G1 Climax Night 8, 7.24.19
Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano (CHAOS)
Juice Robinson had, at the time, the best match with Yano in the G1 (this wouldn't last). Yano tried to ply his usual tricks, but Juice countered most by just bull rushing through. Pulp Friction put Yano away.
**1/4
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) vs. Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)
Easily the best match these two have had, out of the three. Taichi tried getting into Goto's mind early by attacking one of the LA Dojo Young Lions, which Goto did not appreciate. The last minute was very good, with Taichi trying to use his mic stand, Goto thwarting it, then landing a Mexican Foul and a Gedo Clutch for the pin. Wish I had more to say, but this was better than I'm making it sound.
***1/2
Jon Moxley vs Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
Moxley focused on Shingo's leg for this match, which was a completely different from any plan Mox had in this tournament, which was refreshing. Takagi still proved the stronger overall wrestler, powering or quick steeping out of many attempts to finish him here. At one point, Shingo hit a Pumping Bomber that looked like Jon's soul was ripped from his body and ascended to wrestle heaven and it was magnificent. Moxley pulled out a pair of my favorite diabolical acts; The Pilmanizer to the ankle and the Ringpost Figure Four, before a Cloverleaf got the actual submission. A great, quick match that never lost momentum. Definitely go out of your way to find this one.
****
Jeff Cobb vs. Jay White (Bullet Club)
I wish I had more good things to say about this match. Actually, the one good thing I can say is that each man's other match in this session is much better than this one. There was a great moment where Cobb lifted Jay from being slumped in the corner into a suplex, but other than that this match was unremarkable. If you need to save time, you can skip it. Jay won with a Blade Runner.
**3/4
Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
The series of matches between Naito and Ishii, going back as far as 2014 by my knowledge though maybe longer, isn't really talked about as much as it could and should be. I fucking love Naito as an Ishii foil, just under Sabre Jr. and Goto for the Pitbull. So this match was...ehh? It was very good, they broke out a lot of great stuff against each other, but I think that it being the main event of the fifth night of Block matches is really stopping me from enjoying it as much as I could. Uhhh....going through notes...Ishii Super Mario'd Naito like he had a "?" on his forehead, and if you don't get that reference get the fuck off my blog. Naito has started doing something kind of like the Emerald Flowsion (he does it here and against Juice as well) which I'm dubbing the Pareja Flowsion (Naito, babe, you wanna talk to me about branding you have my Twitter). Naito nailed the Destino twice for the pin. Crowd went nuts, so I'll probably go back and confirm the rating on this one.
****1/2
G1 Climax Night 10, 7.28.19
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) vs. Toru Yano (CHAOS)
Goto won with some wacky Indian Deathlock Small Package thing within 2 minutes. It was neat.
*1/2
Juice Robinson vs. Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)
This was an unexpected watch. Juice and Ishii started off strong and kept it going for the entire match. Robinson's really upped his aggression and tenacity for this tournament, I hope it lasts. Ishii pulled out the throat chops in this fight, like the Jay White match, and he broke out a King Kong Knee Drop out of nowhere. Some great action follows with momentum still ramping up. An initial Ishii Driver is countered into a Snap Jackhammer...Snaphammer. But the might of Ishii can only be staved off with might for so long, Ishii Driver seals Juice's loss.
****1/4
Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)
There was a point in this movie, a few minutes in, that Taichi gave Cobb some quick Kawada kicks. Which is a move that's more about insult than injury, but then again I've never had the top of a foot smacked into my head. But it was at this moment that Jeff Cobb just snapped. All the frustrations from the past weeks, all the losses, the slow starts, the embarrassments, and the Matt Tavens, all came to a boil in one moment. He grabbed Taichi, rocketed him into the corner and began unloading. It was awesome. This match was full of a lot of great bits, like Cobb's seldom used rolling Gutwrenches on Tall Man Taichi, and taking Taichi from a powerbomb grip into a spin cycle suplex. Tour of The Islands finish but it was hardly the high point of the match.
***1/2
Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon) vs Jay White (Bullet Club)
I'm starting to get back into liking Jay during this tournament. He's showing a different side of him since he lost the IWGP Heavyweight title, taking things slower, and wrestling a lot smarter. He's doing things more to set himself up for an advantage, like dropping when he sees a move coming, or taking three shots to deliver one. It didn't work against Ishii (who the fuck would actually try taking shots on purpose from Ishii), but here and later it does. Shingo is still looking strong, despite going 0-3 in this set of matches. Great fighting spirit spots, punching Gedo right in the goddamn face, and countering the Blade Runner into the Made in Japan were some highlights. But, as the story goes: Sleeper Slam, Wrist Clutch Brainbuster, Blade Runner.
***1/2
Jon Moxley vs Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
When Jon Moxley was announced to be coming to New Japan, this was the match I was most excited for. I knew that the personalities would click just beautifully, there'd be some great moments, and I'd be left with no cut and dry winner to set up for a round two. Goddamn if I wasn't right...mostly. Mox took control immediately, taking the fight to the outside. He had Naito comfortably in control, until Tetsuya got a chair and began the best back to back sequence of events I've seen in a long time. He threw the chair into Mox's hands before dropkicking it, which I'm gonna go ahead and christen the Tetsuyanator (Again, Tetsuya, call me). He propped Moxley in the chair on the entrance ramp, before proceeding to emulate his hero Muta by running down the ramp with a head of steam to hit the gaijin. That was within the first half of the match. The fight finally got into the ring, and I thought Naito was going to take over and win, like most people. But no, after he survived a Destino, Moxley hit two Death Riders and pinned Naito. A surprise, obviously, but a welcome one. It's nice for there to be surprises and shakeups in the G1. This solidified Moxley as a key player moving forward, and it put Naito in jeopardy of not winning both titles now, which I want desperately.
****1/2
G1 Climax Night 12, 8.1.19
Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
It's a tale as old as time. A Block of Guam Meat fighting a Samurai Dragon. This was excellent and everything I feel like it needed to be. A hefty strong man fighting a power strong man. See Vader and Shamrock for another example of what I'm talking about. Shingo got to show his speed and agility, like when he hit a Crucifix slam, but also muscled Cobb up for a Made in Japan. The last minute series of counters was great, ending in a Tour of the Islands. I demand a rematch.
***3/4
Jon Moxley vs Toru Yano (CHAOS)
This was so fucking Looney Tunes and I loved it. Go watch Yano make Bugs Bunny proud.
***
Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
It was there. I don't know if I was expecting more from these two based on Juice's performances so far and Naito being Naito, but the whole match was very baseline. Which cool, after the matches they've had so far I think a match like this where both men have slowed down was bound to happen. But, Pareja Flowsion, Destino. I wish I had more to say.
***
Jay White (Bullet Club) vs. Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)
I fucking loved this match. This was goddamn amazing. It all started when Jay called Taichi "Mr. Vampire", and Gedo holding Miho Abe hostage made it so much better. Jay White dragged a fiery babface literally kicking and screaming out of Taichi. In the process he ramped up his kicks, no sold a backdrop driver like a champ, hit a great Mexican Foul and followed it with the Gedo Clutch for a near fall. The crowd was great behind him as he valiantly tried to put the villain away. But fell to the Blade Runner like Shingo had. Fucking great match, though, I'll fight you.
****
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)
This was not the match from last year's G1 which was still the best NEVER-style match I've ever seen, but it was still top shelf. Ishii took control over Goto early on, but eventually he fired up to meet his opponant. They clubbered the fuck outta each other for a time (I'm desperately trying to spice up how I'm talking about these matches, but this is the best I got). Hirooki hooked a Shibata-deep sleeper in before going for the GTR the first time that Ishii cat pawed his way out of. Goto nailed my new favorite move of his that I'm calling the Ushi-Kai until someone tells me otherwise, and hits the Reverse and Strait up GTR to beat Ishii. It was a better match than last year in plot, but fails to meet it in action and crowd reaction. But last year was in Korakeun, which gives it the unfair edge on that latter point.
****1/2
Thanks for reading! The banner I'm using for this post and the subsequent B block posts was designed by @bobroba, who graciously gave me permission to use their badass piece of Cowboy Bebop like art. If you like this piece, let me know. I tried a more comedic style of review, and I wanna know if it worked or if I'm a flop. And feel free to follow me on Twitter here.
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