Boss Rock

One of Rey's finest performances. Puma was good but Rey was the star. The headscissors over the rope only for Puma to land on his feet is still one of my all-time favorite spots. ****1/4

Yeah the messy spots at the end and the slower build kept me from going any higher on the main. The reverse Destino at the end by SANADA was really cool though. He's rather inconsistent but he often delivers in big match settings like this.

B Block today was pretty solid. Juice-Yano was standard Yano fare, so YMMV (I enjoy it). YOSHI-HASHI stepped up yet again and had a very good match with Tana. Loved the story for Goto-Sabre. The main event was very good but man can Naito not hit that running Destino clean. On the flipside, KENTA-EVIL had to be the dullest match of the tournament thus far.

I still think most of Okada's G1 matches have been "good", but this current angle is definitely lame and holding him back. Haven't gotten to today's show yet but B Block has definitely been better than expected.

Yeah for all the talk of Okada needing to drop the Money Clip, SANADA needs to ditch the Skull End.

I still think it was a great match, but it went too long and it was basically what we've seen before.

A Block beats the B Block again. Suzuki-Yujiro was a nice little match thanks to Suzuki just going crazy. Okada-Taichi and Ibushi-Cobb were both very good, and the mains were great.

https://wrestlingworld.co/rumors/reason-why-ceo-harold-meij-left-njpw/ Per Dave, Meij had some pretty big ambitions for the U.S. expansion and NJPW as a whole, hoping to get revenue to $100 million. With COVID and the lack of a TV deal putting a nix on that, maybe that's why he's leaving. Some are also speculating he was the biggest opponent to a working relationship with AEW. But I also don't see them doing that while still working with ROH.

Yeah I would agree with that one.

Pretty good matches today, but I dunno if there was anything truly must-watch. My biggest takeaway is how much of an overachiever YOSHI-HASHI tends to be in the G1.

He's been hit or miss for me since the Juice U.S. title match, but these first three G1 matches might be the best he's ever looked.

I think they would have had a much better chance of making him the babyface they always thought he could be if he had had this heel run first.

Didn't catch the whole match, but just seeing how Reigns was beating down on Jey while talking trash sums up just how big of a dunce Vince is for squandering this for five years.

Cobb has to be the most inconsistent wrestler in the world. I thought he looked really good against Shingo but against Suzuki he fell flat.

Another good night. The first two matches were just kind of whatever but not bad. The last three are definitely worth watching though. The question now is does Okada drop the Money Clip now, or does he wait until the final night at Ryogoku?

Two average matches (SANADA-Goto, KENTA-Juice), a slight over-achiever (EVIL-YOSHI-HASHI), a fun Yano match, and a great main event. Thinking that's gonna be the trend for the rest of the B block.

He said in a post-match interview he'd consider going after the tag titles among other things, so yeah I'd be down with him and Goto, SHO, or Ishii teaming up. I'm also still salty we never got a proper Mega Powers team with him and Tana.

Best night of the tournament so far IMO. Okada-Yujiro was the only downer and it was to be expected. Not terrible, just there. Okada's back is bandaged up so he does appear to be hurt, but I don't think it's affected him too much (at least not nearly as much as folks on Twitter are saying). Just hopefully after he loses to Jay he drops the Money Clip. That I think is holding him back more than anything.

I'm gonna have to check this one out. Have always heard the 2014 G1 is filled with gems and while I'm not really a fan of either guy, they can both turn it up when necessary.

Tanahashi's ability to pull out these kinds of performances at this stage of his career...just wow. Also funny how every year it's like "Is this the end of the road for him?" yet can still deliver when it matters most.

Night 2 definitely wasn't as good as Night 1, but still a solid night with no truly bad matches. Loved Tanahashi-Naito. Crazy how consistently great Tana is in big match situations. Naito looked the best he has in a while (granted he wasn't wrestling EVIL) but this was the Tanahashi show. I do sort of miss when non main-event G1 matches were 10-13 minutes and not 15-20, though. Some folks are good at it, some just aren't.

The ending of Shingo-Jay seems pretty clear that the BC shenanigans are not going to stop. Which is a shame, because it was a really good match up until that point. Jay has proven he's good enough that he doesn't need those tropes in his match. We get it, he's a heel. He doesn't need to cheat in literally every match.

Good show to start the tournament. Agree that the last three matches were the best. Wouldn't be surprised if Okada-Ibushi is a briefcase match at KOPW and they'll put on something more akin to their WK match there. Not sure I agree with the sentiments that Okada has lost a step since the lockdown. His reliance on the Money Clip has been a bit much and he was absolutely phoning it in against Yujiro, but I thought he looked good here.

Okada-EVIL seems like the most predictable final, but I think Ibushi-Tanahashi would be a much better story. Not to mention I doubt they would run Okada-Naito in the Dome again if there's no telling what kind of restrictions will still be in place.

Oh yeah, today's match was a hoot. Thought the Junior Tag Title match was solid but it's a shame to see Hiromu go from getting such a strong push in the summer to losing the title, not getting a G1 spot, and taking the pin here. Like I know he'll continue to get a strong push down the line, just really wanted him in the G1. Based on the released schedule, A Block looks like it'll come down to Okada-Ospreay and B Block will be between EVIL and SANADA.