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
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
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