Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Road to Tokyo Dome, December 18th, Korakuen Hall:
Young Lions Cup: Shota Umino defeated Ren Narita. Very similar to Umino vs Yagi on the previous days show. Narita went after the injured knee, with Umino gutting it out and finding his opening. He hit a diving elbow and won after a Boston Crab. Narita held on as long as he could and made an attempt for the ropes, but he had to submit. Really solid match here.
Tomoyuki Oka defeated Tetsuhiro Yagi. Yagi was sporting a freshly shaven head after his run in with Minoru Suzuki. This embarrassment brought out an aggression in him, as he controlled the majority of the match, even slapping Oka at times. Oka used his power advantage with some big body slams and a gutwrench suplex. He got the win with... you guessed it, a Boston Crab.
Katsuya Kitamura defeated Hirai Kawato. This saw a meeting of arguably the two most impressive young lions. Kitamura used his size advantage to throw Kawato around. Kawato got back into it with a missile dropkick, and a triangle choke, but Kitamura countered that into a powerbomb. Kitamura scored the win with an incredible looking Jackhammer.
Masked Horse, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & KUSHIDA defeated TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Horse was unmasked a couple of minutes in to reveal none other than Ryusuke Taguchi, which was a real shocker. This was a pretty fun back and forth match. Liger hit a superplex, Tiger hit a butterfly suplex from the top. Taguchi got the pin after a running hip attack and then tried to get Taichi's girl to whip him.
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano defeated Henare & Togi Makabe. The stuff here between Ishii & Henare is must see! This was amazing. Ishii made Henare look like a star in the space of five minutes. Henare was worked over, until he started firing up with the stiffest slaps on Ishii. Ishii then chopped him repeatedly in the throat until Henare exploded with a lariat. Henare got a near fall with a Samoan drop, but Yano broke up the pin. Ishii almost beheaded Henare with a lariat before finishing him with a Brainbuster. It's a crime that Ishii doesn't have a singles match at the Tokyo Dome.
EVIL & SANADA defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale. Nothing out of the ordinary here, just a match to build EVIL & SANADA towards their title shot on January 4th. Fale accidentally splashed Yujiro, allowing the LIJ team to hit the Magic Killer for the win.
Kota Ibushi, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Leo Tonga, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa. Leo was again booked really well. Both Tenzan & Kojima were unable to take him off his feet with a double shoulder tackle. Tama & Ibushi showed really good chemistry together early on. Kojima chopped all three guys in the corner, which was a really fun spot. Ibushi hit a triangle moonsault over the camera man and onto Tama. Leo hit Ibushi with an absolutely amazing dropkick, before Ibushi got the win with the knee strike.
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka via DQ. This was absolutely wild. The ref had lost all control before the bell even rang. We had Taichi, Desperado & Kanemaru at ringside getting involved, nailing people with chairs. YOSHI was destroyed for the first half of this, with Goto unable to even get on the apron. When Goto finally got in, he had to fight from underneath to get any advantage. He and Suzuki were slapping and forearming each other as hard as they could. The finish saw Goto hit a reverse GTR and lock in an armbar. This saw Suzuki-Gun hit the ring abc cause a DQ. After the match Suzuki accepted Goto's challenge for a hair match at the Tokyo Dome.
Hiroshi Tanahashi came to the ring and apologised for missing the tour due to injury. He was then confronted by Jay White. They began brawling with White going after the knee and then elbowing Tanahashi into a KO. White then dropped him with The Switchblade and stood over the fallen IWGP Intercontinental champion.
Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi defeated SHO, YOH & Kazuchika Okada. This was a really great main event and the final match of the year for these guys. Lots of good stuff early on with the juniors being the focus. SHO got the hot tag after YOH had been worked over. Okada and Naito got into it and Okada very quickly had Naito in the Cobra Clutch. It would have been over had BUSHI not broken it up. Lots of double and triple team in the last few minutes and more action than could be recapped. The match ended when Naito pinned YOH with Destino.
After the match Naito & Okada got into it again, and for the first time Naito was able to escape the Cobra Clutch and drop Okada with Destino. The final image of 2017 was Naito standing over Okada only weeks before the headline Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
