G1 Climax 30

[Migs]

I really loved ZSJ-Naito, particularly Zack's counters. Him coming in and just rolling Naito out of the Tranquilo pose was awesome, and there were a bunch of moments like that which were just really clever.

[joeg]

Random question, When did the tradition of the G1 winner challenging at the New Years Tokyo Dome show start? First one I remember was Okada winning in 2012 and challenging at Wrestle Kingdom 7, but I feel like I happened before that even if I can't remember specific instances. 

[NintendoLogic]

Riki Choshu got a title shot at the Tokyo Dome in 1997 after winning the 1996 G1, but the G1 winner traditionally got a title shot in the fall unless he was already IWGP champion. Okada in 2012 began the tradition of the G1 winner earning a Tokyo Dome IWGP challenge rights certificate that he carried around in a briefcase and had to defend until Wrestle Kingdom.

[gordi]

Another enjoyable night of pro wrestling. I though everything was at least good, but nothing on the card was excellent. 

I'm happy to see the young boys continue to put on solid showings.

I wasn't paying close attention during Tokyo pimp without Pieter vs Taichi without Miho Abe because on paper that was the match I had the least interest in in this G1. #s 2 and 3 on that list were Yoshi-Hashi vs EVIL and Yoshi-Hashi v Juice. And now all of those matches have come and gone, and all were cromulent enough. I don't think any of those guys stink, it's just that none of them have ever really grabbed my interest... yet. 

I surprised myself by enjoying Ishii v Ibushi more than MiSu v Cobb. I think Ishii set the bar of my expectations for a "2020 G1 Minoru Suzuki match" way too high. I thought Cobb showed too much light a couple of times. That being said, his rolling deadlift gutwrench suplexes are very impressive indeed. I enjoyed the finish to their match.

Ishii v Ibsushi was probably my personal MOTN. I liked the tidy little story they told of how Ibushi was able to hang with Ishii when they were trading strikes, but how Ishii just couldn't keep up with all of Ibushi's fancy Dan stuff. If anyone had told me, as recently as three or four years ago, that Ibushi would one day be able to believably go toe to toe with the toughest guy in New Japan in the G1... I would have thought they were insane. Yet, here we are. Hats off to pretty boy, he can go.

Also, if you'd told me a few years ago that Shingo v Ospreay would be a viable NJPW heavyweight G1 battle, I doubt I'd have believed you. And if you'd told me that Ospreay would damn near out-muscle Shingo in 2020... .... ....but here we are.

I wanna like Jay White more than I do, but I find a lot of his matches to be very formulaic: He begs off and bails out like a coward to start things off, works the crowd in an ironic fashion as soon as he gets the advantage, Gedo interferes... I absolutely do not hate the guy's work, and it's not like Ric Flair and Bret Hart didn't have a formula, but I am certainly not aboard the Jay-1 hype train... yet. Okada's been on an underwhelming run so far. Such are the burdens of high expectations. It was a good match. I hated the ending.

[Boss Rock]

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?

[kas]

Ibushi Vs Ishii was a banger, the other two main events were great

[FMKK]

Night 5 - A Block

 

Taichi vs Yujiro Takahashi - **1/2

Over the last year or so, Taichi has grown on me a fair bit. But he ain't carrying Yujiro. This was very punch-kick-bullshit with Yujiro looking sluggish as always. It had a few nice character moments though I guess.

 

Jeff Cobb vs Minoru Suzuki - **1/2

This was disappointing. The opening matt sequence was pretty boring. And just like last year, Cobb falls flatter as the tournament goes on. He whiffed a shoulder block and a couple of forearms, made to look all the worse because Suzuki hits hard. Cobb can do nice spots but the in-between stuff just isn't there.

 

Tomohiro Ishii vs Kota Ibushi - ****

This is what you would expect. I thought the back and forth strike exchanges at the start went on a bit long and weren't mega interesting but once they got into the actual meat of the match it was good shit. I especially loved the Ishii headbutting out of the Kamagoye spot and the Ibushi punch to the throat spot.

 

Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi - ****1/4

Ospreay leaning into being the heel prick he seems to be in real life is a good choice. He was such a dick in his promo the other day and again in the opening minutes with his trash talk. This match wasn't as good as their classic last year, but that was never going to be topped. I don't know if the controversy around Ospreay is making feel a bit less into his matches or whether the lack of crowd noise makes the 'wow' spots he goes for fall flat. In this match, I did not like the dancing reversal sequence in the opening minutes. But too much negative. This was a really good match with a cool flipped dynamic for last year where Will is now the big, strong bully and Shingo is fighting from underneath.

 

Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White - ****

Okada is weird. It's clear that this Money Clip thing is an angle but what is it supposed to be? That he's forgotten how to do the move that made him a five time champion? Like, what is the storyline reason for him ditching the Rainmaker for this shitty choke? And on the health front its also weird. Sometimes he looks as good as always and sometimes he looks like he's moving awkwardly. But anyway, this was a very good storytelling match. White's heeling is now top level and his relentless targeting of Okada's back carried us through the match. Okada sold the attacks really well and really vocally. The Gedo interference stuff wasn't too bothersome, though I wish they would drop it because White no longer needs it. He's been an excellent performer since his return to Japan.

[Boss Rock]

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.

[Boss Rock]

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.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

1 hour ago, Boss Rock said:

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.

Pretty much with a slight edge to Kenta/ZSJ being MOTN.

[Boss Rock]

Yeah I would agree with that one.

[Boss Rock]

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.

[kas]

I don't know what it was but I couldn't get into the two mains today. Ishii and Shingo haven't come close to matching the magic of their G1 29 match imo.

[FMKK]

I feel like those Ishii style matches lose the most for me with the clap crowds. I haven't seen today's match yet though.

[Boss Rock]

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

[FMKK]

Night 6 - B Block

 

Sanada vs Yoshi-Hashi - ***1/2

Y-H is having a sneaky good tournament. Nothing has been amazing but every match has exceeded my expectations a bit. This could've been quite dry because these aren't the most charismatic performers but it ended up being a nice, hard fought match. Sanada needs a better submission than Skull End though.

 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Kenta - ***1/2

This was hard hitting. Zack made like he was offering to grapple and Kenta responded with brutal kicks to the chest. That set the tone. This had lists of nasty strikes, mostly from Kenta but Zack got in some loud slaps to the face too. Zack' said crumple sell off a hard strike is great. Kenta dropping him twice when he was meant to be holding him up was not great.

 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Juice Robinson - ***1/2

Another solid match that was good but not great. Juice matches never excite me much on paper, and his newest look is trampy af, but he and Tanahashi are both charismatic enough to hold interest through a basic match even with a clap crowd. The finish could've been a bit more polished though.

 

Evil vs Toru Yano - **

They managed to pair up the two bullshit guys in one match tonight, which saves a headache.

 

Tetsuya Naito vs Hirooki Goto - ***3/4

These guys have been round the block a million times and could work a good match in their sleep. This was a slow build with Naito working Goto's bandaged arm and Goto fighting back with his typical resolve. Took a little while to get going but it was all good stuff. Naito has worked with an extra viciousness this G1, especially with these back elbows he's added to his repertoire. He's clearly taking the responsibility of being champion going into the tournament for the first time quite seriously and has been one of the MVP

[Boss Rock]

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

[MoS]

You know how I argued here a while back that Okada might be better than Misawa? I take it back. I was stupid. And not to pile on, but his new submission is terrible. 

[kas]

Another good day for the G1 and B block is delivering every time right now, something people weren't expecting beforehand. I really enjoyed that main event and Naito is the MVP of the tournament so far. I still think an Okada and Misawa comparison is fair. One sub-par run doesn't undo 8 years of stellar work. Money Clip needs to go sooner rather than later though, goddamn does he suck at submissions.

[Boss Rock]

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.

[kas]

I agree. He's not having anything actively bad, just not up to his usual standards.

[Boss Rock]

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.

[FMKK]

Night 7 - A Block

 

Yujiro Takahashi vs Minoru Suzuki - ***

Yujiro is no good but he's sleezy so he's at home brawling on the outside with Suzuki. He showed a little more fire than usual as well. Basic match.

 

Kota Ibushi vs Jeff Cobb - ***1/2

The most impressive Cobb has looked so far as he actually worked to his strength and size. It helps that he was in with a world class worker who bumped his ass off. The huge F5 and the bit where he pulled Kota from the corner into a huge slam were impressive. The finish was quite abrupt but that's fine for the second match of the night.

 

Kazuchika Okada vs Taichi - ****

Who'd have thought that the first Rainmaker of this G1 would've been hit by fucking Taichi? He worked Okada's back in the early going and hit some really great kicks. He's come on a lot in the last 12-18 months. For Okada's part, he still loves his shitty choke but we're starting to see more glimpses of his staple spots coming back. I'm expected the full Rainmaker experience by the time we get to the Ospreay match in Sumo Hall. This was well worked.

 

Will Ospreay vs Jay White - ****1/4

They put over Ospreay's increased power game by working the opening minutes around White trying to avoid his massive chops. It's meant to be a heel spot but really Jay is the only smart guy in New Japan for actually hitting his oppents instead of offering up free strikes. Nicely worked reversals and fluid spots here as the match escalated. There was some Gedo interference but it was handled well and Will showed almost heelish aggression (Roid Rage) striking White when he was down. With that, his obnoxious promos and his even more obnoxious hair, he's for sure going heel.

 

Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi - ****1/2

Two thick slabs of meat aggressively slap together repeatedly. Sounds almost horny. This is what you'd expect from these two and it ruled. At times the strikes and lariats were so loud that the clap crowd gasped and murmured, restrictions be damned. If they could've cheered fully and like three minutes had been shaved off the match, I would have considered going five. A battered Shingo still trying to throw headbutts after the match was awesome.

 

 

[Tenese Sarwieh]

Night eight is easily the weakest of the whole tournament so far, everything was just meh.

[FMKK]

NIGHT 8 - B Block

 

Juice Robinson vs Toru Yano - *3/4

This was the least of the Yano matches so far and they have a **1/2 star ceiling for me.

 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hirooki Goto - ***

This was super short so I don't know if Goto's bandaged shoulder is a legit injury. It was nice to see a sprint in New Japan though. After saying I liked Zack playing babyface against Evil, I've enjoyed him even more in his more vicious moments vs Kenta and here.

 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI - ****

This match was the equivalent of a bottom of the table side playing a top team off the park for most of 90 minutes and still somehow losing 1-0. Y-H continued his hot streak in this tournament, teeing off on the Ace. Tana was in giving mode as well. Very good match.

 

KENTA vs EVIL - **3/4

This was pretty boring for the first half before getting decent when the Togo interference spots started. Evil is just not a compelling working imo. Also, I understand heel psychology etc. but it seems like Evil wouldn't even be able to hit a single move without Togo bullshit, which is not what I would want to convey in a guy who was champion like a month ago.

 

Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA - ****

I'm enjoying the new, more vicious Naito in this tournament. He was throwing those stiff elbows, ramming Sanada into the post and just stepping on his face. Sanada is a good worker athletically but his stoicism isn't the most exciting thing in a promotion full of expressive guys. And the Skull End. We've talked about this before. But nevertheless, this was a strong match that build nicely towards the climax. The only downside is that they totally flubbed the set up spot for the finish and had to do it again. That probably lost it 1/4* for me.