NJPW is just two days out from Wrestling Dontaku 2023, and today was the final Road to Wrestling Dontaku show. At Wednesday’s event, Sanada will be defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi. So in today’s main event, it was LIJ members Tetsuya Naito and Takahashi up against Just 5 Guys members Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Sanada.
The two champions facing off on Wednesday started the tag match today, but as Takahashi tried to lock up with Sanada, Kanemaru attacked him from behind. That did not slow down Takahashi, he took both of them down and then he and Naito went to work on Sanada with double dropkicks.
Naito then locked Sanada into submission, but he broke the hold and then Kanemaru got involved again. Kanemaru pulled Naito to the outside and threw him into the barricade, at the same time Sanada was throwing Takahashi into the barricade as well. The knee of Naito was then the focus of Just 5 Guys, they threw his knee into the mat and stomped away on it.
Despite the attack on his knee, Naito hit Kanemaru with a neck breaker and then tagged in Takahashi. Kanemaru also tagged in Sanada, and now both men were giving us a preview of their main event match tomorrow. Takahashi hit a hurricanrana and a number of dropkicks, but Sanada came back with a dropkick of his own and then a springboard splash to the outside.
Naito and Kanemaru continued to brawl on the outside, throwing one another into the barricades. While in the ring, Sanada had a failed attempt at a moonsault, but he then hit a rope-hung swinging neck breaker. Kanemaru was tagged back in, but he was met with a dragon screw from Takahashi and then Naito was tagged in.
Naito came in on a mission, moving with a lot of speed and then hitting Kanemaru with his combination. However, it was then right back to the knee for Kanemaru and he locked Naito into a figure-four. The submission was not enough, Naito made it to the ropes and he began laying into the skull of Kanemaru with back elbows.
He then hit Kanemaru with an assisted tornado DDT and then secured the win for LIJ with a Destino. Takahashi and Naito came out on top today, but Wednesday Naito and Kanemaru will not be involved and the World Championship will be on the line.
ROAD TO WRESTLING DONTAKU May 1, 2023 RESULTS
Boltin Oleg vs. Oskar Leube
In this battle of Young Lions, Oleg and Leube were giving each other their best, but in the end, neither man was able to finish the match. Oleg had Leube in a Boston crab as the 10-minute time limit expired.
Winner: Time limit draw
CHAOS (Yoh, Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto) vs. House of Torture (Dick Togo, Sho, Yujiro Takahashi & Evil)
In typical House of Torture fashion, they attacked their opponents before the bell. Even with their cheating, they could not get the job done (as per usual). Yano low-blowed Togo and Sho, and rolled-up Togo to steal the win.
Winners: CHAOS (Yoh, Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto)
Ryohei Oiwa & The Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & Kushida) vs. United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare)
The Jet Setters and Catch 2/2 were so focused on each other, that Henare turned his focus on the young lion, Oiwa. Henare caught Oiwa with a punch to the stomach and he then made him submit to the Ultima.
Winner: United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare)
TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
Aussie Open was focused on eliminating Haste and Nicholls, so Great-O-Khan was left in the ring with Fujita. Khan locked Fujita in the Subaru Ozawa Sheep Killer and he had no option but to tap out. After the match, Aussi Open was confronted by Bishamon and House of Torture. Evil and Yujiro Takahashi attacked them from behind hitting them with their titles, and they then stole the titles from them.
Winners: United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
House of Torture after stealing the gold. Credit: NJPW
Jado, Master Wato, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs. Bullet Club (Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Kenta & David Finlay)
This match was definitely more of a brawl, there was more fighting going on outside the ring than inside. In the end, it was Master Wato locking Gedo in the Vendeval to get the victory.
Kenta attacking Hikuleo. Credit: NJPW
After the match, Kenta attacked Wato and Hikuleo with a kendo stick, while Finlay was attacking Tonga with his shillelagh. Even with the loss, it was Bullet Club standing tall.
Winners: Jado, Master Wato, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga
CHAOS (Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada) vs. Yuto Nakashima & Strong Style (Ren Narita, El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki)
Challenge made. Credit: NJPW
This match was easily the hardest-hitting bout of the night, and it was definitely highlighted by Ishii and Desperado squaring off. Ishii then turned his attention to Nakashima dropping him with a belly-to-back suplex and then making him submit to the Boston crab. Following the match, Okada, Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi challenged Strong Style for their Never Openweight six-man tag titles.
Winners: CHAOS (Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada)
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi & Shingo Takagi) vs. Just 5 Guys (Douki & Taichi)
This was an intense match, and it was coming off Taichi defeating Takagi for the KOPW championship just two days ago. Taichi was able to lock Bushi in the Seitei Jujiro, while Douki held back Takagi, forcing Bushi to submit.