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Welcome back to the G1 Tournament 29, a journey we're taking together! The only part of these events that involve promos and extras is the pre-show, and it’s great fun to watch, even without subtitles. Tonight we had idol singers tasting wrestling cuisine and a rundown of the 6 prior nights, and it was very cute! Click through for the results and my commentary, and as always don't forget to give me yours on Sportskeeda's Twitter!
G1 Climax is a yearly 19-night tournament held by NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) to determine the most tenacious member of the roster. For the first time, all of the events will be available legally outside of Japan without a time delay via the NJPWWorld streaming service and with a delay on AXS TV.
There are two blocks with 10 fighters per block. Each fighter will have a match with every other fighter in their block, and they are awarded 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and none for a loss.
The highest scoring fighter from each block will face off at the Finale. Night 7 was an A-block night, opening as usual with the featured 4 short tag matches featuring the B-Block competitors.
Jon Moxley and Shota Umino vs. Juice Robinson and Yota Tsuji
The US Heavyweight Champion and his young lion took the ring. Robinson has massive beef with Jon Moxley, so when the match started, the veterans went to it. Moxley took an early advantage, as his debut match in NJPW was with Robinson and he had already learned to anticipate the man’s efforts.
Robinson cornered Moxley but still ate a clothesline after reversing his Irish whip attempt. Once both men had been tagged out, Shooter and Tsuji began their fight. Mox and Juice didn’t stop theirs, brawling through the crowd and into the backstage gorilla area.
“They might be fighting on the streets of Tokyo right now, those two nutcases!” The announcers were happy to let us know how surprising that was, and once Mox was back, he saved Shooter from a submission hold with a Regal Knee.
Without Robinson, Shooter picked up the victory with a Boston crab hold that forced Tsuji to tap out. Robinson eventually dragged himself to the ring and decided it was time to take all of his aggression out on Moxley.
These two are destined to bite each others’ faces off.
Results: Jon Moxley and Shota Umino def. Juice Robinson and Yota Tsuji via submission.
Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Minoru Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano and Yuya Uemura
Suzuki-gun jumped their opponents before the bell, but at least they were in the ring! Taichi took on Uemura from the LA Dojo first, and while Uemura’s strikes were strong it was Taichi who threw him from the ring. He pushed the edge of a chair into Goto’s neck, while Suzuki took another chair to Uemura’s back.
Taichi got to the ring quickly, but Uemura barely made the 20-count. Goto tagged in, and as Suzuki put him in a rest hold, Uemura refused to leave Goto to his fate, attempting to beat down Suzuki. Certainly, it made Suzuki break the hold but it also netted Uemura Goto’s fury. Taichi delivered a brutal enzuigiri into Goto’s face.
Taichi didn’t have the momentum forever, and both Goto and Taichi had to tag out. Suzuki and Yano were next, and Yano’s fury was a great match to Suzuki’s intensity. Taichi tagged in and took the fight to Yano, who happily took him down and tagged to the intense Uemura!
The new kid has no fear, and both the audience and yours truly him! He nearly pinned Kanemaru in quick succession and he kicked out of almost everything Kanemaru threw his way. Uemura was pinned by Kanemaru but not without a fight.
The factions scuffled all the way to the backstage area and Goto came back to check on the much-beleaguered ring attendants.
Results: Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Minoru Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano and Yuya Uemura via pinfall
Bullet Club (Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens) vs. Jeff Cobb, Tomoaki Honma and Toa Henare
Gedo came down with Bullet Club, tricks up his sleeve, but their opposing team had Honma so there would surely be shenanigans. He opened the match with Takahashi, each man taunting the other until Honma took the early advantage with a bodyslam.
White strangled Cobb ringside with an AV cable, to no one’s surprise. Owens drove most of his joints into Honma’s body before tagging White in. Honma absorbed loads of Bullet Club damage before rallying against Owens, applying his Kokeshi move before doing the same to White.
Cobb took over for Honma, nearly pinning White. Takahashi attempted to interfere and Cobb happily threw him out of the ring. White tagged Owens into the fight, but Cobb suplexed Owens and Takahashi at the same time! Henare showed Owens how hard he can fight and how often he can fight back.
Owens failed to pin him until he pulled out a package piledriver. Bullet Club’s win happened cleanly in the middle of the ring was almost an anomaly without massive cheating.
Results: Bullet Club (Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens) def. Jeff Cobb, Tomoaki Honma and Toa Henare via pinfall
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI) vs. Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI and Ren Narita
BUSHI’s mask was excellent, and it was the focus of the LIJ members. Takagi and YOSHI-HASHI bounced off of the ropes into each other before trading elbows. YH’s offense began to get dirty, but LIJ came to Takagi’s rescue.
BUSHI tagged in to tenderize YH before Takaga returned. YH persevered and Ishii tagged in. He fought Naito into the corner but Naito rallied, delivering a neckbreaker and dropkick to take Ishii down a notch. BUSHI attempted a neckbreaker as well but was DDT’d instead.
Young lion Narita came in hot against BUSHI, pushing him into a submission hold that BUSHI had to fight to break. The men grappled until the rest of the fighters scrambled in. BUSHI nearly took down Narita after a quick tag by Naito, but he waited until he’d succeeded at his finisher, the MX, to pin him.
Ishii and Naito faced each other down, leaving a trail of ring attendants as they went. Those poor young lions!
Results: Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI) def. Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI and Ren Narita via pinfall
The G1 Night 7 A-Block matches commenced.
Zack Sabre Jr. (0) vs. Bad Luck Fale (2)
Jado and Owens were Fale’s valets as he came to the ring to fight the petulant ZSJ (Zack Sabre Jr.). ZSJ opened with a guillotine, wrapping himself around Fale early. Fale can throw ZSJ without any trouble, but ZSJ’s holds are effective at chipping away the stamina of even the strongest opponent.
Yet every time he began to take Fale down, he found himself tossed into more pain. He switched from an armbar to a triangle hold but Fale slammed him into the mat. ZSJ’s beautiful black widow hold was his reversal of the Bad Luck Fall finisher until Owens interfered.
The barricade met ZSJ’s back as Bullet Club took the fight into the audience. ZSJ fought back with a brutal hold that took Fale to the ground. Fale couldn’t beat the 20-count, and ZSJ nabbed his first 2 points.
Results: Zack Sabre Jr. (2) def. Bad Luck Fale (2) via countout
Hiroshi Tanahashi (2) vs. Lance Archer (4)
Archer has been one of my favourites to watch this season, and the audience felt the same way as he bullied ring attendants and loomed large. Tanahashi’s fans were behind him all the way tonight, and everyone gasped when they started their aggression before the bell.
Tanahashi’s early energy was dimmed as he was apron-bombed by Archer, who flipped into Tanahashi without hesitation. Archer was relentless outside the ring, rolling Tanahashi back in to beat the 20-count and continue his assault.
A Black Hole Slam didn’t keep Tanahashi from rallying, though. It was inspiring to watch the audience’s fervor drive these two. Archer attempted a Texas cloverleaf hold, but Tanahashi wiggled free. Archer did his best to break Tanahashi down in the corner of the ring, but a slingblade put Tanahashi in place to deliver an inverted dragon screw and locked in a Texas cloverleaf hold.
As Tanahashi began to use the ropes to gain speed, Archer stood firm, showing superior size and strength. He went up on the ropes and walked using the wrong side of Tanahashi’s wrist for balance. They traded pinfall attempts but it was Tanahashi completed his finisher, the Victory Roll, to win.
Results: Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) def. Lance Archer (4) via pinfall
KENTA (6) vs. EVIL (4)
That red and black scythe is so visually pleasing that EVIL keeps my attention every time he enters a match. Red Shoes Unno refereed the match.
The men locked up straight away as the announcers quickly educated listeners about KENTA’s stellar pre-WWE work. He taunted EVIL by wiping at his eye-black and EVIL responded by using Unno as a weapon.
Then he used chairs as weapons, batting an open one around KENTA’s neck with a closed one. He could have had a baseball career with a swing like that. EVIL dragged KENTA through the halls of the arena and into the VIP seats.
They jockeyed for position until KENTA suplexed EVIL into a pile of steel chairs. He rolled EVIL back into the ring and both men traded running elbows and kicks. A fisherman buster wasn’t enough to pin KENTA.
It took a powerslam to give KENTA room enough to go high and use his patented dropkicks. A double stomp from KENTA nearly put EVIL away. EVIL fought his way back after another pinfall attempt following a Go To Sleep finisher.
Every time KENTA went high, EVIL’s grappling felt stronger. He blocked KENTA’s first PK kick but ate the second before KENTA completed the GTS finisher. He pinned EVIL for the 3-count.
Results: KENTA (8) def. EVIL (4)
Kota Ibushi (2) vs. SANADA (2)
SANADA’s supporters were loud and proud before Ibushi entered the ring, golden and heroic, with his own audience contingent. Red Shoes Unno refereed.
The two honourable fighters locked up in wrist and waist holds, leading to Ibushi’s effective holds. Acrobatics from both men followed, highlighting their versatile styles and stamina. They decided to listen to the crowd for a little while, weighing their popularity by audience cheers, grappling once they were satisfied.
Ibushi failed to complete a paradise lock, but he rallied with a top rope dropkick and moonsault. A rapid kick combo lead to the men trading roll up attempts and a dropkick of SANADA’s own. A second didn’t connect, leaving him on the mat with Ibushi climbing to his knees.
Trading exhausted blows as they stood, Ibushi’s kicks and SANADA’s stiff elbows kept the audience invested. Ibushi’s powerbomb left SANADA with just enough energy to kick out at 2. He fought his way out of Ibushi’s Kamigoye to deliver his own.
Ibushi’s left knee and ankle continued to give him trouble as he found his feet first. They countered each other’s finishers over and over until Ibushi threw SANADA into the turnbuckle.
It was SANADA though who nearly locked in his Skull End finisher and still had enough energy to kick out of Ibushi’s Kamigoye once. Twice, however, was too much, and Ibushi pinned SANADA for the 3-count.
Results: Kota Ibushi (4) def. SANADA (2) via pinfall
Kazuchika Okada (6) vs. Will Ospreay (2)
The Rainmaker and the Aerial Assassin held the main event, with the crowd chanting constantly for both men. Never before have I seen a man guilt an entire arena into chanting his name, but Okada surprised me, turning the Ospreay chants into Okada ones with one forlornly threatening look. Red Shoes Unno refereed.
Okada and Ospreay locked up in the middle of the ring to grapple each other to the ground. The CHAOS teammates know each other very well but still found themselves feeling each other out. Some of their tangles were instantly reminiscent of the Greco-Roman style, and it transitioned into flourishes of Lucha brutality.
Okada’s Irish whip kept Ospreay in the perfect position to eat a dropkick. The 20-count started when Osprey landed outside the ropes, and Okada opened the ropes to show Ospreay a fighter’s respect for his teammate.
Okada gave him no quarter, however, delivering a slingshot senton to keep Ospreay down on the mat instead of in his airy element. Once the fight went into the corner, Okada dominated Ospreay with chops and the ability to absorb punishment. Even Ospreay’s suplex didn’t keep him down.
For Ospreay to gain the upper hand, it took an aerial forearm. Finally, one of Ospreay’s chest chops caused Okada some real pain. Okada revered Ospreay’s momentum with a brutal neckbreaker. A dropkick, full-body slam, and elbow drop nearly ended the match in Okada’s favour.
Osprey rallied with a hard high kick to Okada’s chin after soaking up a tombstone piledriver and he delivered a Robinson Special that nearly led to his OsCutter finisher. Hard shots on the ring apron exhausted both men, and Ospreay completed his finishing move outside the ring.
Unno began the 20-count, and Osprey beat Okada back into the ring, who made it at the 19-count. Osprey’s Coast to Coast and a second OsCutter still couldn’t end the night his way. Okada turned Ospreay’s Super OsCutter into a German suplex punctuated by a dropkick.
Ospreay’s shooting star couldn’t take the wind out of Okada, and when he attempted the Stormbreaker finishing move, Okada’s quadruple Rainmaker finishers ended Ospreay’s night.
Result: Kazuchika Okada (8) def. Will Osprey via pinfall
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