You'll have time to watch a lot more than five matches if you're in a lonely hotel room for a week!

A Block is awesome. Watch these matches:
Day 1 - Ishii vs Takagi
Day 3 - Takagi vs ZSJ
Day 5 - Ibushi vs ZSJ
Day 7 - O-Khan vs ZSJ
Day 9 - ZSJ vs Ishii
Day 11 - O-Khan vs Ishii

If you have time, also watch:
Day 5 - KENTA vs Ishii
Day 7 - KENTA vs Takagi

B Block is shit. Only one really great match in Okada vs Tanahashi.

Day 2 - Okada vs Tanahashi
Day 10 - Okada vs SANADA - I thought it was a borefest, but wreddit loved it. You may love it too.
Day 10 - Cobb vs Taichi - The best of the rest, but worse than any of the A Block matches I listed.

Oct 16, 2021 21:15:05 GMT Emperor said:

You'll have time to watch a lot more than five matches if you're in a lonely hotel room for a week!

A Block is awesome. Watch these matches:
Day 1 - Ishii vs Takagi
Day 3 - Takagi vs ZSJ
Day 5 - Ibushi vs ZSJ
Day 7 - O-Khan vs ZSJ
Day 9 - ZSJ vs Ishii
Day 11 - O-Khan vs Ishii

If you have time, also watch:
Day 5 - KENTA vs Ishii
Day 7 - KENTA vs Takagi

B Block is shit. Only one really great match in Okada vs Tanahashi.

Day 2 - Okada vs Tanahashi
Day 10 - Okada vs SANADA - I thought it was a borefest, but wreddit loved it. You may love it too.
Day 10 - Cobb vs Taichi - The best of the rest, but worse than any of the A Block matches I listed.

I have to leave lots of time for crying and masturbating.

I did watch Ishii vs Takagi and Takagi vs ZSJ was next on my list but I never got around to watching it. Also heard rave reviews of ZSJ vs Ishii. Sounds like those 3 are carrying this tournament so far.

- Crying
- Masturbation
- Watching dumb marks drop each other on their heads for no reason

What a great hotel stay. Would recommend.

Day 12

YOSHI-HASHI vs Tama Tonga

SPOILER: Click to show

Didn't watch. YOSHI-HASHI won, giving him a second victory.

Hirooki Goto vs Chase Owens

SPOILER: Click to show

Didn't watch. Goto won.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs EVIL

SPOILER: Click to show

Caught the finish. EVIL cheated a ton and won, as usual, more or less eliminating Tanahashi from making the block finals.

Jeff Cobb vs SANADA

SPOILER: Click to show

I've wrote a lot about how much this block has sucked, but Jeff Cobb has always been entertaining. He's not put on any great matches, nothing I would rank about four stars, but he's been consistently delivering 3.5+ matches against everyone he's faced. This was a quality match. Problem is, while Cobb's matches are entertaining in the moment, I often struggle to remember how exactly they played out. The psychology is usually the same: Cobb is bigger and stronger, throws guys around, and his opponents have to adapt to that. It's logical but makes it harder for me to set apart these matches from one another, unlike the A Block where I'm able to give detailed match recaps from memory.

Cobb's G1 lineup is very interesting: his opponents are getting stronger with every match. He's fighting in the Mortal Kombat arena. He just beat SANADA. Tanahashi next, then EVIL. And, awaiting him at the end, is the final boss Kazuchika Okada.

Kazuchika Okada vs Taichi

SPOILER: Click to show

A classic Okada match with a meh first half and a mindblowing second half. Okada tried this type of match with YOSHI-HASHI, the problem is that there's no way YOSHI-HASHI is beating Okada. However I can buy into Taichi beating Okada, and there were many moments in the match where it looked like Taichi was going to finish him off. Some beautiful sequences of counters and dramatic near falls. The crowd were pining for Taichi. However Okada managed to get the job done again, deep into the match, hitting the Rainmaker to keep pace with the undefeated Jeff Cobb on 6-0. ****1/4

I'm not sure I've seen a G1 with two undefeated wrestlers in the same block after the sixth round. Cobb and Okada running over the competition. However, keep an eye out on EVIL. If my recall is correct, he's beaten every one of his opponents except for Okada, so he's right in there, especially if he beats Cobb in the penultimate round.

Okada has the easier path as he faces Tama Tonga and Chase Owens in the next two rounds. It's hard to imagine that either of them could stop the unstoppable Okada. Meanwhile Cobb faces Tanahashi and EVIL, two guys who could realistically beat him.

As unremarkable as B Block has been, it's building to an exciting conclusion, as all G1 blocks do.

Day 13

Hiromu Takahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii

SPOILER: Click to show

Fun Junior vs Heavyweight match. Takahashi constantly used his speed and agility to his advantage. At first he outmanouevred Ishii but ran into a brick wall when he attacked, so Ishii controlled the first few minutes. Then Takahashi snapped off a hurricanrana and followed up with some impactful offense, including a Death Valley Driver on the apron.

Takahashi dominated much of the match, not allowing Ishii to build any momentum. He even hit his big offense flurry culminating with the Time Bomb, but since he has a Time Bomb 2, his old finisher is now a regular near fall move, and Ishii kicked out.

Ishii was practically out on his feet but somehow hit a couple of lariats and a brainbuster for the win. Not the greatest finish but whatever. Fun match.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs KENTA

SPOILER: Click to show

ZSJ got in KENTA's face during his entrance. He provoked KENTA. He wanted NOAH KENTA, not Bullet Club KENTA. And boy, did he get NOAH KENTA. This was a balls to the wall slugfest, with ZSJ pursuing strike exchanges more so than usual. However Zack also got his fair share of holds in, attacking KENTA's legs, arms and neck throughout the match. KENTA was up to the challenge, often gaining the advantage through the stiff strike exchanges and walloping Zack. He also used an exposed turnbuckle to his advantage.

Getting deeper in the match, ZSJ caught KENTA in three of his signature submission holds, the ones with wacky names that usually win him the big matches. However, shockingly, KENTA toughed through all the holds and made the ropes. They kept going back and forth right unto the very end. Both guys couldn't hit a finishing blow, until KENTA shoved ZSJ face first into the exposed turnbuckle. This gave him the opening to hit GO 2 SLEEP. KENTA wins, putting Zack's status as block leader in jeopardy.

After the match Zack was pleased he brought out NOAH KENTA, and admitted that KENTA had knocked him out in every match they faced each other. Including last year's G1. Very few NJPW guys have Zack's number. KENTA is one of them.

Toru Yano vs Yujiro Takahashi

SPOILER: Click to show

Blimey, watching a second Yujiro match in a row! Credit to the company's most boring wrestler, he played along and wrestled a more Toru Yano match than Toru Yano himself. Takahashi used the tape, the exposed corner pads to his advantage. Very entertaining. He even tried the handcuffs. Yano escaped and rolled under the ring. Takahashi pondered the situation, then made the huge mistake of rolling under the ring after Yano.

Ten seconds later, out came Yano, who rolled into the ring. Takahashi followed, his arms handcuffed behind his back. He was unable to enter the ring before the 20 count. Yano wins a fun but inconsequential match.

Shingo Takagi vs Tanga Loa

SPOILER: Click to show

Watched part of this match on double speed - a nice feature of the NJPW World player. A good solution if I'm not that enthused about a match, but don't want to skip it either. Was a very good hoss fight, Tanga Loa matching Takagi in the power and brute force game. However Takagi has that champion's fire, that extra level of oomph that brought him to the top of the company.

Both Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa are wrestling clean this tournament, and are cutting "happy to be here" promos in their post-match interviews. Loa seems to be impressing the most: both Shingo and Ibushi have been extremely complimentary about his wrestling.

Great O-Khan vs Kota Ibushi

SPOILER: Click to show

It's interesting to see that Okada always gets the main event, even when he's facing the jobbers, while the Takagi vs jobber matches are placed beneath a match between two of the block leaders. Gedo is not being subtle about how high he is on Okada in this tournament.

Surprisingly short main event. They wrestled most of the match like a MMA fight. On their feet searching for strikes. Bit of mat wrestling, but more jiu-jitsu than pro-wrestling. Even a couple of nice judo throws. Ibushi has done this kind of thing before but it's my first time seeing it from O-Khan, and it's so natural for him, just like everything.

They wrestled this way for more or less the duration. It got a bit more pro-wrestlingy near the end. Ibushi won relatively easily with a Kamigoye. I really liked what I saw but it finished too abruptly. Needed an extra five minutes to push it to that next level. Still, the work they did in the 10-15 minutes was basically flawless. ****1/2

With two rounds to go, we have a three way tie at the top with Ibushi, Zack and Shingo all with only two defeats. Ibushi and Shingo technically have an extra win because of the Naito forfeit. Shingo's left with Great O-Khan and Yujiro in the final round. Zack has the ultimate spoiler, Toru Yano, and Tanga Loa in the final round. Ibushi has the forfeit match and then the final round against KENTA, another spoiler.

First time I've watched New Japan in quite a while. Feels like I'm dropping in on a mediocre outing from what I've heard and read lately.

Is it still Kevin Kelly doing English commentary? Whoever's doing it, why are they getting the Joey Styles treatment? Grateful to have English as an option at all here, but it still feels a little lackluster regardless.

Sidenote: Chase Owens looks like the end result of Nick Jackson and Trent Barretta doing a DBZ fusion dance.

A Block is far from mediocre. Even without Naito it's one of the best G1 blocks I've seen. If Naito didn't get injured it could easily have been the best G1 block ever. Zack Sabre Jr, Ishii, Takagi, KENTA and Great O-Khan all killing it.

Kevin Kelly is calling it solo I believe. At least he's the only one at the venue, could be someone else calling it remotely. Don't know really because I listen to the Japanese commentary. Can't stand Kevin Kelly.

Oct 18, 2021 11:20:15 GMT Emperor said:

A Block is far from mediocre. Even without Naito it's one of the best G1 blocks I've seen. If Naito didn't get injured it could easily have been the best G1 block ever. Zack Sabre Jr, Ishii, Takagi, KENTA and Great O-Khan all killing it.

Kevin Kelly is calling it solo I believe. At least he's the only one at the venue, could be someone else calling it remotely. Don't know really because I listen to the Japanese commentary. Can't stand Kevin Kelly.

Yeah, he's always been mediocre at best.

Only name I'm not familiar with is O-Khan. Enjoyed what I've seen so far though I gotta say.

And some mod just needs to update that username to "Emperor-san" already.

Day 14

Taichi vs Tama Tonga

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Decided to give Tama Tonga a shot. Taichi enters this match with a taped up midsection. They worked a pretty good match, but it was spoiled by a couple of clear miscommunications. Tonga ruthlessly attacked the ribs, and although Taichi mounted a reasonable comeback, Tonga pulled through with a surprisingly dominant victory. Looks like this injury has really hurt Taichi. Nevertheless, a big upset and a good victory for Tama.

YOSHI-HASHI vs SANADA.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Didn't watch. SANADA won.

Kazuchika Okada vs Chase Owens

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}I've observed how Okada main evented every show, no matter the level of his opponent. He's main evented against jobbers YOSHI-HASHI and Goto (yes, Goto is a jobber now). But Chase Owens' jobber level must be so low that he drags down Okada to third on the lineup. I also wonder if Okada being so low down means...he is going to lose?

Nope. Match was unremarkable apart from a couple of great "Holy shit, Chase is actually going to do it" teases near the end, but Okada wins with the Money Clip. First time he's won with that hold in the entire tournament. At least we get to see a different wrestler address the crowd at the end of the show.

Hirooki Goto vs EVIL

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Guess what? EVIL cheats and wins.

Jeff Cobb vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}For the first time it's up to Jeff Cobb to keep pace with Okada, instead of the other way round.

Loved this match and might be the best match of the block so far. Great psychology. Cobb as usual dominated at the start. The comeback spot was clever. Cobb was wrestling casually, mocking Tanahashi's gestures. He never does flying moves but this time he decided on a whim to climb to the second rope in order to perform Tanahashi's own diving Senton. He does Tanahashi's taunt, flies off the rope, and misses. Love it, and can completely buy Cobb's overconfidence since he has run through this block.

Tanahashi fought back with punches to the abdomen and a Dragon Screw on the ropes. These two moves messed Cobb up. He was limping and hobbling for the rest of the match, which impacted his ability to pull off his power moves. Tanahashi expertly use this to his advantage, avoiding all of Cobb's big moves and hitting most of his offensive repertoire. However Cobb dug deep when it counted and was somehow able to deliver a huge German Suplex followed by a Tour of the Islands for a crucial victory.

Fantastic match with top notch psychology. ****3/4

Day 15

Yujiro Takahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii

SPOILER: Click to show

Ishii is great, but he's not Zack Sabre Jr. great. Not great enough to persuade me to watch a Yujiro match. So I skipped it. Ishii won.

KENTA vs Tanga Loa

SPOILER: Click to show

Decided to give this one a chance. Sadly it was a dull match. Both men cheated a lot near the end, KENTA won with a rollup having his feet on the ropes.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Toru Yano

SPOILER: Click to show

Not the five star classic they had in last year's G1 (no, I'm not kidding), but a really fun match, probably Yano's best of the tournament. They pulled off some very creative spots. Yano tried to handcuff Zack to the guardrail, but Zack fought back and handcuffed his wrist to Yano's wrist. Clever move, since now he can't be counted out unless Yano gets counted out as well.

They worked the rest of the match in that state, trading rollups and submission holds while handcuffed together. The work was surprisingly fluid. Zack ended up tapping Yano out with an armbar.

Backstage Zack cut a scathingly sarcastic promo against Yano. He did the same last year but it's still hilarious.

O-Khan vs Shingo

SPOILER: Click to show

Stayed up pretty late to watch this match, this was a great match but I feel like I would have appreciated it more if I was less tired. Great hossfest and some basic psychology but didn't quite have that extra bit of drama or storytelling to put it into the upper echelon of A Block matches. Still very good. ****1/4

Heading into the final round, ZSJ, Shingo and Ibushi all have 12 points. Zack has the tiebreak advantage. Ibushi has the tiebreak over Shingo. Time to make a prediction on a block final that already happened two days ago.

Shingo vs Yujiro goes on first. Shingo wins, 14 points.

Zack vs Tanga Loa is next. If Zack wins, he wins the block, no question. Meaning no suspense for the main event. What should happen is a ZSJ victory. What will happen is a Tanga Loa upset.

Ibushi vs KENTA is the main event. Ibushi must win to reach 14 points. This one I'm unsure about. I could see Ibushi making his fourth G1 final in a row, but I could equally see Shingo making the final. I reckon Ibushi wins, and I will groan in despair. Ibushi making the G1 finals is becoming more tiresome than Okadawinslol.

I seriously considered staying up last night to watch the final and now I'm mad that I didn't. Holy shit I can't believe it.

SPOILER: Click to show

Shibata returns in an unannounced match against ZSJ, and Ibushi breaks his arm doing a Phoenix Splash and Okada wins by referee stoppage. Just an unreal night all around.

Day 16

Taichi vs Chase Owens

SPOILER: Click to show

Taichi has been a different wrestler ever since his loss to Okada. Not only are his ribs taped, but he seems a lot weaker mentally. Thus Chase Owens won this match with surprising ease. Taichi was distraught backstage, saying that he should quit the tournament because there's nothing to fight for.

SANADA vs Hirooki Goto

SPOILER: Click to show

SANADA won via rollup.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI

SPOILER: Click to show

Checked this match out, it was disappointing. Nothing particularly exciting happened, and Tanahashi won without being in any real jeopardy.

Jeff Cobb vs EVIL

SPOILER: Click to show

Now we get to the leaders. Cobb is undefeated at 7-0, while EVIL is only two points behind. This match is crucial.

Fortunately this was something more than the standard EVIL match. EVIL did do his usual stuff but Cobb managed to elevate the match, a couple of instances using some of EVIL's heel tactics against him. EVIL pulled out all the Dick Togo tricks and even hit a low blow. However the ref was down, at EVIL's own hands, so he couldn't put the match away.

Later on Cobb was able to superkick a chair into EVIL's face, then hit Tour of the Islands just as the referee came back alive. One two three. Justice for Cobb, and Justice for the G1. EVIL is eliminated.

Cobb gloated backstage, saying he is the savior of NJPW World as the subscribed would have left in droves if EVIL won the G1 :lol:

Kazuchika Okada vs Tama Tonga

SPOILER: Click to show

No idea why this was the main event over the much more significant Jeff Cobb vs EVIL. It is what it is.

This was the standard Okada match except it didn't go quite as long. In fact, it would have been completely unremarkable were it not for the result. The transitions at the end were not particularly compelling: they did the same Gun Stun reversal into Rainmaker attempt several times over.

Okada scooped Tama Tonga up for his sitout driver. Both men went down. Tonga immediately goes for the cover. I had to rewatch the spot to understand that Tonga reversed it into a Gun Stun (RKO) instead of Okada just slamming Tonga down. So, poorly executed. Okada kicks out of Tonga's finish. Tonga doesn't lose his cool. Hits a Jay Driller, covers Okada. One. Two. Three.

Wow. Okada's first loss in the tournament to Tama Tonga of all people. And it wasn't great. It was much more of a disappointing and cold "What the fuck?" moment, like Lesnar ending the Streak, instead of something truly shocking and exciting.

Heading into the final round we have Cobb on 14 points, and Okada on 12 points. These are the only two men who can win the block. Okada has to win to make the final: even a time limit draw is enough for Cobb to advance.

I was hoping for both men to remain undefeated, 14 points each, then a time limit draw, and I assume overtime because there's no other way to break the tie. But it's not happening. We could see Cobb winning the block with a 100% record, an incredible accomplishment. But before the G1 started I predicted Okada winning the whole thing, so I think he will defeat Jeff Cobb.

Day 17

I must say I'm not impressed with how the A Block final went down, and not just because my guy didn't win. With respect to the countout rules, the referees are at at very least incompetent, if not outright corrupt. Read my reports if you want to understand more.

Toru Yano vs Tomohiro Ishii

SPOILER: Click to show

Fun match which had a nice mixture of Yano antics and Ishii strong style. Ishii blocked or dodged several low blow attempts, but the fourth one got him, and Ishii was rolled up to suffer another defeat.

Shingo Takagi vs Yujiro Takahashi

SPOILER: Click to show

Caught the end of the match. They brawled outside the ring for a while. The moment they left the ring, the ref started the count. Shingo rolls in the ring at 19. The ref stops the count. Takahashi grabs his leg, but Shingo has already entered the ring.

Takahashi pulls him out and they brawl again. Same deal: Shingo rolls in the ring at 19, except this time he doesn't make it under the ring ropes before Yujiro grabs his leg. Ref counts to 20. Double count out. Draw.

When I first watched this I had no idea what just happened, and thought the ref was just being dumb (in kayfabe), but on a repeat watch I realise they must have botched the first double countout attempt and repeated it. OK, that's acceptable. Shingo Takagi is now on 13 points, which isn't that bad because he's still ahead of Zack.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Tanga Loa

SPOILER: Click to show

If you're paying attention, you've just read that the ref started the count the instant the wrestlers left the ring in the previous match. Great. In the first two minutes of the match both wrestlers leave the ring. They brawl out there for a very long time. Easily enough for a double countout. Yet the ref only starts the count when Tanga Loa instructs him to. At around the count of 16, Loa backdrops Zack on the apron. Loa still on the floor. Ref stops the count. Why? Because Zack is on the apron? But Shingo was on the fucking apron when you counted him out in the previous match, you cretin. What the fuck?

Besides that piece of referee incompetence, the match was very good. Zack went in all guns blazing, trying to match Tanga Loa blow for blow instead of going full tekkers. Zack's normally a very smart wrestler, but this was a foolish strategy, and Loa dominated the first portion of the match since he is by far the superior striker and stronger wrestler.

The second half of the match was a really nice display of power vs tekkers. Loa was incredible and I would argue outworked Zack in this match. Definitely on his A game. ZSJ started wrestling more technically, including a cool spot where Loa had Zack on his shoulders, but Zack kept crawling around while in the air, like a mouse scurrying over a human's torso, applying hold after hold. The fluidity of this sequence was very impressive. Only thing I didn't like about the match was that Loa no-sold Zack's moves a few times too many.

It all ended when ZSJ rolled up Loa, but Loa countered and shocked ZSJ with a tight rollup of his own for a three count. Not a surprising result to me, but still sad to see Zack eliminated from the tournament. ****3/4

Kota Ibushi vs KENTA

SPOILER: Click to show

As always, the block rides on the final match. If KENTA wins, Shingo advances. Any other outcome, Ibushi makes his fourth straight G1 final.

To continue the countout debacle, there were three countout teases in this match. In all three of them, KENTA rolled in the ring well before the count of 19. The referee counts 19, and has to pause to wait for Ibushi to roll back in the ring because he's a slow motherfucker. If the ref kept his regular tempo, Ibushi would have been counted out literally all three times, and Shingo advances to the final. The refs are conspiring against our great World Champion.

With my rant out of the way, how was the match? Well it was a really exciting hard-hitting affair. Very unpredictable. Neither guy stayed in control for any length of time, although in general Ibushi was more on the back foot. As mentioned there were three segments outside the ring. Great strike exchanges. KENTA introduced a steel chair. Ibushi was able to seize the chair, has a babyface moment where he refuses to use the chair, only to immediately leave the ring and grab a table :lol:

Because this is Japan, the table collapses when Ibushi gently lays KENTA on top of it. But nevertheless he goes through with his top rope splash, onto the already-broken table. Still looked pretty good to be fair.

Back in the ring KENTA has a really nice flurry of offense including the best Busaiku knee I've seen since he showed up in NJPW. But Ibushi prevails by mashing X to spam knee strikes, and an exposed knee Kamigoye advances him to the final in a predictable but disappointing result. ****1/4

X spam is cheap but effective. It's the little brother strategy.

Day 18

YOSHI-HASHI vs Chase Owens

SPOILER: Click to show

YOSHI-HASHI wins the battle of the irrelevant jobbers.

Tama Tonga vs Hirooki Goto

SPOILER: Click to show

Goto wins the second battle of the irrelevant jobbers, defeating the jobber that just beat Okada.

SANADA vs EVIL

SPOILER: Click to show

Caught the end. SANADA found some fun and creative ways to counter EVIL and Dick Togo's usual tactics, but in the end EVIL throws a chair in SANADA's face and hits his finish for a victory.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Taichi

SPOILER: Click to show

If you've been following along you'll know that Taichi is suffering a severe rib injury, which has impacted him both physically and mentally. Thus he went down almost effortlessly to Tama Tonga and Chase Owens in his previous two matches. With that in mind, you think he doesn't stand a chance against Tanahashi. While Taichi was mentally defeated after his last loss, clearly something had changed because he came to this match battered but ready to win.

Tanahashi grabs a side headlock after the bell, Taichi immediately hits the Backdrop Driver and goes for the kill. Buzzsaw Kick, Axe Bomer, and he goes for his finisher. Sadly he can't lift up Tanahashi because of his busted ribs. The initial flurry over, Tanahashi takes control. Boy does Tanahashi heel it up. Repeated closed fist punches to the ribs. Sitting on a submission hold forever, and not breaking when he reaches the ropes. More closed fist punches. All the while Taichi selling like he's been shot in the stomach.

Taichi slowly but surely fights back into it, there are some great twists and turns. Taichi ultimately wins by dodging a High Fly Flow and immediately rolling up Tanahashi for a shock win.

I absolutely loved this match. It was pure psychology, masterfully executed. Taichi showing a side of himself I've not seen before, playing a tremendous babyface in peril, with fantastic selling that got me really invested in the match. Tanahashi is a great worker and knows his role. He didn't do anything flashy or play to the crowd while he normally does, he heelishly worked over Taichi's injury, letting Taichi have all the glory moments. The finish was fantastic as well: Tanahashi has won many G1 matches as the guy who was outwrestled but found a cheeky openign to win, and Taichi beat him in exactly the same way.

One can only imagine what it would have been like with a crowd allowed to make noise. It would have been magic. ****3/4

Jeff Cobb vs Kazuchika Okada

SPOILER: Click to show

Cobb and Okada have had two big matches this year. I thought both were pretty disappointing. This is the rubber match, and it's all on the line.

Fortunately I can say that this match was far better than their previous two. They started off all guns blazing, with Cobb rushing Okada, leading to a flurry where both guys tried their finishers. They then took a break to sell and effectively restarted the contest.

The story was pretty basic as all of Okada's and Cobb's matches have been this tournament, but they displayed better chemistry then they have previously. They also pulled out all the spots. Okada hit an impressive dive to the floor. Cobb hit a trio of belly-to-belly suplexes. Many finisher counters. Cobb hitting Okada with a Tombstone, then picking him up in the same position and hitting a spinning Tombstone.

The turning point came near the end. Jeff Cobb went for his top rope Tour of the Islands, the same way he beat Okada last time. Okada countered with a DDT, but I only knew this because the Japanese announcer said DDT. Okada landed on his back, so I assumed that Cobb slammed him. Well, he didn't. Shortly after this Okada was able to hit his sitout driver, then a full Rainmaker for the three count. ****1/2

There we have it. The G1 Climax final is Okada vs Ibushi.

I'm honestly dreading an Ibushi victory. I know Okadawinslol is a meme, but Okada has been losing the big matches for nearly two years now. It feels like his time to ascend back to the top. Meanwhile IbushiwinsG1lol is far more unbearable to me, but I honestly think he's going to do it. Three G1 wins in a row. Fucking hell.

It hasn't happened yet (well it might have, but not in my world where I'm like three days behind), so I'll be rooting for Okada when I watch the final.

I'm glad I avoided spoilers, holy shit. Holy fucking shit. That finals show was crazy. Basically what RT said.

The first holy shit was something I actually found out about after watching the main event, because I skipped most of the show.

--------------------------------

Zack Sabre Jr. came out. He was not scheduled on the card. What is he doing here? Then Shibata's music hits. The crowd goes wild. By which I mean you could hear audible gasps, from a crowd that is not allowed to make noise. One can only imagine the reaction without these restrictions.

It transpires that Zack and Shibata will have a 5-minute exhibition match. Grappling only. And it was fucking awesome. Zack paid his respects and left the ring. Shibata talked for a characteristically short time. He said the next time he stands in the ring, he will be in full wrestling gear. He then took a flat back bump.

OH MY FUCKING GOD.

I'm rating that match 10 stars.

--------------------------------

Moving onto sadder news, Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi were on their way to an awesome G1 final, when Ibushi went for the Phoenix Splash. Okada moved out of the way, Ibushi crashed to the mat. 30 seconds later, Red Shoes stops the match and declared Okada the winner.

Ibushi broke something in his arm, most likely his shoulder, and clearly couldn't continue. It looked like they put the bone back in place in the centre of the ring since they couldn't move Ibushi. Young boys and ring crew surrounded him so the cameras couldn't see what was happening.

Okada was clearly distraught, but when the ring was cleared (which took at least 10 minutes), Okada cut a professional promo, I'm proud to win the G1, onto the Tokyo Dome, look I have an awesome trophy and a flag.

--------------------------------

Backstage, Tama Tonga interrupts Okada's celebration to challenge him. This event makes me think that Okada was booked to win the match anyway, but it could easily have been organised on the fly.

Okada talked some mad shit to the press. He implied that he is still the champion because he held the IWGP Heavyweight Title (pre-merger), he proved he is the strongest by winning the G1, and that Shingo should be challenging him, not the other way round. What a bizarre fucking leap of logic. The first flaw was that he wasn't even the champion when the belts were merged, so piss off with that crap. You won the G1, you're not the champion, but you have earned the right to challenge for the championship. Stick to the script like a good golden boy.

Reddit has corrected my stance on Okada's promo. Okada was basically saying that he recognises Ibushi as the "real champion" since he was the last IWGP Heavyweight Champion before the titles merged. Which makes more sense than my initial interpretation, but is still kinda dumb. The title merge was six months ago, move on.

Oct 25, 2021 8:58:37 GMT Emperor said:

Reddit has corrected my stance on Okada's promo. Okada was basically saying that he recognises Ibushi as the "real champion" since he was the last IWGP Heavyweight Champion before the titles merged. Which makes more sense than my initial interpretation, but is still kinda dumb. The title merge was six months ago, move on.

Okada is also walking around with the V4 belt now. Someone noted that he carries it on his shoulder and doesn't wear it around his waist, signifying that he isn't actually champion, but he wants that belt and lineage back.

Kinda seems like there's going to be some 3-way fuckery between Okada, Ospreay and Shingo around Wrestle Kingdom weekend now that it's a 3 day affair. I have a feeling that Ospreay and Shingo are going to merge belts, Ospreay is going to win and take the title back to the United States to make that the main title overseas, and Shingo and Okada are going to fight over the V4 belt.

Gedo and the company might have realized how much they fucked up by merging the titles and bringing in this new belt nobody likes.

What was Ibushi's injury? They say yet how bad he was hurt?

Hope Shibata is getting better. If he was good to go, glad to see him coming back. Just hope he is doing it safely.

Oct 25, 2021 15:37:56 GMT c said:

What was Ibushi's injury? They say yet how bad he was hurt?

Hope Shibata is getting better. If he was good to go, glad to see him coming back. Just hope he is doing it safely.

It was definitely his right arm. That's all we really know. Most likely broken or a severe dislocation/muscle tear/whatever. He couldn't move and Red Shoes called the match.

NJPW is super secretive about this stuff so likely he'll just be gone until he isn't.