Contains spoilers. The full show is available both on XWT and YouTube.
1. CHAOS (Jado, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Captain New Japan, Wataru Inoue & Tama Tonga
*
2. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask & Hiromu Takahashi
**
3. CHAOS (Yujiro Takahashi, Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka) & Bob Sapp vs. Akebono, MVP & Muscle Orchestra
Weak opener. Needed more of Ishii and Yujiro, and less of Nakanishi and Strong Man.
*1/2
4. NEVER Openweight Championship: Masato Tanaka © vs. Shelton Benjamin
Basic as fuck.
**
5. IWGP Tag Team Championship: Killer Elite Squad © vs. Sword & Guns
***
6. Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata
Excellent match, loved this. MiSu’s character work was pure gold. This was fitting for a big Dome rubber match. Basic, yet so great and effective storytelling about one-upmanship. They made little and simple things look like million bucks. Not to mention fantastic mind games, especially from MiSu. Awesome, awesome match, and I would go even higher on the snowflakes if Nagata won with the armbreaker.
****
7. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Prince Devitt © vs. Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi
Low F’N Ki fucking stole the whole damn show with his Hitman outfit. It made for an awesome visuals. Anyway, this was a very good 3-Way, really nice and simple booking. Few great moves. They didn’t go over-the-top, thank God. Devitt confirms his Jr. Ace status, big win for him.
***1/2
8. TenKoji vs. Keiji Mutoh & Shinjiro Otani
Solid nostalgia match, nothing special. Good to see Mutoh and Otani back in the Dome.
**1/2
9. Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Good match. Probably needed to be better, but nevermind. Shibata was surprisingly good here. Didn’t really care for Makabe’s face-in-peril segments. The table spot rocked, however, the finish was not very good, IMO, but that’s just nitpicking, I guess. I really appreciated how they ended the match after Makabe’s finisher, it was a nice dose of realism. Shame that Shibata lost, though.
***
10. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Oh boy, this could’ve gone either way in terms of match quality, but thank God it ended up being really good. I was skeptical after 2-3 minutes in, though. They were way too defensive. Not that there’s anything wrong with that in general, but it bugged me here because their mat work looked too soft and awkward. But hey, this is SHINSKAY we’re talking about, right? As soon as he pulled some swag out of his ass, the match got much better. He’s a psychological master, and it makes his matches sooo good. That bitchslap to Sakuraba… And you gotta give Sakuraba a lot of credit too, this is probably his best singles performance ever. Looked very dangerous and compelling on offense. The match was really exciting down the stretch, I’m so glad I watched this unspoiled.
***1/2
11. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Kazuchika Okada
Yes, we all expected and wanted to see Okada as the new Champion. Now can we stop judging the match because of it, please? Because this was absolutely fantastic. You know you’re watching something great when it lasts over 33 minutes, and you’re disappointed it ended and want more. Well, that’s how I felt. Thank God I watched this unspoiled, because all those counters on Rainmaker wouldn’t be so exciting and dramatic. One-upmanship, mind games, great wrestling in general, selling, counters, big fight feel, drama, struggle, suspense… This match was total package, I swear. And it happened in the Tokyo Dome. Tanahashi retaining was a shock, though. I wonder why they didn’t crown Okada here. But nevermind, this match was almost perfect in my book, therefore I’m going full boat here.
*****
Great show overall. Nothing really newsworthy, but it was a nice spectacle with a lot of good/great wrestling and moments. The main matches delivered, that’s all that matters to me. Thumbs up for WK 7.
1. CHAOS (Jado, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Captain New Japan, Wataru Inoue & Tama Tonga
*
2. Ryusuke Taguchi, KUSHIDA & BUSHI vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask & Hiromu Takahashi
**
3. CHAOS (Yujiro Takahashi, Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka) & Bob Sapp vs. Akebono, MVP & Muscle Orchestra
Weak opener. Needed more of Ishii and Yujiro, and less of Nakanishi and Strong Man.
*1/2
4. NEVER Openweight Championship: Masato Tanaka © vs. Shelton Benjamin
Basic as fuck.
**
5. IWGP Tag Team Championship: Killer Elite Squad © vs. Sword & Guns
***
6. Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata
Excellent match, loved this. MiSu’s character work was pure gold. This was fitting for a big Dome rubber match. Basic, yet so great and effective storytelling about one-upmanship. They made little and simple things look like million bucks. Not to mention fantastic mind games, especially from MiSu. Awesome, awesome match, and I would go even higher on the snowflakes if Nagata won with the armbreaker.
****
7. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Prince Devitt © vs. Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi
Low F’N Ki fucking stole the whole damn show with his Hitman outfit. It made for an awesome visuals. Anyway, this was a very good 3-Way, really nice and simple booking. Few great moves. They didn’t go over-the-top, thank God. Devitt confirms his Jr. Ace status, big win for him.
***1/2
8. TenKoji vs. Keiji Mutoh & Shinjiro Otani
Solid nostalgia match, nothing special. Good to see Mutoh and Otani back in the Dome.
**1/2
9. Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Good match. Probably needed to be better, but nevermind. Shibata was surprisingly good here. Didn’t really care for Makabe’s face-in-peril segments. The table spot rocked, however, the finish was not very good, IMO, but that’s just nitpicking, I guess. I really appreciated how they ended the match after Makabe’s finisher, it was a nice dose of realism. Shame that Shibata lost, though.
***
10. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura © vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Oh boy, this could’ve gone either way in terms of match quality, but thank God it ended up being really good. I was skeptical after 2-3 minutes in, though. They were way too defensive. Not that there’s anything wrong with that in general, but it bugged me here because their mat work looked too soft and awkward. But hey, this is SHINSKAY we’re talking about, right? As soon as he pulled some swag out of his ass, the match got much better. He’s a psychological master, and it makes his matches sooo good. That bitchslap to Sakuraba… And you gotta give Sakuraba a lot of credit too, this is probably his best singles performance ever. Looked very dangerous and compelling on offense. The match was really exciting down the stretch, I’m so glad I watched this unspoiled.
***1/2
11. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs. Kazuchika Okada
Yes, we all expected and wanted to see Okada as the new Champion. Now can we stop judging the match because of it, please? Because this was absolutely fantastic. You know you’re watching something great when it lasts over 33 minutes, and you’re disappointed it ended and want more. Well, that’s how I felt. Thank God I watched this unspoiled, because all those counters on Rainmaker wouldn’t be so exciting and dramatic. One-upmanship, mind games, great wrestling in general, selling, counters, big fight feel, drama, struggle, suspense… This match was total package, I swear. And it happened in the Tokyo Dome. Tanahashi retaining was a shock, though. I wonder why they didn’t crown Okada here. But nevermind, this match was almost perfect in my book, therefore I’m going full boat here.
*****
Great show overall. Nothing really newsworthy, but it was a nice spectacle with a lot of good/great wrestling and moments. The main matches delivered, that’s all that matters to me. Thumbs up for WK 7.
