[2019-07-06-NJPW-G1 Climax 29: Night One] KENTA vs Kota Ibushi

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Anyone expecting a crazy fast paced sprint hasn't been watching KENTA in the past 10 years. To quote one of my favorite songs from 2018 - "it ain't 2009 no more". Overall KENTA didn't look much different at all than as Hideo Itami, but what I thought made a huge difference was how brutal his kicks were. I remember watching his match vs. Mustafa Ali & thinking how ridiculous Ali's HBK at SummerSlam 05 bumping & selling looked when all of Hideo's offense looked light as a feather. Here I definitely didn't have to worry about that though. KENTA kicked the shit out of Ibushi with disgustingly brutal sounding & looking kicks. Ibushi sure got the shit beaten out of him overall in the match, and he was extremely compelling taking that beating; selling & bumping fantastically all the way through. He made all of KENTA's strikes look like true shotgun shots. Oh & I definitely loved the vintage KENTA troll spot where he pulls down his knee pad, only for him to kick Ibushi in the side of his head. Always a joy to see that. They even made the generic puro forearm trading pretty amazing, with their facial expressions (especially Ibushi's) adding a ton. Great match! Terrific showcase for KENTA's style of wrestling in his G1 debut. ****

[Tenese Sarwieh]

This match accomplished it's task of establishing KENTA as a legit threat for the start of the G1. Ibushi was unselfish by giving his body for punishment by taking kicks, slaps, forearms, and etc. At the end this was ok, not bad but it didn't hit my high expectations. He may not be the KENTA of old but he got the job done and when he is fully confident in himself you can bet he'll crank out stellar performances.