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    NJPW – Dominion Review – June 19, 2016

    Updated:26 Mins Read

    It’s barely been a fortnight since Will Ospreay won the Best of Super Juniors tournament, but he – and the rest of the New Japan crew – were back in action earlier on Sunday for their annual Dominion event at Osaka-Jo Hall.

    We started off on NJPW World with a “dark” match, billed as Jay White’s farewell to New Japan, as he’s set to link up with Ring of Honor on a “learning excursion” that is customary for the Young Lions.

    Jay White, David Finlay & Juice Robinson vs. Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi
    It’s odd that such a farewell is relegated to the New Japan equivalent of a kick-off show, and one where the fans were clearly still filing into the Osaka-Jo Hall. The set for Dominion, by the way, is a marked change from what you usually see on New Japan shows, with a stage in front of a staggered video wall (think WrestleMania 19), and a bit of an elevated runway in the aisle.

    David Finlay jumped Kojima at the bell as the young lions laid waste to Kojima, as an uppercut scored Finlay an early two-count. Kojima quickly got his revenge with rapid-fire chops, and a diving forearm into the corner for a near-fall. Nakanishi and Tenzan continued to work over Finlay, before Juice Robinson came in to try and clothesline Nakanishi off his feet. That didn’t work too well at first, with Nakanishi spearing Robinson whose delayed bump looked awkward.

    Robinson eventually took Nakanishi down with a back suplex after ducking a clothesline, but the veteran was quickly on top – literally – connecting with a flying crossbody off the top rope. Jay White came in not long after to go toe-to-toe with Tenzan, and ended up catching Tenzan in a crossface, before Nakanishi broke it up. After the veterans cleared the ring of the youngsters, with a Ten-Koji Cutter (3D) putting Finlay down, Tenzan scored a near-fall on White with a Side Effect and then made the New Zealander tap with an Anaconda Vice. A fine dark match, but I wouldn’t expect White’s win-loss record to make a sudden improvement in ROH **½

    Dominion then got underway with six-man tag team action, as the company made use of their ties with ROH:

    Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Togi Makabe, Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan
    Hangman Page is ROH’s Adam Page – rechristened after joining the Bullet Club during the company’s last tapings with New Japan. The hangman gimmick is that Page has a noose around his neck, and you can probably guess how that’ll be used. They don’t wait, as Tatsu gets hung across the top rope with the noose, until Makabe attacks him to break it all up.

    Yoshitatsu ran through his Triple H playbook early on with Page, before laying into him with a trio of kicks to the chest, before getting low-bridged to the outside, where Page… did something that the camera missed. It turned out to be a shooting star headbutt off the apron. Instead of replaying it, we saw Fale choke Makabe with a crowd barrier, as Page returned to the ring to work on Yoshitatsu in the corner. We finally saw the shooting star headbutt, which to me is a move that a heel should never be doing… and then we faded back to Fale grounding Yoshitatsu with a nerve hold.

    Makabe came in to work over Fale, sidestepping a charge in the corner, but got cut off as he unwisely went for a Northern Lights Suplex. Captain New Japan took a beating, as you’d expect, with Page getting a near-fall from a lariat, before the Captain almost stole a win with a uranage. The Captain got another two-count with a swandive headbutt on Page, but the Hangman popped up with a big boot, before drilling him with the Rites of Passage (kneeling belly-to-back piledriver) for the win. A so-so opening match, but it did its job in establishing Page **¼

    The Captain got hung after the match, to the disgust of the commentary team, which included Ryusuke Taguchi who went from Best of Super Junior final to… not even being on this card. There’s quite the fall.

    SANADA & BUSHI vs. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI
    BUSHI decided to come from an S&M store, clearly, as he was sporting a gimp mask over his usual hood for this. The main storyline here was between YOSHI-HASHI and SANADA, with HASHI upset that SANADA had left New Japan after initially being rejected and plying his trade elsewhere… whereas HASHI just persevered. That sounds like a jealous babyface when you write it like that!

    We started with BUSHI and YOSHI-HASHI, but SANADA quickly came in to jump HASHI and take him out with his baseball bat on the outside. They ran the t-shirt choke spot, as BUSHI used his (white) t-shirt on YOSHI-HASHI, but after the referee grabbed the shirt, SANADA tossed in his own (black) shirt as an additional weapon.

    YOSHI-HASHI fought back with a flipping neckbreaker and brought in Ishii, who made short work of BUSHI and SANADA. The latter recovered by doing a Flair-like bump in the corner before taking down HASHI with a springboard dropkick, before getting a two-count with a back suplex. YOSHI-HASHI then reversed out of a Skull End and scored a near-fall, before falling to a TKO for a two-count.

    A clothesline from Ishii countered another Skull End attempt by SANADA, but the move was quickly applied once more, before YOSHI-HASHI evaded it and locked in a butterfly hold until BUSHI ran in and tried to break it up. BUSHI failed and the hold was kept on, and finally SANADA tapped, as YOSHI-HASHI scored a major win over his rival here. Pretty good match here, but I’d have preferred a singles match here. ***

    EVIL vs. Hirooki Goto
    Man, EVIL’s entrance looked like it’d been lifted out of WrestleMania, as his hand-held laser was added to by an ever-growing collection throughout the arena. Goto jumps EVIL at the bell, not even waiting for his ring introduction, and they lay into each other with forearms.

    Goto took EVIL to the outside, and sent him repeatedly into the crowd barriers, before rolling him back in, only to be caught with a neckbreaker over the top rope. EVIL followed Goto back to the floor, and grabbed a chair from under the ring, placing it over Goto’s neck, before using a second chair to strike it away.

    Back inside, EVIL curb stomped Goto and followed up with a back senton for a near-fall, before the pair nullified each other with clotheslines. Goto grabbed a two-count with a clothesline in the corner that was followed-up with by a bulldog, before EVIL elbowed his way free out of a waistlock. A jumping knee dazed Goto against the ropes, but his attempt at a comeback was quickly thwarted with a clothesline that turned him inside out, landing on EVIL in the process.

    EVIL squirmed out of an attempted ushigorishi, and delivered a firm uppercut into Goto, before dropping him with a Fireman’s Carry Bomb for a near-fall. However, Goto blocked an attempted STO, taking him down with a spinning wheel kick, before scoring a two-count from a kick to the chest. More reversals followed as another STO was blocked, but Goto snatched the win with a pair of headbutts to EVIL, followed by the ushigoroshi and the reverse DDT for the three-count. A good fast-paced, yet hard-hitting match – but not as good as their match at Wrestling Dontaku last month. ***

    IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship, Elimination-Rules: The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Roppongi Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero) vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal (c)
    This is a standard four-way elimination match, with the New Japan rules meaning that battle royal-style eliminations also count. The Young Bucks were making their New Japan return after missing the entire Best of Super Juniors tour with injury.

    After teasing that he wanted to start off with the champions, Nick Jackson immediately tagged out so we started with Matt Sydal and Kyle O’Reilly. An early distraction from Nick to Bobby Fish almost saw him eliminated at the hands of Beretta, who then took a kick to the back from Matt Jackson on the apron. Beretta retaliated with a dropkick through the bottom ropes, before almost eliminating Fish by throwing him over the top rope, as everyone piled in a la the Royal Rumble.

    Beretta counted a slingshot DDT from the outside into a Northern Lights suplex on Fish for a near-fall, before Beretta got taken to the wrong corner and double-teamed by reDRagon. O’Reilly locked Beretta in an armbar, but in flipping him over, Beretta quickly made the ropes. reDRagon utilised a lot of quick tags to cut off Beretta, who got the feet up to block his opponents, and then made the tag in to Romero, who dropped O’Reilly with a springboard cross body. Strikes to Bobby Fish followed, before Roppongi Vice hit a pair of high knees to the champions, and followed up with topes to the outside.

    O’Reilly went to work on Romero with some kicks, but Rocky withstood the assault and dropped the Young Bucks with a double shiranui, before launching into his Forever clotheslines on the Buck and reDRagon. Dualling clotheslines from Roppongi Vice took out the champions, but left them vulnerable to the Young Bucks who came from behind and tossed them out for the first elimination.

    reDRagon followed up on the Young Bucks with some good double-teaming, and almost eliminated them before the Jacksons played Shawn Michaels, allowing Sydal and Ricochet to throw out reDRagon as they tried to finish off the Bucks. That didn’t go down to well with the challengers, as Fish and O’Reilly ran in and laid out the champions, connecting with the Chasing the Dragon (brainbuster/kick) on Ricochet. Matt Jackson only got a two-count as he tried to steal the pin on Ricochet, who was thrown out, but landed on the apron before they played human tug-of-war by trying to shove him off the apron for the win.

    The Young Bucks worked together to try and eliminate Ricochet, but Ricochet got the better of them with a DDT and a spinning roundhouse kick, before makign the hot tag to Sydal. A roundhouse kick took down Matt Jackson, before the champs went to work on Nick with a standing moonsault/shooting star press combo for a near-fall. Sydal broke up a powerbomb with a jumping knee to Nick Jackson, as Matt then took a deadlift suplex from Ricochet.

    The Bucks popped up as the champions looked to finish things off with stereo shooting star presses, but they held on and were taken to the apron, where Ricochet was superkicked onto the apron as he held on. We then got a bunch of superkicks on Sydal and Ricochet, with Sydal then being buckle bomb’d into Ricochet, before a suspended senton bomb earned Matt a two-count.

    Out of nowhere, Nick turned Sydal upside down and held him in place for the Meltzer Driver/Indytaker – and the Young Bucks won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag titles for a fifth time. That wasn’t a bad match, but the elimination stipulations really hurt it. With five switches this year, those belts just feel like hot potato props at this stage, particularly since there’s been no successful defences of the belts this year! See, I was able to do a full review without ranting about the Young Bucks! **¾

    IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA (c)
    These two tore the house down at Invasion Attack, and after winning the Best of Super Junior tournament, Will Ospreay (and his shiny new jear) is cashing in his title shot.

    They started out slowly, with KUSHIDA trying a heel hook, only for Ospreay to headstand up into a headlock on KUSHIDA, taking him to the mat for a one-count. KUSHIDA reversed, and then span around Ospreay back into another heel hook, and then a surfboard variation, which Ospreay flipped out of and scored another one-count.

    KUSHIDA edged ahead of Ospreay with a low dropkick after it looked as if they were going to cancel each other out with flips, before KUSHIDA kicked out Ospreay’s hand as he looked for the handstand into some headscissors. KUSHIDA locked in a kimura, then went for a leaping bulldog-like arm breaker as Ospreay’s left arm was being softened for the Hoverboard Lock. Out of nowhere, Ospreay hit a no-handspring off the ropes and then a corkscrew kick to derail KUSHIDA, following up with a Phenomenal Forearm and a handspring into a corkscrew press to the outside.

    A corkscrew standing senton in the ring got Ospreay another two-count, but KUSHIDA kicked away from the superkick in the corner and went back to the left arm of the Brit. A handstand-kick from KUSHIDA sent Ospreay to the outside, where he took a senton that almost went badly wrong, with Ospreay leaning into it, setting up for the first count-out tease of the night.

    Ospreay got his feet up for a moonsault from KUSHIDA, before laying into him with rapid-fire kicks. KUSHIDA tried for a handspring off the ropes, but was caught, before turning it into a sunset-flip for a near-fall. Ospreay fired back with a tilt-a-whirl into a flapjack, with KUSHIDA getting some serious air-time from that. A standing shooting star press and a corkscrew dive off the middle-rope followed for a two-count, as Ospreay finally connected with the superkick in the corner, then a diving corkscrew kick.

    KUSHIDA ducked the springboard Ace crusher, but took some more kicks, then a headbutt from Ospreay, then a Spanish Fly… but KUSHIDA landed in an armbar from there, forcing Ospreay to roll over and eventually stack up KUSHIDA, picking him up for a powerbomb… eventually ending with a gutbuster. KUSHIDA rolled into position to take a corkscrew star press, but kicked out at two, before catching another springboard Ace Crusher and turning it into the Hoverboard Lock, rolling Ospreay into the middle of the ring to score the tap-out.

    Another fantastic match between these two, perhaps not quite at the level of their Invasion Attack affair, but still bloody good. ****

    My only question here is: after two failed cracks at KUSHIDA’s title, where next for Ospreay – a man who’s only been in New Japan for three months, but has managed to get two title shots and win the Best of Super Juniors tournament? After such a hot start, it seems like the company is already risking burning him out and entering Lex Luger territory…

    IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Briscoe Brothers (Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c)
    The Briscoes started off well here, with Mark and Jay cornering Tama Tonga, before Tanga Loa came in and dropped Mark with a clothesline. The back-and-forth continued as Jay came in (without any tag) and dropped Tonga with a clothesline after a jawbreaker from Mark, before flying with a tope onto Tonga as Mark hit a dropkick through the ropes to Loa.

    Tanga Loa sent Mark flying to the outside with a back body drop, where he was met with a stiff chair shot before Loa powerbombed Jay onto the side of the ring apron. The staggering indifference from Osaka continued when the Guerrillas of Destiny double-teamed Mark, with Loa getting a two-count from a legdrop, before a similar result came from a backdrop suplex into an elbow drop from Tonga.

    Loa tried to cut off Mark as he went for the tag, but found that Jay was pulled off the apron when he’d managed to free himself. Mark finally made the tag to Jay, who traded shots with Tonga, before scoring a two-count from a Rude Awakening-style neckbreaker. Jay landed another lariat after Tonga fought out of the Jay Driller, before hitting a Death Valley Driver on Tonga as Mark got a two-count out of it.

    The Briscoes went for the Doomsday Device, but Loa crotched Mark on the top rope, leaving him prone for the elevated neckbreaker (similar to Cryme Tyme’s old finisher), for a two-count. Loa then held up Mark in a powerbomb position, as Tonga came down with a blockbuster-style neckbreaker for another two-count, as Jay broke up the pin.

    Tanga Loa turned into a dropkick rom Mark Briscoe, then a brainbuster for a two-count as the challengers came back, with a Jay Driller earning another two-count as Loa kicked out. One Doomsday Device later, and the Briscoes claimed their first IWGP tag team titles – ending a match that was decidedly average, and only saved by the final few moments **¼

    Post-match, Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page ran in to ruin the party, with Mark Briscoe getting the noose treatment. Looks like we already have new contenders, with the former champions seemingly taken straight out of the title picture, and I’m not sure if Adam Page being linked with the bottom-tier Bullet Club member Takahashi is a great way to make a splash, but lets give it a chance, eh?

    NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata (c)
    The culmination of a feud that’s been really entertaining, as Shibata looked for revenge – and his NEVER title – back from Nagata, who came to the ring with the rest of the “Third Generation”: Satoshi Kojima, Hiroshi Tenzan and Manabu Nakanishi.

    The pair started off slowly, with Nagata looking to grapple with Shibata, but after sending him to the ropes, Shibata cheap-shotted the veteran, who eagerly fired back in kind. Shibata worked an armbar on Nagata, but the roll-over sent Nagata into the ropes, but the challenger Shibata kept on top with another armbar, before kicking him to the mat.

    Nagata returned fire with some more kicks, then sent Shibata into the corner with an forearm and followed up with a Yakuza kick. Shibata switched it around and caught Nagata with a jumping knee in the corner, following up with forearm strikes and a diving dropkick, as they went back to trading stiff forearms. The trading upgraded to suplexes, with Exploders and Germans being no-sold, until an STO put Nagata to the mat.

    Shibata went back to kicking away at Nagata in the corner, before locking in a Cobra twist that eventually broken up in the ropes, as Shibata switched into a sleeperhold. Another rope break saw the hold come to an end, before Shibata scored a two-count from Nagata’s own Backdrop Hold. Nagata retaliated with an armbar of his own, rolling his eyes back, and dragging Shibata into the middle of the ring, but the challenger was eventually able to crawl through for a rope break.

    More kicks from Nagata sent Shibata scurrying into the corner, as the referee got shoved down by the champion. A back suplex dumped Shibata onto his neck, but only scored Nagata a two-count, before a brainbuster led to Nagata aping Shibata’s own PK finisher. A jumping knee was enough for Shibata to block a Backdrop Hold, as he cinched in a sleeperhold tight, then dropped him to the mat for a Penalty Kick to score the win – and get his title back.

    A fantastic match, and exactly what we expected from these two: brutal, hard hitting, and engrossing! ****¼

    The post-match saw Shibata bown down to Nagata, in what looked like the end of the storyline as Shibata looks more than ready to make the move up the card. To what position though…?

    They then played an amazing video explaining the concept of the ladder match – since this is the first time that New Japan have ever done one – telling fans that pinfalls and submissions don’t count.

    IWGP Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega (c)
    Omega came out with Takahashi and Page, which led to some suspicion as the Young Bucks were MIA – particularly after Omega waved the other two to the back. The referee, Red Shoes, then went under the ring and caught the two Young Bucks, and ordered them to the back as well.

    Omega jumped Elgin at the bell, at which point the graphic told us that this match had a sixty-minute time limit with one fall. And what happens at the hour mark? They just lower the belt for Omega?

    For the first ladder match in New Japan, they pulled out all of the stops – smartly or otherwise – with Omega quickly exiting the ring for a ladder, but was cut off by Elgin who swept Omega with his own broom, before the champion hit a slingshot crossbody to the outside onto a ladder… on purpose. Why!?

    For some reason after that, Omega was the first one to pop up, and quickly went back to the outside with a tope con hilo as he called for Page and Takahashi to come from the back to beat down Elgin. Page and Takahashi held Elgin back as Omega set up a ladder in the ring, but he fought free and knocked Omega down, before Elgin did the Terry Funk Memorial Ladder Windmill Spot™.

    Omega took a Flair-like bump onto a ladder in the corner, before Elgin set him onto a ladder… and missed a springboard splash into the ring, as he got nothing but steel. Elgin withstood some offence and fired back with an enziguiri, as he teased sending Omega head first into a ladder that was draped across the top rope, but instead opted to take out Omega, Takahashi and Page with a tope con hilo.

    Elgin followed up by climbing a ladder to dive once more to the outside, and after taking some trash can shots, Omega took Elgin down hard with a sunset flip powerbomb, floating over the ladder to connect with his Canadian compatriot. More trash can shots followed, as Omega bridged a ladder between the ring and the crowd barrier, but Elgin fought out of the first suplex attempt, then dropped Omega with a front-release suplex at the second go. Omega thought he’d blocked a slingshot into the ladder, as he landed on it, but a moonsault into Elgin went awry as he was caught, then lawn-darted back into it.

    An effort from Omega to climb the ladder ended abruptly via an Electric Chair drop, as Elgin used the ladder several more times on the champion, before bridging it across two trash cans, then teased a superplex – to ever increasing gasps of astonishment – only for Omega to elbow himself free… and then send Elgin face first into the ladder. Elgin eventually got powerbombed through the ladder bridge, and tried to climb the wreckage, before giving up.

    Elgin hit a bucklebomb off the ladder as Omega tried to climb, but Omega fought out of another powerbomb and tried to scale the ladder once more. The ladder got thrown at Omega again, but Omega turned a powerbomb attempt into a reverse ‘rana. Omega fought out of a One Winged Angel, only to fall into a Slingblade as even the commentators booed! More ladder work followed as Elgin superplexed Omega off the ladder, a move that woke up the Osaka Jo-Hall crowd! The pair started climbing the ladder and traded punches in a bid to send the other crashing to the mat, only for both of them to fall off together.

    After going outside of the ropes, Omega blocked a powerbomb on the apron, instead delivering a back body drop, before dragging some tables out from under the ring. If you’ve ever watched Botchamania, you know how this goes… Spoiler: badly. Omega ended up getting caught on a ladder, and powerbombed through the tables. Which did. Not. Break.

    That acted as the cue for a parade of inteference, as Elgin climbed the ladder only to be cut off by the Young Bucks, their freeze spray, and a couple of superkicks. The Bucks then handcuffed Elgin to the turnbuckle, as Yoshitatsu and Captain New Japan ran out – in vain – to make the save. Way to make those guys look disposable!

    Matt Sydal was next out, but he stopped halfway down the aisle as Ricochet came through the crowd and took out the Young Bucks with a tope con hilo. Omega used the spray and the trash can lids to get rid of the former IWGP Junior tag champs, before climbing the ladder… but Elgin broke the handcuffs and tipped the ladder backwards, sending Omega flying into the pile on the outside, and it was elementary from there – Michael Elgin – your new Intercontinental Champion!

    Well, before Money in the Bank even takes place, that’s pretty much assured of being today’s best ladder match. That was an insane war, and the run-in parade at the end was short enough to make the match lose importance. ****

    IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito (c)
    Unlike most other venues, Naito is not getting many cheers here in Osaka, even after he obliges Okada by sending his Los Ingobernables stablemates to the back.

    They started off slowly, with Naito and Okada sending each other into the ropes for a break, with both men breaking cleanly, before Naito powdered outside for a breather. When Naito repeated the move, he started to walk away from ringside, going up the aisle, before slamming Okada onto the ramp, and returning with a dropkick on the narrow catwalk.

    Remaining outside, Okada got sent into the barriers in front of New Japan president Takaaki Kidani – whom has been antagonised by Naito in the press during his entire title reign. Some more dropkicks from Naito kept the boos from the Osaka crowd coming, with an equally positive reaction coming when Okada dropped Naito with a neckbreaker and a couple of clotheslines.

    Naito tried to escape up the aisle again, and fought back when Okada went to cut him off, only to be met with a running dropkick as he just about made it to the stage area. Okada dragged Naito back to the ring, only to be met with a neckbreaker from the champion. The back and forth continued when Okada caught Naito in the corner with a jumping elbow, then a DDT, and a diving uppercut for a near-fall, before locking in the Red Ink (cross-legged STF) on Naito, adding in a few elbows to the head for good measure.

    A diving elbow off the top rope led to Okada trying for the Rainmaker, but Naito blocked it and threw down Okada with a suplex to – yes – more boos. The slingshot dropkick into the corner got a similar response, but Naito saw an attempt at Gloria fail, before a Koji Clutch was rolled through, with Okada getting a near-fall. Okada made the ropes after being caught in the Koji Clutch, but was sent back to the mat with a hurricanrana off the top rope.

    Another attempt at Gloria was blocked by Okada, who elbowed himself free, before Okada turned an attempt at Destino into the Heavy Rain (neckbreaker slam). After the pair got to their knees, they traded stiff forearm shots on their way up, before Naito fought out of another Heavy Rain attempt, onto to end up taking a bunch of diving dropkicks for near-falls.

    After blocking another Destino, Okada nailed a dropkick to floor Naito, with Okada struggling to follow-up with a tombstone piledriver. Instead, he went for an uppercut, before Naito turned the tombstone piledriver into a Destino. Naito tried for a second Destino, but this time took the piledriver, then the Rainmaker… but he kicked out at two! Okada then dropped Naito on his neck with a German suplex, but saw a Rainmaker attempt blocked as he was rolled-up for a near-fall. That made something switch inside Okada, who picked up Naito and hit three Rainmakers in a row… and that was enough for a title change!

    This told a great story between Naito and Okada, showing that Naito couldn’t win a fair fight – but also that Okada needed to hit his big moves several times to get the win. On paper, both guys came out of this war looking strong, but I really have to question the booking behind Naito losing the belt this soon. ****

    From top to bottom, this was one of the best shows of the year. If you take out the heavyweight tag title match, there wasn’t a bad match at Dominion. It felt like one of New Japan’s bigger shows – quite rightly – but there were a lot of booking decisions that were questionable to say the least. Changing five titles – only KUSHIDA successfully defended – is usually the sign of a promotion that’s either indecisive or is changing course big-time.

    After 70 days and one successful defence (not counting injuries, the shortest reign since Manabu Nakanishi in 2009!), Tetsuya Naito dropping the IWGP title was an unpopular call, particularly given that the belt’s gone straight back to Okada. This may seem to telegraph Naito winning next month’s G1 tournament, but as for the rest of the card, it’s clear that the tie-up with ROH is working well both ways, but the company’s heavyweight tag team division is a forgettable mess.

    The G1 is New Japan’s next big focal point, running from July 18 to August 14, and it’ll be interesting to see who is slotted where in the tournament as the company plans to end a turbulent year on a high.

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