NJPW: Previewing The Road To Wrestling Dontaku 2019

Wrestling Dontaku will deliver a pair of stacked shows from Fukuoka on May 3 and May 4 with the Road To Wrestling Dontaku promising pivotal contests throughout the NJPW roster.

Fresh off of an impressive showing in Madison Square Garden for G1 Supercard, NJPW is back home with the Road To Wrestling Dontaku tour spanning the next several weeks. When it all comes to a head, SANADA will challenge new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada while Taiji Ishimori seeks to defeat Dragon Lee for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title he never lost.

With 10 Road To shows between now and Wrestling Dontaku along with Sengoku Lord and Wrestling Hi no Kuni, there is no shortage of huge matches on the horizon.

Every title in New Japan will be defended over the course of the next several weeks with the familiar formula of tag and multi-person matches sprinkling the rest of the cards.

Let’s break down the major stops along the Road To Wrestling Dontaku!

April 20: Sengoku Lord

The first major stop will be in Nagoya for an event capped off with two title encounters. Before getting to this show, there will be 4 more Road To events serving as appetizers.

As is the case with the smaller shows leading up to more significant events, previews of the main matches will be offered in the form of tag team matches. While the initial handful of shows can be considered somewhat missable, they will drive the action we see at Sengoku Lord and the coming Wrestling Hi no Kuni and Wrestling Dontaku events.

Stemming from a decisive victory in the New Japan Cup, Zack Sabre Jr will now challenge Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Title in the main event of Sengoku Lord. Sabre has been on a roll of late despite coming up short in the Cup.

At G1 Supercard, ZSJ tapped out Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship. Not only that, but the Submission Master put the Ace of the Universe on the injured list which will see Tana miss a number of shows for New Japan.

Through head drops and some truly frightening moments in Madison Square Garden, Ibushi ended the Intercontinental Title reign of Tetsuya Naito. Naito had high hopes of becoming the first man to hold both the IC and Heavyweight Titles at the same time, but he now walks the Road To Wrestling Dontaku without any gold around his waist or dragging behind him.

To solidify himself as champion, Ibushi must avenge the loss to Sabre in the second round of the Cup. Sabre, though, has more than proven that he’s at least on, possibly above, Ibushi’s level. Could ZSJ be the one who leaves this tour as a double champion?

Also on the line at Sengoku Lord is the IWGP US Title when Juice Robinson defends against Bad Luck Fale in his third defense of the championship. A Fale match does little to spark my interest, but fingers crossed that Juice can pull a solid effort out of Fale the same way Will Ospreay did in the New Japan Cup.

If Juice is able to stave off Fale’s challenge in Nagoya, he’ll need just one more successful defense to tie the all-time record of Kenny Omega who tops the list with four defenses. With the US Title having such a short history, this could be Juice’s moment to not only make his name synonymous with that prize but also set goals for future champions to strive to surpass.