NJPW Dominion 2018: Results, Grades, and Analysis

Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) w/ Taka Michinoku vs. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano)

I take great joy in watching Minoru Suzuki kill people. I also take great joy in watching Ishii kill people. Ishii and Suzuki beat the heck out of each other in the early part of the match, and it was awesome. Suzuki and ZSJ also destroyed Yano, who screamed in pain, and I felt sorry for the poor guy. Ishii was tagged back in, and Suzuki and him continued to hit each other hard and it was great. Yano and ZSJ had a match that I kind of want to see, as Yano tried to cheat, and ZSJ kept tying him up with submissions. ZSJ blocked a low blow with his legs and tied up Yano in a submission and got the win!

Result: Suzuki-gun

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

After the match Suzuki and Ishii continued having an absolutely epic brawl. I’m thinking we’re going to see Suzuki and Ishii face off in the G1.

Hirooki Goto (c) (CHAOS) vs. Michael Elgin vs. Taichi (w/ Miho) (Suzuki-gun) – NEVER Openweight Championship

Taichi spent the early portions of this match trying to get a cheap win, whereas Goto and Elgin tried to have a normal match. Taichi seemed content to stay out of the way of the other two. It was only a few minutes before Taichi lost his pants and reveals his far too small tights. Goto responded by hitting the Ushigoroshi. There ended up being a tower of doom spot with Goto hitting superplex on Taichi, and Elgin hitting a powerbomb on Goto.

Elgin and Goto hit each other really hard with clotheslines. Elgin hit a Ocean Cyclone Suplex on Goto, but Goto kicked out. Taichi rolled Miho into the ring to distract the ref, and Taichi hit both Elgin and Goto with the mic stand. Oh please no. Taichi superkicked Goto and got a two. He went for a Gedo clutch, and Elgin picked him up and powerbombed him. Elgin then powerbombed Taichi into Goto, then powerbombed Taichi again. Elgin wins.

Result: Michael Elgin

Rating: 1.75 stars out of 5

That was not a good match at all. Goto was the best part. Elgin is a good worker, but I can’t get invested in his matches. Plus, Elgin has been lackluster from a purely in ring perspective this year.