Kongo (Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh & Manabu Soya) vs. Zennichi Shin Jidai (Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi) & Suwama
This was really good in multiple ways. It brought Kento Miyahara and Katsuhiko Nakajima together after their heated history together, Soya and Suwama were well utilised as the teams’ sluggers, plus Suwama had some good sequences with Kenoh and even Yuma Aoyagi had a few interesting moments where he did Mutoh taunts to get a rise out of the crowd. This rarely felt stilted, always moving and always interesting. Kenoh pinned Aoyagi with his diving footstomp for the finish and I came out of this wanting more. ***3/4
AMAKUSA vs. Hiromu Takahashi
While I’m grateful that this cut out the boring Junior Heavyweight mat-work from the start of the match and kept to the things that people actually enjoy and care about and that’s the main high spots of the match, I didn’t really get invested in this at all. It was a decent match to watch and I think these two work well together but it didn’t excite me on any big level either. A decent segway into the main events of the show and not much else. I will say this though, AMAKUSA came off looking much better than Takahashi despite losing. ***
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya
What a nice bit of fresh air this feud has been. A bit of interpromotional flair and angst from the two, Okada not taking Kiyomiya seriously whatsoever, Kiyomiya determined to change his mindset. Just something that’s not really seen in wrestling much. Not since 2016 when New Japan had a partnership with NOAH. While this didn’t exactly have Riki Choshu big leaguing Yoji Anjoh vibes, as Okada did give Kiyomiya something instead of smothering him (watch that match btw, it’s awesome). Okada largely dominated the opening portion of the match but Kiyomoya was the one who took most of the match, really rising the occasion of the Dome. The much quicker pacing of the match (as this is only 16 minutes instead of 30) worked for both men as well as the match story. Both were quick to make their mark/point and it led to a quicker paced match. Japan has a reputation for these long matches but Japan has had much success doing shorter bouts. Perhaps if that was done more often, this result wouldn’t feel like a slight towards Kiyomiya and NOAH as some may think. The slight was more at the finish itself where Okada pulled Kiyomiya up from the count and hit a version of an Emerald Flowsion, not so similar to his match with Marufuji (another match I’m recommending) before ending it with another Rainmaker. A quality match for sure. Something different for modern pro wrestling, anyway. ****
Keiji Muto vs. Tetsuya Naito
I thought this was surprisingly pretty good. A match that fit around Mutoh’s limitations, a properly motivated Naito, who worships Mutoh and good heart to it with it being a swansong for Mutoh as well as a tribute to Mutoh’s past. However, it felt a little too long and felt like it went on forever, slightly. But I wasn’t really bored like I expected. Expectations had to be skewered but I enjoyed this match. Mutoh is one of the last of his era to retire and this was a great goodbye for him. ***1/4
Singles Match (Special Referee: Tiger Hattori): Keiji Muto vs. Masahiro Chono
And this was a mighty surprise. And a fun way to bow out. Chono vs Mutoh wrestling once more. A fun match that I think anyone can enjoy. Tiger Hattori being the special ref makes it even better. Chono finally gets his send off and Mutoh has a heck of a time wrestling his old rival. Pro Wres Love man. NR
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