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Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 4.15.19

April 17, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka

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Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 4.15.19

Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 4.15.19 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Yota Tsuji defeated Yuya Uemura @ 9:50 via submission [**½]
– Toa Henare defeated Shota Umino @ 9:45 via pin [***¼]
– Suzuki-gun defeated Ren Narita, Satoshi Kojima, & Yuji Nagata @ 12:40 via pin [***½]
– Dragon Lee, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, & Toru Yano defeated Bullet Club @ 11:15 via pin [*]
– Hirooki Goto, Mikey Nicholls, & Juice Robinson, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Bullet Club @ 13:30 via pin [**¾]
– Jushin Thunder Liger, Kota Ibushi, & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Suzuki-gun @ 11:30 via pin [***]
– LIJ defeated CHAOS @ 16:40 via pin [***¾]

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Yota Tsuji vs. Yota Uemura: The battle continues in their 27th match against each other. They lock up and work into a standing exchange and break. Uemura looks to work the arm, and grounds Tsuji. They scramble and Tsuji makes it back to his feet. He follows with strikes and a slam for 2. He grounds things, working a standing ankle lock. He then starts attacking the knee, keeping Uemura grounded as he locks in a half crab. Uemura fights, but Tsuji cranks back on it until Uemura finally makes the ropes. Tsuji follows with chops and kicks, but Uemura hits the desperation dropkick. He follows with strikes, and then a slam for 2. Uemura locks on the crab, and sits back as Tsuji fights for the ropes and makes it. Uemura follows with chops, but Tsuji hits a shoulder tackle. The backdrop follows for 2. Uemura fights off the crab attempt, and they trade strikes. Uemura gets the prawn hold and that gets 2. Tsuji cuts him in half with a spear, hits the powerslam and only gets 2. Tsuji locks on the crab, Uemura fights, but Tsuji sits back and Uemura has to tap. Yota Tsuji defeated Yuya Uemura @ 9:50 via submission [**½] Tsuji now leads the series with a 2-1-24 record. This was another solid outing from these two, their fundamentals are strong, but they still lack the fire Umino & Narita have. That will come as confidence grows and they get more reps.

Henare vs. Shota Umino: They lock up and Henare overpowers Umino to begin. Lock up again and they work to the ropes, with Henare taking things to the ground. Umino fights to his feet, they trade shoulder tackles, and then trade strikes. Umino finally takes him down, lays the boots to him and follows with uppercuts. Henare cuts him off with a fall away slam, and then kicks away at him. Henare follows with chops, a slam and diving chop for 2. Henare lays in clubbing strikes, Umino answers back, but Henare slams him down and covers for 2. Henare grounds things with a full nelson, but Umino powers up and makes the ropes. They trade chops and strikes until Henare takes him down. Umino hits the dropkick, and then a running forearm and corner elbow. Umino up top and the missile dropkick follows for 2. Henare fights off the suplex; Umino lays in strikes, and finally hits the suplex for 2. They trade strikes, Umino fires up and then eats a lariat for 1. Henare is pissed and Umino lights him up with a flurry of strikes, but Henare hits the lariat for 2. The uranage finishes it. Toa Henare defeated Shota Umino @ 9:45 via pin [***¼] This was a good match, with Henare picking up a needed win, and Umino continuing to impress.

Ren Narita, Yuji Nagata, & Satoshi Kojima vs. Minoru Suzuki, Desperado, & Kanemaru: Suzuki-gun, in an act of complete cowardice, attacks before the bell to take an unsportsmanlike advantage in this grappling contest. I for one am shocked and appalled… wait a damn minute, the babyfaces beat them to it again with Narita nutting up and brawling with Suzuki. Young Narita is fired the fuck up and even shoves the ref, which was a mistake as Suzuki gets the hanging arm bar. Suzuki then kicks the shit out of him on the floor, dragging him through the crowd, using chairs and guardrails. Suzuki drags Narita back ringside, and back in they go. Suzuki lights him up with strikes and tags in Kanemaru. The beatings will continue until morale improves. Despy in and continues the torture of young Narita. Despy dumps him and Kanemaru works him over on the floor. Suzuki takes out Kojima, slaps Narita around and lays the boots to him. Narita fires back, Suzuki laughs and it’s totally fucking terrifying. The heel hook follows, Narita puts up a great fight spot and finally makes the ropes. Narita hits a desperation dropkick, another and tags in Kojima. He runs wild, chopping away at Suzuki; heads up top but Suzuki cuts him off. Kojima blocks the PK, and follows with a DDT for 2. They trade strikes now, with Suzuki taking control. Kojima fights off the Gotch, and they work into a double down. Despy & Nagata tag in and Nagata runs wild with kicks. Despy counters back, tags in Kanemaru and Nagata fights them off, hits an overhead toss and XPLODER. Narita tags back in and the faces work over Kanemaru. Suzuki cuts Narita off, Despy and Kanemaru hit double teams an that gets 2.Deep Impact finishes Narita. Suzuki-gun defeated Ren Narita, Satoshi Kojima, & Yuji Nagata @ 12:40 via pin [***½] This was really good, heavily featuring Narita as a really great babyface.

Dragon Lee, Yano, Makabe, & Honma vs. Taiji Ishimori, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Jado: Lee and Ishimori begin. They lock up, working into counters, and then into a stand off. They trade strikes, Ishimori rakes the eyes and Lee battles back and hits the corner dropkick combo. The cradle follows for 2. Lee hits a RANA and Ishimori powders. Honma and Jado tag in. GOD then attack Honma and work him over. Honma fights back, hits a DDT on Jado and misses the falling kokeshi. Jado dumps him and follows, attacking with the kendo stick. They sloooooooooooooooowly brawl into the crowd, as both guys are barely mobile at this stage. Back in and Jado covers for 2. Honma fights back, but Jado cuts him off and tags in Loa. Loa grounds things and locks on a crossface. Tonga in and hits a slam and elbow drop for 2. Tonga grounds him with strikes. Honma fights back, hits a falling kokeshi, and tags in Makabe. He runs wild, working over GOD. The northern lights follows for 2. He and Loa trade, and Loa hits a powerslam. Loa lays in Mongolian chops, but Makabe hits the lariat. Yano tags in and undoes the buckle pad, but Loa cuts him off and Jado tags in and Bullet Club works Yano over and covers for 2. Plancha by Ishimori, Jado gets the kendo, the ref takes it, low blow and cradle by Yano and that’s that. Dragon Lee, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, & Toru Yano defeated Bullet Club @ 11:15 via pin [*] Booking Jado & Honma in the same match was a horrible idea, as they looked extra slow compared to Lee & Ishimori. Outside of the early Lee vs. Ishimori interactions, this was bad.

Taguchi, Hirooki Goto, Mikey Nicholls, & Juice Robinson vs. Jay White, Hikuleo, Chase Owens, & Bad Luck Fale: Nicholls & Owens begin. They lock up, working into standing switches, and Nicholls grounds things. Nicholls follows with chops, hits a shoulder tackle and Juice tags in. Double teams follow and Taguchi tags in. More double teams follow, the faces clear the ring and Taguchi calls the plays as they work over Owens. Bullet Club rushes back in and gets dumped as they continue to work over Owens with double teams and pose. Gedo saves Owens and Bullet Club takes control. They isolate Taguchi, White tags in and chokes out Taguchi. White kicks him in the ass, follows with chops, and Fale tags in and lays in strikes. The Tongan massage parlor follows. Hikuleo follows with chops, and a powerslam. White grounds things, knocks the others to the floor, and kicks Taguchi in the ass again. Taguchi fights him off and hits an ass attack and tags in Goto. He runs wild, working over White. Owens cuts him off, but Goto fights them off, hits ushigoroshi and suplexes White onto Owens. The spin kick and Saito follow for 2. White counters ushigoroshi, and suplexes Goto to the buckles. Hikuleo tags in and Goto sidesteps him. Goto counters a suplex, hits clotheslines, and takes him down. Tag to Juice, Fale cuts him off but Juice runs him into Hikuleo. Nicholls in and gets dumped. Fale an Hikuleo double team Juice, and it breaks down. Juice avoids the leg drop, sliding D by Nicholls, and Juice hits the left hand of God. Pulp friction finishes Hikuleo. Hirooki Goto, Mikey Nicholls, & Juice Robinson, & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Bullet Club @ 13:30 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good overall, with some nice interactions to set up the upcoming matches on the tour.

Zack Sabre Jr, Taichi, & Taka vs. Jushin Liger, Kota Ibushi, & YOSHI-HASHI: Sabre and Ibushi to begin. Sabre looks to ground things right away, but Ibushi counters out. Sabre works a cravat, and ground Ibushi. Ibushi escapes, but Sabre trips him up. Ibushi rebounds with kicks and the standing moonsault for 2. HASHI tags in and then Liger as they work to isolate Sabre. Ibushi back in and follows with elbow strikes. Sabre cuts him off, attacking the neck as the others brawl on the floor. Sabre starts working through submissions, but Ibushi makes the ropes. Taka tags in and keeps Ibushi grounded. Taichi then pulls Ibushi to the floor, and Sabre joins in on the attack. Sabre lays into him with uppercuts, and they work their way back in. Taichi tags in and chokes out Ibushi. Taichi then grounds the action, and tags in Sabre. He follows with uppercuts, but Ibushi fires back but is caught in the corner. Sabre then grounds him, attacking the arm. Ibushi fires back again and hits the PELE. Tags to Liger and Taichi, Liger runs wild and hits shoteis. He takes Taichi up top, but Taichi counters and attacks the mask. Liger then battles back with a backbreaker, but Taka cuts him off. HASHI makes the save with a blockbuster, but Taichi hits the enziguri and tags in Sabre. The heels isolate HASHI, working him over and the pants are off for Taichi. The head kick follows, superkick by Taka and that gets 2. Liger makes the save, Ibushi flies in and takes out Sabre. He follows with a plancha, and HASHI cuts off Taka. The butterfly lock follows and Taka is done. Jushin Thunder Liger, Kota Ibushi, & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Suzuki-gun @ 11:30 via pin [***] This was a good an action packed match with the Sabre and Ibushi interactions being the highlight of the match.

Kazuchika Okada, Sho, Yoh, Rocky Romero, & Tomohiro Ishii vs. BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, Naito, & Shingo: Shingo & Yoh begin. They lock up and work to the ropes. Yoh lays in chops, but Shingo mows him down with a shoulder tackle. Yoh fires back but Shingo hits a dragon screw. EVIL tags in and wants Big Tom. They brawl right away, trading strikes and lighting each other up. EVIL finally rocks Ishii, and follows with a shoulder tackle. Ishii fights of the sharpshooter, BUSHI in but Ishii no sells him and levels him Sho tags in and BUSHI battles back with a missile dropkick. Shingo cuts off Sho and 3k then works double teams. Okada tags in and works over BUSHI. The senton atomico follows. Romero tags in and beats on BUSHI, tags in Yoh and they allay the boots to him. Yoh takes control, tags in Sho and they trade chops. Sho lights him up and tags Yoh back in. They follow with double teams and cover for 2. BUSHI battles back, runs them together and follows with a double RANA. Naito tags in and runs wild on CHAOS, sand hits the dropkick combo on Yoh. He follows with a neck breaker for 2. SANADA tags in but the paradise lock is countered. Okada tags in and starts working over SANADA. The elbow and DDT gets 2. SANADA battles back and gets the paradise lock. The dropkick follows to break it and he covers for 2. Okada fights off the TKO, and SANADA gets skull end. Okada escapes and hits the air raid neck breaker. Sho and Shingo tags in and it’s clobberin time. Shingo follows with clotheslines, they trade, and Shingo turns him inside out with a lariat. Sho hits a desperation German and tags in Romero. Forever clotheslines follow, and then a tornado DDT connects for 2. Shingo cuts off sliced bread, he and BUSHI follow with double teams and the DVD gets 2. Okada makes the save, it breaks down into the big move buffet. BUSHI hits a dive and the pumping bomber follows on Romero. The last falconry finishes him. LIJ defeated CHAOS @ 16:40 via pin [***¾] This was a really good, all action tag match with the builds to the upcoming matches really clicking.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 11. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by former 411 contributors Jerome Cusson and Ryan Rozanski to discuss the weekend that was in non-WWE WrestleMania weekend action in an absolutely loaded show. The show is approximately 3.5 hours long.

* Intro, WrestleMania Weekend Talk
* Beyond Wrestling’s attempt at a weekly streaming show: 50:00
* Independent Wrestling TV’s Family Reunion: 66:00
* wXw’s Amerika is Wunderbar: 79:00
* Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport: 87:00
* CHIKARA: 97:00
* Black Label Pro’s Adventures in Wrestling: 132:15
* Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3 (Part One): 167:00
* G1 Supercard: 180:00
* Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3 (Part Two)