Night 18
Date: August 11, 2019
From: Nippon Budokan (Tokyo, Japan)
Undercard Results:
Shota Umino & Ren Narita def. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
Fale, Yujiro, & Chase def. EVIL, SANADA, & BUSHI
Ibushi, Honma, & Henare def. KENTA, Connors, & Fredericks
Okada, Tanahashi, Ospreay, & YOSHI-HASHI def. ZSJ, Archer, Suzuki, & Kanemaru
B Block Matches:
Jeff Cobb def. Toru Yano
Two of the greatest Olympians of our time clash head-to-head for the first time. Okay for real though, this was just a match. Like that’s literally the best way to describe it. Yano did his antics, Cobb did his strength stuff and then they both went home. Just a straight up standard pro wrestling match. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Taichi def. Tomohiro Ishii
Since the venue was in Budokan, lot of history particularly with the mentors of these two. Taichi was of course trained by the legendary Toshiaki Kawada, one of the all time greats of AJPW, some might even say THE greatest. Then you have Ishii who learned under the tutelage of Genichiro Tenryu, another disciple of Giant Baba. Taichi has been having subpar to good matches in this tournament so far, but this one he really gave it his all, plus Ishii as we know at this point could always bring out the best in anyone so we got ourselves a good ol’ fashion strong style bout. It is rare nowadays for Taichi to compete clean but that is exactly what we got, a serious no nonsense Holy Emperor, channeling his inner Kawada and it paid off. After multiple exchanges of strikes and maneuvers, Taichi beats Ishii with a Black Mephisto, ending his first G1 on a high note. A NEVER Openweight title shot is on the horizon and with what they’ve shown here, I wouldn’t mind to see more. If Taichi wants to treat a match seriously, he could be on the same level as the other top guys, but I think that’s what makes him a smart worker too, choosing the right spots and moments on where to unleash the influence brought unto him by Dangerous K.
Juice Robinson def. Jon Moxley
A re-match of Moxley’s debut in New Japan where he defeated Juice in the BOSJ Finals to capture the IWGP US Championship. A little side note, it’s cool to see Shota (aka Shooter) wearing Mox’s jacket on his vignette. Slowly but surely he’s definitely going on that Atsushi Onita route, all he needs is some cigar and barbed wire to complete the set. Anyway it was a good story told in this match, Moxley tries to get weapons every time to use against his opponent but Juice would refuse on using them, whether it be a chair or a table. I thought it’s a nice touch to Juice’s character, despite finding a new attitude, overall he’s still a good guy and wouldn’t dare to use such tactics even though he could take advantage of it and use those weapons against someone he despises. His leg however got worked for the majority of the match, which was a result of Switchblade’s work making him tap out with the TTO submission hold in his previous match, Mox exploited Juice’s weakness but in the end to no avail. I thought we were going to get some kind of DQ finish but I’m glad Juice got the Pulp Friction at the 16 minute and 26 second mark to avenge his loss to his rival. It’s now 1-1 between these two in a New Japan ring and it’s clear they haven’t gone all out in this one, the rubber match would be something to look forward for.
Shingo Takagi def. Hirooki Goto
You like some more strong style match? Well Shingo and Goto has got you covered. Despite what I think is a common respect for one another, these two made you feel they’re like bitter enemies with the way they were striking one another. Real stiff moves, especially from the part of Shingo. There were a few false finishes here and there too which got me but The Dragon got the best of the Samurai Warrior. A Last of the Dragon ends Goto’s hopes of potentially reaching the finals as he was still mathematically alive going into this match. After this it was officially announced that Shingo is now a part of the heavyweights division. Does it mean we’re going to witness the return of a ticking time bomb anytime soon? One can hope.
B Block Finals:
Jay White def. Tetsuya Naito
Okay, let me get this out of the way: I HATE SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE. I’m a Tetsuya Naito fan, he is the reason why I got into New Japan Pro Wrestling, I went for AJ Styles but stayed because of LIJ and then went on to appreciate the rest of the roster. I’ve followed this man ever since he became El Ingobernable. His story couldn’t be any more perfect, especially leading up to Wrestle Kingdom 12. He won his second G1 Climax two years ago after a fantastic finals defeating Kenny Omega, he went on to finally main event the Tokyo Dome against Kazuchika Okada but ended up choking and unable to re-gain the most prestigious belt ever. Since then Naito has floundered but with every upcoming G1, me and my fellow Naito fans dream of seeing him back in the position only this time for him to win the belt. WK12 was THE time to do it but they didn’t. Okay, I’ll be patient let’s see where it goes. At least we got the Okada vs. Omega IV and then Naito feuded with Chris Jericho which was fun and all but it’s far from the IWGP Title picture. Now all the stars seemed to have aligned for him to finally do it this year, with the hopes of becoming the first to hold the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships, a re-match against The Rainmaker in the Tokyo Dome, it just writes itself. And yet, we’re back to square one. It’s not that hard to understand, I’m a Naito fan, and I want my favorite wrestler to win. Don’t we all? Which is why I was so disappointed when he didn’t kick out of 3 after that Bladerunner. I do have some other favorite wrestlers from different promotions, but I’m not as invested to them as I am to Naito. I could somewhat relate to his story and now failure has struck the leader of LIJ once more.
Then we go to Jay White. Switchblade is a true dying breed of wrestlers which makes him so great. A true genuine villain, not an ounce of coolness, not even love to hate him, just pure hatred. That’s what he makes you feel. The Miz, you’re still impressed by his mic skills, other heels like Undisputed Era or even some members of the Bullet Club, they’re seen as “cool.” But Switchblade, you just despise him with every ounce of your being. You can see that he is a great worker but boy you just hate the character, he also doesn’t need to use any offensive stuff say like a Fritz Von Erich with his nazi gimmick or Col. DeBeers with his controversial anti South African gimmick. All Switchblade does is breath and be the character, you hate him immediately. He takes down your favorite wrestlers and that’s what he made me feel, nothing but frustration.
The match itself? It was alright. I mean there isn’t anything much to say, it wasn’t a 5 star classic or anything to that extent but good enough. At the end of the day though, it won’t be the match that most people will remember, but the result. Potentially the final chance of Naito’s entire career of being back at the top. What a story.
B Block Final Leaderboard:
12 Points = Jay White (Finalist)
10 Points = Naito, Moxley, Goto
8 Points = Cobb, Ishii, Juice, Taichi, Shingo, Yano
