All I can say is yikes

King of Pro Wrestling preview

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - Okada is defending the IWGP heavyweight championship.  Whoever wins this match will likely be the defending champion at Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome on January 4.

In one-on-one matches, Okada is 6-1 against Sanada.  You could barely call it a rivalry, but on March 24 Sanada really impressed Okada in the finals of the New Japan Cup.  Okada won, earning a title shot, and decided that if he won the belt he would face Sanada in his first defense.  Okada did win the belt and proceeded to beat Sanada to retain it on May 4.  So when they met again on August 3 in the G1 Climax, Sanada was under tremendous pressure to not go 0-7.  It looked like he’d have to settle for the moral victory of a 30-minute time limit draw, but then Sanada finally got the pin at 29:47.  That one win earned Sanada another title shot, and shifted the psychological balance between the two men.

The big issues heading into this match are that Okada is trying to convince everyone Sanada isn’t in his league, the fans are split between them and increasingly leaning toward Sanada, and Okada just cannot hit his big dropkick on Sanada these days.  That dropkick thing is brilliant, because I’ve seen gif after gif of Sanada dodging the dropkick, and you know when Okada finally hits him it’ll blow the roof off the building.

It’s pretty rare for the IWGP heavyweight title to change hands between the G1 Climax and Wrestle Kingdom--it’s only happened three times in the past decade, and the last time was 2014.  So aside from the fact Sanada is not the guy who should be headlining the Tokyo Dome, I wouldn’t expect Okada to lose even if he was wrestling Batman.  As for Sanada, I think he’ll suck it up and have a better showing in the World Tag League tournament.

Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL - The winner of this match receives Ibushi’s “IWGP Right to Challenge contract”--the document that Ibushi earned by winning the G1 Climax, which entitles the bearer to an IWGP heavyweight title match on January 4.  Ibushi’s won the G1 with an 8-2 record, and tradition obligates him to defend the contract against anyone who beat him during the tournament.  He’s already avenged his loss to KENTA, but Evil also holds a win over him from July 14.

There is a minor subplot being pushed by Kevin Kelly (I’m not sure the creative team has even intentionally made this a thing) that Evil could win the title shot and his tag partner Sanada could win the title, and Evil beat Sanada in their last match.  That’s a clever observation, but I don’t expect it to lead to anything.  I would be incredibly shocked if Evil wins this match.

The whole “G1 winner gets a contract for a Wrestle Kingdom title shot” deal has been a thing since 2012.  In that time, guys who have challenged for the contract have gone 0-15.  Evil should give Ibushi a good match, but this is all about putting Kota over on his way to meet Okada at the Tokyo Dome

Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson - Moxley won the IWGP United States title from Juice on June 5, but Juice pinned Mox in a non-title match during the G1 on August 11, so the title is on the line in a rubber match.  Moxley has demanded that this must be a no-disqualification match.

Moxley’s run as US champ has been a little unusual because of his dual contracts with AEW and NJPW, which aren’t in a working relationship.  He doesn’t bring the US belt to AEW shows and his AEW deal precludes him from appearing at NJPW shows in North America.  So you’ve got a weird situation where New Japan has done, like, four US shows this summer but the US champion is the one guy who can’t appear on those shows.  Juice has been playng up the idea that Moxley isn’t a fighting champion, although technically Mox has only skipped one major tour since his debut, and he had a staph infection anyway.

What really matters here is that these two guys have had two great brawls that have established how determined they are to kill one another.  Juice is obsessed with proving he isn’t some prelim guy being fed to the big ex-WWE star.  Mox knows he’s poking the bear by antagonizing Juice, and he can’t let up for a second.

I’m expecting Juice to win the title here, since I doubt Moxley will be back in Japan until Wrestle Kingdom.  Technically, though, Moxley doesn’t have to drop the title--he only has to defend the title once every six months, so he could beat Juice here and go on to another title defense in January.  However, my gut says that it’s better for everyone if Mox puts Juice over now, before the politics of AEW protecting their guy and NJPW protecting their belt start to get complicated.  WIth luck, one or both men will get called out to set up their Wrestle Kingdom opponents.

Will Ospreay vs. El Phantasmo - Ospreay is defending the IWGP junior heavyweight championship.  Phantasmo’s RPW British cruiserweight championship is not at stake.

Phantasmo beat Ospreay on May 22 during the Best of the Super Jr. tournament.  That would have been enough to ensure him a title match after Ospreay won the belt, but he also beat Ospreay again on August 25 in the finals of the Super J Cup tournament.  For a while Ospreay and Robbie Eagles were challenging Phantasmo and Ishimori for the IWGP junior tag team title, but ELP and Ishimori retained.  So Ospreay has failed to beat Phantasmo over and over again, and now he’s putting his own gold on the line.

The match should be great and I could see it going either way.  With the Super Jr. Tag League coming up, there won’t be much focus on the singles title for a while, so they could literally drape all the gold on ELP for a while without derailing any potential title match plans for January.  Phantasmo’s been on a roll--an arrogant, smarmy, hateable roll--so I could certainly see him winning here.  But in spite of that I think I’m gonna pick Ospreay to retain.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki - The backstory here is that Liger announced he’ll be retiring in January, and Suzuki started giving him shit over an old grudge.  See, in 2002 Liger faced Suzuki in a shoot MMA match, which Suzuki easily won, and Liger commented that he would try again in a couple of years.  Well, the rematch never happened, so Suzuki accused Liger of trying to retire without ever doing it.  This led to Suzuki perpetrating all sorts of heinous attacks on Liger for months, including pulling off Liger’s mask.  This led to Liger flipping out on September 22 and turning into his super-mode, Kishin Liger.

Now, New Japan has not advertised that Jushin Liger will be in Kishin Liger mode for this match.  Jushin Liger has appeared since September 22 in normal friendly mode, so it’s possible this match will be about him trying not to let his homicidal demonic alter ego loose.  It is possible we will have to wait until later to see Suzuki really tangle with Kishin Liger.  BUT...we might just get to see Kishin Liger try to stab Minoru Suzuki in the fucking face.  (During a typhoon.)

I’ve watched footage of Kishin’s other appearances, and it’s safe to say he will brawl like a sick bastard, using weapons and making Japanese women shriek in the stands.  What will make this more interesting is that Suzuki tries to pull that shit all the time, so this could be like watching Dr. Jekyll turn into Mr. Hyde to fight Freddie Krueger.

The other interesting wrinkle is that there have been rumors going around that Suzuki is planning to leave New Japan, and that if it weren’t for the Liger storyline he’d already be gone.  I don’t know if I believe those reports, but since I’ve heard about them it’s easy to imagine that could be Suzuki’s final match in the company, and that Kishin Liger is going to murder his ass to send him packing.  Which is cool, because for months I expected Suzuki to poke the bear until he got Kishin Liger, and then he’d just beat Liger anyway like it was no big deal.  True or false, the Suzuki rumors make it feel plausible that this one could go either way, which is fantastic.

Bottom line, we may get Jushin Thunder Liger trying to wrestle a fair fight and getting crushed by Minoru Suzuki.  Or we may get Kishin Liger literally ending Minoru Suzuki’s New Japan career.  Or we may get anything in-between to set up a rematch at the Tokyo Dome.  I am super hype for this match no matter what the hell happens.

Jay White & KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI - Goto is trying to goad White into giving him an intercontinental title match.  Kenta has some bad blood with Ishii and Yoshi over his heel turn a couple of months ago, but he’s already beaten both of them in singles matches so I don’t see where else that issue can go.  Takahashi is basically a jobber so I assume he’s going to lose the fall.

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. & Lance Archer & Taichi - This is kind of random tag match between guys who have nothing going on, so I suspect this is happening in order to set up an angle.  Sabre recently won his feud with Hiroshi Tanahashi and reclaimed his RPW championship, so I could see Naito or Takagi being positioned as the next challenger.  Archer and Takagi both ought to get slotted with someone they can beat to advance their pushes.  Meanwhile, Bushi isn’t scheduled for the Super Jr. Tag League so he’s just kinda there with nothing to do.  As for Taichi, I’m pretty sick of Taichi and don’t care what happens to him as long as he doesn’t fued with Naito for the hundredth time.  I’m guessing the Naito team wins this match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano - This seems kinda random.  They’ve been doing house show matches with Tana and Honma teaming with Yoshi-Hashi to challenge Makabe, Yano, and Ryusuke Taguchi for the NEVER six-man tag team title.  I don’t know what the point is of doing two-thirds of that match.  I suppose the winning team would get a boost ahead of the World Tag League tournament next month.  But the other weird thing is that Makabe is as well-known for teaming with Honma as he is for teaming with Yano, so that would seem to foreshadow some divided loyalties.  I can’t imagine anything real big coming out of this match when it’s so low on the card, though, so I figure Tanahashi will just win for a feel-good moment.

SHO & YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI - This is vaguely a preview of the Super Jr. Tag League tournament, as Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh), Taguchi & Rocky Romero, and Kanemaru & Despy are all scheduled to compete there.  The Taguchi/Romero gimmick is that they’re both coaches, and Romero is the coach for R3K, so I guess the idea is Taguchi is teaming with his partner’s proteges.  The other thing here is that Despy is back from a broken jaw (if I recall correctly) and he happens to be teaming with Douki, who was recruited into Suzuki-gun to fill in for him.  Douki’s New Japan run is going so well that he isn’t even in the Super Jr. Tag League, so I expect he’ll do the job in this match.

NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Day 5 Review

Our night kicked off with Lance Archer vs. KENTA. A first time matchup, given that Kenta has never been in New Japan before. Archer had a genuinely startling height advantage here. He is 6′8, while Kenta was 5′8. That is huge. Archer pushed Kenta to the ground to start things off, just a sign of disrespect. Kenta started to kick at the legs and midsection, which quickly brought Archer to his knees. However, whenever Archer wanted to take Kenta down, he would just give him a shoulder tackle and put him on the mat. Early on, Archer tried to give Kenta a chokeslam to the outside, only for some Young Lions to catch him, so Archer wiped them all out with a somersault senton. The ref started to count as Archer beat down Kenta on the outside, so he attacked the timekeeper to stop the count. Archer then started to mock Kenta by referring to him as Hideo. Archer was very violent towards the ref during the match, constantly threatening him and throwing him around, so Kenta was not the only one who found Archer challenging. Kenta kept trying to soften Archer up with kicks wherever he could land them, but Archer just refused to stay down. Archer tried for the EBD claw, but Kenta nearly reversed it into an armbar, so Archer opted for a huge lariat instead. Archer then went for blackout, but Kenta countered into a sleeper hold, lowering Archer to the mat and hitting a pique kick to the chest. Kenta then went for the Go to Sleep, but Archer reversed into the EBD Claw submission, and then even a muscle buster for a near fall. Archer then hit a last ride, but Kenta still kicked out. He then went for a chokeslam, but Kenta reversed it into a triangle choke. He transitioned the triangle into a game over for the submission win. Kenta: 6, Archer: 4.

Grade: B. Pretty good match. It was really fun to see how Kenta would deal with his much larger opponent. The answer was a lot of kicks to the midsection and legs, and finally wearing him down with submission holds. It was a gritty win, but Kenta made it to six points, still in the lead of the block. Good match that showed a different side of Kenta, and Archer had his first loss. Big stuff here. 

Next up was EVIL vs. SANADA. These two have only fought once before, with Sanada coming up with the win. Evil has been anticipating this match a lot recently, as he felt like he wasn’t given the same opportunity as Sanada, due to his championship match back in May. He wants to break out of the stable with this match, and create a new name for himself. Sanada started out with several dropkicks, and quickly went for the moonsault, but Evil got out of the way. Evil actually grabbed a chair after avoiding the moonsult, sliding it in and distracting both Sanada and the ref, using that to take down Sanada early. The two then battled for position, with Sanada looking for the paradise lock and Evil looking for a scorpion deathlock. Evil was able to lock Sanada in a paradise lock, posing with his foot on Sanada’s back before giving him the glut dropkick. The two were actually vicious here, totally ready to beat the living crap out of each other. They both know each other’s moves so well that they were constantly reversing and countering each other’s moves. Sanada quickly ramped up his attack after he realized that Evil wasn’t pulling punches and started to focus on Evil’s base. He constantly attacked Evil’s knees, which was mixed in with some of his usual offense. Evil opted to target the back of Sanada, throwing him into the barricades and generally assaulting him mercilessly. Evil even bent the rules a little bit, such as shoving the ref into Sanada, and even using the ref as a tag partner to hit the magic killer. It took the entire match, but Sanada was actually able to lock in skull end, but Evil reversed it into a skull end of his own, which prompted Sanada to drill Evil with everything is evil for a close near fall. Sanada again went for the moonsault, but was thwarted again when Evil got his knees up. Sanada was again able to lock in skull end, throwing Evil around but getting caught in a small package as he did. Evil went for everything is evil, but Sanada scored an inside cradle for a near fall. Evil then began to destroy Sanada with lariats, eventually nailing Sanada with everything is evil for the win. Evil: 4, Sanada: 2. 

After the match, Evil offered the fist bump, which Sanada answered. So the two are definitely staying together, both as a stable and as a tag team. 

Grade: A-. A great match between two teammates who know each other incredibly well. They had an interesting clash of styles that blended perfectly, along with the fact that they just kept countering out of each other’s signature offense. Evil had a huge chip on his shoulder coming into this match, so I think it makes a lot of sense for him to get the win. Maybe they are giving Evil a decent singles push, who knows? We will have to see if he is able to beat Okada again this year, we could see evil in the world championship picture.

Into Bad Luck Fale vs. Kazuchika Okada. They are 4:3 in favor of Okada, so very close, but it is interesting to note that Okada has never beaten Fale in a tournament. Before the match, as he was making his entrance, Bad Luck Fale attacked Okada on the way to the ring. Fale was beating down Okada even before he came out. It took Okada a while to get his wind back, and the second he started to beat down Fale, Fale distracted the ref and Chase Owens and Jado beat him down on the outside. Okada continuously tried to slam Fale, it worked as both a central theme of the match, and as a contstant downfall for Okada, At one point, Okada tried to hit the bodyslam, but he couldn’t keep him up and ended up eating a splash from Fale. He was finally able to give Fale a body slam, and then followed it up with a tope con hilo to Fale, Owens and Jado when Fale rolled out. Okada kept up the attack from there, focusing on the neck and chest. Okada had it won with a rainmaker, but Fale threw Red Shoes into him before Okada could complete the move. That allowed Chase Owens to run in and assist Fale in hitting the grenade. Even after Okada was able to dispatch Owens, Jado nailed Okada in the back with the kendo stick as he ran the ropes. He held Okada in place as Fale ran at him, but he dodged and took out Jado. He tried to give Fale a neckbreaker, but Fale rolled through, only for Okada to sit down on him and steal a pin. Okada: 6, Fale: 2. 

After the match, Fale tried to attack Okada, but Okada put him down with a dropkick and gave him a salute as he layed on the outside. 

Grade: C+. These guys always have a slow match, and while it was okay, it just didn’t really do it for me. For whatever reason, Bullet Club interference bothers me a lot more than Suzuki-Gun, so I guess they are either effective heels or just annoying. Okada deserves this win, and I like that it came in a non-dominant form. It keeps up the story that Okada cannot seem to beat Fale in the tournament, although he did score a victory here. I’m glad Okada won here. And Fale is untouchable, no losses actually hurt him.

Then we had Zack Sabre Jr vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. These two have gone back and forth with wins, but Sabre leads their series with 3:2. As Tanahashi entered the ring, Sabre made sure to kick the young lion Tsuji off the ropes, just being a dick in general. Neither man has won a match yet, so both were battling for their first points. The two started to grapple early on, with Sabre starting the match off with the cravat, but quickly transitioning into a heel hook where both were jockeying for postiion. The interesting part of this match was the Sabre has two spots that he can focus on: both the formerly injured elbow and the ever decaying knees. However, as the match progressed, Tanahashi was really going hold for hold with Sabre. Both are great grapplers, but Sabre is considered the best at it in the world. The two then traded flash pins for a while, until Tanahashi was able to convert one into a twist and shout. The two then battled over a crucifix to a stalemate, with Tanahashi breaking it by hitting a slingblade. Tanahashi tried to get in a backbend pin, but Sabre kicked out and was able to lock in an armbar. He then transitioned into a sort of grounded octopus, targetting the repaired arm. Tanahashi sold it it great, like he was in too much pain to go on and barely made it to the ropes. Tanahashi fought back with Dragonscrew leg whips, a slingblade, aces high and almost the high fly flow, but Sabre got the knees up and locked in a triangle. While still in the triangle, Tanahashi stacked him up and got the pin. Tanahashi: 2, Sabre: 0.

Naturally, after the match Sabre threw a tantrum because he lost. I love this side of him, he is such a dick. 

Grade: A. This was leaps and bounds ahead of their match at the MSG show. I thought that match was much less smooth and didn’t have much of a story, while this showed the very entertaining grappler side of Tanahashi. He was in there showing the submission master what he could do, and actually nearly tapped him out at a couple of points. Sabre looked great here too, totally selling the frustration both during the match and after his loss. His story is certainly an intriguing one in this tournament. I’m happy to see Tanahashi finally get a win, because his story of going from the winner to the loser would not have been nearly as entertaining. 

And in the main event, we had Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch. That match earlier this year was their only match, and Ospreay came out on top. That was the match that I was most looking forward to at Wrestle Kingdom, and here in the A Block as well. The two traded clean breaks early on as they felt each other out. They started with some grappling, and the two of them actually looked pretty good on the mat. They then got into tests of strength, with Ibushi being much stronger. As the two started to pick up the pace a bit, Ospreay started to work over the ankle, a great strategy to both neutralize Ibushi’s kicks and to soften up his base. However, that did not stop Ibushi from delivering a blistering kick to Ospreay’s chest. When Ibushi had control, he targeted the neck, the subjuect of several injuries in the past. The two then traded signature moves and some counters, with everything looking way better with the two of them doing it. The two then traded both strikes and kicks in the center of the ring, at inhuman speeds. As Ospreay went for the stormbreaker, Ibushi countered with almost a deadeye variant on a piledriver that was very scary to see. Ibushi followed it up with an insane last ride for another near fall. Ospreay later tried for stormbreaker again, only for Ibushi to counter with a package piledriver, but Ospreay even countered that into a rollup. Ibushi kicked out and Ospreay nailed him with the high angle powerbomb of his own. Ospreay then peppered Ibushi with kicks and tried for the super os cutter, only for Ibushi to push him back into the post, leaving him hanging in a tree of woe and lighting him up with both kicks and hard slaps. The two jockeyed for position on the top rope, with Ibushi eventually hitting the second rope german, but Ospreay actually flipped out of it! Then he fucking rocked Ibushi with the hidden blade to the side of the face, but Ibushi barely got his hand on the rope. Ospreay then nailed Ibushi with a stiff kick to the face, and hit the os cutter for an incredible near fall. Ibushi then fought back into the match by sliding out of the stormbreaker and hitting a scary Michinoku driver for a near fall. Ospreay tried for another hidden blade, but Ibushi saw it coming and hit a back elbow, a great lariat and the bomaye for still another near fall! Ibushi finally hit the Kamagoye for the win after a war of a match. Ibushi: 2, Ospreay: 2.

Grade: A+. This was an incredible match and an incredible main event. For a relatively low stakes match in the tournament, they killed it in getting people invested. They absolutely destroyed each other in the ring and hit the biggest moves that they could think of. I hope that both of them were okay after this match, because it looked like a goddamn murder in that ring. The counters were off the charts, every move was smooth as glass, and every kickout had me changing my mind for who I wanted to win. This was my favorite match of the tournament so far, and possibly my favorite match of the year, regardless of promotion. They tore the house down, and they so deserve every push that they are getting. Ibushi finally got his first two points and can get on the road to winning the tournament, while Ospreay had a fantastic showing that proved he can hang with one of the best wrestlers in New Japan. Five stars, Match of the Night, match of the tournament, match of the goddamned year so far. If you couldn’t tell, these are my two favorite wrestlers in the world.