Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale – G1 Climax (Block A)
Ibushi slapping his thigh for middle kicks feels kind of unnecessary, doesn’t it? Just throwing that out there. Same sort of bullshit as Ospreay/Fale but seemed to drag 3% less. Maybe? Milano calling Fale’s big splash a Flying Sausage is the most accurate call of this tournament. Take note, Kevin Kelly. **1/2
Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – G1 Climax (Block A)
THE BATTLE FOR BRITAIN. The most important British professional wrestling match since Oasis and Blur clashed in ’95. Was Ospreay even born when Morning Glory came out? No one can say. Anyway, this was MOSTLY VERY GOOD. ‘’Mostly’’, because the more videogamey aspects of Ospreay’s style seem to bring out the fakeness in Zack’s shtick. A lot of the early chain wrestling bits looked overly rehearsed and I just kept asking myself how could a Submission Master like Zack let Ospreay casually flip out of all of his holds so easily? Seems counterproductive.
Thankfully, I was really into everything that came after that. Zack taking control of the match, stretching the shit out of Will for an extended period of time and then just pummeling him with soccer kicks and slaps to the face – that’s something I can get behind. They added some real grit that went beyond their ‘’This Is Awesome’’ touring super indie match and sometimes that’s all I need, baby. More hatred and less This Is Awesome.
That red hot counter sequence with Zack continually avoiding Will’s sideways superkick was rad as hell, as was the SSP into Triangle choke. Best of all, I loved how Ospreay instantly tapped as soon as ZSJ lept into that Octopus hold. The man’s neck simply could not withstand the weight of veganism. ***3/4
Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer – G1 Climax (Block A)
One day, the poor kid that was traumatized by Lance Archer will enroll into the NJPW dojo with only one goal in mind: become a pro-wrestler and get revenge. By the time he’ll debut, the New Japan Expansion will finally be completed and the promotion will strictly operate in the United States, as Gedo always intended. The match will go on first at Wrestle Kingdom 30 (live from the Staples Center) and despite the numerous Chase Owens run-ins, the G1 Climax 2019 Day 11 Kid will push 65 year old Lance Archer to a three star match and restore Antonio Inoki’s original vision of Strong Style.
So, this wasn’t as compelling as Lance’s matches with Tana and Ibushi, but it was still pretty darn solid. Can’t go wrong with Archer just running wild over people while Okada sells his ass off and gradually closes the gap with dropkicks. Archer doing one goofy flip spot per match is a fun gimmick but I still prefer him just beheading dudes with that stiff short-arm clothesline. Good Choke slam, good Claw struggle, good match. ***1/2
SANADA vs. KENTA – G1 Climax (Block A)
I always try to see the positive in 2019 KENTA matches because KENTA holds a special place in my heart, so here: I liked that they used the obligatory SANADA Plays To The Crowd opening segment to instantly turn old Kenter heel, and I liked the bits where they just laid into each other with kicks and European uppercuts. Anything that went beyond basic heel/face shtick and strike trading didn’t really land though. It’s a SANADA match, so of course there was a weird reveral botch and I think that might’ve been the loosest Skull End of all time near the end of the match. **3/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL – G1 Climax (Block A)
Is there a more Hiroshi Tanahashi Thing than Tana selling the leg during the post-match air guitar encore? Probably not. God bless this man and his otherworldly devotion to THIS BUSINESS. This took a while to get going but it eventually turned into the exact kind of match you’d want from Tanahashi and beefcake post-punker EVIL. It felt like an ideal compromise between Tana’s preferred brand of old school wrestling (Epic Figure 4 struggles! Forearm exchanges with passionate fighting spirit faces!) and EVIL’s wacky goth shenanigans (Magic Killer with Yota Tsuji! Tana stealing the Involuntary Red Shoes Assist spot!).
For the millionth time, simple wrestling is the best wrestling. They did a spot here where both guys kept one upping each other’s chosen quantity of forearms to the face and it pulled me in as much as anything from Zack/Ospreay. Tana’s babyface energy is so magnetic that the crowd was just popping for everything. Big-time lariat near-falls, an all-time great sell of the knee from Tanahashi after that suicidal High Fly Attack to the floor, a ridiculously beautiful Dragon suplex counter to EVIL’s STO. These were things that happened in this wrestling match and I appreciated all of them. ****
Captain Lou’s G1 Climax 29 Match Rankings
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (Block A) – ****1/2, 7/20/19
- Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay (Block A) – ****1/2, 7/18/19
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley (Block B) – ****1/2, 7/19/19
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Block B) – ****1/4, 7/24/19
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/14/19
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/6/19
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/28/19
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Juice Robinson (Block B) – ****1/4, 7/28/19
- Juice Robinson vs. Shingo Takagi (Block B) – ****, 7/13/19
- Kota Ibushi vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – ****, 7/27/19
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White (Block B) – ****, 7/15/19
- Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL (Block A) – ****, 7/13/19
- SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ****, 7/6/19
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – ****, 7/20/19
- Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA (Block A) – ****, 7/27/19
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL (Block A) – ****, 7/30/19
- Shingo Takagi vs. Jay White (Block B) – ****, 7/28/19
- Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/6/19
- Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/24/19
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/13/19
- Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/19/19
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/18/19
- Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/30/19
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/19/19
- EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/27/19
- EVIL vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/18/19
- Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/28/19
- Jon Moxley vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
- Will Ospreay vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
- Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/20/19
- KENTA vs. EVIL (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/20/19
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer – ***1/2, 7/30/19
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/27/19
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/15/19
- Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/15/19
- Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
- Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/6/19
- Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/4, 7/24/19
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano (Block A) – ***1/4, 7/13/19
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb (Block A) – ***1/4, 7/13/19
- EVIL vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – ***, 7/6/19
- Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano (Block B) – ***, 7/24/19
- Toru Yano vs. Shingo Takagi (Block A) – ***, 7/15/19
- KENTA vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – **3/4, 7/18/19
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – ***, 7/18/19
- SANADA vs. KENTA (Block A) – **3/4, 7/30/19
- Jay White vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **3/4, 7/24/19
- Juice Robinson vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **3/4, 7/19/19
- Lance Archer vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – **3/4, 7/13/19
- Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **1/2, 7/15/19
- Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – **1/2
- Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – **1/2, 7/27/19
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs Bad Luck Fale (Block B) – **1/2, 7/20/19
- Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano (Block B) – **1/4, 7/28/19
- Jay White vs. Toru Yano (Block B) – *3/4, 7/19/19
