Probable Tokyo Dome Card, via Wrstling Observer

[Big Red Machine]

So the Dome looks like:

Tanahashi vs. Okada IWGP title
Nakamura vs. Ibushi IC title
Ishii vs. Makabe Never title
Styles vs. Naito
Taguchi vs. Omega IWGP jr. title
Jarrett vs. Yoshitatsu?
Liger vs. Muto?
Sakuraba vs Suzuki UWF rules
Fish & O'Reilly vs. Romero & Koslov vs. Young Bucks vs. Shelley & Kushida IWGP jr. tag
Anderson & Gallows vs. tag team tournament winners (Goto & Shibata?) IWGP tag
Plus the ROH singles title and NWA singles title, maybe something for Kojima and Nagata to challenge.

Looks like the deepest one they've ever done, but I don't think they could do it justice in less than 5 1/2 hours.

[cero2k]

looks like a good card

I'm interested to see if now that AJ is not in the main event scene of ROH, would NJPW push to bring in Cole, or how would they handle Jay Briscoe.

I also kinda doubt Liger/Muto would happen right now without NJPW putting in a favor for Muto's Wrestle-1

[Big Red Machine]

looks like a good card

I'm interested to see if now that AJ is not in the main event scene of ROH, would NJPW push to bring in Cole, or how would they handle Jay Briscoe.

I'm pretty sure Cole is taking the belt at Final Battle, which is why Bennett and Taven were announced for the G1 Tag League instead of Bennett and Cole (the tour conflicts with Final Battle), so he'll probably be the champ at the Tokyo Dome.

I also kinda doubt Liger/Muto would happen right now without NJPW putting in a favor for Muto's Wrestle-1

Also, Muta would have to win because he is Wrestle-1's champ, so he won't be doing a job, which means that Liger would do the job, which might not make the NWA happy.

[cero2k]

NJPW already confirmed these ones on their website

Tanahashi vs. Okada IWGP title
Nakamura vs. Ibushi IC title
Ishii vs. Makabe Never title
Styles vs. Naito
Taguchi vs. Omega IWGP jr. title
Jarrett vs. Yoshitatsu?
Liger vs. Muto?
Sakuraba vs Suzuki UWF rules
Fish & O'Reilly vs. Romero & Koslov vs. Young Bucks vs. Shelley & Kushida IWGP jr. tag
Anderson & Gallows vs. tag team tournament winners (Goto & Shibata?) IWGP tag
Plus the ROH singles title and NWA singles title, maybe something for Kojima and Nagata to challenge.

[Big Red Machine]

NJPW already confirmed these ones on their website

Tanahashi vs. Okada IWGP title
Nakamura vs. Ibushi IC title
Ishii vs. Makabe Never title
Styles vs. Naito
Taguchi vs. Omega IWGP jr. title
Jarrett vs. Yoshitatsu?
Liger vs. Muto?
Sakuraba vs Suzuki UWF rules
Fish & O'Reilly vs. Romero & Koslov vs. Young Bucks vs. Shelley & Kushida IWGP jr. tag
Anderson & Gallows vs. tag team tournament winners (Goto & Shibata?) IWGP tag
Plus the ROH singles title and NWA singles title, maybe something for Kojima and Nagata to challenge.

Liger challenged Muta in his promo, so I'd guess that one is happening.

Jarrett vs. Yoshitatsu seems like it will happen in some form, either as a singles match, or a big tag with Jarrett teaming with guys like Fale and Yujiro who, while important, don't have a match yet, and it would also let them smush some other names like Tenzan or Kojima or Captain New Japan or YOSHI-HASHI or Nagata in on the card.

AJ vs. Naito seems like the choice, given their staredown and the fact that Naito beat AJ in the G1, so they would either give AJ his win back to build him up for his rematch against whoever the champ is coming out of the dome show, or they would give Naito another win which (when combined with the fact that AJ was the champ when Naito beat him in the G1) should line Naito up for a title shot, and they can give AJ his at a later date because he needs a rematch (maybe a show broadcast in the US by GFW).

Shibata & Goto are definitely challenging for the tag titles, just because where else do you fit them in on the card? Also, it would make sense with their randomly new-found mission to eliminate the Bullet Club. Also supporting this theory is the fact that of all of the teams announced for the G1 tag league, the only teams where neither guy has a match announced for the Tokyo Dome are:
Shibata & Goto
Nakanishi & Nagata
Naito & La Sombra
AJ & Yujiro
Tenzan & Kojima
Taven & Bennett
Smith & Archer
Fale & Tama Tonga
Rob Conway, and Jax Dane

Now, based on logic, let's eliminate some:
Shibata & Goto
Nakanishi & Nagata
Naito & La Sombra- AJ vs. Naito seems likely for the Tokyo Dome
AJ & Yujiro- AJ vs. Naito seems likely for the Tokyo Dome
Tenzan & Kojima- Did an angle at King of Pro Wrestling where they look like they could be breaking up. They might even get a singles match at this show, though they might slow-burn it a bit more, do the official break up on this show, and save the singles match for Invasion Attack.
Taven & Bennett
Smith & Archer- NWA World Tag Team Titles, so they might want those belts defended. This would also make it a rematch of last year's tag title match)
Fale & Tama Tonga- Bullet Club, so them going against Gallows & Anderson makes no sense.
Rob Conway, and Jax Dane- Conway is the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, so they might want that belt defended

That leaves us with:
Taven & Bennett- no way in hell they're even making it to the block finals. Their block has most of the big stars in it. They are a team of two guys who can easily take a loss in a block where almost all of the teams have only one guy who can take a loss. And, TBH, I think the only reason Taven is even here is because ROH needs Cole for Final Battle.

Nakanishi & Nagata- could be, but I don't see it happening. These guys are much easier to shove into a random eight man tag team match than Goto and Shibata, and I think Nagata will be the guy to challenge for the ROH Title. He's a lot like Liger, who was the other guy that NJPW let Cole beat: Definitely a legend, but old, and certainly not a top star anymore

Shibata & Goto- biggest stars left, and you can build the match up perfectly by putting them over the tag champs in the finals which should be the main event of the last PPV before the dome show. In fact, the only guys who look like they have a chance of making it to the finals of the other block are the tag champs, and having them win the tournament does nothing for anyone.

[cero2k]

yeah, seems pretty set.

Mutoh/Liger is the only one i still don't see happening just like that, maybe it'll end up being Liger/TIgerMask vs Mutoh/one of his protegees. Unless they put some titles on the line

[Big Red Machine]

yeah, seems pretty set.

Mutoh/Liger is the only one i still don't see happening just like that, maybe it'll end up being Liger/TIgerMask vs Mutoh/one of his protegees. Unless they put some titles on the line

Well... they have the Wrestle-1 Title. Liger can lose that match. I actually think this is what they will do, so that they ca have the IWgP, NWA, ROH, and Wrestle-1 titles all defended at the Tokyo Dome.

[Big Red Machine]

AJ vs. Naito has been confirmed. Also announced was Jarrett & Fale vs. Yoshitatsu & Honma.

[cero2k]

Also announced was Jarrett & Fale vs. Yoshitatsu & Honma.

i'm ok with this

[Big Red Machine]

Also announced was Jarrett & Fale vs. Yoshitatsu & Honma.

i'm ok with this

I guess I am, too, but would have rather gotten more guys in on it. In particular, Yujiro and YOSHI-HASHI. I think both guys have earned a spot on the Dome show for their work this year, and both guys fit in best in this match.

[cero2k]

Also announced was Jarrett & Fale vs. Yoshitatsu & Honma.

i'm ok with this

I guess I am, too, but would have rather gotten more guys in on it. In particular, Yujiro and YOSHI-HASHI. I think both guys have earned a spot on the Dome show for their work this year, and both guys fit in best in this match.

yeap, definitely agree. I'm guessing they wanna keep Yujiro and Tama Tonga free to do the run ins for this match

[Big Red Machine]

I guess I am, too, but would have rather gotten more guys in on it. In particular, Yujiro and YOSHI-HASHI. I think both guys have earned a spot on the Dome show for their work this year, and both guys fit in best in this match.

yeap, definitely agree. I'm guessing they wanna keep Yujiro and Tama Tonga free to do the run ins for this match

I actually hadn't considered that at all, but it's a great way to get them (and also YOSHI-HASHI, Captain New Japan, and anyone who comes out to fight off the interference) on the show without having to book them in a match on a show that needs to save all of the time it can (damn GFW PPV!)

[Big Red Machine]

Rob Conway defending the NWA World Title vs. Tenzan is now confirmed.

[cero2k]

Liger challenged Muta in his promo, so I'd guess that one is happening.

Red, remember where you saw this?

[Big Red Machine]

Liger challenged Muta in his promo, so I'd guess that one is happening.

Red, remember where you saw this?

I think it was on the PPV, though I didn't mention it in my review because I found out later when I heard someone translate it. I could be totally misremember, or that person could have heard/translated wrong.

[Big Red Machine]

From yesterday's WON:

Kazuchika Okada has said that he will introduce a new move, believed to be a new suplex, in the title match at the Tokyo Dome.

Okada is really building this match up. He has already promised us both a new finisher and a six star match. I hope he and Tanahashi can deliver.

[Big Red Machine]

Shibata & Goto won tag team tournament, so they are getting the title shot, as expected.

[Big Red Machine]

Sunday, 07 December 2014 22:02


Due to a combination of injuries and time constraints, this is the Tokyo Dome lineup for 1/4:

New Japan Rumble - No names were announced. This is likely a preshow match to get everyone on the card

Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish defend the IWGP jr. tag titles against Alex Shelley & Kushida, The Young Bucks and Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale & Jeff Jarrett

Toru Yano & mystery partner vs. two members of Suzuki-gun

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki in UWF rules

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe for the Never Open weight title

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP jr. title

Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata for the IWGP tag team titles

A.J. Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi for the IC title

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP heavyweight title

"Time constraints." Yuck! DAMN YOU, JEFF JARRETT!

[cero2k]

i'm ok with this card, I'm glad that Jarrett's match is now a 3on3, the only one i really don't dig is the Toru Yano v SuzukiGun match. I'm also guessing the Liger match, the NWA and ROH title matches fell through. would explain the main event of ROH last night

[Big Red Machine]

i'm ok with this card, I'm glad that Jarrett's match is now a 3on3, the only one i really don't dig is the Toru Yano v SuzukiGun match. I'm also guessing the Liger match, the NWA and ROH title matches fell through. would explain the main event of ROH last night

My fear is that things won't get the time they deserve.
I agree with you about the Yano match. If this isn't the one-on-one blow-off between Yano and Iizuka, it doesn't belong on this show.