NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Nine
July 27th, 2018 | Act City Hamamatsu in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka | Attendance: 2,800
It’s probably not a good thing that we’re reaching the midway point of the tournament (usually a time for people to not put on matches as great as early or late) and I’m already sad when A Block shows come up. The B Block is exciting, fresh, and full of fun matches. The A Block is kind of there. However, this show is in Act City Hamamatsu, and we traditionally get good matches here (Tanahashi/Ishii last year, EVIL/Naito in ’16, Okada/Ishii in ’15, Shibata/Kojima in ’14, Suzuki/Nagata in ’13).
Hirooki Goto and YOH def. Shota Umino and Toa Henare in 6:41
The Guerrillas of Destiny def. TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. in 5:45
David Finlay and Juice Robinson def. Gedo and Toru Yano in 3:54
Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi def. SHO and Tomohiro Ishii in 7:08
SANADA and Tetsuya Naito def. Chase Owens and Kenny Omega in 8:22
A Block: Michael Elgin [4] vs. Minoru Suzuki [4]
Last year, Elgin beat Suzuki in the G1 (**½), but lost the NEVER Title rematch in September (*). I didn’t care much for either. Elgin started 2-0 but has lost two straight, while Suzuki started 0-2 and won two straight. Like their past matches, this was a big brawl between two brutes. Suzuki kicked his ass in the crowd and then no sold his chops because he’s Minoru Suzuki. Being the brilliant, sadistic bastard that he is, Suzuki targeted Elgin’s arm, which has been worked over for most of the tournament. Elgin did much better to sell it here than in previous matches. Thankfully, the arm also played into the finish. It allowed Suzuki to slip free of his grasp and hit the Gotch Style Piledriver for his third straight win after 14:10. Elgin has had a solid, but unspectacular tournament. I’d say this followed that trend of good but not great. I’ll give it the extra quarter point for Suzuki being awesome and Elgin selling the arm. [***½]
A Block: EVIL [6] vs. Hangman Page [2]
Page’s only win has come via DQ over Fale, while EVIL is having another strong year in the G1. Early on, this was more sluggish than you’d expect. Something about it didn’t seem to click the way you’d hope. For example, Page threw out some flips that only seemed to be there to try to pop the fans and show off his athleticism, more than to win a match. However, as it progressed, it improved. The fans got more into it and it felt more like a match where points were important. They threw bigger bombs, yet did so with a sense of being fatigued from a tough battle. That’s always appreciated. Page survived a lot of what EVIL threw at him, but couldn’t get up from Everything is EVIL, falling in 15:40. Page is like Elgin in that his matches have been good, but not great. Same here. I do think some of his matches have gone too long. This bordered on that. It got better late and could’ve used a minute or two cut off from the start. EVIL continues to be a consistent performer. [***¼]
A Block: Bad Luck Fale [2] vs. Jay White [6]
Guess what? Tanga Loa cornered Fale. White at least had the smarts to slide out of the ring and attack Loa. However, from there we got more of the same. Fale and White fought outside, following a similar formula to Fale’s tournament so far. I dislike this because I’m one of the people who typically enjoys Fale in the G1. He’s usually a safe bet for some solid matches. Not this year. Fale eventually won a boring match with the Bad Luck Fall. It only went 11:42, but felt longer than both prior matches. It sucked like most of what the Firing Squad has been involved in. The only thing of interest was how Naito had LIJ help yesterday, but it was clear that nobody from CHAOS was out to back up White. Though I don’t recall Okada getting help either. Also, classic Gedo to have White beat two top stars and then lose two straight [*¼]
A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] vs. Togi Makabe [4]
This almost feels like an annual match, similar to Tana/Fale. They met in 2013 (***½), 2015 (***½), 2016 (***), and 2017 (**¾]. Tanahashi won them all except 2016. That’s just the ones I’ve seen, as Tanahashi also won in the G1 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2011, Makabe won in 2008, and they went to a draw in 2009. Wow. Anyway, you know what to expect here. Makabe can’t go the way he used to and a lot of his matches feel familiar. Like their battles the past two years, this was fine, but nothing more. The crowd was into it, since both guys are hugely popular. It just never seemed to have much urgency or energy behind it. They did the stuff you’d expect, it had a house show main event feel to it, and Tanahashi tied EVIL at the top of the standings with a High Fly Flow in 12:00. [**¾]
A Block: Kazuchika Okada [4] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [2]
The balls it takes to run this as a damn main event. It’s the top guy in CHAOS against the low man on the totem pole. He’d the low man in pretty much any stable, to be honest. This was their first singles match since shitting the bed at Wrestle Kingdom 6. I don’t think you’ll find another combination of guys who wrestled in 2012 to have their careers go in such opposite directions after. Anyway, the match trudged along similar to Makabe/Tanahashi. It was just there. It wasn’t bad, yet it never threatened to be any good. They had some callbacks to their past, which were appreciated. Okada hit a poor sitout Rainmaker and HASHI kicked out. Remember when only Tanahashi, Naito, and Omega had done that? Anyway, that set up a section of the match where HASHI got fired up and took it to Okada. However, many of their transitions and exchanges came off clumsily and you just never bought Okada tapping to the Butterfly Lock. Another Rainmaker ended this in 19:40. Booking that to go twenty minutes was a wild decision. Inoffensive, but nowhere near worthy of a main event. [**¼]
Overall: 5/10. Another ho-hum outing by the A Block. The two best matches went on first and it was downhill from there. Elgin/Suzuki was a fun powerhouse battle, while EVIL/Page saw them both put in the effort. White/Fale was more Firing Squad trash and the last two matches screamed “middle of the G1 filler.” At least the B Block is back soon.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| EVIL | 8 (4-1) | Kenny Omega | 8 (4-0) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8 (4-1) | SANADA | 6 (3-1) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 6 (3-2) | Tetsuya Naito | 6 (3-1) |
| Jay White | 6 (3-2) | Kota Ibushi | 4 (2-2) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 6 (3-2) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 4 (2-2) |
| Michael Elgin | 4 (2-3) | Tomohiro Ishii | 4 (2-2) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-3) | Hirooki Goto | 4 (2-2) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 4 (2-3) | Toru Yano | 2 (1-3) |
| Hangman Page | 2 (1-4) | Tama Tonga | 2 (1-3) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 2 (1-4) | Juice Robinson | 0 (0-4) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Eight
July 26th, 2018 | Aore Nagaoka Arena in Nagoka, Niigata | Attendance: 3,106
After a whopping three days off, the G1 Climax returned with a B Block show. The A Block has been lackluster in almost every way, but the B Block has delivered on almost every show. Today, an intriguing first time ever matchup is on tap (SANADA/Ibushi), and rematches from two bangers in last year’s G1 (Ishii/Sabre and Juice/Omega).
El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki def. Michael Elgin and Ren Narita in 9:24
BUSHI and EVIL def. Chase Owens and Hangman Page in 5:16
Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga def. Rocky Romero and YOH in 5:10
David Finlay and Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Toa Henare and Togi Makabe in 6:56
SHO and YOSHI-HASHI def. Gedo and Kazuchika Okada
B Block: NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto [2] vs. Toru Yano [2]
Will we get “wrestler” Yano or “sublime master thief” Yano? After his matches with Omega and Ishii, Goto needs the latter for a night off. He got that version of Yano. In their G1 24 meeting, Yano won a fun 1:21 match. Here, he went after the turnbuckle early and hit Goto with it before the bell. Yano hit a nice belly to belly, but that was about the total of his offense. Goto hit the GTR and won in a quick 2:17. It went short, barely had any fun Yano gimmicks, and was still better than the Firing Squad stuff. [*¾]
B Block: Tama Tonga [2] vs. Tetsuya Naito [4]
They’ve never met in the G1 before. They teased Tanga Loa heading to the back, only for Tama to hit Naito from behind and call his brother back. Oh, joy. He tripped up Naito early to give Tama the upper hand. Thankfully, he kind of stayed out of it for a while. When he did, he powerbombed Naito onto the aisle. Wouldn’t you think that Naito, a smart guy with a stable, would have LIDJ guys ready to watch his back? Eventually, EVIL arrived for help, which triggered a Bad Luck Fale run in, and then one by BUSHI, who misted Fale. That left it down to a one on one encounter. Tama hit a low blow but Naito blocked the Gun Stun and returned the favor. A Destino later and Naito won in 10:06. The best match involving Tama Tonga. It had a lot of action and though some of the early stuff lacked, it picked up late. I enjoyed Naito turning the tables on Tama with the low blow. [**¾]
B Block: Tomohiro Ishii [4] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [2]
In the G1 Special in USA last year, Ishii won (****½), while Sabre won the rematch in the G1 (***¾). However, earlier this year, Ishii won the RevPro Title from Sabre in a match I didn’t get to see. Ishii came in throwing his usual array of strikes. Sabre was ready, catching some into submissions. Sabre’s a smart, wily wrestler like that. Not to be outdone, Ishii also showed smarts, doing his own holds and goading Sabre into a strike battle. The cool thing is, each man can hold their own when it comes to the strength of the other. Sabre targeted the arm, while Ishii went after the ankle. This built to the bigger submission and strike spots. They know each other so well that nearly everything they tried saw a counter or fake out. It made for some stellar close calls. Commentary noted how Ishii has fallen to ref stoppages before, but has never tapped out. The finish was fantastic. Ishii tried to powerbomb out of an armbar, only to get caught in a more vicious looking armbar and he tapped out at 14:35. Tremendous psychology and great plays off their previous outings. Better than last year’s G1 match, but not quite on the US match level. [****]
B Block: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson [0] vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega [6]
Last year, Juice scored a massive upset over Kenny (****), though Kenny won the US Title rematch later in the year (***¾). Juice, with a broken hand, is now US Champ but winless, while Kenny is Heavyweight Champ and unbeaten. They shook hands before the match, because they’re both lovable babyfaces now. Due to that, Omega avoided the cheap shots on the broken hand. That put him on the defensive, as Juice came out desperate to get the two points. Rollups played a part, considering that’s how Juice beat him last year and how Juice won the title. Omega avoided Pulp Friction, but Juice kept finding ways to avoid V-Triggers. And you know Kenny likes to throw a lot of those. They went into a ton of counters late, including one to call back to Juice’s upset win last year. Kenny wasn’t going to let that happen again, and he eventually hit a V-Trigger leading into the One Winged Angel at 15:31. I really liked this. They played off last year well and Juice showed the desperation you want when you’re winless. I did prefer last year’s though. [***¾]
B Block: Kota Ibushi [4] vs. SANADA [4]
See, this is a reason I love the B Block. A Block is dominated by Okada main events, while B Block is versatile enough to give us this. It’s a first time ever meeting I’m stoked for. They opened with a standoff exchange that would’ve made RVD and Jerry Lynn jealous. It was a way to showcase how evenly matched they were. The comparisions are there, from athleticism to hybrid style to their dashing good looks. There were great spots, like Ibushi missing the Golden Star moonsault and SANADA answering with his own moonsault off the apron into Skull End. SANADA kept hitting a low dropkick, but Ibushi learned and avoided one late into a big double stomp. SANADA continually had the Kamigoye scouted, while Ibushi kept finding ways to survive the Skull End. There were so many great exchanges down the stretch and things were helped by the fact that neither man is a dominant wrestler. We had no clue who would win and fans bought into most close calls. SANADA avoided another Kamigoye and applied the Skull End again. Ibushi faded and SANADA hit the moonsault to win in 22:23. SANADA gets a massive main event win in his hometown. Excellent match featuring guys mirroring one another and working in front of a hot crowd. [****¼]
Overall: 7.5/10. Every single B Block show features at least three very good to great matches. The same held true here. Yano/Goto wasn’t much, but at least it was short. You need those in a tournament like this. Naito got the best match out of Tama Tonga so far. Then, the show picked up. Ishii/Sabre was a fantastic match, while Juice/Omega delivered a very good battle. The main event was the best part of the show and showed the versatility and depth of this B Block field.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Jay White | 6 (3-1) | Kenny Omega | 8 (4-0) |
| EVIL | 6 (3-1) | SANADA | 6 (3-1) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6 (3-1) | Tetsuya Naito | 6 (3-1) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 4 (2-2) | Kota Ibushi | 4 (2-2) |
| Michael Elgin | 4 (2-2) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 4 (2-2) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 4 (2-2) | Tomohiro Ishii | 4 (2-2) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-2) | Hirooki Goto | 4 (2-2) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 2 (1-3) | Toru Yano | 2 (1-3) |
| Hangman Page | 2 (1-3) | Tama Tonga | 2 (1-3) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 2 (1-3) | Juice Robinson | 0 (0-4) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Seven
July 22nd, 2018 | Tokyo Esforta Arena Hachioki | Attendance: 4,399
We’re getting to that point of the G1. You know the one. It’s when people watching their first G1 get confused because they’re led to believe that everything in the G1 is great. However, when we hit these middle of the tournament nights, things tend to slow down. The B Block has delivered in spades so far, but this is an A Block. A middle of the tourney A Block show, so I don’t have high hopes. Let’s see if they can prove me wrong.
The Guerrillas of Destiny def. Toa Henare and Shota Umino in 4:36
Hirooki Goto and YOH def. Gedo and Toru Yano in 5:09
SHO and Tomohiro Ishii def. TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. in 4:47
David Finlay and Juice Robinson def. Chase Owens and Kenny Omega in 6:30
Tetsuya Naito and SANADA def. Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi in 7:32
A Block: Michael Elgin [4] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [0]
I enjoyed their G1 26 match and match during the G1 25 finals (both ***½). Elgin won both. They’ve been booking YOSHI as kind of a sympathetic underdog, only nobody cares because it’s YOSHI-HASHI. He had momentum in the G1 two years ago. Now, he’s just a scrub. Elgin dominated the early stages, with HASHI looking especially rough. It’s not just that he’s losing, he’s also looked sloppy at points. His injury plays a factor in that. At least HASHI’s comeback stuff looked better. He seemed to figure out that bringing the fire in those spots is better than having early fire that dies out. He saved his best stuff for when it mattered more. YOSHI had great last second kickouts and survived a lot, before getting his first win with Karma in 14:22. These guys work well together, even when this year hasn’t been strong for either one. Like Elgin/White, if you shave off a few of the early minutes, this would’ve been better. YOSHI got going and things picked up in the back half. [***¼]
A Block: Bad Luck Fale [2] vs. EVIL [4]
Fale defeated EVIL in the New Japan Cup Semi-Finals last year (**¾). This is their first G1 meeting. EVIL is the one guy so far to be smart against Fale. He opened by baiting Tanga Loa into possibly hitting him for the DQ. He used their numbers against them, though it backfired after a bit. Still, at least he came in with a game plan. It played off previous Firing Squad matches, which is probably the most positive thing I can say about matches involving that group so far. The brawling outside was fine, though the in-ring stuff lacked. Following another ref bump, Tanga got involved. That brought out BUSHI, Tama Tonga, and eventually Tetsuya Naito, since Naito faces Tama on the next G1 show. EVIL hit the STO but the ref was out. Tama then hit EVIL with a Gun Stun right in front of the official for a DQ in 12:13. If you were just going for the DQ, why waste so much of our time? I get wanting to make an impact, but this is the wrong place. The Firing Squad don’t care about winning the G1, so why even be in it? It makes it feel unimportant to these guys. This was better than Tama/Kenny since EVIL at least had a plan, but was still shit. [*]
A Block: Jay White [6] vs. Minoru Suzuki [2]
White is the lone unbeaten man left in the A Block. This is a first time ever meeting and White was lucky enough to be a Young Lion during the time when Minoru was over in NOAH. Jay came in with a plan to frustrate Suzuki. Minoru is a guy who likes to fight, so when Jay stalled, it bothered him. However, Suzuki is no idiot. He’s been around the block and didn’t let Jay get into his head. Once the match got going, it was clear that it was Jay who may have been outmatched for the first time from a psychological standpoint. Even with all the preparations he made, once White got in there with Suzuki, he learned the hard way. Suzuki destroyed his arm. The heel/heel dynamic meant there wasn’t a major comeback sequence, but they made up for it with the psychological story. White took his first loss to the Gotch Piledriver in 10:35. Not the most exciting of matches, but I appreciated the time taken to tell this narrative. [***]
A Block: Hangman Page [2] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [4]
I heard many were excited for this. They had a match in ROH recently, but I can’t bring myself to care enough about ROH to check the results. There was a light start to this with some air guitar antics. However, Page quickly got serious. He came close to beating Okada and understood that a win over one of the top guys in the block could go a long way. His only win has come via DQ. Interestingly, both men went after the leg. Page did it because Suzuki ripped Tanahashi’s apart and Tana did it because, well, he’s Tana. However, going this route kind of limits what you can do since both men will have bad legs. Anyway, Page called out Cody on a Figure Four spot. Despite that, he had the crowd behind him at points. Just when the match seemed to be kicking into the next gear, Tanahashi hit his signature flurry and won with High Fly Flow in 12:08. That was…lackluster. It was not the big star making performance Page needed. Tanahashi is usually game for that (See SANADA and Sabre the last two years), but this never truly got going. When it seemed like it might, it abruptly ended. [**¾]
A Block: Kazuchika Okada [2] vs. Togi Makabe [4]
These two usually have better chemistry than you’d expect. Okada beat him in a title match at Dominion 2013 (****), but Makabe evened score in the G1 23 (****¼). Okada won again in the G1 24 (****) and G1 26 (**¾). Makabe always gets a main event or two towards the middle of the tournament, against guys like Tanahashi, Okada, or Goto. They’re not very good. This was more of the same. Okada still feel uncertain about how to handle his new character. He can hit the carefree attitude at certain times, but look kind of lost at others. He randomly reverts back to RAINMAKER Okada before realizing it. It’s understandable, as it’s potentially a big change. It felt like a paint by numbers, middle of the G1, Okada match. Slow start, lots of using your popularity to carry the action, and a pretty hot finish. The Rainmaker ended it in 15:11. It felt like a house show main event and a match that both men were using to take a rest before picking it back up late. [**½]
Overall: 4/10. The A Block underwhelms again. They already had the worst night of the tournament on night five and this was a fair amount worse. Elgin/HASHI was pretty good and that was the match of the night. I quite enjoyed White/Suzuki, too. Okada/Makabe felt like they were sleepwalking, while Page/Tanahashi didn’t hit the levels it probably had the potential to. EVIL/Fale was another bad Firing Squad match. At least the B Block has SANADA/Ibushi, Omega/Juice, and Ishii/Sabre on the next show.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Jay White | 6 (3-1) | Kenny Omega | 6 (3-0) |
| EVIL | 6 (3-1) | Kota Ibushi | 4 (2-1) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6 (3-1) | Tetsuya Naito | 4 (2-1) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 4 (2-2) | Tomohiro Ishii | 4 (2-1) |
| Michael Elgin | 4 (2-2) | SANADA | 4 (2-1) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 4 (2-2) | Hirooki Goto | 2 (1-2) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-2) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 2 (1-2) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 2 (1-3) | Toru Yano | 2 (1-2) |
| Hangman Page | 2 (1-3) | Tama Tonga | 2 (1-2) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 2 (1-3) | Juice Robinson | 0 (0-3) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Six
July 21st, 2018 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,734
The awesome B Block is up tonight! The card looks mostly great, especially when compared to a night five that was the worst of the tournament so far. We’ve got a rematch of a Wrestling Toyonokuni banger last year, a Bullet Club battle with some heat after the San Francisco show, and a main even pitting two guys who usually deliver against each other.
SHO and YOSHI-HASHI def. Michael Elgin and Ren Narita in 6:40
Bad Luck Fale and Tanga Loa def. BUSHI and EVIL in 6:06
El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki def. Jay White and YOH in 6:00
Chase Owens and Hangman Page def. David Finlay and Hiroshi Tanahashi in 7:01
Toa Henare and Togi Makabe def. Gedo and Kazuchika Okada in 6:54
B Block: Kota Ibushi [4] vs. Toru Yano [0]
Yano has been one of the tournament MVPs so far. Of course, so has Ibushi. Yano has promised to wrestle a more traditional style, and while the matches have been so much fun, he sits at 0-2. In 2013, Ibushi beat Yano in the G1 (**¼), but in 2015, Yano evened the score with a win in 0:50. Yano went right into rollups and was back to being our favorite Sublime Master Thief. Kota proved to be a good opponent, willing to get involved with the turnbuckle and ringside tape spots. Another slight ref bump came towards the end to set up a low blow and chop block. Yano then used a rollup to get his first win in 8:25. OG Yano is back! It was cool to see him go back to what has worked for him in the past. Ibushi played his role perfectly, making for a fun, light opener. Variety is key in a tournament, folks.[***]
B Block: SANADA [2] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [2]
Sabre made SANADA tap out during the New Japan Cup (***½). SANADA came in prepared. He was honestly outwrestling Sabre and winning the technical battle. It threw Zack way off his game. He’s not used to this. The Korakuen crowd reacted perfectly to each instance of SANADA outwrestling Sabre. Nearly every exchange featured some sort of cool moment. It would be crisp or SANADA would frustrate Sabre. The Sabre Driver into the Skull End into the European Clutch sequence was delightful. That was followed by another Skull End into rollup spot, only for SANADA to counter that into his own rollup and take the win in 10:52. Sabre was infuriated at being outwrestled. Tremendous storytelling and wrestling here. Sabre’s usually confident because he can best anyone on the mat. But, SANADA had his number after learning from the New Japan Cup. [****]
B Block: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson [0] vs. Tetsuya Naito [2]
Juice pinned Naito in a tag at Sakura Genesis last year, before losing an IC Title match to Naito at Wrestling Toyonokuni (****¼). Right off the bat, commentary did well to explain some of the history between these two. Naito honed in on Juice’s hand to the point where he got booed. Juice is such a great babyface that he got Naito booed. Naito brilliantly modified pieces of his offense to target the hand, like his corner dropkick. He worked this like a genius. When Juice fired up, Naito spat at him, trying to entice him to use the cast and get DQed. The things Naito did lit a fire under Juice, but his momentum would get stalled by Naito attacking the hand. Juice was prepared for Destino, countering into Pulp Friction, but Naito had an answer for that as well. In the end, Juice survived Destino, but couldn’t get up after a second, falling to 0-3 after 16:38. I loved that. The work on the hand made sense and was masterfully done. Naito was a vicious, arrogant bastard, while Juice continued to shine as an underdog babyface. The crowd was molten for this and it was better than their IC Title match last year. Outstanding. [****½]
B Block: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega [4] vs. Tama Tonga [2]
Omega beat Tonga in last year’s G1 (***), but there’s more at stake here after the Firing Squad’s attack in San Francisco. Of course, the Firing Squad jumped Omega before the bell until Chase Owens and Hangman Page made the save and allowed this to be a one on one contest. Or so we thought. They had some back and forth until Tanga Loa returned to attack Kenny. Chairs got involved and Tama teased a Styles Clash on a chair. When Red Shoes moved the chair out of the way, Tama hit him with a Gun Stun for a DQ in 9:52. Hot garbage. It’s been three years and Tama still hasn’t stepped up in the G1. He’s just not that good. Throw in MORE shenanigans from the Firing Squad and I’m over this. They’re ruining shows and the Bullet Club story is a drag. I’m done with this shit. [¼*]
As Larry Csonka pointed out today, 12 of the 29 G1 matches up to this point had some form of a run-in, low blow, interference, or a ref bump. “Genius Booker” Gedo is at it again.
B Block: NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto [2] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [2]
They had a NEVER Title banger in 2014 (****½), a wild match in the G1 25 (****½), a good one in the G1 26 (***½), and a great one in the G1 27 (****). Ishii won the title match, but Goto won all three G1 meetings. This was just what you want from these two. They went to war. WE just got nearly twenty minutes of them beating the shit out of each other. Sometimes, that’s all you want. I’ve seen some call it a MOTY contender, though I wouldn’t go that far. Not that it wasn’t a banger, I just think their G1 25 and 2014 matches were better. Anyway, This was kind of a case of two guys trying to see who can dish out more punishment and who could take more. Lots of strong style here. The dueling headbutts spot near the end were great and the crowd popped for everything. Ishii finally got one over on his CHAOS stablemate with the Brainbuster in 18:20. Great match, providing us with one of the better HOSS battles you’ll see anywhere. [****¼]
Overall: 8/10. This had potential to be an all-time great G1 show. It had the variety you hope for. We had a fun Yano match, a technical battle, a hoss fight, a classic in Juice/Naito, and a shenanigan filled match in Omega/Tonga. However, the Tonga match was so bad, it brought the show down as a whole. I was probably the low man on it and was extra harsh, but I’m over it. Skip that match and watch the rest of the show.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Jay White | 6 (3-0) | Kenny Omega | 6 (3-0) |
| Michael Elgin | 4 (2-1) | Kota Ibushi | 4 (2-1) |
| EVIL | 4 (2-1) | Tetsuya Naito | 4 (2-1) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 4 (2-1) | Tomohiro Ishii | 4 (2-1) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-1) | SANADA | 4 (2-1) |
| Hangman Page | 2 (1-2) | Hirooki Goto | 2 (1-2) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 2 (1-2) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 2 (1-2) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 2 (1-2) | Toru Yano | 2 (1-2) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 2 (1-2) | Tama Tonga | 2 (1-2) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 0 (0-3) | Juice Robinson | 0 (0-3) |
