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The story of this is Tetsuya Naito and his apparent heel turn with the story being that his time in Mexico changed him.  I am all on for a Naito heel turn and he was the most interesting he has been as a character in ages at the last “Road To” show.  Here he teams up with the ultimate babyface and underdog, Tomaki Honma, someone who would be the perfect guy to start a full on heel turn against.  Lets not forget that Naito’s former tag partner Yujiro Takahashi will be on the other side of the ring, so we will see if that plays into anything too.  

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazushi Sakuraba

The list of people that Sakuraba can work with on the NJPW roster is very, very short.  Thankfully Shibata is at the top of the list and for the first time since he faced Minoru Suzuki at Wrestle Kingdom I am really looking forward to a Sakuraba match.  This will be based around mat wrestling, submissions and of course, the stiff strikes of Shibata.  Shibata should win this, as he has a lot more to offer New Japan than Sakuraba does.  

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega vs. KUSHIDA

Kenny Omega has been cleaning up the junior division for 6 months now.  Next he has to try and clean up the winner of the 2015 Best of the Super Juniors, KUSHIDA.  This one will be awesome as long as Bullet Club shenanigans don’t ruin it.  KUSHIDA is right up there with the best in the world and has been getting better and better all year.  Omega is phenomenal, and the preview that we got between these two in a tag match last Sunday at “Road To” was incredible for the couple of minutes that they wrestled.  It makes sense for KUSHIDA to win, continue his momentum and finally become the face of the junior division.  But at the same time Omega has a lot left to do in his title run, so it is difficult to call.  I just know for sure this has all the makings of being one of the best junior matches of the year.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii

This is the third match in the series between these two and most likely the last.  It started with Makabe beating Ishii for the title.  When Makabe relinquished the title due to illness, Ishii took the title back.  Makabe then regained the title from Ishii at Wrestling Hinokuni in April.  Now Ishii has his rematch and probably his last chance to win the title back before the G1 Climax.   I can’t see Makabe losing it, as his reign hasn’t even gotten going yet as he has been tied up with Ishii for six months.  This will be the usual stiff, strong style war with lariats, headbutts, more lariats and stiff suplexes.  If you like strong style wrestling full of Japanese fighting spirit, this is the match for you.   

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Matt Taven & Michael Bennett w/Maria Kanellis (The Kingdom) vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows w/Amber Gallows (Bullet Club)

This feud has been more about the silliness of Anderson’s obsession with Maria than it has been about The Kingdom ascending to the top of the NJPW tag division.  Now with Amber Gallows involved it could potentially get worse. These teams had a hell of a brawl at Global Wars Night 2, so if they are let loose, they can have a great match.  The Kingdom have become a fantastic tag team, and I want to see them establish themselves as a serious team in NJPW with a solid win here.  

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano

Who’d ever have thought that a midcard feud between Tanahashi & Yano could become one of the feuds of the year?  Well it has.   When Yano shockingly knocked Tanahashi out of the New Japan Cup in a couple of minutes, anything became possible in NJPW.  It was the first of many wins that Yano stole from Tanahashi, with more coming in tags.  Tanahashi was forced to play Yano’s game and steal a few underhanded wins of his own.  Now we have the feud ending singles match and I’m sure it will be highly amusing with Yano trying every trick in the book, forcing Tanahashi to do the same.  Tanahashi will win this and put the feud to bed.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Goto took the intercontinental championship from Nakamura at Wrestling Dontaku, putting an end to Nakamura’s stranglehold on the title.  It was a huge win for Goto and it looked like it would be the first step in Nakamura getting back into the heavyweight title picture.  I hope Goto retains here allowing Nakamura to move on and possibly win the G1.  If Goto wins here, Nakamura can always get his win back if they are drawn together in the G1.  Obviously this will be another fantastic match, just like their last match.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada

When Okada lost to Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom in January, The Rainmaker entered a slump and went on a losing streak, losing a string of matches to Bad Luck Fale.  Ever since then it has been about Okada getting back on track.  Okada finally got back on track and got his big win over Fale at Invasion Attack.  Ever since then The Rainmaker has been back and it makes logical sense for him to conclude his story, by beating Styles for the title, the man he lost the title to over one year ago.  That’s not to say the result is a foregone conclusion, because this one could go either way.  Okada & Styles have fantastic chemistry in the ring, so this one will hopefully be another great match in their series.  

This show has all the makings of being the best NJPW show of the year, just before we head into the chaotic month that is the G1 Climax.  During intermission we will most likely get an announcement with the blocks and matches for the G1, which kicks off on July 20th.