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NJPW G1 Climax 31.


The Natural

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I don't disagree with this and it seems like this has been the plan to make the tag belts be more important since Naito completed the double gold. It's just another symptom of the staleness of the pandemic booking I guess, since this year it's been so focused on GoD/Tekkers with some LiJ thrown in. I'd probably feel different if the tag division had more participation outside of tag league. Part of that is certainly hurt with the travel restriction since I'm sure FinJuice would have gotten more shine if they were around. 

I think Naito/SANADA should basically be a full time team going forward for a while maybe change into Naito/Hiromu at some point, to help keep the miles on Naito down a bit and give SANADA something meaningful to do since he's never gonna be a top guy. I'd like to see Ibushi and Tana reform the GoldenAces when Tana drops the US belt too to give Ibushi a break from being in the title mix. I'd be more ok with Cobb and O-Khan running with the belts for a while if Cobb hadn't knocked it out of the park with his year so far with the Okada feud and the G1 push in general, he looks like a true main eventer and him against Shingo for the big belt would have me really interested.  Dangerous Tekkers have been one of the bright spots of the past nearly two years of NJPW but unless they get some new faces to go against they need to move on. 

The tag scene is definitely in a better spot than the days of War Machine/TenCozy/GoD matches but it's gotten stale now too. 

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Just watched Okada vs Cobb spoiler free and was pretty into it until the finish. It's kind of hard to watch at times as both guys seemed half dead before the bell even rang. It's sad that New Japan seems to have learned nothing from Misawa-era All Japan, in that their top guys keep killing themselves night after night and they keep pushing the same few dudes. Also boy as someone who wasn't excited about Kota Ibushi matches back in, say, 2010, it's really hard to care much about his hot & cold neverending quest to become the world's most milquetoast heavyweight ace. 

There is a fantastic promotion buried somewhere underneath Gedo's inability to think outside the clean-cut Tanahashi/Okada mold. Shingo, ZSJ, Cobb, Ishii, heavyweight Hiromu, Taichi, and the GoD (who both performed really well this tournament) would make for a great warts and all, diversified main event scene until they bring up some new guys up. 

 

Edited by Belgian_Waffle
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Yeah enjoying the G1 this year on a pretty surface level.

 

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I felt like the last night of A block was set up great that Zack, KENTA, Ibushi, or Shingo all had a shot but they went with the safest choice. Even if not to win it all Bullet Club working all night and succeeding to get KENTA there would have at least felt like something and I think Okada/KENTA is a pretty fresh matchup. I'm just so not feeling an Ibushi 3peat. 

B Block had the opposite problem in that only one match had actual stakes. Really thought Tama should have gone over Goto but I guess 6 points vs 4 is a big difference when you're that low. I liked Tama busting out Bloody Sunday too and hope when Switchblade gets back (ignore avatar) we some intriguing stuff with Tama, Jay, and EVIL for who really is Bullet Club. I know House of Torture is gonna be their own thing at some point but Tama did throw behind Jay over Kenny so there is enough backstory there for some good drama.

The matches are still great but it's so hard to get invested beyond anything bell to bell. Rooting for Okada tomorrow for the "Rainmaker is back" stuff and they kind of teased Ibushi vs. Shingo over the fall (possibly Power Struggle) and I can't believe I'm saying this but Okada over Shingo at WK feels like the most intriguing option at this point.

 

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3 minutes ago, Horangi said:
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A night with the highest of highs and lowest of lows...

Okada was probably winning anyway but damn, how can you not feel for Ibushi, what shit luck in a horrid year for him

 

 

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I also thought Kazuchika Okada was going to win, sucks how it's happened. Awful year for both NJPW and Kota Ibushi.

 

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Guest Jimbo_Tsuruta

 

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Nice enough for Shibata I guess, but hopefully that's a one-shot, there's no way someone who has suffered such a serious brain injury should return even part-time.

 

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A 5 minute exhibition match on it's own isn't too exciting, but still very cool for Shibata and I'm happy for him. Wonder what the future holds there but hopefully he is careful whatever he decides to do.

 

I am beyond over this promotion but still sucks to see Ibushi suffer an injury like that. The guy has talent but really has been a victim of NJ's stale booking and in-ring formula. The idea that a guy who's biggest strength is being a high-power spot should be working half an hour matches is maddening. I followed the results on purolove and literally every match looked like it would have been improved by going 5 minutes shorter. 

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That was an interesting night. 

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Really sucks that Ibushi got hurt like that. This year has been so cursed for NJPW which hasn't helped with the booking problems. Such a disappointing way to end the tournament and Ibushi's story for 3 in a row. 

Shibata vs ZSJ was super fun and was a real surprise. Not sure about Shibata saying that the next time he's in the ring it will be for a match, come on guy you almost died. 

 

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2 hours ago, killsteve said:

I followed the results on purolove and literally every match looked like it would have been improved by going 5 minutes shorter. 

How exactly you'd know that by following only results?

Anyway, my last MOTN is ZSJ/Shibata, it was short, it was sweat and nobody got injured. Overall match of the tournament for me is O-Khan/Ibushi and I'm going with ZSJ as my MVP.

ZSJ/Shibata match explains very well why ZSJ went nowhere despite having a hot start.

I remember writing that this year probably had more injuries than few previous combined so in a way its not really surprising that we got another injury. Bad year is bad ?

Edit: I also found it rather funny that KENTA sidestepped Chase and he is going to actually challenge Tanahashi first.

Edited by Archibald
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Big Kazuchika Okada fan since 2012. I'll be an even bigger one if the IWGP Heavyweight Championship comes back. I hate The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Both Okada and Tanahashi strike me as hating it also.

Don't forget:

Spoiler

Tetsuya Naito was hurt on the opening night of the G1 Climax with his knackered knees and Kota Ibushi dislocating his shoulder in the final match of the tournament.

 

Edited by The Natural
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2 hours ago, Jimbo_Tsuruta said:

 

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Nice enough for Shibata I guess, but hopefully that's a one-shot, there's no way someone who has suffered such a serious brain injury should return even part-time.

 

 

Spoiler

Agreed but...

If indeed, Shibata is back, he strikes me as doing stupid shit like shoot headbutts again. I love Bryan Danielson but I wish he'd stick the diving headbutt with how it's ducked him and others who do it. I can understand why NJPW were pissed with Katsuyori Shibata in the manner he left NJPW in but when he returned, they stuck him in the NEVER Openweight Championship picture for too long. Shibata was IWGP Intercontinental Championship/IWGP Heavyweight Championship level.

 

Spoiler

Love callbacks like this.

 

Edited by The Natural
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Unlucky night in an unlucky year for New Japan. 

NJPW has the unique misfortune of both having awful booking and egregious match times at the same time a pandemic destroys their crowd atmosphere and destroys their roster. I try to think if the booking would be elevated if the crowds could make noise and I really don't think so. Maybe the 30000 minute matches would be better but even that I feel would still be an issue. 

The depleted roster and not being able to bring over guys is definitely an issue but it makes me wonder if a lot of that has hidden these warts in bookings over the years. Like, would the EVIL stuff be more palatable if it was followed by hot Moxley matches or Ospreay doing stuff and the crowd going bananas?

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