Csonka’s NJPW Road to Dominion Review 6.09.17

Csonka’s NJPW Road to Dominion Review 6.09.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi & Syota Unimo @ 5:25 via pin [**]
– Tomoyuki Oka, Hirai Kawato, Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, & Togi Makabe defeated Katsuya Kitamura, Jushin Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan @ 9:30 via pin [***]
– Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo @ 8:25 via pin [**½]
– Cody, Bad Luck Fale, & The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Michael Elgin, David Finlay, & War Machine @ 10:30 via pin [**¾]
– Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr, & Minoru Susuki defeated Jado, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, & Hirooki Goto @ 10:38 via submission [**¾]
– KUSHIDA, Ricochet, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tetsuya Naito @ 15:33 via pin [***½]
– The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega defeated Roppongi Vice & Kazuchika Okada @ 20:15 via pin [***]

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Tetsuhiro Yagi & Syota Unimo vs. TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado: The lions are fired up and attack TAKA before the bell. That didn’t last long, as TAKA cut off Tagi and then he and Desperado laid the boots to him. Tagi got the desperation dropkick; Umino got the hot tag and ran wild on Desperado, even scoring a near fall. Umino slapped Desperado, but then ran into a spinebuster. It broke down, Desperado locked in the stretch muffler on Yagi, TAKA took out Umino with the crossface, and Yagi tapped. TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi & Syota Unimo @ 5:25 via pin [**] This was perfectly solid from a technical standpoint, but just didn’t offer much excitement or anything interesting; the positive is that it’s a good thing anytime these young lions get to work with TAKA.

Tomoyuki Oka, Hirai Kawato, Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, & Togi Makabe vs. Katsuya Kitamura, Jushin Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan: It’s New Japan Dads take your kids to work day! Liger posing with and firing up Kitamura is life. Oka and Kitamura start things off, they do hoss daddy and mean guy power spots; running into each other repeatedly and then yelling at each other while yelling a lot. Tiger Mask and Nakanishi tag in, Tiger Mask lays in leg kicks, but Nakanishi cuts him off with a splash, and covers for 2. Kawato and Liger in now, Kawato is fired up and hits a springboard missile dropkick for 2 on Liger. He looks to go up top again, but Liger cuts him off with a superplex. Liger beats on Kawato on the floor for a bit, Kojima tags in and he and Tenzan work double teams on Kawato, but Nagata makes the save. Kojima follows with the rapid-fire chops, and then hits the top rope elbow drop for 2. Kawato hits the desperation dropkick; Makabe gets the tag and runs wild on TenKoji. The lariat to Kojima connects, and he covers for 2. Kojima hits the kojicutter, covering for 2. Tenzan in and he and Kojima double team Makabe, but Makabe hits the double clotheslines and tag in Nagata. Kitamura now gets the tag, beats down Oka’s Mentor (Nagata) and now Nakanishi and Kitamura work torture racks on Nagata and Oka. It breaks down, Nagata hits a running knee strike, XPLODER and backdrop driver on Kitamura and picks up the win. Tomoyuki Oka, Hirai Kawato, Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, & Togi Makabe defeated Katsuya Kitamura, Jushin Liger, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan @ 9:30 via pin [***] Oka & Kitamura are obviously the top priority as far as building future stars (especially with their connections to Nagata and Nakanishi), but Kawato continues to show the best fire and personality out of the young lions; his interactions with Liger have been great. Good match, with everyone playing their role well.

Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page: Takahashi rakes the eyes of Ishii, and then slaps him around and bites his hand. Ishii powers up, tags in Gedo and they toss Page to the floor; Takahashi bites Gedo’s hand, so Gedo bites his hand. Page tags in as Takahashi gets in a cheap shot on Ishii. Takahashi & Page double-team Gedo, with Page hitting a bridging fall away slam for 2. Bullet Club continues to control, working the heat on Gedo; Page misses a lionsault, allowing Ishii to get the hot tag. He worked over Page, but Page cut off Ishii and hit a piledriver for 2. Takahashi tags back in, hits a dropkick and covers for 2. Ishii hits a powerslam, and tags in Gedo. He works over Takahashi with jabs, takes out Page but Takahashi cuts him off Page sends Ishii to the floor, Takahashi hits the fisherman’s buster on Gedo for a close 2. Ishii returns and plants Takahashi with a German, Page hits the shooting star press off the apron to Ishii, and Takahashi hits pimp juice on Gedo for the win. Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo @ 8:25 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly solid match, with Page getting a lot of focus and Takahashi picking up another undercard win. He’s been getting a lot as of late, making me fear he’s getting a G1 bid.

Michael Elgin, David Finlay, & War Machine vs. Cody, Bad Luck Fale, & The Guerrillas of Destiny: This is here to preview Elgin vs. Cody as well as War Machine vs. The Guerrillas. Elgin broke War Machine protocol, refusing to paint up. It breaks down early, with Bullet Club being sent to the floor. Team War machine then worked over Cody, until the Guerrillas hit the ring to make the save, and that leads to a floor brawl. Tonga stole a camera from a ringside photographer, and started taking pictures of Bullet Club beating down War Machine. Cody grounds Hanson, locking in a figure four. Hanson would escape, and fight off Bullet Club and tag in Rowe. Rowe is fired up, hits the knee strike but Cody flies in with a missile dropkick to cut that off. Elgin tags in so we get out Cody vs. Elgin preview, which consists of Elgin hitting a German, running clotheslines and then the urnage. Tonga makes the save, Finlay in and hits the dropkick and heads up top but Fale shoves him to the floor. It breaks down, and then the Guerrillas and War Machine just started to kick the shit out of each other. They brawled to the back, leaving Finlay and Cody to battle. Elgin takes out Fale, Finlay hits a back breaker on Cody for 2. Cody then hits cross Rhodes and picks up the win. Cody, Bad Luck Fale, & The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Michael Elgin, David Finlay, & War Machine @ 10:30 via pin [**¾] Pretty good stuff overall, they did a nice job adding some heat to the Guerrillas vs. War Machine match, and Cody picking up the win was the right call. It felt that it was missing something to me, there was nothing wrong with the match, but I just kept waiting for it to get heated or really interesting. Instead, it was safe and completely paint by numbers.

Jado, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, & Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr, & Minoru Susuki: This is set up for Goto vs. Suzuki as well as the Never Openweight Six Man Title Gauntlet Match. You guys aren’t going to believe this, but Suzuki-gun attacked before the bell and it all led to a massive floor brawl. Taichi mocked Yano’s break spot, which is the most entertaining Taichi has been in possibly years. Kanemaru and HASHI worked back and forth as Suzuki and Goto brawled into the crowd, Suzuki beat on him with chair shots as Taichi used the mic stand to beat on HASHI with. Suzuki tried to rip off HASHI’s arm with a hanging arm bar from the apron. Taichi then missed a kick, allowing HASHI to hit a dropkick but Kanemaru rushed in to stop the tag. Suzuki in now, he’s in a generally salty mood after HASHI chops him in the throat. HASHI hits a kick and finally gets the tag to Goto. He and Suzuki beat on each other center ring, Saito suplex by Goto gets the near fall. Goto follows with the corner clothesline and top rope elbow drop for 2. Suzuki then works the sleeper, countering the Ushigoroshi. Goto escapes the Gotch piledriver, Sabre tags in and lights up Goto with uppercuts. He then attacks the arm, but Goto counters with the ushigoroshi and Yano gets the tag and it breaks down and everyone brawls. Suzuki gets the sleeper on Jado, Goto makes the save and he and Suzuki brawl to the floor. Sabre works the kimura on Jado, and transitions into the ode to breaks and Jado taps. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr, & Minoru Susuki defeated Jado, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, & Hirooki Goto @ 10:38 via submission [**¾] With less Suzuki-gun shenanigans than usual, this came off as a more enjoyable match. This was pretty good overall, but far from a must see match. I liked Sabre getting the win.

KUSHIDA, Ricochet, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tetsuya Naito: This is set up for Naito vs. Tanahashi, KUSHIDA vs. Takahashi as well as the Never Openweight Six Man Title Gauntlet Match. Tanahashi is wearing a compression sleeve on his right arm, as he’s coming back insanely fast from a torn bicep. Tanahashi in to start things, Naito is as well. Naito attacks the right arm of Tanahashi right away, but Tanahashi fires up with rights and forearms. He then misses a high cross, Naito follows with dropkicks and then attacks the arm again. Tanahashi rolls to the floor, breaks the count and tags in Ricochet. He and BUSHI work a really fun back and forth, but EVIL rushes in and attacks. Ricochet fights he and BUSHI off, the faces clear out LIJ and then work rapid-fire offense on BUSHI in the corner. Taguchi calls the play, but BUSHI ruins that by dropkicking him into the ass. LIJ regroups and it breaks down into a floor brawl. Naito goes after Tanahashi right away, while Takahashi works over Taguchi in the ring. SANADA & EVIL double team Taguchi, BUSHI tags back in but runs into an ass attack. KUSHIDA gets the tag, he and Takahashi brawl center ring and chop the hell out of each other. KUSHIDA hits the rolling kick, Naito in but KUSHIDA cuts him off, hitting the basement dropkick and then a DDT on Takahashi. EVIL tags in, hits corner clotheslines but KUSHIDA hits the back handspring elbow and tags in Juice. Juice runs wild with chops and strikes on EVIL, the spinebuster follows and then the cannonball in the corner. Taguchi and Juice double team EVIL, Ricochet tags in with the running shooting star press for 2. It breaks down, EVIL superkicks Juice and Naito tags in, but Juice fires up with a sliding lariat. Tanahashi is alive tags in and works back and forth with Naito. He attacks the knee of Naito, but BUSHI returns and they double team Tanahashi. SANADA in, he works over Tanahashi as it breaks down around them. LIJ then swarm Tanahashi, hitting dropkicks but the friends make the save. BUSHI hits the code breaker on Ricochet, Naito hits the corner dropkick combo on Tanahashi; SANADA hits the TKO on Tanahashi, but he kicks out at 2. SANADA locks in skull end, but Tanahashi escapes and gets a cradle and picks up the win. KUSHIDA, Ricochet, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tetsuya Naito @ 15:33 via pin [***½] While a very good match and the best thing on the show, it’s far from the best outing that Tanahashi and Friends & LIJ have had. The match was laid out to show that Tanahashi was still capable of winning, but that he was still vulnerable due to the injury. I still think he’s coming back way too soon and is putting what is left of his career in jeopardy.

– Post match, Naito attacked Tanahashi and went after the arm again. He then mockingly offered a handshake, Tanahashi did air guitar, Naito told him to traquilo.

The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Roppongi Vice & Kazuchika Okada: This is the final set up for the big Okada vs. Omega rematch, as well as the Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice rematch. Omega is sporting an odd Jedi looking mullet with padawan braids mixed in. Beretta and Nick to begin, Nick starts to avoid Beretta and tells him to suck it a few times. Beretta gets pissed and lights him up with chops. The northern lights suplex and bridge gets 2 for Beretta. Romero and Matt tag in, they work a fun back and forth stretch, nice counters and Romero then lays in forearms and hits a dropkick. Okada tags in, Omega as well. The Elite then attack Okada in the corner, Omega takes out both members of Roppongi Vice, the Bucks then clear them to the floor. CHAOS cuts of the ride of the terminator dives and then they tease it and celebrate, telling the Elite to suck it. The Elite teases walking out. But sneak back in through another entrance and hide under the ring. CHAOS returns to the ring, the ref counts but the Elite returns, superkicks connect. The Elite now take the heat on Beretta, nice double teams by the Bucks. The Elite worked an overall lethargic and lighthearted heat, heavily playing to the crowd. They brought out Cody to get his boots for a 6-boots comedy spot, which backfired on them.

https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/873145219843321856

Omega then beat on Beretta with a cowboy boot, but Beretta finally scored with a tornado DDT. Cody then got involved, so did Gedo. Cody fought off Gedo, leading to Beretta clotheslining Cody and Omega. Okada gets the hot tag, he runs wild on Omega, hitting the running uppercut for 2. Omega fought back, hitting a superplex on Okada. Romero takes out the Bucks with a high cross, shoots Omega to the corner and then hits forever clotheslines. Omega cuts him off with the snapdragon suplex, and then one to Okada. The Elite then did their three stooges act and then triple superkicked Romero for a near fall. Romero fights out of the Meltzer driver, Okada in and dropkicks Nick. CHAOS triple teams Nick, with Okada hitting a neck breaker for the near fall. Omega and Okada brawl to the floor, the Buck run wild and Nick hits Romero with the x-factor and then the moonsault to the floor on to Beretta. The indie taker and one winged angel finishes Romero. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega defeated Roppongi Vice & Kazuchika Okada @ 20:15 via pin [***] This was a good main event, the crowd really enjoyed it because The Elite were in their spot show/save their bodies mode that they work a lot outside of New Japan. There’s nothing really wrong with that, but I felt in the main event of the go home show for Dominion that it was the wrong tone to work, it did little to excite me for the show on Sunday; I am sure that the matches will deliver, but it was only a fine close to a forgettable show.

https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/873147208257896449

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.2

The final score: review Average

The 411

Today’s NJPW Road to Dominion was a solid but unspectacular show. It felt like a solid, but minimal effort overall, likely because Dominion is already sold out and there’s a ton of hype for it; they likely felt that they didn’t need to sell people on the show. That may be the case, but is no reason to put in such a lackadaisical effort heading into your second biggest show of the year. There’s honestly nothing to go out of your way to see here today. It was average.