Hiroshima sees a pair of singles main events

April 26 sees the Road to Wrestling Dontaku hit Hiroshima’s Sun Plaza Hall,

with a pair of singles matches at the top of the card highlighting Los Ingobernables De Japon’s factional war with the United Empire. 

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Main event: Tetsuya Naito vs Great-O-Khan

Singles record: 1-0 O-Khan

In the main event on April 26, Tetsuya Naito will take to the ring in front of his adopted home crowd in Hiroshima to take on the United Empire’s Great-O-Khan. 

Naito’s fandom of the Hiroshima Carp baseball team, along with the town being the site of his first victory via Destino, has given El Ingobernable a special connection to Hiroshima,

and the crowd will be bringing as much energy as they can muster to their applause tonight.

Yet his opponent will love nothing more than to humiliate Naito in front of his Hiroshima fans and further push ,an advantage over the LIJ leader that he feels he’s maintained since the New Japan Cup. 

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In their first round collision back on March 4 in the Nippon Budokan, Naito seemed to take O-Khan lightly until the Dominator lived up to his name. Dissecting Naito’s knee,

he was relentless in pursuing a stoppage victory as Naito was left unable to return to the back under his own steam. As much as Naito has continued to disparage his opponent since,

addressing him as ‘United Empire’s PR representative’, there is a certain recognition that O-Khan is more than capable of garnering another victory here tonight. 

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After Naito lost the double IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships to Kota Ibushi on January 4 2021, Naito has struggled to make this his year.

Setback after setback has struck for Naito, who is looking for a break from which to bring his familiar resurgence to the forefront.

Yet O-Khan argues that the resurgence is not coming on April 26, and once he picks up another victory over Naito,

there will be no more chances for him to get to the top flight again.

Can Naito overcome, or will O-Khan stake a clear claim to the future of New Japan?

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5th Match: SANADA vs Aaron Henare

In the semi final spot tonight, SANADA goes one on one with Aaron Henare for the first time.

When the former Toa Henare was revealed as the United Empire’s new ultimate weapon at Sakura Genesis,

he moved with a newfound confidence and aggression, and headed directly for Cold Skull SANADA.

Henare’s defection from NJPW’s hontai to United Empire was solidified after .

a crushing New Japan Cup tour that started with a loss to Jay White in the first round, and ended with a six man loss to SANADA. 

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That final night in Xebio Arena Sendai would see SANADA pick up the victory with a simple ,

but effective O’Connor roll, a move first popularized by Henare’s countryman Pat O’Connor.

To Henare this was an unforgivable humiliation, and one that saw him fight to find his own path.

Two weeks later, and Henare would land his new Streets of Rage finisher to score an emphatic pinfall win over the Los Ingobernables De Japon member.

Then on April 18, it was that same move that earned Henare his first career main event victory in Korakuen Hall in tag action, but now it’s a singles affair in Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall.

Will Aaron Henare make a significant step forward as part of the United Empire tonight, or will it be SANADA striking a blow for LIJ against the new faction?

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4th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay)

 Third on the card, a preview of next week’s major championship action sees IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay go up against Shingo Takagi, as they team with Jeff Cobb and BUSHI respectively.

Shingo Takagi has had flashes of success against United Empire during the tour,

with a Yokohama tour opening elimination win and a tag team pinfall victory over Aaron Henare to his credit,

but superior teamwork on the part of Ospreay and his companions have seen them to repeated success. 

Key to United Empire’s victories has been the power of Jeff Cobb, who has given BUSHI more than one Tour of the Islands during this tour of Japan.

Will that same move give United Empire a strong start in Hiroshima, or can BUSHI and Takagi turn the tide?

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3rd Match: Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs BULLET CLUB (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori, Gedo & Dick Togo)

BULLET CLUB engage in ten man action on the third match of the card, as Hiroshi Tanahashi counts down to his May 3 NEVER Open weight Championship bout against Jay White,

and EVIL prepares to challenge KOPW 2021 holder in a Creation of Darkness Blindfold Match in two days at Satsuma no Kuni.

While Yano and Tanahashi have frequently teamed with CHAOS through the tour however, tonight sees Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi and Hiroyoshi Tenzan return to back up the producer and the Ace.

Who will get the upper hand in Hiroshima?

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2nd Match: Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & DOUKI) vs BULLET CLUB (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado)

Round 11 of 13 between these two trios on the Road to Dontaku is second on the billing as we count down to the singles action of May 3.

With both teams so evenly matched, Suzuki-gun pulling slightly ahead to a 6-4 advantage over the weekend live events is quite newsworthy.

Will we see Dangerous Tekkers and DOUKI take a significant advantage? Will DOUKI be any closer to convincing Jado to take a singles matchup? 

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1st Match: Tiger Mask, SHO & YOH vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yujiro Takahashi)

Kicking off the action in Hiroshima, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag team Champions SHO and YOH team with a junior heavyweight living legend in Tiger Mask to take on Suzuki-Gun.

Tiger Mask should match up very intriguingly with Minoru Suzuki in the opener tonight, while El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru make their last statements .

before tagging against Roppongi 3K with the tag gold on the line in the main event on April 28 in Kagoshima.