1. G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Lance Archer
This summer, New Japan presents the must-see wrestling developments of the season: Lance Archer is now a great monster heel and Kota Ibushi is a great selling babyface. There were flashes of it before, but now it’s all clicking, and it led to a great match here. Ibushi felt incapable of getting any sustained offense throughout, all while they did a bunch of crazy stuff that worked for G1 season, like Ibushi countering the chokeslam bomb with a rana over the top and Archer’s weird slingshot senton where he steps on the bottom rope to set it up. I liked how they played with Ibushi’s foot/leg/ankle/whatever early too, Archer subtly sweeping the leg both when Ibushi setup the Golden Triangle and when Ibushi tried to fight out of THE CLAW.
Some time later when Ibushi is mounting a comeback, he tries the second-rope moonsault and said leg gives out before he stubbornly hits it anyways, and I swoon for the selling of both the limb damage and the determination to win. I also swoon for how high Ibushi goes up for Archer’s chokeslam. Everything led to a dramatic finish that featured Archer not just hitting his own Kamigoye but responding to one of Ibushi’s by NOT GOING DOWN AND STARING BACK AT HIM, which felt like both a great fighting spirit spot AND a great JCP angle where Dusty breaks a chair over Big Bubba’s head and Bubba just stares him down. Either way, Ibushi pulled his kneepad down and hit another for 3. This was SO GOOD. ***3/4
2. G1 Climax – Block A: Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale
This, meanwhile, was so bad! It was more a Fale/Bullet Club match than a Will vs. monster match. Chase Owens and Jado as the worst ever Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury is bad enough, but Fale having to rely on them vs. Ospreay made no sense in the first place so Ospreay kicking out of it or fighting back wasn’t interesting. A lot of lack of sense here – Ospreay kicking out of The Grenade made no sense, Ospreay hitting an OsCutter on Fale made no sense, Ospreay basically doing a handspring to get hit in the back with a kendo stick made sense. I’ll always support Red Shoes screwing over Fale, but c’mon. *3/4
3. G1 Climax – Block A: EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Do you like STORIES? DYNAMICS? CLASHES OF STYLES? Well this technical wrestling vs. power match is for YOU. And me, ’cause I like those types of things too. The first half was all ZSJ going after EVIL’s neck, keeping him grounded in submissions, and just generally overwhelming him, which didn’t make for the most interesting of minutes but also kind of just made sense. After the last match I was very into sense. EVIL’s fight out of a leglock into a Scorpion Deathlock made sense, ZSJ unable to lift EVIL for the Zack Driver made sense, ZSJ having to resort to cradles made sense. Then EVIL won once he got to stand up and hit his big moves, and it made sense. ***1/4
4. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA
The atmosphere here with not dueling chants for each guy but MIXED chants was incredible, as was Tana basically refusing to acknowledge it and rallying his fanbase more and more throughout the match. After some absolutely fantastic top wristlocking, this unsurprisingly turned into a match with a lot of countering and struggling for control and signature move hitting, with Tana having frequent rallies of offense but constantly having the rug pulled out from under him by the very on-top-of-things by SANADA.
I will always pop for Tana not just trying to target a leg, but stubbornly trying to target a leg. Early on SANADA dodges a low dropkick and gives a look of “seriously?” before he misses a standing moonsault. A little later on Tana absorbs two boots to the face in the corner, then catches one and hits a dragon screw like he was playing possum all along, albeit a tough fucker of a possum. The finish was all about the Skull End, lots of trying to get it on and then bridging out of it until they both just collapsed. SANADA did a Destino setup for the Skull End during it which I’m not sure I’ve personally seen before. Tanahashi is eventually able to hit the High Fly Flow and WINS, which on one hand I appreciate and on the other hand felt like a sudden finish to the match, even if the match went almost 20 minutes. Regardless – very good. ***1/2
5. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA
Kazuchika Okada, you son of a bitch! HERE is the KENTA match we were waiting for! RIGHT HERE, folks. This match was Okada selling for and fighting back opposite KENTA and eventually a ticking clock, and with both guys being 4-0 and it being Okada’s hometown and the usually bland KENTA now having credibility and Okada just generally being really really really good at not just selling but adapting to a guys’ shtick, they took their near 30 minutes and built up an incredible match with a great atmosphere.
After the usual clean break shtick, KENTA did the usual shitty stretch of offense and holds, but his follow-up of it all with the Itami/Rainmaker pose like it was actually impressive was phenomenal. Loved him slapping Okada on the back of the head and Okada sizing him up like “what u lookin at im bigger than u bitch.” This created a compelling dynamic, as though he was confident here by the end of the match Okada looked like a pale different man.
KENTA’s dropkick to the floor with Okada draped over the guardrail seemed like an ill-advised bump, but kicked off him going for the kill. He went for a superplex, Okada tried to elbow him away, and KENTA just slapped the sweat off of Okada. KENTA got on the Crossface and hit the Busaiku knee but Okada survived both. Okada went for a tombstone, which began one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen as KENTA does a tombstone reversal surprisingly cleanly, then tries… something… and after some initial struggle, looks at the crowd like, “I got this, I ain’t fucking this up” and lifts Okada into a freaking GTS! Okada ends up blocking it and dropkicking KENTA’s back, which is one of my favorite things in wrestling. Then he does the front dropkick and they trade elbows as 25 minutes pass and Okada has this look on his face that reads, “I can’t believe this shit.”
KENTA’s slaps at the end are so nasty that they might’ve legit KO’d Okada as they screw up a spot where Okada’s supposed to duck a kick, but they quickly get it back as KENTA locks on a sleeper followed by a PK setup which Okada leaps up to counter with a dropkick like some damn superhero. He lifts KENTA up, KENTA tries to setup a GTS, and Okada finally says NO and hits the spinning tombstone followed by a Rainmaker for three. Incredible, both as a standalone dramatic wrestling match and as a shining example that Okada is still special. ****1/2
