Boss Rock

SANADA's been extremely hit or miss for me, but the guy is rather over and I know his feud with Okada drew well so I understand why he's getting this push. But I agree in Ibushi needing to be the one to win this. And as much as I really don't want to see another Naito-EVIL match, it would at least be just a stopgap until the Dome.

So the finals are set. I was way off in my predictions, but am pleasantly surprised.

Finished the rest of the A block and it was another great show. Suzuki-Shingo was pretty much what you'd expect with the nice wrinkle of arm work. Ultimately not as good as their Jingu match but still good. Ibushi-Taichi was basically them seeing the Sasaki-Kobashi chop sequence and saying "Yeah, let's do that for 17 minutes but instead of chops, let's do kicks". Very unique match and both guys did a tremendous job selling the damage.

Oh yeah, this was tremendouss. Proof that Ishii can do more than just back-and-forth slugfests.

Only caught the main event and Osprea-Okada, both of which were very good to great. Seems like Jay is turning face, although a face turn just because BC betrays him seems kinda weak. Ibushi advancing was definitely shocking but I'm here for it. I really want him to get his title run even though him vs. Tanahashi seemed a much more likely program.

Jay-Ishii is the A block ME, so it looks likely he wins the block. But stranger things have happened (2016). And Jay-EVIL seems more like a WK program, so it wouldn't surprise me if Jay lost in the finals or even lost the briefcase. Or he could win the whole thing. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

A block yesterday was good. Ishii-Okada was MOTN even if there was a bit too much Money Clip. The Shingo match found the perfect balance. Contemplating skipping B block today but Tana-SANADA sounds good.

Waiting for an Inokiism episode.

Second on the beard doing wonders for him. Also helps that he added a bit more muscle.

One of the rare instances where the overbooking didn't take away from the match and actually added to it. Tanahashi is just such a terrific babyface and KENTA can be a great jerk. Smartly-worked and highly effective. ****

This was probably the weakest show of the tournament thus far. EVIL-Naito, Sabre-YOSHI-HASHI, and Tanahashi-Goto were all pretty good (one of them having a rather surprising result) but hardly essential. Juice-SANADA was fine but rather dull for the most part. And while I usually love Yano, the match with KENTA is probably the worst match of the tournament and honestly one of the worst matches this year. Just an absolute mess. So if you're not a completionist, you can probably skip this one. Rather unfortunate considering how killer yesterday's show was.

OK yeah I did see this one.

Didn't catch that, but very interesting. Overall, easily the best show of the tournament. Jay-Yujiro was an interesting bit of booking and everything else was must-see. Okada-Shingo is my MOTN and the performance we've been waiting for from Okada. Pretty sure everyone collectively said "FINALLY!" after that one, ha.

Terrific face/heel dynamics in this one. As much as I love Naito, I was just begging for Juice to make him eat shit and win after all the antagonizing.

Solid show today. First two matches were a lot of fun, KENTA-SANADA was an easy skip, and Juice-Naito was really good. The main event saw Tana put on yet another hell of an effort but the interference stuff again dragged things down.

As much as I think the A Block has had the better matches, I get the feeling that they're deliberately holding back or leaving stuff on the table in the main events. Whether it's to run the matches again or wait until crowds can cheer, or maybe they're just taking it easier for the heck of it.

Another good show from the A block today. First two matches were solid if nothing special, the last three were very good to great.

I think the A block still holds the edge, but the B block has been a pleasant surprise. Was expecting it to be a slog and it has not been.

I still maintain Okada has had a good G1, just not up to his usual standards.

Had no idea it was just 9 shows, so yeah that makes sense.

YOSHI-HASHI has over-achieved in G1's before, but man he is on a run isn't he? I wouldn't quite say he's the block MVP, but everything besides the Juice match has been well worth watching. The Naito match is probably his career best.

Travel restrictions will probably also prevent a lot of folks who completed last year from returning. Then again, maybe we'll get an awesome Dick Togo run.

Ha, yep that sums it up perfectly.

The clapping instead of cheering hasn't been great, but I don't think it's a major deterrent either.

Was overall a good show. Everything was worth watching except Shingo-Yujiro which is officially the worst match of the tournament thus far. I enjoyed the ME's but wasn't blown away by them either. Okada-Suzuki was a condensed version of their usual formula. Cobb-Jay had effective and clever circumvention of Gedo interference spots.