NJPW G1 CLIMAX 30

Day 1 (A-Block): Saturday, September 19th from Osaka

Attendance: 2,401

WILL OSPREAY vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (7:44): The G1 is back, finally. This year's epic tournament was of course postponed two months because of the Olympics, not the global pandemic. So it is weird having this going on now when usually I'm on vacation and it's the heat of the summer when I'm watching it. The other big deal is that all of the foreign wrestlers like Ospreay have finally returned to New Japan. Ospreay even took the mic and said a few words after his match which was a bit odd. I haven't seen Ospreay wrestle since March when he wrestled his girlfriend, Bea Priestly, in that charity wrestling show. He must have still been training and wrestling in his basement or something because he looked as good and as crisp as ever. It's kind of too bad his first opponent here was the ultra dull Takahashi, who's seemed utterly lost ever since the Bullet Club kind of lost its prominence. This wasn't a great match or anything but Ospreay looked like the best wrestler in the world...which he is. **

TAICHI vs. JEFF COBB (12:47): I was surprised to see Cobb in the tournament. I think he was in it last year, but for some reason hadn't remembered he was back. Cobb is awesome and always a welcome surprise to see on a card. I saw him live last December at a ROH show at the ECW Arena and he look great in person. He's short but built like a tank and it's shocking to see him do stuff like standing backflips. Unfortunately he was wrestling Taichi, the worst of the worst. The one problem with the G1 is that they have 20 slots and so a bunch have to be filled with losers that never have good matches like Yujiro and Taichi. I will admit that the last few minutes of this were great with a lot of action. **1/2

MINORU SUZUKI vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (13:00): This was incredible. But...of course it was. They started by going one-hundred miles an hour at each other with stiff shots. Eventually this resorted into Ishii delivering sickening headbutts while Suzuki dished out sickening elbow shots. The crowd fucking loved this. Suzuki is getting older so he's not as fast and quick as he once was...so he did seem to be laying on the canvas a lot looking like he was really dead whereas Ishii was obviously just acting the part of a dazed, wounded warrior throughout. This A block is unbelievably stacked. The problem is that the B block fucking sucks. Maybe I should just skip the B block shows. ***1/2

JAY WHITE vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (19:28): Because of the threat of the virus, the B block guys aren't on the A block shows. This is a good thing as we're not getting those lame, multi-man tag matches in the prelims with the other block guys. They did have one young lions match before the G1 matches started on this show...which I of course didn't watch. I should probably also stop watching Jay White matches. He hasn't been in a good match since his Dome showdown with Okada...in January 2019. Jesus, that's a long stretch of bad matches. I think Jay White just hasn't found his perfect opponent yet. Either that or he's just dull in the ring. Shingo is in the top 5 of best wrestlers in the world and yet even he couldn't wrangle an entertaining match out of White. He tried and failed. There was interference by Gedo. Red Shoes got knocked out at one point. I guess the big question is: will Jay White have a good match in the G1? Hopefully he won't be in the finals again. That ruined last years G1. *1/2

KOTA IBUSHI vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (21:35): This was a good, basic match but considering it's Ibushi and Okada, the same two that main evented night 1 of the Tokyo Dome earlier this year...this was a disappointment. The final few minutes weren't as dramatic or as entertaining as big NJPW matches usually are. These two haven't had great matches in the past, either, so it's not like this was a shock that it wasn't akin to Omega/Okada or something. I could argue that this match wasn't great because of the small crowd (every other seat was mandatorily empty) and the fact that the crowd wasn't allowed to yell or shout or cheer or boo...just clap. But that wasn't even it, because they sure made a lot of noise during Suzuki/Ishii. Sadly, this was pretty much just a typical wrestling match that never heated up. **1/2

A Block Standings:

Cobb 0-1, Ibushi 1-0, Ishii 0-1, Okada 0-1, Ospreay 1-0, Suzuki 1-0, Taichi 1-0, Takahashi 0-1, 

Takagi 0-1, White 1-0

Day 2 (B-Block): Sunday, September 20th, from Osaka

Attendance: 2,640

JUICE ROBINSON vs. YOSHI-HASHI (15:57): Ever since Juice Robinson cut his dreadlocks he's seemed to be lost at sea. He came out tonight with a new cut (longer hair than usual with the sides buzzed) and a new outfit (it's basically a wife-beater and black sparkly pants). I have no idea what he's supposed to be. A clown? A hippie? I've yet to figure him out. Wrestling against Yoshi-Hashi isn't giving him any favors, either. I guess the big question is: will either of these two have a good match in the G1? I kind of doubt it. This wasn't boring, just basic, typical stuff. *

TORU YANO vs. SANADA (6:16): The first big B Block upset occurred here, which probably means Sanada is winning the B Block. Yano taped Sanada's leg to a ringside attendant and Sanada couldn't make it into the ring and was counted out. I mean...it was something different and kind of amusing. Sanada always looks like he doesn't want to be there or anywhere, doesn't he? Guy has the charisma of a slab of granite. But he can go, so if he does win this block than the final should be great. **

KENTA vs. HIROOKI GOTO (17:15): Hard-hitting Kenta seems to only know one wrestling move: kicking you. So this was just 17 minutes of him kicking Goto. If that's your thing. I should mention, if it hasn't been fucking obvious by now, that the B Block sucks. It's not even half as good as the A Block, it's worse. Evil, Yano, Juice, Yoshi-Hashi? Jesus Christ. Goto hasn't been in a good match in five years, either. Kenta is at least good at presenting a heel persona, so it's something. I'm still baffled that years ago in Noah, Kenta was the champ and the most popular wrestler in Japan. Was he? How? Why? Because I've never even seen him in a good match. This was forgettable. *

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. EVIL (15:54): Evil is boring, so at least his manager, Dick Togo, can interfere in his matches and provide a bit of entertainment. Besides that, there wasn't much of note in this. Zack Sabre, Jr. is great...when he's wrestling Ospreay. Otherwise his pretzel holds get kind of dull after awhile. Evil, who was just recently the champ, lost, which I guess was a big upset. This was another bad B Block match. Are we sensing a pattern? *

TETSUYA NAITO vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (27:16): The B Block is awesome! What am I talking about? This match was great; a long, dramatic, crowd-favorite of a match. The only reason it wasn't a 4 star classic was because both guys are older and slower and Tanahashi spent a lot of time laying on the mat catching his breath. I bet out of the ring Tanahashi sits in a wheelchair and breathes through an oxygen mask...but in the ring he still does all of his famous moves...even the top rope, High Fly Flow to the floor. Unfortunately, this was probably the best this B Block is ever going to be and it's only night 1 for them. I guess Sanada vs. Naito might be good. And maybe Tanahashi vs. Sanada...if Tanahashi can still walk when that happens. ***

B Block Standings: 

Evil 0-1, Goto 0-1, Juice 1-0, Kenta 1-0, Naito 1-0, Sabre, Jr. 1-0, Sanada 0-1, Tanahashi 0-1, 

Yoshi-Hashi 0-1, Yano 1-0

Day 3 (A Block): Wednesday, September 23rd from Sapporo

Attendance: 1,961

JEFF COBB vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (11:44): Man, after watching so much boring shit in the N-1 tournament and the Champion Carnival this last week it's nice to finally watch a good show. The A Block is where it's at. I should probably just skip the B Block nights, even though Naito and Tanahashi are in that. I've said this before, somewhere, but if I had my way Shingo Takagi would either be champ of this company or at least in the main events of big shows. Since he came from Dragon Gate, that might never happen, as they're kind of weird about giving the title to wrestlers that came from other promotions (they did give Omega the title...but Ibushi hasn't had it yet). This was a basic match, but it was entertaining and hard hitting. With a Cobb match, you're going to get big, power slams that look great on TV so his matches always work. Cobb won with his awesome finisher, the Tour of the Islands. **1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (12:01): I doubt Yujiro, the Tokyo Pimp, will have a good match in this tournament. He couldn't get one out of Ospreay or Okada, two of the best wrestlers in the world. Okada won with his new submission hold, which meant we didn't get a Rainmaker. Lame. Nobody wants to see him win with a fucking submission hold. We want to camera pan out, the arms outstretched, the holding of the wrist, and the Rainmaker. This isn't rocket science. *

TAICHI vs. MINORU SUZUKI (12:11): This was actually pretty good. Shocking, since Taichi fucking sucks and is a total joke. Dude comes out dressed like the Phantom of the Opera and lip singing to his entrance music while holding an obvious not-working microphone. Jesus. They brawled early while the ref tried and failed to separate them for some reason. The ref got knocked out a few times in this. I guess this company, like AEW, doesn't do DQ's. They both used chairs. Taichi hit Suzuki with his microphone and ended up winning. This was kind of like those old-fashioned, ECW street fights where it's just a wild brawl. **1/2

WILL OSPREAY vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (18:20): This was great, although I actually think both guys have a higher gear that they didn't exactly reach in this. Maybe if it was ten minutes longer it would have been a bit more dramatic. Ospreay has looked as good as ever in this tournament so far. I'm kind of thinking they might just surprise us and give him the G1 win so he can main event the Dome. It would make sense, as you wouldn't have to worry about selling tickets in the Dome if it's only 30% capacity or whatever, so they could put an English guy in the main event. Ospreay vs. Naito would be epic. We saw Okada vs. Naito last year. Ibushi vs. Naito would be good but they've of course wrestled before a lot. They could do Sanada vs. Naito, though they're going to wrestle in the G1 so do you really want to see that again in 4 months? Either way, this match was super entertaining. ***

JAY WHITE vs. KOTA IBUSHI (20:28): This was the G1 final last year. That's probably why last year's G1 was kind of forgettable. White came out and mocked the crowd because they weren't allowed to chant, "Ibushi!" Okay. Let's not make fun of something that's in place to save lives. This wasn't terrible or boring, as most Jay White matches end up being. That's probably because Ibushi is incredible. And like an Ibushi match...there were of course a few times both guys were slammed on their heads in sickening fashion. White gave Ibushi a suplex and he landed on his head and neck. Then Ibushi did his one-armed pile-driver type slam where he slammed White on his neck. These guys are crazy. I've been watching All Japan and Noah lately and they don't do these kind of sadistic moves. But you tend to see this a lot in New Japan. Ibushi broke his neck years ago....so it's tough seeing this kind of stuff with him. As much as I'd love to see Ibushi vs. Naito at the Dome in the main event...I kind of don't want to because they'd fucking kill each other again. Gedo ended up interfering and White did a low blow and eventually won.  **1/2

A Block Standings:

Cobb 1-1, Ibushi 1-1, Ishii 0-2, Okada 1-1, Ospreay 2-0, Suzuki 1-1, Taichi 2-0, Takahashi 0-2, 

Takagi 0-2, White 2-0

Day 4 (B Block): Thursday, September 24th, from Sapporo

Attendance: 1,920

HIROOKI GOTO vs. SANADA (11:03): The B Block sucked last year, too, if I recall. I think it just always sucks. A few years ago it might have been good, as Tanahashi and Naito were light years better a few years ago. I even recall really liking Goto a few years ago. What was I thinking? Sanada lost this match which means he's 0-2. Usually that means that he'll end up winning the block. I predict an Ibushi vs. Sanada final with Ibushi winning it. I can see Naito vs. Ibushi at the Dome. I'm not sure if they're doing 2 Dome shows next year, though, like they did earlier this year. If they do another tournament thing than Sanada is probably winning it all. You can tell how great this match was by the fact that I'm not even talking about it. The match was fine. **

TORU YANO vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (7:15): Tanahashi ended up taping Yano's head so that he was blind and couldn't see. So if you love that sort of thing, this was definitely your cup of tea. Yano won, which I guess is a surprise, although Yano beat Sanada on the last B Block show and also pinned Okada at that baseball stadium show in August. Maybe because there's a worldwide pandemic and everything is grim they decided to give the happy-go-lucky guy a boost. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much into this. *1/2

JUICE ROBINSON vs. KENTA (17:01): This was too long, too slow, and the crowd was bored out of their minds. It was just announced that Steven Spielberg's West Side Story remake has been postponed a full year and won't come out until Christmas 2021. Well Juice Robinson looks like an extra from West Side Story with his wife beater and black pants. He looks stupid. I can't possibly be the only one who took one look at his new ring attire and thought that. And while Juice has been in good matches in the past, I've never seen Kenta in a good match. Granted, I never saw him when he was in Noah and supposedly the biggest star in Japan (he was so big that the WWE gave him a huge contract only to put him on 205Live). Kenta has his whole arm in a black sling that wraps over his shoulder. Maybe he shouldn't be in a grueling tournament? This was hard hitting but super dull. *

EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI (17:21): I kind of have to admit that this was the best match on the show. Blasphemy! The last few minutes were great, though, with the interference by Dick Togo and Evil's low blow when the ref wasn't looking and Yoshi-Hashi's multiple near-falls and the crowd in a frenzy. I really hope they don't do what they did last year with Jay White, though. They gave White a very short title run last year probably just to give him some main event status credibility. To keep that credibility going they let him make the G1 final. Evil just had his very short title run so it wouldn't be a big surprise if he won this block. The problem with that is the final would suck just as much as last years. **1/2

TETSUYA NAITO vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (28:28): This went too long. I can't even remember the last good Zack Sabre, Jr. match I've seen. It was probably against Ospreay years ago. I just find his matches to drag a little too much. Zack did kick out of a Destino, although for whatever reason Naito's finishing maneuver seems to be 2 Destino's, not 1, since everyone kicks out of the first one. This was good in spots, but even the crowd was pretty quiet for a lot of this. **

B Block Standings: 

Evil 1-1, Goto 1-1, Juice 2-0, Kenta 1-1, Naito 2-0, Sabre, Jr. 1-1, Sanada 1-1, Tanahashi 0-2, 

Yoshi-Hashi 0-2, Yano 2-0

Day 5 (A Block): Sunday, September 27th, from Kobe

Attendance: 2,548

TAICHI vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (11:03): This show had to have been the best G1 card on paper. You have Ishii vs. Ibushi...and two years ago in the G1 they had a 4 star masterpiece. You have Shingo vs. Ospreay...and in 2019 they faced each other in the Best of the Super Juniors final and had a 4 star masterpiece that was the best match of the year. You also have Okada vs. Jay White...who wrestled two years ago at the Dome and also main evented Madison Square Garden once. So did this turn out to be a spectacular show? Nope, though it had two great matches. Unfortunately, since there were three good matches you of course had two of the guys that suck wrestling each other. This has to be the worst match in the G1 on paper, right? Who the fuck cares about these two? Taichi is at least funny in a so-stupid-it's-dumb way. I honestly don't even remember what happened in this match. *

MINORU SUZUKI vs. JEFF COBB (9:24): This was pretty good, but nothing special. Suzuki won with his Gotch piledriver. I'm kind of surprised he could pick Cobb up like that considering Suzuki isn't a big muscle guy or anything. **

KOTA IBUSHI vs, TOMOHIRO ISHII (15:41): Two years ago these two had a match of the year contender in the G1. One of the big reasons that match was so great was because Ibushi did a moonsault off of the balcony. This match was pretty much exactly the same as that one except there was no balcony moonsault so it wasn't as good. They did a sequence where they just slapped each other across the face back and forth. I mean...I guess that's better than fake punching each other but it's still kind of silly. This was brutal and mostly all action and one of the better G1 matches so far. ***

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. WILL OSPREAY (22:03): This was not as good as their BOSJ final from 2019. It was definitely close, though, and perhaps the best G1 match so far (Suzuki vs. Ishii was great as well). The opening sequence was the best sequence you will ever see in wrestling ever. And I'm not even joking. Just a minute of counters, flips, misses, jumps, dives, reverses. It was a beauty to behold. Ospreay is having the tournament of his life. And he still hasn't faced Ibushi or Okada yet. Dude's been missing for six months and will still probably end up winning wrestler of the year. ***1/2

JAY WHITE vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (18:48): This was not good. Jay White is having the worst tournament of his life. He's so fucking boring and his wrestling is just so plain. It really stands out in New Japan how vanilla his wrestling is because everyone else is doing crazy, wild, kinetic maneuvers and he's just doing walk and punch shit. I'm so bored with him walking around the ring and playing heel to the crowd. Okada didn't really do much of anything here either. Gedo interfered a bunch. This just never really hit the higher gear you want from your main event. *1/2

A Block Standings:

Cobb 1-2, Ibushi 2-1, Ishii 0-3, Okada 1-2, Ospreay 2-1, Suzuki 2-1, Taichi 3-0, Takahashi 0-3, 

Takagi 1-2, White 3-0

Day 6 (B Block): Tuesday, September 29th, from Tokyo (Korakuen Hall)

Attendance: 696

YOSHI-HASHI vs. SANADA (15:15): Korakuen Hall was packed. I think that's probably why this show seemed better than the other B block shows. And even though they had every other seat empty because of the global pandemic, the place still looked filled and the crowd was lively (even if all they can do is clap). Having every other seat empty seems superfluous, though, right? Because there's still someone sitting two feet to your right and left and behind you. Either way, they got a much bigger crowd than Noah and All Japan got at Korakuen this month. And that helped since this show had a terrible card. Yoshi-Hashi is infamous for "trying hard" but just not having that special something to make him into an elite wrestler or to make his matches great. It's kind of sad since he does do some cool stuff and does work hard. Sanada as usual looks like he's sleepwalking through this tournament. This was average stuff helped by the crowd. **

KENTA vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (15:46): This was similar to the first match in that the crowd helped it become more dramatic than it really was. By the end it got to be fairly exciting. Zack twisted Kenta's injured arm for a lot of the match. Kenta delivered brutal strikes. It was decent. **

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. JUICE ROBINSON (14:16): The last few minutes were fairly dramatic and exciting. Tanahashi didn't do any of his famous, top-rope splashes. Juice did do all of his patented maneuvers: the closed fist punch, the running cannonball. This was pretty fast paced like the first three matches, but like those it never really turned into anything noteworthy. **

TORU YANO vs. EVIL (4:33): Yano is undefeated. As if this year isn't fucking bizarre enough. 1/2*

TETSUYA NAITO vs. HIROOKI GOTO (21:58): This match never really amounted to much of anything. It was there. It happened. Goto has been a true bore in this tournament. Naito hasn't really done a lot and definitely doesn't look like he should be the champion of the company. Because of that, I predict he loses the title at the Dome. Even the crowd was pretty quiet for most of this match. *1/2

B Block Standings: 

Evil 1-2, Goto 1-2, Juice 2-1, Kenta 2-1, Naito 3-0, Sabre, Jr. 1-2, Sanada 1-2, Tanahashi 1-2, 

Yoshi-Hashi 1-2, Yano 3-0

Day 7 (A Block): Wednesday, September 30th, from Tokyo (Korakuen Hall)

Attendance: 696

MINORU SUZUKI vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (7:53): Suzuki has been one of the stars so far in this tournament. One of the reasons is that his matches have all been short and filled with non-stop action and brutality. Unfortunately, Yujiro probably isn't capable of having a great match. **

KOTA IBUSHI vs. JEFF COBB (10:43): This was good, though nothing spectacular. They both did their patented standing backflip into a pin. Cobb caught Ibushi off the ropes and spun him into a Tour of the Islands that Ibushi kicked out of. They reversed a bunch of moves. Ibushi did a couple of knees to the face. At only 10 minutes, it never really had time to turn into anything dramatic or epic, though it was fun while it lasted. **

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. TAICHI (17:03): A 17 minute Taichi match? Why are you torturing us, Japan? Okada vs. Ibushi on Night 1 was pretty good, but since then Okada hasn't really done much of anything in this tournament. Isn't he supposed to be the best wrestler in the world? Granted, no one can get a great match out of Taichi. This was just dull and never got going. 1/2*

WILL OSPREAY vs. JAY WHITE (18:46): These two had a spectacular match years ago in NYC in Ring of Honor. Since then Jay White has turned heel and changed his in-ring personality. Now he's slow, methodical, cruel. I miss the old Jay White; that dude was an Ospreay copy but more exciting. I'm so tired of seeing him slowly mill about and roll out of the ring and having Gedo attempt to distract the ref or beat up his opponent. Will Ospreay delivered a masterclass in the ring. He sold his leg and knee like he just walked out of surgery. He delivered all of his high flying maneuvers. By the end he just brutally destroyed Jay White then pinned him. At the end of this it looked like a massacre, which I'm not sure they wanted to portray. Ospreay was incredible and Jay White was his typical self so at least half of this was awesome. **1/2

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (26:01): These two had a great match during last year's G1 so they of course made this the main event and of course it wasn't as good. The problem was probably that they had to go long since it was the main event and two guys beating the shit out of each other with headbutts and elbows and slaps gets a little tiresome after 25 minutes. The headbutt sequence was hard to watch. Do these two not remember what happened to Shibata? Either way, it was a good match but just not as good as last years. **1/2

A Block Standings:

Cobb 1-3, Ibushi 3-1, Ishii 1-3, Okada 2-2, Ospreay 3-1, Suzuki 3-1, Taichi 3-1, Takahashi 0-4, 

Takagi 1-3, White 3-1

Day 8 (B Block): Thursday, October 1st, from Nagaoka

Attendance: 1,685

JUICE ROBINSON vs. TORU YANO (6:42): Big crowd tonight in Nagaoka. Was it because Sanada is from Nagaoka and he was in the main event? Perhaps. Although they've gotten big crowds at every G1 show. I think when sporting events start letting fans into the buildings here in the U.S. they'll get big crowds, too. People get sick of staying at home after awhile and want to go out. The crowd definitely helped this show, as the card sucked except for the main event and the show turned out to be pretty forgettable. Yano finally lost in the opener. He taped Juice's ankles together and Juice hobbled back into the ring and did a few moves still taped. This was the usual Yano comedy match. I still can't get past Juice's ridiculous ring attire. For some reason I hadn't noticed that he comes to the ring in an even more ridiculous shirt that he takes off before starting the match. It looks exactly like the puffy shirt from Seinfeld. I had mentioned that Juice looks like a West Side Story character but he actually looks like a gay pirate. Was that what he was going for? *

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. HIROOKI GOTO (3:59): This was super short so one of them is probably hurt. Zack had his one knee all taped up and Goto had his one shoulder all taped up so it could be either of them. There really wasn't much to this match. I'm sure it's happened before where a wrestler got hurt and had to leave the G1. I wonder what they would do in that situation? -No Stars-

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. YOSHI-HASHI (18:41): This was actually the best match on the show. Yoshi-Hashi has been having a hell of a tournament considering he's very plain and usually doesn't do much of anything exciting, dramatic, awesome...I could go on. But he's been really trying hard in all of his G1 matches for whatever reason. Tanahashi pulled out the Ace Tanahashi tonight...even doing 2 High Fly Flows...although none out of the ring. This was pretty much all action and the crowd was into it and there were a ton of near-falls. **1/2

EVIL vs. KENTA (15:40): These two are both in Bullet Club but Evil refused to give Kenta the Too Sweet hand sign gesture, instead giving it to Dick Togo, his ring enforcer/manager. This makes little sense that they're both in BC but don't like each other. I suppose the storyline is that they're feuding to be the top dog in BC. Kind of lame. I also don't understand the point of Dick Togo in any logical sense...considering in every match he tries to interfere and just ends up getting beat up by who ever Evil's wrestling. This never really turned into anything good. *1/2

SANADA vs. TETSUYA NAITO (27:08): This was in Sanada's hometown so he got the win. I had earlier proposed the idea that he might make the finals...then I looked at the schedule. You can kind of tell who's going to end up in the finals if you look at the last day of the blocks. The biggest match on the last day of Block A is Okada vs. Ospreay, which means who ever wins that will probably be in the finals. The biggest match on the final night of Block B is Naito vs. Evil, so who ever wins that will probably be in the finals. I don't really see the point of Naito being in the finals since he's the champ. So we'll probably either get Evil vs. Okada or Evil vs. Ospreay. My early prediction of Ibushi winning it all again seems not to be happening. They put Omega in the Wrestle Kingdom main event...why not Ospreay? At least all of this high drama makes the G1 exciting. This match, though, was not exciting. First off, it was a little too sloppy. Twice they botched what looked like a Destino or a reversal out of a Destino and both guys kind of just fell down. Sanada has had exceptional big matches against Okada so we know Sanada does have it in him. I'd say maybe Naito is too broken and hobbled and slow and old now to pull of a great match, though he proved he can do it on the first show of B Block against Tanahashi. This was a pretty good match but it never reached that higher level of drama that you want from a NJPW main event. **1/2

B Block Standings: 

Evil 2-2, Goto 1-3, Juice 3-1, Kenta 2-2, Naito 3-1, Sabre, Jr. 2-2, Sanada 2-2, Tanahashi 2-2, 

Yoshi-Hashi 1-3, Yano 3-1

Day 9 (A Block): Monday, October 5th, from Takamatsu

Attendance: 1,247

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (13:39): Shingo is great, but I'm not sure anyone can have a great match against Yujiro Takahashi (Ospreay couldn't either...and he's the best wrestler in the world). Because Yujiro sucks, there wasn't much to this. Shingo did all of his brutal clotheslines and slams and Yujiro didn't do much of anything memorable. I suppose Yujiro is taking the place of Bad Luck Fale in this year's tournament as the black hole wrestler of the blocks; once a good wrestler enters his zone, it's fucking lights out for any semblance of entertainment. By the way, where the hell is Fale? 1/2*

JEFF COBB vs. JAY WHITE (12:26): The last five minutes or so of this were really good. The crowd seems to like Cobb, which helps. Maybe because they like Sumo wrestlers and Cobb is built like one? Cobb is impressive. Gedo interfered towards the end. Cobb did every type of slam in the book. Early on this was a typical, dull Jay White match but by the end it turned into a fun, action packed bout. **1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. MINORU SUZUKI (14:20): This was pretty much horrible and totally forgettable. I'm not sure what they attempted to do here but nothing worked. Okada seemed to not want to partake in a wild brawl. Unfortunately, that's what every good Suzuki match is. So they kind of did a little bit of everything and did it all slowly. Suzuki had Okada in a sleeper submission and Okada reversed it into a quick pin. 1/2*

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. TAICHI (18:36): If you had told me that Taichi would be in the best match on a G1 show...and a show that Ibushi vs. Ospreay was the main event...I would have told you to go fuck yourself, you're a moron and know nothing about pro-wrestling. Well, the impossible happened. Taichi sucks. That's been established. Ishii is awesome. That's been established. Usually when a great wrestler faces a bad wrestler the match turns out to be either bad or average, rarely great. These two, for whatever reason, have great chemistry together. This wasn't any sort of classic, but by the end this was high drama and big moves and tons of near-falls with a crowd on the edge of their seats. This was, shockingly, the match of the night. ***

KOTA IBUSHI vs. WILL OSPREAY (15:54): This was disappointing. They also had a somewhat disappointing match at the Dome in 2019. Last year in the G1 they had a top 10 match of the year, though. This was good but kind of seemed like they were just going through the motions and doing moves and never really bringing any kind of visceral excitement to the proceedings. It probably didn't help that they only went 15 minutes even though most main events go at least 20. I hate to admit it, but Ibushi has not been having a stellar G1 so far. Maybe he should have gone to AEW. With all that said, even a disappointing match between these two is actually pretty good. **1/2

A Block Standings:

Cobb 2-3, Ibushi 4-1, Ishii 2-3, Okada 3-2, Ospreay 3-2, Suzuki 3-2, Taichi 3-2, Takahashi 0-5, 

Takagi 2-3, White 3-2

Day 10 (B Block): Tuesday, October 6th, from Hiroshima

Attendance: 1,422

HIROOKI GOTO vs. TORU YANO (0:18): This was a bland, forgettable show. Maybe a few years ago a block with Naito and Tanahashi would've been incredible but not this year when they're both broken, slow, old men now. Goto is pretty much in that pack as well, as he hasn't been in a great match in years. He must be hurt because his last match was 4 minutes long and this match was 18 seconds. He won with a quick pin. I'm sure there were a lot of wrestling fans happy at this result, as a lot of hardcore, old-school wrestling folks don't come to the G1 to watch The 3 Stooges. -No Stars-

SANADA vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (14:31): This match pretty much defined this show: it was boring, slow, just kind of there. It happened, it occurred, it was swiftly forgotten. A lot of this match was just both guys on the mat in submission pretzel holds. It never really turned into much more than a standard wrestling match. *

EVIL vs. JUICE ROBINSON (15:35): Juice's wardrobe just gets more ridiculous. I usually skip the entrances so I first only noticed his stupid wife beater and sparkly pants. Then I noticed he came to the ring wearing a white puffy shirt. Tonight I noticed he comes to the ring with a bowler hat like Walter White wore in Breaking Bad. Also he wears a jacket and tie. I'm not sure what the hell he was attempting with this West Side Story outfit. I guess you can tell that this match isn't worth talking about since I'm only focused on his threads. Evil did all of his usual heel schtick. Dick Togo hit Juice with a chair. Evil suplexed Juice on a pile of chairs at ringside. Evil gave Juice a low blow. What exactly is the point of the ref? All of this outside interference and cheating actually makes Evil's matches more watchable, though, since otherwise we'd just be watching a regular Evil match...which is ultra-boring. Plus, his name's Evil. He should be doing evil shit, no? *1/2

TETSUYA NAITO vs. YOSHI-HASHI (24:43): The last couple of minutes were action packed and dramatic. The twenty minutes that preceded that were kind of stale. It wasn't that this was boring or that they didn't do anything...it was just that they never did much of anything exciting. Yoshi-Hashi did an Omega over-the-top-rope dive. Natio won with a Destino. I kind of think Yoshi-Hashi shouldn't be in 25 minute matches. **

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. KENTA (23:41): Tanahshi's hair was hilarious looking. He had cornrows on half of his head but the other half was just a wild, high, waterfall mane of hair. It looked extremely laughable. The one memorable moment in this match came when Kenta pushed Tanahashi into the ref and they both fell down and then Kenta jumped onto Tanahashi's back while Tanahashi was laying on top of the ref. Kenta's matches are much too methodical and slow-paced for me. He doesn't do much besides kick his opponent and walk around the ring. Tanahashi didn't even do any High Fly Flows in this one. This was probably the best match on the show...which tells you how boring this show was. **

B Block Standings: 

Evil 3-2, Goto 2-3, Juice 3-2, Kenta 2-3, Naito 4-1, Sabre, Jr. 2-3, Sanada 3-2, Tanahashi 3-2, 

Yoshi-Hashi 1-4, Yano 3-2

Day 11 (A Block): Wednesday, October 7th, from Hiroshima

Attendance: 1,430

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (15:25): The A block this year would probably be the greatest block ever if it wasn't for Yujiro Takahashi. How did he even get his big break to end up in New Japan of all places? He was always kind of amusing when Bullet Club was at its height and he would be milling about in the background with his prostitute/stripper ring girl. She's been absent for the G1. Blame covid-19 I suppose. But in terms of wrestling...what the fuck does he actually do? The answer is nothing. He's as plain as vanilla ice cream. Even Ishii couldn't do much with him. They traded stiff shots. Ishii did his patented top-rope suplex. This was pretty forgettable. *

 

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. JEFF COBB (11:03): These days, Okada seems like he doesn't even try in the ring unless it's in the main event of a big show. Cobb has been great so far in this year's G1 but these two just never did much of anything. Has Okada even delivered a Rainmaker in the tournament yet? Cobb did a bunch of his slams that always gets the crowd hot. This was another forgettable match. *1/2

WILL OSPREAY vs. MINORU SUZUKI (14:26): Suzuki vs. AJ Styles was one of the great bouts in G1 history. Because of that, you might assume this match would also be great since Ospreay is similar to AJ with all of the high flying. Nope. This was just okay. Suzuki delivered a ton of elbows to Ospreay's head while Ospreay wobbled like they were the hardest shots ever known to man. Ospreay did some high flying. It wasn't exactly a clash of styles...it just never turned into anything all that exciting. **

JAY WHITE vs. TAICHI (15:16): Modern wrestling seems to be flips and dives and action. Think Omega, The Young Bucks, Dragon Lee. Jay White is pretty much the exact opposite of that. He slowly walks around, taunts the fans and his opponent, does moves here and there, tries to cheat. I guess someone somewhere loves this boring heel shit but I'm falling asleep during his matches. I guess Taichi is supposed to be a heel but the crowd always seems to cheer for him. The one amusing moment in this match came before the bell when Taichi holds his microphone and lip synchs. Jay White pulled a chair in the ring and sat down to watch this performance and then clapped after. Taichi has been better than usual in this G1...so by the end it picked up a little bit. Thank God for Gedo and his interference and ref bumps because otherwise these Jay White matches would be totally bereft and any sort of entertainment. *1/2

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. KOTA IBUSHI (21:56): This was great...and yet, I kept thinking: man, this match would be a hell of a lot better if the world wasn't amidst a pandemic. If the building was packed and the fans could chant and yell and boo instead of just clap...this might have been a match of the year. It was still pretty great. Tons of action, stiff shots, reversals, knees, elbows, clotheslines. A lot of dramatic kick outs. This was perhaps the best match of the G1 so far. I'd really like to see these two battle for a championship one day. ***1/2

A Block Standings:

Cobb 2-4, Ibushi 4-2, Ishii 3-3, Okada 4-2, Ospreay 4-2, Suzuki 3-3, Taichi 3-3, Takahashi 0-6, 

Takagi 3-3, White 4-2

Day 12 (B Block): Thursday, October 8th, from Okayama

Attendance: 1,477

HIROOKI GOTO vs. YOSHI-HASHI (14:12): The last 2 Goto matches were super short, so he's either feeling better or he took a cortisone shot backstage pre-match. The pandemic seems to have lit a fire under Yoshi-Hashi's ass, because he's seemingly been working faster and trying really hard in this G1. So this ended up being a good, standard wrestling match. I will say that this show wasn't that good but the look of the building helped it. This took place in a huge, well-lit gymnasium with a high ceiling. This show looked better than the last two G1 shows in Hiroshima because that arena was as dark as a cave and you couldn't even see the audience. **1/2

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. TORU YANO (12:20): Yano taped Zack's hand to a chair against the metal guardrail. That was about as good as this match got. It was entertaining at least. Yano matches are rarely boring, unlike most of Kenta and Evil matches. *1/2

SANADA vs. KENTA (11:24): Kenta comes to the ring now with a briefcase containing a contract to wrestle for the coveted U.S. title. I remember Jon Moxley was the U.S. champ...but after that things go foggy. Moxley wrestled on both Dome shows earlier this year. Did he lose the title? Maybe to Juice? That title does have some history, though. Omega beat Ishii to win it in a match where Omega gave Ishii a Dragon Suplex off of the ring apron through a table. And Juice and Jay White had a hell of great bout for that title. As you can tell...this match isn't worth talking about. Kenta is a fucking bore. I'm still baffled that he was this huge superstar once in Japan. *

TETSUYA NAITO vs. JUICE ROBINSON (25:01): This match went too long, although the second half was pretty good while the first half was not. By the end they picked it up and did all of their big moves and there were a bunch of kick outs. Juice's big move is the punch to the face. Okay. He did that twice. Naito did 3 Destino's if I recall correctly. The last one finally got him the win. **1/2

EVIL vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (19:58): A lot of people complain about how useless the referees are in AEW...but, really, they're just using the NJPW rule. That means that you can cheat in front of the ref or push him around and you won't get a DQ. Dick Togo interfered in this match by choking Tanahashi, among other things. Tanahashi did 2 High Fly Flows. This was kind of just mediocre stuff. *1/2

B Block Standings: 

Evil 4-2, Goto 3-3, Juice 3-3, Kenta 2-4, Naito 5-1, Sabre, Jr. 3-3, Sanada 4-2, Tanahashi 3-3, 

Yoshi-Hashi 1-5, Yano 3-3

Day 13 (A Block): Saturday, October 10th, from Osaka

Attendance: 2,369

JEFF COBB vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (14:57): Good show tonight, but of course it was, this is the A block. This match was exactly what you expect out of these two; hard hitting, all action, intense. Ishii will go down as one of the greatest ever in NJPW. It's so sad that he never won the title or main evented the Dome. I think the only main event title I've ever even seen him in was against Omega on that random, forgotten September show two years ago. ***

JAY WHITE vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (3:40): These two are both in the Bullet Club, a club that should probably have been put out of its misery once Omega and The Bucks left. Because of that, Yujiro laid down for White to pin him...but he got up at 2! Twice! And then he tried to pin White quickly. White won in 4 minutes so there wasn't much to this. I guess it was intriguing. *1/2

WILL OSPREAY vs. TAICHI (16:26): This was a good match. Ospreay looked as great as he's ever looked. Taichi has looked better than usual in this G1 and he took Ospreay's high-velocity barrage will ease. You could tell that this was a good match by the announcers who were yelling and screaming as if they just witnessed aliens landing on Earth or something monumental. At one point, Taichi was choking Ospreay with this wooden mallet thing and the ref just walked over and tried to grab it and didn't even DQ him. I guess the refs are only there to deliver the pin and nothing else? Ospreay did one sequence that I probably can't even describe correctly: he tried a 450 splash from the top rope and missed but landed on his feet then did a flip from the second rope and missed then another flip to connect. Everything he did was on point, fluid, and awesome. He was really on fire tonight. ***

KOTA IBUSHI vs. MINORU SUZUKI (16:58): This match was like four or five different matches. It started with a slap fight where they defensively walked around poised to strike like it was a boxing match. Eventually they went outside the ring. Suzuki walked up to the entrance and sat down and waited. Ibushi went out and they brawled a bit. Then they got back in the ring and did more elbows and slaps and kicks. A lot of fans online raved about this match (and the main event) but I didn't think it was any sort of masterpiece or anything. It was entertaining for the most part. **1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (27:45): For a lot of this match I was thinking that, man, these two just don't gel together. Then of course I was proved wrong when the last five minutes or so was excellent. Okada gave Takagi a Rainmaker then held his wrist. Takagai punched and kicked out of it. Okada did a piledriver. Takagi did his package piledriver slam. Eventually Okada put Takagi in his new, sleeper-like submission hold and Takagi passed out. Okada hasn't had the best G1 this year...but this match just shows that Okada seems to only get better the longer a match goes. The first half of this was just okay and the second half was great. This was definitely the best G1 show thus far. ***

A Block Standings:

Cobb 3-4, Ibushi 5-2, Ishii 4-3, Okada 5-2, Ospreay 5-2, Suzuki 3-4, Taichi 3-4, Takahashi 0-7, 

Takagi 3-4, White 5-2

Day 14 (B Block): Sunday, October 11th, from Nagoya

Attendance: 2,550

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. YOSHI-HASHI (13:34): This was a pretty monotonous show. The main event should have been "big" but, unfortunately, no matter how big they've tried to make the rivalry between Evil and Naito this past summer, nobody fucking cares about it since the matches have been terrible. The B block has been the worse block but Yoshi-Hashi has stepped up to the plate to at least not be boring. He tries, he really tries. Give him a medal! There wasn't much to this match, though. Forgettable, forgotten. 1/2*

KENTA vs. TORU YANO (8:56): It probably tells you how boring Kenta is that this might have been his best match in the G1. Kenta ended up taping Yano's hands to the entranceway post and he got counted out. The crowds do seem to enjoy Yano's tactics. I've often noted that the Japanese aren't exactly known for their cutting edge humor, so them adoring Yano kind of makes sense. This at least held my interest. And I'm still wondering who the U.S. champ is. *

SANADA vs. JUICE ROBINSON (15:06): Sanada won with a moonsault. This never really turned into anything besides a standard, going-through-the-motions wrestling match. Sanada truly is stone-face. He should take acting lessons or something. Is it that difficult to showcase a range of emotions? *1/2

HIROOKI GOTO vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (13:38): Maybe five years ago this match would've been incredible. Both guys are pretty shot these days. Goto doesn't seem to be injured anymore since he seemed to be his usual, blustery, hard slamming self. Tanahashi didn't do any High Fly Flows. I guess because this wasn't the main event? This was another match that was decent but not particular worth watching. **

EVIL vs. TETSUYA NAITO (23:57): Ugh. These two? Again? They wrestled in the main event at Dominion where Evil won the title then he lost the title to Naito at that baseball stadium show. Both of those matches were two of the worst NJPW main events in history. Blame Evil. The guy is as boring as a sheet of plain typing paper. Thank God that Evil now has Dick Togo as his nefarious, interfering manager, since at least those hijinks create a little bit of interest to these slog matches. Naito moved slowly for twenty minutes and then suddenly when he realized the end was near he suddenly starting running the ropes and going full speed. I guess it's because at his age he can only do that for a few minutes anymore. That's kind of sad. The final flurry was fairly entertaining but most of this was pretty terrible. Evil kicked out of a Destino. Togo interfered and Evil ended up hitting his Everything is Evil finisher. **

B Block Standings: 

Evil 5-2, Goto 4-3, Juice 3-4, Kenta 3-4, Naito 5-2, Sabre, Jr. 4-3, Sanada 5-2, Tanahashi 3-4, 

Yoshi-Hashi 1-6, Yano 3-4

Day 15 (A Block): Tuesday, October 13th, from Hamamatsu

Attendance: 1,372

JEFF COBB vs. WILL OSPREAY (10:21): This match was kind of disappointing, especially considering both guys are great in the ring plus Ospreay looked impeccable on the last show. Ospreay didn't do as many flips and dives as usual in this. I guess these two just don't mesh particularly well. It was entertaining but nothing special. The shocker was that Cobb won, which means Ospreay is pretty much eliminated. I had kind of hoped that they'd pull the trigger and let Ospreay main event the Dome. My thinking was that a) he's the best wrestler in the world so a main event Dome match would be ten stars and b) they won't be able to sell every seat in the Dome because of the pandemic so they wouldn't have to worry about selling out if a foreigner is in the main event. I'm obviously thinking too much about this, as the Dome main event will probably and unfortunately be just another Okada/Naito match. **

KOTA IBUSHI vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (12:28): The big question during this G1 is: will Yujiro ever win a match? Probably not...not that anyone cares about Yujiro. Is he even in the G1? I almost kind of forgot because he's so dull. Even Ibushi couldn't do much with him. Most of this show was pretty boring. These two did kind of get into a fast-paced, dramatic rythym by the end...but by then it was too late and, seriously, it wasn't all that great of a finish anyway. 1/2*

TAICHI vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (16:21): Taichi has actually had a really good G1...and this is a total surprise because Taichi fucking sucks. It probably helped that the two matches he's looked really good in were against Shingo and Ospreay, two of the greatest wrestlers today. I'm still baffled why they're not letting Shingo win this whole tournament or why he's not the champ of this company already. **

JAY WHITE vs. MINORU SUZUKI (20:30): If I never have to sit through another deadly dull Jay White match I'll be a very happy man. He has been in great matches...but great Jay White matches are like solar eclipses, they very rarely occur. There wasn't much in this match even worth mentioning. Suzuki delivered two powerful elbows to Jay White's jaw while Suzuki taunted Gedo and Gedo acted like Suzuki was about to murder Jay on live TV. Jay White crumpled to the mat after each blow like a rag doll. The one humorous anecdote about Suzuki is that he used to do MMA and I heard that he had a glass jaw. It's funny because he's this big, tough-as-nails badass in the fake wrestling world. I really should go watch some of his MMA matches to see if that glass jaw thing is true. *

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (26:13): This was a good match but the end was kind of lame since Okada now wins with his stupid looking sleeper hold, the Money Clip. I don't want a big, main event match to end with two guys sitting in the middle of the ring when the ref rings the bell...I want a Rainmaker and a raucous crowd and a 1-2-3. Oh, well. Besides that, this match was fun. There was one sequence where Ishii delivered like 10 chops to Okada's chest and they were so hard and it went on for so long that I thought maybe Ishii really doesn't like Okada. He probably shouldn't, as Okada was chosen as the champ and NJPW king over Ishii who's never even held the title. There's only 1 A block show left and Ibushi, Okada, and White are all tied. The problem is that none of them are facing one another. Okada is facing Ospreay, Ibushi is facing Taichi, and Jay is facing Ishii. They usually schedule it so there's a main event winner take all on the last Block day. I kind of thought that it would be Ospreay vs. Okada, but I was wrong. Even if Ospreay wins and the others lose he wouldn't win the block because he already lost to Ibushi so they would be tied with Ibushi getting the tiebreak vote. I really hope to God they don't put Jay White in the finals again. Which means it'll probably be Ibushi or Okada. I'd much rather see Ibushi vs. Naito at the Dome...but I'm still not sure if they're doing 2 nights again or not. Either way, Ospreay vs. Okada should be the best match of the year or at least very close to it. **1/2 

A Block Standings:

Cobb 4-4, Ibushi 6-2, Ishii 4-4, Okada 6-2, Ospreay 5-3, Suzuki 3-5, Taichi 4-4, Takahashi 0-8, 

Takagi 3-5, White 6-2

Day 16 (B Block): Wednesday, October 14th, from Yokohama

Attendance: 1,498

KENTA vs. YOSHI-HASHI (17:39): Because of the travel restrictions thanks to the corona virus pandemic, all of the wrestlers not living in Japan couldn't get back to be on the shows in July and August so they did a U.S. tournament with guys like Kenta and Jeff Cobb. Kenta ended up winning the tournament, hence why he's arrived for every G1 match carrying a red briefcase with a U.S. title shot contract within. I've struggled to think of who the U.S. champ is because I know Moxley had it but he's in AEW and hasn't been around since the Dome. It turns out that Moxley is still the U.S. champ. He's also, by the way, the AEW world champ. Which probably means AEW isn't going to want him to lose to a New Japan wrestler. Which means Moxley will be the U.S. champ forever! Or...until he loses the AEW title. It was probably a stupid idea giving Moxley the title considering the last time it was defended was in January. It was always a stupid title, anyway, considering NJPW rarely does U.S. shows (they were set to have a MSG show in August that was cancelled). Kenta did win here, although he's been eliminated from this tournament already. Kenta still has one more match in the G1 but it looks like he'll be one of the dogs of the tournament. He hasn't had a good match yet and with good reason: the guy is fucking boring. Yoshi-Hashi has been the polar opposite: he's been trying super hard, putting in the effort, working fast, getting the crowd into his matches. This ended up mostly forgettable, though. Yoshi-Hashi can try all he wants but he'll never be in a great match. *1/2

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. JUICE ROBINSON (14:30): This seemed like a better Zack Sabre, Jr. match than usual. Maybe because both guys speak English and could lay out the match easier? I often wonder how these non-Japanese wrestlers work there. I'm guessing they probably know some Japanese by now, though. There did seem to be less submission holds and more action here. Juice's big move is his punch...and isn't that illegal? Zack is still technically alive with his win here, but Juice is eliminated. I do hope he gets rid of the awfully stupid West Side Story getup. **

TETSUYA NAITO vs. TORU YANO (8:04): I didn't even realize this until Dave Meltzer mentioned it on his podcast...but the one storyline in this block is that every Naito match so far has gone over 20 minutes long. I'm not sure exactly what that means or why they did it (because he's the champ?), but it ended with this match, anyway. I'm sure Naito loved that when they told him: 'Hey, Naito. You're going to have to do more work in the G1 than every other wrestler.' I will say that there are very few wrestlers that can get a good match out of Yano. Omega was one, and Naito at least got into the comedy spirit more than most do. Yano taped Naito's hands to a ringside wrestler guy and to beat the count they both had to get into the ring. Naito and the guy did a clothesline together on Yano. That was amusing. Then Naito slammed the guy onto Yano then attempted to slam the ref on Yano but was thwarted. Naito wins so he's going into the final block night tied in 1st place with Evil and Sanada. **

EVIL vs. HIROOKI GOTO (15:33): These two definitely tried their hardest. And they definitely tried to go at a fast pace. The problem is that these two just couldn't put together a great match if they even attempted to. Goto used to be pretty entertaining but he's been dull for awhile now. Evil is just God-awful. This was at least action packed. *1/2

SANADA vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (28:25): Sanada won and so he's tied with Evil and Naito in 1st place. This match was probably the best on the show but kind of disappointing. It was also pretty sad watching Tanahashi in this match. He did everything he always does in big matches. He even did a High Fly Flow to the outside, which he rarely does anymore. The problem is that he's old, hobbled, and broken. So seeing him do everything he used to do but now on wobbly knees and at a slower pace just makes you miss the old, great Tanahashi of old. There were also too many submission holds from both guys in this. Still, a fragile, over-the-hill Tanahashi match is better than most. Sanada is facing Evil on the final night and Naito is facing Kenta. Since Sanada and Evil both beat Naito, Naito is pretty much eliminated. That means it'll come down to the winner of Sanada vs. Evil. I really, really, really hope Evil is not in the final. But, goddammit, I called it earlier that he would be. **1/2

B Block Standings: 

Evil 6-2, Goto 4-4, Juice 3-5, Kenta 4-4, Naito 6-2, Sabre, Jr. 5-3, Sanada 6-2, Tanahashi 3-5, 

Yoshi-Hashi 1-7, Yano 3-5

Day 17 (A Block): Friday, October 16th, from Ryogoku

Attendance: 2,863

YUJIRO TAKAHASHI vs. JEFF COBB (10:30): Yujiro finally get his first win in the G1. The G1 would have been light years better if he wasn't in it, but I do think he was at least a little more entertaining than Bad Luck Fale, who wasn't in the G1 this year for unknown reasons. Cobb has looked great in every G1 match and this wasn't really an exception, it's just that getting a good match out of Takahashi is like finding the Holy Grail. This was at least fast paced and all action. **

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. MINORU SUZUKI (12:29): This was stiff and hard hitting, though kind of superfluous since both wrestlers were already eliminated. Both guys have had a good G1 and have looked great in most of their matches (I think Suzuki/Okada was a bust, though). Shingo is one of New Japan's best wrestlers...so I wish they'd give him a bigger push like they've done with boring wrestlers like Evil and Jay White. **1/2

WILL OSPREAY vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (17:04): This was probably the one match in the whole tournament I was looking forward to most. Obviously both guys are two of the best wrestlers in the world, but also because their match in last year's G1 was fucking incredible. This wasn't as good as that match, though it was definitely a highlight of the G1 this year. I loved how Ospreay came out guns blazing and did every move in the book in the first 30 seconds. You get tired of seeing two wrestlers start a match slow and lock up and it's deadly dull. This was the opposite. It also helped that Okada and Ospreay have terrific chemistry together. The way they reverse holds and deliver back-to-back and back-and-forth moves is so seamless and fluid it's a sight to behold. Ospreay pulled out all of the stops in this one, even doing a flip/dive over the ring post to Okada on the floor (a move he hasn't done before in this tournament). I kind of think without the shocking conclusion and interference at the end this might have been better, but all of that does set up a future feud between Okada and Ospreay that hopefully won't culminate until the Dome. Bea Priestley, Ospreay's real life girlfriend and wrestler in Stardom (she also wrestled a few times in AEW), came out to apparently support him...although it was simply a tactic for the ref to go and shove her out of the ring while The Great O'Khan entered the ring and slammed Okada. Because of this, Ospreay was able to deliver his finisher and win. After the match, Ospreay gave Okada a forearm swipe to the head to certify his new heel status. The Great O'Khan is a Young Lion dude that had been wrestling in RevPro but is back now. Him showing up to help Ospreay might have been more dramatic and shocking if I knew who the hell he was. I guess him and Ospreay are a new, evil faction which is kind of cool, although Ospreay as a heel might not entirely work. I guess we'll see. I figure they made him a heel so he can wrestle Okada and Ibushi and it'd give it an extra dimension. All in all, this match was excellent and the storyline was at least something exciting on the show. ***1/2

KOTA IBUSHI vs. TAICHI (17:12): With Okada losing, that meant that if Ibushi or White would win they would move ahead of Okada in the standings. Ibushi won here to take the lead. These two set out to do a deliberate story: the match was a match of only kicks. I think they did one or two other moves (Ibushi did his Kamigoye knee finisher), but it was mostly kicks, all kicks, just kicks, that's it. Fuck. I guess it worked. It was...interesting. Ibushi winning here pretty much means that it'll be Naito/Ibushi at the Dome. That's a good move, as they have great chemistry together (albeit, every time they step in a ring together they try to paralyze each other). I've always said Taichi sucks...but he's actually been very good in this G1. He stepped up. I'm shocked. **

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. JAY WHITE (24:35): This was probably the best Jay White match of the tournament. There are two reasons why. #1: Ishii is awesome. #2: If Jay White won, he'd be in the final, so that added a lot of drama. They did a bunch of interference and ref bumps in this. Gedo entered the ring twice only to get knocked down by Ishii. The ref got knocked out. Ishii pummeled White left and right. They did a bunch of near-falls. This was kind of like those WWE main events where people not in the match are running into the ring and the ref is knocked out and the super close two counts get the crowds off their feet. The WWE does that kind of shit all the time, but they do it because it works. It worked here. This was high drama at the end. And Ishii wins after Jay tried everything and it failed. Ibushi is going to the finals. Thank God. **1/2

A Block Standings:

Cobb 4-5, Ibushi 7-2, Ishii 5-4, Okada 6-3, Ospreay 6-3, Suzuki 3-6, Taichi 4-5, Takahashi 1-8, 

Takagi 4-5, White 6-3

Day 18 (B Block): Saturday, October 17th, from Ryogoku

Attendance: 2,917

YOSHI-HASHI vs. TORU YANO (6:10): Hopefully in the future, Yano can come up with a new gimmick besides using tape. It seems like in every Yano match someone gets taped to something or someone and has to struggle to get back into the ring to make the count. It's amusing for awhile, but not when you do it every match. In this match, Yoshi-Hashi taped Yano's hand to Yoshi-Hashi's staff. Yano had to climb through the guardrail at ringside to get out of the predicament and ended up making the count. Yoshi-Hashi has had a good G1...but I still never want to watch another Yoshi-Hashi match. 1/2*

JUICE ROBINSON vs. HIROOKI GOTO (12:07): These two worked hard. Juice delivered 3 punches to the face during the match...which is apparently his "big" move. I'm not sure if he always did that...but I do recall he was wrestling with a broken hand one summer and had a cast and so punching someone with the cast was his big move then. I guess he just kept it. It's stupid...but still looks a lot more realistic and powerful than when Roman Reigns delivers his lame Superman Punch. This was entertaining, albeit I could totally care less about either of these two. **

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (12:01): These two have wrestled a bunch of times against one another, so at least they know what they're doing. The best part of this match was before the bell when Zack held his tag title belt up and shoved it in Tanahashi's face. I think they beat Tanahashi and Ibushi for the titles. I think Zack's partner is Taichi. This is how great the tag division is...I can't even remember what's going on in it. As for this match...Tanahashi didn't really do much. He's getting to the point where he'll only perform at an elite level during championship main events. This was okay. **

KENTA vs. TETSUYA NAITO (21:06): This match was fairly boring for most of it. Naito woke up by the end and the action heated up for a few minutes. Naito delivered a Destino and Kenta ended up rolling him up for a quick schoolboy pin. This eliminated Naito from the tournament. These two have actually had a big feud this year for whatever reason. When Naito won both titles at the Dome, Kenta came out and beat him up which caused a lot of controversy because some thought Naito deserved the spotlight after a huge victory instead of giving the spotlight to a Kenta storyline. They faced each other for the title in February and Naito won and I honestly don't remember the match at all but I'm sure it was a bore. A lot of what happened this year pre-pandemic is pretty hazy and forgotten. Dragon Lee and Hiromu wrestled on that February show and, honestly, I don't remember that at all but I think it was awesome. I mean...it was Dragon Lee and Hiromu. Of course it was awesome. *1/2

SANADA vs. EVIL (27:01): The end of this match was great...which probably tells you how much everyone hates Evil. Naito was eliminated which meant the winner of this match would win the B block. I thought that they'd probably go with Evil simply because they did the same thing last year with Jay White. They gave Jay White a short title reign and a G1 finals appearance pretty much just to give him legitimacy as a top guy. Well they gave Evil a short title run this summer and it seemed like they'd probably put him in the G1 finals, too. They didn't. I'm guessing because as boring as Jay White is in the ring...he's still more entertaining than Evil. And an Evil match in the finals would be a fucking travesty. The interference in this match was uncanny and reached a tipping point. Dick Togo of course interfered on cue. The difference was that Hiromu Takahashi was doing commentary ringside and so he ran into the ring to beat up Dick Togo. Evil and Togo took out Hiromu but eventually Hiromu came back and super kicked Togo which led Sanada to giving Evil a Japanese Clutch and winning. The cheating, evil Evil was thwarted! Sanada won! The final will be Ibushi vs. Sanada, which should be a great match. It's not the best final that could have been. Ospreay in the final would have been better. Okada/Tanahashi? Ospreay/Naito? Ospreay/Sanada? I expect Ibushi to win. We'll see. **1/2

B Block Standings: 

Evil 6-3, Goto 4-5, Juice 4-5, Kenta 5-4, Naito 6-3, Sabre, Jr. 5-4, Sanada 7-2, Tanahashi 4-5, 

Yoshi-Hashi 2-7, Yano 3-6

Day 19 (Finals): Sunday, October 18th, from Ryogoku

Attendance: 2,929

KOTA IBUSHI vs. SANADA (35:12): The first half of this match was pretty boring and disappointing. The last five minutes or so was excellent with some very dramatic near-falls. All in all this was not the greatest G1 final, though to be honest, usually the A and B block finals tend to be better matches than the final. Sanada is a good wrestler but he lacks emotion and charisma, something you kind of need to make a wrestling match achieve a higher level of excellence. Think of any legendary wrestler and they all have loads of emotion and charisma; Ric Flair, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Kenny Omega, to name a few. Ibushi doesn't really have it either, he's more just a wrestling machine, though he's easy to root for. Sanada is kind of a cipher. The closing stretch of this was great, though, and the long match did help make this feel like a culmination. Ibushi won for the 2nd year in a row. Ibushi was the obvious choice, although during this show they announced that Wrestle Kingdom would again be two nights, which meant that Sanada probably had a chance to win since they might be doing the 4 man title tournament again. They also announced the Power Struggle card, which happens in a few weeks. Naito vs. Evil for the title and Ibushi vs. Jay White for the briefcase. Why they even have that stupid briefcase match is beyond me, as what's the point of Ibushi winning this G1 tournament to get a title shot only to have to face Jay White for the exact same thing? Nobody wants to see Evil/Naito again, and Ibushi/White matches have all sucked. Power Struggle also has Kenta/Tanahashi, which will be atrocious. Will Ospreay isn't even on the card. Hopefully Ospreay/Okada will be the main event of Dome night 1 and Ibushi/Naito will the main event of Dome night #2. A boy can dream. ***