Night 6
Date: July 19, 2019
From: Korauken Hall (Tokyo, Japan)
Undercard Results:
Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens def. Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki def. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma
SANADA, EVIL, & BUSHI def. Kota Ibushi, KENTA, & Clark Connors
Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI def. Will Ospreay & Toa Henare
B Block Matches:
Shingo Takagi def. Taichi
Opening the night 6 of B Block action is Shingo Takagi and Taichi. Now one may see this match and just think it’s a really random matchup, but thanks to the walking encyclopedia of English commentary that is Chris Charlton, we actually got some more background and the connection between these two. One of Shingo’s mentors is Genichiro Tenryu and Taichi as we know was mentored by Toshiaki Kawada. Tenryu and Kawada are both legends of All Japan, had some great wars between themselves too. You can really see the throwback in that classic AJPW style throughout this match, very old school Japanese wrestling, reminds me of NOAH too which is heavily influenced by AJPW. Of course there will be some shady stuff going on every now and then but to a lesser extent, since this is a match involving a Suzuki-Gun member after all.
Overall this was just a solid opening match, couldn’t think of anything better to describe it. Both men have a surprisingly good chemistry and in my opinion, this has been Taichi’s best match of the tournament yet and one of the best since him moving up to the heavyweights. Yes, even better than the Naito matches. He receives the Last of the Dragon at the 14 minutes and 40 second mark, another win in the heavyweight column for Shingo.
Jeff Cobb def. Juice Robinson
Former US Champion takes on a Former NEVER Openweight Champion, as two of the best gaijins in the roster faceoff. Nothing personal with these two, it’s just really a friendly match and they are respectful towards each other before and after the bell rings. Cobb had the best match of his tournament so far against Ishii in Night 2, then got into that underwhelming scrimmage against Moxley. This time however, once again nothing over the top, just pure solid 10+ minutes of wrestling action. Cobb is yet to win so far until this time, pinning Juice with a Tour of the Islands to capture his first G1 victory.
Toru Yano def. Jay White
For three matches in a row, “Switchblade” Jay White has paid for his sins in betraying CHAOS. First he loss to Goto in a great main event, then another to Ishii. Now he has loss to everyone’s favorite DVD producer in Toru Yano. Who would’ve thought that similar to ZSJ, Jay White would lose this first three matches in the G1? A former IWGP Heavyweight Champion himself, Gedo does love trolling with us especially at this time of the year. But for those complaining, it is understandable. This is CHAOS getting their comeuppance over the traitor that is Jay White. Okada already got his revenge, but the other members haven’t yet until this time of course. YTR stole Gedo’s brass knucks, hits Jay with it via a low blow, and there you have it, another upset win for the True Ace of New Japan! Switchblade in fumes, but he’ll probably win the rest of his matches going forward. Probably.
Tetsuya Naito def. Hirooki Goto
That Goto comeback really only lasted 1 match huh? Really got my hopes up for a few days there. Oh well. A classic matchup in this one as Naito and Goto have faced many times before and they never really disappoint. Although most of their past matches are better than this one, I’d say this is still a pretty good set of action. So far though, I’d say from all of Naito’s matches, and I know it’s too early to judge, but they have been in the middle of the pack, nothing mindblowing or anything crazy yet. I know his knees aren’t in the best of state and he’s probably saving the best stuff with higher profile opponents. This is coming from me, a massive Tetsuya Naito fan too, but I’m patient, still waiting for that eventual 5 star banger. Naito finally got a win after dropping his first two matches to YTR and Taichi, a Destino to Goto at 16 minutes to finish it off.
Jon Moxley def. Tomohiro Ishii
MATCH OF THE YEAR! Need I say more? Okay sure. Where do I even begin? From start to finish, this was just a straight up brawl and I loved every second of it. I was smiling the entire time watching this match in front of my monitor, just in pure joy in seeing the brand of pro wrestling that I have come to love. Obviously this has been a dream match since Moxley came to New Japan and it just exceeded all expectations out of the waters and both men pulled off a classic that will be remembered for years! I’m not even exaggerating when I say this has been one of the best wrestling matches I’ve seen ever, and I’ve seen plenty over the years.
At this point, no one can have a bad match with Tomohiro Ishii. Add in a Jon Moxley who is clearly motivated and put him with the right opponent, you get good pro wrestling. This is what it’s all about. The essence of what I enjoy in wrestling has been captured in all 20 minutes and 6 seconds of this match. We already got an appetizer if you will of what they’re capable during their tag match the previous night, but man I did not expect them to really over deliver. Ishii flying from the top rope and hitting a splash on Mox to the outside in a table? I mean damn, when was the last time Ishii took such a bump? It’s madness! The chair duel, battle of headbutts, of course the endless elbows and chops, wrestling at its finest. I thought his bout against Juice would be Moxley’s best match in his whole NJPW run, but that just fell second into this.
If you’re not planning to watch the entire G1, then just see this match. It doesn’t need a long storyline build for you to understand certain contexts. All you need is to know who both men are and what they are capable in the ring. Great work for both men and you know what, with Moxley winning, I wouldn’t mind a re-match for the NEVER title down the line if that’s still possible. Moxley vs. Joey Janela was brutal in sense of the crazy foreign objects they used, but Moxley vs. Ishii is what true physical brutality is. Will probably go down as my favorite Moxley match ever and one of Ishii’s best efforts. Still I think his matches with Katsuyori Shibata were better but man, this is pretty close up there. When wrestling is good, I am one happy man.
B Block Leaderboard:
6 Points = Jon Moxley
4 Points = Shingo Takagi, Juice Robinson, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii
2 Points = Taichi, Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito
0 Points = Jay White
