NJPW: 5 Takeaways From Sengoku Lord
The first major stop on NJPW’s Road To Wrestling Dontaku has come and gone with Sengoku Lord. With 10 shows left to go on a tour capped off by a sure to be classic Okada/SANADA IWGP Heavyweight Title Match, the tour is just heating up.
The first pair of championship matches on the tour have seen no titles change hands, but there are still opportunities for every other title in NJPW to switch owners before the tour wraps up on May 4.
April 20’s Sengoku Lord event not only saw some mini story points come to a head but it also planted the seeds for the rest of the tour. We got a taste of what is yet to come with Dragon Lee and Taiji Ishimori with their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title match headlining the first night of Wrestling Dontaku on May 3.
Tomohiro Ishii and EVIL took a match that we all knew would be fun and turned the intensity up to 11 in the midst of a 5-on-5 faction battle between CHAOS and Los Ingobernables de Japon.
Elsewhere on the card, Jay White may have finally begun to bounce back after suffering his greatest defeat at the hands of Kazuchika Okada at G1 Supercard but will have a tall task ahead of him when he faces Hirooki Goto on April 29.
Two title matches, a classic in the main event, and a dramatic challenge were among the highlights of #njsengoku last night! Check out the full report! https://t.co/VgvGUSDwdW#njpw pic.twitter.com/Xc0mZNwuCn
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) April 21, 2019
On two completely opposite ends of the spectrum, Toru Yano has continued to show that his unpredictable methods could lead to he and Togi Makabe capturing the IWGP Tag Team Titles while Kota Ibushi solidified his spot as the man to breathe new life into the Intercontinental Title with a solid victory over Zack Sabre Jr.
Let’s dig into the biggest moments and matches from Sengoku Lord and look at how they’ll affect not only the rest of the Road To Wrestling Dontaku tour, but the important months ahead as Wrestle Kingdom begins to materialize on the horizon.