#G1 Climax Reviews By Me

[christhebrit2]

G1 Climax 33 Preview

History

The G1 Climax tournament is the most gruelling tournament in New Japan Pro Wrestling and the most prestigious. The winner of the tournament gets a IWGP Heavyweight Title match at Wrestle Kingdom. Wrestle Kingdom is the biggest show of the year for New Japan held at the Tokyo Dome. The tournament winners are a who's who of legendary Japanese wrestlers including the founder of the company Antonio Inoki, Keiji Mutoh (better known in the west as The Great Muta) the Ace of New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi and the current face of the company and arguably the best wrestler in the world Kazuchika Okada. Only three wrestlers from the west have ever won the G1. The two biggest stars from the 1980s Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan both won the tournament in the early years when it was held under different rules. Kenny Omega is the only Western wrestler to win the tournament under its gruelling modern format.

Rules

The tournament this year is split into 4 blocks of 8 wrestlers with the top two from each block qualifying for the quarter finals. Each block match has a 20 minute time limit. Two points for a victory, One point for a time limit draw and zero points for a loss. The quarter final matches onwards are single elimination with the winner advancing to the next round.

A Block

A Block this year features the current IWGP Heavyweight champion SANADA who faces a unique challenge in that A Block is the youngest block in the tournament. It feels very much like SANADA vs the next generation of Japanese wrestling. Kaito Kiyomiya is an outsider in the tournament representing Pro Wrestling Noah and as a two time GHC Heavyweight champion will be expecting a strong showing. Hikuleo the 6’8 adopted son of legendary tough guy Haku is a prime candidate for a breakout performance in this years G1 and feels like a star just waiting to happen. UK fans have some familiar faces in this years tournament Gabe Kidd is one of 3 UK wrestlers in the tournament and Shota Umino and Yota Tsuji will be familiar to fans of Revolution Pro Wrestling.

Predictions

First place - SANADA

Second place - Hikuleo

B Block

B Block features two of the biggest stars in New Japan Pro Wrestling with Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay. Okada is the face of the company and must be considered the tournament favourite. Will Ospreay is the biggest International talent in the company and is on an incredible run of matches. Ospreay is arguably the greatest pro wrestler to ever come out of the UK and will push Okada all the way for first place. KENTA and Taichi are main stays in the company and will be looking for a strong showing in the tournament. The highflying El Phantasmo will be one to watch and should put in some spectacular performances with his match against Ospreay sure to be a highlight.

Predictions

First place - Kazuchika Okada

Second place - Will Ospreay

C Block

C Block this year is the definition of “Strong Style” and will feature the most hard-hitting contests of this years G1. Tomohiro Ishii The Stone Pitbull, The Dragon Shingo Takagi, EVIL and Eddie Kingston are sure to provide some classic “Strong Style” matches that will showcase there talents nicely. David Finlay the newly cemented leader of the Bullet Club and son of legendary Northern Irish tough guy Fit Finlay will be a force to be reckoned with and alongside his manager Gedo must be considered a favourite. Eddie Kingston is an outsider representing All Elite Wrestling and will be a big fan favourite. Kingston recently won the New Japan Strong championship and grew up a big fan of Japanese wrestling. Kingston carries momentum into the tournament but faces an uphill battle to qualify for the quarter finals against Shingo Takagi who has to be considered a favourite in this block.

Predictions

First place - Shingo Takagi

Second place - David Finlay

D Block

D Block is one of the most competitive blocks in this years G1 tournament and thus hard to predict. Hiroshi Tanahashi is the ace of New Japan and can never be over looked in these tournaments however he isn’t getting any younger and is dealing with injures and may struggle. Tetsuya Naito is one of the most dynamic performers in the tournament but isn’t on a role going into the tournament. Zach Sabre Jr is the greatest technical wrestler in the world and is neck and neck with Will Ospreay for the greatest British wrestler of all time. Hirooki Goto is a hard hitting fan favourite who tends to either excel or disappoint in these tournaments and could be a left field pick for the quarter finals.

Predictions

First place - Tetsuya Naito

Second place - Zach Sabre Jr

[fang-revives]

Syb Reviews G1 Climax 33 July 15

Hey all! We’ll see how much I keep up with this but here’s some thoughts on the matches I did watch on the first night of the G1 card! This weekend is free to watch on NJPW World so get on that especially for the matches that are must-watch :D 

I’ll keep these brief and spoiler-free so that you can use them as a match guide if you’re strapped for time and want to just watch the highlights. Crossed out matches I skipped so you’ll have to decide for yourself.

*

1. Yoshi-Hashi vs. El Phantasmo

- Good!! Not a must-watch but it’s really fun to see Yoshi-Hashi’s swagger as IWGP Tag champ, and I’ll be keeping one eye on how El Phantasmo finds a new faction (or doesn’t!) this G1.

2. Chase Owens vs. Gabe Kidd 

- pass. You couldn’t pay me to watch a Chase Owens match.

3. Tanga Loa vs. Kenta

- I was only so so on watching this to begin with and my friend said it was nothing special.

4. Ren Narita vs. Shota Umino

- ABSOLUTE MUST WATCH!!!! The Reiwa three muskateers were *the* thing I wanted to watch on this card and BOY did this deliver. They’re really building the chemistry of their rivalry wonderfully. I’d watch this a second time. I can’t wait for the backstage comments on this.

5. Kazuchika Okada vs. Great-O-Khan

- sorry to okada I just don’t find great-o-khan that interesting.

6. Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Yota Tsuji

- ANOTHER ABSOLUTE MUST WATCH!!! God Tsuji is so insanely talented, he has me rooting for him to win A-block. Just a star. And it’s great to see Kiyomiya up there kicking ass. I want him to get his rematch with Okada...

7. Tachi vs. Will Ospreay

- I watched this match for Taichi hometown crowd and I regretted it. It’s not very good I’m sorry to say. I have no idea if Ospreay is working hurt (very dumb) or if that spot he missed in the middle was part of a worked shoot working hurt (also very dumb) but this match dragged so much at the start that we skipped to the last 5 minutes. I do not recommend it.

8. Sanada vs. Hikuleo

- skipped. There will be other matches with Sanada that seem more interesting.

[takerfoxx]

The G1 Climax is going to be taking up all my attention for the next few weeks, and after that is Good Omens 2, but I still wanted to drop a brief review of the first season of High School DXD. Why? Because I find schlock that has some measure of effort put into it to be weirdly fascinating. And a mix of hotblooded shonen action, an intricate supernatural world with honestly pretty cool concepts, and shameless rated-r ecchi harem antics hits that sweet spot. So, please indulge me as I ramble on about borderline pornography. And also, spoilers ahead.

So...I liked it.

The end!

Okay, seriously though, I still don't know if I'm giving this show too much credit on account of what it is, or not enough credit because of what it is. Which is to say, am I letting a lot of glaring narrative flaws just slide because it's an ecchi harem, so what do you expect? Or am I deliberately avoiding praising some genuinely neat shit because it's still an ecchi harem, and that just drags it down? I don't know. I just know I get a kick out of the silliness that would be dull if it stood on its own, and am honestly enjoying the story, but probably wouldn't have given it a second look if it weren't for the novelty of it all.

So anyway, I already talked about the first half and how much I liked the whole rescue of Asia from the evil church. The idea of a bunch of teenagers that got caught in the crossfire of some kind of supernatural war, got killed as a result, but were raised as demons and formed their little found family that has beef with all sides is the sort of thing I really like. That being said, the breakup of Rias's wedding wasn't quite as good, but it was still enjoyable. The big battle between the two harems in the faux version of the school was definitely MY SHIT, and I honestly would've preferred that they just stretched that out instead of the duel at the end. But it was still fun.

Though speaking of which, I really had to laugh during that duel. Like, the whole concept is that Issei gets a super-dragon form, but it only lasts ten seconds. Except they must've been operating on Freeza-time, because each one of those "seconds" lasted like five to ten seconds each, and yet Issei still ran out of time because he couldn't stop giving shonen protagonist speeches! Like, dude! Hurry it up, bro! Taunt the guy after you beat him!

But the way they ended up resolving that whole thing was clever, so it turned out all right in the end.

As for Issei, yeah, while I'm sure it was novel to have your harem protagonist actually be 100% into it whenever the ecchi shit goes down instead of freaking out every single time (coughRITOcough), his perv-out moments are so over the top that it does come out to the same thing in the end. But I guess that's just par the course for the genre.

Though it does mean that when he gets caught doing something perverted and gets hit with the slapstick for it, he actually 100% deserves it, so there's no having the protagonist get slapped around for situations that aren't his fault. Nah, every time Issei gets smacked around, he totally has it coming.

Actually, you know who was a surprise standout? Kiba. Yeah, surprised me too. I mean, he's not one of the girls, so he basically got no promotion, so I didn't even know about the guy until I started the show, and having another dude in the main cast did stick out at first. But honestly, he is such a bro that I really came to appreciate having him around.

And given that this is, in fact, a harem, I guess that means I gotta choose who I think is best girl. So I'm going with...Asia. Yeah, that also surprised me. But there's just something so charming about the stock wholesome girl next door type who is also just as much DTF as the protagonist is.

Actually, come to think of it, why haven't they done it yet? They're both living under the same roof, they're both clearly digging each other, Rias has his parents under that geas, so what's the holdup? I get why it hasn't happened with any of the other girls, but Issei and Asia genuinely seemed to click in that way, and don't have any weird demonic political stuff going on.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. It's an ecchi, not a hentai, and rules say the protag must not fuck, else you ruin the sizzle. But seriously, any other teenagers with their personalities in that situation would have by now.

And speaking of harem antics and fanservice...it's fine. Gotta admit, even though it's totally lacking on story, character development, and stakes in comparison to High School DXD, I still think it's a step backward from To Love-Ru. Like, it does the standard tropes, but other than uncensored nipples they doesn't really do anything new with them, whereas To Love-Run literally being at war with Japan's censorship laws and constantly winning was fucking hilarious. Still, it's pretty good.

Also, every time those eyecatches pop up during a big, dramatic moment is comedy gold. Like, the villain would have the heroes on the ropes, everyone is distraught, Issei is beaten half to death, and BOOM! Akeno doing a gravure shoot, ass in your face!

[megatron-fucks]

Posting deleted scenes from stuff because I need validation; but also someone was talking about trans Megatron and this kind of is?

Set in the Lesser Evil universe, so G1/IDW. Frame dysphoria; domestic MegOp in post-war cybertron. No spoilers.

---

"I was thinking," Megatron said, and then stopped. He was very good at acting like he hadn't said anything at all.

"You were thinking?" Optimus prompted.

Megatron glared at the vidscreen as his discomfort built in thick crashing waves. "I was wondering how y-" And just like that, discomfort turned into anger. He stood up with fists and jaw clenched. "It's not important."

"Tell me anyway. I like it when you tell me unimportant things."

But this was clearly a bridge too far. Megatron was already leaving: not just the room, it seemed, but the entire flat. "Do you want anything while I'm out?"

Optimus decided to let it go. "A new polishing cloth, if you happen to see a good one." This would probably result in Megatron building a spreadsheet of the pros and cons of various polishing cloths, but at least that might take his mind off whatever was bothering him.

The door slammed. Optimus thought about calling Ratchet to vent, but he didn't want Ratchet to to worry about this. It would take more than a few years of tenuous peace for anyone to get comfortable with the idea of a fuming Megatron loose on the streets.

---

Optimus was reading a romance novel, of all things, with his feet in Megatron's lap and the TV droning away in the background. He had intended to review the municipal recovery risk analysis, but Megatron had the infuriating habit of confiscating Optimus' work in the evening. Come morning, his datapads would all be piled up once more on his desk.

The sudden silence of the TV made him look up, only then realizing that the tension in his tanks wasn't from the building climax of the novel. Megatron's fans rattled as he tried to fight his anger down.

Optimus quietly opened the same channel on his datapad - volume off, subtitles on - expecting to find Starscream in the middle of a rant about how Megatron ruined everything. Instead it was some bright red Velocitronian, in an interview about Cybertron's dwindling military capability.

He was about to reassure Megatron - it was, despite both of their instincts, probably a good thing that they couldn't all go back to killing each other at a moment's notice - when the mech said "They're not proper reframes. No one has the money for that kind of thing these days. But most mechs could stand to lose a few tonnes of armour." Orion switched it off.

"I thought about getting some modifications," he said carefully. "I quite like my earth alt-mode, but it would be nice to blend into a crowd a little more."

"I don't want a reframe," Megatron snarled. It took him a couple of seconds to get the rest of his excuse out. "I've had enough to last several lifetimes. I'm fine like this." His fans were hissing with the force of the air rushing through them.

Optimus put his datapad down and shifted to lean on Megatron more. "I like your frame a great deal," he agreed. "But I'm sure I'd like the new one, too."

"I don't want a reframe," Megatron repeated. He did something that made his optics dim and shut the anger off for half a second, before it came rushing back so hard and fast it made Optimus' head spin.

"Do you want your fusion cannon back? We could-"

"NO!" He tried to stand up, but their legs were still tangled together.

Optimus took his time extricating himself. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Thankfully this seemed sufficient to keep Megatron in his seat. "I want whatever you want. That's all."

Megatron slumped forward to bury his face in his hands. It made Optimus want badly to hold him but he'd learned that it was best to pretend nothing was happening. He picked up his datapad and turned it on without reading another word.

For the next few kliks, he focused on just keeping himself calm, hoping some of it would carry over to Megatron.

"I'm not going to do it," Megatron finally said.

"Okay."

"I mean it, Optimus. I don't want to do it."

"I believe you."

Something in Megatron unwound a little. "I just think it might be nice to have wings."

The desire to comfort him was sharp as a knife. "Can I touch you, love?" Megatron choked out a noise and sat up, letting Optimus wrap an arm around him. "I think it sounds wonderful." Megatron made another uncomfortable little noise. "In a frame like this? Big broad wings I could sleep on?"

Megatron shook his head. "I'm too heavy. I'd take out a wall every time I cornered." Optimus rubbed his arm and said nothing. He could only hope that Megatron could feel how loved he was. In every moment, of course, but even more in this one. How privileged Optimus felt to be told this. "I thought I was heavy as a miner but that was nothing. Less than a third of what I am now."

That was something he could easily change. Megatron didn't need to stand up to heavy weaponry anymore.

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30 Day 1 Review (Sept 19th, 2020, Osaka EDION Arena)

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura  ***

A BLOCK

Will Ospreay vs. Yujiro Takahashi  ***1/4

Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi  ***1/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki  ****1/2

Shingo Takagi vs. Jay White  ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi  ****1/4

photos.

The 30th annual G1 Climax kicked off in fine fashion with a great show from the always lively Osaka EDION Arena. Even when it’s 2/3rds full thanks to this pandemic. The night started with a battle of Young Lions, as Yuya Uemura submitted a freshly clean-shaven Yota Tsuji with a high angle crab after 6:57 of good, solid combat. 

The G1 began with a returning Will Ospreay battling the odd-man-out in the Block (and tournament), Yujiro. This was was a brief (7:44), all-action outing, that was a showcase for the Ariel Assassin, if nothing else. After Yujiro scored a near fall with Miami Shine, he tried Pimp Juice, but Ospreay flipped out, hit Hidden Blade, then Storm Breaker to take the two points. The fast pace and short runtime really enhanced this, and if all of Yujiro’s G1 matches are this sort of time, that’s fine with me. Ospreay cut one of his excruciating promos in the post match. Taichi and Jeff Cobb, a guy who hasn’t been in New Japan in forever, squared off next. This only went 12:47, but the first two thirds felt double that, as Taichi heeled it up in interminable fashion (hitting Cobb’s knee with the hammer from the gong, walking around doing nothing for a while), but picked up into a really good match once that was out of the way. Once those trousers come off, Taichi matches get good, so keep them off I say. Cobb catches a superkick attempt and hits a Death Valley Bomb, and follows up with a standing moonsault for 2. Taichi escaped a Spin Cycle attempt, and goes to the Kawada well, hitting a Dangerous High Kick and Dangerous Backdrop, but Cobb counters a Black Mephisto into the rolling gutwrenches. Taichi escaped a Tour Of The Islands attempt, hit another gamengiri, a Superkick, then successfully hits Black Mephisto to take the win.

After a brief intermission for cleaning, Ishii and Suzuki went to war in a hard-hitting bout, which was probably the best match on the show. They clobbered each other with super stiff forearms, slaps and headbutts in glorious fashion for exactly 13 minutes. After stunning Ishii, Suzuki tries the Gotch, but The Stone Pitbull lifts him up and counters into a dangerous looking reverse piledriver. An exchange of Lariats and strikes finally sees Suzuki floor Ishii with a huge elbow, then get a near fall with a sliding front kick. Ishii hits a big headbutt, then tries for the Vertical Drop Brainbuster, but Suzuki escapes and quickly hits the Gotch Style Piledriver to take the two points. This was tremendous and really, these hard-hitting wars have been the highlight of this whole pandemic era. While most other matches have failed to reach the heights they would ordinarily have pre-COVID, these stiff, strike based matches have almost always delivered, just on their intensity alone. Jay White made his first New Japan appearance in 6 months against Shingo Takagi next. This was an excellent match that, despite it devolving into (shock) a Jay White match, had the crowd going absolutely crazy in a manner we’ve rarely seen in this environment. They were stomping their feet on near falls like it was 1985, and were completely behind Shingo. After a prerequisite ref bump, Gedo hit the ring with brass knucks, but way laid out with a super casual back elbow from Takagi. Jay ducks a Pumping Bomber, then hits the Sleeper Suplex and Kiwi Krusher for a near fall. Shingo escapes a Blade Runner attempt and hoists White up into Last Of The Dragon, but Jay’s feet send Red Shoes down again. Shingo hits LOTD, but no ref! As Shingo goes to investigate just what the hell is going on, Switchblade hits a low blow, a Regalplex and Blade Runner to take the win at 19:28.

The main event between Okada and Ibushi was something of a disappointment. It was a great match, no doubt, but just missed something these two usually have together, and it couldn’t touch either the WK14 match, or last years G1 outing, and was ultimately the weakest match these guys have had together since their 2013 match in DDT. To be fair, neither guy has looked like their usual selves since coming back from the lockdown, so I’ve no idea whats happening here. This started off a bit ropey, but really picked up when Ibushi hit a massive Asai Moonsault to the floor. Okada tried a top rope Tombstone, but Ibushi turns it into a (rather messy) springboard Frankensteiner. Kota tries the Bastard Driver, but Okada reverses into a short Tombstone for the double down. They exchange forearms from the knees which really had the crowd going, then Okada kept trying with this modified Cobra Clutch. I admire his dedication to getting this thing over, but its just not happening. Okada hits a big spinning Tombstone... then locks the Clutch on again. Ibushi makes the ropes. The Golden Star hits a jumping knee, them tries Kamigoye, but Okada dropkicks his way free. Rainmaker seemingly tries a dropkick version of Kamigoye, but Ibushi catches him into a big Liger Bomb, another jumping knee, and Kamigoye to take the “upset” win at 21:35. I say upset, but New Japan love their 50/50 booking as much as the next promotion, so with Ibushi losing at the Dome, I could see him getting his win back here. Which he did. All in all, a really great show that was action packed, and at around 2 hours sans intermission, it was a breeze to sit through. This G1, whilst unlikely to hit the highs of the last few years, is on track to being quite the tournament.

NDT

[baebeyza]

Finished RID01 ~

Or lets say I finished Car Robots, I watched it all in japanese, but still use the english names for character-recognition reasons Anyway, my thoughts and observations: 

- Plot was nice and most episodes were a lot of fun, but for me personally it wasn’t exciting enough for the most part - there wasn’t a lot of escalation and therefore not a lot of stakes. For me the plot didn’t start really gearing up until Ultra Magnus showed up, and that happens in episode 24/39 I mean sure it’s a kids show, but this is my review düdes. Also you can compare it to other TF shows - TF Headmasters for example! They had a great escalation and therefore really high stakes that made the overall plot and episodes so much more exciting by building up tension, making you really wanna watch more of it. But like BWII, RID01 doesn’t really do much that makes the plot exciting, at least not until the final episodes.  But that’s like the only negative thing I can say for this show, again, it was a lot of fun ~  - Characters! Characters were also a weak point in BWII for me, the hero characters to be precise, but in RID01 most of them were really awesome, my faves being Prowl, Ultra Magnus, Optimus and Tow-Line for some reason ~ The villains were less and while the Predacon trio didn’t wow me, they were at least funny for the most part. Sky-Byte was just kinda a highlight for this show, being totally hilarious! The Decepticons were also really nice, I digged the dynamic between Scourge and Meca-Octane and the others were lovable fools ~ Scourge is also really awesome just as an evil version of Optimus :D

- I really didn’t expect Ultra Magnus to be the way he is, but I loved it nontheless! ~ And I have to state what I stated in previous posts - the english version ommitting the friendship between Ultra Magnus and Sideburn is a TRAGEDY! That shit was so cute in the japanese version, the english audience were robbed of something adorable!  - I was disappointed with Megatron and Galvatron though - with Megatron because for the most part of the show, he didn’t do much. Just stayed in his throne room giving orders and getting mad at his stupid henchmen. I mean you have this character who is super powerful and can transform into 6 different things, why the hell is he spending most of his screentime with nothing? That’s not the kind of villain who melts my heart away! He ain’t too bad, like he has a brain, he has a distinct personality and some level of intimidation, but when it comes to agency and action it’s lackluster. And Galvatron disappointed because...he was just Megatron in white with more transformations. Like I get it okay, the point of Galvatron is just to sell a new toy, but that was the point of G1 Galvatron too, and G1 managed to make him into his own character! He isn’t one of my favourite characters because he’s Megs in purple you know, I love him because he of his own personality, quirks and behaviour! In RID01 there is no such destinction, even if Galvatron says that he is a new person. It doesn’t feel that way and being referred to by a different name ain’t gonna make me see them as different people, it’s just the same person in a different colour. This isn’t a complaint about the story though, just the kind of disappointment that comes from knowing Galvy from other shows.  At least he did more shit as Galvatron, but I cannot really attribute this to him being Galvatron, but simply the fact that the show was nearing the climax anyway.

- No female robots in this show, I was kinda half expecting there to be one female transformer with lips covering half her face and her only purpose in the show to cause a love triangle, but nah, we were not given that here.

- I still dont know why they changed the human boy’s name from Yuki to Koji, like it’s both japanese names, whats the point? Like I would understand if they changed it to like David or whatever like other anime dubs did (Digimon for example), but like, what was wrong with Yuki?  Speaking of Koji, as a human character he was...fine? Like he only really gained some sort of importance at the end which was nice, I liked the theme of the pure heroic spirits of kids being a powerful force, it was really cute. But before he was maybe on screen for max. three minutes per episode. On the one hand there was no development or anything, but he also didn’t get in the way of the robots, he stayed in his lane and I wasn’t bothered by him existing. I never had a moment where I thought “I dont care about him, get to the robots already!”, that was nice. But it didn’t make me really like him either, though the end with him pulling his heroic spirit and spam emailing all kids to make Fortress Maximus wake up from his nap was really awesome! Not the worst human, not the best human, just there being a kid, I respect that I could talk more, but don’t have much to say about it - just assume I liked everything else ~

[sithhoplite]

Shak’s SummerSlam 2019 Review

Becky(c) v Nattie for the Raw Women’s Title: I give this match a C, it was a bit boring, the crowd didn’t really pop all that much. While the reverse submission holds were neat and it did look like Nattie was wrenching Becky’s arm back the end was rather meh. Nattie “I won’t tap even if you break my arm” taps but looks utterly disinterested when she did. 

Goldberg V Ziggler: A..it was everything I wanted to see. Dolph sold the spear like the had been shot, the jackhammer was great and the match was under 2 minutes. Dolph still talking shit after getting almost murdered was amusing and I have no issues with Goldberg coming back to spear him again and again.

AJ(c) v Ricochet for the United States Title: B-, my son will be unhappy as he is a Ricochet fan but it was an alright match. Some good spots, timely involvment by the Good Brothers and Styles catching Ricochet and turning it into a Styles clash was nice. Keeps the momentum of the OC going. 

KO v Shane: B - Solid, Shane ended up getting his ass beat, Elias got his ass beat after being introduced as the special guest enforcer. Shane should disappear for a few weeks, I hope.

Bayley(c) v Ember Moon for the Smackdown Women’s Title: C and that is being generous. Too many botches in this match for my taste. Ember I can see as this is her first PPV match but Bayley should know better. They didn’t seem like they were on the same wavelength at all but a nice top rope Bayley to Belly Suplex to end it.

Kofi(c) v Orton for the WWE Championship: D: Match was ok, a few momentum shifts but it wasn’t the big win Kofi needed to solidify his reign as WWE champ and the ending was just, I have no workds for how moronic it was. 

Charlotte v Trish: C-: Ok match, Charlotte had to carry Trish for good parts of the match, thought for a moment when Trish hit the “Stratisfaction” finisher could she win but no, Charlotte won which is fine with me. The crowd after the match was cool and the loss doesn’t hurt Trish at all but doesn’t really help The Queen either.

Finn Balor v The Fiend: A+: The entrance for The Fiend, holy shitballs. The lantern that is his old face, the dreadlocks made into the handle was creepy AF and so worked for him. I was gobsmacked and loved it. Finn in all white as the “good guy” was a nice touch. Fairly quick match, nice finish with the mandable claw and the lights going out and Bray being gone when they came back on was awesome. Match of the Night for me.

and finally:

Seth Rollins V Brock Lesnar(c) for the Universal Title: B-: Not too bad, Brock sold for Rollins which is goo. When he picked up Seth with his rib tape and swung him around like a rag doll that was awesome. No surprise despite the beat downs Seth had taken that he won and re-claimed the Universal Title. After the match he looked rather good for a person who had “busted ribs” but whatever, its WWE and continuity isn’t a thing for them.

Overall I would give SummerSlam 2019 a B-, it had some good matches and not so good matches. The ending of the Kofi match put a bad stain on things. I also held onto my WWE Title for the match picks I do with my neighbor by one match! Now its time to relax for a hour then watch the finals of the NJPW G1 Climax.

[hazyheel]

NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Day 7 Review

The opening contest of the night was Zack Sabre Jr vs. Bad Luck Fale. I was actually kinda looking forward to this one, because Sabre wrestles big men really really well. These two actually have a record, 1-0 in favor of Sabre after a G1 meeting 2 years ago. Before the match, Chase Owens got on English commentary and announced that Fale is going to storm Area 51, because they can’t stop the rogue general. I appreciated that. Sabre immediately charged at the bell and locked in a guillotine choke. This makes sense, because big men need more air and more energy to move around, so cut that off and Fale will fall. When Fale fought out, Sabre opted to attack the legs. I love the psychology of Sabre matches. Sabre tried to keep Fale on the mat, but Fale continued to power out of the submissions and throwing the smaller man around. At one point, Sabre reversed the Bad Luck Fall into a flying octopus hold, but Fale backed up into the ropes, allowing Jado to nail him in the back with the kendo stick. Owens got in a couple shots of his own, and Fale then beat the crap out of Sabre in the stands. The two battled a bit, with Sabre countering the grenade into a triangle hold as the ref started the count. He was able to force Fale down to his knees, and then he bolted to the ring, winning his first G1 match this year by count out. Sabre: 2, Fale: 2.

Grade: B. Fale isn’t the greatest wrestler in the world, but Sabre certainly kept it interesting. The countout victory didn’t feel cheap in the slightest, it felt smart. Sabre beat his much larger opponent through smart submissions and a tricky play in the end. Definitely deserving of his first two points.

Then we had Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer. This is another match that I was looking forward to, as Tanahashi is awesome, and Archer is a goddamned anomaly when it comes to this G1. He is so cool to watch. These two have a record, although it is old. Tanahashi won both of their previous matches, both in the G1. However, their last match singles match was in 2013, which was long enough ago to think that they may have changed a lot about themselves. Shockingly enough, Tanahashi was the one to attack before the bell, and he went right for the knee. They soon spilled out to the floor and battled for a while, ending when Archer nailed an apron bomb. Archer destroyed Tanahashi’s back and chest on the outside and it really seemed like he had a shot in this match. Tanahashi tried to put Archer down with chops, but he kept no selling them and drilling with a huge chop of his own. Tanahashi kept switching strategies in this match, looking for power moves, strikes and submissions at varying points, each with minimal success. Even when Tana had a comeback, it would only take a shoulder tackle or another power move to get control back. Archer went for his very extra old school, but Tana countered with a twist and shout and a slingblade. He then went for aces high, but Archer caught him for a vicious chokeslam and a near fall. Archer then fought for the EBD claw, and although Tana tried to fight against it, he locked it in for just a second. Archer had Tana in the corner, and looked like he was going to get a muscle buster, but Tana locked in a victory roll for a flash pin and the win. Tanahashi: 4, Archer: 4

Naturally, after the match Archer attacked the ref.

Grade: B+. Really good between these two. Tana knew that Archer was the bigger man, and he was desperate for the win right from the start. He tried everything he could, but Archer wouldn’t go down. In the end, it was a lucky roll up that got the Ace the win here, and Archer was naturally furious. He had one of the biggest stars in the company in the palm of his hands, and then he ate a flash pin. I imagine that this will only fuel Archer’s rage going forward.

Next up was EVIL vs. KENTA. This was a first time ever match. On commentary, they talked about while Kenta has a striking advantage, the raw strength and brawling from Evil is nothing to laugh at. The two may be closer in that respect than you would think. The two were very violent right in the beginning, with Evil pulling no punches when he attacked, and neither did Kenta. The two started out getting tied up in the ropes, and although there was a clean break, Kenta wiped the eye makeup of Evil. That really pissed Evil off, and the two brawled to the outside. Evil even took Kenta to one of the entrances, before they brawled into the crowd. The two dueled for control with both wanting to suplex the other onto a stack of chairs, with Kenta coming out on top. Kenta began to destroy Evil with kicks back in the ring, only firing him up, and Evil started to nail huge lariats. At one point, Kenta even tried for a striking contest, but Evil blocked the first blow and shot back, downing Kenta in one hit. That was certainly an interesting interaction. the two started another striking contest later delivering wicked elbows over and over, until Evil won again with a headbutt. Kenta still fought back into the match, hitting an awesome running knee to counter a running lariat. He kept control from there, nailing a kick to the head, a pique kick and then go to sleep for the win. Kenta: 8, Evil: 4.

Grade: B+. This was a really good story, and a really hard hitting match. I was not shocked by the winner here, but I was shocked when Evil won two head to head striking contests. They beat the crap out of each other, as expected, and hit some brutal moves in the process. Kenta continues to lead the block, and it seems like Evil may end up being the spoiler of A block. He already beat Ibushi, and part of me thinks that he will beat Okada as well. He has before, I don’t see why he couldn’t again.

We went right into Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA. These two have some history, with Sanada winning their match last year in the G1, giving them a 1-0 record in favor of Sanada. The two started with some grappling and went hold for hold with each other. They then picked up the speed, but still ending in a stalemate. Then they competed for some cheers, and the crowd totally came alive. Japanese clouds are so cool when they get excited. They then started to go back and forth with big moves to try to outdo one another. Definitely an interesting story here. They eventually got into striking, with some great chops from Sanada followed by a deadly kick from Ibushi. They started to exchange some hard hitting signature moves as the excitement continued to build. Sanada at one point caught a kick, and started to attack the knee with a dropkick. He went for another, but Ibushi countered with a standing double foot stomp. That was when the two competed once again, with the heaviest hits that they could muster. Neither man went down. Ibushi went for the kamagoye about three or four times, but each attempt saw Sanada avoid it and Ibushi maintain wrist control. Eventually after some creative counters, Sanada nailed Ibushi with a kamagoye of his own, netting him a near fall. He then went for a moonsault, which he missed. it was also at a super low angle, and it was scary as hell. Anyway, after avoiding the moonsault, Ibushi hit a great bomoye. That was when they started to battle for skull end. Both wanted to choke out the other, and they continued to counter each other over and over. Sanada was finally able to lock it in for a while, but when he tried to get the hooks in, Ibushi attempted to reverse it into the kamagoye. They struggled a bit, before Ibushi absolutely whacked Sanada in the head with a roundhouse kick. Ibushi followed it up with a bomoye for 2, and then a kamagoye for 3. Ibushi: 4, Sanada: 2.

Grade: A-. This started out as a contest of one uppmanship, but eventually grew into a great match where both men refused to get hit by anything. Counters were flying all over the place and it was impossible to see who had the advantage for any length of time. This was all back and forth, and a great win for Ibushi. His ankle looked to be bothering him a bit during this match, so I hope that it doesn’t take him out, but it certainly didn’t take away from anything here. Sanada seems to be getting less emphasis this year than Evil, but he is still a force to be reckoned with.

And in the main event, we had Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay. IWGP Heavyweight Champion vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. They have a 3-0 record in favor of Okada, but all were great matches. They are friends from the same stable, and they respect each other a lot. They started out with some technical exchanges and a slow deliberate pace. After Ospreay won an early exchanged and forced Okada to the outside, he made sure to sit on the ropes for him when he came back in, which Okada rejected. Okada later did the same to him. They played it up as respect, but I saw it as the opposite. Okada targetted the already injured neck of Ospreay, while Ospreay just tried to up the pace. Ospreay tried to fight back with incredible strikes, but Okada stood strong and dropped him with a thunderous forearm. However, when Okada went for his signature DDT, Ospreay countered with a huge vertical suplex. Ospreay followed up with a huge chop, followed by a corner ensiguri, but when he went for the top rope tiger fang kick, Okada caught him and just dropped him on his neck to maintain the advantage. The two then picked up the pace quite a bit, constantly countering each other’s signature maneuvers until Okada dropped Ospreay with a beautiful standing dropkick. He followed up with a tombstone, and tried for a rainmaker, but Ospreay countered into a victory roll and then a robinson special. Ospreay went for the os cutter, but Okada caught him with a dropkick on the ropes, sending the smaller man tumbling to the outside. The two then battled on the apron, with anticipation building as to who will hit the big move first. It looked to be Ospreay after a big kick to the shoulder, but as he went up for a moonsault to the outside, Okada pulled him down to try for a tombstone. Ospreay fought out and sent him into the barricade. He followed that up with a hook kick and then an os cutter on the outside. Ospreay made it back in the ring, as did Okada, but Ospreay cut him off with a springboard dropkick to a crawling Okada. He then nailed a second os cutter in the ring, but Okada still kicked out! It was also the best os cutter I have ever seen. A desperate Opsreay tried for the top rope os cutter, but Okada caught him in midair and flattened him with a german suplex. He tried for the rainmaker, but Ospreay slipped out, so Okada dropkicked him instead. He tried again, but Ospreay hit a standing spanish fly for another near fall. Ospreay then hit a shooting star press for another near fall. Nothing was putting the champion down. Ospreay tried for the storm breaker, but Okada tried to get a tombstone. Ospreay fought out of it, nailed a couple knees to the top of the head, and hit a tombstone of his own. He nailed a ripcord hook kick, and went for the stormbreaker again, but Okada flipped out of it and hit a short rainmaker. He maintained wrist control, and hit another short rainmaker. Okada tried for the full rainmaker, but Ospreay reversed it into stormbreaker position, but Okada flipped out again and hit a spinning short rainmaker. And finally, with Ospreay all out of energy and having been spun around by those rainmakers 3 times, Okada finally hit a full rainmaker and put Ospreay down. Okada: 8, Ospreay: 2.

Grade: A+. Back to back A+’s from Ospreay. He is really delivering in this tournament. Okada is as well, its an awesome tournament this year. Ospreay was a perfect underdog here, and Okada was the staunch champion who wasn’t phased by anything. Ospreay put up the fight of a lifetime, but he just couldn’t finish it off. He had Okada beat a couple of times, but he is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion for a reason. Okada took several of Ospreay’s best shots and kept fighting, it was incredible. Even though Ospreay is now probably too far behind to even get in the top 5 of his block, he seems to be delivering the best matches in the G1 so far. Probably between him and Ishii. As for Okada, he and Kenta are still leading the pack with 8 points apiece, and they face off in the next block A show. Given that they are both two points ahead of the rest of the chasing pack, it feels like one of them will win the block, but we can’t be sure just yet. A block is getting very dramatic. Oh, and this was far and away the match of the night. Probably my favorite G1 match so far, even better than Ibushi vs. Ospreay.

Overall Grade:  A-.

Pros: All matches

Cons: Ibushi’s ankle injury seems to be flaring up. 

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Detective Pikachu Review

Over a week late but it’s here!

So! This is a half spoiler, half non spoiler review? I'm gonna have a read more where I discuss spoilers, but for the initial round if you haven't seen it and are reading to decide if you shoud you should be fiiiine.

Anyway, I'mma be real with you all. I thought live action Pokemon couldn't work. They already had inconsistent results getting the Pokemon world to work in the more flexible world of animation (as much as I think the anime's actually not bad, I swear) and fan attempts at blending real humans with CGI Pokemon just looked... Gross. When I heard there was a bidding war for the Western movie rights to Pokemon and Legendary won I had several concerns.

Then trailers started dropping, and I was unironically fascinated. I thought this movie could be good. I WANTED this movie to be good.

And hey, it was!

It wasn't perfect, and I'll get to why, but it... it was fun, the same sort of cheesy fun I think the anime has but refined and honed for a western audience and it somehow worked? What helps is that Tim and Pikachu have this amazing dynamic, with Pikachu's quips bouncing off Tim in an entertaining manner, and that helps makes certain scenes comedy gold - like the Mr. Mime scene. The female lead is fun as well - a neglected intern that tries to mask her issues by being a perky reporter. Also Psyduck.

For only having 50-60 Pokemon on display there was an excellent variety of them. A good chunk of them aren't even G1, and the non-G1s get to have some cool or funny moments.

Video game movies routinely have a problem of not feeling like their source material, being off in just the right ways. This number feels like a goddamn Pokemon movie - it's spiritually similar to both the game it's based on and the animated Pokemon movies, and that's mostly a good thing! It bodes well for future live-action Pokemon movies and live-action video game movies in particular.

Overall if you're a Pokemon fan and are considering seeing this movie please do. It's got some spoiler bits that are  bit head-scratchy or eye-roll worthy (plus it's got a couple instances of -groan- toilet humor) but it's a good time overall. Heck, maybe if Pokemon is only a fringe thing for you - I went with my family and they were cracking up the whole time.

(also for those in a certain RP with me the whole thing is very WAAPT and that is hilarious)

Okay now we talk spoilers. TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET.

--------------

Okay so what I say is the biggest flaw of the movie is the villain, Howard. He kinda feels like one of the more bog-standard villains of the animated movies and as much as the animated movies are cheesy fun for me and some of them even go further beyond that into being personally important and formative experiences... the villains tend to not be strong points. His actual PLAN is cool and one of the many more WAAPT-y things about the movie but how he gets there makes... no sense? Also the fact that he's supposed to be a plot twist but you can guess he's the villain so easy it'd make a mid-2010s Disney villain blush. (I liked Hans and King Candy for very specific and weird personal reasons but most peeps after that sheesh...) It's more insulting that it's so easy to guess since they actually bait and switch you from the original game, where his son was the original villain but just gets done dirty in this movie.

On the more positive end, Howard's literal partner in crime is his Ditto. And his Ditto is SO COOL. The beady eyes are a brilliant and lovely touch and it's genuinely a good opponent for our protagonists in the climax.

The twist that Detective Pikachu is Harry and his partner Pikachu merged into one entity is handled noticeably better, even if I could also guess it pretty early on. It's genuinely well foreshadowed! And also apparently based on stuff in the original game! Pikachu's issues are such an excellent mirror for Tim's and it adds to their dynamic and makes you go "wait a fucking minute here"

One of my favorite scenes was the fight club scene since we get to see actual Pokemon battles going down and then there's the bit when the Magikarp evolves into a Gyarados and the Charizard's R wears off and Charizard has these huge panicked puppy dog eyes and oh my God it was hilarious.

Speaking of the R! I like how it's heavily implied to be derived from the Berserk Gene like in the original game. Very nice mythology gag. Mewtwo was cool in general too, just wish it got more time to shine.

Also. THE TORTERRA GARDEN. I got such a kick out of that scene and I'm not entirely sure why.

But yeah the movie was good. Not perfect but really fun and very much a step in the right direction for video game movies. I assume you have already seen it if you are reading this section of the review, so tell anyone who hasn't to go see it for me.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (104): Sat 25th Jun 2022

I learned about a YouTuber called Mr Anime who ended up killing his family. Normally when you hear about a guy going crazy and committing a massacre it's usually a guy who had a history of spouting hate and clearly had mental health issues but on this occasion it was just an ordinary, seemingly harmless kid who specialized in reviewing anime online. This case is a lot creepier to me than other massacres / rampages I've learned about purely because of the fact that this kid seemed so normal. It just goes to show that even the most boring, mundane person can potentially be plotting something abhorrent. There's never been any clear indication of why the guy did what he did but two months before he committed the murders he released a video called "Mr Anime Is Planning Something" which a lot of people have interpreted as him laying the groundwork for the murders he was going to commit (At the very end of the video he starts getting really emotional and his lip starts to quiver which I'm guessing is because he knew he had committed to the murders and that his normal life was about to disappear). What's really weird is that between this video and the killings he released another video saying that he'd found a new job in the film industry and that his anime review output would be limited going forward. I can't get my head around why he would have made this video if he knew he was about to become a killer. Why would he even be interviewing for jobs? This tells me that the guy probably had quite severe mental health issues. If you decide that you're going to commit mass murder and then temporarily forget and make plans to start a new job then something clearly isn't right in the old noggin. In his police interview he said that his original plan was to go to his school and massacre as many people as he could. He killed his family to spare them the knowledge that their son was a murderer but after killing them the gravity of what he'd done dawned on him and he decided to turn himself in. He avoided the death penalty and is currently serving a life sentence. As much as I hate Piers Morgan he does that show where he interviews serial killers and I would love to see Mr Anime. We could finally get to the bottom of why he would do something so horrible, and after Mr Anime is done asking Piers about the phone hacking they can switch places and Piers can try to find out why Mr Anime killed his family.

The brackets for the G1 Climax this year have been released and while there are some great potential matchups they have changed the format from two brackets into four. Why overcomplicate it? First they had certain wrestlers have to wrestle an extra match in the New Japan Cup for...shits and giggles basically and now they're twisting another format that already works (even if it is sometimes a little hard to follow). Since the pandemic started New Japan has really struggled to get back to where it was before their creative plans were derailed due to travel restrictions and a lot of the stuff they've experimented with has really gone down like a fart in church. The unification of the World and Intercontinental titles was a mistake in my opinion as there are now so many guys in the undercard who just feel directionless when they could be feuding over the Intercontinental title. Turning the whole promotion into The Will Ospreay Show and having him as a heel go over almost the entire face roster and then winning the belt felt so forced (Thankfully he's back in the mid-card where he belongs now). As much as I love Shingo Takagi it never felt like New Japan really got behind him as a champion. They should have altered his gimmick somewhat when he won the belt to make it clear that his status as a contender was now over. However the company does seem to be making some positive strides now. I like that Jay White is the champion again because he's the best heel in the business and they've recently introduced some new junior heavyweights as part of the Best of the Super Juniors. I liked this because I think New Japan is the kind of place that should always be shifting the roster around to experiment and see which wrestlers work and which don’t but obviously due to the pandemic they weren't able to invite any new wrestlers and the roster has been the same since early 2020.

[pwrestlingxpress]

Six Month Later...Golden Lovers Merge while The Shield Returns

On February 15, 2018; I posted an blog here on the Pro Wrestling Express explaining my reasons as to why the Golden☆Lovers reunion will succeed whereas The Shield’s have failed.  Before I elaborate myself on this, suggesting everyone click here to read that full post I put here over six months ago and read what I have to say down below. 

Again, I said that six months ago the reunion of the Golden☆Lovers would succeed whereas as The Shield’s have failed due to illness and injuries.  Well, let me say that now the Golden☆Lovers reunion not only succeeded my expectations but it also exceeded my expectations as almost five months after reuniting in Sapporo, Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada to become the 66th IWGP Heavyweight Champion while Kota Ibushi qualified for the G1 Climax 28 Finals against eventual winner Hiroshi Tanahashi.  Not only did Kenny win the one title that eluded him for almost eighteen months and not only did Ibushi qualify for the G1 finals in his 4th year of entry but on June 9, 2018; Kenny and Ibushi along with The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) announce the formation of the Golden Elite, merging both the Golden☆Lovers and The Elite into one stable.

While the Lovers and the Bucks became one stable, the stable that Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson were members of would break up one month later.  The actions in San Francisco on July 7, 2018 lead to New Japan announcing two Bullet Club factions at the start of G1 Climax 28 thus ending the original Bullet Club faction that started back on May 3, 2018 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013.  Those two new factions are Bullet Club OG (consisting of Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Bad Luck Fale, Hikuleo, and “Bone Soldier” Taiji Ishimori) and Bullet Club Elite (consisting of Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson Nick Jackson, Marty Scurll, “Hangman” Adam Page, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens, and Cody Rhodes). 

Meanwhile, The Shield went on an indefinite hiatus due to Dean Ambrose’s triceps injury raising questions and concerns as to whether or not the group would be back again once Dean returns from injury.  During the group’s hiatus,  Seth Rollins would become a 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion by first defeating The Miz and Prince Devitt in a 3-way match to open up Wrestlemania 34.  After losing the title on June 18th, Seth (along with Dean Ambrose at ringside) regained the title from Dolph Ziggler (who had Drew McIntyre at ringside) to open up SummerSlam 2018.  At the same time, for seven months, Roman Reigns was chasing after the WWE Universal Championship and was finally able to capture the title in what I would call a hostile environment which took place on the same day Seth Rollins became a 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion.  Almost 24 hours after Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns became champions this happened at the end of the August 20th edition of Monday Night RAW. : 

In a surprise that I don’t think anybody expected, The Shield came back together once more and based on their actions were a little more vicious than ever before.  You’ll have to watch the video to see it all including a cameo appearance from former Bullet Club member Prince Devitt who was challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship to see what I’m talking about. 

After that surprise return,  WWE made some announcements including one in which The Shield will be competing in Australia on October 6th.  It is unknown at this time what kind of match they’re competing in.  Meanwhile, based on the cards that New Japan announced for their Destruction tour starting in September, the Golden☆Lovers will be staying together through Hiroshima. It’ll be interesting to see if they’ll stay together after that since Ibushi pinned Omega and is owned a IWGP title shot at a future New Japan event. 

So...let’s review all this from my perspective:  On October 9, 2017; The Shield reunited to a thunderous applause in Indianapolis but went on an indefinite hiatus right after Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome due to Dean Ambrose’s injury which would keep him out until August.  Almost a month after The Shield reunited, after losing at Power Struggle 2017, the seeds for the reunion of the Golden☆Lovers was planted as Cody Rhodes challenged Kota Ibushi to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in which Ibushi won.  24 hours after his win, Ibushi was attacked by various members of Bullet Club but was saved by Kenny Omega leading Ibushi to returning the favor 23 days later and thus reuniting the two while at the same time putting The Elite (consisting of Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) on an indefinite hiatus.  From the day they reunited until they merged with the Young Bucks to form the Golden Elite on June 9, 2018; the Golden☆Lovers were 7-2 in tag matches together while both had a .500 average in singles competition.  And from the time the hiatus started until they reunited with Ambrose on August 20th, both Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns continue wrestling in singles matches while still teaming together and vying to become singles champions which both did at SummerSlam. A lot can happen in four to six months when we see reunions like that of the Golden☆Lovers and The Shield.  What happens now from this day forward, in my opinion, will be anybody’s guess as long as their mission remains the same.  In case you’re wondering what their mission is, let me tell you all.  The Shield’s mission is to bring justice within the pro wrestling world while The Golden Elite’s mission is to change the world of professional wrestling.  

Tune into Raw this Monday on the USA Network (in the United States) or your own network in any part of the world to see The Shield in action and hear what they have to say while at the same time see The Golden Elite compete at All In on September 1st on Pay-per-view with Kenny Omega competing in singles competition and the remaining three (Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) main eventing the show against a team lead by Rey Mysterio. 

[gdwessel]

G1 Climax 31 Night 10 - 10/4/2021; Suzuki Weekend Report & Coming Attractions

The tour continued today at the final Korakuen Hall rally for this year’s G1, with B Block matches on offer. You can see this now on NJPWWorld. Once again, Abema broadcast this show, but so far no indication of any dealings between NJPW and the Abema-owned DDT and/or NOAH on the horizon besides NJPW offering the occasional show on the channel/service.

- 10/4/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

G1 Climax 31 B Block: Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Package Driver, 10:58)

G1 Climax 31 B Block: EVIL [Bullet Club] d. Tama Tonga [Bullet Club] (EVIL STO, 13:47)

G1 Climax 31 B Block: Jeff Cobb [United Empire] d. Taichi [SZKG] (Tour Of The Islands, 15:15) 

G1 Climax 31 B Block: Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] d. YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] (GTR, 16:57)

G1 Climax 31 B Block: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] d. SANADA [Los Ingobernables] (Rainmaker, 29:14)

Okada beats SANADA nearly at the death, and declares he is the one true leader of New Japan. Goto and Owens finally get wins, although they are basically out of contention; Hiroshi Tanahashi shows what a company man he is by letting Owens getting a lucky win. EVIL beats the BCOG Tonga by having SHO turn out the lights and Dick Togo choke him before the EVIL STO. Yeah, they are gonna do another intra-Bullet-Club feud soon enough. This block is basically down to Okada v. Cobb now; there is no way EVIL is going to win this.

Current B Block standings:

Cobb - 10pts (5W 0D 0L) Okada - 10pts (5W 0D 0L) EVIL - 8pts (4W 0D 1L) Tanahashi - 6pts (3W 0D 2L) SANADA - 4pts (2W 0D 3L) Taichi - 4pts (2W 0D 3L) Tonga - 2pts (1W 0D 4L) Goto - 2pts (1W 0D 4L) Owens - 2pts (1W 0D 4L) YOSHI-HASHI - 2pts (1W 0D 4L)

Meanwhile in the indies of the US of America, Minoru Suzuki had another belter of a weekend, with three matches over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, two in St. Louis bookending a trip to North Carolina. I don’t envy that travel itinerary one bit.

On Friday, Suzuki went to WrestleMax to defeat Calvin Tankman in the main event of their Episode VI event. From what little I’ve been able to see of this match, it went down a stormer. I have not seen an official stream of this match offered anywhere yet, and it may come down to fan-camming on YouTube or elsewhere. I’ll keep you posted.

Saturday was the jaunt to North Carolina for Premier Wrestling Xperience’s All Hail The King card. Once again, Suzuki was victorious, beating Anthony Henry in that show’s main event. This show is available to stream, provided you sign up for their service at $4.99/month, which may be worth a $5 payment to see this. (For a while on Saturday night, the show was airing live for free but I think that was inadvertant.)

Back again to St. Louis for yesterday’s main event at Glory Pro’s Little Ring Of Horrors event, in which Suzuki defeated Davey Richards. You may notice a bit of a pattern here. This was the last of a 13-match card, which, the idea of a 13-match show at this point is enough to make me break out in hives. This one will eventually make it onto IWTV so keep an eye out for that.

Tomorrow evening at 10pm EDT / 9pm CDT is the Online Meet & Greet for Suzuki via NJPW’s Toukon Shop Global. Ostensibly it’s free via NJoA’s YouTube channel but if you want a question submitted and read, you need to buy some relevant Suzuki merch. The link has all the info.

Suzuki is due in San Francisco on Friday to face Daniel Garcia in West Coast Pro, which I believe will stream live on IWTV. He will also face Joey Janela on Sunday in GCW in Atlantic City, NJ. That one will be shown live on FITE TV - there’s a $27 bundle with that show and the one the night before, main evented by Jon Moxley v. Nick Gage for the GCW Heavyweight title. No matches on Saturday that I’m aware of.

Lastly, I wrote a short blurb about Suzuki v. Homicide from GCW on 9/24/2021 for FanFyte as part of their Best Of The Month feature, so check that out, as well as reviews of three other banger matches from all over pro wrestling in the month of September.

The tour takes a couple of days off before resuming A Block on Thursday. I balk at Hiromu having to face KENTA, honestly.

- 10/7/2021, Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall

Ryohei Oiwa v. El Desperado [SZKG]

Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] v. KENTA [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 31 A Block: Kota Ibushi v. Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 31 A Block: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] v. Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

G1 Climax 31 A Block: Toru Yano [CHAOS] v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

G1 Climax 31 A Block: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] v. Great O-Khan [United Empire]

[fang-revives]

Syb Reviews G1 Climax 33 July 18

Catching up on my review posts! I didn’t watch a lot of this card, keeping up with wrestling on GMT+9 during the week is always going to be a bit of a struggle for me, but here’s your breakdown on what I did watch!

1. Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Chase Owens

Skip etc no one on god’s green earth could make me watch a Chase Owens match.

2. Great O-Khan vs. KENTA

Skip, love Kenta, Great-O-Khan bores me though and I knew it to be unlikely Kenta would do much for this match.

3. Hikuleo vs. Gabe Kidd

Skip, no connection to either wrestler.

4. Taichi vs. Tanga Loa

Skip, no time.

5. Ren Narita vs. Yota Tsuji

BARK BARK WOOF WOOF [FOGHORN NOISE!!!!!]

ahem. this match is a must see. holy shit. I love the Reiwa Muskateers, and I love these two in this match especially. Please watch this. if you watch only one thing from the past week of wrestling make it this. I want to watch it again just thinking about it.

6. Yoshi-Hashi vs. Will Ospreay

Skip. Don’t like Tacos enough to sit through an Ospreay match for him :P

7. SANADA vs. Shota Umino

Good! A good time, not as memorable as some of Sanada’s other matches but Shooter had some good fire in it!

8. Kazuchika Okada vs. El Phantasmo

LOVED IT!!! It’s very close to a must-see for me, and especially nice to pair with Narita vs. Tsuji. I believe we shuffled around the card and watched this first, because we knew there’d be a good comedy angle. I loved that it felt like this match was used specifically to put over Phantasmo’s face turn, even if it was an Okada main event match. I had a lot of fun with it. I popped real hard for nipple shenanigans. Great time all around!

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax B Block finals preview

Kenny Omega (12 points) vs. Kota Ibushi (10 points) - This is for 2 points in the G1 Climax tournament’s B block.  Omega’s IWGP heavyweight title is not at stake, although if he loses that would virtually guarantee Ibushi gets a title match later, regardless of who wins the G1 tournament.

I already ran through all the scenarios of who can win B block (to face the A block winner in the finals).  If Omega wins this match, he wins the block.  If Ibushi wins, then either Ibushi or Tetsuya Naito wins the block, depending on whether Naito loses his match.  If this match goes to a 30-minute draw, either Omega or Naito will win the block, depending on the outcome of the Naito match.

As far as I could determine this is the first one-on-one Omega/Ibushi match since August 2012, when Ibushi defeated Omega to retain the DDT championship, during their original run as the Golden Lovers tag team.  I haven’t seen the match, but people talk about it in awestruck tones, and the NJPW English announce team has alluded to Kota and Kenny refusing to rematch for fear that they would go too far trying to top it.  Watching both of them damn near kill themselves against other opponents, I can see why there’d be concern about them working with one another.  So the hype for this thing is off the charts, and it’ll be very difficult to live up to.

The Golden Lovers gimmick is that Omega and Ibushi aren’t just friends but in an ambiguous romantic relationship.  I mean, it’s not ambiguous to the fans, but the wrestlers themselves don’t directly spell it out and New Japan seems to actively avoid commenting on it.  Regardless, the idea is that Kenny was damaged and incomplete while the team was disbanded, but their reunion this year has turned everything around and contributed to Kenny winning the IWGP title.  What matters here, then, is that neither man wants to seriously harm the other, but they can’t go easy either, so we’ll be seeing a lot of mixed emotions beyond the usual “friends have to fight” match.

The “Bullet Club OG” group (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Bad Luck Fale) have basically made it their mission to ruin this tournament, especially where it concerns Omega and Ibushi.  They started out taking blatant disqualifications to protect one another from being pinned, but then they escalated to interfering in matches they had nothing to do with, and then to forcing a no-contest in the Omega/Young Bucks vs. Ibushi/Scurll/Owens match.  I can’t see this match ending in a draw or a double-disqualification, but the NJPW bookers clearly want the idea in your head.

Given the choice between Omega, Naito, and Ibushi to win B Block, I’d pick Ibushi just because I think that’d be more novel.  However, I’m increasingly thinking that Omega is going to pull off the big “win the G1 as reigning champion” feat.  One way or another, I think he’s going to come out on top here.

Tetsuya Naito (12 points) vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (10 points) - Sabre is already mathematically eliminated from winning the block, and Naito will be too if Sabre wins this match.  If Naito wins, he’s still alive, but he needs Omega to lose or draw.  Even if this match goes to a time limit draw, Naito is still alive, but he needs Omega to just plain lose.  Sabre has scored some key wins to get him into the midcard title hunt, but I don’t see him beating Naito unless it’s necessary to set up a plot point in the Omega/Ibushi match.  And maybe it is, but since I’m not sure I gotta pick Naito to win.

Juice Robinson (4 points) vs. Hirooki Goto (6 points) - Robinson is the United States champion and Goto is the NEVER champion, but neither title is on the line.  Juice cannot strike with the “cast” on his left hand (more like a plastic splint wrapped in wrist tape) or he will be disqualified.

Robinson’s run this year has been interesting.  On the one hand, he’s stepped up his game since his G1 debut last year, and he’s a champion.  On the other hand, he suffered a (legit?) broken metacarpal a few weeks back, which is particularly disastrous because his specialty is his left-handed knockout punch.  Robinson gutted through the injury (and the added stip about the cast) to win the US title, but competing in the G1 is a longer, more relentless task.  After mounting losses (which translates into many future challengers), Juice started removing the cast to bring his knockout punch back into play, but that also increases his risk of aggravating the injury and prolonging his recovery time.  It’s a simple and delightfully effective storyline.

It’d be a nice feel-good moment for Juice to get one last victory to end on a high note, but this isn’t the part of the story for feel-good moments.  That will come later in the year, I think, when he has to defend the title against all the guys who beat him in this tour...but his hand will be 100% and he’ll be steamrolling through them.  (I hope.)  So for now, the right finish is for Goto to get the win.

Tomohiro Ishii (8 points) vs. SANADA (8 points) - Ishii always gets rave reviews for his G1 matches, but I can’t ever get fully invested in them because I always know he can’t actually win enough matches to constitute a push.  He does have a win over Kenny Omega and I’m sure he’ll get a title shot this fall, which will be well-received.  But I don’t believe for a second he’ll ever be IWGP champion, so it all feels kind of hollow.  Sanada is more or less in the same boat, though, so at least this match should be competitive.  It doesn’t matter who wins, really.

Tama Tonga (6 points) vs. Toru Yano (4 points) - Tama has basically stopped giving a shit about winning his matches or even trying to prevent the referee from noticing his rule-breaking.  Yano, on the other hand, has turned sneaking things past the ref into an art form.  In other words, they’ll both cheat like crazy, but Yano is more apt to get away with it, which means either Yano wins by DQ or Yano wins by sneaky pinfall or count-out.  The only thing working in Tama’s favor is that it’s a running gag that Yano acts like he’s literally a spooky demon or something.  Me too, Yano, me too.

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma - Okada and Tanahashi are coming off of their big match to determine the A Block, but the big story here is actually Honma, who suffered a neck injury during a March 2017 match, which nearly left him paralyzed and required surgery.  Honma returned to the ring a couple of months ago, but this is only the second match in his comeback.  This was originally going to be an eight-man tag with Elgin on the Tanahashi team and Jado on the CHAOS team, with the idea that Honma could seek revenge on Jado for the move that nearly left him paralyzed.  But Jado hurt his foot recently so he had to pulled from the tour.

I’m concerned Honma’s comeback is premature or ill-advised, and I’m not sure it’ll be much fun watching him work knowing how important it is to keep him safe.  You’d hope the other five guys can carry the match for him, but if that’s what it takes he probably shouldn’t be back in the ring yet.  Or maybe he’s really made incredible progress and he’s back to 100%. But I doubt it.  Honma should probably get the pin on Gedo, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they just have him set Gedo up for Makabe to finish him off.

EVIL & BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado - Just a random undercard tag match, doesn’t matter what happens.

Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson & Marty Scurll vs. Jay White & SHO & YOH - Scurll and the Young Bucks are the NEVER trios champions, but that title is not on the line here.  (Neither are all the other championships the Bucks currently have.)  This could get interesting since White has been teaming with Yoh, and treating him like shit, throughout this tour, but now he’s also teaming with Yoh’s regular partner Sho.  Also, Yoh and Sho’s coach, Rocky Romero, has been losing his fucking mind about White’s shenanigans on English commentary.  In theory a win for White’s team would put them in line for a trios title shot, but I can’t believe this trio can coexist for more than ten seconds.  That won’t stop White from trying to direct traffic, I would imagine.  The Bucks will probably pin Sho or Yoh after slapping their thighs a lot.

Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa vs. Hangman Page & Chase Owens - Page and Owens have been regular partners on this tour, but they’re kinda fucked against two of the Bullet Club OG group.  This is either gonna be a win for the Tongans or a DQ loss preceded by a savage mugging.

Michael Elgin & David Finlay vs. Toa Henare & Shota Umino - This was originally going to be Finlay vs. Henare, but Jado’s injury caused Elgin to get bumped from his match, so here we are.  If you’ve been listening to English commentary you’ll recall that there was some ironic hype about Finlay/Henare--which had been the one and only non-tournament singles match on the schedule--which was jokingly referred to as “C Block.”  So Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero might be unusually jazzed for this one.  I’m pretty sure Finlay will just pin Umino, but watch the announcers treat it like Wrestlemania.

[cousinmarcustalkswrestling]

A Cousin’s Review - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night Two

January 5, 2021

Toru Yano vs Bad Luck Fale vs Chase Owens vs Bushi - Fatal Four Way - 2021 KOPW Trophy

These were the last four of the New Japan Rumble and the winner is the current 2021 KOPW Trophy. Fale and Owens are both Bullet Club so they instantly do a Too Sweet of Doom to have Fale steal the title. Fun and goofy little opener. Of course, Yano takes off the turnbuckle pad. Bushi is kind of out of place here, Ishii might’ve been a better pick to make it an unofficial Bullet Club vs CHAOS match, plus I can realistically see Ishii being double champ with those two titles. Owens goes for a pin at one point and Chase stops him and goes for his own pin, then Fale stops him. BULLET CLUB IMPLOSION!! While they argue and attempt to attack the ref, Yano lowblows them both and pins Bushi. BAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

**

El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (CHAMPS) vs Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato - Jr Heavyweight Tag Titles

El Desperado is coming off an amazing performance against Hiromu Takahashi in the Best of the Super Junior Final. Kanemaru was supposed to be in the tournament, but he was injured throughout it. That has absolutely no bearing on this match, but you absolutely have to see Hiromu vs Desperado. This is a fun match, Wato starts off by flattening Desperado with multiple planchas. Taguchi becomes the face in peril and we get some of his fun antics like his infinite rope running, but Despy and Kane are in no mood for games and they’re super nasty targeting Taguchi’s leg. Taguchi makes a comeback and Wato assists gaining some nearfalls, but Desperado catches the ref distracted and straight cold cocks Taguchi then ends it with Pinche Loco. Good solid match.

***

Shingo Takagi (CHAMP) vs Jeff Cobb - NEVER Openweight Title

Shingo reclaimed the NEVER title from Minoru Suzuki at Power Struggle. Cobb set this up by attacking Shingo at the Super Juniors/World Tag League final. Cobb is a heel and apart of Will Ospreay’s Empire, so he’s much nastier now. I knew this would slap, because they’re both great hosses, but this heavily exceeded my expectations. They start out with a slugfest and Shingo quickly finds out he’s at a strength disadvantage when Cobb kicks out of a pin attempt and Shingo flies a few feet in the air, then Cobb slings him with a deadlift belly to belly on the outside. Cobb is so ridiculous that he teases a Razor’s Edge from the apron to the floor, but Shingo slips out, knocks him off the apron, and follows that with a somersault senton!! How old is Shingo again?!?!

Shingo’s back is too hurt for a Noshigami and Cobb drills him with a pretty Razor’s bomb. This is the hossfest to end all hossfests as these two recklessly toss each other around.Shingo is at the disadvantage and every time he manages to land something big on Cobb, it takes so much out of him and his selling is tremendous. He gets drilled with a German and rebounds with a lariat, but he immediately falls right out of the ring. Shingo eventually has to chop block Cobb’s knee and it pays off rather quickly when Cobb hits Tour of the Islands, but can’t immediately cover. Cobb tries to end Shingo with a superplex, but Shingo slips out and powerbombs him. Shingo desperately pulls Cobb’s hair to block another Tour, so Cobb casually gives him a full rotation fallaway slam. Shingo can’t get enough mustard on his Pumping Bombers, but he gives it one last go, turns Cobb inside out with a Pumping Bomber and ends it with Last of the Dragon.

This was start to finish fantastic power wrestling with storytelling, psychology, and selling. A must-see match.

****3/4

Sanada vs Evil

From something amazing to something I don’t really care for. The story is all the way there for this to be great; Former tag partners, one turns on the other, and they actually just met in a super high stakes match in the G1, so this is an even grudgier grudge match. But Sanada is a pretty emotionless guy who needs someone interesting to play off and Evil had a terrible G1 rife with annoying interference and the good matches he did have were because of energetic babyfaces like Naito, Tanahashi, Goto etc. One more thing, I hate how commentary is underplaying Sanada and saying he really needs this win to get into title contention. Has everybody forgotten that he actually beat Naito in the G1??

Sanada actually comes in super energetic and puts Evil in the Paradise lock relatively early. Evil muddies things up on the outside and of course gets some assistance from Dick Togo. SMH. They have a decent back and forth and Evil lands a big ol superplex then goes right to the Scorpion Death Lock, but Sanada gets the ropes. Darkness Falls from Evil gets two, TKO from Sanada gets two. Evil ducks the moonsault, escapes Skull End and rakes his eyes. Ref bump, Dick Togo interference, I DON’T CARE!! Sanada survives Togo interference and chokes Evil out with Skull End. He lands one moonsault to the back, but the second gets nothing but knees. Sanada works his way into Skull End, but garbage ass Evil has to cheat again and Dick Yogo tries to garrote him. Dick Togo takes a phony bumb through a table. Sanada blocks a lowblow and hits Evil with Everything is Evil. A pop-up TKO and another moonsault ends it.

The work was solid and Sanada was motivated, but the formulaic Evil/Togo nonsense annoyed me to no end. Better than the sum of its parts though, I can’t lie.

**3/4

Taiji Ishimori (CHAMP) vs Hiromu Takahashi - Jr Heavyweight Title

These two have excellent chemistry and history that now goes back a few years. Hiromu beat Taiji in a brilliant match in the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors Finals. Then a month later, he broke his neck and was out until late 2019. At Wrestle Kingdom 14, he beat Will Ospreay and reclaimed the Jr Heavyweight Title. At Summer Struggle in Jingu, Taiji beat Hiromu in a great rematch. On the first night of 2020’s Best of the Super Junior Tournament, Hiromu beat Taiji in another great match. Hiromu won the whole tournament then beat El Phantasmo on Night 1 to set up this rematch.

I probably should rewatch all their matches, before I watch this one, but nah. It starts super hot like usual with Hiromu teasing a German suplex on the apron. Taiji flips away from it, but runs directly into a hard powerbomb on the apron. Hiromu tries to show off and run the long ass ramp to a dropkick, but Taiji slams him in a messy spot. Taiji uses the exposed turnbuckle to attack Hiromu’s back and neck, but Hiromu comes back with a wheelbarrow slam on the floor and a running dropkick against the gate. Taiji catches Hiromu with the sliding German and a springboard 450 right on the arm then he immediately goes to the Bone Lock, but Hiromu makes the ropes. Taiji stays aggressive, but Hiromu catches him Taiji with the belly to belly throw to the corner then the DVD into the corner. They have a lightning fast sequence where Taiji gets a big boot, but handsprings into a German suplex. Taiji rebounds with a Destroyer then they slug it out.

Hiromu is too stubborn to die so Taiji goes for a true kill and crushes him with like 40 straight forearms that get progressively stiffer and scarier. Its by far the most violent thing I’ve seen in a New Japan junior match. After beating Hiromu to a pulp, he goes back to beating the shit out of the arm, then locking in the Bone Lock as Hiromu bleeds from the nose. Hiromu just barely gets his foot on the ropes. Hiromu armdrags away from Bloody Cross then counters another Bone Lock attempt to a flatliner. He turns Taiji inside out with a hard lariat then drives him into the exposed turnbuckles. Time Bomb gets two. Taiji counters another attempt and after a struggle, he locks in the Bone Lock once again. He tries to twist the Bone Lock into the Bloody Cross, but Hiromu gets another flatlioner suplex and ends it with the Time Bomb 2.

Ending was anticlimactic and I felt like they could’ve got even hotter, but definitely a great match. Just great action, great display of brutality by Taiji, and a great selling performance by Hiromu. And just taking a gander at the BOTSJ standings, it’d look like Sho has a strong chance of being the next challenger but because he’s the only person besides Desperado to beat Hiromu. We’ll see. Hiromu is suuuuuuuper high in whatever best wrestler in the world list you make.

****1/4

Kota Ibushi (CHAMP) vs Jay White - Heavyweight and Intercontinental Title

Quite the rivalry between these two. Ibushi beat White in a great match to win the 2019 G1 Climax. Then White beat Ibushi three straight times. First at Wrestle Kingdom in a loser vs loser match, then in the G1 in a great match, and finally at Power Struggle with the challenge briefcase on the line. Ibushi finally won the big one by beating Naito on night one, but can he keep it?

Of course, Jay starts by bailing to the outside. Gedo leaps on the apron and Jay surprisingly tells him not to do anything and that he’s gonna do this on his own. Of course like 20 seconds later, Gedo trips Ibushi up and Jay uses it to take over. What a bastard. White targets Ibushi’s neck with a draping DDT and a high backdrop on the apron. White consistently switches body parts to attack as the match goes along, first transitioning from neck to torso.

Ibushi comes back with a powerslam, but White has the moonsault scouted and crotches him then gives him a dragon screw. Ibushi elbows out of a Uranage attempt and snap ranas Jay out of the ring, but his leg gives going for thje Golden Triangle Moonsault and Jay knocks him off the apron. Jay’s varied attack adds so much to everything high impact because its affecting a body part that Jay has already targeted in some form. White tries to strike with Ibushi and predictably gets wrecked. They counter rolls ups and Ibushi stuffs him with the bastard driver. White dodges Boma Ye and hits a sick backdrop suplex, but he runs into a suplex and gets cracked by a Boma Ye that gets two. White punches out of the Golden Powerbomb and tries the rope-assisted backslide that beat Ibushi at Power Struggle but the ref catches it. White’s cheating attempt infuriates Ibushi and he wrecks White with kicks.

Gedo distracts Ibushi from a Phoenix Splash attempt and Jay tries a sleeper superplex, but Ibushi fights him away. White redirects his target to the leg with Dragon Screws and locks in the TTO, but Ibushi gets to the ropes. White slaps at Ibushi and Ibushi becomes God and wrecks him to the point that Jay just lays there and tells Ibushi to pin him. Ibushi gets a little too wild and knocks the ref away and White gets a low blow. White drills Ibushi’s back into the rail telling Ibushi “Fuck You!” every time, then he forearms him to death on the outside and waits for Ibushi to come to him. Ibushi drags his body back in and Jay immediately gives him an STO and a few brutal German suplexes. He wants to German him on the apron, but Ibushi kicks him away and pulls him in with a German from the apron to inside.

Golden Powerbomb only gets two. Jay counters Kamigoye to a hard suplex right on Ibushi’s head then another. Ibushi counters the Blade Runner to a backslide transition to Kamigoye, but Jay kicks out. Ibushi hits the beautiful Phoenix splash, but punk ass Gedo pulls the referee out. Gedo tries to hit Ibushi with brass knuckles, but he eats Kamigoye. Ibushi brings Red Shoes in and immediately eats Blade Runner but he kicks out. I totally saw that one coming and thats not a knock at all. White locks in the TTO again and man Ibushi sells the hell out of it. The closer Ibushi scoots towards the ropes, Jay looks like he’s gonna bust into tears. Ibushi finally gets the ropes and tries a V Trigger out of nowhere, but White counters to another Regalplex for two. Bloody Sunday sets up the Blade Runner, but Ibushi cracks him with a V Trigger. Two more V Triggers, a Kamigoye TO THE BACK OF THE FUCKING HEAD, THEN A KAMIGOYE TO THE FRONT OF THE FUCKING HEAD ends this epic match.

Wow. This was absolutely excellent. Down the stretch, I kept thinking “Man, this feels like a Bret Hart match!” The patience they had to just tell their story and stick to the psychology and not just kick it up a notch for the sake of kicking it up is ridiculously commendable. White’s strategy and characterization was excellent and Ibushi simultaneously looked indestructible while also selling how he was gradually being chopped down by White. Brilliant match and clearly best of both nights.

*****

OVERALL: Big step up from a really good day one to an excellent day two. The KOPW match and Sanada/Evil were just aight. Jr tag was good and three matches that I would’ve bet on being bangers all banged. Hiromu/Taiji Part 4 might be their best work since the first one, Shingo/Cobb was an epic hossfest, and Ibushi/White was an epic storytelling clinic. Awesome show.

OVERALL RATING: 4.5 OUTTA 5

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30 Day 17 Review (Oct 16th, 2020, Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan)

Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd  ***1/4

A BLOCK

Jeff Cobb vs. Yujiro Takahashi  **3/4

Minoru Suzuki vs. Shingo Takagi  ****1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay  ****1/2

Kota Ibushi vs. Taichi  ****1/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White  ****3/4

Photos.

So the A Block came to a close today with a, you guessed it, tremendous show form Sumo Hall. The story of this G1, for me anyway, is how completely into the A Block shows I’ve been, and conversely, how completely uninterested in most of the B Block shows I have. This started in fine form as Tsuji defeated Kidd again with a Boston crab, in a 6:52 sprint which was the usual really good, all action Young Lion opener. Yujiro Takahashi finally get on the scoreboard (and kept his weirdly impressive Kokugikan G1 record on point), when he defeated Jeff Cobb in a decent enough match, that was also thoroughly uninteresting at times. Yujiro stole the win after hitting Cobb with his “pimp stick”, hit an Olympic Slam, Miami Shine and Pimp Juice at the 10:30 mark.

Next up, it was clobbering time as Shingo and Suzuki squared off in a rematch from the Jingu stadium show next. They exchanged hard forearms throughout, before Suzuki started working over Takagi’s arm, countering a Pumping Bomber into a Jujigatame, but Shingo made the ropes. The Dragon did a great job of selling the arm throughout this. After a series of strikes and headbutts, Suzuki tried the choke, but Takagi escaped, and floored Suzuki with the Tenryu style gu-punch! He then hoisted Suzuki’s prone body up into Last Of The Dragon, and avenged his Jingu lost in 12:29 of great action. This win also probably sets Shingo up as the next NEVER challenger at power Struggle. 

Back from intermission and it was time for Okada vs. fellow CHAOS stablemate Will Ospreay. The action in this was great, and was building into fantastic territory, but I figured with this being third from top, we were likely to get something screwy. And we did. These two could have easily had a classic here, but it was more about the story that’s being woven. All through the match, Ospreay kept yelling at Okada that he was “just as good” as him (and even for loud Ospreay levels, this was at times bordering on excruciating). Ospreay nailed Okada’s own dropkick-off-the-turnbuckles on him, then hit a Ryan Smile tribute with the super Tope con Hilo over the post. They had an insane series of counters, which culminated in Okada flipping out of Storm Breaker, hitting a short-arm Rainmaker, then clamping on the Money Clip. This inexplicably brought out Bea Priestly (oh dear), who encouraged Ospreay to make the ropes. Okada locks it on again, and this time Bea hits the ring. As the ref tries to remove her, even more inexplicably, in runs Tomoyuki Oka (or is he still The Great O-Kharn?). He nails a claw hold slam on Okada, which allows Ospreay to finally get a win over his “mentor”, with Storm Breaker at 17:04. Ospreay initially acts confused, then hits Okada with a Hidden Blade after the match. He curses Okada out and tells him he “held him back”. Ospreay, Priestly and Oka all left together. I mean, this is certainly interesting. Does this mean we get a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom?

After that very newsworthy outing, it was time for Ibushi and Taichi to try and follow it. And follow it they did, by having one of the most unique matches you’ll ever see. For 17:12, they literally did nothing but throw kicks at each other, mainly at each others legs. Beyond Ibushi flipping out of a Dangerous Backdrop attempt, and the match winning Kamigoye, every other move was a kick! I was very confused about how to rate this as, whilst it certainly was never boring, it was literally nigh on 20 minutes of two dudes kicking each other. It kind of reminded me of that Brock Lesnar/John Cena match, where they did nothing but have Lesnar German Suplex Cena for 15 minutes. I mean, it was certainly compelling, and I haven’t seen anything quite like it before. After the match was over, Taichi, unable to walk, was carried out on Yota Tsuji’s back, and winner Ibushi limped his way to the back. This was crazy.

And then the main event between Ishii and Jay White. This started sloooooooow, especially after all that we’d seen up to this point, but built into one of the finest matches of tournament. There was a ton of drama here as if Jay won, he’s heading to the finals, but if Ishii wins, Ibushi, one leg and all, is finals bound. This started in usual Jay White methodical fashion, then turned into an Ishii war. They destroyed each others knees, with White hitting Dragon Screws aplenty and locking in that inverted figure four thing, and Ishii battled back by hitting a devastating Fisherman Buster into a knee breaker thing. Both sold the knees tremendously here. Ishii locks in a knee submission, but Gedo comes in and tries a brass knucks shot. Ishii blocks and tries a Brainbuster on Gedo, but White hits a chop block. After more stuff with Gedo, Jay gets a near fall with the Regal Plex, but Ishii escapes a Bloody Sunday attempt with a tremendous headbutt. White hits the Sleeper Suplex, but Ishii pops right up, only to run into another one. Both guys kept escaping each others finisher, in an amazing sequence, which culminated in Ishii hitting a Brainbuster into a Stunner. Gedo in again, but Ishii turns him inside out with a Lariat. He then hits a Lariat on Jay, and follows up with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster to end and incredible match at 24:35, and effectively send Ibushi to the finals for a record breaker third consecutive year. The Bullet Club turmoil saga continued in the post match as Gedo told Jay he was screwed by the referee, whilst Switch Blade sat seething in the corner. I suspect a Jay/EVIL programme imminently on the horizon.

NDT