Block A of G1 Climax 31 came to a close at Yokohama Budokan with a whisper, while Block B was a little louder at Tokyo Nippon Budokan. Rough year of New Japan wrestling though, eh?
“We’ve come a long, long way together…”
NJPW G1 CLIMAX 31 NIGHT 17 (10/18/21)
1. Great O-Khan vs. Satoshi Kojima
Great O-Khan is out of time. His first G1 campaign over, he settles for attacking Kojima before the bell and selling for his signatures before reminding everyone it is O-Khan’s world now.
As Captain Lou noted to me when he (smartly) stuck to mostly Great O-Khan matches this G1, O-Khan comes off like some (horny) combination of so many wrestlers that weren’t beloved in their primes but were generally awesome (if not a little weird) – Tamon Honda, Shiro Koshinaka, even Hiroyoshi Tenanzan live on through the Great One. Must be why these two seemed to just get each other. Solid match, and I look forward to seeing whatever wild rando’s O-Khan reminds me of in the future. ***
2. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano
With the exception of thirty seconds where Yano wakes up and does quasi-judo throws, most of this is Ishii messing him up for always messing up the G1, and the chops are especially rough for an especially messed up G1. Yano could be relied on for a spark of joy or two in the G1 as recently as Jon Moxley, but between the KOPW Title and COVID crowds the Yano charm wears especially thin.
Ishii for his part puts in such an effort at delivering something resembling a worthwhile match that he eventually tires out and falls to a low blow and backslide combo, a real silly way to end the G1 for one of the only guys still making it work. **1/2
3. G1 Climax – Block A: Shingo Takagi vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Shingo bites Yujiro’s hand and, the tables now turned, has a very OK match with Yujiro. The ability to make Yujiro’s DDT on the floor a dramatic spot is amazing, the double countout that soon followed not so much. Another silly end for a G1 MVP, though even the Shingo formula struggled some this year. **1/2
4. G1 Climax – Block A: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tanga Loa
This match featured Zack Sabre Jr. wrapping Tanga Loa up in all sorts of submissions including many where he wrapped around Loa himself. It was kind of good sometimes.
Then, suddenly, ZSJ joined Block A’s best with a silly conclusion: O-Khan didn’t wrestle Naito, Yano beat Ishii, Shingo had a double countout, and master technician ZSJ fell to a reversed cradle by Tanga Loa. All because of math. **3/4
5. G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. KENTA
Ibushi can please a crowd and there’s some objectively cool stuff here, like when he setup a splash through a table on the floor and when half of the table legs collapsed deciding to go through with the splash into half table and half guardrail anyways.
That striking genius we used to watch called KENTA returned a few times too, but overall the match just felt messy, with two last-second countout teases in the first 10 minutes of the match and a generally tired KENTA carrying the bulk of the offense. Love KENTA, but he wasn’t the guy to go nearly half an hour with Ibushi to decide Block A. ***
NJPW G1 CLIMAX 31 NIGHT 18 (10/20/21)
1. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
Oiwa and Fujita got a similar lesson as the rest here, the lesson being the road to the top is filled with chops. They actually got this kind of tickling a bit at the end.
JAM Project performed G1 theme “Max the Max” (inside the ring!) before the block matches began and it was probably more of a “had to have been there” thing.
2. G1 Climax – Block B: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Chase Owens
I adore YOSHI-HASHI but can’t deny a lot of his matches feel like half-efforts at a great match, which is sometimes part of the charm but also not usually a great match. A contest like this shines a light on the man’s skill though, having a more interesting match with Chase Owens than even Okada or Tanahashi could.
Nobody needs to establish Chase as a threat because he pinned Tanahashi and is wrestling YOSHI-HASHI who will sell his heart out to make you root for him against this menace. If there is one thing this G1 could’ve used, it was YOSHI-HASHI (another G1 MVP) beating Chase Owens to avoid another silly final night. God bless – he did. ***1/2
3. G1 Climax – Block B: Hirooki Goto vs. Tama Tonga
You may have seen talk of Tama Tonga being good now, and I’m not sure I agree but here’s probably the best example of that case being made. He went hard to keep up with Goto while Goto seemed to just play it as straight as he was on Night 1. Is it a Tama Tonga chinlock this time? A Superfly Splash? A Gun Stun to avoid in ten different ways? Goto will sell. Goto will make them care. Tama was alright too. ***1/4
4. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi
Between Taichi as guy with a taped ribs gimmick and Tanahashi as guy on his 19th G1 Climax, this year wasn’t either guy’s peak but they Still Know Drama. Watch Tana sell a gamengiri to change the mood, watch Taichi grimace through the pain of a Texas Cloverleaf hyperextending his bandages. The doctors check in on Taichi after that one, but he persits.
Over a tight 15 minutes they managed to babyface Taichi Ishikari against Hiroshi Tanahashi and that really is a special thing. Tana keeps blocking the backdrop suplex until a final gasp by Taichi delivers it, which knocks Tana loopy enough to setup a superkick for a tremendous near fall. Then they start smacking each other and I won’t spoil this particular finish but it’s a real one. ****
5. G1 Climax – Block B: SANADA vs. EVIL
A match that required some fire from SANADA or motivation from EVIL and had little of either. They got all their shit in and then EVIL threw a chair really hard at SANADA’s skull to win. **
6. G1 Climax – Block B: Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb
There was plenty of quality wrestling in this Block B decision match and Okada is still Okada, though he’s always going for that cobra clutch Money Clip now. It works sometimes but felt to the match’s detriment here, a lot of struggles and counters that more often that not ended up in the same spot. By the time Cobb was trying to launch Okada into a Tour of the Islands, it was like: “yeah — do it already.”
I still want more from Cobb but the man did seamlessly bust out a double tombstone piledriver which is not a thing I have seen before. When he catches a simple pescado, Okada busts out a tope con hilo to make a statement… then splits time between going for a Rainmaker and that god damn cobra clutch Money Clip.
Can’t tell you if Okada’s last tombstone was a botch or not but the last rainmaker HURT. Good wrestling but like a lot of the G1, just lacking. It was like a somewhat pleasant reunion of a classic TV show. ***3/4
Happy Thoughts: The last night of Block A ended up the one that needed Naito more than any others, but Block B saved some of its’ most interesting pairings for its’ own last night and delivered one of the most consistent shows of the whole G1. 3.0 / 5.0
