New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/5/2025 Wrestle Dynasty

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/5/2025 Wrestle Dynasty

Pre-Show International Women's Cup Final Four Way Match - Athena vs. Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Persephone

Willow boots Momo. Pers has a mask on here because she only lost her mask in Mexico. Athena throws Pers over the top. Momo throws Ath out onto Pers. Wllow step up enzugiri's Momo then corner hip attacks her. Willow running boots Momo then puts her in the torture rack and drops down.

Pers bridges out of a lariat then fallaway slams Willow. Ath suplexes Pers then forward cartwheel forearms her. Ath PK's Pers then axe kicks her. Momo hits forearms on Pers. Momo goes for the b-driver and Ath lariats Momo over for 2. Willo flying headscissors Ath then boots her over. Willow pushes Ath into a Pers spear.

Willow oduble suplexes 2 opponents then does a double splash. Momo dropkicks Ath then meteora's Willow off the apron. Ath swantons off the buckles onto 2 opponents. Pers top rope tornillos 2 girls.

Willow shotgun dropkicks Pers in the ring then misses a cannonball on her. Pers tope con hilos Willow.Pers germans Willow for 2. Momo hits a b-driver on Willow for 2. Ath and Momo push each other. Willow spinebusters Momo. Ath hits a double diving 2nd rope codebreaker. Ath alabama slams Pers onto Willow.

Willow pounces Ath. She trades chest chops with Pers then Pers hurricanrana's her for 2. Pers northern lights suplexes Willow for 2. Ath powerbombs Pers on the apron. Momo high kicks Willow twice. Willow corner death valley drivers her. Ath top rope diving cutters Willow for when Thekla pulls the ref out. Momo hits Ath with a bat then does a half-nelson wrist-clutch suplex to win.

Thoughts: It was your usual four way. The girls would get something started then someone else would jump in and everything would reset again. It was okay but not great. Momo winning in Japan makes the most sense but it hurts Athena's endless ROH-only winning streak.

Momo picks up the trophy and ends up breaking it after on accident.

Pre-Show ROH World Tag Team Title Match - The Sons Of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) (c) vs. House Of Torture (SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

You do have to just go LOL at this one. What a random match. Sammy's wearing Wolverine themed gear and looks about 10 years old with it.

DR gets hit by the heels then hits a double lariat. DR chops Sho then Sammy gets a chop in. Sho takes a double suplex then Sammy standing moonsaults Sho. DR running knees Sho. SG top rope crossbodies Sho. Sammy top rope moonsaults out. Sammy is sent into the rails. 

DR is whipped into the exposed buckles. YK back body drops Sammy. YK suplexes Sammy then crabs him. Sho steps on the ROH tag titles. Sammy step up enzugiri's Sho. Sammy pulls Ren over the top. Sammy step up enzugiri's YK and DR gets tagged in. DR drop down punches Sho and powerslams both opponents. Sho spears DR. YK gets tagged in.

YK dropkicks DR in the knee then yanks on the leg. YK basement dropkicks DR. The ref is nearly sent into Dustin. YK spits whiskey in DR's eyes and rolls him up for 2. YK top rope moonsaults DR on the legs for 2.

Sammy flying cutters YK then DR canadian destroyers Sho. DR spits whiskey at YK. Sammy superkicks YK. DR twisting brainbusters YK and Sammy top rope swantons YK for the win.

Thoughts: It was okay. Both sides got a little in and the heels heeled it up some before losing. This was never going to be great due to the people involved. I didn't buy that the heels had any chance of winning.

Lucha Rumble - Taiji Ishimori vs. Titan vs. El Desperado vs. Hechicero vs. Soberano Jr. vs. Master Wato vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Mascara Dorada

Sob = Soberano Jr., MD = Mascara Dorada, TI = Taiji Ishimori, Despy = El Desperado

Hech and Kosei start us off. Hech ties up his legs, Kosei lifts himself up. Hech armbars Kosei. Sob is the next one in. Sob top rope crossbodies Kosei then headscissors Hech off the ropes. Hech rolls up Kosei and rocking horses him. Sob breaks it up with a springboard dropkick. Sob headscissors Hech in a botched spot then he fosbury flops him outside. 

Wato is next in. He trades chops with Sob. Sob does a high dropkick then Wato flying headscissors him. Mascara Dorada is next in. MD walks up the ropes, flips on them and armdrags Wato over. MD twisting headscissors Sob. MD headscissors Hech then topes Sob outside. MD then ropes Hech. 

TI gets in next. TI handspring cutters MD. TI hammerlock backbreakers MD. TI la mistica's MD then does a border city stretch on him. Titan is next in. Titan springboard crossbodies TI then pele kicks Hech. Titan jumping back kicks TI. Titan walks up the ropes then dropkicks TI off of them. Titan tornado ddt's MD. Titan superkicks MD.

Despy is next in. Everone is waiting for him to come in and is waving at him to come. Everyone goes after Despy and beats him up on the ramp. MD suplexes Despy then everyone gets shots in on Despy.

Everyone hits shots on each other. Kosei tope con hilos onto Hech outside. TI 2nd rope moonsaults Kosei outside. Sob tornillos off the top to the outside. Titan top rope moonsaults outside then Wato tope con hilos outside.

MD 2nd rope ssp's outside onto people. Despy goes for a stretch muffler on Kosei. Kosei then surfboards him. TI then gets a pin on Despy and wins.

Thoughts: It was a multi-man spotfest as expected. It wasn't great or anything but we got some nice dives out of it at least. It wasn't as good as it could have been but I still thought it was alright.

Exhibition Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

They lock-up and spend a bunch of time doing it. They trade chest chops and chop flurry each other. Tana headbutts him then KS hits a chop flurry. Tana chop flurries him. They trade more chops and the time limit expires.

Thoughts: They only were given 5 minutes for this. It obviously wasn't enough time for them and this didn't accomplish a whole lot. I get that they didn't want anyone getting hurt, but I thought they could have done better.

NJPW STRONG Women's Title / RevPro Undisputed British Women's Title Match - Mercedes Mone  vs. Mina Shirakawa

Mone came out with Sailor Moon gear on.

Cone backs her up in the corner and backs off. Mina spin kicks her. Mina avoids a shot and shimmies. Mone armdrag rolls her into a crossface off the ropes. Mone topes Mina. Mina dragon screws Mone off the buckles.

Mone's leg is banged off the post then Mina figure fours her around the post. Mone pulls Mina into the buckles then 2nd rope meteora's her for 2. Mina drops Mone on her knees and kneebreakers her on her knee. Mone meteora's her. Mone does a backcracker. Mone lays her on the 2nd rope and double knee presses her down.

Mone hits a 2nd rope meteora, Mina no sells it and bangs Mone's knees off the mat. Mina figure fours her. Mone springboard kicks her for 2. Mone lifts her and drops Mina's chest on her knees. They trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade. Mina spinning forearms her. Mina tornado ddt's Mone.

Mone hits suplexes on Mina. Mina ddt's her from the top rope. Mina dragon screws her then electric chair drops her on her chest. Mina figure fours Mone. Mina top rope diving slingblades Mone then does an implant ddt. Mina sitout reverse ddt's Mone for 2.

Mone codebreakers Mina then does a pendulum codebreaker for 2. Mina gori bombs her. Mina ties up the legs and cut-throats her but Mone tries a pin out of it. Mone backslides her for 2. Mone then rolls her up for 2. Mone does a money maker and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. It was the usual Mina match where all the focus was on her opponents knees. Most of Mone's offense is meteora based though so it didn't affect her that much. It also went a bit longer than it needed to. 

David Finlay vs. Brody King

DF rushes him and Brody pushes him off. Brody shoulders him over. Brody facekicks DF. Brody throws him off. Brody misses a corner charge on DF. Brody back body drops DF. Brody chops him down. DF jawbreakers Brody over the ropes. DF hits crossface shots.

DF lariats Brody over the top and goes with him to the floor. DF gets caught on a plancha attempt on him. Brody is sent into the post. DF charges at him and goes into the rails. Brody chops DF then hits a hard crossbody on DF against the rails. 

Brody chops DF in the ring. Brody forearms him. DF is sent hard into the buckles. Brody hits a hard chop on DF. They trade forearms on the apron. Brody hanging sleepers him and DF rakes the eyes to release it. DF flying shoulders him into the rails. DF top rope plancha's Brody on the outside.

DF corner euros Brody. DF is pulled down on the ropes and takes a death valley driver for 2. Brody forearms DF. DF fights back with forearms and Brody flips him with a lariat for 2. Brody piledrivers DF for 2.

DF hits a big spear for 2. Brody corner death valley drivers him. Brody corner spears him. They go up top and DF gets down then alley oops him on the buckles. DF powerbombs Brody then hits overkill for the win.

Thoughts: DF wrestles like a powerhouse despite not looking or really being the part. It's a constant problem in his matches and Brody's not the right person to have that problem with. I didn't like DF hitting a powerbomb on Brody and throwing him around. I do think they got this one mostly right though and I'd say this was good. It was maybe DF's best match yet. He took his bumps here and was thrown around. Brody did his usual big man stuff before losing...and we knew he was losing this.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shota Umino

Shota comes out on a motorcycle again. CC then hits him from behind on the ramp. They get in. CC hits euros and they trade forearms. Shota dropkicks CC. CC rams Shota's back into the post then drops him throat first on the rails. Shota is sent into the rails.

CC double stomps him for 2. CC hits a karelin's lift for 2. CC rakes on Shota's face. CC hits euros then running facekicks him. Shota tornado ddt's CC then slingshot ddt's him over the 2nd rope on the apron.

Shota bridging ddt's CC on the floor. Shota then tope dropkicks CC while he's on the mat. Shota reverse ddt lifts CC and hits ignition. CC 2nd rope gorilla presses Shota. CC lariats Shota. 

CC giant swings Shota. CC then sharpshooters him. CC knees him in the gut. CC hits a euro flurry. Shota ddt's CC off the 2nd rope. Shota euros him in the back of the neck for 2. CC hits a pop-up euro and a ricola bomb for 2. Sho double underhook ddt's him and wins. The crowd then boos.

Thoughts: They wanted to have Shota be the underdog and win in this one. Unfortunately, the crowd didn't like Shota and didn't care. The match was okay but the crowd didn't buy it and it just didn't work.

AEW International Title / NEVER Openweight Title Match - Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii

KT side headlocks him. They shoulder battle. KT knocks him over. KT hits boots to the gut in the corner. KT running knees him in the corner. Ishii hits chops in the corner. Ishii shoulders KT over. KT facekicks him. Ishii hits a forearm then KT misses a 2nd rope senton. Ishii misses a sliding lariat then KT launches him on a release german. KT sliding d's him for 2. KT blue thunders him for 2.

KT hits a 2nd rope falcon arrow for 2. Ishii hits forearms then KT package tombstones him. KT then wheel barrow germans him. Ishii no sells it then gets lariated for 1. Ishii germans KT then lariats him for 1. 

They grab each other by the waists and trade forearms. Ishii drops him with one. KT forearms him over. Ishii hits a 2nd rope hurricanrana which is a new one. Ishii running lariats him. KT headbutts him. Ishii lariats him then running lariats him for 2. KT brainbusters him. Ishii forearms him over then sliding lariats him. KT hits a poisonrana.

KT pumping knees him then Ishii enzugiri's him. KT forearms him. KT hits a raging fire and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. It was all action with no selling whatsoever and it was a bit rushed. I'm not really surprised by how this one turned out.

IWGP Tag Team Title Three Way Match - The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)

HT = Hiromu Takahashi

HT's team takes offense to start. Khan and Naito fight outside. The Bucks are knocked off the apron by Cobb and HT. HT flying headscissors Cobb then is shouldered over. The Bucks apron powerbomb HT. A Buck is popped up into a dropkick on Cobb. The Bucks then do stereo topes.

HT takes a neckbreaker into a slingshot swanton. Cobb dropkicks a Buck out. Cobb takes a double superkick. A Buck uses the other Buck to walk up the ropes and does a corkscrew dive to the outside. The other Buck then takes a double baseball slide.

HT crossbodies a Buck. Naito's head is banged off the mat by Khan. Khan slams HT down. Khan hits double chops on Naito. Khan takes a corkscrew kick and Cobb splashes a Buck. Cobb does his own combinacion cabron on Naito. Cobb takes a slingshot facebuster from a Buck then the Buck moonsaults out. Cobb takes a top rope splash + standing moonsault combo for 2.

Cobb superkicks a Buck. Naito neckbreakers Cobb over the knee then baseball slides him in the back. A Buck hits endless northern lights suplexes on HT then does a double with Naito. HT is bridged on the ropes and takes a springboard swanton. HT belly to belly suplexes one Buck into the other in tree of woe. Naito hits an assisted tornado ddt on a Buck. HT hits a death valley driver on a Buck for 2.

Khan belly to belly suplexes Naito and HT. He then does it to The Bucks as well. Cobb germans Naito and HT then a Buck.  Cobb blocks an EVP trigger. Cobb hits a double german on The Bucks. A Buck takes a standing moonsault from Cobb.

The Bucks hit a double superplex on Cobb then a sliced bread on him for 2. A Buck takes a sunset bomb into Cobb and Naito hits a destino on a Buck for 2. HT hits kicks on Khan.

HT dropkicks Cobb then superkicks him. Naito hits a diamond dust on Cobb. Naito takes an EVP trigger for 2. Khan takes a double superkick. A Buck top rope moonsaults outside then The Bucks hit a Meltzer driver and win.

Thoughts: It went a little longer than it needed to. It was a spotty match as expected with people hitting a spot and then switching out to the next team. I'm not surprised The Bucks won. They don't like to lose, they always want to be featured and they only get away with it because of their position in AEW. It was acceptable for what it was but was totally forgettable.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Match - Yota Tsuji (c) vs. Jack Perry

Jack came out with a goat mask and sickle. Yota shoulders him over and side headlock takeovers him. Yota armdrags him and legsweeps him. Jack hits a double up kick. Yota rams Jack's head into the mat. Yota gets dropkicked to the outside. Jack then topes Yota from behind outside. Jack backdrops Yota on the apron.

Jack corner lariats him and basement dropkicks him in the back for 2. Jack chinlocks him then takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Yota boots Jack over then gutbusters him for 2. Yota corner splashes him. Jack baseball slides him while he's in tree of woe. Jack then does a double knee to the back and germans him. 

Jack hits forearms. Yota does his curbstomp combo. They go up top and Yota top rope belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Yota goes for a flying spear and takes a flying knee from Jack.

They trade forearms. Jack flying ddt's him for 2. Jack low blows Yota after almost sending him into the ref. Jack torture rack drops him for 2. They run the ropes and Yota flying spears him to win.

Thoughts: It was just okay. There was nothing too great about it and the crowd wasn't that into it. Jack should not be in this position but at least Yota won.

Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd

Gabe is wearing NJPW shorts for some reason. KO came out to some dramatic Japanese music. They miss shots to start. Gabe  side headlocks him and shoulders him over. They facekick each other and trade chops. KO hits punches. Chris Charlton talks about Tony Khan poaching AEW talent and calls him a money mark. KO does a finlay roll into a 2nd rope moonsault for 2. KO kicks him in the gut. KO stomps on Gabe.

KO hits punches and Gabe hits a big slap. Gabe suplexes him over the top and KO goes with him. Gabe rams KO's back into the apron then sends him into the rails. Gabe puts two tables next to the each other. KO baseball slides him as he tries to get in and plancha's him.

Gabe is sent into the rails. KO bangs Gabe's head off the apron. They fight on the apron. KO tries to back body drop him onto the apron, but Gabe flips off the ropes and goes down to the floor. KO dragon suplexes him on the floor.

KO then powerbombs Gabe through the two tables. Gabe seems to have hit his head off the floor. Bryce the ref calls for a stop. Gabe's forehead is busted open somehow out of this. KO then springboard swantons over the rail onto Gabe and Bryce.

Gabe hits KO with a chair outside. Gabe hits chair shots on KO. KO is sent into the post. Gabe brainbusters Kenny on a table. Kenny gets busted open and Gabe bites Kenny's cut. Kenny headbusters Gabe on some chairs in the ring. Gabe superplexes Kenny onto chairs. Gabe chairs Kenny. Kenny dragon suplexes him. Gabe hits chair shots then Kenny chairs him back.

They trade forearms. Gabe hits slaps and they slap each other at the same time. KO hits 2 pumping knees and Gabe lariats him. KO chops him and Gabe chops back. KO hurricanrana's him. KO hits a tope con hilo.

KO top rope dropkicks Gabe in the back of the neck. KO pumping knees Gabe in the back of the neck. KO hits a top rope dragon suplex. KO hits a jay driller for 2. KO hits a pumping knee. Gabe does an abdominal stretch to KO.

Gabe rebound germans Kenny. Gabe running knees him then piledrivers him for 2. Gabe ganso bombs him then does a single leg package piledriver for 2. Gabe enzugiri's him. Kenny knees him in the face. KO powerbombs him and pumping knees him for 1. Kenny hits a kamigoye and does an angel's wings for the wind.

Thoughts: I'm always skeptical when I see a Kenny Omega match get a ton of love. Kenny's a horrible seller and loves to overdo it. As I expected, they overdid it here and the selling was terrible here. Even top rope release dragon suplexes, jay drillers and ganso bombs were enough to put down these two. They were on the right track early with the blood and showing some aggression, but then it just became an indy match with Inoki tributes, table bumps and head drops. Late in the match they were even kicking out of things at only a 1 count. And of course Kenny got the win here.

Tanahashi cries on commentary after.

IWGP World Title - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Ricochet

I can't believe they are running this last. Ric couldn't even make NJPW main events most of the time when he was in NJPW and is not even a main eventer in AEW right now.

Zack takes a facekick while posing on the apron. Ric topes him. Ric springboard dropkicks Zack. Ric does a flying space tiger drop then springboard 450's Zack for 2. Ric goes to springboard and takes a euro. Ric is hanging upside down in the ropes and Zack kicks the rope into Ric's head. 

Zack hits euros. Ric moonsaults off the rail and is caught. Zack twists Ric's neck with his feet. Zack indian deathlocks Ric's legs then kimura's him off of it. Zack hits kicks to the chest then twists Ric's head with his feet. Ric flips over Zack's back then handspring back elbows him. Ric springboard lariats Zack then running ssp's him. Ric then does an asai moonsault for 2. Ric is on Zack's back and Zack cannonballs him into the buckles.

Ric flips off of Zack then pump kicks him. Ric hits a big lariat. Ric running lariats him for 2. Ric death valley drivers him. Zack running euros Ric in the corner. Ric handsrpings and is caught with a dragon suplex. Ric no sells and takes another.

Ric forearms him and takes a euro. Ric knees him in the jaw, northern lights suplexes him then holds on for another. Ric then keeps the hold on and suplexes him on the apron. Ric then holds on again and suplexes him on the floor.

Zack hits euros and hits a 2nd rope michinoku driver for 2. Zack then goes for an armbar. Zack stomps Ric's arm. Ric hits high kicks and lifting sitout reverse ddt's him. Ric hits a top rope ssp on Zack for 2. Ric hits another lifting sitout reverse ddt. Zack PK's him then hits a spinning fire thunder driver for 2. Zack pulls Ric's arms back and submits him when he hooks the arm with the leg.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. The selling wasn't that good here and  I thought Zack could have done a better job working the arms. These two also had no real history or anything going into this so it was essentially just a match. Like last night's main, it was one of the weakest Dome main events ever.

Zack says the future of NJPW looks orange and says TMDK will run the place for a long time. Zack says they are TMDK and the mighty don't kneel.

The announcers talk about getting a nasty phone call after this (Chris got suspended after this) and says they might have gotten some heat off of this.

Overall thoughts: It was a weak Dome show. The AEW vs NJPW vs CMLL idea had some potential but they made some poor choices here. They could have potentially gotten Okada, Will, Jay, Jericho, Christian, Copeland or other big names on this show and instead opted for some of AEW's lesser names outside of Omega. I didn't care Zack/Ric. Kenny/Gabe was the usual awful Kenny big match. Finlay/Brody was better than I expected. Yota/Jack wasn't bad. They had the right idea with Claudio vs Shota but the crowd didn't want any of it. Takeshita vs Ishii brought out the worst instincts of both guys. Mone/Mina wasn't that good and Tana/Shibata only got 2 minutes. The NJPW Tag Title match was what you would expect. NJPW just did not have the talent for a 2 day Dome show and I hope they do not try it again next year. I thought both Dome shows were 2 of the weakest Dome shows NJPW has ever done and Zach being in the main for both made for the weakest main events NJPW has ever done. I would not recommend this and would only give it a 4 out of 10.