Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.13.18

Csonka’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Review 4.13.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Tetsuhiro Yagi defeated Yuya Uemura @ 9:15 via submission [***]
– Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tomoyuki Oka @ 8:17 via submission [**]
– Shota Umino, Yuji Nagata, & Tiger Mask defeated Ren Narita, Togi Makabe, & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 8:50 via pin [**½]
– Suzuki-gun defeated Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero @ 11:05 via pin [*]
– Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toa Henare @ 11:10 via pin [***]
– LIJ defeated Suzuki-gun @ 14:10 via pin [***]
– Elimination Match: David Finlay @ 26:52 via over the top elimination [***¾]

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– Live from Korakuen Hall.

Tetsuhiro Yagi vs. Yuya Uemura: Uemura is one of the new lions, who just debuted on the Lion’s Gate event. Uemura has a face you just want to punch, I’m pretty sure he’s an asshole. They work some basic back and forth, with Yagi taking early control by grounding things. Uemura fights back, with both showing good aggression here. Yagi has targeted the leg, and the laying the boots to Uemura. He then lights him up with chops and takes it back to the ground. He locks on the crab, but Uemura makes the ropes. This pisses Yagi off, and he just beats on Uemura. Uemura fights back, cutting off Yagi with a dropkick. He follows with forearm strikes. Uemura now locks on the crab. Yagi makes the ropes. Yagi hits the dropkick for 2. A roll up follows for 2. The crab follows and Yagi wins on his birthday! Tetsuhiro Yagi defeated Yuya Uemura @ 9:15 via submission [***] Uemura did well here in his second match, showing great aggression and a lot of potential. This was a good back and forth opener, with a great sense of urgency and aggression.

Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tomoyuki Oka: They look to work the power game to begin, as they work shoulder tackles. They collide several times, and then trade strikes. Nakanishi finally takes Oka down, and then follows with strikes before dumping him to the floor for some brawling. Nakanishi whips him to the barricade and lays the boots to him. Back in they go, and Oka fires up with chops. Nakanishi cuts him off and follows with chops, really slowing the pace as only Nakanishi can. Oka starts to fire back, and hits a corner splash and slam for 2. The crab follows, but Nakanishi makes the ropes. Nakanishi then hits a spear, does his little dance and hits a lariat for 2. Oka fights off the rack, and hits a rough looking belly to belly as Nakanishi didn’t go up for him. Nakanishi cuts him off with a suplex and splash for 2. The rack follows and Oka taps. Manabu Nakanishi defeated Tomoyuki Oka @ 8:17 via submission [**] This was your typical slow, but OK Nakanishi match. Oka worked really hard.

Ren Narita, Togi Makabe, & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Shota Umino, Yuji Nagata, & Tiger Mask: It’s dads take your kids to work day! Tiger and Taguchi start us off. They work into some fun back and forth, with Taguchi dumping Tiger. Umino and Narita tag in and trade strikes. Narita takes control and lays the boots to Umino. The slam follows and the cover gets 2. Makabe tags in and he works over Umino with rights. The slam follows. Taguchi tags back in and hits ass attacks. Umino fires up with chops, but Taguchi cuts him off. Umino cuts off an ass attack and hits a dropkick. Nagata gets the tag and he knocks Makabe to the floor. Taguchi mocks him and Nagata kicks him in the ass. But Taguchi cuts of the running kick and tags in Makabe. Makabe runs wild with corner strikes, but Nagata catches him with the corner kick. They trade strikes center ring, and Nagata hits an XPLODER. They work into a double down and Tiger tags in, but Makabe cuts him off immediately. Narita tags in and work shim over with strikes, and a dropkick. The cloverleaf follows, and it breaks down into a brawl. Makabe hits lariats, Tiger the arm bars Narita but Taguchi makes the save and gets tossed. Tiger works over Narita, and the tiger bomb finishes it. Shota Umino, Yuji Nagata, & Tiger Mask defeated Ren Narita, Togi Makabe, & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 8:50 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly solid back and forth tag match.

Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero vs. Iizuka, Taichi, Taka Michinoku: As expected, Suzuki-gun attacks and we get floor brawling. Back in and they isolate Yoh. He slowly fights off Taka and Taichi, but Iizuka cuts him off and chokes him out with his little rope. More floor brawling; it’s the dirt worst. Back in and Iizuka bites Yoh as they continue to work him over. Can we get rid of this useless fucker please? Taka back in and Yoh slowly fires back. Taka cuts him off and continues the lifeless Suzuki-gun heat. Yoh finally cuts him off, and tags in Romero. He runs wild, and hits forever clotheslines. The RANA follows. More clotheslines follow on Taka. Taka counters sliced bread, and then locks on a crossface, but Romero makes the ropes. Taichi back in and lays the boots to Romero. He follows with kicks and the pants are off. Romero cuts him off and tags in Sho. Iizuka cuts him of by biting him. Fucks sake. 3K makes the comeback and it completely breaks down. They triple team Taichi, Romero hits a suicide dive and Iizuka uses a chair shot, allowing Taichi to powerbomb Sho for the win. Suzuki-gun defeated Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero @ 11:05 via pin [*] A steaming pile of shit with everything that makes Suzuki-gun bad.

– Post match, Iizuka hits Romero with the iron fingers.

Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toa Henare: Yano & Tenzan start us off. Yano begs off and uses the ref as a shield. Tenzan fights through that and hits head butts and chops. The shoulder block follows and Ishii tags in. Henare is in as well. Henare lays in strikes, and now they trade center ring. They trade shoulder tackles and Ishii takes him down. Ishii follows with chops as Yano undoes the buckle pad. Henare gets sent to the exposed buckle, and Yano covers for 2. Ishii back in and lays in chops, but Henare fires up and lays in chops and strikes. Ishii has had enough of his shit and cuts him off and knocks him to the floor. Yano tags back in and rakes the eyes of Henare, and again, whips him to the exposed buckles. Henare fire sup and hits a big shoulder tackle and tags in Tenzan. He follows with chops and head butts, and then a suplex on Yano for 2. Yano rakes the eyes and mocks Tenzan with Mongolian chops. Tenzan cuts him off and Ishii tags in. Henare back in and he and Ishii continue to try and kill each other. The top rope shoulder tackle gets 2. Yano cuts him off and he and Ishii work double teams. Ishii hits a Saito suplex for 2. Tenzan makes the save, and Henare hits a lariat for 2 on Ishii. Henare and Ishii exchange heavy fire, and then Henare hits the spear for a good near fall. Ishii now kills him with a lariat for 2. The brainbuster finishes it. Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toa Henare @ 11:10 [***] This was a good back and forth match, largely in part to the Ishii vs. Henare dynamic, which has been great for pretty much all of this year and a bit further back. PLEASE give me Ishii vs. Henare on this tour, hell make it for Ishii’s RevPro title on one of the 50 shows this month.

– Oh Christ, Bone Soldier is returning.

… #NJPW #njdontaku https://t.co/4ULitIni5Z pic.twitter.com/gjaQhkaPGV

— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) April 13, 2018

BUSHI, SANDA, EVIL, & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Desperado, Kanemaru, Lance Archer, & Davey Boy Smith Jr: This is here to set up the upcoming tag title matches. Once again, you’ll be shocked, as Suzuki-gun attacks and we get a floor brawl. Archer and SANADA are left in the ring, with Archer controlling. SANADA cuts him off with a dropkick. Kanemaru cuts him off, but SANADA locks him in the paradise lock. Archer then POUNCES SANADA, and rescues Kanemaru. We get more floor brawling. Archer tried to scare a kid, but the kid no sold him. Back in and they continue the heat on SANADA. Smith is dominating here, and tags in Desperado. Desperado fucks up SANADA’s hair, which fires up SANDA. He cuts off Desperado and tags in Takahashi. He and BUSHI run wild, Takahashi hits a RANA, but Kanemaru cuts him off. Takahashi runs them together and hits clotheslines and the sliding dropkick for 2. They trade chops, but Desperado hits a spinebuster. Superkick by Takahashi and EVIL finally tags in. Desperado cuts him off, and tags in Smith. EVIL hits the clothesline/bulldog combo and follows with a senton for 2. Smith hits a Saito suplex for 2. Smith then misses the second rope leg drop, SANADA in and LIJ works submissions, but Archer makes the save. KES work double teams, but EVIL kicks out at 2. EVIL counters the Hart attack and Kanemaru and BUSHI tag in. They trade strikes, but Desperado joins in. BUSHI fights them off and hits a missile dropkick on both. The neck breaker follows for 2. Kanemaru counters MX, and Desperado takes out BUSHI. Archer takes out SANADA, Kanemaru up top and hits deep impact on BUSHI for 2. BUSHI then rolls him up to pick up the win. LIJ defeated Suzuki-gun @ 14:10 via pin [***] Once we got past the usual Suzuki-gun bullshit, this developed into a good back and forth match, but BUSHI picking up the win ahead of challenging for the titles.

– Archer chokeslams a young lion post match.

Elimination Match: KUSHIDA, Michael Elgin, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI, Jay White, Hirooki Goto, & Kazuchika Okada: This is here to set up the upcoming title matches: KUSHIDA vs. Ospreay, White vs. Finlay, Robinson vs. Goto, & Tanahashi vs. Okada. This is elimination by pin, submission, DQ, or over the top. Juice and Goto start us off. They work some basic back and forth, but just as Juice takes control, Goto tries to toss him. Juice fights him off, and tries to toss Goto, but CHAOS makes the save. Goto then follows with strikes, but Juice cuts him off and hits a senton for 2. Elgin tags in and they trade shoulder tackles. Goto takes him to his corner, White tags in and lays in chops, but Elgin answers back and hits a powerslam. Finlay tags in and lays in uppercuts on White. It breaks down with Tanahashi and friends knocking CHAOS to the floor and they then work over White as Tanahashi plays Taguchi, calling the plays. White battles back with a Saito suplex and CHAOS rushes the ring. They work over Finlay and pose. White refuses to pose with them. Ospreay in and works over Finlay, and then tags in White. They keep Finlay isolated, working quick tags. Okada takes the heat, grounding Finlay. But Finlay fights back, tagging in Tanahashi. He hits dragon screws and neck breakers until Okada cuts him off. Ospreay tags in and runs wild with kicks, but Tanahashi cuts him off with a high cross. KUSHIDA tags in and they pick up the pace with some fun counters until HASHI tags in, but KUSHIDA cuts him off, and gets an arm bar on Ospreay. KUSHIDA attacks the neck and shoulders of Ospreay, but Ospreay hits an enziguri and 619. HE then springboards in and gets trapped in an arm bar. Ospreay powers out and dumps KUSHIDA on the apron and he follows. They battle on the apron, trading strikes, and Ospreay teases a Spanish fly, but KUSHIDA gets the hanging arm bar. Ospreay counters into an apron suplex, eliminating them both (15:00). Elgin in and works over HASHI. They work back and forth until HASHI hits a lariat for 2. Elgin fires up and tosses HASHI (17:00). Goto in and works him over, they tease elimination spots, and Goto eliminates him to the floor (18:00). Juice in and hits a lariat on Goto and the cannonball connects. It breaks down with the others brawling on the floor. Goto escapes pulp friction into ushigoroshi. Goto sets him up top and follows, but Juice counters and almost eliminates Goto. Goto on the apron, they trade and Juice eliminates him to the floor (20:25). Okada then dumps Juice (20:35). Okada and Tanahashi work back and forth, with Okada locking in the cobra clutch. Tanahashi escapes and locks on the cloverleaf. Finlay takes out White, but White sneaks back in and saves Okada. Okada almost eliminates Tanahashi, but he skins the cat and White tries to toss Okada. Okada and Tanahashi brawl on the apron, and White & Finlay send them to the floor for the elimination (23:00). Finlay & White brawl, and Finlay hits a back breaker for 2. White fights off the stunner, but runs into blade runner and then a German. White now hits the rolling DVD for 2. Finlay gets a desperation roll up for 2. White almost tosses Finlay, but Finlay fights it off and they brawl to the apron. They battle on the apron with White teasing a suplex to the floor. Back in and Finlay hits a German, and the stunner and clothesline over the top eliminates White. David Finlay @ 26:52 via over the top elimination [***¾] This was a very good main event, easily the best thing on the show. The lay out was great as it maximized the build to the upcoming title matches, and it also allowed Finlay to shine, and he needed it the most.

– Finlay gets the closing promo, and discusses his fighting spirit, and will win the US Title next week.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.3

The final score: review Average

The 411

Today’s NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku show was a pretty typical Korakuen Hall show, with some good wrestling and solid build to the many title matches we have coming up at the Dontaku proper events.