NJPW G1 Climax 2023.

[Horangi]

The Henare/Nicholls match was crazy and unnecessarily stiff, not surprised someone nearly got hurt. Was actually enjoyable until that end botch. As someone who has lived a long period with a Maori family and having gotten to learn and know the culture, I very much understand the importance of the Mataora and think it is so awesome to see authentic, indigenous representation in pro wrestling instead of watered down generalised representation. Saw people on twitter calling it a "stupid look", they can go fuck themselves, this is something much deeper than "a look", it is spiritual and representative of his culture and ancestors. Kevin Kelly tweeted a really good article about it - https://www.teaomaori.news/aaron-henare-first-maori-bring-mataora-wrestling-world-japan

Night 2 was fun though outside of that, I think the 2 or 3 best matches of night 1 were better than anything from night 2 but night 2 felt overall more consistent. Kingston/Takagi was match of the night, but Finlay/Ishii was a lot of fun too. Main event was fine, if not a bit sloppy at times. Oh and really enjoyed ZSJ/Tanahashi with Tanahashi trying to wrestle Zack's style. More of that please Tana! 

[S.K.o.S.]

2 shows in a row with scary head drops now.  Gabe Kidd was the unlucky recipient of the latest one.

[Horangi]

Night 3 quick thoughts:

Spoiler

First half of the show was, and I hate to say it, pretty bad. Kaito vs Chase was okay, but the other 3 matches were near dreadful. KENTA/O-Khan in particular was really disappointing, I don't know what I was expecting. Hikuleo nearly killed Gabe with that powerslam, and Tanga Loa really shouldn't be in this tournament - I wonder if he's come back too soon. Otherwise they probably should have got a couple of tours or US dates for him to get into the groove of things. Better than the KENTA match from night 1 though, but that isn't saying much. I am pumped that my boy Taichi (who was the first guy the Yamagata crowd really reacted to at all) is unbeaten so far though haha, too bad its Okada next so that run will be over.

Second half on the other hand was a lot of fun! Tsuji & Narita was a blast, I am enjoying the Tsuji storyline of outclassing his opponents but still not being able to put them away, guessing he gets his big win next against SANADA in Nagaoka. Ospreay/YOSHI-HASHI gel so well together, one of the best matches of the early shows so far. SANADA/Umino was perfectly fine, didn't really get to that next level that it could but I think they've got a better match in them down the line sometime and I also really liked the main with grumpy Okada even drawing a few boos out of the crowd who were solidly behind ELP for a fair chunk of the match.

Next show for Block A/B is Nagaoka, which actually looks like it could be a good show outside of Hikuleo/Chase, and I don't think YOSHI-HASHI is going to be able to get much out of Tanga Loa. 

 

[Lawful Metal]

I’m halfway through night 2, just finished the Kingston match. It’s funny, I’m far more invested in the young dudes (Musketeers / War Dogs) than the established dudes. Was real impressed by Gabe Kidd and Tsuji. Thought Umino and Narita looked the best against each other than I’ve ever seen. I’m sure Kingston is having a blast, but it’ll be fun to see him against a non-bruiser to get him out of his comfort zone.

not sure if I’m crazy about 4 blocks — it’s more of a knockout stage than a true round robin tournament, which I think is the point. I get it, but maybe it’s losing something of the spirit.

[Teflon Turtle]

So a few days after he gets dropped on his head, HENARE goes out and has what I feel to be the best match of the tournament so far with Shingo, and by a pretty comfortable margin at that. 

I have yet to hit the point of diminishing returns with Eddie Kingston going up against Japanese wrestlers. I've seen some criticism here and around the rest of the internet about it, but I'm not in that camp. Eddie's in his element, doing something he's wanted to do his entire career and probably thought at many points he'd never get a chance to. He fits right in. The fans are getting behind him even if they're unfamiliar with him. Dude went out there against EVIL, sold like crazy. Kevin Kelly on commentary invokes Terry Funk as an inspiration to Eddie Kingston, then a few minutes later Eddie's selling like the Funker. Hard to beat it. 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Teflon Turtle

[Horangi]

Night 4, outside of another really great Henare/Shingo match and a pretty decent main event is can be skipped. Tama came off really badly in his backstage promo afterwards...he's meant to be a face????

Night 5 on the other hand was great! A really hot crowd and by far best show of the tournament with Taichi vs Okada my match of the tournament so far (and a possible contender for New Japan match of the year for me). Loving grumpy Okada, and Taichi is really excelling as a fiery babyface (crowd was solidly behind him here). Kaito/Shota is a close second, a breakout match for Shota I think and Kaito played a great antagonist without overly being one.

KENTA had his best match in God knows how long against Ospreay, bringing fire I haven't seen in a long time. Main was good, but preferred Dominion. Even the undercard was fun outside of Chase/Hikuleo, including YOSHI-HASHI getting something decent out of Tanga Loa.

[lostinube]

Tonight's main event (HOT BC vs Rebel BC or whatever it's called) featured four ref bumps (as in four different refs).

[The Natural]

"You may think you know how hard the G1 Climax really is on you. You can look up and down the blocks and everybody's got some sort of injury, my traps f---ed, people's necks are f---ed, their legs, their knees, and that's fine, that's what we expect," ELP said.

"But what you guys don't realize is how hard emotionally it can be when you are all by yourself, when you have no friends, you get a call from your dad who says your Papa has passed away an hour before you gotta go out there and wrestle Okada in the main event and you try and block those emotions and go do your job. And then you finish, and the adrenaline wears off and you go back to your little, tiny, dinky ass Japanese hotel and then you realize that it's too late to call your grandma, whose husband of 70 years just died, whose daughter died a year ago, and you've got to stay up all night by yourself, unable to tell them how much you love them.

And then in the morning, you call grandma, and you talk about how Papa's gone and that's okay. But then you have to lie to her and you have to tell her that you're doing good. You can't say that you're here, you lost three matches, you have zero points, the bottom of the block. You've got to tell her that you're winning and you're fighting for Papa.

Then you go to the gym by yourself, you listen to music, and you come here and you pretend everything's okay but it's not. That's what this job is.

I was here all pandemic when my Aunt died and now I'm here when my Papa dies. And I don't know how much the people know but when you guys chant my name, that's the only love I get around here these days and it means so much to me. You guys don't know, you guys don't know, just three little letters keep me going.

I told myself I wouldn't be sad. My Papa was 91 years old. He was supposed to die a month ago, that's why I was at the hospital, I couldn't do Wrestling Revolver. He was supposed to die but he kept fighting, not one week, not two weeks, not three weeks, but he fought four weeks passed the time he was supposed to pass away. Now, that is fighting spirit, that's the fighting spirit that I need. That's the fighting spirit that I need to have to win, to win matches, to win the G1 Climax, to tell my Grandma that I'm okay."

 

Condolences to El Phantasmo and his family xxx.

[SirFozzie]

Saw that night six had an injury cut a match short (nothing major), so Naito-Yano was heavy on the stretching out due to shenanigans to lengthen the card. And truthfully, if you were going to tell two wrestlers "Hey, can you stretch your match an extra ten minutes without doing much but keeping the fans entertained", Naito and Yano would be the two.

[Lawful Metal]

Just finished night 2, and I just loved loved loved ZSJ v. Tanahashi. Probably means nothing in the long run Zack working the leg and Tana working the arm just worked for me. Also Kelly pointing out that you really really don’t want to go hold for hold with Zack really rings true, but would also only be true in Japan. 

[Pete]

Oh man, that Kiyomiya/Sanada finish.

Spoiler

19:58!!! Can't shave it much closer than that.

Watching ELP and Loa go outside for 2-3 minutes, is there any reason the ref doesn't put the count on both guys?

[lostinube]

SANADA showed he can do these right up to the time limit matches well during the TV title tournament. I thought Kiyomiya was going to go the distance but him almost getting there shows that he's above the Reiwa Musketeers.

Okada should have given points to YOSHI-HASHI.

[Evil Otto]

Tonight was the Eddie Kingston match everyone was waiting for.  Of course, it was against Ishii.  Was it anything new?  Not really.  Did the Korakuen crowd go crazy for it?  They sure did.  

Zack and Cobb somehow managed to top it, though.  One of the top matches of the tournament for sure.  Such amazing chemistry they have.  In my alternate wrestling universe (we all have one, don't we?) ZSJ and Jeff Cobb are fighting over the world championship because they both absolutely belong at the top of the card.  Maybe someday, I always say.  Simply put, both these guys fucking rule.

Performance-wise, a really solid night across the board for TMDK.  

[lostinube]

Tomorrow is headlined by Okada vs Ospreay. SANADA vs Narita should be interesting as the other Musketeers should pick up wins. Other than that not much going on other than a match that people would have hated simply for the people in it in YOSHI-HASHI vs TAICHI. Oh how times have changed.

[lostinube]

I think it might be SANADA and Kaito out of A, Okada and Ospreay out of B (it gives El-P a chance for a win against Ospreay), Finley and whoever wins on the last night between Shingo and EVIL out of C and Cobb and possibly Naito out of D. Zack is ahead right now but we can't put it past NJPW to have Naito win out, especially if his last obstacle is Tanahashi. Safe picks to be sure.

[The Natural]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eP249LGpFTU

First Zack Sabre Jr meltdown. Burst out laughing at ZSJ's very NSFW line.

[Curt McGirt]

Did he call him a "fuck cunt"? 

[The Natural]

7 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Did he call him a "fuck cunt"? 

" What did that fat cunt say?" "Yeah, he said I'm a fat cunt".

Edited July 26, 2023 by The Natural

[Horangi]

Skipped Nagano (do want to watch Ishii/Takagi but I don't think it will be anything we haven't seen before), but really enjoyed the Korakuen double header.  Okada/YH & SANADA/Kiyomiya are amongst the best matches of the tournament from the first night, Ospreay/O-Khan and Umino/Kidd delivered too while Hikuleo and Tanga Loa both had possibly their best tournament matches so far.

I don't think I need to mention Cobb/ZSJ and Ishii/Kingston as others have, but I do want to highlight Mikey Nicholls in particular is really going all-out in this tournament. He's not flashy or overly charismatic, but he's really giving it his all in the G1 and the crowds are starting to get behind him. Match with Shingo was fun, as well as the HENARE match before the bad ending, really interested in his match with Eddie Kingston now. Also full credit to Shane Haste, getting a good match out of Naito who hasn't seemed motivated since the Ospreay program last year. Glad to see them doing well here & trying to make the most out of the opportunity, considering the rumours they were not meant to be in it originally (Aussie Open I think were in as per the rumours, but the injury to Davis/signing with AEW changed things).

Spoiler

Lost it when Shane hit Bomb Valley Death, scared the shit out of my poor girlfriend in the process

 

[The Natural]

 

[dragonzombie]

[Salads]

First of the month = time for my cheap arse to catch up with this thing.

[Teflon Turtle]

Great Naito/ZSJ match from today's show. The excellence of their rivalry continues. Without spoiling anything, off the top of my head it's probably Naito's best match so far this year. I bit on a bunch of near falls and the finish wound up being brilliant.

[lostinube]

Main events of the last days are set (this usually plays into who is moving on):

8/5 Umino vs Hikuleo

8/6 Ospreay vs El-P

8/8 Takagi vs EVIL

8/9 Tanahashi vs Naito

[Evil Otto]

11 hours ago, Teflon Turtle said:

Great Naito/ZSJ match from today's show. The excellence of their rivalry continues. Without spoiling anything, off the top of my head it's probably Naito's best match so far this year. I bit on a bunch of near falls and the finish wound up being brilliant.

Yeah, that match and Umino-Tsuji the night prior were by far my two strongest recommendations from the last two cards.  Naito and ZSJ are fucking magic in the ring together.