The second of the two nights at the Tokyo Dome was the cross-promotional extravaganza Wrestle Dynasty, featuring stars from NJPW, AEW, CMLL, ROH and Stardom. It was much less storyline-driven than WrestleKingdom 19 and thus didn't draw the box office of the latter (16,000 tickets vs. 25,000 the night before), but overall Dynasty ended up being the stronger wrestling show, boasting an absolutely wild semi-main event plus a slew of good supporting bouts.
The opener was the mystery gauntlet match which involved Jr. Heavyweights from NJPW and some CMLL stars. Hechicero and Kosei Fujita started things off and were rapidly joined by Soberano Jr., Master Wato, Taiji Ishimori, Mascara Dorada, Titan, and finally El Desperado, fresh off his title win the night before. Lots of fast-paced action and aerial spots before Taiji stole a pin on Despy to set up a title shot. This was an enjoyable party match to start things off but didn't need 16 minutes when 12 would've done. ***1/4
Next was the Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata match set up at WrestleKingdom. Sadly it was a five-minute exhibition so obviously no one was going to win this. They locked up and stayed that way for an uncomfortably long time and then did a chopping battle, and that was about it. Maybe we'll see a real match out of these two before Tana hangs it up? N/R
The show got going properly with Mercedes Moné vs. Mina Shirakawa for the NJPW Strong Women's and RevPro Women's Titles. Mina worked over Mercedes' knee to soften her up for the figure four, which she managed to lock in a couple times before Mercedes made the ropes. Mercedes hit her signature moves though, including a couple backstabbers and finally the Moné Maker for the three-count. Mercedes is now a triple champion (with four belts since the RevPro championship is a combined one). Very good match but a step below Mercedes' recent work. ***3/4
My pick for surprise hit of the night was next as David Finlay hoped to avenge his loss to Yota Tsuji, against Brody King. This was crazy hard-hitting and King dominated a lot of it. King squashed Finlay against the barricade at one point and it looked brutal. Finlay eventually made a comeback and got King up for his finisher to get the win. Way better match than I expected given it was heel vs. heel. ****1/4
The match with maybe the most story behind it was Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli. Umino is Jon Moxley's protégé but Mox couldn't be bothered to make the trip to Japan, so Umino faced Mox's cohort instead. Claudio jumped Umino on the ramp and dominated for a while, throwing him around ringside. Umino kicked out of the Ricola Bomb, escaped a sharpshooter and withstood the giant swing, and hit a Death Rider for the win. Mox vs. Umino is definitely happening at some point. Very good match. ****
The first great match of the night was Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tomohiro Ishii, for both the AEW International and NEVER Openweight Titles. This was a classic Ishii match, both guys beat the bejeezus out of each other, trading chops, suplexes, headbutts, lariats, etc. Lots of nearfalls and fire-ups, until Takeshita put him away with his Falcon Arrow variation. Excellent stuff, and Takeshita further makes his case that he's good enough to be the face of NJPW (He's actually signed a part-time deal with them which is great news). ****1/2
The Young Bucks made their return to the Tokyo Dome for the first time in six years as part of a now three-way IWGP Tag Title match with Great O-Khan & Jeff Cobb, and Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi. This was your 14-minute Bucks special, with all their classic offense and lots of trash-talking. Lots of crazy nearfalls and pin break-ups. The Bucks set up O-Khan for the TK Driver but first Nick did a moonsault to the outside to take out anyone left standing, then climbed back up and hit the Driver for the win and the second IWGP Tag Title win for this team. Very fun stuff. ****
Next was Yota Tsuji defending his newly won Global Title against Jack Perry, and they had a very good match but I don't think the crowd ever bought into the idea that Perry might win here. It was nonetheless smart to put this right after Perry's friends won the tag belts to make it seem like a possibility. Perry took a lot of this but Tsuji hit a Gene Blaster out of nowhere to retain. Could've used more time but they did alright with what they had. ***3/4
The match of the night, and of the weekend, and of the year so far, was in the semi-main slot, as Kenny Omega returned from a literally life-threatening illness to deliver an absolute bloodbath spectacle, and elevate Gabe Kidd in the process. This was fucking awesome. They beat the crap out of each other for a half hour, putting each other through tables, drawing a ton of blood, and even working in some MMA-style stuff. They did a ton of back-and-forth nearfalls but finally Kenny hit a Kamigoye followed by the One-Winged Angel for the win. Oddly NJPW announcer Chris Charlton tried to make this an NJPW vs. AEW thing and talked shit about AEW, Tony Khan, and their use of Ospreay, Okada and Jay White (all of whom are heavily featured, Ospreay especially), which resulted in a two-month suspension. Given that AEW has been a trusted partner of NJPW for the last three years now, Chris got off light. What a maroon. Anyway, this match ruled, Gabe Kidd needs to be pushed to the moon, and Kenny Omega is superhuman. *****
In the unenviable final spot was Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet for the IWGP Title, and while following Kenny vs. Gabe was impossible, they still put on a damn good main event. Ricochet attacked before the bell and did lots of aerial stuff, and the match was about Ric's high flying vs. Zack's ground game. Charlton was at it again during this one, trash talking the Continental Classic as inferior to the G1 Climax. Lots of big back-and-forth moves until Zack evaded the Spirit Gun and tied Ricochet up for a submission. Really good match, just probably should've gone second-to-last instead. Great weekend for ZSJ though. ****1/4
So Wrestle Dynasty was the slightly superior show over WrestleKingdom 19, but I enjoyed both shows quite a bit. This mostly didn't have a lot of story behind it but almost every match delivered and Kenny and Gabe outperformed all expectations. Pretty excellent show.
Best Match: Omega vs. Kidd
Worst Match: Tana vs. Shibata
What I'd Change: Put the Omega match last since nothing could've followed it, trim the opener and give the extra time to Mercedes.
Most Disappointing Match: Nothing really
Most Pleasant Surprise: Finlay vs. Brody
Overall Rating: 9/10
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