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NJPW present Wrestling Dontaku, their first major show since Invasion Attack, on Sunday at 17.00 JST from Fukuoka. The show will be live on NJPW World.
Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Mascara Dorada vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Captain New Japan, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA
With the Best of the Super Juniors tournament kicking off on May 22nd, I would expect there to be a lot of focus on the juniors here. KUSHIDA picked up a pin over Dorada at Wrestling Hinokuni on Wednesday, so it looks like he might be in for a push. I said last year that he is my pick to win BOSJ this year, so I see him winning again here and going on to be a favourite to win the BOSJ in early June. Dorada & KUSHIDA have amazing chemistry together, so hopefully we will see them get some ring time together.
Tetsuya Naito & Sho Tanaka vs. Kota Ibushi & Yohei Komatsu
I can see this being the sleeper match of the show. Tanaka & Komatsu have had incredible matches this year when they teamed with Tanahashi, Nagata & Kojima. The young lions being paired up with the faster paced Naito & Ibushi will be something different for them. Naito & Ibushi had one of the matches of the year in the New Japan Cup, so with the immensely talented young lions in the mix, I can see this being nothing short of spectacular.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Cody Hall (Bullet Club)
Fale moves off in a different direction now that his feud with Okada is over. We seen Hall on the winning side for the first time on Wednesday, and he improves with every match he has. I can see Fale getting a win here to rebound from his losses to Okada, and hopefully we will see Fale & Honma have a chance to work together, as Fale is the perfect guy for Honma to do his ultimate underdog routine with.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Beretta & Rocky Romero (RPG Vice) vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (ReDRagon) vs. Nick & Matt Jackson (The Young Bucks)
We get these Jr tag title matches full of ROH talent all the time in NJPW and they never get old. RPG Vice have been a sensation already and it feels like they have been teaming for years. RPG adds a new element and freshness to these matches, and it’s hard to see them losing the titles already. The winner here will carry the titles into the ROH/NJPW shows in a few weeks time. With Matt Jackson due to take time off in May with the birth of his child, it’s most likely that The Bucks will get pinned here. This of course will be the usual mesh of craziness, high spots and innovation, with some of the best teams in the world right now involved.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega vs. Alex Shelley
Kenny Omega has cleaned up Japanese trash, Mexican trash and now he wants to clean up American Motor City trash. I can see this being an outstanding match between two of the finest in the world when it comes to the junior heavyweight style. With the focus about to go on the juniors division with the BOSJ starting in May, a great match between these two will be a good start in creating interest in it. I can’t see Shelley winning, but if he did, it could create an interesting scenario if his Time Splitter partner KUSHIDA was to win the BOSJ. Shelley & Omega had a supposedly excellent match last year in the BOSJ that never aired, so I can’t wait to see them in the spotlight on a major show.
Matt Taven, Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis (The Kingdom) vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Amber Gallows (Bullet Club)
Taven & Bennett took the IWGP titles from Bullet Club at Invasion Attack due to Anderson’s infatuation with Maria. Gallows wasn’t happy about it, so now he has brought in his wife, The Bullet Babe, to take care of the Maria problem in hope that Bullet Club can get back on track. This is the first time women have competed in NJPW in quite some time. We can expect a lot of silliness here and a lot of shameless camera work. The Kingdom meet Gallows & Anderson in a few weeks on the NJPW/ROH tour in a match that will presumably be for the IWGP titles, so it could only be a matter of time until Bullet Club take back the gold. But having said that, it looks like NJPW have big plans for The Kingdom, and with Adam Cole due to come back, we could see all three Kingdom members in NJPW together very soon.
Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba
Makabe is once again the NEVER Openweight champion after taking the title back from Ishii on Wednesday, so this of course will make Ishii even more angry than usual. Yano once again stole a win from Tanahashi on Wednesday, so Tanahashi is going to have to try harder to beat Yano at his own game. The Yano/Tanahashi feud has been surprisingly great, and they have made everyone want to see Tanahashi finally get his hands on Yano. Sakuraba has brought his working boots (well he doesn’t wear boots) in his feud with Shibata, so their eventual singles match should be great. I have a suspicion that Yano might steal another one over Tanahashi here, leading to a singles match at Dominion in June.
Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) vs. AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club)
A lot of things come full circle in this. One year ago at Dontaku, Takahashi turned on Okada and CHAOS, joined Bullet Club, allowing Styles to win the IWGP title for the first time. One year later, The Rainmaker is back after defeating Fale at Invasion Attack and getting out of his slump. Styles & Okada are scheduled to meet for the title in June at Dominion, so I can see Okada pinning Takahashi here to get himself further back on track as he looks to regain the title he lost one year ago.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto
Shinsuke Nakamura’s name has been synonymous with the IWGP intercontinental championship for the best part of three years now, and the man he first won it from on July 22nd 2012 was Hirooki Goto. Now in his fourth reign as champion, Nakamura defends against Goto, who can never seem to get the big win when the gold is on the line and it matters the most. Nakamura has made the intercontinental championship almost as important as the heavyweight championship, so it would be a huge win of Goto could do it. I would like to see Goto win the title, and free Nakamura up to win the G1 and move into the heavyweight championship picture early next year. This has all the makings of a classic as we have the charisma of Nakamura colliding with the straight ahead, no nonsense attitude of Goto. They have shown a glimpse of what to expect in tag matches over the last month or so, and I’m sure they have plenty saved as they headline a major show. I’d like to see Goto get the win, but it’s hard to believe it will happen as he has fallen at the final hurdle so many times before, but I do expect a possible match of the year candidate.
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