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It's time for Night 8 of the G1 Climax 29 from New Japan Pro Wrestling! You know what? Waking up at late o'clock is completely worth it when the reward is the G1 B-Block.
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 8 was a B-block night, opening as usual with the featured 4 short tag matches featuring the A-Block competitors.
Will Ospreay, Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)
Takahashi, the Tokyo Pimp, was accompanied by one of his bunny girls, and there was one close-up that reminded me of Lacey Evans’ Extreme Rules extreme rump shot. That’s not important for the match but it was important for the entrance of Bullet Club.
Honma and Takakashi locked up multiple times, and Bullet Club threw Ospreay and Uemura into the barricades, steel chairs, and the VIP audience section. Owens tagged in against Honma and began chipping away at him by pressing his face and body into the ropes.
Owens tagged Fale in, who applied the Tonga Massage Parlour to Honma, walking on his back while holding the top rope. Takahashi followed Fale up, laying into Honma and starting a slap fight.
Once Owens was tagged in, Honma completed his Kokeshi move and tagged in Ospreay. The Aerial Assassin lost a day earlier in the tournament to a minor injury, so it’s great to see him in action tonight.
Ospreay came in hot, going straight for Owens, flying into Fale to stop his interference. Ospreay couldn’t finish his Stormbreaker finisher due to Fale breaking it up, leaving Owens to fail at a pinfall attempt on Ospreay.
The men traded kicks until Owens landed a slingshot EVD to give himself room to tag Takahashi in. That space allowed Ospreay to tag Uemura in, and the Tokyo Pimp’s pinfall attempt failed against the young lion when Honma broke it up.
Uemura showed he had a lot of fight in this match, but in the end, he was the one pinned after two more attempts by Takahashi.
Results: Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) def. Will Ospreay, Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura via pinfall
Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI)
No Suzuki-gun member was smiling as they approached the ring, anticipating Los Ingobernables de Japon’s smart offense. I love EVIL’s masks, and tonight, he's glowed a blood orange colour that kept me excited to watch him.
The fighting started far before the bell, and once it rang ZSJ was able to corner EVIL, countering his strong attacks with creative holds. Suzuki was happy to take a steel chair to BUSHI outside the ring.
EVIL stayed the legal man for LIJ while Archer tagged in to take EVIL down a peg. He tagged Suzuki next, who kept EVIL stunned for the next tag. ZSJ was so fast it was hard to track everything he did, but EVIL was able to suplex the submission specialist.
SANADA and Archer were in the ring next and when SANADA tried to drop Archer, Archer completed the Black Hole Slam, dropping SANADA. Suzuki and BUSHI were the legal men, however, and the moment they were back in the ring, Suzuki pinned BUSHI for the 3-count.
Results: Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) via pinfall
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs. Kota Ibushi & Ren Narita
The crowd was so hot for all four of these men, even “Shooter” Umino and Narita. The two young lions escorted “Ace” Tanahashi and “Golden Star” Ibushi respectively. Tanahashi’s insane coats continued to impress.
Narita was so ready to fight anyone and everyone, but the two veterans were first to tangle. Ibushi and Tanahashi traded quick hold reversals, and Ibushi’s high kick and backflip put Ibushi into a 2-count pinfall.
Ibushi fought his way to the corner, and both men tagged out. Umino and Narita gave their all, Narita focusing on Umino’s recently injured left arm. Ibushi came next, using that same arm and shoulder in his offense.
Shota didn’t go down, however, delivering a Spinebuster after refusing to fall down against Ibushi. Shota tagged Tanahashi in to bodyslam Ibushi, and he tagged Tanahashi out and then in again to gain the advantage against Ibushi.
Once Tanahashi tagged back in, Narita took over for Ibushi and was quickly pinned by the Ace after a slingblade.
Results: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino def. Kota Ibushi & Ren Narita via pinfall
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Toa Henare) vs. KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks
Okada chants from the audience started the match, and KENTA met him in the middle, trading rope holds and strong chest blows. KENTA took the upper hand from Okada by letting him complete a hefty dropkick that met the mat instead of its target.
KENTA tagged Fredericks to soften Okada up, but Okada’s experience was far greater and he tagged Henare in to dominate Fredericks. He failed at pinning Fredericks but he did tag in YOSHI-HASHI.
Fredericks couldn’t catch a break as Okada tagged in to DDT the young lion. Henare came back to continue laying into Fredericks. KENTA threw Okada into the blue barricade, and in the scuffle, Fredericks was finally able to tag Connors in.
Henare was met by Connors’ fresh energy, and he rose to the occasion of delivering a vertical suplex. Still, he fought the next tag, but YOSHI-HASHI made him tap out.
Okada taunted KENTA with his big bright shiny title belt to show his dominance. He continues to be a physical and psychological master during this tournament.
Results: CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Toa Henare) def. KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks via pinfall
The G1 Climax Tournament B-Block matches followed.
Juice Robinson (4) vs. Toru Yano (4)
Juice Robinson, a hardcore-style fighter, was serious as the match started, but Yano never starts serious. He starts crafty. A handshake turned into a pinfall attempt via rollup, and when Yano took the turnbuckle cover off, Robinson managed to avoid it.
Outside the ring, Yano attempted a neat maneuver: he taped Robinson to the barricade. His work resulted in the 20-count starting and continuing all the way to 19. Yano had more tape, and Unno tossed it out. Robinson escaped Yano's pinfall attempt to try one of his own.
Yano grabbed the referee as a shield before hitting Robinson in the groin. That didn’t matter to Robinson, who picked up the pin after completing his Pulp Friction finisher.
Though Yano turned his handshake into an attack, Robinson shook his hand in earnest after this match.
Results: Juice Robinson (6) def. Toru Yano (4) via pinfall
Hirooki Goto (2) vs. Taichi (2)
Thank goodness for valets! Miho Abe accompanied Taichi, the Holy Emperor, to the ring after taking a knee to him. She’s so pretty that no matter what she does to help Taichi cheat, she’s the best part of the flamboyant man’s entrance.
Goto wasted no time taking Taichi to his knees and backing him into the ropes. Once the hold was broken, he shoved the referee which opened him to a strong assault from Goto.
Goto threw Taichi out of the ring and into the blue barricade, and Taichi pushed Abe between himself as Goto as a distraction. It didn’t work for long, and Goto found the outside turnbuckle with his face.
Goto barely beat the 20-count, only to be met by Taichi. Taichi cornered Goto before throwing him around and digging his fingers into Goto’s face. The referee separated the men, and once Goto was on his feet, he and Taichi traded kicks.
Goto’s lariat stopped Taichi’s rope-driven momentum, and both men were still standing afterward. Taichi’s stunning kicks continued to wear Goto down. Still, Goto blocked one kick with his head and rallied!
Goto tried for his finisher but Taichi pushed Goto into the ref. While the ref was down, Taichi brought out his mic stand to cheat, but Goto was nearly ready. He attempted the GTR, but Taichi rolled him up the moment the referee was back in the match.
Results: Taichi (4) def. Hirooki Goto (2) via pinfall
Jon Moxley (6) vs. Shingo Takagi (4)
“The Dragon” Takagi came to the ring first, cheered by most. But “Death Rider” Moxley, accompanied by “Shooter” Umino, drew the crowd’s immediate attention with his entrance through them.
Red Shoes Unno’s son is a great valet for Mox, and the subtle story between the three men is a delight. Mox and Takagi went forehead to forehead like upset elk, and Mox took the early advantage in the grappling.
Moxley then attempted to bite Takagi’s face off.
Outside the ring, Mox DDT’d Takagi into the arena floor and threw him right into the blue barricade. Moxley opened up the furniture store, setting up a table for the stunned Takagi to go through.
It didn’t quite work, and when Red Shoes Unno broke up the moment Moxley put his boot on Takagi’s throat, Mox gave him a deep bow of respect. And guess what? Red Shoes returned it!
Takagi rallied by throwing Moxley into the turnbuckle and following up with a suplex. Moxley was able to catch Takagi’s sliding knee like a kung fu master in a film, and he used the ring post to punish Takagi’s knee for his troubles.
Once they were back in the ring, Moxley rolled through, reversed, or returned everything Takagi threw at him. That continued until Takagi managed a slingblade off the ropes to take Mox down briefly.
Mox persevered, and he tried to bite Takagi’s face off. A lariat from Mox nearly put Takagi away, and he continued his liberal use of the ring posts against Takagi, but a clothesline from Takagi nearly gave the Dragon 2 points.
Takagi kicked out of Moxley’s Death Rider finisher, leaving both men exhausted on the mat. Mox made another Death Rider attempt but both men ended up outside the ring instead.
Takagi hit the table hard but it didn’t give an inch. Moxley wasn’t having any of that and got creative with a pair of chairs before getting back in the ring. Takagi was able to beat the 20-count but he was met with a brutal Regal Knee from Moxley. A headbutt meant that Takagi had a chance to complete his Made In Japan finisher, but it didn’t keep Mox down. Two more Regal Knees and a cloverleaf press made Takagi tap out.
Results: Jon Moxley (8) def. Shingo Takagi (4) via submission
Jeff Cobb (2) vs. Jay White (0)
The leader of Bullet Club, “Switchblade” White was getting desperate for his first G1 points, and he headed to the ring with superior cheater Gedo at his back. Cobb looked extra shiny tonight, who was most certainly covered in baby oil.
The bell rang, and White rolled out of the ring as he did on night 6. When he came back, Cobb was happy to slam him into the mat, and White rolled out again to recover. They finally locked up in the middle of the ring, and a dropkick dropped White.
The turning point in the match was when Gedo came into the ring, forcing Red Shoes Unno to put his attention on keeping Gedo and Cobb from attacking each other. That allowed the villainous White to throw Cobb out of the ring, but Unno refused to start the 20-count.
White then brought Cobb back into the ring and put Cobb’s throat into the ropes after standing on his neck for a bit. A DDT didn’t land White the pinfall, nor did his submission hold make Cobb tap out.
Cobb rallied with a Samoan drop, but White countered by throwing Cobb into the mat by his hair. Cobb came up to give White 3 suplexes, hard chest chops, and an uppercut, but the pinfall didn’t happen.
White escaped Cobb’s Tour of the Islands finisher, returning the favour with two Flatliners and an Uranage judo throw. Cobb still slammed White during his combination attack, absorbing White’s kicks.
Cobb delivered a superplex from the second rope but failed his Tour finisher two more times before sending White into Unno by accident. Gedo came into the ring while Unno was down and attempted to take brass knuckles to White’s opponent, but he was foiled when Cobb completed his finisher on him.
White gave Cobb a low blow and a suplex but failed at his Blade Runner finisher. A second attempt connected, and White gained his first two points by pinning the Dragon.
Results: Jay White (2) def. Jeff Cobb (2)
Tomohiro Ishii (4) vs. Tetsuya Naito (2)
The main event meant we saw Naito in a rare state: nervous. He needed these points almost as much as White did earlier in the night, but the audience showed him their full support.
Naito laid into Ishii with that energy but Ishii took him down with a kick. They traded elbows, and a clothesline and dropkick gave Naito the advantage. He pounded Ishii into the mat and taunted him with Tranquilo.
Ishii rolled out of the ring for a moment but when he came back, Naito locked in a rough hold working Ishii’s neck. Kicks to the head wore the “Stone Pitbull” down, but he came back with chest chops and a powerslam.
Naito rallied as well, powerslamming Ishii before dropkicking him. Two impressive combinations set Ishii up in the corner, and Ishii failed to deliver a powerbomb in return. He still dropped Naito with a hard shot to the head and chopped at his chest mercilessly.
The momentum continued but after he slammed Naito, Ishii couldn’t pin him for the full count. Naito’s beautiful sliding lariat-enziguri combo was met by Ishii’s German suplex but Naito used the ropes to throw Ishii down.
Naito went high, but Ishii followed him. Ishii didn’t complete his superplex but Naito finished his high-angle neckbreaker to get Ishii down for a 2-count. A kickout frustrated Naito who failed at his Destino finisher but connected with a poison rana.
Another attempt at Destino was met by a massive lariat from Ishii. Ishii and Naito fought their way to their feet, quickly tangling themselves around one of the ring posts. Naito was dazed from a headbutt and Ishii superplexed him again.
Naito kicked out and slapped Ishii, kicking out of a pinfall attempt straightaway after. Naito fought out of a vertical drop and Ishii got his shoulders up to beat the count, and the crowd was dedicated to both men as they lay in the ring, recovering.
Naito was first to his feet but took a serious beating for his troubles. They countered their next few drops but Naito completed his Destino finisher to pin Ishii after this must-see battle.
Results: Tetsuya Naito (4) def. Tomohiro Ishii (4) via pinfall
I'll see you Friday for Day 9, when the A-Block fights for the deeply important middle-tournament points.
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