NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night 1 results: Bullet Club go to war in a steel cage

May 3, 2025 Neal Flanagan NEWS
Image Courtesy: NJPW

The first night of NJPW Wrestling Dontaku was headlined on Saturday by the implosion of Bullet Club inside a steel cage.

The Dog Pound Cage Match featured War Dogs vs. House of Torture at the Fukuoka International Center.

Dog Pound Cage Match — Losers Leave Bullet Club

The War Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors & Taiji Ishimori) defeated the contingent of EVIL, SANADA, Ren Narita, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

The loss means House of Torture are expelled from Bullet Club.

The match featured extensive use of weapons including chairs, kendo sticks, baseball bats, and Finlay’s shillelagh, which EVIL eventually broke and used against its owner. Notable moments included Moloney smashing a guitar over SANADA’s head and SANADA subsequently putting Moloney through a table.

The deciding fall came when Gabe Kidd, bloodied after exchanges with Narita, executed an avalanche-style piledriver, driving Narita onto a barbed wire-covered table for the pinfall victory.

Shingo Takagi vs. Shota Umino

In the semi-main, Shingo Takagi defeated Shota Umino. The contest saw back-and-forth action, with Umino mounting several comeback attempts featuring Tornado DDTs and strong lariat attempts that yielded nearfalls.

Takagi withstood the onslaught, hitting a Pumping Bomber that Umino survived, before finally securing the pinfall win with the Last of the Dragon.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Earlier, Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in a bout billed as part of Tanahashi’s “Final Road” series. Sabre utilised his technical wrestling prowess to control significant portions of the match, though Tanahashi found openings using his classic offensive manoeuvres. Sabre Jr. hit the Zack Driver to secure the pinfall victory.

NJPW World TV Title: El Phantasmo (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita

The NJPW World Television Championship remains with El Phantasmo after his title defence against Konosuke Takeshita ended in a 15-minute time-limit draw. Takeshita controlled parts of the match, particularly on the outside, with assistance from Rocky Romero.

As the time limit approached, Phantasmo managed to evade a charging Takeshita, causing the challenger to tumble to the floor just before the bell, resulting in the draw and Phantasmo retaining the title in his first defense.

Undercard tag matches

Earlier, in trios action, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated the United Empire team of Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jacob Austin Young.

Another multi-man tag saw Yuya Uemura, Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku defeat Los Ingobernables de Japon members Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI.

The opening main card contest featured Toru Yano, Oleg Boltin, YOH & Master Wato defeating Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita of TMDK.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night 1 results

  • Pre-show: Katsuya Murashima def. Daiki Nagai
  • Toru Yano, Oleg Boltin, YOH & Master Wato def. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Yuya Uemura, Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku def. Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jacob Austin Young
  • NJPW World TV Title: El Phantasmo (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita – Time Limit Draw
  • Zack Sabre Jr. def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Shingo Takagi def. Shota Umino
  • Dog Pound Cage Match — Losers Leave Bullet Club: David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, Clark Connors & Taiji Ishimori def. EVIL, SANADA, Ren Narita, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Karen Peterson & Bruce Lord will cover both nights of Wrestling Dontaku for members of the POST Wrestling Café on Sunday.

About Neal Flanagan 1238 Articles
Based in Northern Ireland, Neal Flanagan is a former newspaper journalist and copy editor. In addition to reporting for POST Wrestling, he co-hosts The Wellness Policy podcast with Wai Ting and Jordan Goodman.
Twitter