The next stop on The Road To Wrestling Dontaku is in Hiroshima, where Roppongi 3K will put their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on the line against former champions Shingo Takagi and BUSHI of Los Ingobernables De Japon. Will the champions retain? Will Takagi finally be pinned or submitted? Will anybody spoil Avengers Engame during the broadcast?
Shota Umino & Ren Narita b. Yuya Uemera & Yota Tsuji when Umino pinned Tsuji with a Fisherman Suplex – A battle of Young Lions to start the action, as usual. Umino and Narita cut off Uemera, and kept Tsuji at bay for the first several minutes. Tsuji got the tag, hot Umino with a backdrop, and followed up with a Boston Crab. Narita broke the pin, and Umino used a Crab of his own. Narita held off Uemera, leaving Tsuji to fend for himself. While Tsuji was able to escape the Boston Crab, he wasn’t able to escape the Fisherman Suplex.
Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & El Desperado) Tiger Mask IV, YOSHI-HASHI, & Toa Henare when Suzuki pinned Henare with a Gotch Piledriver – Surprisingly, the heels attacked before the bell. As expected, they ganged up on Tiger and aggressively tried to unmask him. Hashi got the hot tag and took it to Kanemaru. The babyfaces rallied around Henare against Suzuki. However, the heels managed to turn the tide, and Suzuki hit the Gotch Piledriver on Henare for the pinfall.
After the match, Suzuki shook the referee’s hand, then kicked him in the gut.
IWGP US Champion Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe, Toru Tano, Tomoaki Honma, & Mikey Nicholls b. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Chase Owens, & Jado) when Makabe pinned Jado with a King Kong Knee Drop – It seemed pretty evident that Jado was getting pinned once I realized he was wrestling and not managing. Anyway, the heels again attacked before the bell. Yano removed the turnbuckle, but soon got repeatedly whipped into the exposed buckle himself. The heels worked over Yano until Juice got the hot tag. Juice and Nicholls got momentum back, and then tagged in Makabe. The heels triple teamed Makabe, which resulted in a brawl outside the ring. Jado tried to use his shinai on Makabe. Yano took it from him, and low blowed him. Makabe followed up with a King Kong Knee Drop for the pin.
NEVER Openweight Champion Jeff Cobb & Ryusuke Taguchi b. Taichi & Taka Michinoku of Suzuki-Gun when Cobb pinned Michinoku with A Tour Of The Islands – The babyfaces started out well until Taguchi tried to direct Cobb to smash Taka’s head into Taguchi’s butt. While Taguchi had his back turned, the heels regrouped and jumped him from behind and spent the next several minutes beating on him. Cobb got the hot tag and finally got his hands on Taichi. Unfortunately for Cobb, Taichi was able to use the referee as a distraction and tagged Taka. Taguchi managed a hip attack to keep Taichi from double teaming, and Cobb rallied with a Tour Of The Islands on Taka for the pin.
After the match, Taichi attacked with his mic stand and laid both men out. He posed with the belt and left.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Dragon Lee, Will Ospreay, & Hirooki Goto b. Bullet Club (Jay White, Hikuleo, & Taiji Ishimori w/Gedo) when Goto pinned Hikuleo with a GTR – The heels attacked from behind, and the battle quickly spilled out to the floor. By the time the match got back in the rung, they were having their way with Ospreay. Lee got the hot tag and went after Ishimori. A Canadian Destroyer lead to a double down and a tag to Goto and White. Of course, White tagged out as soon as he could and let Hikuleo do the dirty work. When Goto tried a GTR on Hikuleo, White struck from behind. Goto fended him off and hit the GTR on Hikuleo anyway.
Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, & SANADA) b. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi, & Tmohiro Ishii when EVIL pinned Ishii with Everything Is Evil – Ibushi and Naito battled to a standstill, then tagged out to Ishii & EVIL. They did an extended trading of dueling strikes. Then, naturally, Okada and Sanada tagged in for their squareoff. They remained in the ring while everybody else fought on the floor. Evil and Naito disposed of their opponents, leaving Okada alone. After taking a beating, Okada tagged out to Ibushi. Again, Ibushi and Naito went at it, as did Ishii and Evil. This time, LIJ got the triple team on Ishii. As everybody fought on the outside, Evil put Ishii in a Sasori-Gatame. Ibushi managed to break it up, which lead to the multi-man brawl. Ishii escaped a Magic Killer and leveled Evil with a lariat. Both men dodged each other’s finishers several times until Evil managed to hit the Everything Is Evil for the win.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yo w/Rocky Romero) b. BUSHI & Shingo Takagi of Los Ingobernables De Japon when Yoh pinned BUSHI with a Dragon Suplex to retain the titles – Sho and Shingo started the match, but it quickly turned into a four-way brawl. Both Sho and Yoh were sent into the guardrails. The heels singled out Yoh for the beatdown, and repeatedly cut him off from getting the tag. Finally, Sho got the hot tag and hit both LIJ members with a double spear. He worked over Shingo’s arm while Bushi and Yoh fought on the outside. Even after a double team, Sho still kicked out. Shingo and Sho did the dueling strikes spot, until Sho finally knocked Takagi to the mat and hit a German Suplex for a two count. Both men exchanged Pumping Bomber Clotheslines for a double down. Bushi and Yoh tagged in for what seemed like the first time in forever. Also, the babyfaces managed to get some double team moves in. Bushi did a double hurricanrana, which gave Takagi the opportunity to come back in and hit Pumping Bombers on both Sho and Yoh. An assisted Codebreaker got a near fall. Yoh dodged a MX with a superkick. Takagi went for another Pumping Bomber, but Sho got in the way and took it instead. Sho and Yoh finally hit Takagi with a 3K, knocking him out of the ring. Bushi scored several near falls, and positioned himself for another MX. Yoh dodged, and countered with a 3K. Takagi broke the pin. Sho took out Takagi while Yoh hit the Dragon Suplex and finally got the pin.
This marked the first time R3K retained the titles in their three reigns. After the match they cut promos, presumably celebrating their win.. It really felt like a big moment.
