New Japan began their final event of the year, Road to TOKYO DOME, today with the first half of a doubleheader that will be the final build to Japan’s version of WrestleMania on 1/4.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on New Japan World FOR FREE! Click below to watch (in Japanese. English will be available in a day or two):
https://njpwworld.com/p/s_00630_1_1
The announced paid attendance was 1205.
Match 1: Francesco Akira beat Kosei Fujita.
Match 2: Aaron Henare beat Yuto Nakashima.
Match 3: Great-O-Khan beat Ryohei Oiwa.
Match 4: Jeff Cobb beat Tomoaki Honma. This was to have been Oskar Leube vs. Cobb, but Leube was removed from the event due to a fever.
The KOPW 2023 Championship belt is unveiled, replacing the constantly broken/repaired trophy. If you’re wondering who came up with the KOPW idea and all it’s ridiculousness…Kazuchika Okada.
Match 5: SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito beat Shota Umino, Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe. Takagi pinned Makabe after Last of the Dragon.
Match 6: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Jado & Ren Narita. Taichi pinned Jado after a yokozuna type raised elbow. Jado was a replacement for Honma in this match.
Match 7: Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado beat Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi and Gedo & Taiji Ishimori in a 4-way when Desperado pinned Gedo.
Main Event: Yoh, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada beat DOUKI, Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki. Yoh pinned DOUKI after Direct Drive.
The final event of the year is tomorrow. Live streaming on New Japan World will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.
