New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/3/2024 Road to Sakura Genesis Day 2

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/3/2024 Road to Sakura Genesis Day 2

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Oleg Boltin, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask & Toru Yano vs. Just 5 Guys (DOUKI, SANADA, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura)

Taguchi and Taichi start us off. Taichi avoids leg takedowns and Taguchi screws around. Oleg is tagged in and his opponents all back off the apron. Taka gets forarmed then eye pokes him. They shoulder battle and Oleg karelin's lifts him. Oleg crabs Taka then Yuya chops up Oleg. Teznan and Douki go at it. Tenzan shoulders him over then hits mongolian chops.

Tenzan corner splahes him and suplexes him. Sanada dropkicks Tenzan and Oleg. Taguchi goes for the paradise lock on Sanada but can't get it on then Sanada paradise locks him. Sanada mongolian chops Tenzan then takes a lariat. Yano takes off the turnbuckle pad then Sanada rolls him around the ring. Yano pulls Sanada down by the hair.

Yuya and Tiger go at it. Tiger does a rings of saturn. Yuya takes corner attacks then Tiger hits a tiger driver on Yuya. Tiger crucifixes Yuya then Yuya backdrops him for 2. Tiger takes a 5 person boot then Yuya top rope crossbodies Tiger to win it.

It wasn't good with too many different types of wrestlers involved and not enough time. I thought it was just all over the place from the start.

El Desperado & YOSHI-HASHI vs. BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori)

The heels get hit by the faces before this even starts in true face fashion. Yoshi foot chokes Chase in the corner then Yoshi sends him into the rails. Yoshi gets sent into the rails. Inside, Chase lariats Yoshi from behind.

Despy side headlocks Taiji then headlock takeovers him. Despy side headlocks him then Taiji flips him over by the arm. Taiji beats up on Despy then Chase slams Despy. Yoshi gets tagged in and hits back elbows. He headhunters Taiji then neckbreakers Chase.

Chase and Yoshi trade forearms then Chase is knocked down. Chase STO's Yoshi then elbow drops him. Despy blue thunders Taiji when he gets in. Taiji codebreakers Despy's arm for 2. Despy goes for a hold but is rolled up then Despy spinebusters him.

Taiji eye rakes Yoshi then takes a big lariat. Despy suplexes Taiji for 2 then pumphandle drivers him for 2. Taiji pops Despy up and low blows him with the back of his leg. Taiji then wins it.

It was very average pro wrestling with limited thrills. There was nothing special or interesting about this along with a dirty finish. 

Gauntlet Match -  BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd & Gedo)

Leg 1 - United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP) vs Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) & Tomohiro Ishii

Akira and Kevin start us off. Kevin leapfrogs him then takes a double hiptoss. Kevin then takes an elbow drop and a low headhunter. TJP knee drops Kevin then CN face kicks Ishii off the apron when he gets in. Akira chops Kevin then Kevin takes a double back elbow. TJP lifts Kevin for a cutter from Akira.

TJP facewash kicks Kevin then Kevin hits a big dropkick on him. Kush top rope chops TJP then hits leg kicks. Kush crossbodies him then hits a pele kick. TJP is tripped into a Kevin frogsplash on the back. Kush puts TJP on his shoulders then Kevin dropkicks him while he's up there. Kevin hits a nice dropkick on Akira then TJP takes a double kick in the corner. Kevin gets put in tree of woe and TJP double stomps him from the top for 2.

Kush handspring kicks Akira then TJP final cut's Akira. Kevin superkicks TJP then Akira rolls Kevin into a double stomp. Ishii and CN trade forearms then CN just running headbutts him on accident. CN snapmares him then hits a PK for 2.

Ishii release germans him twice. The feed cuts ahead and Kush double handspring back elbows UE. CN sweeps Kush then double stomps his back. CN drops Ishii with a forearm. Kevin springboard lariats CN then Ishii sliding lariats CN for 2. CN high kicks Ishii then Ishii flips him with a lariat for 2. Ishii suplexes CN and gets the pin.

Leg 2 - Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) & Tomohiro Ishii vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gedo, Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney)

The heels jump the faces to start. Kush and Drilla brawl outside and Gedo throws Ishii out. Clark chokes Kevin with a shirt. Gedo hits Ishii with a bell hammer. Clark pounds on Ishii then chinlocks him. Clark elbow drops him then bangs his heads off Bullet Club's feet.

Gedo bullies Ishii around then eye rakes him. Gedo hits punches then Ishii suplexes him. Ishii shoulders over Drilla and Clark. Kevin gets the hot tag in and slams the heels. Kevin sky high's Drilla then corner splashes Clark and Drilla. Kevin spears both in the corner. Kush hiptosses Geod into a basement dropkick. Kevin jumps over a double clothesline then hits a double pele kick.

Drilla blocks a top rope frankensteiner from Kushi then Kevin jumps from the mat to frankensteiner him. Kevin and Kush hit plancha's outside then Kevin jumping ddt's Gedo to win it.

All 3 teams involved in this play tug of war over the belts after. Kevin Knight gets on the mic after and said his team beat all of them. Kevin says he wants a tornado tag match at Sumo Hall. Kushida then translates it. Drilla gets on the mic and neither I or Kevin understand what he said. Clark accepts the challenge though.

This was unusual as it wasn't a dogfight, where all 3 teams face each other, but a gauntlet where the winner of the first match faces the third team. I'm not real sure what the explanation or reasoning for it was as there's no benefit to being in the first match while there's a lot of benefit in being in the second match.

Bullet Club looked stupid here as they only had to be in the second match, cheated and still lost. The UE/Jetsetters portion of this was good and the Bullet Club/Jetsetters portion of this wasn't bad. Ishii and Newman seemed to have some trouble getting on the same page here which is a problem since they seem to be building up a singles match between them.

United Empire and Jetsetters push each other after.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Shingo Takagi

YK beats up on Shingo before it even starts then throws him into the rails. Shingo shoulders, slams and elbow drops him in the ring. YK hammerlocks him out of the chinlock. Shingo hammerlocks him and is pulled outside on it. Shingo is then sent into the rails and post shoulder first. YK bangs Shingo's arm off a chair.

Yk works the arm more then Shingo slams him. YK armlocks him. Shingo lariats him and ddt's him. Shingo hits a punch and chop combo in the corner then corner lariats him. Shingo suplexes him then slams him.

YK ddt's him then dives off the 2nd rope with a ddt. Shingo headbutts him in the chest and sliding lariats him. Shingo corner lariats him then pop-up death valley drivers him. Shingo running lariats him. YK grabs the ref and ends up hitting a step up enzugiri on accident. YK pushes Shingo in the ref. YK spits whiskey at him and calls out House of Torture.

Shingo is group stomped then takes a chop to the crotch. Another ref comes out, somehow not seeing any of it. He counts a 2 count on a pin attempt then YK punches him and rips his shirt off. YK is then disqualified.

HoT beat up on Shingo after.

This was the usual HoT BS. Shingo got hit before the bell and the ref didn't care. YK cheated throughout, hit the ref and pushed Shingo it and then a second ref came out but didn't see any of it. YK was finally DQ'd after hitting the second ref.

Evil said after that Kanemaru will be the special ref for the Never Title match between Evil and Shingo. If you are wondering how or why, it wasn't explained.

Shota Umino & YOH vs. House Of Torture (Ren Narita & SHO)

Yoh gets near the entrance area and gets Sho to chase him. Yoh then grabs the mic. He said he didn't plan on stealing the title from Sho but just wanted to wrestle him for the title. Yoh says he will give the title back if he promises a clean match between them. Sho just ends up jumping him before the bell.

Yoh dropkicks Sho then hits shots on him. Shota stomps Sho then Yoh stomps Sho. Yoh is sent into the exposed buckle. Yoh and Shota get sent into the rails at the same time. Ren stomps Yoh then Sho chokes Yoh with something outside. Sho footchokes Yoh and Yoh hits forearms. Yoh is sent into the exposed buckle again then Ren suplexes Yoh.

Ren crabs Yoh. Ren eye rakes him then takes a dragon screw. Shota gets the hot tag in. He slams Sho and dropkicks Ren. Sho then takes a basement dropkick. Shota slingshot ddt's Ren on the apron. Shota top rope dropkicks him and hits a fisherman suplex for 2. Shota STF's him.

Ren knee presses Shota then suplexes him for 2. Shota dropkicks Ren then Yoh flying forearms Sho. Yoh hits a corner back elbow then neckbreakers him. Yoh then hits an underhook suplex for 2. Yoh misses a vader bomb elbow on Sho. They jumping knee each other and Yoh is sent into the exposed buckle. Yoh is held for a neckbreaker.

Sho grabs a wrench. The ref takes it and Yoh superkicks Sho. Yoh hits a falcon arrow for 2. Sho low blows Yoh. Ren blocks the ref from moving then Yoh superkicks Sho. Shota tornado ddt's Ren then Yoh hits a double underhook suplex on Sho to win it.

It was long, it had the usual HoT BS and it wasn't any good. This one really dragged.

Yoh tells Sho that Sho has to fight fair in their match after.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI & Yota Tsuji) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito)

Yota and Naito go at it. Naito side headlocks him. They evade each others moves and naito poses. Bushi and HT go at it. Bushi flying headscissors him. HT corner lariats him then is pulled out. Bushi goes for a dive and also gets pulled out. Yota and Bushi are then sent into the rails. Bushi takes a double clothesline.

Naito wraps his legs around Bushi's head and Yota breaks it up with his boots. Naito stares him down for it. HT chops and corner lariats Bushi. He then basement dropkicks him. Naito hits forearms on Bushi then Bushi backcrackers Naito.

Yota hits forearms on Naito then flips him with a boot. He then boots HT hard in the chest. He shoulders Naito over. Naito has trouble hitting combinacion cabron in the corner. Yota drives Naito's head in the mat with his feet then Naito neckbreakers him.

HT hits chops Yota then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Bushi top rope dropkicks Hiromu then topes him into the rails. Bushi works HT's knee then Naito sends Yota into the rails outside. Everyone starts getting a move in then gets hit with a move. All four men end up down.

Bushi rewind kicks HT then takes a step up enzugiri. HT deth valley drivers HT into the buckles then Bushi takes a dynamite plunger. Naito tornado ddt's Yota then Bushi backslides HT to win the match.

I didn't think they made the most out of the LIJ vs LIJ concept as they could have. There was some story there to be told. Yota had some real stiff shots here but other than that, it just kind of felt like another match for these guys.

Bushi talks about Best of the Super Juniors after. Yota said this was the first time he faced Naito since he was a young lion. He said his time as a young lion went by and said he's a different man than he was then. Yota said this is about defeating the past.

Overall thoughts: It wasn't a good one. There was too much heel cheating on this one for me with the heel pulling various stunts in 4 straight matches. The main could have been something but they just had a normal match instead of getting creative with it. I don't recommend this.