1. G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale
Like a good TV match, this showcased Ibushi playing underdog and made effective use of Fale, who isn’t always effectively used. Ibushi even had a nice hard cam moment when he crawled into the ring at 18 to avoid a countout and Fale splashed him right away, causing him to scream in agony for all to see. They got some solid near falls off the Grenade from Fale and a schoolboy from Ibushi, before a high kick, Kinshasa, and Kamigoye sealed the deal. Chase Owens and Jado getting involved all the time in Fale’s matches continues to be less than ideal, but there was some well-timed cane shot action from Jado here. **3/4
2. G1 Climax – Block A: Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
A match I liked so much, not just because it felt completely different from anything in the G1 yet, but also because it avoided any of the traps these two can fall into – over-indulgence in Ospreay’s case, doing fun wristlocks but not always taking it somewhere in ZSJ’s case. And when they aren’t falling into those traps, they’re among the best in the world. They did what felt like a hyper-speed version of ZSJ hold-trading early that I can only describe as urgent, and most wrestling should really feel urgent. ZSJ got so desperate, he ended up running the ropes! The insanity! Eventually ZSJ took over on offense and the trick to making that kind of interesting was on full display here: tearing at Will’s bandages, stretching each limb until its’ breaking point, just blatant punishment. Will was also always fighting back, making it so most of ZSJ’s offense was actually him fighting Will back into the defensive, and I found that very cool.
The finish was the mind-blowing counter and near fall-filled insanity you expect from New Japan, but dipped in British sauce. Lots of Euro Clutch cradles, know what I mean? ZSJ counters an OsCutter with a sleeper hold and a Shooting Star Press with a Triangle Choke later on which not only make for great near falls but also pretty incredible sequences of movement to stare at. Zack finally stretches Will until he just HAS to tap. Brilliant mate. ****1/4
3. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer
The Champ vs. The Monster is a wrestling archetype that might never get old, especially when you’ve got two guys like these using it to casually have an incredible match. Archer attacks right away, scares children, knocks down a cameraman, just DOMINATES. He cackles “HA HAHAHA” as he runs at Okada with elbows in the corner, one of which misses and sets up Okada’s comeback. Read those two sentences again. Is there no better start to a wrestling match?
I dug a lot of little things here too, like Okada having to use the momentum of rope-running to take Archer down, or Archer kicking out at ONE on a DDT early, which made the later near falls even sweeter (thank you, Ricky Steamboat). Okada also went VERY HIGH UP on a chokeslam. Like in the Ibushi match, they did a spot where Okada hit the Rainmaker and Archer just STARED at him angrily, which wasn’t as cool the second time but was still pretty cool.
The odds appearing insurmountable, Okada cannot lift Archer for a tombstone piledriver, so he tries a spinning Rainmaker, which Archer AGAIN does not go down for. Okada’s face screams “NOOO” and Archer tries THE CLAW but Okada blocks it and hits another Rainmaker which does finally knock Archer down for three. An Archer win here would’ve been pretty great, but I’m not questioning the sweet math that decides the G1. Heck of a match. ****
4. G1 Climax – Block A: SANADA vs. KENTA
A match that was just soooo… SANADA vs. KENTA. Decent, occasionally impressive wrestling sequences lacking any real character or heat. And that’s factoring in that KENTA is a full-on heel now! They leaned HARD on the now expected Hideo Itami heel offense early while SANADA got in the occasional flurry of fun, and that’s a fine setup for something better later on. Nothing better really came though, and they just kind of kept losing momentum as KENTA dropped being a heel and both guys suddenly tried to be all competitive and stuff. It wasn’t compelling, and they really didn’t recover after SANADA was unable to catch a Busaiku knee from KENTA that seemed to be setting up some sort of counter of some other counter. Lots of hard slaps and Skull End struggles that didn’t quite work. **3/4
5. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
There was a movement to this match, a dynamic dance or a flow I can’t quite capture into words that go beyond: Hiroshi Tanahashi is really really really awesome at wrestling. It told the simple pro wrestling tale of babyface vs. heel but it made the most of that. EVIL pulls Tana’s hair during a side headlock, knocks him down with a shoulder tackle, looks at the crowd – satisfaction. EVIL does EVIL stuff on the floor and begins to work over the leg, which – despite a figure-four struggle that didn’t quite click – Tanahashi sells and sells and makes the most out of for the finish.
Tanahashi’s struggling skin-the-cat remains tremendous, especially when immediately taken advantage of by EVIL with a German suplex. I loved EVIL’s face when he rolled back in the ring holding his stomach after a High Fly Flow to the floor, ready to take care of business. When he hit a superplex it felt like the biggest god damn superplex I have ever seen in my life.
The frantic nature of the finish owed itself to the flow they brought all match, and EVIL appeared to be an equal with Tanahashi. The High Fly Flow block near fall was wild. The lariat setup, block, and lariat delivery near fall was wild. Tanahashi countered an Everything is Evil with a Dragon suplex hold for a hot near fall… and it was wild. There was such a drama to Tanahashi climbing to the top for a High Fly Flow at the finish, BOTH TIMES, as he hit it twice to ensure a victory I wasn’t sure was coming. Incredible. ****1/2
