09/14/24 Results from New Japan's Road to DESTRUCTION From Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, Japan:
1 - Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masatora Yasuda and Daiki Nagai
Sakuraba is the well known MMA fighter who has competed in NOAH and UFC, also known as “Gracie Killer”.
Sakuraba forces Yasuda to tap out to an Ankle submission.
2 - RANBO - Royal Rumble type of match.
Katsuya Murashima is out first. Shoma Kato is next.
Yuma24 is out next. He is an independent wrestler in Japan.
Tomoaki Honma is next.
Tiger Mask is next.
Kosei Fujita is next.
Fujita eliminates Murashima.
Jado is next.
Ryusuke Taguchi is next.
Taguchi pins Kato.
Francesco Akira is next.
Akira eliminates Yuma24.
TAKA Michinoku is next.
Tomoya is next. He is another Japanese independent wrestler.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan is next.
The wild Takashi Iizuka is next. He brought the Iron Finger. He came to the ring through the crowd and stomped like a rampaging monster as the fans scattered.
Iizuka hits Akira with the Iron Finger and TAKA tosses Akira over the top rope.
Iizuka hits Tenzan with the Iron Finger and TAKA pins Tenzan. This is a mini Suzuki-Gun reunion. Until Iizuka attacks TAKA.
Taichi is out next. Taichi immediately goes after Iizuka and they brawl to the floor. Iizuka attacks one of the Japanese announcers and rips his clothes off. Taichi and Iizuka brawl back into the ring and everyone tosses them over the top rope. Both are eliminated.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru is out next.
SHO is next.
Fujita is eliminated.
Tiger Mask is eliminated.
DOUKI is next. Kanemaru and DOUKI fight over the top rope and take out each other.
SANADA is out next.
TAKA is eliminated.
SHO is eliminated.
Shota Umino is next.
Tomoya is eliminated.
Zack Sabre Jr. is next. Big pop for ZSJ.
ZSJ forces Honma to submit.
Last three men are ZSJ, Umino and SANADA.
SANADA is eliminated over the top rope.
Umino eliminates ZSJ over the top rope.
Shota Umino wins the match.
With this win, Umino sets himself up as a potential challenger, if/when Zack Sabre Jr. wins the IWGP World Championship. Very similar to SANADA pinning Zack in a tag match earlier this week.
3 - Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Gabe Kidd, Gedo and David Finlay
War Dogs attacked CHAOS at the bell. They all fought into the crowd.
Kidd hits a brainbuster and a Piledriver on Goto.
Kidd pins Goto
Finlay continued to beat down YOSHI-HASHI after the match. They will face each other for the Global Heavyweight Title on September 29.
Kidd then offered a challenge to Goto for his New Japan Strong Openweight Championship.
4 - Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi and Yota Tsuji vs. Great O-Khan, HENARE, Jeff Cobb Jakob Austin Young and Callum Newman
HENARE traps BUSHI in Ultima and gets the submission win.
After the match, HENARE cuts a promo on Takagi before their match for the NEVER Openweight Championship.
5 - NEVER Openweight 6-man Championship: Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo and EVIL vs. Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano and Hiroshi Tanahashi
The usual House of Torture shenanigans. SHO and Kanemaru interfere. Oleg hits a Kamikaze on Togo. Tanahashi hits a High Fly Flow. Yano hits a powerbomb on Togo.
Yano pins Togo.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg retain the NEVER Openweight 6-man Championship.
When Dick Togo was confirmed for this match, House of Torture was not winning. SHO would have been a better choice. Tanahashi and Yano do not need belts. However, Boltin is being elevated so that makes sense. Had Narita stayed healthy, the results could have been different.
The next event on New Japan World is DESTRUCTION in Kobe is on Sept. 29.
Thank you for reading.
James Kurokawa
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