Jul 31, 2019 19:04:22 GMT c said:

Speaking of Okada, how the hell is he not in WWE? He is pound for pound the best worker today and it is crazy WWE is not just offering him money until he cannot refuse. He is super over with Americans already without needing to speak english and the golden boy gimmick sells itself. And yeah I know WWE will misuse him but to me it is crazy they are passing on one of the best wrestlers our generation has seen that seems to be in full health and not really work that dangerous of a style.

After what they've done with Shinsuke Nakamura I wouldn't be surprised if he told Okada to stay away. They're pretty good friends from what I can tell on the social medias and I'm sure Nakamura has plenty of stories for him as to why he should just stay in Japan and choose happiness over money.

Nakamura is probably way happier in his situation than Okada would be and I think they both know that. At least Nakamura can fuck off and go surfing where it's warm when he's being jerked around by creative or not used. I'm not going to pretend that I know what Okada would be like in a similar situation, but he strikes me as someone that would be miserable if he wasn't the top guy like he is in Japan. He worked his ass off to get where he is and become the new Ace, and I really can't see him giving that up to go where creativity dies and do goofy language barrier bits and job out to mid-carders.

EDIT: Okada should do what Liger did and do a one-off in NXT, and charge Vince a million dollars. Have him do a mini-feud with Matt Riddle or Adam Cole or someone, sign on for 2 or 3 matches, then take the money and never go back.

Jul 31, 2019 2:04:08 GMT RT said:

If you told me that EVIL would finish better than SANADA in this tournament I would have laughed in your face.

I was predicting a lot more wins for EVIL than SANADA. SANADA is super over though, he doesn't necessarily need so many wins. EVIL improves each and every year. I'm not sure his ceiling is higher than SANADA's, but it's close.

I reckon SANADA is going over Okada. Okada has to take a loss at some point. I thought Archer might be the first to beat him, but he must lose to SANADA surely.

Jul 31, 2019 2:04:08 GMT RT said:

Gotta disagree. I think this match was perfect because I think this sets the stage for match #2. This was Act 1, and it was perfect.

KENTA was undefeated and cocky as he's ever been. The opening act of this match was all KENTA, and he acted like he knew he was going to win. But he was the only person in the building that thought that. As soon as Okada started mounting some offense, it was like the crowd just said "Yeah, you fucked up bud." It was over from there, because everyone but KENTA knew what was coming. Okada wasn't going down no matter what and KENTA didn't know that.

Even when KENTA got his serious pants on and threw everything he had at Okada, it was already too late and he was never going to win. And I loved that. And now my prediction is this: Okada wins it all and selects KENTA as his opponent for Wrestle Kingdom. KENTA will finish the block having Okada as his only loss, and match #2 will see a more intense, more focused, more powerful KENTA...and he's going to win.

I love this interpretation. Sadly I didn't see the match in that way. It was structured like every other KENTA match except against Archer. KENTA takes control early on in a pretty unremarkable way, dominates with slow methodical offense and then wins. The only difference is that this time Okada won. I'm kinda shocked you said you saw the old KENTA in this match, because I really didn't. But I really want to. My favourite KENTA match in this tournament is versus EVIL.

Not surprised he dropped the point to SANADA. After he started off so strong I thought they might go with a fall from grace angle because there's no way a new guy is making the final. It can be easily explained in kayfabe too. KENTA is one of the oldest participants and doesn't have the same tournament stamina/experience as the other participants. Also he took his first loss in the company to Okada, which may have damaged his confidence and boosted his opponent's confidence because they now know that he is beatable.

Jul 31, 2019 2:12:52 GMT nazzer said:

Did you watch kenta when he was in Noah at the top of the card and did you watch him in roh? How do you feel he compares to then. Perhaps the problem is me that I am expecting him to be similar to the kenta I remember and can't embrace the current kenta.

So yeah, did you watch him then and what do you think in comparison to then

KENTA was my absolute favourite wrestler when he was in his prime in NOAH. He was a crazy fast worker, with a kick-based offense that was unseen at the time and has since been copied over and over. That hesitation corner dropkick that Shibata made famous? KENTA invented that. He had that cocky personality, that brash confidence that got him over with the audience when he was being a disrespectful but incredibly entertaining punk to everyone he faced, including legends like Misawa and Kobashi. The same brash confidence that's getting him so much heat when he's no longer the underdog, beating the crowd's favourite wrestlers and being a prick about it.

KENTA sucked in NXT and WWE. I don't recall a single good match. The only memorable moment was when Oney Lorcan unintentionally bust his nose with a stiff uppercut, which led to a fun mini-feud.

Right now I'd say he's about halfway between WWE-Itami and NOAH-KENTA. He's nowhere near as fast as he used to be, which is understandable, and he's compensating for that by working a slower, more story-based style. But honestly I don't think he's very good at the slow epic style match, even when he was wrestling that style in NOAH after becoming a heavyweight. Sadly he's not over with the crowd, he's either getting booed or his matches are almost dead silence. There are flashes of brilliance there but he's yet to have a great match. However I do sense him settling into the Japanese style, so I look forward to the future. KENTA vs Ospreay and KENTA vs ZSJ could be real belters.

Am I the only one who talked about Okada/Ospreay?

Did nobody else see it? Did nobody else think it was absolutely amazing?

Jul 20, 2019 18:54:52 GMT RT said:

Me watching Ibushi/SANADA: “I think I’m burnt out. I should be liking this match more than I am.”

Me watching Ospreay/Okada: “never mind this is awesome.”

Great match. Actually thought Ospreay was going to pull it off for a second there. But I knew after KENTA won that Okada wasn’t going to face him not also being undefeated. Ospreay made me a believer though.

Emperor

Amazing match. I can't wait until Will Ospreay finally goes over Okada because the arena is going to explode when he does it.

Jul 31, 2019 21:57:15 GMT RT said:

Jul 20, 2019 18:54:52 GMT RT said:

Me watching Ibushi/SANADA: “I think I’m burnt out. I should be liking this match more than I am.”

Me watching Ospreay/Okada: “never mind this is awesome.”

Great match. Actually thought Ospreay was going to pull it off for a second there. But I knew after KENTA won that Okada wasn’t going to face him not also being undefeated. Ospreay made me a believer though.

Emperor

Amazing match. I can't wait until Will Ospreay finally goes over Okada because the arena is going to explode when he does it.

Off-subject slightly, but you and I have repeatedly debated the merits of Japanese-style feds in the North American environment.

This right here - the idea of Ospreay finally beating Okada - is the storytelling I think specifically is missing in the WWE.

It's not an "angle" in the traditional sense. It's an evolution of a wrestler punctuated by key milestones.

The last time I vividly remember this was Cena and Kurt Angle. Cena constantly lost to Angle, but finally overcame him en route to his first WWE Title Win at WM 21. It was something they constantly went back to, and by having that final win before the big match be over Angle, it was the final piece of the puzzle for Cena.

Jul 31, 2019 22:27:08 GMT KJ said:

Jul 31, 2019 21:57:15 GMT RT said:

Emperor

Amazing match. I can't wait until Will Ospreay finally goes over Okada because the arena is going to explode when he does it.

Off-subject slightly, but you and I have repeatedly debated the merits of Japanese-style feds in the North American environment.

This right here - the idea of Ospreay finally beating Okada - is the storytelling I think specifically is missing in the WWE.

It's not an "angle" in the traditional sense. It's an evolution of a wrestler punctuated by key milestones.

The last time I vividly remember this was Cena and Kurt Angle. Cena constantly lost to Angle, but finally overcame him en route to his first WWE Title Win at WM 21. It was something they constantly went back to, and by having that final win before the big match be over Angle, it was the final piece of the puzzle for Cena.

I don't have much to add to your post, but you're right. Ospreay/Okada is long-term booking 101 and I wish a company as talent-heavy and rich as the WWE had more stories like this.

Give me stories that begin in NXT and end at Wrestlemania. Imagine completely rebooting the whole Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens angle and just having that brew from an NXT rivalry to a Wrestlemania blow-off match, where Zayn FINALLY wins after years of trying. The building would crumble from the pop.

I am here just to react to Yano vs Mox.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yano is a gift and a treasure.

Aug 1, 2019 20:05:01 GMT @nighty said:

I am here just to react to Yano vs Mox.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Aug 1, 2019 20:10:08 GMT @ness said:

Yano is a gift and a treasure.

Yano was weird to me at the beginning of the tournament. But he really is so good. Always a fun match, he can win or lose and everyone still gets over with their personalities. I didn't watch the match itself, but watched a music video edit of mox vs yano. So good.

Also, why can't njpw schedule a tournament around my days off. Can someone tell me like the top 4 or 5 matches I should watch from the last three matchdays?

Can someone tell me like the top 4 or 5 matches I should watch from the last three matchdays?

Day 10

Ishii/Robinson

Day 11

Ospreay/Sabre Jr

Day 12

Goto/Ishii

Were the stand-outs.

Ishii is having another strong tournament.

Aug 2, 2019 9:00:42 GMT Big Pete said:

Can someone tell me like the top 4 or 5 matches I should watch from the last three matchdays?

Day 10

Ishii/Robinson

Day 11

Ospreay/Sabre Jr

Day 12

Goto/Ishii

Were the stand-outs.

Ishii is having another strong tournament.

thanks. 

I've enjoyed every ishii match so far. Prob doesn't make sense, but  ishii gives me a bit of a taz 1995-1997 vibe in ring persona, I love it

Can't be bothered doing match by match mini-reviews anymore, so I'll just point out my personal highlights.

Day 11
Ospreay vs ZSJ - a very entertaining bout that stood out among the pack. You can tell they wrestled a lot in England as they have tremendous chemistry. Ospreay wrestling a more grounded, technical style was a blast to watch. A really exciting and unpredictable bout. Didn't see that finish coming either. The first convincing victory for ZSJ in the tournament.

Okada vs Archer - Fun David vs Goliath style match. Again Archer looks pretty strong in defeat, but even if you look strong in every defeat, you're not gonna have any credibility if you lose all the time. Archer needs a couple more wins to cement himself as a force to be reckoned with in the future. Beating only Ospreay and Fale ain't gonna cut it.

Day 12
Yano vs Moxley - Yet another super fun Yano match. Moxley someone managed to play along while staying well enough within his badass persona, and the finish was nice. Moxley's post match reaction was fantastic as well. He's endearing himself to the crowd.

Robinson vs Naito - One of Juice's strongest showings in the tournament, and the match had that extra level of interest with both men trying to mindgame each other. Robinson's pre match antics are worth the price of admission alone. I recommend this to nazzer in addition to Goto/Ishii.

Taichi vs White - Another very unique match. Both guys are cheating heels, but Taichi played the face in this match, achieving that by only cheating right after White cheated first. In this circumstance the frequent Gedo interferences helped rather than hindered the match, particularly with Kanemaru on the other side to even things out.

Ishii vs Goto - You know what you're going to get with these two, and they always deliver. I don't think this is quite as strong as their tournament-stealing match from last year's G1, but it's still a fine addition to both men's collections.

Moxley and Shooter trying to 3-legged race their way into the ring to beat the count out was awesome. If Moxley ever fights Yano again I want to see a behind the scenes moment of those two practicing a 3-legged race while training, and Moxley just eventually dragging Shooter along the ground and yelling at him.

Loved Robinson/Naito. Probably my highlight from that night.

I’m having a busy long weekend so I’m behind again but I plan on catching up.

Day 13
ZSJ vs Archer - Didn't think these two would have much chemistry given the huge size and style difference, but they worked an excellent match. Again, Archer kinda looks strong in defeat because he clearly had Sabre beat, but still looks incompetent for losing in the way he did.

Ospreay vs EVIL - Surprisingly good for similar reasons to the above. EVIL takes a great Oz Cutter. Sets up nicely for EVIL facing Ospreay's big brother Okada.

Tanahashi vs Ibushi - For me these two don't have the most memorable matches, and while I wouldn't describe this one as memorable either, it had its moments and I will remember it more fondly then their previous encounters.

Okada vs SANADA - Overall a great match, but to me it revealed a big limitation of SANADA. He doesn't really have the moveset or the workrate to work a convincing finishing stretch. The only really dramatic "near fall" he has is holding onto Skull End forever. It's not something he can rely on every big match and in general it kills the flow. However it worked perfectly in this match. Okada has a knack for putting together great finishing stretches and this was no exception. The TKO into the double moonsault finish was dope. Well done, SANADA.

Day 14
For me this was the strongest day of the tournament. Every day to this point has had at least one mediocre-bad match, but every match of day 14 was good or great. Wouldn't have expected B Block to win the workrate competition at all, so kudos to everyone involved.

Ishii vs Yano - This could very well be Toru Yano's best singles match. It went well over five minutes and kept an exciting pace throughout. Yano wrestled a nice mixture of his usual shtick and serious wrestling, and Ishii is surprisingly a perfect foil. They team a lot so maybe it shouldn't be surprising that they have great chemistry.

Robinson vs Taichi - Wouldn't normally expect anything special out of these two but they worked a really solid match, Taichi going back to his old cheating ways, and Robinson doing his usual babyface thing. Also an unexpected finish, was not expecting Taichi to get the W.

Goto vs Cobb - Above average hossfest. Probably Cobb's best match of the tournament

Moxley vs White - Exceeded expectations. Before the subsequent match happened I had this pegged as my second favourite match of the tournament behind Ospreay/Okada. Moxley wrestled like a man possessed and White did his usual thing, but saved his major cheating antics until the end when it was clear Moxley was about to kill him. The best way to cheat, on the brink of defeat. White gets bragging rights as the first wrestler to pin Moxley in NJPW. He'll take that to the grave.

Naito vs Takagi - I already knew Shingo was great, but he was on a completely different level this match. They have a very long history and worked very hard to make each other look as strong as possible. And they succeeded. Shingo even had the better of Naito in the first two thirds, but Naito's big match experience and resilience helped him come through in the end. Still, I left the match thinking it could easily have gone either way. This tournament has made Shingo Takagi a star far more than his stellar BoSJ performance did. Naito was obviously extra motivated and delivered the goods too.

Day 15
Ospreay vs KENTA - It was explained both by Ospreay himself and the commentary team that Ospreay grew up watching KENTA, and that he was the first Japanese wrestler to stand out. That nice piece of background led well into what was essentially a NOAH throwback match. KENTA took up his role as the fiery, fast junior heavyweight and Ospreay was a willing and able opponent. The result was a fantastic, energetic match, and my favourite KENTA match of the tournament.

Ibushi vs ZSJ - These two often put on exciting, dramatic, clash-of-styles matches and this was no exception. Good job boys.

Okada vs EVIL - Could very well be EVIL's best singles match. He really stepped to the plate and gave Okada one of his biggest tests in the G1. It even looked like EVIL was on course to win after avoiding Rainmaker after Rainmaker, and often getting the better of the crucial late match exchanges, but Okada proved why he's a master of the closing stretch: EVIL ate one dropkick too many, leading to the final Rainmaker.


Day 16
Goto vs Moxley - Moxley surprises us yet again by going full slobberknocker mode against Goto. From the opening bell they started hitting each other and never looked back. Moxley looked right at home working the go-go-go Ishii smash mouth style, but Goto has been doing this for years and caught Moxley with a flash GTR from a surprisingly setup, ending the match rather abruptly. I expected this to go on for far longer than 8 minutes, but it was a really cool finish nonetheless.

Robinson vs White - These two are proving to have phenomenal chemistry. Both men put on one of their strongest performances in the G1.

Ishii vs Takagi - This was more or less a rehash of the Ishii vs Goto template, although I believe they surpassed this year's Ishii/Goto slobberknocker (but perhaps not last year's). Shingo wins clean with his finish. That's the kind of victory that solidifies you as a future star, the kind of victory Archer is sorely missing despite how strong he looks in the ring. The best matches of the tournament are piling up right at the end.

A Block is a two-horse race. Okada vs Ibushi. Ibushi trails by 2 points: he must win to make the final, while Okada only needs a draw.

B Block is led by four wrestlers on 10 points: Naito, White, Moxley and Goto. Hence the crucial matches are Goto vs Shingo, Moxley vs Robinson, and Naito vs White. Goto defeated White and Moxley but lost to Naito. White defeated Moxley. Moxley defeated Naito. Naito beat Goto and Robinson.

What does all that mean? If Goto wins, White and Moxley are eliminated. If Moxley wins, Naito is eliminated. If both Goto and Moxley fail to win, it all comes down to Naito/White. Gedo has booked an incredible block final where three matches have huge stakes.

I just can't keep up with the G1 - it's too much wrestling for me - but I love the stories behind it all and would LOVE to see Gedo's notebook as he works on it all. (Translated into English of course).

I’d fallen off a bit due to the past week or so being insane at work, and family visiting for the long weekend. But I made a point to watch Ospreay vs KENTA and it was incredible. Might be my favourite match of the tournament but I’ll need to think on that one a tad.

Still intend to watch the rest of the matches but I’m about to go on a mini-trip with my family. I’m working on Vancouver Island next week so we’re leaving today and they’re coming with me. When I get back though things calm down and I’m working out of town again in a boring spot, so I plan to sit in my hotel and watch all the matches I missed. I’ve never been this close to watching every match before so I need to do it.

I’ll probably watch the finals first because I won’t be able to avoid spoilers but whatever. I just want to say I watched them all.

Yeah I am insanely behind in watching the matches but following closely as the story this year the booking leading into the end seems very well done. One weekend I will binge Moxley stuff and the highlights.

I've caught up by skimming through the last couple nights of action. Looking forward to the last two nights.

Ibushi vs okada should be a good epic match. I feel like with the points they each have it would be easy to see them going to a similar finish as sanada vs okada.... except then it would be similar, so who knows how it will go.

Whe moxley was winning everything at the start of the tournament I assumed it would lead to juice beating him last day, but now I feel uncertain on that, so who knows.

Definitely feels like last two nights are must watch for sure.

Has there been any announcements on what else will be on the card of the finale night? Will there be title matches? Junior heavyweight matches? Will el phantasmo be there?

Very much enjoyed the last night of a block. Archer had her another great match, the tanahashi/ospreay match was phenomenal and the main event was pretty good too.

That is all.

Aug 12, 2019 8:25:25 GMT Big Pete said:

That is all.

So that is totally not all. We're six hours removed, so I feel safe in saying 'hot damn'. KENTA joining Bullet Club and squaring off with Katsuyori Shibata may have been one of the coolest segments of 2019. It almost made the actual final seem secondary by comparison.

Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi was about as dramatic as you'd expect going into it. A 30 minute epic where Ibushi sustained considerable damage to his already injured leg, but pushed through the pain barrier and was able to find that gear that saw him qualify for the final in consecutive years.

I thought the match served as an interesting comparison to AJ Styles & Ricochet. Ricochet really sold the leg, but the match had far less action and outside of a few spots felt fairly underwhelming. Here, Ibushi went full on Hulk Hogan at stages but the match flowed better and the leg work wasn't completely for naught.

My only real beef is that it made me miss Shinsuke Nakamura in NJPW.

I'll have to see the Tanahashi/Okada vs. Suzuki/ZSJ match later as well.

I'm fucking blown away. As if Jay White making the finals wasn't crazy enough after the way he started the tournament, we get that on the final night.

Amazing.

Day 17
KENTA vs Zack Sabre Jr. - KENTA beat the living shit out of ZSJ. Not sure why ZSJ kept going back to the striking game, but it somehow worked out for him in the end as he tapped KENTA out. Not either man's best G1 match, but certainly not their worst either.

Tanahashi vs Ospreay - Pretty good mutual respect face vs face match, which seems to be few and far between right now because even the top babyfaces are cocky provocateurs. However when the bell rang to end the match I felt like they are capable of a far better match.

Ibushi vs Okada - Usually block finals are the best nights of the G1, but this one was a night of small disappointments that ended in a big disappointment. I don't remember what exactly I disliked about this match, but in general it didn't feel special at all, didn't have that dramatic aspect despite the huge stakes. And considering how invincible Okada has been presented in this G1, he went down relatively easily in this match.


Day 18
Ishii vs Taichi - Holy shit, these guys were born to wrestle each other. They might have eclipsed even their phenomenal New Japan Cup match. Ishii is always incredibly tough to beat, but Taichi almost made it look easy, winning in just under 12 minutes. Amazing sprint match.

Robinson vs Moxley - From a storytelling point of view, I like what they were going for, but the execution was pretty bad. Juice is clearly unconscious in a hold for a very long time, but the ref just keeps stalling, and Mox lets go rightly thinking he has won. He hits a couple of moves, Juice is still clearly dead, then he goes to grab weapons and somehow loses. Dumb.

Naito vs White - Now this was a match that lived up to the block final expectations. Naito and White complement each other nicely. They have similar stalling mindgames strategies, and both are very resourceful defensive wrestlers. The opening few minutes was great, and there were some amazing sequences in the closing stretch. The middle phase was hit and miss, but White did a great job getting heat as usual.


Final - Ibushi vs White
It started off well. They did a big song and dance with the whole Bullet Club accompanying Jay White to the ring and then getting thrown out, which I thought was pretty cool as it built up the tension and got the crowd riled up in a unique way. Then Gedo also getting evicted was another nice touch. After that, it went downhill.

To be honest, I thought this match sucked. The big angle going into this match was Ibushi's ankle, which was injured on the very first night of the G1 and then viciously attacked by White the night before this match. White naturally attacks it the whole match, but it doesn't stop Ibushi from executing any of his flippy jumpy kicky offense flawlessly. After Ibushi's first comeback it became clear that he was just being portrayed as an invincible superhero overcoming the big bad White, and that's how the rest of the match played out. Ibushi just absorbed everything, no sold a bunch of stuff, and won. The finish was the dumbest part of all. White hits three big moves in a row, goes for Blade Runner, Ibushi escapes and immediately hits a million Kamigoyes without selling a damn thing. I did not like this match, and between this and the Okada match I'm starting to think that Ibushi isn't all that great in the ring.

Blame it on Okada introducing 'wrist control' into the wrestling business. White thought he had Ibushi by the wrists, but all that show-boating and hot-dogging did was allow Ibushi to get onto his feet and block White's easily telegraphed Blade Runner. When you allow somebody with Ibushi's athleticism that window to counter a move, it's always going to end in misery.

And yes two kamigoye's, usually he doesn't get all of the first one, the second is typically more decisive.

I’m with Emperor. I didn’t enjoy the final nearly as much as I expected to. He’s right about Ibushi.

He’s athletic, he can hit big spots and put on decent matches, but he severely lacks psychology and story telling in his matches. He leaned on Kenny Omega during the Golden Lovers saga, and since then he’s just been this super human fighter that can’t lose unless he’s “injured.”

But then when he’s injured, he doesn’t sell the injury! It’s annoying as fuck.

I know Ibushi isn’t the only wrestler guilty of this but he’s certainly the most obvious.

I'm not done talking about the G1 yet so I'm just going to do a rundown of each individual wrestler's kayfabe performance for the fun of it.

A Block
Overall Scores
14 points: Ibushi (block winner, tournament winner), Okada
8 points: SANADA, KENTA, Tanahashi, EVIL, Ospreay, Fale, ZSJ
6 points: Archer

Lance Archer
Lance Archer is the most impressive physical specimen in the entire tournament, and has a ferocious attitude to boot, but that didn't translate to results. Despite being the dominant force in most of his matches, he only won three matches. He lacks the big match experience and ability to close matches with the win, and also gets very emotional and irrational when things don't go his way. His biggest gaff was against stablemate Zack Sabre Jr., when he had him beat, lifted his shoulders off the mat at the count of two to go for one more move, and got rolled up for the loss. It's decisions like these that prevent Archer from moving to the next level. He doesn't have the winning mentality and craftiness to pull through when it counts. However, as he gains experience, he will become a much more dangerous force.

Bad Luck Fale
Bad Luck Fale is as susceptible to rollups as ever, but he has also learnt to use them to his advantage. Three out of his four wins came via rollup: against KENTA, SANADA, and Tanahashi. Eight points is a below average score in normal circumstances, but considering that most wrestlers in the group finished on 8 or fewer thanks to Ibushi and Okada hogging all the wins, it isn't such a terrible outcome.

KENTA
Of all the eight-pointers, KENTA may have the most reason to be disappointed. He entered as an unstoppable force, putting down Ibushi and Tanahashi in his first two matches and going on to a 4-0 streak. Then he lost to Okada (no shame in that), and suddenly his tournament fell apart. I imagine a combination of ring rust, old age (relatively speaking) and tourmanent fatigue made him far less effective as the tournament progressed.

Hiroshi Tanahashi
After winning the G1 last year, any outcome besides winning again would be a disappointment, but Tanahashi wasn't even close to making the final this year. Perhaps he has reason to be more upset than even KENTA. Like last year, Tanahashi started off badly, but recovered with a string of wins and looked to be on a hot streak, but couldn't conjure up the same magic that helped him win in 2018. A respectable performance, but perhaps the sign of a gradual and maybe permanent decline for the forme race.

EVIL
EVIL has certainly matured in the ring and displayed a few super strong performances suggesting growth, especially against Okada, but he didn't stand out in terms of results. However he did pick up a win against Ibushi, which means he will be able to challenge for the Tokyo Dome contract.

Will Ospreay
Ospreay is a very ambitious lad, so he was perhaps expecting a better showing, but I think he exceeded expectations considering he is a rare example of a junior heavyweight competing in the G1, not long after the equally gruelling Best of Super Juniors, which he won. Ospreay proved himself capable of hanging with the best wrestlers in the company, with an outstanding showing against Okada and a big win against Tanahashi in the final round.

Zack Sabre Jr.
Zack has historically been a tremendous tournament competitor, so when he started with 3 losses in a row, pretty much ruling him out of making the finals right from the start, he would never be satisfied. In addition he lost to wrestlers he has done well against in the past, namely Tanahashi, Ibushi, SANADA and EVIL. He can take some solace in submitting Will Ospreay and KENTA, but overall a big underperformance.

Kazuchika Okada
As the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the best wrestler in the world, Okada is held to extremely high standards, and he met those standards even if he didn't win the tournament. 14 points is an incredible score and enough to cleanly make the final in almost any year. But this year, he happened to be in the same block with a wrestler who had an even more exceptional performance. Okada certainly solidified his reputation, although I imagine he will leave the tournament reflecting on losing his perfect record against SANADA, and losing the final match to Ibushi.

Kota Ibushi
Obviously Ibushi had the best performance in the tournament, winning the whole thing and cementing himself as one of the best wrestlers in the company. By beating Okada in the final round and Jay White in the final, he has now defeated all the top stars in the company at least once, and poses a legitimate threat to Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, a threat that Okada hasn't encountered since Kenny Omega.



B Block
Overall Scores
12 points: White (block winner)
10 points: Goto, Moxley, Naito
8 points: Yano, Shingo, Ishii, Taichi, Cobb, Robinson

Toru Yano
I don't think Yano cares too much about the result, he's just there to have some fun and ruin people's tournaments. This year he didn't have a decisive impact on the final standings, since he took 2 points from three of the four leaders (White, Moxley, and Naito), but he certainly made the tournament more stressful, and kickstarted Moxley's losing streak.

Shingo Takagi
Despite scoring "only" 8 points, Shingo made an amazing impression with slobberknockers against Naito, Ishii and Goto. He closed the tournament with decisive victories over Goto and Ishii, establishing himself as a new force in the upper midcard heavyweight scene. Soon he will be jostling for shots at the Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships.

Tomohiro Ishii
Ishii can be satisfied with his performance. Despite being an absolute machine and arguably the toughest wrestler in the company, he is always missing that one ingredient to put him in the very top tier. Nevertheless, as always he is one of the tournament's best performers.

Taichi
Taichi missed out on the G1 last year, and managed to prove he belongs in his debut performance. Although he came out with a losing record, he earned pinfall victories over Naito and Ishii, two singles champions, which is nothing to sniff at.

Jeff Cobb
Although Cobb picked up four wins, he was the most unremarkable wrestler in the B Block and didn't really win over the audience in the same way that, say, Shingo Takagi did. He didn't have a particular standout performance or match. Doubt he will make the cut next year.

Juice Robinson
Gone is the party hard, fun-loving, dancing Juice of yesteryear. Although he still wears flashy attire, he entered this tournament with a much more serious demeanour and put on the strongest tournament performance of his career. If his matches weren't enough to prove his commitment, he didn't give a single post-match interview until the final night. Juice clearly improved in the ring and improved his score over last year. He's not there yet, but the future is getting brighter than ever.

Hirooki Goto
A rejuvenated Goto came in super strong with a convincing win over one of the pre-tournament favourites in Jay White, but losses to Robison and Naito in the following two rounds brought him back down to earth. Goto was no longer special. But suddenly, as Goto tends to do, he racked win after win until suddenly he had snuck into the pack of leaders under everyone's noses. Unfortunately he lost to Shingo in the final round, once again falling at the final hurdle, but overall Goto can be satisfied with a strong G1.

Jon Moxley
A record of 5-4 is very good, but it won't seem good to Moxley considering he lost his last four matches after having a seemingly insurmountable lead in the first half. He also lost three of those matches in demoralising ways. Yano taped his legs to Shota Umino's legs, leading to an embarrassing loss by countout. Then he was robbed by Jay White and his Gedo shenanigans. Goto beat him fair and square, but Moxley clearly had Juice beat in the final round and has a legitimate grievance as to how that match was officiated. Despite a rough tournament, Moxley's debut G1 was very powerful and he earned a strong reputation among the audience and among his peers.

Tetusya Naito
Like Goto and White, Naito also suffered an early setback only to claw his way back to the top. A hard fought loss to Jay White in the final block match will leave a sour taste in Naito's mouth. For a wrestler of his caliber, anything less than making the finals is an underachievement, but he has cemented a place in next year's tournament.

Jay White
By winning the B block, White cemented himself as an absolute top wrestler and a force to be reckoned with, even if most of his wins were unclean affairs. He won six matches in a row after dropping the first three, proving even greater resilience under adversity than Naito and Goto. His uphill climb was the steepest of them all, and he made it to the very top. Jay White overachieved.

It's worth noting that Meltzer rated Ibushi/White ***** 1/2 stars, equal to Omega/Ibushi from Day 18 2018 and just behind Tanahashi/Ibushi in last year's final as Ibushi's greatest match. It's also surpassed White's match against Ospreay at this year's Anniversary show to be his greatest ever match.

Meltzer's Matches of the 2019 G-1
1. Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada - Day 7
2. Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Day 16
2. Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi - Final
4. Kazcuhika Okada vs. SANADA - Day 13
4. Shingo Takagi vs. Tetsuya Naito - Day 14
4. Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Day 6
4. Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay - Day 5
4. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi - Day 17

Would you take anything off the list or add anything? Emperor RT nazzer

Aug 15, 2019 14:23:31 GMT Big Pete said:

It's worth noting that Meltzer rated Ibushi/White ***** 1/2 stars, equal to Omega/Ibushi from Day 18 2018 and just behind Tanahashi/Ibushi in last year's final as Ibushi's greatest match. It's also surpassed White's match against Ospreay at this year's Anniversary show to be his greatest ever match.

Meltzer's Matches of the 2019 G-1
1. Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada - Day 7
2. Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Day 16
2. Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi - Final
4. Kazcuhika Okada vs. SANADA - Day 13
4. Shingo Takagi vs. Tetsuya Naito - Day 14
4. Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii - Day 6
4. Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay - Day 5
4. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi - Day 17

Would you take anything off the list or add anything? Emperor RT nazzer

That’s a pretty solid list but I’d change the following:

-White/Ibushi would be lower.
-KENTA/Ospreay would be on there and pretty high on my list. I loved that match.
-Takagi/Goto would be on there too.