Night four of the Road to Destruction tour saw action arrive in Togane, Chiba. Yuji Nagata celebrated 35 years in wrestling at Blue Justice 9. 2149 packed the Togane Gymnasium, even in an approaching typhoon, to cheer on their local hero Nagata.
8th Match: Yuji Nagata, Jyushin Thunder Liger, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi defeated BULLET CLUB (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Jado) when Nagata submitted Jado.
Before the match started, Jado said that he had a world of respect for Liger and wanted to play things fair. Liger was skeptical, and proved correct shortly after the bell rang as BULLET CLUB intervened to attack Liger from behind.
A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker would bring in Kojima, and he and Tenzan would show their tag team prowess to Yujiro. Kojima was even able to stack up four BULLET CLUB members in the corner for machine gun chops before Fale was sent into the pile.
The advantage could only last so long however, and soon it was Kojima on the receiving end of punishment. A tag would be made to Nakanishi however, and the wild country bumpkin would land a huge spear, and even an Argentine Backbreaker on Fale before Nagata came in to the roar of his home crowd. An armbar would follow on Nagata’s former student Fale, and Togane saw the whites of Blue Justice’s eyes, before Yujiro cut him off.
It was Jado’s kendo stick that cut Nagata off, however. Nagata would take punishment from all the BULLET CLUB members, but Team Justice entered, giving Nagata chance to land a knee to Jado, and then the Nagata Lock 2 for the submission win. Post match, Nagata told the delighted crowd that he’ll be back producing Blue Justice 10 in Togane next year.
7th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito & EVIL) defeated BULLET CLUB (Jay White & Gedo) when EVIL submitted Gedo.
The ongoing game of mental one upmanship continued between White and Naito early, and El Ingobernable once again frustrated the Switchblade after some opening flash pin attempts.
The BULLET CLUB tandem took control on the floor however, and Gedo would choke EVIL with a towel outside the ring. A huge sidewalk slam would end BULLET CLUB’s control, however, and Naito would happily come in to get just deserts on the man who stole his title belt on Friday in Korakuen. A spinebuster to White from Naito brought EVIL abd Gedo back in; the ever resourceful Gedo would get the upper hand by biting EVIL, before slipping brass knux on that extremity.
EVIL and Naito would cut off both Gedo’s knux and White’s entry with a chair, however, and the Scorpion Deathlock would secure LIJ victory.
6th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & SANADA) defeated CHAOS (Rocky Romero, Hirooki Goto & Kazuchika Okada) when SANADA submitted Romero.
Okada and SANADA stood off to start the match to a huge response from the Togane crowd. After tags to Romero and BUSHI, Romero booted BUSHI to the floor, and CHAOS and LIJ would brawl all over the Togane gymnasium.
CHAOS would settle into control over BUSHI back inside, before a DDT to Goto would bring Takagi into the fray. Goto and then Okada would land high speed strikes to Takagi, but the Dragon would land a big vertical suplex on the IWGP Champion, before SANADA secured the Paradise Lock on the Rainmaker.
Romero would come back in and conenct with impressive offense on SANADA, but would get cut off by Takagi with a crushing lariat, as bodies flew into (and out of, BUSHI landing a huge tope suicida to Okada) the ring. SANADA would be left alone with Rocky, and cinched in Skull End for the tap out victory.
5th Match: Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Junior, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO & YOH when Sabre submitted SHO.
Minoru Suzuki went for a drop goal with Taguchi’s rugby ball before the match started, leading the Coach’s team to become the early agressors with a train on Kanemaru. Even the rear attack in the corner worked for team Taguchi, but the advantage didn’t last long, as Suzuki-Gun wreaked havoc on the floor.
YOH would be punished in ring before he landed a Falcon Arrow to DOUKI. Tanahashi would come in and put the Dragon Screws to ZSJ; though Sabre would attempt a Zack Driver on the Ace, a Twist and Shout was the response.
This brought in SHO, who showed his power and Roppongi 3K teamwork on ZSJ. Repeated Powerbreaker attempts were denied, however, and British Submission Mastery proved to be the key to victory.
4th Match: BULLET CLUB (El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens) defeated Will Ospreay, Robbie Eagles & Toa Henare when Owens pinned Henare.
Owens went after Henare on the floor, but BULLET CLUB lost an early advantage as the Birds of Prey took over, a pair of planchas to the IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions heating up the Togane crowd. A thumb to the eye and a springboard senton from Ishimori would allow BULLET CLUB to take over on Henare.
After all three members of the black clad opposition took their turns on Henare, the Maori Warrior was able to land a Samoan Drop to ELP, allowing the Birds of Prey to show the high flying tandem offense they’re quickly becoming famed for. Henare would be brought back in, and showed awesome power in a delayed deadlift suplex to Owens, but after a Rampage tackle connected, Ishimori came in to make the save.
The match broke down with Henare and Owens still legal. Henare could escape one attempt at the Package Piledriver, but a second emphatic attempt found its mark.
3rd Match: YOSHI-HASHI, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors, Alex Coughlin & Michael Richards when YOSHI-HASHI submitted Richards.
Togi Makabe, his pride in the NJPW Dojo high, wanted to start out the match and see what the LA Dojo Young Lions had. He instantly tried to stretch the LA prospects, attempting a double wristlock on Connors. Connors would bring in Coughlin, who perhaps had more guts than brains as he attacked Ishii with blistering chops, and wobbling the Stone Pitbull, but only for a second before being flattened.
The harsh masters on the more experienced team seemed particularly salty in their attacks, particularly Makabe, who landed some vicious blows. Coughlin’s chops proved effective once more though, as he used them to get distance from Honma and tag in Fredericks. He and Richards would clear the ring, opening up an opportunity for a chain of attacks on YOSHI-HASHI. Richards couldn’t keep the momentum up for long however, and YOSHI-HASHI would connect with a lariat before getting a submission win with the Butterfly Lock.
The night started with a pair of Young Lion Cup matches.
2nd Match: Shota Umino (1-1) defeated Ren Narita (1-1) via pinfall.
Narita took a measure of control with a shoulder tackle as the match got underway, but Umino caught him out of the corner with a lariat, and followed with some aggressive offense. The determined Umino would almost get disqualified as he held a Boston Crab in the ropes, but Narita was able to respond with a vertical suplex, and then faked a German suplex into a belly to belly for a two count.
After a trade of forearms, Narita landed the Narita Special #4 but couldn’t hold onto a follow up bridge. Staying focused, he hit a pair of huge slaps to Umino, but was caught coming back off the ropes with a dropkick. Umino would follow with a Fisherman’s Suplex attempt, but Narita would nearly get the win off an inside cradle counter. Narita couldn’t counter a spinebuster however, and Umino would go on to land a missile dropkick and then a German Suplex for a narrow victory, Narita rolling the shoulder just barely after the three count.
1st Match: Yota Tsuji (1-1) defeated Yuya Uemura (0-2) via submission.
Tsuji and Uemura both entered with 0-1 records in the Young Lion Cup, and with a 4-4-21 record against one another. They were evenly matches as ever in the early stages of the match, trading holds on the mat and chops and blows in the corner before Tsuji could power out with a big shoulder tackle.
Uemura’s athleticism would show with a big dropkick and elbow drop to Tsuji, but the former American football player was able to respond with a spear. He then managed to hit a Giant Swing to Uemura before locking in a Boston Crab for the two points.
