NJPW Dominion
July 5, 2015
Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan
Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Mascara Dorada & Sho Tanaka def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Yohei Komatsu
This match has a nice flow early on with rotating one-on-one action to showcase everyone’s strengths – Tanaka trying to out-shine Liger and getting caught in the Surfboard stretch, Taguchi trying to butt-bump Tiger and failing, obligatory Tenzan/Nakanishi heavyweight battle, stong-style Nagata/Kojima fight, and finally Komatsu and Dorada cranking up the pace with a fluid, impressive juniors showcase. Inevitably it breaks down into a brawl on the floor and Dorada pins Komatsu with the Screwdriver in all the chaos. Fun opening match.
IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title Match
The Young Bucks (c) def. Rappongi Vice & reDRagon
Hot crowd for everyone, although Rocky was probably the most over individually. The Bucks in full escape mode from the start, doing everything they can not to be directly involved and setting up spots for the other teams to take each other out. Lots of heel comedy spots. Once the action actually got going there were far too many moves to list, but Roppongi controlled a good chunk of the match. Notable spots include Fish with a Falcon Arrow from the top rope, reDRagon with submissions on Roppongi until the Bucks broke them up with 450’s, and the Bucks with a brutal double superkick to Rocky coming off the top rope. More Bang For Your Buck on Rocky for the finish. One of the Bucks yells “what’s up Finn, great match last night” on his way up the ramp.
Tomoaki Honma & Naito def. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Takahashi)
The Club beat down Honma before the match began and Naito just watched as he was making his entrance. Tons of heat for Naito as he refuses to make tags for his partner, watching him fall to the double team over and over again. Eventually Naito does make an apathetic tag and cleans house. Honma ends up winning with the diving headbutt as Naito just stands over him looking unimpressed. He leaves before they get their hands raised and never looks back. Good match, better storytelling.
Winners: Honma & Naito
Katsuyori Shibata def. Sakuraba
So stiff. So good. Shibata hit a dropkick pretty early on, so stiff it made my teeth hurt. He brought the strikes and simple, brutal offense while Sakuraba endured the assault looking for submissions. In one of the most creative spots I’ve ever seen, Sakuraba jumped on his back and put him in an armbar, then hooked the second arm giving him no options, so Shibata broke the hold with his teeth! Shibata with a sleeper hold and a running kick to the face for the win. There needs to be a 25-30 minute version of this match soon.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Match
KUSHIDA def. Kenny Omega (c) – New Champion!
Story of the match was Omega brutally assaulting Kushida’s knee for probably 10-15 minutes. The best match so far, although Kushida really only sold the obliteration of his knee when he was on defense; it would have been nice to see it actually effect his high-flying and running around more than it did later into the match. He won it with a beautiful counter of Omega’s electric chair finisher, into the Fujiwara armbar.
NEVER Openweight Title Match
Togi Makabe (c) def. Tomohiro Ishii
Incredibly physical, enhanced by the fact that Ishii may have actually re-injured his shoulder early into the match. There were a few sketchy spots and miscommunication, which sort of played into Ishii’s selling like he was in a legit street fight. Tons of big suplexes and stiff shots, and the officials came out to check on Ishii and it looked like they were going to stop the match a few times. Makabe retains with a German from the top, followed by a kneedrop to the back of the head.
IWGP Tag Team Title Match
Bullet Club (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) def. The Kingdom (c) (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) – New Champions!
A lot of the match had the focus on Maria Kanellis and Amber Gallows as the hot distractions, with lots of Western style sports entertainment (not a bad thing) added in, which has basically been the M.O. of this program. Maria actually took a superkick, and Bennett just went off on Anderson until taking a Gun Stun on the apron. Taven took the pinfall to crown new champions. A lot of fun to watch at home.
Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Toru Yano
Anyone else hoping this program is over now? The match wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t great either. They had a few nice spots, and both worked well, but it was basically Yano unloading his arsenal on Tanahashi, and Tanahashi winning anyways. Not quite a #LolCenaWins level finish, but not that far from it either.
Intercontinental Title Match
Hirooki Goto (c) def. Shinsuke Nakamura
Just incredible. The match started slow, was well-paced and there was a lot of respect early that definitely broke down the more intense and dramatic the contest got. Nakamura with two Bome Ye’s and two nearfalls to show for them. Goto at one point countered a third attempt into a seamless neckbreaker, which looked really smooth. Nakamura just went full heel-mode on him by the end, actually throwing a stiff punch – not something you really ever see in a New Japan match. Goto with the Shoten Kai for the win to retain.
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match
Kazuchika Okada def. AJ Styles (c) – New Champion!
Best match of the night. When the conversation starts for match of the year, this may not win it for some people, but it will definitely be in the discussion. I don’t know how many times I’ve said “Okada/Tanahashi/Styles have nothing left they can bring to another singles match with each other”, and I don’t know how many times I’ve been proven so, so wrong. They brought everything including the kitchen sink. Tons of Bullet Club interference, and the referee actually threw them out of the match and did the “suck it” taunt to the Young Bucks – just amazing. In a world where Okada almost never needs more than one Rainmaker to get the job done, he needed THREE in this match to win back the title. Rainmaker, German suplex, Rainmaker for the finish. Amazing.
