NJPW “ROAD TO KINGDOM 1ST”, 12/23/11 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,900 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Kyosuke Mikami beat Hiromu Takahashi (6:20) with a crab hold.
2. Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hideo Saito beat Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & Gedo (10:41) when Saito used the Caribbean Death Grip on Gedo.
3. Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii beat Yuji Nagata, Wataru Inoue & King Fale (10:25) when Nakamura used the Boma Ye on Fale.
4. Special Singles Match: Satoshi Kojima beat Karl Anderson (9:23) with a lariat.
5. Special Singles Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Giant Bernard (9:28) with a side cradle.
6. Special 8 Man Tag Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA beat Minoru Suzuki, Yoshihiro Takayama, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi (15:50) when KUSHIDA used the 9469 on Taichi.
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt (c) beat Rocky Romero (18:35) with the Bloody Sunday (3rd defense).
8. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Masato Tanaka (c) beat Tomoaki Honma (22:40) with the Sliding D (3rd defense).

* Both IWGP titles defended successfully and both were said to be very good matches, especially Tanaka vs. Honma which saw the underdog Honma push Tanaka quite far in a 20+ minute match before ultimately succumbing to the Sliding D.

* TenKoji bested Bad Intentions in two singles matches but can they do the same for the IWGP Tag Team Title on 1/4?

* Jushin Thunder Liger made his long awaited return before the show after a very lengthy stay in CMLL.

* New Japan also paid tribute to the late Umanosuke Ueda, who passed away at the age of 71 the other day. Ueda was a top heel in the 1970s and was the inspiration for Tatsutoshi Goto, Mr. Gannosuke, and Toru Yano’s heel personas.