New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/23/2024 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2024 Day 4
They had a Douki vs Sho contract signing. The heels flipped the table and the announcer's said Sho had more under the contract than what Douki could see. It turns out that the contract was for a "Not IWGP" Title Match.
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Shoma Kato vs. BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori)
Everyone fights to start and 4 of them go out as Yoshi and Kenta trade. Goto beats up Chase in the ring then Kenta and Chase are knocked into each other. Yoshi neckbreakers Kenta then Taiji takes double clubs from Goto and Yoshi. Kato hits a dropkick on Kenta and they trade forearms. Kato running forearms him then Kato got crabbed.
Taiji stomps on Kato and kneedrops his back. Chase backbreakers Kato. Kato dropkicks him then Goto spinning heel kicks and backdrops Chase. Goto and Chase trade forearms. Kenta trips Goto from the outside. Chase avoids a double team and sends Goto into Yoshi. Goto hits a ushigoroshi on him then Kato crabs Taiji. Taiji escapes it then takes a headhunter + russian legsweep combo from Bishamon. Kato slams Taiji and crabs him.
Kato hits forearms then is facekicked by Taiji. Taiji sends Kato's arm into the exposed buckle then codebreakers the arm. Taiji does a border city stretch and wins it.
It was a basic tag match here and it wasn't anything of note. It didn't have enough time and the only person who maybe got something out of it was Kato who got more offense in than usual.
TMDK (Kosei Fujita, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo), El Desperado & Katsuya Murashima
ELP flips over Shane's back and hurricanrana's him. Shane basement dropkicks him then ELP takes a double back elbow. ELP takes a fist drop + rolling senton. Zack cravate snapmares ELP then twists his neck with his feet. ELP is beat up on and TMDK blocks his tag. ELP pushes Shane and Mikey into each other and tags Hiku in.
Shane stops Hiku immediately then takes a face kick. Zack gets shouldered over then Kosei takes a big hiptoss. Hiku double clotheslines the heels. Hiku takes a lariat to the back of the neck then double suplexes Mikey and Shane.
Depsy and Zack get in. Despy backdrops him then Zack does an octopus on him. Despy stretch mufflers him and Zack tries a pin attempt. Despy spinebusters Zack then Zack pele kicks Despy's arm. Kosei armbreakers Despy then Despy back elbows Kosei. KM hits a nice dropkick on Kosei when he gets in.
KM forearms Kosei then Kosei hits a big chop knocking him down. Kosei dropkicks and hiptosses him. Kosei backslides KM into a crab in a nice move. Kosei then taps him out.
The finish was pretty cool here with the backslide into the crab. It was an okay multi-man tag but it only had around 10 minutes. KM got some shine spots here and Hiku did good in his section.
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi, Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano (c) vs. House Of Torture (EVIL, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)
Oleg gets jumped as he goes to square up with Kanemaru. The heels take over and Kanemaru is sent int othe rails outside. Oleg hits a double shoulderblock then spinningslams Kanemaru. Tana hits a strike combo on Evil then throws Evil's shirt into the crowd. Tana 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Evil then Yano gets in. Ynao takes off a turnbuckle pad.
Yano gets sent into the exposed buckle then Evil hits him with the turnbuckle pad. Yano is thrown out then put back in. Kanemaru basement dropkicks him and chinlocks him. Yujiro chokes Yano then Yano is sent into the exposed buckle. Yujiro leg drops, elbow drops and headbutt drops Yano. Evil puts Yano in an abdominal stretch and his partners help him yank on Yano.
Evil fisherman suplexes Yano and HoT ring the bell even though the match isn't over. Yano is sent into the rail then ddt'd on the floor. Kanemaru eye rakes Yano then Yano pulls him down backwards by the hair. Oleg is hot tagged in and cleans house. Oleg bearhugs Kanemaru then suplexes him out of it. Oleg picks up Kanemaru then Togo gets on the apron. Togo is thrown in then Oleg does karelin's lift on him. Oleg then kips up.
Oleg karelin's lifts Kanemaru then hits a big splash on him for 2. Oleg takes corner attacks from the heels then is chopped in the nuts by Togo. Oleg hits a double suplex. Tana gets in and flying forearms Evil. Tana slams Evil then 2nd rope swantons him for 2. Evil misdirection lariats Tana.
Yujiro face kicks Tana. Tana slaps him. Tana is thrown over the top and is hit with a chair in the gut. Yujiro olympic slams Tana for 2. Togo chokes Tana with a weapon. Kanemaru spits whiskey at a partner and we get triple low blows. The middle rope is kicked in Togo's crotch. Oleg finlay rolls Yujiro then Tana top rope splashes Yujiro to win it.
It was more tolerable than other HoT matches as we didn't get the pre-match interference. They still ended up going too far with the shenanigans though when if they had done less, I might have actually put this over.
BULLET CLUB War Dogs vs. LIJ Best Of Five Series Match #1 - Gedo vs. Yota Tsuji
Gedo misses a brass knucks shot and is speared before the match begins. Yota then pins Gedo in 5 seconds.
BULLET CLUB War Dogs vs. LIJ Best Of Five Series Match #2 - BUSHI vs. Gabe Kidd
Bushi poses on the ropes, Gabe charges him then is dropkicked. Bushi flying hurricanrana's him then Gabe walks out of the way on a dive attempt. Gabe uppercuts Bushi and eye rakes him. Gabe misses a corner charge and goes into the rails. Bushi is sent into the rails.
They fight in the stands and Gabe's knee is dropkicked. Bushi bangs Gabe's head off the step area then jumps off of it onto Gabe. They fight at ringside then Bushi ddt's him for 2. Gabe hits shots and knocks him over with a lariat.
Gabe takes a rewind kick then Bushi canadian destroyers him for 2. Gabe headbutts Bushi. Bushi black mists Gabe over top the ref. Gabe kicks the ref and no one is there to count the pin for Bushi. Gabe piledrivers Bushi and wins it.
I was disappointed by this. This was a different pairing than usual and it ended up having all kinds of shenanigans with cheating and the ref. I thought they had a chance here to do a fun match and they blew it.
BULLET CLUB War Dogs vs. LIJ Best Of Five Series Match #3 - Shingo Takagi vs. Clark Connors
Clark immediately goes out to stall. Shingo chases him then they shoulder battle inside. Clark hits forearms then takes a bunch of shots back. Clark shoulders him over then orner lariats him. Shingo suplexes Clark. Clark is sent into the rails outside then Shingo is sent into them.
They go into the seats and Shingo's head is banged off the bleachers. Shingo is sent into the wall and the post. Clark suplexes him on the floor mats. Clark slams Kato on Shingo then spears Katsuya onto Shingo too. Shingo is buried under 2 young lions. Shingo gets on the apron and takes a hard spear.
Clark full nelsons Shingo. Shingo back elbows him and lariats him. Shingo chop and punch combos Clark in the corner. Shingo corner lariats Clark, short arm lariats him, slams him and top rope elbow drops him. Shingo the nbackdrops him for 2. They trade forearms and headbutts. Clark lariats him on the ropes then pounces him. Clark hits a powerslam for 2. Clark sliding lariats him then spears him.
Shinog headbutts and powerslams Clark. Shingo running lariats him then sliding lariats him for 2. Shingo hits a made in Japan for 2. Shingo running lariats him and wins it.
It was a decent match with Clark not being treated as the smaller wrestler he is and being believably able to go toe to toe with Shingo.
BULLET CLUB War Dogs vs. LIJ Best Of Five Series Match #4 - Tetsuya Naito vs. Drilla Moloney
Drilla runs at him and gets put on the apron. Naito legsweeps him and sends him to the floor. Naito pounds on him and cravates him outside. Drill baseball slides Naito then sends him into the rails. Drilla stomps him and they trade shots. Drilla back elbows him.
They trade shots. Naito back elbows him and hiptoss neckbreakers him on his knee. Naito armdrags him then baseball slides him in the back. Naito neckbreakers him then cravates him. Naito reverse ddt's him on his knee. Naito then puts his legs around Drilla's neck and pulls the arm.
They trade shots and Drilla dropkicks him. Drilla spits at him then double stomps him. Drilla step up enzugiri's him then is armdragged into the ref. Naito step up enzugiri's him, flatliners him and puts him into a headscissors with an armlock. David Finlay comes out and taunts Naito. Jake Lee of Noah then comes out and trades forearms with Naito. He knees Naito in the gut then running face kicks him. Drilla hits a nasty over the shoulder piledriver and wins it.
It was a decent match that was brought down by a ref bump and interference as commonplace in NJPW. Jake Lee coming in was a surprise. We'll have to see where that goes as Lee is with GLG in Noah.
Jake stomps Naito after. Hiromu comes to his save and double dropkicks the heels. Jake ends up hitting Naito with a face kick on the rails.
BULLET CLUB War Dogs vs. LIJ Best Of Five Series Match #5 - Hiromu Takahashi vs. David Finlay
This starts outside through the aftermath of the stuff last match. They fight, get in the ring then Finlay escapes a move and stalls. Hiromu is thrown into the post head first. DF throws him on a suplex then Hiromu is sent hard into the rails. DF chokes Hiromu on the ropes then throws him hard into the corner. DF backbreakers Hiromu.
Hiromu hits chops on DF then flying hurricanrana's him. Hiromu headscissors him over the top rope then drops him face first on the floor. Hiromu shotgun dropkicks him off the apron through the rail door. Hiromu corner lariats him then basement dropkicks him. DF uranage backbreakers him then does a spinning version of it.
DF goes for a spear then Hiromu triangles him. DF powerbombs him out of it. Hiromu hits a hurricanrana then flatliners him out of the casadora. DF grabs the shillelagh then is superkicked. Hiromu pretends he got hit with it. DF running lariats him then hits an attitude adjustment for 2.
Hiromu superkicks and lariats DF. DF spinning forearms him then is superkicked. Hiromu running lariats him. Hiromu hits DF with his own oblivion for 2. DF lariats him then hits a dominator for 2. Hiromu triangles him. DF tries to powerbomb him out of it but can't. DF powerbombs him into the buckles and hits oblivion for 2. Hiromu rolls him up for 2.
DF hits euros. He lifts him for a suplex and knees him in the gut to win it.
It was an average match. Nothing too wrong with it just not great or anything.
Hiromu is beaten up after. Hiromu's LIJ buddies try to help out then War Dogs help put LIJ down. DF says he's ahead of everyone in the company and solved all problems that were put in his way. He said the only thing worse than fighting a man who knows how to hurt you is fighting a man who knows when to hurt you. He says hate always finds a way.
During the post-show interivews, Jake Lee says hello and said he came to hurt everyone. We are then told Jake will take Gedo's place in the 5v5 elimination match this weekend.
Overall thoughts: Like yesterday, it felt like a long show that dragged. Yota got wasted in a quick match, Shota, Ren and Yuya weren't even on this one. We had interference and shenanigans in almost every match which brought things down as usual including ones that looked like they had potential. They had some different matches here that were interesting to see in Shingo vs Clark and Gabe vs Naito. I wouldn't recommend this one and I thought it highlighted a lot of NJPW's problems just like yesterday's show.
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