Pantoja’s NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2023 Review

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku

May 3^rd, 2023 | Fukuoka Convention Center in Fukuoka, Japan | Attendance: 4,489

After a mixed bag of “Road to” shows, we’re at Wrestling Dontaku, which is typically a major show for the company. It’s also our last stop (I believe) before the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

Bishamon, Toru Yano and YOH vs. Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO and Yujiro Takahashi

Guess what? This was every other House of Torture match ever and as usual, I don’t have the energy for this shit. Commentary hating them is funny though. It’s not even like how Michael Cole despises Rhea Ripley. It’s just “we hate watching these guys, they suck.” The finish saw Togo fall to Shoto in 3:37 and at least they kept this relatively short so I didn’t give it too low of a rating. [*½]

After the match, House of Torture jumped Bishamon and then went to use the IWGP Tag Titles (that they apparently stole, I must’ve missed that). Aussie Open showed up and chased them off. They then told Bishamon they respect them and that they’re worthy of a rematch. They agreed to add House of Torture to prevent them from doing their usual BS.

Aussie Open and The Great-O-Khan vs. Kosei Fujita and TMDK

The smoothness of Aussie Open already being in the ring for this was nice. Along with more TMDK/Aussie Open action, we’ve also got the story here of Fujita being frustrated that O-Khan shows him no respect. So, he brought all kinds of fire to him. That was actually the high point of the match. Sure, Aussie Open vs. TMDK was good but it was the Fujita/O-Khan story that grabbed me. When Fujita came close to stealing one with a pinning combination late, I thought that was well done. O-Khan kicked out and beat him with the Sheep Killer in 5:28, capping a fun little sprint. [***]

Aaron Henare and Catch 22 vs. The Intergalactic Jet Setters and Shota Umino

Like the previous match, the tag teams at the center continued to deliver quality interactions. I’ve seen it several times though so I want to focus the talk on Umino against Henare. These are two guys who are heavyweights that haven’t really broken out. Umino struggled in his big main event tests while Henare always seems on the verge of taking that next step. I think both guys need strong G1s (if Henare gets in) to solidify themselves. Umino made the tag to the champs who had more fast paced stuff against Catch 22. They managed to escape a double team move, leaving KUSHIDA alone with TJP, who he beat with an inside cradle in 6:28. Another good, short multi-man tag. More of this, please. [***]

The “coming soon” vignette aired again. No word on who it is.

BUSHI, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito vs. DOUKI, Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru

They’ve run this match a few times on recent shows. So, I don’t have much to say about it because it kind of followed what the rest have done. That’s expected since this is basically like running a house show loop and doing the same match each time out. They made a few changes, especially since things like Taichi/Shingo and Naito/DOUKI already had their big singles matches but still. I did like that there was a bit more shine for BUSHI and DOUKI as they gear up for the BOSJ. Alas, it was still BUSHI who was there to take the fall, submitting to Taichi’s Stretch Plum at the 7:17 mark. I am liking these shorter tags but it makes me worried that we’re going to get some 45 minute main event or some shit. [**¾]

Time for the Best of the Super Juniors card announcements. I’ll just cover the top two matches from each show here.

5/12 – Hiromu/Speedball and Desperado/Kanemaru

5/13 – Hiromu/DOUKI and YOH/Wato

5/14 – Lio/Hiromu and Desperado/Wato

5/16 – Lio/Ishimori and Wato/Kanemaru

5/17 – KUSHIDA/Ishimori and Desperado/YOH

5/18 – KUSHIDA/Hiromu and Wato/Eagles

5/19 – Hiromu/TJP and Desperado/Moloney

5/21 – Hiromu/Ishimori and Desperado/Akira

5/23 – Hiromu/Titan and Lio/Speedball

5/24 – BUSHI/Akira and Desperado/Eagles

5/26 – Semifinals

5/28  – Finals

Going back to the old G1 schedule of having both blocks on most nights will be refreshing.

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: KENTA [c] vs. Hikuleo

Is this the first time since 2013 that only one Bullet Club member has a title? KENTA laid down at the start and tried to roll up Hikuleo but that failed. He then went to chopping down the tree and working over the big man’s legs to ground him. It’s a smart strategy but that isn’t really where KENTA is at his best. As Hikuelo started turning things around, we got a ref bump which let you know what was coming next. I get that Hikuelo is still too green to be working singles matches without shenanigans but then maybe he shouldn’t be in this spot. I digress. We got some superman booking for Hikuelo after surviving a kendo stick beating and being in Game Over for a long time. Hikuleo then caught KENTA with a powerslam and won with a chokeslam in 9:45. That wasn’t very good and pushing Hikuleo because he’s tall feels like a Vince McMahon move. [**]

NJPW Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. [c] vs. Jeff Cobb

We’ve got back to back matches that I’m pretty stoked about. Both guys had their respective stables with them. ZSJ found himself in trouble because his usual antics wouldn’t work. Cobb was too big/strong for him to get submissions locked in and when he tried to goad Cobb into hitting him like he does against Ishii, Cobb would wallop him. Even a simple whip to the corner destroyed the champion. Sabre Jr. finally got something going after about five minutes but you could tell that he was thrown off his game since he typically has control from the start. That meant he had to deal with changes to his usual plan. The closing minutes were great with ZSJ countering Tour of the Islands and coming close to winning with pinning combinations. Cobb got some near falls too and the last minute felt frantic. The 15:00 time limit expired before either man could win, capping a hell of a match that set the tone for a rematch. I’m looking forward to that. [***¾]

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii

Certainly my most anticipated match on this show. Pretty much every interaction in this match was right up my alley as everyone is really good. Narita is obviously the least experienced but he was ready to kick everyone’s ass, including leveling Ishii and Okada while they were simply on the apron. Okada got tagged and was again the angry veteran. Suzuki always is, so watching him wail on Tanahashi came as no surprise. He and Tanahashi renewed their epic rivalry from 2012 and Tanahashi just refused to give in despite eating some vicious strikes. Tanahashi got isolated until he made the tag to Ishii, who reignited his beef with Desperado, leading to a great exchange between them. We better gets a singles match between them out of this. Two accidental Ishii/Tanahashi collisions nearly cost their team the match but they survived. That made sense because we still had the Okada/Narita battle to get through, which was another high point. Narita fought valiantly but fell to the Rainmaker in 19:36. Okada with something that isn’t the top title is all I’ve asked for. While I love the former champs, I like this All-Star team and the match delivered just what I wanted in terms of action. [****]

After the match, Shota Umino  came out to confront the champs.  He wants to change things in New Japan and will get help from someone who hasn’t been around in a while. Cue a video of Jon Moxley who will be at Dominion to help his old Young Boy. Okada’s response that Umino called his babysitter and simply saying “fuck you” is the kind of Okada I want to see.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga [c] vs. David Finlay

Can David Finlay regain gold for the Bullet Club on their 10-year anniversary? These two fought outside pretty early, setting the stage for something of a brawl. The problem was that a brawl like that should probably cap out around 15 or so minutes. They shifted gears once they got inside to drag this out and tell the story of the new Bullet Club leader kind of dominating and trying to humiliate the babyface champion. Again, that’s a fine story in a short span but making this go more than 20 minutes caused it to hit some serious lulls. I miss the days of NEVER Title matches having energy. Now it’s just another random, mostly meaningless title in this company. Tama kept trying to rally but Finlay kept adding to the beating to the point where Tama couldn’t really get up. Down the stretch, they made it a case of the referee possibly stopping the match or Jado throwing the towel in after several powerbombs. Finlay even pulled up a damaged Tama when he could’ve won this. He added his finisher a couple of times and won at the 25:01 mark. They tried something here that just didn’t work. Maybe if it was a heel who was better at working this style, maybe if the Bullet Club wasn’t a heat vacuum in 2023, or maybe if it was shorter, it would’ve worked better. [**¼]

After the bell, ELP ran Finlay off.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi

Hiromu needs to be a heavyweight for sure. He’s had nothing left to do in the junior division for years and could be a huge boost to the G1. Hiromu remains a goddamn madman, evidenced by the sick flat back bump he took on the concrete doing a dropkick. Although that gave him the upper hand, it quickly became clear that it was a mistake as SANADA was able to take control once they got in the ring. As this progressed, you got the sense that SANADA was trying to bring out the best in Hiromu in the same way that Taichi supposedly did for him. The funny thing there is that Hiromu is already great and doesn’t need that. Hiromu was resilient throughout, taking a beating at points but refusing to give up and throwing his all into every move. Of course, it’s more difficult to keep a submission on or hoist up SANADA for Time Bomb than it is with the junior heavyweights, which played a part here. Hiromu would hit a big move and couldn’t cover in time so he’d only get two. He seemed faded by the end but managed to fire up once more and get a major near fall with Time Bomb II. That was his last true shot though as he started to pass out in Skull End. Then, things got stupid. SANADA still has the problem of letting go of the move even though he has the match won. He let it go and hit the moonsault for two before another short exchange and a win with Deadfall in 27:30. Like, just win with Skull End. Yeah, he won’t tap but he’ll pass out you buffoon. This was very good but never quite hit the level of greatness you want. [***¾]

After the match, SANADA went to do his post-show promo and put over Hiromu. However, the celebration was cut short by the lights going out and the teaser video we’ve seen for weeks played. That brought out a man in a hoodie who revealed himself to be Yota Tsuji, who was a recent Young Lion on excursion. He cleaned house and ran through SANADA with a Spear. That certainly wasn’t what I expecting and the jury is out on him but fast tracking former Young Lions into big spots hasn’t worked out too well. Jay White struggled his first time out and Shota Umino shit the bed in big matches, so we’ll have to see.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Yeah, this feels about right. As usual, there were some really good to great things on the show (the main event, NEVER Tag Titles, TV Title, Moxley announcement0 and stuff that way missed the mark (House of Torture doing anything, NEVER Title match, Strong Title match). However, I do think the good outweighed the bad enough to make this a good show.