#how concerned okada was at the end tho <3

[justanotherprowrestlingblog]

NJPW Dominion Review: 

saturday june 9th, from the Osaka Jo Hall in Osaka)

IGWP Jr Tag Team Championship: Roppongi3K vs El Desperado&Kanemaru:[***]

Fun little match to start the night off, maybe a little too much shenenigans on the final stretch but at least it was enjoyable. Probably the best match from the champs in quite a few months at least since they won the titles and here in dominion they kept the titles, thanks to some of their sneaky heel tattics. I wish Roppongi3K could regain the titles but they are still very young so they will have more opportunities in the future. Wonder who will be the next challengers for Kanemaru and Despy if their feud with the Chaos member is over.

Winners and still IGWP Jr Tag Team Champions: Kanemaru&El Desperado

Juice Robinson&David Finlay vs Jay White&Yoshi Hashi:[**3/4]

The match was ok and it was mainly done to develop the feud between White and Robinson and keep their title match probably for the G1 special in the US, rather than have this match on a quite stacked card like today's one. The final stretch was the best part of the match as Finlay went for the stunner on Yashi, Blade runner from White on Finlay and then Juice capitalised with a big left punch followed by his Pulp friction for the win. I think it's time for Juice to win something in New Japan as he improved so much after he got with the company and the US could be a good start, while Switchblade could move and try to capture the Never Openweight title or the IC Title, since they are more important than the US title.

Winner: Juice Robinson&David Finlay

Minoru Suzuki&Zack Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii vs Toru Yano:[**3/4]

I wasn't expecting much from this match as it was marely a filler but in some parts it was actually fun: Ishii and Suzuki trading shots was cool as heel and the finish was nice too as Zack blocked with his tights the lowblow from Yano and then trapped him in one of his submissions and made him tap. Actually the post match was better than the match itself as Ishii went after Minoru and they beat the living crap out of each other as i feel they will have a big match during the G1. And speaking of G1, Sabre Jr could actually be an interesting outsider for the victory of the tournament.

Winners: Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr

Never Openweight Title: Taichi vs Michael Elgin vs Hiroki Goto:[***1/4]

First title change of the night as Elgin captures the Never Openweight title for the first time in his career. The match was solid and well booked: Elgin-Goto trying to keeping the match between themselves, Taichi doing sneaky things and using Miho (Miho marry me) at his advantage but for me Elgin winning the title wasnt't a good idea. While i'm happy Goto lost because it was time to have a new champ, i also thought it could have been the right moment to have push Taichi after he got better since he moved in the heavyweight division. Elgin is a good wrestler but it would have been cool for New Japan to believe in a young wrestler for once but i guess they don't want to waste him yet or probably the have better plans for him.

Winner AND NEW Never Openweight Champion: Michael Elgin

IWGP tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs EVIL&Sanada:[****1/4]

My god what a stunning match from these two team. Finally NJPW delivers a great tag team match since the Bucks-Golden Lovers showdown at SSE. I loved how they booked it and the spots were really cool: the indy taker from the champs, the sharpshooter from Matt and Sanada applying the skull head...the first sick double superkick from the bucks on EVIL and the one in mid air. Storytelling wise it was great too and it's something where the Bucks got so much better and finally they are proving everyone that they are not just superkicks and flips: Nick selling the injury was cool as hell especially when he couldn't do the springboard that leads to the indytaker and for once it wasn't Matt the one who was injuried for the whole match. Also, as Kevin Kelly said in the post match, Bucks had a big weight and size disadvantage and them overcaming the odds is a cool storyline to tell. Bucks winning the title was the right move as Sanada&Evil's title reign wasn't remarkable and they needed to send a message that they still want to have the very best also for the tag team division. The Bucks will indeed bring back some buzz around the division and probably deliver another great match with the LIDJ guys in the rematch they will have in the next months.

Winners AND NEW IWGP Tag Team Champions: Young Bucks

Jushin Thunder Liger, Hiroshi Tanahashi& Rey Mysterio vs Cody, Hangan Page and Marty Scurll:[***]

Another kinda filler match even tho you can't really say it's a filler when you have so many great talents in the same ring. Mysterio looked great and at the moment he could be a great pick for any promotion in the world because of his talent and star power. The match was fine, nothing really remarkable but a good win for the Bullet Club, especially for Cody who is at the moment my #1 pick to win the G1 if he will be part of any of the two blocks

Winners: Cody, Marty Scurll&Adam Page

IGWP Jr Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi vs Will Ospreay:[****1/2]

And the Juniors deliver another fucking awesome match, after a great BOTSJ with a stellar final between Ishimori and Takahashi(unfortunately i couldn't do a proper review because of the lack of time). This match was nuts and also told a really great story, as i never saw Ospreay  showing a more nasty and sadistic side as he wanted desperately to win and defeat Takahashi. The crowd was super behind Hiromu who gained lots of support from the fans in the last couple of months and even more after his tournament run and victory...and he also gained back Mr. Belt as he deafeted a banged up Ospreay who probably might take some time off to heal as his neck isn't at 100% after the last couple of matches(the one with Scurll was nasty for his neck). CHAOS members keep the losing streak alive as they are 0-4 in Osaka. Storytelling was at his best as they really made sure both looked great and both did their best during this encounter, the result tho is a little surprising for me because i thought they wanted to go for Ospreay-Ishimori in the next months but probably now it will be a rematch from the tournament final. Another amazing match from the Jr Heavyweight division.

Winner AND NEW IGWP Jr Heavyweight Champion: Hiromu Takahashi

IWGP IC Championship: Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito:[****]

Here it is the biggest upset of the night...Chris Jericho beat Naito and won the IC Title! Nobody and i mean nobody thought Jericho could win the belt. The match was good, pre-match was very nasty and very good as Jericho went totally heel and this helped a lot his character and the rest of the match, with Naito who tried a standard babyface comeback after being banged up (that cut under the eye must have hurt quite a bit). Finish was fine even tho it could have been a lot better. Jericho winning the titles now makes a lot of us wonder: will he stay longer with the company and maybe work more shows or just the big ones?. That's so sick, because having jericho on your side helps a lot and it could give us so many good possibilities and matches we never saw. Not sure that Jericho will last long as the IC Champ, but still it's so cool as heel to see him as a champion in NJPW. That's a really good surprise. And it's kinda funny it took Jericho less time to win the IC title in NJPW rather than being a ten time IC Champion in WWE...and on a less important note, jericho still has Judas as his NJPW theme <3 (i'm a big wrestling theme song fun and maybe i'll bring something, theme wise, on the blog)

Winner AND NEW IWGP IC Champion: Chris Jericho

2 out of 3 falls IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada:[*****]

O H M Y G O D W H A T A M A T C H....HE HAS FUCKING DONE IT! Ok i'll stop marking out...so for all those people concerned about this match, it was simply perfect. P E R F E C T. Crowd very into the match, commentary on point (god praise Callis and Kelly), Wrestling perfect, storytelling incredible, booking perfect. I was concerned they would do some BS on the finish but they didn't. And i was also concerned that Omega would lose because all the other CHAOS members won and Okada had not yet hit the rainmaker after the first fall, who came after almost 50 minutes with a sunset flip..and then two straight and clean falls for Omega who ended the impressive title reign of Okada, probably one of the best in the history of wrestling, because i cant remember a champion that had so many great title defenses during his reign. It was the perfect way and match to end his title reign and the best way to make Omega won the title for the first time. Post match was very emotional because we were all waiting for a big hug between Kenny and the Bucks (and Kota too). I recommend everyone watching this match, even tho it last 69 minutes and sometimes it's hard to find some time to watch the shows because of our busy lives, but trust me, you won't regret it and for sure you won't ask yourself why you spent this much time watching a match. It was perfect, it was what wrestling really is, it was what made me start watching wrestling. Today not only Omega won, but we all won and most importantly wrestling won...and fuck those people who really love to bash this beautiful piece of art.

Winner AND NEW IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Kenny Omega

Overall: A great show that delivered from the start to the finish. A show that had great wrestling, great moments, drama, emotions, just had everything. Perfect show? Maybe not, but amazing in every aspect. At the moment, best show of the year for me and it won't be really easy to top such a beauty of an event. [9]