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NJPW G1 Climax 32 dates/schedule announced.


The Natural

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C&P from f4wonline.com:

Here is the schedule for the tournament: 

  • Saturday, July 16, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center
  • Sunday, July 17, Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center
  • Wednesday, July 20, Xebio Arena Sendai
  • Saturday, July 23, Ota Ward General Gymnasium
  • Sunday, July 24, Ota Ward General Gymnasium
  • Tuesday, July 26, Korakuen Hall
  • Wednesday, July 27, Korakuen Hall
  • Saturday, July 30, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
  • Sunday, July 31, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
  • Tuesday, August 2, Hamamatsu Arena
  • Friday, August 5, Item Ehime
  • Saturday, August 6, Edion Arena Osaka
  • Sunday, August 7, Edion Arena Osaka
  • Tuesday, August 9, Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
  • Wednesday, August 10, Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
  • Saturday, August 13, Tokyo Machida City Gymnasium
  • Sunday, August 14, Mashima Sports Arena, Nagano City
  • Tuesday, August 16, Nippon Budokan
  • Wednesday, August 17, Nippon Budokan
  • G1 Climax 32 finals: Thursday, August 18, Nippon Budokan

Let's be having Bryan Danielson!

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Spoiler

G1 Climax 32 Announcement:

The lineup is Kazuchika Okada, Tama Tonga, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tom Lawlor, Jonah, YOSHI-Hashi, Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay, Aaron Henare, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White, EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Juice Robinson, TAICHI, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, David Finlay, and El Phantasmo.

That lineup is a disappointment when you fantasy booked the big AEW talent involvement. Not sure about the increased field either.

 

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This format combined with the BOSJ tour being a largely heavyweight-free zone says to me that they've been taking notes about overworking the roster. So in that way I can't complain but the chaff is going to stand out a lot more when the likes of Yujiro make up one sixth of someone's G1 outing this year.

Not an exciting line up but the format and a sneakily good influx of returning talent should mean we avoid too many tired pairings.

2 hours ago, Control said:

Too bad the GHC champ is too over the hill to even participate.

I love Kodge but the idea of him in this G1 highlights how crazy that result is. His last G1 was FIVE YEARS ago during which he won ONE of his NINE matches.

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We have our blocks:

Spoiler

A block - Okada, Archer, Jonah, Fale, Cobb, Lawlor, Yano

B block - White, Ishii, Taichi, Sanada, Tama, O’Khan, Owens

C block - Tanahashi, Naito, ZSJ, KENTA, Goto, Evil, Henare

D block - Ospreay, Takagi, Phantasmo, Juice, Yoshi-Hashi, Finlay, Yujiro

 

C Block is the only overly familiar set of matches with ZSJ still matched with his G1 husband KENTA and continuing to antagonise Naito.

D Block looks set for some pleasant surprises and Okada Vs Monster of the Week in Hoss Block A is the kind of block gimmick I wanted to see to take advantage of this year's format.

 

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D Block is pretty brutal but then any Block with Yujiro is getting that reaction from me. El P being included feels weird too, was that even hinted at?

I get why Fale is in but he really doesn't even try at this point. Which, can't blame him but doesn't make me want to watch him.

And as someone who doesn't watch Strong I gotta say that having Finlay in there is weird. He feels like such an after thought & any momentum he may have gotten after some surprising performances in 2021 NJ Cup are long forgotten by now.

There's plenty to like of course but it does feel a bit flat. I was hoping a little more non-BC US talent to be used, without touching on top AEW guys. Oh well. I'll inevitably love the latest Ospreay vs Takagi match

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2 hours ago, Kropotkin's Beard said:

D Block is pretty brutal but then any Block with Yujiro is getting that reaction from me. El P being included feels weird too, was that even hinted at?

And as someone who doesn't watch Strong I gotta say that having Finlay in there is weird. He feels like such an after thought & any momentum he may have gotten after some surprising performances in 2021 NJ Cup are long forgotten by now.

I'm not sure what you mean by brutal, but I think D Block should produce the most consistently good matches out of all of them.  Yujiro is a night off, and as much as I generally despise that kind of booking strategy, I get why they do it.  B Block is actually the least interesting to me.  

El P hinted at the G1 as he exited the ring at times during the BOSJ, and I think even the announcers (at least the Japanese ones) mentioned how El P seemed more like a heavyweight at times, but it was rather subtle, as I think New Japan still wanted that surprise pop when they announced him being in.  I also can sense they may have even bigger plans for him down the line, but we shall see.  

It will be fun to see Juice and Finlay square off in the G1, and I can certainly praise Finlay for the fact that he always put forth the effort in every match.  I just don't know where he goes from here, as he has solid in-ring work, his look is sharper than before, and he has fairly good charisma to boot, but a few key intangibles still don't appear to be there yet for him.  

Edited by Evil Otto
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I’ll say this: if the point of the new format is to address the predictability of the final block night...I’m not sure this really fixes anything? Because the semifinal round looks super predictable.

Like,as fun as A block will be with all those big meaty men slapping meat...Okada is the only guy who can realistically come out of it.

And they’re definitley not going to bury their brand new world champ by having him flop in block competition, so pencil in Jay for B block.

D block is only slightly more competitive, as I could realistically see Ospreay or Shingo winning it. But Shingo feels a bit de-emphasized with the KOPW stuff lately, and Ospreay has that new car smell now that he’s back in Japan. So it’s still most likely Ospreay there.

C block is really the only one you can legitimately say 4 guys have a real crack at taking it.

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I think SANADA gets the classic opening night upset to line up a Jay title defense for the fall but ultimately comes up short in the end. They have given him a tough out in Ishii on the final night, while Jay has Tama, who I don’t think has a real shot to advance.

Really looks like A block is coming down to Okada and Archer heads up.

There’s a high concentration of Bullet Club in D block, so I could see a story where they use their numbers to attrition the rest of the field and steal a semis spot. But I think Juice would be the guy there, based on hierarchy. ELP is a junior playing with the big boys, so he’s going to take lumps. The final night really looks set up for Shingo and Ospreay to compete asynchronously for the semis spot. I kinda see Juice upsetting Ospreay (set up a US title defense) to punch Shingo’s card.

And really...the fact that there isn’t a clear contender in C block would suggest that none of those guys are likely to make the finals, so...Shingo to the finals this year? (I’m assuming that’s how the blocks line up anyway.)

Edited by EVA
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On 6/20/2022 at 1:02 PM, S.K.o.S. said:

They have graphics with Okada, White, Tanahashi, and Ospreay front and center in each of their blocks. To me, that guarantees those will NOT be the four winners.

I've seen parts of the internet where people are convinced of the opposite.

 

Schedule is out. In hindsight I'm not sure why I put the groups in spoilers but this is a lot of text.

Spoiler

July 16, Sapporo:

A Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb
B Block: SANADA vs. Jay White
C Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Aaron Henare
D Block: Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo

July 17, Sapporo:

B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi
C Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. KENTA
A Block: Toru Yano vs. JONAH
D Block: Shingo Takagi vs. Juice Robinson

July 20, Senadi:

A Block: Lance Archer vs. Bad Luck Fale
B Block: Tama Tonga vs. Chase Owens
C Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito
D Block: David Finlay vs. Yujiro Takahashi

July 23, Ota:

B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White
D Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Shingo Takagi
A Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Toru Yano
C Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Aaron Henare
July 24, Ota:

C Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
D Block: El Phantasmo vs. Yuijiro Takahashi
A Block: Jeff Cobb vs. Bad Luck Fale
B Block: SANADA vs. Taichi

July 26, Korakuen Hall:

C Block: KENTA vs. EVIL
D Block: David Finlay vs. Juice Robinson
A Block: Tom Lawlor vs. Lance Archer
B Block: Great-O-Khan vs. Chase Owens

July 27, Korakuen Hall:

A Block: Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale
C Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Aaron Henare
B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tama Tonga
D Block: Will Ospreay vs,. Yujiro Takahashi

July 30, Aichi:

A Block: JONAH vs. Tom Lawlor
B Block: SANADA vs. Great-O-Khan
C Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
D Block: David Finaly vs. Shingo Takagi

July 31, Aichi:

B Block: Jay White vs. Chase Owens
C Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. EVIL
A Block: Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada
A Block: Jeff Cobb vs. Lance Archer
D Block: Juice Robinson vs. YOSHI-HASHI

August 2, Hamamatsu:

B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Great-O-Khan
D Block: David Finlay vs. Will Ospreay
A Block: Toru Yano vs. Tom Lawlor
B Block: Tama Tonga vs. SANADA
C Block: Hirooki Goto vs. KENTA

August 5, Matsuyama:

A Block: JONAH vs. Jeff Cobb
C Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. Aaron Henare
B Block: Taichi vs. Chase Owens
C Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
D Block: Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi

August 6, Osaka:

D Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Phantasmo
D Block: Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay
A Block: Toru Yano vs. Lance Archer
B Block: Great-O-Khan vs. Jay White
C Block: Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

August 7, Osaka:

A Block: Tom Lawlor vs. Bad Luck Fale
D Block: Juice Robinson vs. El Phantasmo
A Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. JONAH
B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Chase Owens
C Block: Aaron Henare vs. EVIL

August 9, Hiroshima:

A Block: JONAH vs. Lance Archer
C Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. KENTA
B Block: Tama Tonga vs. Taichi
B Block: SANADA vs. Chase Owens
D Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi

August 10, Hiroshima:

A Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tom Lawlor
C Block: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. EVIL
B Block: Tama Tonga vs. Great-O-Khan
C Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
D Block: David Finlay vs. El Phantasmo

August 13, Machida:

D Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Will Ospreay
D Block: Shingo Takagi vs. Yujiro Takahashi
A Block: Toru Yano vs. Jeff Cobb
B Block: Taichi vs. Jay White
C Block: Aaron Henare vs. KENTA

August 14, Nagano:

B Block: Taichi vs. Great-O-Khan
C Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA
A Block: Tom Lawlor vs. Jeff Cobb
D Block: YOSHI-HASHI vs. David Finlay

August 16, Budokan Hall:

A Block: Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer
B Block: Tama Tonga vs. Jay White
A Block: JONAH vs. Bad Luck Fale
B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs. SANADA
C Block: Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL
C Block: Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
D Block: Shingo Takagi vs. El Phantasmo
D Block: Will Ospreay vs. Juice Robinson

 

This is predominantly because I never really get excited for G1 group announcements ('yup, that's a list of good wrestlers' is usually how it goes), but I think hoss block A may be the most intriguing G1 block ever for me.

1) I'm amazed they managed to get a whole schedule of fresh matches for Okada despite him working through the pandemic.

2) Fale is going to have to bump more than ever before.

3) Where has big man wrestling been these last few years, huh? Probably some of the many places I haven't been paying attention to, but it feels novel to me.

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