Dominion is arguably New Japan’s second-biggest show of the year next to WrestleKingdom. This year’s Dominion is the first major show NJPW has run since the COVID-19 breakout. The main event will pit LIJ’s leader Tetsuya Naito against former member EVIL, who allied himself with Bullet Club at yesterday’s New Japan Cup finals.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima, & Yuji Nagata b. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) & Gabriel Kidd when Nagata submitted Kidd with a Nagata Lock – As usual, the Young Lion wanted to start for his team. Kidd and Taguchi did some mat wrestling, with neither man keeping any momentum. A double-tag brought Honma and Kojima in respectively. Honma got cut off and worked over, though he and Kojima exchanged machine gun chops. Makabe got the hot tag and ran wild for a bit. Kidd tagged in and helped triple-team Nagata. A multi-man brawl broke out, leaving Kidd alone with Nagata. Nagata suplexed Kidd before applying a Nagata Lock for the submission.
Los Ingobernables De Japon (SANADA, BUSHI, & IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi) Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, & Yota Tsuji when Takahashi submitted Kidd with a Boston Crab – Yano immediately tried to remove the turnbuckle. Sanada grabbed him from behind and rolled him around in a circle several times to dizzy him. Yano managed to tag Tsuji in and a six-man brawl broke out. Sanada tied Yano up in the ropes with the Paradise Lock, then also tied Tsuji up next to him. Sanada then kicked them, which sent Yano to the floor. The heels worked over Tsuji for a bit until Ishii tagged in. Ishii held his own against all three men. It’s also worth pointing out that every time Yano tried to get back into the ring he was knocked to the floor by somebody being whipped into the ropes. Eventually, the heels were able to triple-team Tsuji, and Takahashi finished him off with a Boston Crab.
Suzuki-Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, & DOUKI) b. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Master Wato, & Yuya Uemura when Desperado pinned Uemura with a Pinche Loco – As usual, the heels attacked before the bell to jumpstart the match. However, the faces managed to turn the tide and gain control of the match. Before long, the heels took the match to the floor. By the time the match got back in the ring, the heels were working over Tenzan. Wato got the hot tag and ran wild over all three heels. Uemura tagged in and the obligatory multi-man brawl erupted. While Uemura got a few near-falls in Desperado, he soon fell to the Pinch Loco.
Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori of Bullet Club b. Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto of CHAOS when Takahashi pinned Goto with a Pimp Juice DDT – Takahashi attacked Okada from behind to start the match. Goto made the save and the match spilled to the floor. The heels got the heat on Okada until Goto got the hot tag and ran wild for a bit. The heels tried to cut him off but Okada ran in to stop it. Okada chased Ishimori to the floor where Gedo struck with a wrench. With Okada down, Ishimori hit a Bloody Cross on Goto which Takahashi followed up with a Pimp Juice DDT.
After the match, they rolled Okada into the ring where Takahashi hit him with another Pimp Juice.
NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi p. SHO with Last Of The Dragon to retain the title – A lot of mat wrestling in the beginning. The paced picked up after Takagi was knocked to the floor. Sho got whipped into the barricade and tossed back in the ring. Takagi kept Sho grounded and clubbed him several times with an elbow. Sho fired up and laded several strikes and a German Suplex for a two-count. The two exchanged several strikes, lariats, and suplexes. Takagi hit Made In Japan for a two count. He then hit a Pumping Bomber but Sho kicked out at one. Takagi lifted Sho for a Last Of The Dragon but Sho reversed into a sleeper. Sho then scored another near fall with a Piledriver. Sho put Takagi in a triangle choke which Takagiw as able to power out of. Takagi hit an elevated reverse DDT followed by Last Of The Dragon to finally put Sho down.
After the match, Takagi walked to the back with his title belt. El Desperado clobbered him from behind and left with the belt.
TAICHI & Zack Sabre Jr. of Bullet Club b. IWGP Tag Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi when Sabre pinned Tanahashi with a Zack Driver to win the titles – Both teams brawled before the bell. The heels managed to cut off Tanahashi and work him over for several minutes. Ibushi got the hot tag and ran wild before engaging in a battle of kicks with Taichi. At one point, both heels had the faces in submission holds at the same time. Tanahashi broke free first and got Taichi off of Ibushi. Ibushi looked like he was going for a Kamigoye on Taichi when Sabre ran in to break it up. I don’t know why he was allowed to handle Ibushi for so long because Taichi was the legal man. Anyway, Taichi hit a powerbomb for a near-fall. Ibushi blocked a kick and decked Taichi with one of his own. Tanahashi tagged in made comeback. All four men hit their big moves in an exciting exchange that ended with all four men down. Tanahashi hit a Slingblade but missed a High Fly Flow due to Sabre getting his knees up. Taichi clobbered Ibushi with the iron glove at the 25-minute mark. With Ibushi down, the heels went to work on Tanahashi’s legs with multiple dragon screws. Finally, Sabre lifted him for a Zack Driver and Taichi delivered a kick at the same time. Sabre covered Tanahashi for an easy three-count.
Evil pinned IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito with Everything Is Evil to win both titles – Evil came to the ring with a new look and new theme music. He was accompanied by Gedo, Jado, Ishimori, and Yujiro Takahashi. Naito came alone. Fortunately for him, Red Shoes sent the rest of Bullet Club to the back. Evil stalled for the first few minutes by constantly getting in and out of the ring. Naito had enough used a sliding dropkick to land the first blow. Naito whipped Evil into the barriers and slammed his head on a table before taking the match back into the ring. Evil countered by clotheslining Naito over the top to the outside. Now it was Evil’s turn to do the damage on the floor. Evil saw Milano Collection AT’s toy sword and broke it. When Milano went to confront him, he whipped Milano into the barricade as well. Back in the ring, Evil removed a turnbuckle pad and whipped Naito into the exposed buckle. Naito tried to make a comeback but kept getting cut off. The two battled on the apron for the obligatory Big Match Apron Bump, which saw Naito hit Evil with an inverted DDT. Naito set up a table but before he could use it, Evil recovered and sent Naito knee-first through it. Naito still managed to beat the count into the ring, but as soon as he got in the ring, Evil slapped on a Sasori-Gatame. Naito made the rope break, but that only resulted in Evil hitting more moves on him. Naito escaped Everything Is Evil and hit a reverse Tranquilo. Naito made his comeback and got a few more near falls. Evil countered a Tranquilo and shoved Naito into Red Shoes. This, of course, brought all the Bullet Club members back out. However, Hiromu Takahashi ran in and made the save by chasing Bullet Club to the back. Naito hit an inverted Tornado DDT as well as Gloria. Bushi ran out seemingly in support of Naito. But instead, he choked Naito out with a turnbuckle cable. This allowed Evil to hit Everything Is Evil and get the pin for the surprising victory.
After the match Evil cut a promo and “Bushi” unmasked, revealing himself to be Dick Togo. Naito was being led to the back when Hiromu took the mic and cut a promo on Evil. So it looks like Takahashi may be the next challenger. Evil looked like he blew him off and walked to the back while Takahashi screamed like a banshee.
