What did you think of NJPW Dominion?
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0 voters
John and I will be joined by Mike Murray for a POST Show tonight exclusively for patrons.
Brian from New York
I entered the weekend assuming EVIL would be winning the New Japan Cup because it was too early to do an Okada rematch, but man was I pleasantly surprised to see them finally go full steam ahead with him…and then even past that putting the double titles on him. Do they call him a triple crown champion considering he has the NEVER 6-Man titles too? I’m assuming they’ll forget everything to do with those belts quickly.
It was a popular talking point as we hit Wrestle Kingdom this year that it was time to get off the pot with EVIL and SANADA and wondering who would break off. It made total sense to get one of them out of LIJ and with foreign talents seemingly away from Japan for much of the rest of this year, both heel stables were in dire need of depth and Bullet Club especially so with someone on top. The match itself was a bit long, but having EVIL turn on poor Milano and giving him Dick Togo as a heavy were good changes along with his theme to fully mark a new era for him. Are you guys surprised they went Hiromu as the next contender or do you think they’re waiting for a bigger event to do the SANADA-EVIL title match?
From the rest of the weekend - am I the only one who felt like it was an underwhelming 8 days for Master Wato? Cool look, cool finisher, but getting beaten up by Douki, going 50-50 with him in a match, then losing in his Dominion debut isn’t the most exciting start.
On the other end of the spectrum, SHO looks beyond ready for his singles run once 3K drops the titles. Another great match with Shingo and with so many talents missing currently, he has a lot of room to quickly move up the card if they choose so.
I know he was just in the Cup Finals the night before, but it sure seemed weird to have Okada that low on a major card and getting beat up by Yujiro and Gedo. Where do you see him fitting in during the immediate future while much of the main event picture is filled up with LIJ as contenders for the time being?
Thanks guys!
Jalen from Pickering,
History will tell us if this was a good decision or not. But they got what they wanted for the short term, interest and unpredictability. I’m a Naito mark and I wanted the glorious, lengthy run. But people complain about NJPW being predictable, which can’t be said now. Naito’s all about being different and shaking things up, which exemplifies his run.
Someone compared this to the feeling at the end of Infinity War, all of the good guys are down and out right now. If they play this out right, it could go better than I think a lot of people think it can.
The NEVER title match was obviously MOTN, Tekkers are the real deal, and Wato has some major flaws, but I truly believe in his talent. 7.5 Crying Milano AT’s out of 10
Strong show and a strong return overall for New Japan. While I’m sure this is partially due to condensing several months worth of story into a few weeks, this feels like some of the boldest booking from Gedo in a while.
Putting EVIL over so strong feels inspired. It is shocking and generates interest, but still feels logical. The benefits are clear, as the main event scene gets a major refresh with plenty of opponents with a reason to go after him (Hiromu, SANADA, Goto, Naito, Okada and Yoshi-Hashi). I’m also glad to see EVIL shed some of the goofier elements of the character, and Bullet Club gets a shot in the arm too. Gotta wonder if Gedo finding a new toy plants the seeds for an eventual Jay White face turn down the road.
Overall this feels like fresh breath, with Dangerous Tekkers revitalising the tag division, SHO clearly being set up for great things, Hiromu’s seeming ascent to heavyweight and Master Wato’s arrival, bad gear aside.
8 Milano Oscar worthy performances out of 10.
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