{"id":9882,"date":"2018-08-13T22:25:09","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T22:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=9882"},"modified":"2018-08-13T22:47:47","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T22:47:47","slug":"njpw-g1-climax-night-16-19-review-8-8-12-8-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/13\/njpw-g1-climax-night-16-19-review-8-8-12-8-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW G1 Climax Night 16-19 Review, 8\/8-12\/8\/18"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0TokyoWrestlingFan @twf87<\/a>, Laura Mauro @LauraNM<\/a><\/span>auro<\/a>, Mike Grindle @<\/span>M<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span>ikeGrindle<\/a>, Farhan Daw\u00a0@FarhanD<\/a><\/span>aw<\/a>, 5MinuteWrestlingReviews @5MinWresReviews<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The G1 Climax has finally come to an end after a sometimes gruelling but always entertaining nineteen shows.\u00a0 Night Sixteen in Yokohama saw Tetsuya Naito take on SANADA in a Los Ingobernables showdown, then night seveteen and eighteen saw the final A Block and B Block matches, headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi.\u00a0 The winners of the blocks then clashed on the final night to determine who would be the twenty eighth G1 Climax champion.\u00a0 This week I asked some of my colleagues to answer some questions about their thoughts on the G1, which are included in this article.<\/p>\n

G1 Climax Night Sixteen, Yokohama Cultutral Gymnasium, Yokohama (4,952 attendance)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tomohiro Ishii def. Juice Robinson, 12:24<\/p>\n

Zack Sabre Jr. def. Hirooki Goto, 10:43<\/p>\n

Tama Tonga def. Kota Ibushi, 14:17<\/p>\n

Toru Yano def. Kenny Omega, 9:04<\/p>\n

Tetsuya Naito def. SANADA, 19:52<\/p>\n

The main news from night sixteen was that Naito won his match, and Kenny and Ibushi lost their respective matches, which meant that Naito and Kenny moved slightly ahead of Ibushi in the chances to win the block going into the final night of block matches. \u00a0The main event of Naito vs. SANADA was a very emotional match, and it was clear from the pre-match preparations that it meant a lot to SANADA.\u00a0 He came close to winning, particularly with a bridging pin that had secured him victory against Zack Sabre Jr. \u00a0However, Naito was ultimately able to reverse an attempted Skull End into a Destino<\/em> for a three count, and post-match Los Ingobernables de Japon reunited in the ring with a tribute to the injured Hiromu Takahashi.\u00a0 Tama Tonga beat Ibushi in his match after a lot of interference from Tanga Loa, Fale, and Kenny.\u00a0 The match featured another balcony moonsault from the Golden Star, who definitely seems like he\u2019s getting ready to moonsault off something at the Budokan.\u00a0 The interference from this match ran into Kenny\u2019s match, as the match started with Kenny lying in the ring after a beating from the Firing Squad.\u00a0 That match was also decided by Tama Tonga, who attacked Kenny during a ref bump, which allowed Yano to pick up a win.<\/p>\n

In the lower part of the card, Ishii defeated Juice in an entertaining match that will presumably lead to a US Championship match at some point.\u00a0 ZSJ continued to pick up wins with a victory over Goto, which again will presumably lead to a title match in the future.\u00a0 At the end of night sixteen Kenny and Naito were tied on 12 points, Ibushi and ZSJ just behind them on 10 points, SANADA and Ishii on 8 points, Goto and Tama on 6 points, and Yano on 4 points.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G1 Climax Night Seventeen, Nippon Budokan, Tokyo (6,180 attendance)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Togi Makabe def. Michael Elgin, 8:46<\/p>\n

YOSHI-HASHI def. Hangman Page, 10:22<\/p>\n

Minoru Suzuki def. Bad Luck Fale, 8:51<\/p>\n

EVIL def. Jay White, 11:36<\/p>\n

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada went to a time-limit draw, 30:00<\/p>\n

All eyes were on the match between Tanahashi and Okada as the G1 came to the Nippon Budokan for the first of three nights.\u00a0 After Jay\u2019s loss earlier in the night, a win for either competitor would have sent them through to the final, but in the end neither man could get the upper hand and the match finished in a time-limit draw.\u00a0 The Budokan was heavily behind Tanahashi and the \u201cGo Ace\u201d cheers drowned out the support for Okada.\u00a0 There were countless call-backs to their previous matches, including their match earlier this year at Wrestling Dontaku, when Okada had decisively dealt with Tanahashi.\u00a0 This time around though, he was dealing with a different Tanahashi, who was on a great run of victories in the G1 this year, and Okada himself has been in a mental slump ever since he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Title at Dominion.\u00a0 There were some flashes of the old Okada in this match, including when he countered a High Fly Flow attempt with a dropkick, and when he hit a rolling Rainmaker on Tanahashi.\u00a0 However, it was the former Ace who had the better of the match, and he came close to picking up a win with the rollup that had beaten YOSHI-HASHI and Elgin earlier in the tournament.\u00a0 The bell rung at the thirty minute mark just after Tanahashi had gotten a close two-count from a High Fly Flow to Okada\u2019s back, and it really seemed that Tanahashi would have won the match if he had more time.\u00a0 As it was, a draw was good enough to send him through to the G1 Final as the winner of A Block.<\/p>\n

Jay White entered night seventeen with the chance to cause an upset and get to the final due to holding tie-breaker victories over Okada and Tanahashi.\u00a0 To do so however, required that Okada beat Tanahashi and he beat EVIL, both of which failed to materialise on the night.\u00a0 Jay had several chances to win the match, but EVIL was able to overcome the low blows and ref bumps to hit an STO on White that Red Shoes counted for three after he recovered from a bump.\u00a0 The match was decent, and the crowd definitely seems to have got behind the idea of Jay as a cheating heel more than they have the Firing Squad.\u00a0 Jay\u2019s loss to EVIL meant that the winner of the main event would go on to the final.\u00a0 The draw maintained Tanahashi\u2019s lead over Okada, and after the match he cut a promo promising to win the G1 this year.<\/p>\n

The undercard matches saw Makabe and YOSHI-HASHI finish the tournament on a high when they picked up elusive wins.\u00a0 The matches were good, but the match between Suzuki and Fale devolved into the usual Bullet Club shenanigans and ended with a disqualification.\u00a0 The match started off interestingly, since Suzuki was crazy enough to go head-to-head with the Bullet Club\u2019s cheating, but once again it fizzled out with a DQ.\u00a0 Presumably there will be some kind of payoff tomorrow night or at the finals, but so far I\u2019m not seeing much interest in this storyline.\u00a0 A Block finished with Tanahashi as the winner with 15 points, Okada second on 13 points, Jay third with 12 points, then EVIL and Suzuki on 10, and Page, Fale, Makabe, YOSHI-HASHI and Elgin on 6 points.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G1 Climax Night Seventeen, Nippon Budokan, Tokyo (12,023 attendance)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toru Yano def. Tama Tonga, 5:21<\/p>\n

Juice Robinson def. Hirooki Goto, 10:36<\/p>\n

Tomohiro Ishii def. SANADA, 17:00<\/p>\n

Zack Sabre Jr. def. Tetsuya Naito, 18:17<\/p>\n

Kota Ibushi def. Kenny Omega, 23:13<\/p>\n

The second night of the tournament at the Budokan was focused on the question of who would advance to the final as the winner of B Block.\u00a0 Kenny Omega was guaranteed a place in the final with a win, Naito had to win and hope for a Kenny loss, and Ibushi had the hardest route to the final needing a win over Kenny and a Naito loss to advance.\u00a0 The semi-final match was a rematch from the New Japan Cup when ZSJ beat Naito to begin his shock run to cup glory.\u00a0 This time around Naito looked to be more confident, especially given that his final hopes rested on defeating the English technician.\u00a0 The match was very good \u2013 in keeping with both Naito and ZSJ\u2019s tournaments this year \u2013 and there were a number of near finishes with Sabre\u2019s submissions and roll-up attempts always threatening to snatch victory.\u00a0 Naito had more knowledge about how to deal with ZSJ\u2019s submissions in this match, and seemed to have the match won when he managed to escape an octopus hold and hit a Destino<\/em> counter.\u00a0 However, when Naito attempted a full Destino<\/em>, Zack reversed it himself and hit a brutal looking Michinoku Driver (christened the Zack Driver by TAKA Michinoku) for a shocking three count.\u00a0 The defeat meant that Naito was eliminated from contention as a potential B Block winner, and all eyes turned to the main event.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udc49 https:\/\/t.co\/esIVOXXCvs<\/a> \ud83d\udc48 #njpw<\/a> #G128<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/urlvkKXwG1<\/a><\/p>\n

— NJPW GIFs (@NJPWgifs) August 11, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n