NJPW is now on the road to Wrestling Dontaku, which is scheduled to take place on May 1. Today’s show was headlined by the junior heavyweights of New Japan, Catch 2/2, Francesco Akira and TJP, will be defending the Jr. Heavyweight Tag titles against the Jet Setters, Kevin Knight and Kushida. The entrants for Best of the Super Juniors 30 would be announced and in the main event, Hiromu Takahashi would defend his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
Both Kanemaru and Takahashi began their match with the same idea, they both were looking to attack the knee of their opponent. But the first five minutes or so of this match were extremely slow, and most of the time someone was in a headlock. The bout finally got going when Takahashi caught Kanemaru with a few dropkicks to the knee, but then he went right back to a submission with a figure-four.
Time Bomb 2. Credit: NJPW
After breaking the hold, Kanemaru returned the favor to Takashi with a few dropkicks to his knee and he then pulled Takahashi from the ring apron to the ground by spiking his knee. When Takahashi finally had the power to get back in the ring, he was greeted by another dropkick to the knee. Kanemaru then brought Takahashi back outside the ring and continued to drive his knee into the ground.
Kanemaru followed that up by locking Takahashi into a single-leg crab and continued to punish the leg. Takahashi started getting some momentum back after a hurricanrana and a falcon’s arrow. He then wanted a sunset flip to the outside, but his knee gave out on the landing and instead Kanemaru dove from the apron hitting Takahashi with a DDT on the ground.
He then made his way to the top rope in hopes of a moonsault, but Takahashi rolled out of the way and hit a lariat followed by a flat liner. Kanemaru then attempts to cheat, he pushed the ref out of the ring and tried to spit his whiskey into the face of Takahashi. But he was caught with a super kick, a fireman’s carry into the corner and then a Time Bomb.
The Time Bomb couldn’t keep Kanemaru down and he went back after the knee of Takahashi before hitting a tornado DDT. Kanemaru went for the top rope moonsault again, this time it connected but it just got him a two-count. He followed that with a diving DDT from the second rope, but once again it just got a two-count.
And Still! Credit: NJPW
Kanemaru then turned Takahashi inside out with a lariat, spiked him with a brain buster and then went back to the figure-four. After Takahashi made it to the ropes, he dropped Kanemaru with a brain buster of his own. He then hit him with a Dynamite Plunger, a big lariat and finally, Time Bomb 2 to retain his championship!
Road to Wrestling Dontaku April 27, 2023 Results
Boltin Oleg & Oskar Leube vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan)
Aaron Henare hit Oskar Leube with a massive headbutt and then locked him into Ultima to get the victory.
Winners: United Empire
Chaos (Yoh, Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto) vs. House of Torture (Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Evil)
After House of Torture’s continued attempts at cheating, Bishamon got Chaos the win by hitting Dick Togo with a GYR.
Winners: Chaos
Master Wato, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Kenta & David Finlay)
After a great back-and-forth matchup, David Finlay hit Master Wato with a spear followed by Trash Panda to secure the win.
Winners: Bullet Club
TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
Zack Sabre Jr. locked Jeff Cobb into a sleeper hold, Mark Davis was thrown to the outside and Shane Haste and Mike Nicholls hit Kyle Fletcher with Tank Buster to steal a win. This gives Haste and Nicholls a pin-fall over the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.
Winners: TMDK
Chaos (Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada) vs. Shota Umino, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki
Shota Unimo hit Tomoaki Honma with an exploder suplex and Death Rider, which was enough for the win.
Winners: Shota Umino, Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi & Shingo Takagi) vs. Just 5 Guys (Taichi & Sanada)
Taichi had Shingo Takagi in a modified abdominal stretch while Sanada locked Bushi into Skull End, and Bushi had no choice but to submit.
Winners: Just 5 Guys
Best of the Super Juniors 30 entrants announced
The entrants for Best of the Super Jr. 30 were announced and A Block is highlighted by Lio Rush, Hiromu Takahashi and ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey of Impact Wrestling. B Block included Master Wato, Dan Moloney, Clark Connors and much more!
Tetsuya Naito vs. Douki
Douki attacks Naito before the bell and hits him with a suicide dive to the outside while Naito is still in his suit. Despite the early attack, Naito was maintaining control for much of the match and Douki seemed outclassed by the former World Champion. The moment of the match was definitely when Douki hit Naito with a handstand springboard DDT on the outside from the ring apron. In the end, it would be Naito spiking Douki with a brain buster and then hitting a Destino for the win.
Winner: Tetsuya Naito
Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) (C) vs. The Jet Setters (Kushida & Kevin Knight) — IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
Knight with the Spike DDT. Credit: NJPW
This match began as fast-paced as we all expected, Kushida and TJP were back and forth with flips and switching holds. Then we got to Kevin Knight and the youngster looked great and practically untouchable until he was caught in the mid-section with a leaping dropkick from Akira. Though Knight did continue to impress, Akira and TJP tried to throw him into the barricade, but he leaped over it and then jumped back over onto them. Knight even battled through and kicked out of everything Catch 2/2 threw at him. In the end, Knight hit TJP with a Spike DDT and then Kushida rolled Knight into a Spike DDT on Akira to get the win. The Jet Setters are the NEW IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions!