NJPW Road to The New Beginning results: Ibushi & SHO vs. LIJ
Recommended matches —
- Kota Ibushi & SHO vs. SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi
Report —
Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuya Uemura & Gabriel Kidd (7:36)
Suzuki’s interactions with Kidd and Uemura were the highlights of this match.
Taguchi and company employed a Suzuki-gun tactic and attacked before the opening bell. Taguchi did some comedy. Suzuki-gun rebounded from the attack and cut Kidd off in the ring.
Kidd tried to trade forearms with Suzuki. Suzuki actually gave Kidd a lot here, doing a subtle sell of the forearms and taking a dropkick. Uemura tagged in and peppered Suzuki with forearms and slaps. Uemura hit a dropkick in the corner and a forearm knockdown for a one count.
Suzuki tried for the Gotch-style piledriver. Uemura blocked and tried for a crab. Suzuki fought out of the crab attempt. Suzuki-gun tripled up on Uemura. Taguchi saved with hip attacks. Uemura used a back suplex for a near fall on Desperado.
Suzuki distracted the referee. Desperado hit a strike with a closed fist and Pinche Loco for the pin on Uemura.
EVIL, Jay White & Yujiro Takahashi (w/Gedo & Dick Togo) defeated Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto by DQ (5:17)
This was more of an extended angle than a match. YOSHI-HASHI was on commentary and caused the DQ.
Okada, Ishii and Goto attacked before the opening bell. Ishii and Goto went after White on the floor. EVIL sent Okada into the barricade and Abe the ring announcer took a bump.
EVIL and Okada began as the legal men. Okada teased a dropkick. EVIL hit a lariat for a near fall. Okada tried for the Money Clip. EVIL shoved Okada into the corner to break the hold. Goto tagged in and got tripped by Togo. Yujiro tagged in for a sliding dropkick on Goto.
White and Ishii jumped in illegally. Ishii suplexed White and White rolled outside. Goto hit an ushigoroshi on Yujiro. White tripped Goto from the floor.
White grabbed Ishii and pie-faced YH on commentary. YH jumped the rail and got in the ring. He hit a series of strikes on White for the DQ.
Ishii and YH chased White to the back. Okada cut a promo and challenged EVIL to a singles match right there and then. EVIL declined. Okada went out after EVIL. They ended up back in the ring. EVIL again fought out of the Money Clip.
EVIL hit his baseball swing chair shot on Okada.
Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI defeated Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado (9:59)
This was a bad match with a bad finish. Tama was entertaining with his comedy.
Tama brought three bags to the ring with him as this feud built on Tama stealing Taichi’s iron fingers continued. Taichi attacked Tama. The bags contained a glove, a baseball glove and a rubber chicken.
Taichi beat Tama down. DOUKI tagged in and was cut off after a trip from Jado. Jado used a kendo stick on DOUKI. Bullet Club used quick tags in working DOUKI over.
Tama teased pulling the iron fingers out of his tights. Instead, it was an elephant puppet.
There was an extended DOUKI/Jado sequence. Sabre and Tanga got tags and had the best action of the match by default. Taichi got a tag and hit Tanga wth kicks. Jado got a tag. Sabre saved for Taichi.
Tama took the ref. Jado tried to use the kendo stick again on Taichi. DOUKI saved with his pipe. DOUKI used the pipe on Jado.
Taichi hit one superkick and pinned Jado.
Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI defeated Tomoaki Honma & Master Wato (w/Hiroyoshi Tenzan) (12:19)
This had its moments when BUSHI and Wato were in, but the Naito/Honma issue has run its course and it’s probably best for both that this tour is ending.
Wato and BUSHI began with a solid exchange, trading kicks. Honma tagged in and was cut off by LIJ. Naito and BUSHI traded tags and worked on Honma. Naito mocked Tenzan.
Honma managed a tag to Wato. Wato hit BUSHI with kicks and a nice tornillo. Naito and Honma tagged back in. Naito hit a combinacion in the corner. They traded hard slaps to the face. Wato saved for Honma as Naito looked to set up a frankensteiner.
Honma hit a diving kokeshi and a superplex. BUSHI jumped in for an LIJ double team. Naito and BUSHI hit stereo dropkicks for a two count. Wato saved.
Naito teased Destino. Honma blocked and cradled Naito for a two count. Honma hit two lariats for another near fall on Naito.
Naito blocked a Michinoku Driver attempt and hit Destino. BUSHI entered and hit a sunset flip. Naito followed with a jackknife cradle and pinned Honma.
Naito held the cradle long after the bell. Wato made the save for Honma. BUSHI sent Wato outside and hit him with a suicide dive.
Kota Ibushi & SHO went to a time limit draw with SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi (30:00)
Ibushi and SANADA started out with some crowd work. Ibushi posed on the turnbuckles. SANADA attacked from behind and knocked Ibushi over the ropes to the floor. They did a series of teases. Both teased their finishers.
They locked up. SANADA broke cleanly against the ropes. SANADA used a hammerlock. They traded waistlocks. Ibushi used a headlock takeover. SANADA used a handstand escape. Both tagged out after nearly five minutes of very good work.
Hiromu and SHO tagged in and traded strikes. They traded tackles. Hiromu teased a dive, but sat in the center of the ring instead. SHO got the upper hand on Hiromu with strikes. Ibushi tagged in and hit a series of kicks for a two count.
SHO tagged in and maintained the edge on Hiromu. Hiromu came back with a choke over the ropes. All four brawled to the floor. Hiromu and SANADA sent SHO and Ibushi into the barricade. LIJ now had the upper hand.
Hiromu hit SHO with a series of chops. SANADA tagged in and continued chopping. SANADA put SHO and an interfering Ibushi in paradise locks. SANADA and Hiromu broke the holds with dropkicks. SANADA hit a back elbow for a two count.
Hiromu tagged back in for more chops at the 15 minute call. SHO hit a kitchen sink. SANADA got a tag. SHO hit him with a vertical suplex and tagged out. Ibushi hit a running mid kick and a moonsault for a near fall. SANADA hit a dropkick to the knee.
Ibushi and SANADA rolled outside. Ibushi blocked a whip into the barricade and sent SANADA into the fence with a drop toe hold. Back in, Ibushi hit a springboard dropkick. Ibushi fought out of a Skull End attempt. SANADA hit a magic screw into a double down.
SHO and Hiromu got tags. Hiromu blocked a spear. SHO escaped a falcon arrow attempt. They traded forearm strikes at the 20 minute call. SHO hit a series of kicks. SHO hit a big mid kick for a two count. Hiromu blocked a deadlift German.
SHO blocked a hurricanrana. Hiromu fought out of a powerbomb. SHO hit a spear for a near fall. SANADA and Hiromu hit stereo dropkicks on an illegal double team. Hiromu hit a falcon arrow for a two count as Ibushi saved for SHO.
Ibushi and SANADA fought to the floor. SHO escaped a DVD attempt. SHO hit a jumping knee strike. Hiromu blocked a dragon screw. SHO blocked a sunset flip and slapped on a kimura. Hiromu broke the hold with a forearm strike at the 25 minute call.
SHO refused to go down after a thrust kick and a lariat. They traded lariats. They hit a series of simultaneous lariats into a double down. SANADA and Ibushi dragged their partners to their respective corners and tagged in.
Ibushi and SANADA traded strikes at the 27 minute mark. SANADA used an O’Connor roll to set up Skull End. Ibushi escaped and hit a high kick.
Ibushi went for the Kamigoye. SANADA blocked and used a TKO threat to set up a spinning Skull End. Ibushi popped his head out. SANADA got the hold applied again. SANADA gave up the hold with one minute left.
SANADA tried for a moonsault but landed on his feet. SHO jumped in and hit a knee strike. Hiromu hit a tackle to SHO. Ibushi hit a dropkick on Hiromu. SANADA hit a dropkick to Ibushi’s legs. SHO hit a German on SANADA. Hiromu hit SHO with a pop-up powerbomb with 30 seconds left before the time limit.
Ibushi hit a high kick to Hiromu. SANADA hit a springboard dropkick to Ibushi and got Skull End. Ibushi cradled SANADA for a two count as the time limit expired.
Ibushi and SANADA continued trading cradles after the time limit.