Csonka’s NJPW G1 28 Undercard Thoughts (Days 1-3)

Welcome back to column time with Larry. Today’s column is all about the 2018 G1 tournament, and more specifically, the prelims from the events. I haven’t had the chance to do regular reviews of the prelim matches, because honestly I don’t have the time to do them for every show, due to my schedule. But the prelims are offering some interesting pairings and story elements, and I don’t want to ignore them, so I plan to get to them in batches, like I will do today. I hope that you enjoy, and thanks for following along with my G128 coverage this year…

– Night One Review
– Night Two Review
– Night Three Review

DAY ONE (6.9)

* Hirooki Goto & Jado defeated Toa Henare & Ren Narita [**¾]: They pulled Jado out of mothballs for this one, which actually surprised me as it has felt like he’d been gone for so long that. The match was perfectly solid, with the goal being to give Hirooki Goto momentum, which it did. Narita & Henare looked really good, and I keep having this feeling that by the end of this tour Henre may be drafted into the Firing Squad portion of Bullet Club, as they need bodies, Henare is directionless, and he’s a Fale student.

* Toru Yano & YOH defeated Tomohiro Ishii & SHO [***]: This one was fascinating on paper, nit just because it was setting up Ishii vs. Yano, but because it pitted Sho & Yoh against each other. It really means nothing right now as it was just CHAOS pairing on a tour that needed to fill tag matches, but there have been plenty of rumblings about the Roppongi 3k split, especially after Sho killed it in the BOSJ tournament. Sho & Yoh had some extremely entertaining exchanges, and I think that they’d tear it up if they feuded. This was good, sharing a look at a possible 3k split, and setting the stage for a fun Ishii vs. Yano match the next night.

* Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Juice Robinson & David Finlay [**½]: The Guerrillas of Destiny were very serious lads here as they were coming off of the big angle in the US. This was here to set up Juice & Tonga on night two, and maybe even more importantly, Finlay has new gear now. He’s wearing some dirty looking jeans, and it works for him as opposed to regular trunks. Juice & Finlay are a good team, but the match wasn’t much as it was more about getting the Guerrillas of Destiny and Tama over as some no nonsense ass kickers. A solid match, but the goals were accomplished well.

* Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku) defeated Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi [***]: I love the Taka/Zack pairing, it’s like a sleazier Asylum films version of Okada & Gedo, and that’s a compliment. They also work well together as a team, and did so here. The Ibushi & Yujiro pairing played off of the Bullet Club split angle, as Ibushi had teemed with Yujiro & Owens a lot while Omega was away. So we had some unity there, which was appreciated. This worked well to set up Ibushi & Sabre the next day (they had a fucking banger) an also introduced the Zack Driver, giving Sabre an impact finisher that he can use on slammer heavyweights to mix things up. This was good.

* Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) defeated Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Chase Owens) [***]: This was another good match, setting up the Naito vs. Omega match (also a fucking banger), and reunited Kenny Omega & Chase Owens, who have been tight dating back to way before the Bullet Club split. While a bit rushed, it was still enjoyable, and SANADA picking up the win gave him momentum ahead of his clash with Goto. Good action, SANADA gets a win, mission accomplished.

DAY TWO [6.4]

* Bullet Club (Hangman Page & Chase Owens) defeated Michael Elgin & Shota Umino [**¾]: Page’s Spaghetti Western music is awesome. The goal here was to setup Page vs. Elgin for the next day, as well as to show the continued unity between non-firing squad Bullet Club members Hangman Page & Chase Owens. The match was pretty good overall, with Unimo showing great fire and making he most of his opportunities on this tour. Owens picking up the win was surprising and even a bit refreshing, as one would have expected page or Elgin picking up the win. While they didn’t factor into the finish, they had quality interactions that I enjoyed.

* Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & BUSHI) defeated YOSHI-HASHI & SHO [**½]: The goal here was to build to the upcoming EVIL and YOSHI-HASHI match, and to a lesser degree, to give Sho another chance to shine. This was a solid match, but honestly felt like a run away win for LIJ as they easily dominated. That’s refreshing as these don’t all have to be competitive matches; HASHI was a real non-factor, while EVIL owned Sho with everything is evil and the banshee muzzle.

* Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado) defeated Togi Makabe & Toa Henare [***]: This was good, and completely focused on the Makabe vs. Suzuki tournament match. Their interactions were intense, brutal, and a great preview of what we ended up getting in their match. Of course, poor Henare ends up as collateral damage, taking the final flurry of Suzuki ass kicking and the loss. He keeps trying he’s really good, but he has to be frustrated. I am sure the good brothers in Firing Squad will take him in.

* Firing Squad (Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa) defeated Kazuchika Okada & Gedo [**]: Speaking of Firing Squad, Fale & Tonga were inaction against broken Okada and Gedo, who’s afraid if Okada doesn’t get his shit together, he’ll be losing him mean ticket. I kind of love that Okada has turned into some balloon toting dad who looks like he’s always late to his son’s party because he was off getting a bad dye job. This set the stage for Okada vs. Fale’s tournament battle. It wasn’t very good as Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa were just sort of there wrestling wise, but Loa picked up a needed win over Gedo to give Firing Squad the win. I do wonder with all of the stable chaos on the company, if Okada continues to have a rough time of things and Jay White continues to rise, could we see Gedo eventually turn and join White as he new anointed one? It really feels as if they have been teasing it.

* Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay defeated Jay White & YOH [***]: Speaking of Jay White, he was an amazing asshole here, in what ended up being a good piece of business. White teased walking off and not wrestling, and while he eventually returned, it was mainly to cheap shot Tanahashi ahead of their tournament match and to allow Yoh to do all the work. White tried to get Yoh to see things his way, giving him a chair, but Yoh was a good lad and refused. Finlay hit him with the stunner and picked up the win as White stood by, he could have made the save, but refused because Yoh didn’t listen to him. It’s Jay’s way or the highway. The White takeover of CHAOS is being beautifully told. I still think when the split happens that wholesome young Yoh will be the one that turns on Sho.

DAY THREE [6.7]

* The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Shota Umino & Toa Henare [**¾]: This was an overall pretty good, and entertaining opener, with The Guerrillas of Destiny largely dominating a game and enthusiastic team of Henre and Umino. The problem was while Henre and Umino were all fired up, working hard, and found success, Umino got a bit too big for his britches, leading to Loa picking up another win with the Tongan driver. The Guerrillas of Destiny/Firing Squad have been working well together, are unified, and keep picking up wins following the big angle in the US. They aren’t delivering anything spectacular in between the ropes, but the booking of the faction has been well done.

* Jado & Toru Yano defeated TAKA Michinoku & Zack Sabre Jr. [**¾]: This was another pretty good match, setting up Sabre vs. Yano on Thursday. I shouldn’t be, but I’m still surprised that Jado is here. Taka and Zack were complete dicks here constantly cheap shotting and torturing Jado; Zack even mocked poor Yano. Yano eventually made the save fought out of trouble, showing off a more serious side, which has been a pleasant change of pace and adds depth to his game. Yano picked up the win over Taka, and has been way more interesting so far in this year’s G1. Yano doesn’t have to be super serious at all times, but seeing him be more aggressive and fired up is a great change and it comes at the right time.

* David Finlay & Juice Robinson defeated Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi [***]: This is part of the build for Ibushi vs. Robinson, and features some wholesome young lads. This was a good and energetic match as best friends Juice & Finlay vs. Bullet Club pals Yujiro & Ibushi. Everyone showed some good fire here, even Yujiro started to show more fire than usual, which is really great to see. Juice eventually put Yujiro away with a pulp friction, giving him some momentum ahead of his next match. Commentary heavily pushed Juice’s next “medical examination,” when he’ll find out if he gets to get his cast removed. I’m good with either decision, because I think that you can tell good stories with or without it.

* SANADA & Tetsuya Naito defeated SHO & Tomohiro Ishii [***]: This is the set up for Naito vs. Ishii, and they have historically delivered some bangers, so I am looking forward to the match. Naito and Ishii may have been the focus, but Sho and SANADA stole the show here in terms of interactions and overall delivering in the ring. It’s also notable that Sho isn’t much smaller than SANADA, and I wouldn’t be surprised with an eventual heavyweight run. The Naito and Ishii interactions were limited, but effective. They have enough history to play off of that we didn’t need a lot of exposition here. SANADA picked up the win with Skull end.

* Hirooki Goto & YOH defeated Chase Owens & Kenny Omega [**¾]: This was a pretty good overall match, building to Omega vs. Goto on Thursday. The Chase Owens & Kenny Omega relationship continues as they remain a unified force. But while they are on the same page, it was actually their miscommunication that led to the CHAOS boys taking control and eventually the win. Yoh was a good young lad, saving Goto from a V trigger at one point, and that led to Goto making the big comeback and pinning Owens, likely setting up his loss to Omega.

THE VERDICT [6.7]

While the first three nights of prelims didn’t provide anything must-see wrestling wise, I found the overall product to be pretty good overall. They did a good job of setting up the tournament matches, gave guys momentum, solidified alliances, continued the new structure of Bullet Club and possibly even teased some changes in the future for guys like Sho, Yoh, and Henare. I like that they are mixing up the winners, and not always making it guys in tournament matches. It mixes things up, makes matches less predictable, and some guys who really need wins are getting them. Again, while there is nothing must-see, they are doing a nice job with the undercard matches to where they almost all mean something; they have been effective, and it’s appreciated.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”