New Japan Pro Wrestling Road to Sakura Genesis 2023 - Day 2 4/2/2023

 New Japan Pro Wrestling Road to Sakura Genesis 2023 - Day 2 4/2/2023

Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma vs Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima

Yuto chest slaps Honma and shoulders him over. Yuto hits a big slam then Honma stomps on him. Honma hits shots on him then Togi continues the beatdown on Yuto. Yuto and Honma trade forearms then Yuto running forearms him. Oskar gets in and hits a big slam on Honma then hits forearms and chops. Oskar hiptosses him then misses a big legdrop. Oskar powers him over with an impressive suplex for 2.

Oskar takes a boot and then a ddt from Honma. Yuto and Makabe get in and Yuto beats him down hard with corner forearms. Yuto hiptosses him and hits a running forearm. Makabe catches his kick and pushes him down then is slammed. The young lions attack Makabe in the corner and Oskar slams Makabe. Yuto hits a stiff kick then Oskar legdrops Makabe for 2. Honma takes a combo forearm + kick then the young lions hit stereo boston crabs. Yuto slams him then mounts and forearms him. Makabe hits a big lariat for 2.

Makabe slams Yuto then hits a top rope kneedrop and wins it.

This was a fun vets vs young lions match. Yuto was super stiff and aggressive here and really made this one fun. 

House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita) & Ryohei Oiwa

Everyone brawls to start and they all go outside. The heels all step on Oiwa and beat up on Oiwa and Suzuki. Suzuki is sent into the rails. Oiwa gets slammed by Yujiro. Narita is thrown out and rolls into the rails and the heels continue to beat up on the facces. Evil chokes Oiwa with a shirt. Oiwa hits a nice dropkick on Sho then Togo stomps on Oiwa. Oiwa corner dropkicks Togo. We have four men in the ring and Yujio and Evil get kicks to the chest. Oiwa hits a nice Karelin's lift on Togo.

Oiwa crabs Togo then is stomped on 3v1. Everyone brawls all around the place again and nobody gets in the ring in time leaing to a double countout.

Pretty much just all brawling here. It could have been better but it could have been worse too.

TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Oleg Boltin, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino

This is Oleg's "official debut", as he had an exhibition at the Tokyo Dome. He's built like a tank and kind of looks like a smaller Lars Sullivan.

Oleg does some nice takedowns on Kosei then Kosei headflips out of a wristlock. Oleg hits a nice belly to belly and surprises Kosei. Eagles and Taguchi go at it. Taguchi slips on a leapfrog and Eagles tries top dropkick him but can't due to the slip. Taguchi goes for a hip attack and is caught with an atomic drop. Eagles does a sitout spinebuster then does a reverse figure four, but Taguchi hits the ropes. Zack euros Taguchi in the backside then Kosei follows.

Taguchi rolls into a hip attack on Eagles then Umino gets in and clears house. Umino running euros Eagles a few times and perfectplexes him for 2. Eagles spin kicks him in the gut then does an asai ddt. Umino and Zack trade euros then Umino pops up Zach and is caught with an octopus. Umino ropebreaks then the two trade pin attempts. Zack chest kicks Umino then Umino dropkicks him. Oleg gets in and shoulders Zack then slams Kosei and hiptosses Eagles.

Oleg takes out Zack then Zack takes running corner moves and an Oleg fireman's carry slam. Oleg bearhugs Zack but is caught with a guillotine. He powers out and throws Zack overhead then crabs him. Zack armbars Oleg then rolls him on his lift attempt back into the armbar. Zack then submits him for the win.

Nothing wrong with this at all. It went around 10 minutes. Oleg looked good in the little he got to. He's extremely strong and he made basic stuff look real good. Very good debut for him.

NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Title Ultimate Triad Match - Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Aaron Henare 

You have to get a 10 count, submission and pinfall to win this.

They go for leglocks early and Aaron rolls him into an armbar attempt. Shingo rolling armdrags him. Henare combos him in the corner with some good punches then Shingo runs him over with a shoulder. Henare goes into the post and takes a nice bump over the rail. They trade forearms in the front row. Shingo bangs his head off a sign and chair then they each grab chairs, drop them and just start whaling on each other. Henare forearms him into the rail.

They go back in and Shingo takes control. Shingo hits stiff forearms then suplexes him. Henare flying shoulders him  and is hit from behind. Shingo hits a stiff lariat and sentons him. Shingo hits a stiff sliding lariat for 2 then crossfaces and armbars him. Henare pops him up into a samoan drop. Henare pulls down the turnbuckle pad out of the way, puts Shingo between the buckles and hits knees. Shingo is rammed into the apron and rails.

Henare rolls him into a grounded sleeper. They trade forearms for knees then Henare sentons him for 2. Henare does a side slam bomb for 2 and bodyscissors him. Shingo turns it against him and Henare ropebreaks. Henare kicks him in the back then takes a dragon screw. Shingo hits a gori special drop and they trade more shots. Henare tries to block a punch but just gets ddt'd for 2 then Shingo puts him in an unusual head and keylock hold.

They forearm and slap each other and Henare hits a nice body punch and spinning high kick. Henare does a nice running spear then bodyscissors and full nelsons him. Shingo gives up, but you have to win 3 different ways, so the match continues. Henare goes for another spear but gets jumping ddt'd. Henare goes for a step-up knee in the corner but is powerbombed then takes a bodyscissors + a crossface. Shingo then does a grounded octopus and taps Henare out, for his first part here.

They trade forearms then Shingo hits punches. Henare does a 2nd rope enzugiri then takes a lariat. They headbutt battle and Henare does a PK. Henare does a stiff headbutt and Shingo backslides him off a move attempt. Shingo gets the fall and just needs the 10 count now. Henare pumping knees him then does a fisherman's buster to get his fall. He too now just needs the 10 count.

Henare spin kicks him and the two just start swinging wildly. Henare hits some punches and knocks Shingo down. Shingo barely beats the count then Shingo hits a made in Japan. Shingo hits forearms then Henare hits a gut punch. They trade shots, then trade a PK for a lariat. They headbutt each other and do it at the same time in a nasty spot then Shingo lariats him. Henare can't make the count and Shingo wins it.

I think like everyone else, I saw this went 38 minutes and was skeptical. But this was good. It could have shaved off a few minutes sure, but the length worked here. These two just straight out fought. Tons of stiff shots here and the two just laid it in all match long. The crowd followed this the whole way through and I really thought this was one of the better matches of the year. If you like grown men just beating the crap out of each other and going at it hard, you will like this.

Overall thoughts: I saw 4 of the 7 matches. What I saw wasn't bad at all. The main event is a real fight and I enjoyed it and the young lions did a good in their matches.