While they don’t come often, sometimes NJPW Road To shows don’t just build to championship matches, but will actually contain them! This was the case on the latest show on the Road To Power Struggle. Flyin’ Tiger really hit a stride during Super Junior Tag League, with IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles and the legendary Tiger Mask IV teaming to great success. They even beat the eventual winners and current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, Suzuki-gun members El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Tonight, that tournament win morphs into a championship challenge.
Breaking Down The Undercard Results
However, there was more on this show than just that. We’re not going to dwell much on the bevy of opening tag team matches. Hiromu Takahashi & SANADA opened the show with a win over Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuji Nagata, with the highlight being some nice sequences between Nagata & SANADA.
Our NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions of Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI teamed with Master Wato in a losing effort against all of House of Torture. Wato took the fall, much like Fujita a few nights ago. United Empire members Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan continue to find their place as a tag team with a win over Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma.
KENTA would cost himself & Gedo a winner’s share of the purse by attacking Hiroshi Tanahashi with the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, a rare DQ finish in NJPW. BULLET CLUB members Jado, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa would defeat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kazuchika Okada & Satoshi Kojima, while DOUKI & Zack Sabre Jr. were able to get the win over BUSHI & Shingo Takagi.
Flying Tiger Brings Tiger Mask IV First NJPW Gold Since 2012, Makes Robbie Eagles Double Champion
Tiger Mask kicked off the match with Kanemaru, and after an outside assault found himself isolated by the champions. His knee was heavily attacked, but the veteran managed to save himself with a backbreaker using the good knee before tagging in Eagles. Eagles would takedown both opponents with some kicks, before looking for an Asai DDT – and getting hit with a spinebuster and locked in Numero Dos.
Eagles would get to the ropes, before he’d hit a head kick as Desperado hit that feared straight punch to the face. Both men got tags, and Kanemaure blocked the Tiger Driver and locked in the Figure Four Leg Lock. Tiger was in a lot of pain, but was able to inch close enough to the ropes to get freedom. Eagles would get a tag after a Tiger Driver, and got a near fall off Turbo Backpack – before going for the 450 Splash to the knee and applying Ron Miller Special for the submission victory.
This win is big, as it is the first time Tiger Mask IV has held gold in NJPW since 2012. Holding a character like Tiger Mask for so long is fine, but you need to prove you can still work it – and now he’s got the gold to show himself as a star. Eagles is the driving force of the tag team however, with him now being a double champion walking into Best of The Super Juniors.
How will Eagles & Tiger Mask fare in Best of The Super Juniors? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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