Money in the Bank Predictions

Late card addition predictions: Golden Truth over Breezeango; Dudley Boyz over Lucha Dragons

Why is this happening again? Is their new thing for Dolph Ziggler to put him in feuds that get dragged out for too long? The same thing happened with Rusev. I fully think this match will be about as good as their last two PPV outings. Solid but very unspectacular. The whole point of this feud should be to get Baron Corbin over and he should go over in the rubber match. That being said, WWE will probably put Dolph over considering a lot of their booking this year. Still, I'm gonna go with Baron.

Winner: Baron Corbin

HE GOT A BALD HEAD! That's pretty much my character synopsis for Apollo Crews at this point. Sheamus was WWE Champion less than six months ago and is now relegated to Kickoff Show duty. Part of thinks this is where Crews gets his first big win but Sheamus is still a bit of a name. I predict he wins here to give Crews his first setback. Crews may come back and win the eventual rematch or he may fall back to Superstars and Main Event status.

Winner: Sheamus

God, the women's division is a big steaming pile of shit lately. Charlotte is good in the ring, but is one of the company's worst in the selling department and is quite possibly the absolute worst on the microphone. This entire Natalya stuff has been a total drag to get through. It all just feels like massive filler until something better and more important happens. I badly want that to be Sasha Banks saving us from this, but whatever it is, I'll take it. Give the faces the win here to drive some "drama" between Charlotte and Dana.

Winners: Becky Lynch and Natalya

Tough call here. This would be a good place for the WWE to have New Day drop the straps without really taking the pinfall. However, I think they retain here. The Club is a good choice but they don't really need the belts just yet. The Vaudevillains aren't a team I see winning the belts anytime soon. Enzo and Cass are the next big tag team, but having them win here seems to soon. New Day should retain and then drop the titles at the one year mark at SummerSlam to the Club. From there, have Enzo and Cass dethrone them.

Winners: The New Day

The other match on this card that feels like filler. Titus O'Neil is a good guy to have around, but his best use is part of a tag team. Instead of keeping the Prime Time Players together, they insist on splitting them for no real reason. Titus gets plugged as a big celebrity father and not much else. Rusev needs to plow over him because Tong Po continues to be one of the best things going in the WWE.

Winner: Rusev

These are usually hard to pick but this one is especially tough. Almost everyone has a shot. Yes, even Alberto Del Rio since the WWE loves to add up his accolades total. Jericho could get one final run since his current character has been very fun. Sami Zayn has the outside chance but I doubt it. Same goes for Cesaro since he's just seemingly going to be used for good matches only. It really comes down to Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. On the one hand, Ambrose perfectly fits into the current Shield Title picture. On the other, he doesn't seem to win often. I'm going with Owens. He's the perfect heel character to hold the briefcase and could make for great TV.

Winner: Kevin Owens

This is one time that the WWE has gotten the "dream match" tag right, though it hasn't been 15 years in the making. As long as this isn't an overbooked mess like the Reigns/Styles matches, this has MOTY potential. John Cena steps up in big matches like this (Punk, Bryan, Owens, etc.) and AJ Styles always delivers. I could see Cena winning his first PPV return but I have a hunch this goes the way of Rusev and Owens. Cena loses the first match before reeling off two or three in a row. I also could see this finally being the debut of Finn Balor, helping AJ win. Then, towards the end of the year, Balor turns on AJ to take over "The Club", setting up a feud between them. Or not. I don't know.

Winner: AJ Styles

They keep hyping this as the "greatest Money in the Bank" ever, though only the top three matches really feel like a big deal. I've been waiting for this singles match since Survivor Series last year and it should deliver. Reigns is great when he's being led by a superior worker and that's what he has here. I badly want Seth Rollins to win back the title and regain his rightful spot as the man. However, I'm not betting against Reigns until he starts to look human in matches. I pick Reigns to retain and solidify his spot as the top guy.

Winner: Roman Reigns

2016 Prediction Record: 26-14
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35

NJPW Dominion Review

NJPW Dominion
June 19th, 2016| Osaka Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan

It’s New Japan’s second biggest show of the year. Though the card isn’t as loaded as last year’s show, it should still be good. It’s everything you expect from NJPW on a big show. A clusterfuck Jr. Tag Title match, Okada in the main event and gaijins everywhere.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi and Satoshi Kojima def. David Finlay, Jay White and Juice Robinson in 7:53
This was Jay White’s last match with NJPW before leaving for an excursion in ROH. It’s also great to see the New Japan dads on Father’s Day. White and Finlay impressed as always, while Tenkoji were their usual selves. We got more of the tiny rivalry between Nakanishi and Robinson. He always goes at Manabu with such force but it never works. Nakanishi even busted out a flying cross body off of the top. Following some fun back and forth, and a spirited effort from White, he tapped out to the Anaconda Vice. Everyone gave White a hand and stood atop the aisle to allow him to say goodbye, which he did in mostly Japanese. While it was technically a dark match, it aired and was a fun little match. Can’t complain and hope to see White do well in ROH. ***

Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi def. Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and Yoshitatsu in 7:05
Oh man, it’s the Bullet Club B Team. Which is really bad since the A Team isn’t that good either. It’s honestly hard to care less about this match. Page had a rope with him and chocked Yoshitatsu. BECAUSE’S HANGMAN NOW. GET IT? CLEVER! There was a lot of brawling in this, including Makabe and Fale taking their brawling outside and into the crowd. In the end, the Captain hit a headbutt for two. He then ran into a kick and took Page’s Rite of Passage for the finish. After the match, Page hung CNJ over the top rope. GET IT? Anyway, this was inoffensive, but nothing you ever need to watch. *½

Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI def. BUSHI and SANADA in 7:54
The war between Chaos and Los Ingobernables continues. BUSHI had some early fun but things got serious when the SANADA/YOSHI battle got going. They’ve had some serious altercations in recent weeks. These four guys went out and had a really solid hard hitting match. I thought it was cool to see BUSHI, a junior heavyweight, mix it up with Ishii as they brawled outside. He did a good job of holding his own. They teased YOSHI-HASHI making SANADA submit but BUSHI made the save. However Ishii came in and put him in a choke, leading to SANADA giving up. Hopefully, we get the SANADA/YOSHI singles match soon, where SANADA wins. Like most stuff between these stables, this was damn good stuff. ***¼

Hirooki Goto def. EVIL in 9:51
EVIL bested Goto at Wrestling Dontaku last month. They went right at each other from the bell and within minutes, EVIL brought chairs into play. This felt similar to their Wrestling Dontaku match as it was stiff and aggressive. It would have fit in with a NEVER Title match or something along those lines. We got a massive double lariat spot where Goto was turned inside out. The closing stretch was awesome and saw both guys counter and block each other, while throwing in heavy shots and headbutts in between. Goto nailed a big neckbreaker before putting EVIL away with the GTR. These two have pretty much mastered the ten minute match format. This was another good outing from them and we may even get another in the G1. ***½

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks def. Matt Sydal and Ricochet (c), reDRagon and Roppongi Vice in 17:25
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Yea, this is the exact match we got at Wrestle Kingdom and the exact four teams that the division has centered around for a while, expect now its elimination rules. Oh boy. Look, I loathe the booking of this division because there is potential to do more. With the right handling and the right juniors, this division could be awesome. Instead, it’s the same repeated cycle. These guys could go out and kill it but it’s nearly impossible to give a fuck about anything they do. One of the ways to get eliminated was via over the top means, so they teased that a bit. Roppongi Vice were first out by getting dumped over the top. The Bucks held on shortly before reDRagon was sent over. The pissed off reDRagon came back in and attacked the champions. The last two teams did stuff and the Bucks regained the straps with a Meltzer Driver. Yawn. I’m sure this will lead to Bucks/Ricochet and Sydal matches that Meltzer will ****1/2 all over. For me, this was about the same as their WK match. **¼

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) def. Will Ospreay in 14:41
These two had an incredible match at Invasion Attack back in April. Ospreay is fresh off of winning the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. They had a feeling out process that was great. They tried gaining the advantage but played off their previous encounter and showed how well they knew each other. Knowing that it worked last time, KUSHIDA went after the arm of the challenger. Again, Ospreay was smart enough to avoid using the arm for some of his trademark offense. Each guy seemed to have an answer for everything. If Ospreay got his aerial stuff going, KUSHIDA would go back to the arm. Ospreay came close a few times but they were so ready for all of the other one’s offense. KUSHIDA dodged the Oscutter, Will got a foot up on the fastball punch and then, in a great moment, KUSHIDA countered the C4 into an armbar! After surviving that though, KUSHIDA caught the Oscutter into the Hoverboard Lock and made Ospreay submit. Easily out match of the night so far. Their first match saw them try to figure each other out but here, they were more ready for one another. KUSHIDA just happened to be better prepared and had his challenger scouted perfectly. While it never quite reached the level of their Invasion Attack outing, it told a different story and was a worthy sequel. Ospreay lost nothing in defeat and KUSHIDA continues to be one of the very best wrestlers on the planet. ****

IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes def. The Guerillas of Destiny (c) in 14:09
The Jr. Tag division has talent but horrible booking. The heavyweight division doesn’t have much talent. It’s G.O.D. and sometimes Makabe and Honma. That’s about it until SANADA and EVIL formed an actual team. Bringing in the Briscoes makes sense considering the partnership with ROH. I like Tama Tonga but their title reign has produced some mediocre at best matches. All this match needed was the Dudleys and the camo pants trifecta would be complete. Meng’s kids played fine heels, using the outside area to their advantage. Roa powerbombed Jay onto the apron. Watching Jay and Tama go toe to toe was pretty fun for a bit. The Briscoes won the belts for the first time via Doomsday Device. The final few minutes were pretty good but most of the stuff before it was pretty dull. I wonder if this means the Briscoes get into the G1 like previous tag champions. Nice to see ROH guys actually go over NJPW ones. **½

Their celebration was cut short by an attack from Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi. Hangman hung Mark and it looks like we have our next challengers. That honestly sounds atrocious. This tag team division is in shambles.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata def. Yuji Nagata (c) w/ Manabu Nakanishi and Tencozy in 14:56
The pre-match video package was top notch. Shibata looked to take Nagata to the mat early and often. However, once we moved past that and got into the strikes, this kicked into the next gear. Nagata lit into Shibata with kicks but Shibata manned up and demanded he bring it harder. They just beat the shit out of each other. Nagata ended up in the sleeper hold and his eyes rolled back like they do when he has the armbar applied, which he then did shortly after. Both guys shoved away the referee at times to continue the fight. Shibata kicked out of the Backdrop Driver, so Nagata went to more strikes until he ended up in the sleeper again. Shibata held it for a long time before winning back his title with the Penalty Kick. An excellent match that told a great story, had all of the emotion from the performers and fans and the right guy went over. Just a tremendous effort from everyone. ****¼

Post-match, Shibata showed respect finally and bowed to Nagata, who responded by embracing him. The other New Japan Dads also congratulated Shibata and even the commentator was in tears. Just a fantastic moment.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Michael Elgin def. Kenny Omega (c) in 33:38
The video package to explain the ladder match was all kinds of amazing. Red Shoes went under the ring before the bell and found the Young Bucks so he ejected them. Omega attacked quickly and took control with a dive outside. He called for help, bringing Page and Takahashi to the screen again. Elgin fought them off and went after Omega’s leg a bit. When the Bullet Club tried to get involved again, Elgin greeted them with his own dive outside. They made sure to include plenty of spots involving the ladder itself. I’m not going to mention each of them here, but I do think that Tanahashi having to miss this match was good. It would have been a lot for his body to take. They tried a powerbomb off a ladder through two tables, but the tables didn’t break. Instead, Omega took an ugly bounce off of them. Just as Elgin got close, the Bucks showed up to spray him in the eyes. Sydal and Ricochet showed up to even the odds a bit. Elgin was cuffed or tied to the corner but broke free and knocked Omega off the ladder. He then climbed himself to win his first major singles title in Japan. The match was too long for my taste considering what they did. If you cut like, ten minutes off, this could have been great. A solid ladder match that was incredibly Americanized. Not quite as good as their first IC Title match. I did like the feeling of success as the good guy overcame the odds. ***½

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada def. Tetsuya Naito (c) in 29:03
It was at this event a year ago that Okada dethroned AJ Styles for this title. No Gedo with Okada tonight as he’s here to do it on his own. There were Naito chants during his entrance, dude is insanely over. Okada wanted a one on one match and Naito surprisingly agreed, sending the rest of LIDJ to the back. At the end of their first exchange, Naito chose to lay down and pose rather than get to his feet, proving once again that he’s awesome. They fought on the aisle, where Naito delivered a gorgeous leaping dropkick. After wearing down Okada a bit, he seemed to want to try the aisle dropkick again. However, he took too much time spitting at the fans, allowing Okada to catch up and dropkick him instead. There were several close calls inside as Naito even nearly won via submission at one point. They were well prepared with counters to their big moves. The best was Okada reversing Destino into a Tombstone. However, Naito kicked out of the Rainmaker, which I believe I’ve only seen Tanahashi do. It worked as a fantastic near fall. Okada again countered Destino and followed with three more Rainmakers to regain the gold. While the match started slow, the back third was spectacular, making it your typical Okada main event. I also 1000% disagree with the title change here, even if Naito wins the G1. The only advantage to this is that Okada won’t be winning the G1 this year. One on one, they made it seem like Naito couldn’t beat Okada, which kind of makes sense since he’s the ace. Only Tanahashi has beaten him cleanly. ****

Overall: 8/10. Another really good show from New Japan from an in-ring standpoint. Only the second six man tag sucked. The Jay White opener was fun as were the Chaos/LIDJ matches early on. The two Tag Title matches were decent enough, but mostly lackluster. Everything else more than delivered. The IC Title match was as good as expected, KUSHIDA/Ospreay was only a disappointment because of the extremely high bar they set, the main event was great and Shibata/Nagata stole the show with an emotional, physical matchup.

G1 Climax 23 Day Five Review

G1 Climax 23 Day Five
August 6th, 2013 | Ishikawa, Japan

Night four was phenomenal. This show certainly has a lot to live up to.

Block A
Satoshi Kojima (4) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (4)
Oh, this should be manly. I was right because they just wail on each other with chops, slaps and forearms. Kojima starts unleashing chops in the corner, which the crowd always loves. Ishii eats them all, turns it around and starts laying into Kojima. They continue to go at it until Kojima spikes Ishii on a DDT. There goes that great selling from Ishii again. He bumps pretty badly on a second DDT though, this one on the apron. Kojima is relentless, taking Ishii to the second rope and hitting a cutter for two. It’s Ishii’s turn to light him up with chops again. Kojima comes back with a cutter in the middle of the ring and a lariat to the back of the head but he falls out from being worn down as well. Time for these two to trade forearm blasts again. Kojima wipes him out with a vicious lariat and pulls out the win.

Winner: Satoshi Kojima (6) in 11:20
These are my favorite kinds of Ishii matches. Two guys enter, two guys wage war and only one walks out. It was a great choice, getting things off on the right foot. One of the better matches of the tournament so far. ****

Block B
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2) vs. Toru Yano (2)
It’s the two men with the least amount of points in their Block, other than Minoru Suzuki. Toru Yano attacks as soon as Tenzan enters the ring. He continues the attack for a bit before things spill outside. Once there, they fight deep into the crowd. Yano whacks him with a chair and makes it back to the ring first. Tenzan beats the count and they go back at it in the ring for a bit. Tenzan starts a comeback with those Mongolian chops but Yano stops him in his tracks. Tenzan still rallies and locks in the Anaconda Vice. Yano fights, but Tenzan hangs on. As he slams him down, the referee takes a bump. Yano tries to use this to his advantage, but he ends up eating a chair shot. Tenzan follows with the moonsault for the victory.

Winner: Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4) in 8:39
I’d say this was the typical match I’d expect from these two. It was filled with all of the usual Yano antics, though something about it didn’t work very well. **

Block A
Katsuyori Shibata (4) vs. Lance Archer (4)
Coming into this, I was interested because of their styles. They play right into those styles from the start. Shibata wails away on Archer and Archer retaliates by clubbing him down with powerful blows. Archer continues to show that he’s pretty great at talking trash while beating up his opponents. He goes for a powerbomb but Shibata slips out and hammers away. Archer then just launches him overhead and to the outside. Back on the apron, Shibata catches a big boot and just starts upper cutting it. He’s found his target. Shibata locks in a figure four. Archer escapes and continues to try and toss Shibata around. Shibata hops on his back and wears him down with a big sleeper hold. The Penalty Kick follows to end things.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (6) in 6:41
Short, sweet and to the point. They didn’t get much time, so they made sure to make the best of it. Shibata was the hard hitting guy, Archer was the powerful guy and it worked well. With more time, they probably could have played into the leg work more. ***

Block B
Shelton X Benjamin (4) vs. Tetsuya Naito (4)
As a fan of both guys, this is something I was looking forward to. Quick paced start as Naito sends Benjamin outside with a dropkick. While outside, Benjamin pulls Naito into an ankle lock on the apron, then brings is down to the floor outside. Benjamin moves things back inside, where he wears down the high flier. Like his Suzuki-Gun buddy Lance Archer, Shelton is good at smack talk. Naito gets in a slight rally but runs into a superkick. Shelton nails a nice bridging German for two. They get into a fun exchange of countering each other’s enziguris. Almost from out of nowhere, Naito climbs up and wins with the Phoenix Splash.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito (6) in 8:36
This unfortunately came to an end just before things really kicked into second gear. I felt like their styles meshed well together. Given a bit more time and a less abrupt finish, this could have been really good. ***

Block B
Karl Anderson (6) vs. Minoru Suzuki (2)
Two members of two heel stables. They open with a feeling out process that sees Suzuki nearly lock in an armbar, only for Anderson to rake the eyes. Things move outside, because they almost always have to, and Suzuki works the arm, wrapping nit around the guardrail. The next few minutes just sees Suzuki mercilessly go after the arm. He wrenches it and bites it at times. It’s pretty great to see both guys trying to heel it up. Suzuki is relentless with his kicks and strikes. Both guys miss strikes at one point, so Anderson resorts to just biting Suzuki in the head. They block each other’s finish and Anderson grabs Suzuki by his odd haircut. Suzuki slaps him and locks in the sleeper. He moves to the Gotch style piledriver but Anderson counters. Suzuki blocks the Gun Stun two more times before using the sleeper and piledriver to win.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki (4) in 10:50
The fun match that I expected from these two. Both are really good at being dicks and they didn’t change up their styles at all here. They worked to their strengths and it made for an enjoyable match. ***

Block B
Kota Ibushi (6) vs. Yuji Nagata (4)
Kota Ibushi is coming off of one of the best matches of his career, while Yuji Nagata has been solidly consistent throughout this tournament. Their feeling out process sees Kota give a clean break. It quickly evolves from a standard wrestling match to something more hard hitting. Like Nagata is going to teach this youngster a lesson. Ibushi is never one to shy away from a fight, hitting back just as hard. Ibushi turns to his strength with a moonsault to the outside followed by a missile dropkick back in. They go back to trading shots, this time with kicks. Nagata slaps on his trademark armbar, complete with Undertaker like eye roll. Ibushi gets free and snaps off a top rope rana for two, which he can’t believe didn’t end things. He hits a huge sitout powerbomb but Nagata kicks out of a seemingly slow count. Ibushi lands on his feet on a German and again, Nagata seems slow to kick out, causing the official to stutter a bit. He goes up for the Phoenix Splash but Nagata meets him and they trade blows up there. Nagata wins out and scores with a top rope exploder which still isn’t enough. They trade blows once more and Nagata hits a backdrop suplex for yet another near fall. A second, bridging one ends it.

Winner: Yuji Nagata (6) in 13:49
Just shy of being our new match of the night so far. Nagata going after Ibushi’s arm was great and him withstanding the onslaught of his younger, faster opponent worked well. Ibushi continues to deliver with each performance. A great, hard hitting effort from both men. ***¾

Block B
Shinsuke Nakamura (4) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (6)
One of these guys is one of the best wrestlers on the planet. The other is Yujiro Takahashi. Takahashi has no ladies with him tonight and does a weird dance as he removes his shirt. They go through an exchange where Takahashi annoys Shinsuke by doing that damn dance again. Nakamura lights him up with knee strikes until Yujiro throws him over the top. He goes to dive out but runs into a kick. Nakamura now takes this time to just kick Yujiro’s ass. Takahashi gets pissed and shoves him, followed by a running front suplex. He does some offense and picks up a few near falls, but the outcome is never really put in doubt. Nakamura rolls forward with a kick in an innovative counter and hits a backstabber. Takahashi chooses biting as his form of blocking. There’s been a lot of biting on this show for some reason. Also for some reason, it takes two Boma Ye strikes to beat Takahashi.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (6) in 10:47
Like most Yujiro Takahashi matches, I had a really hard time getting into this one. It was fine for what it was, but was definitely the least impressive showing for Nakamura so far. **¼

Block A
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (4) vs. Kazuchika Okada (2)
Yes, despite being IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Okada is 1-3 so far. Early on, Smith shows off his power, just placing Okada on the ropes like he was nothing to carry. That carries the next few minutes as Smith continues to show his power, with Okada having to find ways around it. The match spills outside where Smith targets the arm, kicking it into the guardrail. Usually that’s a cool spot but it’s been done already on this show. Smith spends the next few minutes wearing down Okada. Okada begins a comeback and nails the top rope elbow. RAINMAKER POSE! Smith gives no shits and locks in a sharpshooter. Okada survives and then kicks out of a superplex. Okada and Smith both pick up near falls on some great moves, like a tiger suplex. Smith comes very close to winning with a powerbomb and his reaction to the kick out is priceless. Okada ends up connecting with the Rainmaker and gets back on the winning track.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada (4) in 13:33 
A solid match, but I was hoping for more. That kind of sums up Okada’s tournament so far to be honest. Reusing a spot from earlier in the show is something I didn’t like and I wish Smith continued the arm work to take away the Rainmaker. It would have been logical. ***¼

Block A
Hirooki Goto (6) vs. Prince Devitt (6)
Once I saw the blocks at the start of the tournament, this was a match that really intrigued me. Devitt, ever the heel, quickly messes with Goto by running around the ring and suckering him in. This allows Bad Luck Fale to get involved, laying out Goto. Devitt takes advantage, beating up on Goto in the ring. When Goto tries to get something going, he eats a pretty dropkick. Again, Devitt seems to get in trouble and just runs down the official. Goto drops him with a neckbreaker and I’m surprised Fale hasn’t gotten involved. Just as I write this, he enters and hits Goto with a chair in the knee. Goto still headbutts him but Devitt hits him in the back with a chair. Fale drops him with a Samoan drop and Devitt nails the diving double stomp onto a chair. Goto somehow kicks out. Fale again tries to cheat but is clotheslined over and out. Goto levels Devitt with a lariat and nails Shouten Kai to overcome the odds.

Winner: Hirooki Goto (8) in 8:04
Too short and too filled with interference to really be anything. Again, I understand that Devitt, being a junior and the leader of a heel stable needs help, but it doesn’t make his matches batter. They did well when it wasn’t riddled with Fale stuff at least. **¾

Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (2) vs. Togi Makabe (4)
They spend the first few minutes looking for an advantage. Tanahashi taunts after a cross body, so Makabe just shoulder blocks him down, shutting him up. As they go outside, Tanahashi is surprisingly the one to take out Makabe and get the near countout tease. I usually see Tanahashi on the other end of that. Once back inside, Makabe hammers on Tanahashi, using his power advantage with the shots. Makabe fires up and hits some corner clotheslines before doing the ten punches. He seems to be working more like the babyface than Tanahashi in this one. They trade blows in the middle of the ring until Makabe gets tired of that and just wallops him with a lariat. Tanahashi comes back with that straight jacket suplex of his for two. He misses High Fly Flow however, opening the door for Makabe. He gets some near falls but can’t seem to put away Tanahashi. Tanahashi connects on the slingblade and goes up top for High Fly Flow again. Makabe gets his knees up to block it though. Tanahashi takes a lariat, but still gets a sunset flip before hitting a damn Styles Clash. He finally nails High Fly Flow and wins.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) in 13:37
I’d consider this to be a good main event, but it never reached great level for me. They had a crisp back and forth, building to some drama before giving us some cool false finishes.***½

Overall: 6.5/10. I found this to be a pretty average show. A lot of the matches are good, only one is something I’d consider great and the other ones were rather average. The crowd in Ishikawa was very disappointing, especially after seeing shows in Korakuen Hall and Osaka. It’s the easiest show to skip so far, but still worth a watch, especially the opener.

Block A Standings
Hirooki Goto 8 points
Prince Devitt 6 points
Satoshi Kojima 6 points
Katsuyori Shibata 6 points
Tomohiro Ishii 4 points
Hiroshi Tanahashi 4 points
Togi Makabe 4 points
Kazuchika Okada 4 points
Davey Boy Smith Jr. 4 points
Lance Archer 4 points

Block B Standings
Kota Ibushi 6 points
Tetsuya Naito 6 points
Shinsuke Nakamura 6 points
Yujiro Takahashi 6 points
Yuji Nagata 6 points
Karl Anderson 6 points
Minoru Suzuki 4 points
Shelton X Benjamin 4 points
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 4 points
Toru Yano 2 points

NJPW Dominion Predictions

NJPW Dominion | 6.19.16 | Osaka Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan

Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. David Finlay, Juice Robinson and Jay White

Jay White has been fantastic as one of NJPW's Young Lions, as has David Finlay, especially after his run in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. White is headed out of NJPW for a while, on an excursion to Ring of Honor. This will be his final match before leaving. They team with Juice Robinson, the former CJ Parker, to take on the legendary team of Manabu Nakanishi and Tenkoji. Even though it's White's last match, I fully expect the legends team to win and the crowd to love it. White has a lot of talent and should kill it in ROH.

Winners: Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and Yoshitatsu

Along with adding Adam Cole last month, the Bullet Club added Adam Page. He makes his official NJPW debut at Dominion as Hangman Page and teams with Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi. Honestly, the only guys in this match that are actually ever interesting to me are Fale and Makabe and that's only sometimes. Yoshitatsu is stuck doing a shitty Triple H cosplay, while Captain New Japan is the "eater of pins". Expect that here. The Captain will take the fall to either Fale or Page.

Winners: The Bullet Club

YOSHI-HASHI and Tomohiro Ishii vs. BUSHI and SANADA

One of the best things going in all of NJPW over the past month has been the multi-man tags pitting Chaos against Los Ingobernables de Japon. While they have happened a ton, they're always interesting and among the best matches on whatever show they happen on. During those matches, a rivalry has been born between SANADA and YOSHI-HASHI. That will continue at Dominion with their teammates BUSHI and Tomohiro Ishii involved. I could see BUSHI taking the loss as the junior heavyweight and allowing some build for YOSHI-HASHI and SANADA in a singles match somewhere down the line.

Winners: Chaos

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Matt Sydal & Ricochet (c) vs. reDRagon vs. Roppongi Vice vs. The Young Bucks

Oh god. Not this again. This division is just the same shit over and over and over again. This is the same match that I gave **1/2 to at Wrestle Kingdom to start the year. I love reDRagon, I like Roppongi Vice and I don't mind Matt Sydal and Ricochet. It's just incredibly sickening how many times some variation of this gets put on a show. It'll be the same thing we've seen a ton of times, only with elimination. I'm gonna pick a winner but in the end, does it really matter? Whoever wins the belt here will drop it soon to one of the other teams and the cycle will just go on and on. I pick the Bucks since a win gives them a record number of reigns.

Winners: The Young Bucks

EVIL vs. Hirooki Goto

Oh yes. This should be fun again. Their first match at Power Struggle last year wasn't anything special, but I've really enjoyed their interactions in tags and their match at Wrestling Dontaku was really good. EVIL is a gimmick that probably shouldn't work but he's given it his all and it has really helped things along. Goto has fallen hard since his great first eight months of 2015. Since EVIL won at Wrestling Dontaku, I suspect Goto gets his win back and it possibly leads to a tiebreaker or something during the G1 Climax.

Winner: Hirooki Goto

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) vs. Will Ospreay

There is no match on the show that I'm looking forward to more than this one. KUSHIDA has been the star of the juniors division for over a year now. Nobody has been able to touch him in terms of consistent performances (except maybe Kyle O'Reilly). He has great matches no matter who his opponent is for the most part. Will Ospreay is ready to challenge the throne. He came from behind to win the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament and earned a second shot at the title after coming up just short in an amazing match at Invasion Attack back in April. This is the toughest call of the show. Ospreay could win because Gedo loves title switches or KUSHIDA wins to solidify his spot and set up a rematch with O'Reilly. I think KUSHIDA wins. Ospreay finally wins the belt soon, maybe at WK 11.

Winner: KUSHIDA

IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Guerillas of Destiny (c) vs. The Briscoes

Man, New Japan's heavyweight tag division is pretty shitty. I mean, it's the Guerillas of Destiny, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma sometimes and...that's about it. The Briscoes are a far better, far more established team visiting from ROH. With the recent reports that ROH talents are unhappy that Delirious books them as far inferior to NJPW stars, I could see this being a small way to fix that. The Briscoes go over here, despite no real build, in a "shocker". It'll give some ROH guys some cred before the Guerillas take back the belts sometime down the line.

Winners: The Briscoes

NEVER Openweight Championship: Yuji Nagata (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Yuji Nagata is pretty much the man. Katsuyori Shibata just happens to also be the man. Their match at Wrestling Dontaku was just shy of being great and I believe that could top it here. The Osaka crowd is always tremendous and they should add a lot to the match. I thought that Shibata's war with the old guard would just be a way to rack up title defenses, so Nagata winning it was surprising. I could see Nagata retaining here to give the illusion that without a title, Shibata has a legitimate shot in the G1. However, I say Shibata regains the belt here.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata

IWGP Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Michael Elgin

This was originally scheduled to be Kenny Omega defending the title against Hiroshi Tanahashi in NJPW's first ever ladder match. Tanahashi is out with injury, opening the door for his buddy Michael Elgin to get the biggest opportunity of his NJPW career. Sure he had a title shot already (which was great), but that was on a "Road to" show. This is basically NJPW's second biggest show of the year and the pressure is on for their first ladder match. This should be really good, though I don't think it will quite reach the levels of their first match, and Omega retains.

Winner: Kenny Omega

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada

Like their match at Invasion Attack, this should be really good. Their battles as part of the Chaos vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon matches have been entertaining. I get that Kazuchika Okada was the new "ace" after finally beating Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom (no matter how disappointing that match was), but it has been Tetsuya Naito that has been THE man of 2016. Since turning heel in 2015, nobody has nailed their character more than him. He's must see television. Gedo loves him some Okada, but making a title switch here would be monumentally stupid. Naito should hold the gold until Wrestle Kingdom, he's that over. Even if it means Okada has to win the G1 again and be the one to beat him in the Tokyo Dome.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito

Lucha Underground 6/15/16 Review

We start with clips reminding us of the angle going with the investigation into Dario Cueto, followed by a recap of Pentagon Jr. being broken by Vampiro so he could return stronger. We also see Catrina raising Mil Muertes again. Finally, we see Pentagon taking out Chavo Guerrero and being on the winning team for tonight's "Six to Survive" match.

Six to Survive Match: Pentagon Jr. def. Fenix, Ivelisse, Johnny Mundo, King Cuerno and Taya in 52:49
We got right into the action tonight. All of the participants were in the ring at the start. This is fought under elimination rules. Taya and Mundo targeted Ivelisse and worked together to attack her from the bell. Fenix and Pentagon, real life brothers, hit Mundo with the Dudleys' "wassup" move, minus the "wassup". While Cuerno set for his finisher on Fenix, Mil Muertes returned and the look on Cuerno's face was priceless. Muertes attacked but there's no disqualifications. Muertes powerbombed him, so Mundo took advantage with the End of the World to eliminate him at 4:19. Mil's eyes are now bloodshot red. I got jealous of Fenix as he copped a serious feel on Ivelisse when shoving her at one point. Then we almost got the Ivelisse/Taya confrontation but Mundo kicked Ivelisse before anything could happen. Taya eventually eliminated Ivelisse at around 12:40 with a Northern lights suplex into a big double stomp. After a break, Pentagon did his best Goldust and hit the Golden Globes on Taya, which was interesting to say the least. Mundo called for a fight with Pentagon, which was fun until Taya got involved. It kind of became a tag match of sorts, culminating with Pentagon sending Taya home at 22:28 with a Package Piledriver. Mundo checked on Taya a bit before getting back in the action. He tried to form a team with Fenix, but Fenix isn't stupid. Some really fun spots from all three men at this point, despite being exhausted. Mundo's cockiness cost him as he spent too much time in between moves pandering to the crowd. Pentagon and Fenix did a weird spot where they both ended up on top of Johnny and got the three on him at around the 35 minute mark. It was down to Penty and Fenix. It was here that the match got taken to the next level. I won't go into too much detail about their back and forth because it was very fast paced and deserves to be watched. Pentagon finally won it after a Mexican Destoryer right into a Package Piledriver. One of the better matches in a season completely full of them. ****1/4

Overall: 9/10. A tremendous episode. Similar to the great Aztec Warfare II episode, this was dominated by one sole match, but they pace everything so well that it never feels like it goes long. This was all sorts of great and deserves to be watched.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv.