From the Tokyo Dome, New Japan Pro Wrestling now takes the Wrestle Grand Slam tour to Saitama’s MetLife Dome for a duo of shows. The two back-to-back cards have taken nice shape, with special singles matches, high-profile title challenges and even match of the year contenders galore.

Now, I’ll take you through the key matches one by one, with NJPW potentially putting on a really worthwhile couple of shows in the first weekend of September.

MATCH CARD

Night One:

STARDOM Special Match:
Momo Watanabe and Saya Kamitani vs Maika and Lady C

Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI)

Special Singles Match:
SHO vs YOH

KOPW 2021 I Quit Match:
Chase Owens (C) vs Toru Yano

Special Singles Match:
Kazuchika Okada vs Jeff Cobb

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship:
Hiroshi Tanahashi (C) vs Kota Ibushi

Night Two:

STARDOM Special Match:
Momo Watanabe and Saya Kamitani vs Guilia and Syuri

CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii) vs United Empire (Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship:
Bullet Club’s Cutest Tag Team (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) (C) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)

Three-Way IWGP Tag Team Championship:
Dangeours Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi) (C) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito and SANADA) vs CHAOS (Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship:
Robbie Eagles (C) vs Hiromu Takahashi

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship:
Shingo Takagi (C) vs EVIL

STARDOM Special Matches
These shows signify an important step in the STARDOM-NJPW relationship through Bushiroad as both nights will feature a STARDOM tag team match to kick off proceedings. For the first time, these previously “dark” matches, that we’ve seen on shows such as Wrestle Kingdom, will be readily available on NJPW World. This is a consequential shift as messy TV rights issues have been resolved in order to allow these STARDOM matches to air on New Japan’s global streaming service.

I enlisted the help of Wrestle Inn’s resident STARDOM expert Trent Breward to fill you in on the two tag showcases:

“The second night’s showcase match of Momo Watanabe and Saya Kamitani versus Goddess of Stardom Tag Team Champions Giulia and Syuri is a legitimate main event calibre match, especially with the importance Stardom places on its tag division. It will also be the third time this year Saya has represented Stardom on a New Japan show, adding another notch to an already impressive 2021 for the Rising Phoenix.

The biggest surprise of the weekend may be that Lady C is getting a spot on the show. All four of the competitors on that first night are not scheduled for the Stardom show on that same day, so options were clearly limited. She’s yet to win a match but has shown considerable improvement every time she steps inside the ring, and will be supported by a solid (albeit very sore) hand in Maika.”

SHO vs YOH
With seven NJPW matches to talk about, we start with the Roppongi 3K battle: SHO and YOH facing off for the first time since their dramatic split at Korakuen Hall in August. In this late, but tangibly exciting, addition to the card I hope to see heaps of emotion from the two now former partners.

This match is a chance for SHO and YOH to prove themselves as top-line singles stars of the NJPW junior division, they must grab it with both hands. It’s especially important for YOH, as he’s somewhat been living in the shadows of his partner, not being afforded the same singles opportunities as SHO. This is YOH’s chance to show the world (and importantly the New Japan brass) what he can do in a singles capacity. 

SHO, on the other hand, has had the shots at singles glory before: notably against Hiromu Takahashi in a New Beginning main event this past January, and in a duo of encounters with Shingo Takagi in 2020 (one being for the prized NEVER Openweight Championship). 

This match could provide the golden ticket that SHO and YOH need to propel themselves to the pinnacle of the junior heavyweight ranks. Keep both eyes on this one, as with a lot on the line both men will be keen to impress.

Kazuchika Okada vs Jeff Cobb
Next on the billing is a rematch from July’s Tokyo Dome show, with Jeff Cobb looking to avenge his loss to the Rainmaker. Their Dome match was a very strong one and while they definitely left something in the tank for this one, it delivered to a pleasing extent. I would expect them to go one step further and produce an ever better match in what promises to be an escalation of their feud.

It seems set up that the record-breaking IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will walk away victorious again as he only won their previous encounter by roll-up. The simple result would be for Cobb to push Okada that one step further, and force him to use the Rainmaker in order to achieve the victory. This looks the route NJPW will take, but a Cobb upset isn’t completely out of the question. 

Rightly so, New Japan seems to have a lot of stock in Jeff Cobb, with a landmark win over Okada being a surefire way to elevate him to a greater level within the company: the upset could be on at the MetLife Dome.

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship:
Hiroshi Tanahashi (C) vs Kota Ibushi
Now, the match I’m most excited for out of the two shows! Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kota Ibushi. IWGP US Heavyweight Championship.

After defeating Lance Archer on American soil (at the well-received NJPW Resurgence event), the Ace now holds the US title, Unfortunately, this match hasn’t had any build-up because of the enforced quarantine period Tanahashi has gone through upon returning to Japan. 

However, despite the forced lack of build this match hasn’t lost a speck of excitement. This match was birthed out of Tanahashi replacing the Golden Star in the Wrestle Grand Slam main event at the Tokyo Dome because of Ibushi’s aspiration pneumonia diagnosis at the back end of July. 

Ibushi and Tanahashi have been interlocked for some time, with them putting on incredible matches in the past as both partners and opponents. This encounter promises to be yet another that adds to the list of noteworthy matches between the two, and with a title on the line it holds even more intrigue. A match of the year entry on the cards.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship:
Bullet Club’s Cutest Tag Team (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) (C) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
ELP and Taiji Ishimori look to fend off the winners of 2021’s Super Junior Tag League in what promises to be a solid match. The champions, now dubbed ‘Bullet Club’s Cutest Tag Team’, most recently defended against the Mega Coaches (Rocky Romero and Ryusuke Taguchi) at the aforementioned Tokyo Dome event, in what was a very enjoyable match. 

It could go either way, so I don’t have any burning predictions, but perhaps this makes the match more compelling as it is very open ended. The four men involved are incredibly capable of putting on an eye-catching, exciting tag match, therefore this could turn out to be a startling undercard face-off.

Three-Way IWGP Tag Team Championship:
Dangeours Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi) (C) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito and SANADA) vs CHAOS (Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI)
The IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles will be on the line in an interesting three-way, which poses many possibilities. We don’t usually see 3-ways in NJPW, so it’s certainly an outlier, but it could be surprising.

L.I.J’s Naito and SANADA issued their rematch challenge after Dangerous Tekkers defeated them to become 3-time champions at Wrestle Grand Slam in the Tokyo Dome, but when Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI challenged the champs too it became a lot more interesting. Goto and YOSHI-HASHI laid out their challenge for the belts in the aftermath of Dangerous Tekkers’ victory, with this 3-way being announced shortly after.

Of course, the CHAOS men have the opportunity to become double champions, with the Heavyweight tag belts potentially adding to their 380+ day reign as NEVER 6-man champions, alongside Tomohiro Ishii. This is the outcome I’m tipping, however I wouldn’t be surprised if Dangerous Tekkers retain either. 

I’m not often a fan of these sorts of matches, but for this one I’m quite engrossed. With the result hard to predict, and some fantastic wrestlers in the ring it will be well worth the watch.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship:
Robbie Eagles (C) vs Hiromu Takahashi
Will the eagle continue to fly? Or will the Time Bomb tick to victory?

Off the back of a wonderful match against El Desperado, in which he captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, Eagles is now faced by the returning Hiromu Takahashi. Coming back from a six month injury, Takahashi hasn’t slowly eased himself back into the action, but instead he’s shot back to the very top of the junior division.

If Hiromu’s fantastic match with DOUKI on August 27th at Korakuen Hall is anything to go by (and it is!), then this match will be superb. Hiromu is back, and in bashful form. 

Robbie Eagles is in a rich vein of form himself, with the Despy match standing out since his return to NJPW post absence through the pandemic. This match is much anticipated, and a victory for either is certainly possible, a real match of the year contender.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship:
Shingo Takagi (C) vs EVIL
EVIL’s the best we can do? Really? Well, apparently so. 

Off the back of a thrilling match with Hiroshi Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome, Shingo Takagi must now defend his title against Bullet Club’s EVIL. The build for this primary title match was hampered by Shingo’s COVID-19 diagnosis, but he’s back in the ring now. 

This match will be the Dragon’s return, so there’s a lot of weight on him. EVIL has remained near the top of the NJPW cards in spite of his torrid reign as IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion in 2020, and he’s returned to title picture here.

When the lights went out after Shingo’s most recent title defence, EVIL stood in the ring and eclipsed the champion’s victory speech with a surprise attack and subsequent title challenge.

Shingo Takagi is one of the best wrestlers in the world, and my current pick for wrestler of the year, so this match is by no means guaranteed to be dreadful. He could have a good match with anyone.

Despite my apprehension for the second night’s main event, the two shows could add up to a great weekend of wrestling for New Japan. Any cards which include the likes of Tanahashi vs Ibushi and Eagles vs Takahashi are definitely rewarding, so Wrestle Grand Slam looks to be a duo of shows brimming with highlights.

Show Details:
Night One: Saturday 4th September February @ 8.30am BST/3.30am EST/12.30am PST
Night Two: Sunday 5th September @ 6.30am BST/1.30am BST/Saturday 4th September @ 10.30pm PST
How to Watch: Available live on NJPW World for only 999¥ per month (roughly £7.50/$9.30)
Notes: English and Japanese commentary will be available live!