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  • NJPW: Wrestling Dontaku Night 1 Results (3 May, 2018)

NJPW: Wrestling Dontaku Night 1 Results (3 May, 2018)

By Soumik Datta
Modified May 03, 2018 20:12 IST
The Bullet Club celebrated it's fifth anniversary on the evening
The Bullet Club celebrated its fifth anniversary on the evening

The first night of this year’s NJPW: Wrestling Dontaku event featured two huge singles matches as the co-main event and the main event.

In the co-main event of the evening, ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes squared-off in a Wrestle Kingdom 12 rematch against Kota Ibushi while in the main event, Kenny Omega went toe-to-toe with Bullet Club’s Hangman Page.

Elsewhere, several members of the Bullet Club, Los Ingobernables de Japon, and Suzuki Gun were also in action. Also, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada crossed paths with Hiroshi Tanahashi ahead of their big showdown tomorrow night.

#1 Bullet Club (Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi) vs Shota Umino and Yota Tsuji

Both Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi came out wearing special Bullet Club robes in order to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the group. The match itself was a short and simple contest, considering the fact that this was the opening bout of the evening, as Owens and Takahashi went pretty hard at a resilient Tsuji. ‘The Crown Jewel’ Chase Owens picked up the win for his team after pinning Umino with a package piledriver.

Result: Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi def. Shota Umino and Yota Tsuji

#2 Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger vs Yuji Nagata, Tomoyuki Oka and Ren Narita

Another solid tag team match with nothing special in it as Taguchi pinned Narita with the dodon.

Result: Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, and Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Yuji Nagata, Tomoyuki Oka, and Ren Narita

#3 Suzuki Gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, and Takashi Iizuka) vs CHAOS (SHO, Yoh, and Rocky Romero)

This contest felt like a filler and it was certainly weird seeing the Killer Elite Squad being paired up against Roppongi 3K. Nevertheless, there was some outside brawling at the start of this contest, and back in the ring SHO quickly rolled up Iizuka and pinned him.

Result: Roppongi 3K and Rocky Romero def. Killer Elite Squad and Takashi Iizuka

#4 CHAOS (Jay White, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Toa Henare, Michael Elgin and Togi Makabe

This was another fun tag team match, with IWGP US Champion Jay White being one of the standout performers of the contest as usual, along with Juice Robinson — who received a solid crowd reaction thanks to his amazing offence.

Eventually, the match came down to White and Henare, and the former pinned the Kiwi superstar via the Bladerunner to pick up the win for CHAOS.

Result: CHAOS def. Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Toa Henare, Michael Elgin and Togi Makabe

#5 Bullet Club (The Young Bucks and Marty Scurll) vs (Bad Luck Fale and the Guerrillas of Destiny)- (Never Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships)

On the fifth anniversary of the Bullet Club, we were once again treated to a Bullet Club vs Bullet Club match, as The Bucks along with ‘The Villain’ looked to capture the Six-man tag titles.

Both teams started off the match with an obligatory handshake following which Matt and Nick Jackson did their usual high flying moves and displayed some fast-paced offense. In the closing stages of the match, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa hit a Magic Killer on Matt Jackson, which was followed up by a splash from Fale, only for Matt to kick out at two.

Brother Nick then quickly stepped in as the Jackson boys gained the upper hand, hitting the More Bang For Your Buck on Tanga Loa to pick up the win and claim the Never Openweight Six-Man Tag Titles. The former champions then grabbed the titles and handed it over to The Young Bucks and Marty Scurll as a sign of respect, probably indicating towards the fact that the Bullet Club is indeed fine.

Result: Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, and Marty def. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa to win the Never Openweight Six-man Tag Team Titles.

#6 Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI) vs Suzuki Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taka Michinoku, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

Suzuki Gun started off this match in typical Suzuki Gun fashion, as they ignited an outside brawl much like every other Suzuki Gun tag team match. Having recently lost the IWGP IC Title to Naito, Minoru Suzuki was not in a good mood and the two men immediately got going, as did the rest of the members of both factions along with Zack Sabre Jr. LIJ eventually started to make a comeback into the match as Sanada and Hiromu cleaned house along with Evil, who scored the victory pin over Kanemaru.

Following the match, we got more of The Young Bucks as they came out and issued a challenge to Evil and Sanada for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. Before the champions could respond, both Matt and Nick hit a Superkick on the LIJ members and immediately retreated as the rest of the LIJ proceeded to beatdown The Bucks.

Shortly afterward, Evil took to the microphone and officially accepted the challenge.

Result: Los Ingobernables de Japon def. Suzuki Gun

#7 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kushida

Next up, we got a little preview of the two big title matches coming up tomorrow. ‘The Rainmaker’ worked his offense against ‘The Ace’ and also took care of Kushida, with a devastating Tombstone to the outside.

Okada eventually picked up the win for his team, when he hit The Rainmaker on Kushida. He will now turn his focus onto tomorrow’s historic title defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi, whereas Kushida will have the opportunity to capture the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title off Ospreay.

Result: Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay def. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kushida

#8 Cody Rhodes vs Kota Ibushi

This match initially started off rather slowly, however, things started to heat up in the middle and closing stages of the bout as we witnessed some jaw-dropping moves.

Midway through the match, ‘The American Nightmare’ collided with referee Red Shoes and then got hold of a table, but it was Kota Ibushi who took full advantage of it when he stopped Cody through the table twice. Ibushi then hit a Last Ride Powerbomb and went for the Kamigoye, but Cody rolled out of the ring only for ‘The Golden Star’ to hit an incredible dive from the top rope and into the crowd.

Shortly afterwards, Cody caught Ibushi with a Cross Rhodes but Ibushi managed to kick out at two. However, Cody then followed it up with a Vertebreaker called Din’s Fire to get the win.

Result: Cody def. Kota Ibushi

#9 Kenny Omega vs Hangman Page

Prior to the start of this contest, Cody Rhodes led a brutal beatdown along with Hangman Page before looking to set up another table, however, ‘The Best Bout Machine’ performed a baseball slide on Cody and followed it up with The Rise of The Terminator to take out ‘The American Nightmare’.

Meanwhile, Page took advantage of the situation and hit a moonsault on the outside on Omega, which was followed up by a Rite of Passage on top of a table, resulting in Omega’s head being busted wide open.

Omega then hit his signature V-Triggers and Dragon Suplexes while Page countered with a Package Piledriver only for Omega to kick out. In the closing stages, Omega connected with another V-Trigger and a One-Winged Angel as he picked up the win.

Result: Kenny Omega def. Hangman Page

One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE