The Road to Wrestling Dontaku ran through Toyama on Thursday April 18. The last stop on the way to Sengoku Lord on Saturday meant an especially significant night for those involved in the two title matches that headline the card in Nagoya.
Full results and match photos here!
7th match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito) defeated CHAOS (Rocky Romero, SHO, YOH, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii) when BUSHI pinned Romero.
LIJ continued their hot streak through the Road to Dontaku, racking up their fifth successive win against the CHAOS five man squad. After BUSHI levelled Romero with the MX, he made a passionate point that SHO and YOH’s time with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships will come to an end on April 26 in Hiroshima.
6th Match: Kota Ibushi, Jyushin Thunder Liger and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Suzuki Gun (TAKA Michinoku, Taichi and Zack Sabre Junior) when Ibushi pinned Michinoku.
Liger landed his always impressive trademark offense just days before his thirtieth anniversary match. Meanwhile, Ibushi sent a powerful message to Zack Sabre Junior ahead of their title match Saturday when he delivered a thunderous Kamigoye to Sabre’s mouthpiece TAKA. When ZSJ attempted to steal the post match glory, Ibushi sent the Brit to the floor with a high kick.
5th match: Dragon Lee, Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson and Hirooki Goto defeated Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Taiji Ishimori, Jay White and Hikuleo) when Robinson pinned Hikuleo.
With Robinson, Goto and Lee all heading into big singles matches on the remaining nights of the Dontaku tour against their Bullet Club opposite numbers, spirits were raised with a rousing victory, secured by a Pulp Friction to Hikuleo.
4th match: Tomoaki Honma, Mikey Nicholls, Toru Yano and Togi Makabe defeated Bullet Club (Jado, Chase Owens, Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) when Yano pinned Jado
Yano carried on his streak of outsmarting Bullet Club members on the night, and engaged in familiar corner pad removing antics. But it was his university education and mat wrestling smarts that won him a pin on Jado with the NU (Nippon University) Clutch.
3rd match: Suzuki Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado) defeated Toa Henare, Yuji Nagata and Satoshi Kojima when Suzuki pinned Henare.
Suzuki’s infamous temper was in full effect in Toyama, taking the fight to Kojima out in the crowd before finishing the match with a Gotch Style Piledriver on Henare.
2nd match: Shota Umino defeated Yota Tsuji via pinfall.
After Young Lion rivals Tsuji and Yuuya Uemura battled one another for the first four days of the tour, Tsuji had to take on his Dojo senpai in Umino in Toyama. Umino secured the win with a gorgeous Fisherman’s Suplex.
1st match: Ren Narita defeated Yuuya Uemura via pinfall.
Ren Narita’s superhuman bridge scored the opening victory of the night as he landed his unbelievable front suplex on Uemura.
