Pantoja’s NJPW Dominion 2022 Review

NJPW Dominion

June 12th, 2022 | Osaka-Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan

Guys, I saw a ton of people get worked up over Dave Meltzer giving Cody/Seth five stars and I have to say, it’s not a big deal. It’s one goofy man’s opinion. The same goes for my feelings on a show. I don’t understand why people get so mad about this stuff. If movie critics roast a film that I loved, I’m not going to bombard them with reasons why they’re wrong. You love something and I disagree? Cool. I love something you think was awful? Fine, that’s also cool. It’s just wrestling, don’t take it so seriously.

Oh my god, the runtime on this show is 4+ hours. Unless it’s WrestleMania or Wrestle Kingdom, it should be a rule that no wrestling show can be longer than Avengers: Endgame. And even then I’m like, can we wrap this up?

Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira and TJP vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Team Six or Nine

I like the guys in United Empire outside of TJP and Will Ospreay which is a shame as they’re enough to really bring the group down. This is our preview of the eventual Jr. Tag Title match between 69 and Akira/TJP. Manabu Nakanishi came out with the faces to a pop as he’d act as a corner man to negate some of the heels out there. We got the basic trappings of an undercard multi-man tag here. Henare and Tenzan had some big boy exchanges but the focus was on the junior guys. Akira and TJP showed impressive chemistry and work well as a duo, while Taguchi and Wato have kind of just been there in recent months. Taguchi got isolated for a bit before Wato entered with a fun little offensive sprint. He hit a SWEET high-angle German suplex too. Henare beat Tenzan with a full nelson in 10:31. NOBODY HAS EVER BROKEN HENARE’S MASTERLOCK. The match was fine. [**¾]

Ace Austin, El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito

Loads of potential in this one. This also acts as a preview for Hiromu/Ishimori at Kizuna Road. Commentary hyped it being placed there as a way to get it to main event but it feels weak as hell to win the BOSJ and get a shot at a C-level show. That’s like the G1 winner getting a shot at Power Struggle or the Rumble winner getting a Fastlanetitle shot. It’s also our first look at Austin with the Bullet Club. The early goings of this had the Bullet Club acting like fools. Canes, back rakes, goofing off, and more littered the first few minutes. We got the obligatory preview of Hiromu/Taiji. I’m sure that’ll slap but it’s something we’ve seen a lot and doesn’t sound exciting at all. Naito even took off his shirt for this one, so he actually put in the effort. Both teams have strong chemistry and Austin continues to look like a star. I wish he stayed a solo dude. A barrage of late offense capped by ELP’s CR2 on BUSHI ended this in 8:06. A short, fun sprint. [***¼]

Doc Gallows vs. Toru Yano

The absolute BALLS of New Japan to have a major show feature not one but TWO singles matches involving the Good Brothers. These two met in the G1 25 (**¾) which Gallows won. Gallows attacked quickly and poured alcohol in Yano’s eyes. They brawled outside as apparently, Gallows wanted no “sports entertainment” BS in this. I chuckle at how AEW and now NJPW have tried to convince fans that wrestling and sports entertainment are somehow different. They aren’t. Yano stole it with a low blow and pinning combination in 4:07. At least they kept it short but it wasn’t very entertaining. [*½]

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi [c] vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr.

Speaking of things that aren’t entertaining, it’s the House of Torture. The awful trio attempted to jump Suzuki-Gun during their entrance but the challengers were ready for it. This was pretty wild in the early stages, including Dick Togo tapping out to a Figure Four and commentary calling for that to constitute a title change. Honestly, do it, nobody cares about these belts anyway. The action itself was largely fine. Desperado and ZSJ remain two of the company’s best wrestlers while the House of Torture guys tried to drag things down with their consistent antics. Kanemaru even looked like he was a bit engaged which doesn’t happen often. His moonsault looked better than usual. Togo’s attempt to spit whiskey at Kanemaru failed but SHO had a loaded boot that he used to lay into Kanemaru with kicks. Shock Arrow followed and the champs retained after 9:26. It had moments but as usual, the House of Torture makes everything worse. [**½]

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens [c] vs. The Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb

This tag division is almost laughable. The outcome here also feels way obvious as 1) New Japan LOVES to give people title runs for a show or two and 2) Fale and Chase aren’t involved in the build to Forbidden Door. This was a solid tag or about as good as you can get given who was involved. It’s weird to consider that the champs held serve for so long given that Owens is the smallest dude in the match. Still, that’s what happened as the United Empire was kind of booked as the faces here. Commentary even put over O-Khan rescuing a young girl recently. Once the Empire boys got going, you sensed that the finish was near. Fale got slammed and soon after, Owens fell to the Tour of the Islands in 10:54. It was a tag match in New Japan, so yeah. [**¼]

Post-match, the celebration was cut short when Rocky Romero arrived to get revenge for Roppongi Vice, though the new champs easily handled him.

G1 32 LINEUP! 28 participants, with seven in four blocks. Not ideal but whatever. The participants are ~ Kazuchika Okada, Tama Tonga, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tom Lawlor (oh), Jonah (yes!), YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay, Aaron Henare (good for him), Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White, EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Juice Robinson, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer (he got a pop), David Finlay, and El Phantasmo.

So they’re working with AEW and can travel but all they bring in is Archer? I’m not saying load up the G1 with outsiders but hold shit this is a bland lineup outside of Jonah, having Jay back, Finlay, and maybe Henare. Also, strange as hell to put ELP in the heavyweight division. Move Hiromu there or do El Desperado. I have no desire to see ELP mix it up with the heavyweights. I’m not disappointed though as I have learned to never have expectations for New Japan to be exciting.

AEW Interim World Championship Qualifying Match: Hirooki Goto vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Who had less of a chance to get into the AEW Title match, Goto or O’Reilly? I’ve seen them meet in the G1 23 (***½), G1 26 (**½), G1 27 (***), G1 30 (***), and G1 31 (***¼). Given their history, it made sense to start with a feeling-out process as neither guy wanted to make the first mistake. They know each other and can’t afford to give an opening. I liked Tanahashi not giving a clean break as he’s often at his best when he has an edge. He did make the first mistake going up top and getting tossed outside. That gave Goto the upper hand for a few minutes but as expected, he never really threatened. Tanahashi turned things around and rallied before the guys started trading bigger offense late. Tanahashi got close with a Sling Blade and cross-body before putting it in the books after hitting High Fly Flow in 12:39. Really glad they didn’t have that go long for the sake of trying to make it a big deal. Nobody believed Goto would win and Tanahashi put him away as he should’ve. [***¼]

KOPW Trophy: Shingo Takagi [c] vs. Taichi

I like this match type. WWE used to do it with the Hardcore Title and it ruled, as did the Scramble Matches in 2008. Give me a 10-minute mad dash for the most pins over 60 minutes of guys killing time in an iron man match. They met in the G1 29 (***¾), G1 30 (***½), and the Golden Fight Series this year (***¼). The weird thing here is that it’s not only counting falls but instead giving you points for simply getting a count on your opponent. A near fall at two gets you two points. Within a few minutes, Shingo had a quick 7-2 lead. Taichi closed to within 7-6 only for Shingo to get three on a pinning combination with two minutes left. Taichi’s desperation at kicking out of the Pumping Bomber at 1 and then not even letting Shingo get a 1 count on his next move made for a fun little moment. It made the match feel important. Taichi managed to get three on a pin that cut it to 11-9 and then got a 1 count just before time expired, losing in 10:00 by a score of 11-10. A weird stipulation but it was fun throughout. Also, it was fresh and that’s something New Japan DESPERATELY needs. Anything that feels new for this company is a plus. [***¼]

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga [c] vs. Karl Anderson

I say it again but it takes BALLS to book the Good Brothers in singles matches on a big show. It is no longer 2012 and Karl Anderson is a far cry from the guy who used to headline shows here. Two Bullet Club originals here too. I’ve vocally not been a Tama fan but I mentioned that this has worked for him. He’s been better as a fiery babyface than as a dull tag guy. Tama hit the ring with that fire, jumping Anderson and beating him from pillar to post after this officially got started. Gedo loves booking interference as much as Vince McMahon likes booking DQ finishes. Tama’s hot streak ended when he ate a chokeslam from Gallows. The rest of this match played into that with Gallows getting involved and Jado helping Tama combat that. After a bunch of that, Tama came close to winning following a frog splash. He took out Gallows with a Gun Stun but that left him open to fall to a Gun Stun from Anderson in 16:27. That was decent enough but riddled with the expected nonsense. Also, terrible call to switch the titles as Tama has actually been interesting lately. It goes to show that Gedo can’t book any title well unless it’s a Tanahashi or Okada run at the top. [**¾]

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: SANADA vs. Will Ospreay

Oof, these are two guys who I don’t want to see with titles at all. We don’t support Will Ospreay in this house and SANADA has been bland, to say the least. Remember when Willy debuted in AEW and lost? Give TK booker of the year. Anyway, these two met in the G1 29, New Japan Cup last year (both ***¾), and New Japan Cup this year (***½). It’s actually SANADA’s first match since then as he has been hurt. They quickly went into the action here with plenty of crisp counter wrestling and reversals. You could tell they weren’t going 30 minutes and THANK GOD for that. Ospreay did some of his signature spots including a nice corkscrew moonsault to the outside. He sold some leg damage when he couldn’t do a spot soon after and then got dropkicked in the knee to make it worse, only to have his leg be perfectly fine on a front flip gimmick and aerial stuff afterward. I love magic healing. They started trading strikes late which is a place Willy has the upper hand given the muscle he’s put on. SANADA avoided the Oscutter and survived Hidden Blade only to lose when he took a second one to the back of the head and Storm Breaker at the 12:50 mark. Match of the night to this point though nothing overly special. Just two guys having a really good, hard-hitting match for a cursed title. [***½]

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Jay White

White beat Okada in the G1 28 (***¾) and Wrestle Kingdom 13 (****) before Okada won the IWGP Title from him at G1 Supercard (***). Jay won again at the G1 30 (***¼). Really hoping this is more like their first two matches than the last. Jay is the breath of fresh air the company needs, especially after having the best Tokyo Dome main event in WKhistory against Ibushi. My Okada formula issue is that the slow start often means nothing in the grand scheme. Here, we got the slow start but it was entertaining as Jay nails the antics and mannerisms in between the slow stuff to keep you hooked. He also told Gedo not to get involved, only for him to be okay when Okada got tripped up by him. I love Jay matches because he’s not about “I’m gonna hit the coolest moves to get the highest star rating.” He’s here to win as a kayfabe wrestler should be. For example, he just kept going for pins at one point because it’s all about the win. Okada did his cross-body over the guardrail about a third of the way through this, kind of setting things up for the next portion. Still, Jay remained in control with a Flatliner and German suplex. It was a rare case of Okada really looking like he was outclassed. Jay had an answer for everything and was in total control. I loved Jay using the TTO and Texas Cloverleaf all while talking trash to Tanahashi who was on commentary. Okada used a GORGEOUS dropkick to finally stop Jay in his tracks but jay survived the Money Clip by tossing him into the referee. He survived more of the Money Clip and looked out after a forearm exchange but then he snapped off a pretty Regal Plex for two. The closing stretch saw Jay throw everything at Okada from a Brainbuster to his own Rainmaker. Okada avoided Blade Runner several times and they countered each other a bunch. We got the WRIST CONTROL OHMYGOD MAGGLE spot as part of it too. White turned a Rainmaker into Blade Runner to win back the title he never should’ve lost in 2019 after 36:05. A hell of a match with the right outcome. Jay told multiple stories throughout and Okada was on his game. The middle portion actually dragged a bit rather than the opening stuff but overall, one of the New Japan’s better main events. [****¼]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

A noteworthy show for sure though not a great one. The main event is the only great match and only one other match cracked ***½. Still, there’s also nothing flat out bad with the worst match being only four minutes. The G1 field looks lackluster and the company still feels stale but Jay on top is a good sign.