{"id":13054,"date":"2019-07-20T04:57:20","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T03:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=13054"},"modified":"2019-07-20T04:57:30","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T03:57:30","slug":"g1-climax-29-night-5-and-6-results-and-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/20\/g1-climax-29-night-5-and-6-results-and-review\/","title":{"rendered":"G1 Climax 29 Night 5 and 6 – Results and Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Night\n5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Date: July 18, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From: Korauken Hall (Tokyo, Japan)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undercard Results:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon Moxley & Shota Umino def. Tomohiro Ishii\n& Yuya Uemura<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto, & YOSHI-HASHI def.\nJuice Robinson, Toa Henare, & Yota Tsuji<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens def.\nToru Yano, Tomoaki Honma, & Ren Narita<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru def.\nShingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, & BUSHI<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Block Matches:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KENTA\ndef. Lance Archer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly I did not expect anything of this match.\nIt’s one of those odd matchups that you won’t really care for, at least on\npaper. But boy did it actually deliver more than advertised! Not gonna lie,\nthis is one of my favorite matches of the entire tournament so far and who\nwould’ve thought it came from an aged KENTA and Lance Archer of all people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel Lance Archer is everything what Braun\nStrowman should’ve been. Yes he can lose from time to time, yet he’s still a\ncredible threat. That’s what sets NJPW booking apart from a lot of other\npromotions, someone can be a midcarder but once they get a win from a main\nevent level wrestler, it’s still credible. This match was tons of fun, they\nplayed the classic “David vs. Goliath” shtick pretty well. Archer\ndominated a lot of times and even called out KENTA multiple times, calling him\nHideo, oh dear. This did not bode well for him in the end as he got a taste of\nthe ol’ GTS for his efforts at the 11 minutes and 58 second mark. You might\nthink I’m crazy, but this to me is KENTA’s best match in New Japan yet, at\nleast from an entertainment stand point. His match against Tana might be better\nfrom a technical point of view, but I really enjoyed KENTA vs. Archer\nimmensely. What a showing from both men, really commendable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EVIL\ndef. SANADA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fight between brothers not by blood, but by\nbond. Two members of LIJ, a re-match from two years ago in the G1 as well, EVIL\nvs. SANADA. Since that match two years ago, both of them have grown immensely\nas wrestlers. They’ve battled for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, became 2x\nTag-Team Champions themselves, and have seen the continuous success of LIJ as a\nwhole. Their match in G1 27, it was more of a hard hitting affair, this time\nhowever it’s very counter-heavy because like I said, they’ve grown more\nfamiliar with another is the story being told. EVIL busts a move, SANADA\ncounters, and vice versa. They’d also hit each other with the opposition’s own\nmaneuver to spice things up. Great match from start to finish although I still\npreferred their match two years ago, it’s just that I prefer more of the strong\nstyle beat each other up match than a counters galore ordeal but that’s not\nsaying this match was bad, really far from it, it’s just an acquired taste.\nEVIL has been in need of a win for a while now so he does get it after a solid\n18 minutes of action, oh and he got out of the Paradise Lock too, seems like\neveryone has found the solution to that in this year’s G1, did Milano snitch\nout on SANADA?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kazuchika\nOkada def. Bad Luck Fale<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We go from two great matches to sadly an awful one.\nArguably, worst match of the tournament yet and of course it’s involving Bad\nLuck Fale. Right from the get-go some shenanigans ensued, Chase Owens came out\nduring Fale’s entrance theme, only on the other corner we see The Rogue General\nbeating up on Okada, still in full Rainmaker attire. For the longest time,\neveryone says and rightfully so that Kazuchika Okada can always bring out the\nbest match out of Fale, this time around though, that can pretty much go down\nthe drain as this was just a pain to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s clear that Fale’s size has really gotten into\nhim, add to the fact that he simply loss any form of motivation and you get\nunderwhelming to really bad matches. Not even Okada can save him anymore. I\ndon’t mind interferences or other shenanigans during matches, but again\nreminiscent of last year’s G1, this was just too much for my liking. I get it,\nBC plays dirty, but I didn’t just like it at all in this scenario. Red Shoes\nconstantly taken out, Chase seemingly making it a handicap match with him\nconstantly in the ring, a total mess this was. Fortunately we didn’t have to\nsuffer but 10 minutes still felt long, the Fale upset on Okada curse is dead,\nas the champ pins him with a roll up to get the win. Thank God it’s over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiroshi\nTanahashi def. Zack Sabre Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After seeing a mess of a match, I wouldn’t mind\nseeing anything else, luckily for us the classic matchup of Tanahashi vs. ZSJ\nis next. Just like in their previous faceoffs, ZSJ seems to always get the\nnumber on Tana, especially whenever it comes to torturing the poor man’s limbs,\nwhich at this point are held on by tape and sheer love from the fans. Anyways,\nthis was another great match between the two, albeit shorter but nothing with\nthat. Barely any highflying at all, just pure mat based wrestling which is\nalways good and somewhat of a lost art in this day and age, at least in\nmainstream wrestling. Both men have yet to win a match up to this point, and to\nme personally, the result was a shocker. Tanahashi got ZSJ on a Jackknife hold\nfor a surprise win. I thought Tana would go on a losing streak, getting that\n“is he done for real this time?” narrative going for him but hey I\nguess not. ZSJ has now potential three challengers for his British Heavyweight\ntitle, so might as well put them all in a battle royal at this point! Anyway,\nZack did not take lightly of the defeat and put on a tantrum, not a great start\nin the tournament for the man from Sheppey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kota Ibushi def. Will Ospreay<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo (c) njpw1972.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Main event for Night 5 we got two broken men who\nwill pretty much kill each other if need be, Kota Ibushi and Will Ospreay.\nGoing into this match, they’re suffering from some major injuries. Ibushi of\ncourse with his ankle which has been a part of the story in his matches so far,\nand Ospreay recently just got his neck injured and missed out on the previous\nnight of action. For real, I thought he’d call it quits and forfeit the entire\ntournament, but then again this is Will Ospreay we’re talking about, he’d\nprobably see the end of this tournament with his whole body covered in tape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two are very much familiar with each other by\nnow and they still brought one hell of a match despite obviously not being 100%\nbut Ibushi and Ospreay delivering a match not in their fullest of physical\nforms is still better than a lot of other wrestlers can do. It was a near 30\nminute affair, just 3 minutes shy, yet they always had the audience at the palm\nof their hands the entire match. Was it better than their match earlier in the\nyear at Wrestle Kingdom? Not really I’d say, that was just a straight up brawl\nand a solid opener for the NEVER title, stakes are a little different here but\nI enjoyed the WK match better. That said, this is still one of the best matches\nin the tournament so far, definitely in the top 5 for me. After hitting the\nBomaye in tribute to Shinsuke Nakamura, Ibushi then proceeds with the Kamagoye\nto take Ospreay down and avenge his WK loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Block Leaderboard:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6\nPoints<\/strong> = KENTA, Kazuchika Okada<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4\nPoints<\/strong> = Lance Archer, EVIL<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2\nPoints<\/strong> = SANADA, Bad Luck Fale, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota\nIbushi, Will Ospreay<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0 Points<\/strong> = Zack Sabre Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Night\n6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Date: July 19, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From: Korauken Hall (Tokyo, Japan)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undercard Results:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens def. Zack Sabre Jr.\n& Yoshinobu Kanemaru<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki def. Hiroshi\nTanahashi & Tomoaki Honma<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SANADA, EVIL, & BUSHI def. Kota Ibushi, KENTA,\n& Clark Connors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI def. Will Ospreay\n& Toa Henare<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B Block Matches:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shingo\nTakagi def. Taichi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening the night 6 of B Block action is Shingo\nTakagi and Taichi. Now one may see this match and just think it’s a really\nrandom matchup, but thanks to the walking encyclopedia of English commentary\nthat is Chris Charlton, we actually got some more background and the connection\nbetween these two. One of Shingo’s mentors is Genichiro Tenryu and Taichi as we\nknow was mentored by Toshiaki Kawada. Tenryu and Kawada are both legends of All\nJapan, had some great wars between themselves too. You can really see the throwback\nin that classic AJPW style throughout this match, very old school Japanese\nwrestling, reminds me of NOAH too which is heavily influenced by AJPW. Of\ncourse there will be some shady stuff going on every now and then but to a\nlesser extent, since this is a match involving a Suzuki-Gun member after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall this was just a solid opening match,\ncouldn’t think of anything better to describe it. Both men have a surprisingly\ngood chemistry and in my opinion, this has been Taichi’s best match of the\ntournament yet and one of the best since him moving up to the heavyweights.\nYes, even better than the Naito matches. He receives the Last of the Dragon at\nthe 14 minutes and 40 second mark, another win in the heavyweight column for\nShingo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff\nCobb def. Juice Robinson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former US Champion takes on a Former NEVER\nOpenweight Champion, as two of the best gaijins in the roster faceoff. Nothing\npersonal with these two, it’s just really a friendly match and they are\nrespectful towards each other before and after the bell rings. Cobb had the\nbest match of his tournament so far against Ishii in Night 2, then got into\nthat underwhelming scrimmage against Moxley. This time however, once again nothing\nover the top, just pure solid 10+ minutes of wrestling action. Cobb is yet to\nwin so far until this time, pinning Juice with a Tour of the Islands to capture\nhis first G1 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toru\nYano def. Jay White<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For three matches in a row, “Switchblade”\nJay White has paid for his sins in betraying CHAOS. First he loss to Goto in a\ngreat main event, then another to Ishii. Now he has loss to everyone’s favorite\nDVD producer in Toru Yano. Who would’ve thought that similar to ZSJ, Jay White\nwould lose this first three matches in the G1? A former IWGP Heavyweight\nChampion himself, Gedo does love trolling with us especially at this time of\nthe year. But for those complaining, it is understandable. This is CHAOS\ngetting their comeuppance over the traitor that is Jay White. Okada already got\nhis revenge, but the other members haven’t yet until this time of course. YTR\nstole Gedo’s brass knucks, hits Jay with it via a low blow, and there you have\nit, another upset win for the True Ace of New Japan! Switchblade in fumes, but\nhe’ll probably win the rest of his matches going forward. Probably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tetsuya\nNaito def. Hirooki Goto<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That Goto comeback really only lasted 1 match huh? Really got my hopes up for a few days there. Oh well. A classic matchup in this one as Naito and Goto have faced many times before and they never really disappoint. Although most of their past matches are better than this one, I’d say this is still a pretty good set of action. So far though, I’d say from all of Naito’s matches, and I know it’s too early to judge, but they have been in the middle of the pack, nothing mindblowing or anything crazy yet. I know his knees aren’t in the best of state and he’s probably saving the best stuff with higher profile opponents. This is coming from me, a massive Tetsuya Naito fan too, but I’m patient, still waiting for that eventual 5 star banger. Naito finally got a win after dropping his first two matches to YTR and Taichi, a Destino to Goto at 16 minutes to finish it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon Moxley def. Tomohiro Ishii<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MATCH OF THE YEAR! Need I say more? Okay sure. Where\ndo I even begin? From start to finish, this was just a straight up brawl and I\nloved every second of it. I was smiling the entire time watching this match in\nfront of my monitor, just in pure joy in seeing the brand of pro wrestling that\nI have come to love. Obviously this has been a dream match since Moxley came to\nNew Japan and it just exceeded all expectations out of the waters and both men\npulled off a classic that will be remembered for years! I’m not even\nexaggerating when I say this has been one of the best wrestling matches I’ve\nseen ever, and I’ve seen plenty over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, no one can have a bad match with Tomohiro Ishii. Add in a Jon Moxley who is clearly motivated and put him with the right opponent, you get good pro wrestling. This is what it’s all about. The essence of what I enjoy in wrestling has been captured in all 20 minutes and 6 seconds of this match. We already got an appetizer if you will of what they’re capable during their tag match the previous night, but man I did not expect them to really over deliver. Ishii flying from the top rope and hitting a splash on Mox to the outside in a table? I mean damn, when was the last time Ishii took such a bump? It’s madness! The chair duel, battle of headbutts, of course the endless elbows and chops, wrestling at its finest. I thought his bout against Juice would be Moxley’s best match in his whole NJPW run, but that just fell second into this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re not planning to watch the entire G1, then\njust see this match. It doesn’t need a long storyline build for you to\nunderstand certain contexts. All you need is to know who both men are and what\nthey are capable in the ring. Great work for both men and you know what, with\nMoxley winning, I wouldn’t mind a re-match for the NEVER title down the line if\nthat’s still possible. Moxley vs. Joey Janela was brutal in sense of the crazy\nforeign objects they used, but Moxley vs. Ishii is what true physical brutality\nis. Will probably go down as my favorite Moxley match ever and one of Ishii’s\nbest efforts. Still I think his matches with Katsuyori Shibata were better but\nman, this is pretty close up there. When wrestling is good, I am one happy man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B Block Leaderboard:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6\nPoints<\/strong> = Jon Moxley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4\nPoints<\/strong> = Shingo Takagi, Juice Robinson, Toru Yano,\nTomohiro Ishii<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2\nPoints<\/strong> = Taichi, Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0\nPoints<\/strong> = Jay White<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Night 5 Date: July 18, 2019 From: Korauken Hall (Tokyo, Japan) Undercard Results: Jon Moxley & Shota Umino def. Tomohiro Ishii & Yuya Uemura Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto, & YOSHI-HASHI [...]","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":13059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,204,37,22],"tags":[455,1065,44],"class_list":["post-13054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-njpw","category-njpw-reviews","category-reviews","tag-g1-climax","tag-jon-moxley","tag-njpw"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-3oy","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/3D04hvD.jpg?fit=1155%2C891&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13054"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13060,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13054\/revisions\/13060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}