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) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Five
July 20th, 2018 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,683
I woke up to the news that Dave Meltzer gave Omega/Goto and Omega/Naito five stars. I mean, I can kind of see it on the latter, but the former? Dave’s such a parody. Anyway, the A Block is up today, with Kazuchika Okada looking to get his first two points against G1 rookie Hangman Page, Jay White trying to go to 3-0, and the annual Bad Luck Fale/Hiroshi Tanahashi match.
TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. def. Shota Umino and Toa Henare in 7:04
Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi def. Gedo and Toru Yano in 4:36
SANADA and Tetsuya Naito def. David Finlay and Juice Robinson in 7:58
The Guerrillas of Destiny def. Chase Owens and Kenny Omega in 5:40
SHO and Tomohiro Ishii def. Hirooki Goto and YOH in 6:58
A Block: Jay White [4] vs. Michael Elgin [4]
Two guys entering unbeaten. Something has to give. White’s coming off wins over Okada and Tanahashi, but this is his toughest physical challenge yet. He’s been great as a heel and the crowd was way into this. They badly wanted him to get his comeuppance. Early on, White learned that he couldn’t match Elgin and the pace was slow. Around ten minutes, things picked up as White found ways to level the playing field. If there’s one thing his character has done well, it’s being cunning/smart. We got a frightening spot where they tried some sort of suplex on the apron and both tumbled to the floor in a heap. Elgin beat the countout back in and went wild with offense, but a Buckle Bomb saw him throw White into the referee. Someone should keep count of the ref bumps in this tournament so far. A low blow and Blade Runner kept White unbeaten after 17:44. If you cut off some of the early stuff and make this around 13 minutes, it would’ve been better. The final ten or so minutes are strong, but I’m already over ref bumps here. [***¼]
A Block: Minoru Suzuki [0] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [0]
Both men entered 0-2, but Minoru has kind of dominated his matches. They met in a NEVER Title match last year (**½], which Minoru won. YOSHI brought fire at the start again, this time jumping Minoru before the bell. Suzuki responded by attacking his bad shoulder. It took away a lot of YOSHI’s signature offense. He lost a lot of the energy he brought at the start and the match suffered. Parts of it were dull and other parts saw some ugly bumps. YOSHI kept going for the Butterfly Lock, which has failed him in the tournament thus far. Minoru wasn’t about to fall victim to that shit. He survived that and an inside cradle, before putting YOSHI out of his misery with the Gotch Piledriver in 13:44. Most of what HASHI did felt flat and it killed the middle of this match, which felt way longer than it was. [**¼]
Minoru hilariously threatened to fight Kevin Kelly after the match.
A Block: EVIL [2] vs. Togi Makabe [4]
First time ever meeting here. You know what this was? A good old fashioned HOSS FIGHT. And yes, they fought this like one. It was two big dudes beating the hell out of each other all over Korakuen. They fought where Hiromu and Desperado did twice earlier this year. Of course, their war was much different. When things got back to the ring, EVIL took control and wore Makabe down. Just as Makabe was fighting back and starting to get things going, EVIL delivered the STO to get the win in 10:16. They kept this short and to the point. I’m a sucker for a good battle of big lads. [***]
A Block: Bad Luck Fale [2] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [2]
This is Fale’s fifth G1. He’s faced Tanahashi each year. In 2014 (***½) and 2015 (***½), Fale won. In 2016 (***¼) and 2017 (***), Tanahashi won. That’s not counting two matches outside of the G1 in 2016 (***¼ and ***) and one in 2015 (***¼). Tanahashi knows how to get the best out of Fale. This was standard for them. Fale dominated at points, with Tanahashi garnering the sympathy from the crowd. Fale threw him around outside and Tanga Loa got in some cheap shots. Tanahashi made his big comeback and the fans ate it up. He hit the High Fly Flow and would’ve won, but Tanga pulled the referee out. Oh, look. Another ref bump spot. Tanahashi fought them off, but got hit with a Gun Stun when Tama Tonga arrived. Fale draped an arm over Tana, but Red Shoes flipped off the Firing Squad and called for the DQ at 16:27. This was every Fale/Tanahashi match ever, but with a finish that made the Firing Squad regret their actions. Maybe they cut it out because they’ve been a drag all tournament. [**¾]
The Firing Squad jumped Tanahashi after the match. Fale complained to commentary that they can’t win with refs like this. Dude, you just had a 3-on-1 beating.
A Block: Hangman Page [2] vs. Kazuchika Okada [0]
Page’s first main event. Okada’s been a different man since losing the IWGP Title. I predicted he start 0-3, with this being the biggest upset, before winning out the rest of the way. Okada was all smiles, which angered Page. He said this wasn’t the Okada he wanted. Page started beating on him, but went overboard with the, “THIS IS OKADA NOW” stuff he shouted. Less is more, buddy. He does better with the action portions, stealing Okada’s signature spots and coming across like he was better. It seemed like getting outclassed by this G1 rookie finally woke Okada up. He got going and began to look a bit more like the Okada we’ve seen for the past few years. It took only one Rainmaker for Okada to put down Page in 17:31. A good match. It was another strong showing for Page, who has had two in a row. Okada has looked and wrestled differently, which is appreciated. [***¼]
Overall: 5.5/10. The worst night of the G1 so far by a wide margin. The opener and main event were both good, but never seemed to sniffed greatness. I enjoyed the EVIL/Makabe fight. Fale/Tanahashi was nothing we haven’t seen before and I didn’t care much for Suzuki/HASHI. I’m ready for a new B Block show.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Jay White | 6 (3-0) | Kenny Omega | 4 (2-0) |
| Michael Elgin | 4 (2-1) | Kota Ibushi | 4 (2-0) |
| EVIL | 4 (2-1) | Tetsuya Naito | 2 (1-1) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 4 (2-1) | Hirooki Goto | 2 (1-1) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-1) | Tomohiro Ishii | 2 (1-1) |
| Hangman Page | 2 (1-2) | SANADA | 2 (1-1) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 2 (1-2) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 2 (1-1) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 2 (1-2) | Tama Tonga | 2 (1-1) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 2 (1-2) | Juice Robinson | 0 (0-2) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 0 (0-3) | Toru Yano | 0 (0-2) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Four
July 19th, 2018 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,730
After two nights off, the G1 Climax returned for more B Block action. Their first show featured some great matches, though this card is less interesting on paper. However, we still have a G1 26 Finals rematch, one of the best in-ring rivalries in the world, and an intriguing first time ever bout involving the US Champion.
The show opened with a tribute to Masa Saito, who recently passed away.
Jay White and YOH def. Michael Elgin and Ren Narita in 8:11
El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki def. SHO and YOSHI-HASHI in 9:07
BUSHI and EVIL def. Toa Henare and Togi Makabe in 6:14
Bad Luck Fale and Tanga Loa def. David Finlay and Hiroshi Tanahashi in 6:15
Chase Owens and Hangman Page def. Gedo and Kazuchika Okada in 5:44
B Block: SANADA [0] vs. Tama Tonga [2]
They’ve met in the past two G1s (***¼ and ***), with Tonga winning both. He comes in with more momentum after a win on night two and the way the G1 Special in San Francisco ended. Commentary tried getting over how even these guys are because of their athleticism. To anyone watching, it’s clear SANADA is superior. Tonga tried stealing the Paradise Lock but couldn’t do it properly. Anyway, the Firing Squad have had their matches riddled with interference lately. Tanga Loa got involved but was ejected. With him gone, it allowed Tonga and SANADA to compete at the level we were used to in their past two matches. Alas, that couldn’t last. We got a ref bump, followed immediately by another. SANADA hit his own Gun Stun and out came the Firing Squad. Surprisingly, it didn’t lead to the finish. SANADA survived an attack, knocked Tanga off the apron and won with an O’Connor roll in 10:46. The middle portion was pretty good, but we got too much of this interference and overbooking stuff. I get it at times, but having it in every match is already tiresome. [*½]
B Block: Toru Yano [0] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [0]
After their interactions in the San Francisco tag, I’ve been eagerly anticipating this. Yano’s vow to just go out and wrestle immediately was turned on when he went for the turnbuckle. Still, Yano surprised many by wrestling and trying to trade holds with Sabre. When he finally got the upper hand, Korakuen went nuts. Sabre kept trying to win by countout to give Yano a taste of his own medicine, but Yano kept surviving. Though he was twisted like a pretzel a bunch, Yano still found a way to nearly this thing on more than one occasion. He made the mistake of trying for the turnbuckle again. Sabre ducked and pulled him into the European Clutch to win in 10:34. That was so much fun. Yano is 2-2 in good, fun matches. The crowd was into it, it was different from other G1 matches, and they did plenty of great things throughout. [***¼]
B Block: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson [0] vs. Kota Ibushi [2]
I was so excited for this match. They shook hands before the bell because they’re both good boys. Juice had Kota scouted early, avoiding the Golden Star Moonsault and hitting a somersault off the apron. Surprisingly, that drew boos from the usually pro-Juice Korakuen crowd. When Kota got going, Juice again had the moonsault scouted and cut it off. The champion did his homework. He just had an answer for everything Ibushi tried. It wasn’t until Kota busted out a SICK rana off the apron that the tide was turned and he hit a moonsault, but this time off the ring post. Insane. That triggered a great finishing stretch, capped by Kamigoye and an Ibushi win in 13:03. I’ll probably be the high man on this, but I loved it. Juice had Kota’s number at every turn. Kota had to do something crazy to turn things around and go higher risk than usual. [****]
B Block: Tetsuya Naito [0] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [2]
What can I say about this rivalry that I already haven’t? Naito beat him in the New Japan Cup (****¼) and in an IWGP Title match (****½) in 2016. Ishii bested him in the US Title tournament (****¼) and G1 last year (****), but Naito got the last laugh at King of Pro Wrestling (****¼). Ishii took it right to Naito with a ton of chops. Naito spat at him and smiled, acting like they didn’t bother him. There were ref shoves in this one but it wasn’t to set up interference nonsense. It was done as a way to show how aggressive these guys are with one another. They played off their past matches and used a more dramatic build than one filled with big spots. Granted, there were still big spots, just not as many as we sometimes get from these two. Once things truly got going late, the crowd was in the palm of their hands. Naito countered the Brainbuster into a modified Destino for a near fall. He added another to win in 19:13. Another great match from these two. Despite having wrestled eight times in the past, they always manage to bring us something different. This felt fresh, was entertaining, and had some great drama. [****¼]
B Block: NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto [2] vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega [2]
Kenny beat Goto in the finals of the G1 26. I’ve still never watched that match. Kenny beat him again that October (***). Commentary hyped an intriguing idea that Kenny might want a NEVER Title shot if he won here, to complete the Grand Slam of heavyweight singles titles. For reference, Naito is also only one title away (US). This picked up early, with Kenny looking for a springboard dive, only for Goto to launch a chair at him. That drew plenty of boos. Not to be outdone by his fellow Golden Lover earlier, Omega busted out a huge moonsault in the crowd. As the match got back to the ring, they began to reel off some of their bigger moves. The crowd was invested, even buying into the wild notion that Goto might pull out the victory. Of course, a series of V-Triggers and the One Winged Angel eventually put Goto down for good at 19:25. It was a good main event and though the fans bought a near fall, I never believed there was any chance of a Goto win. They kept up a quicker pace than expected, which was nice to see. [***½]
Overall: 7.5/10. Other than the highly disappointing opener, this was a fun show. Sabre/Yano was a really fun blast, while Omega/Goto was a strong main event. The show really hit on the great Naito/Ishii match and Ibushi/Juice. If it wasn’t for the Firing Squad, the B Block would have all-time great block potential.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Jay White | 4 (2-0) | Kenny Omega | 4 (2-0) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-0) | Kota Ibushi | 4 (2-0) |
| Michael Elgin | 4 (2-0) | Tetsuya Naito | 2 (1-1) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 2 (1-1) | Hirooki Goto | 2 (1-1) |
| EVIL | 2 (1-1) | Tomohiro Ishii | 2 (1-1) |
| Hangman Page | 2 (1-1) | SANADA | 2 (1-1) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 2 (1-1) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 2 (1-1) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 0 (0-2) | Tama Tonga | 2 (1-1) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 0 (0-2) | Juice Robinson | 0 (0-2) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 0 (0-2) | Toru Yano | 0 (0-2) |
