10 ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE Moments From NJPW Dominion 6.9
The Greatest Show, Man
Expectations are a tricky thing in professional wrestling.
Good booking raises them enough to lift money from the pockets of punters. To attend shows, to get merchandise, to sign up for a subscription service, to invest.
To buy in financially, audiences have to be connected emotionally. It's why WWE unleashed their Network right around the time their most potent creative fires finally burned out. Or how those fires became fully extinguished, depending on your viewpoint. The investment became the routine rather than the response, endangering the need for sound storylines, logical narrative flow or electric in-ring action.
New Japan Pro Wrestling, despite themselves now bound to the similar 'World' subscription model, haven't let adjustments muddy the intense creative process. Head Booker Gedo has a plan. He always has a plan - the only thing routine about NJPW's direction is the regularity with which he reveals his latest incredible arc.
With a majestic card on paper and the aforementioned expectations, NJPW Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jõ Hall had with it the potential to be the all-time greatest wrestling pay-per-view ever. These were not understated by fans and followers beforehand, only adding pressure to the pile.
Expectations, lofty as they were, were exceeded...
10. The Juice Is Loose
United States Champion Jay White was given the rub of a lifetime defeating Kenny Omega at February 2018's New Beginning In Sapporo a month removed from running then-Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi close at Wrestle Kingdom 12, but the 'Switchblade' had yet to find a match or rival that justified his rapid-fire ascent through the ranks in NJPW before the beginnings of burgeoning tension with Juice Robinson.
The former 'CJ Parker' has been a revelation since travelling East from the doldrums of WWE's creative disinterest, translating a strong showing into last year's G1 Climax into a steady charge through the company's midcard over the past several months.
Their colliding conflict was the beating heart of the lower-card tag clashing pitting Robinson and David Finlay against White and Yoshi-Hashi. Along with his early catcalls ("Eat sh*t, motherf*cker!"), Juice was relentless in his attacks on the Champion, scoring the eventual victory with his Pulp Friction finisher. Parading around the ring with White's belt after the fact, Juice exuded confidence over the fallen titleholder, their impending match since confirmed for 7 July's G1 Special in San Francisco.