The opening match of the New Japan Road event in front of 1,353 fans at Korakuen Hall saw a New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Noge Dojo Young Lion Yota Tsuji defeat NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion Gabriel Kidd in a competitive contest that allowed by combatants to show their potential.
The second match saw NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yuya Uemura, and CHAOS members RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, Yoshi-Hashi, and Hirooki Goto come up short against the Suzuki-Gun team of Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Taichi. However, the story of the match was the fire Uemura showed when taking on the veteran Minoru Suzuki, in what was arguably his standout performance as a Young Lion. With form such form it may not be long until Uemura heads out on an excursion if he handles his behind the scenes training well.
The third match saw Colt Cobana, Toru Yano, and Kazuchika Okada defeat Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe/Tomoaki Honma) and Toa Henare. While Cabana and Yano continue on good form since first teaming together during the 2019 World Tag League, they challenge the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) NEVER Openweight Six-Man Championship team of NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi, Evil, and Bushi tomorrow night. Yet, it’s likely the team will challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in the upcoming months.
The fourth match had a surprising outcome as Tiger Mask IV, Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, and TenCozy (Satoshi Kojima/Hiroyoshi Tenzan) defeat the LIJ team of IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takashi, Sanada, Evil, and Bushi — with Kojima pinning Evil after a Lariat. During the match, Nakanishi who retires on Saturday dove to the outside with an interesting Pescado where he crashed into LIJ with his back. Kojima getting the fall over Evil sets up a scenario where the two could face one another in the opening round of the New Japan Cup next month.
The final undercard match saw the Bullet Club team of IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tonga Loa), Jay White, and Bad Luck Fale defeat Golden Aces (Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kota Ibushi) and FinJuice (David Finlay/Juice Robinson) after Tanga Loa pinned Robinson after he was hit with one-half of the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship behind the referees back. Golden Aces challenge Guerrillas Of Destiny in the V1 defense of the champions 6th reign with the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on February 21st in the marquee match during New Japan Road.
After the match, Bullet Club took out Golden Aces to send a message before their title defense tomorrow night.
