New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/22/2024 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2025 Day 3

New Japan Pro Wrestling 4/22/2024 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2025 Day 3 

Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Nagai

They do some amateur wrestling to start. KM wristlocks him. Nagai rolls out and reverses it. KM shoulder throws him. Nagai trips him then side headlocks him. KM reverses it and cravate snapmares him. Nagai hammerlocks him. KM headscissors him. KM side headlocks him again then shoulders him over.

KM snapmares then sleepers him. KM hits forearms in the corner. Nagai fires back. KM hiptosses him for 2. KM clubs him then chops him down. Nagai dropkicks him. They each hit chest chops. Nagai corner stomps him then corner dropkicks him.

KM dropkicks him. KM slams him for 2. KM back body drops him then powerslams him. KM crabs him and Nagai taps out.

Thoughts: It was the usual acceptable young lions match. KM continues to look solid with some fire and some likeability as an underdog. He got most of the offense in on this one. 

Jakob Austin Young vs. Masatora Yasuda

They trade waistlocks to start. Jake trips him then Masa grabs the armbar. Jake pulls on the legs and Masa side headlocks him. Masa shoulders him over then hits forearms. Masa hiptosses him then elbow drops him for 2. Jake double boots him out of the corner and hits a 2nd rope dropkick.

Jake euros Masa then eye rakes him with his feet. Masa hits forearms and Jake russian legsweeps him. Jake then does a grounded octopus. They slap each other and trade forearms. Jake stomps his foot and knees him. Masa then dropkicks him. Masa hits a dropkick for 2. Masa slams him then crabs him.

Masa cradles him for 2 then rolls him up for 2. Jake enzugiri's him then single leg dropkicks him for 2. Jake hits a shiranui and wins.

Thoughts: Masa got a decent bit of offense in here. You can tell he's still green though as his elbow drops and various strikes still need work. It was nice to see him up against a non-young lion for a change. It was just an average match and not too much of note.

Be-Bop Tag Team (Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano), Master Wato, Oleg Boltin & YOH vs. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

Tana and Zack go at it. Zack full nelsons him. Zack tries to twist his neck with his feet but Tana stops it. Tana tries to do it to him but Zack stops it. They each try armbars. Tana ducks a PK and they stare down.

Oiwa and Yano go at it. Yano takes off a turnbuckle pad and is dropkicked. Yano is then sent shoulder first into the post. Rob comes in and leg kicks Yano. Yano pulls him down by the hair. Yoh gets in and hits forearms. He then flying forearms Rob over. He underhook suplexes him for 2. Yoh flying back elbows him in the corner.

Kosei and Wato come in and the four trade shots. Kosei htis a double dropkick. Oleg and Hart go at it. They lariat battle then chop each other. Hart flying crossbodies him. Oleg corner splashes him then Hart corner splashes him. Hart hits a lariat then a senton. Oleg dropkicks him.

Oleg suplexes him then hits a splash for 2. Oleg then is hit with a Hart flying lariat. Oleg dropkick Hart then catches Hart's flying lariat. Oleg karelin's lifts him then kips up. Oleg hits a finlay roll on him and wins.

Thoughts: I liked it, mostly for the Oleg/Hart segment. We got a couple of nice heavyweight spots out of that. Zack and Tana tried and had some fun which helped this.

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

War Dogs attack as they enter. Sanada throws Drilla into the commentary area and Drilla chokes him with a towel. Kanemaru and Taiji are the only ones in the ring yet they start the match. Taiji avoids a double team then springboard lariats Kanemaru. Clark comes in and shoulders over Kanemaru multiple times.

Ren sends Clark into the wall and chairs Gedo in the seats. Drilla's head is banged off the seats. Sho works on Clark's arm and ties it around the ropes. Ren stomps on Clark in the corner then Kanemaru and Sho choke Clark on the ropes. Ren back elbows Clark then armbars him.

Kanemaru slams Clark. He facekicks him in the corner. Kanemaru eye rakes him then Clark powerslams him. Drilla and Sanada go at it. Drilla hits punches and clears off Sanada's buddies. Drilla hits corner spears on Sanada. Sanada kicks the rope into Drilla's crotch.

Drilla then kicks the middle rope into Sanada's crotch. Drilla hits a rolling spear for 2. Sanada magic screws Drilla. Drilla suplees Sho. Sho takes punches from Gedo and Taiji. Taiji handspring crokscrew kicks Sho. Ren holds the ref and Sho tries to use a wrench on Gedo. Gedo gets the wrench and the ref tries to take it from him. Gedo throws the ref down. Ren hits Gedo with the push-up board and Sho pins Gedo to win.

Thoughts: It was the usual match with these groups with average brawling and a dirty finish. Gedo should have been DQ'd since he was caught with a weapon and since he threw the ref down.

Sanada tries to use his guitar on Gedo after but Drilla stops it. 

Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Francesco Akira)

CN shotgun dropkicks Goto to start. They collide and then trade forearms. CN facekicks him over. CN is thrown down by the hair and stomped on. Akira chops Goto then basement dropkicks him. Akira standing moonsaults him. Akira hits chops and Goto running lariats him.

RT pulls Akira's arms back and Akira ropebreaks. Goto brainbusters Akira for 2. RT slingshot butt drops Akira for 2. Akira takes a double shoulderblock then has his legs split. They trade forearms. Akira leg lariats him. CN comes in. He dropkicks Goto in the knee and double stomps his back. Akira PK's him for 2.

CN facekicks Goto and Goto shoulders him over. Goto ushigoroshi's CN. RT tries to hip attack Akira but atomic drops himself. RT then rolls and hip attacks Akira. Goto spinning heel kicks CN in the corner then RT sliding hip attacks CN for 2. Goto throws CN out. RT ankle locks CN. CN high kicks him and pumping knees him. CN then hits a fisherman's buster and wins.

Thoughts: CN and Goto tried to push their match but then RT came in and did his comedy and killed that. I don't know who put this one together but it didn't sound like a good idea on paper and didn't do much to make you want to see CN and Goto go at it. It was just an average 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 & Tomohiro Ishii

HT = Hiromu Takahashi

Shingo front facelocks Shota to start. Shingo takes him over then Shota front facelocks him. Shingo side headlocks him. Shingo hits a chop and they trade forearms. Shingo drops him with one and they trade more. Shingo hits corner forearms on Shota.

Shota hits a fisherman suplex then stomps on Shingo. Taka gets in. He hits boots on Shingo. He misses a slap and Shingo drops him. HT sends Ishii into the rails outside and they trade chops out there. Shingo chairs Shota outside then sends him into the rails. Taka is triple stomped on by LIJ.

Yota chops Taka. Taka hits a step up knee in the corner. Yuya gets tagged in. He hits chops on Yota. Yuya goes up and over him then hits an armdrag and a dropkick. Yuya backdrops him for 2. Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Yuya. They fight on the buckles. 

Yota superkicks him then Yuya dropkicks him. Tai and Naito go at it. Tai facekicks him over then corner facekciks him. Naito tornado ddt's him. Tai sidekicks Naito. HT and Ishii go at it. They trade chops. HT hits a corner lariat. HT flying headscissors him. HT hits a falcon arrow.

Bushi gets in. He dropkicks Shota in the knee, knocks Ishii off the apron then topes Ishii into the rails. Everyone starts coming in one by on to do a move. Ishii takes an atomic drop into a running lariat. Bushi takes a high kick then Ishii germans Bushi. Tai sliding lariats Bushi then Ishii brainbusters Bushi for the win.

Thoughts: They didn't get a ton of time here. Everyone got their one section in and not a lot else. What we got was okay though but nothing must see. They limited Naito here.

HT and Ishii trade forearms outside after. 

El Desperado & El Phantasmo vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Templario)

ELP front facelocks Khan. They grab each other and go to the ropes. Khan and ELP trade forearms. Khan mongolian chops himt hen grabs his hair. ELP grabs him by the nipples. Khan takes corner lariats and an atomic drop. Despy then pulls Khan down by the hair. Khan shoulders Bushi over.

Khan throws Temp into a headscissors on Despy. Temp then topes Despy outside. Despy is sent into the rails and his back is rammed into the post by Temp. Khan then throws ELP into the seats.

Temp walks up the ropes and springboard dropkicks Despy. Khan hits mongolian chops to Despy. Khan sits on Despy's neck. Khan mongolian chops Despy for 2. Temp ties up both of Despy's arms. Despy spinebusters Temp. 

ELP hits punches on Khan when he gets in. ELP flying headscissors Khan then lariats Khan over the top. ELP plancha's Khan outside. ELP 2nd rope springboard crossbodies Khan then asai moonsaults him. ELP stomps Khan's hand. ELP rope walks and diving headscissors Khan down.

Khan shoulders throws and leglocks ELP. Khan knee breakers ELP then kicks him in the leg. ELP springboards into a Khan punch. Khan drops Temp ontp ELP for 2.

Temp step up enzugiri's ELP. Temp handsprings but is dropkicked from behind. ELP UFO neckbreakers Temp then Despy does a driver on temp for 2. Despy swings ELP's boot into Temp. Despy slaps Khan. Temp rolls up Despy for 2.

Despy rolls up Temp for 2 twice. Temp then crucifixes Despy to win.

Thoughts: It was a random but decent main. Temp being in the main was something different if nothing else and it was a bit more athletic than usual with 3 junior wrestlers in the mix. It wasn't great but it was okay enough. 

Temp and Khan talks on the mic after.

Overall thoughts: It was a very average house show with no real big matches and nothing being too great. The main and semi-main were okay for what they were as was the third match. I wouldn't recommend this one and would just give it a 5 out of 10.