NJPW G1 Climax Night 18 results: White wins B Block finals in Budokan main event

Night 17 of the NJPW G1 Climax 29 tournament was in Tokyo at the prestigious Nippon Budokan Arena and featured the last round of B-Block matches, including Jay White scoring a pinfall victory over Tetsuya Naito in the block finals.

Shota Umino and Ren Narita def. Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura via submission

Battle of the Young Lions in Budokan. You could see on their faces how intense this was for each of them. This was short but I really enjoyed this. The main story of the match was between senpai Shota Umino and kohai Yota Tsuji and they went as hard as any G1 competitor would go today. I say it often, but all four of these wrestlers will be superstars in the future. Narita tapped Uemura after a single-leg crab, and after the bell Tsuji and Umino continued brawling, with Umino knocking Tsuji over to the floor after a hard elbow.

Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi (w/ Pieter) & Chase Owens def. SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI

This was a fine fan service match. Fale choked EVIL with the mic cords at the English announce table. Later on, Owens put SANADA in the Paradise Lock but he escaped and put both Owens and Takahashi in the Lock, then dropkicked both in their butts. The crowd loved it. Takahashi sort of redeemed himself by winning the match after hitting the Pimp Juice DDT on BUSHI, but he still looked like a geek in that Paradise Lock with Owens.

Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare def. Kenta Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks

All six men had a stare down before the bell. Connors and Henare were in first and had natural chemistry together. The crowd loved Honma whenever he was in the match. KENTA taunted him and smacked his own head like he was going to do his kokeshi headbutt. Honma finally tagged out to Ibushi and the crowd sounded like it had been waiting to start chanting for the guy. Talk about over.

He and KENTA had a nice striking exchange that ended with a double roundhouse kick that knocked both to the mat. Connors and Fredericks used some high-impact double team sequences on Henare towards the end, but Henare rallied back and pinned Fredericks after a big Toa Bottom for the win. Honma, Ibushi and Henare all flexed for the camera before going to the back.

Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay def. Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Lance Archer & Zack Sabre Jr.

Suzuki-gun attacked the CHAOS Deluxe (meaning plus Tanahashi) after the introductions. Ospreay used flashy offense on Kanemaru early on was short-lived and the match again spilled to the floor, where Suzuki abused YOSHI-HASHI with a chair. In the ring the two had a longer exchange, with YOSHI-HASHI finally returning the onslaught with a big axe bomber and then tagging out to Okada.

Ospreay and Okada blocked a double chokeslam attempt with a double dropkick on Archer; he responded by taking both out with a cross-body block. I love the new Lance Archer.

Sabre and Tanahashi went at it next but it was quick, and soon after pretty much everyone was popping in or out of the ring. Sabre and Suzuki sandwiched Tanahashi with a double penalty kick, and later Sabre used a Northern lights suplex and floated over into a double wrist lock. He didn’t get an immediate tap so he quickly transitioned to a straight armbar, which Tana saw coming and he rolled Sabre up mid-transition to score the pin. Awesome finish to this one.

B Block: Jeff Cobb (8) def. Toru Yano (8)

Cobb’s entrance video had the phrase SUPLEX PARTY flashing between B-roll action shots. Referee Marty Asami ordered Toru Yano to remove his t-shirt before the match started, which revealed lumpy, bulbous objects jutting out from under his tights. He had stuffed five separate rolls of athletic tape inside.

Yano then insisted on Asami checking Cobb for weapons, and when Cobb’s back was turned Yano went for a school boy pin for two. He then pulled the straps from Cobb’s singlet down and stuffed Cobb’s hands inside and rolled him up for another two. Yano apologized profusely and offered a handshake. Cobb took Yano up on the offer and crushed his hand and then whipped him into the ropes, but Yano caught himself and rolled to the floor.

Yano ripped the ring projection pad off the turnbuckles but Cobb ended up whipping Yano into them. Yano actually did a big front suplex off the ropes once but it was for naught as Cobb landed a perfectly placed superkick followed by a huge Tour of the Islands for the win. This was short but the Tokyo crowd ate it up, and it sounded like they really enjoyed both Yano and “gachimuchi” Jeff Cobb.

B Block: Taichi (w/ Miho Abe and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (8) def. Tomohiro Ishii (8)

These two put on a really good match that was hands-down Taichi’s best match in this year’s G1. He ambushed Ishii before the match and landed a backdrop driver for a close two-count once it began. He sounded to have a loud smattering of fans all over Budokan cheering him on, but the majority in the audience were there in full support of the Stone Pitbull.

Ishii finally broke Taichi’s cycle of offense with a powerslam. They traded hard strikes, Taichi with a lot of kicks, until Ishii landed a long, delayed superplex off the second rope. Even more of the crowd sounded like they were supporting Taichi. It got louder as the match went on, and it was all action, with the crowd peaking high at only 10 minutes in.

The place sounded like they were about to lose it after two backdrop drivers, and just a bit later Taichi planted Ishii with Black Mephisto. That’s right: no Suzuki-gun funny business, no Miho Abe distractions, just Taichi. Jushin Liger praised Taichi a lot on commentary after this.

B Block: Juice Robinson (8) def. Jon Moxley (w/ Shota Umino) (10)

Shota Umino wore a jacket like Mox’s that said DEATHRIDERS on it. Juice walked to the ring with a serious look on his face, and once the bell rang this turned into a mean brawl. Robinson wouldn’t back down from Mox until he storyline-aggravated his injured knee, which Moxley noticed and then went after it with submissions and strikes. When he locked in a figure-four the crowd started chanting Juice’s name. They traded slaps in the lock, then Robinson reversed the hold until a break. Moxley then locked in a Texas Cloverleaf and Juice really sold his leg.

The two bit each other, with Robinson biting Moxley’s earring from his earlobe. He hit a flying crossbody block. Moxley countered it and went to attack the leg but Robinson knocked Mox to the floor. Moxley grabbed a table from under the ring but couldn’t set it up because Robinson did a pescado to the outside. Juice put the table back under the ring and gave a Red Shoes a thumbs up, which elicited cheers from the crowd.

At around 10 minutes into this, the match was still on the floor. Mox tried crushing Robinson’s knee with a chair but missed and hit the ring post. In the ring, Robinson used another crossbody attack from the top rope. They traded closed fists until Moxley put the kibosh in the sequence with a hard lariat. He used a drop toehold into an ankle lock, then moved to a high angle STF where the F (facelock) was more of a sleeper choke. Robinson’s selling was awesome here; his eyes looked like they were popping out of his head.

Juice was pretty much out cold in the hold but grabbed Red Shoes’ pant-leg to prevent him from getting KO’d. Moxley was visibly frustrated with Mr. Shoes and knocked Juice out with a big knee strike. Mox brought a table in the ring but he couldn’t use it because Red Shoes got in the way. The story was that Mox was insisting he’d already won the match because Robinson was knocked out so he just kept upping the violence. He started biting Juice’s face again, but Robinson finally came back and put Moxley away with Pulp Friction. With this loss, Moxley has been eliminated from the G1 29.

B Block: Hirooki Goto (10) def. Shingo Takagi (8)

Another awesome match, and absolutely one of Goto’s best of the tournament, if not his best. Seeing these two in the ring together really puts the “but Takagi’s a junior!” argument to bed. He looked bigger and even a bit taller than Goto here. Does that mean Goto is a junior heavyweight? Takagi was the bully of the match and midway through this the crowd chanted Goto’s name as Takagi worked him over. As soon as Goto got some offense in, Takagi rolled to the floor to gather himself.

Goto dominated from here. The crowd was mostly behind him for much of this but there was a strong and loud contingent inside Budokan for Takagi, who later countered Goto’s string of offense with a snap backdrop driver.

At the 10-minute mark, Takagi used a noshigami on Goto for two and the crowd began to peak. They traded huge lariats until Goto bowled Takagi over with a big one of his own. The crowd really lost it after Takagi used Made in Japan for a close two. He landed a Pumping Bomber, then pointed a finger at his or one opponent just like Riki Choshu used to do. Two-count.

Goto rallied back and hit a reverse GTR, then wound up for a huge kick that Takagi countered by decapitating Goto with a lariat, then somehow turned Goto inside out with another huge Pumping Bomber, followed by Last of the Dragon for the win. I would have said Goto’s best match before this was vs. Ishii but this match blew it out of the water. Great stuff from both guys here. Takagi tops off his G1 with eight points and two big back-to-back wins late in the tournament.

B Block finals: Jay White (w/ Gedo) (12) def. Tetsuya Naito (10)

The crowd was crazy for Naito before the match kicked off. White absorbed all the cheers for Naito as well as the boos for him. He slid out to the floor like he usually does at the beginning of his matches, so when he and Gedo were discussing strategy Naito teased a dive but did the Tranquilo pose instead. He then went to the floor and whipped Gedo into White.

The two went back and forth in the ring and out again for a while, with White in control for much of the match. It was all built around the two outsmarting each other, around who’d get the first lick in, around who’d trick whom into making themselves vulnerable.

Naito was back in command midway through and started working over White’s neck in an attempt to soften him up for Destino later on. He used a leg scissors neck crank and paintbrushed White inside the hold. White powered back with a flatliner and deadlift German suplex. When Naito flew off the ropes with a flying forearm a white caught him and did a big uranage. Naito then reversed a Kiwi Crusher into a big DDT, and after this, both were out on their backs. The crowd started chanting “NA-I-TO! NA-I-TO!” and it echoed off the ceilings.

White threw referee Red Shoes into Naito. Gedo jumped in with brass knuckles but Naito took him out. White feigned being KO’d and was able to bait Naito into another sneak attack. Moments later, he landed the Kiwi Crusher for two. Naito did a reverse Frankensteiner but White took it poorly and it looked bad. He kicked out of Destino at two, then hit a sleeper suplex.

The crowd fully peaked just before the 20 minute call when White hit a Bladebuster and then spiked Naito with a Bladerunner to win the match and, seemingly out of nowhere, the B Block, after an 0-3 start. White has won his last six matches in a row.

After the match White grabbed the mic and said “Tranquilo!” to Naito. The crowd booed the hell out of this. White called out Ibushi and the crowd perked up when he came out in a T-shirt and gym shorts. He told Ibushi that tomorrow it’d be only he and Ibushi — no Gedo.

They shook hands until White pulled him in for a Bladerunner but Ibushi knew better and threw a roundhouse kick that White ducked. Gedo then grabbed Ibushi by the foot and held him until White decked him. He then Pillmanized Ibushi’s injured ankle and said that on Monday, he’ll breathe with the Switchblade. Massive boos from the crowd, who sound to badly want Ibushi to walk away with the win at Nippon Budokan.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the conclusion of the G1 Climax 29, with the two block winners, Kota Ibushi and Jay White, going head-to-head in the tournament finals.

Final G1 standings

A Block

Kota Ibushi 14+ (winner w/ tiebreaker-win over Okada)
Kazuchika Okada 14
KENTA 8
Hiroshi Tanahashi 8
EVIL 8
SANADA 8
Will Ospreay 8
Zack Sabre Jr. 8
Bad Luck Fale 8
Lance Archer 6

B Block

Jay White 12 (winner)
Jon Moxley 10
Tetsuya Naito 10
Hirooki Goto 10
Tomohiro Ishii 8
Toru Yano 8
Juice Robinson 8
Jeff Cobb 8
Taichi 8
Shingo Takagi 8