New Japan Pro Wrestling 12/22/2023 Road To Tokyo Dome 2023 Day 2
This is the last NJPW show of 20223.
Katsuya Murashima & Satoshi Kojima vs. Shoma Kato & Togi Makabe
The young lions do amateur wrestling and stand off. One of them will win their first match here. KM shoulders over Kato then Koji neckbreakers Kato. KM hits forearms on Kato then a nice forearm. KM slams Kato. Kato dropkicks Koji twice.
Togi gets in and shoulders over both opponents. Togi corner lariats Koji then hits corner punches. Koji machine gun chops him then Togi corner lariats him. Koji ddt's Togi and KM begs to be tagged in. Togi double lariats both opponents then Togi slams KM. Togi boston crabs KM and Koji breaks it up. Kato hits forearms on Koji then is dropped with just one. Togi taps out KM with the boston crab.
It was a short opener with nothing really of interest. Kato gets his first win here.
CHAOS (Toru Yano & YOH) vs. Masked Boltin (Oleg Boltin) & Masked Horse
Horse hip attacks Yoh to start. Oleg does his own hip attack on Yano then he and Horse shoulder over their opponents. Horse hits Yano with a horse racing whip. Yano then hits him with the whip as he runs the ropes. Horse dropkiks Yano then Oleg gets in.
Oleg shoulders Yano over then slams him. Oleg misses a splash then Yoh gets in. Yoh whips Oleg thne Oleg gorilla press slams Yoh. Oleg whips Yoh then karelin's lifts him. Horse tries his own kareli's lift on Yoh and Yoh rolls him up to win it.
It was a short and stupid comedy match with weapons being used and the ref not caring.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Callum Newman
They lock up and CN hits him on the break. Ishii shoulders him ovr and CN hits forearms. Ishii shoulders him over again. CN hits forearms on Ishii then Ishii forearms him back. CN hits a forearm flurry then Ishii forearms him back. Ishii hits chops (more like elbows) then crabs him. Ishii hits forearms to the lower back then CN spinning forearms him.
CN hits a nice corner dropkick and a PK. CN hits kicks and a lariat for 2 at 5 minutes. Ishii suplexes him then powerslams him for 2. Ishii runs into a high kick then CN 2nd rope moonsaults him outside. CN top rope forearms him in the back of the neck.
CN hits a PK for 2. Ishii backdrops him then corner lariats him. Ishii release germans him on his neck then lariats him for 2. Ishii belly to bellies him in the corner and CN hangs off the top rope. CN top rope dropkicks him then Ishii shoulders him over. CN no sells it and dropkicks him then Ishii no sells it. CN then hits a standing spanish fly for 2.
CN hits a tiger suplex for 2. Ishii headbutts him then CN hits an os cutter for 2. CN misses a pheonix splash then is forearmed and enzugiri'd. Ishii flips him with a lariat for 2. CN rolls Ishii up for 2 and CN flying knees him. Ishii hits a lariat and sliding lariat for 2. Ishii suplexes him and gets the win.
I wasn't a fan of it. I didn't like the no selling and they did more than they had to. I though they also went longer than they needed to. I was hoping for more of a strike based match with these two.
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Young Blood (Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima)
All 4 stare down and shove each other. Oskar and Yuto hit shots. Goto and Yoshi are thrown into eac hother and shouldered over. Yoshi gets stomped. Goto forearms Yuto and Yuto fires up at him. Yuto suplexes Goto. Goto and Yoshi shoulder over Oskar then Goto hiptosses Yoshi onto him.
Yuto's back is double clubbed. Goto hits chest kicks on Oskar. Oskar hangs over the top rope and Yoshi dropkicks him. Yoshi and Oskar trade forearms. Oskar spinning slams him. Yuto shoulders over Yoshi then pulls Goto down by the hair. Yuto slams Yoshi for 2. Yuto hits kicks on Yoshi then Yoshi chops him.
Oskar and Yuto hit forearms on Yoshi then do a high/low on him. Yuto crabs Yoshi then Oskar legdrops Yoshi. Oskar boots Goto off the apron then Yuto puts Yoshi in a higher crab. Yoshi superkicks Yuto then Oskar takes a superkick + neckbreaker over the knee combo. Yuto takes a russian legsweep + headhunter combo. Yuto then takes a bomb + elbow slice combo and is pinned.
It was shorter than it should have been and we didn't get to see Oskar and Yuto do much outside of the young lions stuff. It was an okay midcard match but nothing on note.
Coffin Match - Catch 22 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney)
Catch 22 are jumped from behind to start. Clark spears Akira. Akira goes into the coffin but they can't close it. Akira back twisting springboards on his opponents. Clark is thrown into the rail then takes kicks and a basement dropkick. Drilla is double hiptossed then TJP drops Akira off his shoulders into a senton on him.
Drilla is put in the casket and grabs the ref while in it. Clark pounces Akira then Drilla spinebusters TJP. Clark elbow drops Akira. TJP boots Clark out of the corner then Akira top rope crossbodies both opponents.
Clark hits corner attacks on Drilla then rolls him into a double stomp. TJP superkicks Drilla into a half-nelson suplex. Drilla is put in the coffin and eye rakes Akira from it. TJP backdrops Clark then DRilla spinning chops TJP. Drila superkicks Akira then Akira takes a double superkick. Clark then hits a double spear.
TJP tornado ddt's Clark then Clark and Drilla each hit spears. TJP and Akira are put in dog collars. They take shots while wearing them and Drilla headbutts TJP. The heels both take a lariat with a chain then take punches. Akira baseball slides Clark in the corner. Akira hits a nice neckbreaker on Drilla then TJP frogsplashes Drilla off the top.
Clark blocks Drilla from being locked in the casket. TJP flying forearms Clark. Clark spears TJP on the apron. The refs basically resist closing the casket and TJP gets out. Drilla superkicks kira on the apron then Akira slingshot cutters him. TJP elbow slices Drilla then Drilla takes a double stomp + slice combo. Clark takes a 3D facebuster. Clark and Drilla then take sliding knees back to back against each other.
Clark stops a ref from opening the lid. Clark then nails his opponents with a title belt. Clark hangs Akira over the top rope with the dog chain. Clark then ties him there. TJP takes a title belt shot + a doomsday device then takes a spear + legsweep combo. TJP takes a full clip combo and TJP is put in the casket. Clark then shuts the casket door on TJP and wins it.
It was about average. They didn't really have the drama around the casket closures. The refs didn't close the casket in a timely fashion and openly hurt the heels from winning. It went a little longer than it needed to also.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)
Zack wristlocks Tana then escapes his wristlock with a bridge. Zack armlocks him. They roll out with the armlock still on and knock over the ref. Kosei gets in and wants Okada. Kosei hits shots on him as he enters the ring. He forearm flurries him twice. Okada hits a big kick on him and slams him on the floor outside. Kosei is sent into chairs.
Inside, Tana cobra twists Kosei. Okada gets in an trades forearms with Kosei. Okada forearms him then Kosei dropkicks him. Zack gets in and facekicks Tana off the apron. Zack cobra twists Okada and twists his neck with his feet. Zack ties up Okada's legs with his leg then chinlocks Tana at the same time.
Zack puts Okada in a grounded octopus then rolls him up for 2. Okada ddt's Zack then Tana flying forearms Zack at 10 minutes. Tana hits shots then 2nd rope flipping sentons him. Tana cobra twists Zack then Zack kicks the arm. Tana twists and shouts Zack then Zack knocks down both opponents.
Kosei dropkicks Okada and hits a forearm and stomp flurry in the corner. Kosei springboard dropkicks Okada. Kosei spinning heel kicks Okada. Okada slams and flapjacks Kosei. Zack and Tana trade forearms then Tana dragon screws Zack. Okada basement dropkicks Kosei three times for 2. Kosei germans Okada for 2 then slaps him. Okada hits a nice dropkick then does a nice pinning combination to put Kosei. Okada kips up after.
This was interesting with Zack being fired up against Tana and Kosei trying to prove himself against Okada. Kosei didn't impress that much in his big chance here and Okada kind of schooled him near the end which hurt him. Not great but it was more interesting than the usual match we would have gotten.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) vs. Just 5 Guys (SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura)
Sanada and Naito start us off. Naito backs him up then spits at him. Sanada clean breaks him then Naito spits at him again. Sanada hammerlocks him then headflips over him while having the hold on. Yota and Yuya go at it. Yuya is nailed from behind by Shingo before he even loks up with him. Yuya then takes a double shoulder. Yota slams Yuya. Shingo knees Yuya in the gut then shoulders him over. Shingo suplexes Yuya.
Yuya has his legs split then Naito cravates him. Yota kicks Yuya in the back. Yuya hits chops and Yota hits a big dropkick. Yuya aovids a 2v1 then armdrags and dropkicks Shingo. Taichi hits Kawada kicks on Shingo. He spin kicks him in the gut and running face kicks him. Taichi hits a side kick on Shingo.
Shigo and Taichi trade shots then they lariat each other down. naito armdrags Sanada then sliding dropkicks his back. Naito neckbreakers him on his knee then does a head and arm lock to him. Sanada leapfrogs him and dropkicks him. Naito atomic drops him into an enzugiri. Sanada blocks destino then Naito tornado ddt's him on the ropes.
Yuya and Yota go at it. Yuya armdrags and double chops him. Yuya backdrops Yota for 2. Yuya forearms him then uranages him. Shingo corner lariats Yuya then Naito hold him for a Shingo lariat. Yota crabs Yuya then Naito hiptoss neckbreakers Sanada.
Yuya hits kicks on Yota then does a falcon arrow for 2. Yota curb stomps Yuya then is armdragged off a spear attempt. Yuya gets the surprise win.
It was nowhere near the level of match from the prior night. It was your average NJPW main event trios match with only Yuya and Yota getting enough time and not that much of Shingo and Taichi. Yuya getting the win was a surprise here.
Overall thoughts: It was an average NJPW Korauken show. There's nothing here really going out of your way for and the show could have been better if they tried more and had more time in the main event.
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