NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Night 9: Review, Grades, and Analysis

KUSHIDA, Toa Henare, Michael Elgin, Togi Makabe, & Juice Robinson vs. CHAOS (Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hirooki Goto)

Ospreay and KUSIDA were the highlight of this one, as they build towards their Jr. title match. CHAOS got the heat on KUSHIDA for a bit. KUSHIDA managed to tag out, and the match broke down to all the guys flying all over the ring. After a series of big moves we saw Yano hit Makabe with a low blow and roll him up for the pinfall.

Result: CHAOS

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Ryusuke Taguchi, David Finlay, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. CHAOS (Gedo, Jay White, & Kazuchika Okada)

Seeing Okada and Tanahashi face off is always a treat. Taguchi spent a good portion of the match with CHAOS beating on him. They actually worked over Taguchi’s rear, which you have to ask, why? I mean, there were a ton of funny spots though.

Before the end of the match we saw Okada and Tanahashi face off in what was a spectacular preview for their upcoming match. Those two are going to tear the house down. Eventually it breaks down to Finlay and White, and they proceeded to have a really good battle. The end came with David Finlay hitting a stunner on Gedo and getting the pinfall. This was an excellent match.

Result: Taguchi, Finlay, & Tanahashi

Rating: 3.5 stars out 5

Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito) vs. Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, & Minoru Suzuki)

Suzuki takes it right to Naito at the start of this match. Naito has really gotten under Suzuki’s skin. It’s quite remarkable watching how much Suzuki is angered by him, while Naito cares less and less the angrier Suzuki gets. All I know is if Suzuki looked at me the way he does Naito, I’d catch the nearest space shuttle to Mars.

Suzuki eventually locked Naito in a kneebar, leaving Naito screaming while Suzuki laughed maniacally. KES hit a Magic Killer on EVIL and got the pinfall. After the match, Naito continued to scream as Suzuki tore his knee apart. The Young Lions tried to break Suzuki’s grip, but couldn’t. KES beat up on the Young Lions, leaving them all laying.

Result: Suzuki-gun

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5