Here are your quick, editorial-free NJPW G1 Climax 28 Final results from Aug. 12, 2018. The show was headlined by A Block winner Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. B Block winner Kota Ibushi in the final match of the G1 Climax tournament. It also included a last-minute tag team title match and several tag matches that established the next challengers for singles titles. We’ll have a Best and Worst of NJPW column for you about all that (plus what we haven’t covered of the rest of the tournament) later this week.
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Final Results:
1) Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, and Michael Elgin defeated Yuji Nagata, Shota Umino, and Ayato Yoshida. Makabe pinned new Young Lion Yoshida after a King Kong Knee Drop.
2) Bad Luck Fale defeated Toa Henare. Fale defeated Henare in under two minutes, pinning him after a Bad Luck Fall.
3) Taichi (with Miho Abe) and Takashi Iizuka defeated Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto. Taichi pinned Yoshi-Hashi after a Taichi-shiki Liger Bomb.
– After the match, Taichi attacked Yoshi-Hashi, then Goto with his microphone stand. He continued to attack Goto, then stared him down in a reiteration of his challenge for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Taichi flung Goto’s title in the air as he left the ring with Abe.
4) Cody and Hangman Page defeated Juice Robinson and David Finlay. Cody pinned Robinson after Din’s Fire.
– Cody grabbed a microphone and insulted Robinson. He declared that he would become the next United States Champion, pushing himself to the front of the line (to paraphrase Kevin Kelly) ahead of the many people who defeated Robinson in the G1 Climax tournament and could also challenge for his title.
– When both teams were in the ring for next tag match, the Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club six man tag, Tanga Loa challenged the Bullet Club Elite team to put their titles on the line in this formerly non-title match. Matt Jackson agreed to it if NJPW President Harold Meij, who was watching the show from ringside, approved the match (since Loa, Tama Tonga, and Bad Luck Fale were under threat of suspension due to causing multiple disqualifications during the G1 Climax tournament, and had been ejected from the building the previous night. Meij approved the championship opportunity.
5) NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match: The Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) and Taiji Ishimori defeated The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and Marty Scurll (c). Tonga pinned Scurll after a Gun Stun while Scurll was targeting Loa, seemingly having forgotten who was his legal opponent in the match at the time.
– After the match, the new trios champions threw the title belts in Meij’s direction, and went backstage without them.
– A video officially announced that Wrestle Kingdom 13 will take place on Jan. 4, 2019, at the Tokyo Dome.
6) Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Sanada, and Bushi) defeated Suzukigun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.) Sanada tapped out Kanemaru with the Skull End.
7) Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, and Jay White) defeated Bullet Club Elite (Kenny Omega, Chase Owens, and Yujiro Takahashi (with Pieter.)) Ishii pinned Owens after a vertical drop brainbuster.
– Ishii picked up the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and gave it to Omega, and declared he wanted a title shot. Backstage, Omega confirmed his next defense will be against Ishii.
8) Rey Mysterio Jr., Kushida, and Pro Wrestler Sengoku Enbu defeated Kazuchika Okada and Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh.) Mysterio pinned Yoh after a 619 to a springboard splash. This match also included the debut of masked wrestler Enbu, who had the same name as a character from a mobile game that sponsored the G1, and also the exact same moveset as Ryusuke Taguchi.
– Backstage, both Okada and Mysterio expressed interest in wrestling each other in a singles match. Okada also announced that he was splitting with longtime manager/hype man Gedo.
– For the G1 Final match, Kenny Omega cornered Kota Ibushi, and Katsuyori Shibata cornered Hiroshi Tanahashi.
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9) G1 Climax 28 Final Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kota Ibushi. Tanahashi pinned Ibushi after two High Fly Flows. Tanahashi has now won three G1 Climax tournaments, and has a contract to the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 13.
