‘The Spoiler’ Dick Togo a major difference maker in New Japan Road main event.
July 20’s New Japan Road event saw the one and only set of preview matches for Saturday July 25 and the Sengoku Lord event in Nagoya, where Hiromu Takahashi heads into the biggest match of his career with the IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championships at stake against new champion EVIL.
Barely a week removed from EVIL’s defection to BULLET CLUB, a lot of questions circled the Korakuen Hall main event, not least the role Dick Togo would play in the ring along with Taiji Ishimori against the LIJ trio of Takahashi, former champion Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI.
Hiromu played mind games with BULLET CLUB at the bell, showing a BC shirt before ripping it off to choke the double champion. LIJ certainly had the mental edge early, the trio tearing at Taiji Ishimori, until the King of Darkness got involved from the apron and the action spilled to the floor. Back inside, Dick Togo would get his first licks in-ring on a worked over Naito, and showed his skill and experience, drawing the referee for a closed first and taking control of El Ingobernable.
An enzuigiri finally gave Naito distance to bring in Hiromu, who tore at all three opponents, taking out the whole blue corner with a dropkick off the apron to the floor. After a pull of the hair though, EVIL showed the significant power gap to the junior heavyweight champion, sending him twice hard into an exposed turnbuckle.
A tag would be made to BUSHI however, and the jet black deathmask showed his anger at EVIL ending his NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship run. A flurry of offense almost ended with an MX to EVIL, but Ishimori and Togo broke things up, Togo choking BUSHI out with metal wire long enough for EVIL to strike for the three.
Post match, EVIL showed Hiromu he could put his challenger away at any time by teasing his finishing move, only to let Hiromu fall. Claiming that he ‘knows what is just,’ EVIL stated that he would send Hiromu ‘to hell in Nagoya’. Does the Time Bomb have an answer for Sengoku Lord?
