NJPW WRESTLING DONTAKU NIGHT 2 REPORT (5/4): Pomares’s report & analysis of Tsuji vs. Uemura, Goto vs. Newman, and more

NJPW WRESTLING DONTAKU: NIGHT 2 REPORT
MAY 4, 2025
FUKUOKA, JAPAN AT FUKUOKA CONVENTION CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
REPORT BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentators: Walker Stewart, Chris Charlton

(1) RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & KATSUYA MURASHIMA vs. HITAMARI SASAKI & JET WEI

Taguchi tried to put Sasaki in a wrist lock, but Sasaki was able to keep him away. Murashima tagged in to lock up with Wei before knocking him down with a shoulder tackle. Wei caught Murashima with an arm drag and a suplex before tagging Sasaki in. Sasaki withstood numerous strikes from Murashima and nailed him with a series of kicks to the chest. Sasaki countered a bodyslam with a knee bar, forcing Murashima to grab the ropes. Taguchi attacked Sasaki from behind, but Sasaki blocked a hip attack with a kick to the butt. Sasaki nailed Taguchi and Murashima with a running kick to the face, followed by a sliding kick on Murashima for a two count.

Murashima shocked Sasaki with a shoulder tackle, reaching Taguchi for the hot tag. Taguchi hit Wei and Sasaki with a barrage of running hip attacks. Sasaki trapped Taguchi in an ankle lock and clocked him with a flying kick to the head. Wei tagged in to attack Taguchi with an axe handle and a clothesline, followed by a missile dropkick. Murashima beat Wei downwith forearm strikes and laid him out with a flying forearm. Murashima planted Sasaki with a powerslam while Wei dropped Taguchi with a bodyslam. Taguchi countered a high crossbody with an ankle lock, but Wei was able to reach the ropes. Taguchi pulled Wei off the top ropes and smashed his knee on the mat before forcing him to tap out with the ankle lock.

WINNERS: Ryusuke Taguchi & Katsuya Murashima at 9:08 (**3/4)

– After the match, Katsuya Murashima and Hitamari Sasaki continued brawling and trying to put each other in ankle locks. Sasaki refused to shake Taguchi’s hand and walked away.

(Pomares’ Analysis: Fun little match before the main card begins. Wasn’t familiar with Sasaki and Wei’s or Kyushu Pro, but I liked what I saw, especially from Sasaki who seemed to be setting up something with Murashima. Wouldn’t mind seeing those two go at it another time.)

– The main card began with a vide

(2) MENTAI KID & BATTEN BURABURA vs. BULLET CLUB (Taiji Ishimori & Gedo)

Ishimori cornered Kid and put him in a headlock before pulling his mask. Kid sent Ishimori out of the ring with a dropkick before tagging Burabura in. Gedo put Burabura in a wrist lock, only for Burabura to mock him with his hand sign and drop him with a neckbreaker. Burabura did a brief dance, but missed an axe handle into the mat. Gedo stepped over Burabura and did his own dance before punching him. Burabura caught Gedo and Ishimori with big boots and knocked them off their feet with cross chops.

Kid tagged in to take Bullet Club with clotheslines, followed by a double handspring back elbow. Kid crushed Ishimori with a diving splash, but he kicked out at two. Burabura and Kid nailed Ishimori with a double clothesline, followed by a strike to the butt and a Tiger Feint kick. Burabura knocked Gedo off the apron, setting him up for a plancha from Kid. Ishimori withstood a pair of axe handle to the abdomen from Burabura and kicked his knee before poking his eyes and taking the win with a Gedo Clutch.

WINNERS: Bullet Club at 6:00 (**)

(Pomares’ Analysis: A fine opener to get the crowd excited for the Kyushu Pro stars. It was cool to hear that Mentai Kid was wrestling a New Japan show shortly prior to his retirement, but aside from that this was mostly a comedy match.)

(3) YOSHI-HASHI & MASTER WATO vs. UNITED EMPIRE (The Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young)

United Empire attacked Wato and Yoshi before the match could start, only for Wato to plant them with a double bulldog. Young dropped Wato with a Russian leg sweep while O-Khan Irish-whipped Yoshi into the guardrail. O-Khan knocked Wato down with a fireman’s carry takeover, a monkey flip and a judo throw. Young nailed Wato with a dropkick to the back of the head, followed by an axe handle to the back from O-Khan. O-Khan clocked Wato with an uppercut and sat on his head atop the turnbuckle. Wato attacked O-Khan with chops and caught him off-guard with a reverse bulldog. Yoshi got the hot tag to lay O-Khan with a clothesline and a corner elbow strike. O-Khan caught Yoshi with a chop to the chest, only for Yoshi to shut him down with a running blockbuster.

O-Khan evaded a clothesline and dropped Yoshi with a gutbuster, following it with a gutwrench suplex for a two count. Yoshi countered the Eliminator with a DDT, reaching Wato for the hot tag. Wato and Young traded forearm strikes, until Young took him down with a dropkick. Wato knocked Young down with a dropkick, only for Young to ram Yoshi ath im. Young and O-Khan sent Yoshi out of the ring with a pair of forearm strikes to the head. O-Khan blasted Wato with a gut punch, setting him up for a kick to the back of the head from Young for a close two count. Wato blocked a German suplex and knocked Young off his feet with a cyclone kick, setting him up for the Tsutenkaku German suplex and the win.

WINNERS: Yoshi-Hashi & Master Wato at 8:48 (**1/2)

(Pomares’ Analysis: Just your standard bottom of the card tag match to probably set up more stuff between United Empire and Bishamon for the tag titles. Nothing to see here.)

(4) MAIKA & FUKUOKA DOUBLE CRAZY (Hazuki & Koguma) vs. NEO GENESIS (Starlight Kid & AZM) & YUNA MIZUMORI

SLK and Koguma evaded quick pinning combinations and taunted each other. SLK hit Koguma with a springboard crossbody and a basement dropkick, followed by a shoulder tackle from Mizumori. Koguma and Hazuki caught Mizumori with a double shoulder tackle, setting her up for a triple basement dropkick. Hazuki nailed Mizumori with a running boot to the head and Maika planted her with a bodyslam for a two count. Mizumori caught Maika with a rolling dropkick, reaching AZM for the tag. SLK knocked Miaka and Koguma off their feet, setting them up for AZM’s double dropkick. SLK and AZM crushed Koguma and Maika with a standing moonsault and a double stomp for a two count.

Maika avoided a diving double stomp and flattened AZM with a snap powerslam for a nearfall. AZM cracked Maika with a roundhouse kick and trapped her in a Guillotine Choke. Maika was able to lay AZM out with a suplex, forcing her to tag Mizumori. Koguma crushed Miuzmoiri with a corner splash, followed by a missile dropkick and a high crossbody alongside Hazuki. Hazuki put Mizumori in a crossface, until SLK and AZM broke the hold. Mizumori caught Hazuki off-guard with a lariat, setting her up for a triple dropkick in the corner. SLK crushed Hazuki with a twisting Frog Splash, followed by a diving double stomp from AZM.

Mizumori planted Hazuki with a fireman’s carry slam, but Maika broke the pinfall with a lariat. SLK took Maika down with a headscissors takeover before receiving a DDT from Koguma. Hazuki and Koguma took care of SLK, AZM and Mizumori with a suicide dive and high crossbody. Hazuki blasted Mizumori with a springboard shotgun dropkick for a two count. Koguma, Kazuki and Maika hit Mizumori with corner splashes before laying her out with a diving double clothesline and powerbomb combination. SLK broke the pinfall and Mizumori got a close nearfall on Hazuki with a pinning combination. Hazuki spiked Mizumori with a brainbuster to pick up the win.

WINNERS: Maika & Fukuoka Double Crazy at 9:16 (***1/2)

(Pomares’ Analysis: In a similar fashion to the previous match, this match had no real stakes. However, this showcase match was so much more fun and exciting to watch. I wish New Japan did this Stardom showcase matches more often because they usually stand out above all the low effort matches we tend to see low on the card. I’m also very happy to see Yuna Mizumori get to be in this match, even if her purpose was mostly to eat the pin.)

 

(5) ELPHANTASMO & BOLTIN OLEG vs. DON CALLIS FAMILY (Konosuke Takeshita & Rocky Romero)

Takeshita and ELP evaded each other’s signature moves before exchanging forearm strikes. Romero distracted ELP, allowing Takeshita to crush him with a plancha. Takeshita and Romero nailed Oleg with a double drive-by dropkick. Back in the ring, Takeshita drove ELP into the corner with an Irish-whip and Romero hit him with a knee drop. ELP sent Romero out of the ring and knocked Takeshita down with a hurracarrana. Romero pulled Oleg off the apron before he could tag in. ELP clocked Takeshitw ith an enzuigiri and kicked Romero away, reaching Oleg for the hot tag. Oleg laid Romero and Takeshita out with shoulder tackles and blocked the Takeshita Line with a shoulder tackle.

Oleg countered a hurracarrana from Romero with the Boltin Shake and used his body to whack Takeshita. Takeshita and Oleg clobbered each other with forearm strikes and clotheslines, until Takeshita flattened Oleg with a Blue Thunderbomb. Romero caught ELP with an uppercut and a Tornado DDT, setting him up for a suicide dive. Takeshita and Romero spiked Oleg with Storm Zero, but he managed to kick out at two. Romero hit ELP with a Rewind kick before he and Takeshita blasted Oleg with an elbow strike and jumping knee combination. Oleg used Romero to clobber Takeshita, setting him up for a diving Tornado DDT from ELP. Oleg finished Romero off with an F5000 and the Kamikaze.

WINNERS: El Phantasmo & Boltin Oleg at 8:07 (***)

(Pomares’ Analysis: This was fun while it lasted, but there was no major development or angle. Just more build to the rematch between Takeshita and ELP at Resurgence which based on their two previous outings should be tremendous.)

(6) HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TORU YANO & YOH & RYOTA CHIKUZEN & TAJIRI vs. TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr & Ryohei Oiwa & Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita & Hartley Jackson)

Tajiri swept ZSJ off his feet and split his leg with his whole body, but couldn’t lock up his legs properly. Tajiri broke a bow-and-arrow lock and stopped ZSJ from sitting over his body to keep him down. ZSJ tried to put Taiji in a wrist lock, only for Tajiri to drag him to the ropes and turn the hold around. Eagles and Yohtagged in to hit each other with hurracarranas, until Fujita nailed Yoh with a chop. Yoh withstood a pair of chops and drove Eagles and Fujita into each other, setting them up for a double bulldog. Yano rammed Fujita into Eagles and exposed the turnbuckle, only for them to kick his abdomen. Jackson crushed Yano with a leg drop, followed by a slap and springboard dropkick from Fujita.

Yano caught Oiwa off-guard with an atomic drop, reaching Chikuzen for the tag. Chikuzen and Oiwa exchanged chops and elbow strikes. Chikuzen floored Fujita and Eagles with tilt-a-whirl backbreakers, followed by a double shoulder tackle alongside Tanahashi. Oiwa floored Chikuzen with a back body drop and a big splash for a two count. Oiwa blasted Chikuzen with a lariat, reaching ZSJ for the hot tag. Tanahashi and ZSJ tried to put each other in Cobra Twists, until Tanahashi countered an armbar with a roll-up. Tanahashi kicked ZSJ away from a neck twist and hit him with one of his own. ZSJ caught Tanahashi with a Pele kick to the arm and a stomp to the elbow.

Jackson crushed Tanahashi with a corner splash and a lariat, but he kicked out at two. Eagles and Fujita knocked Yoh, Yano, Chikuzen and Tajiri off the apron. TMDK beat Tanahashi down with corner splashes, a bodyslam, a neck twist and Jackson’s senton. Tajiri broke the pinfall before Jackon laid Yano and Yoh with a double clothesline. Tajiri blinded Jackson with green mist, setting him up for a sling blade from Chikuzen. Tajiri held Jackson’s legs while Tanahashi got the win with High Fly Flow

WINNERS: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano & Yoh & Ryota Chikuzen & Tajiri at 10:24 (***1/4)

(Pomares’ Analysis: Just a fun multiman match to give us a couple of cool spots featuring the Kyushu Pro wrestlers. Aside from the GCW show he did earlier this year, I hadn’t seen anything from Tajiri in a really long time, so just seeing him tangle with Zack Sabre Jr and work together with Tanahashi was kind of surreal to watch.)

(7) SHOTA UMINO & TOMOHIRO ISHII & JUST 4 GUYS (Taichi & Taka Michinoku) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPÓN (Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi & Bushi)

Bushi immediately tagged himself to kick Taichi in the abdomen and throw him out of the ring. Bushi knocked Taka off the apron and rammed Umino into Ishii, setting them up for a double hurracarrana. Taka swept Bushi off his feet, only for Bushi to still take Taichi down with a hurracarrana. Hiromu and Takagi knocked Taichi down with a double shoulder tackle. Taichi laid Hiromu out with a hook kick while Taka knocked Naito off the apron with a pump kick. Hiromu pummeled Taka with chops to the chest, but Taka was able to corner him. Ishii and Hiromu traded chops to the chest, until Ishii clocked Hiromu with a forearm strike. 

Hiromu caught Ishii off-guard with a thrust kick and floored him with a German suplex, only for Ishii to plant him with a Dangerous Driver. Umino knocked Takagi off the apron, but missed an elbow strike into the corner. Hiromu knocked Umino off his feet with a dragon screw, reaching Naito for the tag. Naito hit Umino with a dropkick to the back and swept Taichi off his feet. Naito spiked Taka with a Tornado DDT while Umino and Takagi exchanged numerous lariats and strikes to the chest. Umino spiked Takagi with a Tornado DDT, but Takagi shut him down with a lariat. Taka knocked Naito and Bushi off the apron before clocking Takagi with a pump kick.

Taichi and Ishii attacked Takagi with forearm strikes, setting him up for a thrust kick from Taka. Takagi laid Taka out with a lariat, followed by a series of corner strikes from Bushi and Hiromu. The entirety of LIJ blasted Taka with a quadruple basement dropkick. Takagi and Hiromuor hit Taichi with a thrust kick and a corner clothesline, setting him up for Naito’s Destino. Bushi blasted Umino with a suicide dive into the guadrail while Taka caught Takai with a pump kick. Takagi immediately bounced back with a Pumping Bomber and knocked Taka out with the Last of the Dragon.

WINNERS: Los Ingobernables de Japón at 10:06 (***1/2)

– After the match, Los Ingobernables de Japón did their fist bump one last time. Tetsuya Naito and Bushi posed for the fans before walking away from New Japan Pro Wrestling.

(Pomares’ Analysis: A very standard tag match elevated by the emotional heft of Naito and Bushi’s exit. Naito going out without much fanfare makes sense in character I suppose, but still feels odd considering how big of a star he is. At least, he got to hit one flawless Destino during his last match. I’m still shocked to see Naito leaving New Japan and unlike other people exiting like Cobb, Tama, Okada, White and Ospreay, I have absolutely no idea what is next for Naito if anything at all.)

(8) YOTA TSUJI vs. YUYA UEMURA – IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship

Tsuji put Uemura in a headlock, only for Uemura to knock him down with a pair of arm drags. Tsuji caught Uemura with an arm drag and snapped his arm over his shoulder. Uemura tried to attack Tsuji with forearm strikes, but Tsuji shut him down with a strike to his damaged arm. Tsuji put Uemura in an arm lock, until he was able to reach the ropes. Uemura avoided a corner splash and pummeled Tsuji with chops, but Tsuji retaliated with a big boot to the face. Uemura took Tsuji down with a dropkick and a back suplex for a two count. Tsuji sent Uemura out of the ring with a hurracarrana and rammed him into the guardrail with a suicide dive.

Back in the ring, Tsuji planted Uemura with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and crushed him with a corner splash. Uemura blasted Tsuji with a dropkick to the knee, followed by a knee breaker and a dragon screw. Uemura trapped Tsuj in a Figure 4 leg lock, until he was able to reach the ropes. Tsuji stopped Uemura atop the turnbuckle with an enzuigiri, only for Uemura to knock him down. Uemura laid Tsuji out with a German suplex and avoided a Curb Stomp before taking him down with a dropkick. Tsuji blocked an uranage and slapped Uemura, only for Uemura to evade a clothesline and plant him with an uranage. Uemura laid Tsuji out with a bodyslam, but missed a Frog Splash, hurting his arm in the process.

Tsuji immediately knocked Uemura off his feet with a cross armbreaker to the damaged arm. Uemura was barely able to reach the ropes to break the hold. Uemura tried to attack Tsuji with shoulder tackles and headbutts while clutching his arm, only for Tsuji to shut him down with a single strike to his damaged arm. Tsuji tried to go for the Gene Blaster, but Uemura nailed him with a dropkick to the knee. Uemura shocked Tsuji with a dragon screw and put Tsuji in a Figure 4 leg lock. Tsuji was barely able to roll to the ropes to break the hold.

Tsuji caught Uemura with an enzuigiri, but Uemura immediately put him down with a German suplex. Uemura dropped Tsuji with a bridging dragon suplex for a close two count. Uemura hit Tsuji with a backbreaker and finally crushed him with a Frog Splash for a nearfall. Tsuji blocked the Deadbolt Suplex with a Stunner, only for Uemura to to counter the Gene Blaster with an arm drag. Uemura managed to plant Tsuji with the Deadbolt Suplex, but couldn’t go for the pinfall, allowing Tsuji to take the win with the Gene Blaster.

WINNER: Yota Tsuji at 23:43 (Still IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion) (****1/4)

(Pomares’ Analysis: In a world where Okada’s gone to AEW, Tanahashi is retiring soon and Naito has just left the company, New Japan needs their next generation of stars to truly level up and fill those spots as soon as possible. Shota Umino and Ren Narita have brought mixed results, especially after what we saw at the Tokyo Dome. Thankfully, Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura keep on stepping up and their matches are starting to build what could be a rivalry for the ages. Both men’s selling in this match was top-notch and really made me think for a second that Uemura had this one on the bag.)

– After the match, the rest of Los Ingobernables de Japón, including Tetsuya Naito and Bushi returned to the ring. They posed with Tsuji at the center and did their fist bump one final time. Naito and Bushi walked out of the arena while Tsuji said that he would still fight for the Cerulean Blue. Tsuji called Gabe Kidd to officially set up a rematch for Dominion.

(Pomares’ Analysis: Nice to see Naito and Bushi get one final goodbye alongside Tsuji. Can’t wait to see the rematch with Gabe Kidd at Dominion.)

(9) HIROOKI GOTO (w/Callum Newman) vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (w/The Great-O-Khan & Francesco Akira) – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship

They traded forearm strikes, until Newman nailed Goto with a Pele kick and took him out with a plancha. Newman Irish-whipped Goto into the guardrail and blasted him with kicks to the back. Goto avoided a diving double stomp and nailed Newman with a corner clothesline, followed by a back suplex. Goto clocked Newman with a leg lariat in the corner, followed by a hanging neckbreaker. Newman rolled out of the ring to recuperate but Goto quickly shut him down with a brainbuster for a two count.

Goto maintained control over Newman with strikes to the neck and a Russian leg sweep, setting him up for a headscissors lock. Newman withstood a bunch of strikes to the neck and laid Goto out with a dropkick. Newman crashed into Goto with a massive Tope con Hilo. Back in the ring, Newman nailed Goto with a dropkick to the face and went for a bridging German suplex, hurting his neck in the process. Goto blocked the Fireball and dropped Newman’s neck onto his knee with Ushigoroshi. Goto beat Newman down with forearm strikes, as he put his hands on his back to ask for more.

Newman spat at Goto, only for Goto to clobber him with another forearm strike. Newman fired up and smacked Goto with a chop to the chest and floored him with a German suplex. Goto blocked a running move with GTW, but Newman kicked out at two. Newman avoided a fireman’s carry move and hit Goto with a rising kick, setting him up for an OsCutter on the apron. Goto was barely able to return to the ring, only for Newman to crack him with a running knee to the face. Newman crushed Goto with a diving double stomp for a close two count. Newman withstood a pair of lariats and took Goto down with a Rainmaker, but he kicked out at two.

Goto blocked the OsCutter once, but Newman caught him in his second attempt for a two count. Newman immediately spiked him with a fisherman buster, but he managed to kick out at two. Goto withstood a Penalty kick and turned Newman inside out with a lariat. Goto pummeled Newman with a series of headbutts and floored him with Shouten Kai for a close nearfall. Newman withstood a kick to the chest and got a two count with a roll-through before Goto blasted him with a lariat. Goto blocked Newman’s right hand and knocked him out with GTR.

WINNER: Hirooki Goto at 24:00 (Still IWGP World Heavyweight Champion) (****1/4)

(Pomares’ Analysis: Callum Newman getting to wrestle a main event match for the IWGP Heavyweight title was obviously not the original plan, but credit where credit is due, he absolutely stepped up to the plate. Goto dominated this match and Newman excelled as the underdog, trying to shock the world in the same way wrestlers like Okada did. The result was never in doubt and still I have to admit that there was a moment where I actually thought Newman could pull it off. Great work from Newman and Goto keeps on having one of the best world title reigns in wrestling right now.)

– After the match, Hirooki Goto asked for his next challenger before Zack Sabre Jr showed up to confront him. ZSJ and Goto seemingly set up a rematch, only for Shingo Takagi to interrupt them. Takagi said that he should be the one challenging for the world title. Takagi admitted that ZSJ beat him in their world title match, so he would challenge the winner between him and Goto.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty fun show with the top two matches of Tsuji vs. Uemura and Goto vs. Newman delivering. The build and match card clearly took a hit after the sudden departures of Jeff Cobb and Tetsuya Naito, but they were able to make things work for the most part. I enjoyed the Stardom showcase match, seeing Tajiri in New Japan and Naito hitting a perfect Destino on his way out. Having said that, as much fun as I had with this and the previous night, I don’t think Wrestling Dontaku justified the extension to two nights with so many undercard tag matches. Huge recommend for both title matches on this show, but I wouldn’t consider this whole show a must-see.