New Japan Cup/Dominion Thoughts

Originally, I planned on writing about the New Japan Cup but obviously that didn’t happen, and then I was going to write about Dominion and then that didn’t really happen, so I thought fuck it, let’s write about all of it. And so here we are, in the midst of Covid-19 ravaging the world, and I am nice and roasted and ready to write about this shit, so let’s just fucking go.

The big story, obviously, is Evil turning on everybody and aligning himself with Bullet Club, which is pretty wild given that he’s been a solid LIJ dude for a while now and no one really saw him getting elevated like this, but fuck it, I like Evil and the man’s name is Evil so maybe we should have seen this coming.

What’s interesting is that Bullet Club seems to be taking on a more Japanified face which is a departure for a group that has long been associated with Gaijin assholes. Not anymore, though, as Evil joins with Gedo to make up a Japanese Bullet Club that doesn’t need to rely on outsiders. That is where it will be weird to see Jay White fit in when he eventually is allowed to come back once this Covid shit passes. How is he going to fit into things now that Evil is the Big Dick? And then there’s KENTA hovering somewhere out there. It’s a lot of guns for Bullet Club, too many perhaps and I think a Civil War might be the only way to figure this shit out.

Of course, we have Naito lying in defeat, shamed and betrayed by his boy. He has had his shot and he has been broken, spiritually and physically and I’m not sure how he comes back from this, or if he manages to get his revenge, which is something you would think would be the next part of the story, but Naito is spinning close to that point where he might break down, and I’m not sure that Gedo is behind him as the hero in this story. No, I think this is all a setup for Okada to eventually come in and save the day for everyone, getting his revenge and stealing Naito’s at the same time.

Okada has been positioned as a dude fucked over by Gedo and Bullet Club one too many times, and the eventual outcome of this whole deal, I think, is Okada taking down Evil and Jay White and whoever else shows up for Bullet Club. The big heel in this whole thing is Gedo, which is sort of a play on the Stone Cold vs Mr. McMahon storyline really, but Gedo is wily enough to pull it off and make it look fresh.

So where does this leave Naito? I don’t know, dudes and lady dudes. He’s still the company’s cash cow, but he’s not Okada, who is the Chosen One, the dude ready to rule New Japan like Tanahashi ruled New Japan. I suspect that Naito will have his day again, but this story will always turn towards Okada, who has been fucked over by Gedo and the boys too much now to not get his revenge,

Outside of that main event angle and scene, I was particularly impressed by Taichi, who has taken it upon himself to kick the shit out of everyone in his path. Poor Tanahashi is clearly a man with no knees, and Taichi taking him out and then taking out Ibushi signals a new level for the Kawada and Jumbo devotee. I’m more interested in seeing where he goes than his partner, Zack Sabre Jr., who I still feel is false, and is lucky to be on the island during the pandemic, unlike so many of the other Gaijin and even a few of the Japanese dudes. This tag team seems likely to hold the belts for a while, cheating and kicking their way to victory which I approve of for sure. I miss Miho Abe who I assume is on a plane or boat to come see me.

Elsewhere, I was happy to see Sho take down Shingo in the New Japan Cup tourney, and even though he lost in his title shot against Shingo at Dominion, it’s clear that Sho is the future. I was talking to Hollinger about this, and we both feel that it’s necessary to get him away from Yoh, who fucked up his knee so maybe that is a fortuitous turn of events, I don’t know. I like Yoh and don’t want to see him buried in a Yoshi Hashi like situation, but it’s clear that Sho is the Man on that team and he needs to have his own run away from Yoh.

Ishii did good work as he always does, and he is probably the MVP of the company, the dude who is always there to put together an epic slugfest in the middle of the card. This is especially important with so many dudes kept off the card due to the Covid situation. Ishii beating the shit out of everyone will never get old.

But the big story will of course be Evil turning on LIJ and Naito and rolling with Bullet Club. It’s an interesting choice, elevating Evil, and I think he can handle the load even if others don’t think so. And again, I’m interested to see what happens when Jay White comes back. There is only so much alpha energy to go around. And then there is the specter of Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows floating around, ready to come back and lead their club which is growing perhaps too much and again I think a Civil War is a necessary story in the future.

And that future will no doubt be dominated by Okada, who is the chosen one and will eventually put all this right. Poor Tanahashi is about to head down the Nagata/Tenzan path, although he may always be too popular to ever be relegated to that spot. Ibushi remains an enigma who will give his life to wrestling and should be a good number two or three babyface going forward. Poor Naito seems to be left out of the plans, his torch taken up by Hiromu who is all fire and wild star child energy which I love. He will take his shot at Evil on behalf of Naito and LIJ and I am intrigued. But Naito floats in the background, and this story seems to have been stolen from him. I am not the world’s biggest Naito fan, but goddamn, the dude surely deserves a better run than what he got, right? I don’t know. All I do know is that New Japan and Gedo have a thousand stories set up, and this is how you keep pro wrestling fresh.