Captain Lou’s Review: NJPW G1 Climax – Day 6 (7/19/2019)

Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi – G1 Climax (Block B)

An action-packed mini-banger that hit all the right notes. The story here was Taichi quickly being forced to CHEAT 2 WIN in order to stop Shingo’s initial rampage and keep that beast under control. It made total sense and never spilled into RAW-1 CLIMAX territory like it did in Taichi’s match with Naito, so I was down. I liked the subtle weight-class based story beats they brought to the table, notably Shingo selling his ass off and making himself appear slightly less powerful than in the BOSJ.

But still powerful enough to obliterate Dangerous T with the god damned MADE IN JAPAN, baby. The later stages of the match had a proper hoss fight feel with big time lariat collisions and tons of sharp-looking GANMENGIRI OUTTANOWHERE’s from Taichi. As we’ve seen in his matches with Ishii, All Japan-esque throwdowns are clearly in Dangerous T’s wheelhouse and he was more than game to put Shingo over in that setting. ***3/4

Juice Robinson vs. Jeff Cobb – G1 Climax (Block B)

What an extremely weird match this was. The layout of this thing made poor Jeff Cobb look like the most ineffective monster of all time. Working from underneath and making timely comebacks might not be the best way to get a Former Olympian Suplex Machine Ass Kicker over. Sure, Juice looked like a badass by spending 80% of the match on offense, but judging by how silent the crowd was and how surprised the commentators were that Cobb was on defense so much: this was the wrong dynamic. I hate saying this, but Cobb could use a seasoning trip to OVW or some shit. Dude needs to learn to be more protective of his monster aura and get a refresher in pro-wrestling 101. **3/4

Jay White vs. Toru Yano – G1 Climax (Block B)

GREAT FINISH. *3/4

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto – G1 Climax (Block B)

I still have vivid memories of these two mailing it in in spectacular fashion last year, so Thank Our Lord Jesus Christ, this was nothing like that. Shockingly good match that managed to stay interesting from bell to bell and made both guys look great. Not sure if story-telling is an acceptable term to discuss professional wrestling on the Internet anymore, but I did feel like these two professional wrestlers told an efficient story inside this ring.

Naito cranked up the Heelishness to 11 and went after the leg like a shark, while Goto brought the selling and RIGHTFUL ANGER (no one has the right to make fun of Hirooki Goto’s sweet new LA Dojo t-shirt). Fun displays of Big Katsuyori Shibata Energy from Goto, well-timed heel cutoffs from Naito and a completely rad Ushigoroshi counter to the Destino. These boys supplied bucketloads of hatred and drama to my Friday night – I dug it a lot. ***3/4

Tomohiro Ishii vs. John Moxley – G1 Climax (Block B)

The pure shock value of seeing Dean Ambrose pull off the Tomohiro Ishii Slug-Fest and even bring a new FMW-esque twist to the formula absolutely made this match for me. In a bizarre metaphysical way, it felt like Mox wasn’t only trying to defeat Ishii, he was also wrestling with CAPTAIN LOU’S DOUBTS ABOUT JOHN MOXLEY IN NEW JAPAN. It was honestly riveting stuff -Mox was figuring out how to do proper Japanese-style wrestling as the match progressed and by the end I was fully buying it.

The initial pullapart set an incredible mood but my fears about Mox working too light started creeping in right then and there. Only for those fears to gradually dissipate as Mox began to understand the ancestral concept of Laying Your Shit In. As good as Moxley did here, my favorite thing about the match was probably Ishii going FULL MASATO TANAKA on our asses. It instantly made the match stand out from all the other recent Ishii Epics (they start to blend together after a while) and brought a new unpredictable edge to the whole thing.

Can’t say enough good things about this match. The chair fight at ring-side was tremendous and Ishii just screaming in pain after punching one of those chairs in Mox’s face might have been the best Tomohiro Ishii Sell of all time. Also, Mox seems to have figured out how to hit that flying knee strike properly and Korakuen was finally reacting to it, which was cool to see.

I could nitpick some stuff but the sheer novelty of it all made the few weaker moments irrelevant for me. I mean, Mox pulling Ishii into the Death Rider right in the middle of that final slap-fest was just brilliant shit. It remains to be seen if Mox will be able to have this kind of high-level match with anyone else but the Stone Pupper, but for now I’m on board with Shin Nihon Warrior John Moxley. ****1/2

Captain Lou’s G1 Climax 29 Match Rankings

1. Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay (Block A) – ****1/2, 7/18/19
2. Tomohiro Ishii vs. John Moxley (Block B) – ****1/2, 7/19/19
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/14/19
4. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/6/19
5. Juice Robinson vs. Shingo Takagi (Block B) – ****, 7/13/19
6. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White (Block B) – ****, 7/15/19
7. Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL (Block A) – ****, 7/13/19
8. SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ****, 7/6/19
9. Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/6/19
10. Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/13/19
11. Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/19/19
12. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/18/19
13. Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/19/19
14. EVIL vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/18/19
15. John Moxley vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
16. Will Ospreay vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
17. Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/15/19
18. Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/15/19
19. Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
20. Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/6/19
21. Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano (Block A) – ***1/4, 7/13/19
22. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb (Block A) – ***1/4, 7/13/19
23. EVIL vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – ***, 7/6/19
24. Toru Yano vs. Shingo Takagi (Block A) – ***, 7/15/19
25. KENTA vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – **3/4, 7/18/19
26. Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – ***, 7/18/19
27. Juice Robinson vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **3/4, 7/19/19
28. Lance Archer vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – **3/4, 7/13/19
29. John Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **1/2, 7/15/19
30. Jay White vs. Toru Yano (Block B) – *3/4, 7/19/19