Before the review officially starts, I just want to pay tribute and send my personal condolences to the family and friends of the late great Harley Race. One of the few who embodied what truly it is to be a “professional wrestler” and one of the greatest World Champions of all time. Rest Well King.
Night 13
Date: August 3, 2019
From: Osaka Prefectural Gym (Osaka, Japan)
Undercard Results:
Juice Robinson & Toa Henare def. Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji
Ishii, Goto, & YOSHI-HASHI def. Yano, Cobb, & Honma
Naito, Shingo, & BUSHI def. Taichi, Suzuki, & Kanemaru
Jay White & Chase Owens def. Jon Moxley & Shota Umino
A Block Matches:
Bad Luck Fale def. KENTA
This was a decent match. Although nothing really memorable happened, both men did their usual move set but at least it did not go for too long. 7 minutes in, Fale gets the upset with a schoolboy pin over KENTA.
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Lance Archer
It’s another battle of the stable mates for the G1 as Suzuki-Gun representatives ZSJ and Lance Archer took each other in the ring. Before the match, lots of banter between the two and enjoyable one at that, mainly taking shots at each other’s respective diets. Zack calling himself a “SOY BOI” I mean how can you not be entertained right? Well speaking of entertained, that’s how I felt throughout the whole match. A submission technician and a brute force big man, you’d think it won’t work right? But these two outdid all of my expectations and wrestled one of my personal favorite matches of the night, and that’s saying something because from here on out, every match was a beauty. Anyway, the story here is that Zack didn’t take Lance lightly at all, in fact going in for rush submission holds from the get go. It is pretty rare for someone like him who usually likes teasing and taking it slow to his opponents for the most part, but Lance Archer is not his typical opponent, this man wants everybody to die after all. While there were some strikes specifically for Archer, the match itself was more focused on counter holds. By the end, another surprise roll up gets the victory but unlike the previous match, the smaller man does it against the giant after an exciting 10 minute affair.
EVIL def. Will Ospreay
Going into this match I didn’t expect much and with its placing on the card, I thought you know they’d take it easy. But seriously why did I even think of that? Will Ospreay taking it easy is a nonexistent scenario anyway, same goes for EVIL too who had lots to prove. Admittedly the match started off a little slow for my liking but as things progress, the pace quickened and the intensity went up high fast. EVIL mainly worked on Ospreay’s injured neck and there were lots of bumps that made me cringe whenever he hits the mat on it. He’s had two great matches already with Tanahashi and SANADA, but this match against Ospreay I say I enjoyed the most. Ospreay hitting the Spanish Fly never ceases to amaze me and many of the false counts get me too, anyone could’ve win but only one came out as winner, once again it is proven that Everything is Evil after 17 minutes when the King of Darkness pinned the reigning Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Just another match to add in Ospreay’s resume as argument for Wrestler of the Year.
Kota Ibushi def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
A re-match from last year’s G1 Climax finals, Kota Ibushi once again facing one of his idols Hiroshi Tanahashi. Obviously their match at the finals cannot be topped by another faceoff but this one is just as good in terms of storyline. This time around, Tana seems to be on his last legs. His body is more broken down than last year’s, the pain and stacked of injuries has done it to The Ace, but with willpower and endless support from the fans he still perseveres. But that isn’t enough, Kota Ibushi has surpassed whom he deems as a “God.” After another rigorous matchup, Ibushi has finally took down Tanahashi and what could very well be a “passing of the torch.” This wasn’t a match made great just by striking or hitting counter moves, but for the sheer emotion of it. The moment in the end where both men paid their respects to one another has been building up all throughout their careers. I don’t think this will be Tana’s final G1 yet but it seems like we’re getting closer to that more than ever, it will be a sad day for sure.
SANADA def. Kazuchika Okada
Main event of the night we’ve got the 7th installment of the Okada vs. SANADA series. Interesting buildup for this, SANADA sees Okada as a “rival” but the opposition begs to differ, after all he has SANADA’s number and has beaten him every time they want it in singles action in the past. 6 straight losses for Cold Skull, some of them are even attempts for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Now here we are. If you’re not a fan of long winded matches then sure, this isn’t exactly for you, but you may not be able to get into New Japan altogether if that’s the case as in Puroresu, main events are always long bout spectacles. In the past, AJPW main events even go as far as to an hour but I digress. I thought they played around the scenario of a time limit draw quite well. Okada has been pretty much dominant in the entire tournament at this point, entering at 12 points and still undefeated. The crowd was heavily behind SANADA and it’s cool he gets the connection like that sometimes. From start to finish, both men just gave out their best effort, arguably their best match against one another. Multiple false finishes and submissions which worked perfectly into the match rather than being taken away by it. Have to give props to Red Shoes as well for the fantastic officiating, he really did add more to the story being told in the ring. Anyway, as the 30 minute time limit draws nearer, you can feel the intensity and rush from the entire arena, Will SANADA choke again? Is he a forbidden loser against The Rainmaker? Close but in the end, the Mutoh Moonsault was hit not once, but twice with 12 seconds left on the clock. 3 count later and finally, four years of grueling defeats, SANADA has defeated his rival for the very first time! I’m not sure if this will lead to another title match but we’ll see. I’m sure no one wouldn’t mind another barn burner from these two after such a fantastic showing.
A Block Leaderboard:
12 Points = Kazuchika Okada
10 Points = Kota Ibushi
8 Points = Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA, EVIL
6 Points = SANADA, Zack Sabre Jr.
4 Points = Bad Luck Fale, Will Ospreay, Lance Archer
