Captain Lou’s Review: NJPW G1 Climax Day 17 (8/10/2019)

EVIL vs. Lance Archer – G1 Climax (Block A)

You instantly have my attention by doing a big beefy shoulderblock collision right at the bell. Two guys who had rock solid G1 runs capping off their tournament with a fun match that highlighted all of their best features. Lance Archer, the SHADDAP-screaming monster gaijin that actually knows how to work like a monster gaijin but also will throw in an apron Moonsault just for the LOLs. EVIL, actual goth royalty with a knack for explosive babyface comebacks and emotive selling. Major love for the spot where EVIL got suplexed into the exposed turnbuckle and began selling HIS ENTIRE BODY ALL AT ONCE because it wasn’t exactly clear which body part he was meant to sell. Folks, that’s a true pro right there. Also, one of my favorite Claw finishes of the the whole tournament. Say it with me: The Claw is good. ***1/2

SANADA vs. Bad Luck Fale – G1 Climax (Block A)

Amongst the more fun Fale matches from this year’s G1. SANADA got taken a part by various world-class NERVE HOLDS and then made a wild comeback using his superior speed and top notch pescado skills to clear out the entire Bullet Club and the crowd was eating that shit up with two spoons. BIG HULK HOGAN BODY SLAM! BIG TKO ON FALE! The Paradise Lock on both Jado and Chase Owens is my favorite use of the Paradise Lock. Keep it exclusively for midcard comedy shtick and leave it out of big main event matches. Rollup Master Bad Luck Fale is quite something, but whatever, I enjoyed this. ***

KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – G1 Climax (Block A)

‘’IT’S ZSJ LIVE AT BUDOKAN, DICKHEADS’’.

Lotta’ stuff going on here. Old-time NOAH tension with Zack sarcastically referring to KENTA as his sempai, KENTA leaning into the merciless Budokan heel heat, striker vs. grappler ingenuity. Most of all, a lot of this felt like Zack hanging on for dear life against a pissed off KENTA that was treating him like a puny young boy and beating the absolute shit out of him. I really got into the subplot of Zack trying to even the odds by going after KENTA’s terribly-maimed shoulder as it ended up playing into all of Zack’s submission offense and led to a truly compelling ARM WRINGER SPOT where KENTA was desperately trying to forearm Zack away but the vegan prick would just keep wringin’ and wringin’.

Great selling too – ZSJ loopy on his feet from eating KENTA’s hardest shots but still aware enough to keep countering his signature spots. That brutal Jim Breaks armbar finish with Zack kicking KENTA in the head WHILE HOLDING HIM IN THE MOVE was a tremendous receipt of all the slaps he had to eat. Dug the hell out of tight, violent little match. ***3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay – G1 Climax (Block A)

Maybe the most fascinating match of this crazy ass tournament. New Japan’s most old-fashioned, classical-minded superstar taking the company’s flashiest gaijin prospect by the hand and showing him the mystical secrets of Japanese pro-wrestling before eventually saying ‘’Allright kid, you’ll be okay’’ and plunging right into the 2019 batshit Ospreay-ISM.

They did very serious lock-ups, test of strengths, wrist-locks of all kinds and it all felt very meaningful, in a good way. These early sections reminded me of the KUSHIDA farewell match, where Tana put his old pal through the wringer of PURE UNFILTERED SHIN NIHON PRO-WRESTLING for one last time. This had the same sort of gravitas and felt like a test to measure Ospreay’s potential as a true heavyweight New Japan pro-wrestler.

The inevitable leg onslaught that followed was great stuff: Will sold like a champ and Tanahashi unleashed the Mother Of All Bridging Indian Deathlocks that surely had Osamu Nishimura quietly nodding in approval in a smokey dive bar somewhere in Shinjuku. Incredible moment in a match filled with an entire truckload of ‘em.

Tanahashi trying his hand at high-end Will Ospreay insanity was not something I ever thought I’d see, yet this man seemed to be having the time of his life Sling Blading his way out of Ospreay’s various signature spots. The absolute scorcher of an ending stretch that these gentlemen put together was the final key to this match’s success as it made the potentially headscratching outcome of a William Ospreay victory over Hiroshi Tanahashi come off as the most exciting thing ever. Fucking wow. ****1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi – G1 Climax (Block A)

It’s fitting that Ibushi looks set to be inserted in the Tanahashi lead babyface role, because he looks about as ravaged as his hero at this point of the tournament: mega bruise on the shoulder, possibly-broken finger and a fucked up ankle. GO ACE. This had the tough task of following the Ospreay/Tana miracle match but Kazu and Ibushi pulled it off with the ease of two seasoned main eventers.

Budokan Big Match feel all the way with Ibushi completely killing himself to bring some spark to the early process of the Long Okada Match template. His bumping and shockingly competent selling made Okada look more threatening (and Ace-like) than he has in a while and helped make his eventual comeback and victory all the more satisfying.

A lot of the match read like a full on love letter to 2010’s NJPW with meta-reference high spots all over the place: the slick dropkick into Ligerbomb counter from the Kenny/Okada series, the blast from the past PINPOINT dropkick counter to the Boma-Ye from Okada/Shinsuke and a subtle One Winged Angel tease turned into the roll-up finish from Okada/Jericho. All of it executed flawlessly by two guys that are able to pull this kind of shit in their sleep.

Best of all, this was a match that made Ibushi look like a guy ready for an IWGP title run, and it did so while smartly saving a lot of potential insanity for that eventual rematch with Okada. Thumbs way up. ****1/2

Captain Lou’s G1 Climax 29 Match Rankings

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