SO I got a chance to actually watch Dominion, like most of us in the US, some hours after it ended, and I must say I really like most of the matches on the card. That being said, for me there was a clear match of the night, and it wasn’t the main event. Also, there were quite a few surprises that quite shocked me and really had me birthing proverbial cows left and right. So here’s what I thought of Dominion 2019.
Jon Moxley vs Shota Umino
Though it was a short match, I liked what I saw. Umino, the young lion came out swinging even before the bell rang for the match to start, which I really liked. He also showed that once he graduates and is called to the roster, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Moxley, since leaving the WWE has shown me every time he is in front of the camera just how much he was being held back within Vince’s company. I loved everything about Moxley, and in many ways, he was even more of an unpredictable badass than I ever saw from him on WWE’s main roster. Man, he is making me love his gimmick and him as an amazing talent in the ring, even more than I already did, when he was wrestling under his slave name, Dean Ambrose. When he stated that he wants to be in the G1 Climax Tournament, I popped so hard that I almost had a 1200lb baby calf right then and there. If the folks at New Japan allow him to enter the tourney, I will definitely be watching every night.
Satoshi Kojima vs Shingo Takagi
I figured Takagi would win, and I wasn’t surprised by how well the match went. That’s one of the things about New Japan that I really like. They allow their undercard to breath, and they allow the wrestlers involved the time to put together really good matches that keep me entertained. This match very much entertained me and I can see why New Japan are trying to push Takagi.
Jushin Thunder Liger and YOSHI-HASHI vs Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.
I thought this match was great. I love Minoru Suzuki and I am enamored with him every time he’s in the ring. He did an amazing job in this match in showing just how menacing he can be. Liger is a legend and honestly, for me, the man can do nothing wrong in the ring. I liked how Liger got in the ring and kicked Hashi in the head, as a way to wake him up and pump him up in the match, as a nice bit of storytelling. I really liked this match, as it had a nice balance of wrestling styles in it.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jay White, Chase Owens and Taiji Ishimori
I was actually surprised that they gave the win to Juice Robinson. True, he is a former champion and a younger wrestler, but I just thought they would give the win to the young wrestlers from Bullet Club. It was a good match, and it did help me understand a little more why people like Jay White, so that’s good. I loved the story of Taguchi in this match.
Never Openweight Championship: Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
I am so glad that Ishii won this match. Though I generally have “X-Pac heat” with Taichi, I actually liked the pissed off side of him in this match. The story of this match was really the attempt by Ichii to awaken Taichi badass warrior side, and that really came across in the match. I love Ichii and his menacing pitbull brawler style, and this strong-style matches with Suzuki really endeared me to him. This match was way better than I thought it was going to be because Taichi woke up even for a moment.
IWGP Tag Team Championship: Guerillas of Destiny (Bullet Club) Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon EVIL and SANADA
Man, LIJ got robbed! I knew that this had the potential to be a really good tag match, and for the most part it was, because of the participants in it. I love Sanada. He is one of the wrestlers I like most in New Japan. All the combatants in this match are top-notch. What I didn’t like what all the cheating involved. GoD are supposed to be badasses. Why do they need to cheat to win? That was my only real issue with this match.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay
This was the match of the night for me. Going in I didn’t know who was going to win it, but I knew that it had the potential to be a match of the night, and boy did it deliver. Man, the back and forth in this match was top-notch and filled with many counters and high spots that had me fully mesmerized and immersed throughout. By the end, I honestly didn’t want it to end, and didn’t know who was going to win, because honestly I kinda wanted both of them to win. This match was amazing, and I highly recommend that people check it out.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito
If not for the Jr. Heavyweight match, this would have been the match of the night. This match pitted two great warriors against each other. This match was amazing. I honestly think that Ibushi should be fighting for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but as is the custom, he needed to start from the bottom of the single division and make his way up. He was a very strong IC Champion, but I’m hoping that with Naito winning the belt, Ibushi can finally move up to the Heavyweight division and have a go at Okada and the belt again. That being said, I am truly hoping that Kota Ibushi is going to be ok, because when he hit his head on the edge of the ring, I felt that all the way in Slapbooty, MS.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs Chris Jericho
This was a crazy, hard-hitting brawl and I loved it. I knew both would bring it, and they did. I even liked that after the match, Jericho, in true heelish fashion, beat the ever living crap out of Okada and promised to be back for more. I loved it.
On the whole, the event was filled with a lot of really good to great matches and some very good announcements. KENTA entering the G1 Climax tournament. Shibata came out to introduce him. What the deuce?! Man, Dominion was an entertaining pay per view that went a long way in getting me excited about the G1 Climax Tournament.
What did you think? What was your favorite match of the event? Let me know in comments, and thanks for visiting my little corner of the interwebs.
