After showing off during the Best of the Super Juniors tour, New Japan Pro-Wrestling put on an event of title matches and superstars galore. Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-Jo Hall highlighted many of NJPW’s strengths and weaknesses, including a huge reveal of this year’s G1 Climax 36 brackets so far. Let’s jump in and dissect how this event went.
Your English commentators for the show were Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton!
Konosuke Takeshita (c) v. SANADA – NJPW World TV Championship Match
SANADA’s entrance of past gimmicks looked fun, then the man came out cosplaying as “All Red Everything” Eva Marie. Notably, SANADA’s right arm was visibly skinnier than his left due to the muscle atrophy as explained in a recent documentary. SANADA did what he could, but it felt quite sad to watch his match with Takeshita. Both guys did what they could, including a non-gimmicked guitar straight to Takeshita’s skull, ouch.
In the end, Takeshita’s Raging Fire put away SANADA in less than the 15-minute time limit. It got the crowd hot for an opening match since both men hit their signature moves. Another defense in the books for Takeshita, while I continue to feel great concern for SANADA and his health.
Jake Lee v. El Phantasmo – No Disqualification Match
You either love or hate Jake Lee with no in between. I fall into the latter category, since he substitutes wrestling with silly expressions and whoopsie faces. There were some individual good spots like the jump off the ladder and the chokeslam through the chairs, but there wasn’t much else. ELP teased using his loaded boot from back in his BC days, but it backfired. The Silent Jester used his Guillotine to make ELP pass out for the win to end this one.
I’m a fan of Phantasmo and he bumped his ass off for Jake Lee in this match, but Lee shrugging off in-ring work to do a comedy gimmick can only get him so far. This charade can’t get Lee into a believable main event spot, and he only ends up belittling those he works with because of his dismissiveness. Also, he doesn’t fit into the ultra-aggressive United Empire, right? But they’ll keep pushing him anyway.
TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa) v. Yuya Uemura & Taichi – Tag Team Match
Our first banger of the night rocked Osaka-Jo Hall with four guys who understand wrestling at its core. These four made everything in this one look crisp and effective. Oiwa nearly tapped out Taichi with just a headlock, wow. And of course, the Dangerous Tekkers’ history crossed paths again with Zack and Taichi kicking the hell out of each other. There were so many satisfying back and forths between everyone here, especially from Uemura and Oiwa and their fundamental wrestling maneuvers.
The end saw Taichi roll up Oiwa for the outta-nowhere pinfall win. Also, Taichi ripped his pants off AFTER the match instead of during it, big pop. This was a shining example of a bright future in New Japan’s roster while also reminiscing on good ol’ Suzuki-Gun lore. It’s a neat match that seemed to set up G1 matches more than anything, and it was great. The rewatch-ability factor, off the charts!
El Desperado v. Místico
Another beautiful match saw Despy and Misty flip and fly around in what Samuray Del Sol would call some “good lucha things!” The story got told of Desperado being rabid to win so much so that he tried to rip Místico’s mask off to much boos from the crowd. And Místico’s recent knee injury recovery also played a factor as Desperado targeted it once things got dangerous for Despy’s chances.
In the end, Desperado shockingly won by submission after locking Místico into Numero Dos. Usually Místico is very protected with his win/loss records, but New Japan threw that out of the window for an El Desperado win. Super shocking to see this match just in general since they are the Junior Tag Champions, and I wish they were given more time to soak in the moment. If only Místico wasn’t hurt, he could’ve gone wild in BOSJ33.
Intermission: The G1 Announcements!
Seven people in each block were announced as the A Block looks stacked. Pictured below, we’ve going to get banger rematches in the form of Konosuke Takeshita v. Hirooki Goto, and first time showcases like Yota Tsuji v. Shingo Takagi. Welcome back Boltin Oleg!
The B Block looks….fine by comparison. A returning Gabe Kidd is also back from injury as four British people take up a New Japan tournament. Individual matches like Zack Sabre Jr. v. Yuya Uemura gets me excited, but Ren Narita? Also Jake Lee and SANADA in the A Block? Yikes. I’ve got cautious optimism overall, and an early hope for Uemura to win the whole thing after losing the New Japan Cup Finale.
Qualifying matches for the unconfirmed competitors will be announced in the future. Although, two of those six are reserved for the winners of the IWGP Tag Title match. As of Monday afternoon, New Japan released the play-in qualifiers.
Ren Narita (c) v. Aaron Wolf – NEVER Openweight Championship Match
Narita dressed up like a dark Jushin Liger, bringing the entire House of Torture with him at ringside. After the first half of this match was filled with interference, Konosuke Takeshita and Toru Yano came out to fight off The House. Then when it all came down to the wrestling aspect, Narita never really stood a chance against Wolf.
Olympic Slams and judo takedowns caused Narita to whip around like a drunk paper airplane. It was a feel-good moment when Wolf finally vanquished The House once again by using the Angle Slam to recapture the NEVER Title. However, this match can only be enjoyed if we’re truly reassured that Aaron Wolf is DONE fighting HoT. It’s been over six months, can he PLEASE feud with somebody else? Maybe he could be in the G1 qualifiers??
Knock Out Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) (c) v. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & HENARE) – IWGP Tag Team Championship Match
Here is your match of the night, folks. What a human demolition derby of a tag team spectacle this was. Everyone hit hard, especially HENARE and Yuto. There was a point where those two just close-fist punched each other in their heads over and over again. Super scary! The headbutts, the big boots, it all got heated as hell in there. All four perfectly embodied that never-say-die attitude that just kept ramping higher with each passing minute in the match.
There was just one big fat problem that came at the finish of this match. A Double Powerbomb off the top rope would pin Yuto-Ice to give two-thirds of the NEVER 6-Man Champions the win … NOOO!! WHY?! The Knock Out Brothers lost their Tag Titles after a hell of a reign to make some Empire members double champions. Boo to that I say. Making OSKAR and Yuto this dominant after coming back from excursion to lose like this hurts a bit. At least this match was insane enough to justify a hard-fought victory. But also, KOB isn’t in the G1 because HENARE and GOK won this match. I’m so sad. Please OSKAR and Yuto, win those qualifying matches!
Andrade El Ídolo (c) v. Drilla Moloney v. Shota Umino – IWGP Global Championship 3-Way Match
It’s not often that New Japan do triple threat matches, and it becomes obvious with how many pinfall breakups this match contained. The action felt a bit more disjointed than normal because the pacing got interrupted by someone jumping in at all times. Otherwise, these three had good chemistry. The Real Latino Man outshined his opponents in terms of aura, but Drilla and Umino equally showed off their power and will to win.
Another surprising result on the night as Andrade would be pinned to lose his title to the Second Chapter finisher by Shota Umino. We had another new champion, and it was Umino’s first singles title. Good for him! Although that celebration was short-lived because Gabe Kidd would attack Umino after the match and cut a profanity-filled promo.
Interestingly enough, Gabe Kidd told off Drilla Moloney for being a fan of the people, while demanding a future Global Title match against new Champion Umino. Kidd screamed “F**K NEW JAPAN” and spit on the Lion Mark logo in the middle of the ring, leaving with all the heat in the world. What an absolute ball of energy this Global division is. Quick sidenote, no Andrade in the G1? Cry sad cry.
DOUKI (c) v. YOH – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
Just when we thought we couldn’t escape the House shenanigans after the Narita/Wolf match, here came SHO to piss on our dreams of a clean fight. DOUKI gained control over YOH with some cheating tactics and his Darkness Stretch (formerly the Douki Chokey). Then YOH would come back with some help from Master Wato fending off The House. President Tanahashi also got up from the commentary desk to help, but he’d get shoved over the barricade by SHO. Ooo naughty naughty from the Murder Machine.
In the end, YOH would hit his Direct Drive to pick up the win and defeat DOUKI to become the 100th ever IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Historical moment in the semi-main event, but it didn’t feel as important as it should. Surrounding YOH’s big moment with House nonsense just kills the vibe overall, but there was some hope in the post-match moments.
After the match, Master Wato, Kosei Fujita coming up from the commentary table, Francesco Akira, and SHO still at ringside all got in YOH’s face to become a potential challenger for the new champion. YOH then offered a “YOH Game” to have these guys wrestle in a four-way match in the future to become the new number one contender to the Junior Title. That match should be exciting! Perhaps more exciting than DOUKI and YOH, to be honest.
Callum Newman (c) v. Yota Tsuji – IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
This was a rematch from Sakura Genesis, and their continued chemistry shined through the main event scene once again. There was a nasty spot with an Excalibur stomp onto a table that didn’t break, ouch. The action got heavy with Newman trying to egg on Tsuji’s aggression. That translated into lots of ugly landings from throws to Newman, and Newman answered back with a stiff dropkick to Tsuji in the crowd among other things.
Right when it appeared the second gear was kicking in, Newman got tossed into the turnbuckle and reportedly dislocated his shoulder. His movement slowed down and Tsuji really made sure to take care of him. A new finisher was unlocked with Tsuji’s arsenal as the “Fire Blaster” connected and got Tsuji the win and the Heavyweight Title back. Tsuji is now a two-time champion.
This match could have been more important if Newman hadn’t gotten hurt. Tsuji winning the title back led to much rejoicing, but it’s also a huge blemish on the power of United Empire. With the new leader injured potentially for a while, how is Ospreay going to shoehorn himself into this lore now? At least we don’t have to question Newman’s skills as a main eventer anymore.
Overall Thoughts:
This was such a mixed show. The Tag matches and Desperado/Místico were the standout performances of the whole shebang. The House of Torture being wormed out of title scenes like Narita and DOUKI is very promising to see, but there are still several lacks of direction for major guys. Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa being in a no-stakes tag match instead of a major title match hurt to see tonight. Overall with the players on the lineup tonight, they got on base at least.
Prayers up for Callum Newman.
