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

David Finlay vs. Jay White (CHAOS) – IWGP US Heavyweight Championship

This one opened with a lot of fast paced chain wrestling that spilled to the outside of ring. White and Finlay brawled all around the ringside area. This had some crazy spots on the outside of the ring with White hitting a back suplex on Finlay on the outside, which was  completely insane. But that couldn’t keep Finlay down, because once back in the ring, Finlay hit a massive spear, and almost got a three count.

Finlay then hit a Switchblade on White, but White kicked out. Finlay grabbed a table from the outside of the ring and set it up. He went to back suplex White off the top rope, but White blocked it. Finlay went for a Death Valley Driver through the table, but White blocked. White ended up hitting a powerbomb onto the table, but the table didn’t break. Jay White then did an elbow drop through it, but the table didn’t break again. Back in the ring. White hit a double underhook facebuster. Finlay kicked out. Finlay hit a stunner, but Jay White just twitched his shoulder off the mat. That was a great kickout spot. White comes back and kicks out of another finisher, before hitting the Switchblade. Jay White wins!

Result: Jay White

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

This match was fantastic. Great showing from both young guys, and in front of the right crowd to get a good reaction. White and Finlay both looked like complete stars here. NJPW clearly trusts them too to put them in that main event slot. This was awesome. They’re building quite the rivalry between these two, and it’s quite fantastic. The storytelling here is much like Tanahashi/Okada because White was trash talking Finlay saying he doesn’t belong in the same ring as him. This was good stuff and it gave two young guys a chance to shine. NJPW does this quite frequently, because they are in the business of building stars. This works well for them and provides us with entertaining matches, so they young wreslters win, and we win.

Next: ROH Announces LIJ vs. Bullet Club Ten Man Tag Main Event

Final Thoughts

Show Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

In conclusion, this was a great NJPW show. The Ishii/Henare match and the Jay White/David Finlay match were both outstanding and we were treated to a fun show. So this is absolutely must watch for those two matches. NJPW is building everything really well towards Wrestling Dontaku and Wrestling Hi No Kuni. Those shows look very interesting and it’s going to be a lot of fun to be taken along for the ride as NJPW sets up their major shows for the summer. NJPW is looking to have an awesome spring with everything heading into Best of the Super Juniors and the G1. Great stuff.