#njpw g1 climax 2019 day 6 review

[hazyheel]

NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Day 6 Review

Our first match of the night in B Block was Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi in a first time singles match. There was an interesting story here, with Taichi being very vocal about Takagi’s inclusion in the tournament. He is jealous that it took two years of being a heavyweight to get into the G1 climax, whereas Takagi had one match and qualified for the tournament. In a shocking turn, Shingo Takagi was the one who attacked before the bell. He drilled Taichi with chops and strikes to open things up, before powering him up for a vertical suplex and a near fall. Early on as Takagi beat down Taichi on the outside, Taichi shoved Miho Abe towards Takagi, who nearly took her down. That distracted the ref long enough for Taichi to nail Takagi with the mic stand. The two then brawled into the crowd with chairs and other weapons, and Taichi maintained the advantage throughout. Taichi made a mistake however, trying to go strike for strike with Takagi, and he was extremely outmatched. Taichi still kept the advantage with well placed kicks to the head, but Takagi slowly fought back. The two traded huge lariats in the middle of the ring, which ended in a great roundhouse to the face from Taichi, and then an axe bomber. Taichi nailed a buzzsaw kick, and went for the black mephisto, but Takagi barely countered into last of the dragons, but Taichi kicked out. Taichi then gave Takagi a barrage of kicks, before hitting a last ride for another near fall. Taichi tried to go for a low blow, but Takagi caught the kick, hitting a straight right, a headbutt, and a pair of pumping bombers for a near fall. Finally, Takagi was able to hit another last of the dragons for the win. Takagi: 4, Taichi: 2.

Grade: A-. Every win that Takagi gets is a big deal. This was one of the times that we saw big match Taichi, where he wanted to win so bad that he just wouldn’t go down. He showed an incredible amount of strength and was able to get the better of Takagi on several occasions despite being in the disadvantage in terms of both striking and power. Takagi always has a chip on his shoulder in the tournament, so this win is really establishing him as a major player in the tournament. He is not just a junior that is trying to play heavyweight, he is the real deal.

Next up was Jeff Cobb vs. Juice Robinson, a gaijin showdown between two guys who have never met in singles. The two started with a hand shake, before quickly transitioning into a match where Cobb had a strength advantage, but Robinson just ignored that. He beat down Cobb with strikes, chops and even several big kicks. At one point early on, Robinson went for a splash to the outside, but Cobb caught him and attempted to transition into a vertical suplex, only for Robinson to slip out and throw him into the ring post. Robinson really showed his determination in this match. He just refused to let the strength advantage intimidate him, and was totally dominating his much larger opponent. Cobb did have an awesome counter to the Pulp Friction here. Robinson went for his finisher, but Cobb caught him out of the jump and drilled him with a pair of high angle German suplexes. That was a big turning point in this match, as Cobb rode that momentum all the way to a huge tour of the islands for the win. Cobb: 2, Robinson: 4.

After the match, Cobb went to shake hands again, and instead Robinson raised his hand in victory. Nice, how lovely. 

Grade: C. Yeah, this match just didn’t do it for me in a meaningful way. They both looked good, and it told an interesting story of Robinson’s new attitude. He was confident, and he beat down a much bigger guy. Although Cobb had most of the big moves, Robinson was the one who dominated. Cobb still pulled out the win here with a really nice closing stretch. I would be shocked if Cobb is one of the guys who only ends up with 6 points, but that may be what we are looking at. I still think that Robinson will be in the upper echelon this year. 

Then we had Jay White vs. Toru Yano, another first time singles match. Yano actually took his shirt off this time around, because we know that White likes to cheat just as much as Yano does. Yano was actually not interested when White moved to the outside, although Gedo eventaully taunted him enough to come out. The two traded rollups after Yano took off the turnbuckle pad. Gedo soon distracted the ref, allowing White to hit a low blow. When white then went for Bladerunner, Yano spit water into his face. Gedo then ran in with Brass Knuckles, but Yano took him down and took the knucks. Then he pushed White into both red shoes and Gedo, and then gave White a low blow with the knuckles, and then rolled him up for the win. This match was like 3 minutes, and it was just as long as it needed to be.  Yano: 4, White: 0. 

Grade: B-. This was so dumb and fun. I like how White’s story is that he is being screwed by the ref. It is an interesting one. He and Sabre are almost parelleling each other, both are super mad that they aren’t getting the results that they want. But maybe they will start to come back as we continue.  

Then we had Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito. Before he bell rang, Naito was inspected Goto’s “LA DOJO” shirt, which he was positive was an attempt at spanish. Goto eventually took off the shirt, but then turned around and choked him out with it before the match, kicking Naito while he was down. When the match actually started up, Goto targeted the back and chest with his tough kicks, while it took Naito a long while to gain control, doing do with a vicious dragonscrew leg whip into the apron. Naito then continued the assault on the knees during the mach, and even taunted Goto until he got too frustrated to be making great decisions. The two kept drilling each other with vicious offense, as Goto continued to attack the neck, but Naito was just hitting him wherever he could. The two got in a striking contest, which Naito ended with a swift kick to the knee. Naito followed it up with a reverse atomic drop, an ensiguri and a german suplex. He then went for Destino, but Goto countered into a yoshigaroshi onto the injured knee. The two men then jockeyed for position a bit, until Goto with the reverse GTR. Goto then went for another Yoshigaroshi, but Naito reversed into a great DDT. Naito then hit Destino, but Goto kicked out. So, he went for another one, and got the win. Naito: 2, Goto: 2.

Grade: B+. Really good stuff here, but their stories in the tournament didn’t really overlap much. They beat the crap out of each other for sure, and it was a brutal match with a great closing stretch. I’m glad Naito is on the board, but with two straight losses for Goto, I don’t know if he is going to end up in the high spot that I’d hoped for him. Now, I get that there are too many people in this tournament for everyone to score well, especially with the talent involved, but it sucks to see some of these big names miss out on having big tournament victories. 

And in the main event, we had Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii. The two men started right at the bell. striking the crap out of each other. The two brawled through the crowd a bit, throwing each other into walls and chairs. Back in the ring, Moxley had the advantage, until kicks to the face and chest angered Ishii, and he started to hit back as hard as he could. The two then fought on the outside, Moxley grabbed two chairs, passing one to Ishii. They then fought with the chairs, until they were both destroyed and Moxley threw the empty frame at Ishii. Moxley then introduced a table, but it wasn’t used for a while. Both tried to pet each other through it, but it did not work until Ishii gave Moxley a splash through it on the outside. Ishii then gave Moxley a superplex for a great near fall. The two then exchanged headbutts in the middle of the ring, which Ishii got the better of with a huge headbutt to the chin. Ishii then drilled him with a pair of huge lariats, neither of which sent Moxley down, and was able to hit a death rider for a close near fall. Moxley then picked up Ishii, and hit a high angle Death Rider for the win. Moxley: 6, Ishii: 4.

Grade: A. Really good stuff here, This was the match I was most looking forward to in B block, and they totally delivered. They hit each other just as hard as Ishii hits Suzuki, and it was really really good. Moxley is looking great right now, although I still don’t think he will win the block. Ishii looked great too, and he will still be a frontrunner of the block. Match of the night right here, possibly even the match of B Block. 

Overall Grade: B

Pros: Takagi vs. Taichi; Goto vs. Naito; Moxley vs. Ishii

Cons: Robinson vs. Cobb

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 1 Review (July 6th 2019, American Airlines Centre, Dallas, TX)

Roppongi 3K vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny  ***1/4

Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino vs. Jeff Cobb & Ren Narita  ***3/4

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jay White & Chase Owens  **3/4

Jushin Thunder Liger, Juice Robinson & Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI  ***

G1 Climax 29 A Block:

Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer  ****1/2

EVIL vs. Bad Luck Fale  **1/2

SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.  ****1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA  ****+

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi  ****3/4

Photos.

This was a very fun opening day of G1 action, emanating for the first time ever outside of Japan. Things kicked off with IWGP Heavyweight Tag champions, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa defeating the former holders of the Junior straps, SHO and YOH in good, action packed sprint, when Tama pinned YOH at 6:42 after a Super Bomb. Jeff Cobb and Ren Narita were victorious over Ishii and Shota Umino in a great little all-action doubles clash. This was perfect for what it was, with the highlight being the tremendous exchanges between Ishii and Cobb, who face off in the B Block next Saturday, and based on their exchanges here, that match should be something else. The Young Lions looked really good too, but it was only a matter of time before one of them took the L. This time Umino drew the short straw as he looked at the light for a Cobb Tour Of The Islands at the 7:18 mark. Cobb and Ishii had a wild pull apart in the post match, which resulted in Cobb getting a bloody nose. The next two matches, whilst both good, were essentially your average New Japan spot show multi mans. Goto returned, looking in amazing shape, hitting Chase Owens with Ushigoroshi and the GTR to win in 8:38 of a decent match, but the Liger, Yano, Juice vs. LIJ match had the most crowd investment, because of its obvious greater star power. The crowd were totally behind Liger, and the LIJ trio got the heat on the legend for most of the match. Juice and Shingo got time to shine, hyping their encounter next week, and Yano stole the win for his team when he nailed BUSHI with a low blow and crdled him for the win at 8:18 of a fun outing.

Then the 29th G1 Climax kicked off in style as hometown boy Lance Archer, making his first appearance in the tournament since 2014, took on Will Ospreay, making his G1 debut. This was fantastic stuff, easily overdelivering and easily being the best match I’ve ever seen Archer in (even if it was just another day at the office for Ospreay). This went 18:17 and was a perfect ‘big guy vs. little guy’ outing, with Ospreay bouncing all over for Archer’s power moves. After hitting a massive Spanish Fly on Archer, Will tried Storm Breaker, but Lance escaped, catching him in his new EBD Claw finish. The finish saw both on the top again, this time Archer hit his Black Out off the top, and locked in the EBD Claw again for the pinfall win. EVIL and Fale couldn’t possibly follow that, and they didn’t. In fact they had the weakest match on the whole show. This was an ok brawl, but featured the usual shenanigans such as chairs and ref bumps, then Fale pinned the King Of Darkness with the Bad Luck Fall at 11:33 after hitting him with a chair.

ZSJ and SANADA had another in their series of excellent technical wrestling outings. This was an entire, 21 minute match, built entirely around counters. Every time SANADA would try something, Zack would counter into a submission or a pin attempt, but SANADA would in turn counter Zack’s counter, and so went the whole match. This was great stuff. The finish saw SANADA lock Sabre Jr in the Skull End, then go for the Moonsault, but Zack caught him in a triangle. Sanada escaped, tried another Skull End, but ZSJ turned it into a European Clutch, only for SANADA to roll through into a Japanese Leg Clutch for the win. A furious Zack locked referee Marty Asami in a leg lock in the post match. KENTA made his G1 debut next in a very stiff and believable outing with Kota Ibushi. This too was great, but at 20:51, it was a little too long for what it was, which hurt it somewhat. Had it been five minutes shorter, it would easily have been in the ****1/2 territory. This was a very realistic fight, which saw KENTA dominate, which was the story of the whole match, stiffing the hell out of Ibushi with his trademark hard kicks and strikes, and Kota would give it back as hard as he got. The plan here was to get KENTA over as a badass veteran with something to prove, thus building him as a threat in this tournament. Which is probably the right thing to do. The finish saw the pair engage in a hard strike battle, which KENTA won, then hit four hard head kicks on Ibushi, and pinned him, clean as a sheet, with the Go To Sleep.

The main event, which was the first meeting on U.S. soil between Okada and Tanahashi, two guys who have had some of the greatest matches ever in the last 7 years. It featured a suitably rabid crowd, who exploded at the bell and were 100% in to this thing from here on out. As much as this was without doubt their weakest match together since their 2013 G1 outing, the super hot crowd (and the fact I’m totally biased towards these matches) made it the best thing on this show. Tana, fresh off the shelf from elbow surgery, had his working boots on, looking healthier than he has in months (he looked bad at Dominion, worryingly bad), and hitting all his signature spots, including the HFF to the floor, which he hasn’t done since Wrestle Kingdom. The finish was packed with these guys signature counter sequences; after destroying Okada’s knees with Dragon Screws, Tanahashi tried the High Fly Flow, but Okada got the knees up. Okada tried a Tombstone, but Tana escapes, they exchange strikes, then Okada turns a backslide into the Rainmaker, keeps a hold of the wrist, and hits another. The IWGP Heavyweight Champion goes for a third, but Tanahashi counters into a small package for an incredibly believable near fall. A Tana Dragon Suplex gets another near fall, then he comes off the ropes looking for Sling Blade, but Okada catches him in the spinning Tombstone, then hits the Rainmaker at the 22:04 mark to take the two points, and win the first Okada/Tanahashi G1 that didn’t go to a time limit draw. Okada cut a promo in the post match saying he’ll be the first person to win the New Japan Cup, IWGP Heavyweight Title, and the G1 all in the same year.

NDT

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 13 & Day 14 Review (Aug 3rd and 4th 2019, Osaka, EDION Arena)

Day 13 (A Block)

KENTA vs. Bad Luck Fale  **

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Lance Archer  ***1/4

Will Ospreay vs. EVIL  ****1/2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi  ****3/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA  *****

Day 14 (B Block)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano  ***3/4

Juice Robinson vs. Taichi  *3/4

Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb  ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Jay White  ***1/2

Tetsuya Naito vs. Shingo Takagi  ****3/4

Photos.

The G1 rolled into Osaka for the annual, and prerequisite, classic matches in the tournament. The A Block night on the 3rd was the stronger of the two, and very probably the best night of Block action so far this year, with three fantastic matches back to back. To kick things off, Bad Luck Fale defeated KENTA after a lot of Bullet Club shenanigans. KENTA worked hard here, laying into the big man with some stiff kicks, then turned a Grenade into Game Over in the middle of the ring. This caused Chase Owens to distract the referee as Jado came in with the kendo stick. The old timer misses with the cane and KENTA sends him packing, however the distraction allowed Fale to sneak up from behind and score the win with a school boy at 7:20 of a very frustrating bout. This was nonsense and the loss essentially eliminates KENTA from this years tournament. Oh well. Speaking of which, the next contest was between two guys who are also mathematically eliminated and members of Suzuki-gun, as ZSJ got the sneaky win over the considerably larger Lance Archer. This was really good, with Zack playing the annoying ant to Archer’s giant. After Zack would keep countering Lance’s power moves into submissions, the American Psycho finally hit a big chokeslam, which appeared to win the match for him, but he inexplicably lifted Sabre at 2. Archer then tried Blackout, but Zack rolled through into a cradle to win at the 10:43 mark.

The next three bouts were all tremendous in their own very different ways. Ospreay vs. EVIL was an excellent battle indeed, and featured a white hot crowd. These guys worked incredibly well together, with their different styles meshing seamlessly and producing one of the hottest closing stretches of the tournament. After Ospreay scored a near fall with the corner to corner dropkick, and EVIL rebounded with a huge Lariat, they went into a crazy strike exchange and counter sequence, before EVIL scores a near fall with Darkness Falls. The King Of Darkness tries Everything is Evil, but Will flips out and hits a massive Liger Bomb for a near fall of his own. EVIL ducks Hidden Blade and charges for another Lariat, but runs straight into the Spanish Fly and hits Oscutter for a super believable near fall. He tries the Super Oscutter, but EVIL catches him in a big half and half German, another big Lariat, and scores the win at 17:08 with the STO. Following that were Tanahashi and Ibushi in a rematch of last years final, one of the greatest finals in the history of the G1. This wasn’t as good as that all time classic, but it was a different match really. This was worked at a breakneck pace (it surprisingly only went 15:53), and featured some absolutely fantastic exchanges. After Tanahashi worked over Ibushi’s ankle, and Ibushi worked on Tanahashi’s knee, Tana attempted an HFF to the floor, but Ibushi countered into a springboard top rope Frankensteiner, and from here the match never stopped. Tana escaped that terrifying Lawn Dart into the turnbuckle spot, then tried Sling Blade, but ate a perfectly timed double stomp, and took the Lawn Dart anyway, which never looks fun. Whilst Tana rolled onto the apron, Ibushi hit his other terrifying move; the Deadlift German off the ropes into the ring for a near fall. After Tana escapes a Last Ride attempt, the two engage in an unbelievable strike exchange, which resulted in Kota getting a bloody mouth, and a Tanahashi hand print across the right side of his face, as the crowd goes crazy. Ibushi sold like he was KO’d, but spins round into his massive Lariat for the double down. Ibushi hits the high kick, but Tana counters Kamigoye into three Twist and Shout’s, hits a perfect Sling Blade, but misses the High Fly Flow. Kota battles back with the Boma Ye for a near fall, then Tanahashi counters another Kamigoye attempt into a small package for a believable near fall. Ibushi is up and hits the Ace with a big high kick, but Tana shakes it off and screams, only to eat another, then the match-ending Kamigoye for Ibushi to take the 2 points and eliminate Tanahashi from contention. There was a ‘passing of the torch’ type moment in the post match as the two showed respect for each other, with Ibushi being emotional at finally vanquishing his God (he’s only ever pinned him one other time previous to this, in the 2017 G1) and Tana rolled out of the ring so Ibushi could get his pop.

The main event had a lot to follow, but somehow ended up surpassing them in a highly dramatic match. This was great, and the best match I’ve ever seen these two have together (and probably the best of SANADA’s career). Whereas the previous bouts were super heated sprints, this was a slow burn classic which took its time to weave its tale, and teasing going the distance. Obviously the story here is that SANADA is 6-0 against Okada, having never beaten him once, and Okada is undefeated in this G1 thus far, looking invincible in the process, so SANADA had a hell of an uphill battle. The Osaka faithful were super into this from the outside, and everyone appeared to be behind the underdog SANADA, chanting his name throughout this. In reality, this was every Okada/SANADA match we’ve ever seen, until the closing stretch, which was insanely intense. SANADA tried the springboard dropkick, but Okada catches him in the Air Raid Crash neckbreaker, then tries Rainmaker, but SANADA counters into Skull End, which Okada flips out of after climbing the ropes, and hits a Tombstone. He tries another Rainmaker, but SANADA again blocks it, this time catching him in Keiji Muto’s Dragon Neck Screw off the ropes. They engage in a great forearm and European uppercut exchange, before Okada wipes Cold Skull out with his patented drop kick. Another Rainmaker is turned into Skull End again, but Okada escapes, only for SANADA to hit a Tiger Suplex for a near fall. SANADA lands on his feet after Okada moved from a Moonsault attempt, but manages to lock in Skull End. This time, Okada counters into two Rainmakers, then tries a third, but SANADA hits one of his own which blew the roof off the EDION Arena. After 25 minutes of action, SANADA locks in Skull End once more, this time for a long time, and Okada starts to fade. Red Shoes Unno was fantastic here, selling that Okada might be out and the he was going to stop it, but Okada begins fighting back as the final two minutes are called. SANADA releases Skull End, then tries the Moonsault, but the IWGP Champion gets the knees up. At this point you got the feeling like this was definitely ending in a time limit draw. Final minute, and Okada hits another dropkick, then tries another Rainmaker, but SANADA counters into a pop-up Ace Crusher. With 30 seconds left SANADA hits a Moonsault to the back, and another to the front to score his first win ever over Okada at the 29:47 mark. This was superb stuff with off the charts tension and drama. SANADA cut a promo in the post match saying he loved Osaka to send everyone home happy.

The B Block show on the 14th couldn’t possibly hope to follow that show, but it was still a really good night of G1 action. Firstly, Block action began with Tomohiro Ishii pinning fellow CHAOS stablemate Toru Yano with the Brainbuster in a great 9:36 match-up. This was Yano’s best match of the tournament, even if it probably was Ishii’s weakest, and was just super entertaining throughout. Yano kept trying to steal wins with cradles and roll-up’s and Ishii would constantly prevent Yano from hitting his low blows and shenanigans, destroying him with chops and forearms in the process. The Stone Pitbull finally hit the Sliding Lariat and the Vertical Drop for the win and the 2 points, meaning he’s ver much still alive in this thing. Taichi defeated Juice in a deathly boring 12 minute outing next. I didn’t like this at all, and reached a crescendo of ref bumps and interference, before spat whiskey in Juice’s eyes and scored the pin with Black Mephisto. Whatever. 

Hirooki Goto and Jeff Cobb clashed next. This match too was just there, much like their uber disappointing NEVER Title match at the Cow Palace last year. On paper, these guys should have great matches togerther, however, they never click at all. The work was ultimately good, but it was just missing something, I feel. Goto scored the win at the 11:20 mark after hitting the Ushigoroshi into the Final Cut, then the GTR to get the 2 points. The Jay White/Jon Moxley match that followed, whilst very good, was another disappointment. Once again, there was just too much bullshit and shenanigans for my liking. There was a lot of stalling, a lot of interference, and the token ref bumps, all of which helped to dilute what should have been a very heated match, even if the closing stretch did save it somewhat. Moxley worked over Jay’s knee, locking on the Cloverleaf and an STF, before Jay came back with the suplex into the corner, a Saito suplex and the Deadlift German (which Moxley barely got over on), for a near fall. The Urinage gets a near fall for White, before Mox fires back with his release vertical suplex, which looked great. He then hit the Regal Knee Trembler, and a double arm DDT for a near fall, before White bumped the ref (yawn), and Gedo ran in and nailed Moxley with the brass knuckles. White then hit two sleeper suplexes, a cross arm Bloody Sunday, and the match-winning Blade Runner to end this at the 15:15 mark. I’m a big Jay White fan, I think he’s great and has a superstar aura, and I know they’re protected Moxley something fierce, but really, this sort of stuff does nobody any favours.

Thank God then for the main event, which was tremendous. L.I.J. exploded as Tetsuya Naito took on Shingo Takagi in a fantastic battle. Naito took an incredible beating here, and even though he won, he put Shingo over huge. This couldn’t really have gone any better, and came across like a classic G1 outing. They started with a nice chain wresting and feeling out process, but then Naito spat in Takagi’s face, which lit a fire under the Dragon. Shingo proceeded to destroy his stablemate with some of the hardest Lariats you’ll ever see. He countered a Tornado DDT into a Death Valley Bomb, then tried to cave in Naito’s chest with the Tenryu elbow off the top. Naito escaped a sliding lariat attempt, and hits an enzugiri. He tries the second rope reverse rana, but Shingo escapes and hits Noshigami. Naito counters a Pumping Bomber with a Koppo Kick, then hits Gloria for a near fall. Shingo hits a nasty looking Wheelbarrow German into the corner, then tries the super Death Valley Bomb off the second, which Naito turns into a Frankensteiner. Naito hits the reverse rana, but in trying a Destino, he runs straight into an ungodly Lariat, which looked like it killed him. A Made In Japan attempt is turned into a Dragon Suplex by Naito, but Shingo finally hits M.I.J. for a great near fall, followed by a Pumping Bomber, which decimates Naito, for another near fall. Last Of The Dragon is turned into Destino. They have a strike exchange, which Takagi obviously wins, crumpling Naito with a headbutt, but Naito hits a brainbuster out of nowhere for the double down. Naito hits a Canadian Destroyer, then Destino, but Shingo kicks out at 2.9! Another Destino follows, and Naito finally puts Shingo away at the 27:15 mark. This was fanatastic, and had a great backstory with both guys training at Animal Hamaguchi’s gym as teenagers, and being rivals. The ending was never really in any doubt, and even though I’d have preferred Shingo to have won this, he lost nothing in defeat, in fact he gained everything in that it was very similar to the Nakamura vs. Ibushi G1 23 match at this very building, which was a star making turn for Ibushi.

After this, the standings are that only Okada, Ibushi and EVIL are alive in the A Block (though KENTA holds a tie breaker over Ibushi and EVIL), so only one of those could realistically win, whereas the B BLock has Moxley in the lead, and a whole log jam of guys tied at 8 points. Those being Naito, Jay White, Ishii and Goto.

NDT

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 7 Review (July 20th 2019, Tokyo, Korakuen Hall)

A Block

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bad Luck Fale  ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer  ***1/2

KENTA vs. EVIL  ****1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA  ****1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay  *****

Photos.

This was an excellent day of A Block action from a white hot Korakuen Hall. Climax action started with ZSJ defeating the much larger BLF via countout in a shockingly good clash of styles. I’d feared the worst here, but the bout’s brevity (6:30), and an ingenious finish really brought this one up. Zack kept trying to lock Fale in all kinds of submissions, but the big man would invariably power out. Fale took it to the floor and into the stands, where he accidentally clotheslined an interfering Chase Owens, then tried a Bad Luck Fall on the walk way, but Zack caught him in a triangle/jujigatame, which he held onto until the referee’s count of 13, then he sprinted to the ring, whilst Fale didn’t make it and was counted out. Tanahashi and a resurgent Lance Archer had another very good big guy/little guy match next. Tana started hot, jumping Archer before the bell with the Muto style dropkicks to the knee, then worked over the leg all match. Archer tried the rope walk, but Tanahashi caught him in the Twist and Shout, then a Sling Blade for a near fall. He tried the HFF, but the big man caught him in a chokeslam, then a twisting big splash out of the corner. Tana makes the ropes on a Claw attempt, then Lance tried the Blackout, but Tanahashi, ever the crafty veteran, turned it into a Victory roll for the flash win in 11:58.

KENTA and EVIL had a hard-hitting brawl next. This was great stuff, and the crowd were really behind EVIL, who of course is a homegrown talent, whereas most still see KENTA as a NOAH guy. And rightfully so. They brawled through the crowd, and KENTA devastated the King Of Darkness with hard kicks, strikes, and a mean spirited Face Wash. KENTA hit the double stomp for a two count, then EVIL escapes a Go 2 Sleep attempt and hits a German. EVIL lays KENTA out with a headbutt, then gets a near fall with Darkness Falls. KENTA counters a Lariat with the Busaiku Knee Strike for a near fall, hits the PK, followed by a successful Go 2 Sleep and that finally puts EVIL away at the 15:03 mark. Great stuff. And the next two matches were even better. The ‘Handsome Battle’ between SANADA and Ibushi was an excellent match which was worked very differently than one would expect, probably due to Ibushi’s ankle injury. They started off with chain wrestling, and SANADA working over Ibushi’s leg, then it broke down into the fast paced outing it promised to be. The finish saw Kota score a near fall with Last Ride, but SANADA countered a Kamigoye attempt into a backslide, which he rolled through and hit his own version of Kamigoye for a near fall. Ibushi moves from a Muto Moonsault attempt, then follows up with a Boma Ye, but can’t capitalise due to the injured ankle. Cold Skull locks on Skull End, but Kota battles out and turns it into that terrifying lawn dart into the corner. SANADA battles back with a spin kick, then locks on Skull End again, but Ibushi escapes again, hits a high head kick, a second Boma Ye, drops the knee pad and gets the win, and the two points, at 19:14 with Kamigoye.

The main event between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada and Junior Heavyweight Champ Ospreay was a superb outing, and amongst the four best matches I’ve seen all year. This was outstanding stuff, and by far the best match they’ve ever had against each other. Like the match that preceded it, this one started slow, but built expertly into an incredible display of athleticism, and featured a mind-blowing counter exchange at the finish, and brilliantly played on Ospreay’s real injury. Any time Okada teased a Tombstone or that crazy neckbreaker gimmick he does, the crowd would go crazy. This really got on another level after Will hit an Oscutter off the barricade on the floor. As Okada rolled into the ring on a 19 count, he immediately ate a corner to corner dropkick for a near fall, then takes an Oscutter in the ring for a super believable near fall. Ospreay tries another, Super Oscutter, but Okada turns it into a German, rolls through into a Rainmaker, but Ospreay escapes, only to come off the ropes straight into an incredible dropkick! Okada tried Rainmaker again, but this time Ospreay turns it into the Spanish Fly as Korakuen goes crazy. Will hits a shooting star press for a near fall, then tries Storm Breaker, only for Okada to turn it into a Tombstone attempt. It didn’t happen, however, as Ospreay then turned that into a Tombstone of his own. Ospreay hits the Hook Kick, which Okada did an amazing sell for, then gets the IWGP Heavyweight Title holder up in Storm Breaker. However, as he tries to execute it, Okada spins out, lands on his feet and hits a Rainmaker in an incredible sequence. Okada keeps hold of the wrist, hits another Rainmaker, then goes for a third, but Ospreay catches him in Storm Breaker again, but Okada hits a spinning Rainmaker, then the actual rip-cord Rainmaker for the pin in 21:56 of fab action. This was tremendous stuff, and whilst I thought it would have been the perfect time to put Ospreay over, they’re telling bigger stories with Okada; mainly that they want both he and KENTA undefeated for their match next week, and they clearly want Okada to break Masahiro Chono’s G1 record of consecutive victories. Either way, Ospreay looked phenomenal in defeat, and Okada... well he looked like his usual, fantastic self.

NDT

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 5 and Day 6 Review (July 18th and 19th 2019, Tokyo, Korakuen Hall)

A Block

KENTA vs. Lance Archer  ***1/2

EVIL vs. SANADA  ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale  ***

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.  ****1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay  ****3/4

B Block

Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi  ****

Juice Robinson vs. Jeff Cobb  ***1/2

Toru Yano vs. Jay White  *1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito  ****+

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley  ****3/4

Photos.

Two great nights of G1 action from Korakuen Hall, with the first being amongst the best shows of the year. The 18th saw the A Blockers in action, firstly KENTA squared off with Lance Archer, who towered a foot above him. Both guys are having a great G1 thus far, and this was a very good big guy/smaller guy match-up. KENTA worked over the legs with hard kicks, cutting down the big tree so to speak, but Archer, who was incredibly over in Korakuen, would battle back with his power moves. The American Psycho chokeslammed KENTA off the apron at one point, but the L.A. Dojo guys caught him, only for Archer to hit a running cannonball off the apron into them all. Archer called KENTA “Hideo”, which lit a fire under the striker, who proceeded to throw some very hard slaps at Archer’s face, locked in the rear naked choke, hit the PK, then tried Go 2 Sleep. The big man proved too big however, as he countered into the Claw. KENTA countered the Claw into a triangle choke, then transitioned into his old Game Over submission finish for the tap out at 11:58. The finish surprised me, but this was really good stuff. LIJ imploded next in an excellent bout between tag partners EVIL and SANADA. This wasn’t quite as good as their Korakuen match in G1 27, but was still a damn fine outing nonetheless. After a feeling out process, this told the story that each know the other so well that they can hit each others moves on each other. EVIL locked SANADA in the Paradise Lock, then later down the stretch, SANADA got a near fall with EVIL’s own Everything Is Evil STO. EVIL gets the knees up on a Muto Moonsault attempt, but Cold Skull gets a near fall with a Tiger Suplex. A swinging Skull End follows, but EVIL counters into a small package for another near fall. The King Of Darkness hit a massive lariat, but SANADA kicks at one! Cold Skull eats another big lariat, then EVIL finally hits the STO at the 18:11 mark to score the 2 points.

Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale with a cradle to end a mercifully short 10 minuter. This was good for what it was, but Fale hasn’t looked great for some time now, and really, this was a night off for the IWGP Champion. Chase Owens and Jado interfered liberally, but Okada sent them packing, then got the flash pin with the cradle. This was amongst the most uninteresting Okada matches you’ll ever see. ZSJ and Tanahashi, both of whom were on 0 points, had another excellent technical wrestling bout next, which was amongst the best they’ve had together. It was entirely mat based, with Tana looking great in his transitions, and they had a great backslide battle. Zack worked over the injured elbow, and Tanahashi in turn worked over Sabre’s knee. The finish saw Sabre lock Tana in an armbar, but The Ace stomped his way free and locked in a cloverleaf, but The Technical Wizard turned it into his new Yes! I am A Long Way From Home submission, but Tana makes the ropes. Tanahashi catches the foot on a PK attempt, but Zack slaps the bejeezus out of him, only to take a nasty Dragon Screw. Tana tries High Fly Flow, but Zack gets the knees up. ZSJ locks in a triangle, but Tanahashi rolls through into a Jacknife cradle for the win in 13:56 and finally get on the score board. Sabre Jr was livid in the post match.

And the main event, a rematch of the incredible opener for WK13, held right next door in the Tokyo Dome, saw a winless Kota Ibushi face off with Will Ospreay. First things first, this was a superb match. However, I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I’d have liked given the fact Ospreay suffered a stinger not 5 days previous, and obviously, he was dropped on his head throughout this, so my anxiety was through the roof. It started with each working the others injured body part; Ibushi’s ankle and Will’s neck respectively, then built into a hard-hitting war. After Ibushi caught Ospreay in the tree of woe, an inversion of what concussed Ibushi at the dome, and smacked the hell out of him, he teased a terrifying top rope Dragon Suplex, but Will fought free to the apron. Kota then tried the deadlift German Superlex, but Ospreay flipped out onto his feet and hit a super stiff Hidden Blade for a great near fall. The Ariel Assassin follows up with the Robinson Special, followed by the Oscutter for a tremendous near fall. Ibushi turned a Storm Breaker into a single arm Kamigoye, tries a package Tombstone, but Ospreay escapes, only to be hit with a Michinoku Driver for a near fall. Will battles back with a Spanish Fly, but is hit with a huge Lariat that he took a bump on his head for. They tease the time limit draw, but Ibushi then hit Boma Ye, then the Kamigoye for the win at 27:16 of a fab bout. This built to a great climax full of believable near falls, and surpassed their Wrestle Kingdom classic.

The 19th saw the B Block pull out a show that looked ropey on paper, but was actually great. Block action kicked off with Shingo Takagi pulling Taichi to an excellent match-up. Again, this started slow built well really well to a hot closing stretch which the crowd loved. The finish saw Shingo hammer Taichi with a series of Lariats, and Made In Japan for a near fall. Taichi hit the gamengiri and Last Ride for a really believable near fall. Shingo came back with a big Pumping Bomber and Last Of The Dragon to put The Emperor away at the 14:40 mark. Jeff Cobb finally got on the scoreboard by putting an ened to Juice Robinson’s winning streak in a very good outing. These guys worked really well together, and much like the match that preceded it, was much better than I thought it would be. The finish saw Cobb counter Pulp Friction into a big rolling German, then tried Tour Of The Islands, but Juice turned it into a small package for 2. Cobb then ducked the Left Hand, and got the win with Tour Of The Islands at 13:21. Toru Yano and Jay White had an atypical Yano G1 match next. You know the score, it was 3 minutes long, featured all kinds of shenanigans, then YTR scored the surprise win when he commandeered Gedo’s brass knucks, hit Jay low, then got the school pin. This wasn’t good in my opinion, but it told a great story in that Jay is now 0-3 in this G1, and all his losses have been to former CHAOS stablemates he betrayed, and they got their revenge.

Goto and Naito always have great matches together, and this was no different. They had an excellent match filled with great counter exchanges. Naito finally got some points in this G1 after escaping a GTR attempt,  but is hit with the reverse version, then eats a big kick. Goto tried Ushigoroshi, but Naito it into a DDT, then hits a running Destino for a near fall. Another Destino follows and it puts Goto away at the 14 minute mark of a great contest. I guess Goto’s resurgence was short lived? And in the main event, Ishii and Moxley had an absolute war which spilled all over Korakuen Hall, and is very probably the best match of Moxley’s career. This was a wild brawl, which saw them exchange hard strikes, and obviously descended into plunder being used. Mox brought a table into play, which he ended up on, and Ishii splashed him off the top through, in an amazing spot. A big top rope superplex gets a near fall, and Moxley hit a Regal running knee for a near fall. They trade ramming headbutts, which Ishii predictably wins, then he takes another running knee for another great near fall. Mox tried Death Rider, but Ishii hits two massive Lariats for near falls of his own. Ishii tried the Brainbuster, but Moxley escapes and eats another headbutt. They exchange strikes again until Moxley hits the double arm DDT, drops the knee pad and hits another knee strike, followed by Death Rider to take the win at 20:36, and remain undefeated in this G1. The finish was never really in any doubt, but Ishii is so good, they made it seem like he could pull off the upset. Alas he didn’t, but he added another classic to his already massive collection of G1 classics, and as for Moxley, he couldn’t have looked any better.

NDT

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 3 Review (July 14th, Tokyo, Ota City Gymnasium)

G1 Climax 29 A Block:

Lance Archer vs. Bad Luck Fale  ***1/4

Will Ospreay vs. SANADA  ****1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.  ****1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL  ****1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA  ****1/2

Photos.

This was a fantastic day of G1 action. It flew by in no time, with everything being as good as, or better, than anticipated. A Block action kicked off with Lance Archer defeating Bad Luck Fale in a shockingly good battle of the big men. Coming off the heels of his tremendous match with Ospreay in Dallas, Archer is on a roll in this G1, pulling a very enjoyable outing out of the Fale of 2019. Fale, to his credit, worked really hard here too. The highlight was The Underboss hitting a massive superplex on Archer, which ref Asami took a bump for on the impact. The finish saw Fale score a near fall with the Grenade, then Archer sent an interfering Jado packing, scored a near fall of his own with a massive chokeslam, then locked on the EBD Claw for the pinfall win at the 10:12 mark. SANADA and Will Ospreay had a fantastic match next. This was a mind blowing display of athleticism from both, built around each countering the others signature highspots. SANADA would constantly counter Storm Breaker into the Skull End, and Ospreay would keep escaping, including a great sequence in which Will turned it into a huge Liger Bomb. After Ospreay moved from a Muto Moonsault attempt, Cold Skull landed on his feet, but ran straight into a Spanish Fly. The Robinson Special follows, then the Ariel Assassin destroyed SANADA with a series of kicks, hit the Oscutter, held on and hit Storm Breaker at 17:06 to win an excellent contest.

Okada and ZSJ faced off in their usual great technical wrestling match, though in a condensed, 12 minute version. Much like the previous match, the story here was Zack reversing all of Okada’s spots into submission holds, working over the Rainmaker arm. As per usual. This was a fun sprint, which saw Okada pull out the win after they spent weeks teasing that ZSJ would challenge Okada in London at Royal Quest on August 31st (if I were a betting man, I’d say either Minoru Suzuki or Ospreay are getting that shot, by the way), but it wasn’t to be, as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion put Sabre away with the Rainmaker, after escaping the manjigatame. I liked the brevity of this bout, as it made it seem more urgent. Kota Ibushi, bad ankle and all, took on EVIL in the semi final battle of the evening. This was another great match, with great selling from Ibushi as the King Of Darkness worked over the injured ankle most of the match. Ibushi tried Kamigoye, but EVIL caught him in the Scorpion Deathlock, but Kota made the ropes. EVIL missed a massive top rope Senton, and Ibushi channeled Nakamura, hitting the enzui Boma Ye, then another to the front for a near fall. EVIL dodged another Kamigoye, hit a big lariat, Darkness Falls and the match winning STO, to surprisingly go over in 19:11, leaving Ibushi winless in this G1 so far.

The main event between Tanahashi and KENTA wasn’t as good as it would have been 5 or 6 years ago, but it was still a stiff and dramatic outing. I thought this was excellent stuff, with KENTA coming out aggressive, and much like the match with Ibushi, took almost all of the match (when NJPW want to get a guy over, they don’t mess around). This was very reminiscent of Tana’s war against Shibata in the 2014 G1, in that it was a drama filled, hard-hitting war. The finishing stretch was great; as Tana unloaded with hard left hand strikes, KENTA countered with a big overhand right, hit a spinning lariat, then tried Go 2 Sleep. However Tanahashi turned it into three Twist and Shouts, a Sling Blade, then hit a standing HFF. He went up to try the Flow, but KENTA got the knees up at the absolute last millisecond. Channelling Shibata, KENTA locked on the rear naked choke, then tried the PK, but Tana caught the leg and tried the Dragon Screw. KENTA escapes the Screw, and hit the PK, then hoisted Tanahashi up into the Go 2 Sleep, hit it hard, and pinned The Ace cleanly and convincingly at 18:35 of excellent action. KENTA offered his hand to Tana in the post-match, but the indignant Ace, still on 0 points, refused the hand. This was a great scene to end a really great show.

NDT

[hazyheel]

NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Day 5 Review

Our night kicked off with Lance Archer vs. KENTA. A first time matchup, given that Kenta has never been in New Japan before. Archer had a genuinely startling height advantage here. He is 6′8, while Kenta was 5′8. That is huge. Archer pushed Kenta to the ground to start things off, just a sign of disrespect. Kenta started to kick at the legs and midsection, which quickly brought Archer to his knees. However, whenever Archer wanted to take Kenta down, he would just give him a shoulder tackle and put him on the mat. Early on, Archer tried to give Kenta a chokeslam to the outside, only for some Young Lions to catch him, so Archer wiped them all out with a somersault senton. The ref started to count as Archer beat down Kenta on the outside, so he attacked the timekeeper to stop the count. Archer then started to mock Kenta by referring to him as Hideo. Archer was very violent towards the ref during the match, constantly threatening him and throwing him around, so Kenta was not the only one who found Archer challenging. Kenta kept trying to soften Archer up with kicks wherever he could land them, but Archer just refused to stay down. Archer tried for the EBD claw, but Kenta nearly reversed it into an armbar, so Archer opted for a huge lariat instead. Archer then went for blackout, but Kenta countered into a sleeper hold, lowering Archer to the mat and hitting a pique kick to the chest. Kenta then went for the Go to Sleep, but Archer reversed into the EBD Claw submission, and then even a muscle buster for a near fall. Archer then hit a last ride, but Kenta still kicked out. He then went for a chokeslam, but Kenta reversed it into a triangle choke. He transitioned the triangle into a game over for the submission win. Kenta: 6, Archer: 4.

Grade: B. Pretty good match. It was really fun to see how Kenta would deal with his much larger opponent. The answer was a lot of kicks to the midsection and legs, and finally wearing him down with submission holds. It was a gritty win, but Kenta made it to six points, still in the lead of the block. Good match that showed a different side of Kenta, and Archer had his first loss. Big stuff here. 

Next up was EVIL vs. SANADA. These two have only fought once before, with Sanada coming up with the win. Evil has been anticipating this match a lot recently, as he felt like he wasn’t given the same opportunity as Sanada, due to his championship match back in May. He wants to break out of the stable with this match, and create a new name for himself. Sanada started out with several dropkicks, and quickly went for the moonsault, but Evil got out of the way. Evil actually grabbed a chair after avoiding the moonsult, sliding it in and distracting both Sanada and the ref, using that to take down Sanada early. The two then battled for position, with Sanada looking for the paradise lock and Evil looking for a scorpion deathlock. Evil was able to lock Sanada in a paradise lock, posing with his foot on Sanada’s back before giving him the glut dropkick. The two were actually vicious here, totally ready to beat the living crap out of each other. They both know each other’s moves so well that they were constantly reversing and countering each other’s moves. Sanada quickly ramped up his attack after he realized that Evil wasn’t pulling punches and started to focus on Evil’s base. He constantly attacked Evil’s knees, which was mixed in with some of his usual offense. Evil opted to target the back of Sanada, throwing him into the barricades and generally assaulting him mercilessly. Evil even bent the rules a little bit, such as shoving the ref into Sanada, and even using the ref as a tag partner to hit the magic killer. It took the entire match, but Sanada was actually able to lock in skull end, but Evil reversed it into a skull end of his own, which prompted Sanada to drill Evil with everything is evil for a close near fall. Sanada again went for the moonsault, but was thwarted again when Evil got his knees up. Sanada was again able to lock in skull end, throwing Evil around but getting caught in a small package as he did. Evil went for everything is evil, but Sanada scored an inside cradle for a near fall. Evil then began to destroy Sanada with lariats, eventually nailing Sanada with everything is evil for the win. Evil: 4, Sanada: 2. 

After the match, Evil offered the fist bump, which Sanada answered. So the two are definitely staying together, both as a stable and as a tag team. 

Grade: A-. A great match between two teammates who know each other incredibly well. They had an interesting clash of styles that blended perfectly, along with the fact that they just kept countering out of each other’s signature offense. Evil had a huge chip on his shoulder coming into this match, so I think it makes a lot of sense for him to get the win. Maybe they are giving Evil a decent singles push, who knows? We will have to see if he is able to beat Okada again this year, we could see evil in the world championship picture.

Into Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada. They are 4:3 in favor of Okada, so very close, but it is interesting to note that Okada has never beaten Fale in a tournament. Before the match, as he was making his entrance, Bad Luck Fale attacked Okada on the way to the ring. Fale was beating down Okada even before he came out. It took Okada a while to get his wind back, and the second he started to beat down Fale, Fale distracted the ref and Chase Owens and Jado beat him down on the outside. Okada continuously tried to slam Fale, it worked as both a central theme of the match, and as a contstant downfall for Okada, At one point, Okada tried to hit the bodyslam, but he couldn’t keep him up and ended up eating a splash from Fale. He was finally able to give Fale a body slam, and then followed it up with a tope con hilo to Fale, Owens and Jado when Fale rolled out. Okada kept up the attack from there, focusing on the neck and chest. Okada had it won with a rainmaker, but Fale threw Red Shoes into him before Okada could complete the move. That allowed Chase Owens to run in and assist Fale in hitting the grenade. Even after Okada was able to dispatch Owens, Jado nailed Okada in the back with the kendo stick as he ran the ropes. He held Okada in place as Fale ran at him, but he dodged and took out Jado. He tried to give Fale a neckbreaker, but Fale rolled through, only for Okada to sit down on him and steal a pin. Okada: 6, Fale: 2. 

After the match, Fale tried to attack Okada, but Okada put him down with a dropkick and gave him a salute as he layed on the outside. 

Grade: C+. These guys always have a slow match, and while it was okay, it just didn’t really do it for me. For whatever reason, Bullet Club interference bothers me a lot more than Suzuki-Gun, so I guess they are either effective heels or just annoying. Okada deserves this win, and I like that it came in a non-dominant form. It keeps up the story that Okada cannot seem to beat Fale in the tournament, although he did score a victory here. I’m glad Okada won here. And Fale is untouchable, no losses actually hurt him.

Then we had Zack Sabre Jr vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. These two have gone back and forth with wins, but Sabre leads their series with 3:2. As Tanahashi entered the ring, Sabre made sure to kick the young lion Tsuji off the ropes, just being a dick in general. Neither man has won a match yet, so both were battling for their first points. The two started to grapple early on, with Sabre starting the match off with the cravat, but quickly transitioning into a heel hook where both were jockeying for postiion. The interesting part of this match was the Sabre has two spots that he can focus on: both the formerly injured elbow and the ever decaying knees. However, as the match progressed, Tanahashi was really going hold for hold with Sabre. Both are great grapplers, but Sabre is considered the best at it in the world. The two then traded flash pins for a while, until Tanahashi was able to convert one into a twist and shout. The two then battled over a crucifix to a stalemate, with Tanahashi breaking it by hitting a slingblade. Tanahashi tried to get in a backbend pin, but Sabre kicked out and was able to lock in an armbar. He then transitioned into a sort of grounded octopus, targetting the repaired arm. Tanahashi sold it it great, like he was in too much pain to go on and barely made it to the ropes. Tanahashi fought back with Dragonscrew leg whips, a slingblade, aces high and almost the high fly flow, but Sabre got the knees up and locked in a triangle. While still in the triangle, Tanahashi stacked him up and got the pin. Tanahashi: 2, Sabre: 0.

Naturally, after the match Sabre threw a tantrum because he lost. I love this side of him, he is such a dick. 

Grade: A. This was leaps and bounds ahead of their match at the MSG show. I thought that match was much less smooth and didn’t have much of a story, while this showed the very entertaining grappler side of Tanahashi. He was in there showing the submission master what he could do, and actually nearly tapped him out at a couple of points. Sabre looked great here too, totally selling the frustration both during the match and after his loss. His story is certainly an intriguing one in this tournament. I’m happy to see Tanahashi finally get a win, because his story of going from the winner to the loser would not have been nearly as entertaining. 

And in the main event, we had Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch. That match earlier this year was their only match, and Ospreay came out on top. That was the match that I was most looking forward to at Wrestle Kingdom, and here in the A Block as well. The two traded clean breaks early on as they felt each other out. They started with some grappling, and the two of them actually looked pretty good on the mat. They then got into tests of strength, with Ibushi being much stronger. As the two started to pick up the pace a bit, Ospreay started to work over the ankle, a great strategy to both neutralize Ibushi’s kicks and to soften up his base. However, that did not stop Ibushi from delivering a blistering kick to Ospreay’s chest. When Ibushi had control, he targeted the neck, the subjuect of several injuries in the past. The two then traded signature moves and some counters, with everything looking way better with the two of them doing it. The two then traded both strikes and kicks in the center of the ring, at inhuman speeds. As Ospreay went for the stormbreaker, Ibushi countered with almost a deadeye variant on a piledriver that was very scary to see. Ibushi followed it up with an insane last ride for another near fall. Ospreay later tried for stormbreaker again, only for Ibushi to counter with a package piledriver, but Ospreay even countered that into a rollup. Ibushi kicked out and Ospreay nailed him with the high angle powerbomb of his own. Ospreay then peppered Ibushi with kicks and tried for the super os cutter, only for Ibushi to push him back into the post, leaving him hanging in a tree of woe and lighting him up with both kicks and hard slaps. The two jockeyed for position on the top rope, with Ibushi eventually hitting the second rope german, but Ospreay actually flipped out of it! Then he fucking rocked Ibushi with the hidden blade to the side of the face, but Ibushi barely got his hand on the rope. Ospreay then nailed Ibushi with a stiff kick to the face, and hit the os cutter for an incredible near fall. Ibushi then fought back into the match by sliding out of the stormbreaker and hitting a scary Michinoku driver for a near fall. Ospreay tried for another hidden blade, but Ibushi saw it coming and hit a back elbow, a great lariat and the bomaye for still another near fall! Ibushi finally hit the Kamagoye for the win after a war of a match. Ibushi: 2, Ospreay: 2.

Grade: A+. This was an incredible match and an incredible main event. For a relatively low stakes match in the tournament, they killed it in getting people invested. They absolutely destroyed each other in the ring and hit the biggest moves that they could think of. I hope that both of them were okay after this match, because it looked like a goddamn murder in that ring. The counters were off the charts, every move was smooth as glass, and every kickout had me changing my mind for who I wanted to win. This was my favorite match of the tournament so far, and possibly my favorite match of the year, regardless of promotion. They tore the house down, and they so deserve every push that they are getting. Ibushi finally got his first two points and can get on the road to winning the tournament, while Ospreay had a fantastic showing that proved he can hang with one of the best wrestlers in New Japan. Five stars, Match of the Night, match of the tournament, match of the goddamned year so far. If you couldn’t tell, these are my two favorite wrestlers in the world. 

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 Day 4 Review (July 15th 2019, Sapporo, Hokkaido Sports Centre)

B Block

Toru Yano vs. Shingo Takagi  **1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. Juice Robinson  ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb  **3/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White  ****1/2

Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi  **1/2

Photos.

This was not a very good day of G1 action, though it did feature one of the best matches of the tournament so far, but coming after the three great days that preceded it, it was a pretty big disappointment. B Block action commenced with Shingo scoring a win over Yano in another enjoyable Yano match. These are the same every single year; they start off fun, but by the end, you couldn’t possibly care. There was a cool spot where YTR nearly won via countout, but on the whole, this wasn’t much of a match. The finish saw BUSHI come out and distract the ref, while Takagi beat Yano at his own game, nailing a low blow, followed by the match winning Pumping Bomber after 6:16 of fun action. Juice’s pushed continued next as he defeated Goto in a good little 12 minuter. This would have been considerably better in front of a more appreciative crowd, but this Sapporo crowd just didn’t care. The finish saw Goto block a Juice left hand with a headbutt, then he tried a punch of his own, which Juice in turn headbutted, threw another headbutt at Goto, and scored the two points with Pulp Friction. Jeff Cobb and Jon Moxley had a technically sound, but deeply uninteresting bout next. This was just... a match. There was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t remotely memorable, and at 8:54, it was too short for really anything of worth happening. After having his shoulder worked over all match, Cobb tried a German off the apron, but Moxley countered, then in the ring, hit a draping DDT (it was supposed to be Death Rider, but it didn’t look like it) for the underwhelming pin out of nowhere.

Thankfully, the next match totally over delivered, and woke the seemingly sleeping Hokkaido faithful, and had them going crazy by the end. Ishii and Jay White had a total banger that is up there with the best of the tourney so far. After Ishii got fed up with Jay’s heel tactics, he just decided to beat the hell out of him. The Stone Pitbull would no-sell Switchblade’s offence, then throw stiff forearms and headbutts at him. The finish revolved around the usual amazing counter sequences that White is known for; Jay turned a lariat into the uranage, then got a near fall with the Kiwi Krusher. Jay hit the sleeper suplex, then tried Blade Runner, which Ishii turned into a German, and follows up with a big lariat. Ishi with a near fall off a powerbomb gets Gedo to interfere, but he’s sent packing, then Jay dodges the Sliding Lariat, but as he’s busy gloating, eats one anyway. White escapes the brainbuster, and tries Blade Runner, but Ishii counters into a Blade Runner of his own. He follows up with another big Lariat, then scores the upset with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster after 19:13 of excellent action. Then the main event... look, I didn’t like this at all. It was laborious and hard going, and very, very similar to the match they had in this same building in February (but not as good). This was in Taichi’s hometown, and is the only show he’s main eventing in this G1, so you’d expect him to come out with something to prove, and show the fire he’d shown in those Ishii matches. Alas, he did not. There was lots of bullshit and interference by Kanemaru and Miho Abe. Taichi channeled Kawada (again) hitting a relatively safe looking Ganso Bomb, which nevertheless, never looks any fun to take, and even got to kick out of Destino. After Taichi pulled Red Shoes into a Naito flying forearm, Naito killed Taichi with Valentia, but Taichi gets Iizuka’s dreaded Iron Fingers From Hell, nails Naito with them, and hits the Kawada style Last Ride into a press for the win in 21 minutes, and leaves “tournament favourite” Naito on 0 points. The last three minutes of this were actually pretty good, but the first 18... were not. I can only but imagine the three impending Korakuen Hall shows are way better than this.

NDT

[hazyheel]

NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Day 8 Review

We started up with Toru Yano vs. Juice Robinson. These two have met twice, both in the G1 and both with Robinson winning. Juice was very skeptical to even lock up in the early portion of this match, while Yano desperately tried for some rollups Juice wasn’t having any of his cheating ways and was mostly annoyed, but Yano nearly snuck a countout win early on, thanks to some athletic tape tying him to the barricade. Yano kept trying to hit a low blow to get the win, which only angered Robinson more and more. After Robinson caught a low blow, he nailed the left hand to god and hit pump friction for the win. Robinson: 6, Yano: 4. 

After the match, Robinson shook Yano’s hand as he lied on the ground. 

Grade: C-. Normally I really like the stupid Yano matches in the G1, but this was not really a fun one. They didn’t really blend together super well, and they didn’t go long enough to be very funny. That’s fine though, they won’t all be winners. Good for Juice to keep winning his matches. 

Then we had Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto. The record going into this match was 2:1 in favor of gotoBefore the match, Taichi made sure to beat the crap out of one of the LA Dojo guys, because Goto trained there for the G1. These two had a rivalry over the NEVER Openweight championship late last year, and that rivalry was renewed in this match. And naturally, anyone who has had problems with Taichi absolutely hate him, so Goto was vicious here. They quickly fought on the outside, Taichi continued to hit Karl Fredericks and even threw him into Goto to get the advantage. He brought the anger right out of Goto, who absolutely destroyed his chest with overhand chops. The two then exchanged a series of strikes and kicks, which Taichi actually came out on top of. We actually saw shades of big match Taichi in this match, as he busted out some huge kicks and often refused to let Goto put him down, but that didn’t stop him from cheating. At one point, Taichi pushed the ref into Goto to stun him, and then nailed a saito suplex for a near fall. Taichi then grabbed the mic stand, but Goto grabbed it and threw it out of the ring. Goto then nailed his mid kick, and went for the GTR, but Taichi grabbed the ref. They struggled a bit, and eventually the ref went down. Taichi then caught a kick to the gut and nailed a low blow, followed by a Gedo clutch for the win. Taichi: 4, Goto: 2. 

Grade: C. This match started off pretty week, but got better towards the end. They didn’t seem to have the fire or the chemistry that they had last year, but when Taichi started some shenanigans, I got into it a bit more. Goto’s run in the G1 this year makes sense. He hasn’t been doing all that much, but he beat a big rival already, and now he is just doing the job for a lot of his compatriots. Taichi was the correct winner here. He is having an entertaining run for sure, one that I am happy to watch. But this match was not the best. 

Then we had Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi. Exciting stuff, and they were in the same stable in Dragon Gate USA a while back, so that is interesting. The two squared right up the second they were both in the ring together. And they started the brawl before the bell even started. Moxley quickly resorted to his now signature bit to the eyebrow. The two blasted each other with strikes and chops in the corner, before trying for a quick test of strength that Moxley came out on top of. Moxley then overextended a bit, going for a suicide dive, but Takagi caught it and hit a death valley driver on the outside. After Moxley gained the advantage again, he set up a table on the outside, but it wasn’t used right away. Instead, Moxley started to target the leg a little bit to weaken the base. Any time that Shingo started to get some momentum, Moxley went right to the leg and knee. It absolutely crippled Shingo’s offense. He was able to get flashes of offense, such as a nice german suplex, but it would be immediately countered, such as when Moxley responded with one of his own. At one point, Moxley tried for an Irish whip, but Takagi just collapsed as he ran. Moxley tried to follow that up with a regal knee, but Takagi caught him with a noshigami. He followed that up with a pair of pumping bombers, the adrenaline pushing the pain to the back of his mind. However, when he got Moxley up on his shoulders, Takagi couldn’t finish the move. That allowed Moxley to hit a short death rider for a near fall. The two then spilled to the outside, and Moxley started to use weapons to attack the knee. He dropped him knee first on the table, and then wrapped his knee in a chair and smashed it. He was nearly counted out, but when he got into the ring, Moxley blasted him with a regal knee. He tried for another short knee to the ribs, but Takagi grabbed it, and was able to twist him around for a short Made in Japan for a near fall. The two then battled in the middle of the ring, countering several attempts at finishers, before Moxley forced Takagi to the mat with shots to the knee, and then hitting a pair of regal knees to the back of the head, but still a near fall. Moxley then wrapped Takagi up in a cloverleaf for the submission victory. Moxley: 8, Takagi: 4. 

Grade: A-. Really good stuff between these two. Moxley is phenomenal with other brawlers, but it also showed an interesting side of him that has technical prowess. He worked the leg in an interesting and exciting way, which seemed like it was only to weaken the offense, but he got a submission win. It was such a great finish, because Moxley never gets submission wins. It came out of left field but it made a lot of sense. Takagi suffered his first submission loss, but it was to the strongest competitor in B block right now. Takagi is having a rough tournament, but moving up a weight class isn’t easy. Match of the night. 

Next up was Jay White vs. Jeff Cobb. Neither have had a particularly impressive tournament so far, sitting at 0 and 2 points respectively. Gedo was of course out to corner his protege. White started the match by retreating out of the ring, but unlike opponents before him, Cobb opted to stay inside of the ring. Cobb totally manhandled White, throwing him all over the place, and only pursuing him to the outside when White was on the backfoot. Gedo still tried to interfere, so Cobb threw him into the ring and was about to beat on him when White came soaring in with a knee to the back. White opted to target the neck of Cobb, which is an interesting part to isolate due to his massive neck muscles. Of course, White tried to intimidate Red Shoes when he went for a pin after an illegal move, which made me sad. He is just doing his job. The damage to the neck actually made Cobb slow down quite a bit. His power moves took that much more energy, so he couldn’t go as fast as he usually does. However that did not lessen the impact of his suplexes and throws. He still ragdolled White around like anyone else I’ve seen him handle. White too showcased his strength, giving Cobb both a saito suplex and an uranagi. At one point, Cobb was trying to give White a suplex out of the corner, but White was holding the ropes. So, Cobb popped him up into a cradle position and just chucked him halfway across the ring. He then tried to give Cobb a superplex, but Gedo held White’s leg. White thought he had escaped to the apron, but Cobb then gave him a deadlift superplex. He went for the pin, White kicked out with probably the weakest kickout that I’ve ever seen. He just barely lifted his shoulder off the mat. Cobb and White then battled as Cobb went for tour of the islands, which ended when White was accidentally sent into the ref. Was the ref down, Gedo tried to blast Cobb with the brass knuckles, but ate a slam for his troubles. However, the distraction landed white a low blow, which he converted into a sleeper suplex. White then went for a blade runner, but Cobb countered that into a German Suplex. Cobb went for Tour of the Islands again, only for White to slip out once again and land Bladerunner for the win. White: 2, Cobb: 2. 

Grade: C+. Very slow match. It was cool to watch all the power moves from Cobb and seeing how strong White is, but other than that it was just too slow for my liking. I thought the closing stretch was pretty nice, always love to see Gedo taking bumps. White’s losing streak is over, and I’m sure that will transfer right into a winning streak. As for Cobb, I don’t know. I don’t see him passing six points. But this match was fine, nothing worth going out of your way to see. 

And in the main event, we had Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii. Intercontinental Champion vs. NEVER Openweight Champion. These two are longtime rivals, and unfortunately, I can’t look up their record against each other because of spoilers. Drawbacks of falling behind in the G1. Of course, Naito took his sweet time removing his ring attire, but Ishii was cool as a cucumber. They started with a striking contest, going until one of them was worn out and then continuing as soon was they could. Naito was naturally fighting dirty during the match, stomping on Ishii as he was grounded and spitting in his face when the mood struck him. Naito targetted the neck in order to nullify some of his power moves. The attacks on the neck, however, did not affect his striking, where Ishii had an advantage. Both men took loads of punishment whenever they started to hit each other. The forearms were stiff, the chops were blistering and they moved very quickly.  Naito was taking advantage of his speed and agility edge in the match, using some high flying offense like in his junior heavyweight days. After escaping out of a powerbomb situation, Naito started to disrespect Ishii by slapping him lazily and spitting on him. In response, Ishii trapped him in the corner and destroyed him with chops and strikes. Even when he was about to collapse, Ishii would pick him back up and keep going. He followed it up with a saito suplex for a near fall. He tried for the powerbomb again, but Naito countered with a spike hurricanrana. Naito then tried for a flying forearm, but Ishii countered this time with a straight jacket suplex. Ishii then tried for a superplex, but Naito slipped out and hit a hangman’s neckbreaker off the top, and followed it up with a hurricanrana from the top rope for a near fall. Naito continued to target the neck with his offense, and Ishii was starting to slow down. The injuries were piling up. Naito went for Destino, but Ishii caught him. He tried to go for a lariat, but Naito countered with a high angle german suplex. Ishii popped right back up, but Naito nailed a poison rana. Ishii’s strikes became absolutely desperate, which is normally a bad thing, but with Ishii’s strength, he was still able to floor Naito. He converted those huge hits into a superplex for a near fall. That allowed Ishii to get his second wind, and he just annihilated Naito with various headbutts, strikes and lariats. The two exchanged blows back and forth, when Naito hit a short Destino out of nowhere, but Ishii kicked out! Naito tried for the full hit, but Ishii caught him. The two battled for control, each trying to hit their finisher, ending with Naito hitting a DDT, and Ishii popping right up and hitting the sliding lariat for a near fall. Naito then nailed a brainbuster of his own, but still Ishii kicked out. Neither man was willing to lose here. Naito then hit Destino one final time for the win. Naito: 4, Ishii: 4. 

Grade: A-. Another great match out of these two. Ishii was actually fighting from behind a lot in this match, and I think the only reason why he was actually able to stand up to Naito in this match was his raw strength and endurance. He was at a disadvantage from the start, because Naito picked the best body part that he could have to work over. It nullified a lot of his offense, and given how much he uses various suplexes, Ishii injured himself over time as well. Naito played this one smart. In the end, Destino did it. He broke the neck down and got the win. Good stuff from Naito, glad to see that he is coming into his own now. Ishii is still the MVP of the G1 in my opinion, delivering his fourth great match in as many matches. Definitely the best in the block. Great stuff from both guys, two of the best in the entire tournament. 

Overall Grade: B-

Pros: Moxley vs. Takagi; Naito vs. Ishii

Cons: Robinson vs. Yano; Cobb vs. White

[hazyheel]

NJPW Dominion 2019 Review

Ah, after three days of watching terrible Super Showdown, I finally get something good from New Japan. Couldn’t be happier right now.

First match was the new IWGP United States Champion, Jon Moxley against the young lion Shota Umino. Moxley once again entered through the crowd. Umino started with a huge dive right out of the ring and into Moxley. This match was not for the title, but more so for Moxley to prove himself as a deserving champion. Moxley quickly did just that, drilled Umino with a killer clothesline. Moxley quickly got the win with death rider, and poor Shota Umino really had the crap kicked out of him.

After the match, Moxley cut a promo saying that he wanted to enter the G1 climax. AAAAAAAAH that is awesome. Moxley also quite roughly pulled Umino to the back. 

Grade: B. As bummed as I was to see this match be so short, it definitely couldn’t have been longer. This was exactly how much effort it should have taken for a champion to beat a young boy. Still fun stuff though. Love to see Moxley in New Japan, and it’ll be even better to see him in the G1.

Then we had Shingo Takagi vs. Satoshi Kojima. This was also Takagi’s heavyweight debut. The two locked up a bit, but it quickly became a body block contest, where Takagi actually won. There were a lot of strikes right out of the gate, and nearly got both counted out while beating the crap out of each other on the outside. The two traded both strikes and chops in the corner, which was fun to see given how celebrated Kojima’s chops are. At one point, Takagi drilled Kojima with a death valley driver on the apron. At one point, Shingo went for a pumping bomber, only for it to be blocked by Kojima, who then hit one of his own. Another time, even three pumping bombers wouldn’t put Kojima down, but only one was needed to put Shingo down. Shingo fought back into the match, hitting made in japan, a pumping bomber, and last of the dragons for the win.

After the match, Shingo also said that he wanted to enter the G1. This year is shaping up to be a great field of wrestlers. 

Grade: B+. Wow, although this wasn’t the hardest hitting match Shingo had ever been in, at times he seemed like he was outclassed by his heavier opponent. I think that Shingo’s transition into the heavyweight division will have some bumps along the road. I think that it will be a fun story. This was a good match as well, showing that these matches may be a bit tougher, but Shingo can fight through them and get some big wins. I liked the story it told, and I thought that Kojima was a good first opponent. 

Next up was a tag match in a violent feud. Jushin Thunder Liger and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. The heels attacked before the bell and they all brawled on the outside. The heels worked together very well, just tearing at any limb that they could get ahold of. At one point, Jushin Thunder Liger ran in to hit Hashi for not tagging him in. Finally he was able to, and he want Suzuki and liger facing off and savagely beating one another. Neither of the heels really took Hashi seriously, mostly just toying with him, which created an interesting underdog dynamic to accompany his recent challenge to the British Heavyweight Championship. And that upset was exactly what happened, with Hashi rolling up Sabre for the win, while Liger held Suzuki on the outside.

The two brawled a bit after the match, but Hashi was able to put the champion down. Suzuki was herded away by several young lions, and he shockingly did not murder any of them.

Grade: B-. Good match, suffered a bit from Liger and Hashi not being an established team, so it wasn’t like a classic tag match or anything. But the finish makes sense, probably sets up a match at the next big New Japan show, or possibly a RevPro show. It also did not resolve the feud between Liger an Suzuki, so that will continue to build. Decent match though, always love Suzuki and Sabre as a team. 

Into a 6 man tag match, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson. Juice and Owens locked up first, nice little callback to their feud in March. Owens tried to bring up the intensity against Juice, but he just beat the living crap out of Owens after that. Ishimori and Taguchi squaring up. Jay white soon tagged himself in, and beat the crap out of Taguchi, not even waiting for Tanahashi to tag in. At one point, Tanahashi and White were both down and looking for a tag, so Ishimori distracted the ref, and Owens just ran in to pull him into their corner. The finish was a bit abrupt, with White hitting Tana as he ran the ropes, so Juice pulled him off the apron for a huge left hand to god. Tana then gave owens a chokehold into a reverse ddt for the win. 

Grade: C+. Fun match, but not much in terms of story or high spots. I though that the abrupt finish kinda hurt the match, but it makes sense for Tana to get this win. I like the darker version of Juice Robinson after he lost his United States Championship, it is really cool and a much needed new direction for his character.

Then we started the title matches of the evening, with Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Taichi tried to play mind games with Ishii, but Ishii played them right back, such as lying on his back when Taichi tried to goad him to fight on the outside. Ishii also threw Taichi’s weapons away, saying that he doesn’t need them. The two traded blows in the middle of the ring, where Taichi compromised Ishii’s footing with low kicks, eventually knocking him to the mat. Taichi was actually fighting this match straight up in the beginning, bringing down Ishii several times with powerful strikes, and even a saito suplex. That changed when Taichi shoved the ref into Ishii and went for a low blow, but Ishii blocked two of them and nailed a headbutt. There was a long submission sequence where Ishii nearly passed out in a modified dragon sleeper, but he eventually let him go and hit a huge buzzsaw kick in the head. At one point, Ishii actually countered black mephisto into a powerbomb, and followed it up with a sliding lariat, and then a vertical drop brainbuster for the win. 

Grade: A-. A great match, and a really interesting feud. I love that Taichi almost leveled up for this match, going strike for strike with Ishii, and having the advantage for most of the match. I love that the feud is based on Taichi wanting Ishii’s respect, and Ishii being willing to give it if Taichi was an honest competitor. But Taichi doesn’t want it that way, so he tries to take it. It was a really good match, better than their New Japan cup bout, and it shows the  evolution of Taichi as he tries harder and harder to hang with the heavyweights. Ishii is an interesting choice for this, I definitely pictured him higher up on the card, but it should give us at least one more great match for the belt. I’m kinda done assuming that the NEVER champions will have a nice long reign, but I am okay with Ishii having a belt. 

Next up was EVIL and SANADA vs. the Guerrillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Sanada soaked in the love from the crowd, while Tama Tonga was giving a mix of cheers and jeers. As they started, Tama was outwrestled quickly by Sanada, so he retreated to his corner. Stronger members of the team had a test of strength by slamming into each other, with Evil winning after a couple hits. Jado got involved by nailing Evil in the back with the kendo stick while the ref was distracted. Evil had the crap kicked out of him by GOD, who weren’t targetting anything but just hitting him super hard and super fast. Sanada eventually got tagged in, putting Loa in the paradise lock so he could hit Tama with a dropkick and Jado with a splash over the top. There was a cool combination from the faces, with a superplex from Evil to Tama, followed by a standing moonsault from Sanada, and then a scorpion deathlock from Evil for a submission sequence. The faces later locked in dueling submissions, with a scorpion deathlock on Tama, and skull end on Loa. Tama was about to tap out when Jado pulled the ref out of the ring, and then started attacking the faces with the kendo stick. Jado was about to really attack Evil when BUSHI ran down, snatching the stick and misting Jado, hitting him with the stick and a suicide dive before rushing to the back. Los Ingobernables de Japon went for magic killer on Tama, only for him to flip out of it and roll up Evil with a handful of tights for the win. 

Grade: B-. A very WWE style match, with a lot of heel work on the babyfaces, some exciting comebacks and ultimately a dirty win. Still, the closing stretch was really exciting, and it was a fun match overall. Good heel work, but there wasn’t enough back and forth here to have a great match. I have no clue who challenges the champions next, there is a huge hole in the division for face teams. 

After that, Katsuyori Shibata came out, much to everyone’s surprise, and he brought out KENTA, and I got chills. KENTA is in goddamn new japan. I thought for sure that he would go back to NOAH, but he is in New Japan. For those of you that do not know who KENTA is, this is Hideo Itami from WWE. He left after the Royal Rumble earlier in the year, and has been gone since. He has never been in New Japan show before, and I am so excited to see him. THEN HE ALSO SAID THAT HE WANTED IN THE G1, OH MY GOD. I can’t wait for the G1 this year.

We went right into the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match: Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay. We started with a handshake, always nice to see. Classic babyface battle, I’m happy to see it. They started out with a quick series of counters, going back and forth countering finishers. At one point, Dragon Lee perched Ospreay on the guardrail, and fucking destroyed both of them, and Milano on Japanese commentary with a suicide dive. The crowd chanted for Milano, and I really hope that he is okay. Ospreay went for the stormbreaker at one point, but Lee countered it into a huge DDT. The two had an awesome sequence where Ospreay flipped out of a german suplex, and then kicked off of Lee’s chest, only to be met with a high knee and a reverse rana, and he then fought Lee with a Spanish fly coming off the ropes. Another time, Lee want for a hurricarana off the apron, but Ospreay flipped out of it and hit a powerbomb on the apron and then a shooting star press for a near fall. Lee then countered the os cutter with a knee the to head as he flew through the air. There was almost a double countout after a double stomp on the apron, but they made it back in. Ospreay went for a powerbomb, and Lee reversed it into a destroyer, and then a running knee for a near fall. Ospreay destroyed lee with a spin kick, ripcord hook kick, hidden blade, an os cutter and the stormbreaker. 

After the match, Lee put the belt on Ospreay. Ospreay also went to the english commentary desk to announce that the first defense would be at Southern Showdown against Robby Eagles. Love it. 

Grade: A. So I guess I was wrong about Ospreay moving to the heavyweight division, and the Lee vs. Takahashi match. But this match was absolutely awesome. They worked at such a fast pace throughout, the strikes were absolutely devastating, and the high spots soared above anything before it on the card. They worked super well together, and we got to see a lot more of the old Ospreay in this match, lots of flips, and I had missed it. I still think that Ospreay will move to the heavyweight division eventually, but they need to repopulate the juniors first. As for Lee vs. Takahashi, I can’t imagine a better comeback match, even if it isn’t for a title. Match of the night.

Then we had Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The two started with quick exchanges on the mat and quickly progressed to strikes. Naito was super over as a heel here, with the crowd extremely vocal about how much they hate him. He certainly played into that, holding onto a leg full nelson for much longer than the ref let him, and spitting at Ibushi quite a bit. As per their usual type of match, they absolutely wrecked each other’s necks. At one point, the two battle on the apron, each trying to plant the other on the tops of their heads, Naito won out, giving Ibushi a nasty german suplex off the apron, and Ibushi’s head clipped the apron, giving me flashbacks to Ospreay last year at Sakura genesis. Naito followed up with a reverse rana off the top, but still only a near fall. Naito then went for destino, but Ibushi countered into a tombstone. Ibushi then went for the bomoye, but Naito dodged it and hit a dragon suplex and destino, but Ibushi kicked out. Naito kept attacking the neck, using a huge spike DDT, a spinning reverse DDT. He went for Destino, but Ibushi countered it, so Naito hit a reverse rana, and then a fireman’s carry piledriver for a near fall. Finally, Naito hit one more destino for the win.

After the match, Naito held posed with his boot on Ibushi’s face, with the title above his head. 

Grade: A. Another great match from these guys. The german suplex spot was just terrifying an awful and I hope Ibushi is okay, but the rest of this match was exciting, hard hitting, told an awesome story. This was supposed to be their last match ever, so they left it all in the ring. They always murder each other in these matches, and Naito had to if he wanted to win. While I think this is the worst of their matches this year, that does not mean for a minute that this was bad. It was so good, and I hope this isn’t the last time that they clash. The next time they fight may be in the G1, or it could be later than that. I just want it again. 

And in the main event, we had Chris Jericho vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Jericho tried to play games here, but Okada just chased him down and put him on the ground. Jericho was a great heel here, throwing Okada into the commentators desk, and giving him a DDT on top of one. Jericho continuously attacked the ref and was giving Okada stiff shots whenever he could. At one point, Okada booted Jericho over the rail, and went for the spash, but Jericho countered the splash with a codebreaker. The two jockeyed for position, both trying for a tombstone, but Jericho eventually put Okada on the mat and locked in the walls of jericho for a submission sequence. The crowd was very much behind Okada during this match, and desperately cheered for any of his moves that he could hit. Jericho always seemed to be a step ahead of Okada, always able to connect a high impact strike to counter one of Okada’s big moves. He frustrated Okada to the point that Okada started playing a bit fast and loose with the rules. Jericho was able to hit another codebreaker, hesitating just a bit before going for the pin so only a near fall. Jericho exposed the turnbuckle in the corner, and came back out to try for a rainmaker of his own, which Okada countered with a codebreaker for a near fall. Once again, Okada had to fight out of a walls of jericho, while the commentators talked about the significance of Jericho submitting the champion with a move that young lions use. Jericho then went for the Judas effect, which Okada dodged and went for a rainmaker. Jericho dodged and went for the codebreaker again and Okada was able to catch him and sit down on Jericho for the win out of nowhere.

Jericho was furious about that finish, so he beat down Okada, giving him a Judas effect, beating him with a chair and even wrapping it around his neck and throwing him into the post. He was about to put Okada through a table at ringside, when Tanahashi jumped the rail from commentary and fought him off. Jericho then seemed to challenge Tanahashi for a future match. I don’t know when, but that would be exciting. 

Grade: B+. Very good match. It was very different from a normal Okada match. This was a brawl, nothing more and nothing less. Jericho brought out a new side from Okada, and while Okada didn’t really seem like he would have lost, it felt like he was out of his element. Jericho still looked good here and seemed like he can still go. He is a great foil for some of the squeaky clean babyfaces in New Japan. I would love to see a rematch from these guys for a better finish, although I’m sure that Tanahashi and Jericho is the next match we will see.

Overall Grade: B+.

Predictions: 4/9.

Pros: umino vs. Moxley; kojima vs. shingo; NEVER openweight match; junior heayvweight championship match; intercontinental championship match; main event; all the stuff about the g1

Cons: a lot of people don’t seem to have much of a story going forward; tag division booking is pretty bad

[hazyheel]

NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Day 9 Review

We opened up with Lance Archer vs. Kota Ibushi. Archer floored one of the Young Lions as he came in. Archer had a wicked size advantage here, so naturally Ibushi opted to target the legs. Early on, Ibushi went for a hurricanrana, but Archer held on and tried for a powerbomb to the outside, but thankfully Ibushi countered with a rana over the ropes. Ibushi went for the moonsault, but Archer hung him up on the turnbuckle and beat him on the outside. Archer worked over the ankle a bit to soften Ibushi up, but it was clear that this was more of a way to hurt Ibushi rather than an endgame strategy. Archer was constantly trying for the EBD Claw, which left Ibushi to desperately counter it each time. Ibushi was just trying to halt Archer’s momentum, such as when he countered the derailer with double knees to the face. He was fighting at a severe disadvantage, but he did it well. He started to use more flying to keep the big man off his game, capitalizing on an agility advantage. At one point, Ibushi went up top, and Archer met him there. So, Ibushi slipped out and grabbed him for a powerbomb and a near fall. Archer fought back with a surprised somersault senton, followed by a great chokeslam for a near fall. Ibushi had was most effective when Archer was on the ground, such as when he nailed a bomoye to the back of the head. He tried to follow up with a kamagoye, but Archer nailed him with a knee of his own before Ibushi could hit it. Archer then tried for a moonsault, but crashed and burned. Ibushi nailed another bomoye, and then a kamagoye, but Archer didn’t even go down. It took a second Kamagoye right in a row to finish Archer. Ibushi: 6, Archer: 4.

Grade: B+. Good stuff here. If you are trying to have someone lose and look good doing it, this is what you need to do. Archer didn’t kick out of the Kamagoye, he no sold it. That is one of the most protected finishers in the company, and he no sold it. Archer has gotta go onto big things after the G1, because he seems to be getting over, and he looks like their biggest monster heel that they have. Ibushi got another victory using his cunning, speed and agility, and continues a winning streak. 

Up next was Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale. The two have only fought once, in the New Japan Cup this year. It was the biggest upset in the bracket. Fale had never been eliminated in the first round before, and he lost it to a junior heavyweight. Chase Owens and Jado cornered Fale in this match. During Ospreay’s entrance, Owens grabbed Ospreay’s leg as he entered the ring and Fale knocked him off the apron. The ref frantically started the match, but Fale intimidated him into looking the other way while Owens and Jado attacked Ospreay. Ospreay did fight out of their clutches, allowing Jado to hit Owens with the Kendo stick and knocking down Jado, before springing into the match. He started with the advantage, but Jado quickly hit him with a kendo stick to the back and allowed Fale to gain control. At one point, Ospreay was lying on the edge of the ring, and Fale distracted the ref, allowing Owens to tear off the athletic tape on Ospreay’s neck. Fale viciously targeted the neck here, harkening back to the various neck problems he has had in the past. Ospreay slowly fought back into the match and nearly hit the Os Cutter, but Fale shoved the ref into him and sent him tumbling out of the ring. On the outside, Ospreay flipped out of Owens’ package piledriver and hit a hook kick, then narrowly avoided Jado’s kendo stick, but was run over by Fale right after. Fale then hit the grenade, but the ref was still down. By the time the ref got back in the ring, Ospreay was able to kick out. Ospreay was desperately fighting a 3 on 1 match, and he was doing alright. He was able to hit Fale with the Os Cutter, but as the ref counted three, Owens pulled him out of the ring. Ospreay then fought off Jado and stole his kendo stick. He went to hit Fale with it, but Owens ambushed him. He attempted another package piledriver, but Ospreay slipped out. He went for the handspring flip kick, but Owens nailed him in the back with the stick and finally hit the package piledriver. Red Shoes then ran out, as the other ref was down for the count. Fale was in a cover on Ospreay, and Red Shoes counted two, only for him to hang up the count on three. He flipped off Fale, said “fuck you,” and disqualified him. Ospreay: 4, Fale: 2. 

After the match, Fale chased Red Shoes around, and he narrowly escaped. Although Red Shoes did take the time to raise Ospreay’s hand in victory. 

Grade: C+. Fine match. It was all about the story here: could Ospreay survive a 3 on 1 match, and the unfortunate truth was that he couldn’t. If it wasn’t for the heels over extending when it came to bending the rules. Both men had a visual pin in this match, so no one really got over here. The real hero of this match is Red Shoes, the most badass referee in wrestling today. But other than that, this was an overbooked gimmick of a match. Leave it to Ospreay to kinda pull it off too. 

Then we had Zack Sabre Jr vs. EVIL. These two have had quite the rivalry this year, ever since he and Suzuki wanted to take the tag titles from Evil and Sanada earlier this year. Evil has only beaten Sabre once, and Sabre holds at least two other victories over him. Sabre tried to lock up right away, and Evil obliged. Right from the bell, Evil tried to use his strength to keep Sabre on the defensive, and the second that Sabre started to reverse a hold, Evil transitioned into striking. Evil won a quick contest of strength early on, and targeted the shoulders with a submissions. Zack eventually escaped and forced the match to the canvas, opting to target the neck with strikes and submissions. The two jockeyed for position on the mat, with Evil nearly locking in a scorpion deathlock, only for Sabre to transition it into a triangle. Evil powerbombed him out of it and tried again, but Sabre reversed into a modified scorpion deathlock of his own. Evil escpaed to the floor and the brawl continued there. Evil gained the advantage after a swinging neckbreaker from the apron. He tried to capitalize in the ring, catching a kick and going for his superkick to the stomach, but Sabre caught his leg and locked in a kneebar. The knee seemed to be tweaked after the modified scorpion deathlock, so Sabre focused on that. The two scrambled for control, and Evil was able to reverse the kneebar into a kinda wonky scorpion deathlock, but Sabre still escaped. Sabre then opted to try some pinning combinations, but still nothing worked. Evil wasn’t staying down, and he was dealing a lot of damage with his strikes. In the finish, the two were constantly countering each other’s strikes, when Evil suddenly got himself in position for Everything is Evil, and the win. Evil: 6, Sabre: 2. 

Grade: B+. This year, I have praised Evil quite a bit. I wasn’t always a huge fan, but his brawling style really impressed me. In this match, I saw a new, technical side to Evil, and it was certainly interesting. He isn’t as naturally gifted at that as he is brawling, but it was still good. Sabre lost once again, and against an opponent that he was incredibly confident against. He was pissed, to say the least. Evil seems to be getting quite the push in A Block, and it makes me interested to see whether or not he beats Lance Archer. Both are monsters of their block, so that will be an exciting match. This was an interesting outcome in and of itself, because of the Royal Quest show coming up. Evil beat the Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, so he may be in line for a title shot. Given how much he has fought Sabre this year, I think it is more likely that Sanada gets that shot, or someone who beats him later on, but it certainly could happen. But this was a very good match, probably their best together since they have been fighting. Also, Sabre’s tantrum was wonderful. 

We went right into Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA. The crowd was super loud at the beginning of the match, and the crowd was pretty evenly split between the two competitors. Interesting, I didn’t realize how much of a following Sanada has gained until this match. The two started with a bit of grappling on the mat, feeling each other out. Neither man wanted to commit to a strike, so they jockeyed for position from a knuckle lock. The two eventually escalated to strikes, and they both caught each other’s kicks. They went to put their legs down at the same time, but Sanada faked it and used it to attempt the paradise lock. So although Sanada is the favorite, he is acting a bit more heel. It took a while for Tanahashi to start with the dragonscrews, but he eventually did, and the match became a duel between two competitors trying to destroy each other’s knees. The two then exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring, ending with a twist and shout from Tanahashi. He held on, and hit another twist and shout, but Sanada countered the third into a hangman’s twisting neckbreaker off the top rope. The two then traded finishers, both missing their move off the top rope, and both crashing and burning. After that spot, Sanada started working towards a submission finish out of the skull end. Tana reversed the first one into a roll up, but Sanada kicked out. Tana then tried a bridging pin, which Sanada kicked out of and reversed it into a skull end. Tana then turned it around into his own, only for Sanada to do the same. Tana then flipped out of it, giving Sanada almost a Destino, but he neglected to go for a pin. Instead, he opted for a dragon suplex, but still a near fall. He went up to the top one more time, delivering Aces High, and finally hitting High Fly Flow for the win. Tanahashi: 6, Sanada: 2. 

Grade: B. Pretty good match, but they didn’t really have much urgency in here. It just felt like a lot of moves that were strung together. It was good in the beginning when it came to grappling, but it fell apart as they continued to develop their match. Still though, the counters here were very interesting. A lot of their moves required similar setups, so they were in constant series of reversals. It also showed that Sanada has the capacity to be the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, considering he is just as popular as the ace of the company. That is something to keep your eye on. 

And in the main event, we had the two block leaders facing off. KENTA vs. Kazuchika Okada. Naturally, this was one of the matches that I was most looking forward to. The two started a bit nervous. This is their first meeting in a singles match, so they were wary to over extend. They know each other’s reputation, so they know that the match could end quickly. Okada did his classic rope break early on, which Kenta didn’t seem to mind. He was shockingly stone faced in the early part of this match, when he is normally very expressive and aggressive. I ate my words almost right away, when Kenta had to break. He gave Okada the pats on the chest and then a hard slap to the face, prompting the two to start striking. Kenta seemed to have the striking advantage, but Okada was certainly no slouch. At one point, as the two traded hits to the face, Kenta baited one of those strikes and then went low and swept the leg. Kenta was constantly being disrespectful, knowing full well that not only is he in enemy territory, he is in the tent of their leader. They started to pick it up a bit, harder hits and a more urgent pace. Kenta seemed to constantly have an answer for Okada’s offense, peppering him with strikes only to lock in a submission when Okada tries to fight back. He was unpredictable, and it was throwing Okada off his game. The two continued to blast each other with the best shots that they had, constantly trying to outdo each other, both in ferocity and disrespect. Okada took the match to the outside to attempt a DDT on the floor, but Kenta fought back. He dropped Okada on the guard rail, delivered a pair of kicks to the head, and then gave him a flying double stomp. Okada barely beat the countout, and started to emulate Kenta’s moves. He gave Kenta a shotgun dropkick into the corner and then a delayed dropkick, which looks much more painful when it is a 6′4 guy. Okada then went for the elbow drop, but Kenta countered it, picking the arm and locking in a triangle, before quickly transitioning into Game Over. Okada was able to break out so Kenta nailed him with a double stomp off the top, but still only a near fall. The two then battled for position, Okada looking for a tombstone and Kenta looking for Go To Sleep, but Okada was able to slip out, nailing Kenta with a pair of dropkicks. The two went back to their striking contest, absolutely nailing each other with forearms and palm strikes. Kenta came out on top. Okada still fought back, nailing a twisting Tombstone and then the Rainmaker for the win, and for the lead in the block. Okada: 10, Kenta: 8.

After the match, Okada offered his hand, and Kenta took it. 

Grade: A. Phenomenal match. Okada adapted to a new opponent that he has never fought before, and one that seemed to have his number for a large portion of the match. He fought super hard against odds that seemed impossible. Eventually he was able to do it. This match shows why Okada is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He can fight against incredibly difficult opponents that should be able to beat him, adapting and figuring out their weaknesses so that he can come out on top. He waited for Kenta to make mistakes, and he capitalized on them. He refused to stay down, despite the wild amount of punishment that he took. Okada has amazing endurance and constitution. That is why he won here, and it is why he is leading the block, undefeated. As for Kenta, he is far from done. I imagine that he will end up second in the block, and he will go far in this company. Great match, one of my favorites of the tournament. Match of the night.

Overall Grade: B+

Pros: Ibushi vs. Archer; evil vs. sabre; sanada vs. tanahashi; okada vs. kenta; red shoes is a badass

Cons: sanada vs. tanahashi kinda disappointed considering the caliber of the wrestlers involved.