By Tokyo Wrestling Fan @twf87, Laura Mauro @LauraNMAuro , and Mike Grindle @mikegrindle
The G1 Climax has continued at a fast pace – now we’re over a third of the way through the tournament – and some big matches have happened this week. Apart from night three, which took place in Hokkaido, all of the G1 events were in Tokyo this week. To help me provide some thoughts and analysis I enlisted the help of two colleagues this week, the very talented Laura Mauro and Mike Grindle.
G1 Climax Night Three – Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Centre Hokkai Kitayell, Sapporo (6,489 attendance)
Michael Elgin def. Hangman Page, 17:17
EVIL def. YOSHI-HASHI, 12:37
Togi Makabe def. Minoru Suzuki, 14:58
Bad Luck Fale def. Kazuchika Okada, 13:38
Jay White def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, 24:02
Night three of the G1 Climax saw the second round of A Block matches in Sapporo. In the opening tournament match, Hangman Page and Michael Elgin put on a really good match, with a lot of near falls and top rope action. Clearly, they had both seen the B Block matches from the previous day and tried to reach those heights. Elgin hit very hard, and Page bumped like a champion to sell Elgin’s moves. Despite losing here, Hangman Page will surely win a lot of Japanese fans during this tournament. In the second match EVIL defeated YOSHI-HASHI with an STO, in a pretty average match. YOSHI-HASHI’s gimmick this G1 seems to be his resilience as an underdog, which is fine, but I wish there’d been less of his comeback in this match – he does nothing for me. In the third match Minoru Suzuki and Togi Makabe battered each other, in a match that spent a lot of time on the outside. A particular highlight was when they ended up duelling each other with chairs in the crowd. Makabe may be getting on in years (and Suzuki is 50) but he’s always good for a brawl, and neither wrestler took it easy in this match. Makabe pinned Suzuki after two King Kong Knees, to leave Suzuki pointless after two matches.
In the semi-final match, mid-life crisis Kazuchika Okada lost to Bad Luck Fale after a run-in by Tama Tonga, who hit Okada with a Gun Stun. I appreciate that they’re doing this to further the story of the split in Bullet Club between the OGs and The Elite, but I’m not a big fan of interference in G1 matches. Okada’s slump continued as well, although the last two matches he’s lost due to interference or cheating. In the main event Jay White took on Hiroshi Tanahashi in a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 12. This match was definitely better than their previous encounter, and just like the Okada match Jay controlled much of the tempo. He focused his attacks on Tanahashi’s injured knee, which drew a lot of heat from the crowd, especially when they went to the outside of the ring. Once again, Jay’s victory came via ref bump and use of a chair before he hit a Blade Runner, which I’m not a big fan of, although it’s effective in drawing heat. Jay might be the only heel in New Japan right now who really gets booed. The standings in A Block after night three saw White, Makabe, and Elgin on 4 points, Tanahashi, Fale, Page and Evil on 2 points, and shockingly Okada, Suzuki, and YOSHI-HASHI (less shockingly) on 0 points.
G1 Climax Night Four – Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (1,730 attendance)
SANADA def. Tama Tonga, 10:46
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Toru Yano, 10:34
Kota Ibushi def. Juice Robinson, 13:03
Tetsuya Naito def. Tomohiro Ishii, 19:13
Kenny Omega def. Hirooki Goto, 19:29
For night four the G1 Climax returned to Tokyo, to a sold-out and raucous Korakuen Hall. In the first tournament match of the night, SANADA overcame the cheating of the Bullet Club OG’s to beat Tama Tonga. This was another pretty underwhelming showing by Tama Tonga, and there were plenty of Bullet Club shenanigans. Tanga Loa was ordered to the back by the referee after he attacked SANADA outside the ring, but then when the ref took a bump from Tama, Fale and Tanga Loa ran back out to attack SANADA. Tama got a near fall from a Tanga Loa powerbomb, but SANADA stole the win with a rolling back clutch for the three count. Tama hasn’t done any great wrestling yet, which hopefully will change, whilst SANADA will surely have better matches coming up in the tournament. The next match saw Zack Sabre Jr. take on Toru Yano, after a series of tag matches in which ZSJ had become particularly annoyed with Yano’s cheating antics. ZSJ spent a lot of this match trying to hurt Yano with his elaborate submissions, but Yano got a few good hits in, and showed off more of his amateur wrestling background. Showing how well the two know each other, at one point Yano attempted a low blow, which Zack blocked with his legs, but Yano expected that to happen so he countered that into a roll up for a near fall. Zack finally won with a modified European clutch, to end a very entertaining match.
The third match pitted the two biggest babyfaces of B Block, Kota Ibushi and Juice Robinson, against each other. The crowd was really hot for Ibushi, although there were some pockets of support for The Flamboyant Juice Robinson. This was another high quality match, in which Juice tried to use his heart to overcome Ibushi’s high flying moves. Juice managed to avoid being caught by Ibushi’s moonsault to the outside once, but eventually the Golden Star was able to catch him with a wicked looking Frankensteiner from the apron to the floor, and the momentum shifted. The finishing sequence saw Juice nearly hit a Pulp Friction, but Ibushi escaped, and managed to hit Juice with a straight jacket German suplex for a near fall, then hit the Kamigoye for a three count. After the match Juice and Ibushi hugged, and Juice raised Ibushi’s hand in victory.
The semi-final match between Naito and Ishii was my favourite match of the night. Before the match started the crowd enjoyed the site of Naito telling a rowdy foreign fan to be tranquilo. Ishii withstood an enormous amount of punishment from Naito, and demonstrated his fighting spirit as he came very close to getting a victory, whereas Naito had to really dig deep to overcome Ishii’s power. Naito has been in a bit of a slump since losing to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom, and after losing his first match of the G1 to Kenny Omega it seems like he is going to have to work very hard in this tournament if he wants to win matches. These two know each other very well, which was apparent from the numerous counters and reversals of their trademark spots. Ishii nearly hit Naito with a brainbuster, but Naito reversed it into a Destino, then hit another Destino for the win. The main event saw Kenny Omega defeat the NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, which could set up a title match later in the year. This was a clash of styles between Omega’s fast pace and Goto’s heavy hitting, but the two worked well together, and Goto refused to give up despite everything Kenny threw at him. The fight spilled into the crowd at one point, and Kenny body slammed Goto onto the wooden bleachers, then moonsaulted off the barrier onto him and the Young Lions who were trying to protect the crowd. Back in the ring, Omega maintained his advantage over Goto, and punished him with V-triggers, but Goto managed to hit a reverse GTR and get a near fall of his own. Omega finally won with a V-trigger followed by a One Winged Angel. The crowd tonight was very split between Goto and Kenny, as well as Ishii and Naito. After the match Kenny cut a promo in Japanese praising the competitors in B Block but promising to be the winner. At the end of night four Kenny and Ibushi led B Block with 4 points; Tama, SANADA, Naito, ZSJ, Goto, and Ishii all had 2 points; Yano and Juice had 0.
#NJPW #g128 https://t.co/4ULitIni5Z pic.twitter.com/1Z662deXlA
— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) July 20, 2018
G1 Climax Night Five – Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (1,683 attendance)
Jay White def. Michael Elgin, 17:44
Minoru Suzuki def. YOSHI-HASHI, 13:44
EVIL def. Togi Makabe, 10:16
Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Bad Luck Fale, 16:27
Kazuchika Okada def. Hangman Page, 17:31
Night five of the G1 Climax was once again at Korakuen Hall. The first match saw two undefeated wrestlers take each other on in Michael Elgin and Jay White. Elgin’s obvious power advantage saw him in control when the match was in the ring, but every time the match spilt to the outside Jay was able to use his cunning to hurt Elgin. Jay once again won via a ref bump, while Marty Asami was down he low-blowed Elgin, then hit the Blade Runner for a three count. This was a good clash of styles, and probably the most wrestling-focused match that Jay White has had in the G1 so far. Given the push that Jay had been getting, I’m not surprised that he won, but once again he had to resort to cheating to overcome his opponent. It will be interesting to see how he fares in his next few matches, when he will be the favourite rather than the underdog. In the second match, Minoru Suzuki brutalised YOSHI-HASHI en route to his first victory of the tournament. Suzuki controlled the first part of the match and beat down his opponent outside the ring, but again YOSHI-HASHI showed his underdog fire by refusing to back down. He was the one who had the submission spot in this match when he caught Suzuki in the Butterfly Lock, but he was unable to force a submission, and he also couldn’t quite hit his finisher Karma. The story of the G1 so far for YOSHI-HASHI has been that he has shown a lot of heart but come up short in all of his matches, and it continued here as Suzuki lit him up with palm strikes, then hit the Gotch Style Piledriver for a three count.
In the third match of the night, two brawlers with mouth guards in EVIL and Togi Makabe took each other on. Makabe had surprised a lot of people by starting the G1 with two straight wins, especially one over Suzuki, while EVIL looked good in a loss to Elgin and less good in a win over YOSHI-HASHI. The crowd at Korakuen was quite heavily behind Makabe, despite EVIL’s popularity as part of Los Ingobernables de Japon. This match was a fun, fast-paced brawl that didn’t outstay its welcome, and EVIL picked up a win over Makabe who looked like the exertions of the previous two matches had taken their toll on him. They both battered each other with lariats in the centre of the ring, until finally EVIL floored Makabe with a lariat, then hit an STO for the victory. In the semi-final match Bad Luck Fale took on Hiroshi Tanahashi, a match-up which has happened in the last four G1 tournaments, with a record of two wins for both. This was the best Fale match so far in the tournament, and before the inevitable Bullet Club OG interference there was some good wrestling between the two. Tanahashi went for Fale’s legs to counter his power, and was able to get the upper hand through a combination of Dragon Screws and Slingblades. A High Fly Flow led to Red Shoes beginning what would presumably have been a three count, but for Tanga Loa dragging the referee out of the ring. This led to a beatdown of Tanahashi that culminated in Tama Tonga running in and hitting him with a Gun Stun. Red Shoes had made it back into the ring by this point, but instead of counting a pin he disqualified Fale, much to the Bullet Club’s annoyance. Presumably Fale doesn’t care about winning the G1 this year since he keeps throwing away points like this.
In the main event Hangman Page had his first Korakuen Hall main event, when he went up against the scoreless Kazuchika Okada. Page had impressed me in his previous two matches against Fale and Elgin, and tonight was no different. Page was quick to take the attack to Okada, who has looked out of sorts in his losses to Jay White and Fale, and his Buckshot Lariats were particularly effective at catching Okada off guard. Page missed with a moonsault, which gave Okada a way back into the match, but even then Page came very close to hitting his finisher, The Rite of Passage. Page also impressed with his high-risk moves, including a moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the outside, which had the crowd at Korakuen chanting his name. Page even managed to reverse a Rainmaker attempt into a superkick and a powerbomb for a near fall. Okada displayed some of his old resilience in this match though, and he was able to outlast Page until finally he caught him with a rolling lariat and then a Rainmaker for the three count. This was another very good showing from Page, who has demonstrated that he can keep pace with some of the top stars in New Japan. I’m not sure how many more matches he will win, but he’s definitely won over a lot of Japanese fans. After the match Okada cut a promo saying that he was going to aim to win the G1, but there was still that manic glint in his eye that suggested all is not right with the Rainmaker. At the end of night five Jay White led A Block with 6 points, Elgin, EVIL, Makabe, and Tanahashi had 4 points, Suzuki, Fale, Okada, and Hangman had 2 points, and YOSHI-HASHI languished at the foot of the table with 0 points.
G1 Climax Night Six – Korakuen Hall, Tokyo (1,734 attendance)
Toru Yano def. Kota Ibushi, 8:23
SANADA def. Zack Sabre Jr., 10:45
Tetsuya Naito def. Juice Robinson, 16:43
Kenny Omega def. Tama Tonga, 9:55
Tomohiro Ishii def. Hirooki Goto, 18:15
The G1 was once again at Korakuen Hall, and the first match saw Kota Ibushi take on Yano Toru. In the press conference, Yano said that he was going to fight fair in the G1 in order to restore the reputation of his alma mater Nippon University, which was embroiled in a cheating scandal earlier this year. This promise lasted for the first few minutes of this match, as Yano attempted to pin Ibushi with amateur wrestling takedowns, in a call-back to their last G1 match in which Yano won in under a minute. Ibushi kicked out of the pin attempts however, and Yano soon reverted to type by taking the turnbuckle pads off three of the turnbuckles, and whipping Ibushi into them consecutively. Ibushi hit some of his big high-flying moves to the outside, but Yano managed to gain an advantage by using medical tape to tape Ibushi’s wrists together. Although Ibushi fought back, and hit a standing moonsault with his wrists taped, Yano was able to get a win with a low blow and a roll-up while the ref was down. This was a more typical Yano match, short and fun, with lots of comedy spots. Match two was a rematch of the New Japan Cup semi-final between Zack Sabre Jr. and SANADA. ZSJ defeated SANADA on his way to a New Japan Cup victory, but this match showcased the fact that both wrestlers clearly knew each other very well. SANADA can be a top class wrestler when he turns it on, and he was clearly motivated in this match to prove that he could match up with ZSJ. There were countless reversals and counter-reversals of submissions in this match, and SANADA didn’t have to break out his more high-paced offence to keep pace with Zack. ZSJ was clearly frustrated by his inability to out wrestle SANADA, and this may have played a part in his loss – after a series of roll-ups that got near falls, SANADA managed a leg roll clutch that got a three count. This was a very good, technical wrestling match that showed that SANADA had learnt from his New Japan Cup loss at the hands of Sabre.
The third match saw last year’s G1 winner, Tetsuya Naito, take on the US Champion, Juice Robinson. The early part of this match was dominated by Naito, who took advantage of Juice’s injured hand as an avenue of attack. Naito played the role of the underdog in his first two matches, but here he entered as the favourite, and it seemed like he perhaps underestimated Juice. Despite having his injured hand targeted, Juice refused to give up, and he made a come-back against Naito, even coming close to hitting him with the Pulp Friction. Towards the end of the match Naito and Juice traded counters, with Naito hitting a Destino counter of Juice’s lungblower, but only getting a two count. Naito followed that up with another Destino, which finally put Juice down for a three count. The semi-main event was a grudge match between Tama Tonga and Kenny Omega – the IWGP Heavyweight Champion against the new Firing Squad faction of Bullet Club. This was another frustrating match, with far too many shenanigans, around a decent bit of wrestling between the two. Tanga Loa and Fale helped Tama attack Kenny before the bell, until Chase Owens and Hangman Page came to the ring to run them off. Tama and Kenny then actually had a decent segment of wrestling, with Tama’s getting the better of Kenny through sheer aggression, but still vulnerable to Kenny’s devastating V-triggers. This didn’t last long however, since Tanga Loa soon returned and the interference started again. Finally the match ended in a DQ when Tama attacked Red Shoes after he kicked a chair out of the ring. The result moved Kenny to the top of B Block, which seems even more stupid on the part of Tama and his new faction.
The main event saw old rivals Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto go at it, although coming into this match Goto had won the last three consecutive matches between the two. These two have similar hard-hitting styles that meshed together very well, and this was a brutal strong-style match short on flash but heavy on violence. The match was even throughout, representing the fact that the two wrestlers know each other so well, and they absolutely brutalised each other with stiff elbow strikes, lariats, and at one point some vicious looking headbutts. Goto managed to hit Ishii with an ushigoroshi and reverse GTR, but Ishii managed to avoid being hit by a GTR throughout the match. A shouten kai by Goto brought a near fall, but Ishii again managed to counter the GTR, then hit an enziguri and a sliding lariat for a very close two count. He swiftly followed it up with the brainbuster for the win, and presumably a NEVER Openweight Championship shot later this year. After five nights, B Block was still led by Kenny Omega on 6 points, with Ibushi, Naito, SANADA, and Ishii on 4 points, Goto, Tama, ZSJ, and Yano on 2 points, and Juice still on 0.
#NJPW #G128 https://t.co/4ULitIni5Z pic.twitter.com/YgwPkUtZkP
— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) July 21, 2018
G1 Climax Night Seven – Esforta Arena, Hachioji (4,399 attendance)
YOSHI-HASHI def. Michael Elgin, 14:22
EVIL def. Bad Luck Fale, 12:13
Minoru Suzuki def. Jay White, 10:35
Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Hangman Page, 12:08
Kazuchika Okada def. Togi Makabe, 15:11
The sixth night of the G1 was at the Esforta Arena in Hachioji, western Tokyo, with another sold-out crowd. In the opening match YOSHI-HASHI finally got his first win of the tournament, in a very good match against Elgin. YOSHI-HASHI had been demonstrating great underdog spirit against all of his opponents in the tournament so far, but had been unable to gain a victory against Suzuki or Makabe. That story continued in this match, with Elgin perhaps underestimating his opponent as well. YOSHI-HASHI managed to weather the storm of power-based offence that Elgin threw at him, and nearly got the Butterfly Lock on at one point, before finally getting a win with Karma. He took some pretty big bumps from a superplex, and Elgin’s many varieties of power bomb, so this match probably took quite a toll on his already taped up physique. This was my favourite YOSHI-HASHI match of the tournament so far, and the crowd was firmly behind The Headhunter in his first victory. The second match saw EVIL take on Fale in an over-booked mess, that encapsulated most of the Bullet Club OG’s matches in the G1 so far this year. Tanga Loa accompanied Fale to the ring, and inevitably got involved when the match spilled onto the outside. When the match returned to the ring it was pretty uninspiring, until the referee took a bump and all hell broke loose. BUSHI came to help EVIL, then Tama Tonga attacked BUSHI, who was then attacked by Naito who came out to help his faction. Finally EVIL hit the STO on Fale, but the referee refused to count the pin until everyone cleared the ring, and then Tama hit the Gun Stun on EVIL for a DQ. The whole cheating and getting DQ’d routine is getting pretty old now, and what exactly is the point of cheating if you never win any points?
Speaking of winning by cheating, the third match of the night saw the undefeated Jay White take on Minoru Suzuki. Switchblade had done a good job of overcoming Okada, Tanahashi, and Elgin by using nefarious means, but in Suzuki he was up against a master of the dark arts. This match started slowly, as Jay attempted to lure Suzuki into a reckless attack, but it picked up steam as Jay started to dominate in the ring. Despite Switchblade’s high-paced attack finding success, you could never count out Suzuki, and he hit a vicious sequence of three PKs at one point for a near fall. There was the requisite ref bump in this match too, but Suzuki stopped Jay’s attempted low blow, and hit a Gotch-style piledriver for the three count. Once the match got going it was good, and finally Jay’s cheating didn’t result in a win. Suzuki started the tournament off slowly, but with wins over YOSHI-HASHI and White he moved right back into contention. The semi-main event saw Hiroshi Tanahashi take on Hangman Page, in a throwback to the six-man tag at Dominion when Bullet Club defeated Tanahashi’s team. Hangman coined this the “handsome battle” before the match started, and there was another amusing moment when Tanahashi threw Page his air guitar, and as the crowd urged him to play Page broke it over his knee. This turned into a battle of leg-work, as Page focused on the leg that Suzuki had injured on night one, and Tanahashi responded by targeting Page’s leg with multiple Dragon Screws. Page continued to impress with his willingness to take bumps, and his offence like the Buckshot Lariat. This match finished after Tanahashi hit Page with a standing High Fly Flow, then went back to the top to hit a proper High Fly Flow, demonstrating that Page wasn’t quite at the level where he could trouble Tanahashi yet. The ending was quite abrupt, and I thought detracted slightly from the overall quality of the match, but nevertheless it was another good showing from Hangman.
.@theAdamPage breaks Tana's air guitar! #NJPW #G128 https://t.co/4ULitIni5Z pic.twitter.com/3xXEIhu7wj
— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) July 22, 2018
The main event featured Togi Makabe taking on Kazuchika Okada in a match that featured two participants with very different tournament trajectories. Makabe was the surprise early leader of A Block, whereas Okada lost his opening two matches and only managed his first victory against Hangman Page on night five. This match started off quite slowly, with Okada acting quite heelish-ly and toying with Makabe. The crowd were a bit subdued after the Tanahashi match, but there was quite a lot of support for Makabe, who is a local, in the early stages. The match ramped up a gear when Makabe was able to catch Okada with a power slam, and then he was able to do his ten-punches in the corner. Okada turned up the pressure again, and got a two count after a Scooby Dooby Doo-crossbody from the top turnbuckle. Makabe refused to back down from his younger opponent, and talked Okada into a strike exchange that ended with some big lariats. Makabe tried to hit a spider suplex from the top of the turnbuckle, but ended up with a spider belly to belly, and the subsequent King Kong Knee Drop was countered by a great dropkick in mid-air. Okada attempted a Rainmaker, but Makabe countered with a chop to the throat. However, Okada was able to counter again with a rolling lariat, and finally hit a Rainmaker for the win. This wasn’t the best main event match of the week, but it picked up after a slow start, and with the win Okada moved up to the main pack in A Block. After day seven Jay White was joined at the top of A Block with 6 points by Tanahashi and EVIL, followed by Okada, Suzuki, Makabe and Elgin on 4 points, and YOSHI-HASHI, Page, and Fale on 2 points.
Standings
A Block B Block
Jay White – 6 pts. Kenny Omega – 6 pts.
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 6 pts. Tomohiro Ishii – 4 pts.
EVIL – 6 pts. Kota Ibushi – 4 pts.
Kazuchika Okada – 4 pts. Tetsuya Naito – 4 pts.
Minoru Suzuki – 4 pts. SANADA – 4 pts.
Togi Makabe – 4 pts. Hirooki Goto – 2 pts.
Michael Elgin – 4 pts. Toru Yano – 2 pts.
YOSHI-HASHI – 2 pts. Tama Tonga – 2 pts.
Hangman Page – 2 pts. Zack Sabre Jr. – 2 pts.
Bad Luck Fale – 2 pts. Juice Robinson – 0 pts.
Final Thoughts
LM: The first week of the G1 has come and gone, and not without a few surprises. Toru Yano – who is always entertaining – has proven he can actually wrestle (when he feels like it, at least) – as a relative newcomer to NJPW this has been something of a revelation, and while I’ll generally root for Ibushi in any match, I can’t deny there was satisfaction in seeing Yano steal a win – even if he did have to revert to his old cheating ways. Another surprise has been the much-maligned Yoshi-Hashi – up until now I’ve seen very little of him outside of tag matches, and while he’s not going to win any points for his character work, he’s been solidly entertaining throughout the first week – I’ve enjoyed every match he’s put on so far. His match with Suzuki on night 5 was particularly good. At the time of writing, he’s yet to win a single match, but I have faith…
From Yoshi-Hashi to Tama Tonga, who I’ve really not been enjoying that much. In fact, the entire Firing Squad/GoD storyline has left me cold and I’m finding all the interferences distracting to the point where it’s actively detracting from my enjoyment of the tournament. There probably will be a decent payoff to all of it, but it’s just not gripping me, and unfortunately the overall quality of Tama Tonga’s matches isn’t doing much to make up for it. (Bad Luck Fale, at least, is doing a better job.)
Elsewhere, Okada’s apparent descent into madness is weirdly compelling – for the full effect, watch his post-match promos, where he’s doing an amazing job of skewing his usual demeanour just off-kilter enough that it borders on disturbing. And ‘Switchblade’ Jay White really seems to have come into his own, both character-wise and in the ring – it’s been fun to watch him try to corrupt Yoh in their tag matches while simultaneously acting the perfect chickenshit heel. I have a feeling his match against Suzuki is going to be excellent. Zack Sabre Jr’s matches with Kota Ibushi and Sanada illustrate exactly why he’s so good to watch, while Goto vs Ishii was everything I hoped it would be – easily in my top 3 so far. And while I’m still not completely sold on Juice Robinson, his match against Naito has definitely taken him up a few notches in my estimation. And Tanahashi is Tanahashi – it’s impossible not to enjoy him. A solid first week, then, with more good matches than bad, and a heathy sprinkling of superb matches. Roll on week 2.
MG: Outside of excellent wrestling, one of the big themes surrounding the G1 this year is the sheer amount of shenanigans we’re seeing in this year’s tournament. Whereas last year’s tournament saw almost no underhanded tactics (excluding Yano matches) this year we are, for better or worse, getting an average of one screwy finish a night, with the Bullet club and Jay White leading the charge. On paper it makes sense for the Bullet Club ‘Firing Squad’ to be having matches full of interference and the like, since guerrilla warfare was what old school bullet club was all about. Unfortunately, the angle is in danger of becoming more annoying than anything else at this point. The Firing squad are coming across both outnumbered and outgunned by the main ‘Elite’ bullet club at the moment, and it’s going to take a lot more than a few opportunistic beat downs to make them seem like a truly dangerous alliance going forward.
Jay White meanwhile is using underhanded tactics to his advantage, and is looking like a potential candidate to win the whole thing at this point. White has struggled to really get those breakout performances he needed all year, often coming across like a babyface posing as a heel and underwhelming in many of his matches. Since his loss to Robinson at the G1 Climax Special however, it has all been finally coming together for White, with his hyper aggressive style and ill-gotten wins getting him over as one of New Japan’s most despised heels. Whether or not he ends up winning the tournament, White is already all but cemented as a main event star with his performances so far, and New Japan is all the better for it.
It’s subplots like Jay White’s ascendancy that makes the G1 so captivating during the early stages. Juice Robinson’s injured hand, Yano’s newfound dedication to wrestling clean, old rivalries being rekindled and Okada’s early mid-life crises are other examples of the brilliant (but not overbearing) storytelling that adds meaning to the great matches we’re seeing and really makes the G1 stand out from the countless other tournaments around, as being unmissable from beginning to end.
In terms of match quality the B-block has the edge over a slightly inconsistent A-block but across the board it’s just been incredible wrestling night-in, night out. Naito, Omega and Tanahashi have been leading the charge in terms of producing brilliant bouts, but Goto vs. Ishii has been my match of the tournament so far, with their night 6 ‘Big Hoss’ battle summing up everything I love about Puroresu, and I can only hope we’re get a rematch with Goto’s title on the line once the G1 is over.
TWF: Having been to three live shows of the G1 so far, and watched all the other shows on New Japan World, this year’s tournament has certainly not been a chore to get through. The attendance has attested to this, as each show this week has been sold-out. The wrestling has been mostly high-quality, although I would also give B Block the edge over A Block, and the main events have largely delivered. Ishii vs. Goto was hands down my favourite main event of this week, and I can’t wait to see them do battle over the NEVER Title in the future. Naito has also been doing good work outside of the main events, and quietly picking up steam with wins over Ishii and Juice. Hangman Page continues to impress in A Block, and now that he’s moved past his matches with Tanahashi and Okada I anticipate that he’ll pick up some more points before the end of the tournament. Like my colleagues, the Bullet Club Firing Squad storyline isn’t doing much for me, and the constant interference and DQ finishes are getting frustrating in a tournament like the G1. At least Jay White is cheating and getting away with it, Tama and Fale are just giving away wins to their opponents. Fale normally ends with around 10 points, but I’m not convinced he’s going to win anymore matches at this rate.
At this point in time the two blocks are finely poised, with no one mathematically eliminated yet. A Block has three wrestlers on 6 points, and while I expect EVIL to fade over the next few matches, I would be shocked if Jay White and Tanahashi aren’t in contention to go the final on the last day. B Block has the one remaining wrestler on 0 points – Juice Robinson – and the one remaining unbeaten wrestler – Kenny Omega – who happen to face each other at the next show, and I smell an upset win for Juice coming. The final matches in A Block and B Block are Tanahashi vs. Okada and Omega vs. Ibushi, and I think those matches will be crucial in determining who gets to the final. Outside of those four, Jay and Naito are the other two that I think will still be in play by the final day. The G1 Climax winner hasn’t been in the same block as the champion since 2014 (Okada and AJ Styles) and the champion has never won since they introduced the concept of a Wrestle Kingdom title shot. There have only been two back-to-back winners of the G1 – Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan – so for all of us looking at B Block for the eventual winner, we shouldn’t lose sight of how A Block is shaping up. This could even be the year to breathe with the Switchblade.
