NJPW Wrestle Dontaku 2025.

[The Natural]

C&P f4wonline.com:

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku – May 3 at the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan

• Dogpound Steel Cage Match: WAR Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Maloney, Clark Connors & Taiji Ishimori) vs. House of Torture (EVIL, SHO, SANADA, Ren Narita, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
• Shingo Takagi vs. Shota Umino
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• Jado & El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & A Mystery Partner
• Ryusuke Taguchi, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Jakob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
• TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii & Yuya Uemura vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji
• Master Wato, YOH, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano vs. Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa
• Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Nagai

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku – May 4 at the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan

• IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto defends against Callum Newman
• IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Yuya Uemura
• TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino vs. BUSHI, HIromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi
• TAJIRI, Chikuzen Ryota, YOH, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.
• El Phantasmo & Oleg Boltin vs. Konosuke Takeshita & A Mystery Partner
• Stardom showcase: Wrestlers from Stardom face each other
• Master Wato & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jakob Austin Young & Great-O-Khan
• Batten Burabura & Mentai Kid vs. Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
• Katsuya Murashima & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jet Wei & Hitamaru Sasaki

Edited April 14 by The Natural

[The Natural]

The first Dogpound Steel Cage went way too long at over an hour.

Looking forward to Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr and Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura.

[Curt McGirt]

Are they gonna pull up the ring boards and shit again?

[Doragon]

They should have Goto kill Callum in below or around 10 mins. 

[lostinube]

Might go to Night 2, especially if it's going to end up being the send-off for Naito and BUSHI.

[lostinube]

Six Kyushu Pro wrestlers on the show (Jet and Sasaki in the dark match, Baten and Mentai in the opener and TAJIRI and Chikuzen Ryota in the tag against TMDK) .

I will laugh if Taguchi pins Sasaki (it will probably be Jet eating the fall).

Mentai Kid is also retiring this year.

TAJIRI and Tanahashi are teaming together for the first time since 2010. Chikuzen Ryota was Makai #2 and he lost his mask to Tanahashi in a U-30 title vs mask match way back in 2003.

[The Natural]

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/new-japan/tetsuya-naito-njpw-mutally-agree-to-not-renew-contract/

Tetsuya Naito to leave NJPW. Bloody hell.

[Sublime]

I know his body is breaking down but he’s my favorite wrestler of the past 15 years at least. Hopefully he can work as a freelancer around Japan and maybe on a more limited schedule to keep his body rested and in better condition. Buuuuut dude has shown little regard for his health so I wouldn’t be surprised if he works and insane schedule. Maybe he can find a Minoru Suzuki like formula to make matches work as he gets older 

[The Natural]

2 minutes ago, Sublime said:

I know his body is breaking down but he’s my favorite wrestler of the past 15 years at least. Hopefully he can work as a freelancer around Japan and maybe on a more limited schedule to keep his body rested and in better condition. Buuuuut dude has shown little regard for his health so I wouldn’t be surprised if he works and insane schedule. Maybe he can find a Minoru Suzuki like formula to make matches work as he gets older 

Tetsuya Naito is one of my all time favourites. Saddens me how broken down he is compared to the likes of Hiroshi Tananashi, Kazuchika Okada and Hirooki Goto. Strong style is punishing. The knackered eyes and knees too. I thought Naito was a lifer there in NJPW.

[Doragon]

He was done in by the more modern style of the last decade. Which i don't really consider Strong Style. Too much "workrate" destroys the body faster too.

I have a soft spot for broken down guys though, so he should go to NOAH and go bald and wear black pants and hit shining wizards.

[Horangi]

Naito/Hiromu vs Dangerous Pitbulls was really good and worth checking out.  It was obvious how broken Naito is, but Taichi & Hiromu in particular carried that one. 

Spoiler

Taichi got the win over Naito, hoping he keeps his momentum and gets a spot in the G1. He's been having a good 2025 so far. Hiromu surely will be in it too. 

 

[lostinube]

Just got back from Night 2 of the Dontaku. Probably one of the better Dontaku shows I've been to match-wise.

Spoiler

Jet Wei is now 0-2 in New Japan.

Ishimori went from the the Dog Pound match to basically a comedy match. I hope New Japan can send Ishimori over for a singles with Mentai Kid as a gift for Mentai's retirement.

Probably didn't need the Hontai vs United Empire tag.

Koguma, Hazuki and Maika are all from Fukuoka so they got the hometown win in a nice standard Stardom tag.

El-P and Takeshita still have a match this weekend so they kept up the heat in a tag where all four guys worked harder than they probably needed to.

The crowd was pumped for the High Fly Flow finish. As I mentioned before Tanahashi has history with Tajiri and Chikuzen Ryota. Ryota is still in good shape. Actually got a bit of shine. Tajiri is not nearly as fast as he used to be.

NAITO! NAITO! NAITO! BUSHI! NAITO! NAITO! NAITO! Takagi got the fall on TAKA. Umino did a swing DDT not long after Naito did one. Stuff like that is why no one likes Shota. LIJ do the pose at the end..and that's sort of it?

Yota and Yuya had a good match where they focused on the arm and leg, respectively. Gabe is next for Yota. Naito came out for the last family group photo. LIJ is over?

Goto did what he was supposed to do: beat Callum up and eat offense only to finish him off. Callum looked great. Maybe ZSJ or Takagi next for Goto.

 

[Evil Otto]

Relatively brief thoughts on May 3rd and 4th:

Spoiler

Two really solid nights. I fully admit that I skimmed a lot of the early matches, but the final four matches on May 3rd and the final three on May 4th are all worth a watch.  

Night one:

-Basically, anything with ELP and Takeshita seems to be a recipe for success.  Tremendous chemistry. One more match on the horizon as well, for the Never title at Resurgence.  
-Takagi gave Umino a pretty solid thrashing, which was definitely a clue that Takagi was being set up for higher aspirations later on... 
-The Dog Pound match was not as beyond comprehension as last year's spectacle, but with HoT in there, probably for the best.  There were no staggered WarGames-like entrances nor an overly excessive amount of insane spots.  In this sense, the action never really died down and the crazy spots came across better because there was no numb feeling to them, at least on my end.  Last year's match was divisive, and I completely get why;  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and this one as well.  One person who surprised me and really brought the violence was Sanada.  Who knew?  I get the sense Drilla v. Sanada may be a future singles match, and you know, I would actually like to see that.  All the War Dogs looked impressive, which is of course why they won (they're the better group, period).  The final spot with Gabe and Narita was brutal.  It's notable that Gabe gets the win for the team, but to be fair, Finlay and Evil were busy setting up a dog collar match due to the final angle.  As far as stipulation matches go in New Japan, I don't really mind, as long as they're not too frequent, and more important, that they deliver.  This match certainly did.

-I feel it's worth noting that Konosuke Takeshita was on Japanese commentary for at least the final two matches, complete with Shingo giving him a stare down after his match;  it really makes me wonder.  They sure were highlighting him significantly this weekend.  

Night two:

-It certainly felt weird seeing Naito and Bushi do their farewells, almost a tinge of not necessarily sadness, but closer to disbelief in the crowd.  Objectively speaking, it was intriguing to watch for that reaction in and of itself.  
-Tsuji v. Uemura was really good, but I think there are even greater matches in the future between these two.  I mean that as a compliment.  Gabe v. Tsuji next; I like the fact that Tsuji already has a bunch of seemingly eternal rivals.  That bodes well for when they finally do give him the IWGP title.  
-I really enjoyed Goto v. Callum.  Goto worked his magic and Callum completely stepped up to make it all work in the end.  
-With all the Kyushu connections, Stardom representation, the Naito (and Bushi) farewell, and the top two matches being very high quality, this was a very enjoyable show.   

 

 

Edited May 4 by Evil Otto

[Evil Otto]

26 minutes ago, lostinube said:

Just got back from Night 2 of the Dontaku. Probably one of the better Dontaku shows I've been to match-wise.

I'm glad to hear that you actually went!  They went full-on Kyushu-friendly on night two, I thought that was really cool on New Japan's part.  

[lostinube]

25 minutes ago, Evil Otto said:

I'm glad to hear that you actually went!  They went full-on Kyushu-friendly on night two, I thought that was really cool on New Japan's part.  

I don't know how it came off on the broadcast but you could tell from the crowd responses that even though it was predominantly a New Japan audience, quite a lot of people were familiar with the Kyushu Pro guys. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that Mentai Kid's retirement was coming up so soon. His last match is with his eternal rival Genkai next Sunday.

Also:

https://x.com/chikuzenryota/status/1918963205855924675

Edited May 4 by lostinube

[Ace]

ZSJ gets the first title shot this upcoming weekend in Ontario, CA. Takagi faces the winner.

 

[Horangi]

I'll try keep it brief (brief for me anyway)

 

Spoiler

NIGHT 1

Shinpei Nogami is still my favourite announcer in the world - my Japanese is rubbish but it doesn't matter. Nothing major from undercard, TAKA getting booed for stopping the BUSHI rocket did make me chuckle. ELP vs Takeshita was predictable, but still very good. Apparently Chris Charlton was pushing the boundaries again on comms about Rocky but I didn't hear it. Tanahashi on his last legs is still producing miracles, really enjoyed his match with Zack. Takagi was extra grumpy and I loved it against Shota, and I think Shota is starting to show more of what people want from him in matches. My thought was if Shota failed against Takagi then there was no hope...maybe he just needs more matches with the the grumpy brawlers like Takagi and Ishii. 

A lot to unpack with the War Dogs/HOT cage match. Last years Dog Pound Cage Match was more of a spectacle, but this is the better match of the two in my opinion. Cutting time by having everyone start at once helped. A lot of violence, so depending on how you feel about fork spots and heads being smashed through things this may or may not be for you. Cannot believe I heard a Gedo chant in 2025, but full props to him for at least trying that dive off the cage. Narita, Gabe, Drilla and suprisingly SANADA really shined in this match. I fully expected Jake Lee to return here or Shota to run in and screw the Dogs, but I with the Dog Collar match coming up likely at Dominion I expect either of those may happen there. My biggest takes ultimately that Gabe is ready to lead the Dogs if Finlay leaves, and Narita is ready to step up. 

NIGHT 2

It was nice to see some variety here with the Kyushu guys and the STARDOM tag. I remember Chikuzen from his Makai Club days and K-DOJO teaming with Mashimo, good to see he still looks great. There's some speculation Tanahashi may make a stop in Kyushu Pro on his retirement road to face TAJIRI, but lets see. I don't really have many thoughts that others haven't stated about Naito/BUSHI leaving, I just think Naito knows he's on borrowed time as a wrestler and wants to do things on his terms while he still can, so I think we'll see him again in NJPW. 

This was the best Tsuji/Uemura match so far, but I still think they have better matches in them together. I think people expected more urgency in the match similar to the Gabe match instead of the slower more traditional build. Last 5 minutes were great though. Gabe I think wins at Dominion, Tsuji is probably over enough now to be in the World title scene. Callum did well against Goto, but it went too long. At this stage I think Goto should just hold until the Dome, have a big monster reign to put over a G1 winning Tsuji or Uemura. 

 

[Ace]

Charlton was fine with Rocky. He just accused him of using his power on behalf of the Callis family.

 

[Salads]

No spoiler tags from me.

 

On 4/16/2025 at 10:19 AM, lostinube said:

Chikuzen Ryota was Makai #2 and he lost his mask to Tanahashi in a U-30 title vs mask match way back in 2003.

I knew I knew that name!

 

On 4/16/2025 at 2:32 PM, DragonZombie said:

He was done in by the more modern style of the last decade. Which i don't really consider Strong Style. Too much "workrate" destroys the body faster too.

I have a soft spot for broken down guys though, so he should go to NOAH and go bald and wear black pants and hit shining wizards.

Obviously Naito's knees are gone and his style wasn't built around longevity, but I think his eyes are holding him back more than anything at this stage. Having to have everything spoon-fed to him in the ring and it has to be a risk if he can't know exactly where his opponents/the ropes are as seems to be the case. Guess it didn't stop Stan Hansen though.

 

On 5/4/2025 at 3:40 PM, Evil Otto said:

Relatively brief thoughts on May 3rd and 4th:

  Hide contents

I feel it's worth noting that Konosuke Takeshita was on Japanese commentary for at least the final two matches, complete with Shingo giving him a stare down after his match;  it really makes me wonder.  They sure were highlighting him significantly this weekend. 

I don't know what the immediate plans are for Takeshita but there have been numerous signs all pointing towards him laying down roots in New Japan long term, and if that's the case then yes you highlight away.

 

The announcement of this second Dogpound match made me realise that the stip had earned the kind of reverence that HIAC used to have. Even with it being a drag to sit through the first changed/ended careers, had undeniable jeopardy, was unlike anything else in the company and was (unfortunately for yesterday's show) completely un-toppable. So this did a great job to match expectations. I'm not a fan of blood but have to admit that Gabe and Ren covered in the red stuff here provided visuals they can take to the bank. Ren got the boost he needed and the Gabe train keeps on choo-chooing.

I too thought that Goto/Newman went too long, but Newman looked came across far better than what I was seeing of him last year. For those who wanted to see Goto get his rewards with his title win, he seems to be loving his role of sending everyone home happy on the mic as champion.