NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one live results: Dogpound cage match

Night one of NJPW Wrestling Dontaku will be headlined by a Dogpound cage match.

Two of Bullet Club’s sub-factions will square off inside the steel cage, with EVIL, SANADA, SHO, Ren Narita, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru of House of Torture taking on the War Dogs five-some of David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, Taiji Ishimori, and Drilla Moloney.

In today’s semi-main, Shingo Takagi goes one-on-one with Shota Umino in their fourth career singles meeting. Umino holds a 2-1 edge in their singles matches.

Hiroshi Tanahashi will face Zack Sabre Jr. on the undercard as the Ace’s retirement tour continues.

NJPW World TV Champion El Phantasmo will defend his title against Konosuke Takeshita.

Three multi-man tag matches round out today’s undercard, including the penultimate bouts in the NJPW careers of Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI, both of whom have announced they will be leaving the promotion following tomorrow’s night two event.

Young Lions Katsuya Murashima and Daiki Nagai square off on the pre-show beginning at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time.

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Pre-show

Katsuya Murashima defeated Daiki Nagai

Nagai spent the first half of the match targeting Murashima’s weak left knee. However, the latter gritted his teeth with some forearms and a slam. Nagai regained momentum, nearly securing favor with a Sharpshooter. The battered and bruised Murashima made a spirited comeback, sinking in a deep Bostom Crab, unforgivingly dragging Nagai back to the center during any attempt to escape. With no other alternative, Nagai tapped out.

Main Card

Master Wato, Oleg Boltin, Toru Yano & YOH defeated TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles & Ryohei Oiwa)

YOH and Eagles wrestled to a stalemate, but Wato fared better with wearing down Fujita. Yano attempted the same with Oiwa by stripping the turnbuckle pad from the ring post, only to succumb to the swathe that was TMDK. This led to the gargantuan collision of Boltin and Jackson. The latter had the advantage due to the Kazakh wrestler’s taped up and injured leg, however, Boltin’s will won out.

Both teams saw a heavy deployment of topes, eventually reuniting Jackson and Boltin in the ring once more. Jackson nearly punctuated the match with a German Suplex. Ultimately, Boltin unleashed a thunderous Kamikaze slam to finish the match in his favor to the prone Jackson.

YOH and Wato’s Junior Tag Team chemistry had its shining moment, but the real star of the show was the clashes between Jackson and Boltin. Fans of big man on big man violence will be satisfied by the morsels left in this 8-man tag.

Just 4 Guys (Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yuya Uemura) & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji)

Before the match could start, Naito began has traditional disrobing fare, only to re-button his shirt and zipping his pants back up and disrobe again. As Tsuji and Uemura locked up, Chris Charlton wonderfully painted a picture of their very early history. Naito and BUSHI combined their offense to topple Michinoku. A fired-up Ishii wiped out the opposing forces of LIJ, going so far as to endure Naito and Takahashi’s combined efforts.

Taichi and BUSHI met in the ring; the masked wrestler’s lighter offense overwhelmed his taller opponent, but couldn’t diminish his power. Uemura and Tsuji met in the ring once more, leading to the LIJ member being chased out. Ishii proceeded to handle the remaining members. Taichi pinned BUSHI with a Dangerous Backdrop to win the match.

Naito and BUSHI’s impending departures felt nonexistent in this match. As though Los Ingobernables de Japon would never die, everyone worked in tandem. Ishii brought an energy to the match that made it a blast. If you’re a fan of Taichi, Uemura, and Tsuji, this match will be up your alley.

Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Ryusuke Taguchi defeated United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)

Tomorrow’s main event started the match, with Newman defiantly asking the best of Goto. Taguchi brought levity with his signature comic relief, which Khan played off well before striking with his painful chops. Hilariously, this nearly ended the match after Taguchi suffered a Thumb-in-the-Bum by Khan. Young followed the offense on Taguchi with his high-speed precision. Newman sought to finish Taguchi in the face of Goto, but the champion tagged in and wrought a torrent of pain upon the Brit.

Young and YOSHI-HASHI greeted each other with athletic prowess, yet Khan provided a handy assist. Unsatisfied with his earlier punishment, Taguchi was reintroduced to the mat by Khan. YOSHI-HASHI and Taguchi kept Khan and Newman at bay before finishing off Young with a Shoto to a resounding drop. YOSHI-HASHI pinned Young for the victory.

An equal balance of urgency with Goto and Newman’s impending clash tomorrow with the comedy of Khan and Taguchi. With these elements in play, the small roles of YOSHI-HASHI and Young were the glue that kept the match together.

El Phantasmo (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (with Rocky Romero) for the NJPW World Television Championship ended in a timeout

An opportunistic Takeshita took advantage of Romero’s distraction of Phantasmo to daze him with a tope. Outside of the ring, Takeshita and Romero used the environment to soften the defending champion. At the last second, Phantasmo dodged the charging Takeshita, who spilled to the outside. Dispatching the challenger and associate, he soared onto Takeshita’s body past the barricade. Resuming control, Takeshita almost dropped Phantasmo on the apron, only for himself to be piledriven on it instead. This saw Takeshita teeter precariously towards a 20-count loss, only to break the count at 19.

A saga of exchanges concluded with Phantasmo hoping for a Superkick finish, but instead found Takeshita dropping Phantasmo’s body on the mat in its place. Phantasmo reached for a running knee, but Takeshita countered with a surprise Blue Thunderbomb, followed by a Poisonrana. A mistimed pin after a lariat prevented Phantasmo from a pinfall after a powerbomb, as the clock ran out.

You will not go wrong seeking out this match. At one point Takeshita collapsed before Phantasmo could do a running knee, and it heightened the drama, even if it seemed like he was playing possum. I’m not sure if that awkward pin after Phantasmo’s lariat was planned or not, but it worked to their credit as it left me wanting more.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

The Ace found himself ensnared by Sabre’s technical trappings, yet found his way out due to his classic dynamic offense. Sabre mockingly kicked meekly at Tanahashi, only provoking his ire, leading to a Senton. Sabre’s long legs momentarily swung the match into his control, but Tanahashi endured. The pair wrestled for the chance to backslide pin the other, with Tanahashi opting for a Twist and Shout. A Zack Driver quelled Tanahashi’s momentum, gifting him with ample time to recover his worn knee. After a successful High-Fly Flow, Tanahashi reached for another, only for Sabre to transition it into a triangle choke. Wearing The Ace down into near unconsciousness, Sabre pinned Tanahashi after a Zack Driver.

One of the most underrated recurring matchups in the 2010s, Sabre and Tanahashi delivered once again; the dynamic of Sabre’s technical style and Tanahashi’s explosive movement has evolved, with one man still well into the prime of his career while the other is bittersweetly close to his twilight.

Shingo Takagi defeated Shota Umino

No love lost between these two as Takagi charged Umino and unleashed his fury on him; Umino indeed responded in kind as the pair brawled to the outside. Takagi spitefully gained power with lariats and the surrounding environment to his advantage. Obtaining wrist control, Takagi followed up with a series of lariats and put an exclamation point to it with a powerbomb.

Takagi withstood a frenzied comeback from Umino, dodging a lariat and dragging him to a Tornado DDT. Umino recovered after a sliding lariat from Takagi, firing back with a Tornado DDT of his own. Takagi’s dominance faded as Umino reached for subsequent lariats, with one seemingly decisive pin ending in a 1-count. A Pumping Bomber so powerful it could’ve been felt through the arena somehow wasn’t enough to put Umino away, but left the crowd in rapturous chants for the Dragon. Takagi ended Umino with finality with a Last of the Dragon for the win. As Umino lay with a bloody nose, Takagi showed signs of disrespect and smack-talked Konosuke Takeshita at a nearby commentary table.

Wonderfully physical. Several times throughout I sat convinced that these men really hated each other. However Umino’s character goes from here, this may undoubtedly be a match to look back on.

Main Event

BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors, David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd & Taiji Ishimori) defeated House Of Torture (EVIL, Ren Narita, SANADA, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) in a Steel Cage Match

Each War Dog found their House of Torture member to assault. Kidd and Narita traded chair shots. Moloney had gotten the better of SANADA when Dick Togo gave him a low blow. house of Torture proceeded to carve into his forehead with a fork as he screamed in dear agony. The would-be savior Connors was sent into an exposed ring post and ground against the cage for his troubles. Narita, meanwhile, repeatedly drove Kidd’s skull into a nearby table.

The flock of vultures that were the House of Torture continued picking at Moloney when the War Dogs came to his aid. Finlay sacrificed himself by vertical suplexing himself and SHO into the crowd of War Dogs and House of Torture members. Back inside the ring, Connors and Kanemaru dueled with a baseball bat and kendo stick, respectively as Narita destroyed a chair over Ishimori’s skull. Connors endured a Whiskey Breath by Kanemaru before unleashing a Gore to SHO and Kanemaru. Finlay wielded his shillelagh against EVIL, furthermore dropping him with a Gun Stun, followed by Oblivion.

Gedo entered the cage, falling onto him as he lay on a table which didn’t break. EVIL broke apart Finlay’s shillelagh before driving a splintered end to his forehead, followed by strikes wrapped in steel chain. Moloney came to Finlay’s rescue, landing a loud guitar shot to SANADA’s skull, bloodying it. In return, SANADA flipped Moloney over his shoulder directly through a table. A crimson-soaked Kidd weathered Narita’s biting of his skull with a headbutt and a lariat. They grinded each other’s flesh on a barb-wire wrapped table, painting everything with their claret. Kidd then concluded the match with a Piledriver to Narita on the same table for the win. The House of Torture are now out of BULLET CLUB.

Post-match: EVIL handcuffed Finlay to the cage and wrapped the steel-chained dog collar tightly around Finlay’s neck leaving him to hang into unconsciousness.

A plunder match that delved into pure chaos and madness. So many high spots, from the use of Finlay’s shillelagh to the barb-wire table. Moloney falling into the unflinching bare table was a pain I admittedly winced at. Hilariously, Gedo’s dive from the top of the cage is one of the worst I’ve seen in any company. Not perfect by any stretch, but it was every bit as ugly as it needed to be. Though they’ve been rivals for a while in this feud, Narita and Kidd excelled in this and barely stood out. That’s not a knock on them, that’s a compliment to everyone involved for making such a memorable and entertaining bloodbath.

There were some fun multi-man matches, but NJPW World Television Championship match and the intimate bout between Takagi and Umino will satisfy any itch for singles competition. However, for the spectacle alone, this year’s steel cage match is must-watch. My adrenaline was still pumping ten minutes after the match ended. What a way to celebrate twelve years of BULLET CLUB, one of wrestling’s most important factions to ever exist.