Initiate upgrade sequence.
The Road to Dominion was paved with great wrestling — let’s see about Dominion itself.
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & SHO vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
Pretty basic banter from the boys to kick it off at Osaka Castle Hall, though it’s so rock solid that I can tell you that with the exception of Shingo Takagi himself the Ishii/Goto/YOSHI trio were the all-stars of the Dominion 2021 tour. SHO continues to play up some kind of Tanahashi Jr. shtick, which could be interesting. Tanahashi the Elder smacks Ishimori with a Sling Blade then calls for his boy with such a passion that… well, Ishimori pins SHO. Ah. OK. I missed Tanahashi so much. Not ELP. ***
2. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI
I’m not sure how new an addition BUSHI’s elaborate red light-up mask is, but it’s an incredible piece of merchandise. If I saw him show up to work with that I’d strap him him up with a Jr. Heavyweight Championship at a minimum. Taichi went from an ultimate babyface performance a few days ago to straight heel work here and it can only make you appreciate him more.
Otherwise the most interesting part of this was probably healing commentator Hiromu Takahashi jamming to Naito’s music. SANADA and ZSJ trade holds before SANADA impressively counters a Japanese leg roll clutch by holding ZSJ down with a kind of Tiger suplex hold cradle thing for 3. Naito/SANADA vs. Taichi/ZSJ appears to be next. That works. **1/2
3. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: El Desperado [c] vs. YOH
El Despy opens this up the right away, cutting the clean break nonsense immediately and kicking YOH in the BUTT. The butt!! It creates a solid dynamic for a solid match, one primarily spent with Despy attacking YOH’s leg. YOH takes it like a champ but doesn’t really capture an essence struggling on defense or fighting for a comeback, and that doesn’t support much in the way of drama towards the end. These two are reliable and it was kind of refreshing how simple it was, but it still wasn’t hitting above a good solid championship wrestling match. ***1/2
4. Kota Ibushi vs. Jeff Cobb
There were bits and pieces of brilliance here, Kota Ibushi the under-sized hero capable of getting in some nasty shots on this version of Jeff Cobb who occasionally — here maybe more than any other match — meets his Gary Albright-ish potential. They also kept the match under 15 minutes, and anyone who’s read anything about New Japan on the Internet in the last decade knows that’s a brilliant thing all in itself. For a guy who’s finish is not the Kamigoye, Cobb throws a heck of a Kamigoye. Pretty straight-up match that didn’t quite make The Case for either guy. ***1/2
5. IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi
I want to tell you about two of my favorite wrestlers.
Shingo Takagi is big and strong and looks like a middle-District Hunger Games guy and wrestles that way too: powerful, explosive, and maybe most important with purpose—the most purposeful wrestler going today, extra impressive given all the other insane stuff he does. It feels like Jerry Lawler doing mid-90s All Japan— not quite, but almost. He’s used that dynamic to be so good for so long, a wrecking ball who has powered through any lack of expectation when he moved from Dragon Gate to New Japan. Even in this stubborn and strange industry, some guys are undeniable and those journeys keep this fascinating.
Kazuchika Okada, who may or may not have been resting up injuries the last year or two after one of the all-time great runs in pro wrestling, has only been in a couple big spots this year after a weak 2020 but looked like his old best in the world self here — granted the last times he looked this good it was with Shingo too.
They’re both at a minimum 5 of the best active examples I can provide for you of why I like this so much that I still dedicate so much of * looks around * to it, capable of some of the highest quality work this great faux-sport may be capable of pulling off, thrilling and impressive action that balances being both a canvas of beautiful art and something you can flip out about with your pals. It’s put over the top by a commitment to their character and their ability to always be getting across something, even if it’s just: “Hey guys! This is a competition. This stuff is real.”
This wasn’t just about Okada fighting to win another championship, in fact he seemed kind of annoyed that he had to: Shingo might’ve beat him a few months ago but Okada beat ex-champ Ospreay in January and Shingo’s just… Naito’s guy, you know? One of the first times he’s able to string together any offense early in the match, Okada celebrates with claps and stomps as if to say: “I wasn’t supposed to be here today.” The match is really all about the Shingo response though, which is basically: “Sorry brother, but I’m the best thing going.”
The story was there, the match delivered on it, and the whole experience also happened to just be an ideal example of what’s so awesome about all this in the first place. Doesn’t hurt that it is topped off by the crowning of a new top name in the yard and opening of plenty new scenarios for NJPW.
The first half was carried by Shingo’s dominance and the second by a return-to-form main event Okada performance. Shingo creates the feel of a relentless challenge, few openings to escape and extra sauce on everything. When he grapples Okada into an armbar he’s fought for it, if there’s downtime as Okada absorbs something he’ll look at the crowd with a grin like “yeah I got your boy.” I don’t think he even let Okada lift him up. It’s an exercise in dedication but also a little toxic masculinity.
Okada does all the Good Wrestler stuff throughout the match like armbars and rope-running and last-second kickouts in an effort to slay this punk, but it’s the weight he gives to everything in his timing and facial expressions and just visible exhaustion that’s extra for even him that helps assist smashing the wrecking ball into the upper echelon and carry this into great match beyond territory. Some of the most fun with Okada is when he organically shifts from cocky asshole to guy falling behind, and when his aging body is dropped on the floor mats he really just doesn’t even recover even if he continues fighting back for another 15 minutes.
Shingo eventually completely knocks the wind out of Okada with a STAY DREAM from the TOP ROPE and when the camera zooms in on the Rainmaker’s face, it is one that either can’t process how his body isn’t doing what he wants it to do or one imagining life sticking to 10-man tag openers against ELP. He’s able to lift an arm up before a 3-count, but an attempt to stand ends with him keeled for a while like his appendix burst. Shingo’s response is a sliding lariat and flurry of elbows to the face, even deep into the match appearing to be some kind of Terminator. Contrasted with the pain Okada is clearly in, it gives the end of the match all it needs.
Okada is somehow able to work his way into a mojo, a feat he’s triumphantly pulled off many times before… until Shingo shuts him down with a Rainmaker. The crowd flips.
Both guys struggle up and Okada’s able to sneak in a Rainmaker before setting up one more because at this point he’s got to consider that Shingo may not be human. That may be proven when Shingo ducks and hits his own. They transition to trading assorted suplexes and signature maneuvers, though Okada’s consistently a step behind: the last straw is Shingo escaping a tombstone then hitting a Drstom suplex and sliding lariat. Okada, sporting the face of a man either aware of his impending doom or dangerously concussed, is lifted for the Last of the Dragon and gets dropped. When Okada actually stays down for 3, the new champ’s reaction is priceless.
The G1 and New Japan Cup matches may have very well had bigger peak as one of them raged towards a comeback, but those were also just another piece of the puzzle to get to this classic wrestling match. Shingo Takagi wasn’t just a B-show challenger or even mere equal to Okada — tonight, he was the guy better suited to dominate this era of New Japan. *****
Happy Thoughts: Shingo Takagi as IWGP Champion is the most exciting move New Japan has made since EVIL turned on Tetsuya Naito, and I’m feeling bullish on this turning out a little better. It also happened as a result of a five-star match. Undercard is good too, which is not always the case. Welcome back, boys. Keep cooking. 3.5 / 5.0
