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Does NJPW know how to get fans talking or what? The wrestling community is buzzing, following the aftermath of the New Japan Cup 2020 Finals and the main event for NJPW Dominion 2020. Not only did we see the end of the four-week tournament, but we also saw the end of one of NJPW's longest alliances which led to EVIL defeating Tetsuya Naito to win the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi has made the first challenge to EVIL. We also saw the return of Dick Togo. It was quite the newsworthy weekend for the biggest promotion in Japan.
After eight nights of empty arena shows, NJPW welcomed fans back to their events for the first time since the end of February. The Osaka-jo Hall was allowed 36% capacity at the 10,000 seat arena to watch the New Japan Cup finals and NJPW's traditional summer PPV.
Fans were asked to not chant or scream, as the company tries to set precautions with the country finally turning around after the pandemic. To even hear fans clapping during matches was a welcome sound to go with the good to excellent action that we witnessed throughout the night.
Both shows included a nice assortment of the available talent at NJPW's disposal. With stars such as Will Ospreay, KENTA and the Guerrillas of Destiny all unable to travel to Japan, the company put their best foot forward and delivered two nights of events which have caused quite the stir of emotions for both casual and hardcore fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling
The New Japan Cup Finals event featured several multi-man tag team matches which built to the next night's card. NJPW Dominion also featured an array of multi-man matches but was highlighted by three huge title matches to close the night. Each title match delivering different levels of excitement, action and development to the company as a whole.ww
Let's take a look at five observations from the New Japan Cup 2020 Finals and Dominion events this weekend.
#1 The development of the Young Lions
One of my favorite parts of watching New Japan Pro Wrestling has to be watching how each Young Lion develops from their introduction in NJPW to their re-debut as an actual character within the company. Since my time watching and following New Japan, I have seen Young Lions like Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Hiromu Takahashi, develop from rookies to full-fledged upper card stars in New Japan.
The NJ Cup Finals and Dominion both featured matches that focused on building and developing their latest crop of dojo boys. On the first night, Uemura and Tsuji both got to show their skills in a tag team match against Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. On night 2, Gabriel Kidd called out and got punked out by NJPW legend Yuji Nagata in a six-man tag team match.
The trainee that got the biggest spotlight was the returning Master Wato. The artist formerly known as Hirai Kawato got the big push in the lead up to this weekend with weeks of vignettes before his debut match facing DOUKI. The aforementioned Suzuki-gun member is my personal least favorite person on the NJPW roster, merely because he doesn't do much as a character or in the ring. This was a confusing choice for Wato's debut.
Although this was arguably the weakest of the matches featuring Young Lions on the NJ Cup Finals, Wato was able to show off his nice arsenal of kicks and athleticism in this contest. He also got to show more of his high flying skills on the NJPW Dominion card in a six-man tag team match where he teamed with Hiroshi Tenzan and fellow Young Lion, Uemura. We will have to see if he further develops now with this new Grandmaster character.
#2 The seeds planted for the big show-closing angle
Looking at the card before the New Japan Cup 2020 Finals, one of the matches that stood out the most was the LIJ's SANADA & BUSHI vs. the Bullet Club's Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori. This was an interesting contest because Bullet Club is one of the main heel stables in NJPW who always seem to be put against the biggest babyfaces while LIJ is more of a tweener unit that can match up against either faces or heels in NJPW.
This match was solid with the speed of Ishimori and SANADA on display, while BUSHI & Yujiro both used more wily means to gain the advantage. In the end, the result was also an intriguing one as the Bullet Club gained the victory with Ishimori beating BUSHI. With a member of LIJ in the finals and the leader as IWGP dual champion of NJPW, it was strange for their stablemates to lose here until we saw the ending of the show.
The other seed that was planted was at the end of the Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. CHAOS six-man tag team match. After LIJ got the win, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi got in the face of LIJ leader and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito. Hiromu has been frustrated with his Anniversary Show match against Naito being canceled due to the pandemic and showed that here yelling for a shot at Naito's gold.
This foreshadowing became more clear after the result of the Dominion main event as NJPW have moved Hiromu up the ladder this weekend.
#3 Shingo Takagi vs. Sho was one of the best matches of the pandemic era
The best match of the entire NJPW Dominion weekend by far was definitely the NEVER Openweight Title Match with Shingo Takagi defending against SHO of Roppongi 3K. These two men had one of the best matches of the entire New Japan Cup. SHO pulled off the upset in that contest, which has only heighten the hostilities between these two.
In this rematch, both men wanted to prove that they were not only the better competitor but also the hardest hitter in the ring. We witnessed vicious chops, stiff lariats and neck cranking suplexes throughout this 20-minute war. The two men once again proved why they are considered two of the most underrated in NJPW.
After an amazing near fall where SHO kicked out at one off Shingo's Pumping Bomber, Shingo ended things with his "Last of the Dragon" to finally put SHO down for the win.
The celebration for Shingo was short-lived as Suzuki-gun's El Desperado attacked him after the match. El Despy laid out the champion with his own title belt and proceeded to steal the title. Shingo will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship at NJPW's next big event, Sengoku Lord.
#4 Dangerous Tekkers give the IWGP Tag Team Titles a purpose
When Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi, also known as Dangerous Tekkers, first teamed in NJPW's World Tag League last year, many questioned their team. Sabre Jr. had made quite the team with Minoru Suzuki, winning the Revolution Pro British Tag Team Championships. Obviously, there were many wanting that to be the team to represent Suzuki-gun. However, over the past two years, NJPW has shown a commitment to the push of Taichi as an upper card star and their team was the next step. Over the past year, these two have developed into a well-established team in New Japan, which they have shown improvement over the course of the NJ Cup tour.
At the NJPW Dominion 2020, the months of gelling as a team paid off as Sabre Jr. and Taichi captured the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles from The Golden Aces of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi. In what was a long, almost 30-minute contest, Dangerous Tekkers controlled things at every turn, showing themselves as the better team.
The focus of the Tekkers were firmly on the beaten-down legs of Tanahashi. The straight jacket dragon screws to the legs of the Ace were gruesome throughout this match. In the end, after taking out Ibushi, Taichi and Zack focused on Tanahashi, finishing him off with a combo super kick-Zack Driver to win the belts.
The reign of the Golden Aces was always seen as a way to elevate the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles, which I believe it did here. There was greater importance to this match than the typical Tag Title matches in NJPW. This was a welcomed change that will only benefit the new reign of the Dangerous Tekkers.
#5 The big time angle & new star NJPW needed
Although excitement has been high with the return of NJPW, the one thing lacking over the past few weeks has been a buzz around the company. Most hardcore wrestling fans and New Japan diehards were looking forward to the quality wrestling that NJPW has been known for, but the casual wrestling fan really had nothing to grab on to as far as a story that engaged them...until now.
The shocking heel turn of EVIL on his mentor, Tetsuya Naito, grabbed the headlines on Saturday morning. This was a big change in the structure of NJPW as the Bullet Club had been left without a main event heel with Switchblade Jay White and KENTA unable to travel to Japan.
The heel turn definitely made heads turn, but it was the next night's main event result, which is what will have people talking for weeks to come. Not only did EVIL defeat Kazuchika Okada to win the NJ Cup Finals, but he also went on the next night to defeat Tetsuya Naito to win both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships.
EVIL has taken down the two men who battled in the main event of the Tokyo Dome this year to determine the first-ever IWGP dual champion at WrestleKingdom 14. He is also only the seventh man to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship since 2012 in NJPW. EVIL joins a list which includes the aforementioned Naito, Okada, and Jay White as well as Hiroshi Tanahashi, AEW's Kenny Omega, and WWE's AJ Styles.
The storyline developments from this will be felt in New Japan for months to come. What will happen next to Tetsuya Naito? Where does Okada go from here? Who is the leader of the Bullet Club now? What type of reign will EVIL have? How do the other members of LIJ respond?
We find out the answer to that final question when EVIL defends the IWGP dual gold against IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi at NJPW Sengoku Lord on July 25th, following Hiromu challenging to end Dominion.
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