Had to have high, high hopes for a living!
Shooting for the stars when I couldn’t make a killing!
Didn’t have a dime but I always had a vision!
Always had high, high hopes…
Had to have high, high hopes for a living!
Didn’t know how but I always had a feeling!
I was gonna be that one in a million!
Always had high, high hopes…
1. Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd
I went to bed at 9PM, woke up at 12:01AM, looked at the clock, ran downstairs, watched this match, and went back to bed. That’s not really a commentary on this match; it’s just what happened. I liked it, both guys having themselves a Solid Match with the occasional massive back body drop bump by Kidd or big powerslam by Tsuji. The absolute intensity in Kidd’s eyes as he goes to lockup is worth noting too. Tsuji absolutely CRANKS the crab hold for the win. **
2. G1 Climax – Block B: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Juice Robinson
Juice Robinson is a confounding character, a guy I’ve enjoyed in every role but who hasn’t really CLICKED beyond a G1 match with Goto last year and that Jay White match in San Francisco the year before that. At some point you just have to roll with it and Juice is a guy I can roll with, having one of my favorite YOSHI-HASHI matches just because of things like pacing and well-timed punches.
There was less body part work time-killing and more shifts of momentum when somebody threw a punch to the face. You could really feel YOSHI-HASHI just trying his heart out, and the near falls he got off the Butterfly Lock and Swanton Bomb were tremendous. This isn’t amazing, but it’s a completely pleasant match from two charming wrestling characters. ***1/4
3. G1 Climax – Block B: SANADA vs. Toru Yano
Toru Yano has regularly been in the G1 Climax for fifteen years and it really is incredible how everybody – me included! – just accepts it, mostly because it inexplicably does NOT get old. He fits the role and everybody else works around it, though sometimes you get a guy like SANADA who might be too dumb or just pretty to change the script up. SANADA gets counted out when Yano ties him to a young lion outside, and his face afterward says “ahhh now I get it.” *1/2
4. G1 Climax – Block B: Hirooki Goto vs. KENTA
KENTA, like any guy who went through the Performnace Center, does no wrestling I’m in love with but he is SUCH a dick that I just have to sit back and reflect on how satisfied I am that even after whatever the WWE run was SOMEBODY found a role for KENTA. Enduring several minutes of him working over an arm did not make me so satisfied, but life is complicated. A gritty, straightforward, boring-ass wrestling match. **3/4
5. G1 Climax – Block B: EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Zack Sabre Jr. is so quick and smooth putting on those submissions! He’s so good at it he won the match! EVIL on the other hand – we’ll see how the rest of the G1 goes, but it seems like he’s gone from 2002 Tenzan to 2020 Tenzan in under a year. During the last G1 he was completely capable of a semi-interesting beatdown and an exciting finishing stretch, and now he’s becoming a guy where you actively can’t look forward to his matches. Gedo and Togo doing the exact same shtick for their guys is pretty rough too. Just a match. *3/4
6. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Naito and Tana have had dozens of matches, a whole-ass feud, but it has been a while and this was GOOD. Tanahashi was kind of working a four-star match opposite three-star Naito, but they went long in a way that didn’t felt unnecessary and created the first actual New Japan FINISH in a while. Tanahashi is like TNT; Tanahashi Knows Drama. ***3/4
Happy Thoughts: This has been a slow start to the G1, some good matches but nothing anybody has to go out of their way to see. It’s the weirdest year but nothing seems on the level yet. 4/10
