NJPW Road to The New Beginning results: Ibushi & Wato vs. LIJ

Recommended matches —

• Ryusuke Taguchi & Gabriel Kidd vs. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura 
• Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma & SHO 
• SANADA & BUSHI vs. Kota Ibushi & Master Wato 

Report —

Ryusuke Taguchi & Gabriel Kidd defeated Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura (8:28)

This was a good opener. 

Kidd and Tsuji have been regular opponents on this tour and began with an intense striking battle. Kidd got the upper hand at first, but Tsuji came back with a slam and took over with a series of forearms. 

Uemura got a tag and used a kravate and a chinlock. Tsuji tagged back in for a slam and a near fall. Kidd avoided a vertical suplex. Tsuji hammered away again with forearms. Kidd reversed an Irish whip and hit a dropkick. 

Taguchi got a tag and hit Uemura and Tsuji with hip attacks. Taguchi hit a springboard hip attack to Tsuji for a two count. Tsuji blocked three amigos and hit a vertical suplex. 

Uemura tagged in and traded strikes with Taguchi. Tsuji entered and hit a splash. Uemura hit an elbow drop for a two count, then got a Boston crab applied. Kidd saved for Taguchi. Tsuji speared Kidd and they brawled to the floor. 

Taguchi blocked an overhook suplex. Taguchi tripped Uemura and used an ankle lock. Uemura escaped, then used a roll-up for two. 

Taguchi hit Dodon for the pin. 

Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated EVIL, Jay White & Yujiro Takahashi (w/Dick Togo & Gedo) (11:07)

The post-match here was better than the match itself. 

Bullet Club attacked as soon as their opponents entered the ring. White and Ishii began as the legal men. White hit a series of strikes. Ishii no-sold. White tried to escaped to the outside, but Okada threw him back in. Gedo distracted Ishii and White hit a dragon screw in the ropes to take control of the bout. 

White used an inverted dragon screw and tagged Yujiro. Ishii went to the outside to go after White again. EVIL saved and White choked Ishii with a camera cable. Togo exposed a buckle. Ishii repeatedly got sent into the buckle. 

White tagged back in for some strikes and a suplex. Ishii managed a tag to Okada. EVIL tagged in for a sequence with Okada. Togo distracted Okada and EVIL threw Okada into the barricade. Back inside, Okada blocked a fisherman buster and sent EVIL into the exposed buckle. 

Yujiro tagged in and ate an Okada flapjack. Okada tagged Yano. Yano exposed a second buckle, then got sent into it himself. Yujiro hit a sliding dropkick and neckbreaker for two. 

White and Ishii jumped in. Ishii hit White with a German suplex. Okada hit a big boot on Yujiro. Togo tripped Yano. Yano sent Yujiro into Togo, then hit a low blow and a schoolboy on Yujiro for the pin. 

Ishii attacked White after the match and sent him into the barricade. Hirooki Goto jumped up from the commentary table and joined in the attack on White. EVIL attacked Okada with a chair. 

Goto and Ishii stood over White with their NEVER Six-Man titles. White went crazy and attacked ringside attendants Kidd and Tsuji with chair shots. 

Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Jado defeated Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI (12:18)

Bullet Club worked the match in their t-shirts to give you some idea of how seriously they were taking this match. 

The story of the G.O.D. vs. Dangerous Tekkers feud is that G.O.D. have stolen Taichi’s iron fingers. Taichi attacked Tama Tonga, who had a satchel that appeared to contain the fingers. Taichi opened the satchel and there was a toilet paper roll inside. 

Ishimori and Desperado tagged in. Jado hit Desperado with a kendo stick from the floor. Tama hit Desperado with the toilet paper. Desperado was isolated in Bullet Club’s half of the ring and they took turns working him over. 

Sabre and Tanga tagged in. Sabre got hit with a spear and they did a double down. ELP and DOUKI tagged in. DOUKI, Desperado and Kanemaru tripled up on ELP. Jado saved for ELP. DOUKI got two quick near falls on ELP. 

ELP then hit a superkick with the loaded boot and pinned DOUKI. 

Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Tomoaki Honma & SHO (12:45)

SHO blocked a shotgun dropkick from Hiromu with a spear at the opening bell and they were off to the races. Honma and SHO doubled up on Hiromu. SHO got an armbar, but Hiromu forced a rope break. Honma and SHO cut Hiromu off in their half of the ring. 

Hiromu went outside after SHO. Naito entered and used a camel clutch on Honma. Hiromu and Naito then used quick tags in isolating Honma. Honma came back with a vertical suplex on Naito. 

SHO and Hiromu tagged in. SHO hit a suplex for a near fall, then got another armbar applied. Hiromu forced a rope break. SHO continued attacking Hiromu’s left arm. Hiromu got D applied. SHO fought the hold for a long time, then finally broke it with a one-armed powerbomb. 

Honma and Naito got tags. Honma hit a DDT and a bulldog. Honma missed a kokeshi. Naito and Hiromu double teamed Honma and hit double dropkicks for a two count. Honma hit a superplex on Naito, then used a lariat for a near fall. 

Hiromu and SHO got in. Hiromu hit a pop-up powerbomb on SHO. Naito then hit Destino and pinned Honma. 

Hiromu and SHO had a nice face-off after the match. Somehow Hiromu’s BOSJ trophy got broken off-camera. 

SANADA & BUSHI defeated Kota Ibushi & Master Wato (18:47)

This was a fun main event to cap a very good show. 

Wato and BUSHI began by locking up. Wato hit a tornillo and gained the upper hand in their battle. Ibushi and Wato traded tags and continued working on BUSHI. SANADA saved with a dropkick to the knee and the match broke down into a brawl around the ringside area with LIJ in control. 

SANADA and Wato ended up the legal men. SANADA used a paradise lock. BUSHI got a tag in the plus position and used an STF and a knee breaker. SANADA tagged in and got hit with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. 

Ibushi got a tag and hit a springboard dropkick and a plancha on SANADA. SANADA hit his own plancha for a near fall. SANADA hit a hurricanrana. They traded strikes. Ibushi avoided a TKO. SANADA used an O’Connor roll to set up Skull End. Ibushi slid out and hit a high kick. 

Ibushi missed with a Kamigoye. Ibushi blocked a dragon screw. SANADA blocked a v-trigger and hit a back suplex. BUSHI tagged in for a missile dropkick. Ibushi blocked a swinging neckbreaker and hit a v-trigger before tagging out. 

BUSHI and Wato did a series of teases and counters. BUSHI hit a dropkick and a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Wato hit recientemente into a double down. BUSHI hit a dropkick to the knee and a DDT. 

SANADA tagged in as the match worked towards the climax. Wato hit an interfering BUSHI with a rana. Ibushi hit SANADA with a flying mid kick. Wato and Ibushi hit dueling high kicks for a near fall. 

BUSHI hit a codebreaker on Wato. Ibushi got sent outside and hit with a BUSHI tope suicida. Wato used two quick cradles for near falls. 

SANADA used a spinning Skull End. While BUSHI held Ibushi at bay, Wato tapped out and SANADA got the submission victory. 

SANADA closed the show with a promo. The arena lights were turned down and the crowd lit up the house with their cell phones for a cool visual.