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


Raziel

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34 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I mean, now it's a question of IF we get it, but if we do indeed get it... It? It is gonna be sooo good. 

Will we get a subtitled version of the 30 minute press conference? I know it took them forever to translate the G1 press conference if they did it at all, so I don't have high hopes. 

I hope so, but there's no sign of it yet. Charlton and STRIGGA provided a little on twitter, but nothing blow-by-blow.

And yeah, putting my Ibushi devotion aside for a sec, Tana/Omega does provide some obvious and compelling points of conflict: The antagonistic expansionist who wants change, progress, novelty, etc., versus the archetypal company man traditionalist, who thinks the way forward is by keeping a respectful eye toward the past. Tana can say he saved the company; Kenny can counter that sure, you kept it afloat, but I'm sailing it to more profitable shores. Plus, it was an interference heavy win over Tana for the IC title that solidified Omega as a heavyweight threat in the first place.

And it never hurts when, as Omega's implied in a few interviews, their contrasting views on wrestling are pretty real, as is--I imagine--Tana's belief that he still fits on top, and Omega's view that he should make room.

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1 hour ago, sevendaughters said:

rewatched the final with English commentary. good enthusiasm, Chris Charlton slightly overdid it as local knowledge guy but he also did seem legit excited to be calling it.

lot of details that I forgot to recap yesterday, like Tanahashi doing the Shibata corner stomp and then nodding to him outside. don't know why I'm stalling on calling this 5*, it really was extraordinary.

I gave Tanahashi/Ibushi the full five. I may have enjoyed it more on a second viewing and I thought it was terrific first go round. The callbacks, counters and near falls told.

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4 minutes ago, The Natural said:

I gave Tanahashi/Ibushi the full five. I may have enjoyed it more on a second viewing and I thought it was terrific first go round. The callbacks, counters and near falls told.

One of the most memorable palm strikes exchanges as well.

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Meltz’s G1 ratings for final 3 nights:

Night 17

Ishii/SHO vs. Henare/Umino: 3

GoD vs. Gedo/Yano: 0.5

Goto/YOH vs. Robinson/Finlay: 2

Naito/SANADA vs. Sabre/TAKA: 2.25

The Elite vs. Ibushi/Scurll/Owens: 1

Elgin vs. Makabe: 3.5

Page vs. YOSHI-HASHI: 3.75

Fale vs. Suzuki: 3.25

EVIL vs. White: 3

Okada vs. Tanahashi: 5

Night 18

Elgin/Finlay vs. Henare/Umino: 3.5

Fale/Loa vs. Owens/Page: 1.5

White/Roppongi 3K vs. Scurll/Young Bucks: 2.5

BUSHI/EVIL vs. Suzuki/Desperado: 3.25

Tanahashi/GBH vs. Okada/Gedo/YOSHI-HASHI: 3.25

Tonga vs. Yano: DUD

Goto vs. Robinson: 3.25

Ishii vs. SANADA: 4.5

Naito vs. Sabre: 4.25

Ibushi vs. Omega: 5.5

Night 19

Elgin & GBH vs. Nagata/Umino/Yoshida: 2.5

Fale vs. Henare: 1

Goto/YOSHI-HASHI vs. Iizuka/Taichi: 1

Cody/Page vs. Finlay/Robinson: 2.25

BC Elite vs. BC OG: 3.25

LIJ vs. Suzuki-gun: 2.5

Ishii/White/Yano vs. Omega/Owens/Yujiro: 2.75

KUSHIDA/Mysterio/Sengoku Enbu vs. Okada & Roppongi 3K: 3.5

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi: 5.75

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36 minutes ago, Belgian_Waffle said:

Tanahashi winning is great imo. Shock finish, proves the old guys can still win it sometimes, plus we get a fresh and probably awesome/psychologically rich Dome main event instead of Ibushi and Kenny doing wonky stuff and trying not to die for 40 minutes. 

Echo this post.

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Some jumbled thoughts halfway through the batch of stuff I planned to watch (a month past relevancy~):

Like Hiromu and Desperado from the spring, Ishii vs Naito is the sort of great, heated brawl that stands out in a sea of High Technical Achievement. Just another out-and-out slugfest between two guys who absolutely do not like or respect one another, only tarnished by the comparatively weak finish.

I'm honestly finding the evolving dynamic of SANADA as ZSJ's nemesis to be the most interesting thing to have happened thus far in his "Cold Skull"/LIJ run. Otherwise he's Goto-tier for me: a big, athletic, eminently capable performer who lacks a real spark most times out. I get that his aloof (and, yes, "cold") demeanor is kinda part of his whole deal, but both Golden Lover matches (and especially the hometown hero bout with Ibushi) really highlight how much less of a total package he is right now in direct comparison to guys more or less cut from the same cloth.

Now that I've invoked Goto... that Ishii showdown really brought the BEEF.  A physical, relentless match in the "classic" NEVER title scene style.  As touched on above, Goto really feels like he's just missing that something extra from his toolbox (and obviously history shows Gedo feels the same way), but he still excels in these settings when paired with someone like the Stone Pitbull.

Speaking of Ishii again... holy shit that Ibushi match.  Just a borderline-irresponsible level of violence.  It's the kind of match that stirs up all my internal misgivings about what I like in pro wrestling and the ultimate physical toll of it all... but also Ibushi punching above his weight class is absolutely one of my top guilty pleasure in the business.  Incredible bout, with all the requisite caveats.

Having focused on three brutal contests, Naito vs Juice was another standout for me, mostly in showing how an insanely compelling match can still be put together in an NJPW ring without sacrificing oneself on the canvas altar.  So smartly constructed and worked, with Juice scouting all of Naito's offense early, Naito getting that first shot at Juice's wounded paw, Naito adapting all of his moves to focus on the hand, Juice finally taking to defending his exposed weakness, and Naito transitioning right back into his usual head/neck-based attack when given the opening.  It's crazy how a guy the size of Juice is so preternaturally good at (and completely believable in) working from underneath against a real bully, with just an endless supply of babyface energy.  Such a good match.

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