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NJPW Dominion 2018


Raziel

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Thought the show was very good, not as good as WK or NXT: Takeover New Orleans but maybe a top three show of the year so far. 

The main event was very good, thought they did a good job and didn't over do it (relatively speaking) which I was worried about. Great moment at the end with Kenny, Kota and YBs. It was such a dramatic match and with no clear outcome going in. Liked that fact that the Rainmaker didn't decide any falls but the OWA did both. Look forward to where things go from here, well not the Cody/Omega match too much but everything else.

Jericho/Naito was good not great. The thing I love about NJPW is that I'm truly invested in characters and I was gutted when Naito lost, I don't get that with WWE any more and it's a great reminder about what I love about wrestling. Sleazy brawler Jericho is kinda neat but I don't want to see him against Naito again, brawling Jericho is great because his best athletic days are behind him but when he's against someone in a straight match where he needs to match their athleticism we kinda get what we got. Going in I was worried about his ability to take a Destino and I was right to be worried there were some really ugly moments. I wonder if Jericho convinced Gedo that Jericho/Okada is a WK worthy match, I think Jericho would match up better with Okada then he did Naito and probably Omega as well, but idk if I want to see it.

Hiromu is wonderful and as gutted as I felt later when Naito lost I felt elated when Hiromu won. I hope this is his moment to become the Jr ace for a while before moving up t heavyweight before he breaks his body too bad. I love that crazy bastard. Ospreay continued to impress me this year and I'm enjoying him more and more but I hope he takes a different path for a while (I'll expand on that in a moment).

The sixman was ok wasn't big on the face legends losing especially in Rey's first match in NJPW but I figured Liger was there to do the job, it was either him or Page taking the fall but Page seems to be trying to be built up a bit. Hope we get to see Rey more in the future and being featured it certainly seems like him and Marty have a singles match on the horizon maybe at the Cow Palace.  

The Tag match was pretty good I was shocked that YBs won the belts in their first opportunity especially with how the match was set up. NJPW put the Bucks over strong here. I think it's likely they and Omega are in it for the long haul and are seen as key players in NA expansion but we all know people will be going on about The Elite going to WWE when December comes.

 The NEVER match ended was pretty meh, it was a decent three-way match I was pulling for Taichi and was disappointed that he took the fall and I wasn't thrilled with Elgin winning. I'd like to see Elgin drop the belt to Ospreay and let the belt be the openweight championship it's meant to be and let Ospreay have some matches against the mid card heavies as a test of him moving up to heavy. 

Like Ishii and Suzuki having a battle of surly-ness and ZSJ out smarting the Sublime Master Thief (though I hoped the match would end with Yano rolling up Suzuki). 

Hope Juice wins the US title shot he earned.

Glad Suzuki-gun held onto the Jr Tag belts, RP3K need to earn their next reign they started hot but they need to work to get back there and I'm glad that El Desperado is getting a little spotlight.

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Great show and definitely a standout for New Japan this year. All the title changes look like positive steps. That opening video introducing Harold Meij was a bit weird though. That's Japan for ya. 

Zack Sabre is da best. Someone coming up with a counter like that to a typical wrestling low blow is awesome. 

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Gedo can fucking book and then some, he spotted something in Kazuchika Okada strapping the rocket to the right man in 2012 and keeping the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on Okada to lose to Kenny Omega here. Respect.

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As a huge LIJ mark and not one of the people that is a fan of Omega and the Bucks brand of "evolution" the show was a massive disappointment on a purely biased emotional level outside of being so happy to see Hiromu win.

Oh and screw Elgin, Taichi was right there Gedo. C'mon!

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Just wait for Dave to break it down into 3 separate matches, give it something like 13* combined and claim it surpasses Flair/Steamboats 10* day as the greatest day of wrestling ever. 

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3 hours ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said:

Scott Keith gave Omega vs Okada IV 7 Stars... ;)

How many times did he say "Canadian violence"?

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Honestly, I think it was the best match I've ever seen. All I could think about were the times Kenny failed and the one time he succeeded to give him the confidence to go into this knowing he could go more than an hour and that he's the better man. I didn't think anything was super cringey or reckless that made me worry about the health of each guy and it was just the best wrestling story ever told. In my opinion, anyway. Plus, you had the reconciliation between the Bucks and Kenny at the end. And yeah, my heart is going to break if Ibushi turns on Kenny at some point.

The rest of the show I could take or leave because it was clear they were saving time for the main event. I did really enjoy Jericho vs Naito. Naito getting the cut around his eye and his eye being bloody is one of the most unintentionally brilliant injuries ever. I really wanted Naito to hold that eye open in his taunt, but he never did. Jericho took being sadistic to a whole new level. OH OH, I especially loved the crowd booing Naito when he stooped to Jericho's level. Really great storytelling here.

All in all, Dominion felt a lot like it was a show to re-establish the Bullet Club as the best faction in NJPW. 

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There's an extra level of storytelling that got overlooked.  Osaka was the first town to openly boo face Naito during his fall from grace post-WK8.  He originally used that booing to "motivate" himself, which eventually led to Naito taking the trip to Mexico and joining Los Ingobernables in CMLL.  When he went full bore LIJ, Osaka was one of the first towns to embrace him.  So them booing could also be a "it worked before, let's get him up for the match.", because there have been interviews that Naito has a "special" connection with Osaka.  Now, I could just be creating more story than there actually is, but it's hard to tell with how nuanced NJPW is with some of it's storytelling.

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I think you are thinking a bit too much about it. Osaka tends to boo Naito whenever he does something heelish and cheer when he plays fair. Last year when he was against Tanahashi it was a roller coaster of emotions.

So I suppose Osaka wants Naito to be an asshole that plays fair.

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The other two top guys, no less--Naito is (and should be) different. Aside: This is why I'd like to see Ibushi elevated into that fourth pillar, not to be "the next Tanahashi", but to fill that role of (more) pure good guy. 

In any case, I think that's a valid reading of the match, whether they wrote it that way or not. You can always get more (or less, or just different) things from a story than what the author/s intended to put in there. That we're not literally told much is one of the more interesting things about wrestling as a medium for this reason, I think. (It's also why I kinda prefer Japanese commentary--at least on first watch. I like to "discover" the story.)

Honestly though, I think Jericho's just too respected a veteran, so the crowd--no matter what he does--somewhat goes along with it. They treat him like an honored guest; if his manners are awful, well, we invited him over, and it would be rude to speak up.

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On 6/10/2018 at 3:43 PM, Archibald said:

Naito/Jericho was mixed bag for me. Lots of emotions, lots of botches and cheap finish that kinda asks for a rematch, but I really don't want to see it

I'm totally with you. The opening bit was fun, as was Naito getting his revenge and giving everything back to him (the table shard across the head cracked me up). They had a few good ideas, but, the wrestling itself wasn't anything special to me.

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as a match it wasn't up to a lot but it made up for it in spectacle and like holy christ it's the coolest NJPW guy against the legendary man who reinvents himself and for some reason now has come as Poundstretcher Peter Criss? it was different to everything there. in a way it was, despite being a Canadian vs. a Japanese, quite like a lucha brawl. if you just click on it to watch alone I think it loses something against how it balanced the show out.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Just watched the abridged version of Dominion on AXS. 

The three way OpenWeight match was fun. Elgin is Elgin but I got a kick out of him and Goto kicking the shit out of each other. Elgin had a sick outside cannonball dive.

Ospreay vs Hiromu was cool I can't really remember it as I'm typing but I remember there was some crazy spots and the crowd popped like crazy when Hiromu pinned Ospreay.

This Young Bucks vs Sanada and Evil match was better than the Cow Palace one. I think they executed The Bucks as underdogs in the heavyweight division better here. Nick and Matt were working hurt (Matts back, Nicks ankle) and the much larger Evil and Sanada they had to contend with gave off a higher stakes atmosphere for then Bucks than when wrestling for their hometown crowd or Meltzers hometown crowd.

Jericho vs Naito was fun as fuck. It was a fight. A wild unhinged fight. Don't piss off Jericho cuz Naito made those comments 6 months before hand and Jericho fucked him up like he said them yesterday. Jericho is timeless he's constantly reinventing himself and staying ahead of the curve. Naito and Jericho went all out in this one.

The Bullet club vs Liger Mysterio and Takahashi 6 man was a nice buffer between Jerich-Naito and Okada vs Omega 4. Mysterio's New Japan logo mask was really cool looking.

Okada vs Omega was really good. Of the four I've only seen number two and this one. Omega vs Okada 2 was on of the better wrestling matches I have ever seen. I know I really like this match but I don't know if I like it better than the 2nd one. It was cool to watch Kenny finally get his moment, good for him hope he gets a long run.  Okada as champ hadn't ran it's course he had one of the better world title reigns of the last 10 years if not 15 but it was Kennys time man. Okada got that first pin off by reversing a rainmaker reversal, I think the crowd got nervous that this might be another Okada match where he walks away with the championship. Then Kenny kicked it into another fucking gear and the crowd went into a frenzy after Omega got that first pin and when he won the match the place went bonkers.

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On 8/13/2018 at 8:14 PM, Web Conn said:

Just watched the abridged version of Dominion on AXS.

Okada vs Omega was really good. Of the four I've only seen number two and this one. Omega vs Okada 2 was on of the better wrestling matches I have ever seen. I know I really like this match but I don't know if I like it better than the 2nd one. It was cool to watch Kenny finally get his moment, good for him hope he gets a long run.  Okada as champ hadn't ran it's course he had one of the better world title reigns of the last 10 years if not 15 but it was Kennys time man. Okada got that first pin off by reversing a rainmaker reversal, I think the crowd got nervous that this might be another Okada match where he walks away with the championship. Then Kenny kicked it into another fucking gear and the crowd went into a frenzy after Omega got that first pin and when he won the match the place went bonkers.

You definitely need Okada vs. Omega I at Wrestle Kingdom 11. The best of the then trilogy and second overall to the Dominion 2018 match. Also try to see Okada/Omega IIII at last year's G1 Climax to complete the set.

I have them:

1. Dominion 2018. *****

2. Wrestle Kingdom 11. *****

3. G1 Climax 27. *****

4. Dominion 2017. ****1/2 or lower.

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You really rank Dominion 17 as the 4th in the series of 4?

maybe it’s just cuz I’ve only seen 2 and 4 but I thought the 60 minute draw was the best match I’ve ever watched. It use to be Shawn Taker 2 before I saw Kenny Okada 2.

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