NJPW Dominion 2018: Results, Grades, and Analysis

Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon) (c) vs. Chris Jericho – IWGP Intercontinental Championship

Chris Jericho jumped Naito before the bell and suplexed him on the floor. He followed this up with powerbomb through a table. Jericho hit a DDT on the time keeper’s table. This is insane. The bell hasn’t even rung yet. Jericho rolled Naito back into the ring, and he looks half dead. Jericho is relentless in beating on Naito. This is a Chris Jericho that wrestling has never seen before. Naito got hit with a backbreaker and then a Lionsault, but Naito kicked out. Jericho has continued to stomp on and beat on Naito.

Naito has never looked so hurt before. Jericho continued the beating for several more minutes. Jericho locked on the Walls of Jericho, but Naito got to the ropes right away. Chris Jericho argued with the referee. Naito spit in Jericho’s face, smirked, and tackled Jericho and started to fight back! Naito hit Jericho with a neckbreaker on the apron, and then again off the apron onto the floor.

Naito started choking Jericho with his tear away suit pants, and sent Jericho flying into the guardrail. Naito’s right eye is bleeding as Naito smacked Jericho with a part of the broken table. He took Jericho to the announce table and hit a piledriver on the same table that Jericho DDT’d him on! Holy crap.

Back in the ring, Naito hit a dropkick to the back of Jericho’s head. Naito went for a Frankensteiner, but Jericho stopped him, jumped down, and locked in the Walls of Jericho. Naito rolled around and managed to escape, but Jericho catapulted Naito to the corner. This didn’t phase Naitio though, as he jumped on the middle rope, hit a hurricanrana, then hit a Tornado DDT. Jericho kicked out. Jericho rolled through a pinfall attempt and managed to lock in the Walls of Jericho again.

Naito escaped! Naito went for a Destino, but botched it slightly. After a readjustment, Naito was able to hit Destino. Jericho was too close to the ropes, however, and he kicked out. Naito was bleeding from either the cheek or the ear. This match is a complete war. Naito hit the ropes and went for a flying forearm, but Jericho caught him with the Code Breaker! Naito kicked out. Jericho shoved the referee as Naito went for Gloria, hit a low blow on Naito, and then a Code Breaker. Jericho wins!

Result: Chris Jericho

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Holy cow, this was an insane brawl. This was so different from anything else on the show, which helped the match stand out. Chris Jericho continued to attack Naito after the bell, and EVIL ran down to save him. We have a new IWGP Intercontinental champ, and it looks like EVIL is his next challenger.