#njg128

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 28 Day 2 Review (July 15th 2018, Tokyo, Ota Ward Gymnasium)

Michael Elgin & Shota Umino vs. Hangman Page & Chase Owens  ***1/4

YOSHI-HASHI & SHO vs. EVIL & BUSHI  **3/4

Togi Makabe & Toa Henare vs. Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado  **

Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa  **1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay vs. Jay White & YOH  **3/4

B Block:

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano  ***1/2

Juice Robinson vs. Tama Tonga  **1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA  ****

Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.  ****1/2

Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito  ****3/4+

Photos.

This was a great show. This B Block on paper looked considerably stronger than its A Block counterpart, and on the basis of the first two nights, I’d say that was a fair assessment. B Block action kicked off with a really good little 8 minuter between CHAOS stablemates Ishii and Yano. This was way better than expected, mainly because it was completely different to what was expected. Instead of the usual Yano comedy show, we got an actual wrestling match which was a nice little hybrid of both guys’ regular matches. They traded shoulder tackles, forearms, lariats and suplexes (yes, Yano was throwing suplexes like he was a Steiner), before Yano reverted to form and removed the turnbuckle pad, and slingshotted Ishii into the exposed steel. Ishii battled back with hard lariats and a headbutt, then tried the Brainbuster, but YTR turned it into a Fireman’s cradle for a near fall. Yano teased a low blow, but the ref stopped him, then the ref was bumped, Ishii hit a low blow on Yano, then scored the winning three count with La Magistral cradle. This match was just a ton of fun and probably the best actual in-ring performance. I’ve seen in years from Yano. A newly-on-the-push Tama Tonga pinned US Champion Juice Robinson in 14:05 of a match that nobody cared about. The work was really solid, but there was no heat. After Juice hit a Jackhammer and a gut buster, Tanga Loa ran in, but was swifty nailed with the cast bound Big Left Hand, before Juice turned around into a Gun Stun to take the loss.

Things really picked up with the next three bouts. Goto and SANADA had a great, fast paced match that built really well to a captivating climax. Goto hit an Ushigoroshi, only for SANADA to hit the same move on its owner, then locked on Skull End, but Goto got free, prompting Cold Skull to go for the Moonsault, but Goto moved. SANADA took a great inside out bump off a big Goto lariat, then did Goto’s signature runing the ropes reversals spot, which ended in SANADA locking on Skull End off a quebrada, but Goto escaped with a reverse GTR, then hit the real GTR to take the win and the two points at 13:38. ZSJ and Kota Ibushi had their usual excellent technical masterclass. Lots of submissions from Sabre (would you believe?) and Ibushi would battle back with his stiff kicks and palm strikes. Zack turned a Last Ride attempt into a single leg crab, and scored a near fall with a PK. They traded hard strikes, and Sabre turned a Kamigoye into a triangle choke, which Ibushi turned into a Last Ride in a call back to their match from last years G1. Sabre, who’s now using the Michinoku Driver, tried the move, but Kota turned it into a Dragon Suplex. Zack again turned a Kamigoye attempt into a knee bar, then went for the European Clutch, but Ibushi rolled through into a straight jacket suplex, before transitioning that into a match winning Kamigoye at the 22:58 mark of an excellent match.

Then it was main event time, which was a rematch of the all-time best G1 Final ever as IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega took on Tetsuya Naito. This was a classic G1 match, and whilst a shade inferior to their two previous bouts together, was just tremendous stuff. The crowd were super into this one, going crazy for its 23:19 running time. They hit all their big spots, and whilst it was both guys first G1 match of the year, they worked it like it was the final. This got really crazy when Kenny hit his huge dive over the barricade, into the crowd. They made it back inside and Omega went up top, but Naito crotched him. He went for the top rope Frankensteiner, but Kenny dropped Naito face-first on the turnbuckles, in a great call back to the match from last year. Omega with a snap dragon and a Doctor Bomb scored a near fall. Kenny tried OWA, but Naito countered with a reverse rana. They went up top again and Naito hit a reverse rana from there, and gloria for a great near fall. Omega starts obliterating Naito with V-Triggers, then goes for OWA again, but Naito turns it into Destino. Naito with another Destino attempt, but Kenny turns it into a sitout Tombstone, which looked scary. Omega then teased a top rope Dragon Suplex, but thankfully Naito fought free and hit a sunset bomb. Naito hit a beautiful uranage suplex, then tried another Destino, but Kenny turns it into a package Tombstone. Some more V-Triggers, a double underhook piledriver and a One Winged Angel followed for the champion, resulting in his getting the win and the two point lead. This was a fantastic match.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 28 Day 9, Day 10 & Day 11 Reviews (July 27th, Shizuoka, July 28th, Aichi & July 30th, Kagawa)

 Day 9: A Block

Michael Elgin vs. Minoru Suzuki  ***1/2

EVIL vs. Hangman Page  ***3/4

Jay White vs. Bad Luck Fale  **

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe  ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. YOSHI-HASHI  ****1/4

Day 10: B Block

Tama Tonga vs. Zack Sabre Jr.  **

Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano  **

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kota Ibushi  ****3/4

Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito  ***1/2

Kenny Omega vs. SANADA  ****1/2

Day 11: A Block

Togi Makabe vs.Bad Luck Fale  *3/4

Jay White vs. Hangman Page  ***

EVIL vs. Minoru Suzuki  ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI  ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin  ****1/2

Photos.

So the inevitable happened and I’d fallen behind on the G1, as is prerequisite every year. Night 9 saw the A Blockers in Shizuoka. This was a really good show with an excellent main event. This block is comprised of the older guys who don’t want to be going out there trying to have the MOTY every night, which is fine, but as a result amkes these shows come off as a bit ‘ordinary’ next to its B Block counterpart. Minoru Suzuki pinned Michael Elgin in a very good match with the Gotch Piledriver after 14 minutes of action. This told a good story in that Suzuki worked over Elgin’s right arm all match, so to off set the power moves he’s known for. There was a really good sequence where Suzuki locked in a kimura on the left arm, and as Big Mike tried to block it, he left his injured right arm open, which was Suzuki’s plan you see, and he got locked in a jujigatame. Elgin powered out with a deadlift powerbomb. Elgin escaped a choke, hits a Tiger Driver, but Suzuki locks in a gulliotine, the rear naked choke again, then the Gotch for the win. EVIL and Hangman Page had a great match next. I wasn’t especially feeling this one, but it turned out much better than I’d expected. Page, who’s working incredibly hard in this tourney, hit his huge Orihara Moonsault to the floor, which is always impressive/scary given his size. EVIL hit Darkness Falls for a near fall, then went for the STO but Page countered with a beautifully timed superkick. Hangman with the sligshot lariat gets a near fall, then they counter each other, EVIL hits his own big lariat and the STO to win at 15:40. Bad Luck Fale pinned Jay White at 11:42 with the Bad Luck Fall to win a  brawl we’ve all seen before at this point. This had the usual Firing Squad skullduggery. White speared Fale into the English announce table and took them out for the entire match. You know the score here; they brawled around for a bit, then the ref was bumped which brought in Tanga Loa, but White hit a low blow, then nailed him with a chairshot. This brought out Tama Tonga, who hit Gun Stun on Switchblade, which lead to the finish.

Tanahashi and Makabe had their usual very good outing together. It seems they have a match every G1 and its always very good, but never blow away. Of course the history here is that Tanahashi’s first ever professional match was against Togi. This was a fun little sprint, they had a great struggle on the top with Tana trying to block the Spider German. Makabe turned it into an overhead suplex off the top, but misses the Kong Knee. Tana with Sling Blade, but Makabe kicks at one. Tana with the standing HFF then the actual High Fly Flow finishes him in exactly 12 minutes. The win makes Tanahashi and EVIL joint top of the A Block with 8 points each. the main event between stablemates and good friends Okada and YOSHI-HASHI was excellent but took some time for the crowd to really get into it. Mainly because nobody bought YH winning. This was their first match together since their all-time classic at WK6, which blew the roof off the tokyo Dome... OK, it really didn’t, it was a fairly terrible match, and in fact, I don’t think I could name a worse Okada match in all fairness, so these guys really needed to redeem themselves here. Which they did. Okada payed homage to that stinker but hitting the air raid crash (not over the knee), then his God awful original version of the Rainmaker, in which he sat down on it, but YOSHI kicked at two, which really got the crowd into it. The story of the match was Okada treating YH as if he wasn’t on his level, but HASHI would make his spirited comebacks. Okada went for the real Rainmaker, but YOSHI counters with a big Lariat of his own. He locks in the Butterfly Lock, but Okada makes the ropes. They exchange kicks and forearms, before Tacos hits a superkick, then scores a really believable near fall with a cradle Brainbuster. Okada counters Karma into a Tombstone, hits a rolling version of Rainmaker, then the actual Rainmaker to take the win in 19:40.

The B Block show in Aichi featured two phenomenal matches, but the ones in between were something of a disappointment. ZSJ defeated Tama Tonga via DQ (yet again) after a lot of run ins. I know this is going to be the gimmick with this lot at this stage in the game, but it isn't doing Tonga any favours whatsoever. Juice pinned Toru Yano with Pulp Friction is both mens respective worst showing in the tourney so far. Then things got really spectacular as they brawled through the crowd. Ibushi countered an Ishii power bomb on the floor with a Frankensteiner, then hit a perfect Moonsault off the balcony. Back in the ring they tried to kill each other with hard strikes, kicks and chops. Ishii hit a stalling brain buster off the second rope, but Ibushi popped back up, ate a couple of Germans but no-sold those too, but was floored by an enzugiri. Kota battles back with some hard strikes and that devastating lawn dart spot, and Ishii starts killing him with the Tenryu style throat chops. This fired Ibushi up who nailed some horrendous punches to the throat, which dropped Ishii and got a near fall with the Last Ride. The Stone Pitbull nailed Ibushi with his own Kamigoye, which he sold fantastically, then scored a near fall with his own press Powerbomb. A massive Lariat turns The Golden Star inside out, then they traded headbutts, which Ibushi won, before Ibushi hit a head kick version of Kamigoye then the actual Kamigoye for the three count at 16:13. This was fantastic and one of the top four matches of the tournament so far, however, it was so stiff that at times it was quite frightening, and I know both guys are super workers, but the throat stuff was just too much for my liking. These gripes aside, tremendous stuff.

Naito and Goto had a ridiculously tough act to follow next. These guys usually have great matches together, but this was more in keeping with their disappointing WK10 match as opposed to there fantastic G1 24 outing. This was very good but was just missing something. After an Ushigoroshi got a near fall for Goto, the finish saw him counter a Destino into a reverse GTR. Goto blocked Destino again with headbutts, but Naito finally managed to hit it but Goto kicked at two to a big pop. Naito immediately hit a second and scored the 2 points at the 13:46 mark. The main event between Omega and SANADA was also tremendous and just as good as SANADA’s match with Ibushi, I thought. SANADA has looked great in this thing so far and has finally started to resemble the guy he was always hoped to be. Keiji Muto always want him as his Tanahashi in AJPW/Wrestle-1, but never lived up to the potential for several reasons. Well here he is 10 years later and he’s having the best matches of his career. Of course, when you’re in there with guys like Okada, Omega and Ibushi, its pretty much impossible to have anything but great matches. The last few minutes of this were outstanding and it too is another standout in this G1 so far. The finish saw SANADA counter an OWA and lock Omega in the Skull End, release it and go for the Muto Moonsault, the exact same way he beat Ibushi, but Kenny moved. SANADA with a Moonsault into Skull End, but Omega turns it into the undertook piledriver. He then hits a series of V-Triggers and goes for the One Winged Angel, but SANADA tries another escape. Kenny grabs the wrist and hits a wrist clutch version of the OWA at 20:12 to go 5-0 in the Block so far.

A Block action resumed in Kagawa with what was an average show until the final two excellent bouts. This A Block is filled with predominantly hit-and-miss guys like Fale, Page, White, Makabe, EVIL and YOSHI-HASHI. All guys who are capable of great matches if in there with the right opponent, but more often then not, are in ‘ordinary’ matches. Fale pinned Makabe with a chain assisted lariat in a match that wasn't very good at all, and filled with interference (shock, horror). White and Page had a decent match that was marred by crowd indifference. They worked hard but no one cared really. White won after hitting, yes, you guessed it, a low blow and Blade Runner at a very overly long 17:10. Minoru Suzuki pinned EVIL with the Gotch Piledriver in a good 12 minute brawl, that has to be seen as a bit of a disappointment. EVIL has hardly had as good a G1 as he has the previous two years so far.

Things got great next as Tanahashi pinned everyones favourite CHAOS jabroni, YOSHI-HASHI, in an excellent outing, which was the first match the crowd were invested in. The finishing sequence to this was especially good. After scoring yet another near fall with his new cradle brain buster, YH tries Karma but Tana escapes, keeps hold of the wrist and hits a sort of Rainmaker version of Sling Blade. He goes up top for the HFF but misses. YOSHI hits a sliding meteora, then tries the Butterfly Lock, but Tana turns it into a cradle for the win at 12:36, and go top of the Block with 10 points. And in the main event, Okada took on Big Mike Elgin in a fantastic contest. This wasn't as good as their blinder last year, but it was close. This featured a ton of really creative counter sequences. Elgin hit a buckle bomb, but Okada shot out and rolled Elgin up for a near fall. Large Michael tried the top rope Splash Mountain, but Okada counters with an arm drag off the top. Elgin hit a powerbomb, then the Splash Mountain for a believable near fall, then went for the Burning Hammer, but Okada flips out and after a series of counters, hits the Tombstone. He hits the new spinning Rainmaker, which looks like its staying with the pants and balloons, then hits the regular Rainmaker for the win at 20:56. Fantastic stuff here, and probably my favourite match of the A Block thus far.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 28 Day 1 Review (July 14th, Tokyo, Ota Ward Gymnasium)

Hirooki Goto & Jado vs. Toa Henare & Ren Narita  **1/2

Tomohiro Ishii & SHO vs. Toru Yano & YOH  ***

Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny  **1/2

Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku  ***

Kenny Omega & Chase Owens vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA  **1/2

A Block:

Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI  ***1/2

Bad Luck Fale vs. Hangman Page  **1/4

Michael Elgin vs. EVIL  ****

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki  ****1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White  ***3/4

Photos.

This was a solid show, but it was the most unspectacular opening to a G1 since 2015. The undercard was made up of decent enough, but completely missable tag matches that averaged out at about 6 minutes. Then A Block action kicked off in really good fashion, as Togi Makabe rolled over YOSHI-HASHI, two guys who generally always bring it to these G1′s, in a match that was much better than anticipated. They had a really good match on the final Block day last year too, and this was just as good as that one. It was hard-hitting and fast paced, and both guys made you believe that winning was of the utmost importance here. YOSHI brought his token fire, hitting all his big moves, including a big power bomb and Meteora for believable near falls, before locking on the Butterfly Lock, but “Sweets” made the ropes. Makabe battled back, hitting a big lariat, and a german, followed by the Spider German and the King Kong Knee Drop to take the 2 points at the 11:05 mark. The Bullet Club civil war continued next as Hangman Page battled B.C. O.G. Fale in a really weird match. It started hot with them brawling around ringside, Page hit a moonsault to the outside on Fale and Tanga Loa, hit the slingshot lariat and went for Rites Of Passage, when Tama Tonga ran in, hitting a Chop Block for the DQ. The Firing Squad put the boots to Page, before threatening to hang when, when the rest of the BC ran in for the save. This wasn’t much of a match, but told a larger story.

EVIL and Big Mike collided for the third straight G1 and had their usual, heavy hitting great match. EVIL destroyed Elgin’s arm with a chair early and worked over it all match, so to take away his power moves. After a Darkness Falls near fall, EVIL tried the STO, but Elgin countered it into a Falcon Arrow. They traded big lariats, Big Mike tried the Burning Hammer but EVIL slipped out and tried the STO again. Elgin then hit the King Of Darkness with the buckle bomb, hit a Doctor Bomb version of Splash Mountain and hit the Elgin Bomb at 16:08 for the two points. Tanahashi and Suzuki had, as expected, an excellent, story-driven bout next, which was the MOTN. The story to this was that Suzuki picked up from where he left off in January, and destroyed Tana’s knee, locking in all kinds of knee bars and heel hooks, which The Ace did a phenomenal job of selling. Tana fought back with Dragon Screws, but Suzuki caught him in a figure four, which Tana escaped. Suzuki obliterated Tanahashi with his machine gun strikes, the locked in the rear naked choke, before transitioning into the Gotch Piledriver. However, Tana Dragon Screwed his way free and Suzuki sold the move like he was legitimately hurt. Tanahashi climbed the ropes, hit the standing HFF, then another High Fly Flow to win at 13:59.

The main event was another weird one. From the way it was laid out, you’d think it would be a classic G1 outing, but the crowd, who were hot all night, were almost completely dead for this at times. I don’t know why, but the Japanese audience just isn’t especially receptive to Jay White. I don’t know if its because they don’t really see him as a star or what, but he had the most heated match on the San Francisco show, and was over on the UK tour, and generally puts in great performances, so I can’t really explain this. White acted like a dick heel throughout this, being berated by Gedo and Rocky Romero (who was doing English commentary) for his nefarious antics, such as slamming Okada into the guardrails. There was a competely dead spot where they traded Cobra Clutches. Really Okada needs to put that one to bed and bring Red Ink out of retirement or something. White hit a Saito Suplex out of the ring, then played up the Jim Ross incident by suplexing Okada into the English announce table. Red Shoes got bumped, then White brought a chair in, which he promply got dropkicked in his face. Okada then hit the Rainmaker, but as he spun out of it White “accidentally” hit Red Shoes in the face. With the ref down, Switchblade hit a low blow, launched a chair off Okada’s head and hit Blade Runner for the not so clean win at 25:36. As I say, an enjoyable show, but tomorrows looks much better.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 28 Day 6 Review (July 21st 2018, Tokyo, Korakuen Hall)

B Block

Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano  ***1/2

SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.  ****

Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito  ****1/2

Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga  ***1/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hirooki Goto  ****3/4

Photos.

The B Block marches on with another excellent show. Block action kicked off with Toru Yano battling Kota Ibushi in a crazy clash of styles, but with one thing in common, in that both love to do wacky stuff. This certainly didn’t disappoint from that standpoint, and I can’t lie, I laughed uproariously a couple of times at the ludicrousness of some of the proceedings. Things opened up with yano using his amateur background to use cradles on Ibushi and score great near falls in the opening minute. Then things got “serious” as both men took down all the turnbuckle pads, and hit each other with them. In the melee, Yano managed to tape Kota’s hands together, which resulted in hilarious spectacle of Ibushi hitting his missed kick/standing moonsault sequence while taped. Yano also hit his Press Powerbomb. After a ref bump Yano hit a chop block, a low blow and scored the win with a School Boy after 8:23 of very fun action. Things changed up again in the next match as ZSJ took on SANADA in a rematch of their excellent battle in the NJC. Once again, this was a completely different match; it was entirely mat based and revolved around some of the most impresive counter sequences you’ll ever see. Both men tried an insane number of cradles in the early going, but neither could get the better of the other. They traded hard European Uppercuts, which Cold Skull got the better of, so The Technical Wizard went back to what he does best: working holds. They then traded more amazing nearfall combos. The finish saw Sabre go for the Michinoku Driver, but SANADA countered it into Skull End. Zack escaped the hold and got in the European  Clutch, but SANADA kicked at 2 in another close near fall. They countered again until SANADA got the bridging O'Connor Roll for pinfall at 10:45 of a great match. Zack went crazy afterwards, slapping young boys and throwing chairs, furious he’d been beaten at his own game.

Naito was victorious over U.S. Champion (and still winless) Juice Robinson in a fantastic match. This told a great story in that Naito, like a complete dick, kept attacking Juice’s broken hand, dropkicking and stomping it repeatedly. Naito hit a top rope Frankensteiner, but Juice rolled through into a sunset flip for a near fall, which set up his comeback. Robinson followed up with a Jackhammer and a fall away slam off the second rope, but both times his hand was too damaged to capitalise. Juice with the cannonball in the corner and a powerbomb got a really believable near fall, but Naito battled back with a reverse rana. He went for Destino, but Juice countered into a Pulp Friction attempt, but Naito hit a German suplex to escape. Another Destino attempt was countered into a huge lariat, which had the crowd going crazy at this point, then went for Pulp Friction again, but again Naito turned it into Destino, but Juice kicked at two. Naito then followed up with another Destino to score the win at the 16:43 mark. It was total story development time in the next match, which saw Omega take on new nemesis Tama Tonga. “Fuckery” was the name of the game here. In all fairness, the action here was very good, but as I say, it was more about the bigger picture, as it just descended into run-ins and ref bumps. Tanga Loa and Fale jumped Kenny before the bell and put the boots to him, before Hangman Page and Chase Owens ran in to even things up. Omega took everyone out with the Terminator Con Hilo, then it was a singles match. Briefly. They teased a Dragon Suplex on the apron, but Loa came back out and clipped Kenny’s leg with a chair. He went to powerbomb Omega off the apron, but Kenny turned it into a Frankensteiner, then powerbombed Tonga onto the apron. Back in the ring, Loa slid a chair in to his brother, who tried a Gun Stun on the chair, but Omega blocked it and Tama took a back bump onto it. Tonga then tried to Styles Clash Omega onto the chair, but a fed up Red Shoes kicked the chair out of the ring and yelled at Tonga. A furious Tama then hit the Gun Stun on Red Shoes for the DQ loss. The Firing Squad ran in and they teased hitting Gun Stun on Kenny with his head in a chair, but Ibushi, Page and Chase ran in for the save. I mean it served its purpose well, but as a match, and like all of Tama’s bouts in this so far, it wasn’t much.

Then the main event was your typical Strong Style war between two guys who never have anything less then superb, hard hitting battles against each other. Everyone knows what to expect here, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. They charged at eachother and slammed into each other like two trains repeatedly, traded sickengly hard lariats and forearms, Ishii hit his hard chops, and Goto fought back with his even harder round kicks to the chest. The Muramasa spin kick in the corner from Goto, followed by the Saito suplex scored a near fall for the NEVER champion. Ishii hit hard forearms and a suplex of his own, but Goto locked in the sleeper, but Ishii escaped. They traded really stiff lariats, which resulted in a double down, Goto locked in the sleeper again, but Ishii punched his way free, then put him down with another lariat. A beautiful stalling suplex off the top scored a near fall for Ishii, who then tried the sliding lariat, but Goto caught him in the Ushigoroshi, then followed up with a massive lariat of his own. The Stone Pitbull then turned Aramusha inside out with another mighty lariat, which got a great near fall, but Goto again fought back and hit the Shouten Kai for another near fall. They then traded (relatively safe) headbutts, Ishii hit an enzugiri and got another close near fall with the Sliding D lariat. Ishii then hit the Vertical Drop Brainbuster to end a fantastic contest at 18:15, and potentially set himself up for a NEVER Title match in the Autumn.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 28 Day 3 Review (Sapporo, Hokkaido, July 16th 2018)

Tomohiro Ishii & SHO vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA  ***1/4

Hirooki Goto & YOH vs. Kenny Omega & Chase Owens  **3/4

A Block:

Michael Elgin vs. Hangman Page  ****1/4

YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL  ***1/4

Togi Makabe vs. Minoru Suzuki  ****1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale  ***1/2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White  ***3/4

Photos.

Another strong day of A Block G1 action that featured two excellent battles, and nothing less than really good, as far as the tournament went. Big Mike Elgin pinned Hangman Page in a great match that far exceeded my expectations and stole the show. Page looked like a star in the making here and Elgin, as contentious a figure as he is nowadays, always brings it to these G1′s. This was all-action, and had the crowd going crazy, especially in the latter stages. Elgin teased hitting a superplex to the floor, but thankfully Page escaped, and hit a top rope Frankensteiner. Hangman got a believable near fall with a top rope swinging neck breaker, but was then put down with four super kicks in a row from Elgin. They pair traded German duplexes, the Elgin got a near fall with a Tiger Suplex. A big lariat from the big man set up a Splash Mountain near fall. Elgin then hit a buckle bomb, into a Tiger Driver, into the Elgin Bomb for the win at 17:17. EVIL got an STO to score the win over perennial CHAOS underdog, YOSHI-HASHI in a battle of the all caps guys. This was fine, it didn't outstay its welcome (it went 12 minutes) and was fun while it lasted, though wasn't anything approaching memorable. The most notable thing was that there was a weird botch where they totally Batista/Cena’d it when YH lifted EVIL up in a power bomb, and they inexplicably tumble over the top and out of the ring.

Then it was time to go to war as Suzuki and Makabe had their usual intense brawl all over the place. These guys have great chemistry being believable brawlers, their clashes almost always deliver, and this was just as good as their best matches together. This was excellent stuff, with both guys bringing the stiff strikes and believable action. They had a chair duel and brawled all around ringside, before heading back into the ring and exchanging hard forearm shots in a compelling sequence. Suzuki got the better of the exchange and sunk in a choke, which he transitioned into the Gotch Piledriver, but to no avail as Makabe backdropped his way free. Sweets battled back with those great Rikidozan/Shinya Hashimoto over hand chop strikes, a Death Valley Bomb, and a series of really stiff lariats. He went for the Spider German, but Suzuki fought like a man possessed to prevent the move. Makabe rammed his head into the ring post and hit the move eventually. Suzuki fired up and battled to his feet, but Togi hit a standing Kong Knee, then the normal version for the win at the 14:58 mark. Bad Luck Fale scored a Tama Tonga assisted upset over Okada (and those damned balloons) in a very good outing, that was kind of enhanced by all the outside chicanery. Okada always has good matches with Fale, and this was no exception. This was essentially a power vs. speed contest, with Fale overpowering Okada at times, but the Rainmaker using his quickness to get the upper hand. Tanga Loa interfered after Okada, upon failing at a tombstone attempt, hit two Rainmaker variations, but he was promptly sent packing. With the referee distracted, Tama Tonga came from out of nowhere and hit the Gun Stun on Okada, which left him prey to a match-winning Bad Luck Fall after 13:38 of enjoyable action. People seem annoyed or already tired of all the shenanigans revolving around The Firing Squad’s G1 matches. Yes its hackneyed and been done to death at this point, but it establishes them as a nefarious heel faction, who will pull any trick in the book to get the win, or protect themselves.

The main event saw Jay White avenge his WK12 loss to Tanahashi. Much like the Okada match on Saturday, this was a weird one. I mean, this match was probably slightly better, and the action was good throughout, with the last few minutes being really great, but that was mainly because the people were so into Tanahashi, that once he started his comeback they went wild. You see, he’d spent the first 90% of the match selling for Switchblade, who was in full-blown old school heel mode throughout. However this also meant that you could also hear a pin drop at times as the Japanese fan base appear lukewarm still on Jay. Tana was selling the leg Suzuki destroyed on the first night, and White worked it over all match long. White brought a chair in, but Tana hit a Sling Blade, then got his own chair and threatened to hit Jay with it, but was talked down by red Shoes, who was promptly bumped. White hit a low blow and went for Blade Runner, but Tana fought free and hit a low blow of his own. The High Fly Flow connects, but Jay rolls through into a cradle for a near fall. Tanahashi turned a Blade Runner attempt into an arm capture German Suplex, then again went for the HFF. However, this time White through Red Shoes into the ropes, thus crotching Tana on the top rope. In an identical finish to the Okada match, Jay threw a chair off Takahashi’s head, then scored the win at 24:02 with Blade Runner. They're going all-out with Jay White in this thing. I’m all for it as a new face at the top of the card is always welcome, i just hope it catches on with the native fanbase. The reactions to White haven't been anywhere near what they should, given that he has pinfall victories over Omega, Okada and Tanahashi this year.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 28 Day 13 Review (Aug 2nd, 2018, Fukuoka)

A Block:

Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale  **1/2

Togi Makabe vs. Hangman Page  ***1/2

Jay White vs. YOSHI-HASHI  ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL  ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs, Minoru Suzuki  ****1/4

Photos.

Another really good G1 show and another excellent main event. Michael Elgin and Bad Luck Fale were having a good 11 minute big man match until the same-old-shit marred the finish. Elgin appears to be working with a torn bisceps, which played into the story of the match. Fale worked it over but Elgin would always power back. Fale tried the Bad Luck Fall, but Elgin escaped and hit a massive German suplex. An all too familiar ref bump brought in Tanga Loa, who’d been taken out with a tope in the early going, but Elgin sent him packing. Big Mike took Fale down with a Lariat, then went up top for the big splash, but Tama Tonga ran in and beat Elgin down with a chair for the DQ. Hangman Page pinned Togi Makabe (who’s a legit big star in Japan) in a very good little outing. It was hard hitting throughout and Page continues to work super hard in this thing. They exchanged stiff lariats, then Page cut Togi off with a superkick, but ate a really hard lariat as he came off the ropes, then rolled to the apron. From there he hit the sligshot lariat, and put Sweets away at 9:10 with Rites Of Passage. Everything about this was a nice surprise. Jay White pinned CHAOS stablemate YOSHI-HASHI in a good contest next. This never really got beyond a certain level as I think the crowd (not to mention me) are a little tired now of all the nafarious heel stuff from White. You know the score; he rammed YH into the English announce table, hit a low blow behind the refs back, etc, etc. YOSHI escaped the Blade Runner, then hit a Lung Blower and his new cradle Fisherman Buster. He went for Karma, but White flipped out and immediatley hit Blade Runner for the win in 9:48.

Tanahashi took on EVIL in another very good 13 minute outing. EVIL worked over Tana’s bisceps, then tried the STO, but The Ace countered into a Sling Blade, but missed the HFF that followed. EVIL scored near falls with Darkness Falls and a Lariat. He went for the STO again, but Tana hit one of his own (which looked incredible), then scored the win with the High Fly Flow to get to 12 points and become top of the leader board. The main event was great. These guys work really well together and their matches always tell compelling stories. Suzuki jumped Okada before the bell and they brawled through the crowd, which Suzuki got the better of by nailing Okada with a chair. Suzuki destroyed the arm so to off-set the Rainmaker. They exchanged hard forearm strikes, then Okada wiped the veteran out with a big drop kick. Suzuki locks in the Manjigatame, but Okada battles free with a Tombstone attempt. After a mighty struggle, Okada hits the Tombstone finally, goes for the Rainmaker, but Suzuki locks in the choke. Okada gets out and hits a Gotch style Tombstone, then a rolling Rainmaker and an actual Rainmaker to end an excellent showing at 18:20. This was maybe on a par with their “draw in the downpour” in June, but wasn’t close to their phenomenal matches last year. Next up is a double header in Osaka, both of which look exceptional.