Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Sept 5, 2021 4:15:45 GMT
Rumour has it we might find out the G1 blocks/participants tonight during Grand Slam Night 2.
Will update this space accordingly.
All G1 discussion can go here, as it definitely is going to be an interesting tournament. Also curious if there will be announcements about Strong and/or matches taking place in US. Kevin Kelly was alluding to big news coming tonight, moreso than if they were just releasing the blocks, but I guess we'll see.
For those unaware/new to NJPW, the G1 Climax is an annual tournament held by NJPW. There are two blocks, A and B, and each block has a round robin tournament to determine a winner in each block. The two block winners face off in the finals and the winner gets a shiny trophy, their name etched in history, and a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom.
It's a big deal to win this tournament and this year is extra special for many reasons. Typically this tournament took place in the summer after Dominion (NJPW's big summer PPV) but due to COVID the 30th Climax and this year's (31st) are taking place in the fall. This year's tournament also has some major omissions as Bullet Club leader Jay White and Will Ospreay will not be competing due to travel restrictions. Both are staying in the United States for the foreseeable future.
Will Ospreay vacated the IWGP World Heavyweight title due to injury, but returned sooner than expected and is currently on American soil with a second belt calling himself the champ. Jay White is the NEVER Openweight champion, a title NJPW has been trying to push as a bigger deal since unifying the Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles earlier this year.
Furthermore, NJPW is trying to push STRONG, having big name talent travel to the US for shows. They recently had a successful and much talked about show in Los Angeles where Hiroshi Tanahashi won the United States title in the main event. There is speculation that some G1 Climax matches may take place in the US, or that Ospreay and White (and possibly others from STRONG) may end up involved in the tournament somehow. This is pure speculation and not super likely though.
We usually get a handful of instant classics out of this tournament and with NJPW pulling out all the stops lately, we might be in for a real treat this year. Even if you don't watch every match (almosy nobody does), it's going to be worth following along.
|
|
Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Sept 5, 2021 16:06:05 GMT
A Block
• Kota Ibushi
• Tetsuya Naito
• Shingo Takagi
• Zack Sabre Jr.
• Toru Yano
• Tomohiro Ishii
• Yujiro Takahashi
• KENTA
• Tanga Loa (G1 Debut)
• Great O-Khan (G1 Debut)
B Block
• SANADA
• Taichi
• YOSHI-HASHI
• Hirooki Goto
• Jeff Cobb
• EVIL
• Tama Tonga
• Chase Owens (G1 Debut)
• Kazuchika Okada
• Hiroshi Tanahashi
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2021 16:07:15 GMT
Okay the good doctor is tasked with a write up for all 176 matches in the G1.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 5, 2021 16:43:10 GMT
The quality of G1 is going to suffer without White and Ospreay, but there's still some great matches in there. I watch a lot of the G1 matches, but I skip Yujiro Takahashi matches. Also going to skip Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga matches. No time for those goofs. I'll be watching a lot fewer matches this year compared to last year.
Knew Chase Owens would be in, I read somewhere that NJPW are really high on him and want to push him as a top gaijin. Perhaps because he's one of the few gaijins who doesn't mind sticking around in Japan.
|
|
Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Sept 5, 2021 17:06:26 GMT
Tonga vs Loa in the finals or I riot.
Fun fact: this will be the first time Okada and Tanahashi face each other since 2018.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 5, 2021 18:36:57 GMT
Not sure if that was a typo, but they fought each other last time on Day 1 of the 2019 G1. Two years ago. It was a walkover for Okada, at that point Okada was the top guy and Tanahashi was at a very low point, basically a midcarder.
Now the situation is a bit different. Tanahashi is on a high run (although I don't yet know how he did against Ibushi) while Okada has been in a slump for a while. It will be a lot more even than their last encounter, mainly because Okada has fallen so far. Should be interesting.
I'm expecting Cobb and ZSJ to do great things this year. I'll even be brave and suggest that one of them (but not both) will make the final. I could see a Cobb/Naito final happening.
|
|
Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Sept 5, 2021 19:41:05 GMT
Not sure if that was a typo, but they fought each other last time on Day 1 of the 2019 G1. Two years ago. It was a walkover for Okada, at that point Okada was the top guy and Tanahashi was at a very low point, basically a midcarder. Now the situation is a bit different. Tanahashi is on a high run (although I don't yet know how he did against Ibushi) while Okada has been in a slump for a while. It will be a lot more even than their last encounter, mainly because Okada has fallen so far. Should be interesting. I'm expecting Cobb and ZSJ to do great things this year. I'll even be brave and suggest that one of them (but not both) will make the final. I could see a Cobb/Naito final happening. Not a typo. Wreddit lied to me AGAIN.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 16, 2021 8:59:15 GMT
It all kicks off on Saturday. Round 1 matches below. September 18: Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii Toru Yano vs. KENTA Great-O-Khan vs. Tanga Loa Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito Kota Ibushi vs. Yujiro Takahashi
September 19: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada SANADA vs. Tama Tonga Jeff Cobb vs. Chase Owens YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi I'm busy this weekend so probably will be Monday before I can watch anything. ZSJ vs Naito definitely the highlight for me even though their last match kinda fell apart. Okada vs Tanahashi should be cool as well. I'm predicting Ishii to upset the champ on the first show. Defintely won't be watching all the matches. Yujiro, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, EVIL, Chase Owens, YOSHI-HASHI and Goto do not interest me all that much.
|
|
Junior Member
IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Other / Decline to State
1,212 POSTS & 1,061 LIKES
|
Post by KITN on Sept 16, 2021 9:22:08 GMT
I hope Chase Owens goes winless. And then gets fired.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 16, 2021 10:10:31 GMT
What did Chase Owens do?
|
|
Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Sept 16, 2021 22:45:13 GMT
They're giving him a mini push so I wouldn't at all be surprised to see him get a couple upsets. Could see him pinning Tanahashi and getting a US title shot.
|
|
Junior Member
IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Other / Decline to State
1,212 POSTS & 1,061 LIKES
|
Post by KITN on Sept 17, 2021 0:18:44 GMT
So first, he had a HALF HOUR MATCH with Toru Yano. And some people said "That sounds awful" or that they didn't like the match. And Chase Owens, like a fragile, insecure little piece of shit, equated people saying they didn't like his wrestling match or didn't want to see him wrestle for half an hour to Daffney's suicide only days beforehand. Just absolute scumbag soulless shit. And there's the thing from last year where he was accused of sexual misconduct with multiple teenagers.
|
|
Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Sept 21, 2021 6:44:53 GMT
NJPW just announced that Tetsuya Naito has pulled out of the G1 Climax due to "ligament damage" in his knee.
Seems like Hiromu Takahashi is taking his spot.
SCENES.
|
|
Legend
IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Undisputed 2020 Poster of the Year
33,663 POSTS & 10,429 LIKES
|
Post by c on Sept 21, 2021 16:52:44 GMT
It time for Hiromu to show the world why he is the greatest.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 21, 2021 23:01:02 GMT
Fucking hell. Zack Sabre Jr. fucked up Naito for real. www.njpw1972.com/104513Naito has no replacement: all his matches are forfeited and his opponents will instead wrestle in non-tournament singles matches. Two with Nagata, two with BUSHI, two with Hiromu and two with Kojima.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 21, 2021 23:15:57 GMT
Your PW NJPW correspondent is late on reporting because he had a busy weekend and stuff. Day 1Kota Ibushi vs Yujiro TakahashiOnly saw the finish of this one. An early shock as the token jobber defeats the winner of the previous two tournaments. A low blow followed by Takahashi's normal finisher didn't get the job done, but he had a never-before-seen second finisher that put Ibushi down for the count.
I feel like they are going for a comeback arc with Ibushi. Loses the first three, wins the rest. Just like SANADA did last year. Tanga Loa vs Great O KhanTwo G1 debutants. Two big men. Two heels. Tanga Loa is a wild card and O Khan is constantly improving so I watched this match with some optimism. And they delivered. That's not to say this was a classic, but it was a very good hoss fight that started off strong, built to a nice conclusion and didn't have a dull moment. O Khan played more of a babyface role in this match and he did a good job. Well done lads. KENTA vs Toru YanoGiven that serious wrestler 2010-era Toru Yano re-emerged for his I Quit match with Chase Owens, I wasn't sure which Yano would come out to play in this year's G1. Comedy Yano is back.
This was a five minute match that went twice that distance. Lots of tape and silliness, but it was mostly a less entertaining rehash of their G1 match last year. Yano rolls up KENTA for the win while his hands are taped together. Tetsuya Naito vs Zack Sabre Jr.Another solid match to add to their rivalry. Zack's tekkers vs Naito's unpredictable explosiveness. The submission master tried out some new moves, variations on his usual holds, an impressive dropkick, and a Dragon Suplex. However it was his bread and butter that got the job done, he focused on Naito's leg halfway through the match and was able to twist it to force Naito to meekly tap out.
As we learnt after the match, Naito's knee was injured, forcing him to retire from the tournament. An unfortunate accident, not sure at what moment it happened. Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo TakagiNo surprises here. Two big bruisers who love to fight. They started the match by charging into each over several times, and never stopped going. The amount of forearm strikes are in the thousands. Super intense action. Fantastic intensity, this was a real war and this was conveyed by the way both guys sold the brutal offense. Incredible drama, tons of great near falls, a finishing stretch that kept everyone guessing. As the action approached the 30 minute time limit, Shingo was able to catch Ishii with a Last of the Dragon for a hard-earned victory.
Both men are fortunate they have five days until their next matches because they murdered each other. ****3/4
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 22, 2021 23:11:08 GMT
Day 2YOSHI-HASHI vs EVILOnly watched the finish. The top guys are able to overcome his cheating and win, the lower card guys get OH SO CLOSE but EVIL fucks them with a lowblow and his finish. That was YOSHI-HASHI's fate.
YOSHI-HASHI wrestled nine OH SO CLOSE style matches last G1, including one against EVIL himself. He's a graet underdog wrestler, but he needs to start winning matches or my interest in his improvement will vanish. It might already have done. Jeff Cobb vs Chase OwensI didn't pay too much attention to this match, but it seemed Cobb won rather convincingly. SANADA vs Tama TongaTama Tonga kinda sucks, but SANADA is a good opponent for him. Both men are very athletic, agile, and speedy. They used this well, putting together some impressive sequences. So this exceeded expectations, but it's still a match I'm going to forget about quickly. SANADA won with a rollup he stole from ZSJ. Hirooki Goto vs TaichiBoth guys are the same age, yet Taichi has done nothing but improve over the past few years. Formed a successful tag team with Zack Sabre Jr. Added several AJPW-inspired moves to his repertoire. Showed new sides of himself in last year's G1. Meanwhile Goto has been treading water. Yes he is the NEVER six man tag champion, but his wrestling is stale. He's coasting. The only interesting thing he did in this match was busting out his old finisher, the Shouten Kai.
So it's no surprise that Taichi was able to outfox Goto by dumping the entire AJPW moveset at him: Taue chokeslams, Kawada kicks of death, Jumbo Tsuruta backdrop driver, and a roaring Misawa discus forearm to set up his own finish, the Black Mephisto. Convincing victory for Taichi to kick off his G1. Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi TanahashiJust from the entrances and pre-match antics I knew I was in for something special. Both guys looked refreshed and ultra-confident. Okada sporting new colours. Tanahashi dyed his hair darker, harkening back to his prime years. Indeed, Tanahashi has every right to be confident, coming off big singles wins against Lance Archer, KENTA and Ibushi. Given Okada's gradual but significant decline, these men are fighting on almost even terms, something I never thought I'd say again. Okada is the favourite, but Tanahashi winning would only be a minor surprise.
As if in defiance to last night's non-stop monster truck annihilation of a main event, they took it slow. Real slow. The first five minutes of the match was chain wrestling, mostly headlocks. Yet it was gripping action, both men grappling with a swagger and confidence they have both been missing for a long time.
Slowly the battle escalated. Tanahashi repeatedly caught Okada's kicks and countered into Dragon Screws. However Okada was also able to skillfully fight from underneath and takae control. One high spot, the only one in fact, saw Tanahahashi hit is High Fly Flow from the top rope to the floor. Back to the ring for an incredibly dramatic closing stretch. An important factor is Okada not wasting too much time with the Money Clip. He used it once, then all his kill attempts were with the Rainmaker lariat. However Tanahashi countered several attempts, and connected with a couple of Sling Blades. However Okada countered the High Fly Flow by getting his knees up.
Deep into the match, Tanahashi hits a German suplex, then a Dragon Suplex. Okada kicks out of the latter at one, pops up like he's doing an Ishii no-sell, right into a mild forearm exchange. This transition really hurt the match for me, and the crowd didn't react too well either. Potentially a miscommunication between the wrestlers. However they skillfully closed the match, Okada hitting a new variation on his Tombstone to lead into the Rainmaker lariat and the victory.
Okada takes the mic after the match, declaring that the Rainmaker is back. And I believe him.
Amazing match, would have been five stars if not for that blip at the peak of the battle. ****3/4
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 24, 2021 23:45:49 GMT
Day 3Thanks to Naito's injury we are down to four block matches in Block A. I'm going to skip the special singles matches except for the Hiromu ones, but they're later. Toru Yano vs Great O-KhanThis match has a backstory. When they last met in the New Japan Cup, Yano tied O-Khan to the barricade using O-Khan's own braid. To escape and avoid the count out defeat he cut it off with some scissors (proviedd by a young boy). But Yano ended up beating him anyway.
O-Khan hasn't forgotten, and he's pissed off. He even kept the lock of hair, which he presents to Yano. O-Khan is a big guy but normally calm and collected. Full of rage O-Khan is different and interesting. Yano couldn't really compete in a direct slugfest, but he eventually managed to create some distance. Handcuffs were introduced. Yano ended up handcuffed to a rail but found a genius way to escape. Timed perfectly as he rolls in the ring at 19.5. He must have practiced that a ton of times.
O-Khan gets rolled up a couple of times but kicks out and is able to quickly hit his finish to get some manner of retribution. Fantastic match. It's great when Yano's opponents play along and inject their own character into the match. KENTA vs Yujiro TakahashiLook, I'm a NJPW diehard, and KENTA used to be my favourite wrestler, but there's some matches I just won't put myself through. KENTA forced Takahashi to tap out with the Game Over. Kota Ibushi vs Tomohiro IshiiIbushi is still out of whack after coming back from pneumonia. He lost to tournament jobber Yujiro in the first round, and Ishii dominated Ibushi for the first part of the match. He had no answer to Ishii's straightforward brute force approach.
However, as the match progressed, Ibushi seemed to gain in power. He was able to go toe to toe with Ishii, then a few minutes later he was winning the strike battles. Super intese match with lots of bad blood and stiff slapping exchanges. Some great near falls. Ibushi won by throwing around knee strikes like Kenny Omega on speed, catching Ishii with enough of them for Ibushi to hit the exposed-knee Kamigoye for a much needed victory. Shingo Takagi vs Zack Sabre Jr.Their first ever meeting. Well, unless you include an obscure match in Europe from 2009, so obscure it isn't even on cagematch.net. But we must include that match because both men did not forget, and mentioned it in their first round interviews. Shingo won that match by the way, and as the champion he's the favourite to win this one. Takagi is also seeking vengeance for his fallen comrade Naito.
This was a beautifully constructed technical vs power match. Zack took control in the early going, applying holds and focusing on the arms of Takagi. However, like Ibushi, Takagi gained life as the match went on. At one point it was looking quite bleak for ZSJ as he couldn't string two moves. Shingo's brute force explosive style was too much: he would burst out with a lariat or shoulder tackle whenever Zack got any momentum going. Indeed, the lariat was Shingo's main offensive choice, as he could not hold Zack long enough to hit his signature moves.
As the match went on, and Shingo's arms were attacked more, his lariats began to harm him. While they were still effective on Zack, Shingo couldn't capitalise on them. Shingo seemed at a loss; he even tried some submission holds but you're not going to beat the best technical wrestler in the world that way. At the 20 minute mark Zack was able to hit the Zack Driver, which nobody has ever kicked out of. Takagi kicked out, the fucker. I thought that was over.
Later on Takagi did hit the Pumping Bomber, the full speed ahead lariat he uses to set up his finish, but once again the pain in his arms prevented him from taking advantage. Not long after ZSJ had Shingo tied in knots. A Cobra Twist transition to a Triangle Choke. Shingo tried to lift out of the Triangle, but ZSJ transitioned into a cross armbreaker, fully extended and Shingo tapped immediately.
I popped huge. I honestly wasn't expecting that to happen. Not only did ZSJ beat the IWGP World Heavyweivht Champion, he submitted him! Holy shit! Brilliant psychology and drama. Flawless match. Five fucking stars. And a five star post-match promo.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 28, 2021 23:05:59 GMT
Day 4Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Hirooki GotoSolid but unremarkable opening match. Tanahashi wins with a rollup. Tama Tonga vs Chase OwensAnother Bullet Club vs Bullet Club dud match. Tama Tonga wins in a clean match. Much respect showed. Jeff Cobb vs YOSHI-HASHIHonestly don't remember much about this match besides Cobb winning. SANADA vs TaichiSANADA normally bored me but he's been pretty good in this tournament. Taichi is getting better and better. I think I've mentioned already that Taichi is adding more classic AJPW moves to his moveset. He's a hybrid of Jumbo Tsuruta, Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue. It works really well for him.
Beat SANADA clean as a whistle with his new finishing combination. Roaring forearm into the Black Mephisto. SANADA had no answer. ****1/4 Kazuchika Okada vs EVILEVIL sucks so I didn't watch the whole match. It's going to happen a lot for Block B. Dick Togo interferes, Okada takes him out, then takes out EVIL. A surprisingly dominant victory, normally it takes a lot more than that to take EVIL down.
The Rainmaker is really back, and he's looking unstoppable so far.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 28, 2021 23:06:38 GMT
Day 5Great O-Khan vs Yujiro TakahashiO-Khan won. Toru Yano vs Tanga LoaOne of Toru Yano's more straightforward matches. Not so many shenanigansTanga Loa dictated most of the match, and he was surprisingly entertaining to watch. You kinda assume Loa sucks because his brother Tama Tonga sucks, but Loa is a less proven commodity in the singles division. He did good work here. The finish turned into a schmozfest with Jado getting involved, the outcome being a Yano rollup and victory. KENTA vs Tomohiro IshiiGreat match. I say frequently that Ishii brings the best out of everyone, and he does, but I feel in this match that KENTA brought the best out of himself, and Ishii was just being his usual awesome self. KENTA did some god-tier stalling at the start, including this wonderful impersonation.  KENTA must have been watching ZSJ's technical masterclass against Takagi, since he quickly honed in on Ishii's right arm. Understand that 80% of Ishii's offense is chopping, smashing and lariating with that same arm. KENTA's offense was great. While Ishii was suffering he removed the padding from one of the turnbuckles. However, Ishii responded accordingly. Of course, pain is not an insurmountable obstacle for the Stone Pitbull, so when he was on top he smashed KENTA using that right arm as he normally does. However this came at a cost. Much like Shingo against Zack, Ishii did as much damage to his own arm as he did to KENTA, slowing him down. The action turned back and forth, both guys delivering offense and swift counters on equal measure. In the end it was all decided by that exposed turnbuckle that I had long forgotten about. KENTA shoves Ishii face first into it, then rolls him up for the three count. Brilliant finish. ****1/2 Another masterclass from Soy Boy Tekkers. Interestingly, it was Ibushi who gained the early advantage. He threw lightning fast kicks at Zack's left leg, and Zack had no response. Try as he might he kept enduring the kicks. Zack spilled to the outside. Ibushi hit a plancha, but after rolling Zack back in the ring, he was caught with a submission hold in the ropes. Thus begun Zack's offense - he targeted Ibushi's left arm. He has clearly watched enough Ibushi matches to know that attacking the legs is no use since it doesn't hinder his offense one bit. On the match goes, transitioning from submissions to striking and everything in between. Zack even hit a powerbomb! As the match drew to a close the momentum was slowly shifting in Ibushi's favour. His kicks overpowered Zack, and he started throwing the knee strikes that have led him so many victories. However ZSJ was able to evade two Kamigoye attempts, the second counter into a nasty submission hold. He tied Ibushi up and transitioned to Orienteering with Napalm Death. These words were spoken by the Japanese announcers and it was glorious. Ibushi, with nowhere to go, was forced to submit. ****1/2 British Tekkers does it again. Zack wins three on the trot, and closes the show on the microphone for a second time in a row. I feel very optimistic that NJPW are giving him these opportunities, it shows they may give him a singles title in the future. Maybe even the World Championship! The promo was fantastic. He spoke Japanese and English, insulted everyone, and even took shots at Naito in Spanish. "Cómo estás, Naito? Bien? Bien? Huh? Cause I'm muy bien, I'm muy bloody bien! You wanna know why, Naito? I'm muy bien because I'm going to win the G1 bloody Climax while you're sitting on your arse on your sofa at home, dickhead."Fucking brilliant. Give the man a knighthood. His backstage interview was glorious too. He called his next opponent Great O Khan "Aladdin Pants", and said that not even a genie granting him three wishes could help him beat Zack. Wish 1: stop being a dickhead  I'm loving the Zack Sabre Jr. Express going full speed ahead. He's beaten the three best wrestlers in the block. I know this means he's going to lose at least twice to some of the bottom enders, and it will suck, but I gotta ride the high while it's happening.
|
|
Legend
IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Undisputed 2020 Poster of the Year
33,663 POSTS & 10,429 LIKES
|
Post by c on Sept 29, 2021 0:08:27 GMT
ZSJ vs Ibushi is the one match from this I plan to check out. Glad it delivered.
Hearing Japan is loosening regulations, so hopefully we get that match with Dragon while he is red hot.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 29, 2021 9:23:03 GMT
ZSJ vs Shingo is even better than ZSJ vs Ibushi. Just watch all ZSJ matches. Even his inevitable future loss to Toru Yano.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Sept 30, 2021 23:24:40 GMT
Day 6A strange day because every match had a wrestler I am interested in facing a wrestler I am not so interested in. o I watched all the matches, some on double speed. Wrestling can be more fun on double speed. Taichi vs EVILTaichi has been fantastic in this tournament, but he barely did anything in this match while EVIL got his way with his cheating. Dick Togo grabbed Miho Abe (Taichi's female valet) a couple of times to distract Taichi which allowed EVIL to win. SANADA vs Chase OwensI don't want to sleep on Chase Owens too much because I've not really seen enough of the guy to dismiss him outright. This match was pretty good. A nice spot with Chase Owens attempting SANADA's Paradise Lock but failing in an amusing manner. Good solid work for the rest of the match, although SANADA's victory felt a bit too easy. Hirooki Goto vs Jeff CobbDecent hoss fest. Goto scored a suplex on Cobb which was pretty interesting, otherwise the match was unmemorable. Cobb wins to go 3-0. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tama TongaAgain a pretty solid match. The high point was Tama Tonga hitting Tanahashi with his own moves: Sling Blade and the High Fly Flow. However Tanahashi's finisher wasn't enough to beat Tanahashi. Moments later Tanahashi was back in the match and appeared to be cruising to victory in the same manner, but things happened and Tonga hit the Gun Stun. After hitting the move he posed to the crowd and then decided to sell. He crawled over to make the pin, laid back on the cover to ensure he could be rolled up. Tanahashi grabs the crucifix pin, one two three.
The finish left a bitter taste in the mouth, Tonga wrestled a great match but lost because he's a doofus, and Tanahashi gets a lucky escape against someone he should be beating nine times out of ten. Kazuchika Okada vs YOSHI-HASHIThis had all the ingredients of a classic Okada match. Sound psychology, with YOSHI-HASHI smartly scouting his teammates' moves and keeping an early advantage. Okada hitting two DDTs on the floor and working over the neck. Slow build to a long and hot closing stretch.
Unfortunately the match was held back by one thing: YOSHI-HASHI is so far beneath Okada, so no matter how much offense he hit and no matter how long he locked in his holds (he had a Butterfly Lock applied for 2-3 boring minutes), I simply wasn't buying that Okada would lose to this guy which rendered YOSHI-HASHI's long strong of offense irrelevant. The exception being a crafty rollup that scored a genuinely eye-popping near fall very close to the end.
What I'm saying is that, Okada gave YOSHI-HASHI a ton of offense, and tried his hardest to make himself appear beatable, but it was always an inevitable Okada victory. Indeed, after surviving everything he hits a sitout Tombstone driver then the Rainmaker for the win. That style of match would have been fantastic against a guy like Taichi or Tanahashi who is upper midcard enough to beat Okada. Not so for any old jobber.
That said, YOSHI-HASHI had a great showing, and with that kind of performance he should be able to rack up a few wins against the tail enders such as Tama Tonga and Chase Owens. I am kinda hoping he gets more than one win in this year's G1. He deserves it. Could do with some new offense though. B Block has been disappointing so far. It's basically the Okada show. Although Cobb is winning all his matches, they have been short-ish midcard affairs, meanwhile Okada is front and centre main eventing every show, winning, and getting some time on the mic to talk about how great he is. And he looks unstoppable so far. Even without Naito, A Block is far more interesting. Yes, it's the Zack Sabre Jr. show so far, but Shingo, Ishii, KENTA Ibushi are delivering the goods, Great O-Khan is the best of the debutants, and Yano is always good for some variety.
|
|
Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Oct 1, 2021 3:53:51 GMT
I am not at all opposed to an Okada resurgence. He's been floundering since losing the title to Omega, and there's no reason why he shouldn't be pushed like crazy. He's their best all-around wrestler and should be dominating that weak-ass block. I fucking love it.
Give me that coin drop from the G1 winner after Omega defends the title against Danielson. GIVE ME WHAT I WANT.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 3, 2021 23:15:01 GMT
Day 7Tanga Loa vs Tomohiro IshiiOnly caught the last five minutes of this match. Very good action. Might have to go back and rewatch the whole thing. Great finish too, with a smooth reversal into Ishii's vertical drop brainbuster. Great O-Khan vs Zack Sabre Jr.When Great O-Khan first arrived on the scene a year ago, he was rough around the edges. He's a big, tall guy, but had a clunky power/brawler style. However he has done nothing but improve, and he's overachieveing in this G1 Climax. In this match he displayed impressive technical skills. So impressive that ZSJ paid his compliments after the match, saying BIG BOY TEKKERS.
I also ought to mention that this is a battle between the two undefeated wrestlers in the block.
To everyone's surprise, Great O-Khan was willing to engage ZSJ in a full-on mat wrestling contest. 90% of the match was grappling, the remaining 10% a striking battle which ZSJ lost. No running the ropes, no action on the floor.
The grappling was fantastic. O-Khan is incredibly nimble and quick for his size. In the first five minutes they were even stevens, but as time went on ZSJ started to get the better of the technical exchanges, finding neat ways to lock a hold on. However O-Khan caught Zack with an excellent rolling kneebar, and played dirty by holding on long after Zack reached the ropes.
O-Khan's finisher is an Iron Claw Chokeslam. He sets it up with an Iron Claw submission/chokehold. Late in the match O-Khan got his big hand around ZSJ's head and applied a variety of holds with the Claw applied. Abdominal Stretch Claw, a hold I don't even know the name of, and the aforementioned hold with which he sets up his finisher. Zack couldn't escape but he toughed it out. O-Khan attempted the Chokeslam. Zack was lifted up but started squirming around on top of O-Khan. He was able to manouevre into a standing cross arm-breaker. He broke O-Khan's grip, hyper-extended the arm and O-Khan submitted immediately, just like Shingo did on Day 3.
Phenomenal match and ZSJ remains undefeated with 4 victories. ****3/4 Toru Yano vs Kota IbushiYano is a sneaky bastard, and Ibushi has been one of his favourite victims. Yano once pinned him in about 30 seconds. Yano brought a black drawstring bag to the ring. The bell rang. Ibushi demanded the referee check its contents. Yano pleaded off, Ibushi walked closer, and Yano placed the bag over his head before rolling him up. Thus followed a fun sequence ending up with a blindfolded Ibushi on the floor, rolled up in the canvas from the ring apron like a sushi, struggling to get free before the 20 count. Of course he made it at 19, and the match went on. Two minutes more of fast frenetic action. Ibushi dodged all the bullets, caught Yano with three nasty knee strikes, setting up for the Kamigoye and a cathartic victory. KENTA vs Shingo TakagiI don't expect much from KENTA these days, but he brought it in this match. There are two sides to KENTA Most of the time he's in Bullet Club mode. Lots of stalling, taunting, very slow and methodical wrestling. Then there's aggressive KENTA, where he brings the fast pace and heavy strikes just like in his prime.
That KENTA came to play today, bursting out of the gates with a boot to the face, and into a forearm exchange. Shingo was able to get the better of KENTA momentarily, but KENTA caught him in the Game Over doing serious damage to Takagi's already tender right arm. KENTA ruthlessly worked over this arm for the next few minutes.
Shingo eventually rallied back and both men threw bombs at each other. Just like his match with Zack, Shingo was unable to maintain his momentum because of the injured arm. Shingo is one of the most ferocious strikers in the game, but aggro-KENTA is just a good a striker. Some really stiff exchanges. Slowly but surely Shingo started to take the advantage: his brute force wrestling is hard to stop.
KENTA sensed this and deliberately caused a referee bump. He grabbed two chairs, and used them to severely damage Shingo's arm. He then rolled the ref back in the ring and applied Game Over once more. A really nasty Game Over. Shingo struggled, almost passed out. I thought the match was over, but Shingo somehow made the ropes. He then fought from underneath again, basing out lariats left and right with his injured arm. Shingo did suffer, but KENTA ran out of gas, and Shingo hit Last of the Dragons for the three count. ****3/4
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 6, 2021 23:32:18 GMT
Day 8Life's quite hectic right now so progress is slow. Falling further and further behind. B Block has been pretty uneventful so far. All the matches have gone the expected route, and there have been few of the top guy vs top guy clashes. Will there be any surprises in the fourth round? Jeff Cobb vs Tama TongaDecided to check out this match. It was pretty fun. Since EVIL has taken over as the chief Bullet Club cheater dickhead, Tama Tonga is wrestling clean. He used his unorthodox wrestling style and agility to counter Cobb's raw power, which was reasonably effective, but not enough to overcome the Imperial Unit. Cobb wins again, bringing his record to 4-0. EVIL vs Chase OwensEVIL cheated and won in the same way he always does. Interestingly, fellow Bullet Club member Chase Owens called out EVIL on his bullshit in the post-match interview, correctly stating he can't win a match without Dick Togo. Hirooki Goto vs Jeff CobbDecent hoss fest. Goto scored a suplex on Cobb which was pretty interesting, otherwise the match was unmemorable. Cobb wins to go 3-0. YOSHI-HASHI vs TaichiThe match would have been completely unremarkable were it not for the result: YOSHI-HASHI hits Karma and pins Taichi to score his first win in a pretty big upset. The first surprise in B Block. Kazuchika Okada vs Hirooki GotoMy main criticism with Okada vs YOSHI-HASHI was that any tension they tried to create through near falls fell flat because YOSHI-HASHI is so far beneath Okada. This was slightly different. I can buy Goto beating Okada. Unfortunately the match was fairly dull and there wasn't an awful lot of drama in the closing stretch. Okada wins with his super duper rollup to also go 4-0. SANADA vs Hiroshi TanahashiMuch like Tanahashi vs Okada from round 1, they went old school. It was an old school one upsmanship match. They started off with an extended side headlock sequence. Both guys had short windows of offense. SANADA hit a plancha to the floor, then Tanahashi did the same a few minutes later. They traded Dragon Screws and submission holds. SANADA got the knees up on Tanahashi's top rope finisher. SANADA then went for his top rope finisher, only for Tanahashi to get his knees up. SANADA scored a crazy near fall with a rollup. Tanahashi then hit a Dragon Suplex for his own near fall. SANADA kicked out, but was unable to evade a High Fly Flow. Tanahashi wins.
I'm not sure if my description made the match sound exciting, but it wasn't close to what Tanahashi and Okada were able to create. SANADA doesn't have the gift for that kind of match. Another mediocre show. The story is Okada running away with the tournament at 4-0, but Jeff Cobb is also undefeated but flying under the radar. The difference is, Okada has already defeated two of his strongest opponents in Tanahashi and EVIL, whereas Cobb has only defeated the bottom enders: Chase Owens, YOSHI-HASHI, Tama Tonga and Hirooki Goto. We'll see if Cobb can keep pace when he faces the big guns.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 11, 2021 21:14:26 GMT
Day 9Great O-Khan vs KENTABefore the match started, both men said a few words on the mic. Events after the match revealed that KENTA issues a challenge: the loser has to bow down to the winner. O-Khan accepted that challenge.
O-Khan, fresh off his loss against Zack Sabre Jr, used his Big Boy Tekkers to outwrestle KENTA in the first few minutes. It was a pretty back and forth contest, but O-Khan was starting to dominate close to the end. KENTA had wrestled a pretty clean match, but seeing his doom coming, he very unsubtly shoved O-Khan into the referee. He then got a chair, walloped him a few times. Ref was still down. KENTA decided to continue his assault, getting a BASEBALL BAT! O-Khan blocked the blow, they had a tug of war for the bat, and KENTA dropped to the mat. The referee accosted Great O-Khan. KENTA schoolboyed him from behind, handful of tights, one to three.
After the match KENTA ordered O-Khan to bow. O-Khan behaved strangely, pretending to bow as if he was being mind-controlled by KENTA. Then he stopped, grabbed KENTA and hit his finisher. Bizarre, but entertaining. Good match. Tanga Loa vs Yujiro TakahashiClearly a waste of time. I caught the finish and witnessed Tanga Loa achieve his first ever G1 victory. Congratulations. I doubt you'll get any more. Zack Sabre Jr. vs Tomohiro IshiiZack did not start this match well. He got into a tough man contest. Ishii no-sold his uppercuts, while lighting up Zack's chest with vicious chops. However ZSJ was able to get on track by a formula that has worked well for him: attack the arm. Ishii's right arm, his main weapon, was tortured for a long time.
They worked an awesome match, with a nice mixture of strong style brawling, fluid counters, and pure tekkers. I was even close to believing that Ishii might lose by submission (passing out instead of tapping out) which is almost inconceivable. However on this occasion Ishii's unshakeable toughness and striking ability enabled him to survive the undefeated submission master, and hit his vertical drop brainbuster to give ZSJ his first loss. ****3/4
After the match he confessed that his mistake was trying to Triangle Choke a man with no neck. Kota Ibushi vs Shingo TakagiSomething about this match didn't work for me. I can't pinpoint anything especially wrong with it, it just never seemed to get out of third gear. Maybe it was my mood. Ibushi won, which isn't surprising in the slightest: I was sure Ibushi would be one of Shingo's losses.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 11, 2021 21:27:17 GMT
Day 10Hiroshi Tananashi vs Chase OwensA surprising opener, you might say, but NJPW is no longer structuring these shows from "worrst match" to "best match". They seem to be opening with a relatively high profile match, and sticking the jobbers in the middle.
Couldn't be bothered watching the whole match, but Chase Owens scored a shocking upset. Not quite as shocking as Yujiro beating Ibushi in the A Block opener, but close. EVIL vs Tama TongaOn the other hand, I decided to watch this match. Tama Tonga has historically been the biggest cheater in the G1. Now he's wrestling clean, precisely because his opponent is the biggest cheater. However Tonga does have Jado at ringside, who could cancel out Dick Togo.
Tonga wrestled a smart match here, using his craftiness and speed to outmatch EVIL's blunt assaults. Togo was neutralised by Dick Togo. Seemed like an upset was on the cards, but then the lights went out. EVIL's master trick. Lights back on, the ref is down, and Togo is choking Tama Tonga. EVIL hits his finish and that's it. Disappointing outcome but not a bad match. Taichi vs Jeff CobbCobb's run through the job squad and it's time for his first real challenge. Taichi defeated Cobb in last year's G1, before the United Empire existed. Cobb says he's a new man now, and I believe that. He's better than he's ever been. However, so is Taichi. Hirooki Goto vs YOSHI-HASHINo idea why this match is the semi main event. Both guys are at the bottom of the block. Goto won. SANADA vs Kazuchika OkadaNJPW's worst rivalry continues. I don't think these guys have ever wrestled a match I liked, and this was no different. Complete borefest.
The match had potential to be interesting when SANADA went for a moonsault. Okada dodged, SANADA landed on his feet, knee buckles, he collapses in agony. SANADA is not the greatest seller, so I thought he was legit injured, but when Okada quickly pounced and drove the knee into the mat, it became an obvious work. For the first time, I was interested, but just like that Okada goes back to business as usual. Body slam, top rope elbow drop, Money Clip (a non-leg submission), and Rainmaker attempts. SANADA makes a token effort to sell his leg, but mostly does his usual bullshit of spamming dragon sleeper holds ad nauseum. A potentially interesting bit of psychology ruined.
SANADA shockingly managed to hit his finisher, the moonsault, but the impact hurt his legs so much that he couldn't make the cover immediately and only draped an arm over Okada's chest. Okada kicks out. They wrestle some more, there are one or two decent near falls, but the writing was on the wall the moment Okada survived SANADA's finisher. Okada wins with a Rainmaker at the 29 minute mark.
SANADA was at least rational enough to admit that this "rivalry" is not really one at all, it's something like 6-1 to Okada. Okada tried to continue the myth going with his backstage interview, praising SANADA's strength and blah blah blah. Admit it Okada, just say he's nowhere near your level, because that's the story the booking tells.
|
|
Strong Style Mod
USER IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Male
11,411 POSTS & 11,537 LIKES
|
Post by Emperor on Oct 14, 2021 22:59:10 GMT
Day 11I'm only four days behind now. Everything is fine. I'll get there. Slowly. I don't even know why I am using spoiler tags but it makes my posts nice and concise. Hiromu Takahashi vs KENTASo far I've been ignoring these Naito-replacement matches, but Hiromu is wrestling the next two, that is interesting.
In normal circumstances this would be a very interesting match and I wouldn't rule out Hiromu's chance of winning. But the G1 participant has to go over in these matches. What did surprise me was how one-sided it was. Hiromu jump-started the match with a dropkick but KENTA soon took control and never let up. He completely dictated the pace and shut down Hiromu at all moments. He even introduced a steel chair and walloped Hiromu a few times, but not enough to keep him down.
Hiromu finally got an impressive flurry going in the final minutes, then KENTA countered the Time Bomb, shoved Hiromu face first into the turnbuckle he exposed earlier, rollup for the win. Exact same finish as he did against Ishii.
Disappointing match, I expected it to be more competitive considering Hiromu is the star of the Junior Division and someone who has defeated heavyweights in the past. Tanga Loa vs Kota IbushiSkipped to the end. Tanga Loa hit a Poisonrana on Ibushi. Ibushi popped up and epic botched a Poisonrana of his own. Looked awful, especially when Loa decided to backflip himself, exposing the already dumb move. A minute later Ibushi hits Kamigoye and wins. Zack Sabre Jr. vs Yujiro TakahashiThis pairing is a variation of the unstoppable force vs the immovable object. I watch all ZSJ matches because he's that awesome. I watch no Yujiro matches because he's that terrible. The unstoppable force wins, I watched this on ZSJ merits.
The match was good but unremarkable. A bad ZSJ but an above average Takahashi match. Zack won, of course, getting back on track after suffering his first loss to Ishii in the previous round. Shingo Takagi vs Toru YanoYano has been pretty disappointing this tournament. He would have been perfectly placed in Block B, since that section is distinctly lacking in entertainment, while Block A has plenty of awesome stuff surrounding him.
Anyway this was a pretty fun match. Yano has started introducing blindfolds to his bag of tricks. and both men worked some pretty creative spots with them. Takagi won a fairly quick match. Great O-Khan vs Tomohiro IshiiIshii's main evented his fair share of G1 shows. Great O-Khan has not. This is his first main event, and you couldn't have a better opponent if you want a banger. And what a banger it was. Phenomenal match with a surprising amount of variety. O-Khan delivered the goods. He's quickly proving himself to be a star, he's already one of my favourites, and he's right up there with Ishii and ZSJ in putting on awesome matches against everyone.
Amazing final 5-10 minutes where I could have bought either guy winning at multiple points. Ishii managed to dig that little bit deeper and hit a huge lariat, followed by the Brainbuster to put a dent in the score of another block leader.
Probably the match of the tournament so far. *****
|
|
Legend
20,437 POSTS & 13,686 LIKES
|
Post by RT on Oct 16, 2021 18:07:36 GMT
I'm going to do everything in my power to watch a bunch of matches next week while I'm out of town, sitting in my sad, lonely hotel room. Emperor hit me with your top 5 so far because I doubt I'll be able to watch more than that. I've been keeping up but as usual I haven't had time to watch many matches. I don't think I've watched anything since Day 2 other than highlights.
|
|
