New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/27/2024 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2024 Day 7

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/27/2024 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2024 Day 7

I skipped one match here:

Pre-show: HANZO & Rey Paloma vs. Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano

Yano takes a turnbuckle pad off to start things. Hanzo drops him with kicks then Rey corner lariats Yano. Rey flying lariats Yano for 2. Yano atomic drops Rey and sends him into the exposed buckle.

Oleg gets in and stomps on Rey. Oleg slams him. Yano is tagged in and stomps on Rey. Rey spin kicks him. Hanzo chops Yano then handstands on the 2nd rope. Yno gets furstarted and misses a charge, going into the exposed buckle. Hanzo dropkicks Yano in the knee then chops him off the 2nd rope. Hanzo armlocks Yano and Oleg breaks it with a chop.

Rey indian deathlocks Yano and gyrates as he does it. Yano pulls him down by the hair then Oleg shoulders over Rey. Oleg splashes Rey for 2. Rey spinning headscissors Oleg and gets his pants pulled down. Rey runs with his pants pulled down. Oleg shoulders him over then karelin's lifts him with Rey's pants pulled down.

Rey rolls up Oleg while his pants are pulled down then Oleg rams him into the buckles. Oleg vader bombs him in a new move then finlay rolls him for the win.

Really? We had to watch a match with a dude whose pants were pulled down? I didn't need to see that. This was mostly all screwing around here and it wasn't good.

United Empire (Francesco Akira & Jeff Cobb) vs. TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Zack and Cobb start us off. Zack takes him down then they get back up. Zack bridges and takes him down by the wrist. Cobb wrist throws him then Zack headscissors him. Cobb handstands out of it then stares him down.

Zack headlocks Cobb and misses a pele kick on the arm. Cobb tells him no then Kosei gets in. Kosei and Akria go at it. Kosei shoulders him over then Akira flying headscissors him. Kosei flying kicks Akira. Zack takes down Akira and kneedrops his leg.

Kosei is back in and slams Akira. Akira hits shots on Kosei then Akira leg lariats him. Cobb beale throws Kosei then Cobb drops Akira onto Kosei. Kosei and Akira trade forearms then Kosei spinning heel kicks him. Zakc hits euros on Akira and Akira superkicks him in the gut. Zack blocks a flying headscissors.

Akira springboard crossbodies Zack then Akira rolls him into a double stomp. Cobb hits forearms on Zack then backdrops him. Zack tornado ddt's him. Cobb and Kosei go at it. Kosei flying forearms him then somewhat hits a springboard swanton on him. Cobb crossbodies Kosei. Zack gets in, runs into a superkick then is plancha'd by Akira outside.

Kosei goes for a guillotine on Cobb then has his hurricanrana counted with a powerbomb. Cobb gets a 2 count on a pin attempt on him then does a tour of the islands slam to win it.

They didn't really have enough time here for this one and it was just so-so. I would have liked for this to go longer.

El Desperado, Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii vs. House Of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi)

The heels attack before the bell. Shota is 3v1'd. He sends Evil into Ren then dropkicks Yujiro. Ren is double shouldered over. Despy takes a flying knee press from Ren then Ren chokes him. Evil chokes Despy with a towel and Yujiro joins in.

Despy is thrown out and Togo rams a chair into his gut. Ren foot slaps Despy and Despy fires back. Ren puts him in a cobra twist the nsends Shota into the rails outside. Evil chokes Despy with something.

Despy's mask is grabbed by Evil then Despy backdrops Evil. Ishii hits forearms on Evil then survives a 3v1. Ishii shoulders Evil over then Evil eye rakes him. Ishii suplexes Evil. Ishii is sent into the exposed buckle then shot takes corner attacks. Shota takesa a 2nd rope chop in the nuts from Togo.

Yujiro grabs his cane, misses a shot then Despy spears him. Despy spinebusters Evil then Togo gets knocked off the apron. Shota does a his slingshot ddt on the apron to Yujiro, who is over the 2nd rope. Shota hits a mcgillicutter to Yujiro then double arm ddt's him for the win.

It was your usual HoT match filled with shenanigans. At least it was somewhat believable.

Ren hits Shota with the push up board after and poses on him.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Murashima vs. Shoma Kato & Tomoaki Honma

KM = Katsuya Murashima

The two rookies go at it. KM takes down Kato and they get back up. KM does a nice shoulder throw then Kato side headlocks him. Kato shoulders him over and slams him. Honma in and trips KM then single leg crabs him.

Kato stomps on KM then hiptosses him for 2. Kato slams him then Honma back elbows KM. KM hits forearms on Honma then does a nice dropkick. Tana gets in and flying forearms Honma. Tana slams him and hits a 2nd rope swanton for 2.

Honma headbutts him. Tana and Kato trade. Kato dropkicks him, slams him then crabs him. Honma headbutt drops Tana while he's being crabbed. Tana gets his feet up in the corner and double boots Kato. Tana dragon screws him then texas cloverleafs him. KM hits a big slap on Honma then crabs him. Kato then taps out to Tanna.

It was a short young lion and vet match. It was fine for what it was and the young lions did a good job of going at it.

House Of Torture (SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku)

All four fight to start. Douki foot chokes Sho. Sho takes a double team and double elbow drop. Sho is put in a camel clutch then Taka basement dropkicks him. Taka is sent int othe rails outside then Kanemaru slams Douki on the floor.

Kanemaru backdrops Douki for 2. Sho grabs Douki by the hair then eye rakes him. Douki suplexes Sho. Taka running knees KAnemaru when they get in then Taka puts him in just facelock. Sho breaks it up then grabs weapons. The ref and Douki thwart him then Sho takes a double team. Taka pump kicks Kanemaru then superkicks him for 2.

The ref is pushed into Taka. Kanemaru low blows Taka then pins him to win it.

I have no idea what the point of this 4:39 match was but it was a waste of time.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Title Match - TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) (c) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo)

Shane and ELP starts us off. Shane wristlocks him and ELP flips through it. ELP puts him in his own writlock. Shane gets out and kicks him in the back. ELP sideheadlocks him, Shane then shoulders him over. ELP flips over Shane's back then hurricanrana's him. They trade forearms. Both miss moves then stand off.

Hiku and Mikey go at it. Mikey side headlocks him and they shoulder battle. Hiku shoulders him over then running larits him. Mikey takes corner attacks a side slam. ELP 2nd rope elbow drops him for 2. Mikey ddt's ELP then ELP is sent into the rails. ELP is backdropped on the apron. ELP is tripped, takes a baseball slide, then has his face banged off the apron. Shane bodyscissors ELP.

ELP fights off a 2v1 then is thrown overhead by Shane. ELP step up enzugiri's Mikey on a 2v1 and Mikey stops him from making a tag. ELP flips out of backdrops and tags in Hiku. Hiku face kicks Mikey and hits snake eyes and a big boot on Shane. Hiku elbow drops Shane for 2.

Hiku hits a double northern lights suplex. ELP walks the top rope with Hiku's help and moonsaults onto TMDK outside. Shane takes a headkick + spinning torture rack neckbreaker for 2. Mikey is leapfrogged and runs into a Hiku ddt. ELP superkicks Hiku on accident then Shane reverse slams ELP for 2.

ELP is on top and Mikey powerbombs his own partner Shane so he can superplex ELP. Mikey sliding lariats ELP for 2. ELP dropkicks Mikey after kicking out of pin attempts. Hiku is tagged in and knocks Shane off the apron. Hiku and Mikey trade. Mike ytakes a powerslam. ELP then springboard swantons him and follows it up with a moonsault off the ropes.

ELP is slammed then reverses a double gorilla press into a double ddt. Mikey is superkicked into a chokeslam. ELP is rocket launched off the ropes for a 2 count. Shane flips ELP with a lariat then Hiku powerslams Shane. Mikey rolls up Hiku on a chokeslam attempt and wins it.

It was just average. The finish didn't really help things here. The match they were doing needed another 5 minutes or so.

NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Title Rural Revitalization In Hamamatsu 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match - Great-O-Khan (c) vs. Yuya Uemura

1st fall - They have to stack 4 tires on traffic cones here. Khan was balding with a Manchu style haircut. He shaved the part that was balding. Khan backdrops Yuya and throws a tire at him when Yuya goes to plancha. Khan ties up Yuya's legs by putting tires on them. Khan sits on Yuya's neck in the corner and hits double chops. Khan throws a tire at him, Yuya moves then chops him off the top.

Khan forearms him and they swing tires at each other. They then do sumo with the tires. Khan knocks him over then slams him on a stack of tires. Yuya has tires put around his neck and they fight over a tire. Khan has a tire put on his neck then he is dropkicked. Yuya is ramed into the corner with a tire and they fight over the last tire. Yuya is swept with a tire then gets 4 tires on the cone to win it.

2nd fall - They had a lemon eating contest than Khan won.

3rd fall - Yuya flying forearms him, dropkicks him and plancha's him. Yuya is sent into the rails and into the seats. Yuya is slammed into the seats then sent into a rail near a door. Khan iron claws him in the ring. Yuya chop and backdrops him then Khan shoulder throws him.

They fight on the apron and Khan is dropkicked. Khan claws him then Yuya top rope crossbodies him inside. Khan belly to belly suplexes him then is german suplexed. Khan running lariats him then Yuya uranages him.

They trade on their knees then get up and trade. Khan hits a punch then is front suplexed into a table. Yuya wins.

The whole match was an embarrassment to NJPW and one of the worst things they've ever put on.

Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match - Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors, David Finlay, Drilla Moloney & Gabe Kidd) & Jake Lee

DF = David Finlay, HT = Hiromu Takahashi

Yota and DF start us off. DF spits at him early and is shouldered over. HR and Drilla go at it, HT shotgun dropkicks him. HT corner lariats and basement dropkicks him. Clark is kncoked down into a basement dropkick on a double team. Drilla is double hiptossed then double hiptossed back.

HT is beat up in the corner by the heels and a bunch of wrestlers fight outside with Lee and Naito squaring off. Naito takes a hard ride into and over the rails. Gabe and Shingo trade headbutts in the seats. DF takes a fans phone and takes pics of Naito getting beaten up.

Back in the ring, Lee foot chokes HT in the corner. Lee hiptosses him then holds him for DF stomps. HT is nearly thrown out then gets suplexed and elbow dropped by Clark. HT forces Clark to hurricanrana Drilla then HT dragon screws Clark. 

Naito gets in. He armdrags, atomic drops and baseball slides Clark. Gabe breaks up Naito's hold on Clark and stomps him. Clark pounces Naito. Shingo and Gabe get in and shoulder battle. Shingo corner lariats him then Gabe bites him. Shingo suplexes him then Gabe suplexes him back. They trade headbutts and forearms then drop each other with lariats. They trade shots then both go over the top on a Shingo lariat and are eliminated.

Bushi flying headscissors DF then runs into a Clark powerslams. Bushi takes a high/low combo for 2. Bushi rewind kicks Drilla then eliminates him over the top rope. Clark spears Bushi then Bushi rolls him up and pins him. Clark is eliminated.

DF pounds on Bushi then DF euros him. DF powerbombs Bushi over the top rope onto his partners and Bushi is eliminated.  DF and Yota go at it. Yota flying headscissors him then hits a corner splash and a regular splash. DF sentons him then running euros him in the corner. DF throws him on a suplex. Yota and DF trade then Yota hits a big kneelift. Yota ends up on the apron nad gets eliminated after DF and Lee trick him.

Naito, HT, Lee and DF are the final four here. They pair off and fight. HT superkicks DF on the apron and gets his sunset bomb blocked through the ropes. DF hits a nasty uranage backbreaker then dominators him for 2. DF hits euros on HT then HT superkicks him. DF back elbows him and HT hurricanrana's DF over the top rope for the elimination.

Lee running knees him then running corner face kicks him. Lee knocks HT over the top with the kick and eliminates him. Naito and Jake Lee are the final two.

Lee hits a big knee to the gut and backdrops him. Naito tornado ddt's him. Naito sits up top and is facekicked to the apron. Lee misses a face kick and ends up on the apron with him. Naito legsweeps him and basement dropkicks him off to eliminate him. Naito wins.

LOL I feel like the conversation on this went "Hey NJPW, Okada left, so we can't do Okada/Kaito 2 now. I know you guys are without any NOAH wrestlers to bury. How about burying Jake Lee?". I don't get the logic of having Jake lose the match here at all. I didn't get the logic of even having him in this at all. But when you give NJPW a chance to bury other promotions talent, they are not going to pass it up.

Like most elimination matches in NJPW, it wasn't as good as it could have been. Despite being in the main event on a somewhat big show, they didn't go all out and there weren't a lot of special moments. We barely saw Yota and both Gabe and Shingo went out pretty early. It wasn't awful, but there was nothing stopping them from putting on an epic here yet they chose not to. It was just a match and it was completely forgettable. I'm not even really surprised at this point though with how bad NJPW booking has been lately.

Overall thoughts:  The main was disappointing and poor Jake Lee got made to look like a fool as is customary with outsiders. Khan/Yuya was one of the dumbest matches NJPW has ever done. The tag title match was average, Rey Paloma wrestled with his pants down during the opener and the rest of the show wasn't that good. This was one of the worst New Japan shows I've ever seen and stuff like this just makes you want to stop watching the promotion period.