NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Sixteen
August 8th, 2018 | Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Kanagawa | Attendance: N/A
We’re almost to the end of the line, folks. It’s the final B Block show before we hit Budokan for the last three shows of the tournament. We’ve got one of the most anticipated matchups of the entire tournament, as LIDJ members collide when Tetsuya Naito meets SANADA. Kenny Omega, Naito, and Kota Ibushi are all still alive with potential to win the blocks.
Toa Henare and Togi Makabe def. Michael Elgin and Shota Umino in 7:05
Chase Owens and Hangman Page def. SHO and YOSHI-HASHI in 6:22
Bad Luck Fale and Tanga Loa def. El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki in 5:52
BUSHI and EVIL def. Jay White and YOH in 5:46
David Finlay and Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Gedo and Kazuchika Okada in 6:55
B Block: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson [4] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [6]
The two men to beat Omega in Osaka the last two years. A first time ever meeting. Juice still can’t use his cast as a weapon, but Ishii said he could if he wanted. Because Ishii is one bad dude. Juice refused to back down, taking it right to Ishii with shoulder blocks and strikes that nearly matched his badass opponent. It was almost as if Ishii was challenging Juice to step up. He started busting out Juice’s jabs and Juice responded with a series of headbutts. It felt like a true test of just how tough Juice was. Juice waited until he was ready to remove his cast, rather than when Ishii dared him to. I thought that was a nice bit of storytelling as he wouldn’t let Ishii set the tone. Still, Juice fell into the trap of wrestling Ishii’s style and that’s not a battle he could win. Ishii hit the Brainbuster to go 3-0 against the champions in this G1 at 12:24. It lacked some of the drama that the top G1 matches had, but they told a great story and Ishii continues to be stellar in this tournament. [***¾]
B Block: NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto [6] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [8]
Last year, Goto went 2-0 against Sabre, beating him at Sakura Genesis (***½) and the G1 (***¼). Like those matches, I felt this was laid out the way it should be. Sabre came right at Goto with offense. Though he knows he has no shot at winning the block, he might as well try to earn himself a title shot. Goto was having none of that, throwing Sabre around outside the ring and using his power. It became a battle of Sabre’s technical acumen and Goto’s raw strength. They had a strong series of counters as the match progressed, ending with Sabre using the European Clutch to win at 10:43. He posed with the NEVER Title after the match, no holding wins over the US and NEVER Champions (and coming hella close to beating Omega). A good battle of power against mat work. It played to their strengths and featured a good crowd. I’m thinking the eventual title match will have the drama this lacked. [***¼]
B Block: Kota Ibushi [10] vs. Tama Tonga [4]
Surprisingly, Tonga was out by himself. He could ruin the big Golden Loves match on night eighteen by taking out Ibushi. He hid during his entrance and jumped Ibushi from behind in the aisle. It took several minutes before Kota got any offense in. Kota did well to bump for Tama, but a lot of the Tongan’s offense isn’t interesting enough to hold that portion of a match. Similar to Yujiro Takahashi’s old G1 runs. They fought into the crowd, where Kota disappeared to run up a flight of stairs and nail a moonsault off the balcony. HE’S AN ABSOLUTE MADMAN! Unfortunately, the match peaked there. Tanga Loa made a run-in, we got a ref bump, and Bad Luck Fale hit the scene. Kenny Omega showed up and drilled Fale with a V-Trigger, which got a pop. He then got taken out with a spear and Kota fell to a popup Gun Stun at 14:17. Some of the late stuff didn’t fully work as it felt too familiar. The middle portion was solid and saved this from being as dire as the other Tama matches. [**¼]
Kenny then got hit with a powerbomb. Kota’s hopes of winning the block are in danger. Page and Owens showed up with chairs to send the Firing Squad away.
B Block: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega [12] vs. Toru Yano [2]
Omega beat Yano in the G1 26 (***) and 27 (*¼). A win for Yano would be the greatest points differential upset ever. Though Kenny was down, he gave the okay to start the match. Yano went for the pin instantly, but Omega kicked out. Yano exposed every turnbuckle, but Owens kept finding ways to prevent Omega from going into them, even throwing himself in the way as a shield. The fun stuff continued with spots like Yano suplexing Kenny onto a soft turnbuckle pad and Kenny getting taped to Young Lion Ren Narita, forcing him to slide back in the ring with Narita and beat the countout. Following a series of rollups and ref bumps, the Firing Squad showed back up. Kenny got hit with a Gun Stun and Yano covered to pull off the “greatest upset in G1 history” after 9:06. Another fun Yano match and a creative way to get him to beat Kenny without the champion getting embarrassed. [***]
B Block: SANADA [8] vs. Tetsuya Naito [10]
First time ever meeting. There’s been intrigue here, as SANADA hasn’t fist bumped Naito in tags at all during the tour. Naito offered one at the start of the match and SANADA finally gave it, but Naito pulled him in to start some action. Right off the bat, their knowledge of one another was clear, as SANADA tripped Naito before his tranquilo pose. Considering the athleticism and quickness of SANADA, it was almost like Naito was wrestling a version of his younger self. SANADA wasn’t intimidated, returning the favor when Naito disrespected him by spitting at him. Their history played a major part throughout the match, but the actual action was also great. SANADA hitting his own Destino legitimately popped me. In fact, SANADA kept having Destino scouted and found all sorts of ways out of it. Naito was in trouble in Skull End, but he managed to avoid the moonsault. Their next exchange was won out by Naito, who hit Destino and got the three count at 19:52. A great main event that lived up to the hype. We’ve only seen LIDJ members meet three times in the G1 and all delivered strong outings. I enjoyed the play off their friendship/mentorship, and the exchanges throughout ruled. [****]
I usually ignore the show closing promo stuff, but this was special. EVIL and BUSHI showed up, with the former carrying Hiromu Takahashi’s ring jacket out. Naito put over LIDJ and when he got to Hiromu, the fans chanted for the Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Naito didn’t know when Hiromu would be back, but that he will at some point. The group all fist bumped to end things.
Naito must defeat Sabre and have Ibushi/Omega end in a draw to win the block.
Ibushi needs Naito to lose and to beat Omega to win the block.
Kenny just needs to win since he holds the tiebreaker over Naito.
Overall: 7.5/10. As we wrap up the pre-Budokan segment of the G1, the B Block ended on another high note. Tama Tonga wasn’t as bad as usual and everything else was at least good. The three guys you’d expect to be alive in the end are and I appreciated the creativity it took to set up Kenny’s loss. Naito and SANADA gave me the main event I wanted from them, Ishii/Juice was a blast, and Sabre/Goto was strong.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 14 (7-1) | Kenny Omega | 12 (6-2) |
| Jay White | 12 (6-2) | Tetsuya Naito | 12 (6-2) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 12 (6-2) | Kota Ibushi | 10 (5-3) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 8 (4-4) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 10 (5-3) |
| EVIL | 8 (4-4) | SANADA | 8 (4-4) |
| Hangman Page | 6 (3-5) | Tomohiro Ishii | 8 (4-4) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 6 (3-5) | Hirooki Goto | 6 (3-5) |
| Michael Elgin | 6 (3-5) | Tama Tonga | 6 (3-5) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-6) | Juice Robinson | 4 (2-6) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 4 (2-6) | Toru Yano | 4 (2-6) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Fifteen
August 5th, 2018 | EDION Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 5,480
We remain in Osaka for the second of back to back G1 shows here. Unfortunately, the A Block is up, but this is admittedly one of their strongest cards on paper. I mean, I guess it is. It’s still nothing special outside of a main event that is a rematch of one of the better G1 matches last year.
SHO and Tomohiro Ishii def. Juice Robinson and Shota Umino in 8:14
SANADA and Tetsuya Naito def. David Finlay and Toa Henare in 6:35
Hirooki Goto and YOH def. TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. in 5:44
The Guerrillas of Destiny def. Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi in 3:31
Chase Owens and Kenny Omega def. Gedo and Toru Yano in 6:42
A Block: Bad Luck Fale [6] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [2]
YOSHI bested Fale in last year’s G1 (**¼). Fale has still not be pinned or submitted in this tournament. These are the least intriguing guys in the A Block because Fale has been unusually terrible in this G1. They went through the motions of a match that bored me to tears. Tanga Loa and his shitty introduction speech got involved a few times because that’s all he’s done in this tournament. When HASHI took out Tanga Loa and got Fale in trouble, Tama Tonga ran out with a chair for another shit DQ at 8:31. A terrible match before the extra BS and then we got that trash ending. Sigh. [DUD]
A Block: Hangman Page [4] vs. Minoru Suzuki [8]
Commentary wondered if Page would be intimidated by this first time ever match. He attacked Suzuki instantly and then took out both his opponent and El Desperado with a moonsault off the stage. That set the tone for a fun brawl that was a nice change of pace from the previous match. The fact that Page took it right to him seemed to anger Minoru and when he gets pissed, it can be glorious. He began to bully Page around, but Hangman, with nothing to lose at this point, didn’t back down. It was great to see and made a match that meant nothing feel somewhat important. Near the end, Page began to fade while in the sleeper hold. However, when Suzuki went for the Gotch Style Piledriver, Page found a way to counter into the Rite of Passage and score the massive upset at 12:05. Page didn’t win many matches in this G1, but he’s beaten Makabe and Suzuki by pin. That’s big, especially the latter. An intense win for Page. [***¼]
A Block: Jay White [10] vs. Togi Makabe [4]
There’s an interesting set up here. Jay White has been all about mind games and playing up his brain over his brawn. However, with Makabe being so old and past his prime, Jay just went right at it. It was somewhat disrespectful because he took the legend so lightly. As he beat on Makabe and fired him up, he even mockingly said, “There he is,” as if he finally got a Makabe worthy of a match. When Makabe got going, it led to some good exchanges that felt different from what we’ve mostly gotten on this tour. However, it eventually just broke down into the same Jay White closing stretch we’ve seen in almost every G1 match. That included the ref bump and a chair shot (it’s either that or a low blow), which set up the Blade Runner for the finish at 10:22. They were heading towards something very good, only to give us more of the same late. With a better, different ending, this would’ve ranked towards the top of G1 matches for either guy. [***]
A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [12] vs. Michael Elgin [6]
A first time NJPW battle between teammates. Though they aren’t a regular tandem, they’ve worked the World Tag League together in the past and were part of countless Taguchi Japan matches. I got a kick out of watching Elgin use some of their old tag moves in an aggressive manner for offense. It was a nice, original idea. Of course, there was also a case of knowing what the other was bringing to the table because of familiarity. Elgin entered with a bad arm, but Tanahashi went after the leg. Probably a combination of sticking with your best stuff and not wanting to attack his friend’s injury. It became a battle of Elgin’s strength against Tanahashi’s veteran knowhow. Tanahashi knows how to win G1 matches, so when he saw how outmatched he was even by an injured Elgin, he began going for flash pins. That played into the finish, as Tanahashi scored another win by turning an Elgin Bomb into a cradle at 16:03. Unfortunately, that spot came off awkwardly and Elgin kind of had to pin himself. Still, this was the best thing on the show so far and the first A Block match worth going out of your way to see in a while. [***¾]
A Block: EVIL [8] vs. Kazuchika Okada [12]
EVIL bested Okada in this building in last year’s G1 (****), but lost an IWGP Title match in October (***¼). The pressure was on Okada to win, but even in his “redemption” storyline, he continues to just win as if he never lost the IWGP Title. Like their G1 battle last year, EVIL was vicious and attacked Okada like a man possessed. They called back to their previous outings and did a lot of fighting outside. Luckily, outside brawling is something EVIL is great at. EVIL also brought a touch of innovation to this, utilizing Red Shoes to help him on a Magic Killer. It came off great. He hit Okada with a lot of his big offense, putting the former IWGP Champion on the ropes. Both men used each other’s finishers, which I feel is something we saw in a recent Okada match that I can’t exactly remember. Anyway, Okada eventually won with the Rainmaker, as expected, at 18:27. The best Okada match of this G1, but still unable to crack four stars. The result never feeling like it was in doubt didn’t help. Good action and an intense battle to cap the show. [***¾]
Overall: 7/10. I’ve still yet to give an A Block match **** since night one, but this was probably the Block’s best effort since then. Even with the awful Fale/HASHI match, this was a consistent show. Page/Suzuki was a fun match, while White/Makabe just needed a better finishing stretch to stand out. The final two matches were very good and just shy of great.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 14 (7-1) | Kenny Omega | 12 (6-1) |
| Jay White | 12 (6-2) | Kota Ibushi | 10 (5-2) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 12 (6-2) | Tetsuya Naito | 10 (5-2) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 8 (4-4) | SANADA | 8 (4-3) |
| EVIL | 8 (4-4) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 8 (4-3) |
| Hangman Page | 6 (3-5) | Tomohiro Ishii | 6 (3-4) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 6 (3-5) | Hirooki Goto | 6 (3-4) |
| Michael Elgin | 6 (3-5) | Tama Tonga | 4 (2-5) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-6) | Juice Robinson | 4 (2-5) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 4 (2-6) | Toru Yano | 2 (1-6) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Fourteen
August 4st, 2018 | EDION Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan | Attendance: 5,550
Ah, it’s time for the annual Osaka show. Traditionally, this is a big night for the G1. It usually comes near the end of the tournament and features some big time battles. Last year we got Juice/Kenny & Okada/EVIL, 2016 gave us Okada/Ishii & Marufuji/Tanahashi, 2015 had Okada/Goto, and 2014 had Tanahashi/Nakamura and Shibata/Honma. So yea, some big events here. B Block, already a stellar block (except you Tama Tonga) puts on one of their stronger cards of the entire tournament.
Bad Luck Fale and Tanga Loa def. SHO and YOSHI-HASHI in 5:34
El Desperado and Minoru Suzuki def. Chase Owens and Hangman Page in 8:05
Jay White and YOH def. Toa Henare and Togi Makabe in 7:07
David Finlay and Michael Elgin def. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shota Umino in 8:21
BUSHI and EVIL def. Gedo and Kazuchika Okada in 6:17
B Block: SANADA [6] vs. Toru Yano [2]
SANADA won their prior G1 meeting last year (**¼). Yano, with just one win so far, attacked SANADA during his entrance to gain the upper hand. Oddly, they rang the bell while they fought on the aisle so SANADA nearly got counted out when he was tied up into the Paradise Lock. He had to hop back to the ring to beat it. With the match in the ring, we got a complete blast of a match. Yano called for Rocky Romero to help him escape the Paradise Lock. He did and when SANADA questioned him, he did the Yano shrug. Amazing. SANADA put Yano back in the Paradise Lock and tied him to the guardrail. Rocky tried helping again and got put in the Paradise Lock while still on commentary! SANADA won by countout at 5:22 as Rocky shouted, “HELP ME! SOMEBODY GET MILANO! HE’S THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS THE KEY!” on commentary. Yano continues to be a nonstop source of fun. Outstanding. [***]
B Block: NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto [4] vs. Tama Tonga [4]
Goto beat Tama in the 2016 New Japan Cup (**¾) and again in that year’s G1 (***). This match means nothing. Usually, though both men are eliminated, Tama would be fighting for a potential NEVER Title shot. Instead, he doesn’t care about winning. Tanga did his shitty TAKA impersonation. Goto’s G1 has been like his career. He’s had some good matches and a few wins, but had no shot against the big dogs in the block. Anyway, there’s no need to recap this because it was everything the Firing Squad has given us in this tournament. They had a boring match until the run-ins and shenanigans began. Red Shoes ran down after a ref bump to take over and flipped off the Firing Squad. It was less effective here than when he did it earlier in the tournament. It led to a DQ win for Goto at 11:15. What a giant waste of time. [½*]
B Block: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Juice Robinson [4] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [6]
Sabre eliminated Juice from the US Title Tournament at last year’s G1 Special in USA (***¾). TAKA’s pre-match promo featured him saying Zack would become the US Champion, so this match now has meaning. THANK YOU! Juice has always been a “heart on his sleeve” kind of guy. He has more guys than brains and against a guy like Sabre, that’s not good. Cocky Sabre was more than happy to goad him into stupid mistakes and would capitalize by twisting him up when given the chance. It was like Sabre took pride in bending and cranking on Juice’s injured hand. There were great exchanges that told the story it needed to from start to finish. Speaking of the finish, it was a wild one. Sabre twisted Juice up, but the US Champ refused to give up. Sabre just kept adding new variations on his existing submission, to the point where he used some kind of inverted figure four stump puller chicken wing. You must see it to believe it. That got the win in 13:39. Damn good match featuring two great wrestlers playing to their strengths. I’m pumped for their eventual title match. [***¾]
B Block: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega [12] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [4]
Last year, these two had a stellar trilogy. Ishii won in the New Japan Cup (****¼), while Omega won in the US Title Finals (****½) and at Wrestling Dontaku (****½). There’s the added intrigue of Ishii possibly getting a title shot with a win and Omega wanting to avoid another Osaka upset after last year. I’ve criticized Kenny for feeling like a moves machine at times. Here, like the Sabre match, he brought a lot more. He showed a big arrogant side early, seemingly overconfident after two straight wins over Ishii and six straight in this G1 (plus the wins over Okada and Cody since June). It’s such a good contrast from his Sabre match where he felt desperate. After winning that, the man thinks he’s bulletproof. However, Ishii was a different animal tonight. As Omega kicked away at him, Ishii laughed it off. WE GOT A SMILE FROM ISHII! After Omega hit his tope con hilo, he seemed to favor his heel, showing his first signs of weakness in the tournament. Ishii started to get going and it became a case of Kenny having to throw everything at him to try and keep him down. It meant he threw an ABSURD amount of V-Triggers. My buddy Dante counted and he threw 13 of them in this match (38 in the entire tournament). It was a bit much, but I popped when Ishii no sold some. That set a tone for Ishii being able to survive whatever Omega threw at him. We got a great visual late of Omega bleeding from the mouth as it was clear he was in danger. Ishii finally hit the Brainbuster and secured the win at 22:42. A banger of a match. Again, Omega brought more than just moves and it was masterful. Ishii, a guy who typically doesn’t win big matches, beat the IWGP Champion in a war. They beat the hell out of each other and told a masterful story that opens the block for Naito (and possibly Ibushi), while hopefully setting up an Ishii title match. Intense action and dynamite storytelling. [****½]
B Block: Kota Ibushi [8] vs. Tetsuya Naito [10]
Ibushi beat Naito in his first G1 in 2013 (****) and in the 2015 New Japan Cup (****). Naito won their G1 25 meeting (***¾) and an incredible G1 match last year (****¾). These two are willing to land on their necks for the sake of a match and they did a fair amount of that here. Early on, Naito brought out more heel tactics than he has lately, turning the crowd against him a bit. He went after Ibushi’s knee to start but they sort of drifted away from that rather quickly. That portion of the match didn’t work that well for me. However, once Naito went after the next, things picked up. It made more sense because of Ibushi’s history and the set up for Destino. This featured some horrifyingly unsafe looking spots that would make anyone cringe. They threw bomb after bomb, fitting of the matches we’re used to from these two. Ibushi, like almost everyone else, survived Destino. That move really means nothing anymore. I did truly like Ibushi hitting a Boma Ye before the Kamigoye to win in 25:09. Not quite on the level of Ishii/Omega, but a worthy follow-up and main event. Insanity in terms of spots and a crazy pace that made for a wild main event. [****¼]
Overall: 8.5/10. Again, if it wasn’t for Tama Tonga, this would be an all-time great single block G1 show. He and Goto sucked the life out of the building. Other than that dire match, everything ruled and was different. SANADA/Yano was a delightful sprint, Juice/Sabre set up a future title match with great storytelling, Ishii/Omega did something similar but in a completely different and epic way, while Ibushi/Naito was a ridiculous main event. The B Block delivers yet again.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 12 (6-1) | Kenny Omega | 12 (6-1) |
| Jay White | 10 (5-2) | Kota Ibushi | 10 (5-2) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 10 (5-2) | Tetsuya Naito | 10 (5-2) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 8 (4-3) | SANADA | 8 (4-3) |
| EVIL | 8 (4-3) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 8 (4-3) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 6 (3-4) | Tomohiro Ishii | 6 (3-4) |
| Michael Elgin | 6 (3-4) | Hirooki Goto | 6 (3-4) |
| Hangman Page | 4 (2-5) | Tama Tonga | 4 (2-5) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-5) | Juice Robinson | 4 (2-5) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 2 (1-6) | Toru Yano | 2 (1-6) |
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night Thirteen
August 2nd, 2018 | Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium in Fukuoka, Japan | Attendance: 3,580
It’s officially the back third of the G1. Each block only has three shows left. With things winding down, there are a few questions. Can A Block finally come close to the B Block standards? Will Jay White find a way to win this block? Will Gedo have it come down to Tana/Okada yet again? Will the Firing Squad continue to suck? Is it really Okada struggling if he’s winning most of his matches?
Gedo and Toru Yano def. Ren Narita and Toa Henare in 4:53
The Guerrillas of Destiny def. Hirooki Goto and YOH in 6:14
David Finlay and Juice Robinson def. TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. in 6:13
SHO and Tomohiro Ishii def. Chase Owens and Kenny Omega in 6:16
SANADA and Tetsuya Naito def. Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi in 6:52
A Block: Bad Luck Fale [6] vs. Michael Elgin [4]
No prior G1 meetings for these two but they split New Japan Cup matches in 2016 (***) and 2017 (*). These two managed to have some decent back and forth during this match. It was two powerhouses hammering away on one another. That’s fine. Of course, it couldn’t stay that way. Things had to go south. We got the ref bump, interference, chair stuff, etc. The biggest issues are that A) it’s redundant, B) it’s dumb in an important tournament, and C) it’s inconsistent from a character standpoint. If you don’t care about winning, why waste our time with lengthy matches? A Tama Tonga run in caused a DQ at 11:13. They destroyed Elgin’s arm with a chair. Lame. [½*]
A Block: Hangman Page [2] vs. Togi Makabe [4]
A first time ever meeting between an ROH guy getting a big NJPW show and a G1 veteran. Togi, especially at this point in his career, is best suited for G1 sprints. That’s what we got here. He and Page had a little war with brawling around the ring and some hard hitting strikes. It felt like Makabe took Page lightly and Hangman was throwing out his best because he was desperate to get that first pin in his G1 career. Still, Makabe knows what he’s doing and got in control. He went for the King Kong Knee Drop but missed. Page surprisingly won a lariat battle and hit his first Rite of Passage in this tournament for the win at 9:10. About as good as I could’ve asked for from these two. A physical sprint that didn’t overstay its welcome. [***]
A Block: Jay White [8] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [2]
Another first time ever meeting. Though White has attempted to take over CHAOS, one assumes YOSHI would stand by his buddy Okada over White. White jumped HASHI before the bell, as if one really needs that advantage against a guy of HASHI’s stature. He did a lot of his usual underhanded tactics, including threatening to bring a chair into play, a low blow, and a ref bump. Yes, there was another ref bump in the G1. Shocking. YOSHI brought his usual brand of fire. It was alright at best, like everything else he does. One thing I liked was how he didn’t go for a ton of Butterfly Lock attempts. That’s bitten him in the ass in past G1 matches. Still, he wasn’t good enough as the ref bump set up the low blow and Blade Runner finish in 9:48. Keeping this short worked to its advantage, but it’s just so hard to get invested in anything Tacos does. The fact that it was ripe with the worst of Jay White stuff and it didn’t work. [**½]
A Block: EVIL [8] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [10]
A win would be huge for EVIL in his hopes to stay alive. These guys split matches last year, with EVIL winning in the New Japan Cup (***¾) and Tanahashi taking the rematch at Wrestling Toyonokuni (***¼). They worked this with EVIL being the bully who beat Tanahashi up. However, the crowd hasn’t been keen on booing LIDJ guys, so it made for a strange dynamic. Still, the in-ring action was strong. There were good back and forth exchanges, with it being clear that they’ve developed some chemistry during their Taguchi Japan/LIDJ tags. My biggest gripe with this match was that it never truly felt like EVIL would pull this out. When Omega, atop the B Block, wrestled yesterday you got the sense Sabre would best him. I never felt that here. Tanahashi won with the High Fly Flow at 12:57. It was a fine match, but probably their worst together and not what you want from two guys near the top of the block. [***]
A Block: Kazuchika Okada [8] vs. Minoru Suzuki [8]
I still get a laugh out of how I’m supposed to take Okada as a guy struggling when he’s doing so well. Okada beat Minoru in the awesome G1 24 (****¼) and in last year’s title match at New Beginning (*¾). They also went to draws in last year’s G1 (***¾) and at Suzuki’s 30th Anniversary Show this year. Anyway, Minoru jumped Okada during his entrance, done with his stupid balloon nonsense. Parts of this felt similar to Suzuki/Tanahashi, in that Suzuki just beat the hell out of his opponent. He was sadistic and dominated most of it. And yet, like EVIL/Tanahashi, it never felt like the outcome was in doubt. That’s one of the pitfalls of announcing matchups ahead of time. We all know that Tanahashi/Okada is on the final show and a loss here would’ve effectively eliminated Okada, so there was no way that happened. They have wrestled a lot and have strong chemistry, but this wasn’t their best effort together. Okada won the final exchange and stayed alive with the Rainmaker at 18:20. A fine main event, but one that felt hollow at times. We knew the outcome, they never pulled me in to believe anything else, and that kept it from being great. Still, very good stuff. [***½]
Overall: 6/10. I guess this was one of the better A Block shows. I mean, there’s not a lot of good coming from this side. Everything seemed to be wildly average. Fale/Elgin was trash, while White/HASHI was kind of just there. Makabe/Page and EVIL/Tanahashi were both good, but nowhere near great. Okada/Suzuki was a fitting main event as they delivered a strong match, just not one that will stand out or be memorable.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 12 (6-1) | Kenny Omega | 12 (6-0) |
| Jay White | 10 (5-2) | Tetsuya Naito | 10 (5-1) |
| Kazuchika Okada | 10 (5-2) | Kota Ibushi | 8 (4-2) |
| Minoru Suzuki | 8 (4-3) | SANADA | 6 (3-3) |
| EVIL | 8 (4-3) | Zack Sabre Jr. | 6 (3-3) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 6 (3-4) | Tomohiro Ishii | 4 (2-4) |
| Michael Elgin | 6 (3-4) | Juice Robinson | 4 (2-4) |
| Hangman Page | 4 (2-5) | Hirooki Goto | 4 (2-4) |
| Togi Makabe | 4 (2-5) | Tama Tonga | 4 (2-4) |
| YOSHI-HASHI | 2 (1-6) | Toru Yano | 2 (1-5) |
