The final countdown to Wrestle Kingdom 20 and the retirement of Hiroshi Tanahashi began on Friday as New Japan Pro Wrestling kicked off its Road to Tokyo Dome tour in Gunma.
In the show’s main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Hiromu Takahashi.
The match marked the first and final singles meeting between the two. It headlined the opening night of a three-day tour that concludes on December 22.
Takahashi controlled the early portion of the match with strikes and attacks on Tanahashi’s knee. He executed a Rainmaker lariat and the Time Bomb 1.5 for a near-fall. Tanahashi countered a Time Bomb 2 attempt into a Dragon Sleeper. Tanahashi secured the victory with a Sling Blade and High Fly Flow.
The rest of the card featured multi-man matches.
In the semi-main event, TMDK defeated the War Dogs and Daiki Nagai. Hartley Jackson pinned Nagai following a Death Valley Driver.
Two matches ended in disqualification. Team 100, Shota Umino, and Yuya Uemura defeated House of Torture after SANADA feigned an injury involving a steel chair. The United Empire was disqualified against Los Ingobernables de Japon when Callum Newman threw a chair at Shingo Takagi.
House of Torture’s DOUKI, SHO, and Yujiro Takahashi defeated El Desperado, Katsuya Murashima, and Kuukai when DOUKI submitted Murashima.
Oleg Boltin, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and Tatsuya Matsumoto defeated Toru Yano, YOH, Master Wato, and Shoma Kato. Tiger Mask submitted Masatora Yasuda in the opener.
The tour continues in Tochigi on Sunday, where Tanahashi will face El Desperado.
NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome Results (Dec. 19)
- Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Hiromu Takahashi
- 8-Man Tag Match: TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.) def. War Dogs (OSKAR, Taiji Ishimori & Yuto-Ice) & Daiki Nagai
- 6-Man Tag Match: Gedo, Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young) ended in a disqualification.
- 8-Man Tag Match: Team 100 (Satoshi Kojima & Taichi), Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura def. House Of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) via disqualification.
- 6-Man Tag Match: House Of Torture (DOUKI, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) def. El Desperado, Katsuya Murashima & Kuukai
- 8-Man Tag Match: Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI), Oleg Boltin & Tatsuya Matsumoto def. Master Wato, Shoma Kato, Toru Yano & YOH
- 6-Man Tag Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask & Zane Jay def. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) & Masatora Yasuda
