[2018-07-15-NJPW-G1 Climax 28] Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr

[MoeTWrestling]

Never have I seen two completely opposite styles mesh so well together. The best part about this match is Sabre going after kicks to prove a point that he can beat his opponents at their strength and Ibushi showing him how it's done. A battle of which style would be the better of the two with Ibushi coming out on top. Will re-watch this later, because I missed the middle of the match, but it was great from that point to the finish. ****1/4 

[asteroidcitizen]

This, much like the main event, was a very good match that went a bit too long - though in this case I thought it was the finishing stretch that felt a bit drawn out and convoluted. It also seemed a shame that Ibushi never really felt in any danger of submitting - obviously ZSJ working the knee helped him avoid Ibushi's finish, which was cool, but considering how their NJ Cup went I think they could have made a lot more out of the holds towards the end. Those are relatively minor things though, and this is probably second to Tana/Suzuki for my favourite of the tournament so far.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Their best match against each other yet. I thought Zack's control work on the ground was incredibly compelling, and once it came down to exchange some strikes, they sure smacked the crap out of each other with those slaps & kicks. ****

[G. Badger]

Great match around the 4 star area but, criticism of Zack's style are relevant here. He throws in all kinds of Mr. Salty holds but, they don't really amount to much in the end. The fact the Ibushi didn't necessarily sell their crippling effect doesn't help matters. Still, this was a very good match and the stiffness elevated the intensity/believability of the bout.

[Boss Rock]

Great sequel to their terrific NJ Cup match. Very interesting "strike vs. submission" battle with Ibushi getting the better of Sabre in the striking exchanges but Sabre having a reversal or counter for most of Ibushi's trademark stuff. Ibushi's leg selling is pretty typical: good but didn't affect the outcome of the match. Stuff like Sabre attacking the legs to counter the Kami Goye was great though. Definitely one of the best if not the best match of the tournament thus far.

[Childs]

I agree that they match up well. They always find creative ways to dramatize the style contrast, like that cool spot where ZSJ intercepted Ibushi's backflip dive and turned it into a submission. That said, this one never quite took off from very good to great. Sabre often struggles to kick his matches into high gear, and I thought his tendency to jump from hold to hold hurt him here, because you lost that sense of him grounding the more dynamic athlete. Ibushi didn't sell as well as he could have either. So yeah, I'm always happy to see them go at it, but I feel like they have a great match in them and this wasn't it.

[nivvad]

Admittedly not my favorite match of theirs (Cup match is my favorite), this was arguably their best match yet from a technical level. Zack's submission work was as great as always, and I loved him trying to destroy Ibushi's leg. Ibushi's selling was spotty as per usual, but his strikes and intensity were still high, so the match had a tension of who could really win this match. Excellent match with Ibushi getting his revenge win in this first block match, ****1/2.

[superkix]

Zack's legwork was pretty but like always, inconsequential. Chill out in a hold and really work it instead of dancing from one flashy thing to the next. The most visceral part of the match was him repeatedly DDTing his leg into the mat. That was cool. Kota's selling didn't really help matters when he relies so heavily on his kicks and knees to get him ahead in the match. There were some clever counter spots later in the match and ZSJ outslapping Ibushi was great. Probably the second best match of the tournament behind Tanahashi/Suzuki. 

[9 Corpses Hang in the Mist]

Better than their Cup match, but whatever improvements ZSJ has made seem incremental: he's better at selling than he used to be, but it's still not good.  He shows in this match that he can actually focus on one limb, but his limb work ends up feeling mostly "light" because he still insists on cycling through holds just to cycle through them and none of them feel particularly devastating because of this.   I don't blame Ibushi at all for blowing off the limb selling if ZSJ isn't going to make it matter on his end.  This was still entertaining though despite its faults.

[Wahoos Leg]

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.

[Cap]

I liked their cup match a good bit more. I think this match told a pretty good story on the whole and the extinction was good, but there was definitely something missing that kept this from getting higher marks for me. it isn't so much a criticism really. This just felt more predictable and less dynamic in the home stretch to me. Still a very good match that I hope serves as just another chapter in a building long term rivalry. ****

[Viking Hall]

Coming from someone who used to really dislike ZSJ matches it's fair to say he's come on in leaps and bounds over the past year or two. The holds actually look a bit more nasty now and like he's actually trying to hurt people rather than test their flexibility and while there's still some way to go I do feel he's slowly starting to get it more. I can only assume his time around Suzuki is starting to pay off in that department. This was one of the best matches I've seen him in, not perfect by any stretch but engaging and a strong clash of styles. I agree with above that there were times in the match where I wanted ZSJ to just take a breather for a second and really cinch in a hold but the flipside of that is that I wanted times where Ibushi was struggling more too after coming out of holds. The leg lock from the Moonsault to the floor was easily the spot of the match and looked brutal with it too. A really great match despite the minor flaws and another step into bringing me around onto Zack Sabre Jr.