Was he supposed to not connect (ducking) or did he just get him at a bad spot?

No idea. Some kind of miscommunication.

That was a scary moment. I really hope that Naito is careful. They seem to be going ahead with the match.

Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito

The final match of wrestling's greatest tournament, contested by the two best Japanese wrestlers in recent history. Okada is consistently at the top, his presence is no surprise. Naito is less consistent, but his peaks are tremendous indeed, as evidenced by the thunderous reception for El Ingobernable. The Okada fans are there, but throughout this match they are drowned out. Naito doesn't always shine, but when he does, nobody shines brighter.

Despite suffering a beating at the hands of Ospreay, Naito came ready to battle with a clear strategy in mind. For years Okada starts matches by pushing his opponents to the ropes, feigning a strike on the break to provoke a flinch, then patronisingly patting the opponent's chest three times. Okada changed it up in this year's G1. Against an opponent as inconsequential as YOSHI-HASHI, he didn't fake the strike, he just hit him. Of course Y-H wasn't expecting it. Since then he tried it three more times, each time the opponent ducked. Naito was the third. Thus Naito controlled the early going, but he kept his offense light. No more 20 minute time limit. There's no rush. This'll be a long one.

Okada achieved his first offense by catching a running Naito with a flapjack. Okada attacked the neck of Naito, striking big with a DDT to spike Naito on the apron. He continued in his recent aggressive spirit, whipping Naito violent into the guardrail. Okada's time on top did not last long as Naito smartly battled back. At every turn he countered Okada's signature moves to his advantage. At this point Naito's gameplan became clear: work over the neck, like he usually does. He found come creative ways to do this such as a hiptoss on the knee - a move he also used against Ospreay - and a modified Rude Awakening. Okada rolled to the floor clutching his neck.

Naito followed Okada out and returned Okada's earlier aggression in kind. He went one step further and dropped Okada neck first on the guardrail. Naito controlled Okada in the ring. Okada has been physically dominated a few times in the G1 (O-Khan and Taichi come to mind), but Naito is at a higher class. Okada was able to score his own neckbreaker and after nearly 20 minutes of being shut down, Okada started to hit his own moves. His signature dropkick sent Naito tumbling to the floor. For the third time in the match the fight was taken to the floor. Okada tried to send storming into the railing, but Naito reversed and Okada's body crashed into the steel. However Okada came out on top when he Tombstoned Naito on the padding.

At this point Naito started to look out of it, eerily similar to the Ospreay match. Okada went for the kill, but Naito surprised him with a massive Tornado DDT. Naito delivered his signature elbow strikes to the neck, a picture perfect Frankensteiner, and locked Okada in the Koji Clutch. Okada suffered for a long time but at last his feet found the bottom rope. Brimming with confidence, Naito dropped Okada with Valentina (Northern Lights Bomb) and went for Stardust Press. The fans erupted but Naito's old finisher has a terrible success rate, and so it was to be here as well, Okada rolling out of the way. Missing the Stardust Press has been Naito's undoing in these big match situations. He missed against Ospreay but still won - could he do the same against Okada?

Both men got to their feet at the same time. Okada fired a shotgun dropkick, but was surprisingly unable to keep the offensive lead as Naito ducked, dived, and wriggled out of every hold. That was until Okada leapt in the air, catching a running Naito with his gorgeous dropkick. Okada hit Landslide. Rainmaker? No! The two men rapidly traded Rainmaker and Destino attempts, and Naito was the first to score with a half-Destino. The adventures weren't over. Destino countered into a second Landslide. Rainmaker ducked. Naito with a Rainmaker setup into a half-Destino. Naito picks Okada up, hits a full Destino. One! Two! Three!

Congratulations to Tetsuya Naito, G1 Climax Champion!