NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku Night 10: Review, Grades, and Analysis

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL, & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, & Minoru Suzuki)

Suzuki-gun came out to a new theme, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. It seemed weird to not yell, “Kaze Ni Nare” at my television as this match started. Suzuki-gun took it to LIJ in the early portions of the match, with Suzuki beating Naito all around ringside and using chairs on him. Back in the ring, Smith beat on BUSHI for a bit before tagging out to Suzuki.

Suzuki beat him around the ring for a little bit before Naito came in and got a measure of revenge against Suzuki. Suzuki doesn’t take that though, and locks in a figure four leglock. Naito escaped and tagged in Hiromu. Hiromu and Suzuki exchanged some spots that made me want to see them both in a singles match. Naito saved him, and ate a leglock from Suzuki. Suzuki then used the rear naked choke on Hiromu and hit a Gotch Style Piledriver for the pinfall.

Result: Suzuki-gun

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This was a really great tag. Lots of good action, with a great ending. Naito rolled back in the ring to get Suzuki’s attention, thus saving Hiromu. Suzuki and Naito both cut promos. That match is going to be so good.

Then a hype video aired for Bone Soldier, as Cody’s recruitment campaign for Bullet Club continues to fail.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. CHAOS (Gedo, Hirooki Goto, & Kazuchika Okada)

Taguchi came out wearing a bandana like Gedo, making fun of him, which was awesome. Tanahashi and Okada start the match. Consequently, I got very excited for their match. Those two were the absolute highlight of this match. Okada showed utter disdain for Tanahashi, and Tanahashi, it seemed, had no answer for Okada in this match, thus making the Ace a firm underdog. This is a position that Tanahashi is not used to, and therefore creates some interesting tension.

Is Okada getting too cocky? Furthermore, will Okada’s underestimation of Tanahashi be his downfall, or can he firmly establish that the Ace is dead? Since Gedo yelled at Tanahashi throughout this match, “Just quit,” it and Okada was acting more and more heelish in this match, dropping Tanahashi on his head several times, it’s possible that Tanahashi might win this one. Okada also held onto the cobra clutch for longer than needed when he locked it on Taguchi. Since it looks like Okada is going full blown heel for this one, I really want to see Tanahashi win. Because I think this is exactly what NJPW wants.

Result: CHAOS

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5