Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated El Desperado in the headline match of Sunday’s NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome event in Tochigi.
The contest marked Tanahashi’s third-to-last match before his retirement on January 4.
The event at the Light Cube Utsunomiya was New Japan’s final stop outside of Tokyo before Wrestle Kingdom.
Desperado attacked the veteran’s knees early in the encounter. The masked wrestler utilized steel chairs on the floor and brawled with Tanahashi into the crowd.
Tanahashi fought back after barely returning to the ring before the referee’s twenty-count. He executed a Dragon Screw and applied a Figure Four Leglock to shift momentum. Desperado later secured a near-fall with a Frog Splash.
Desperado attempted a Pinche Loco but was unable to overpower Tanahashi. The Ace countered with a series of Twist and Shouts before landing a High Fly Attack. Tanahashi then hit the High Fly Flow to secure the pinfall victory.
Following the match, Tanahashi addressed the crowd and thanked them for their support. He performed an air guitar solo and spoke about his next opponent, Kosei Fujita.
The Road to Tokyo Dome tour concludes on Monday, December 22 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. As mentioned, Tanahashi will face Fujita in a singles match to headline, while El Phantasmo will defend his NJPW World TV Championship in an open challenge.
Full results
- House of Torture (DOUKI & SHO) def. Kuukai & Tatsuya Matsumoto
- Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma def. Katsuya Murashima & Zane Jay
- Master Wato, Shoma Kato, Toru Yano & YOH def. Satoshi Kojima, Taichi, Masatora Yasuda & Tiger Mask
- Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI), Oleg Boltin, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura def. House Of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SANADA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi)
- United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young) def. Daiki Nagai, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi
- War Dogs (OSKAR, Taiji Ishimori & Yuto-Ice) & Yota Tsuji def. TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi def. El Desperado
