These were the last two nights before the last two nights before the finals of the 31st annual G1 Climax.
“Got a suitcase of memories that I almost left behind…”
NJPW G1 CLIMAX 31 NIGHT 15 (10/13/21)
1. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kosei Fujita
Young Fujita experiences it all over again: pain from receiving a chop, exuberance from hitting a dropkick… then more pain. More pain. More pain.
2. Kota Ibushi vs. Satoshi Kojima
Kojima is at a special time in his career where his matches rarely blow me away, but his consistency at 50 years young kind of does. They hit a few quality near falls off a Last Ride and brainbuster, and there’s an awesome beat at the end to setup Kojima’s eventual collapse. ***
3. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi
For a guy who kicked off the tournament in grueling matches with Shingo and Ibushi, Ishii has remained up to the task whether going 20 minutes with KENTA or 15 with Tanga Loa. Now here’s 17 minutes of gold with Yujiro. This match started reliably enough, as Ishii sold and bumbled around and occasionally tested his fingers for paralysis to put over whatever randomness Yujiro was bringing: choke, crappy brainbuster, bite of the hand.
Ishii firing up opposite the hand bite was a great bit, but nothing was standing out until Yujiro suddenly delivered a jackknife buckle bomb that Ishii just crumbled under the pressure of. Whether it was a mistake or not, everything just seemed to click in place from there. They got awesome near falls off Yujiro’s DDT and Yujiro kicking out of a lariat, while Yujiro slapping Ishii in the face was a weirdly magical moment. ***3/4
4. G1 Climax – Block A: KENTA vs. Tanga Loa
Like a cold RAW TV match that got stretched out to 22 commercial-free minutes, this more than anything was boring. *1/2
5. G1 Climax – Block A: Toru Yano vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
ZSJ worked magic with many foes during this tournament, but here he was just playin’ with Yano in the semi-main event. *1/2
6. G1 Climax – Block A: Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan
This wasn’t as cool and weird as the Ibushi match but it was still pretty great, with O-Khan throwing all sorts of fun into the Shingo Show: face claw, throat chop, and the nastiest chops New Japan has seen in a while. O-Khan brings a heavyweight physicality to a block filled with former junior heavyweights and a clearly ailing Shingo had to step up to keep up. ****
NJPW G1 CLIMAX 31 NIGHT 16 (10/14/21)
1. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
Hiromu and BUSHI kicked off a night at the matches in Yamagata City slapping and stretching the new guys.
2. G1 Climax – Block B: Taichi vs. Chase Owens
Taichi has taped ribs, Chase looks confident, then Taichi starts kicking. The fun though time-consuming thing about the G1 is that each match gets its’ chance to shine, so you end up with matches like this one where they hit the notes of a perfectly fine 12-minute (semi) main event anywhere in the world, but the notes feel a little askew. **3/4
3. G1 Climax – Block B: Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA
Here is another fine bunch of wrestling that didn’t totally hit, maybe because the workload of the G1 is catching up to them or maybe because they are essentially wrestling for nothing. Whatever it was there wasn’t enough dynamic to take this anywhere special like, for example, either guy’s G1 match YOSHI-HASHI. As should at least be expected though, the finish is a freaking scorcher. ***
4. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Tanahashi has been in every single G1 Climax since his first in 2002, meaning next year marks a 20-year run that I’m sure he’s aware of. He’s delivered in every one too, even through a few where it seemed like all he did was move with pain. The Ace made that part of the gimmick though and just continued to deliver. This match, deep into his 19th G1 Climax and opposite a G1 MVP of the last few years in YOSHI-HASHI, was one of the first where the sluggishness didn’t feel like part of the gimmick. Tanahashi just looked like he was in pain. Maybe I’m wrong — the grind of the G1 affects us all in different ways.
Tana is still capable of a classic — look no further than his match with Shingo at Wrestle Grand Slam or with Okada on the second night of this tour — but this just felt like two pals doing doing what they could. It’s Tanahashi and YOSHI-HASHI so the work was strong, but lacked a punch. ***1/4
5. G1 Climax – Block B: Jeff Cobb vs. EVIL
One of the big magic tricks of wrestling is getting everything you can out of not much at all, but Jeff Cobb giving EVIL a taste of his own medicine and sealing his G1 fate felt like they didn’t get enough out of what wasn’t much to begin with. Slow-moving though ultimately satisfying-ish match. **3/4
6. G1 Climax – Block B: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tama Tonga
Tama Tonga isn’t a bad wrestler, but he’s not the type of wrestler who has good matches. He is rewarded for years of acceptable service here with a whole 25-minute Okada main event, though it felt like the Tanahashi/Owens match where they never really make the case for why Tama is so competitive to begin with. He wins too, which was surprising but not something they really “built up” or anything. ***1/4
Happy Thoughts: An underwhelming if not punching above its’ weight G1 Climax is coming to a close, and outside of the Ishii/Yujiro gem these two evenings felt like the most filler shows of the whole tour. 2.0 / 5.0
