1. Special Singles Match: Kota Ibushi vs. Cody w/ Brandi Rhodes
For a guy currently playing a Big Money Cody gimmick, I thought Cody had a pretty third-rate Tokyo Dome outfit. Anyways, this was pretty awesome and might just be the bext example of Super Indy Worker Cody. He tried all kinds of crazy stuff, and his dance partner was Kota Ibushi who is like the most spectacular guy currently wrestling. The Brandi drama added some fun too – the whole spot with Cody punching out Ibushi as he lifted up Brandi was amazing stuff.
Of course, there was the CROSSROADS OFF THE APRON too, which is just an insane thing to do in general but of course also had Ibushi being insane enough to just TAKE IT ON HIS HEAD. Serious WrestleMania moment right there. Ibushi’s strikes towards the end were beautiful too, and I loved his brief celebration after the 3 followed by instant collapse. A really fun match with an incredible last few minutes. ***3/4
2. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi [c] vs. Jay White
Aw shit. This was the LIMB WORK match. And for some reason it was limb work where Jay White went after Tanahashi’s leg, when Tanahashi was kind enough to essentially scream TARGET THIS by putting colors and god damn designs on his arm cast. This was a match where I learned that patience can be challenging when you are up at 5AM. It was very much a Big Tanahashi match, so the formula kept it from being outright bad, but it was just such the wrong match with the wrong guy. Jay White has a ton of potential but broken down Tanahashi wasn’t the right guy to pair him with third from top at the Dome. You could feel the frustration by both men, Tanahashi in particular, through the screen. Also, that poor poor apron brainbuster attempt. Aw. It just didn’t work. None of this did. **
3. No DQ Match – IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Chris Jericho
This was Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega working a one-half WWE car crash clusterfuck and one-half an epic New Japan match and I liked all of it. More than anything I liked how outright insane it was – it dragged a bit here and there, but then they’d bust out a unique spot that made ya go – OK, keep on doing your thing. It felt like the type of wrestling Kenny Omega always says he wants to do – the ring was their canvas and they just TRIED SHIT. Not everything worked and I don’t know why there was a countout tease, but by god was this good. Brawling all over the place, the Walls of Jericho counter of the rana, Kenny’s springboard splash into commentary, Omega’s bump off the Jericho springboard corner dropkick, Jericho’s camera spots, the Walls of Jericho on a young lion, Jericho’s half-speed table bump, the V-Triggers towards the end, the Walls counter of the One-Winged Angel, the One-Winged Angel rope break near fall, an all-time great Codebreaker, chairs, smoke, mirrors, blood, cold spray to the dick. Omega meanwhile was just bumping his ass off for everything. The chair throw on the Lionsault leading to the final One-Winged Angel was inspired stuff too. This was a chaotic masterpiece of a big time match in the god damn Tokyo Dome with Kenny Omega trying to prove he’s The Guy and Chris Jericho trying to prove he still is. ****1/4
4. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Tetsuya Naito
Star power. Credibility. AJPW Budokan main event atmosphere. Entrances. Theme music. Naito chants. Okada’s pants. Oh my GOD. Every wrestling maneuver that Okada and Naito do to each other is so smoth and beautiful, every step they take just has this extra credibility to it that makes this feel like they are truly wrestling professionally. I love it. What a match. One of the finest examples of high-end New Japan heavyweight professional wrestling. These are the two TOP GUYS and they are going to have rapid-fire exchanges as one tries to gain control, with Naito all “mmmmm hmm you know I’m the best” and Okada all “hooooo boy you might actually be right but I don’t think so.”
Tetsuya Naito is such a freak, so speedy and explosive when he wants to be. There’s a legsweep he does here that is among the finest ever legsweeps in pro wrestling. NECK WORK keeps the 25% or so vaguely interesting, and then the last 75% is just one of the all-time great New Japan finishing stretches. Frantic, beautiful, intense, hard-hitting, well-timed pro wrestling with crowd and Jim Ross and myself going absolutely wild. The Stardust Press attempts, the stiff-ass shoulder tackle, a top 10 Okada dropkick, Naito’s wide-open mouth as he took a German suplex, the Rainmaker teases and near falls. Both guys are just SPENT and Okada’s selling of him just having NO ANSWERS was incredible stuff. Naito at one point hit some crazy headscissors piledriver off the top rope that made me think I was hallucinating. I wish Naito went for the Stardust Press once more towards the end, I wish the neck work had a little more oomph to it, otherwise this was completely utterly brilliant. An excellent match brought up by both guys just being absolute superstars. ****1/2
