Though it may be New Japan Pro-Wrestling's second-biggest show of the year, the 2018 edition of Dominion is absolutely loaded. For WWE fans, think of it as the dynamic between WrestleMania and SummerSlam. Well, this Saturday, it's time for NJPW to bring us this year's Dominion 6.9 card, one that's loaded with matches that die-hard fans of impeccable in-ring work will be eagerly anticipating. In the main event of Dominion this year, we'll be treated to the fourth installment in the IWGP world heavyweight championship rivalry between long-reigning champion Kazuchika Okada and challenger Kenny Omega. This time around, these two are aiming to prove who the true "best in the world" really is with the bout carrying stipulations of 2-out-of-3 falls with no time limit. They each hold a win over the other with a draw in their three-match series, so this looks to be the end of their sage once and for all. The co-main event of Dominion on Saturday also sees the return of Chris Jericho to NJPW, as he takes on Los Ingobernables de Japon leader Tetsuya Naito; Jericho has targeted the intercontinental champion since the night after Jericho lost to Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12. Below is all the information you need to catch the 2018 NJPW card, including start times for all time zones in the United States. Big fan of pro wrestling? Subscribe to our podcast -- In This Corner with Brian Campbell -- where we go in depth on everything you need to know in WWE & NJPW each week. NJPW Dominion 2018 viewing information Date: Saturday, June 9, 2018 Location: Osaka Jo-Hall -- Osaka, Japan Live stream: NJPWWorld.com (English broadcast available) Start times: 4 p.m. JST | 3 a.m. ET | 2 a.m. CT | 12 a.m. PT NJPW Dominion 2018 match card<doc-sep>Previously on NJPW: Hiromu won Best of the Super Juniors and our hearts, El Desperado vowed to show us how handsome Dragon Lee is, and Kenny and Kazu planned a tiebreaker. You can watch New Japan Pro Wrestling shows on their streaming service, NJPW World, which costs 999 yen (about 9 USD.) The show schedule is on their homepage! They also feature a different free match on the site every week and you can do a free trial month, so it’s a pretty easy service to test drive. You can also watch certain NJPW shows with commentary by Jim Ross and Josh Barnett on AXS. You can keep up with With Spandex on Twitter and Facebook, follow our home site Uproxx on Twitter, and even follow me on Twitter @emilyofpratt. And don’t forget to share this column on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social media you use! Also, leave a comment with your thoughts on the show and/or article! All feedback is appreciated and will help us keep up the NJPW coverage. And now, the Best and Worst of Dominion 2018. Worst: Nice To Meij You Dominion opened with a video of new NJPW president Harold Meij naked in the shower. And also doing other things, like getting dressed and staring at the camera and walking slowly to guitar music and eating with chopsticks and drinking cola in the back of a car. Oh, and talks about his history working and living in Japan and being a big pro wrestling fan. But my main takeaway here is why did we see this regular businessman-type in the shower? The video clip above shows the most entertaining part of the Goto vs. Elgin vs. Taichi NEVER Openweight Championship match, which was not surprising because the Holy Emperor was also the best part of the build. Goto and Elgin tried to have a serious babyface warrior feud, but Taichi Gazorpazorpfielded himself into their title match. He and Miho Abe interject some fun heel shenanigans throughout, and earn some dueling “Let’s go Taichi”/”Go home, Taichi” chants. However, though both are babyfaces are impressive athletes, they just aren’t an exciting mix. Elgin’s tope con hilo onto both his opponents and his powerbomb of Goto (who was setting up Taichi for a superplex, so they both get hurt) were cool moments, but I get not joy from watching him wrestle. Anyway, now he’s the NEVER champ and he and Goto will have a one-on-one rematch on Kizuna Road because RESPECT. Worst: Crony Commentary Best: The Possibility of Evil ? https://t.co/esIVOXXCvs ? #njpw #njdominion pic.twitter.com/61Zf0ahaNj — NJPW GIFs (@NJPWgifs) June 11, 2018 Evil and Sanada vs. the Young Bucks for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship was a very good match hurt by overwhelmingly bad commentary. Evil was the surprise star of this match, strategically pulling Nick out of the ring to break up an Indytaker, and instigating one of the coolest spots in the match: double powerbombing the Bucks while they set up Sanada for a double superplex, hurting everyone. Everyone came out of this match looking good, and I’m looking forward to seeing these teams go again in San Fran. But the way Kevin Kelly and Don Callis framed this match did not work. Early on, Callis tells us that he is a credited producer on episodes of Being The Elite, then talks about how rich the Jacksons are. When L.I.J. is focusing on just beating up the Bucks (who are not brawlers, and whose big moves could be thwarted by them being injured), commentary frames this as “roughing up a coupe of pretty boys.” This is absolutely not how the Bucks are portrayed, and also they are in the ring with Sanada, a wrestler for whom handsomeness is a part of his character. This situation gets even worse after the Bucks win the match, with the “Somehow, some way, they have done it!” “Under some of the most challenging circumstances you can imagine!” The Young Bucks were absolutely not underdogs in this match; they were fighting to become double tag champions after winning belts from their stablemates and then challenging for these during the same show. Matt Jackson hops on the commentary mic to say, “Everyone said we couldn’t do it, and here we are,” and for their incredible careers overall, this is true. But for anything in kayfabe recently? No. The same characters can’t purport to “rule the wrestling world” as part of an elite group and be underdogs. At least Don Callis is All In now, and can keep making money with these guys! I bet that’ll actually be a really good part of All In, but after this match it felt like the cherry on top of this sundae of cronyism. Best: International Dream Team Vs. American Nightmares I was hesitant about this legends vs. jerks six man tag match on paper. It felt extremely ROH War of the Worlds tour to me, and in NJPW/ROH shows based in ROH the absence of weight classes makes everything feel non-canon and weird. But this match was really entertaining, and included so much still I’d like to see followed up on. I fully marked out seeing my childhood wrestling hero Rey Mysterio in my favorite promotion, and he looks like he’s still in great shape. The sharp contrast of Cody’s theme and American flag-heavy, extremely Foreign Heel entrance after the parade of international legends was extremely effective. This and the Team Cody entrance from Dontaku shows how Bullet Club ROH is now full disgusto. They have perfected the vibe of the guys who, when you’re out bar hopping with your friends (at least for a group of all female friends), prompt you to hop to the next bar after spending like two minutes in the same establishment as them. The backstage promo drives this home even more. Cody vs. Tanahashi, Page vs. Tanahashi, and Scurll vs. Liger all looked like cool potential feuds from this match. I’m not sure where things go besides another legends tag for Rey Mysterio from here, but that double 619 on Scurll and Page was rad, and he got to be the hero and save Liger from Cody’s post-match beatdown. Best: The Two Best Friends That Anyone Could Have 【Replay #njDOMINION (Jun 9) show with English Commentary by @realkevinkelly & @CyrusOverHuge 】 7TH MATCH：IWGP Jr. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP@WillOspreay vs @TIMEBOMB1105 Sign up now https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP !! #njpw #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/OJlElKYUGN — njpwworld (@njpwworld) June 10, 2018 In case anyone didn’t believe that Hiromu Takahashi is a bonafide superstar yet, this match proved it. He wins the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from Will Ospreay, who does not give it up easily. Before I talk about our new champ, I’ll do some Ospreay appreciation. He very naturally plays the heel here, as hinted from his promos at the end of BOSJ. Normally his arrogance is played as cockiness and cheekiness, but he’s the Sky King here and there’s no way he’s dropping his title to this loser. Ospreay has been a babyface fighting champion, but in this match he works so that crowd get even more invested in what will be Hiromu’s heroic victory. Also, he call him a c*nt. Ospreay performs some amazing athletic feats too. The spring to a flip dive off the ramp, and then holy carp that sequence where he powers Hiromu off the apron into a superplex and hits him with two increasingly impressive shooting star presses. Dear Will Ospreay, please, please chill during the G1. You deserve it and your body probably needs it! Hiromu also wrestles a great match after getting his ass kicked for a while. The John Woo dropkick into the barricade speeds the match up. Later he smoothly grabs Ospreay out of an Oscutter into a German suplex, but is too hurt to capitalize. I think my favorite move of his this match was that sunset flip powerbomb/Code Red out of the Stormbreaker. Hiromu finally pins Ospreay after a Time Bomb set up with one of those butterfly piledrivers that have been working so well as a pre-finisher for him lately.<doc-sep>For the second consecutive year, New Japan Pro Wrestling's Dominion pay-per-view rivaled the seemingly impossibly high standards set at January's Wrestle Kingdom event, delivering a perfectly paced night of action that'll take top billing on many a 'Show Of The Year' ballot. Highlighted by IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega's fourth singles match, Dominion 6.9 was sensational, and its talking points are legion. The main event wasn't just a cathartic moment for 'The Cleaner,' but the spectacular culmination of three major New Japan storylines. Chris Jericho, the vile foreign invader, destroyed Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito. Rey Mysterio finally debuted. Hiromu Takahashi delivered another blitzkrieg performance just days after his starring Best of the Super Juniors turn. The list goes on. The stories were on point, and NJPW feels fresher than ever after Dominion, but what about individual match quality? For reference, **1/2 should be considered mediocre. Anything lower is bad, ***+ is good, ****+ is great, and ***** represents one of the greatest matches of all time. Criteria can include, but isn't restricted to, in-ring work, heat, psychology, and storytelling. With that in mind, let's dive into another blockbuster night of cutting edge action...<doc-sep>
New Japan Pro-Wrestling's second-biggest event of the year -- think of it as the equivalent to WWE's SummerSlam -- delivered in more ways than one this Saturday as fans watching around the world -- and in attendance in Osaka, Japan -- were treated to a variety of title changes and top-tier wrestling matches at Dominion 6.9. The fourth incarnation of IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada facing challenger Kenny Omega served as an epic main event, but it was hardly the only news made during the big show. Not only were there seemingly endless title changes, long-time WWE superstar Chris Jericho competed against top NJPW star Tetsuya Naito and came away with a prize no one expected. Keep on reading for full results from Dominion 6.9. NJPW Dominion 2018 results IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship -- El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) def. Roppongi 3K via pinfall to retain the titles: Sho of Roppongi 3K ate the pinfall after he was unable to kick out while his legs were trapped. David Finlay & Juice Robinson def. Yoshi-Hashi & Jay White via pinfall: Robinson ended the affair by hitting Pulp Friction and pinning White for the victory. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre, Jr. def. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano via submission: Sabre tapped out Yano, as he is wont to do in most matches. Chaos dropped another match in what would become a trend on the evening. Ishii attacked Suzuki following the match, and though Suzuki got in some licks, they were ultimately battling until separated. NEVER Openweight Championship -- Michael Elgin def. Hirooki Goto (c) and Taichi (via pinfall) to win the title: In a well-paced match that served as a strong final to the undercard, Elgin hit the Revolution Elgin Bomb and got the 1-2-3 over Taichi. IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship -- The Young Bucks def. Sanada & EVIL via pinfall to win the titles: Matt Jackson sold his back injury throughout the match, while Nick Jackson appeared to break -- or seriously hurt -- his foot early in the effort. This led to a number of failed Meltzer Driver attempts, so the Bucks reverted back to their More Bang For Your Buck finisher to pin Sanada and win the heavyweight version of the tag team titles for the first time. Cody, Marty Scrull & Hangman Page def. Rey Mysterio, Jr., Jusin "Thunder" Liger & Hiroshi Tanahashi via pinfall: In a bit of a surprise considering the star power of the face trio, Liger ate Cross Rhodes from Cody. This potentially sets up future matches of Mysterio-Scrull and Tanahashi-Cody. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship -- Hiromu Takahashi def. Will Ospreay (c) via pinfall to win the title: Just days after putting on an absolute classic to win Best of Super Jrs. 25 over Taiji Ishimori, Takahashi continued his rise to the top of NJPW's lower-weight division by nearly tapping out Ospreay before hitting him with the Time Bomb to win the strap. IWGP Intercontinental Championship -- Chris Jericho def. Tetsuya Naito (c) via pinfall to win the title: The brutal match began with Jericho attacking Naito before he entered the ring and the bell rang, driving him through a table. Naito suffered a laceration under his right eye that looked gnarly and was also bleeding out of his ear. He would later use panels from the broken table to smash Jericho outside the ring before the two finally entered. Naito hit Destino but was unable to make the cover, and Jericho faced a similar predicament after hitting the Codebreaker. However, after reversing another Destino attempt, Jericho was able to turn the referee around, hit a low blow on Naito and deliver another Codebreaker for the shocking title victory. After the match, Jericho continued his attack on Naito until EVIL made the save; this could lead to a title defense at the upcoming Cow Palace show in the United States. IWGP Heavyweight Championship -- Kenny Omega def. Kazuchika Okada (c) 2-1 to win the title (Best 2-of-3 Falls, No Time Limit): Key moments early in the bout were Okada hitting a Tombstone Piledriver on the ring apron, and Omega flying through the ahr with a tremendous tope con giro. Following a tremendous sequence including a variety of near-falls but with neither competitor hitting his respective finisher, Okada was able to trap Omega's shoulders with his knees and grab his legs for the 1-2-3 to put the champion up 1-0.