Cero Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 28 - 7.28

[cero2k]

NJPW G1 Climax 28, day 10
July 28, 2018
Aichi, Japan

Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa vs Togi Makabe & Toa Henare - 5.5/10
Seems like Tanga Loa will indeed start doing more intros to their team. Rocky Romero brought up my idea that Henare is joining the FS eventually. Match saw FS work over Henare for a while, Makabe get the tag and do his thing with Fale, Makabe looked good since he's always lost to Fale on the G1. Loa hit Apeshit on Henare for the win. One of the better openers of the tournament.

Jay White & YOH vs Hangman Page & Chase Owens - 6/10
Jay got the jump over Chase and thus worked over him for a while. Page got the tag and was his usual tag team Page doing 1-on-2 spots. YOH got in and him and Page got a good run. Finish was White holding Page for YOH, but YOH took forever and hit White accidentally, turn and was hit by the Rite of Passage.

Kelly and Rocky were terrible here. First they kept saying that Page hasn't been able to hit the RoP and then he used it here, and then they moan about White not breaking the pin, JUST after YOH took him out and got himself pinned for taking too long.

Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado vs EVIL & BUSHI - 7/10
EVIL was injured last night, he tweeked his knee, and since it was mentioned by commentary, it should now mean that Suzuki would go for it. This is why I don't like English commentary talking about real life injures.

I wouldn't call this a jump, more as both teams went straight for the brawl. Inside the ring, SZKG worked over BUSHI for a while, Suzuki and EVIL did their thing, it was awesome, EVIL pissed off Suzuki, so Suzuki just kicked his ass. Finish saw Minoru kill BUSHI with the GSP. After the match, these two got face to face. This was a great hype match. I'm excited.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs YOSHI-HASHI & SHO - 7/10
WOW WOW WOW, why isn't Dave Finlay here with Tanahashi!? Doesn't matter because we got Tana vs SHO! Can't wait for SHO to go heavyweight.

This was one of those matches where we see all possile pairings, and they were all graet. At one point, Umino was taking on both YH and SHO. Finish saw SHO pin Umino with a Deadlift German Bridge Pin. Umino was fucking awesome this match.

Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs Michael Elgin & David Finlay - 6/10
KK started this match calling the balloon thing between Okada and Rocky as balloongate and I immediately had flashbacks of listening to WWE commentary. Please KK, don't dumb down commentary. They also need to start talking so much about Block C if we constantly need KK to remind us that this is not real and it's just a made up thing by two wrestlers doing support jobs.

Match started with some comedy, then Elgin and Okada did their thing, a bit of Strength vs Talent, but Elgin also showed a bit more agility while Okada worked on the arm that according to commentary was good now. Finish was Finlay dropping a Stunner on Gedo for the win. Ok match.

G1 Climax Block B Match
Tama Tonga (2) w/Tanga Loa vs Zack Sabre (4) Jr w/TAKA Michinoku - 8.5/10
Both TAKA and Loa did intros for their respective men. This was pretty much a 2-on-1 with Sabre constantly fighting off both of GoDs. TAKA Michinoku was kinda rendered irrelevant by Loa early on, and while he did get a chance to trip Tama Tonga later on, he once again was taken out.

Match was mostly contested inside the ring, which was good. A lot of Sabre going for arm submissions but never really being able to keep them for long due to interference or distractions. Tama Tonga on the other hand, most worked his quick style. Towards the end, Sabre was coming close to the submissions, while reversing all Gun Stun attempts of Tonga. Finish came when Sabre dodged a Gun Stun and Tama Tonga took out his brother, leaving it easy for Sabre to lock in Tama Tonga, but Bad Luck came out to attack Sabre and the DQ finish. After the match, Fale took out Sabre and TAKA, who tried to defend Sabre.

I didn't mind the finish, but I was really rooting for Suzuki to come out and face off with Fale. It is unfortunate that Suzuki vs Fale is not next, because I can only imagine the pop of Suzuki coming out to back up his boy and build up his match with Fale.

G1 Climax Block B Match
Toru Yano (2) vs Juice Robinson (0) - 6.5/10
Half of this match was really bad, around the time that Yano and Juice were pretending that soft pads were swords, but later on, even among shenanigans, as they chased low blows and Pulp Frictions, it got entertaining. The thing with Yano is that you never know who will win, and considering that Juice was coming in with zero points, I wasn't sure who was getting the win. Juice ended up being the one after he hit Pulp Friction.

G1 Climax Block B Match
Tomohiro Ishii (4) vs Kota Ibushi (4) - 9.5/10
This was a clash of styles of sorts. Initially, Ibushi tried to go toe-to-toe with Ishii striking-wise, but Ishii was just too much for him, and so Ibushi brought out his own style and that was enough to get the upper hand and take Ishii off his feet. At one point early on, Ibushi dragged Ishii to the balcony, just to hit a balcony Moonsault, and then bring Ishii back to the ring. In addition, Kota hit Ishii with midkicks, which has been Ishii's weakness this tournament due to the large amount he's received so far, but tough as he is, he asks for more and works through the pain.

They started trading tons of moves, two men not willing to show how hurt they were to the opponent, and so they had to force the emotion out of each other. Ibushi just kept finding ways to piss off Ishii into an incredibly stiff match, which is probably the last thing you want to do with still about one third of the tournament still to go. Only ugly thing is that among all the stiff shots, they started headbutting each other, and we know that doesn't end nicely.

Last minutes were AWESOME, Kota went for the Kamigoye, but Ishii reversed it and hit one of his own! Followed with the Last Ride for a near fall. A killer Lariat for another near fall, and finally, s he goes for the brainbuster, Ibushi pulls it out first. Tons of more strikes, and finally, Ibushi lands Kamigoye for the win. Awesome brutal match.

G1 Climax Block B Match
Tetsuya Naito (6) vs Hirooki Goto (4) - 8/10
If there was ever a death spot, it was this, to be placed in between the awesome Ibushi vs Ishii and Omega vs SANADA is tough, and unfortunately, the match just kinda felt like running through motions New Japan style. Match was back and forward, a lot counters on both sides, they hit most of their signature spots and towards then end, they chased their finishers, Naito being the one that hit Destino first for a near fall, second for the pin. Naito deserves a NEVER title shot, but I hope he doesn't go for it.

G1 Climax Block B Match
Kenny Omega (8) vs SANADA (6) - 9.5/10
Match started with their doing a lot of chain wrestling, showcasing how equal they are to each other, SANADA showing some great moves, and it wasn't until SANADA played sportsmanship and Omega took advantage that Omega got the upper hand and started working over SANADA's leg. Omega was really cocky with SANADA most of the first half.

SANADA slowly made a comeback and finally took out Omega outside and drop the springboard plancha on Omega to cut him off. Omega quickly regained control, but at this point SANADA was more awake and stated going back and forward with Kenny with tons of reversals between each other. Kenny started hitting SANADA with several V-Triggers, SANADA fougth back with strikes and a Saito Suplex for a 2-count and he finally went for Skull End. Omega hit another V-Trigger and Jay Driller for a near fall. Omega went for the finish hitting another Trigger, but SANADA reversed with the Skull End and Moonsault, but Kenny moved. SANADA finally locked on the Skull End on the floor, for a near submission, but as he usually goes for the Moonsault, Omega once again moved.

They got into a late strike off that Kenny won with a V-Trigger out of nowhere, but SANADA came back with the Skull End, only to be reversed into a Spike Piledriver . Omega hit another Trigger and went for the finish, SANADA reversed the OWA into a Reverserana that didn't work. Omega then reversed a Skull End into the One Winged Angel for the win.

Great match, but it had to share the show with Ishii vs Ibushi, which I see it as a 9.5+ against this one. With this clean sweep that Omega is on, there is now talk that he could potentially win the whole thing, he surely is likely to get to the finals for the third time in a row (first in history I think). He'd also be the first champ to win it in a long while since Chono.

Commentary kept bringing up Omega's broken ankle as an excuse to Omega having troubles, except that Omega never sold it and SANADA never went after it. Don't bring up stuff that contradicts what the match is showing.

Post-match - Omega put over SANADA a bit, he says that next is his first singles match with Sabre, who he says is not at his level. Thanks the crowd. Goodbye and...Good Night! Backstage promo to Sabre was awesome too, saying that he doesn't chain wrestle, he knows nothing of European Style, but this ain't King of J Wrestling, this is King of Sports, and he's the champion. Awesome promo.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Probably one of the weaker Block B shows, but that's not a knock, it's been a great tournament for Block B, and it still had 2 awesome matches and a strong rest.

A BLOCK STANDINGS
Jay White - 6
Hiroshi Tanahashi - 8
Hangman Page - 2
Togi Makabe - 4
Michael Elgin - 4
Kazuchika Okada - 6
Minoru Suzuki - 6
EVIL - 8
YOSHI-HASHI - 2
Bad Luck Fale - 4

B BLOCK STANDINGS
Kenny Omega 10
Kota Ibushi 6
Hirooki Goto 4
Tama Tonga 2
Tomohiro Ishii 4
Tetsuya Naito 8
Zack Sabre Jr. 6
SANADA 6
Juice Robinson 2
Toru Yano 2