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From the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo Japan, welcome to the first ever Wrestle Dynasty card in the Tokyo Dome.
At the kick off starts, the Dome does not seem as full.
1 - International Women's Cup Final: Willow Nightingale vs. Persephone vs. Athena vs. Momo Watanabe
Watanabe hit Athena with a plastic bat and pins Athena.
Momo Watanabe wins the International Women’s Cup.
All these women looked great in the ring. Persephone looks like an athletic star. Willow is awesome and is perfect for the WWE with her personality. Watanabe does not need a weapon nor a plastic one. Athena looks better than when she was in WWE. Solid opener except for the plastic bat.
2 - ROH Tag Team Championship: Sammy Guevara and Dustin Rhodes vs. SHO and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
House of Torture pulled their normal tricks, but the babyfaces used it against them. Dustin hit the Final Reckoning on Kanemaru and Guevara hit a Swanton.
Rhodes pins Kanemaru.
Rhodes and Guevara retain the ROH Tag Team Championship.
Rhodes paid respect to the Tokyo Dome as he bowed to the crowd and kisses the mat.
At the start of the match, every move Guevara made was something off the top rope or an aerial spot. No build. It looked awkward against a pro like SHO and Kanemaru. Wrestle first and then build to the high spots.
The Dome is starting to fill up now.
3 - Eight-man Lucha Gauntlet match: Hechicero vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Soberano Jr. vs. Master Wato vs. Mascara Dorada vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. Titan vs. El Desperado
Fujita had Desperado in a Surfboard submission. Ishimori pushes the referee into Fujita, breaking the hold.
Ishimori pins Desperado with a Gedo Clutch.
Taiji Ishimori wins the Gauntlet and has a victory over the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
They will build on this story since DOUKI is injured.
4 - Special Exhibition Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Tanahashi begins his final year in wrestling tonight as he faces an old rival in Shibata.
The match became a chopping match which went to a time limit draw.
They teased another match.
5 - Strong Women's Championship and RevPro British Women's Championship: Mina Shirakawa vs. Mercedes Mone
Mone pins Shirakawa after hitting the Money Maker.
Mercedes Mone wins the Strong Women's Championship and RevPro British Women's Championship.
After the match, Shirakawa demands a rematch.
Both women looked great in this match. The one thing that AEW has over New Japan is great female talent. Mercedes Mone needs to sell more after the match. She danced around the crowd after the match without selling the injured knee.
6 - Special Single Match: David Finlay vs. Brody King
Stiff match. When Brody had the upper hand in the match, Gedo kept screaming like a madman to Finlay to fight back, almost in a defiant and disrespectful way.
Finlay hits Overkill and pins Brody.
7 - Special Single Match: Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli
The announcers were REALLY selling how disgusting Jon Moxley is. In this match.
Umino kicked out of the Ricola Bomb and Claudio’s big moves.
Umino hit a Death Rider and pinned Claudio.
There was gasp of disappointment from the crowd when he won. This is not what New Japan is wanted. But Umino has been booked poorly in the past few months.
If AEW is building towards Moxley vs. Umino, they need to be careful how Umino is booked in New Japan. He should not be booed like he was going into his IWGP Title Match last night. He needs to be built like a top babyface if he is to face the biggest heel in AEW in Moxley.
8 - NEVER Openweight Championship and AEW International Championship: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Konosuke Takeshita (c)
Good stiff match. Takeshita hit a Raging Fire off the top rope. Wow! He hit the Bastard Driver and a release German. Ishii kicks out. Ishii hits a top rope Frankensteiner! Damn. They trade blows. Ishii hits a Sliding Lariat. Takeshita with a Poisonrana. Takeshita hits Raging Fire.
Takeshita pins Ishii.
Konosuke Takeshita retains the NEVER Openweight Championship and AEW International Championship.
9 - IWGP Tag Team Championship: Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Great O-Khan and Jeff Cobb vs. The Young Bucks.
The Bucks are wrestling with jewelry on. Keep on killing the business.
Bucks hit a Meltzer Driver on O-Khan and get the pin.
The Young Bucks win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.
I hope New Japan got paid well for sacrificing the credibility of Great O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, the World Tag League tournament and the IWGP Tag Team Championship itself.
10 - IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji vs. Jack Perry
Tsuji pins Perry after hitting a Gene Blaster.
Yota Tsuji retains the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
11 - Special Single Match: Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd
The commentary team said this was the match that everyone paid to see.
Lots of chants for Gabe Kidd as the match starts.
Omega powerbombed Kidd through a table. Kidd went back first into the table but somehow cut his forehead.
Omega sensed the crowd turning on him and tried to be a heel and bully the young lions.
Kidd suplexes Omega through a table and smashes him in the head with a piece of the table. Omega is now bleeding. They threw chairs in the ring and hit a superplex. Both took a bump into the chairs. Then they hit each other in the head with chairs. Stupid. Kidd kept hitting the abdomen of Omega, referencing his diverticulitis problem.
Kidd hit a rebound lariat and the crowd popped huge.
Kidd took a German off the top rope. Omega hit a Jay Driller. Two count. Omega hit a V-Trigger but could not lift Kidd for the One Winged Angel. Omega went for his finisher again but Kidd reversed and applied the Inoki Special. Massive crowd pop. Omega gets the ropes. Kidd hits a German. Kidd with a knee strike and a Piledriver. Two count.
Kidd drops Omega on his head then follows with a Package Piledriver. Omega with a rope break. They trade strikes. Omega with a V-Trigger, a powerbomb and another V-Trigger. One count.
Omega hits another V-Trigger and a One Winged Angel.
Omega pins Kidd.
If New Japan thought Omega would be over in Japan, they are not listening to the fans. You can shove a wrestler in front of them and say “you will like them and pay to see him”. They are doing this with Shota Umino and it is not working. Do not treat the Japanese fans like they are stupid.
The English commentary team was terrible in this match. Rocky Romero was all about AEW. Chris Charlton was anti-AEW. They were arguing on commentary which took away from this match.
This was a good match. Best match of Kidd’s career. This made Gabe Kidd a main event star, in my opinion. And the Japanese fans have shown their respect for him tonight.
12 - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet
Ricochet attacked quickly with aerial attacks. ZSJ regrouped and trapped him in a neck vice and a neck twist. ZSJ tied him into knots. Ricochet used quick strikes and more aerial attacks.
Ricochet hit three suplexes with the last one on the apron. Both are almost counted out. They trade strikes. ZSJ hits a Zack Driver of the ropes. Two count. ZSJ quickly gets a cross arm breaker. Rope break. Ricochet with a Shooting Star Press. Two count. Ricochet hits an inverted driver. Two count. Ricochet missed a 630 splash. ZSJ hits a punt kick and a Zack Driver. Two count. They trade blows.
ZSJ applies arm submissions. Ricochet submits.
Zack Sabre Jr. retains the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Zack says New Japan is the best company on earth. He loves Japan and he loves this country. This year will bleed orange for TMDK. He says we are TMDK and the might don’t kneel.
Zack Sabre Jr. is the perfect champion to build the company around at this time. He can be matched up against veterans and younger wrestlers and continue to be a credible and dependable leader.
The wrestling on the show was good. The matches were good inside a bubble. However, from a New Japan as a company perspective, there are questions.
It is concerning that two titles have been won by AEW talent. I would expect the Bucks and Takeshita to keep the belts so that Tony Khan can show them off on several of his PPV’s. If Tanahashi has a long term plan, I will trust him for now. No New Japan wrestler won an AEW title. Most of the AEW championships were not defended tonight nor did the champions even bother to appear.
I do hope that there were no serious injuries to any New Japan talent when it seems they put more on the line over the past two nights than the other companies involved. I will not pretend to know the business aspects of the last 48 hours, but Zack Sabre Jr.‘s words ring true that New Japan is the best wrestling company on the planet. For the moment in the bubble.
That will change on January 6 when Raw premieres on Netflix.
New Japan returns tomorrow with New Year Dash, where new storylines and angles will be established.
Thank you for reading.
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