New Japan Pro Wrestling Road to Tokyo Dome 12/22/2020

 New Japan Pro Wrestling Road to Tokyo Dome 12/22/2020

 I reviewed New Japan's show the day before here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/new-japan-pro-wrestling-road-to-tokyo.html

I'll do the top half of the card here. I really can't see any scenario where the rest of the card is anything but a waste of time.

Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito and SANADA vs Taiji Ishimori, Dick Togo and EVIL

Evil works on Sanada while everyone else goes outside to start. Just like they did yesterday, all of the faces get thrown into an exposed turnbuckle. Evil pushes a ref which should have been a DQ, then puts a chair in Sanada's gut. Naito gets worked on for a while with all 3 heels pulling on an abdominal stretch together. He hot tags to Hiromu who John Woo's Ishimori into his partner in the corner.

Ishimori flips Hiromu into a tombstone and he gets headscissored. Evil and Sanada go at it. Sanada tries to plancha him, but gets nothing, then is driven into the rail. They go back and forth with Evil putting him in a scorpion deathlock. Togo chokes Sanada with something before Hiromu clears house for him.

Naito gets in again and the faces triple dropkick Togo. Sanada hits Evil with his own version of Everything Is Evil and dragon sleeper's him. Naito hits destino on Togo and wins it. It was alright. They kept this one moving.

After the match, Sanada refused to let his dragon sleeper off of Evil.

BUSHI, Shingo Takagi vs Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb

 

Heels attack before it even starts and take control early. Cobb throws Bushi and him and Shingo trade some forearms before Khan clears Shingo out. Khan sits on Bushi in the corner and Bushi gets beaten up for a bit. Cobb lifts Bushi up and drops him in a weird angle on a backbreaker. Bushi gets a foot up in the corner during a double team and hurricanrana's both opponents at the same time.

Shingo gets in and they kill his hot tag before he ddt's both men. Khan hits two mongolian chops then Shingo gives them right back before getting slammed. Shingo then takes Cobb's tour of the islands slam and eats a punch and lariat combo. Shingo gives it back and tries his own tour of the islands but fails and instead hits a sliding lariat.

Shingo hits a wheelbarrow suplex on Cobb and tags out. Bushi missile dropkicks Cobb and ducks a clothesline to go into a tope on Khan. The faces fail on a double team attempt. Bushi then gets double Karelin lifts. Shingo and Cobb battle but Khan interrupts and Shingo takes a tour of the islands. Bushi then gets one and gets pinned.

This wasn't bad at all. Shingo brought some fire and really added to what may have been a not good match otherwise.

SHO, Juice Robinson and Kota Ibushi vs Gedo, KENTA and Jay White 

Ibushi follows Jay White outside early and completely ignores Geod hitting him. He then drops Gedo with one shot. Gedo gets 3v1'd and I'm not sure why they are having Gedo get beaten down at the start of the match.

SHO gets beaten up by the heels for a while. Kenta double stomped him from the apron while he was on the floor. Sho makes the big tag to Ibushi and he does a sliding chest kick on Jay. He then moonsaults on Jay for 2. Jay and Ibushi trade some forearms and Jay plants Kota with a DDT. Jay hits a twisting brainbuster for 2. Kenta comes in and combos Ibushi but is immediately met with a dropkick. Juice gets in and does the Tenryu punch/chop combo on Kenta but Kenta comes back with a top rope lariat.

Kenta does a nice flying yakuza kick in the corner but it isn't sold and Juice comes back with a cannonball in the corner on him. Both tag out. Sho hits a bunch of kicks on Gedo and spears him. He then combo's him with forearms but Gedo turns it into a reverse sto. Ibushi comes in and does a nice standing hurricanrana. Juice dives on Kenta and Gedo takes an exaggerated flip bump off of a Sho clothesline.

Jay gets in and half and half suplexes Ibushi then hits the blader runner on Sho for the win. Juice and Kenta go face to face on the outside and Kenta hits Juice in the head with his case. Jay and Kenta tap each other's cases together.

This wasn't anything special or out of the usual and Ibushi no selling Gedo did not help the match.