Captain Lou’s Review: NJPW G1 Climax – Day 14 (8/4/2019)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano – G1 Climax (Block B)

A very welcome return to the Wrestling Yano gimmick from last year, with old YTR dialing down the trickster antics to have some proper wrasslin’ with the Boulder Bulldog, Thomas Hiro Ishii. As much as I like Yano, his G1 matches were starting to get repetitive and this was just the change of pace I needed. From the way they were reacting, the fans clearly weren’t expecting this kind of match and their shock added massive heat to the Bizarro World Forearm Wars where Yano actually managed to knock Ishii off his feet. Big-time near-falls near the end and I will never not mark out for Yano busting out that AMARESU belly to belly suplex. Good times! ***1/4

Juice Robinson vs. Taichi – G1 Climax (Block B)

I think there was a potentially-great match buried in there somewhere beneath the 20 layers of RAW is SHIN NIHON Gedo overbooking insanity, but we’ll never know for sure. Judging by the way Juice nearly crippled himself bumping for the Axe Bomber and Dangerous Backdrop, I’d say this man was ready to have one of Taichi’s Kawada throwback slug-fests. Then again, why bother with the All Japan tributes when you can just work elaborate slap spots with Miho and do a bunch of Kanemaru run-ins. This shit was not the Grade-1 Climax I was promised. **3/4

Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb – G1 Climax (Block B)

Outside of a few head-scratching moments (why the fuck is Jeff Cobb getting hiptossed by Hirooki Goto so easily), this was pretty fun. Nothing overly complicated – they brought the physicality and threw each other around with big slams and suplexes. More importantly, Cobb showed some fire and even attempted some (GASP) facial expressions here and there! Also, he finally pulled off a release German suplex that looked more Gary Albright than Kurt Angle and it made me fist pump the air like a complete asshole. You go, Jeff. Goto kicking the shit out Cobb might’ve awakened something inside of him here, I don’t know. Would definitely put this one in the Watchable Jeff Cobb Matches pile from this G1. ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Jay White – G1 Climax (Block B)

Did not expect to enjoy this match as much as I did, but here I am, once again getting swept up by THE MOX. As far as Jay White Getting His Ass Kicked matches go, this was really up there. Great dynamic between these guys with Mox beating the absolute dog shit out of Jay, cutting off every snakey comeback attempt and coming off as a pure badass. Moxley’s had better matches in this tournament, but this might’ve been his more convincing performance as a full-on ass kicker.

Say what you will about Jay, but he was the perfect foil for Mox’s brutal onslaught here – selling a lot and desperately latching onto any opening to get in the slightest bit of offense. Mox’s cornerpost Figure 4 spot really needs some tuning, but he more than made up for it with that sequence where he just slapped the daylights out of Jay and DUMPED HIM with that vicious suplex slam thingy.

I obviously could’ve done without the bullshit-heavy finish (also, Jay’s dollar store Bloody Sunday variant needs to go), but I feel there’s a lot of juice to this pairing. Jay’s character usually works best for me when there’s shitloads of hatred involved, and it definitely was the case here. ***3/4

Tetsuya Naito vs. Shingo Takagi – G1 Climax (Block B)

There is no scarier sight in current NJPW than Shingo Takagi hitting the ropes. This man and his murderous lariat will fuck you up. This was the underlying theme of this completely insane match that somehow managed to escalate the Tetsuya Naito Epic Main Event formula to new heights of brutality and firmly established Shingo as a guy that will effortlessly destroy your favorite wrestler, no matter the weight class.

Even with all the long history and Animal Hamaguchi Gym links between both guys, the match operated roughly on the same premise as a lot of the best Naito/Ishii matches: Naito pissing off the wrong guy with his heelishness and paying the ultimate price. And by ultimate price I mean death by lariat.

Shingo is a special kind of wrestler, man. He bridges the gap between 80’s barrel-chested Choshu/Tenryu-type ass kicking and modern day 6-star blockbuster pro-wrestling like no one else can. Watching him control the early section of this match with perfectly executed Vertical suplexes and jumping knee drops was just as enthralling as watching him inhumanly counter a rebound flying forearm into the freaking MADE IN JAPAN.

It goes without saying that Naito was the perfect guy to bounce off Shingo’s bruce force and power spots, as no other wrestler in this company (except maybe Kota Ibushi) seems to enjoy landing on his neck as much as this dude. Naito took all of Shingo’s stiffest lariats and biggest bombs and made it all look like white hot death via next-level bumping and amusingly-shook facials.

All of the wild shit that they attempted landed perfectly and this speaks volumes to Shingo’s ability as a catcher, because some of this stuff was risky as hell. Yes, I’m looking at you, Last Nanosecond Superbomb into Frankensteiner counter. They even got me to pop for a Canadian Destroyer (DE JAPON~!), which is a massive accomplishment. This really was one of the rare times where all the over-the-top insanity and crazy spots in a big Naito match felt warranted and earned. An absolute war that showed all the potential of Shingo Takagi as a top star in NJPW. YOU WANT ALL OF THIS. ****3/4

Captain Lou’s G1 Climax 29 Match Rankings

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