New Japan Pro Wrestling 5/4/2025 Wrestling Dontaku 2025 Day 2

New Japan Pro Wrestling 5/4/2025 Wrestling Dontaku 2025 Day 2

Batten Blabla & Mentai Kid vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Gedo & Taiji Ishimori)

Taiji side headlocks Kid then pulls him by the mask. Kid dropkicks him out. Blabla and Gedo get in. Blabla gets Gedo to do his pose and Gedo isn't thrilled. Bla neckbreakers him then struts before missing an elbow. Gedo eye rakes him then rakes his eyes with his foot. Gedo then does his own strut and fist drops Bla.

Bla is double teamed. Bla hits double throat thrusts on both. Kid gets in abd hits back elbows. Taiji eye rakes him. Kid does a handspring double back elbow. Kid falcon arrows Taiji then top rope splashes him for 2.

Kid and Bla double lariat Taiji. Kid 619's Taiji then plancha's Gedo. Bla struts into an elbow drop on Taiji for 2. Taiji eye rakes him and kicks hin in the butt. Taiji then gedo clutches him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a shorter one and Blabla and Kid mostly did comedy here. It just an opening style match and wasn't too much of note.

Master Wato & YOSHI-HASHI vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)

Wato's team is nailed before it starts. Wato sends Jake into Khan and does a double facebuster. Wato stomps on Jake. Jak headscissors Wato into a russian legsweep. Jake then stomps Wato. Yoshi is sent into the rails outside. Khan monkey flips and shoulder throws Wato for 2.

Jake knees Wato in the gut and eye rakes him with his feet. Khan double chops Wato then uppercuts him. Khan sits on wato's neck in the corner. Khan double chops Wato. Wato hits chops then Khan double chops him again. Wato hits a zig zag on Khan.

Yoshi comes in and neckbreakers Khan. Khan chops Yoshi then Yoshi running neckbreakers him for 2. Khan and Yoshi trade shots. Khan shoulders throws him. Khan then gutbusters him into a karelin's lift for 2.

Yoshi ddt's Khan off a chokeslam attempt. Jake and Wato get in. They trade forearms. Wato spin kicks him in the gut then Jake leg lariats him. Wato dropkicks him from the side. Jake pumping knees yoshi then Khan straight punches Yoshi.

Khan punches Wato in the gut then Jake leg lariats Wato from behind. Wato corkscrew kicks Jake then germans him for the win.

Thoughts: It was short and not much of note. Wato could use a better finisher than just a german suplex. We didn't see much of Yoshi here. 

STARS (Hazuki & Koguma) & Maika vs. Neo Genesis (AZM & Starlight Kid) & Yuna Mizumori

Kid and Kog go at it. Kog wants to do her taunt but is nailed from behind. Kid cartwheels over her. Kid gets a 2 count on Kog then is armdragged. Kid headlock takeovers her, Kog headscissors her and they stand off and do Kog's pose. Kid springboard twisting crossbodies Kog then basement dropkicks her.

Yuna shoulders over an opponent then is shouldered over by Maika. Yuna takes a triple basement dropkick. Haz does facewash kicks on Yuna. Maika slams Yuna and forearms her over. Yuna rolls into a dropkick on her. AZM gets in. Maika kicks her in the gut  then Kid does a headlock + headscissors take over on Maika and Kog. AZM then does a double basement dropkick.

Kid standing moonsaults Haz. AZM misses a top rope double stomp on Maika. Maika powerslams her. AZM high kicks Maika. Maika suplexes AZM. Yuna takes a corner splash > top rope dropkick > 2nd rope crossbody. Haz sentons Yuna then crossfaces her. Yuna hits a huge lariat on Haz.

Kid top rope 180 splashes Haz. AZM top rope double stomps Haz. Yuna cradle shocks Haz for 2. Kid flying headscissors Maika. Kog cutters AZM. Kog 2nd rope plancha's outside while Haz does a tope outside.

Haz springboard dropkicks Yuna for 2. Yuna takes corner attacks. Yuna takes a powerbomb + top rope double clothesline for 2. Yuna does a pin attempt on Haz for a close 2. Haz brainbusters Yuna and wins.

Thoughts: It was fast paced wrestling. There were no real faces or heels here as often is the case with Stardom, but this is their only match on the card here so it was tolerable. I liked it and thought they put out a good effort. The brainbuster at the end looked rough and I liked the powerbomb + double lariat combo. 

El Phantasmo & Oleg Boltin vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita & Rocky Romero)

ELP and KT start us off. KT side headlocks him. KT shoulders him over. ELP rolls over his back. They duck a lariat and a clothesline then stand off. They trade forearms. ELP spin kicks him in the gut. KT lariats ELP over the top then plancha's him.

Oleg takes a double kick from his opponents on the apron. RR kicks and foot chokes ELP on the ropes. RR stomps ELP's hand. ELP flying headscissors KT. ELP evades his opponents and step up enzugiri's KT. ELP pushes RR into KT.

Oleg gets in and shoulders his opponents. KT facekicks him. KT flies at him and is shouldered down. RR's flying headscissors caught by Oleg and turned into karelin's lift. KT hitsa big forearm on Oleg. They double clothesline each other. KT blue thunders him for 2. 

RR tornado ddt's ELP then topes him outside into the rails. Oleg takes a package tombstone + top rope double stomp for 2. RR rewind kicks ELP. Oleg takes a spinning forearm  jumping knee combo. Oleg swings RR's feet into KT. ELP then jumps off of RR on Oleg's shoulders onto KT. Oleg F-5's RR. Oleg finlay rolls RR and wins.

Thoughts: It was a fun tag. It didn't go long so they didn't get a chance to overdo it here. So they all just got their fun spots in and went home. I liked this. KT and RR were a decent team here.

ELP and KT get in each other's face after. 

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

Tajiri hs gray hair here which makes him look a lot older. Zack wants Tajiri to start.

Zack backrolls out of a wristlock. Tajiri trips him then splits his legs. Zack cravates him and Tajiri trips him. Zack bow and arrows him. Tajiri kimura's him and they stand off. Zack hammerlocks him. Tajiri reverses it using the ropes. Yoh and Rob get in. Yoh rolls him up for 2 then Rob uses the ropes to armdrag him. Yoh flying headscissors him.

Yoh is chopped by Kosei and Rob. He pulls the two into each other and does a double facebuster. Kosei is pushed into Rob. Yano gets his legs split and takes a double kick. Hart snapmares and legdrops Yano for 2.

Kosei hits chops on Yano. Kosei springboard dropkicks him for 2. Oiwa gets in and back elbows Yano. Yano atomic drops Oiwa. Ryota gets in and chops Oiwa. Oiwa forearms him back. Oiwa spinning forearms him then Ryota back body drops him. Ryota hits tilt-a-whirl sitout slams on Rob and Kosei.

Oiwa hits a back body drop on Ryota and splashes him. Ryota lariats Oiwa then is lariated by him. Zack goes for an armbar on Tana but Tana tries a pin attempt off of it. Tana snapmares then neck twists Zack with his feet. Zack pele kicks Tana then stomps his arm.

Hart splashes Tana then lariats him. Zack twists Tana's neck with his feet and Hart sentons Tana. Hart hits a double lariat. Tajiri grabs the ref and green mists Hart. Ryota sling blades Hart. Tana high fly flows Hart and wins.

Thoughts: It wasn't bad. It was nice to see some different faces for a change. It didn't get that much time though and was just an average midcard match. 

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Just 4 Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku), Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii

This is Bushi's and Naito's last match under NJPW contract. I'm sure we will see Naito again but he can't do these full-time tours anymore. It's another big loss for NJPW. We rarely ever get to see Bushi do anything of note.

Bushi throws Tai out then nails Taka on the apron. Bushi pushes Shota into Ishii then double hurricanrana's them both. Taka trips Bushi. Bushi flying headscissors Tai. Tai takes a double shoulderblock from Shingo and HT. HT corner lariats Tai. Tai side kicks HT.

HT hits chops on Taka. Taka eye pokes him. Ishii gets in and boots and slaps HT around. HT chop flurries him. HT superkicks him then suplexes him. HT dragon suplexes Ishii then Ishii backdrops him.

Shota gets in. HT dragon screws him. Naito gets in. He armdrags Shota the baseball slides him in the back. Naito trips Tai then Tai takes a baseball dropkick. Naito tornado ddt's Taka.

Shingo gets in and takes forearms from Shota. Shingo fires back and they lariat each other on the ropes. They collide with lariats. Shota enzugiri's him and Shingo sliding lariats him. 

Shota tornado ddt's Shingo then lariats him. Taka pump kicks Shingo. Taka takes corner attacks then a 4 person basement dropkick. Everyone gets in for a move. Tai takes a lariat > superkick then a destino from Naito. Bushi topes Shota outside. Taka pump kicks Shingo then is lariated. Shingo burning dragon's Taka and wins.

Thoughts: It was your usual tag with everyone getting a segment or two in then going to the finish. It wasn't anything too noteworthy but it was fine for what it was with fast action. 

LIJ pose together after and Naito pushes the ref over. 

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Match - Yota Tsuji (c) vs. Yuya Uemura

Yota side headlocks him and is rolled over. Yota gets the headscissors and they stand off. Yota side headlocks him. Yuya hits 2 armdrags and armlocks him. Yuya armdrags him and Yota armdrags him off of it. Yota then cranks his arm back.

Yuya hits forearms and is his arm is codebreakered. Yota armlocks him. Yota boots his arm in the corner. Yuya goes up and over and hits an armdrag and dropkick. Yuya bakcdrops him for 2. Yota yanks on the arm and flying headscissors him. Yota topes him into the rails outside.

Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him sinide. Yuya dropkicks him in the knee and bangs the leg off the mat. Yuya figure fours him. Yuya slams him.They go on the buckles but nothing of note comes out of it.

Yuya germans him then Yota facekicks him. Yota running dropkicks him then Yuya dropkicks him. Yuya forearms him then muso's him for 2. 

Yuya slams him and misses a top rope splash. Yota does a flying armbar on him. Yuya hits chops. Yuya hits headbutts. Yota forearms him. Yuya dropkicks him in the knee. Yota dragon screws him then figure fours him. Yota enzugiri's him. Yuya germans him for 2. Yuya dragon suplexes him for 2.

Yuya hits a top rope splash for 2. Yuya hits a big armdrag then Yuya hits a deadbolt suplex. Yota then spears him for the win.

Thoughts: They did arm and leg work for most of this then the finishing stretch had nothing to do with the limb work. It didn't get a ton of time and they didn't make the best of the use of the time they did have. I thought it was just a match and it's like they tried to fuse what both guys do but ended up with a bad mix.

LIJ then come out and pose with Yota. Yota talks on the mic and says they are always ungovernable and always connected. He says they will be together again sometime. Yota says he's the IWGP Global champ and will keep fighting in NJPW. He says Yuya is his perfect rival as is Gabe Kidd.

Gabe Kidd comes out. Yota says let's continue our unfinished business. Gabe says Yota never beat him and challenges him. Yota asks if we are ready.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match - Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Callum Newman
 
Goto avoids a running facekick to start. They trade forearms. Goto shoulders him over, CN goes down then kips up and enzugiri's him. CN plancha's him outside. CN facekicks him. Goto is sent into the rails then facekicked. CN PK's him.

CN kicks him in the back. Goto hits a corner lariat then backdrops him. Goto spinning heel kicks him in the corner. Goto neckbreakers him and CN goes out. Goto brainbusters him. Goto chinlocks him and stomps on him. Goto russian legsweeps him into la escalara.

Goto elbow drops him. Goto elbows his neck then is dropkicked. CN tope con hilos Goto outside. CN corner dropkicks him then tiger suplexes him. They run the ropes and Goto hits an ushigoroshi.

Goto forearms him down three times. CN gets up and spits at him. Goto forearms him down again. CN takes more forearms and chops him. CN germans him then buzzsaw kicks him. Goto hits a GTW for 2. They fight on the apron and CN does an os cutter there. CN flying knees him in the ring. CN hits a top rope double stomp for 2.

They lariat each other at the same time. CN hits a short arm lariat for 2. Goto blocks CN's os cutter. CN then hits an os cutter for 2. CN hits a fisherman buster for 2. Goto hits a short arm clothesline and both are down. Goto hits headbutts. Goto hits a shouten kai for 2.

Goto flips him with a lariat. Goto then hits a GTR kai to win.

Thoughts: The point of this was to sell you on the idea that CN could win. I didn't buy it and he didn't win. It was fine and an okay  main but we knew the outcome here and it was just a matter of how long they went. I thought they could have done a little better though in this one. 

Goto asks who his next challenger will be. Zack Sabre Jr. comes out. He says he will be next. Goto shakes hands with him and says he accepts. Shingo Takagi comes down. He says Goto has a wife, belt and kids and he doesn't. He says his faction is done too. He says he feels at the bottom and is looking at the top. Shingo says he should challenge but Zack came out first. Shingo says he will challenge the winner. Goto then talks more after.

Overall thoughts:  It was an average show. I liked the main, the women's tag and the Takeshita tag. I didn't care much for Yota/Yuya and it wasn't one of NJPW's more stacked cards. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 overall as it was not NJPW's best effort and there was nothing great I wouldn't recommend it.