NJPW G1 Climax 29: Day 2 results and analysis

Night 2 of the NJPW G1 Climax 29 tournament returned to Japan and featured the first set of B-Block matches.

Results roundup:

• EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI def. Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay and Yuya Uemura
• Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens def. Lance Archer and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• KENTA, Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino and Ren Narita
• Zack Sabre, Jr. and Minoru Suzuki def. Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI
• B Block: Juice Robinson (2) def. Shingo Takagi (0)
• B Block: Jon Moxley (2) def. Taichi (0)
• B Block: Toru Yano (2) def. Tetsuya Naito (0)
• B Block: Tomohiro Ishii (2) def. Jeff Cobb (0)
• B Block: Hirooki Goto (2) def. Jay White (0)

EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI def. Kota Ibushi, Will Ospreay & Yuya Uemura

The six-man match served as a very good but relatively short opener. This was short and flashy with a story that centered around EVIL and Kota Ibushi ahead of their coming A Block match. They were first in for their respective teams. The fervent Ota-ku crowd was behind Ibushi and in full force on Saturday afternoon.

EVIL punished Ibushi’s injured ankle throughout. Ibushi looked healthy and G1-ready, but it seems as though NJPW is milking his real-life injury for an added kick to the story between him and EVIL. It’s easy to get behind logical booking like this.

Will Ospreay shouted to Ibushi from the ring apron and yelled things like “You’re fine!” at Ibushi, the sort of things you’d say to a teammate to keep them in the fight. Ibushi finally tagged out so Ospreay could sprint through an abridged version of his greatest hits with high energy and silky execution. He and SANADA had a notable exchange which felt like a teaser trailer for a trailer for a movie. Everyone wanted much more of what they were selling. They’ll also meet Sunday at Ota-ku General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

SANADA and EVIL exhibited hesitancy towards each in this one, tracing back to a few weeks back where EVIL began acting more aloof from the group than usual. Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero mentioned it a few times, but the primary story here felt like EVIL and Ibushi, based on crowd reaction.

Yuya Uemura, the Young Lion that now bears a stark resemblance to a young Tatsumi Fujinami, made his way into the match later and was the proverbial “House of Fire” for a few moments until BUSHI caught the rookie with a lungblower for the win.

Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens def. Lance Archer and Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This was much better than many would think it’d be. It was better than it looked on paper. I’m a proponent of hoss battles in pro wrestling, and Archer and Fale are pretty good at delivering on that end.

Archer came off like a new person here. He and Fale showed good chemistry together, and the storytelling was simple and easy to follow. Kanemaru and Owens both played the role smaller sneaky heel trying to pull fast ones on their respective monster opponents. One of these kind of sequences ended in a stereo chokeslam, one from Archer to Owens, the other from Fale to Kanemaru.

Kanemaru spit whisky into Fale’s face as Fale went for the Grenade, but just a few moments later Chase Owens found a way to package piledrive Kanemaru for the win in another short but solid bout.

KENTA, Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ren Narita and Shota Umino

Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors made their proper Japanese debuts on Saturday with their trainer’s best buddy, KENTA, at their side. Before the match was even underway there was an authentic feeling of heat between the two teams because of what both represented: This was Team Tokyo vs. Team L.A., dojo versus dojo, and you could feel the story before they even told it.

The four Young Lions rotated in and out of the first part of this match. Narita and Connors displayed an awesome and intense ground battle at the start of this one. I felt like I was watching the NCAA tournament or Metamoris for a split-second.

Fredericks and Umino had a notable exchange. Fredericks looked like a big deal already. Umino wrestled like he’s been working for years.

KENTA was the first veteran to enter the match and brutalized both Tokyo Young Lions with signature strikes. He and Tanahashi had an exciting albeit brief exchange as well.

Fredericks scored the win for his team when he cruelly tapped Narita with a single-leg Crab. The six put on a fantastic match with a realistic feel. Katsuyori Shibata has turned the these L.A. guys into beasts already.

Zack Sabre, Jr. and Minoru Suzuki def. Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI

This started outside the ring. Suzuki was very mean throughout, selling the story of how he’s beyond upset about not being selected for this year’s G1 and that he’ll be taking it out on all competitors this summer.

While this was good, there weren’t any surprises here. The match was what it needed to be, no one looked bad — not even YOSHI-HASHI — but this wasn’t the money-match of the night.

YOSHI made a point of trying his best to fight back throughout this one, and while he had some of the crowd behind him, everyone was obviously there to see Okada. He and Sabre exchanged blows but Sabre looked to dominate much of their sequences together. People forget how easily Okada can slip into llave-mode and defend against much of Sabre’s mat-based offense. They teased a bit of that here.

ZSJ finished the match with a straight armlock on YOSHI-HASHI for the win. He told Kevin Kelly that it’ll be “pissing down submissions” in his match with Okada on Sunday.

B Block: Juice Robinson (2) def. Shingo Takagi (0)

What a match to kick off the B Block. Juice Robinson’s entrance gear was flamboyant, indeed, but this was a new level. Robinson is quietly becoming the Basquiat of pro wrestling.

Even though Juice is a lot taller than Takagi, it never felt like Takagi was out of his league. His presence inside the ring is massive; he carries himself like Riki Choshu or Genichiro Tenryu, a hardened outsider who no one ever dare mess with. It was an excellent visual dynamic for this match.

This started out with a much slower pace than the matches that came before it. They took their time, and Takagi dominated much of the opening. The crowd was behind Robinson more than ever and desperately wanted him to win this one. Despite the deliberate rhythm early on, the crowd never sounded bored with the match.

The early build paid off deeper into the match. Robinson had so much heat under him during his comebacks and always fought from the underdog perspective, not at all unlike Ricky Morton. The crowd desperately wanted him to win while Takagi employed a callous offense and a desire to put the Flamboyant one down for good.

Robinson toughed it through the Dragon’s storm of offense and eventually busted a funny looking high cross-body block from the top, then a superplex followed by a Jackhammer for a nail-biting near-fall.

The last part of this match was all tension and action, pure fireworks. Takagi creamed Robinson with a lariat and backdrop driver that Juice simultaneously no-sold and sold — he stood up and waved his finger while grabbing the back of his head — but these heroics didn’t hamper Takagi much as he pulverized Robinson with a Pumping Bomber for another close two. The sphere of sweat that burst from Robinsons upper-body looked like something right out of a cartoon.

There was more back and forth until Robinson took all the guts he had and planted Takagi with Pulp Friction for a pretty emphatic win. The only huge problem here was that the camera shot of the pin was fully obstructed by referee Marty Asami. Bummer.

Takagi was dazed and stunned as he stumbled out of the ring not realizing what had happened while Robinson was selling like he’d just done a job. Brilliant stuff from both guys here because neither of them lost their heat. Both just piqued my interest in not only the rest of their G1 matches, but a one-on-one match between the two down the road.

B Block: Jon Moxley (2) def. Taichi (0)

Continuing on the idea of matches that get both wrestlers over regardless of who wins, this next bout did just that. This felt like a fist-fight. “Black Mephisto” hit the ring first alongside fellow Hokkaido native Miho Abe. Moxley entered through the crowd, Shield-style, which the crowd looked to adore, but it was quickly interrupted by Taichi who went aft Mox before the bell had even rung. Taichi choked Moxley with his own jacket and then with a fan’s pink umbrella.

Taichi went harder than usual in this one. He really laid in the strikes and from the get-go, too, landing an Axe Bomber lariat on the outside of the ring just as the match was getting underway.

Moxley made a quick comeback and basically beat the tar out of Taichi. At one point he grabbed a camera and yelled what sounded like “Y’done pissed me off.” He later pulled out a table from underneath the ring and later Rock Bottom’d the sordid one flush through it. Taichi picked up a pretty long and deep cut from this spot.

The crowd loved Mox. Taichi leaned hard into the heel role tonight and Moxley fed off that and both created a special energy between them. It came off like they legitimately disliked each other.

There were some folding chair shenanigans towards the end of this one, and Taichi got duffed in the face with aforementioned chair before being impaled with Moxley’s new Death Rider finisher. It looked insane. This was all violence without concern with grace. I really enjoyed that.

B Block: Toru Yano (2) def. Tetsuya Naito (0)

The next match up was short and decent. Yano got frustrated with Naito’s mind games early on. Naito peeled his cape and leisure suit off at snail’s pace to get into Yano’s head early on. Yano kept yelling “hayaku!” or “hurry up” in English. Naito mirrored Yano early on and mimicked a few of his famous spots, like bouncing on the ropes or attempting to rip the protective pads from opposing corners.

They carried the story of Naito playing head games with Yano until it backfired at the end. The finish saw Yano lift referee Red Shoes’ shirt over his face so he could land a low blow on Naito. He then pulled Naito’s own LIJ shirt over Naito’s head and speared him for the upset win, what he is in this tournament for primarily.

B Block: Tomohiro Ishii (2) def. Jeff Cobb (0)

No surprises at all here, and that’s a great thing. Hard-hitting pro wrestling with two athletic phenoms putting on an unreal display of violence in sport. The two exchanged shoulderblocks, chops, and elbows for a good five minutes of the beginning of this one. No strikes sold, but each one felt like it had one a couple kilos behind it. It’s easy for the audience to buy into the illusion when the illusion itself looks so realistic.

The momentum shifted in Cobb’s favor when he landed a huge front suplex that launched Ishii halfway across the ring. He impressed the Tokyo audience with his capacity to fly as he landed dropkicks and standing moonsaults with ease.

Ishii led the dance between the two in this bout. He came off more vicious than usual and you’d often get the feeling he was trying to prove a point. About 15 minutes in, the exchanges felt more natural or improvised with a bit of hesitation but the ability to make every single spot work. Action, action, action.

Both used every move they had in their respective armories before the finish. Cobb used a few deadlift moves but sold his back like he threw it out, so when he’d go for his Tour of the Islands swinging power slam he’d never fully execute it. This gave Ishii an opening to land a vertical drop brainbuster for an emphatic win. This was something else. Really good stuff.

B Block: Hirooki Goto (2) def. Jay White (0)

Both wrestlers looked to be in the best physical shape of their lives this summer. Jay White is more comfortable than ever in his role as NJPW’s top villain. Hirooki Goto is being positioned as more serious and transformed wrestler after his training stint in L.A. this year with Shibata and his Young Lions, from stale CHAOS mid-carder dropping titles to Taichi to serious G1 Climax 29 threat.

White wouldn’t engage Goto early on. He scoffed and shouted that this match was too easy for him. He pulled out a chair from under the ring and insisted on Gedo taking a seat and relaxing as he’d put the boots to Goto, but it didn’t work out quite that smoothly for Jay as Goto put a quick halt to it.

Goto wrestled with forcefulness, more so than he’s usually been known for as of recently. There was a noticeable change in his countenance, in the way he sold both his offense and defense. There was a clear determination in his performance that fans easily picked up on. The crowd was completely behind him.

White and Gedo pulled their usual funny business midway through which allowed White to gain the upper hand for a bit. He kicked Goto in the head with contempt, with total disrespect for this guy.

At one point White attempted the heel-y foot-on-chest pin but Red Shoes denied him and insisted on White employing a proper lateral press. In one of White’s and Red Shoes’ exchanges Goto was able to score some offense and blasted White with a big lariat and ushigoroshi that the audience loved.

The end of this was filled with high-tension hope spots and near-falls until the finish. Goto won with a stiff GTR for the shocking win over White.