NJPW Road to Destruction results: Young Lion Cup begins
NJPW kicked off their Road to Destruction tour today in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, the first of three consecutive nights in the building.
The show featured the start of the Young Lion Cup tournament, along with a collection of tag matches previewing the key matches on the Destruction shows later in the tour.
Here are full results and match recaps:
YOUNG LION CUP MATCH: ALEX COUGHLIN DEFEATED YOTA TSUJI
They started out with some chain wrestling, with neither man gaining the clear advantage. They had a chop battle, which Coughlin got the better of. Coughlin chops really hard.
Tsuji got a knockdown off a shoulder tackle. He used a Camel Clutch, but gave up the hold. He hit the ropes, but ran right into a chop from Coughlin, who then used a series of stomps.
Coughlin tried for a single-leg crab, but Tsuji kicked him away. Coughlin hit a Russian leg sweep. Tsuji pulled guard and dragged Coughlin to the ropes for a break.
Coughlin hit a chop, but Tsuji answered with a scoop slam. Tsuji hit a dropkick for a two count, then used a full crab. Coughlin fought his way to the ropes, forcing a break.
Coughlin applied a single-leg crab. Tsuji tried to fight his way to the ropes, but Coughlin pulled him back to the center of the ring — and Tsuji tapped out. A solid opener.
Coughlin is still green, but he reminds me of a young Davey Richards. His work was solid, but his facial expressions are still lacking.
YOUNG LION CUP MATCH: CLARK CONNORS DEFEATED SHOTA UMINO
They had an intense striking battle at the opening bell. Umino took a bump off a chop, but answered with a shoulder tackle and a low dropkick. Connors countered with a beautiful dropkick.
Connors hit a hip toss and got a nearfall. He then used a chinlock. Umino fought to the ropes, forcing a break. Connors slapped Umino in the face, and Umino tried to fire up. Connors hit a chop, then used a lateral press for a one count.
Connors hit some big overhand chops in the corner. Umino charged out of the corner and hit a dropkick, then hit his own series of overhand chops. Umino hit a vertical suplex for a two count.
Umino hit a spinebuster, but he missed on a missile dropkick. Connors applied a full crab. Umino teased tapping out, but powered his way to the ropes.
Connors tried to go back to the crab, but Umino fought it off. Umino hit the ropes, but ran right into a spear. Connors got the crab applied again, and in an upset, Umino tapped out.
SATOSHI KOJIMA, MICHAEL RICHARDS & KARL FREDERICKS DEFEATED HIROYOSHI TENZAN, REN NARITA & YUYA UEMURA
Kojima and Tenzan exchanged some Mongolian chops before tagging out. Uemura and Richards squared off. Uemura hit a dropkick, then both tagged out.
Fredericks and Narita traded chops. Narita went for an overhead belly-to-belly, but Fredericks fought out of it, then hit a spinebuster. Richards got a tag and used a chinlock. Fredericks came back in and continued to work over Narita.
Fredericks hit the ropes, but bounced right into an overhead belly-to-belly from Narita. Tenzan and Richards tagged in. Tenzan hit a brainbuster on Richards for a nearfall.
Richards came back with a swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall, then tagged Kojima. Tenzan hit a sloppy mountain bomb, then tagged Uemura.
Kojima lit Uemura up with machine gun chops. He went for a top rope elbow, but Tenzan and Narita cut him off, then jumped in for the illegal triple-team.
The match broke down, leaving Uemura and Kojima the legal men while the other four brawled outside. Kojima hit a Koji Cutter for a two count, then hit a lariat for the pin.
Not much to this one. Richards has good facial expressions, but his work is the weakest of the LA Dojo trainees.
TAIJI ISHIMORI, EL PHANTASMO, YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CHASE OWENS DEFEATED WILL OSPREAY, ROBBIE EAGLES, TOMOAKI HONMA & TOA HENARE
Bullet Club tried for a jumpstart, but it backfired. Ospreay and Eagles hit some tandem offense and went to work on Ishimori. The CHAOS team used a series of quick tags, working over Ishimori’s left arm.
Honma got a tag. He hit a bulldog. He then missed a kokeshi, with Bullet Club gaining the advantage. They worked over Honma in their corner. ELP used a chinlock. Honma elbowed out, then tagged Ospreay.
Ospreay ran wild with a top rope 619, then Pip Pip Cheerio on ELP. Eagles hit a monkey flip on ELP into a hook kick from Ospreay. Ospreay and Eagles used stereo enzuigiris on Ishimori. ELP came back with an enzuigiri on Eagles, into a double down.
Owens and Henare got tags. Henare hit a shoulder block, a corner clothesline, then a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. Yujiro jumped in and hit a fisherman buster, allowing Owens to hit a knee strike for a two count.
Things got chaotic from here. ELP hit Ospreay with a superkick. Ishimori hit a handspring kick on Eagles. Owens hit a Jewel Heist on Henare, then hit him with the package piledriver for the pin. This was a fun match with a lot of action.
TOMOHIRO ISHII, YOSHI-HASHI & ROCKY ROMERO DEFEATED TAMA TONGA, TANGA LOA & JADO
This was okay. It established YOSHI-HASHI and Ishii as worthy challengers for Tonga and Loa’s titles. Jado has significant balance issues and has no business being in the ring at this stage of his life.
CHAOS used some Bullet Club tactics here, attacking before the bell. They brawled around ringside. Romero and Tonga ended up back inside as the legal men.
Romero tried for a hurricanrana on Tonga, but Tonga blocked it, then hit a powerbomb. Bullet Club cut the ring in half, working Romero over. Jado used an abdominal stretch and hit some chops.
Tonga tagged in. He nailed Ishii with a dropkick while Ishii was on the apron. YH jumped in, and Tonga hit him with a dropkick too. Tonga used a snap suplex for a two count. Loa got a tag and hit a slingshot senton for a nearfall.
Loa missed a leg drop, allowing Romero to hit a rewind kick, then tag Ishii. Ishii got whipped into the buckle, but charged out with a shoulder tackle. Loa ducked under a lariat and hit a spear. Ishii hit a powerslam, then tagged YH.
Ishii stayed in and hit a brainbuster on Loa. Tonga tried to hit Ishii with a Gun Stun, but YH saved and hit a lariat. Jado cut YH off with a kendo stick shot from the floor. Bullet Club triple-teamed YH. Loa hit a back suplex, and Jado covered for a two count.
Jado teased a draping DDT, but Romero saved. Romero hit ranas on Tonga and Loa, then hit a suicide dive. Jado tried to use a kendo stick on YH, but YH blocked it. YH hit a lariat for a nearfall, then used the Butterfly Lock for the submission.
After the match, Tonga and Loa laid out Ishii on the floor. They went for a Magic Killer on YH, but Ishii saved, and Ishii and YH cleaned house. Ishii and YH posed with the IWGP Tag Team titles.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, SHO & YOH DEFEATED MINORU SUZUKI, ZACK SABRE JR., YOSHINOBU KANEMARU & DOUKI
Taguchi got the clothesline train rolling early when his team hit a series of them in the corner on Kanemaru. Taguchi went for an elevated hip attack, but Suzuki cut him off. Suzuki-gun turned the match into a crowd brawl.
Suzuki used a crab on Taguchi in the crowd. Sabre stomped on Tanahashi’s arm on the floor. In the ring, Kanemaru and DOUKI worked over SHO.
Sabre continued the attack on SHO. SHO came back with a vertical suplex, then tagged Tana. Tana ran wild with dragon screws. Sabre attacked Tana’s left arm. Tana hit Twist and Shout, into a double down.
Suzuki and Taguchi got tags. Suzuki side-stepped a hip attack and used a rear naked choke. Suzuki-gun went four-on-one against Taguchi. DOUKI got a tag, then hit a double stomp for a nearfall.
DOUKI hit a springboard DDT for a nearfall. SHO and YOH jumped in for the save, then brawled outside with Suzuki and Kanemaru.
DOUKI tried for a Suplex de la Luna on Taguchi, but SHO and YOH made the save with stereo knees. YOH and Tanahashi hit stereo planchas to Suzuki and Sabre.
Taguchi and DOUKI traded cradles for nearfalls. Taguchi rolled DOUKI up. DOUKI had his foot on the ropes, but the referee didn’t see it and counted the pin.
TETSUYA NAITO, EVIL & BUSHI DEFEATED JAY WHITE, BAD LUCK FALE & GEDO
Fale and BUSHI started off. Fale no-sold a dropkick, and Bullet Club jumped in for the triple-team. They cleared the apron, then went to work on BUSHI. BUSHI got a brief hope spot against Gedo, but White tagged in and cut him off.
BUSHI hit White with an enzuigiri, then a DDT. He tagged Naito, who hit an arm drag, then a low dropkick. Naito knocked Fale off the apron with a dropkick to the legs. Naito hit a neckbreaker. He went for a combinacion cabron in the corner, but White blocked it.
White hit a DDT for a two count. They appeared to have some miscommunication, and they botched a spot. Naito hit a swinging DDT into a double down.
EVIL and Jado got tags. EVIL hit a fisherman buster for a nearfall. The match broke down as everyone jumped in. Naito hit a flying forearm. BUSHI hit a suicide dive. EVIL hit Gedo with a lariat for a nearfall while the other four brawled outside.
EVIL used the Scorpion Deathlock on Gedo, who tapped out immediately. White attacked Yota Tsuji with a chair after the match, taking his frustration out on the Young Lion.
SANADA & SHINGO TAKAGI DEFEATED KAZUCHIKA OKADA & HIROOKI GOTO
This was a wild main event. Not a blow-away match, but very good.
Okada and SANADA started off with a brief grappling battle, ending in a stalemate. Both tagged out. Goto scored a knockdown with a shoulder tackle. Shingo rebounded with one of his own. The action spilled to the floor, where Shingo whipped Goto into the barricade. SANADA did the same to Okada.
Back inside, SANADA got a tag. He hit a back elbow. He landed on his feet on a standing moonsault after Goto moved, and hit a dropkick instead. Shingo tagged in for a vertical suplex, then immediately tagged SANADA back in.
SANADA and Goto traded palm strikes to the chest, with SANADA getting the best of the exchange. Goto went for a vertical suplex, but Shingo jumped in to save SANADA. Goto hit Shingo with a lariat, then suplexed SANADA on top of him.
Okada got a tag. He hit SANADA with a back elbow, then hit a DDT for a two count. Okada tried for a flapjack and an Alabama slam, but SANADA avoided both, then hit a dropkick to the left leg.
Shingo tagged in. He ducked a Rainmaker attempt, but ran into a flapjack. Okada tagged Goto, who hit Shingo with a mid kick, a spinning wheel kick, and used a Saito suplex for a nearfall.
Goto teased an ushigoroshi, but Shingo blocked it. Goto applied a sleeper hold, but Shingo powered out and hit a sliding lariat. He made a cover, but Okada made the save before even a one count.
Okada and SANADA brawled to the floor. Goto and Shingo exchanged lariats. Goto hit an ushigoroshi. Shingo managed a tag first. Okada jumped in illegally, and SANADA hit him with a leapfrog dropkick.
SANADA went for a TKO, but Goto blocked. Goto went for a GTR, but SANADA reversed into Skull End. Okada made the save for Goto as Shingo jumped in to even the odds. Okada hit a shotgun dropkick on Shingo, then a dropkick on SANADA.
Goto hit an ushigoroshi on SANADA for a nearfall. Goto hit a mid kick, then went for GTR. SANADA blocked it. Goto went for an ushigoroshi, but SANADA blocked it. SANADA used an O’Connor Roll into a bridge and pinned Goto.
SANADA teased leaving without cutting a promo, but the crowd demanded one. SANADA closed the show with a promo.