The first match for New Japan’s Dominion has been set.
The annual pay-per-view is scheduled to take place on June 15th in Osaka, Japan. The first match was made official at New Japan’s recent show where Yota Tsuji successfully defended the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Yuya Uemura. Tsuji called out for his next challenger and Gabe Kidd instantly took that opportunity.
Then the match was made official: Gabe Kidd vs. Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. This isn’t the first time that these two squared up for the Global Championship. These two had an instant classic back at The New Beginning in Osaka show back in February and the match ended in a double knockout. Clearly, these two want to settle the score with a definitive winner on June 15th.
This marks the fifth title defense for Yota since beating David Finlay for the belt back at Wrestle Kingdom 19. The 31-year-old has beaten Jack Perry and EVIL for the new title, and it should be interesting if he can finally get past Gabe Kidd.
Kidd is fresh off his loss to Tomohiro Ishii for the NJPW STRONG Openweight title. Those two had a 30-minute war at Windy City Riot that ended with Ishii winning the belt for the first time in his career. Kidd held that title for 335 days and successfully defended the STRONG Openweight title against big names such as Lio Rush, Anthony Henry, and Ultimo Guerrero.
The 28-year-old has been embroiled in an intense feud against HOUSE OF TORTURE where he’s coming off a Loser Leaves Bullet Club match against his former stablemates. The Bullet Club War Dogs emerged successful that night, though the war against Bullet Club members is far from over as the faction is scheduled to face the OG Bullet Club members Matthew and Nicholas Jackson, alongside two original members that have yet to be named.
Nevertheless, the match between Kidd and Tsuji should be another gem. As the weeks go by, we’ll surely get more matches on the Dominion card. Shingo Tagaki will get an IWGP World Heavyweight title match against the winner of Hirooki Goto and Zack Sabre Jr at Resurgence.