The first night of Block B begins, with… well, as weird a line-up as any of them are going to be.
1. G1 Climax – Block B: Shingo Takagi vs. Juice Robinson
Juice is already out-bearding Switchblade, which shouldn’t be surprising but I felt was worth noting. This was a pretty incredible start to Block B, with Shingo Takagi on a clear mission to be my favorite wrestler on earth. Among many highlights, he sold Juice’s elbow strikes like he had an ear infection and when he went outside with Juice he actually did NOT whip into the guardrail like everybody else does. He also just sells and reacts to all the Strong Style BS better than anyone not named Ishii, as if he’s actually offended that someone is hitting him. Juice meanwhile continues to be a great selling babyface but has also ascended to guy capable of New Japan main event-style wrestling. All disappointed faces here were very very good, and the cut-off when he started rallying and Shingo just punched him in the face and clotheslined him to hell was magical.
The thing that really sold me on this match was the big drama at the end, as it really really extra really could’ve gone either way: Shingo you root for so he can be the dominant dude he’s meant to be, Juice you root for to overcome the odds and established himself. Eventually, the latter won out, but the journey to get there was phenomenal: these two just teed off on each other as they sold the exhaustion of this 15-minute match that had 30 minutes of action packed into it. The Pumping Bomber kickout was awesome, and I could not believe how well the Pulp Friction countered into a Noshigami worked. ****1/4
2. G1 Climax – Block B: Taichi vs. Jon Moxley
Mox’s first singles match with a Japanese guy was one HELL of a clash of styles, but it weirdly worked. First of all Mox entering through the crowd with Shota Umino carrying his U.S. Championship just cracks me up. This partnership that began with Mox basically saying “K YOU’RE WITH ME” is a delight I never expected. Second of all the match length was like 7 minutes, which was the perfect length for a match between two guys who have definitely stepped up lately but also have a lot of mediocre stretches of offense on their resume. It really felt like some battle for survival, from Taichi’s surprise entrance attack to Mox fighting back all excited to be in the G1 Climax to Miho Abe selling her distress over Taichi getting his face punched. HUGE Death Rider bump by Taichi too. Mox’s chops look terrible in Japan, but we can work on that. ***1/2
3. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano
Awwww this was the bestest match! Tetsuya Naito tried to play Toru Yano’s game and ended up with egg on his face, getting beat by this guy who’s been doing the same shtick for a decade and a half but STILL DELIVERS. Naito is obviously capable of doing some incredible crazy wrestling, but his timing and resting deadpan face also makes for some incredible comedy wrestling. Like – was he having fun with Yano or was he legitimately trying to beat him? I don’t know!! Either way they went like 3 minutes but pulled off some legitimately great near falls based around cradles and t-shirts over guys’ head, while Red Shoes’ DIVE to prevent the turnbuckle pad being used as a weapon was Spot of the Year type stuff. The type of match that breaks the star rating system – sure it went only a few minutes, but I’m going to look back on THIS as one of the highlights of the G1. ***3/4
4. G1 Climax – Block B: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb
For a while, this was pretty much what the tag on Night 1 promised – a whole buncha shoulder tacklin’ and choppin’, with Ishii doing his best to smack a personality out of young Jeffrey. Ishii stubbornly walking through an onslaught of chops or selling by grabbing his head like he has a migraine is why we love Ishii, but as things progressed it felt like they were going for a big awesome heavyweight battle type of finish that didn’t quite click. So the first half was what that Night 1 tag promised, while the second half… wasn’t. I think Cobb might’ve got blown up, and I say that with zero knowledge of how that actually works. His sell during an early chop battle like “fuuuuck I gotta chop this guy back AGAIN” was brilliant, and then he just PUNCHED HIM. He also did a bunch of very impressive deadlift suplexing. But towards the end he just looked absolutely SPENT, having to work his ass off to compete with Ishii, and it worked in the context of a pro wrestler being exhausted but it also led to him not quite keeping up with everything at the end. It’s a good match but if you’re going for go for an epic, make sure it lands. ***1/2
5. G1 Climax – Block B: Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White
This was a strange match for me. Hirooki Goto, all tanned and slimmed down in swimsuit model shape, just got his ass kicked by Jay White for nearly 20 minutes. It wasn’t in a dominant or clever way though… Jay White just kind of kept up the offense, and Hirooki Goto just kind of kept taking that offense. So I spent the majority of this match with my arms folded watching White dick around, thinking that they’re setting up a great Goto comeback if they can manage it but not convinced they could. There were a few fun back-and-forth counter sequences here and there, and White SMILING AT THE CAMERA as he laid on the mat to prevent Goto from kicking him was brilliant, but Goto could not get anything going and it felt more boring than a situation where you root for the guy.
But then they did manage that comeback, and I will tell you what after watching nearly 20 minutes of Jay White prancing around the ring and tightening up chinlocks, I was ALL ABOUT IT. They pulled off a few great near falls and then Goto WON and I rejoiced more than I ever expected to. Maybe Jay White has solved how to be an infuriating heel in 2019. It din’t make this 20-minute match any more interesting, but it did make the finish a cathartic experience. ***1/2
