The final night of G1 Climax 29 at Korakuen Hall had all kinds of good wrestling and awesome pairings. Night 1 had the atmosphere, but quality-wise this is the G1 show to beat this year.
1. G1 Climax – Block A: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bad Luck Fale
As you’ll hear a billion times throughout this website, sometimes it’s just about the dynamic. And technical wizard ZSJ vs. monstrous freak Fale is a heck of a dynamic. I don’t think they got much out of it though, as it was less that and more douchebag ZSJ playing underdog up against Bullet Club interference. And that just wasn’t very fun. Thankfully it ended with a brilliant finish where ZSJ put Fale in a Triangle choke deep in the crowd and sprinted back to the ring at 15, leaving Fale’s fatass no time to roll back in before the countout. I did come out of this thinking is that ZSJ is an underrated bumper – the guy is skinny but rarely leaves his feet, yet opposite Fale he was flying around like Ric Flair. **3/4
2. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer
My hype for the revitalized Lance Archer opposite the final form of Ricky Steamboat that is Hiroshi Tanahashi could be described as extremely high, and these guys delivered. There was so much going on here but at the end of the day it was a classic 10-minute monster heel vs. underdog babyface match with every second clicking for maximum fun. It was also cool to see Archer become a made man in Korakuen Hall, rolling Tana in the ring to avoid a countout to a big pop and real life dueling “AR-CHER / GO ACE” chants throughout the match.
Tanahashi was The Guy here though, the GOAT hard at work being the valiant underdog opposite a new awesome beast of a toy to play with. This match was almost him showing off how good he is at selling, expressively rallying out of an armbar or using his legs to fight and fight out of a Texas Cloverleaf. The way he speeds things up before a cut-off is so genius too, and THIS Archer was the right guy for that. He threw a few chops Archer brushed off, got knocked down with one from Archer, threw a few more chops, got knocked down with one, but just kept on throwing more. And any time he did get some offense going he was moving a hundred miles an hour trying to make the most of it. I should mention that TANAHASHI of all people attacked before the bell here, not Archer.
I flipped out for even simple stuff like Tanahashi taking his shot with an inverted dragon screw followed by a Texas Cloverleaf, only for big Archer to not turn over for it… so he just did the inverted dragon screw again. They got a great chokeslam near fall at 10 minutes in, with THE CLAW still looming, and let me tell you what Hiroshi Tanahashi trying to fend off THE CLAW is the best shit, as was him immediately falling to the ropes when it got locked on because he’s a VETERAN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER. Just brilliant wrestling, and I dug that it wasn’t the usual wild crazy G1 type of match with kickouts and counters and stuff … it was just the classic David vs. Goliath, with a Tanahashi victory roll being the perfect finish to what felt like the highest level possible WWE TV match. ****1/2
3. G1 Climax – Block A: EVIL vs. KENTA
KENTA is truly a product of the WWE Universe now, as though his matches have all been pretty good its’ the MOMENTS that have stood out – the Ibushi showdown, the Tanahashi head kick during guitar taunt, and now him WIPING OFF EVIL’S EYE SHADOW instead of doing a clean break. That was a great way to set the tone for a match that had EVIL delivering us the KENTA experience more than even Hiroshi Tanahashi could. You know EVIL is totally the guy who’d be like, “this is MY company, you scum,” and his stare through KENTA pre-bell followed by a TIIIIGHT side headlock at the start of the match said everything it needed to. Lots of attitude here from these two brats, which resulted in KENTA flashing a smile when Korakuen began to boo him.
KENTA got his extended offense in, which continues to be questionable, but this time that offense included boot scrapes and a great spot where they traded running lariats/boots in the corner until EVIL stopped short and hit a lariat in the middle of the ring. The finish felt like EVIL was hitting the KENTA right back into him, and the near falls at the end were exciting stuff even if the second Busaiku knee kickout felt like a bit much. KENTA’s PK got caught and they kept hitting each other until KENTA’s PK hit and EVIL took one of the greatest KO bumps off a GTS I’ve ever seen. Excellent. ****
4. G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA
First he worked the mat with ZSJ, then he ran the ropes with Ospreay, and now here’s SANADA doing some modern day warp-speed Lucha Libre shit with Ibushi. I don’t CARE that he blew the dropkick stand-off, and I don’t even really care that all the counters didn’t hit perfect – this was SO MUCH FUN. I mean that part where SANADA was supposed to dodge the Kamigoye made for an awkward 10 seconds, but otherwise WOW. A match between these two “athletically gifted” dudes could easily go off the rails into unremarkable “fun” territory, but they kept this bumping. It felt like a battle between the two tallest Dragon Gate wrestlers of all time: speed, hops, spots, and counters, all aided by big time crowd reactions, a genuine feeling of competition, and no hair to speak of below anybody’s neck. Not an epic, but something that still delivered a satisfying time at the wrestling matches. ***1/2
The post-match was the real story for me, as following a double pose early in the match like they were trying to determine Most Popular for the New Japan yearbook, Ibushi laid collapsed on the ropes as SANADA iced his neck. Ibushi then went over to SANADA and tried to show respect, only for SANADA to ignore it and walk off disappointed. I’ve needed a New Japan stable reboot for what feels like half a decade, and I really really hope Ibushi and SANADA teaming up as Japanese Sex Gods to feud with Naito’s Los Ingobernables is a play someday.
5. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
Ah, yes… the match that was meant to be a classic and actually was. I want to deny Will Ospreay as much as the next confused old wrestling fan who appreciates his hops but doesn’t get the WRESTLER OF THE YEAR stuff, but opposite Okada in Korakuen Hall is just not a time I can deny this man. It really, actually, truly felt like a modern day Misawa/Jumbo and I don’t use that lightly – it’s annoying to type out because, like, I just compared fuckin’ Ospreay to Misawa, but here’s where we’re at folks. This is what Jumbo Okada has chosen and he has enough goodwill with me to respect it. I love watching Okada sell when he’s shook, he doesn’t just show frustration but he also logically moves from arrogant and unfazed to frustrated and angry very logically.
I think they started heading towards the finish of this 20-minute match like 5 minutes in, and when these two got moving they really really got moving. In the opening moments, Okada went up HIIIIGH on an Ospreay monkey flip to set up a blocked Ospreay dive that led to a VERY SERIOUS FACE by Ospreay that meant it was ON. They each did the “here let me help you inside the ring you weak bitch” spot befoe Okada began dominating, only for Ospreay to seamlessly plop mind-blowing aerial attacks into his fight back. He also threw one of the stiffest chops I have ever seen, proving he’s not just little Billy anymore. Okada responded to that with a pissed off kip-up and running dropkick, perhaps trying to show that he still is.
The rest was a rollercoaster… Okada threw his amazing dropkick at a few key amazing moments, including one that stopped short a Will springboard attack. They played with the OsCutter before Will went for the top-rope version, only for Okada to counter it with a German Suplex, only for Will to duck a Rainmaker attempt, only for Will to run full speed into an Okada dropkick followed by an Okada SCREEAAAMM, a scream so impassioned that it makes me want to sit down and think about a Top 10 comeback screams in wrestling.
Lots of great last-second kickouts by Okada at the end, followed by a Storm Breaker setup countered with a tombstone setup countered with knees to the face that might’ve finally once and for all sold me on Will. Those knees setup his own tombstone, then he went for the Storm Breaker to finish Okada off, but Okada countered with a Rainmaker and kept holding onto Will’s hand as Will sold like he just survived a carpet bombing. ANOTHER Rainmaker followed by TWO MORE RAINMAKER’s finally finished Will off. I know a match is good when my last notes on it are: “Holy shit. Holy SHIT.”
New Japan matches get called “great” and “amazing” so much that sometimes it’s hard to point out the truly great and truly amazing ones. This one though I am confident in saying was some of the most amazing shit I’ve ever seen. Of all the great G1 finishes this was one of the greatest, just the perfect culmination of second stage Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay on the rise. This was Kazuchika Okada having an epic Korakuen Hall G1 Climax main event with his buddy Will with the intended purpose of putting him over in defeat. And he did. ****3/4
