The Ace is picking up speed towards the finish line!

Hiroshi Tanahashi prepares for Kazuchika Okada at WrestleKingdom with his Final Road to Tokyo Dome, and a series of last-time-ever showdowns! Tonight: The Ticking Timebomb!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Six Man Tag: Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda VS Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Zane Jay; Tiger Mask, Taguchi & Zane win.
• 8 Man Tag: Toru Yano, YOH, Master Wato & Shoma Kato VS Bishamon, Boltin Oleg & Tatsuya Matsumoto; Bishamon, Oleg & Matsumoto win.
• Six Man Tag: El Desperado, KUUKAI & Katsuya Murashima VS SHO, DOUKI & Yujiro Takahashi; Sho, Douki & Yujiro win.
• 8 Man Tag: Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & Satoshi Kojima VS EVIL, SANADA, Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru; Evil, Sanada, Narita & Kanemaru win, by disqualification.
• Six Man Tag: Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi & Gedo VS Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young; Yota, Takagi & Gedo win, by disqualification.
• 8 Man Tag: OSKAR, Yuto-Ice, Taiji Ishimori & Daiki Nagai VS TMDK; TMDK wins.
• Hiroshi Tanahashi VS Hiromu Takahashi; Tanahashi wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

After 8 Man Tag: Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, Taichi & Satoshi Kojima VS EVIL, SANADA, Ren Narita & Yoshinobu Kanemaru…

The Cold-Blooded Snake tricks the ref with the Eddie Guerrero style fake hit! The King of Bread Style is caught holding the guitar, so the ref DISQUALIFIES Hontai! But of course the House of Torture has to add on by beating up Kojima, Taichi, Shota and Yuya! BUT AARON WOLF IS HERE! Only for Dick Togo to use the SPOILER CHOKER! The fans boo, but Taichi gets a chair! The Holy Emperor runs The King of Darkness and all his minions off, but Evil shows off his NEVER Openweight Championship. Will the House of Torture NEVER stop lying, cheating, and stealing victories?

Hontai regroups, and while they thank Wolf for the assist, Taichi and Kojima start to argue. Then they start shoving! The others get in there right as Taichi BOOTS Kojima! Shota and Yuya get the fighting to stop but Taichi and Kojima still seem to blame the other for their losses. Will Hontai be able to hold it together this close to the holidays?

8 Man Tag: OSKAR, Yuto-Ice, Taiji Ishimori & Daiki Nagai VS TMDK!

The Knock Out Brothers know that “The Chin & The Mullet” are coming after the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for WrestleKindom 20, so consider this an appetizer! But will the Bone Soldier and Young Lion help Oskar & Ice get the win? Or will Zack, “Roy,” Hartley & Kosei show everyone that The Mighty Don’t Kneel?

The teams sort out, but ZSJ and Yuto get face to face. The ref tells them to back down, there’s still a lot of pushing and staring down, and even Yuto pie-facing ZSJ. Eventually, the teams calm it down and we start with Taiji and Fujita. The fans rally as the two circle. They feel things out, knuckle lock, then Taiji shoots in. Fujita wrenches, Taiji wrenches, but Fujita wrenches back. Taiji rolls, spins, wrenches to hammerlock, but Fujita switches that onto Taiji. Taiji drop toeholds  to headlock, but Fujita slips out the back to have the hammerlock. Taiji fights up, Fujita full nelsons, then Fujita spins Taiji to hammerlock then headlock.

Taiji endures the grind, then powers up to put Fujita on the ropes. The ref counts, but Fujita turns things around. The ref counts again, Fujita backs off, but he takes a swing! Taiji ducks the chop to kick and whip! Taiji drops down, hurdles, but into the DROPKICK! Fujita says he’s too smart for that. Fujita brings Taiji up, but Taiji pokes him in the eye! Taiji whips corner to corner, runs in, but Fujita goes up and over! Fujita then ducks a shot, spins Taiji, and pokes him in the eye! Fujita winds up and CHOPS! The fans cheer, and then ZSJ & Oiwa go after Oskar & Yuto on the outside! ZSJ whips Yuto into railing, but Oskar sends Oiwa into railing!

Yuto and ZSJ brawl on one side, Oskar and Oiwa go off into the crowd on the other side, and Fujita tags Hartley. They dig their boots into Taiji while ZSJ SLAMS Yuto’s arm against railing! ZSJ UPPERCUTS Yuto, Oskar CLUBS Oiwa, and Hartley CLUBS Taiji! Hartley CHOPS Taiji down, then SPLASHES DOWN! Cover, TWO! Hartley drags Taiji up, sends him to the corner, then tags ZSJ. ZSJ drags Taiji up to wrench, wrench, and cording hold, then top wristlock. ZSJ wrangles Taiji to then STOMP the arm! The fans fire up, but ZSJ SPITS at Yuto! Yuto rushes in and fires shots on ZSJ! They fire shots back and forth while the fans fire up!

ZSJ wrenches to PELE the arm! Oiwa keeps Taiji down, then he tags in. Oiwa drags Taiji up to grind the arm. Taiji powers up to whip Oiwa away, but Oiwa RUNS him over! And arm-drags! Oiwa has the armlock, but Taiji fights up, so Oiwa wrenches and whips. Oiwa runs in, Taiji dodges, and Taiji arm-drags! Oiwa headscissors, Taiji kips free, and Taiji dropkicks the legs out! Both men are down, but Taiji crawls, hot tag to Oskar! Oskar CLOBBERS Oiwa and BLASTS the TMDK corner! Oskar scuffs Oiwa, talks trash, then CHOPS him down! The fans cheer while Oskar swaggers around. But Oiwa gets up and steps to Oskar!

Oskar eggs Oiwa on so Oiwa fires forearm after forearm! Oskar CHOPS Oiwa, then eggs him on again. Oiwa fires forearms and CHOPS on repeat, but Oskar kicks low! Oskar scoops, Oiwa slips free, and Oiwa ROCKS Oskar! Oskar swings, but Oiwa blocks the chop! Oiwa wrenches, and wrenches, and YANKS the arm! Oiwa whips but Oskar grabs ropes. Oskar kicks low, Oiwa dodges the boot, and Oiwa returns to ROCK Oskar! Oiwa keeps moving, he ducks ‘n’ dodges, but Oskar scoops! FLYING MARE TAKEDOWN! Cover, TWO! Oiwa ROCKS Oskar again! Oiwa roars, the fans fire up, and Oiwa reels in, but Oskar fights the lift!

Oskar CLUBS Oiwa again and again! Oskar CLUBS Oiwa down, goes to a corner, but Oiwa avoids another boot! ARM-DRAG! DROPKICK! The fans fire up and Oiwa hurries, hot tag to ZSJ! PENALTY- NO! Oskar blocks the kick! ZSJ SLAPS Oskar again and again, but Oskar scoops to SLAM! ZSJ writhes, Oskar catches his breath, and Oskar tags Yuto. Ice runs to BLAST Fujita & Hartley, then he swaggers over to ZSJ. Yuto kicks and scuffs ZSJ, eggs him on, but ZSJ gets up to fire a forearm! And another! Yuto eggs him on, ZSJ fires again, so Yuto fires back! The fans fire up and ZSJ UPPERCUTS! And UPPERCUTS, and UPPERCUTS!

ZSJ eggs Yuto on, but Yuto DECKS him! The fans fire up, and Yuto stands ZSJ up. Yuto fires KICK after KICK in the corner, then SOBATS! Time to get gangsta, “BOMBACLAT!” DOUBLE KNEES! ZSJ is ragdoll and Yuto taunts him. The fans rally up, Yuto sits ZSJ up, then Yuto runs, but ZSJ blocks the kick! Yuto kicks free of the kneebar, but ZSJ BOOTS him! ZSJ runs, Oskar scoops! Gut wrench, but ZSJ slips free! Oiwa gets Yuto, STEREO SLEEPERS! But Oskar THROWS ZSJ away! Yuto ducks The Grip, and Oskar BOOTS Oiwa down! Oskar deadlifts ZSJ for the SLAM! But ZSJ avoids the elbow drop! PENALTY KICK!

Yuto runs up and BOOTS ZSJ! All four men are down and the fans fire up again! ZSJ and Yuto crawl, hot tags to Hartley and Daiki! Hartley CLOBBERS Daiki! Cover, TWO! Hartley fires up, the fans are with him, and he fireman’s carries! But Taiji kicks low! Taiji CLAWS Hartley’s eyes, whips, but Hartley reverses, only for Taiji to handspring! RED DOT GAMANGIRI! Fujita kicks Taiji, ducks Daiki, and sends Daiki into Taiji! Fujita CHOPS Daiki, runs, but into DOUBLE DROPKICKS! The fans fire up, and Taiji KICKS Hartley! He and Daiki double whip, but Hartley’s a lot to lift! Taiji runs to BOOT Hartley, and Daiki SPINEBUSTERS! High stack, TWO!

The fans fire up with Daiki as he gets the legs! But Hartley’s a lot to turn over, too! Daiki manages it, and has the BOSTON CRAB! But Hartley powers right out! The brawling starts up again on the outside while Daiki sputters. Daiki fires forearms on Hartley, then runs to ROCK Hartley again and again! ROLLING ELBOW, DROPKICK, and- LARIAT from Hartley! SENTON! Cover, TWO!?! Daiki survives, the fans fire up, but Hartley gets Daiki up! DEATH VALLEY BOMB! Cover, TMDK wins!

Winners: TMDK, by pinfall

Hartley Jackson Number One, but this fight is far from over! The Knock Out Brothers are itching for that match with The Chin & The Mullet, but will there be many more “appetizers” on this Road to Tokyo Dome?

Wait, there seem to be some leftovers! They just brawl in the crowd! The Young Lions get in there, but Oiwa still has Oskar’s leg! ZSJ throws a chair, and some railing! This is that Suzuki-Gun ZSJ as he and Yuto keep going! Yuto THROWS ZSJ into a wall, then drags him to the back! Oiwa and Oskar are comparatively calm, and Oskar leaves it at trash talking. Will either of these teams even make it to the New Year?

Hiroshi Tanahashi VS Hiromu Takahashi!

The Ace’s Final Road to Tokyo Dome begins with a “connection” and he faces The Ticking Timebomb for the last time, but also 1v1 for the first time! Will Tanahashi pick up speed towards WrestleKingdom? Or will Hiromu be a speedbump right from the start?

Tanahashi takes off the jacket and the fans cheer the abs. The bell rings and the fans rally for “TA-NA-H’SHI!” right away. Tanahashi and Hiromu circle as the “HI-RO-MU!” fans start making themselves known. They circle, tie up, and Tanahashi powers Hiromu to ropes. Hiromu turns things around, Red Shoes calls the break, and Hiromu slowly backs away. The fans applaud the clean break, and the two reset. They feel things out, knuckle lock, and Hiromu slips around to waistlock. Tanahashi wrenches through, wristlocks, but Hiromu wrenches to waistlock then headlock. Tanahashi powers up and pries the hold open, but Hiromu powers it back closed!

The fans rally, Tanahashi fires hands, then he pops out to headlock. Tanahashi hits the takeover, Hiromu headscissors, but Tanahashi kips free. The fans cheer the standoff, and the two reset. They circle, tie up, and Hiromu CHOPS! Tanahashi eggs him on so Hiromu CHOPS again! Hiromu CHOPS and CHOPS and CHOPS Tanahashi in the corner, but Tanahashi fires a forearm! Hiromu CHOPS again, Tanahashi fires a forearm, and repeat! Hiromu CHOPS, runs, but Tanahashi ELBOWS him away! Tanahashi goes up to CROSSBODY! The fans cheer, but Tanahashi skips the air guitar to ELBOW DROP!

Hiromu tumbles out of the ring, the fans rally behind Tanahashi, and Tanahashi waits on Hiromu. Hiromu goes around the outside, slides in, and he catches Tanahashi unaware! Dropkick to the leg! Hiromu then stomps a leg, and drops an elbow on it! Hiromu pulls on the toehold, but Tanahashi fights back with a chinlock. Hiromu pulls on the leg, then stands up to stomp, stomp, and ELBOW DROP again! Hiromu ties up the legs, works to turn Tanahashi over, but Tanahashi fights against it! Tanahashi backstrokes his way to the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer, Hiromu lets go at 4, and he DROPKICKS Tanahashi’s leg again!

Hiromu DROPKICKS Tanahashi in the side, then eggs him on. The fans rally, Tanahashi rises, and he ROCKS Hiromu! Hiromu CHOPS! Tanahashi fires another forearm, so Hiromu fires another CHOP! Tanahashi fires another forearm, Hiromu fires another CHOP, and then Hiromu CHOPS, CHOPS, and eggs Tanahashi on! Tanahashi fires a flurry of forearms! Hiromu CHOPS! Tanahashi leans against the ropes and the fans rally up. Hiromu CHOPS again, and again, and again! The fans rally up, Hiromu whips corner to corner, then he runs in and LARIATS! Snapmare and basement DROPKICK! Cover, TWO!

The fans rally up as Tanahashi grits his teeth. Hiromu brings Tanahashi up, fireman’s carries, but Tanahashi fights free. Hiromu mule kicks, front kicks, then CHOPS! Hiromu whips, but Tanahashi FLYING FOREARMS! The fans fire up with Tanahashi and he fires fast hands! Tanahashi then scoops to SLAM Hiromu! Tanahashi goes up the corner while the fans cheer, and SUNSET SENTON! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up again, “GO ACE! GO ACE!” Hiromu sputters, Tanahashi builds speed, but Hiromu ducks the slingblade to wristlock and ripcord!? Tanahashi ducks the Rainmaker and wags his finger. Then he blocks a kick! DRAGON SCREW!

Tanahashi gets the legs, he ties them up and turns Hiromu over, TEXAS CLOVERHOLD! Hiromu endures, reaches out, fights forward, but Tanahashi drags him back! The fans rally as Tanahashi sits deep on the hold! Hiromu pushes up! Hiromu fights forward again, and he has the ROPEBREAK! Tanahashi lets go and the fans rally up again. Tanahashi eggs Hiromu on, then runs the ropes, but Hiromu ducks again! Wrench, wrench, and Hiromu fires back elbows a la Naito! And then he fires more elbows! Tanahashi rises up, so Hiromu fires more elbows! Hiromu then brings Tanahashi up, wrenches and DEST- NO, Tanahashi throws him away!

Hiromu comes back, slips around, ripcord and RAINMAKER!! Hiromu fires up, fireman’s carries, and TIMEBOMB 1.5!! Cover, TWO!! Tanahashi survives and the fans fire up again! Hiromu drags Tanahashi up with a dragon sleeper, and TIME- NO, Tanahashi slips through to dragon sleeper in return! Hiromu flails as Tanahashi squeezes tight! Hiromu is fading as Tanahashi thrashes around! Red Shoes checks, the fans rally, and Hiromu gets a second wind! Hiromu rises up to spin things around, but Tanahashi TWIST ‘N’ SHOUT! Tanahashi stands Hiromu back up, but Hiromu goes to suplex! Tanahashi blocks that, so Hiromu SUPERKICKS!

Hiromu roars, runs, but into a SLINGBLADE! But Hiromu’s right up! The fans fire up as Tanahashi runs again, SLINGBLADE! Hiromu flounders, Tanahashi covers, TWO!! Hiromu survives, the fans fire up again, and Tanahashi roars! Tanahashi goes to a corner but Hiromu anchors a leg! The fans rally as Hiromu rises up, so Tanahashi eggs him on. Hiromu stands, but the DRAGON PALM knocks him down! Tanahashi fires up again, goes up the corner, and HIGH FLY ATTACK! Hiromu is down and the fans fire up with Tanahashi! Hiromu again anchors Tanahashi’s foot, rises up, and swings, but Tanahashi gets around!

Tanahashi ripcords to SLINGBLADE! The fans fire up again and Tanahashi climbs! HIGH FLY FLOW!! Cover, Tanahashi wins!

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi, by pinfall

The Timebomb pushed The Ace, but he could not beat The Ace, and this Final Road to Tokyo Dome is off to a triumphant start! Tanahashi gets the mic to say, “NJPW has returned to Takasaki!” The fans cheer, and Tanahashi continues, “This was my last match in Gunma, so thank you for your support. The time goes by so fast. As the month draws to a close, I only have three matches left.” The fans applaud that, and Tanahashi says, “Ever since my debut, I gave it my all every single night to get to this point. And now as a result, all of you have come out here for us and I appreciate that. Thank you. But I feel so sad! So sad! Sad, but grateful.”

The fans applaud, and Tanahashi sets the mic down, but it wouldn’t be a Tanahashi farewell if we didn’t get the air guitar! Tanahashi gets one from the local fans, and it is a “big pass” for a big catch! The fans cheer, and Tanahashi shouts for Maebashi, but duh, we’re in Takasaki. Tanahashi drops to his hands and knees in embarrassment, but the fans cheer him on anyway. “Takasaki! IKO ZE!” The fans cheer as the air guitar concert begins! He sends the guitar back at the end, but the fans of course want the encore! Tanahashi looks to another side, and Katsuya Murashima “throws” another one in! “LASTO~!”

The fans cheer as we get the encore, and Tanahashi SMASHES this guitar! The fans still want an encore, though! Tanahashi gives in, and he gets another guitar from the fans. “LASTO!” Tanahashi rocks out again, and he does the jump! The fans cheer while Tanahashi rests back on the mat. The fans cheer, “TANAH’SH SAEKO! <Tanahashi’s The Best!>” Tanahashi stands up, grabs the mic again, and says, “That was my full set. Thank you for selling out the Tokyo Dome! There’s one thing I want to try. When I went to the Dome as student, we did a big wave around the Tokyo Dome, and I was like, ‘Wow~!’ I want to try that here tonight.”

The fans like the sound of it, and Tanahashi directs how to start. And it begins! “That’s it! Let’s do it at the Tokyo Dome! Shall we practice once more?” The fans cheer, and they go again! Tanahashi is pleased and he thanks them for indulging him. And so, as WrestleKingdom approaches, Tanahashi knows the stars of NJPW will give it their all until the very end! Now, for the final, final, FINAL time here, MAEBASHI- NO, that’s still wrong! The fans tease and boo Tanahashi for forgetting again. Tanahashi apologizes, and says he was just kidding. He gets on all fours to apologize again, and all is forgiven. So then Takasaki, AISHITEMAAAAAAASU~!

The fans cheer and Tanahashi hops out to have final photo-ops with them. The Final Road to Tokyo Dome has only just begun, but will it stay on course? Or will there be some speedbumps along the way?

My Thoughts:

A great start for this Tokyo Dome series, especially as Tanahashi’s last one. Mostly tune-up matches, but I appreciate the stories they’re getting going. Taichi and Kojima arguing is not how I saw that going for Hontai losing to House of Torture, but maybe it’s not the right time for Yuya and Shota to fall apart. Callum getting his team disqualified again, he is just asking for the madness of the Dog Cage match where it is just violence all around ringside. Very good 8 Man Tag to help hype up the tag title match, but of course Daiki took the loss.  There’s still a couple events before WK so the go-home math isn’t finalized.

And a great main event match, and I like Hiromu using the signature moves of not just those who left NJPW but who have storied rivalries with Tanahashi. Tanahashi of course won, and I think that’s the first time he forgot where they were. But he’s been on a whirlwind tour for his retirement, what with World Tag League being just before this, he’s allowed one mistake. But to his point, he’s truly in the endgame, he’ll likely win all his Road to Tokyo Dome matches as he’ll be losing to Okada, per tradition.

My Score: 8.8/10