5 observations from NJPW Dominion weekend

#2 The seeds planted for the big show-closing angle

【7.11大阪城・第4試合】SANADA&BUSHI vs高橋裕二郎&石森太二！石森がSANADAにパラダイスロック……!?★試合の詳細は新日本プロレス・スマホサイトで速報中！https://t.co/rPBVbH9BXx#njpw #njpwworld #njcup pic.twitter.com/IaTXyPgvm7

— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) July 11, 2020

Looking at the card before the New Japan Cup 2020 Finals, one of the matches that stood out the most was the LIJ's SANADA & BUSHI vs. the Bullet Club's Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori. This was an interesting contest because Bullet Club is one of the main heel stables in NJPW who always seem to be put against the biggest babyfaces while LIJ is more of a tweener unit that can match up against either faces or heels in NJPW.

This match was solid with the speed of Ishimori and SANADA on display, while BUSHI & Yujiro both used more wily means to gain the advantage. In the end, the result was also an intriguing one as the Bullet Club gained the victory with Ishimori beating BUSHI. With a member of LIJ in the finals and the leader as IWGP dual champion of NJPW, it was strange for their stablemates to lose here until we saw the ending of the show.

The other seed that was planted was at the end of the Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. CHAOS six-man tag team match. After LIJ got the win, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi got in the face of LIJ leader and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito. Hiromu has been frustrated with his Anniversary Show match against Naito being canceled due to the pandemic and showed that here yelling for a shot at Naito's gold.

This foreshadowing became more clear after the result of the Dominion main event as NJPW have moved Hiromu up the ladder this weekend.