Captain Lou’s Review: NJPW G1 Climax – Day 12 (8/1/2019)

Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi – G1 Climax (Block B)

As if we needed any more proof of Shingo Takagi’s greatness, there he goes carrying Cobb to his best NJPW match yet. Shingo’s had his fair share of dealings with PWG goofballs in the past, so I’m not sure why I ever doubted him. Anyway, the big advantage this had over Cobb’s overcooked match with Ishii was that it stayed within the 10 minute range and played to JEFFU’s strengths (translation: he didn’t blow up).

Everything was fairly logical too – I liked Shingo trying to close the power gap by taking out Cobb’s leg and it led to a nice little sell-job from Cobb after he flattened the earth (LOL!) with his standing Moonsault. The beefy battles had an adequate quantity of meat and Shingo’s absurd energy helped fill the void of Cobb’s eternally blank personality. Particularly loved Shingo’s completely SHOCKED reaction when Jeffu kicked out at 1 for one of his big moves. This guy gets it. ***1/2

Toru Yano vs. Jon Moxley – G1 Climax (Block B)

I find it hilarious that Mox spent so much time shitting on WWE for misusing him in non-serious roles when the man has such great comic timing. Can’t really fault Vince for seeing the comedy in this guy. This was everything you’d want from a Jon Moxley vs. Toru Yano match and MORE! Brilliant Dumb & Dumber finish, brilliant post-match reaction from Mox. Brilliant. ***

Tetsuya Naito vs. Juice Robinson – G1 Climax (Block B)

What a weird match this was. The character work was extremely entertaining but the wrestling on hand was kind of a clusterfuck. I would’ve honestly preferred them having a full on house show match with both guys working the crowd and stealing each other’s signature poses all the way through than whatever they ended up going for here. Beyond the miscommunication issues and botched counters, I kept getting the sense that Naito is getting actively bad at protecting his moves and making his death spots matter.

Not every singles match needs to be EPIC! Did a midcard G1 match with Juice Robinson really need the Valentia, a Reverse Frankensteiner and the freaking running Destino? This is the stuff you save for your main event matches with Ishii and Shingo. Imagine Misawa throwing the Emerald Frosion and Tiger Driver ’91 at Wolf Hawkfield in the middle of a C-Level Champion Carnival card. That shit would never happen. Lots of fun character moments and semi-exciting movez stuff but also a fucking mess. ***1/4

Jay White vs. Taichi – G1 Climax (Block B)

More fun in theory than in practice. The Zbysko vs Zbysko double heel shittery was an interesting meta-wrestling exercise at first but then the non-stop interference just kept getting in the way and I quickly lost interest. Liked Babyface Taichi no-selling Jay’s shitty Backdrop and then just obliterating him with the proper DANGEROUS BACKDROP. That’s about it? Also, Gedo should be jailed for using Miho Abe as bait. **3/4

Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii – G1 Climax (Block B)

You think keeping up with the G1 is demanding? Try reviewing the whole thing. That is the true Grind-1 Climax. I’m not sure what there is to say about this match other than it was pretty freaking great and that I love these two burly strong men together. It felt nearly identical to their equally rad match from last year and I was totally fine with that.

These two carry the legacy of Riki Choshu-ISM through their veins and it is their sacred duty to extract maximal crowd reaction from shoulderblocks, chops and forearms. Everything else is superfluous. Hirooki Goto also happens to be a true master of criss-cross rope-running shenanigans so don’t you EVER try to pull that shit against him because you’ve got another thing coming. Once they ran out of ways to forearm each other right in the mouth, it all came down to Goto trying to get Ishii in place for the GTR. Sadly, the Stone Pupper had something else in mind. Ever heard of headbutts?

Special shoutout to the sweet backflip bump Goto took for one of Ishii’s mega lariats. Extra special shoutout to Goto’s new Ushigoroshi/GTR combo, which always seems to come at the right moment. Can’t go wrong with these two in a main event spot together. ****1/4

Captain Lou’s G1 Climax 29 Match Rankings

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (Block A) – ****1/2, 7/20/19
2. Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay (Block A) – ****1/2, 7/18/19
3. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley (Block B) – ****1/2, 7/19/19
4. Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Block B) – ****1/4, 7/24/19
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/14/19
6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/6/19
7. Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Block A) – ****1/4, 8/1/19
8. Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley (Block A) – ****1/4, 7/28/19
9. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Juice Robinson (Block B) – ****1/4, 7/28/19
10. Juice Robinson vs. Shingo Takagi (Block B) – ****, 7/13/19
11. Kota Ibushi vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – ****, 7/27/19
12. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White (Block B) – ****, 7/15/19
13. Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL (Block A) – ****, 7/13/19
14. SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ****, 7/6/19
15. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – ****, 7/20/19
16. Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA (Block A) – ****, 7/27/19
17. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL (Block A) – ****, 7/30/19
18. Shingo Takagi vs. Jay White (Block B) – ****, 7/28/19
19. Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/6/19
20. Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/24/19
21. Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/13/19
22. Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/19/19
23. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/18/19
24. Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block A) – ***3/4, 7/30/19
25. Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/19/19
26. EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Block B) – ***3/4, 7/27/19
27. Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi (Block B) – ***1/2, 8/1/19
28. EVIL vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/18/19
29. Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/28/19
30. Jon Moxley vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
31. Will Ospreay vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
32. Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/20/19
33. KENTA vs. EVIL (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/20/19
34. Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer – ***1/2, 7/30/19
35. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/27/19
36. Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/15/19
37. Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/15/19
38. Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White (Block B) – ***1/2, 7/13/19
39. Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA (Block A) – ***1/2, 7/6/19
40. Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi (Block B) – ***1/4, 7/24/19
41. Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano (Block A) – ***1/4, 7/13/19
42. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb (Block A) – ***1/4, 7/13/19
43. Tetsuya Naito vs. Juice Robinson (Block A) – ***1/4, 8/1/19
44. EVIL vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – ***, 7/6/19
45. Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano (Block B) – ***, 7/24/19
46. Toru Yano vs. Jon Moxley (Block B) – ***, 8/1/19
47. Toru Yano vs. Shingo Takagi (Block A) – ***, 7/15/19
48. Jay White vs. Taichi (Block A) – ***, 8/1/19
49. KENTA vs. Lance Archer (Block A) – **3/4, 7/18/19
50. Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – ***, 7/18/19
51. SANADA vs. KENTA (Block A) – **3/4, 7/30/19
52. Jay White vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **3/4, 7/24/19
53. Juice Robinson vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **3/4, 7/19/19
54. Lance Archer vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – **3/4, 7/13/19
55. Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb (Block B) – **1/2, 7/15/19
56. Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – **1/2
57. Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale (Block A) – **1/2, 7/27/19
58. Zack Sabre Jr. vs Bad Luck Fale (Block B) – **1/2, 7/20/19
59. Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano (Block B) – **1/4, 7/28/19
60. Jay White vs. Toru Yano (Block B) – *3/4, 7/19/19