New Japan ran their last outside-Tokyo event of the year today and the last such event of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s career as they went to Tochigi for the second and penultimate event of the Road To TOKYO DOME Tour.
Today’s event was held at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi and can be watched on demand on New Japan World. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1323, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Sho & DOUKI beat Tatsuya Matsumoto & KUUKAI (Michinoku Pro) by ref stoppage. DOUKI beat Matsumoto with Italian Stretch 32.
Match 2: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe beat Zane Jay & Katsuya Murashima. Makabe pinned Jay after a King Kong kneedrop.
Match 3: Shoma Kato, Master Wato, Yoh & Toru Yano beat Masatora Yasuda, Tiger Mask, Satoshi Kojima & Taichi.Wato pinned Yasuda after a swan dive uppercut.
Match 4: Boltin Oleg, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA, Ren Narita & EVIL. Uemura pinned Takahashi with a Kannuki suplex hold.
Match 5: Jacob Austion Young, Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan beat Daiki Nagai, Hiromu Takahashi & SHingo Takagi. Newman pinned Nagai after Time Bomb.
Match 6: Taiji Ishimori, Yota Tsuji, OSKAR (The Grouch) & Yuto Ice (Ice Baby) beat Kosei Fujita, Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. Tsuji pinned Jackson after Gene Blaster.
Main Event: Hiroshi Tanahashi beat El Desperado. Afterwards, Tanahashi said his final farewell to the fans including epic air guitar despite a seemingly painful knee to sent the crowd home happy. And sad too as it’s the last time they’ll see Tanahashi compete.
The tour-ender, and the final event of 2025, is tomorrow at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET, and EVERYONE will be able to watch the full event live & on demand FOR FREE!!!