Cero Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 31, 10.7

[cero2k]

NJPW G1 Climax 31, Day 11
October 7, 2021
HIroshima Sun Plaza, Hiroshima, Japan

El Desperado vs. Ryohei Oiwa - 6/10
Good solid match, this was mostly mat based, but had some striking in there too.

KENTA [6] vs. Hiromu Takahashi - 8/10
This was freaking good, hard hitting and action packed from bell to bell, it was so good that I didn't mind the chair spots where KENTA attacked Hiromu with a chair after a referee bump, the whole spot going from Hiromu challenging KENTA to hit him, them going into a strike exchange, and KENTA having to rely on the chair after all after losing control, it was all a good tool to add some drama and then comeback with even a stronger comeback from Hiromu, that forced KENTA to have to rely on a roll up in order to escape with the win.

G1 Climax 2021 Block A Match
Kota Ibushi [6] vs. Tanga Loa [4] (w/Jado) - 7/10
Good match, they really made Loa come off as a powerhouse, at one point overpowering Ibushi out of the back Kamigoye and turned it into a Kamigoye of his own. The match was mostly about Loa's power vs Ibushi's resilience, with Loa initially working on Ibushi after cutting him off with a spear, Ibushi would slowly make a comeback and eventually start going back and forth with Loa. At the end, after surviving a couple of slams from Loa, Ibushi hit a Tombstone, a Bomaye, and the Kamigoye for the win.

G1 Climax 2021 Block A Match
Yujiro Takahashi [4] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [8] - 7/10
This was good, you just don't get it wrong with Sabre working over someone's limb, and Yujiro did a pretty good not only selling the arm, but having some decent comebacks trying to put down Sabre, he even came close hitting Pimp Juice, but Sabre like usually, countered, twisted Yujiro to a knot, and got the tap out win.

Zack Sabre officially eliminates Yujiro from contention at this point.

G1 Climax 2021 Block A Match
Toru Yano [6] vs. Shingo Takagi [6] - 5.5/10
Match was half Yano shenanigans and half Yano actually wrestling a bit. The comedy stuff was somewhat bad, he once again tried to start a blindfold match, which led to some bad stuff like Shingo being tossed under the ring. Shingo sold as little as he could to advance things, but once in the ring, things got a bit more serious and Yano pulled out some of his striking and amateur wrestling. Quickly after, Shingo destroyed him with some bombers and the Last of the Dragons.

G1 Climax 2021 Block A Match
Tomohiro Ishii [4] vs. Great-O-Khan [6] - 9/10
This was great, it was 100% an Ishii match. We've seen O-Khan go against many different types of wrestlers and have their matches, how can people still say he's not great!? Right from the get go, it was all striking, shoulder exchanges, the whole thing. Later in the match, they started to play around with the idea that whatever Ishii could do, O-Khan could do it too, especially noticeable with O-Khan pushing into Ishii's forearms. At the end, Ishii broke out of the claw attempt on multiple occasions and finally dropped the brainbuster for the win.

I have no idea how Meltzer thought this and the Yano match were equally as good.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Really good show, Yano match aside, everything is above average quality, and I can't even say the Yano match was bad, he's just been using some schticks that kinda push it for me.

Block A
Great-O-Khan - 3-0-3 -- 6
KENTA - 4-0-2 -- 8
Kota Ibushi - 4-0-2 -- 8
Shingo Takagi - 4-0-2 -- 8
Tanga Loa - 2-0-4 -- 4
Tetsuya Naito - 0-0-6 -- 0
Tomohiro Ishii - 3-0-3 -- 6
Toru Yano - 3-0-3 -- 6
Yujiro Takahashi - 2-0-4 -- 4
Zack Sabre Jr. - 5-0-1 -- 10

Block B
Chase Owens - 1-0-4 -- 2
EVIL - 4-0-1 -- 8
Hirooki Goto - 1-0-4 -- 2
Hiroshi Tanahashi - 3-0-2 -- 6
Jeff Cobb - 5-0-0 -- 10
Kazuchika Okada - 5-0-0 -- 10
SANADA - 2-0-3 -- 4
Taichi - 2-0-3 -- 4
Tama Tonga - 2-0-3 -- 4
YOSHI-HASHI - 1-0-4 -- 2