New Japan Pro Wrestling 9/10/2023 Road to Destruction 2023 Day 3 ~ Blue Justice XIII ~ Seigisaikai ~

New Japan Pro Wrestling 9/10/2023 Road to Destruction 2023 Day 3 ~ Blue Justice XIII ~ Seigisaikai ~

I saw all but 1 match here.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jado, Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe vs. Oskar Leube, Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma & Yuto Nakashima

Honma and Togi start us off. Togi shoulders him over then misses an elbow drop. Honma shoulders him over then misses a falling headbutt. Oskar gets in and wants Tenzan. Oskar shoulders him over then slams him. Jado shoulders over Oskar and Tenzan drops a headbutt him on him. Tenzan instructs Jado on how to hit mongolian chops on Oskar.

Tiger stretches Oskar's arms back. Oskar takes kicks then Jado lariats Oskar over. Jado and Tiger hug then Oskar facekicks Tiger after kicks. Koji and Tenzan go at it and Tenzan mongolian chops him. Tenzan suplexes Koji then Koji hits mongolian chops on Tenzan. Tenzan completely misses a water wheel drop and Koji goes over anyway.

Koji machine gun chops Togi and running corner forearms him. Togi hits corner punches then Koji hits a cutter on him. Yota hiptosses Togi then Yuto crabs him. Honma falling headbutts Togi while he's in the crab. Yota forearms Togi then is lariated for 2. Togi top rope kneedrops Yota and picks up the win.

This wasn't good. It was a bunch of older guys hitting bad looking offense in slow motion.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Shane snapmares Yoshi and basement dropkicks him in the back of the neck. Shane takes a double shoulder then Goto tries to hiptoss Yoshi onto him but misses. TMDK do a standing moonsault + fistdrop combo and Goto is supposed to move but can't. Goto hiptosses Mikey onto Shane then hiptosses yoshi onto both of them. Zack is clubbed on by all 4 opponents. Goto takes a combination where he is sliding dropkicked and his chest is banged off the apron. Tito slingshot swantons Goto for 2.

Tito short arm lariats Goto then Zack works on Goto's arm. Ishii gets in and hits chops on Zack. Goto spinning heel kicks Shane and Mikey in the corner then double bulldogs them. Okada and Tito go at it and Okada running back elbows him. Okada back elbows Tito then ddt's him.

Okada top rope crossbodies Tito then Tito 2nd rope blockbusters him. Okada neckbreakers him over the back onto the knee then Ishii shoulders over Zack. Zack pele kicks Ishii's arm then is backdropped. Yoshi superkicks Mikey then superkicks Shane into a Goto ushigoroshi. Goto then plancha's outside. Ishii germans Tito then Zack rolls him up after pushing him into Okada. Ishii goes for a suplex and is cradled for 2. Okada suplexes Zack and Zack turns Ishii's sliding lariat into a pin and wins it.

There were a lot of people coming and out here all throughout. It was okay though.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jeff Cobb)

 

All 6 men pair off to start. Shingo is sent into the rails then Naito atomic drops Cobb. Naito sliding dropkicks him in the back of the head. Henare takes a hiptoss into a baseball slide. Naito's tornado ddt off the ropes is blocked by Cobb then Cobb dropkicks him. Khan throws Shingo into the chairs outside then Cobb stands on Naito outside. Naito takes a double headbutt.

Khan sits on Naito's head in the corner and his partners do his taunt with them. Cobb and Naito go at it. Naito reverses a powerbomb into a ddt. Naito neckbreakers Khan then Shingo gets in. Shingo corner lariats Khan then suplexes him. Shingo's sliding lariat is blocked then he trades forearms with Khan. Khan mongolian chops him then Shingo does it back. Khan shoulders throws him then Henare hits kicks on Shingo. Henare elbows him in the head then Shingo shoulders him over.

Bushi bulldogs Cobb while dropkicking Henare. Bushi topes Henare then top rope dropkicks him. Henare hits a bezerker bomb then running PK's him for 2. Naito step up enzugiri's Cobb then Cobb blocks a tornado ddt with a tour of the islands backdrop. Bushi rewind kicks him then takes a headbutt. We get a stereo full nelson and sheepkiller from Khan and Henare and Khan taps out Bushi to win it.

I liked Cobb's tour of the islands backdrop here off the tornado ddt and it was okay as a whole but nothing too special. There was just not enough time and they were not going all out for a house show.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Yota Tsuji) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Will Ospreay)

Will and Yota trade forearms to start. Will goes for the hurricanrana but is caught. Will then running facekicks him after dropping his throat on the ropes. Newman jumps off Will's back with a forearm then sliding kicks Yota.

Newman chest kicks Yota then Yota pushes his head down into the mat with his legs. Hiromu running lariats and basement dropkicks Newman. Yota drops Hiromu onto Newman for 2. Newman dropkicks Yota then Will handspring corkscrew enzugiri's Yota. Will springboard forearms Yota then hits Kawada kicks on him. Yota rolls him up and kneelifts him.

Yota splashes him then gets his knees up on Will's standing ssp. Yota goes for a suplex and is hit with a cutter. Hiromu tries to leapfrog Newman but trips. Newman springboard lariats Hiromu then Hiromu falcon arrows him for 2. Newman hook kicks and tiger suplexes him for 2. Will enzugiri's Yota then Yota curbstomps him.

Newman hits chops on Yota then Newman takes kicks. Hiromu flips Newman with a lariat then death valley drivers him into the buckles. Hiromu then hits a time bomb and wins it.

It was a nice sprint with a good pace. The match was never boring and they gave you enough yet had you wanting more. Will and Yota matched up well.

House Of Torture (Dick Togo, EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

 YK = Yoshinobu Kanemaru

An 8-man brawl erupts to start with 5 Guys starting it. A couple of pairings fight outside. Taichi and Sho go at it inside and Sho twists his fingers. Taichi hook kicks him then snapmares him into a back kick. Douki double stomps Sho then is tripped by Yujiro on the outside. Everyone fights outside and Sanada is choked with a stick by Evil. Taka is sent into the rails by Sho. Togo double stomps Douki's arm then works on it.

Togo fist drops Douki then Evil gets help with an abdominal stretch on Douki. Yujiro and Douki trade forearms then Douki is facekicked on the ropes. Douki step up enzugiri's Yujiro. Sanada hits a nice dropkick and puts Sho into Togo. Sanada puts Sho in the paradise lock and trips Yujiro into his butt.

Yujiro and Sanada bite their hands at the same time. Yujiro eye rakes him and baseball slides him. Evil pushes Sanada off the apron into the timekeeper then Evil fisherman busters him. Evil stands on Sanada's face. Sanada leapfrogs and dropkicks him. Taka misdirections Evil and nearly misses a pump kick on him. Taka step up knees him in the corner then Evil takes a pump kick + enzugiri combo.

Taka is triple stomped then Taka jumping kicks Yujiro in the head. Togo lariats Sho over on accident then is superkicked. Taka hits a michinoku driver on Togo then rolls up Evil for 2. Taka knees Evil in the face for 2 then Taka is thrown into the exposed buckle. Evil hits everything is evil on Taka and wins it.

Taka is beat up on after by the HoT then Douki and Taichi make the save.

This was watchable, which you can't say about a lot of HoT matches. They didn't have any stupid and unbelievable interference spots here and it mostly made sense. Taka had a good showing and it beat my expectations.

Master Wato, Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata vs. Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita)

All 6 men trade forearms to start. Nagata and Suzuki trade facekicks for a while then Nagata hits knees. Suzuki facekicks Nagata out of the ring then Suzuki lays down, telling Nagata he wants more. Despy and Wato go at it. Despy wwalks over his back then is armdragged. Despy works on the arm and bangs Wato's head off of Ren's boot. Shota and Ren then go at it.

They chop each other and shoulder battle. Ren shoulders him over. They botch a section, messing up almost every move in it. Wato snapmares and kicks Ren for 2. Nagata facekicks Suzuki off the apron then bangs Ren's arm down over his shoulder. Ren hits chest slaps on Wato then is dropped with a chest kick. Shota suplexes Ren and a scuffle breaks out after Suzuki chest kicks Shota over.

Ren hits forearms on Nagata, takes one back then hits a spinning heel kick. Suzuki forearms and facekicks Nagata then Nagata forearms him over at 10 minutes. Suzuki triangles Nagata over the top rope then throws him into the rails. Suzuki bangs the rail door of Nagata's head and everyone pairs off to fight outside. Suzuki drops Nagata with forearms outside then sits on him and fans himself.

Suzuki hits Nagata with a rail in the gut then Nagata has 3 feet put in his face on the buckles. Nagata takes a chin lock and double leg lock combo. Nagata and Suzuki trade shots then Suzuki drops him with a knee to the body. Nagata tries to fight out of the corner then Ram slams him. Nagata takes moves in the corner then Suzuki puts him in the choke. Ren and Depsy then put a stretch muffle and octopus on their opponents at the same time.

Nagata overhead belly to belly suplexes Despy. Wato facekicks Despy and leg lariats him. Wato headscissors Ren then facekicks Despy off the apron. Wato tope con hilos Despy then spin kicks him in the gut. Wato high kicks Despy then Despy spinebusters him. Shota and Ren get in. They trade shots and Ren pump kicks him. Ren underhook suplexes him for 2. Shota hits forearms on Ren and Shota jumping facekicks. Shota dropkicks him in the face then Shota lifting side slams him for 2.

Ren enzugiri's him then Shota dropkicks Suzuki. Nagata hits chest kicks on suzuki and running facekicks him. Nagata double underhook suplexes him then Suzuki PK's him. We get triple submissions from Nagata's team then Suzuki and Nagata trade forearms. The two slap each other for a while and Nagata exploders him. The time runs out and we go to a 30 minute draw.

It was long, slow and not that good. Ren and Shota didn't have a good night and Nagata/Suzuki only had so much in the tank here. Wato and Despy contributed little. It could and should have been a lot better than it was and I thought it was boring.

Overall thoughts: It was just an average NJPW show. Nothing great but nothing awful either. The 30 minute main event was maybe a decent idea on paper, but it was slow, boring and everyone took it easy. I don't recommend this one.