NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku results: Two elimination tag matches

The final NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku show of 2019 was held today at the Beppu B-Con Plaza in Oita.

Aided by the elimination stipulation in the top two matches, the show felt fresher and more energetic than the last few events on the tour. 

The only news in the way of angles involved the feud between IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Dragon Lee and Taiji Ishimori, who faced off in the semi-main, taking opposite sides in a 10-man elimination tag. 

After a double elimination over the top rope, Ishimori unmasked Lee, and Young Lions rushed to Lee’s side, so as not to reveal his face. 

Here are full results and recaps:

TIGER MASK IV, SHOTA UMINO & REN NARITA DEFEATED TOA HENARE, YOTA TSUJI & YUYA UEMURA

This was one of the better openers on this tour. The Young Lions appeared particularly energized. Narita and Uemura began with an intense exchange. Umino and Tsuji both hit very nice dropkicks. 

Tiger hit a tiger suplex off the top to get the pin on Uemura. 

ROCKY ROMERO & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI DEFEATED EL DESPERADO & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU

The addition of Rocky Romero to this tour has added some much-needed life and excitement to the undercard. 

Suzuki-gun’s targets tonight were the eyes. Several times they used eye rakes. They started off doing some comedy with Taguchi and his rugby helmet. 

Suzuki-gun turned it into a brawl, and they fought around ringside. Kanemaru hit a leg slice off the guardrail.

Near the finish, Rocky went for Sliced Bread, but Desperado cut him off. Desperado hit a suplex. He went for Pinche Loco, but Rocky turned it into a cradle and got the pin. 

TOGI MAKABE, TORU YANO & TOMOAKI HONMA DEFEATED TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & JADO

I wish for long and happy lives for Jado and Honma. That said, they are limited at best at this stage of their in-ring careers. The matches that they are involved in are going to be what they are going to be. Lots of brawling, countout teases, kendo stick shots, and other shortcuts in this one.

The finish saw Honma hit Jado with a kokeshi, and Makabe followed with the King Kong knee drop off the top for the pin. 

JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER, JEFF COBB & YOSHI-HASHI DEFEATED MINORU SUZUKI, TAICHI & TAKA MICHINOKU 

Cobb and Taichi started off with a short exchange. Suzuki and YOSHI-HASHI got tags. YOSHI-HASHI hit a hard chop, and Suzuki decided that was enough. He put an armbar on YOSHI-HASHI over the ropes, and then both teams started brawling around ringside. 

Suzuki went after Liger on an announcer’s table, attacking his arms and biting his fingers. Suzuki-gun worked over YOSHI-HASHI back in the ring. 

Liger finally got a tag and went one-on-one with Suzuki. Liger hit a shotei, caught a PK, and hit a brainbuster. Cobb and Taichi tagged back in. Cobb hit a Samoan drop, but missed on a standing moonsault. Taichi hit an enzuigiri and took his pants off. 

Cobb hit a clothesline, then connected on his second standing moonsault attempt. They exchanged strikes. Suzuki jumped in illegally, while Taichi tagged Cobb. TAKA hit a knee strike for a near fall. 

Taichi jumped in and went after Cobb, but Cobb hit him with a uranage. He followed with a Tour of the Islands on TAKA and pinned him. 

JAY WHITE, TAIJI ISHIMORI, BAD LUCK FALE, CHASE OWENS & HIKULEO DEFEATED HIROOKI GOTO, DRAGON LEE, MIKEY NICHOLLS, JUICE ROBINSON & WILL OSPREAY IN AN ELIMINATION TAG MATCH

White was the sole survivor. The stipulation really added an element of fun to this match.

Ishimori and Lee began with the same crazy sequence they used last night. I can confirm, it was again awesome. They tumbled over the top rope together, so we had a double elimination. Ishimori ripped Lee’s mask off on his way to the back. 

White got in with Goto, while the other six men brawled around the arena. Bullet Club won that battle, and they began taking turns working on Goto. 

Ospreay got a hot tag and ran wild on Hikuleo. Hikuleo hit some chops and went for an elimination over the top, but Nicholls and Juice caught Ospreay. Ospreay hit Pip Pip Cheerio, a Robinson Special, and an OsCutter on Hikuleo, and pinned him. 

Fale jumped in and eliminated Ospreay over the top. Nicholls came in and eliminated Fale. Fale hit Nicholls with a right hand from the floor, and Owens tossed Nicholls. 

Juice and Owens did a spot where they both skinned the cat, then fought on the apron. Juice hit the Left Hand of God, and Owens was eliminated, leaving Juice and Goto against White. 

Juice hit a high cross off the top, but White suplexed him over the top rope for the elimination. 

White and Goto traded signature spots. Gedo jumped on the apron, distracting the referee. Goto tossed White, but the ref didn’t see it. White jumped back in, hit a low blow, then tossed Goto for the victory. 

SANADA, TETSUYA NAITO, EVIL, SHINGO TAKAGI & BUSHI DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA, KOTA IBUSHI, TOMOHIRO ISHII, SHO & YOH IN AN ELIMINATION TAG MATCH

SANADA was the sole survivor. This was another in a series of awesome matches that these two teams have had on this tour. A fun main event. 

EVIL and Ishii started off, trading shoulder blocks. Ishii got the first knockdown. EVIL scored his own, and both tagged out. YOH and BUSHI entered next. They traded palm strikes to the chest. YOH hit a flying forearm, then tagged SHO. They hit some tandem offense, and SHO got a near fall. 

Naito and SANADA jumped in illegally, and dropped SHO. On the outside, a brawl broke out. EVIL and Ishii went at it. Back inside, Shingo and SANADA traded tags, continuing to work over SHO. Ibushi and Naito jumped in, then went after each other on the floor. 

Shingo and SHO exchanged strikes. BUSHI came in and ate a spear, and SHO hit a vertical suplex on Shingo, allowing him to tag out to Okada. Okada picked up a near fall after a back elbow. Shingo hit a vertical suplex and tagged SANADA. 

SANADA hit a rana, then put the Paradise Lock on Okada. SANADA broke the hold with a dropkick, and got a near fall. Okada hit a flapjack, then tagged Ishii. SANADA hit a low dropkick, then tagged EVIL. EVIL hit a bulldog. Ishii no-sold some chops. They exchanged chops. EVIL got a knockdown, then hit a senton for a two count. 

They fought on the top rope, then slipped to the apron. They exchanged forearm shots, and EVIL eliminated Ishii with a clothesline. Ibushi immediately eliminated EVIL with a dropkick. 

Naito jumped in with Ibushi. Ibushi hit a standing moonsault. Naito used some help from BUSHI to hit a dropkick. Shingo also came in, and they went three-on-one against Ibushi. Naito hit a one-legged dropkick. Ibushi went to the apron, and Naito hit the combinacion de cabron on the apron. Ibushi avoided a baseball slide, then hit a crazy rana, eliminating both Naito and himself. 

BUSHI and YOH entered as the legal men. BUSHI blocked a dragon suplex and hit a DDT. SHO saved YOH from an elimination on the apron, and Roppongi 3K doubled up on BUSHI. They hit stereo knees on BUSHI, then a double suplex on Shingo. 

BUSHI blocked a 3K and hit a double rana. BUSHI sent YOH to the apron and eliminated him with a dropkick. SHO and BUSHI fought on the apron. SHO got back in the ring, then eliminated BUSHI with a dropkick. Shingo and SANADA were left for LIJ, and SHO and Okada for CHAOS. 

Shingo peppered SHO with strikes. SHO blocked two Pumping Bombers and hit his own running lariat. Okada got a tag. Shingo hit a DDT. He went to the top rope, but Okada cut him off, then eliminated him with a dropkick. 

SANADA and Okada faced off. They exchanged strikes. SANADA hit a leapfrog dropkick. He ducked a Rainmaker and applied Skull End, but SHO broke up the hold. Okada dropped SANADA onto the apron. SANADA low-bridged Okada and eliminated him. 

SHO hit a deadlift German for a two count. He went for Shock Arrow, but SANADA slid out and used Skull End. SHO dropped down into a cradle for a really cool near fall. SANADA went back to Skull End. He used a giant swing, maintaining the hold, then sat down. SHO tapped out.