NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku results: 10-man tag main event

The Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour made a stop in Kagoshima today.

The 10-man tag main event, a staple of this tour, delivered yet again. The match is fundamentally the same every night, but the key competitors add new wrinkles and counters each time, teasing their upcoming singles matches. 

The undercard featured some solid wrestling, but provided little in the way of must-see action. 

Full results are below:

SHOTA UMINO DEFEATED YOTA TSUJI

A very good opener. Great intensity and very solid fundamental work from both guys. They did a lot of striking, particularly in the early part of the match. 

Umino took over after a spinebuster. He used a crab, but Tsuji reached the ropes. Umino hit a dropkick, then hit a fisherman buster into a bridge for the pinfall. 

ROCKY ROMERO & REN NARITA DEFEATED TIGER MASK IV & YUYA UEMURA

This was a nice showcase for Uemura. Tiger can still go in spurts, and he fits in well in opening tags. Rocky gave Uemura a lot of offense. I can’t say that Tiger Mask did the same for Narita. 

Tiger went for a Tiger Driver, but Rocky cut him off. Tiger applied a submission, but Rocky cut him off again.

Uemura and Tiger worked Narita over for a long time. Rocky finally got a tag. Tiger Mask went for a Tiger Driver, but Uemura called for a tag. 

Uemura got the upper hand on Rocky with a hand from Tiger. Tiger Mask hit a Tiger Driver and Uemura made a cover, but Narita made the save. 

Tiger and Narita fought to the floor, allowing Rocky to hit Sliced Bread for the win. 

JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI DEFEATED TAKA MICHINOKU & EL DESPERADO

The match was really an afterthought, as the fans were just thrilled to see Liger. 

Liger used some trademark spots, hitting a baseball slide and applying a Romero Special. Liger and Taguchi did some comedy, which got a nice reaction. Desperado went for Liger’s mask, and the momentum shifted. 

Taguchi got a hot tag and hit a springboard hip attack. Liger hit a senton off the apron onto Desperado, while Taguchi used an ankle lock, then hit the Dodon for the pin. 

TOGI MAKABE, TORU YANO, MIKEY NICHOLLS & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA, BAD LUCK FALE & HIKULEO 

Hikuleo’s chops were the star of the show to this point. Yano did some comedy. Honma did the bulk of the selling for his team, per usual. Makabe hit his ten punches in the corner and connected on a Northern Lights suplex. 

The finish saw Nicholls use the Mikey Bomb on Hikuleo to pick up the pin. 

MINORU SUZUKI, TAICHI & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU DEFEATED JEFF COBB, YOSHI-HASHI & TOA HENARE

They shot an angle after the match where Kanemaru spit whiskey in Cobb’s eyes. Taichi dropped Cobb with a buzzsaw kick, then posed over him with Cobb’s NEVER and ROH TV titles. 

Suzuki appeared to be having a grand time as he tried to rip YOSHI-HASHI’s arm from the socket. Suzuki is a legend, Cobb worked hard, and Henare always works hard, but it was difficult to get excited about this match. The show needed an injection of energy, and this didn’t do it for me. 

Taichi used a stretch plum on Henare for the win. 

DRAGON LEE, HIROOKI GOTO, WILL OSPREAY & JUICE ROBINSON DEFEATED TAIJI ISHIMORI, JAY WHITE, CHASE OWENS & GEDO 

Goto wanted to start with White. White immediately tagged out, so Lee and Ishimori kicked off the action. They had a nice exchange, ending with both flipping into a pose. They are going to tear the house down at Dontaku. 

Ospreay and Lee provided the injection of energy into this show that I was talking about. They hit stereo planchas near the finish. White tossed a pair of brass knuckles to Gedo, but Ospreay hit a springboard kick to knock them away. 

Juice used Pulp Friction on Gedo, leading to the pin. 

KOTA IBUSHI, KAZUCHIKA OKADA, TOMOHIRO ISHII, SHO & YOH DEFEATED TETSUYA NAITO, SANADA, EVIL, SHINGO TAKAGI & BUSHI

Kagoshima is Ibushi’s hometown, so he got an even bigger reaction than usual. Naito and Ibushi engaged briefly at the outset, then tagged EVIL and Ishii. Those two did their usual no-selling of each other’s shoulder blocks and strikes. 

YOH and Shingo entered. SHO jumped in for the double team, then eventually got a tag. Shingo hit a big lariat, and then the match turned into a brawl all around the building. The action returned to the ring, and LIJ took turns working over SHO. 

SHO finally ducked a Pumping Bomber and made a tag to Okada. SANADA tagged in as well. LIJ tried to outnumber Okada, but he cleared the ring. Okada hit a DDT. SANADA countered with a leapfrog dropkick. SANADA ducked a Rainmaker, but Okada hit a flapjack instead, into a double down. 

Ibushi and Naito tagged in. Ibushi hit a springboard missile dropkick, then a pescado. He followed with a powerslam and hit a moonsault for a two count. Naito recovered and hit a swinging DDT, then a top rope rana for a near fall. 

Ibushi escaped Gloria and hit a German. Naito hit a reverse rana. BUSHI got a tag and hit a missile dropkick. BUSHI hit a backstabber for a two count, then hit a swinging neckbreaker for another. 

BUSHI teased an MX, but Ibushi ducked it. Everyone jumped in and hit a trademark spot, the highlight being Ibushi’s double backflip kick. 

Ibushi hit a running knee for a two count. Ibushi hit a clothesline, then hit the Kamigoye for the pin, winning in his hometown.