NJPW G1 Climax 28, LIVE AT THE BUDOKAN! 7/14-8/12

[sevendaughters]

for me the best Ibushi match is either the original Nakamura match from G1 23 when he was still a jr. He is absolutely at his best when he is mocking the shit out of someone. One of my favourite finishes to a match too.

[sevendaughters]

indulgent post, feel free to skip or @ me

G1 CLIMAX 28

STAR RATINGS by me not DAVE

(caveat: star ratings are inherently stupid)

 

DAY 01: Makabe-YOSHI 3, Page-Fale 2.75, Elgin-EVIL 3.25, Tanahashi-Suzuki 4, Okada-White 3.75

DAY 02: Ishii-Yano 3.5, Tama-Juice 2, Goto-SANADA 3.5, Ibushi-Sabre 3.75, Omega-Naito 4.5

DAY 03: Elgin-Page 3, EVIL-YOSHI 2.5, Makabe-Suzuki 3.75, Fale-Okada 2.25, White-Tanahashi 3.5

DAY 04: SANADA-Tama 1, Sabre-Yano 3, Ibushi-Juice 3.5, Naito-Ishii 4.5, Goto-Omega 4.25

DAY 05: White-Elgin 3, Suzuki-Yoshi 2.25, EVIL-Makabe 3, Tanahashi-Fale 3.25, Okada-Page 3.75

DAY 06: Yano-Ibushi 3, SANADA-Sabre 3.25, Naito-Juice 4.25, Omega-Tama 2.5, Ishii-Goto 4.75

DAY 07: Elgin-Yoshi 3, EVIL-Fale 0.5, White-Suzuki 3, Tanahashi-Page 3.25, Okada-Makabe 3.75

DAY 08: Yano-Goto 2.5, Naito-Tama 3.5, Sabre-Ishii 3.75, Omega-Juice 3.5, SANADA-Ibushi 4.25

DAY 09: Elgin-Suzuki 3.25, Page-EVIL 4, Fale-White 0.25, Tanahashi-Makabe 3, Okada-Yoshi 3.75

DAY 10: Sabre-Tama 1.25, Juice-Yano 2.5, Ibushi-Ishii 5, Naito-Goto 3.75, Omega-SANADA 4.25

DAY 11: Fale-Makabe 0, Page-White 3.75, EVIL-Suzuki 3.5, Tanahashi-Yoshi 3.75, Okada-Elgin 3.75

DAY 12: Tama-Ishii 3.25, Juice-SANADA 2.75, Naito-Yano 2.75, Omega-Sabre 3.75, Ibushi-Goto 4.25

DAY 13: Elgin-Fale 3, Page-Makabe 3.5, White-Yoshi 3.25, Tanahashi-EVIL 3.75, Okada-Suzuki 4

DAY 14: SANADA-Yano 2.75, Tama-Goto 1, Juice-Sabre 3.5, Ishii-Omega 5, Ibushi-Naito 4.75

DAY 15: Yoshi-Fale 3.25, Page-Suzuki 3.25, White-Makabe 3.5, Elgin-Tanahashi 4, EVIL-Okada 4.25

DAY 16: Ishii-Juice 3.5, Goto-Sabre 3.25, Ibushi-Tama 3.25, Omega-Yano 3.25, Naito-SANADA 4

DAY 17: Elgin-Makabe 3, Page-Yoshi 3.5, Fale-Suzuki -1, White-EVIL 3.5, Tanahashi-Okada 4.5

DAY 18: Yano-Tama 0.5, Juice-Goto 3.25, Ishii-SANADA 4.25, Naito-Sabre 4, Omega-Ibushi 4.5

FINAL: Tanahashi-Ibushi 4.75

 

Block A average ratings

Okada 3.87

Tanahashi 3.67

Page 3.42

Elgin 3.25

EVIL 3.14

YOSHI 3.14

White 3.06

Suzuki 3

Makabe 2.94

Fale 1.58

 

best match: Tanahashi-Okada

worst match: Fale-Suzuki

 

Block B average ratings

Ishii 4.17

Ibushi 4.03

Naito 4

Omega 3.94

Goto 3.39

SANADA 3.34

Sabre 3.28

Juice 3.19

Yano 2.64

Tama 2.03

 

best match: Ishii-Omega

worst match: Yano-Tama

 

 

4*+ matches

G1 23: data missing

final: Naito-Tanahashi 4.25

 

G1 24: 26 in 112 matches

(11 x 10 match cards, final, and a runners-up match)

= 1 per 4.3 matches

final: Nakamura-Okada 4.75

 

G1 25: 21 in 90 matches

(18 x 5 match cards, but Nakamura missed one due to injury)

= 1 per 4.28

final: Tanahashi-Nakamura 5

 

G1 26: data missing

final: Goto-Omega 4.5

 

G1 27: 28 in 91 matches = 1 in 3.25

final: Naito-Omega 4.75

 

G1 28: 22 in 91 = 1 in 4.13

final: Ibushi-Tanahashi 4.75

 

verdict: G1 Climax is astonishing value

[Jiji]

At this stage, I'd be shocked if Shibata didn't make a return. He's The Wrestler. It's what he does regardless. 

My main question is this: Ibushi doesn't work shows outside of the New Japan sphere anymore and it is abundantly clear they refuse to give the biggest victories to unsigned wrestlers, so if Kenny is sticking around, why wouldn't Ibushi sign a deal similar to what Omega has where he's not doing every show, thus giving him time off to do the crazy stunt work and other side interests he has (unless that's a no no from NJPW's side)? Even if he wanted to do one off shows in DDT or elsewhere, they generally seem cool with that. This seems like a breaking point because how many more times can he be the bridesmaid without it becoming a complete cliché? It's been a slow and steady ascent for him but he's 36 years old. If this is the ceiling, what now? Okay, that was more than one question. 

It may have been the oldest G1 final pairing but it was also the best looking. 

[sevendaughters]

I feel reasonably confident that this isn't Ibushi hitting the ceiling, that it isn't a case of 'give a final to the old hand' like they did with Goto. He is way too integral to the storyline surrounding the champion and gave them a bunch of awesome matches and a Budokan headliner based on their match.

It feels remiss to mention that Tanahashi's film comes out next week.

[FlaeBlazer]

19 minutes ago, sevendaughters said:

indulgent post, feel free to skip or @ me

G1 CLIMAX 28

STAR RATINGS by me not DAVE

(caveat: star ratings are inherently stupid)

 

DAY 01: Makabe-YOSHI 3, Page-Fale 2.75, Elgin-EVIL 3.25, Tanahashi-Suzuki 4, Okada-White 3.75

DAY 02: Ishii-Yano 3.5, Tama-Juice 2, Goto-SANADA 3.5, Ibushi-Sabre 3.75, Omega-Naito 4.5

DAY 03: Elgin-Page 3, EVIL-YOSHI 2.5, Makabe-Suzuki 3.75, Fale-Okada 2.25, White-Tanahashi 3.5

DAY 04: SANADA-Tama 1, Sabre-Yano 3, Ibushi-Juice 3.5, Naito-Ishii 4.5, Goto-Omega 4.25

DAY 05: White-Elgin 3, Suzuki-Yoshi 2.25, EVIL-Makabe 3, Tanahashi-Fale 3.25, Okada-Page 3.75

DAY 06: Yano-Ibushi 3, SANADA-Sabre 3.25, Naito-Juice 4.25, Omega-Tama 2.5, Ishii-Goto 4.75

DAY 07: Elgin-Yoshi 3, EVIL-Fale 0.5, White-Suzuki 3, Tanahashi-Page 3.25, Okada-Makabe 3.75

DAY 08: Yano-Goto 2.5, Naito-Tama 3.5, Sabre-Ishii 3.75, Omega-Juice 3.5, SANADA-Ibushi 4.25

DAY 09: Elgin-Suzuki 3.25, Page-EVIL 4, Fale-White 0.25, Tanahashi-Makabe 3, Okada-Yoshi 3.75

DAY 10: Sabre-Tama 1.25, Juice-Yano 2.5, Ibushi-Ishii 5, Naito-Goto 3.75, Omega-SANADA 4.25

DAY 11: Fale-Makabe 0, Page-White 3.75, EVIL-Suzuki 3.5, Tanahashi-Yoshi 3.75, Okada-Elgin 3.75

DAY 12: Tama-Ishii 3.25, Juice-SANADA 2.75, Naito-Yano 2.75, Omega-Sabre 3.75, Ibushi-Goto 4.25

DAY 13: Elgin-Fale 3, Page-Makabe 3.5, White-Yoshi 3.25, Tanahashi-EVIL 3.75, Okada-Suzuki 4

DAY 14: SANADA-Yano 2.75, Tama-Goto 1, Juice-Sabre 3.5, Ishii-Omega 5, Ibushi-Naito 4.75

DAY 15: Yoshi-Fale 3.25, Page-Suzuki 3.25, White-Makabe 3.5, Elgin-Tanahashi 4, EVIL-Okada 4.25

DAY 16: Ishii-Juice 3.5, Goto-Sabre 3.25, Ibushi-Tama 3.25, Omega-Yano 3.25, Naito-SANADA 4

DAY 17: Elgin-Makabe 3, Page-Yoshi 3.5, Fale-Suzuki -1, White-EVIL 3.5, Tanahashi-Okada 4.5

DAY 18: Yano-Tama 0.5, Juice-Goto 3.25, Ishii-SANADA 4.25, Naito-Sabre 4, Omega-Ibushi 4.5

FINAL: Tanahashi-Ibushi 4.75

 

Block A average ratings

Okada 3.87

Tanahashi 3.67

Page 3.42

Elgin 3.25

EVIL 3.14

YOSHI 3.14

White 3.06

Suzuki 3

Makabe 2.94

Fale 1.58

 

best match: Tanahashi-Okada

worst match: Fale-Suzuki

 

Block B average ratings

Ishii 4.17

Ibushi 4.03

Naito 4

Omega 3.94

Goto 3.39

SANADA 3.34

Sabre 3.28

Juice 3.19

Yano 2.64

Tama 2.03

 

best match: Ishii-Omega

worst match: Yano-Tama

 

 

4*+ matches

G1 23: data missing

final: Naito-Tanahashi 4.25

 

G1 24: 26 in 112 matches

(11 x 10 match cards, final, and a runners-up match)

= 1 per 4.3 matches

final: Nakamura-Okada 4.75

 

G1 25: 21 in 90 matches

(18 x 5 match cards, but Nakamura missed one due to injury)

= 1 per 4.28

final: Tanahashi-Nakamura 5

 

G1 26: data missing

final: Goto-Omega 4.5

 

G1 27: 28 in 91 matches = 1 in 3.25

final: Naito-Omega 4.75

 

G1 28: 22 in 91 = 1 in 4.13

final: Ibushi-Tanahashi 4.75

 

verdict: G1 Climax is astonishing value

I see you gave them the same rating but which G1 Final do you believe to be better? Ibushi/Tanahashi or Naito/Omega?

[sevendaughters]

good question. I'd have to let the dust settle a bit before answering. Omega-Naito was one of those matches that seems to spiral upwards and teeter on the edge of overkill and insanity, two outsized personalities at the top of their game - whereas there was a really great control and pacing to today's match between two beloved stars, one in decline and one standing potentially at the crossroads of superstardom or nothing. My gut says last year though.

[Jiji]

I hope you are right, sevendaughters. I know this isn't healthy but if they're staying I don't think you can have him beat Omega again, though I guess you could really draw that out. Maybe Tanahashi beats Omega and Ibushi goes for vengeance. 

I have no issue with star ratings and I'm a little over pretending to be ashamed about their use. They're a helpful tool in putting matches into a ballpark with better accuracy than more broadly defined adjectives, so long as you're not an idiot and you think it boils the essence of a match down to a number of snowflakes or that there isn't a strong sense of subjectivity to it all. It's much like IMDb... Not the be all, end all but a helpful reminder of what you thought was good or great and what you may need to skip because my memory is pretty dodgy. I had a healthy google spreadsheet with ratings for everything I watched but I've fallen off with that... Time to rate the entire G1... After the fact, bay bee! 

The one thing I do find funny about them is the quarter ratings for bad matches near the bottom of the scale. I don't fucks with that. 

And while I'm ranting, I do wish cagematch was more like IMDb with their ratings system. The spreadsheet works but it's a time sink. 

[Kyuubi]

Good lord. I appreciate the star ratings system, but Tama Tonga can't be that bad right?

[Jiji]

Brother, you better believe it. Tongans were brutal. 

[sevendaughters]

the quarter stars down near the end are definitely stupid but i find the whole thing funny on different levels. and i guess i do enjoy it too! just try and keep sight of the whole balance of the show, what people are trying to do in a certain spot, and where they might be doing something in the match for the long term booking etc. that's what made Tama so frustrating...you don't feel like there's a possibility they (any of the Tongans) can reward us at the end.

[sevendaughters]

3 minutes ago, Kyuubi said:

Good lord. I appreciate the star ratings system, but Tama Tonga can't be that bad right?

they were doing a storyline thing (I quoth the Tonga nevermore: "fuck a G1") that necessarily dragged matches down. they also protected Fale by giving him a whole bunch of DQ losses.

[Kyuubi]

5 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

Brother, you better believe it. Tongans were brutal. 

That is a shame. For all of Tama Tonga's charisma, I thought he would stand out this G1 with the whole Bullet Club break up happening and shit. 

But you really can't start a faction with no stand out wrestlers. Like every faction, including the factionless dudes have aces and this was supposed to be Tama's time to show up.

Anyways, @sevendaughters, thanks for the reference point. I already watched all of Ibushi's matches that were worth watching. Might start watching Ishii sans the Ibushi match.

Edit: Oh. So he is sucking on purpose. Cool.

[Raziel]

Ibushi losing the final seems more to give Kenny the Tanahashi Dome test rather than punish Ibushi for not being signed.  If they cared about such things, Ibushi wouldn't have gone over Naito, the Champ in Kenny, and had the final in a building such as Budokan.  At this point, Gedo has enough goodwill banked that I'd recommend waiting it out, because even if we can't see it, he has a big picture in mind, and sometimes that picture takes 2 years to play out.  

 

As far as Tonga goes, even when he's not in this angle, he was a lazy fucker that coasts on his stable and who is daddy is.  You take those two things away, and he's pretty much DOA.  Honestly, this whole BCOGz angle is falling flat, judging by crowd reactions.

[Jiji]

It may be a sucking on purpose thing but it's not like he'd have been any good if did try tho. 

Tama has strengths but still struggles to make even the most basic of matches compelling. 

[Beech27]

-I think I liked this G1 final better than the last few. @Archibald is right that Ibushi outclassing his opponent is basically every Ibushi match, but I think it works especially well with Old Man Tana. Goto/Omega was awesome at the time—could Omega actually win!?—but strays a bit far into finisher hitting/countering spam. Naito and Omega had those weird... almost worked botch? moments that took me out of the moment, just a tic. I’m not tisking about excessive violence—I mean, I keep watching, so at a certain point that rings pretty hollow—but I prefer it manifests in strikes rather than big cooperative setpieces. The only thing that’d keep me from putting this year’s final on that perfect/classic tier is the kinda soft/awkward middle, where Tana messes up the roll up, Ibushi sorta misses the bomaye, and it just generally felt like they were trading to trade, before things could really heat up. 

-So, I’d still have this below both big Ibushi/Nak matches, which feature my favorite guys in their respective primes doing my favorite type of match. (A petty, bitter striking war.) 

-Cody only showing up for big New Japan shows is basically the worst way to use him. I mean, I get it. But jumping from big singles match to big singles match, when he’s so much better at the in between stuff, makes me way less happy to see him than I should be. 

-The only thing I cared about on the undercard was Kenny keeping gayfabe like a goddamn champ.

 

[Archibald]

I think that Ibushi was simply in "perfect" position:

1. Over and credible enough to beat Omega and Naito and get to the finals.

2. Not achieved much as a heavyweight yet (won NJ Cup years ago and had his moments, but really not comparable to big 4) so getting to the finals would boost him even if he ends up not winning it.

3. Big match that Tanahashi could win that hasn't been done to death yet and at the same time builds towards another fresh match in Omega/Tanahashi.

So if we reverse engineer things from "Tanahashi wins G1" point then I think that Ibushi likely was best possible opponent for him.

7 minutes ago, Beech27 said:

-Cody only showing up for big New Japan shows is basically the worst way to use him. I mean, I get it. But jumping from big singles match to big singles match, when he’s so much better at the in between stuff, makes me way less happy to see him than I should be.

Agreed. I think that he would be insanely good/entertaining in tag teams and could do wonders as trios champion.

[Beech27]

4 hours ago, sevendaughters said:

for me the best Ibushi match is either the original Nakamura match from G1 23 when he was still a jr. He is absolutely at his best when he is mocking the shit out of someone. One of my favourite finishes to a match too.

Just watched this again. The whole thing is basically perfect, but once Nakamura starts stomping Ibushi between the ropes, and Ibushi goes crazy eyed murder twink, hitting him with palm strikes, a goddamn straight right, and a standing lariat... well, that and everything that follows is peak wrestling, for me. 

If anyone is interested:

I generally prefer to discuss creative direction and business trends separately, otherwise it becomes a boring game of shouting scoreboard! and nothing more. But it is worth noting that things are going pretty well. (Which we knew already, but this is another data point.)

[EVA]

I expected business to be up after last year's phenomenal tournament.  Consequently, I'm wondering if next year's attendance is going to be down thanks to all the A Block fuckery that people clearly did NOT like.

[FlaeBlazer]

What did you guys think was the best overall show in the G1?

I’m going with the B Block Finals show. Omega/Ibushi was a classic, Naito/Sabre and Ishii/SANADA were fantastic and Goto/Juice was pretty good. Tonga/Yano was bad but I didn’t expect any better. 

[Beech27]

I’d probably go Day 14(?), that had Ishii/Omega, Ibushi/Naito, and ZSJ/Juice. Yano and SANADA was fun, too. Ishii/Omega alone does a lot, for me. 

3 hours ago, EVA said:

I expected business to be up after last year's phenomenal tournament.  Consequently, I'm wondering if next year's attendance is going to be down thanks to all the A Block fuckery that people clearly did NOT like.

That’s a good question. I suppose it depends how hot the various stars are by the time summer rolls around next year—probably “very”, since Okada will be Okada again—and whether they can meaningfully add to the field. Does Kojima and/or Makabe announcing a last run draw? Could they actually get Nakamura back? Does anyone move up a weight class or move over from another promotion? 

They could also just... not have Tama in it. Kayfabe and not, there’s zero reason to. 

[Jiji]

That's what I always questioned even as a kid. If a heel wrestler or group is being so over the top destructive, why aren't they fired or suspended or, you know, not rewarded for shitty behaviour?

[Curt McGirt]

Boy, seeing them do a lucha Star (Estrella) hold in New Japan is weird. During the entire '80s lucha set that was only on THERE maybe twice even, three times at most

[Archibald]

So since whole thing has wrapped up now it is probably as good time as any to write down some thoughts while tournament is still somewhat fresh in my mind:

1. This will be more negative than positive probably so I want to make myself clear immediately that I enjoyed the tournament and don't regret watching so many hours of wrestling (and post match interviews) in short timespan that I could have dedicated to other things in my life. And this is similar to my criticism of someone like Omega, I complain not because I don't like him, but because I want him to become even greater.

2. I wrote this earlier at some point, but I really don't like how obvious favourites to win get multiple loses in first few days. We know that Okada/Tanahashi and Omega/Ibushi are main eventing last days so we know that they have to be at the top. When Okada loses first two matches you know that he is not going to lose more till final day and it removes some drama from whole thing. One benefit of doing matches from both blocks on same day is that you can hide things better, but it is obvious that this structure makes more sense financially.

3. I was pleasantly surprised with Tanahashi winning whole thing because cynic in me just assumed that Okada is going to win.

4. While Naito is my guy I was less upset about his elimination than I expected to be. Main reason for that is because I really love Naito/Zack match up and I think that Naito is Zack's best opponent in NJPW (I don't watch much indies so maybe he got better chemistry with someone else out there, don't know). I love that Zack now has ruined NJ Cup and G1 for Naito. Naito/Zack IV is the match that I'm most looking forward to when it comes to Naito's not so distant future.

5. While this G1 did not really have huge moments like previous one, at the same time I feel like Sanada made most out of it and I really like how he did it. By that I mean that he was consistent almost every night (only match that I found stupid was Juice/Sanada where they did finisher reversals for 10 minutes without any reason or rhyme), wrestled for the most part smart matches (his comment about wrestling being more than head drops was gold), didn't try to kill himself every night and his only big win was against Ibushi. Many guys in G1 often get a big win over a name and then just fizzle out with time because they can't replicate it. Sanada in this G1 was opposite of that and I'm sure that he has bright future.

6. Speaking about fizzling out... White came out strong on first two days and then kinda disappeared till last match against Evil. I wonder if they shouldn't have switched around his booking a bit. Like, maybe he should have gotten those two wins in the middle, 5th-6th day? Because I feel that everyone already kinda forgot about him. And him switching from his old match template to new one in the middle of G1 probably would also have helped since it wasn't very exciting when 2/5 matches each day ended with fuckery. It wasn't a waste, he is probably going to get matches against Okada and Tanahashi this year and it will build him further. And he was fantastic in undercard with Yoh. So maybe fizzling out is bad term, but he certainly did not make most out of it, on the other hand it wasn't entirely his fault either.

7. Really not a fan of how Goto and Juice were booked. On one hand I get that by being in B Block they made that block strong in terms of match quality and Okada was kept away from midcard titles, but at the same time now both titles look like crap. It didn't help that both of them also got destroyed by Taichi and Cody in their tag matches on final day.

[Archibald]

Sorry for double post, but saw this tweet and this is kinda relevant to whole G1 thing:

:(

[The Natural]

I enjoyed the G1 Climax final more than I expected to and happy that Hiroshi Tanahashi won the whole thing. Just hope he's not the first to lose the Wrestle Kingdom title shot. At some point that has to happen, and the G1 Climax Winner to win at Wrestle Kingdom as that's not happened for a number of years either.