Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon)
The 30th Annual G1 Climax has officially began. Let us see how it all kicked off for New Japan’s traditional yearly tournament.
Night 1
Date: September 19, 2020
From: Osaka Prefectural Gym
Match #1 – Will Ospreay def. Yujiro Takahashi
Focusing solely on the match and not factoring in any other outside shenanigans, it served its purpose as a decent opener and a solid comeback match for Ospreay. He certainly bulked up a lot since the last time we saw him back in January and fits right in his transition to the heavyweight division. As for Yujiro, with the way he is being booked so far this year with the lack of talents representing Bullet Club his position in the cards serve as the role of Bad Luck Fale this year. It’s basically a “night off” for the rest of the wrestlers as no one expects a five star banger from the Tokyo Pimp or anything crazy like that. The flow of the match was fine, it was your typical below 10 minute affair. I especially liked the finishing sequence where Ospreay escaped Yujiro’s finisher attempt with his flippy moves then reversing that into the Stormbreaker for him to get the win. Oddly enough he cut a promo after the match and honestly, it did feel a bit awkward for me knowing what he’s been up to these past few months but nevertheless, an okay match.
Match #2 – Taichi def. Jeff Cobb
Admittedly like most fans I really didn’t enjoy much of Jeff Cobb’s matches in the G1. He wasn’t bad or anything but his output was vastly different to what we know of him in the States so I was hoping for him to bounce back this year. So far it’s been decent. The match with Taichi was nothing out of the ordinary but it was still a fine match for the most part. As expected from a Taichi match the first half is mostly him just doing his shenanigans and playing games, building up the heat for the eventual comeback of the babyface. I will say this though, this formula works better for someone like Taichi instead of Yujiro as from a booking stand point, a comeback on Taichi has more merits as his character work is levels above to that of Yujiro. It’s crazy how the difference maker to a good Taichi match is whether he has his pants on or not, if he has them on he’s like the past his prime version of his mentor Toshiaki Kawada during his late 2000’s HUSTLE years, not entirely bad, but clearly not what we’re used to seeing in him anymore. But when he takes them off, he turns into a different beast entirely and the pace picks up a notch ala 90’s Pillars Kawada! Of course I’m only saying this sarcastically, don’t scream at me for saying I’m comparing the two like they’re equals but I digress. Cobb’s offense was solid throughout the match, it looked great with Taichi’s selling ability too. I did not expect him to lose 12 minutes in to the Black Mephisto but after all the man is still 1/2 of the tag-team champions so he will still get booked strong even without Miho Abe in his corner.
Match #3 – Minoru Suzuki def. Tomohiro Ishii
Last year Suzuki was left out of the G1 Climax field and he’s been on a terror of path ever since. You can never go wrong in a match up between these two veterans and once again they’ve proved why they are still among the best wrestlers in the world today, especially Suzuki. As you’d expect from a match involving these warriors, it was stiff as hell. Right from the get go it was nonstop action, not a single dull moment throughout and that’s what makes it all the more fascinating that they made a 13 minute match feel like 20 but in a good way as the action was crisp and the momentum never wavered. I know Ishii and Suzuki can get brutal with one another but man, they really went all out for this one especially Suzuki with the sound of his forearms echoing throughout the whole arena. You can classify that man’s elbows as deadly weapons now. I was also surprised with the amount of back bumps he took for this one as he usually don’t take those anymore at this point of his career but if you’re in the ring with Ishii, you can’t help but to just leave all of those out of the ring and go full force. The reigning NEVER Openweight Champion has vanquished his rival once more, the Gotch Piledriver which did got hit out of nowhere was all it took for The King to take down the Stone Pitbull in a fantastic showcase of what modern day Strong Style is all about. This wasn’t just an exchange of stiff strikes for the sake of it, the story they told about trying to always one up the other and find out who’s the better man, it was a great journey from start to finish and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these two. While Ishii vs. Shibata matches are still far more superior, Suzuki isn’t so far behind with the quality he’s able to put on with Ishii. Respect to these two legends.
Match #4 – Jay White def. Shingo Takagi
After the banger Suzuki and Ishii just pulled off who can possibly top that performance next? Well as it turns out just be The Switchblade and The Dragon and you’ll get a guarantee 5 star match that is equally, if not better than the previous match. Seriously, I can’t give enough praises as to how great this match was. First off I’d just like to point out how amazing Jay White’s evolution as a performer has been. I will admit I was one of the many who hopped onto the early bandwagon claiming he was a bust once he made his re-debut at Wrestle Kingdom 12 with this “edgy boy” persona. But through the years as his character work improved, so did his body of work which has always been solid but it was hampered due to his gimmick still lacking in some departments. But now he has fully embraced the pesky arrogant heel gaijin persona and being with the Bullet Club did wonders for his career. This might come off as a hot take but this match was better than all of Jay’s Wrestle Kingdom matches so far, that’s how good it was. The dynamic of the cheaty heel and Shingo being the strong powerful babyface was enjoyable, add in their top quality wrestling abilities, and what we got was truly the art of professional wrestling at its finest. I know I’m talking about this match like its Kobashi vs Misawa ’03. No it’s not on that God tier level but it’s certainly one of the best matches in the entire year, dare I say top 5 so far, at the very least in NJPW, even with the solid outings we’ve seen earlier in the Dome. Shingo is always a reliable worker when it comes to great matches and Jay has reached that level as well, he wasn’t carried but rather was on the same wavelength as the opposition. The interferences and shenanigans with Gedo didn’t feel that out of place due to the rest of the bout actually being interesting. Best match of nights one and two for me easily. This is Jay’s first match in Japan in six months and he captured the victory from Shingo, starting off strong and as others have mentioned he is the favorite to reach the finals second year in a row and possibly win it all. Will be interesting to see how the rest of the G1 play out for these two men.
Match #5 – Kota Ibushi def. Kazuchika Okada
The name value alone sets this match on paper above the rest and with the amazing performance they pulled off at the Tokyo Dome earlier in the year, I was expecting more greatenss from these two. However, what we got was a good match. One might say underwhelming due to the body of work these two wrestlers have but was it a bad match per se? Not really. For what it’s worth they are clearly holding back but with how Okada has been doing unspectacular performances since the return post lockdown, his New Japan Cup work this year has not been his best, I expect him to go all out in the G1 but yeah, still has the cocky arrogant storyline going for him wherein he focuses on being a submission artist with his horrible looking Cobra Clutch, that is fine if his matches are actually compelling to watch but to me it’s really not. Ibushi is solid here at least, selling even the weak looking offense of Okada feel like it’s actually hurting. The match length was unnecessarily long as well, New Japan is at the point in time where they think 30 minute bouts equals to quality but it’s not always like that as seen here. It could have been better but clearly eclipsed by the two previous matches. Shingo and Jay stole the show, Ibushi got his win back from the Dome and seems to be on a redemption arc in this G1 since his back-to-back losses earlier in the year. As for Okada, I am looking forward to the time where he finally hits a Rainmaker, until then, the Balloonmaker era is better than this. Fight me. (actually don’t pls.)
