Day 1 (A + B Block): Saturday, July 20th from Osaka
(B Block) OLEG BOLTIN vs. REN NARITA (7:37): Even though New Japan has fallen from the highest of highs, I'm still excited that the G1 has started. I'm even more excited because they got rid of the 4 block tournaments of the last 2 years and have gone back to the classic, old school 2 block format. They did change the ending, though, this year. Instead of just the winners of A and B block going to the final, they're doing the top two of each block having a semi-final. I guess we'll see how that works out. There are, obviously, some gigantic names not in this year's G1. Okada's first G1 was in 2012 so it's the first year without him since he went to AEW. Tanahashi's first G1 was in 2007 and he's now the president and too old to be doing this anymore. And this is the first G1 without Ospreay since 2019. Also Ishii isn't in this year's G1 because they traded Takeshita for him and Ishii is in the states on AEW TV this month. So there's a fresh crop of rookies and newbies. They also tried something new by having the first two nights feature every wrestler in both blocks. That probably wasn't the best idea, as it became exhausting just watching this one show. Usually, the G1 is fucking awesome. Sadly, New Japan just isn't as good as it once was and this show proved it. None of the matches were great. Some were good but most were forgettable. And the packed crowd wasn't the best, really only getting into the show during the closing stretch of the Takeshita/Tsuji match. Oleg Boltin came out for this first match wearing a white fur hat. That didn't do him any favors considering he's supposed to be this menacing, muscled strong dude. Narita is in the House of Torture, so his whole gimmick is just cheating and that's dull. Boltin looked solid, Narita sucks. This was just okay. *1/2
(A Block) CALLUM NEWMAN vs. SHOTA UMINO (9:46): Out of all the rookies, Shota seems to be the most promising one. I kind of figured they would have pushed him a little more after that good 45 minute Ospreay match he had last year. But they really haven't. I guess this was an upset. Callum Newman is decent, though I doubt he'll ever amount to much. Usually when they do these first or second day upsets it's because that wrestler losing will go far in the tournament. So that probably means Shota will at least make a semi-final. **
(B Block) HENARE vs. EL PHANTASMO (9:26): Pretty good match. I'm just so distracted constantly wondering if Henare's face/beard tattoo is real or maybe just some Henna thing that lasts a few months (he had it last month at Dominion, too). I just looked it up and it's real. The funny thing is that it's a tattoo basically around his mouth and along his chin across to his ears in the exact spot a beard would be. It's one of those Samoan things but it looks so fucking stupid. Granted, I said the same thing about Cody Rhodes' tattoo and he's perhaps the biggest star in all of wrestling now. Not that Henare will get there. He also lost his first name. He used to come out as Aaron Henare. Is "Aaron" a typical Samoan name? El Phantasmo looked good here, doing moonsaults off the top and middle ropes. Good while it lasted. **1/2
(A Block) ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. GREAT-O-KHAN (11:11): Zack is the favorite to win the tournament. Considering Naito is the champ, does anyone really want to see Zack vs. Naito main event Wrestle Kingdom? You'll get a preview on Night 2, anyway, as they're wrestling and it's not even the main event (weird). This match was a bore. Great-O-Khan was, apparently, a big time amateur wrestler so of course this was all just dull mat work. When they finall did some suplexes at the end the crowd went wild because they were finally doing something watchable. 1/2*
(B Block) JEFF COBB vs. HIROOKI GOTO (7:24): Short big man match. Cobb looked like his typical beast self. Goto is decent considering he's near retirement at this point (although since this is Japan he'll probably wrestle another 20 years). **1/2
(A Block) JAKE LEE vs. SANADA (4:57): Jake Lee was once the AJPW champion, having memorable matches with Kento Miyahara. Jake Lee went to NOAH and I think he's still there, just going to New Japan for the G1. It's funny, but I didn't realize until this year when Jake Lee was announced to be in the G1 that everyone hates Jake Lee. Meltzer hates him. And I saw a ton of comments online about people hating Jake Lee. I mean...he's average. I don't get the hate, though. He did lose his hilarious Beach Boys mop top mane, though, and now has long hair in a ponytail. He won with a running kick to the face. This was really short. Sanada was the champ and in the main event of Wrestle Kindom this year. Now he's losing in 5 minutes to Jake Lee. Ugh. They should probably fire Sanada, as his ship has sailed. *1/2
(B Block) YUYA UEMURA vs. DAVID FINLAY (16:23): Yuya Uemura should change his name. It's so awkward. Is it his real name? Are, like, all these wrestlers using their real names? I kind of figured they were, but who knows? Yuya is one of the up and coming New Japan stars. He's not exactly spectacular or anything. Shota is really the only one that seems to have some potential. This was an upset because David Finlay is the leader of Bullet Club (yes, they're still doing that) and Gedo is his manager. Crowd kind of got into Yuya winning with the near falls. Match was just okay. Finlay just doesn't have "it." **
(A Block) EVIL vs. GABE KIDD (10:21): Gabe Kidd does a lot of crazy, high flying stuff, so he's definitely one to watch in the G1. He's a pretty tall guy so it's cool seeing him do top rope moonsaults to the floor and everything. They were battling in the crowd and Kidd did a full arena sprint to Evil but Evil just threw a chair at his face. I wonder if Kidd can keep up this pace in the tournament, though. They did all the HOT interference of course. At one point, Dick Togo was strangling Kidd with rope. **1/2
(B Block) KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. YOTA TSUJI (17:12): Well this was by far the best match on the show and honestly I thought it'd be a lot better. Yota Tsuju is so fucking sloppy. I guess that's the reason his push kind of stalled out. If you remember, his debut was facing Sanada for the title in the main event of last year's Dominion. Maybe they realized he's kind of a wildcard and maybe doesn't have his head in the game. At one point they were supposed to do a Spanish Fly off the top rope and Takeshita fell off the ropes twice. Takeshita looked like the greatest wrestler in the world, though. He was definitely the best wrestler on this show. Since he's in AEW, they probably won't put him in the semi-final or final, though. The crowd got really hot towards the end of this match when it finally turned into something spectacular. ***
(A Block) SHINGO TAKAGI vs. TETSUYA NAITO (23:14): Shingo gave Naito a Tiger Driver '98, which was awesome. Shingo is awesome. I'm not sure why he's not the champion of this company. Naito is a shell of his former self. He completely botched a Destino at the end and both guys just fell over. That was sad to watch. Naito is the champ but maybe they shouldn't have put him in this tournament. I haven't watched a ton of his matches this year, but his match against Moxley at Forbidden Door wasn't very good and this match was pretty much just all Shingo. Dude, have a Shingo vs. Takeshita final and I'll be back loving this company. **1/2
A Block Standings:
Kidd 0-1, Evil 1-0, Great-O-Khan 0-1, Lee 1-0, Naito 0-1, Newman 1-0, Sabre, Jr. 1-0, Sanada 0-1, Takagi 1-0, Umino 0-1
B Block Standings:
Boltin 1-0, Cobb 1-0, El Phantasmo 0-1, Goto 0-1, Henare 1-0, Finlay 0-1, Narita 0-1, Takeshita 1-0, Tsuji 0-1, Uemura 1-0
Day 2 (A + B Block): Sunday, July 21st, from Osaka
(A Block) SANADA vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (8:41): Callum Newman does a lot of high flying, spectacular moves. He did a top rope moonsault to the floor, and a few flips from the ropes. And he does a running, flying knee. The problem is that he doesn't look like a wrestler. Or, at least, look like a star. He looks like a random bloke you would see at a bar with his mates. He even wears a gold chain around his neck in the ring. At least since they've cleaned up Sanada (he used to look like a homeless guy with a scruffy sort-of beard and longer hair) he looks like a professional wrestler. Newman looked pretty good as usual and at least near the end they were doing some entertaining back and forth moves that got the crowd into it. **
(B Block) HENARE vs. OLEG BOLTIN (8:05): I was wondering...Henare's tattoo covers his face and nose. It covers the exact part of his face that he has to shave every day. Does shaving over a tattoo every single day, like, affect the tattoo over time? Can you even grow hair over a tattoo? I'm guessing you can. Maybe I should look that up. This match was decent. Boltin does all the big, strong man moves, as does Henare even though he's not really tall or anything. It's funny, but I didn't realize how short Ishii was until he started wrestling guys in AEW and he looked like a dwarf. Maybe Boltin isn't even really tall. I wonder if I visited Japan I would constantly hit my head on the ceiling everywhere. The crowd seemed to get into this match by the end. It did seem the crowd was more alive for this show then yesterday's show, even though you would think a Saturday crowd would be more kinetic than a Sunday one. Who knows what goes on in Japan, though. They have boxing matches on Monday and Tuesday nights for some reason. And these are big time boxing matches, not just random ones. Like the ones with their big star, Naoya Inoue, who's one of the top 5 pound for pound boxers in the whole world. His last fight was on a Monday night. I mean...don't the Japanese have to go to work on Tuesday mornings? Or is their workday later than say, 9-5? I should investigate this. **
(A Block) GABE KIDD vs. GREAT-O-KHAN (12:01): Great-O-Khan battled Zack Sabre, Jr. in the crowd yesterday. In this match, they twice went into the crowd. Great-O-Khan is already out of ideas and it's only Day 2. Khan tossed Kidd so hard at one point that Kidd flew threw a barricade and fell into a sea of chairs. That was amusing. They went into the crowd then back into the ring then back into the crowd then back into the ring then they were fighting in the entrance walkway and had to both run to the ring to make the 20 count. Khan gave Kidd a suplex over the top rope and they both fell out of the ring. At least this match held my interest. They have Hiromu Takahashi doing announcing and Kidd went up to him and was yelling at him. Hiromu is not in this tournament. What...are they setting up a match for, like, September? **
(B Block) REN NARITA vs. EL PHANTASMO (14:16): This, shockingly, was a pretty good match and one that had the most heat from the crowd so far on the show. Narita is a member of House of Torture, which tortures the audience with their constant cheating that got old four years ago. When the ref was distracted, Narita hit Phantasmo in the leg with a chair. This caused Phantasmo to work with a bum leg for the whole match. At one point he jumped off the ropes on one leg. The crowd was into this injured wrestler facing adversity to come back and win. The problem was he lost. Oh, well. Still, it was pretty exciting with a good storyline while it lasted. **1/2
(A Block) EVIL vs. JAKE LEE (11:20): Maybe don't schedule two back to back House of Torture matches. The ref saw Evil choking Jake Lee with rope and TV cables multiple times and didn't DQ him for whatever reason. At one point, Evil walked over to Jake Lee holding a t-shirt to choke him with and the ref grabbed it. But Evil also had a rope! So Evil was choking Jake Lee with the rope now. Eventually, Dick Togo threw powder in Jake Lee's face to cause him to get pinned. Do they not have DQ's in New Japan? The cheating is quite absurd in these HOT matches. Jake Lee looked fine. I still can't figure out why the wrestling critics online all hate him. *1/2
(B Block) YUYA UEMURA vs. HIROOKI GOTO (12:38): This match was at least pretty fast paced and all action. Neither guy does any kind of high flying. It's all knees and slams. Match was fine, just fairly forgettable. **
(A Block) SHOTA UMINO vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (18:22): Shota apparently is back from a hip injury. The story, so far, in all of his matches seems to be him getting beaten up then rising up to come back. I guess the attempt is to get Shota over with the fans. While he's a good wrestler and doing all the right things, you can tell that he's not there yet in terms of superstar appeal. Wrestling Shingo obviously helps, as this was a good match. **1/2
(A Block) ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. TETSUYA NAITO (16:03): Presumably, this match is going to be the main event for Naito's title at Wrestle Kingdom next January. While this was a pretty good match, Naito will definitely have to step up his game to make that match main event worthy. Naito has looked sloppy and kind of out of it in this tournament. Granted, he always looks like that lately. Naito, the IWGP champ, is 0-2 in the tournament. I'm guessing he won't lose again until maybe the semi-finals. Zack did a cool thing after he won when he walked through the crowd towards the camera and held up his belt in front of the camera, the whole arena behind him. That was a really great shot. **1/2
(B Block) YOTA TSUJI vs. DAVID FINLAY (19:50): I was kind of baffled why this was the main event and not Sabre, Jr. vs. Naito. Apparently, this was supposed to be the New Japan Cup final until Finlay got injured. So they're finally doing it. The one thing I will say is that these two definitely have chemistry together. Tsuji is a bit sloppy and all over the place. But he's at least pretty exciting to watch, so that's not really a bad thing. Finlay, probably because this was a main event, looked better than usual. Good match. **1/2
A Block Standings:
Kidd 1-1, Evil 2-0, Great-O-Khan 0-2, Lee 1-1, Naito 0-2, Newman 1-1, Sabre, Jr. 2-0, Sanada 1-1, Takagi 1-1, Umino 1-1
B Block Standings:
Boltin 1-1, Cobb 1-0, El Phantasmo 0-2, Goto 0-2, Henare 2-0, Finlay 0-2, Narita 1-1, Takeshita 1-0, Tsuji 1-1, Uemura 2-0
Day 3 (A + B Block): Tuesday, July 23rd, from Hiroshima
(B Block) KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. JEFF COBB (10:18): Takeshita wrestled on DDT's biggest show of the year, Peter Pan, so he wasn't on the last show. That's why this was the only B Block match tonight. Takeshita is already the star of the tournament but that's not a surprise. He's supposed to be a heel but even the AEW fans were cheering for him to win that ladder match on the Forbidden Door PPV. That's how awesome he is. Takeshita vs. Ospreay from earlier this year is still my favorite match of the year. And while this match was great and all, at 10 minutes, it didn't go long enough to be a classic or anything. ***
(A Block) ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (11:56): Newman is like the poor man's Will Ospreay. He does all of the high flying stuff but is kind of bland. I don't think I've ever seen him before until this tournament. I wonder how long he's even been in New Japan. Zack had Callum in a submission arm bar cradle move and Callum quit. *1/2
(A Block) SHINGO TAKAGI vs. GREAT-O-KHAN (11:05): Great-O-Khan actually looked pretty good in this match, which shocked me. I guess it isn't a big surprise considering he was wrestling one of the best in the world. This was back and forth and a lot of action. Good match. **1/2
(A Block) GABE KIDD vs. SHOTA UMINO (15:56): Gabe Kidd seems to be attempting to channel Conor McGregor. He's like the brash, snotty, cruel, European bully. He beat up Shota and Shota was just laying on the mat for awhile while Gabe walked around like he was a king. Shota eventually did the miraculous comeback and that was dramatic and entertaining. I don't really think the crowd has gotten behind Shota yet, but boy are they trying to push him as a sympathetic, come-from-behind, boot-strapping hero. Gabe Kidd still eventually won, which kind of nullified the hero aspect. **1/2
(A Block) EVIL vs. SANADA (18:06): Evil wanted Sanada to lay down and just get pinned. I guess because Sanada used to be in Los Ingobernables de Japon with Evil way back when. Sanada laid down but then cradled Evil in a schoolboy for a 2 count. Eventually the ref got laid out and Dick Togo came in to beat up Sanada. This was another ridiculous, dull HOT match. *
(A Block) TETSUYA NAITO vs. JAKE LEE (17:05): Naito did so little in this match that for most of it Jake Lee was just walking around playing to the crowd. Lee gave Naito a DDT up by the entrance and Naito had to run down to get into the ring at 19. Naito tried a Destino but Lee kind of just collapsed on him. This was perhaps the worst match of the tournament so far. 1/2*
A Block Standings:
Kidd 2-1, Evil 3-0, Great-O-Khan 0-3, Lee 1-2, Naito 1-2, Newman 1-2, Sabre, Jr. 3-0, Sanada 1-2, Takagi 2-1, Umino 1-2
B Block Standings:
Boltin 1-1, Cobb 1-1, El Phantasmo 0-2, Goto 0-2, Henare 2-0, Finlay 0-2, Narita 1-1, Takeshita 2-0, Tsuji 1-1, Uemura 2-0
Day 4 (B Block): Thursday, July 25th, from Takamatsu, Kagawa
HIROOKI GOTO vs. OLEG BOLTIN (10:17): Yano was wrestling in one of the undercard matches. I was kind of wondering why he wasn't in the G1. I didn't watch a ton of the G1 in the last few years because they changed it to 4 blocks of wrestlers and it just wasn't the same. But it does seem like a lot of the wrestlers I was used to seeing are gone. Like...what happened to Bad Luck Fale? Not that I'm complaining that he's gone. Goto is a standard. Guy looks the same as he did ten years ago. They never really pulled the trigger on him. He was in a G1 final against Omega once, but he lost. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi made my Top 10 matches of the year last year when they wrestled Aussie Open. But probably the last time Goto was in an excellent singles match was against Shibata. That was at Wrestle Kingdom in 2017, so it's been awhile. This match was fairly pedestrian. They did a bunch of power elbows and slams. Boltin always does this gimmick where he picks up his opponent by the waist and shakes him back and forth. One of these days his hands are going to slip and the guy's gonna fall on his head. *1/2
REN NARITA vs. JEFF COBB (12:03): I don't know why, but all the big New Japan stars are in the A Block. No one in the B block has ever held the IWGP championship, yet in the A Block, Naito, Evil and Shingo all have. Jeff Cobb is awesome and all, but Narita is in the House of Torture, so instead of doing cool moves he just tries to cheat in various ways. Lately, Cobb has been doing a surfboard gimmick where he stands on top of his opponent and acts like he's catching a wave. Probably the closest he'll ever come to actually surfing. Match was pretty dull. *1/2
EL PHANTASMO vs. YOTA TSUJI (18:12): Good match. It does seem like the longer these matches go the better they are. Usually. This one had time to heat up into something dramatic and fun to watch. Phantasmo was jumping off the ropes all over the place. He jumped off the top rope over the guardrail onto Tsuji in the crowd. Phantasmo played like his leg was hurt so he was limping around but yet still able to do moonsaults off the second rope. I think Tsuji has looked better since his first match in the G1, so maybe he just needs more and more practice to not look so sloppy. Phantasmo won when they were both rolling around attempting a schoolboy pin and Phantasmo got it. ***
DAVID FINLAY vs. HENARE (16:05): This was another match that was kind of just there. It was fine and wasn't boring or anything, but never really amounted to much. Henare is basically Ishii, which probably explains why Ishii is in AEW this month instead of in the G1. They have Ishii teamed with Orange Cassidy in AEW in a new group with a name I forget. Ishii can still go, so maybe they just figured Henare is already doing the Ishii gimmick, why have two of them? *1/2
YUYA UEMURA vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (23:11): Good main event. They gave them enough time to put on a good show with back-and-forth action and drama. The finish was great. Takeshita went down with I believe a DDT but popped right back up but Uemura came off the ropes with an Osscutter for the pin. I think Takeshita might have learned that in AEW...but Ospreay does that all the time; you take a big move but get right back up and deliver a big move and then both guys fall over and the crowd goes nuts. ***
B Block Standings:
Boltin 1-2, Cobb 1-2, El Phantasmo 1-2, Goto 1-2, Henare 2-1, Finlay 1-2, Narita 2-1, Takeshita 2-1, Tsuji 1-2, Uemura 3-0
Day 5 (A Block): Saturday, July 27th, from Nagasaki
CALLUM NEWMAN vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (12:51): This wasn't a very good show. This was the best match on the show and it wasn't exactly something to go out of your way to see. Newman does all the Ospreay moves, so at least that makes him somewhat exciting. And Shingo is awesome, probably the 3rd best wrestler in the world behind Ospreay and Omega. Newman got the shocking win here. Granted, no one goes undefeated in this tournament, so upsets happen pretty frequently almost to make them moot. **1/2
SANADA vs. GABE KIDD (11:14): Neither of these guys does it for me. Sanada is just dull. Gabe Kidd is a big powerhouse bully type but also kind of dull. They were fighting in the entranceway and Kidd threw Sanada away from the ring then ran into the ring. Sanada had to sprint back to make it at 19. Henare was doing commentary and noted that he couldn't believe Kidd wanted to win that way. Um...because he's a frigging heel! Usually I listen to the Japanese announcers because they're more exciting, but for whatever reason I could only find the English version of this show. El Phantasmo did announcing the other day, too, so I guess they're using the English speaking wrestlers on occasion. Both Phantasmo and Henare were terrible, though, so it probably wasn't a good idea. The main announcer, a big fat dude that replaced Kevin Kelly, is great, though. This match was pretty dull. *
SHOTA UMINO vs. GREAT-O-KHAN (15:07): For some reason, the camera followed Shota entering the building and then walking to the ring. Then Shota gave high-fives to like every single person in the crowd. They're really pushing this guy on the fans, right? That's probably going to backfire. The WWE tried pushing Roman Reigns down the fan's throats and that didn't turn out well until they finally gave up and turned him heel. Shota also cut his hair and dyed it blonde. I wonder if he did that because Cody Rhodes has dyed blonde hair. He should start doing the One Winged Angel as a finisher now, too. The match was okay, nothing special. Great-O-Khan is adequate and that's about the best I can say about him. Shota is probably the best all around of the new guys, but he's still not there yet. *1/2
ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. JAKE LEE (17:47): I noted earlier that every wrestling critic/reviewer online seems to hate Jake Lee. I couldn't figure it out...but now I do. I haven't seen Jake Lee wrestle in years. The last few times were when he was in excellent main event title matches against Kento Miyahara in All Japan. Alas, that was years ago. Plus, Jake Lee isn't wrestling greats like prime Miyahara in the G1. This match was just a slog. Jake Lee seems to just walk around and play to the crowd and occasionally knee his opponent in the gut. This just didn't work. *
EVIL vs. TETSUYA NAITO (15:11): I don't know what was worse about 2020, the Pandemic or the birth of the House of Torture. I suppose at least all this interference masks how boring a wrestler Evil is. At one point, Red Shoes wouldn't even count a pin because Evil was cheating. Um...why not just call a DQ? Every member of House of Torture came out to interfere. Bushi also came out to help Naito. Bushi spit black mist. Takahashi spit whiskey. Finally Naito overcame the interference to pin Evil after a Destino but Evil kicked out at 2, which deflated the crowd. Naito went for a second Destino but Evil countered it and delivered an Everything is Evil finisher and won. So Naito, the IWGP champ, has already lost 3 times in this tournament and Evil is undefeated. *
A Block Standings:
Kidd 2-2, Evil 4-0, Great-O-Khan 0-4, Lee 1-3, Naito 1-3, Newman 2-2, Sabre, Jr. 4-0, Sanada 2-2, Takagi 2-2, Umino 2-2
Day 6 (B Block): Sunday, July 28th, from Fukuoka
OLEG BOLTIN vs. EL PHANTASMO (12:17): Phantasmo has been one of the more entertaining wrestlers in the tournament. That's probably mostly due to all the cool flips off the ropes he does. He's fun to watch, though. Boltin does all the big power moves but he's still pretty dull and forgettable. Match was decent. **
JEFF COBB vs. YUYA UEMURA (12:30): Uemura is having a hell of a tournament. Maybe I just haven't seen him a lot, but he definitely excels in the classic New Japan tradition of starting slow and then heating up by the end and turning his matches dramatic and exciting in the closing stretch. Cobb has also been great in this tournament, so this was the best match on this show, which was probably the worst G1 show thus far. **1/2
KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. HENARE (13:19): While there was some good action and stiff shots and everything in this match, these two just didn't really seem to gel together. The pacing or something was a bit off. I'd say it was because these two probably never wrestled each other, but I don't think Takeshita has wrestled anyone in this tournament before, either. **
DAVID FINLAY vs. REN NARITA (11:01): I know everyone seems to loathe Jake Lee, but I think Narita has been the worst wrestler in the G1. He's a young guy so you'd think he'd, like, be fast and exciting and do some cool moves. Nope. All he does is try to cheat and give his opponents low blows or hit them with his stick. I mean...there has to be a good wrestler in there, right? Why else is he in New Japan? Finlay is pretty bland, so this match was nothing special. 1/2*
HIROOKI GOTO vs. YOTA TSUJI (17:37): This was a re-match of the New Japan Cup final that Tsuji won. I didn't watch that match, but I hope it was better than this. Goto at least moves around fast and doesn't just walk slowly around like Jake Lee and Naito have been doing in the G1. But Goto just isn't very exciting. Tsuji is like the Jeckyll and Hyde of New Japan. One night he'll be looking spectacular and having a great match and another night he'll just be in something utterly forgettable like this. It wasn't terrible but it was just a standard wrestling match. *1/2
B Block Standings:
Boltin 2-2, Cobb 2-2, El Phantasmo 1-3, Goto 2-2, Henare 2-2, Finlay 2-2, Narita 2-2, Takeshita 3-1, Tsuji 1-3, Uemura 3-1
Day 7 (A Block): Monday, July 29th, from Fukuoka
EVIL vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (9:08): In my opinion, this was the best show of the tournament so far because we got 2 really good matches. This wasn't one of them. Evil won and is undefeated. That means, sadly, he'll probably end up in one of the semi-finals. At least Evil actually does some moves in the ring besides the cheating like Narita. Newman did all his running and high flying so that was at least watchable. **
GREAT-O-KHAN vs. JAKE LEE (11:19): Shockingly, the last few minutes of this were pretty entertaining when they were both delivering moves and reversals back and forth. Jake Lee always seems to spend half of his matches just walking around. I kind of like the babyface Jake Lee better. I always badmouth Great-O-Khan and have for years but he has been a little bit better in this tournament so far. Great-O-Khan did his claw to the head move on Lee then slammed him for the pin. **
SHOTA UMINO vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (19:59): This match was really good. Usually these longer matches are better because they give them time to actually heat up and deliver high drama. Umino has looked good in this tournament. I can definitely see him being in title main events in the near future. Zack will probably be champion eventually so this will be a good future feud. These two worked well together. This was Zack's first loss in the tournament. ***
GABE KIDD vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (13:50): This was the best match of the tournament so far. The reason was obvious: they started the match going full speed so it was exciting from the first second. They ran at each other when the bell rang and Kidd gave Shingo a running kick to the face. They eventually traded elbows, slaps, and suplexes on eachother's heads. The first half was probably better than the second half but it was just brutal and all action and fantastic. ***1/2
TETSUYA NAITO vs. SANADA (17:45): These two wrestled in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom earlier this year. That match turned out better than I expected. I do remember the crowd being super hot for that match. They weren't super hot for this match, although they did get into it by the end. It started slow but the final few minutes were dramatic. Naito gave Sanada a Destino but Sanada kicked out. Then Naito gave Sanada another Destino and won. Naito has not looked that great in this tournament. I said the same thing last year and then he woke up in his Ospreay G1 match and delivered a match of the year. Is there anyone in the A block that can wake up the old, great Naito? **
A Block Standings:
Kidd 3-2, Evil 5-0, Great-O-Khan 1-4, Lee 1-4, Naito 2-3, Newman 2-3, Sabre, Jr. 4-1, Sanada 2-3, Takagi 2-3, Umino 3-2
Day 8 (B Block): Wednesday, July 31st, from Yamaguchi
YOTA TSUJI vs. OLEG BOLTIN (10:12): This show was pretty forgettable. Nothing was terrible or unwatchable. Most of the matches were decent to good. It's just that none of the matches were awesome or anything. When Tsuji returned from Mexico last year, there was promise there that he'd be the new, big star. That obviously didn't pan out. I think, honestly, he's just lazy. He reminds me of tennis player Nick Kyrgios, a guy that has a ton of talent but doesn't really seem to care that much about the sport. I was listening to the Japanese announcers for this show and they were going crazy at the end of this match. I don't know what they were saying but it certainly wasn't that good. I probably should have listened to the English commentary because Gabe Kidd was one of the announcers and he was probably hilarious. **
HENARE vs. YUYA UEMURA (15:33): These two had a great kicking and slapping back-and-forth moment in the middle of the match that lasted a few minutes and was great. This was probably the best match of the night. Good action, hard hitting. ***
JEFF COBB vs. EL PHANTASMO (11:13): They did the requisite big guy beating down the smaller guy for awhile, then Phantasmo came back and they went toe-to-toe until the end. This was entertaining, with Cobb doing the big power moves and Phantasmo doing all the flips off the ropes. Phantasmo jumped off the ropes and gave Cobb and rolling DDT that was cool. **1/2
REN NARITA vs. HIROOKI GOTO (12:17): Narita used a chair early in the match, then, shockingly, they actually wrestled for awhile. Eventually the ref got knocked out and Narita picked up his stick. But Goto picked up some stupid looking sword/metal rod staff thingamajig and they both faced off like they were having a swordfight. I suppose that made this a bit more intriguing than the usual Narita match, which blows. Narita gave Goto a low blow. There was interference in the last match, too, so I'm probably confusing what happened when, but Goto pretty much lost because of cheating. *1/2
DAVID FINLAY vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (18:23): Takeshita woke the crowd up when he piled chairs on top of Finlay outside then jumped over the top rope to do a Senton Bomb on Finlay and the chairs. When Finaly finally made the 20 count, Takeshita did a Frog Splash off the top rope. I'm sure the executives in charge of New Japan are watching Takeshita and thinking: damn, we gotta sign this motherfucker! Red Shoes got knocked out towards the end and Takeshita had the pin without a ref. Finlay used his shillelagh stick and hit Takeshita over the head. At one point, Gedo was grabbing Red Shoes and not letting him get back in the ring. One problem in this match was that there were a few botched and sloppy spots. Takeshita tried to do a headscissors flip on Finlay but Finlay kind of just fell over. And Takeshita attempted a power bomb at one point and fell over before he could do it. It wasn't spectacular or anything but it was entertaining. **1/2
B Block Standings:
Boltin 2-3, Cobb 3-2, El Phantasmo 1-4, Goto 2-3, Henare 3-2, Finlay 3-2, Narita 3-2, Takeshita 3-2, Tsuji 2-3, Uemura 3-2
Day 9 (A Block): Saturday, August 3rd, from Suita, Osaka
JAKE LEE vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (11:15): This was pretty much just a one match show. This G1 has been a bit rare in that classic, epic matches haven't really come out of nowhere with some of the lesser stars and lesser matches. The only one that comes to mind so far is the Shingo/Kidd match, but that also featured Shingo, the best wrestler in the tournament, so I'm not sure that counts. This G1 hasn't had a 30 minute draw yet, either. The last few years when the tournament had 4 blocks they had a 20 minute time limit. Not like I want to see Jake Lee vs. Callum Newman go 30 minutes. At least Newman does some high flying stuff. He did a top rope moonsault to the floor that was cool. Jake Lee's heel persona is more just being cocky and walking around the ring instead of, like, doing moves or wrestling. It was pretty forgettable. *1/2
GREAT-O-KHAN vs. EVIL (16:21): It seems like Great-O-Khan's go-to in this tournament is to head into the crowd. This was Evil's first loss in the tournament, which, unfortunately, probably means this will set up a re-match nobody wants to see on one of the future shows. This was not good. 1/2*
TETSUYA NAITO vs. GABE KIDD (14:08): They played this match out like Gabe Kidd was this big, unstoppable monster when in reality he's some mid-card dude I never heard of until this tournament. When Naito won, he escaped out of the ring and acted like it was a shock he had won. Um...isn't he supposed to be the IWGP champion? Kidd beat Naito down for a lot of the match. They also went into the crowd, at one point Naito tossing Kidd into the empty seats after people scattered. I guess they're just trying to build up Kidd but, you know, if they wanted to do that why not have him win? *1/2
SANADA vs. SHOTA UMINO (15:58): Shota tried but Sanada is a bore. I will admit that the last few minutes were kind of exciting when they picked up the pace and tried to attempt something exciting and dramatic. Everyone online ranted about how the crowd at this show sucked and was quiet but, c'mon, none of these matches were worth cheering for or caring about. *1/2
SHINGO TAKAGI vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (16:13): I don't know if this was the greatest match of all time or if the show was so bad that this just felt like it. But this match was fantastic. Both guys are awesome of course and they definitely work well together. It was hard hitting, as at one point Zack was just slapping Shingo in the face with both hands back and forth. The only problem, really, was that it was a bit too short to be any sort of classic, match-of-the-year. Since this was the main event they probably should have made it longer than 16 minutes. ***1/2
A Block Standings:
Kidd 3-3, Evil 5-1, Great-O-Khan 2-4, Lee 2-4, Naito 3-3, Newman 2-4, Sabre, Jr. 4-2, Sanada 3-3, Takagi 3-3, Umino 3-3
Day 10 (B Block): Sunday, August 4th, from Nagoya
DAVID FINLAY vs. OLEG BOLTIN (12:46): They had a good, lively crowd at this show, which is probably why the wrestlers seemed to at least try, unlike yesterday's show. They had 3,205 at this show and 1,711 at yesterday's show. Nagoya is a bigger city, though, and this was in a bigger building. I don't really know if New Japan is successful or profitable these days, although I do know they've been struggling since the pandemic. Japan has a lot of wrestling promotions, and I'm not sure when the last time one went out of business. Marigold, a new women's wrestling promotion that took some of Stardom's stars and staff with them just started last month. And then there's the smaller promotions like Dragon Gate and Big Japan that have been chugging along for years even though I haven't heard anything about them in years. It obviously doesn't help that AEW was created and a bunch of New Japan's stars left to go there. Gedo, New Japan's head booker and on-screen heel manager, used to be Okada's manager, then he turned on Okada and was Jay White's manager. You know who ever he starts managing will be pushed, and he's now David Finlay's manager. I'm not exactly sure what Gedo sees in Finlay, though, as he's pretty monotonous. Finlay is a perfectly fine wrestler but I've yet to ever see him in any kind of classic match. Finlay tossed Boltin over the guardrail early on and Boltin hit the announcer's table. That's pretty much all that was memorable in this. The crowd did come alive and the announcers were going crazy during the final few minutes. It was fine. **
EL PHANTASMO vs. YUYA UEMURA (14:24): I will give El Phantasmo this: he's trying his heart out in his G1 matches. He did a running dive through the ropes and hit Uemura so hard they both hit the guardrail and Phantasmo almost toppled over Uemura. It was one of those Dragon Lee or Darby Allin type of full-speed missile dives. Then Phantasmo threw Uemura into the ring and did a top rope Senton Bomb on Uemura. Then he did a second rope moonsault ala Hayabusa and Sabu onto Uemura. So there was some good action in this match. **1/2
JEFF COBB vs. HENARE (12:45): Even though this was a good, entertaining, hard hitting bout, I kind of expected this to be a lot better because it's one of those tough guy matches and I figured it would be a brutal epic. Henare did the greatest Shining Wizard on Cobb in the corner at one point. It was so flawless and made such a great sound. Good match. **1/2
HIROOKI GOTO vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (14:20): This was the match of the night and one of the best matches of the tournament. This match is what the G1 is all about, and in the glory years it seemed like almost every G1 match had this same kinetic energy and high drama. The crowd was super hot, there were a ton of big moves and exciting near falls. This was just fantastic. Shockingly, Goto was probably the star in this match. He did an awesome flip slam off the top rope onto Takeshita. Takeshita did his sick, cradle slam on Goto on Goto's head then followed it up with a pull-away, over-the-top slam. The one problem was there was a late near-fall that was obviously 3 but Takeshita maybe kicked out too late so it kind of deflated the crowd a bit. Then Goto pinned Takeshita right after that anyway so it seemed like the ref probably should have just said it was 3 anyway and ended it there. ***1/2
YOTA TSUJI vs. REN NARITA (20:13): This was the main event? In what universe is Narita vs. Tsuji the biggest match on the show? This definitely suffered because they had to follow such a great match, but they didn't do any favors wrestling a slow match for like 15 minutes. Red Shoes got knocked out late and the crowd finally woke up. Narita grabbed his stick to hit Tsuji with but missed. Narita hit Tsuji with a low blow. Tsuji did an over-the-top-rope dive that was cool, but other than that, this match was fairly dull. Right now, Jeff Cobb and David Finlay are tied in 1st place, with Uemura, Goto, Henare, Narita, and Takeshita all tied in 2nd place. The rest are tied in 3rd, so no one is really running away with the B Block so far and no one is completely out of it yet. Considering Finlay is being pushed as a big deal, he'll probably end up making the semi-finals. 1/2*
B Block Standings:
Boltin 2-4, Cobb 4-2, El Phantasmo 2-4, Goto 3-3, Henare 3-3, Finlay 4-2, Narita 3-3, Takeshita 3-3, Tsuji 3-3, Uemura 3-3
Day 11 (A Block): Tuesday, August 6th, from Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
GREAT-O-KHAN vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (8:17): Good show tonight, mostly thanks to the hot crowd at Korakuen Hall. It’s too bad they can’t do every show there. This match was actually good. It was fast paced and all action. The show tonight was only 2 hours and 19 minutes and I didn’t even watch the
4 non-G1 matches. **1/2
JAKE LEE vs. GABE KIDD (4:53): Jake Lee came out holding two plastic cups of something, presumably alcohol (maybe Sakai?). It’s because both of these guys are in Bullet Club. That didn’t matter, as Gabe immediately started beating up Jake Lee and said, “Welcome to War Dogs, mother fucker!” or something. He then hit Jake Lee in the head with a chair. They also brought out a table and Jake Lee eventually tossed Gabe against it while it was leaning against the guardrail. Kidd didn’t make the 20 count at one point and lost. Then they just gave each other the Bullet Club finger gesture, so I guess they’re okay now. This was at least one of the more entertaining Jake Lee matches in the tournament. **1/2
ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. EVIL (0:19): Evil came out of the curtain with Zack in a headlock to start the match. Then Dick Togo threw powder in Zack’s eyes. Evil tried to pin Zack four times but Zack cradled him for a quick 3 count. Zack then ran around the building with Evil and Togo chasing him. This was like a Three Stooges or something. The crowd loved it, though. I keep waiting for there to be a 30 minute draw in this tournament but they’re doing the opposite. This was at least amusing. **
TETSUYA NAITO vs. SHOTA UMINO (14:48): Pretty good match, although at one point they were both laying on the mat with Shota in a submission hold for awhile and I was wondering if this might be the elusive 30 minute draw. Nope. Good closing stretch with a bunch of near falls and reversals. **1/2
SANADA vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (19:55): This was a good match and the type of dramatic, exciting G1 match the crowd goes crazy for that we haven’t seen too much of this year. I mean…Shingo was in it, so I guess it’s not that surprising. Sanada was really good in this, too, though. He’s been a total bore so far in the G1 so that was nice to see. The final 5 minutes or so were excellent. Sanada did 2 moonsaults and the 2nd one landed. Shingo did a Made in Japan and got a 2 count. By the end the crowd was in a frenzy and the near falls were note-perfect. Definitely one of the better matches in the G1. ***1/2
A Block Standings:
Kidd 3-4, Evil 5-2, Great-O-Khan 3-4, Lee 3-4, Naito 4-3, Newman 2-5, Sabre, Jr. 5-2, Sanada 4-3, Takagi 3-4, Umino 3-4
Day 12 (B Block): Wednesday, August 7th, from Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
JEFF COBB vs. OLEG BOLTIN (10:14): These first two matches were awesome. This Korakuen crowd was going nuts for these first two matches, like they were the main event of Wrestlemania or something. I guess the crowds here seem so much louder because it’s a small building, or maybe the wrestlers just try harder because it’s Tokyo and a bigger deal. This match was just two big guys picking each other up and slamming each other. Cobb did Boltin’s move where he picked up Boltin and kind of heaved him from one side to the other. Then Cobb said, “It’s my fucking move.” Then Boltin did the move and the crowd went ape shit. I mean…picking up Cobb like he’s a sack of potatoes is pretty impressive. Cobb won with the Tour of the Islands. ***1/2
KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. EL PHANTASMO (17:22): This was the match of the tournament. This was just fantastic. ELP did a suicide dive onto Takeshita through the ropes, then did a moonsault off the top rope into Takeshita in the crowd, then did a top rope Senton Bomb then a second rope moonsault. Jesus. He did this in his last match, too, but this hot crowd made it better. Takeshita brought a table at ringside and they teased the spot for awhile, eventually Takeshita gave ELP a package piledriver through the table. ELP’s back was bleeding from the broken table. They did a bunch of near falls and finally Takeshita won with the Blue Thunderbomb. This was excellent. ****
YOTA TSUJI vs. HENARE (15:38): Well, good luck following that last match. They certainly tried hard, even though the super hot crowd was quiet for most of this. It was definitely all action and back and forth moves so there was that. **
REN NARITA vs. YUYA UEMURA (11:42): This was kind of dull. Narita laid Uemura’s leg on the ropes and kicked it, so Uemura was grabbing his “injured” knee throughout. That didn’t prevent him from doing flying jump kicks and top rope dives, though. Kanemaru interfered, pushing Uemura off the top rope and trying to spit whiskey in his face (he missed). Uemura looked good. *1/2
HIROOKI GOTO vs. DAVID FINLAY (17:51): This heated up into a fairly exciting match. The crowd really got into it rooting for Goto. At one point, Finlay took the mat off the floor at ringside but Goto ended up slamming Finlay on the hard wood floor. Goto won with his elbow drop onto his knee move, whatever that’s called. Good action and drama in the last five minutes or so. Jeff Cobb is in the lead at 5-2, with Finlay, Takeshita, Narita, and Goto all tied in second. It kind of looks like Boltin and ELP aren’t making the semi-final. Too bad, because ELP is one of the best so far in the tournament. **1/2
B Block Standings:
Boltin 2-5, Cobb 5-2, El Phantasmo 2-5, Goto 4-3, Henare 3-4, Finlay 4-3, Narita 4-3, Takeshita 4-3, Tsuji 4-3, Uemura 3-4
Day 13 (A Block): Thursday, August 8th, from Yokohama
TETSUYA NAITO vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (5:55): Pretty dull show tonight, although the Zack Sabre vs. Gabe Kidd match was good. We’re not in Korakuen Hall anymore so the crowd is pretty quiet and the arena is dark. Newman attacked Naito before he could take his 5 minutes to undress. Newman tried a top rope moonsault to the floor but missed, then jumped off the guardrail and missed. This was too short to amount to much. All of the matches this year have been pretty short. There’s only been 3 matches over 20 minutes. 1/2*
GREAT-O-KHAN vs. SANADA (11:11): This was another forgettable match. Usually, Great-O-Khan immediately goes out into the crowd. Nobody wrestled out in the crowd tonight. Maybe Yokohama has some law against that. *
JAKE LEE vs. SHOTA UMINO (16:01): Jake Lee walked around slowly for most of this match but finally started running around and doing things in the last few minutes. You’d think they’d be pushing some of these young guys like Uemura and Shota but they’re not for whatever reason. *
ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. GABE KIDD (16:22): This was the only good match on the show. They both slapped each other like fifty times. At one point, Gabe kneeled down Indian style to start a slap battle (Kidd eventually just started biting Zack’s head). Gabe then told the camera that he does this better than Shibata. Um…Shibata isn’t even in NJPW anymore. Unless they’re set to wrestle on some U.S. show in the future. They do have a New Japan show in D.C. at the end of August. Anyway, Zack choked out Kidd and thus gets a spot in the semifinal. ***
SHINGO TAKAGI vs. EVIL (16:57): Red Shoes got knocked out twice in this match. So…if that’s your cup of tea, you probably loved this. Kanemaru interfered but came in wearing a Bushi mask for some reason. I mean…if you’re already interfering, what’s the point of trying to trick Shingo? Just hit him from behind. Hiromu and the real Bushi came in to save Shingo. Dick Togo jumped off the top rope to give Shingo a chop to the balls. Shingo looked good but it was all just ridiculous interference instead of any kind of great, exciting match. Evil has lost his last 3 matches after winning his first 5. He’s still tied in 2nd with Naito. Zack has already locked up a semifinal. Having semifinals seems kind of superfluous since everyone in the block is wrestling everyone. Unless they do two A vs. B block semifinals. I just wish they had kept it the same as the classic format. Why fuck with the G1? It’s a great tournament for a reason. I don’t know why these last few years they keep monkeying with it. *1/2
A Block Standings:
Kidd 3-5, Evil 5-3, Great-O-Khan 4-4, Lee 4-4, Naito 5-3, Newman 2-6, Sabre, Jr. 6-2, Sanada 4-4, Takagi 4-4, Umino 3-5
Day 14 (A Block): Saturday, August 10th, from Sendai
OLEG BOLTIN vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (12:07): I didn’t realize that the top 3 wrestlers in each block make the semifinals. #2 faces #3 and then that winner faces #1 and then that winner goes to the final. That means Boltin, Henare, Phantasmo and Tsuji are eliminated. The rest still have a shot, except for Uemura who was injured tonight and had to leave the tournament. This show was average stuff. Nothing was terrible but nothing was excellent. This was the best match. Takeshita did his running, top rope flip dive to the floor. Boltin gave Takeshita multiple German supple ex and one put Takeshita right on his head. Takeshita kicked out at 1 at one point late and the one announcer acted like he was having a heart attack. I love these Japanese announcers. **1/2
REN NARITA vs. HENARE (13:15): Narita is tied in first place with Cobb and Finlay. Tells you all you need to know about B Block’s star power. Although, the B Block has been more exciting for the most part. At one point, the ref slapped Henare by accident and Henare got mad, pointed at him, then went after him. The refs are a fucking joke in this company. They probably don’t have unions in Japan. Narita then shoved Henare into the ref who got knocked out. Narita used his stick to hit Henare’s leg at one point. This was mediocre. *1/2
EL PHANTASMO vs. HIROOKI GOTO (13:06): Phantasmo was leaping all over the place so this was at least entertaining. They did a finale where they both kept rolling each other up for 2 counts until finally ELP got a 3. **1/2
DAVID FINLAY vs. JEFF COBB (11:42): This was really too short to amount to much. Finlay tossed Cobb through one of the guardrails that opened and Cobb fell into the 2nd guardrail. Why do they need 2 guardrails between the audience and wrestling ring? This isn’t a circus with lions or something. Match was okay. Finlay really doesn’t do much for me. *1/2
YUYA UEMURA vs. YOTA TSUJI (16:15): Uemura injured his arm in this match. I thought at first he was just playing it up because in his last match he wrestled with a hurt knee, but no, he was legit injured and is out of the tournament. Maybe that’s why this match was fairly dull. The crowd wasn’t into it, either. Tsuji has been a bust in this tournament. He tries but his matches just aren’t exciting. Uemura obviously wasn’t that hurt because he still finished the match and won. There’s only 1 show left of the B Block before the semifinals. Hopefully Takeshita makes it, because he’s been by far the MVP of this block. *1/2
B Block Standings:
Boltin 3-5, Cobb 5-3, El Phantasmo 3-5, Goto 4-4, Henare 3-5, Finlay 5-3, Narita 5-3, Takeshita 4-4, Tsuji 4-4, Uemura 4-4
Day 15 (A Block): Monday, August 12th, from Nagaoka
GABE KIDD vs. CALLUM NEWMAN (6:52): This was the final night of the A Block. Zack Sabre won the block at 7-2. There were four wrestlers tied for 2nd: Naito, Great-O-Khan, Shingo, and Evil. Because of a tie, they have to go to tiebreaks and see who beat each other. Naito was 0-3 against the others. Great-O-Khan was 1-2. Shingo was 3-0. Evil was 1-2. Great-O-Khan beat Evil, though. That means Zack ended up #1, Shingo #3, and Great-O-Khan #3. So we’re going to get Shingo vs. Great-O-Khan and the winner of that faces Zack. They couldn’t make this more complicated, right? Kind of sad that Great-O-Khan made the quarterfinals. Who the fuck wants to see him wrestle again? I guess I shouldn’t be too harsh, as I gave Great-O-Khan and Shingo’s first match 2.5 stars and said it was “a good match.” As for this show? Not great. This match was short. Gabe called Callum a “wannabe Ospreay” before the match, which is what we’re all thinking anyway. This was at least not boring. **
ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. SANADA (15:44): This was the best match on the show. Sanada isn’t the greatest but for whatever reason he works well with Zack. There were a lot of reversals as usual and Sanada kept up with Zack. Very entertaining. ***
SHINGO TAKAGI vs. JAKE LEE (13:50): Jake Lee hasn’t been the greatest in this tournament but Shingo willed a decent performance out of him. Early on it was dull when Jake beat down Shingo. Eventually things heated up and there were flashes of the better Jake Lee from AJPW. **1/2
SHOTA UMINO vs. EVIL (19:45): This match took outside interference to absurd lengths. The story was that Shota would overcome countless attacks and interference and finally come out on top, thus becoming a true star by eliminating Evil from the tournament. Every member of House of Torture interfered. Two refs were knocked out until finally Red Shoes came out. Hiroshi Tanahashi ran out to make a save (he hobbled around like a cripple and it was extremely sad). Before the match even started, Dick Togo and Evil grabbed the ring announcer and made him read a piece of paper saying that Shota was quitting and Evil was the winner. This was just ridiculous. I will admit, though, it was so ludicrous it was at least watchable. **
GREAT-O-KHAN vs. TETSUYA NAITO (18:58): This was a boring match. Khan got the surprise win after kicking out of a Destino and then giving Naito two slams. Naito, the IWGP champ, is eliminated. That’s kind of a surprise. *
A Block Standings:
Kidd 4-5, Evil 5-4, Great-O-Khan 5-4, Lee 4-5, Naito 5-4, Newman 2-7, Sabre, Jr. 7-2, Sanada 4-5, Takagi 5-4, Umino 4-5
Day 16 (B Block): Wednesday, August 14th, from Hamamatsu
OLEG BOLTIN vs. YUYA UEMURA (forfeit): Uemura was injured on the last show so had to forfeit this match.
HENARE vs. HIROOKI GOTO (12:46): This was the final night of B Block. David Finlay won the block. Cobb, Takeshita, Narita, and Tsuji were all tied for 2nd. We go to the tiebreak! Cobb was 0-3 against the others. Takeshita was 3-0. Narita was 1-2. Tsuji was 2-1. That means Tsuji will face Takeshita and that winner will face Finlay. I gave the first Tsuji/Takeshita match 3 stars. It is good that Takeshita made the quarterfinals, as he’s been the best wrestler in this block. Would have rather seen an ELP/Takeshita rematch, but oh well. Tonight was deadly dull. They were in a big building that was maybe 40% full. For being one of the oldest dudes still wrestling in New Japan, Goto has been pretty great in this tournament. It probably helped his career that he never did any top rope dives. This was basic stuff but, honestly, perhaps the best match on the show. **
DAVID FINLAY vs. EL PHANTASMO (12:30): ELP did a top rope moonsault onto Finlay and then gave him a face down slam and a piledriver and he was, of course, going to win but Gedo pulled the ref out of the ring. Eventually Finlay hit Phantasmo with his shillelagh when the ref wasn’t looking and won. I don’t like how NJPW is pushing Finlay because he’s pretty average. *1/2
KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. REN NARITA (16:47): Evil and Dick Togo came out to interfere. After the last show’s ridiculous amount of HOT interference, did we really need to see those two again? Takeshita was beaten down early so he was just laying around and the match was dull. Finally, Takeshita did some offense and the final few minutes were decent. *1/2
YOTA TSUJI vs. JEFF COBB (11:37): Hmmm…an 11 minute main event. Kind of lame. Tsuji had to win or he’d be eliminated. Tsuji did seem to be a lot more entertaining/exciting in this match than he usually is. I think these two just mesh well. Would’ve liked to see a bit more length and drama since this was the main event, though. **
B Block Standings:
Boltin 4-5, Cobb 5-4, El Phantasmo 3-6, Goto 4-5, Henare 4-5, Finlay 6-3, Narita 5-4, Takeshita 5-4, Tsuji 5-4, Uemura 4-5
Day 17 (Quarterfinals): Thursday, August 15th, from Chiba
SHINGO TAKAGI vs. GREAT-O-KHAN (20:50): I don’t remember the first Shingo/Khan match at all, but I did give it 2.5 stars and called it “good.” This rematch was just okay. While the crowd wasn’t dead or anything, it was small enough in a big, cavernous building that it certainly didn’t help. Because they were going longer than usual (their first match was 11 minutes), the first half was a slog. Shingo was just laying around and Great-O-Khan was beating on him. Finally they picked up the pace and the second half was better. Khan is still doing those stupid chops to his opponent’s shoulders, and he makes a stupid scream/yelp when he does it. Usually it’s just dumb, but here, in a silent building, it came across as farcical. At least Shingo won. **
YOTA TSUJI vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (21:30): I didn’t figure Takeshita would win here because he’s not even in New Japan. Why would they have someone from outside the company go far in this tournament? Granted, he made the quarterfinals. But he should have. He worked his ass off in this tournament. Tsuji has been a disappointment. He’s not bad, just isn’t a great, all around wrestler that can produce a classic. Takeshita threw some chairs on Tsuji outside the ring and then did an over the top rope flip into a Senton Bomb on Tsuji. I thought their first match was better, but they might have been because of this small crowd. So we move on to the semi-finals, which will feature Tsuji vs. Finlay and Shingo vs. Zack. We at least know one of them will be great. **1/2
Day 18 (Semifinals): Saturday, August 17th, from Ryogoku in Tokyo
YOTA TSUJI vs. DAVID FINLAY (28:05): Shockingly, I thought this was the better of the two semifinals. Unlike the rest of the G1, these semifinals got enough time to develop into something good. The big spot was Finlay giving Tsuji a powerbomb through two tables at ringside (one broke). But I think the reason I liked this match was because these two work well together. I even mentioned them having good chemistry in their first match, which Tsuji also won. I expected Tsuji to win because they weren’t going to have two non-Japanese wrestlers in the final and I figured Zack was winning the next match. ***
ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. SHINGO TAKAGI (27:38): I do realize this match went 27 minutes, but it seemed like it was just heating up when it was over. I liked their first match better, although I did complain that it was too short at 16 minutes. Maybe these two should just go do a 45 minute match or something. I’ll be happy then. **1/2
Day 19 (Final): Sunday, August 18th, from Ryogoku in Tokyo
ZACK SABRE, JR, vs. YOTA TSUJI (31:04): Zack was the favorite to win and he did. There was one surprise, as Zack said after the match that he wants his title shot at the King of Pro-Wrestling show in October. I honestly didn’t know you could do that. I thought the whole point of the G1 was to get into the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. Maybe that means Naito is so beat up they don’t want him in the main event of the biggest show of the year. Or maybe Naito will beat Zack in October and they’ll do a rematch. Who knows? It is telling that Naito didn’t even make the quarterfinals and lost to Shingo, Zack, Evil, and Great-O-Khan. He’s supposed to be the company’s champ but they made him look like a fucking loser. They did at least push one of the new guys by giving Tsuji a loss in the final. Umino and Uemura had a better G1 than Tsuji, though, in terms of consistent match quality. Tsuji looked better in this match and in the semifinal, but that’s probably because he had more time to work with. The first half of this match was a slog, though, but eventually it turned into something dramatic and exciting. Zack put Tsuji in some sort of pretzel submisssion, bending his arms, head, and legs until Tsuji submitted. This turned out to be one of the better matches in the tournament, a G1 that I thought was pretty underwhelming. After the match, Zack did his interview in Japanese, which surprised me. Hell, he even learned your language. Give him the title already. ***
Final Stats:
**** matches: 1
***1/2 matches: 5
*** matches: 11
**1/2 matches: 25
** matches: 20
*1/2 matches: 20
* matches: 6
1/2* matches: 6
