Togi Makabe vs. Michael Elgin – G1 Climax (Block A)
When you have all of those brightly-lit All Japan/NOAH classic matches ingrained into your brain, New Japan’s Nippon Budokan setup comes off extremely weird. I’m not sure if they wanted to put their own spin on the venue or just completely break away from the past, but this lighting is not flattering, man. Speaking of things that are not flattering, Big Mike and old Togi had a mostly dry-as-hell wrestling match that only picked up slightly for the last two minutes. There’s something so very off-putting about Elgin squaring off with old no non-sense New Japan vets and bombarding them with thigh-slaps and indie bullshit. Dojo Master Shibata would NOT APPROVE. **1/2
YOSHI-HASHI vs. Hangman Page – G1 Climax (Block A)
Well, this was better than it had any right to be. Hangman really nailed his part as ‘’Guy cockily working circles around YOSHI-HASHI until it comes back to bite him in the ass’’ and the crowd totally bought into Underdog YOSHI. YOSHI’s a total goof, but even I feel bad when he gets slapped around by tall American jocks. You know this guy got pushed into a lot of lockers when he was a kid. That being said: I actually applauded, alone in my one room apartment, when Hangman countered YOSHI’s stupid rope-draped dropkick by simply pushing himself back on the apron. Everyone needs to follow suit. Another fun Hangman Page Moment that I liked: his ‘’Where the fuck did that come from’’ face after YOSHI pulled a freaking Canadian Destroyer out of nowhere. Real fun match. ***1/4
Minoru Suzuki vs. Bad Luck Fale – G1 Climax (Block A)
A potentially great (!) match ruined by the usual Firing Squad fuck finish. Suzuki and Fale had shockingly good chemistry together and seemed to be having a blast working a stiff bar fight type match. Loved Suzuki whacking Fale right in the face with a chair, loved Fale taking all of Minoru’s stiffest shots and then just screaming at him like a damn Kaiju monster. Note to self: check Wikipedia to see if these guys ever faced in a previous G1 where the Firing Squad non-sense wasn’t a thing yet. ***
EVIL vs. Jay White – G1 Climax (Block A)
If I had to make a case for Jay White being a guy that will be good someday using only one G1 match, it might be this one. Unlike the matches with Okada and Tana, this never overstayed its welcome, which means we never got the boring Jay White mid-match issue. Instead they focused on the stuff that really works: Jay being a violent little shit and wrecking EVIL’s back with some nasty guardrail spots, EVIL selling his ass off and then making a great comeback. They both wrestled super aggressively, like two guys trying to secure their spots in the damn G1 Climax, and everything just clicked really well. This was still a 2018 Jay White G1 match, so the ref bump shenanigans were overdone and kind of got in the way, but these dudes still managed some rocking late-match near-falls and a solid, decisive finish even with all of the overbooking. Dug it. ***1/2
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada – G1 Climax (Block A)
You know you’ve got lighting issues when Tana actually looks his age and Okada’s hairline crisis is this badly exposed. This only reminds me that I spend way too much time thinking about Okada’s hairline. Was it always this weird, or did it really take a dive in the last year? Will Lil Kazu still be able to lead Shin Nihon into the future if his hair goes to shit? Let’s be real: the primary ingredient to being a top player in modern NJPW is having great hair, so we could have a tragedy on our hands.
The last time these guys wrestled, they had one of my favorite matches of the year and told an incredibly compelling story in Broken Tana getting completely outclassed by Final Boss IWGP Champ Okada. This latest match accomplished two things. First, it showed that Tana somehow found some of his old Ace Mojo back and can still be a threat to his old rival. Second, it established that these two guys are absolute masters of the 30 minute draw.
Watching these two work together now feels like you’re watching the 48th fight between Goku and Vegeta, and I mean that in the best possible way. Everything feels like a chess game to the death with both guys having fully mapped-out counters for every possible situation. And this type of edge-of-your-seat counter wrestling drama lends itself beautifully to a draw, especially the way they did it here with Tana ending up on the ring-apron for the High Fly Flow just as the bell rang.
Random bulletpoints about the greatness of this match: I love that Tanahashi’s idea of a fresh new spot in 2018 is busting out the TRIANGLE SCORPION! This man doesn’t give a shit about your top-rope Dragon suplexes, he’s been watching old lucha all week. Liked the dueling leg work early on as it actually paid off later when Tana just wrecked Okada with those apron dragon screws. The callback to the Dontaku match with Tanahashi countering the tights-pulling Rainmaker with THE SLAP is a prime example of why these guys are wrestling geniuses and was a perfect snapshot for the story they were telling here: Tana might still have it. ****1/2
