NJPW Dominion 2019 Preview

NJPW Dominion, the second largest show of the year for New Japan Pro Wrestling, takes place this Sunday in Osaka, Japan, at the Osaka-jo Hall – host of the past four Dominion events. This show comes on the heels of one of the largest and most high-profile tournaments in professional wrestling: Best of the Super Juniors.

It’s a block-style tournament spanning 14 days, featuring the best junior heavyweights from New Japan, Ring of Honor and Mexican promotion CMLL. They compete to determine who will challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Dominion. This year’s winner, Will Ospreay, earned the right to challenge current champion and representative of CMLL Dragon Lee after ending the tournament with a record of 7-2. Ospreay defeated “The Dragon” Shingo Takagi after his historic 9-0 run through the tournament in a 35-minute match quickly being heralded as a Match of the Year contender.

Ospreay and Lee promise to put on a clinic of high impact, high risk wrestling. I don’t expect this match to go on for very long considering the frenetic pace that both these performers seem to be most comfortable at. With Ospreay’s recent announcement that he is moving to Japan and transitioning to a full-time talent for the promotion, it makes sense that the title changes hands. Who Will Win: Ospreay.

Ospreay vs. Lee is only the start of the action as there are three more IWGP title opportunities on the line over the course of the evening, as well as many matches with the ability to steal the show.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

Kazuchika Okada defends his IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which he won for the fifth time at Wrestle Kingdom 13 from Kenny Omega, against living legend Chris Jericho. The former WWE Champion comes into this match following his win over Omega at All Elite Wrestling’s premiere event Double or Nothing, which also earned him a number-one contender spot for AEW’s heavyweight championship. Okada and Jericho meet for the first time in what promises to be a slow-building grudge match, peppered with high spots and truly awe-inspiring action. Who Will Win: Okada.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship

Current IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi is the front runner for the G1 Climax that takes place later this year. Tetsuya Naito, also a favorite to win the G1, has stated that he looks to do it as Intercontinental Champion so that he can be the first to hold the IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championship at the same time. Naito and Ibushi’s feud goes back over a span of years as these two have jockeyed for the position of Ace of New Japan since debuting in the company in 2004 and 2006 respectively. The clash in styles of these performers always lends to an impressive match with high spots, but also impressive technical wrestling and submission work. Who Will Win: Naito.

IWGP Tag Team Championships

Current dual champions (ROH/NJPW) Guerillas of Destiny – Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa – take on EVIL and Sanada as the duo attempt to capture the gold after dropping it to the GoD earlier this year at Honor Rising: Japan in Tokyo. While neither team is very high flying, they are both hard-hitting and talented mat wrestlers. Expect this to be a long, drawn out match where the team to come out victorious doesn’t win as much as they just outlast. Who Will Win: Guerillas of Destiny.

Never Openweight Championship

The champion Tachi defends against Tomohiro Ishii, who should absolutely destroy the smaller Tachi. However, I do expect Tachi to use some deceptive heel tactics to put Ishii on his heels. In a dream world, Ishii will hold the belt for a while before challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Who Will Win: Tomohiro Ishii.

NJPW United States Championship

New champion Jon Moxley comes off his incredible match against former champion Juice Robinson at the BoSJ Final to face young lion Shota Umino. This should be used as an exhibition of just how brutal Moxley can be as he should make short work of the young lion. Who Will Win: Jon Moxley.