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Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 5.01.19

May 1, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 5.01.19  

Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 5.01.19 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tiger Mask defeated Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Toa Henare @ 9:33 via pin [**¾]
– Taguchi & Romero defeated Taguchi & Rocky Romero @ 10:03 via pin [***]
– Toru Yano, Togi Makabe, & Tomoaki Honma defeated Jado, Tanaga Loa, & Tama Tonga @ 8:20 via pin []
– Jushin Liger. YOSHI-HASHI, & Jeff Cobb defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & Taka @ 9:45 via pin [***]
Elimination Match: Bullet Club defeated Dragon Lee, Will Ospreay, Mikey Nicholls, Juice Robinson, & Hirooki Goto @ 18:10 [***]
Elimination Match: LIJ defeated Sho, Yoh, Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, & Big Tom Ishii @ 27:45 via pin [****]


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Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tiger Mask vs. Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Toa Henare: Narita and Uemura begin. They work into a grappling exchange, and then to the ropes. Umino and Tsuji tag in, and Tsuji hits a dropkick and follows with strikes. Umino cut him off with running forearms and a slam. Tiger tags in and lays in strikes, playing grumpy old man. He follows with kicks, and the butterfly suplex gets 2. Henare makes the save, but gets dumped. Tiger tags in Narita, he works a cravat and grounds things. Tsuji makes the ropes, Umino tags in and double teams follow for 2. Umino follows with uppercuts, strikes, and Tsuji fires back but Umino fires back and then runs into a backdrop. Tag to Henare, he lays in strikes and a head butt. The shoulder tackle follows and hits corner clotheslines on Umino and Narita. The Samoan drop follows, and then a delayed suplex for 2. Umino cuts him off with a dropkick, Tiger tags in and follows with kicks, but Henare cuts him off and tags in Uemura. The shoulder tackle follows and then triple teams on Tiger. Umino makes the save and Tiger battles back, rolls into a knee bar and Uemura fights, making the ropes. Tiger hits the tiger driver for 2 as Henare makes the save. Tiger follows with a top rope butterfly suplex and that’s that. Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Tiger Mask defeated Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Toa Henare @ 9:33 via pin [**¾] This was a pretty good opener, with Tiger Mask getting into grumpy old man mode just in time for BOSJ.

Desperado & Kanemaru vs. Taguchi & Rocky Romero: This is basically a BOSJ preview match. Romero & Despy begin. They work into counters and Romero hits an arm drag. Despy rakes the eyes, and he then accidentally arm drags Taguchi. They double team Despy, Taguchi calls the plays as Romero runs wild with clotheslines. Despy gets ran into Taguchi’s ass and then Kanemaru runs Romero into the ass. He gets dumped and Taguchi is left alone. They kick his ass, and Kanemaru works over Romero on the floor. Romero beats the count back in and Despy lays the boots to him. Kanemaru tags in and isolates Romero in his corner. The belly to back suplex follows for 2. Despy back in and Romero fires back, eye rake by Despy and Kanemaru tags back in. Romero cuts him off, but can’t make the tag. He finally hits a spin kick and tags in Taguchi, Ass attacks follow as Taguchi runs wild and covers for 2. Kanemaru rakes the eyes, but Taguchi hits another ass attack. They fight over a suplex, and Taguchi finally hits it. Tags to Despy & Romero and Romero hits a RANA. He hits another and follows with forever clotheslines, but gets cut off with double teams and Despy covers for 2. Kanemaru breaks up Romero’s backslide, and then gets tossed. And Despy hits a suplex. Pinche loco is countered into a RANA & cradle by Romero for the win. Taguchi & Romero defeated Taguchi & Rocky Romero @ 10:03 via pin [***] This was a good and fun tag, with a somewhat surprising result.

Toru Yano, Togi Makabe, & Tomoaki Honma vs. Jado, Tanaga Loa, & Tama Tonga: Bullet Club attacks before the bell, with Tonga working over Yano as the others spill to the floor. Yano fights back, exposes the buckle, and takes out Tonga with the buckle pad. The fight spills to the floor with everyone brawling. Jado and Honma are moving SO SLOW here. Honma barely beats the count back in and rolls right into double teams. He and Jado trade chops, with Jado taking control. Loa tags in and follow with a suplex for 2. Tonga tags back in and they isolate Honma. The slam follows, and Tonga misses a kokeshi. Honma gets tripped up by Loa, but Honma follows with a diving kokeshi. Makabe tags in and he strolls mildly. He follows with rights, but Loa spears him and tags in Tonga. Bullet Club triple teams Makabe, and Jado covers for 2. The crossface follows, but Honma makes the save and gets dumped. Jado gets the kendo, but Makabe cuts him off and Yano hits low blows. Kokeshi and the King kong knee drop finish it. Toru Yano, Togi Makabe, & Tomoaki Honma defeated Jado, Tanaga Loa, & Tama Tonga @ 8:20 via pin [*½] This was no good, booking Jado & Homna in the same match has not worked out in any way on this tour.

Jushin Liger. YOSHI-HASHI, & Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & Taka: In a shocking turn of events, Suzuki-gun attacks before the bell; where has their sense of fair play gone? This leaves Cobb & Taichi in the ring and Cobb takes early control. He tags in HASHI and he hits the running blockbuster. Suzuki in and they trade strikes and chops. Suzuki cuts him off with the hanging arm bar and then beats his ass on the floor. Suzuki now attacks Liger, slamming him off the announce tables and then working the arm. Suzuki now bites his hand, because he can. In the ring, Suzuki-gun takes the heat on HASHI, laying the boots to him. Suzuki tags in and they trade strikes, Suzuki smiles and then lights him up. HASHI fires back, hits the spin kick and tags in Liger. Liger and Suzuki brawl, trading strikes and chops. OLD MAN FIGHT! Shotei by Liger, and he takes Suzuki up top, but Suzuki counters into an arm bar. The running boot follows, but Liger counters the PK and hits a suplex. Cobb and Taichi tag in, and Taichi rakes the eyes. Cobb counters the head kick and hits clotheslines. The Samoan drop connects and standing moonsault misses. Enziguri by Taichi, the pants are off, and Cobb hits lariat and standing moonsault for 2. They trade, enziguri by Taichi and Suzuki runs in and attacks. They triple team Cobb, knee strike by Taka and that gets 2. Taichi is back up and Cobb hits the swinging Saito. Tour of the islands finishes Taka. Jushin Liger. YOSHI-HASHI, & Jeff Cobb defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & Taka @ 9:45 via pin [***] This was a good match, with the Liger vs. Suzuki stuff continuing to rule.

Elimination Match: Dragon Lee, Will Ospreay, Mikey Nicholls, Juice Robinson, & Hirooki Goto vs. Taiji Ishimori, Hikuleo, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, & Jay White: You are eliminated via pin, submission, or over the top. Goto wants White to begin; White refuses. Lee and Ishimori begin. They lock up and work into fast-paced counters. Ishimori attacks and looks to remove Lee’s mask. Lee cuts him off, laying in strikes, and they trade chops and forearms. They then trade knee strikes, and Ishimori hits the cactus clothesline, eliminating both. Ishimori then steals his mask. White & Goto tag in, with Goto controlling and landing kicks. Owens makes the save, but Goto fight he and Hikuleo off. Fale then cuts him off, allowing White to take control. Fale then does the Tongan massage parlor, as Hikuleo & Owens join in. Hikuleo follows with chops, Owens tags in and maintains control on Goto. Goto tries to fire back, but Owens hits an enziguri. White tags in and grounds the action. Goto fights to his feet, but White quickly cuts him off. Hikuleo tags in, lays in chops, and Goto finally sidesteps him but Hikuleo cuts off the tag. Goto hits clotheslines and levels the big man. Ospreay tags in and runs wild, hits a RANA, back elbow, and then the double PELE. Hikuleo turns him inside out with a lariat for 2. Ospreay fights off the uranage. Teases storm breaker, almost gets tossed but Juice & Nicholls save him. The springboard forearm follows for 2 on Hikuleo .The Robinson special and Oscutter finishes Hikuleo. Fale spears Ospreay and dumps him for the elimination. Nicholls in and attacks Fale. Fale accidentally takes out Owens and Nicholls dumps Fale for the elimination. Fale cheap shots Nicholls and Owens dumps him for the elimination. Juice in and lays in jabs on Owens. Juice stuns him off the ropes and they fight for the elimination, they brawl on the apron and the left hand of God eliminates Owens. White in and Juice follows with a clothesline. Juice up top and hits the high cross. The cannon ball is cut off and White eliminates Juice over the top. Goto in and hits the Saito suplex. White fights off ushigoroshi, and hi hits the snap Saito. Goto lo bow bridges him, they fight and Goto hits ushigoroshi. They work into counters, with White hitting the flatlner and a German. He looks for blade runner, but Goto counters with a head butt and reverse GRT for 2. Gedo distracts Goto, takes the ref and Goto tosses White. The ref doesn’t see it, low blow by White and he dumps Goto to win. Bullet Club defeated Dragon Lee, Will Ospreay, Mikey Nicholls, Juice Robinson, & Hirooki Goto @ 18:10 [***] This was a good match with some really fun parts, but a really flat and cliché finish.

Elimination Match: Sho, Yoh, Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, & Big Tom Ishii vs. Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA, & Shingo: You are eliminated via pin, submission, or over the top. EVIL and Big Tom begin. They lock up and then trade shoulder tackles and Ishii takes him down. He follows with strikes, Yoh tags in and so does BUSHI. They trade chops, knee strike by Yoh and then takes off BUSHI’s shirt and lays in more chops. Sho joins in and double teams follow for 2. Sho lays the boots to him, but Naito and EVIL joins in and LIL takes control and we get the mass brawl. EVIL and Big Tom trade on the floor, with EVIL posting him. Back in and BUSHI works over Sho and tags in Shingo. He hits a slam and SANADA follow with another. He locks on the crab, Naito takes out Ibushi and BUSHI then hits a neck breaker for 2. EVIL tags back in and slams Sho, covering for 2. Shingo back in and follows with knee strikes. Sho fires back with chops, but Shingo cuts him of with the jab and covers for 2. BUSHI cheap shots Sho, but Sho spears him. Sho then suplexes Shingo and tags in Okada. Okada runs wild with elbows, and the DDT gets 2. Shingo fires back, and follows with a suplex. SANADA tags in and looks for paradise lock but Okada fights it off. He gets it the second time, fights of 3k and then frees Okada with the dropkick and covers for 2. Okada fights off the TKO, and follows with a flapjack, Ishii tags in and they trade chops until SANADA takes out the knee and tags in EVIL. He follows with clotheslines and a bulldog. They work into counters; Ishii no sells the chops, and lays in some of his own. They trade, lighting each other up and EVIL finally drops him and follows with a senton for 2. Ishii fights back with a suplex, and follows with clotheslines. They work up top and trade. Ishii knocks EVIL to the apron and they end up on the apron and trade strikes. EVIL then eliminates Ishii, but Ibushi eliminates EVIL. Naito in and Ibushi hits kicks and the standing moonsault for 2. Naito fights off the powerbomb, and BUSHI joins him for double teams. LIJ run wild on Ibushi, and Naito hits a dropkick for 2. Ibushi fights off destino, but Naito dropkicks him on the apron and then lays the boots to him. Ibushi then RANAs Naito to the floor for the double elimination. Yoh works over BUSHI, but BUSHI hits the missile dropkick. Yoh cuts him off with a neck breaker for 2. They work into counters and BUSHI hits a DDT and tries to toss him. Sho makes the save and they follow with double teams. They attack Shingo and suplex him. 3k is countered and BUSHI hits the double RANA. He then eliminates Yoh. Sho and BUSHI to the apron and Sho eliminated BUSHI. Shingo is in and the lads throw down, trading clotheslines and then strikes. Shingo lights him up and Sho hits a snap German and lariat. Okada tags in and attacks, but Shingo cuts him off with a DDT and looks to dump him. Okada fights him off, dropkicks him to the floor. SANADA is in and they trade strikes. They work into counters and SANADA gets skull end, drops down and Sho makes the save. Okada and SANADA trade strikes, and SANADA then low bridges Okada and eliminates him. German by Sho on SANADA, looks for shock arrow, but SANADA counters out and gets skull end. Sho counters into a cradle for 2.He gets skull end again, swing Sho and drops down and Sho is done. LIJ defeated Sho, Yoh, Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, & Big Tom Ishii @ 27:45 via pin [****] This was a great main event with the two teams continuing to steal the tour and putting on the best matches. All the pairings work so well and this was a great continuation of the established feuds.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 15. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka is joined by Jeremy Lambert Jr III. Today, the guys will review the 2019 NWA Crockett Cup (Jeremy was live at the event) & Impact Rebellion PPV events. The show is approximately 130-minutes long.

* Intro
* NWA Crockett Cup 2019 Review: 6:40
* Impact Rebellion PPV Review: 75:00

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the
above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

6.8
The final score: review Average
The 411
The final Road to Wrestling Dontaku show was a pretty good show, highlighted again by the LIJ vs. CHAOS/Ibushi match. Tomorrow is a day off before the final two big shows.
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