The New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Road to Power Struggle tour went to Chiba and the Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 6 on October 25th. The event drew 486 fans due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus, 2019) attendance restrictions put into place by NJPW.
October 25th Road to Power Struggle Results
The marquee match of the evening saw Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) members reigning IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ Tetsuya Naito and Sanada defeat former ‘Double Champion’ Evil and former NEVER Openweight Champion Yujiro Takahashi at 15 minutes and 3 seconds mark when Sanada gained the fall over Yujiro with his O’Connors Bridge clutch technique.
Naito and Evil face one another in a champion match on November 7, 2020, in Osaka during the Power Struggle feature event. Sanada gained a victory over Naito during G1 Climax 30 and could request an IWGP Intercontinental Championship match before Wrestle Kingdom 15.
The headline match saw the Golden Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi/”Golden Star” Kota Ibushi) and Tomoaki Honma defeat the Bullet Club team of “Switchblade” Jay White, Kenta, and Gedo at the 12 minutes and 1-second mark when Tanahashi again gained the submission fall over Gedo with his Texas Cloverhold technique.
Tanahashi faces Kenta on November 7, 2020, at Power Struggle for the right to make the V3 challenge of IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley’s second reign as champion.
Ibushi defends his right to challenge for the ‘Double Championship’ at Wrestle Kingdom 15 against White during Power Struggle. Switchblade has two consecutive singles victories against Ibushi during 2020, and a third would see him take a step closer to reclaiming the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The fourth match saw the LIJ team of Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and Bushi defeat the Suzuki-Gun contingent of reigning NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki and the reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship team of El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Shingo would gain the fall over Kanemaru at the 14 minutes and 10 seconds mark after using his Made in Japan technique.
Shingo makes the V1 challenge against Suzuki for the NEVER Openweight Championship at Power Struggle after defeating the champion during G1 Climax 30. Hiromu and Bushi make the V1 challenge against Desperado and Kanemaru on November 1st during a Road to Power Struggle event.
The third match of the event saw the newly formed Empire faction Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan defeat “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada and NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yota Tsuji in 10 minutes and 52 seconds after O-Khan used his Eliminator technique on Tsuji.
Okada and O-Khan face one another at Power Struggle as Okada looks to gain a measure of revenge after O-Khan cost Okada his match against Ospreay during G1 Climax 30.
The second match of the event saw the CHAOS trio of two-thirds of the reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi team with reigning KOPW (presumably King of Pro Wrestling) titleholder Toru Yano defeat the Suzuki-Gun trio of reigning IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr/Taichi) and Douki at the 11 minutes and 37 seconds mark after Goto used the GYW technique on junior heavyweight Douki.
The opening match saw NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion defeat NJPW Los Angeles (LA) Dojo Young Lion Gabriel Kidd in 7 minutes and 21 seconds with his Double Overhook Suplex technique.
