NJPW G1 Climax 29 Finals: Kota Ibushi routs Jay White and Bullet Club to win G1 Climax 29

The final night NJPW’s G1 Climax 29 tournament was in Tokyo once again at the prestigious Nippon Budokan Arena, with Kota Ibushi taking out Jay White to win this year’s G1 in an emotional match. KENTA also turned on Tomohiro Ishii and revealed himself to be the newest member of the Bullet Club, which brought about Katsuyori Shibata’s in-ring return.

Clark Connors and Karl Fredericks def. Yota Tsuji and Ren Narita via submission

Tokyo Dojo vs. LA Dojo action right here. This might have been the best prelim match of the whole tour. All involved wore faces that made it feel like this was the main event. All four got into it before the bell, Fredericks even grabbed Narita by the throat. They shoved each other and screamed trash-talk. These types of matches are so easy to catch fire and create drama because the story is built right into the match from the get: My school is better than yours. Anyone in the world can grasp and get behind that story.

Tsuji and Fredericks were in first and Tsuji blasted Fredericks with a dropkick as the bell rang. For as tall as Fredericks is he’s able to move with more balance than most his size. Tsuji could probably be at the top of the card already with his skill and confidence.

Narita and Connors were in next and the pace slowed slightly. I suppose these two are both classified as Juniors as Narita was in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in May and Connors will take part in this months Super J Cup tournament. These two had a heated exchange together, and to give you an idea of how good both are, they got a big reaction when Narita finally landed a hip toss on Connors.

Fredericks hit a big standing elbow drop for two and the place sounded pretty loud for the first match on the card. They rallied behind Narita after he landed a belly to belly off the ropes.

Connors hit a huge spear later on and then locked on a Boston crab but Tsuji kept trying to power out of it. In the end he tapped, and the LA Dojo picked up the win in this battle. There was a crazy pull apart between teams afterwards, And Narita acted furious that his team lost. Great stuff from the rookies.

Jeff Cobb, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask def. Taichi (w/ Miho Abe), Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This was an upper-echelon prelim match, short but fun with a few familiar faces we haven’t seen in the ring much this summer, like Liger and Tiger Mask.

Suzuki-gun jumped the good guys before the bell and Taichi went right after Liger’s mask. Liger came back and tried putting Taichi in a surfboard but Archer gave him a big boot. Taichi next tried ripping Tiger Mask’s mask off until Tiger was knocked to the floor.

Archer walked the ropes while he had Cobb in a wrist lock and then did a moonsault. I love the new Lance Archer. He and Cobb had cool chemistry together and I’m sure they could have a great singles bout together.

Cobb went for a standing Gachimuchi-sault but Kanemaru rolled him up for two. Cobb next deadlifted Kanemaru into a Tour of the Islands for the impressive win. The good guys all posed in the ring before they went to the back.

Will Ospreay, SHO & YOH def. Tajii Ishimori, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi (w/ Pieter)

This was a good match with nothing but action. Ishimori had a cool new mask/helmet that looked more like something Guerillas of Destiny have been wearing to the ring. The action was fast from the top; the CHAOS boys teased a triple dive early on but BC broke it up. YOH and Ishimori looked very good when they were in together.

The middle of this was all action with members from each teams popping in and out, and at the end Roppongi 3K did a double tope con giro to the floor while Ospreay landed the Stormbreaker on Takahashi in the ring for the win.

Juice Robinson, Toa Henare def. Jon Moxley and Shota Umino

Good match but the angle between Robinson and Moxley’s afterward was just as interesting. Moxley and Umino entered through the crowd and everyone stopped to pull their phones out and snap pictures. The teams went at it before things were officially underway and it was a heated brawl throughout.

Umino and later Moxley worked over Robinson’s leg early on, the storyline-injured leg which was a big party of the story in Robinson and Moxley’s B Block match on Sunday.

Later, Umino and Moxley tried using a Hart Attack on Henare but Robinson saved the day and speared Moxley, then did a pescado onto the floor; Henare then gave Umino a running uranage and a big Toa Bottom to win the match in a little over five minutes.

Moxley and Robinson got into each other’s faces after the match, then Mox smashed a Juice in the face with his US belt and planted Henare with Dirty Deeds. He then put Robinson through a table with a Rock Bottom. Some of the crowd booed Mox for this. Robinson had to be helped to the back by Young Lions. It looks like we’ll be seeing rematch for the IWGP US title soon.

Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, EVIL, SANADA, & BUSHI def. Toru Yano, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe

LIJ did a five-member fist bump before the match. Yano kept complaining about it, loudly, shouting that they were going too slowly. Early on in the match, SANADA put him in a Paradise Lock outside the ring and left him in the aisle until Goto came to his rescue to unlock him.

Takagi and apparently-not-a-Junior Hirooki Goto were back in the ring together after their excellent bout Sunday. It was more of the same, and it was good. the crowd lit up when SANADA was tagged in, but Goto quickly slowed his pace after hitting him with an ushigoroshi. Honma tagged in and hit Kokeshi. He’s still very popular with the NJPW crowd.

There were a lot of fast double-team sequences toward the end of this. SANADA grabbed the win for his team after landing a moonsault from the top on Honma. Goto and Takagi jawed at each other afterwards.

Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Bad Luck Fale (w/ Jado) KENTA, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI

Tonga called out KENTA before the match. Fale and YOSHI-HASHI were in together first. Later, Tonga hit a slingshot elbow on YH. He was all cocky heel charisma tonight. Him and brother Loa did a Doomsday springboard German suplex-type deal on YOSHI-HASHI.

When Ishii was in the ring he tried suplexing Fale. No dice. He later fought off a GoD double-team attack and finally went to tag out to KENTA when KENTA pulled his hand back and walked off the apron. Lots of boos for that.

Ishii was later able to actually suplex Fale, but right after this KENTA came back in the ring and hit a busaiku knee and Go 2 Sleep on his partner, allowing for Tonga to make the pin and pick up the win for Bullet Club. BC and KENTA looked like they were all going to do a Too Sweet but YOSHI-HASHI went after KENTA, which led to a big pull apart between everyone and the ringside Young Lions on security duty, including some of the LA Dojo guys that KENTA had been training.

After the ring cleared out, KENTA asked for the microphone, but before he could say anything Katsuyori Shibata came sprinting to the ring and took KENTA out with a hard elbow, then completely unleashed a barrage of rage onto his friend. Shibata looked to be in ring shape and didn’t hold back a bit, even hitting his signature high kicks and running basement dropkick in the corner, landing flush against KENTA’s face.

He put KENTA in a sleeper hold and Tonga and Loa tried interfering, but Shibata took them out, too. When Shibata hit the ropes next, Jado cracked him with a kendo stick. Kevin Kelley appropriately referred to him as a “son of a b—-.” They destroyed Shibata and then KENTA did Shibata’s cross-armed pose sitting atop Shibata as the new Bullet Club posed for pictures.

That’s right, KENTA is your new member of Bullet Club. Defeated, Shibata walked to they back as the crowd screamed in joy at his return and the idea of him in the mix with a much different NJPW ring than the one he departed from in 2017.

Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. def. Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi

Sabre and Tanahashi jawed at each other before the match, with Sabre shoving this Rev Pro British Heavyweight title in Tana’s face. They’ll face off in Cardiff at the end of the month in singles action.

The opening was a nice exchange of holds between ZSJ and Tana, but things heated up quickly as Suzuki and Okada were quickly involved in the match. There were short double-team spots from both teams throughout this. Suzuki and Sabre used double submission holds on Tanahashi’s upper and lower body.

Tana seemed to have more answers than ever for much of Sabre’s offense. He was finally able to counter and tag out to Okada and the crowd burst with calls for the IWGP Heavyweight champion.

Suzuki’s facial expressions were one of the best parts of this match. The way he’d glare at Okada, and especially Tanahashi, sells his fights. He’s more than effective by just using his face, holding appropriate expressions at appropriate times.

When Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow, Sabre put his knees up and put him into a triangle choke and nearly submitted Tana, who then recovered and later tagged out to Okada who landed a flying elbow drop from the top; cue Rainmaker pose and extreme zoom-out.

Suzuki and Okada traded hard shots. At the end, Sabre held Tanahashi in a guillotine choke in standing closed guard and Suzuki did La Mistica (I swear) into a sleeper, which then led to a Gotch-style piledriver for the huge win over the sitting champ.

Suzuki grabbed the mic and explained how it must suck to be beaten by a guy who wasn’t even allowed in the G1 this year. He then insisted in Okada handing over the IWGP title to him right there. The crowd was just as loud for this as they were during the match. People were chanting “MI-NO-RU” again and again before he and Sabre left the ring.

G1 Finals: Kota Ibushi (A Block winner) def. Jay White (w/ Gedo) (B Block winner) to win the G1 Climax 29

White walked to the ring with Gedo and the rest of Bullet Club, and that included their newest addition, KENTA, who sported a BC shirt like his new faction-mates.

Before the match started, referee Red Shoes ordered all BC members to the back, which the crowd got a kick out of. More than a kick — they loved it. He allowed Gedo to stay at ringside despite White’s offer from yesterday about the match truly a one-on-one contest.

White rolled to the floor at the start. Gedo stayed tethered to the ringpost. Budokan was noisy and sounded emotionally invested in Ibushi here, with White making it clear and easy for the audience to boo.

Gedo got involved early in and Red Shoes booted him from ringside, which received a huge pop. Ibushi grabbed White as he pleaded with Red Shoes and threw him back in the ring.

When Ibushi went for a Golden Triangle to the floor, White quickly blocked it and began working over Ibushi’s injured ankle, wrapping it around the ring post and then the blue guardrail by ringside.

White controlled much of the match early on, and it was primarily him working over the knee and saying nasty things to Ibushi. The first real comeback was when Ibushi landed a snap powerslam and followed it with a (kind of) one-legged moonsault. He missed on the standing moonsault, landing on his knees and jamming the injured leg, which allowed White a way back in to the match and he continued working at the leg. He dumped Ibushi on his head with a deadlift German suplex, then set him on the top rope and continued grinding down into a Ibushi’s knee.

They fought on the top rope until White brought Ibushi down hard with a top-rope superplex. Ibushi returned with a cradle tombstone for two. They sold for a minute and let the crowd scream their heads off before they traded heavy elbows again. Ibushi landed four shots in a row and knocked White to his feet. White laid in a body shot and a hard lariat, then a high-angle uranage and Kiwi Crusher for a close two. Ibushi responded with a hard knee and a half-Nelson suplex. The call for Ibushi grew louder.

Ibushi went for a lawn dart but White slipped out and whipped him into Red Shoes, knocking him out. White hit a low blow and Gedo came back out and they hit Ibushi’s leg with a chair. White then put Ibushi in the TTO reverse figure-four. Gedo rolled Red Shoes back into the ring as Ibushi was locked in White’s hold as the crowd screamed for Ibushi to break out.

He grabbed Red Shoes’ hand. He then expressed nothing but focus in his face and eyes and made his way to the bottom rope for a break. It was just at about 20 minutes into the match at this point. White got Ibushi back to his feet and went for a sleeper suplex, but Ibushi countered with a Pele kick and finally landed the lawn dart he’d initially went for.

Ibushi landed a German superplex from the ropes next to the ring post, tossing White over onto his neck and shoulders. With desperation, White threw fists at Ibushi’s injured leg. He leaned back and laid in a forehanded chop that echoed like a gunshot to the top of Budokan. Ibushi no-sold this, and the camerawork on Ibushi’s face here was tremendous. The last few bits of this were some of the best-shot pro wrestling I’ve seen.

Ibushi started showing fire like he rarely does, similar to what he was like with Tanahashi in last year’s finals, but this time there was real anger in his face, in his intonation when he’d shout at White. He started kickboxing White into the corner with open-hand slaps and front kicks as White cowered and covered his face. Ibushi roared at White to bring it. They stared at each other until White threw a chop, but Ibushi responded in a millisecond with a harder chop that knocked White to the mat.

Ibushi stood with his fist in the air while the crowd chanted his name. When he went for a lariat, White countered that into a dragon screw leg whip, but Ibushi responded with the lariat, then hit a massive sit-out Last Ride for a close near-fall. Twenty five minutes had gone by at this point, though it should be mentioned that the G1 f=Finals match does not have a time limit.

Just as Ibushi went for the Boma Ye kneestrike, White feigned collapse. The crowd booed. White pulled Red Shoes and distracted him for long enough for Gedo to sneak back in the ring with brass knuckles, but Ibushi dropped him with a high kick to the head. White snuck in and landed a sleeper suplex, dropping a Ibushi on his head, but Ibushi rolled through, bounced off the ropes and landed a hard knee strike while White was still recovering on the mat. The two plus Gedo laid in a row in the middle of the ring, all out aside from Red Shoes.

Red Shoes then called over to Rocky Romero, who was on English announce duty, and ordered him to take Gedo away from ringside. He bounced him and the Budokan crowd chanted his name with an impromptu “Rocky” call.

In the ring, Ibushi sprinted at White and took him out with the Boma Ye for two. Before Ibushi could hit Kamagoe, White reversed it into a Bladerunner but couldn’t make the cover. White went for a cross-armed Bladebuster but countered with a big headbutt, then a straight jacket German suplex. He held White’s wrists and went to lay in Kamagoe but White countered with two more sleeper suplexes and a Bladebuster. The crowd was peaking here.

When he finally went for the Bladerunner, Ibushi ironically countered White’s finisher with his own, the Kamagoe. He went for another but White reversed and went for a Bladerunner, but Ibushi countered that with two V-Triggers and Kamagoe. Thirty minutes had passed. White kicked out at 2.99.

After one more brutal Kamagoe, Ibushi pinned White at 31:01. Kota Ibushi is your winner of the G1 Climax 29 tournament.

On English commentary, they discussed Ibushi’s sabbatical from wrestling after Wrestle Kingdom this year and how they felt he might have seriously been considering retirement from physical burnout and mental strain.

Ibushi cut a post-G1 promo and said a new era of New Japan started today and that NJPW would tear up the pro wrestling world.

What this win means for Ibushi now is that he gets a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight champion in January 4 at Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo. The sitting champion is Kazuchika Okada.

Thank you for joining FanSided for your G1 Climax 29 coverage this year. New Japan’s Super J Cup will take place next week, and details on that and all other future NJPW events can be found at njpw1972.com