#g130

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30 Day 1 Review (Sept 19th, 2020, Osaka EDION Arena)

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura  ***

A BLOCK

Will Ospreay vs. Yujiro Takahashi  ***1/4

Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi  ***1/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki  ****1/2

Shingo Takagi vs. Jay White  ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi  ****1/4

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The 30th annual G1 Climax kicked off in fine fashion with a great show from the always lively Osaka EDION Arena. Even when it’s 2/3rds full thanks to this pandemic. The night started with a battle of Young Lions, as Yuya Uemura submitted a freshly clean-shaven Yota Tsuji with a high angle crab after 6:57 of good, solid combat. 

The G1 began with a returning Will Ospreay battling the odd-man-out in the Block (and tournament), Yujiro. This was was a brief (7:44), all-action outing, that was a showcase for the Ariel Assassin, if nothing else. After Yujiro scored a near fall with Miami Shine, he tried Pimp Juice, but Ospreay flipped out, hit Hidden Blade, then Storm Breaker to take the two points. The fast pace and short runtime really enhanced this, and if all of Yujiro’s G1 matches are this sort of time, that’s fine with me. Ospreay cut one of his excruciating promos in the post match. Taichi and Jeff Cobb, a guy who hasn’t been in New Japan in forever, squared off next. This only went 12:47, but the first two thirds felt double that, as Taichi heeled it up in interminable fashion (hitting Cobb’s knee with the hammer from the gong, walking around doing nothing for a while), but picked up into a really good match once that was out of the way. Once those trousers come off, Taichi matches get good, so keep them off I say. Cobb catches a superkick attempt and hits a Death Valley Bomb, and follows up with a standing moonsault for 2. Taichi escaped a Spin Cycle attempt, and goes to the Kawada well, hitting a Dangerous High Kick and Dangerous Backdrop, but Cobb counters a Black Mephisto into the rolling gutwrenches. Taichi escaped a Tour Of The Islands attempt, hit another gamengiri, a Superkick, then successfully hits Black Mephisto to take the win.

After a brief intermission for cleaning, Ishii and Suzuki went to war in a hard-hitting bout, which was probably the best match on the show. They clobbered each other with super stiff forearms, slaps and headbutts in glorious fashion for exactly 13 minutes. After stunning Ishii, Suzuki tries the Gotch, but The Stone Pitbull lifts him up and counters into a dangerous looking reverse piledriver. An exchange of Lariats and strikes finally sees Suzuki floor Ishii with a huge elbow, then get a near fall with a sliding front kick. Ishii hits a big headbutt, then tries for the Vertical Drop Brainbuster, but Suzuki escapes and quickly hits the Gotch Style Piledriver to take the two points. This was tremendous and really, these hard-hitting wars have been the highlight of this whole pandemic era. While most other matches have failed to reach the heights they would ordinarily have pre-COVID, these stiff, strike based matches have almost always delivered, just on their intensity alone. Jay White made his first New Japan appearance in 6 months against Shingo Takagi next. This was an excellent match that, despite it devolving into (shock) a Jay White match, had the crowd going absolutely crazy in a manner we’ve rarely seen in this environment. They were stomping their feet on near falls like it was 1985, and were completely behind Shingo. After a prerequisite ref bump, Gedo hit the ring with brass knucks, but way laid out with a super casual back elbow from Takagi. Jay ducks a Pumping Bomber, then hits the Sleeper Suplex and Kiwi Krusher for a near fall. Shingo escapes a Blade Runner attempt and hoists White up into Last Of The Dragon, but Jay’s feet send Red Shoes down again. Shingo hits LOTD, but no ref! As Shingo goes to investigate just what the hell is going on, Switchblade hits a low blow, a Regalplex and Blade Runner to take the win at 19:28.

The main event between Okada and Ibushi was something of a disappointment. It was a great match, no doubt, but just missed something these two usually have together, and it couldn’t touch either the WK14 match, or last years G1 outing, and was ultimately the weakest match these guys have had together since their 2013 match in DDT. To be fair, neither guy has looked like their usual selves since coming back from the lockdown, so I’ve no idea whats happening here. This started off a bit ropey, but really picked up when Ibushi hit a massive Asai Moonsault to the floor. Okada tried a top rope Tombstone, but Ibushi turns it into a (rather messy) springboard Frankensteiner. Kota tries the Bastard Driver, but Okada reverses into a short Tombstone for the double down. They exchange forearms from the knees which really had the crowd going, then Okada kept trying with this modified Cobra Clutch. I admire his dedication to getting this thing over, but its just not happening. Okada hits a big spinning Tombstone... then locks the Clutch on again. Ibushi makes the ropes. The Golden Star hits a jumping knee, them tries Kamigoye, but Okada dropkicks his way free. Rainmaker seemingly tries a dropkick version of Kamigoye, but Ibushi catches him into a big Liger Bomb, another jumping knee, and Kamigoye to take the “upset” win at 21:35. I say upset, but New Japan love their 50/50 booking as much as the next promotion, so with Ibushi losing at the Dome, I could see him getting his win back here. Which he did. All in all, a really great show that was action packed, and at around 2 hours sans intermission, it was a breeze to sit through. This G1, whilst unlikely to hit the highs of the last few years, is on track to being quite the tournament.

Yes, I did rather say this one would be late. Earlier today, the penultimate matches for A Block took place, and you can see it now on NJPWWorld. First the show results, then the standings, then the scenarios for who advances to Sunday’s Final.

- 10/13/2020, Shizuoka Hamamatsu Arena

Yuya Uemura d. Gabriel Kidd (Kannuki Suplex Hold, 8:37)

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Jeff Cobb [FREE] d. Will Ospreay [CHAOS] (Tour Of The Islands,  

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Kota Ibushi d. Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club] (Kamigoye, 12:28)

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Taichi [SZKG] d. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] (Black Mephisto, 16:21)

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Jay White [Bullet Club] d. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] (Blade Runner, 20:30)

G1 Climax 30 A Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] (Referee Stoppage, 26:13)

Does it gall you that the likes of Shingo Takagi, Minoru Suzuki, and Tomohiro Ishii will all finish with a losing record? BECAUSE IT SURE GALLS ME.

Yujiro is well on his way to being the first goose-egg since 2014. The likelihood of him beating Cobb on Friday is, erm, unlikely! Speaking of Cobb, it’s a little surprising, but also not really all that surprising, that he beat Ospreay, given their match at G1 Supercard in 2019. In this instance, it suddenly eliminates Will Ospreay from advancing to the Final after being one of the favorites. Let’s do the standings, shall we?

White: 12pts (6W 0D 2L) Ibushi: 12pts (6W 0D 2L) Okada: 12pts (6W 0D 2L) Ospreay: 10pts (5W 0D 3L) Taichi: 8pts (4W 0D 4L) Cobb: 8pts (4W 0D 4L) Suzuki: 6pts (3W 0D 5L) Ishii: 6pts (3W 0D 5L) Takagi: 6pts (3W 0D 5L) Yujiro: 0pts (0W 0D 8L)

Jay now goes top, after Ospreay’s loss, on head-to-head victories over Okada and Ibushi, and is now in the driver’s seat to go to his 2nd consecutive G1 Climax Final. But he isn’t alone. Ibushi and Okada are at his heels. Everyone else is now out, even Ospreay, due to a head-to-head loss to Ibushi. So here we go yo, here we go yo, so what’s so what’s so what’s the scenarios?

Jay White - Needs to beat Tomohiro Ishii. Even if Okada and Ibushi both win, he has head-to-heads over them, and this will advance with a win over Ishii. He wins, he’s in. If he loses, he’s out, because one of Okada,  or Ibushi could go above him; even a draw between Okada v. Ospreay, or indeed Ibushi v. Taichi, would put him out if he fails to overcome Ishii.

Kota Ibushi - Needs to beat Taichi, and needs Jay to lose to Ishii. Had head-to-head wins over Okada and Ospreay, but lost to Jay. If Jay wins, he’s out regardless of whether he beats Taichi, which given the mild push Taichi is getting, isn’t a foregone conclusion.

Kazuchika Okada - The least likely of the three to advance. Needs to beat or draw Will Ospreay, and hope both Jay and Ibushi lose as he has head-to-head losses to both. If either Jay or Ibushi win, he is out.

And with that, we have the storylines going into Friday. Tomorrow, we’ll see how B Block shapes up, which is a little more cut & dried, especially as two of the top contenders face each other on Saturday.

- 10/14/2020, Kanagawa Yokohama Budokan

Yota Tsuji v. Yuya Uemura

G1 Climax 30 B Block: YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. KENTA [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 30 B Block: Juice Robinson v. Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG]

G1 Climax 30 B Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 30 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] v. EVIL [Bullet Club]

I did ittttttt! Sorry for the short notice.

Here you go! Here’s the survey! There’s also the worksheet to help you plan out your picks, should you so desire! Please let me know if there are any issues with either of them! 

Last year I made this really long post that explains the Pick ‘Em rules in great detail, and also the G1 in great detail, and also has some tips and tricks for the G1. Feel free to look at that if you like seeing a lot of words at once!

I will close down the form before the block matches start, so a little after 1am Pacific/4am Eastern/9am BST on Saturday, September 19th. That is very soon! You have about 48 hours! GO!

I’m not sure if I’ll be livestreaming the shows or not, apology. 

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30 Day 17 Review (Oct 16th, 2020, Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan)

Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd  ***1/4

A BLOCK

Jeff Cobb vs. Yujiro Takahashi  **3/4

Minoru Suzuki vs. Shingo Takagi  ****1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay  ****1/2

Kota Ibushi vs. Taichi  ****1/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White  ****3/4

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So the A Block came to a close today with a, you guessed it, tremendous show form Sumo Hall. The story of this G1, for me anyway, is how completely into the A Block shows I’ve been, and conversely, how completely uninterested in most of the B Block shows I have. This started in fine form as Tsuji defeated Kidd again with a Boston crab, in a 6:52 sprint which was the usual really good, all action Young Lion opener. Yujiro Takahashi finally get on the scoreboard (and kept his weirdly impressive Kokugikan G1 record on point), when he defeated Jeff Cobb in a decent enough match, that was also thoroughly uninteresting at times. Yujiro stole the win after hitting Cobb with his “pimp stick”, hit an Olympic Slam, Miami Shine and Pimp Juice at the 10:30 mark.

Next up, it was clobbering time as Shingo and Suzuki squared off in a rematch from the Jingu stadium show next. They exchanged hard forearms throughout, before Suzuki started working over Takagi’s arm, countering a Pumping Bomber into a Jujigatame, but Shingo made the ropes. The Dragon did a great job of selling the arm throughout this. After a series of strikes and headbutts, Suzuki tried the choke, but Takagi escaped, and floored Suzuki with the Tenryu style gu-punch! He then hoisted Suzuki’s prone body up into Last Of The Dragon, and avenged his Jingu lost in 12:29 of great action. This win also probably sets Shingo up as the next NEVER challenger at power Struggle. 

Back from intermission and it was time for Okada vs. fellow CHAOS stablemate Will Ospreay. The action in this was great, and was building into fantastic territory, but I figured with this being third from top, we were likely to get something screwy. And we did. These two could have easily had a classic here, but it was more about the story that’s being woven. All through the match, Ospreay kept yelling at Okada that he was “just as good” as him (and even for loud Ospreay levels, this was at times bordering on excruciating). Ospreay nailed Okada’s own dropkick-off-the-turnbuckles on him, then hit a Ryan Smile tribute with the super Tope con Hilo over the post. They had an insane series of counters, which culminated in Okada flipping out of Storm Breaker, hitting a short-arm Rainmaker, then clamping on the Money Clip. This inexplicably brought out Bea Priestly (oh dear), who encouraged Ospreay to make the ropes. Okada locks it on again, and this time Bea hits the ring. As the ref tries to remove her, even more inexplicably, in runs Tomoyuki Oka (or is he still The Great O-Kharn?). He nails a claw hold slam on Okada, which allows Ospreay to finally get a win over his “mentor”, with Storm Breaker at 17:04. Ospreay initially acts confused, then hits Okada with a Hidden Blade after the match. He curses Okada out and tells him he “held him back”. Ospreay, Priestly and Oka all left together. I mean, this is certainly interesting. Does this mean we get a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom?

After that very newsworthy outing, it was time for Ibushi and Taichi to try and follow it. And follow it they did, by having one of the most unique matches you’ll ever see. For 17:12, they literally did nothing but throw kicks at each other, mainly at each others legs. Beyond Ibushi flipping out of a Dangerous Backdrop attempt, and the match winning Kamigoye, every other move was a kick! I was very confused about how to rate this as, whilst it certainly was never boring, it was literally nigh on 20 minutes of two dudes kicking each other. It kind of reminded me of that Brock Lesnar/John Cena match, where they did nothing but have Lesnar German Suplex Cena for 15 minutes. I mean, it was certainly compelling, and I haven’t seen anything quite like it before. After the match was over, Taichi, unable to walk, was carried out on Yota Tsuji’s back, and winner Ibushi limped his way to the back. This was crazy.

And then the main event between Ishii and Jay White. This started sloooooooow, especially after all that we’d seen up to this point, but built into one of the finest matches of tournament. There was a ton of drama here as if Jay won, he’s heading to the finals, but if Ishii wins, Ibushi, one leg and all, is finals bound. This started in usual Jay White methodical fashion, then turned into an Ishii war. They destroyed each others knees, with White hitting Dragon Screws aplenty and locking in that inverted figure four thing, and Ishii battled back by hitting a devastating Fisherman Buster into a knee breaker thing. Both sold the knees tremendously here. Ishii locks in a knee submission, but Gedo comes in and tries a brass knucks shot. Ishii blocks and tries a Brainbuster on Gedo, but White hits a chop block. After more stuff with Gedo, Jay gets a near fall with the Regal Plex, but Ishii escapes a Bloody Sunday attempt with a tremendous headbutt. White hits the Sleeper Suplex, but Ishii pops right up, only to run into another one. Both guys kept escaping each others finisher, in an amazing sequence, which culminated in Ishii hitting a Brainbuster into a Stunner. Gedo in again, but Ishii turns him inside out with a Lariat. He then hits a Lariat on Jay, and follows up with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster to end and incredible match at 24:35, and effectively send Ibushi to the finals for a record breaker third consecutive year. The Bullet Club turmoil saga continued in the post match as Gedo told Jay he was screwed by the referee, whilst Switch Blade sat seething in the corner. I suspect a Jay/EVIL programme imminently on the horizon.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30 Day 5 Review (Sept 27th, 2020, Kobe World Memorial Hall)

Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd  ***

A Block

Taichi vs. Yujiro Takahashi  **1/2

Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki  ***1/4+

Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii  ****1/4

Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi  ****1/2+

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White  ***3/4

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This was one of the strongest cards of the tour on paper, and whilst it didn’t exactly reach its lofty anticipation, it was still a great show which was a breeze to sit through. Gabriel Kidd defeated Yota Tsuji in the prerequisite good Young Lion opener with his impressive Butterfly Suplex, which then gave us a match I was dreading in Taichi vs. Yujiro. However, I’m pleased to say that whilst this wasn’t especially good, it certainly wasn’t bad, so thats a definite plus. The crowd were into this late in the game, before Taichi hit a low blow, then scored the win in 11 minutes with the Gedo Clutch. The win makes Taichi undefeated thus far, but I can’t believe that will last much longer. Especially seeing who he’s got coming up in the rest of this thing. Hey, does anyone remember when Shelton Benjamin went on that inexplicable undefeated streak in 2014?

Minoru Suzuki defeated Jeff Cobb next in a match up that, whilst very good, was something of a disappointment (a theme will occur). It was very short for starters (9:24), and Cobb, who really hasn’t looked all that great in this tournament so far, sold for pretty much the whole match. Which is something he does entirely too much for my liking. I mean, he’s a big, athletic guy, who was a legitimate Olympian, and could probably shoot kill most guys in most locker rooms, but spends most of these matches getting his arse handed to him. I mean, fine when you’re talking about Suzuki, but would Dr Death have bumped all over and sold 80% of a match for Taichi? Would the Steiners? Or Kurt Angle? Anyway, you get what I’m saying. I just think he needs to come across more as a badass shooter rather than... whatever he is now. Which is literally “just a guy”. Regardless of my gripes, this was a good match (even if there were a few ‘clunky’ aspects), which Suzuki won after locking in a choke then transitioning to the Gotch Piledriver.

After a brief intermission it was time to go to war as Ibushi took on Ishii. These guys have had three matches previous to this, all of which were absolutely fab, so expectations were high. This was an excellent, heated, hard-hitting battle, but for various reasons, it couldn’t hit the heights of their previous bouts, and the most  obvious reason being that it’s incredibly hard to have an absolute blow-away classic in the current environment. Literally, there’s only been one in my book; the Naito/Tanahashi match from last week, and that’s it. Regardless, they still had a great match, beating the hell out of each other for 15:41 with hard chops, kicks, forearms headbutts and Lariats. Just as we’d all hoped they would. Ishii started chopping Ibushi in the throat, so Kota hit those scary throat punches in retaliation, then landed on his feet on a German attempt and scored a near fall with Boma Ye on the originators bestie. Ishii counters Kamigoye with headbutts, then a Lariat. They exchange hard strikes, Ibushi hits a high kick, then Kamigoye to take the 2 points and render Ishii winless in this G1. They continued beating each other up in the post match.

Next up was a rematch from the best match of 2019, when Shingo Takagi sought to avenge his BOSJ Finals loss to Will Ospreay. This really was a fantastic bout, but obviously couldn’t reach the heights of their match last year, but was easily MOTN, in the top 3 of this tournament so far, and amongst the best in the pandemic era. These guys work amazingly well together and it produces fairly amazing results. Their counter sequences alone are a thing of beauty. Ospreay got a near fall after a Corner to Corner dropkick and Shooting Star Press, before Shingo battled back with a Pumping Bomber and Made In Japan for near falls of his own. The Rampage Dragon hit his old Stay Dream middle rope Death Valley Bomb, but Ospreay kicks at 1. Shingo obliterates him with a Pumping Bomber which garners a near fall, and Last Of The Dragon follows, allowing Takagi to get his win back at the 22:03 mark. This was a really great match, and, look, people were tying themselves in knots trying to explain how Ospreay’s match with Ishii last week wasn’t very good (it was excellent), and I fear that these sort of views are because of how these people feel towards Ospreay personally. I’ve always tried to remove the person from the matches (I’ve often loved a Michael Elgin match, despite him being fundamentally loathsome in many regards), and thats my philosophy here. I get he’s a very divisive character, but he has great matches consistently. Anyway, thats all I have to say about that.

And in the main event, Jay White once again pinned Okada in a really good, though ultimately disappointing, encounter that couldn’t hope to follow its predecessor. Honestly, this Okada Cobra Clutch storyline is doing nothing for me. It’s even more alienating to me then the red-headed balloon bandit nonsense he had going on 2018. I understand the story they’re trying to tell; that Okada has ‘retired’ the Rainmaker in order to make this Cobra Clutch/Anaconda Vice thing his primary finish, and its all building to him using the Rainmaker again later down the road, but I just honestly don’t care. It just ruins the flow of his matches. You could work dramatic sequences around avoiding or getting out of a Rainmaker, or even trying to hit it, but this submission just isn’t hitting the same notes as far as I’m concerned. I’ve said since January that Okada just seems lost at sea when he’s not champion, and this is as glaringly obvious now as its ever been. White however has looked great since his COVID induced hiatus, and he looked really good in this one. This was marred slightly by too much Gedo involvement, who kept distracting Okada throughout. After Okada hit a Rolling Rainmaker, he locks the Clutch on for maybe the 7th time in the match, which prompted Gedo to distract Red Shoes whilst Jay hits a low blow (we’ve seen a ton of these in this G1 already, by the way, and we’re only five days in!), then tries for Blade Runner, but again gets caught in the Clutch. Dear Lord. White counters into a Sleeper Suplex, then hit Blade Runner to take the decisive win at 18:48. I mean, in terms of wins over Okada, this is almost as decisive as it gets. Switch Blade cut a promo in the post match, taunting the crowd and proclaiming the G1 to actually be the “Jay1″.