7 Things WWE Could Learn From NJPW Dominion 6.9
5. How To Revel In The Thrill Of The Chase
'The Golden Elite' are bound not just by love and friendship but of their recent hit-rate with the very reason all wrestlers are supposed to enter the field in the first place.
Though Kota Ibushi is currently without a title (and didn't his sightline tell that story well after the match?!), Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks carrying the IWGP Heavyweight and Tag Team titles respectively reflects the end of a lengthy quest for respect, success and dominance.
Their matches at Dominion crucially weren't just victories for themselves but for the fans that have clung on to their dreams too. The purity of the relationship between audience and performer was once the only thing a promoter needed to stuff his pockets and stuff arenas with enthusiastic a*ses in seats, but that gap's never been wider in WWE. Vince McMahon's pockets are still stuffed, but arenas have been one-sided ghost-towns for SmackDown tapings over the past few years, and may continue to empty with the show in progress if something doesn't change with Roman Reigns.
Challengers to titles in WWE need to be believable - and believed in - again. Brock Lesnar breaking CM Punk's title record with his current Universal Title reign wasn't just dispiriting because of the obvious and absurd comparisons, but the fact that there were still few challengers from the crop of losers and geeks on Raw ready to topple 'The Beast'. There's no thrill in a chase when there's so clearly no legitimate chaser.