This is the final night on the Road To Dontaku tour. This weekend will have the two night Wrestling Dontaku event itself in Fukuoka, where many of these stories will enter their next phase. It is also the first day of the Reiwa Era for Japan.
Tiger Mask IV, Shota Umino, & Ren Narita b. Toa Henare, Yota Tsuji, & Yuya Uemera when Tiger pinned Uemera with a Top Rope Butterfly Suplex – The standard Young Lions/Veterans mix. Tiger Mask did hit a Tiger Driver, but Tsuji broke the pin. So Tiger merely hit the Super Butterfly Suplex for the win
Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado of Suzuki-Gun when Romero pinned Desperado with a hurricanrana – The babyfaces started out well, but the heels regrouped and left them laying on the floor. Rocky barely escaped the countout at 19. The heels worked over Rocky until Taguchi got the hot tag and cleared the ring with hip attacks. A double tag out to Rocky and Desperado caused a multi-man brawl. Taguchi and Kanemaru brawled on the outside, leaving Rocky and Desperado in the ring. Rocky reversed a Pinche Loco into a hurricanrana for a surprise pin
Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, & Tomoaki Honma b. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Jado) when Makabe pinned Jado with a King Kong Knee Drop – It was fairly obvious Jado would be taking the fall, given he usually does when he wrestles. Anyway, Yano removed the turnbuckle pad, and used it to his advantage. He faked getting hit with a low blow, then hit an actual low blow on Tonga before tagging out to Honma. Jado struck Honma from behind with the shinai, which swung the momentum in favor of the heels. Makabe briefly rallied until he got triple teamed. Tonga distracted the referee so Jado could cane Makabe. That backfired when Makabe caught the cane strike. Yano hit another low blow, followed by a Kokeshi from Honma. Makabe then finished off Jado with a King Kong Knee Drop.
Jushin Thunder Liger, YOSHI-HASHI, & NEVER Openweight/ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb b. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & Taka Michinoku) when Cobb pinned Michinoku with a Tour Of The Islands – Liger and Suzuki immediately started brawling on the floor, as did Hashi and Taka. This left Cobb and Taichi to officially start the match. Suzuki tormented Liger on the floor. Back in the ring, the heels worked over Hashi until Liger got the tag. He and Suzuki traded dueling strikes. Cobb and Taichi continued to go at it, with Cobb even fending off a triple team attempt. He then aught Taka with a Tour Of The Islands and got the pin.
Bullet Club (Jay White, Bad Luck Fale, Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens, & Hikuleo) b. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Dragon Lee, IWGP US Champion Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay & Mikey Nicholls in an Elimination Match – Elimination matches in New Japan work much like Survivor Series matches in WWE, where every man has to be beaten on a team. The only difference is going over the top rope also counts as an elimination. This was very long and involved, so I will summarize the falls
- Dragon Lee and Ishimori tumbled over the top rope to the outside, eliminating them both. Ishimori managed to unmask Lee on the way out. Teams still equal 4-4
- Ospreay pinned Hikuleo with an Oscutter. babyfaces up 4-3
- Fale eliminated Ospreay by throwing him over the top rope. Teams tied 3-3
- Nicholls eliminated Fale via top rope. Babyfaces up 3-2
- Owens eliminated Nicholls over the top rope. Teams tied 2-2.
- Owens and Juice teetered on the apron after a near double-elimination. Juice knocked Owens to the floor with The Left Hand Of God. Babyfaces up 2-1
- White eliminated Robinson via Back Suplex over the top rope. Teams tied 1-1.
- Goto threw White over the top rope, but Gedo had Red Shoes distracted, so it wasn’t recorded.
- White low-blowed Goto behind Red Shoes’ back, and tossed him to the floor for the win.
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi & CHAOS (IWGP heavyweight Champion kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, & IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Champions Sho & Yoh) b. Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI, & Shingo Takagi) when Ibushi pinned BUSHI with a Kamigoye – For some reason I thought this was another elimination match, so I was caught a little off guard when it ended. It was still a great match with everybody getting a chance to shine. Sho and Yoh were the babyfaces in peril for most of the heat, with each man getting time in the ring with his rival.
