Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tama Tonga – G1 Climax (Block B)
Stone Pupper Tomohiro Ishii confirmed his status as G1 MVP right here by outdoing Naito and having the best Tama Tonga clusterfuck match of the tournament so far. The guy is such a compelling little underdog. This 3 feet-tall mini-bruiser coming out and looking straight-up RAVAGED from the Ibushi blood match, yet taking on the entire Firing Squad all by himself. As usual, there was a lot of interference wackiness, but everyone went out of their way to put over Ishii, elevating the entire match in the process as the crowd were eating up all of the near-falls and the whole story of Ishii standing up to this pack of cheating Tongans.
Credit where credit is due: Tama was a pro at making quality faces every time Ishii would overcome the odds and make a miraculous kickout. As shown by this match, the key to the OG Bullet Club matches is to give the babyface a shitload of hope spots and kickouts. Then you end up with an actually fun ride of a wrestling match, even if the good guy doesn’t necessarily win. ***1/4
Juice Robinson vs. SANADA – G1 Climax (Block B)
Well, this certainly was a wrestling match between Juice and SANADA. And that’s about it? Everything looked clean and Juice has a mean Spinebuster, but no one was giving me much of a reason to get invested in the match. I like the ongoing subplot of Juice removing his bandage to unleash the punch of death and gradually win more matches, but until that spot, everything was pleasant but forgettable. Lots of floor spots that never really went anywhere? Just a general lack of direction? I don’t know, this wasn’t grabbing me. Juice has been having a weird G1. Outside of the match with Ibushi, none of his performances have been really blowing my mind. And the guy was on a tear before the tournament stared. Hopefully he picks up the slack against Ishii and Goto. **3/4
Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano – G1 Climax (Block B)
First of all, I need a GIF of Naito chilling in the ring while Yano freaks out at ring-side with his arm taped to the guardrail, trying to beat the count. Possibly the best camera shot of the entire G1 so far – I was crying laughing at this perfect vision of comedy gold. The payoff of Yano having to get back in the ring WITH the guardrail was even better. As you might have guessed, this match was a whole lot of fun. They took bits and pieces from all of the TORU YANO G1 CLIMAX STORY and rolled them up into a neat little package.
You had the turnbuckle pad comedy spots, Yano going back to his wrasslin’ roots for a minute and Naito just being a great dance partner for all of this non-sense. Shoutout to Red Shoes for being the perfect third man in this thing: the spot where he took back the turnbuckle pad from Naito and just kinda held it gently for a while (‘’This is mine now’’) had me and the crowd in stitches. Another star-studded affair from this year’s Y1 CLIMAX. ***1/4
Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr – G1 Climax (Block B)
This seemed like a complete mismatch on paper but I was pleasantly surprised. Kenny came out looking REAL JACKED baby and tried to use those sweet Street Fighter V muscles to overpower Zack, but ZSJ kept staying one step ahead with his submission counters and it made for a pretty gripping wrasslin’ match. Everytime Kenny would go for one of his signature spots, Zack would just swipe him right into a Triangle choke or an armbar.
I was skeptical about how Kenny’s goofy facials would work in this kind of setting, but in the end they never really took me out of the match. Hell, his leg selling was actually pretty good. Dug him adapting to the situation by hitting a corkscrew pescado instead of one of his springboard dives. The whole thing was an interesting twist (pun intended, my dudes) on the Kenny Omega formula. Barely a single V-Trigger connected and Kenny had to outsmart Zack via rollup instead of going through his usual ending stretch. A real good time. ***3/4
Hirooki Goto vs. Kota Ibushi – G1 Climax (Block B)
Friends, this was a four star match if I ever saw one. Hometown boy Kota Ibushi taking on a motivated Hirooki Goto was something that really clicked for me. They didn’t mess with the formula or try to re-invent wrestling, but they delivered a note-perfect New Japan Main Event. I was all about the probably accidental old-school vs. new school ideological clash they had going on early, where Goto was doing his best to slow down Ibushi’s backflippy pro-wres by grinding him with the most no-bullshit neck cranks and chinlocks you have ever seen. You ain’t gonna teach this old samurai any new tricks, and part of me is fine with that.
This goes without saying at this point, but once he got on that comeback trail, all of Ibushi’s offense looked great. The Kagoshima fans were there to witness this man hit a perfect Moonsault to the floor, and Moonsault to the floor he did. That being said, I liked how Goto stayed in the driver’s seat for most of the match and really made Ibushi fight for that big hometown victory. The layout definitely worked to Ibushi’s strengths as he was able to make Goto’s offense look like white hot death, bumping like a pinball for every lariat, Ushigoroshi and Shoten Kai.
Not gonna lie to you guys, I did mark out for Ibushi busting out the old school Nakamura BOMA YE. And the Kamigoye one year anniversary finish felt nothing less than poetic. Some damn good wrestling! ****
