NJPW Road to DESTRUCTION
Event Date: September 7, 2018 (18:30 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
Venue: Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 1,712
Series: DESTRUCTION
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 4), Makoto Abe (5 – 7)
Video
Matches for the upcoming DESTRUCTION shows are highlighted.
Match 1
Ren Narita & Shota Umino vs Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Chase Owens pins Ren Narita after a package piledriver
Time: 8:16
Match Thoughts
This was a fun opener. Ren Narita was fired up, and he spent nearly the entire match as the legal man on his team. That meant that he got beat up a lot, but it also allowed him to show his heart. He took numerous strikes from Takahashi at one point only to stand up and give some back. Narita looked good (even though he practically had to be carried away from the ring after the match).
Match 2
Taiji Ishimori & Tanga Loa & Tama Tonga (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champs) & Bad Luck Fale vs Ayato Yoshida & David Finlay & Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson (IWGP US Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Tanga Loa pins Ayato Yoshida after Apeshit (over the shoulder reverse piledriver)
Time: 9:34
Match Thoughts
Good match. I think Bullet Club OG was easily the better team as far as teamwork goes. Tonga and Loa were particularly good in this match. The Taguchi Japan team were good individually (Robinson standing out the most), but their individual efforts couldn’t match the teamwork of their opponents.
Match 3
Toa Henare vs Beretta
(referee: Tiger Hattori)
Result: Beretta wins via pinfall after the Dudebuster
Time: 8:47
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. Beretta didn’t seem to take Henare too seriously, but Henare managed to get some moves here and there. Henare was all about power, so Beretta had to use his speed and experience. This wasn’t a tough match for Beretta, but it did take a little more effort towards the end to put Henare away.
Match 4
TAKA Michinoku & Taichi w/ Miho Abe vs Gedo & Hirooki Goto (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Tiger Hattori)
Result: Hirooki Goto pins TAKA Michinoku after GTR
Time: 9:19
Match Thoughts
Good match. Taichi and TAKA attacked Goto and Gedo before the match, and that led to Goto and Taichi facing off. Goto tagged out, and the middle portion of the match was mostly filled by TAKA and Taichi cheating as much as possible while beating up Gedo. Goto got back in late in the match, and that led to a fast and fun finish.
Match 5
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (IWGP Jr. Tag Champs) & Takashi Iizuka & Minoru Suzuki vs BUSHI & SANADA & EVIL & Testsuya Naito
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: EVIL pins Takashi Iizuka after Magic Killer
Time: 12:03
Match Thoughts
Good match. Suzuki Gun started by attacking before the bell (as usual), and the resulting brawl allowed Suzuki Gun to take out most of LIJ. SG then focused the middle part of the match on destroying Naito, which they did. The rest of LIJ got back into the fight after a few minutes, and that led to a fast and chaotic finish. The point of this match was definitely to build up the hatred between Naito and Minoru Suzuki, and I think they did that well. Naito seemed to have a hard time staying tranquilo at times.
Match 6
YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Toru Yano pins Tomoaki Honma after a low blow
Time: 13:25
Match Thoughts
Good match. The highlight was definitely the time that Okada and Tanahashi spent in the ring together. Other than that, it was a fast-paced free for all. I liked how Okada was focused on Tanahashi, and he was having a lot of fun with it. Watching Okada, it seems like he feels like he has nothing to lose. It’s fun to see him chase someone after being at the top for so long.
Match 7
Will Ospreay & Tomohiro Ishii vs Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega (IWGP Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Kota Ibushi pins Will Ospreay after the Golden Trigger
Time: 19:30
Match Thoughts
Great match! This was as fun and exciting as it sounds with these four guys in the ring together. Ospreay and Ibushi had some great and innovative sequences, Ishii took and dealt a ton of punishment, and Omega did a lot of everything. Omega and Ibushi worked better as a team, but Ospreay and Ishii complemented each other’s styles very well.
Show Impressions
I liked this show. Nothing really felt super important until the last match, but there wasn’t anything I didn’t like.
Match of the Night
Ospreay & Ishii vs Ibushi & Omega
I’d watch this again right away. Very fun match.
Official Results: https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/146835?showResult=1