New Japan Pro Wrestling 10/7/2023 Road To Destruction 2023 Day 20

New Japan Pro Wrestling 10/7/2023 Road To Destruction 2023 Day 20

Yuto Nakashima vs. Oleg Boltin 

They lock up and Oleg chops him on the ropes. They shoulder battle and Oleg knocks him over. Oleg stomps him then Yuto clips him. Yuto puts his knee on his shoulder and drops down. Yuto leglocks him then stomps on the leg. Yuto bangs the knee off the mat then single leg crabs him. Oleg grabs him by the legs and slams him down.

Oleg hits a big slam and splash for 2. Yuto slaps him multiple times then Oleg finlay rolls him for the win.

It was too short for these guys and the match was over just as it was heating up. It's a shame as with enough time, I think they could have had a good one. 

CHAOS (Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) & Oskar Leube vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & HENARE)

The heels attack before the bell and 4 of the 6 are sent outside. Yano slaps Henare in the back of the head then pulls off a turnbuckle pad. Yano throws it at Henare and the ref tries to take it from Henare. Henare then hits Yano with it. Henare foot chokes Yano then Khan mongolian chops Yano in the back of the neck. Khan then sits on Yano's neck. Khan backdrops Yano for 2.

Newman drops Yano then Yano pulls his hair on a move attempt. Yoshi dropkicks Newman in the knee then running headhuners Khan. Newman hangs from the ropes and Yoshi dropkicks him as he hangs. Newman blocks a lariat from Yoshiand does a corkscrew kick off of it.

Oskar shoulders and then slams Khan. Khan flying neckbreakers Oskar for 2. Khan takes a 3v1 and a big Oskar slam for 2. Khan puts a claw on Oskar from the mat. They trade forearms. Oskar is lamost pushed into the ref then Khan hits a straight right punch and wins it.

Odd ending as you don't see a lot of matches ending on a punch anywhere, but that's what happened. It was short and just filler for the most part. We barely got to see Henare.

Best Of Seven Series Match #6 - Master Wato, Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata vs. Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki & Ren Narita)

Ren and Shota start us off. Shota snapmares him then side headlocks him. Ren cravates him and rolls with him when he tries to escape it. Ren headscissors him and they stand off. Shota armdrags him and then hits a running forearm. Ren puts Shota in a cobra twist then Wato is sent into the rails outside.

Everyone goes out to fight. Shota is sent into the rails and facekicks him. Shota neckbreakers Ren. Wato springboard euros Despy for 2. Despy backdrops him. Wato spin kicks him then drops him with a chest kick. Despy spinebusters Wato.

Suzuki forearms Yuji then Yuji facekicks and underhook suplexes him. Yuji exploders Suzuki then crossfaces him. Suzuki puts him in a sleeper then lets go to try and pin him. Suzuki gets a 2 count. Suzuki puts another sleeper on then hits a gotch style piledriver for the win.

I didn't like Suzuki letting of the sleeper twice for no reason. It was okay, but it really should have been double the time. Ren and Shota didn't even really go at each other here.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Clark Connors, David Finlay, Drilla Moloney & Gedo) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo, Jado, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) & KUSHIDA

The Bullet Club gangs up on 2 of their opponents to start. The rest of the other team then makes it in and backs them off. Everyone fights outside. ELP chokes Clark over a rail then Tama bangs Finlay's head off a chair outside. Chase eye rakes Loa then Drila wrestles Kushida down into a chair.

Gedo and Jado get in the ring. Jado chops him  and goes for a crossface. The fight continues outside and Gedo hits Jadder with a hammer handle. Jado's head is hit off the exposed buckle. Clark chinlocks Jado then Drilla camel clutches Jado.  Gedo chokes Jado and eye rakes him. Jado powers up and lariats him.

Kushida is tagged in and top rope chops Clark. Kushida hits body kicks then crossbodies him. Kushida bicycle kicks him and knocks opponents off the apron with a handspring kick. Kushida buzzsaw kicks Drilla. ELP hits a russian legsweep into an asai moonsault then Drilla double stomps ELP. Clark powerslams Kushida then Kushida handspring back elbows Chase.

Loa hits shots on Chase, Loa rolls him up for 2 then spears him. Finlay and Tama have a nice punch exchange then Tama lariats him over. Tama corner splashes Finlay then hits corner punches. Tama powerslams Finlay for 2. Finlay hits a stiff uranage backbreaker. Gedo is tagged in. Tama hits a cutter on Gedo and wins it.

The camera's didn't do a good job of capturing the outside festivities, sadly. Tama was good here but the Jado beat down section went on a little too long.

Finlay and Tama go at it on the floor after. Finlay hits him with a shillelagh.

House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Just 4 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)

 

YK = Yoshinobu Kanemaru

HoT attacks before the bell as usual. Taichi enzugiri's Yujiro in the back then sidekicks Sho. YK eye rakes Taichi then Taichi facekicks him. Taka and Douki double elbow drop Sho then Taka basement dropkicks Sho while he is in a camel clutch. Taka is thrown into the exposed buckle and everyone else fights outside. Evil chokes Sanada with a stick out there.

Yujiro pounds on Taka and then Taka takes a triple stomping. Taka is sent into the exposed buckle again. YK boots Taichi off the apron and slams Taka. Taka takes corner attacks then is chopped in the nuts from the 2nd rope. Taka jumping leg lariats Evil. Sanada is tagged in and dropkicks Evil then dropkicks Sho.

Evil eye rakes Sanada then kicks him in the gut. Togo hits Sanada with a stick in the gut outside then Evil fisherman suplexes Sanada. Sanada bridging twisting neckbreakers Evil off the ropes. Douki flying headscissors YK then springboard back elbows him.

Taichi buzzsaw kicks YK then YK is held up for a top rope double stomp from Douki. Douki fights off a 2v1 then is knee'd in the bck from the apron and double suplexed. YK gets a 2 count on Douki. Taichi double lariats opponents then we get three plancha's in a row.

Douki slingshot ddt's YK for 2. Togo chokes Douki then YK hits Douki with a glass bottle. YK twisting brainbusters Douki and wins it.

This was your usual HoT match with lots of interference and Taka as the face in peril. This was nothing special.

The faces are beaten up and laid out after.

Elimination Match - CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & YOH), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji)

HT = Hiroshi Tanahashi

Yota asks Taguchi to get Okada in. Okada does then is put in a hammerlock and cravate by Yota. Yota flying headscissors Okada then shoulders him over. Okada hits forearms and Taguchi gets in. Taguchi goes for a hip attack and it turns into an atomic drop. Taguchi then hits a hip attack and is pulled into a sliding dropkick. Bushi basement dropkicks Taguchi in the butt.

Taguchi takes a double back elbow. LIJ group spanks Taguchi. Taguchi hits some gut punches to HT then HT basement dropkicks him. HT and Taguchi trade shots then Taguchi kicks him in the body. Taguchi hits alternating kicks on HT. Yoh gets in and flying forearms HT. Yoh hits a vader bomb style elbow drop in the corner.

Yoh hits a nice dropkick on HT then falcon arrows him. They back elbow each other on the ropes then HT falcon arrows him. Shingo and Ishii get in and shoulder battle. They trade forearms then Ishii shoulders him over. Shingo suplexes him then shoulders him over hard.

Shingo hits a stiff lariat on Ishii. Tana dragon screws Naito then Shingo takes an over the back neckbreaker on the knee. Ishii goes after Bushi on the apron then ends up hanging from it. Shingo and Ishii trade shots on the apron then both fall off. Shingo and Ishii are eliminated.

Tana flying forearms Yota then hits shots on him. Tana 2nd rope swantons Yota then Yota goes for his gori special drop. Tana escpaes it then has his head pushed into the mat. Tana takes a 4 person basement dropkick at 15 minutes. Tana runs the ropes and Yota tries to push him over them. Tana skins the cat and pulls Yota with him. They both skin the cat then Yota throws him out before he gets back in. Tana is eliminated.

Yota armdrags Okada off a hiptoss then facekicks him. Yota goes to slingshot in then Okada dropkicks him off the apron. Yota is eliminated. Naito baseball slides Okada in the back. Naito goes for a tornado ddt but ends up on the apron. Bushi helps out Naito and Okada ends up on the apron. Okada dodges a forearm then Bushi knocks Naito off to eliminate him. We didn't see how but Taguchi then knocks Okada off the apron.

Bushi blocks Taguchi's hip attack with an atomic drop. Taguchi is back body dropped to the apron then Bushi joins him on it. They grab each other by the elg and both go back in the ring. Bushi shakes his hand then eye rakes him. Bushi hits a step up enzugiri then ends up on the apron. Taguchi hip attacks him and eliminates Bushi.

Taguchi is rolled by Yoh into a lariat on HT. Taguchi cutters HT then Ht rolls up Taguchi to pin and eliminate him. Taguchi death valley drivers Yoh in the corner then Yoh rolls him for 2. HT lariats Yoh then dynamite plungers him for 2. Yoh poisonrana's HT then superkicks him. Yoh hits a nasty double underhook twisting driver and wins it.

These matches are usually never bad and this wasn't bad. It could have been better but it kept my interest. I would have liked to have seen the heavies be in this longer and play a larger role in the match.

Overall thoughts: It was pretty much just a one match show. The main was entertaining though the elimination match on the last show was better.  I wouldn't recommend this one.