10 HUGE NJPW Dominion 6.9 2019 Predictions You Need To Know
Jericho vs. Okada, Naito vs. Ibushi, plus Jon Moxley in singles action...
Just four days removed from a blockbuster Best of the Super Juniors finals yielding a Match of the Year candidate in Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley's deliciously violent debut, New Japan Pro Wrestling head to Osaka Jo Hall for Dominion 6.9 this Sunday (9 June).
Traditionally one of the calendar's biggest (and best) shows, this year's lineup isn't short of potential in-ring bangers, though the build, as a whole, has been uneven.
Chris Jericho's quest to claim Kazuchika Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship will headline the night. The duo are yet to lay hands on each other prior to the bout, but their respective track records suggest the clash will deliver. Elsewhere, Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito meet in third IWGP Intercontinental Title fight of the year, BOSJ winner Will Ospreay challenges Junior Heavyweight Champion Dragon Lee, and Moxley returns to action against Shota Umino in the evening's opener.
The BOSJ final was a home run show that pushed NJPW back towards the zeitgeist after AEW's buzz-grabbing Double Or Nothing pay-per-view, and it's vital that Dominion 6.9 is another. Let's take a look at how it could all pan out...
10. Jon Moxley Vs. Shota Umino
Jon Moxley hit New Japan Pro Wrestling like a bulldozer on Wednesday, immediately shedding Dean Ambrose's Sports Entertainment stench with a brutish, ugly performance against IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson.
The 33-year-old felt like the performer WWE should have let him be from day one. Violent, hard-hitting, and carrying a legitimate aura of danger, he worked a brawl-heavy style, battering his opponent inside the ring and out. At one point, Mox literally bit the former CJ Parker's brew then tugged at the flesh to draw hard-way blood. It was gruesome, gruesome stuff, and the perfect in-ring comeback from the hottest thing in wrestling at the moment.
Moxley meets Shota Umino, a Young Lion, in Sunday's opener. He's going to murder that poor lad. Umino will be beaten from pillar to post. His back will crack as he's tossed into guardrails and bludgeoned with chairs, and he'll probably draw colour too. WhatCulture's own Michael Sidgwick has suggested that this would be the perfect way to send him off on an excursion. He's right, and you can bet the house on Moxley mauling the wee man.
Winner: Jon Moxley.