(To avoid confusion, I am using the “Road to Destruction” sub-name instead of the “Battle Line Hokkaido” main show name for the post titles. Also the number in the title is only counting televised nights.)
Pre-Show: Zane Jay, Masatora Yasuda def Tatsuya Matsumoto, Katsuya Murashima — (8:44, Boston Crab)
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Pre-bell, Yasuda and Zane start getting in Matsumoto’s face, with Matsumoto grabbing Yasuda by the hair. But it’s Zane who elects to start off with his classmate.
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In his Backstage Comments, Murashima makes a formal bid to Tana to be his partner for WTL.
Tanahashi Final Road ~Connection~: Hiroshi Tanahashi def Master Wato — (10:18, High Fly Flow)
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Today is T minus 102 days to Tana’s retirement. Next time we see him in the ring we’ll be down to double digits.
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Pre-lockup crowd poll started 100% Tana, but as it went on some Watos started coming through.
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If you don’t pay attention to social media, you won’t know that Wato might be the New Gen guy with the closest relationship to Tana. Which is funny because he wasn’t Tana’s attendant (it was GOK); but the two are constantly hanging out together while on the road, doing promotional appearances, or training in the Dojo.
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This was pretty good for what it was. Tana gave Wato a decent amount of offense, then played the hits to put him away. Wato should’ve won IMO.
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Post match, Tana gets his hand raised and then kneels over Wato for a chat. He helps Wato up and to the ropes so he can leave. Then there’s a very brief celebration and fanservice from Tana, which means they probably have a strict curfew in this building.
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In the Backstage Comments, Tana passes the Slingblade down to Wato.
Tomoaki Honma, Toru Yano, Togi Makabe def Shoma Kato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask — (6:53, Boston Crab)
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Tiger and Kato have been undefeated as a tag team on the house shows; which is something to keep in mind heading towards Tiger’s last Junior Tag League.
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After his brief return to the GBH era on our last show, Yano is back to 2025 Yano.
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Shoma Kato leads the charge for his team to jumpstart the match, ending up legal with Yano.
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I’d say skip this only because of the absolutely unholy noises Taguchi made during it.
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Once the winning team exited, they played Tiger’s theme and he did some fanservice as he left. I don’t think they’ll be running another Hokkaido tour until this time next year, so it was probably the last time he’ll wrestle in this area.
Yuya Uemura, Shota Umino, Boltin Oleg def Dick Togo, EVIL, Don Fale — (7:41, Frankensteiner)
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HoT wait until just before the match would usually legally start to attack the faces. Fale and Boltin stay in the ring.
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HoT Shenanigans level: relatively mild, mostly at the end. Dick-to-dick to Yuya lead to a Dick choke, which Shota saved him from. (Shota is still trying to woo the commitment-shy Yuya into becoming a formal tag team.)
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Post match, HoT attacked but were fended off, with Boltin getting the last laugh on Fale.
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In their Backstage Comments, it appears Yuya has finally gotten over whatever weird hang up he had and agreed to formally team up with Shota.
TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii def Gedo, Knock Out Brothers (OSKAR, Yuto-Ice) — (8:24, Tensho Jujiho)
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Post entrances, the teams get in each other’s faces. Taichi throws the first punch, and we get our first crowd brawl of the night.
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Gedo and TAKA end up legal in the ring.
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Bomboclaat level: 1
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This was fine. If you’re going to watch only one K.O.B match in prep for the title match, it should be the Korakuen one.
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Post match, K.O.B attack and hit K.O.B on TAKA, then Yuto KO’s Ishii with a punch and knee. But Taichi gets up and manages to clear the ring.
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Taichi gets a mic: “You punks got just a taste. We'll take care of you in Kobe. I have a big event coming up next month and I have to be a champion. So you aren't getting these belts. As long as you're here, Sapporo is going to rot. get outta here!” (The crowd chants for K.O.B to go home as they head to the back.)
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Taichi continues: “Sapporo, Hokkaido, just like in the G1, thanks for your support. Like I said, October 19, my home of Ishikari. Right where I messed around on the gym mats in middle school is where we'll actually be wrestling. The same building? Apparently that's a first for NJPW. So you'll be there, right? See you next month!”
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He does some fanservice as he leaves.
Taiji Ishimori, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd def Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi — (10:02, Gedo Clutch)
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Tsuji came back a few days ago from his brief string of shows missed due to illness.
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Gabe once again goes out into the crowd during his entrance.
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Finlay is announced as “The Rebal” but his nameplate says “Savage King.” This may or may not be the first time this has happened.
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Gabe starts getting in Shingo’s face as soon as the announcements are over. Dogs do the bark, which Hiromu joins in on, then Shingo leads a brief Oi chant.
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Hiromu and Ishimori start.
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This was good, but didn’t reinvent the wheel. Second War Dogs crowd brawl in a row, though this one was slightly longer.
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Post match, Gabe and Shingo talk shit. Gabe says “you’re Japanese and they support me more than you.”
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Ishimori gets a mic, but Hiromu takes it away: “What are you trying to pull? I haven't lost like that for a while. I can't feel satisfied just beating you in Kobe as the GHC Champion . So on September 28, Hiromu Takahashi vs Taiji Ishimori in Kobe for the GHC Junior Championship! (That was already on the card, just as a Special Singles.) And the winner will go to NOAH in Ryogoku to defend against Eita! Whatever NJPW says, whatever NOAH says, it's on!“
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They continue shit talking for a bit, then Hiromu tries to walk up the ramp to leave but Ishimori directs him to the loser’s aisle.
Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA[Gonzales version], Ren Narita def Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa, Zack Sabre Jr. — (11:15, DQ [Guerrero spot])
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As usual lately, Zack gets right in his current feud partner’s face during his entrance.
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Rare clean House start, with Ren asking for and getting Zack. But just as they’re about to lock up, Ren steps back and flips the bird at Zack, then tags out to Yujiro.
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HoT Shenanigans level: Moderate, again mostly focused at the end; with SANADA doing the Eddie Guerrero possum DQ spot with his guitar to win the match.
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Post match, Ren and Zack brawl on the outside, as they have on pretty much every show. Ren gets the upper hand and brutalizes Zack’s left leg with chairs, then brings him to the ring and hits Hell’s Guillotine.
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When he stands on Zack’s chest and holds up the WHC, there’s a handful of people who cheer. Narita drops the belt on Zack’s chest then leaves.
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Zack is helped to the back by the YL.
IWGP Junior Tag Titles: DOUKI, SHO[c] def Ichiban Sweet Boys (Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles) — (19:42, roll up [with a handful of tights])
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Right after the entrance announcements, SHO and DOUKI try to hit ISB with the belts; but it’s ducked and ISB get the upper hand. Robbie and SHO stay in the ring to start.
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HoT Shenanigans level: Not as bad as you’d think, and a lot of it was thwarted.
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There were two kind of messed up spots right in a row (dives to the outside) and then a weapons spot that looked really goofy, but overall this was mostly very good.
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Post match, Fujita argues with the ref. The House collect their belts and slink off. Fujita grabs a chair and ISB fight through the YL to follow HoT through the curtain.
IWGP Junior Title: El Desperado[c] def YOH — (24:52, Pinche Loco)
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Pre-lockup there’s a light “YOH” chant but it doesn’t hit legit crowd poll level.
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This was great. YOH continued to be super over throughout. They could have pulled the trigger on him here, but if my WK predictions are correct I understand why they didn’t.
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Post match, Despe goes over and pats YOH on the shoulder before standing up to get his hand raised. Then he kneels in front of YOH and puts the title belt on the mat in front of him. YOH touches the belt and the two exchange words then shake hands.
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HoT (minus Ren) come down the ramp; DOUKI heading up the front. The crowd gets excited as he gets on the apron and stares down Despe.
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DOUKI gets a mic: “Congratulations on the defence, fake champion. You never beat me, and yet you have that. How can you walk around and call yourself champion, put that title on the line? A fake champion, a fake king.”
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Despe has a mic: “It's been a while. You have a lot of new friends it seems. Scared to see me face to face? And you're the one calling me fake. So what, you wanna challenge? You should have come on your own. Then it would be on.”
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DOUKI: “That belt is mine. It's a question of how long its value will drop when you have it.”
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Despe: “Didn't you see that match? Every time I'm in there it's elevated. Every word you're speaking is a waste. Get outta here.”
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DOUKI: “I'll leave anytime. But let me say this. That belt is worthless with him holding it, right?” (The crowd chants for DOUKI to leave) “As the real champion, I will take that belt back.”
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Despe: “When? I'm so busy I can't decide my own schedule. You'd better say something so the company can hear.”
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DOUKI: “A real champion would take any fight. In the meantime, SHO and I have belts that we've actually elevated.”
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Despe: “If you won’t get outta here we can't finish this.” (DOUKI tells the “fake Champion” he’ll be seeing him very soon, and then he and HoT leave.)
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Despe closes us out: “Look at the time guys. The real champion is right here, and that's all there is to say.”
———
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by EffingKENTA