Trio of singles matchups highlight Korakuen Hall card
A week deep into the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour, we are fast approaching our first championship match of the series. On Tuesday night, the NEVER 6-Man Tag team Championships will be on the line, and the last preview matches before the title bout will bring high stakes and aggressive action.
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Main event: YOSHI-HASHI vs KENTA
Singles record: 2-0 KENTA
Headlining in Korakuen Hall this Monday, YOSHI-HASHI faces KENTA one on one for the third time. The Headhunter has been a target for harassments from KENTA ever since he joined BULLET CLUB in summer 2019. When Guerrillas of Destiny intervened to bring KENTA to his first NEVER Openweight Championship match over Tomohiro Ishii at Royal Quest in London, the sharp tongued stiff striker would return the favour to stop Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI securing tag gold against G.o.D a month later, sparking a battle over the NEVER title that took the two to New York and the Hammerstein Ballroom.
KENTA would emerge victorious that night, but refused to stop trolling YOSHI-HASHI on social media. One year later and KENTA was victorious again over the CHAOS member, this time during the G1, but YOSHI-HASHI was a changed man in the intervening 12 months. With the first championship of his career finally attained, the Headhunter had a new swagger and confidence, one that even KENTA had to acknowledge.
Still, the incorrigible KENTA would not leave well enough alone, and when he and BULLET CLUB took to the ring against the forces of CHAOS during the New Japan Cup 2021 finals in Sendai, KENTA spied an opportunity to make away with one of his opponent’s trademarks. The hand crafted ceremonial Bo-staff has been a part of YOSHI-HASHI’s entrances for the last nine years, all until KENTA took the staff into his own possession. Ever since, a visual signature had become a violent weapon in KENTA’s hands, and another tool to humiliate his opponent. April 15’s Korakuen event saw YOSHI-HASHI take the staff back, but the reunion was only brief; while Tuesday is all about retaining NEVER gold, tonight it’s about retaking what’s his, and teach its thief a much needed lesson.
4th Match: Hirooki Goto vs Taiji Ishimori
One of the exciting aspects of NEVER 6-Man competition is its openweight nature. That junior heavyweights can form teams with heavyweight members creates unique combinations, and it’s created a unique singles preview here tonight as Hirooki Goto goes one on one with Taiji Ishimori.
The history between Ishimori and Goto in particular harkens back to the Road to Sakura Genesis. Days after KENTA ‘procured’ YOSHI-HASHI’s Bo-staff, it was instantly put to use, as KENTA swung the iron into the face of Hirooki Goto. Moments later, Ishimori would get the win for BULLET CLUB in their 10 man tag, dealing a Bloody Cross to the fierce warrior Goto. It was a rare case of a junior heavyweight competitor pinning a heavyweight in a tag team environment; Ishimori insisted that the win showed his superiority, but Goto knew what happened moments before the pinfall was counted. Now Goto and Ishimori face off in a singles environment, and a chance to really prove who the better man is.
3rd Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs Yujiro Takahashi
Singles record: 5-1 Ishii
Rounding out our NEVER 6-Man singles previews, Yujiro Takahashi will be taking on Tomohiro Ishii. The record for Yujiro does not look good against Ishii, with five victories for the Stone Pitbull spread far apart over 15 years. With the most recent victory for Ishii coming during G1 Climax 30, Ishii is so convinced of his superiority over Yujiro that he’s repeatedly questioned BULLET CLUB as to their team selection, wondering aloud whether they would be better off benching Yujiro in favour of just about anybody else.
Yet Takahashi should not be ignored, and when his pride his threatened, the Tokyo Pimp can be a dangerous man. While he did indeed sample defeat to Ishii during the G1, he would end his campaign with a win over none other than Jeff Cobb, and it was in this same building of Korakuen that in 2013 he scored his one win over his opponent tonight, a win that secured him the NEVER Openweight Championship. Could another win tonight open the door to six man glory 24 hours later?
2nd Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi) vs United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay)
After the last two events in Korakuen Hall saw United Empire and Los Ingobernables De Japon split into tag teams, they now unite once more for four on four action. The united front has strongly favoured the United Empire thus far on this tour, particularly in one fall environments such as these, and they’ll be looking to press that advantage with one week before Great-O-Khan and Aaron Henare face Tetsuya Naito and SANADA respectively in singles action, while Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi count down to their May 4 IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match.
1st Match: Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs BULLET CLUB (Gedo, Dick Togo & EVIL)
Kicking things off tonight, Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano and Hiroshi Tanahashi take on the BULLET CLUB trio of Gedo, Dick Togo and EVIL. After a week of polls, match stipulations will now be set for EVIL’s match with Toru Yano on April 28, and time is ticking down with just nine days before the big KOPW 2021 match in Kagoshima. Meanwhile, as Tanahashi awaits Jay White, he faces Blacksmith Gedo once more. How will this opening bout play out?
