Last stop on road to Dontaku
The road to Dontaku makes its final stop in Beppu on May 1. With the final statements to be made between IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and challenger before the tour closer in Fukuoka, tensions are sure to run high in our main event and through the entire card.
Watch Road to Dontaku LIVE on NJPW World (English to follow on demand)
Main event: Just 5 Guys (SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi)
Direct tag record: 1-0 Kanemaru & SANADA
Two days before Hiromu Takahashi challenges for SANADA’s IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, a tag team preview in our main event. These two teams tied up at Capital Collision in Washington DC earlier in April, where a leg laced Samson Clutch saw Kanemaru to victory over Hiromu. That set the Heel Master in good stead en route to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship main event in Hiroshima, a bout Hiromu barely survived with the title. With physical and mental tolls of two big title matches in a one week span a factor, things might be tough for the Time Bomb, but tonight he gets a chance to show the champion just how much wind he still has in his sails.
7th Match: Just 5 Guys (Taichi & DOUKI) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI)
More tag team action for J5G and LIJ will see Taichi and DOUKI take on SGingo Takagi and BUSHI. While Taichi and Takagi will bring fallout from Satsuma no Kuni’s violent Takagi Style Triad for the KOPW 2023 trophy, junior heavyweight opposite numbers DOUKI and BUSHI will look to set themselves apart with Best of the Super Jr. 30 just over a fortnight away.
6th Match: Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Yuto Nakashima
Eight man action sees Strong Style tie up with Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii for the final time before they’re joined by a mystery third member for Dontaku. Now is the last time for a big revelation if Okada has it ready- or might we see the third man only revealed when its time for the bell to ring in Fukuoka?
5th Match: Master Wato, Jado, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs BULLET CLUB (David Finlay, KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
In a war of words and minds heading into Dontaku, David Finlay has been pressing the buttons of NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga. Stating that ‘our fathers were savage enough to hold the NEVER title,’ Finlay questioned whether Tama was ‘savage enough to keep it,’ and the results have been an angered Tonga with familial pride on the line as well as his title. Meanwhile, Hikuleo is seeking his first singles gold- will it be him or KENTA taking the STRONG title back to the US?
4th Match: TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita) vs United Empire (Mark Davis, Kyle Fletcher, Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan)
It’s the last pre title match preview for Jeff Cobb and Zack Sabre Jr. tonight in Beppu, with both men fighting to show they can get the job done inside fifteen minutes Wednesday at Dontaku. Meanwhile, Great-O-Khan has been conspicuous by his lack of narrative of late, and the champion fo the British may be looking to make waves with big events to come through June.
3rd Match: Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA & Tomoaki Honma vs United Empire (TJP, Francesco Akira & Aaron Henare)
After a losses at the weekend, new junior tag champion KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight work to get back on the upswing and finish out the Dontaku tour strong tonight as they combine with Tomoaki Honma again to face the UE trio of TJP, Akira and Henare.
2nd Match: CHAOS (YOH, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL, SHO, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi)
It’s another collision for CHAOS and HOUSE OF TORTURE in the second. Quick defeats have seen H.O.T sent to the showers early throughout the tour, but will they turn things around tonight?
1st Match: Shota Umino vs Oskar Leube
After Shota Umino and Oskar Leube tagged against HOUSE OF TORTURE over the weekend, a big test for the young German sees him in singles action against Shota Umino in our opener. Will Leube impress himself on the Roughneck to start the night?
Originally posted at Read More