Night 8
Date: July 24, 2019
From: Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall (Hiroshima, Japan)
Undercard Results:
Fale, Yujiro, & Chase def. Ospreay, Honma, & Uemura
Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, & Minoru Suzuki def. EVIL, SANADA, & BUSHI
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino def. Kota Ibushi & Ren Narita
Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, & Henare def. KENTA, Connors, & Fredericks
B Block Matches:
Juice Robinson def. Toru Yano
The G1 resumes after a 4 day break with former US Champion: Juice Robinson and 1/3 of the reigning NEVER 6 Man Champs Toru Yano. I always enjoy YTR’s matches because they’re just harmless fun but this wasn’t exactly it, however understandably so. Juice has taken more of a serious role for himself ever since the Jon Moxley match so he is less goofy nowadays which I think is the right choice. Admittedly though, the match was a little dull. The count out spot was good but at least the whole thing did not overstay it’s welcome. 4 minutes in, Juice hits the Pulp Friction for an easy win.
Taichi def. Hirooki Goto
These two have faced before for the NEVER Openweight Championship and have formed a solid rivalry. Yet again though, this match was another underwhelming one and it seemed to be the theme for the entire night. Again, the match is good in itself but for New Japan standards it just lacked the intensity and hard hitting affair, at least that’s how I felt. I think we’re at the point of the G1 where some wrestlers are taking it easy than usual and the grueling schedule has gotten into them and can’t really blame that aspect. Still though it is a nice match, Goto and Taichi did their usual movesets and whatnot, Miho Abe getting into the mix too which I will never complain about but I digress. The Goto hype train is officially dead at this point, Taichi got him in a Gedo Clutch pin hold to take a win in his column at the 12 minute mark while Goto fans are slowly wiping tears from their eyes.
Jon Moxley def. Shingo Takagi
My personal match of the night and that might come off as controversial with the main event but yes, I did enjoy Moxley vs. Shingo better. Probably because it is a fresh matchup we’ve never seen before, literally. These two had some history in Dragon Gate but this is their first singles meeting and it was great. Was it better than Ishii vs. Moxley? Obviously not, I don’t think that match will ever be topped especially in terms of intensity. Let me say it this way, this has been one of Mox’s best matches in his entire career, but just another solid match to add in Shingo’s resume. All throughout the match Mox worked on Shingo’s left knee and pretty much targeted it nonstop, even putting it through a table. As Kevin Kelly mentioned on commentary, Red Shoes has really given a lot of leeway in Mox’s matches so far, not ending them in disqualification. I wonder if that would come in at some point in the future? The Regal Knee is also a cool move, Mox delivers it well and Shingo sells it like death. For the first time in his NJPW run though, Shingo has been submitted after several damage taken in his knee from Mox via a Texas Cloverleaf. Submission finishes are pretty rare for Mox but I’m glad he can showcase that he’s not just all brawl, but can get technical if needed to. A match against ZSJ would’ve definitely been interesting.
Jay White def. Jeff Cobb
Another match that unfortunately I found a little boring. Same situation, really good match from a technical stand point despite the usual silliness added in by Gedo but I just wasn’t captivated enough. Other than the match against Ishii, Cobb’s run in the G1 so far has been a little underwhelming, the affair with Juice was solid too but yeah, nothing over the top. His show of strength spots are always cool to watch though, Jay ain’t exactly a junior but he gets tossed and carried around like one by Mr. Olympia himself. Speaking of Jay, I said Ospreay will take Omega’s spot as the next top gaijin babyface, well he is exactly the opposite of that being the devious heel gaijin and it was masterfully showcased in this match. I think what is missing for me is a little bit of edge in Cobb’s character. The former amateur turned pro wrestler gimmick can only get you so far, look at Kurt Angle, he was able to be that gimmick but added a lot of spice to it through the years and became one of the most memorable wrestlers of the 90’s and 2000’s. If only he is allowed to wrestle as Matanza from Lucha Underground, it would be so good but as of right now, Cobb is still a solid wrestler who needs a much refined identity. Sorry if I didn’t talk much about the match, it was a middle of the pack one if you will, at least Switchblade’s losing streak is over, hitting the Bladerunner 15 minutes to win his first G1 match this year. Will probably be victorious with the rest.
Tetsuya Naito def. Tomohiro Ishii
Main event for Night 8, two men who are very much familiar with each other at this point, IC Champ Tetsuya Naito vs. NEVER Champ Tomohiro Ishii. Once again, Stone Pitbull is on a roll and you can pretty much bet on him never having a bad match with anybody. This was another great match between old foes. Ishii always brings out the brawler in Naito, he’s still tranquilo but rises up his intensity more than usual whenever pitted against each other. There isn’t really much to say than a fantastic back-and-forth and a rightful match of the main event, it’s just the reason why I liked Mox vs. Shingo better is that it is a fresh match while we’ve seen Naito vs. Ishii many times before, but if you prefer this, there’s nothing wrong, it is Naito’s best match of the tournament by far in my opinion. Destino at 18 minutes and 58 seconds and that’s all she wrote.
Naito kind of started slow in this tournament, dropping upset wins to Yano and Taichi, but it seems like momentum is back in his corner. We’ll see where it all goes from here on his quest in becoming double champion.
B Block Leaderboard:
8 Points = Jon Moxley
6 Points = Juice Robinson
4 Points = Taichi, Toru Yano, Shingo Takagi, Tomohiro Ishii, Tetsuya Naito
2 Points = Jay White, Hirooki Goto, Jeff Cobb
