New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/19/2025 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2025 Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/19/2025 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2025 Day 1

I think this is our first live show since the news of Naito, Bushi and Cobb leaving NJPW. Cobb's leaving to go to WWE and it's not clear what Naito and Bushi are up to. Either way, these are more names NJPW can't afford to lose at this point in time and the bleeding really needs to stop with NJPW.

Masatora Yasuda, Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata vs. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), Daiki Nagai & Katsuya Murashima

Togi locks up with Yasuda. Yasuda hits a chop and some forearms. Yasuda back elbows him in the corner then hiptosses him for 2. Togi slams him. Honma hits chops on Yasuda for 2. Nagai stomps on Yasuda and slams him for 2.

KM hits forearms on Yasuda and hiptosses him. KM forearms and clubs him then Yasuda hits a dropkick. Kojima comes in and hits machine gun chops on KM. Kojima hits a corner forearm. KM then clubs Koji's chest. Koji spinning forearms him then KM powerslams him for 2. Kojima ddt's him.

Tiger hits chest kicks on Honma. Honma back elbows him.  Honma misses a headbutt drop. Tiger head kicks him for 2. Honma ddt's him then headbutt drops him. Nagai gets in. Tiger double underhook suplexes him. Yuji chest kicks Nagai down. Yuji misses a corner facekick. Nagai slaps him. nagai corner dropkicks Yuji then Yuji takes a double suplex.

Yuji belly to belly suplexes Nagai then chest kicks him for 2. Yuji crossfaces Nagai and submits him.

Thoughts: It was your usual opener and wasn't too much of note. They had a lot of people in this and not much time. This was the first time we saw Yasuda in a while as he was injured. 

Master Wato, Oleg Boltin, Toru Yano & YOH vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa)

Yoh and Kosei go at it. They trade wristlocks. Kosei headflips out and chops him. Yoh eye pokes him and hits chops. Kosei eye pokes him. They each miss shots and then tag out.

Wato mocks Rob's chant. Rob wristlocks him. Wato side headlock takeovers him. Rob headscissors him and they stand off. Rob flying headscissors him. Wato then flying headscissors him. They try to dropkick each other at the same time. Wato facebusters him.

Wato is tripped into a senton and basement dropkick. Wato takes a double back elbow, has his lets split then takes a double kick. Oiwa slams and splashes Wato for 2. Wato leg lariats him. Yano sends Oiwa into the exposed buckle and rolls him up for 2. Oiwa dropkicks him. Oleg and Hart get in. They shoudler battle. Hart chops him then Oleg shoulders him over.

Hart hits forearms and euros. Hart splashes Oleg in the corner then lariats him. Hart sentons him for 2. They fight over a suplex and Oleg suplexes him. Oleg splashes him. Kosei takes a backcracker into a corkscrew kick. Wato and Yoh do plancha's out together.

Oleg and Hart lariat battle. Oleg catches Hart's crossbody then he karelin's lifts him. Oleg finlay rolls him and wins.

Thoughts: The juniors stuck with the juniors here and the heavies stuck with the heavies. Oleg doing karelin's lift to Hart was impressive. I don't like Oiwa's new gear at all as it makes him look chubby. This was fine for what it was but nothing too interesting.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jeff Cobb

Jeff is all teary eyed here. Tana waistlocks him and lets go of it. Tana wristlocks him then Jeff reverses it. Jeff side headlocks him and Tana ropebreaks. Jeff hits a slingblade for 2. Tana boots him off the ropes then Jeff spinning slams him. Jeff misses a standing moonsault. Tana tries a standing moonsault and nearly kills himself.

Jeff punches him then clubs him. Jeff slams/suplexes him for 2. Jeff does a grounded abdominal stretch and hits chest clubs. Tana hits forearms then Jeff headbutts him. Jeff misses a corner splash. Tana dropkicks him in the knee then dragon screws him.

They trade shots. Tana slams him. Tana n2d rope swantons him for 2. Tana muso's him then hits the sickle and hammer for 2. Jeff standing moonsaults him for 2. 

Jeff hits strikes and slams him. Jeff misses a 2nd rope swanton. Tana slaps him and hits a twist and shout. Tana does a top rope crossbody. Jeff catches him, goes for a spin cycle backdrop and Tana slingblades him out of it for 2. Jeff hits a german then spinning powerslams him. Jeff goes for a ripcord move but Tana cradles him to win.

Thoughts: It was on the shorter end. It wasn't super serious or anything but they both had nice reversals on various moves and Jeff did good swinging Tana around. I liked what we got of this.

They hug after and Tana raises Jeff's hand. United Empire comes out for Cobb since it's his last NJPW appearance. Cobb does a speech. He says he wasn't expecting to lose. Cobb thanks the staff. he says everyone is thanking him but he should thank the fans. He thanks United Empire and says it's not goodbye, but see you later.

House Of Torture (Ren Narita, SANADA & SHO) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Drilla Moloney, Gedo & Taiji Ishimori)

Bullet Club rushes in. Drilla beats up Sanada in the stands and bangs his head off the bleachers. Drilla stomps on Sanada out there. Taiji hits punches on Sho in the ring. Kanemaru trips Taiji from the outside. Taiji is then sent into the exposed buckle.

Sho stomps on Taiji. Sho foot chokes Taiji. Drilla is sent into the rails outside. Ren chinlocks and eye rakes Taiji. Sho tries pins on Taiji that fail. Taiji eye rakes Sho then hits a handspring corkscrew kick. Drilla comes in and hits corner spears on Sanada. He then hits forearms in the corner. Drilla spinebusters Sanada.

Drilla headbutts Sanada. Sanada kicks him in the nuts as he falls. Drilla dropkicks Ren. Gedo chokes Ren. Ren chokes him back. Gedo does the gedo clutch to Ren for 2. Taiji is pulled over the top. Gedo jawbreakers Ren. Kanemaru spits whiskey in Gedo's eyes then Ren hits a facebuster on Gedo to win.

Thoughts: It didn't get a lot of time and wasn't much of note. The HoT cheated as usual and this was mostly strikes. This didn't have a ton of wrestling in this one. 

El Desperado, Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Jakob Austin Young & Templario)

CN dropkicks and euros Goto. CN flying forearms him in the corner. They trade forearms. Goto shoulders over CN. Temp rope walks and crossbodies Despy. CN then planca's Goto outside. Despy and Temp trade chops. Despy hits a hard forearm then shoulders him over. Temp does a spinarooni to get up.

Temp armdrags Despy then dropkicks him. Despy is dropped face first on the apron by Temp. CN does a weak running knee on Despy on purpose. CN and Goto trade. Goto is thrown out. Temp works Despy's leg.

Temp pump kicks Despy. Temp armdrags him then ties up his arms and legs. Despy dragon screws Temp. CN and Goto get in. CN htis facekicks then running facekicks him. CN PK's him for 2. Goto spinning heel kicks CN in the corner then backdrops him for 2. 

Goto shoulders CN over then CN enzugiri's him. Jake finally gets in. He hits shots on Goto then Goto flips him with a lariat. RT finally gets in. He dropkicks Jake in the knee. Jake misses a corner charge and is rolled into an ankle lock. Jake pushes him off then enzugiri's him.

RT takes corner attacks then Temp walks up the ropes and springboard dropkicks him. Jake running knees RT for 2. Temp flying headscissors Despy. Temp then topes Despy outside. CN does a flying kick to Goto on the apron. Jake ducks an RT enzugiri then la magistral's him for 2. Jake buzzsaw kicks RT.

Jake and RT trade pins. RT then pins him by holding onto the tights.

Thoughts: They kept the pace moving in this one. we didn't see much of Jake or RT until the end. It was just a match for the most part. Temp didn't do his best stuff here and Newman was a little off.

Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match - Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji) vs. Just 4 Guys (Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura), Shota Umino & YOSHI-HASHI

Yota and Yuya go at it. Yuya hits an armdrag off a wristlock. Yota side headlocks him. Yuya armdrags and armlocks him. Taka boots and stomps Yota. Yota kicks him in the knee then LIJ attack. Taka avoids being thrown over the top for the elimination.

HT chops Taka then corner lariats him. HT basement dropkicks him. Taka takes a double team clothesline for 2. Shingo hits corner spears on Taka's gut. Shingo suplexes him for 2. Bushi beats up on Taka then stands on his crotch. 

Naito hits forearms on Taka then Taka pump kicks him from the side. Tai gets in ad corner facekicks Naito. He then facekicks Yota and side kicks Shingo. Tai russian legsweeps Naito. Tai boots Bushi off the ropes. Yoshi back elbows Bushi then takes a dropkick. Bushi goes for a tope but is shouldered over. Bushi rewind kicks Yoshi. Bushi then takes a double superkick for 2.

Yoshi does an underhook lock on Bushi and taps him out, which was weak. Bushi is eliminted. Shingo misses a senton on Yoshi. Shingo shoulders over Shota. Shingo sends Shota into Yoshi on the apron and Yoshi-Hashi is eliminated. Shingo lariats Shota.

Shingo hits chops and punches on Shota. Shingo hits a twist and shout for 2. Shota hits chops on Shino then fisherman suplexes him for 2. Shota STF's Shingo. Shingo ropebreaks. Shota hits forearms on Shingo. Shota and Shingo trade forearms. They lariat each other on the ropes. They collide with lariats. Shingo hits punches then they lariat each other over.

Shota enzugiri's him then takes a sliding lariat. Shota tornado ddt's him. Shingo lariats him over the top and goes with him. Shota Umino and Shingo Takagi are both eliminated.

Yuya and Yota get back in. Yuya hits chops. Yuya goes up and over then hits an armdrag and dropkick. Yuya backdrops him for 2. Yuya superkicks him. Yuya is on the buckles. Yuya forearms him off the buckles then Yota pumping knees him. Yuya chops Yota on the apron. Yota chops him. They headbutt each other and both fall off the apron. Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura are eliminated.

We are down to 2v2. HT takes a double clothesline then Naito takes a double boot. Taka eye pokes HT. HT flying headscissors him but Taka just turns into just facelock. Taka avoids a double clothesline. HT rolls up Taka and pins him. Taka Michinoku is eliminated.

Tai takes a double clothesline. Naito step up enzugiri's him. HT superkicks Tai. HT tries to help Naito on destino but Naito can't get up. HT gets on the apron and Naito accidentally hits him, cuasing an elimination. Hiromu Takahashi is eliminated.

Naito and Tai trade shots. They trade leg kicks for forearms. Tai facekicks him. Naito botches an atomic drop and Tai STO's him for 2. Tai sliding lariats him. Naito hits a bad tornado ddt. Naito hits back elbows.

Naito pulls his throat down over the top. Naito koppo kicks Tai off the apron for the elimination.

Thoughts: It was nothing much of note. Shota and Shingo's section was fine as was Yuya and Yota's section. Naito looked awful here and botched anything he tried that wasn't a strike. This was as average as it gets and nobody put that much effort into this one.

Naito and Bushi talk on the mic after. Bushi says he doesn't regret his decision to leave. He says he will have a ton of gratitude. Naito hints that we might see him again in an NJPW ring. Naito then does a roll call with his group and a cheer.

Overall thoughts: This wasn't NJPW's best work. The main was very average and by the numbers. The 2nd and 3rd matches from the top weren't much. Cobb/Tana was fine but far from memorable. I would not recommend this and thought it was a poor effort from NJPW. I'd give this a 4 out of 10.