Team Okada is complete.
Hiroshi Tanahashi has declared himself as the final partner for Kazuchika Okada's team at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku. He will join Okada & Tomohiro Ishii as they challenge Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Titles.
When Ren Narita and Shota Umino faced Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada on March 11 in a special tag attraction match during the New Japan Cup, few were too surprised when age and experience triumphed over youthful enthusiasm. Yet while the Son of Strong Style felt burned at losing alongside a Dojo classmate in Umino, his confidence as a NEVER 6 Man Champion has only continued to be buoyed. Alongside his Strong Style partners, Narita picked up a victory and defended against HOUSE OF TORTURE, and had revenge on his mind immediately afterward.
Narita called out Okada and dared the Rainmaker to find two partners to face Strong Style in Fukuoka. While pundits suspected the inclusion of Tomohiro Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi, the subsequent Road to Dontaku was rather complicated. Ishii battled El Desperado in Washington DC, and their battle proved to be a flashpoint of an intense war that was waged through the rest of the tour, but the Stone Pitbull made a point of saying he wouldn’t team with Tanahashi, wanting anm all CHAOS team to challenge.
Meanwhile Tanahashi’s path to inclusion was made challenging by injury. At Capital Collision, the Dream team of Okada and Tanahashi were unsuccessful in their attempt to win the STRONG Openweight Tag team Championships, and the Ace would also leave with a broken rib. On April 30, Tanahashi announced on social media that he was cleared and would be in Fukuoka to take the open spot; hours later, Okada confirmed the decision in Kumamoto. That prompted Ishii to storm out in anger; will Ishii accept the Ace, and will this team of three be on point enough to beat a well oiled machine in the championship side?
Here is the current lineup for NJPW Wrestling Dontaku:
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (5/3)
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
- NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga (c) vs. David Finlay
- NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hiroshi Tanahashi
- NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Jeff Cobb
- NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs. Hikuleo
- Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
- Shota Umino, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira & TJP
- Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita vs. Great-O-Khan & Aussie Open
- Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & YOH vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
Fightful will have coverage of NJPW Wrestling Dontaku on May 3.
