Night 3
Date: July 14, 2019
From: Ota City General Gymnasium (Tokyo, Japan)
English Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero, Chris Charlton
Undercard Results:
Juice Robinson, Toa Henare, Yota Tsuji def. Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma, Yuya Uemura
Jeff Cobb & Ren Narita def. Jon Moxley & Shota Umino
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI def. Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens
Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru def. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, BUSHI
A Block:
Lance Archer def. Bad Luck Fale
If you’re expecting a 5 star technical classic from these two, then you’re just watching the wrong match. Archer and Fale delivered exactly as expected: a good ol’ big man brawl. Nowadays we as wrestling fans love the spectacle of amazing athleticism and highflying maneuvers, but having a classic fight between two monsters is always a welcome sight, especially if it is done well. This match reminded me of the Vader vs. Stan Hansen matches of way back in the day, only this time of course it’s less intense or stiff which is understandable. Fale is pretty much nearing the decline of his career, probably focusing more on his dojo duties, so Archer replacing him as the next top monster of the roster is certain at this point. Jado interfering on behalf of Fale did not take away from this match at all, in fact it added to it just to showcase Archer’s dominance. The EBD Claw gets the American Psycho the win over the Rogue General at the 10 minute and 12 second mark.
A Block:
Will Ospreay def. SANADA
After a fun showcase of two big fellas, we go right back to the athleticism department with Ospreay and SANADA. First of all, mark your calendars folks, July 14, 2019 for the first time someone got out of SANADA’s paradise lock! Okay, he didn’t put it on properly, but the reaction from the crowd and especially the Japanese commentary, made up for it. Just a great match from start to finish, you can’t get a bad match out of Ospreay anymore and SANADA works well with opponents like that. I still preferred SANADA vs. ZSJ, but this was a nice change of pace, pretty fast and very prime Keiji Mutoh-esque at times from both men. At one point, Ospreay even hits a Shooting Star Press which he rarely does, at least from the matches I watch so that’s cool. I for sure thought SANADA was going to get another win here but alas, the Junior Heavyweight Champion prevails, hitting the Storm Breaker after 17 minutes of action! Good stuff.
A Block:
Kazuchika Okada def. Zack Sabre Jr.
While many can agree Kazuchika Okada is one of the greatest professional wrestlers today, if not the greatest, fans tend to complaint about some of his unnecessarily long matches, this time however that whole stereotype changed as him and ZSJ pulled off a great match in just under 15 minutes. Obviously their match two years ago in Sakura Genesis was infinitely better, this match was still good though and they got their stuff in just the right time. I thought Zack would take the win here and challenge Okada for the IWGP Title at Royal Quest next month but nope, a classic Tombstone + Rainmaker combination gets him the L. His neck took a bad bump too so hopefully he’s alright.
A Block:
EVIL def. Kota Ibushi
I hate to say it, but this was the disappointing match of the night but understandably so. Was it bad per se? Not at all, still a good match but it could’ve really gone better. Ibushi is still obviously suffering from his ankle injury so he couldn’t go all out and that was evident. EVIL worked said ankles throughout the match, but I think this is one of those matches that we will probably forget. Nothing notable really came out of it, at least for me. Like I said, it’s not the worst match of the night, far from it. Just did not reach the potential these two could give us. EVIL gets the surprise win at 19 minutes, Ibushi now with two losses in a row. Will he able to keep up with the rest of the tournament at this case?
A Block:
KENTA def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Final match for Night 3 we got a historic first time ever singles bout between two of the greatest ever: Hiroshi Tanahashi and KENTA. Lots of history to unfold here, Tanahashi as we know is the savior of NJPW from the tyranny of the Inokism years while KENTA was already disrespecting legends in NOAH before Randy Orton made it cool. Both men have ties with Katsuyori Shibata as well, who joined the Japanese commentary team for this specific match. Tanahashi is on the same batch of dojo trainees with Shibata alongside Shinsuke Nakamura and Yoshi Tatsu, definitely an interesting class there. KENTA is a former tag-team partner of Shibata together as “Takeover.”
Right from the get go, KENTA slapped Tanahashi and it was delivered right back. I know “Strong Style” is pretty much a marketing term for NJPW at this point, but if it is still evident now this would be the match. Reminded me a lot of old school New Japan with the hard hitting, fighting spirit stuff these two pulled off against one another. I would imagine the lengths they would go if they were 10 years younger, but now that they are old grizzled vets with a lot of experience in their belts, it made the story even better. The NOAH outsider storyline was already done couple of years ago with Naomichi Marufuji, but KENTA felt like still got treated the same way here. All doubters were proven wrong though as after an intense 18 minutes of action, the Go To Sleep is still effective and puts the defending G1 winner down! KENTA has now defeated both of the finalists in last year’s G1. The old KENTA was more evident here than his previous match with Ibushi, has shaken off some ring rust, and overall he felt more comfortable. He couldn’t go the way he used to but that’s understandable. These two still delivered, by far, my second favorite match of the tournament behind Ishii vs. Cobb.
A Block Leaderboard:
4 Points = Kazuchika Okada, KENTA, Lance Archer
2 Points = Bad Luck Fale, Will Ospreay, SANADA, EVIL
0 Points = Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr.
