NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2018 Night 1: Review, Grades, and Analysis

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, SANADA, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito) vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Kanemaru, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki)

Naito and Suzuki spend a good portion of this match resuming right where they left off. Suzuki works over the knee, but Naito remains one step ahead, hitting a very nice Tornado DDT. SANADA tried to lock the paradise lock on Zack Sabre Jr, but ZSJ refused to be tied up. The rest of the match featured Naito keeping Suzuki occupied while EVIL finished off Kanemaru.

Result: LIJ

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

The Young Bucks came out and challenged for the IWGP Tag Team Championship and superkicked SANADA and EVIL! SANADA and EVIL then accepted the match. I imagine that one will happen at the G1 Special at the Cow Palace.

Naito not carrying the IWGP Intercontinental Championship out is interesting. Where he previously wanted to destroy the title he saw as meaningless, now he just doesn’t care. This seems to further highlight how Tranquilo he is becoming. Naito simply does not care about the championship. This plays directly into the story they have been telling about him since his loss to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 12.

At Wrestle Kingdom 12, Naito, in some ways, was unable to let go of his Stardust Genius character. He wanted to prove that he was good enough to beat Okada with his old finisher. That cost him the match several times. He had Okada beat, but he kept going for the Stardust Press. Now, he seems to have completely embraced his Tranquilo side. The Stardust Genius is dead, but LIJ is alive and well.

There are several directions they could go here, and all of them are very interesting. I have some theories about Okada eventually facing Naito for the Intercontinental Title at Wrestle Kingdom, but that is a separate article depending on how Okada’s match goes with Tanahashi tomorrow. If Okada loses here or at Dominion, I see it as a real possibility that Okada wins the G1. If he wins, I don’t think he’ll challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. I think he’ll challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, looking to get revenge for the pinfall that Naito will score over him in the G1. What does that mean for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom? Well, I have some ideas about that, but that’s for later.