Csonka’s NJPW Road to The Tokyo Dome Review 12.17.17

Csonka’s NJPW Road to The Tokyo Dome Review 12.17.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– YLC Match: Syota Umino [0] defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi [0] @ 8:05 via submission [**½]
– YLC Match: Katsuya Kitamura [4] defeated Ren Narita [0] @ 5:45 via pin [**]
– YLC Match: Hirai Kawato [4] defeated Tomoyuki Oka [4] @ 5:40 via pin [**½]
– Suzuki-gun defeated Henare, Tiger Mask, & Jushin Liger @ 8:22 via pin [**]
– Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe defeated Leo Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi @ 10:13 via pin [***]
– CHAOS defeated Suzuki-gun @ 11:55 via pin [**]
– KUSHIDA, Satoshi Kojima, & Masked Horse defeated Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero @ 12:02 via pin [***]
– Never Openweight Six-Man Title Match: Bullet Club defeated Champions BUSHI, EVIL, & SANADA @ 15:33 via pin [***]
– YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito @ 16:47 via submission [***½]

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– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– Check out my full Young Lion’s Cup breakdown here.

– I looked at The Surprise of Jericho, Drink It In Man.

– We get a great year in review video, hyping the road to WrestleKingdom 12.

Young Lions Cup Match: Syota Umino [0] vs. Tetsuhiro Yagi [0]: Umino’s left knee is wrapped, so he may be working through a minor injury. They grapple a bit to begin, with Yagi laying in some chops. Yagi gets a shoulder block, covering for 2. He starts working the leg, grounding Umino. Good focus from Yagi early, working the knee and controlling with ease. Umino makes the ropes for a break, but Yagi goes right back to the knee. Umino makes the ropes again. Everything from Yagi is clean and deliberate here, and has purpose. Umino manages a dropkick, and cuts him off. He follows with strikes, firing up and taking Yagi down, and covering for 2. Another dropkick follows, but Yagi hits a hip toss and backdrop for 2. The single leg crab follows, but Umino makes the ropes. Umino cuts him off, hitting a second rope dropkick and neck breaker for 2. The slam connects, and fall away elbow gets a good near fall. Umino locks in the crab, Yagi fights but Umino pulls him back center and Yagi taps. Syota Umino [0] defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi [0] @ 8:05 via submission [**½] This was a perfectly solid and smartly worked opening match.

Young Lions Cup Match: Katsuya Kitamura [4] vs. Ren Narita [0]: Narita attacks with a dropkick before the bell, but Kitamura starts tossing him around. Kitamura works the power game, hitting shoulder blocks and taking Narita down. Forearms follow, Narita answers back with strikes and a belly to belly for 2. Narita then locks in the crab, Kitamura struggles and makes the ropes. Narita lays the boots to him, but Kitamura cuts him off with chops, dropping Narita to the mat. He then chokes out Narita in the corner, and follows with elbows and a shoulder block for 2. Kitamura lays the boots to him again, follows with strikes and a slam, covering for 2. The crab follows, Narita fights and makes the ropes. Kitamura hits the jackhammer and that’s that. Katsuya Kitamura [4] defeated Ren Narita [0] @ 5:45 via pin [**] This was a short and fine match, with Kitamura dominating.

Young Lions Cup Match: Hirai Kawato [4] vs. Tomoyuki Oka [4]: Kawato grounds the action right away, working the knee of the bigger Oka. Oka makes the ropes for the escape. Kawato lays the boots to him, but Oka hits a shoulder block to cut him off. The slam follows and Oka covers for 2. Oka then works a choke, but Kawato makes the ropes. Oka stomps away at him, but Kawato hits the dropkick to cut him off. Kawato works the leg and applies the single leg crab. Oka makes the ropes for the break, and then hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Oka fires up with a clothesline and gut wrench suplex for 2. The spinebuster follows, but Kawato counters the crab into a roll up for the surprise win! Hirai Kawato [4] defeated Tomoyuki Oka [4] @ 5:40 via pin [**½] This was another really solid, but short outing, with Kawato picking up the big win.

Henare, Tiger Mask, & Jushin Liger vs. TAKA Michinoku, Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru: The faces turn the tables on Suzuki-gun as they attack first with Henare leading the way. He hits the top rope shoulder block on TAKA, and follows with slams. Liger tags in and hits shoteis and a back breaker. Kanemaru mists him with whiskey, and tosses him to the floor for the usual floor brawl. Suzuki-gun takes control, using chairs and leading to a countout tease. Liger tries to fight back, but double teams follow. Desperado rips at his mask, and then rolls him back in and covers for 2. Kanemaru tags in, laying the boots to Liger and chokes him out. Liger cuts him off, but Kanemaru rakes the eyes. They work up top, and Liger hits the superplex for the double down. Tiger mask gets the tag, flies in with a high cross and sets Kanemaru up top. Tiger mask hits an arm drag off the top covering for 2. TAKA makes the save, Kanemaru cuts off Tiger Mask and Desperado tags in. It breaks down as the faces work over Desperado, the tiger driver gets 2 on Desperado. TAKA again makes the save, but Liger stops Kanemaru from misting Tiger Mask and he had the whiskey and accidentally mists Tiger mask and Desperado rolls him up for the win. Suzuki-gun defeated Henare, Tiger Mask, & Jushin Liger @ 8:22 via pin [**] This was ok, standard fare from the Suzuki-gun juniors with them outsmarting the faces. We may be headed towards our seemingly annual Liger/Tiger Mask issues/feud.

Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe vs. Leo Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi: Makabe and Leo begin. They lock up and work the power game right away. Leo hits a big shoulder block, and Ibushi tags in as does Takahashi. Takahashi rakes the eyes and bites Ibushi’s hand. Takahashi hits a sidekick, and lays in rights. Ibushi lays in kicks, hits the RANA and looks to fly to the floor, but Takahashi cuts him off. Leo takes Makabe to the floor and posts him. Takahashi lays into Ibushi with his cane, and back in we go. Takahashi lays in mounted rights on Ibushi, and hits elbow drops for 2. Leo back in and slowly beats down Ibushi. The suplex follows for 2. Takahashi tags back in, hits the sliding kick and takes Makabe to the floor. The big boot follows, but Ibushi cuts him off with a dropkick. Makabe tags in and runs wild, hitting clotheslines and corner-mounted strikes. Takahashi rakes his eyes, but eats a lariat for his troubles. Leo cuts off Makabe, and Takahashi stuns him on the ropes, covering for 2. Makabe lays out both Leo and Takahashi with lariats and Ibushi tags in. he lays in kicks on Leo and dives onto Takahashi on the floor. Back in and Ibushi hits a missile dropkick on Leo. Rapid-fire strikes and kicks follow, and the standing moonsault gets 2. Leo then hits a dropkick, and then a flatliner gets 2. Makabe makes the save, hits clotheslines and Ibushi lays in kicks on Leo and kills him with the Kamigoye knee strike for the win. Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe defeated Leo Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi @ 10:13 via pin [***] This was an overall good back and forth match, with Ibushi picking up the win to keep momentum ahead of WrestleKingdom. It was well worked and the best thing on the show so far.

Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi, Takahshi Iizuka, & Minoru Suzuki: Suzuki is carrying clippers as part of the build for his hair vs. title match against Goto, which is unofficial at this time. As you would expect, Suzuki-gun attacks before the bell for the floor brawl. Suzuki tries to cut Goto’s hair so that he has nothing to offer to get a title match, which I like. Ishii and Taichi roll into the ring, Taichi slaps Ishii around, which is a mistake. Ishii fires up and kicks his ass, hitting strikes and a suplex. Iizuka hits him with a chair shot as Suzuki and Goto brawl into the crowd. Suzuki beats on him with a chair, and then attacks Ishii with Iizuka. They roll him back into the ring and Taichi covers for 2. Suzuki tags in, and they triple team Ishii in their corner. Iizuka Is hungry and starts biting Ishii. Taichi has the bell hammer and attacks Ishii with it as Goto and Suzuki again brawl on the floor. Taichi lays in kicks on Ishii, but Ishii gets pissed and kills him with a lariat. Yano and Iizuka tag in, Yano pulls off the buckle pad, but Iizuka cuts him off. Yano grabs his beard, we have comedy with the ref, and they trade atomic drops. Suzuki and Goto tag in, and trade strikes. They light each other up, Goto hits the spin kick and Saito suplex for 2. Suzuki hits the running boot, follows with knee strikes but the PK is blocked. Suzuki cuts him off, Taichi tags in and Suzuki-gun runs wild. Iizuka uses his rope to choke out Goto and it breaks down. Taichi hits the head kick on Goto for 2. Suzuki back in, Iizuka has the iron fingers, but Yano makes the save. Suzuki tosses Ishii as Goto hits Ushigoroshi and GTR on Taichi for the win. CHAOS defeated Suzuki-gun @ 11:55 via pin [**] This was every Suzuki-gun match ever, it was fine. Goto picks up the win as he should. The post match was more enjoyable and effective than the match.

– Post match, Goto calls out Suzuki again, and Suzuki teases cutting his hair as they brawl. Goto claims Suzuki is running from him so he bails and attacks the lions and cuts the hair of one of them. Poor Yagi.

KUSHIDA, Satoshi Kojima, & Masked Horse (Taguchi) vs. Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero: Taguchi in a horse mask is replacing the injured Tanahashi here. Kojima and Romero begin. Kojima overpowers Romero to begin, but Romero picks up the pace, hitting a running cross body. Rights follow, but Kojima hits a shoulder block and takes control back. KUSHIDA tags in, as does Sho. They take things to the mat, and grapple, playing off of their MMA backgrounds. They then pickup the pace a bit, but KUSHIDA grounds things again, working for an arm bar. Sho powers out and hits a dead lift suplex. Yoh tags in and they double team KUSHIDA, and take Taguchi and Kojima to he floor. This allows Roppongi to triple team KUSHIDA and take the heat. They work quick tags, picking up near falls as they isolate KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA starts to fire up, hits a DDT and tags in Taguchi. The Masked Horse runs wild, hitting shoulder blocks and an enziguri. He chokes out Yoh, but Sho makes the save. Yoh hits some ass attacks, mocking Taguchi and then rides him like the horse he is. Taguchi finally hits an ass attack and tags in Kojima. Romero works him over with machinegun chops, and follows with forever clotheslines. Kojima cuts him off and shows him proper machinegun chops, The corner forearm follows, but the top rope elbow is cut of. Sho and Yoh then run wild on Kojima with double teams. It breaks down as KUSHIDA & Taguchi lock in stereo submissions until Romero makes the save. KUSHIDA sends him to he floor, and we move into the big move buffet. Romero avoids the lariat he first time, but runs into the second and is done. KUSHIDA, Satoshi Kojima, & Masked Horse defeated Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero @ 12:02 via pin [***] This was a good match, but I am not a fan of the booking of the finish. I love Kojima, but he has nothing on tap for the dome. If his team was to win, KUSHIDA should have been the one to pick up the win to build momentum for his match. It may not seem like a huge deal, but I felt it was a misstep. The match was a lot of fun.

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Title Match: Champions BUSHI, EVIL, & SANADA vs. Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and Bad Luck Fale: Loa and EVIL begin. Loa attacks SANADA, but BUSHI attacks Loa, pulling his hair. Fale grabs EVIL, but he moves and Loa hits him. EVIL & SANADA work double teams, and BUSHI then chokes out Loa with his shirt. Fale drags BUSHI to the floor and beats on him, continuing thier issues from the WTL finals. Tonga now grabs a shirt and chokes out EVIL as Fale tries to kill poor BUSHI. BUSHI manages to beat the count back in, but Loa is waiting for him and beats him down. Fale tags in and lays in body shots and lays the boots to him. Clubbing strikes follow, and BUSHI is down. Toga in and he continues the heat on BUSHI, hitting a suplex for 2. The side slam follows for 2. Tonga continues to slam BUSHI around and tags in Loa. Loa follows with a belly to back suplex for 2. Bullet Club has completely isolated BUSHI, just torturing the little fella. Quick tags follow, but BUSHI hits an enziguri and tags in SANADA. He runs wild with dropkicks; damn that boy is quick. The plancha follows onto Tonga. Tonga fights off the paradises lock, and tags in Loa. The Guerrillas work double teams, and pick up a near fall. EVIL makes the save, and SANADA hits a springboard dropkick on Loa. BUSHI tags back in, takes Fale to the floor and LIJ works over Loa. BUSHI hits a backstabber for 2. They take out Tonga, but Loa makes the save and tags in Fale. BUSHI picks up the pace, and low bridges Fale to the floor and hits a suicide dive. Back in and BUSHI covers for 1. Fale fights of the magic killer and the Guerrillas rush the ring and Bullet Club runs wild on BUSHI, and the big splash by Fale gets 2. It breaks down with Fale and BUSHI left in the ring. BUSHI escapes the bad luck fall, MITS Fale and low blows him. The triple team magic killer connects on Fale. BUSHI hits MX and Loa pulls out the ref. Gun stun on EVIL, and Guerrilla warfare hits on SANADA. BUSHI keeps fighting, but Fale finishes him with the grenade for the win. Bullet Club defeated Champions BUSHI, EVIL, & SANADA @ 15:33 via pin [***] While we got the expected result, they had a good match and did a great job down the stretch making you think LIJ was retaining the titles.

YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito: Okada owned Naito throughout the WTL tour, and you have to wonder when traquilo stops and Naito gets pissed. Naito and Okada to begin, with Naito showing some more aggression than usual to start things off. They spill to the floor for some brawling. Back in, Okada misses the senton atomico and Naito stuns him of the ropes and takes him to the floor, slamming him repeatedly to the barricades. Takahashi joins in and then rolls Okada back in. Naito attacks the neck of Okada, to the delight of the crowd. Takahashi tags in and lays in chops, clotheslines and a basement dropkick. Naito tags back in, Okada sends Takahashi to the floor and hits the senton atomico on Naito. HASHI tags in. HASHI runs wild for a bit on Naito, hits the draping dropkick, covering for 2. Naito fights off the powerbomb, hits an atomic drop and Takahashi returns and cuts off HASHI. They double-team HASHI, attacking the leg and isolating him in their corner. Takahashi takes the heat, Naito tags back in and double teams follow. Naito continues to torture the knee, working quick tags with Takahashi. Naito locks on the figure four, HASHI breaks and Takahashi is back in as Naito continues to attack HASHI’s knee. Takahashi takes over for a bit, and then the quick tags continue. Naito talks trash to Okada, but HASHI fights back, hitting an enziguri. Hot tag to Okada, he runs wild and takes Takahashi to the floor, and hits the corner attack and DDT on Naito for 2. They trade strikes, and Naito hits the draping neck breaker. The missile dropkick follows and that gets 2. Okada counters out of Gloria, more counters follow and Okada gets the flapjack. Takahashi tags in, he runs wild on Okada, hitting a shotgun dropkick for 2. Okada fights back with the neck breaker, hits the slam and follows with the elbow drop from the top. Takahashi counters the rainmaker with a German and hits the dynamite plunger for a near fall as HASHI makes the save, but gets tossed. Okada fights off the time bomb, HASHI back in and takes out Takahashi. Dropkicks by Okada follow, he locks in the cobra clutch on Takahashi, he fights, but has to tap. YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito @ 16:47 via submission [***½] This was a very good match and easily the best thing on the show. Okada is still dominating, but we’re seeing a more aggressive and determined Naito due to that. They are doing a great job of setting things up for January 4th. The only thing I didn’t like is Takahashi taking the loss. As of now HASHI has nothing booked for the 4th, and was the most expendable guy here, and I feel should have taken the fall to protect the more important players. That’s my only gripe here.

– Post match, Naito and Okada brawl; Naito looks for destino, but Okada hits a tombstone and rainmaker to stand tall.

YLC Tournament Standings
* Katsuya Kitamura 3–0 (6) pts.
* Hirai Kawato 3–0 (6) pts.
* Tomoyuki Oka 2–1 (4) pts.
* Shota Umino 1–2 (2) pts.
* Ren Narita 0–3 (0) pts.
* Tetsuhiro Yagi 0–3 (0) pts.

-Thanks for reading.

– End scene.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.3

The final score: review Average

The 411

Today’s NJPW Road to The Tokyo Dome was a rock solid effort from top to bottom, with nothing bad, the continuation of the Young Lion’s Cup, the trios titles changing hands and some small steps in adding to the build to WrestleKingdom 12. If crunched for time, check out the last three matches.