The Best And Worst Of NJPW: G1 Climax 28, Part 4

Previously on NJPW: Geniuses of wrestling faced off in ZSJ vs. YTR, Switchblade tried to cut himself off a piece of Rocky Romero’s family, and the real Kazuchika Okada finally stood up.

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And now, the best and worst of Nights 6-7 (July 21-22, 2018) of G1 Climax 28, at Korakuen Hall and Esforta Arena Hachioji in Tokyo.

Best: The Greatest Minds In Professional Wrestling

B Block starts off with the New Japan matchup with the least combined brain cells and most combined pure wrestling genius as Toru Yano faces Kota Ibushi. The crowd is super hot for this from the beginning, and both men are in their very different manifestations of “top form.” Yano quickly gets two nearfalls, and Ibushi sends him out of the ring with a snap rana. Yano then completely abandons fair play and starts untying all of the turnbuckle pads. Ibushi unties one too because why not, I guess, and takes a second to figure out how to untie a knot and then gives the crowd a thumbs up when he figures it out. Between this and all the balcony moonsaults and neck bumps and fireworks, how is this man alive?

Yano digs deep, I’m guessing down to the same place cheatin’ ass Jim Duggan dug, and resorts to tape shenanigans. He somehow has a second roll after the ref takes one away, and tapes Ibushi’s wrists together. But Ibushi can still do kicks, and somehow a standing moonsault when restrained (take notes, cops), and Yano has to resort to his trusty low blow-rollup combo to get the win. Both these men are crushing the G1 this year.

Sanada and Zack Sabre Jr., two much more conventionally smart wrestlers who are also blatantly just modeling outerwear in their renders (SEE ABOVE), follow this comedy match with a bout compared to World of Sport so much that, I, a uncultured buffoon who has only seen like two WOS clips ever, will just also say was very World of Sport. Whether or not that’s accurate, I know this match was pretty freaking great.

https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1020624844130578432?s=09

Sanada continues to show his intelligence, and shows that he’s definitely been watching a lot of tape as he holds his own in a straight up wrestling match with ZSJ. He gets him back into holds despite escapes, and both men are able to counter each other’s rollups. The fact that both men go back to their corners after sequences (Zack to consult with Taka Michinoku) creates the illusion that there are rounds, and makes things feel fairly Real Sports. Zack focuses on weakening the arm that controls Skull End, and is able to escape Sanada’s finishing move multiple times. But Sanada gets the last of many counters, and pins ZSJ with the a Japanese Leg Clutch Hold.

Zack is snottily furious after losing, and losing by being outwrestled, which is normally what people try to do with him before they realize they need to do something else to win (or they just lose.) Backstage, he blames the loss on Sanada’s hair products and Brexit-induced stress, while Sanada again says, “You saw how it ended, right?”

Best: Babyface Bullying

In the People’s Main Event (just kidding, the People loved the real main event too), Tetsuya Naito defeats Juice Robinson in ruthless fashion. These two are both fan-favorites and get loud dueling chants before the match starts. But when Naito immediately tries to psych Juice out by going for his broken hand, fans are not happy. He even nails it with his signature springboard dropkick, sending Juice out of the ring in very believable pain to buy recovery time.

Naito, as we’ve seen in his previous matches and promos, does not play around in the G1. Winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom means everything to him, and he fights like it. And unlike in their tag match, when Juice got extremely dejected about the ruthless hand targeting, the U.S. champ gets mad here, and we see him resolve to stand and fight through the pain. He’s wised up to people trying to make him mad now, and responds to Naito trying to bait him into using his dominant hand (and get DQ’ed) with a fired up spinebuster. He refuses to tap to Naito working his hand on the mat, but later can’t follow up on big moves due to pain. He does a decent amount of damage to Naito, and there’s a lot of drama, tension, and longer pauses between moves. They counter each other’s finishers until Naito finally lands a Destino that Juice kicks out of, but we can see on Naito’s face that he knows one more will do it, and it does.

Despite the loss, this match makes it look like Juice could be finally out of his funk. He looks more like a champion than he has previously in the tournament, and shouldn’t feel sorry for himself anymore. He continues to be a gracious loser backstage, taking the high road and granting Naito a title shot after Tama and Ibushi, if he still has his title.

Worst: Management Styles Clash

In sharp contrast, the fourth B Block match is more of a brawl/sketch between two heels who couldn’t find the high road in a self-driving car with a perfect GPS. That’s right, kids, it’s time for the latest installment of Biz Cliz drama that went from being very highly anticipated by me to borderline dreaded by me after the preview tag.

Tama Tonga enters with both Tanga Loa and Bad Luck Fale for his match with Kenny Omega, and looks pretty serious about this whole thing. Kenny enters at the same level of cornball as his previous match, with the same disingenuous babyface vibe and facials. The match derails before it even has the chance to get on the rails, as the Tongans attack Kenny before the bell, Tama throws the belt down and kicks it out of the ring (maybe too faux-Ingobernable, but it confirms this really isn’t about a title shot), and they all attack Kenny some more. Chase Owens and Hangman Page come out to help, and the, er, racial optics of this immediately get real weird. And then the match officially starts and Kenny nearly brains himself hitting everyone brawling outside the ring with a tope con hilo! So this match is going great on every level!

At last Red Shoes ejects all the other BC guys from ringside and Kenny and Tama start something like actually wrestling in the ring, with Tama interspersing a more varied offense than usual with very emotional declarations like “You and I, we could have been something special!” and “We could have been more as a club, as one club! You divided us.” Kenny’s hurt faces are extremely dramatic, but that second quote is accurate, and I haven’t had the life experiences that allow me to feel bad about a man getting comeuppance for being an unrepentantly terrible boss. The actual wrestling is decent, though broken up by a lot of Drama, and the match lot more even than when these two faced off last year.

But the straightforwardness cannot last because this is Biz Cliz Civil War Part 2, and Tanga Loa sneaks back in and hits Kenny in the knee with a chair, making it seem like the goal of this match could be to injure Kenny so badly he has to quit the G1. Tama escapes a potential One Winged Angel onto the chair, and sets up Kenny for a STYLES CLASH ONTO A CHAIR, and FANS ARE VERY EXCITED FOR THIS because AJ STYLES and also who doesn’t want to see Kenny get Styles Clashed onto a chair at this point? But Red Shoes stops it, and Tama and Red Shoes get in a shoving match. Tama GUN STUNS RED SHOES and gets MAYBE THE MOST HEAT ANYONE HAS GOTTEN THIS ENTIRE G1!

https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1020636203551510533?s=09

The BCOGs get back in the ring to beat up Kenny some more and are about to basically remove his head from his body with a chair when Page, Owens, and now IBUSHI (who the crowd loves more than any of these other guys) run out to make the save. Tama exits with a very dramatic, “You, you, and you” (to the white guys) “are a dying breed. I will end all of you,” which is pretty cool. Anyway, now I guess the door is open for extra revenge shenanigans during Ibushi vs. Tonga, if the BCOGs care about that. They seem okay with Ibushi so far! Who knows? I wish this feud was over!

The backstage promos confirm that 1) the BTE guys do not understand the BCOGs, 2) the BCOGs are probably not really gunning for them; they just want to do their own thing, and 3) someone needs to beat up Kenny for real and make him lose some points ASAP (and now the three most obvious storyline people to do it, besides Ibushi, have failed at this!)

Tama doesn’t seem that mad about how the match turned out. He says very sincerely that they are now back to square one of Bullet Club and the Tongans have taken the responsibility to make things right again. In Kenny’s most condescending promo yet, he says that Tama doesn’t care about the G1 and only cares about “making a statement,” which seems to be true at this point. He again calls him immature, this time for not taking up his mano y mano fight challenge, and says he’ll take his current allies over “whatever the hell it is you believe in.” Kenny should know what they believe in! He’s known them for years and was their boss! It’s what the group was about when he first joined it! He closes with maybe the worst thing a human being as ever said in a wrestling promo, telling Tama that by using his friends to cause a DQ, “You, my friend, have effected my average star rating. That, my friend, is unforgivable.” Now I really, really hope Yano beats him in like a one and a half star, two minute match, or whatever it is Yano matches get.

Best: Strongest Style

Especially considering how goofy the semi-main was, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hirooki Goto is the perfect match with which to send the crowd home, and send them home happy. This is a straight up, strong style wrestling match between two competitors who bring it and want their opponent to bring it. Some shoulder tackles and a forearm exchange show Ishii and Goto to be evenly matched.

The combination of perfect form with the choices the performers make about when to no-sell, sell, and really sell makes this a super fun match. After a series of increasingly difficult finisher reversals and kickouts, Ishii pins Goto with the vertical drop brainbuster (so this could be the next NEVER feud, yay! Unless that’s still Taichi!) Both men struggle to leave the ring, having left everything in it. They’re both just carried by Young Lions, sweating and breathing hard, through the backstage area, and don’t even consider cutting promos.

Sometimes the best wrestling is soap opera madness, and sometimes it’s just two thick dads lariating each other at the same time until they can’t stand anymore! On Night 6 of the G1, it was the second thing!

After the third night of block competition, the B Block points look like this:

• 6 points – 3-0 – Kenny Omega
• 4 points – 2-1 – Kota Ibushi, Sanada, Tetsuya Naito, Tomohiro Ishii
• 2 points – 1-2 – Hirooki Goto, Tama Tonga, Toru Yano, Zack Sabre Jr.
• 0 points – 0-3 – Juice Robinson

Best: U Mad, Bro?

But speaking of the soap opera madness, Tama Tonga’s promo addressed to “internet f*cking nerds” after he and Tanga Loa’s tag match against Umino and Henare at the beginning of the next A Block show clears up the BCOGs’ motivations a little, and also is amazing. He paraphrases Plies to answer his own question as to who the f*ck are the people criticizing his behavior on the internet, and breaks down how he’s navigating this G1:

1. He plays by no rules
2. There is no honor
3. He’s making money the best way he knows how

Commentary helps out with this clarification during the tag match too. Kevin Kelly calls the G.o.D. a “polarizing force,” and says fans “feel that they are effecting the quality of this G1 climax tournament.” Rocky calls that, “another way to make a statement.” It’s sure an especially apt way to get heat during the most prestigious month of the most prestigious and/or critically acclaimed wrestling promotion in the world right now.

This tag match also adds a wrinkle to the Henare To Bullet Club Question Mark minor subplot of G1 Climax 28. It seems like, on a meta level, the booking of this show’s preview tags might be designed to keep Henare and the Tongans interacting, because this is the first time Naito has tagged with Sanada for one of his preview tags rather than the other way around. It could also be a way to get L.I.J. to interact with Ibushi more, given that Naito’s overarching feud right now is with Kenny, or to add more weight to their match as well as Sanada vs. Ibushi. Or it could have just been to get that No Limit reunion pop! I don’t know! There’s a lot going on in this tournament!

Anyway, Henare calls the G.o.D. “cowards” in pretty good promo, and says they’re representing Pacific Islanders poorly by not respecting their elders and by attacking Red Shoes Umino. This is either a very much in character babyface promo, or a misdirect to cover up a heel turn that’s already happened. THE C BLOCK FINAL APPROACHES.

All the B Block preview tags are pretty good on this show, building hype like they’re supposed to and setting other developments in motion. Yoh and Hirooki Goto defeat Gedo and Toru Yano to set up the Fierce Warrior vs. the Sublime Master Thief, and both teams get a Chaos Zanmai pose in.

Yoh ends this match by pinning Gedo with the Five Star Clutch, which we haven’t seen in a while.

Sho and Tomohiro Ishii defeat Taka Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr., in a match that also end with a member of Roppongi 3K getting the win on an influential, veteran junior heavyweight. ZSJ and Ishii have a long-ish rivalry in RevPro, with Ishii winning the British Heavyweight Championship from Zack and the Brit recently pinning Ishii to retain the Undisputed British Tag Team Championship. The rivalry gets reheated quickly when Zack tries to knock Ishii off the apron and the Stone Pitbull doesn’t budge. He gets Ishii in a modified armbar after the bell, then quickly ditches the ring, leaving Ishii pissed off.

Juice Robinson pins Chase Owens with a new finisher, the Juice Box (a fireman’s carry gutbuster), to win he and Finlay’s tag match against Chase and Kenny Omega. These champions have opposite records in this G1 so far, and Juice shockingly beat Kenny with a rollup in last year’s G1. Interestingly, Kenny seems to feel bad for targeting Juice’s hand and goes to apologize, but sure didn’t have a problem clawing Naito and Goto’s eyes earlier in the tournament. But then, Juice is one of the NJPW people Kenny respects and sees at the gym, and he compliments him in his backstage promo for evolving with a new move… and thanks him for “showing [his] hand in advance.”

If we’re judging by the size of the pop, the preview tag for the moonsault enthusiast/handsome battle of Sanada vs. Ibushi is just an excuse for both halves of former Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions No Limit, Yujiro Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito, to get in the ring together. Yujiro betrayed Naito for career advancement back in the day, but Naito’s career ended up advancing way beyond his own (in kayfabe and as a pro wrestling performer.) Naito wins the match with a Victory Roll, because we’re almost halfway through the G1, so everyone’s trying new moves and breaking out their deep cuts.

Backstage, Yujiro (who betrayed Naito to Chaos and then Chaos for Bullet Club) says he will never forgive Tama, Tanga Loa, and Fale for betraying him, and he’s moved on, but “won’t let them get away with it.” In regards to his own betrayal from much further in the past, Naito sums up how far he’s come since then, saying Yujiro “used to look big to [him],” but today he almost overlooked him.

Another very interesting thing about this match is that afterwards Sanada leaves Naito in the ring alone!

He’s been taking this tournament very seriously, and seems increasingly focused as an individual rather than a member of L.I.J. It looks like he’s already mentally preparing himself for his match with Naito!

Best/Worst: Bear With Me

A Block competition begins with the saddest man in pro graps finally getting a little less sad! And in a match brought to you by Dos Equis!

Before the match, Kevin Kelly says the themes for Yoshi-Hashi this G1 have been “disappointment and just emptiness,” and Rocky throws his Chaos bro under the bus by AGREEING and also saying Yoshi-Hashi is the biggest loser in A Block. Yoshi Hashi, god bless him, enters looking as filled with anxiety as usual, but he gets fired up the first time Michael Elgin knocks him down. He makes some missteps, and even when he does get in offense, like that weak-looking DDT and that oddly low-energy rana, it disappoints. But the crowd pops when he lands a tope con hilo on Elgin, and it looks like getting in all that offense on Suzuki really did wake Yoshi-Hashi up.

This match also features the context of Michael Elgin that works best for me: an unbreakable, neutral, athletic, big guy, a mountain to be climbed. He wrestles like his win is imminent, until he finally realizes that Yoshi-Hashi is actually doing a really good job. Yoshi-Hashi survives with increasingly desperate, believable kickouts, and ultimately pins Elgin with Karma. It’s a really feel-good moment.

Backstage, Elgin is proud of Yoshi-Hashi, but sounds dejected about his winning streak has turned to a losing one. Yoshi-Hashi calls this a big win for him, and hopefully soon gets checked out by medical practitioners off-screen, because he says he hit his head during the match and thought he was wrestling a bear.

Best: Gang Warz

The preview tag for Bad Luck Fale vs. Evil once again sparks a commentary debate about what the BCOGs are up to, with Kelly raising the question, “Does Fale just not care about the G1?” because he’s been DQ’ed twice at this point. Rocky thinks the BCOG plan is pretty simple and just hasn’t been executed well most of the time, but Kelly says that the plan could be, “We don’t care about the G1. We just want to get our point of view out there, make a statement, and control things going forward.” I’m glad they’re raising these points and acknowledging that stuff is happening that doesn’t make sense right now rather than trying to sweep it under the cerulean ring!

The Bushi and Evil vs. Tanga Loa and Bad Luck Fale match is pretty fun and ridiculous. The Bullet Club guys quickly take things into the bleachers and bash L.I.J.’s heads against the wall. Bushi both gets his butt kicked by and gets some flashy, lucha-inspired offense on his much larger opponent. But Bushi eventually eats the pin from Tanga Loa, after which Evil grabs a chair and stares down Fale. Backstage, Evil, not a huge rule-follower himself, actually says he respects what Fale is doing, saying, “He’s risen again, hasn’t he?” and recognizing that Bullet Club is returning to its roots.

When Evil and Fale actually face off the following night, the Omega vs. Tonga fiasco has happened, and the BCOGs’ goals are now even more confusing. Kelly is baffled they appear to be willing to sacrifice an IWGP Heavyweight Championship shot as well as a potential Wrestle Kingdom main event, which would probably be the best ways to establish their new faction. If their goal was to injure Kenny Omega, that doesn’t seem to have succeeded either. The goals of the Tongans are now presented as a storyline mystery, which is way more fun than these guys being smart enough to pull off a year-long revenge plot and then suddenly too stupid to win wrestling matches or even finish them correctly.

Evil attacks Fale before the bell and goes for his eyes, then baits Tanga Loa into a fight outside the ring. He’s smart enough to learn from what they’ve done in the past, and L.I.J. has the perfect tweener energy to deal effectively with their tactics. The men seem pretty evenly matched, but Evil is at a numbers disadvantage. He counters a Grenade and, after a kickout from Fale, seems to have the momentum to win… but then Fale throws Evil into referee Marty Asami, and Tanga Loa enters the ring to beat up the King of Darkness. Kelly tells us, over boos, “It’s not just the fans in Hatchioji who are booing, it’s fans watching on New Japan World all around the world!”

Beautiful, heroic Bushi runs into the ring to make the save for Evil (and get tag match revenge), and spits mist into Tanga Loa’s eyes. But then Tama Tonga shows up to Tongan Twist him, but then Naito is there to take Tama out, and Fale is ready to take Naito out! By now, Evil has recovered enough to hit Everything Is Evil on Fale and get like a five count, but Asami wakes up to suddenly see the ring looking like this:

Asami won’t make the count, and tells everyone to get out of the ring, and maybe the match could have continued, but Tama has to Gun Stun Evil on his way out. Asami immediately disqualifies Fale, and Tama shoves him out of the ring, then raises Fale’s hand like he won the match. The Bad Boy drives home the point that their anti-NJPW establishment ethos absolutely includes just attacking non-wrestling employees at this point by forcing Abe to exit, pursued with a chair. Evil leaves the match frustrated he didn’t get a true win.

The L.I.J. (EXCEPT SANADA, HMMM) vs. BCOG gang warfare situation has a fun vibe, and L.I.J. looks well aware they’re going to have to face these guys at the next show when Naito wrestles Tama in B Block.

Best: You Are No Vader

With Switchblade undefeated and Suzuki having just gotten his groove back, the stakes for Jay White vs. Minoru Suzuki are high. Plus, if Jay beats Suzuki, it will probably establish him as the biggest, baddest heel in the company.

The preview tag quickly shows the differences between the King of Pro Wrestling and his opponent, and shows they’re a really fun pairing. Switchblade holds up six fingers and says, “I have six points!” and Suzuki just kicks him in the leg. White powders out and tags in Yoh, and is booed for cowardice. Suzuki continuously shows himself to the be the more upstanding tag partner and scarier man, and urges White to save Yoh as he sets him up for the Gotch. White doesn’t (again!), and Suzuki pins Yoh while making charged eye contact with Switchblade.

Backstage, Jay takes his anger out of on fans tweeting about the matches, who he calls “idiot wank maggots.” This is not a great show for the IWC! Suzuki, calmer, whips out his MMA grandpa credentials and says he bets Jay’s never been in a real fight.

Suzuki is the crowd favorite for a second match in a row during the A Block bout, and looks at the audience with scorn as the “Minoru!” chant starts to go up. White instantly turns from confident to cowardly, doing the Yano rope break trick multiple times, and Suzuki has zero tolerance for it. White gets the best of Suzuki outside of the ring, but once the two men face off in the squared circle, Suzuki soon gets the upper hand. He expertly and painfully manipulates Jay’s fingers to escape an Indian deathlock. They exchange holds and strikes, but White eventually goes for a desperate Blade Runner, only to be countered by a Rear Naked Choke that he only escapes by grabbing the ref. But it’s too little, too late, and Suzuki blocks a low blow and hits the Gotch Style Piledriver for the win. Now no one is unbeaten in A Block, and Suzuki’s momentum continues to build.

Backstage, Suzuki, having just beaten a man half his age by being more evil, more experienced, and smarter, calls White a baby who just learned to walk. Also, he tells us fighting is “about your heart, and never backing down.” There’s some [whatever day of the week you’re reading this] motivation for you!

Best: NJPW’s Top Hunks

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hangman Page was the only Hangman match I was excited to see when it was announced he would be in the G1. I liked how these two worked together during the tag match at Dominion, and they quickly show that same chemistry in the preview tag. Tanahashi tosses Page his air guitar, and Page looks really happy about it! He smiles a movie star smile and gives it back to Tanahashi, who gives him a thumbs up! THIS IS A HUGE GESTURE OF RESPECT. Tanahashi and Page do that mutual leg catching spot they do in a lot in Ring of Honor and face off after Page pins Finlay to end the match. You can see they have the same type of wholesome hunk energy when Page is presented like this.

It seems unlikely, but not impossible, that Page will best Tanahashi. Page’s athleticism is impressive, but his lack of experience and the ability to put everything together seems to be why he hasn’t been able to get a G1 win yet (that wasn’t handed to him.) Tanahashi’s injuries have hurt him against younger opponents, but he has that experience edge, as well as Ace powers.

After the men exchange holds, Tanahashi again takes out the air guitar and throws it to Page, and even encourages him to play a tune. That would have definitely qualified as a face turn, but Page breaks the guitar over his knee, and the match is on. Page looks better, smarter, and less purely angry than against Okada as he starts working Tanahashi’s knee. He lands a nice shooting star press, and puts the Ace in a figure four straight out of the Cody playbook. Tanahashi turns the hold over and makes it to the ropes, but selling his knee slows the match down from here. He soon dominates with those Dragon Screw leg whips that have been working so well for him the G1, and pins Page after two High Fly Flows.

They nod at each other with respect after the match, and Page comes out of another bout in which he was booked very flatteringly against a top NJPW star looking good. I think commentary could definitely chill with the “A STAR IS BORN IN HANGMAN PAGE” rhetoric, but he’s doing well with the opportunities he’s being given. Backstage, Page plays a regular, good sport athlete, and actually apologizes for targeting Tanahashi’s injured leg. Tanahashi passionately states that he believes in Page, and outlines the NJPW Hangman storyline I’d be most interested in seeing, saying “I’ll hold onto him… He’s too good for Bullet Club. Leave him to me, I’ll remove the poison inside him.” I’m not crying; my eyes are just watering from staring at my computer screen for a million hours watching the entire G1!

Okada’s main event win over Makabe feels inevitable, but the preview tag makes it look fun. The Rainmaker adds some stakes for himself in the backstage promo too, saying this is chance to face the most well-known wrestler in Japan. (Makabe is the most mainstream famous member of the NJPW roster because he has a food show on TV.) Okada says he’ll beat the crap out of Makabe “with a smile” to increase his fame.

In their singles match, Okada starts right in (after just nailing Rocky in the face with a balloon while passing the commentary table) on Makabe, doing the Unchained Gorilla’s signature punches in the corner. Makabe gets cheered for shoving him off, and takes things outside the ring for a brawl. Okada plays into not being the crowd favorite by putting forward the brattiest version of himself, including doing a disrespectful one-handed Rainmaker pose pin with a foot on Makabe’s chest.

The two exchange strikes, and Okada soon dominates with a shotgun dropkick and a neckbreaker, but his opponent isn’t an easy one to keep down. Makabe starts to make a comeback with a lariat and a Death Valley Driver, and hits the Spider German despite Okada fighting off one attempt. But Okada dodges the King Kong Knee Drop, and soon hits a Rainmaker for the win just after the fifteen minute mark.

Okada is back on track in terms of his win-loss record, but definitely still in a really weird place. Backstage, he says he had fun, and “There’s no suffering here,” which is, of course, what people say when they’re not suffering horribly. With the Rainmaker, the King, and the Ace with positive momentum, this show starts to change the landscape of A Block. There are no longer any undefeated wrestlers, and also no longer only-beaten wrestlers. We leave A Block looking like this:

• 6 points – 3-1 – Evil, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jay White
• 4 points – 2-2 – Kazuchika Okada, Michael Elgin, Minoru Suzuki, Togi Makabe,
• 2 points – 1-3 – Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page, Yoshi-Hashi