NJPW G1 CLIMAX 31

Day 1 (A-Block): Saturday, September 18th from Osaka

Attendance: 1.963

YUJIRO TAKAHASHI vs. KOTA IBUSHI (11:31): I remember two years ago saying that losing Kenny Omega in the G1 tournament isn't that bad because now we've got Will Ospreay. Unfortunately, neither wrestler is in the G1 tournament this year. Ospreay, Suzuki, Juice Robinson, and Jay White are all not in the G1 tournament but are still strangely wrestling on shows in the U.S. I'm guessing Ospreay didn't want to do a grueling tournament because he had to relinquish the title due to an injured neck...but I'm not sure why those other guys aren't in it. It's not because those guys all live in the U.S. because Kenta lives in Florida and I'm pretty sure Jeff Cobb lives in the states but they're in this tournament. Eh, who the fuck knows? This is a pretty weak G1, although all the classic faces are here; Tanahashi, Ishii, Ibushi, Okada, etc. Ibushi even had a half decent match against Yujiro Takahashi of all people. Ibushi lost, which was the big first weekend upset. That probably means he'll win the whole thing, although since he won last year it might be someone new. You'd think Ospreay would get a main event title match at the Dome...but since he's not even in this it'll probably be Okada winning the whole thing. Sadly, Okada's match against Shingo for the title in June wasn't very good. I could see Shingo or Ibushi winning it. Maybe Tanahashi. It won't be Naito because after tonight's match he injured his knee and is out of the tournament. I doubt anyone else would win it. Ibushi just got back from a month out of action because he had pneumonia. He looks a little skinnier and less buffed up but still wrestled like a master. **1/2 

GREAT O'KHAN vs. TANGA LOA (17:45): This G1 is bereft of stars, so much so that not one but two of the Tongans are in it. Ugh. At least thank God Bad Luck Fale isn't in this as well. The Great O'Khan is new this year. Do you love double chops to the shoulders! Well, get used to them. The crowd did clap for that move but it's still fucking stupid looking. And no, this wasn't awful. It was fine. Although I'm still standing by my point I made a year ago that The Great O'Khan will never be in a good match ever. **

TORU YANO vs. KENTA (11:07): Kenta eventually taped Yano to the entranceway and he had to fight out of it to make the 20 count. If you love that sort of shit, you'd love this and all of Yano's matches. I will say that Yano's new t-shirt is amusing; it's the Mona Lisa but with his face on it. Yano won in a surprise with a roll up. 1/2*

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. TETSUYA NAITO (27:05): Funny, but Zack worked on Naito's legs and knees in this match and then shockingly it was announced that Naito injured his knee and is out of the tournament. That means that the A block will go on with only 4 nightly matches. His opponents will still wrestle someone, probably just Young Lions or something. The only Naito match I was looking forward to was Ibushi/Naito, although their last match at the Dome was weak. This was good in spots but way too long. These two actually have main evented shows before so I guess somebody somewhere thinks this is like some classic rivalry. It's not. Their matches are always average at best. **

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (27:56): This was great stuff and by far the match of the night but also way too long. Ishii should only be in 15 minute long matches. He's built for power and brutality and that wears thin after awhile. Ishii attempted a top rope suplex late and they both just fell awkwardly off the ropes in a botch. They traded stiff shots seemingly forever. Shingo proves yet again he's one of the world's best. I'm really looking forward to Ishii/Ibushi and Shingo/Ibushi but, sadly, there's not much else to look forward to in this tournament. ***

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 0-1, Ishii 0-1, Kenta 0-1, Tanga Loa 0-1, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 1-0, Sabre, Jr. 1-0, Takagi 1-0, Takahashi 1-0, Yano 1-0

Day 2 (B-Block): Sunday, September 19th from Osaka

Attendance: 2,188

EVIL vs. YOSHI-HASHI (17:15): They had a bigger crowd for this show, which was in the same building as the first show but an afternoon show. The reason was obvious: Okada/Tanahashi. They haven't wrestled each other since 2019, and if I recall it was their G1 match in Dallas. Besides those two, the B block has such greats as Chase Owens, Tama Tonga and Yoshi-Hashi. Yikes. Maybe they should have had a smaller G1 this tournament since a lot of the big names aren't in it. And even though nobody likes Yoshi-Hashi, at least in this match he tried really, really hard. I can't say the same about Evil, who might just be New Japan's worst all around wrestler. I can't even really think of anything good about him. And I'm still flummoxed as to why his name is in English. The word for "evil" in Japanese is "aku" according to Google Translate. No, a wrestler being called Aku isn't really cool sounding. Is that the reason? Well Evil ended up winning thanks to loads of interference by Dick Togo. I think everyone and their mother is sick of the interference in Evil matches. This wasn't boring, though, because Yoshi-Hashi went full throttle throughout. **

JEFF COBB vs. CHASE OWENS (12:11): You know how bad this year's G1 lineup is when you notice that Chase Owens is in it. New Japan must like him for some reason, as they even let him have a 30 minute match against Yano at that last baseball stadium show. At least Jeff Cobb looked as powerful and as awesome as ever. I still can't fathom how he does that standing moonsault. Maybe it's because a short guy. Is he? He's 5'10". Not that short. Chase Owens also looks out of shape because he has a flabby stomach. Everyone in Japan is skinny. Did Chase Owens somehow find the only McDonald's in Japan or something? This was at least kind of short. *1/2

SANADA vs. TAMA TONGA (19:04): As much as I find the Tongans boring as hell, Tama Tonga at least tried really hard to put on a show. It kind of worked, as this was halfway decent. Sanada did all of his patented spots, including the sloppy top-rope moonsault and the dumb-as-hell move where he ties his opponents hands between his legs in a pretzel that obviously doesn't keep him trapped. They should really let Sanada win this whole tournament because it seems like they never want to pull the trigger on him winning anything big for whatever reason. **1/2

TAICHI vs. HIROOKI GOTO (18:30): I actually used to really like Goto's matches...but I'm not sure if his matches were good five years ago or I was just an idiot, because he hasn't been in an entertaining match in forever. Taichi's okay and the best thing about him will always be his stupid, lip singing Phantom of the Opera-style entrance that always cracks me up because it's so idiotic. Taichi does usually pick it up to make the last few minutes of his matches exciting, though. This was pretty average stuff. **

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (29:36): The feud between these two will go down as one of pro-wrestling's greatest...although this was probably their weakest match yet. The reason is kind of obvious; they're older and not as fast as they once were. Okada still wrestles pretty much the same, though Tanahashi walks around like he's one bad move away from being in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. That didn't stop him from doing a High Fly Flow from the top rope to the floor, though, which is always awesome. And as usual, the last five minutes was high drama and great wrestling. These two have had a bunch of 30 minute draws in the G1 over the years, so I was kind  of surprised how close to a draw this came. Since I always watch the Japanese commentary feed (the announcers were on fire at the end of this match) and they don't show a countdown clock, I never have any idea how long these matches are. But that usually tells you how good a match is, when you don't realize how long it went. I kind of doubt there will be a better B block match than this. ***

B Block Standings:

Cobb 1-0, Evil 1-0, Goto 0-1, Okada 1-0, Owens 0-1, Sanada 1-0, Taichi 1-0, Tanahashi 0-1, Tama Tonga 0-1, Yoshi-Hashi 0-1

Day 3 (A Block): Thursday, September 23rd, from Tokyo

Attendance: 1,284

GREAT O'KHAN vs. YANO (11:30): Naito was injured so he's out of the tournament. That meant that Tanga Loa got to have a superfluous, unannounced match tonight against Nagata. Naito against Shingo and against Ibushi probably would have been good, so he'll be missed, though Naito hasn't really had any great matches in a long time either. The one problem with New Japan is that all of the big stars that made the promotion reach it's zenith in popularity are getting old and the new batch of young pups isn't all that great. That probably means in five years this promotion might be floundering. That will be especially true if Great O'Khan is in main events. The big question is: will Great O'Khan even have a good match in this tournament? So far, no. There's very, very few wrestlers that can have a good match with Yano. Kenny Omega was one of them, but that was probably because he wrestled in DDT and was used to doing comedy matches. This might go down as the worst match in this year's G1, although we've still got 8 more Great O'Khan and 8 more Yano matches to go. And, honestly, this wasn't even awful or anything, it was just a typical Great O'Khan or Yano match. 1/2*

KENTA vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (15:48): Yujiro Takahashi is pretty much a forgotten part of New Japan. Nobody really knows why he's there or why he's been around so long. It's not like he's ever been in a good match or pushed or ever entertained. His ring-girl in the sky-high heels and bunny mask doing her entrance is always more entertaining than his matches. I will admit, though, that so far in this G1 he's been trying really, really hard. Which meant that this match wasn't boring. The last few minutes were dramatic and filled with high energy. So there was that. **1/2

KOTA IBUSHI vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (17:42): Good match but it wasn't as epic or as great as some of their previous G1 encounters, especially that 4 star masterpiece three year's ago when Ibushi did a moonsault off a wall in the arena. This was hard hitting though, as most of this was just slaps and kicks and elbows. I don't even think they left the ring. Ibushi has toned down his high flying craziness lately, which is kind of shame but also probably very wise. ***

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (27:17): This was a double shock. Zack Sabre was actually in a really good match and he pinned the champ. Shingo is the 2nd best wrestler in New Japan and one of the best in the world, so it's not that surprising that this was good. These two have good chemistry together and while it did last 27 minutes it was pretty much all action with a ton of near-falls. There also wasn't any boring, forever submission holds by Zack which helped. Zack Sabre, Jr. now has wins against Naito and Shingo. I really hope he's not in the Final, though, as he rarely has great matches and this was definitely an outlier. ***

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 1-1, Ishii 0-2, Kenta 1-1, Tanga Loa 0-1, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 2-0, Sabre, Jr. 2-0, Takagi 1-1, Takahashi 1-1, Yano 1-1

Day 4 (B Block): Friday, September 24th, from Tokyo

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. HIROOKI GOTO (14:10): This match might've been the main event in a previous year's G1 show. Unfortunately, Evil is in main events now for no good reason. This was a forgettable show filled with average matches. Goto hasn't been in a good match in years and the great Tanahashi we all loved is sadly fading away. This wasn't awful or anything, just pedestrian. *1/2

TAMA TONGA vs. CHASE OWENS (12:59): This was, shockingly, the best match on the show. Perhaps it was because it was the shortest? For whatever reason these two worked at a frenetic pace. They didn't do anything particularly great, they just worked hard and fast and because of that it was the most watchable and entertaining bout on the show. **1/2

JEFF COBB vs. YOSHI-HASHI (13:21): Yoshi-Hashi came to the ring wearing a championship belt. What belt does he have? I have no idea. The trio's title that's rarely defended? The NEVER title? Cobb is a beast but for some reason is rarely in great matches. There wasn't much to this. 1/2*

TAICHI vs. SANADA (25:15): You knew these two were going to go long because early on, Taichi pulled Sanada's arms back in a submission hold that literally lasted for multiple minutes. Eventually by the end the pace grew a bit faster and some of it was engaging. Does anyone else think Taichi's patented, pants ripping maneuver at the end of his matches is the stupiest fucking thing ever? Was he, like, a stripper in his early 20's and that's why he does it? For whatever reason, pretty much nothing these two tried worked and everything looked either off key, off balance, or kind of sloppy. *1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. EVIL (21:46): This was a typical Evil match. His opponent tries really hard to put together a great, dramatic match but ends up bogged down in the interference, ref bumps, and Evil's boringness. Okada did everything. Multiple flying drop kicks. Multiple Rainmaker's. But it still ended up just another lame Evil match that we've seen before and it wasn't good then and never will be. I understand why they first pushed Evil last summer. The pandemic gave them few options so they decided to create a big main event with Naito vs. Evil. That failed and now we're stuck with these bad Evil matches on every show. I was intently watching Evil in this match to put a finger on why he's so boring in the ring. One thing is that none of his moves are creative like some of the stuff great wrestlers like Ospreay or Hiromu or Shingo do. All of Evil's moves are standard and dull. The other thing is that he's not good at acting; his selling is bad. He's just a lumbering, dull bore. Okada worked his ass off but this wasn't very good. *1/2

B Block Standings:

Cobb 2-0, Evil 1-1, Goto 0-2, Okada 2-0, Owens 0-2, Sanada 1-1, Taichi 2-0, Tanahashi 1-1, Tama Tonga 1-1, Yoshi-Hashi 0-2

Day 5 (A Block): Sunday, September 26th, from Kobe

Attendance: 2,250

GREAT O'KHAN vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (14:15): Shingo was supposed to face Naito tonight but of course Naito is out of the tournament so Shingo wrestled Nagata. People said it was a good match but I didn't watch it. I also didn't watch the Master Wato opening match which everyone said was lousy. I'm not sure why they haven't just officially made Nagata Naito's replacement since he's already wrestled in his place twice. Maybe because he's an old man and they didn't think he could do 9 days of this grueling tournament. Maybe I should have watched Nagata/Shingo, because I watched this horrible match instead. I should probably just skip every Great O'Khan match. The one thing he's been sort of good at is being Will Ospreay's bodyguard/corner man. Really, he's great at anything outside a wrestling ring. Wrestling Takahashi didn't exactly help him either. Takahashi really tried hard in his first two matches but maybe that was it because in this he was moving mostly at a snail's pace. If he didn't come to the ring with that eye candy bunny girl in whore clothing he'd be completely forgettable. 1/2*

TORU YANO vs. TANGA LOA (10:46): For the most part, Tanga Loa wrestled this match as if it wasn't a comedy match. I'm not sure what he was attempting by doing that, although he did pull Yano's shirt over his head at one point and then throw a ring boy at him. That was about the pinnacle of his comedic attempts. Yano came to the ring with a bag and the ref grabbed it and emptied it out and it was filled with multiple pairs of handcuffs and multiple rolls of tape. I think Yano needs some new ideas. I don't think he's done the powder to the eyes yet. I still can't believe he had a 30+ minute match against Chase Owens at that last, big baseball stadium show. I didn't watch it but wonder what the hell anyone involved in that was thinking. I suppose it's a good thing that Yano and Owens are in different blocks. 1/2*

KENTA vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (21:08): These two attempted to have a classic, semi-long, real New Japan main event type of a match. Considering Kenta isn't great anymore, it didn't exactly work. You could tell it was going to go long because Kenta rolled out of the ring three times before Ishii grabbed him by the hair and pulled him back in. Kenta was, apparently, the world's greatest wrestler having the world's greatest matches about ten years ago or so, at least before Tanahashi, Okada, and then Omega took over that spot. Was Kenta doing the same shit he does now back then? Because if he was, I truly doubt his matches were that good. Maybe it was because he was younger and faster in Noah. He certainly doesn't do much of anything besides kick. He never climbs the top rope. I'm just kind of baffled that he was this legend. All I remember is him as Hideo Itami floundering in 205Live. Granted, he was the top dog before all the streaming services started so I never watched him in Noah. So this is about as good as Kenta match will be these days. It was probably better than average but not great or anything. And it is fairly difficult to have a bad match against Ishii. **1/2

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. KOTA IBUSHI (19:55): Man, Zack Sabre, Jr. is killing it this year, right? He's tapping everybody out. Maybe New Japan is just happy he stayed in Japan unlike Suzuki, Ospreay, Juice, and Jay White so they're giving him victories. Sadly, Ibushi doesn't do any of the crazy, high flying stuff that made him a star. I suppose that's smart. He did break his neck years ago. Plus he was out for a month with pneumonia this summer. And he's still a great wrestler, he just doesn't do the wild stuff from his past. I was reminded of this because Kenny Omega did a Phoenix Splash in his match against Bryan Danielson at Arthur Ashe stadium a few weeks ago. That used to be Ibushi's move, although I can't remember the last time he did it. And even Omega rarely pulls that one out of the bag (he did it in that great Lights Out match against Moxley two years ago). It's kind of sad seeing the greats like Okada, Tanahashi, Ibushi, and Naito get old and start playing safe. Granted, Shibata's career ending prematurely because he never played it safe, so there's a good reason why Ibushi isn't doing crazy moonsaults off balconies night after night. With that said, this was a good match but not great. There were way too many boring Zack Sabre, Jr. submission holds. I realize that's his thing, but he didn't do a lot of that against Shingo and that match was a lot better. **1/2

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 1-2, Ishii 0-3, Kenta 2-1, Tanga Loa 0-2, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 3-0, Sabre, Jr. 3-0, Takagi 1-1, Takahashi 1-2, Yano 2-1

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

Attendance: 664

EVIL vs. TAICHI (11:30): This show was at Korakuen Hall. I always like watching shows there because the fans are so close. Unfortunately, Japan is still under Covid restrictions, meaning the fans are spread out, wearing masks, and only allowed to clap, not cheer or boo. This is a little strange considering every wrestling show in the U.S. now has sold out, packed, maskless crowds. On the day this show happened, Japan had 39 Covid deaths and the U.S. had 1,984. You would think Japan would be the place having packed, sold out, maskless crowds. Granted, the U.S. has a larger population, but I think it's mostly because Japan is more precautious. Either way, having quiet, smaller crowds isn't helping this G1, which has been by far the worst I've ever seen. It also doesn't help that they don't have a superstar like Ospreay in the mix. You would think New Japan would be losing tons of money putting shows on for a paltry 664 people, right? Maybe the TV money is saving them, as this show was on Samurai TV live in Japan which I think is kind of like ESPN but for wrestling. A packed, sold out Korakuen Hall probably wouldn't have saved this show, though. Yoshi-Hashi was in the main event, which tells you how bad the card was. They didn't even have a non-G1 opening match tonight for whatever reason. This match was a typical Evil match filled to the brim with interference by Dick Togo. Togo is basically in the G1, as he's out there for Evil, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa's matches. The funniest part of this match was when Evil shoved Taichi into the metal barricade and the barricade knocked over the table and the ring bell guy. Evil has done this in all three of his matches so far. I have no idea who this ring bell guy is that keeps getting knocked over. I don't think it's an announcer. Is it some sort of inside joke? Or maybe in the G1 final that guy will take revenge on Evil and this is all a storyline leading somewhere? It's funny but feels like one of those dumb things Vince McMahon puts into a script just because he thinks it's funny. I wonder, though: are the Japanese fans as sick of all this Dick Togo interference as I am? *

SANADA vs. CHASE OWENS (11:58): Chase Owens has been really good in this tournament so far. I guess I've never really paid attention to him before, but he's pretty entertaining. Early on he tried to put Sanada into that move where he locked Sanada's arms through his feet to tie him up but it didn't work. Chase was celebrating but didn't notice that Sanada easily slipped out of it and was standing right behind him. So Chase did the old Scooby Doo gimmick where he backed up into him and then felt with his hand to see who it was before turning around. Pure comedy gold! Yano should take notes. Like all G1 matches, the final few minutes were fast and action packed. **1/2

JEFF COBB vs. HIROOKI GOTO (15:08): This was two big guys slamming each other, so that was pretty fun to watch. Cobb won with his finishing, twirl-around slam, The Tour of the Islands. That's one of wrestling's greatest finishing moves because it actually looks cool and devastating. Cobb's undefeated so far. Would they actually put him in the final, though? Zack Sabre, Jr. is also undefeated, and I mentioned maybe they were throwing a bone to all the foreigners for coming to Japan to do the G1 during a pandemic. Chase Owens is 0-3, though, so that theory is out the window. **1/2

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. TAMA TONGA (14:17): Tama Tonga did a top rope frog splash. It didn't look that good, probably because he never does spectacle shit like that. He should, though, as he's pretty boring in the ring. Tanahashi didn't even glance at the top rope, so he seemed like he was taking the night off. They started off with multiple arm bar submission holds. Jesus. By the end they at least kicked it up a notch but it was pretty forgettable. *1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI (26:53): Yoshi-Hashi delivered a Rainmaker. Or was it, perhaps, just a clothesline? Who ever came up with a clothesline being a finisher should be fired. Okada definitely made it work, though, although now he has that stupid submission, sleeper hold he always breaks out to put his opponent and the audience to sleep. Okada did in fact win with the Rainmaker. Yoshi Hashi did a top rope Senton that missed. The final few minutes were decent but most of this was average stuff. **

B Block Standings:

Cobb 3-0, Evil 2-1, Goto 0-3, Okada 3-0, Owens 0-3, Sanada 2-1, Taichi 2-1, Tanahashi 2-1, Tama Tonga 1-2, Yoshi-Hashi 0-3

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

Attendance: 689

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. TANGA LOA (16:18): The opening match at Yujiro Takahashi facing Bushi. If they're going to just have random matches in place of the Naito matches, why not put Hiromu in them? It's not like he's doing anything during the G1, and he's one of New Japan's most exciting wrestlers. I remember the rumor last year was that they would put him in the G1. They didn't last year so probably never will. That's a shame, as this G1 sorely needs some great matches. This opener at least had a fun sequence where Ishii and Tanga Loa traded elbows back and forth for a solid minute. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa are pretty boring wrestlers but I will admit that they're both working their asses off in this tournament. This was hard hitting but just okay. **

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. GREAT O'KHAN (15:26): Unfortunately, Great O'Khan decided to also do submission holds in this match. That meant that this was all submission holds and early on it was mat wrestling. Please wake me up. I was thinking that maybe they're going to put Zack in the final or perhaps let him win the whole thing. Considering the only great match he's ever been in was against Ospreay, they could do Zack vs. Ospreay at the Dome. They'd never put two foreigners in the main event but Day 1 could be Shingo/Ibushi and Zack/Ospreay and Day 2 could be the winners, Ospreay/Shingo for the title. That would be a hell of a Tokyo Dome. Zack's undefeated so far. I'm not sure they'd let him win, though. I'm not sure a final with him in it would be any good, either. This year they've really pushed him. Him and Taichi won the tag titles and were in some main events. Granted, he was in this sad, boring, mess of a match. If you like submission holds you'd fucking be in hog heaven watching this. 1/2*

KOTA IBUSHI vs. TORU YANO (4:03): This was the best Yano match in the G1 so far. The reason? It was so short! Ibushi at least knows how to do comedy since he wrestled in DDT. Yano put a bag over Ibushi's head then rolled him up in the apron curtain thing that hangs across the bottom side of the ring. That was amusing. **

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. KENTA (23:56): This match was boring. Kenta is just not very exciting or entertaining to watch. I think he's just too old and beat up these days. Maybe he never worked fast and he's not old and beat up. Maybe this is just how he always wrestled. I don't know. I know that he'll never be in a great match. Shingo worked hard but Kenta just couldn't keep up and go toe to toe with him. It also went way too long. Like the G1 so far it wasn't terrible or anything, just kind of average. **

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 2-2, Ishii 1-3, Kenta 2-2, Tanga Loa 0-3, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 3-1, Sabre, Jr. 4-0, Takagi 2-1, Takahashi 1-2, Yano 2-2

Day 8 (B Block): Friday, October 1st, from Hamamatsu

Attendance: 1,101

JEFF COBB vs. TAMA TONGA (12:47): This was a snooze fest of a show. The show was in a pretty big arena with a big crowd (at least for Pandemic era New Japan) but most of this show felt like it was held in a silent tomb. The crowd didn't have much to clap for, though, as every match was plodding, slow, boring, and unexciting except for the main event. Cobb won again so he's still undefeated. I kind of doubt they'd give him the B Block win but who knows? 1/2*

EVIL vs. CHASE OWENS (12:38): More interference by Dick Togo. It really makes the ref look like a fucking idiot since, for some reason, New Japan never does DQ's. I'm not exactly sure why, but every match on this card up to the main event was super slow. Did someone inadvertently pump sleeping gas into the arena? When the match started, Evil wanted Chase Owens to lay down for the pin because they're both in Bullet Club and I guess Evil is the leader? They should really get rid of Bullet Club as the days of that being a cool, popular thing is long over. 1/2*

YOSHI-HASHI vs. TAICHI (22:26): A 22 minute Yoshi-Hashi/Taichi match? Really? Are you sure? Taichi beat the shit out of Yoshi-Hashi for like twenty minutes. Yoshi-Hashi finally made a comeback late and ended up winning. I kept waiting for Taichi to take his pants off because then I knew it'd be over soon. At least by the end they started working at a less than slow pace. *1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. HIROOKI GOTO (18:06): Another yawn-inducing match. Okada didn't even win with a Rainmaker, he just did a quick roll-up pin. Okada has had some great matches against Ospreay in the last two years and his Dome match in 2020 against Naito was pretty great. But other than that he hasn't been very exciting. His matches are also molasses slow. You can probably thank Omega for that, as Okada now seemingly has to "warm up" for fifteen minutes in every match by walking around and doing one move every few minutes. As usual, the last few minutes were fairly exciting. But it was too little too late. *1/2

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. SANADA (25:36): I'm not sure if this match was actually good or if the other matches on this show were so horrible that it made this look like Omega/Okada. I did think it was a good match, though. It was fast-paced, big moves, near-falls, and with a crowd that finally woke up. Tanahashi did 3 High Fly Flows from the top rope. You can tell he means business when he breaks out everything in his arsenal. After tonight's show, Cobb and Okada are both undefeated. ***

B Block Standings:

Cobb 4-0, Evil 3-1, Goto 0-4, Okada 4-0, Owens 0-4, Sanada 2-2, Taichi 2-2, Tanahashi 3-1, Tama Tonga 1-3, Yoshi-Hashi 1-3

Day 9 (A Block): Sunday, October 3rd, from Aichi

Attendance: 2,483

KENTA vs. GREAT O'KHAN (19:30): Big crowd in a big arena tonight. They even had two non-G1 matches on the card tonight, though nothing worth watching (Bushi vs. Yano? Yawn). The final two matches on this show were both excellent. Sadly, excellent matches used to be a norm in this tournament but not this year. It doesn't help that you've got dull, boring wrestlers like Great O'Khan and Kenta putting us to sleep as they slowly walk around the ring every night. I hope both Kenta and Great O'Khan watched Ishii/Sabre to learn a thing or two about pacing. Nobody wants to watch a fucking slow match. Wake up, you idiots. 1/2*

TANGA LOA vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (12:36): Yujiro must have seen the big crowd and thought he should, like, actually do something exciting in his matches for a change so he dove through the ropes and onto Tanga Loa down on the floor. Afterwards, he raised his hands in the air as if he'd won a trophy. Jesus Christ. This was a Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club match. I'm not sure that matters in the grand scheme of things, because New Japan rarely does big angles or storylines or even has the whole Bullet Club out there together. This was forgettable. 1/2*

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (18:40): It's taken forever, but finally we got some great matches in the G1 this year. This match was awesome. The reason? They actually did a fast-paced match. It's funny, but Zack's big gimmick is that he's the king of submission holds, yet every great match he's in barely features any submission holds. This was pretty much non-stop action throughout. There were a ton of near falls, Ishii delivered a bunch of mighty chest slaps, and by the end it was just back and forth high drama. Great match. Zack loses for the first time in the tournament. ***1/2

KOTA IBUSHI vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (23:57): I kind of thought that the Ishii/Sabre match would be the best match of the G1 tournament so far, but this might have been a bit better because the final five minutes or so of this was fantastic. Ibushi did a top rope moonsault to the floor, which he never does anymore. I guess because there was a big crowd in a big arena these guys wanted to put on a show, because they beat the shit out of each other and worked their asses off. This was definitely the Ibushi of old. Lately he's seemed to tone down his style, but tonight both guys were delivering brutal knees, slaps, kicks, and slams to each other. Shingo gave Ibushi a knee to the face that looked and sounded like it broke his skull. This was a classic G1 match. I didn't expect anything less, as their match in last year's G1 was a match of the year. Now can we finally get a main event title match between these two? ***1/2

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 3-2, Ishii 2-3, Kenta 3-2, Tanga Loa 1-3, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 3-2, Sabre, Jr. 4-1, Takagi 2-2, Takahashi 1-3, Yano 2-2

Day 10 (B Block): Monday, October 4th, from Tokyo (Korakuen Hall)

Attendance: 692

CHASE OWENS vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (10:58): Chase Owens surprisingly won here. He also won after delivering a sick looking piledriver. Tanahashi did two High Fly Flows and, of course, Owens put his knees up for the second one. I'd say probably 90% of Tanahashi's second High Fly Flows are blocked by his opponent's knees...so why the fuck does he always go for two of them? This was mediocre. *1/2

EVIL vs. TAMA TONGA (13:47): I'm either racist because I think all Japanese people look alike or I'm an idiot because I really thought that the manager of Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa was Dick Togo. Well it's obviously not, as Dick Togo and his look-alike, Jado, were both out there for this match. Granted, I might have known they were different people if I listened to the English commentary. But Jado and Dick Togo do look alike. They're both muscled, short, bald, and they both have a tattoo around their one bicep. They also interfere constantly by distracting the ref. The one new thing that occurred during this match was that the lights went out. I was thinking that, damn, something cool is about to happen! Nope. Jado was just on the ring with his kendo stick attacking Evil. Or maybe it was Togo attacking Tama Tonga. It doesn't matter, because it was a lame lights out reveal. I always go to cagematch.net to get the match times for these shows and there's always a bunch of reader's comments at the bottom about the show. I'm baffled, but everyone raved about this show. Besides the final few minutes of Taichi/Cobb, this wasn't a very good show at all. * 

JEFF COBB vs. TAICHI (15:15): Taichi always starts wrestling in high gear when he rips his pants off. Why doesn't he just rip his stupid pants off before the match starts so he can go into high gear right away and produce a masterpiece? The last five minutes or so of this was awesome. High Drama. Back and forth action. A hot crowd clapping voraciously. Before that it was kind of eh. Cobb stood on Taichi. Then Cobb stood on Taichi and grabbed his microphone and pretended to sing. Cobb's a regular Rodney Dangerfield all of a sudden. Since Cobb is still undefeated it looks like the winner of Cobb/Okada on the final day of the B Block will go to the finals. They had a feud over the summer producing decent matches but nothing blow away. **1/2

HIROOKI GOTO vs. YOSHI-HASHI (16:57): These two worked hard and fast and beat the hell out of each other from the opening bell to the finish. The problem? Yoshi-Hashi beating the hell out of you isn't exactly as devastating or exciting as Ishii beating the hell out of you. And Goto working a fast paced match isn't as exciting as pretty much anyone else working a fast paced match. That means that everything they did didn't exactly translate to much in the way of greatness. These two are B-players for a reason. **

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. SANADA (29:14): I thought Sanada/Tanahashi was better than this. I suppose I'm just not into slow build type of matches with psychology. I want action and crazy moves! I want Will Ospreay is what I want. Okada just works way too slow these days. I mentioned it before, but it seems like he only does one move every few minutes then rests. Sanada pulled out the "injured body part" storyline where his knee was hurt so he played that up a bit. Okada won with the Rainmaker. There were a few great, dramatic moments in this match, but unfortunately they were like five minutes out of thirty. **1/2

B Block Standings:

Cobb 5-0, Evil 4-1, Goto 1-4, Okada 5-0, Owens 1-4, Sanada 2-3, Taichi 2-3, Tanahashi 3-2, Tama Tonga 1-4, Yoshi-Hashi 1-4

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

Attendance: 1,364

KOTA IBUSHI vs. TANGA LOA (13:46): Hiromu Takahashi wrestled Kenta in the second non-G1 match tonight. That's at least a somewhat significant non-G1 match. Maybe they haven't been getting good enough crowds so they brought the big dogs out. Just seeing Hiromu wrestling on this show made me wonder why they didn't just put him in the G1. Standing next to Kenta, he didn't even look small or anything. Plus he's a much more exciting wrestler than most of the wrestlers in the G1. This show needed all it could, though, since Great O'Khan was in the main event. Shockingly, that was the best match. This opener was at least fast paced with some good action. Ibushi botched one move, though, when he tried a reverse Hurricanrana and just slipped off of Tanga Loa. Tanga Loa still sold it, which made it look worse. Ibushi won so he's in 2nd place behind Zack Sabre, Jr. **

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (14:15): Basic, average match. Sadly, this is becoming the norm in this year's G1, surely the worst G1 in a long time. Sabre won so he's in first place at the moment. I really don't want to see him in the finals because great Zack Sabre, Jr. matches are very rare. *1/2

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. TORU YANO (8:17): Yano produced two bags and put one on his head and told Shingo to put one over his head, too. When Shingo did it, Yano took his off and started beating him up. I think Yano should go watch some Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin movies to get some new, better, funnier ideas. It's kind of sad seeing serious wrestlers attempting to do a silly comedy match. 1/2*

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. GREAT O'KHAN (26:26): This was, by far, the best Great O'Khan match I've ever seen. The problem with him is that nothing he does looks good. It's all basic stuff along with his stupid double chops. If Great O'Khan showed up in the WWE doing his whole schtick everybody would say the WWE is racist. Great O'Khan did try really hard here, though, and it was a lot more entertaining than his usual bore fests. Ishii looked great as usual. If you can't have a good match with Ishii, you're doing something wrong. So this had some good, back and forth action and drama and they both worked hard. **1/2

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 4-2, Ishii 3-3, Kenta 3-2, Tanga Loa 1-4, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 3-3, Sabre, Jr. 5-1, Takagi 3-2, Takahashi 1-4, Yano 2-3

Day 12 (B Block): Friday, October 8th, from Kochi

Attendance: 1,060

YOSHI-HASHI vs. TAMA TONGA (13:14): This was a pretty dull, uneventful show. The only thing that helped was that it was held in a big, brightly lit arena that looked visually cool. These two are both already eliminated, so now their matches are even more pointless. Both of them have worked hard in this tournament, though neither one could ever be in a 4-star classic no matter how hard they tried. *

HIROOKI GOTO vs. CHASE OWENS (12:41): Owens pulled an Ospreay and came out guns blazing and went full force for like a minute then tried to pin Goto three times in a row. That frenetic sequence was a blast. Too bad Owens couldn't do that for the entire match. Goto has been pretty forgettable in this tournament but Owens has looked good. He's not a great singles wrestler but he'd be a good tag team wrestler if they ever put him together with a star. *1/2

JEFF COBB vs. SANADA (14:17): Cobb won again and is still undefeated. They seem to be building up the Okada/Cobb match in this tournament. Those two wrestled a few times in the summer, although I only gave their July match in the Tokyo Dome two stars. I mentioned in that review: "would it kill this company to give Cobb a push?" Funny, because they seem to be doing just that. He did beat Okada later in the summer and now he's on a run. Cobb has yet to have a really great match in this tournament, though. This was decent but nothing special. Sanada seems to only try hard if he's in the main event (something a lot of these guys do). **

EVIL vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (17:22): Well this was a mess. At one point, the ref was knocked out and Tanahashi was putting Dick Togo in a sharpshooter. I'm sick of all the interference in Evil's matches. I wonder if the brass in New Japan writing this shit is as well? Obviously not. Why don't they come up with a storyline where every Evil match has to have two referees? That'd be interesting. Evil also knocked the time keeper guy over again. I'm not sure where that storyline's going. * 

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. TAICHI (23:10): Okada is so frustrating to watch these days. He starts every match like he's wrestling in slow motion. Somebody give him a Red Bull pre-match or something. I don't remember if he always wrestled like this or if it's just because he's older and more beat up now he has to take it slow. The last five minutes or so were great, however. Taichi is good when he finally rips his pants off and lights a fire under his ass. Okada won so he's tied with Cobb. Evil's still alive in 2nd place, though Okada already beat Evil. I guess Cobb vs. Evil might be a big one. Maybe there will be extra interference in that one to frustrate and annoy us even more. **1/2

B Block Standings:

Cobb 6-0, Evil 5-1, Goto 2-4, Okada 6-0, Owens 1-5, Sanada 2-4, Taichi 2-4, Tanahashi 3-3, Tama Tonga 1-5, Yoshi-Hashi 2-4

Day 13 (A Block): Saturday, October 9th, from Osaka

Attendance: 1,620

KENTA vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (22:24): The show was in a big arena with a decent crowd tonight. That helped. For whatever reason, a lot of the arenas in Japan have really high ceilings. What's the deal behind that, anyway? And when will New Japan finally have a sold-out, packed show? I heard that some Covid restrictions in Japan were going away on October 1st. Obviously that didn't happen. The restricted crowds aren't killing this tournament but they're certainly not helping. Tonight's show had Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ishii as one of the openers. The other had Desperado. Seriously, though, Hiromu vs. Ishii is better than any G1 match. That should be, like, a main event title match at the Dome. Sadly, Hiromu is stuck in the Jr.'s division. There have been some that started in the Jr.'s division but made it to the big stage; namely, Ospreay and Omega. Losing Hiromu would destroy the Jr. division but who fucking cares? As for this match, Kenta and Zack slapped the shit out of each other for twenty minutes and it was great. I do have a theory as to why this was a good match. Kenta supposedly lives in Florida and was in the WWE for five years or so. That means he's probably one of the better English speakers in NJPW. That means that planning out a match is probably a lot easier since both Zack and Kenta speak English. That's my theory as to why this was a good match. It was the hardest hitting match in the G1 so far. Good stuff. ***

TORU YANO vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (10:23): Yano handcuffed Yujiro's hands behind his back and he was counted out. So that happened. 1/2*

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. TANGA LOA (19:08): Eventually this turned into a really good match. It took awhile to get there, though. There was a scary scene when Tanga was on the second rope in the corner with Shingo on his shoulder ready to slam him. Tanga slipped off the ropes and slammed Shingo down hard. Thank God he didn't slip a few seconds earlier or he would have put Shingo right on his head. Maybe wearing Nike sneakers in the ring is a problem. Shouldn't Tanga be wearing wrestling boots? **1/2

KOTA IBUSHI vs. GREAT O'KHAN (20:22): Early on this match was a bore. The last few minutes were decent but this never turned into anything great. There was one sequence where O'Khan was leaning down and going forward for a move and Ibushi just kneed him right in the face. That looked sick. You definitely know you're in trouble when the Great O'Khan is in the main event, although his last main event was actually pretty good. I kind of hate that they're pushing him because he's a pretty dull wrestler. When this match started I was looking at the arena and noticing the balconies and thinking: maybe this is the match Ibushi does a balcony moonsault? It was not to be! He did that twice in the G1 three years ago but I don't think he did it last year. He's toning down his style and that's kind of sad. Right now, Ibushi and Zack are tied in first place with Kenta and Shingo in second place. I think the rest of the pack are pretty much eliminated by this point. *1/2

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 5-2, Ishii 3-3, Kenta 4-2, Tanga Loa 1-5, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 3-4, Sabre, Jr. 5-2, Takagi 4-2, Takahashi 1-5, Yano 3-3

Day 14 (B Block): Tuesday, October 12th, from Sendai

Attendance: 961

TAMA TONGA vs. TAICHI (12:58): The arena they were in looked pretty big but they got less than a thousand people to show up. It didn't look empty or anything because it was pretty dark, though with a card like this on a Tuesday night, do you blame people for not going to this? The opener had Hiromu verse a Young Lion nobody. All of the G1 matches tonight were actually pretty good, although there weren't any blow away matches or anything. At this point, most of these guys are eliminated from the tournament so half of this card was fairly pointless. Tama Tonga shockingly beat Taichi. If it was up to me, I'd have Tama Tonga go winless. He's not terrible, just kind of pedestrian. This had some good action in it, though. And Taichi can be pretty exciting at the dramatic high points of his matches. **

SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI (17:32): I'm not sure the reasoning behind giving Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada 17 minutes. They worked hard and it was never boring, though it was ultimately forgettable. Sanada lost to Ibushi in the finals last year and I guess his psuedo-push is over. **

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. CHASE OWENS (15:37): This match was actually really good. The reason was that Okada didn't slowly walk around the ring like he usually does, he actually kept up with Owens who was running and flying all over the ring. The only slow spots happened when Okada cinched in his sleeper submission hold. Okada won and is still undefeated. Hopefully the winner of Okada/Cobb goes to the finals and somehow Evil doesn't sneak into it. **1/2

EVIL vs. HIROOKI GOTO (14:16): Evil distracted the ref and Dick Togo choked Goto with a wire. This led to Evil winning. Do these stupid refs not watch the replays of their matches? Or go online and see how dumb they look? I know pro-wrestling is fake, but logic is paramount in storytelling. This ended up being a typical, win-by-cheating Evil match. *1/2

JEFF COBB vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (19:05): This was a pretty good match, though about as good as a late-career Tanahashi match can be, which isn't great. I totally forgot that Cobb was supposed to be a heel. He tried to pin Tanahashi with one finger. Then he grabbed him and put him over his knee and strummed him like a guitar. Then he tussled his hair. Cobb was in the heel group with Ospreay and Great O'Khan, though that group kind of disappeared when Ospreay left in April. Cobb won so he's still undefeated. I'm still not sure if I can see them letting him win the whole thing. Cobb has looked good but not great in the G1. I'm not sure he has what it takes to be in an Okada/Omega, Okada/Tanahashi, Ibushi/White type of Dome main event. Tanahashi looked about as good as he can in this match. He even did a top rope High Fly Flow to the floor. Surprisingly, Tanahashi has 4 losses in this tournament already. Sad to see The Ace fall so low. **1/2

B Block Standings:

Cobb 7-0, Evil 6-1, Goto 2-5, Okada 7-0, Owens 1-6, Sanada 3-4, Taichi 2-5, Tanahashi 3-4, Tama Tonga 2-5, Yoshi-Hashi 2-5

Day 15 (A Block): Wednesday, October 13th, from Sendai

Attendance: 1,303

TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (17:00): Ibushi wrestled Satoshi Kojima on the undercard. I would have liked to see Kojima in the G1 instead of Tanga Loa and Yano. Maybe it's because he's an old man. You can tell how bad this year's G1 is when I keep complaining that some of the undercard wrestlers should've been in it. Hell, Desperado should have been in it! I'd rather see 9 Desperado matches than 1 Tanga Loa match. Yujiro Takahashi is also one of those wrestlers that probably shouldn't be in the G1...although this match was good and he actually worked really hard at attempting to entertain throughout the tournament. Ishii was the reason this was a good match, though, as it's very, very difficult to have a dull match against the Stone Pittbull. This was long but action packed. **1/2 

KENTA vs. TANGA LOA (22:12): Speaking of long: why are these two bores in a 22 minute match? I even totally forget what happened in this match and I just watched it maybe 2 hours ago. It was too slow early and by the end the action picked up somewhat. There was a ref bump. Eh. 1/2*

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. TORU YANO (6:42): Zack handcuffed himself to Yano and then put him in a submission. I really hope Yano isn't in this tournament next year. 1/2*

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. GREAT O'KHAN (25:50): They're kind of pushing Great O'Khan because he's been in 3 main events...but he also lost all 3 of those main events and has been eliminated already. You know it's bad when O'Khan's ludicrous offense rubs off on the master Shingo and Shingo starts doing chops. Even with Shingo being great, this was a struggle to watch. As for the standings: Ibushi, Kenta, Shingo, and Zack are all in the lead heading into the final day. *1/2 

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 5-2, Ishii 4-3, Kenta 5-2, Tanga Loa 1-6, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 3-5, Sabre, Jr. 6-2, Takagi 5-2, Takahashi 1-6, Yano 3-4

Day 16 (B Block): Thursday, October 14th, from Yamagata

Attendance: 862

CHASE OWENS vs. TAICHI (12:05): Sparse crowd tonight in a dark arena. It really is like light and day watching these G1 shows and then watching an AEW or WWE show with a packed arena. It certainly doesn't help these shows to be in quiet, dark buildings. I wonder when Japan will ease the restrictions. Covid isn't going away ever. The U.S. has pretty much gone on with life regardless of that fact. Packed football stadiums, packed wrestling events. If you didn't read the newspaper, you probably wouldn't realize that the disease is still around and killing 2,000 Americans a day. It is kind of strange that the ones being the most safe have seemingly been punished the most. Ring of Honor and New Japan are two of the companies being the safest and I'm sure their losing tons of cash because of that. 

Well the show must go on! Chase started the match wanting to do a Sumo style match. I guess because Taichi used to do sumo wrestling? I have no idea. Chase just kicked Taichi anyway and started the match after going back to his corner to drink water three times. Chase then wanted Taichi's girl, Miho Abe, to kiss him on the cheek or he would hurt Taichi. She said no so Chase kicked Taichi. Chase won, which was kind of a surprise. I'll give him this; Chase Owens is probably as bored as a lot of us with the slog of the G1 so he's trying to come up with fresh things to do every night. *1/2

SANADA vs. HIROOKI GOTO (15:32): In 2017 at the Dome, Goto had a great match against Shibata. I said that everyone thought it would be the match of the night...then Naito/Tanahashi had a better match and then Okada/Omega had their first match which of course was better. But Goto was actually in a great match once, long ago. That was four and a half years ago, though, and I'm not sure he's been in a great match since. Facing Shibata probably helped, as Shibata was one of the greatest ever. I still miss him. I always think of those rare, great Goto matches because his matches these days are bad. This was totally forgettable. Usually, the eliminated guys try to at least try really hard since they know their match is pointless. Not tonight. 1/2*

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. YOSHI-HASHI (14:13): Yoshi-Hashi has really put a lot of effort into his G1 matches...and they're still pretty average. Maybe he needs to go back to the gym with a new coach to learn some new moves or something. Everything he does is just kind of mediocre. Going back to the 2017 Dome show: I mentioned that Tanahashi was getting old and slow in his match against Naito. That was four and a half years ago! Damn. Maybe he'll just wrestle forever. Hell, Noah gave the title to Keiji Muto earlier this year and he's 58. And Tanahashi is still in championship main events...though he hasn't had a title in a few years. This was just okay. Tanahashi won with a High Fly Flow and, shockingly, Yoshi-Hoshi didn't put his knees up like every opponent ever. *1/2

JEFF COBB vs. EVIL (16:45): This was, surprisingly, really good. The reason was that Evil had to win to stay alive in the tournament. They also finally concluded the ring bell announcer storyline. And Evil lost and his cheating failed...finally. For some strange reason, Evil would knock his opponent into the time keeper/ring bell guy's table and the guy would fall over and the table would fall on him. It was hilarious but made no sense why Evil was doing this. Well I guess it was all leading to this: Cobb put Evil in the time keeper's chair and then pushed Dick Togo into him and Evil and the table all fell over. What a stupid storyline. I thought it would lead to something more substantial. The ref was knocked out twice. The first time, Togo came in with a chair to beat up Cobb. The second time, Togo choked out Cobb with a wire. Eventually Cobb prevailed and won and goes into the final day undefeated. I really, truly, hate all of the interference in Evil matches...but this was kind of fun mess. Plus, Evil sucks and he's eliminated so that's good. **1/2

TAMA TONGA vs. OKADA (24:25): I'm still baffled as to why this was the main event. Cobb and Evil are supposed to both be heels...so maybe they didn't want two heels in the main event? And I guess Tama Tonga winning is such a surprise that they wanted the end to be a big shock? I have no idea. Cobb/Evil was the best match on the show with a great finish. This match was just a long bore with a dumb ending. Okada and Cobb both going into their final match undefeated is a better story than Okada losing here. He can still win if he beats Cobb, but the cachet of them both being undefeated would have been a better story. I'm still not sure I can picture Cobb being in the finals. They have already pushed him to the moon during this tournament. Should be a great match, anyway. The G1 sorely needs one. 1/2*

B Block Standings:

Cobb 8-0, Evil 6-2, Goto 2-6, Okada 7-1, Owens 2-6, Sanada 4-4, Taichi 2-6, Tanahashi 4-4, Tama Tonga 3-5, Yoshi-Hashi 2-6

Day 17 (A Block): Monday, October 18th, from Yokohama

Attendance: 874

TORU YANO vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (11:08): The arena was dark as night, only 874 people attended, and the show was on a Monday night. I suppose the glory days of amazing final block matches are a thing of the past. They also used to do the last three days on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'm not sure why that changed. Maybe it's cheaper to rent these arenas on weekdays, as the final days are Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Hopefully when the pandemic subsides, New Japan will get better. It might not, though, as most of the core that brought the company to the highest of highs are old old and getting older. I didn't even realize Ibushi was 39. Jesus. He still looks like a boy. This show was fairly entertaining, though, like most of these G1 shows, there weren't any great matches. I remember the old days when we had final block days with matches like Omega/Ibushi, Okada/Tanahashi, Nakamura/Okada, etc. Fuck, those matches were epic and awesome. It's kind of sad to see this company slowly deteriorate before our eyes. Yano and Ishii had previously wrestled a typical, serious, G1 match in year's past and they did it again tonight for the most part. I was at least happy to see a back-and-forth, decent wrestling match as opposed to a comedy hijinks one. Yano won which means he ended up tied with Ishii with 4 wins apiece. You definitely know something is wrong with your company when the great Ishii has the same amount of wins as your court jester. **

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (13:36): Kenta, Zack, Shingo, and Ibushi were all tied going into this final night. This match ended in a double count out so Shingo was eliminated. Shingo decided to give Yujiro a slam outside the ring instead of just beating the count. He tried to still make it in and, let's face it, he really did beat the count because half of his body was in the ring at 20 but the ref still rang the bell. Shingo looked all pissed off that he didn't beat the count and was thus eliminated from the tournament but he's the champ...why would he even want to win the tournament? The winner gets a title shot at the title he already has. **

TANGA LOA vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (17:31): Tanga Loa beat Zack and Zack was eliminated. They actually had a really good match with good action at a fast pace. I thought that maybe Zack would end up in the finals because it'd be something new at least. Nope! **1/2

KOTA IBUSHI vs. KENTA (26:16): Well this was a mess. Who ever won this match would win the A Block and go to the finals. When they both wrestled out of the ring and towards the entranceway I thought that maybe we'd finally get an Ibushi balcony moonsault. Sadly, what happened was they both left through the curtain and then both came back out and had to run to the ring to make the count. I have no idea who thought that idiotic sequence would be entertaining. The other thing that ended up not working was when Ibushi put Kenta on a table at ringside and the legs on one side of the table fell so the table went sideways and Kenta fell off of it. Ibushi didn't even fix the table, he just climbed up to the top rope and delivered a splash onto Kenta and half of the table. It was so stupid looking. Just fix the table first! Kenta delivered a series of hard slaps. That was about anything Kenta did in this match that entertained me. The final few minutes were dramatic and exciting with some near falls and some big Ibushi knees. Mostly though, this was a letdown considering the final block matches to determine the winner have usually always been awesome. Ibushi is now in the final. He won the G1 the last two years and has been in it the last 4. That probably means either Cobb or Okada will win it. I'm picking Okada. **

A Block Standings:

Ibushi 6-2, Ishii 4-4, Kenta 5-3, Tanga Loa 2-6, Naito 0-1, Great O'Khan 3-5, Sabre, Jr. 6-3, Takagi 5-2-1, Takahashi 1-6-1, Yano 4-4

Day 18 (B Block): Wednesday, October 20th, from Budokan Hall

Attendance: 2,088

YOSHI-HASHI vs. CHASE OWENS (8:27): I didn't mention this, but before the tournament started, an article was mistakenly posted on New Japan's website noting that the winner of Kenta vs. Ibushi would go to the finals. Gedo, the booker, never changed things after it was spoiled, which means that if Naito didn't get injured he still would have never been in play. I think why this wasn't a big deal is because every year if you look at the cards for the last block days you can always see what the biggest match is and know that the winner of that match will probably go to the finals. Ibushi is going to the finals for the 4th straight year. He lost to Tanahashi three years ago in the finals. He beat Jay White to win it all two years ago. And last year he beat Sanada to win it all. This year he lost to Okada. Okay...it hasn't happened yet, but I truly doubt Ibushi is winning three straight G1's. Tonight's show was at Budokan Hall, a place usually reserved for big shows. The place is very cool looking, with multiple tiers of seats close to the action. I think it's usually an arena for Sumo wrestling. I do remember Ibushi being banned from Budokan Hall when he was in DDT because they told him not to do a moonsault off the balcony and he did anyway. Budokan Hall was the place that Omega vs. Ibushi in DDT happened all those years ago. I'm kind of surprised they had this show at Budokan but the A Block final was somewhere else. And this was merely a one match show, as only Okada and Cobb were still alive. That means that all of the other matches were forgettable. They could have done something like set up some future matches or feuds or storylines but they didn't. Yoshi-Hashi beat Chase Owens in a totally forgettable match. Owens ended up in last place. 1/2*

HIROOKI GOTO vs. TAMA TONGA (15:19): There was some good action in this match. Unfortunately, with no one caring who won this match, it made the match worse. Goto didn't have a single good match in the tournament. I kind of forgot he was even in the G1. **

TAICHI vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (14:58): Tanahashi beat up Taichi for the majority of this match and then finally they had a great last few minutes and Taichi won. Tanahashi ended up being 4-5 in this tournament. That's brutal considering he used to be the company's star. This company really needs to start getting some hot, new talent into the mix because the old guard is fading fast and new pups like Great O'Khan aren't going to cut it. **

EVIL vs. SANADA (17:47): Another dull mess of a match filled with tons of interference. Evil knocked over the time keeper again even though I thought that storyline ended. Togo still interfered multiple times. The ref looked like an idiot. Sanada was in the finals last year and this year he went 4-5 like a loser. I'm guessing they never will pull the trigger on Sananda and give him the title. They teased it by putting him in so many title main events and he kept failing so I suppose it's over for him. 1/2*

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. JEFF COBB (23:35): This has to be the worst year in recent memory for the A and B block final matches. They used to be legendary. Omega/Naito was a block final and the best match of the year. Okada/Tanahashi had a classic 30 minute draw years ago. It's sad to see the quality of New Japan go down the drain. But nothing stays great forever. And this match wasn't bad or anything, just not a great main event like we expected. They did start with a fast sequence which shocked me. Okada starting off fast? Up is down and left is right! That didn't last. Cobb delivered his finisher but was too tired to pin Okada. Then Cobb kept trying to do it again. Cobb gave Okada two piledriver's back to back. Okada won with a Rainmaker. Ibushi and Okada did have a really good match at the Dome two years ago...but for whatever reason they don't have great chemistry together. We'll never think of Ibushi/Okada as a great wrestling feud, that's for sure. And since neither wrestler has looked spectacular during the G1 I don't expect a 4-star final. We'll see. **1/2

B Block Standings:

Cobb 8-1, Evil 7-2, Goto 3-6, Okada 8-1, Owens 2-7, Sanada 4-5, Taichi 3-6, Tanahashi 4-5, Tama Tonga 3-6, Yoshi-Hashi 3-6

Day 19 (Final): Thursday, October 21st, from Budokan Hall

Attendance: 3,861

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. KOTA IBUSHI (25:37): Hiromu Takahashi was injured in February and missed 6 months of action. Ibushi said he was injured during Wrestle Kingdom and that's why he lost the title so fast. Ospreay injured his neck and relinquished the title and hasn't been back in Japan since the Spring. Naito was injured after the first day of the G1. Could it get worse? New Japan has really had a string of bad luck on the injury front this year. It's bad enough that the pandemic gave them a major hit that they still haven't recovered from because it's still going on. Well the bad luck continued tonight when Ibushi hit a Phoenix Splash, a move he rarely does, and landed badly on his shoulder. The ref rang the bell and the match was over. Okada won by injury forfeit. This was, obviously, not the ideal way to end the G1. At least the match went 25 minutes before the injury and looked as if it was probably going to end soon. Ibushi misses the Phoenix Splash, Okada hits a Rainmaker, and Okada wins? Was that the plan? I guess we'll never know, though everyone and their mother figured that Okada was winning. Okada even kicked out of Ibushi's finisher, the Kamigoye, which is kind of ridiculous because why is it the finisher? As for the match before the finish: it was good not great. I think AEW has really spoiled me on the pacing front by always having super hot, frenetic tag melees featuring non-stop action and tons of flips, dives, crazy moves, and, of course, a hot, cheering crowd to make it all seem more exciting. So this match seemed kind of slow compared to, say, a crazy Young Bucks or Lucha Brothers match. Ibushi definitely pulled out the big guns. He did a moonsault off the top rope to the floor and the previously mentioned Phoenix Splash. Okada wasn't the Okada from a few years ago, but he looked as good as he has all tournament. Maybe with an actual finish and a few more dramatic minutes this would have been a classic. Who knows? At least they have a storyline for when they do Okada/Ibushi again down the road. The big problem with Okada winning is that Shingo is the champ. Shingo won the title when he faced Okada in June at Dominion and it wasn't a great match. Shingo/Ishii was the best match of the G1 so I'd much rather see that match at the Dome. Granted, Wrestle Kingdom is two nights so they can always do Okada/Shingo and then Shingo/Ibushi. And if Japan loosens restrictions next year, maybe we'll get Ospreay back in time for the Dome. So while this G1 was the worst G1 I've ever seen, at least there are some major matches for the Dome they could do seem promising. There's still hope in this cursed company! The big problem with the G1 this year was that the two best matches, Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Ishii and Shingo vs. Ibushi were on the same night. There were a handful of really good matches, but there was too much forgettable junk with the likes of Yano, Great O'Khan, Kenta, Evil, Chase Owens, Yoshi-Hashi, Goto, and the Tongans. Missing Naito and Ospreay really hurt this tournament, as did the small, clapping-only crowds. I did not watch the whole final show because it was filled with a bunch of nothing, multi-man tag matches...although Shibata wrestled against Zack Sabre, Jr. It was a five minute grappling match. Shibata back and wrestling is awesome...though also kind of sad. Kind of like the end of this whole thing. Seeing Ibushi laying on the mat with the doctors and coaches all around and Okada just sitting there in the corner with a blank stare was heartbreaking. Hopefully next year with everyone back and healthy and the pandemic possibly psuedo-gone things will be better. And now we march on towards the Dome. **1/2