New Japan Pro Wrestling
Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-jo Hall
June 14, 2026
Osaka-jo Hall
Osaka, Japan

Watch: njpwworld.com

If there was ever a show that needed to exceed expectations, it was Dominion 2026.  The card attracted a great deal of derision, especially from those who have dropped New Japan from their regular routines.  It was understandable; it seemed like a card of bad choices and underwhelming creativity.

Did it exceed expectations?  Slightly.

Nothing on the show was truly great.  There were some high points, but it was mostly just… there.

The most significant talking point was Yota Tsuji being re-crowned as IWGP Heavyweight champion once again.  Like Tsuji himself, it’s a decision that is hard to get excited about.  He had his best showing here, and still managed to be lacklustre.

Let’s go through the card!

NJPW World Television Title Match
Konosuke Takeshita © def. SANADA

SANADA entered the arena with a string of extras, all dressed as himself in different eras.  It was a brave choice, as it simply highlighted how long SANADA has been one of the dullest wrestlers in the world.  I now know it’s longer than I realised.

Takeshita, while being one of the best workers on the planet, is undeniably dull in New Japan.  There are no stakes to anything he ever does, because he’s caught in a weird limbo.  AEW seems to be his home base, and he should really just commit to one company.  NJPW has to book him somewhere, so we’re stuck with matches like this.

Ironically, this match was the best of Takeshita’s recent defences.  He brought some proper energy to the early game, and both wrestlers worked to the time limit.  There were quick, exciting knees and moonsault attempts.  SANADA had a gameplan with the moonsault and he was determined to stick to it.

Unfortunately, the obligatory ref bump arrived bang on cue.  It’s heatless nonsense at this point.  It’s a reminder that you probably shouldn’t get too invested in the action, as it inevitably screeches to a grinding halt. 

This was half of a good match.  **¾

No Disqualification Match
Jake Lee def. El Phantasmo

Jake Lee is cringe personified.  This awful gimmick reminds me of someone doing a bad Heath Ledger impression; it tickles a part of my brain I didn’t know existed.  If I wasn’t reviewing New Japan, his matches would be skipped automatically.

Unfortunately for me, I am reviewing New Japan and I was forced to watch this torrid excuse for professional wrestling.   Nothing worked.  The mat work had all the momentum of a lead balloon, stopping for implausible air guitar spots.  An interesting spot with a ladder was undermined by Lee’s arm waving at the bottom of the shot, reminding us that he was waiting for ELP to jump on him.

I checked out completely at the nipple twists, and I suggest you skip this one. *

Taichi & Yuya Uemura def. TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.)

This match was exactly what the show needed.  It was a proper wrestling match between four wrestlers who take wrestling seriously.  It opened with Oiwa and Uemura locking up and shouting, which was the perfect amuse bouche for the nonsense that had come before.

The match escalated brilliantly, with competition at its core.  Oiwa and Uemura would face off with each other, daring themselves to continue the scrap.  ZSJ and Taichi facing off elicited a huge response from the Osaka crowd, and it was impossible not to invest in the match with such a great crowd.

Oiwa’s work was great here.  He didn’t reinvent the wheel, but wrestled a great ground game with an extra dose of violence.  Submissions were wrenched in and it was a joy to watch.  His headlocks were noticeable for their violence, and it’s not often I can say that.

Taichi was as grumpy and violent as ever, and the crowd were firmly behind him as he got the pin.  Great stuff.  ***¾

El Desperado def. Mistico

This was a very cool match with a cool premise; the IWGP junior tag champions wanted to see who was the best. 

There were lots of cool flips and topes, as you would expect.  El Desperado was clearly excited for the match, and the extra energy was palpable.  

Mistico had Despe’s number for most of the match, bouncing in and out of the ring with ease.  It was the greatest hits in many ways, but it was a joy to watch. 

Despe stole the victory, before Mistico took forever to leave the ring.  It was great.  ***½

G1 Announcements

The G1 names were announced with very few surprises, aside from Gabe Kidd being in the mix.  There were a few names missing, however.  The winner of the IWGP Tag match later on will get two places, and the final four spots will be decided by qualification matches.  I’m disappointed Oiwa has to qualify, but it makes kayfabe sense.  He finished bottom of his block last year, so he faces ELP who was in the same position.  Yuto Ice takes on Taichi and Oskar has to beat the dreadful Yujiro.

Interestingly, Aaron Wolf has to qualify.  Again, it makes sense.  He’s a rookie, and a match with YOSHI-HASHI has my interest.  We need to see Wolf wrestle without the House of Torture hanging over him.

NEVER Openweight Title Match
Aaron Wolf def. Ren Narita ©

I really shouldn’t be rolling my eyes at Aaron Wolf.  I’m not asking for him to be a well rounded worker, but it should feel like he’s being booked with a vague air of sincerity.  I understand that he brings casual eyes to the product, and that’s especially important when the shows are being televised.  I understand that Wolf is a rookie, and working a basic babyface vs heel match is good for his development.  That being said, it’s resulting in boring matches.  Maybe this mythical casual fan will be entertained by it, but I strongly suspect they won’t.  If you’re reading this, you’re not a casual fan and this nonsense is not for us.  It reminds me of when people at work assume I watch WWE – I don’t want people thinking this is what I enjoy.

The match was as dire as you would expect.  Wolf showed some good fire and didn’t appear to be gassed, but that is a low bar.  I don’t actually blame him.  I blame the tired, creatively void booking.  Narita grabbed the referee constantly, killing any momentum whilst undermining the whole contest.

I am glad Wolf is facing YOSHI-HASHI in his G1 qualifier and (probably) entering the G1.  It’s time for him to be given a fair appraisal and we can’t do it when he’s mired in HOT bollocks.  If these are his training matches, they’re training him to be a joke.  It’s time he learnt to work with some actual wrestlers. *½

IWGP Tag Team Title Match
United Empire (Great-O-Khan & HENARE) def. Knockout Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) ©

The Knockout Brothers have had an excellent run as tag champions.  There’s a youthful excitement to them that I find captivating.  They  have long careers ahead of them, and you get the sense you are watching a very important first chapter in their story.

HENARE started the proceedings with some lovely violence, slapping Yuto-Ice with gritted teeth. HENARE has his detractors, and it’s understandable, but he’s becoming more and more well rounded with every match.

In fact, this match was defined by HENARE and Yuto-Ice.  They spent a good chunk of the match standing in the middle of the ring punching each other with closed fists.  It was a glorious display of dumb energy, and I could have watched it go on for longer than it did.  

OSKAR played his part here, delivering a thrilling hot tag to ecstatic cheers from the crowd.  Unfortunately, OSKAR has a tendency to be overdramatic.  GOK brought a chair into the ring, which led to him having a crisis of conscience that took far too long.

While the bell-to-bell action was good, the booking has a big question mark over it.  GOK has been lazy for a long time now, and he was only slightly more animated than normal here.  I’m assuming it won’t be long before KOB become champions again.  ****

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Three Way Match
Shota Umino def. Andrade El Idolo © and Drilla Moloney

While the booking of the last match may have been confusing, it was much more interesting here.  It seemed like Moloney was there to eat the pin, but Umino pinned Andrade in front of a crown willing Moloney on.  Andrade was sent packing, and the contracted New Japan stars looked great.

It opened with a great stand-off, with Andrade smirking as Umino and Moloney were cheered.  It soon descended into the usual three-way tropes, however.   It took forever to get moving because we had to establish who was working together, who wasn’t and who was going to get the first blow.  

There were lots of cool moments.  The Drilla Killa is death, and a scramble to drop Andrade with it was great.  The spinebuster that followed looked brutal too, but it was ruined by Umino loitering in the background waiting for his turn.

Overall, this was the best Umino performance for a long time.  He had multiple strike exchanges with Andrade that were buttery smooth, and his habitual plod was nowhere to be seen.  

The match built well, leading us to a stand off of slaps and chops between all three men.  Umino sold well and I even believed Moloney might win with a great piledriver.

Moloney was the star of the match.  Walker Stewart made a great call; this might be the only chance he gets at this title and he has to make the most of it.  He made the crowd believe he might just do it, and his support drowned out Umino chants.  It wouldn’t have been right for him to win; the underdog story is much more compelling.

Gabe Kidd came out at the end and challenged Umino, presumably for Forbidden Door.  The Gabe story is settling slightly, and he’s becoming much better at playing the insecure sellout.  That being said, we’re never too far away from a Gabe Kidd subtlety hammer.  ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match
YOH def. DOUKI (w/SHO) © 

I didn’t review the Best of the Super Junior final; my house is a building site at the moment and we had to escape for a week or two.  When I eventually saw it, I was relieved that I didn’t have to find words to describe it.  It was repetitive, lazy and the least interesting wrestler in the tournament won.

That being said, YOH is over.  The crowd got solidly behind him, and they willed him to escape from a range of submissions in this match.  He was easy to get behind, and I enjoyed watching him scramble for the ropes.

Unfortunately – and stop me if you’ve heard this before – there were far too many silly interferences to recommend this.  SHO was on the apron right from the bell, and even taking horrific bumps into the barriers couldn’t earn my forgiveness.  

DOUKI bashed the ref, and it was business as usual.  The only notable deviation from the standard HOT bollocks was Tanahashi taking a bump as he tried to grab SHO’s iron bar.

The crowd liked it.  I didn’t.  *¾

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match
Yota Tsuji def. Callum Newman ©

Yota Tsuji is back on top, winning a very good match.  He’s not a terrible choice, but he’s not a particularly exciting one either.  His work was fine, as it usually is, but it never set the pulse racing.  His odd charisma was on full display here, and he was certainly watchable.  Unfortunately, reviewing his work is like trying to remember a dream. I saw everything, but it’s very difficult to actually say anything about him.

The match was good.  It started strong with a good pace, and a hot crowd manifested some enthusiasm for the viewer at home.  There were some great spots, like Newman launching himself off the ramp into Tsuji, that had me sitting forward in my chair.  

Unfortunately, the match never really reached a proper crescendo.  The moves were all there, but they were held together by a weak glue.  There were points that should have been impressive, but a lack of commitment or skill took the edge off.  Newman resisted a Gene Blaster, standing firm rather than being knocked back.  It would have been cool, but the Gene Blaster is not an impressive move to begin with.  Tsuji bouncing off a table should have been impressive, but his bump was weak and lacked conviction.  

The match ended abruptly, presumably due to Newman dislocating his shoulder on a backdrop into the corner.  Maybe a big crescendo was coming, but it didn’t happen.  ***½

Final Thoughts

The Dominion card was much maligned, but it ended up being marginally better than expected.  There were two great matches on the card, and the main event is noteworthy at least.  

That being said, there was little excitement.  I’m not eagerly awaiting the G1 and all of the newly crowned champions feel like downgrades.

New Japan need a stellar G1 more than ever.