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I think he should just do some matches against top guys from other promotions. It feels like stuff with Kiyomiya has been slowly brewing in the background.

So ugh, nice of Naito to just waltz in. I wonder if Naito's earlier ref abuse plays into it? Maybe he is just going to fight fire with fire? Considering that last time they were at Jingu they did "No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Barricade Explosive Land Mine Double Hell Deathmatch" for main event so might as well go with the same theme. Anyway, how hard was Hiromu protected? And I liked how this was the opposite of Naito/Evil, this time Hiromu had Evil figured out, he just came a bit short.

He won't, but Kanemaru should go over.

Grass is always greener on the other side.

Probably is going to beat Kanemaru and challenge Hiromu after he gets beaten by Evil. Nobody at the time would probably buy Hiromu/Kawato title match, but if Hiromu is coming after a loss to Evil and Kawato has picked up few wins then it should feel okay.

Has it been confirmed that they have actually signed with NJPW? Because if not then for all we know this might turn out to be another Omega situation.

I saw some speculations that due to recent policy changes Juice and Ospreay might be able to return since they have a living place in Japan. KENTA in theory should also be able to return since he is still Japanese citizen (I think), but he likely doesn't want to leave his family for who knows how long. Last year for Dontaku they had Okada/Sanada title match with Ishii/Evil special singles match that I thought would have led to Okada/Evil for Dominion, yet Ishii won and challenged Taichi. And Okada obviously faced Jericho. So it is possible for them to do something else here, but I don't see many options and they are obviously very limited due to travel restrictions. Okada winning HW title back from Evil and leaving Naito/Evil feud for IC title sounds like something they'd do.

That tag title match was a roller-coaster for me. At first I was sure that Tanahashi/Ibushi were retaining, but when Taichi hit Ibushi with iron fingers I started believing that they have a shot and since I'm big Taichi fan I was happy, for a moment. Then they started maiming Tanahashi and my mood shifted again and I really wanted Tanahashi to recover and beat these two assholes.

I saw this doing rounds in some places and I'm not sure if it actually means anything. Theories about LiJ breaking up have been around for last 2-3 years. Maybe someone actually said something to Dave, but this might as well have been an educated guess. Looking at the cards and post match interviews it sounds like we might get tag titles rematch.

We probably should hold our horses a bit about NJPW changing considering this card: https://www.njpw1972.com/tornament/76038?showCards=1 This card gives very strong vibes of Evil/Okada rematch being set up there. If that happens then I think Okada is taking back hw title and things go back to "normal".

Asides of Evil stopping Okada back then he also had a match against Jericho and challenged Ibushi for briefcase last year at KoPW. He did lose more than he won in these last couple of years, but its not like he wasn't doing things. Sanada got lots of focus last year and we all kinda thought that he is about to explode, but asides of Sanada who else you'd say could have moved up the card this year? And Sanada's push kinda feeds into Evil's push anyway.

When original NJ Cup shows were announced Okada/White was happening in Aichi, Okada's hometown. So while Jay going over felt obvious I always had that small doubt if Gedo would really have Okada lose in his hometown. So in that regard idea of Gedo recruiting Evil to stop Okada sounds plausible. Fredricks rolling up KENTA also sounds plausible since we now know that it was supposed to be his first post-YL match. It would have elevated him instantly and likely rekindled KENTA/Shibata speculations. Only thing that doesn't really work for me is MSG show, would they have really ran it with Evil as double champion? Doesn't sound "smart", but then, NJPW has shown to care very little about what USA fans actually want in their shows.

I have been big Naito mark for few years now so I won't lie and say that it didn't hurt and I get some of those people in r/njpw and places like that. But I'm kinda okay with it. At some point it had to end and sure I would have rather it ended later. But you know whats good about it? It wasn't ended by Okada so we are not doing that back and forth between them again and, at least for few months, we are getting a very different status quo. Now what I do like about this whole thing is that, regardless of Evil joining BC, this is LiJ story. Evil was Naito's first guy, if I remember right Evil was carrying Hiromu's jacket while he was injured for those post match roll calls and obviously Evil had long tag team partnership with Sanada. There is lots of meat here and they are obviously going now with Hiromu. And hey, if they want to give Sanada that big first title win then they can easily craft something here. Thinking long term we also got Jay White. Do remember that Gedo betrayed Okada because he thought that Okada's golden days were over and that Jay was the hot new thing, but does he need Jay now when he got Evil on his side? And what do gaijin BC members think about Evil basically taking over BC while they are away? Lots of potential here as well if they want to go that direction.

I'm not sure if you can book yourself into the corner over the span of two days so I'd say that this was deliberate decision. Either way, results are... interesting.

Yeah, I don't think that Evil is beating Naito, but people are going to remember this turn for years and thats right there a good booking decision.

This is really interesting situation for people who like to ponder was something a long term plan or did it happen due to real life events. On one hand BC's top guys now are Yujiro and Ishimori. Best case scenario you can do Ishimori/X for NEVER and Jr. titles and he probably ain't winning either of them. So yeah, Evil is going to fix things. He is not beating Naito, but him beating Shingo during that Summer Struggle tour sounds like a lock to me. On the other hand its not like Evil hasn't been spinning wheels since I don't know when? He is over, he sells merch, he is good, he is dojo boy and yet he stays in the background a lot due Naito, Sanada and Shingo being a priority. So sooner or later something like this had to happen. Nobody wants to see Fale in high profile singles matches, at this point I feel like his only place is doing trios title matches where does few big moves or maybe put over some guys that are in undercard, like Henare. KENTA is KENTA, not a young guy, has a history of injuries and probably doesn't want to spend that much time in Japan. So you figure that regardless of what is happening in the world BC needed a new top hw guy. And hey, NJPW managed to push three hws in LiJ at the same time so I see no reason to think that they couldn't have done the same with BC. Plus, funny thing. Naito's old tag partners Yujiro and Evil are now on the same side. With Yujiro being only other heavy around I'd guess that we are going to see the return of No Limit tag team.

That sounds such a weird thing. What DDT would actually get from being more like old AJPW?

I don't think that they should do away with divisions, but going forward I feel like Anniversary show and NJ Cup should be about heavyweight vs junior action. So assuming that Evil wins this and thinking about how he wrestles and Naito's tendencies in big matches... safe bet that we'll have another Naito/Ibushi situation with people talking about how wrestling is too dangerous? What I expect to see, if we actually get it, in Naito/Evil title match: multiple low blows, direct headshots with chairs, STO thru the table, piledrivers on table and chairs and some blood. Anyway, anyone watched that Collision show? So far it looks like it will a vehicle to establish Karl in his new role and I'm ok with that.

Isn't Japan on third or fourth wave already?

Well some things happened here. Kawato returns as Master Wato and gets his ass kicked by Douki. I mean, it probably all makes sense. He returns from Mexico and Douki hates lucha hipsters, Wato is also probably going to beat him at finals show and challenge Hiromu for Jr. title at Dominion next day. So it all kinda makes sense, but it was bad visual and bad first impression I'd say. Sanada might be crippled or not. Was that an audible? I doubt it, I think they would have went with Sanada win either way and if shit is bad then they would have replaced him with Evil for finals show and I think everyone would have understood it. Besides, if he is really crippled then maybe taking chair shots and Evil's finisher wasn't the best idea. But what do I know. Either way I understand going all in on Goto and Yoshi, but stomping on your tag team partner's balls feels like going a bit too far. Maybe they both stay in LiJ, but I can't really see how after that you do another tag team run.

I think they have some Korakuen shows announced for July so we'll probably have maybe 50% crowd for those? Will be interesting to see how that configuration "feels" with some fans present. As for the tournament, I think that Sanada still takes it and this whole Evil thing is just them trying to create some doubt. Don't take me wrong, this is good thing and preferable to predictable Sanada/Goto or Sanada/Yoshi matches.

I'm not sure if Yoshi can beat Evil.

I haven't listened to English commentary, but Japanese one sounds extra invested to me and somewhat compensates the lack of crowd.

I guess, its not like we have a better place.

For those interested years ago NJPW had uploaded to Youtube that Yano/Hiromu match that ended in Hiromu getting shaved: Serves as a good reminder what POS Yano was back then. And I'll second that Yoshi/Tenzan was good. Kojima/Evil was also hurt by lack of crowd because I think they would have gotten rather agitated for that ending sequence.