This weekend is NJPW's annual Wrestling Dontaku two-nighter and while a lot of these matches are the usual filler tag fare, there are some significant bouts on tap, as well as Tetsuya Naito's final match with the company (for the time being anyway), albeit a filler tag match.
I'm only doing picks for six matches but let's take a look....
NJPW TV Championship: El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Oooo, this is interesting. The current NEVER champ going after a second title. I for one hope he becomes Two-Belts Takeshita, because he fucking rules. Match should steal the show in spite of the fifteen-minute time limit.
Pick: Takeshita
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Tanahashi may be on his last legs career-wise but he and Zack always have great chemistry together, and since Zack's style is the lowest-impact in wrestling, it should help cover up Tana's physical limitations. The Tana Farewell Tour continues. I think Zack gets the win.
Pick: ZSJ
Shingo Takagi vs. Shota Umino
This one could also steal the show. Umino is so so close to being one of the new torch-bearers he needs to be, and a match with Shingo certainly won't hurt. Shingo's become a new Tomohiro Ishii, the guy who will give you a great hard-hitting match but mostly loses. I think that pattern continues here.
Pick: Umino
Dog Pound Match: House of Torture vs. War Dogs
Sooo, they're doing another weird cage match, and this time it's for ownership of the Bullet Club name. If I'm NJPW and looking to the future I can't see any sensible scenario where House of Torture takes over this moniker. Bullet Club shirts have sold like crazy over the years and given that you have two young guys leading War Dogs, one of whom is on the verge of breakout star status, the choice seems very obvious who should continue using the Bullet Club name. House of Torture can continue being the annoying heel stable that ruins every match they're in, but if you're serious about rehabbing Bullet Club as a top stable, look to the future and give it to the young guys.
Pick: War Dogs
IWGP Global Championship: Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
Another match that should be great. These two are no strangers and have come up together as rival young lions. I think it's too soon to take the title off Tsuji so I'm stickin' with him.
Pick: Tsuji retains
IWGP World Championship: Hirooki Goto vs. Callum Newman
What an odd choice of challengers. Should be a very good match and will hopefully elevate Callum, but I don't think anyone thinks he's winning the title here. Maybe someday. I'm genuinely curious who will eventually dethrone Goto; it's a weird situation not unlike Bryan Danielson as AEW Champion. Like it clearly can't be a long-term thing and you want to maximize the rub someone will get from beating him. I'm gonna go ahead and nominate Mr. Takeshita.
Pick: Goto retains
So it's a pick-and-choose kinda weekend. If undercard multi-man tags are your thing, more power to you, but I'll just be watching the really important bouts, all of which have some charm to them.
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