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Thanks to a less hectic work schedule (which still has me running quite behind), I'm able to watch the whole G1 this summer, and I made the probably maniacal decision to watch the undercard tags as well. This won't make any MOTY list, but I thought it was a very entertaining opener. Jay White and Elgin bring the thunder on the chops early, although this was hindered somewhat by Elgin going crazy with the leg slaps on strikes down the stretch. Narita is probably my favorite Young Lion in NJPW right now, in terms of showing fire and teasing near-falls that seem believable even though we all know he has no chance of winning. Him and Yoh combine for some good stuff down the stretch. White plays his shitbag heel character better in these tags, so far, than in the block matches because he has a foil to play off of in Yoh. Not only is this worth watching, I liked it better than approximately half the block matches through the first three shows.

This was shaping up as one of my favorite matches of the tournament, even with White switching tactics mid-match, until that goofy finishing stretch. "My opponent is down and ready to be beaten, so surely this is the time I should go get a chair." Bah... still thought it was a good match, but the finish really detracted. White has grown on me with his recent efforts, but I'm curious if he can sustain them when he isn't in the ring with all-timers like Okada and Tanahashi. I've actually enjoyed White's tag stuff with Yoh as much as, if not more than, these first two block matches.

I fucking loved this. Two veterans just beating the shit out of one another for 15-plus minutes. This may be my favorite Makabe match that I have seen. Interesting that Suzuki has dominated in each of his first two matches and has zero points to show for it.

The crowd really got into this late and there's no denying both guys worked extremely hard, but this came off like a pastiche of every "super indy" cliche from the past 15-20 years rather than any kind of coherent match. There was no real structure or story told, other than "let's do a bunch of stuff". I've been a big fan of Page, aside from his shooting star shoulder block to the floor, for years back when he was a relative unknown working the indies here in the Southeast. I think he'll be the breakout guy of this tournament. Meanwhile, I actually think Elgin's weight loss hinders him. I much preferred his bulkier, Dr. Death 2.0 style work in NJPW to what he is doing now. Now he is flying around and doing all the stuff other people do. He has lost what made him unique in NJPW. I would have much preferred to see Elgin throwing around Page in a power vs. speed type matchup than the moves vs. moves battle we saw here.

I've not seen the previous two G1 matchups between these two, but this was wild. Crazy moves, dangerous-looking drops and some slick counters interspersed throughout. A match like this seems to me to be the pro wrestling equivalent of a Michael Bay movie: no plot to speak of, just stunts and explosions. But these two pull off that type of match as well as any I have seen in recent memory. It doesn't have to do with the quality of the match, but this was one instance where the commentary, which I usually think is great from this team, actually brought things down. Callis' constant shilling for Omega reached insufferable levels.

Like many Okada matches and New Japan main events as a whole, this was about 5-10 minutes longer than it needed to be. White continues to come into his own as a heel after six months of floundering, and while it was technically good, it didn't really do it for me. Maybe because I'd already been spoiled by the result? The match was mediocre but the greater story -- with Okada looking somewhat like a shell of his champion self and White making good on the promise he laid down when he joined Chaos -- was good.

They had a match from the European tour this spring that also was filmed from the crowd

More 5 star matches seemed like an inevitable consequence of him starting to rank select matches as above 5 stars.

I like comedy wrestling when it is done well but I've never really found the appeal in Yano's schtick. That said, holy crap was this fun. Serious Yano is best Yano. He threw out some great counters and throws and a few of the near falls were completely believable as potential finishes.

Still catching up, but this is my favorite match of the G1 yet. I love contrasting styles matchups, and that type of story was on full display here. The Japanese crowds really seem to enjoy Sabre's human pretzel act. It doesn't look as nasty or ill-intended as anything Suzuki does. To me, comparing Sabre and Suzuki on the ground... it's like the difference between a song sweetened with backup vocals and digital editing, and another raw, visceral track recorded in a basement by a longtime bluesman. They both sound good (although one sounds better than the other), but for different reasons. I would agree more drama down the stretch would have elevated this to a higher plane.

For the most part, this was what I figured Elgin and EVIL would be: a somewhat meandering match between two guys who are just there to fill out the blocks. They spun their wheels for a while, it seems, but man, that finishing stretch was really good.

Good stuff with callbacks aplenty to their superb match back in January. Suzuki's sell of the inverted dragon screw was everything.

Neither one of these guys is going anywhere in the tournament, and I'm not a big Elgin guy, so I was surprised at how compelling this was, which made it more entertaining. Both brought the thunder in an excellent hoss fight. The first standout match of the 2018 G1.

Dave's steadfast defense of NJPW in the wake of the Hiromu injury is both baffling and totally predictable.

Best match I've ever seen from either guy, and a performance White really desperately needed after a flat, uninspiring previous six months in the gimmick. White looked like a confident and compelling heel as never before, and the heat and intensity were off the charts.

We were vacationing in Orlando and my wife and girls got tickets for me as a belated Father's Day present

Was there live and legit thought Naito broke his neck on that doubleteam move at the end Pretty sure his soul entered the astral plane for About 20 seconds after

I've seen a couple of G1 previews postulating that Jay White makes the finals and that... just sounds awful. It's staggering how someone I enjoyed as a young lion and during his ROH run has become one of the most underwhelming wrestlers in the world to me.

Easily the best match Big Cass has ever had. This had all the makings of a blow-off, and I hope it was. Daniel Bryan still can be a top guy for WWE, or any company, if they give him the chance. This was good.

That feels a little bit like "put the strap on Jinder before we go to India"-type thinking. Like they are worried that American NJPW fans might not care about a Main Event with a Japanese guy in it... To be fair, this is probably the hottest match they have on the table (assuming they don't want to do Omega-Naito this quickly). It did pretty incredible business for ROH. They needed a match like that especially since tickets for this show haven't been moving nearly as well as they did for Long Beach Yeah, All In hurt the sales a ton. There just aren’t enough NJPW fans in the states. Obviously, Mania played a huge part in ROH’s business with that match, as well. We bought our tix before any matches were announced. Doing the Liger vs Rey match they originally planned for Long Beach seems like a no brainer. I'm curious if they will announce anything for Daytona before it happens, mostly because we already have tickets.

Well, about 3 years ago, when he came in for the indy I was working for, that night he trashed the hotel room and stole the coffee pot so I don't think that's indicative of a financially stable, satisfied life.

That feels a little bit like "put the strap on Jinder before we go to India"-type thinking. Like they are worried that American NJPW fans might not care about a Main Event with a Japanese guy in it... To be fair, this is probably the hottest match they have on the table (assuming they don't want to do Omega-Naito this quickly). It did pretty incredible business for ROH. They needed a match like that especially since tickets for this show haven't been moving nearly as well as they did for Long Beach

I thought the tag title match was fantastic and deserves more love than it's getting. Second-best of the card.

he has shown up a few times and is in the tournament

Yeah, as McGillicutty. They had a real solid match at the first episode from Full Sail that would have been more memorable if it hadn't been the first taping and filmed in front of a rather sparse crowd. Kidd also has been a highlight. He even pulls a good match out of Camacho.