


NJPW “DOMINION 6.18″, 6/18/11 (WPW/PPV)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
6,200 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Koji Kanemoto beat Hiromu Takahashi (3:04) with a single-leg crab hold.
2. Brian Kendrick
, Jado & Gedo beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & KUSHIDA (8:33) when Kendrick used the Sliced Bread #2 on KUSHIDA.
3. CMLL World Welterweight Title: Mascara Dorada beat Ryusuke Taguchi (c) (8:26) by pinfall to become the 26th champion.
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata & Wataru Inoue beat Takashi Iizuka, Masato Tanaka
& Tomohiro Ishii (9:12) when Nagata used a backdrop hold on Ishii.
5. Special Singles Match: Yujiro Takahashi beat Tetsuya Naito (11:12) with the Tokyo Pimps.
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kota Ibushi
beat Prince Devitt (c) (13:49) with a Firebird splash to become the 61st champion.
7. Special Tag Match: Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer beat Togi Makabe & Satoshi Kojima (12:39) when Suzuki used a Gotch-style piledriver on Kojima.
8. IWGP Intercontinental Title: MVP (c) beat Toru Yano (10:50) with a leg roll clutch hold (1st defense).
9. Double Title Match – IWGP Tag Team Title & GHC Tag Team Title: Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (c) beat Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano
(c) (12:03) when Bernard used the Bernard Driver on Sano (8th defense) to become the 22nd GHC Tag Team Champions.
10. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) beat Hirooki Goto (25:28) with the High Fly Flow (5th defense).
* A packed house of 6,200 fans saw another great show by New Japan in the hotbed known as Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium.
* TNA Wrestling’s Brian Kendrick, who became popular in Japan earlier in the 2000s as Spanky in ZERO-ONE, made a surprise appearance in the second match in the place of Killer Rabbit, teaming with Jado & Gedo.
* Taguchi’s half year reign as CMLL World Welterweight Champion ended at the hands of the man he won it from, Mascara Dorada, the Funky Weapon failing in his V3 defense of the belt.
* AKIRA returned to his old haunt after the fourth match to continue his feud with former JJ Jacks tag partner Iizuka from TAJIRI’s SMASH promotion. After the same match, Mitsuhide Hirasawa made his long awaited return to Japan, surprisingly betraying his Blue Justice mentor Nagata and possibly (awaiting confirmaiton) joining CHAOS!
* Yujiro drew first blood in what is likely to be a lengthy grudge feud with former NO LIMIT partner Naito, and Naito was gang attacked after the match before Honma made the save.
* Best of the Super Jr. winner, Kota Ibushi, ended Prince Devitt’s one year reign as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion in an emotional match. After several high profile losses to Devitt, including the 2010 BOSJ final and a title match at this year’s Tokyo Dome show, Ibushi finally rose to the peak of the junior scene to capture the prestigious IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. Although Devitt’s memorable reign came to an end on the same day his close friend Taguchi also dropped gold, Apollo 55 do still hold the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title remember.
* MVP retained the newly founded IWGP Intercontinental Title in a rematch of the tournament final where he won it, pinning Toru Yano with a cradle for a successful V1 defense.
* Bad Intentions made history twice over with one three count, smashing Chono & Tenzan’s IWGP Tag Team Title defense record while at the same time taking the GHC Tag Team Title from NOAH to become double champions. Bernard & Anderson cement themselves as one of the most dominant teams in Japanese tag wrestling history.
* Tanahashi retained the IWGP Heavyweight Title over Goto in what is being called an epic match. Goto came closer than ever to winning the title that has eluded him so far but disappointingly still wasn’t able to surpass Tanahashi and the wait continues. The two shook hands out of respect after the match, despite their recent bitter. After making history in the match beforehand, Giant Bernard appeared after the match and challenged Tanahashi! Tanahashi counter-challenged Bernard for a shot at the tag belts, with Goto as his partner. If the singles match is realized, Bernard has the chance to become a 3-crown champion.
