of them before making a cover. They got up and hugged.
* The confetti cannon went off almost immediately, before Nemeth could address the crowd. David Finlay hopped in the ring and beat down Nemeth. They brawled on the mat, while getting covered in silver and red streamers. Finlay was dragged from the ring. Nemeth got on the mic and called Finlay a coward. He challenged Finlay to a match on Saturday!!! “They are going to have to change the entire card!” Phantasmo said.
Final Thoughts: A good top half of the show. I personally liked Sabre-Cobb most, then Finlay-Tsuji, with the main event taking third. All three had very good action. Easily the best match Tanahashi has had in the three weeks since his return from injury. The first five matches, collectively, were about as weak as any NJPW show, though. No Sanada, no Tomohiro Ishii, and of course, no longer Okada, Jay White, Tama Tonga, etc. Even a Just 5 Guys/United Empire tag match fell flat and under my expectations.
So, Saturday’s lineup now presumably includes Nemeth-Finlay to go with Shingo-Kidd, Moxley-Narita and Bishamon-Kenta/Owens.
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