Csonka’s NJPW G1 28 Undercard Thoughts (Days 11-13)

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 on days 11 through 13. 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 G1 28 coverage this year…

– Night One Review
– Night Two Review
– Night Three Review
– Csonka’s NJPW G1 28 Undercard Thoughts (Days 1-3)
– Night Four Review
– Night Five Review
– Night Six Review
– Night Seven Review
– Csonka: Early Title Match Implications From The NJPW G1 28
– Csonka’s NJPW G1 28 Undercard Thoughts (Days 4-7)
– Night Eight Review
– Night Nine Review
– Night Ten Review
– Csonka’s NJPW G1 28 Undercard Thoughts (Days 8-10)
– Night Eleven Review
– Night Twelve Review
– Night Thirteen Review

DAY 11 [5.8]

* David Finlay and Juice Robinson defeated Shota Umino and Toa Henare [**½]: Juice is mathematically eliminated from the G1 and purely competing for his honor going forward. He and Finlay continue to be a tremendously fun tag team In this solid tag match. Umino was tremendous down the stretch, getting the hot run and near falls until finally falling to the Finlay stunner. Red Shoes should be proud of that boy, he’s been really good all tour.

* The Guerrillas of Destiny defeated SHO and Tomohiro Ishii [**]: This was a typical Guerrillas undercard tag, it was ok, but the act is way more tolerable on the undercard if a bit underwhelming. Sho got the late run after the Ishii/Tonga set up work, and Loa once again picked up another undercard win, continuing his dominance that many aren’t watching. The highlight was Ishii laughing off Tonga’s attempts at striking before destroying him.

* SANADA and Tetsuya Naito defeated Gedo and Toru Yano [**]: Gedo is replacing the injured Jado here, in what was an upgrade if I am being honest with you. This was all about setting up Yano vs. Naito, and we got some of that, but this was a very lighthearted, day off style match for all involved. We got tons of Yano shenanigans, as well as beard attacks on Gedo before SANADA put Gedo away with skull end. It was fine for what it was. SANADA again refused Naito’s fist bump, adding further tension prior to their tournament match.

* Chase Owens and Kenny Omega defeated TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. [**½]: This was the set up for the first time NJPW meeting between Omega & Zack. Omega & Zack had some interesting exchanges, but it was short and limited. It broke down to Owens and Taka, with Owens picking up a win with the package piledriver. It was solid, but everyone was looking tired here.

* Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hirooki Goto and YOH [**½]: This was the set up for Goto vs. Ibushi, which could be a banger if worked right. Yoh finally gets to tags with someone other than White, so he isn’t treated like shit here. Unfortunately for him, the results stayed the same as he was put away with pimp juice. The Goto vs. Ibushi interactions were not much, and mostly on the floor as they took it really east here. Like the other matches, this was short (under 7-minutes) and everyone is showing the signs of a long tour.

DAY 12 [6.3]

* Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale defeated Michael Elgin & Shota Umino [**]: Elgin is taped up big time with a possible torn bicep according to Kevin Kelly. This is our set up for Fale vs. Elgin; they briefly hossed about until Loa & Umino tagged in and did the heavy lifting for the majority of the match. Elgin would take out Fale, allowing Umino his brief comeback until he was finished with the Tongan driver. It was very short and ok, but they obviously wanted to keep Elgin out as much as possible due to his injury, while Loa picks up another win.

* Hangman Page & Chase Owens defeated Togi Makabe & Henare [**½]: We’re setting up Page vs. Makabe here. Most of their interaction was floor brawling, keeping it light ahead of their match. Henare sold most of the way, Makabe and Page finally battled in the ring as things picked up leading to the closing stretch with Owens & Henare battling until Henare got his hands on Page until it broke down. Page picked up the win and much-needed momentum with rite of passage in a solid match. I really like the Page/Owens team for WTL and as a regular team moving forward.

* YOSHI-HASHI & Sho defeated Jay White & Yoh [**½]: We’re setting up White vs. HASHI, and also continuing the White & Yoh issues, while also working on the Roppongi 3k tease. White is a good lad and lays down for HASHI because it’s only a tag match. This leads to a White sneak attack, and Yoh again refusing to fight dirty and help. This CHAOS stuff has been some of my favorite undercard stuff on the whole tour. Yoh & Sho worked some clean back and forth until White tagged himself in and punished Sho on the floor, slamming him to the barricades and swearing up a storm. Yoh again stood up to White, refusing to attack and fight dirty. Romero being on commentary has also helped to sell this CHAOS stuff. HASHI tapped out Yoh while White was in Yoh’s face and berating him for not listening to him. The match was solid but the angle stuff was great and the White stuff has been a real highlight of the undercards.

* EVIL & BUSHI defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay [***]: We’re setting up Tanahashi vs. EVIL here. Most of the Tanahashi vs. EVIL action was on the floor as Finlay & BUSHI did most of the heavy lifting in the ring. I liked this; it had a good pace and energy to it, as well as an overall better sense of urgency and an interested crowd. Finlay’s fire down the stretch kicked ass until he finally got finished by EVIL; good stuff here.

* Minoru Suzuki & Desperado Kazuchika Okada & Gedo [***]: This is setting up Okada vs. Suzuki, who had an amazing time limit draw last year. We got the sneak attack by Suzuki & Desperado as well as the traditional floor brawling. Suzuki is extra fucking surly here as he beats the shit out of captain penis balloons. Once that was all said and done, we got an actual wrestling match, featuring some nice back and forth from Okada & Suzuki. It eventually broke down into Gedo vs. Desperado. Suzuki choked out Okada as Desperado pinned Gedo. YOU WATCH YOUR MAN FALL. This was good, Suzuki also killed young lions post-match to my delight.

DAY 13 [6.4]

* Toru Yano & Gedo defeated Toa Henare & Ren Narita [**]: This was an ok match, designed to give Toru Yano some momentum ahead of his clash with SANADA. It was fine, Yano mocked Henare with the haka dance, he and Gedo worked the heat and Narita made a spirited comeback before doing his job and losing. It was perfectly ok, and gave Yano the win and momentum.

* Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) defeated Hirooki Goto & YOH [**½]: This was a solid match, with the goal to set up Tonga vs. Goto’s tournament match. They had very minimal interactions as Yoh did the heavy lifting and did well for himself until reality set that he was a junior and was about to lose. Loa put him away with the Tongan driver to continue his dominance on the undercards. The Firing Squad is much more at home on these undercards and work better here.

* Juice Robinson & David Finlay defeated Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku [***]: This was a good match to set up ZSJ vs. Juice. Their interactions set the stage for what their tournament match should be, Juice going all smash mouth brawling while ZSJ looks to use his superior technique against him. I imagine ZSJ trying to rip off all of Juice’s fingers in their match to play off of Juice’s established hand injury. I liked this, it was fun and a breeze to watch, with Finlay putting away Taka with the stunner.

* Tomohiro Ishii & SHO defeated Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Chase Owens) [***]: This was part of the Omega vs. Ishii set up, but honestly, they had very little in terms of interactions here, which is fine as they have a ton of history to play off of and they should deliver a banger. This was a good match, with Owens putting in another quality performance and also showing another dynamic in the CHAOS angle; while White is trying to manipulate and control Yoh by being a manipulative asshole, Ishii and Sho are on the same page as Ishii feels like he’s trying to mentor the young lad. Their teamwork paid of here, leading to Ishii picking up the win with a brainbuster on Owens.

* Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi [***]: This was another good match to close out the undercard, doing solid work to set up Naito vs. Ibushi, which could be really great. The oddball pairing of Ibushi & Yujiro continues to be a ton of fun. Naito caught Ibushi in a calf killer to try and slow his flippy game ahead of their match while SANADA tapped out Yujiro. SANADA again refused to fist bump Naito post-match, selling the tension ahead of their tournament match.

THE VERDICT [6.2]

Overall this was another solid collection of matches from the G1 undercards. While the wrestling leaves a lot to be desired, we still have interesting things going on. Tanga Loa continues to dominate with wins. David Finlay and Juice Robinson & Hangman Page & Chase Owens are both proving to be quality tag teams with a ton of potential, and the war within CHAOS continues to be the absolute best thing, especially the Jay White/Yoh stuff. I also love how they are building to Naito vs. SANADA with SANADA refusing to fist bump Naito. Add in the fact that these undercards continued the job of setting up the tournament matches, gave guys momentum, solidified alliances, told some fun low-level stories, and continued the new structure of Bullet Club (and possibly CHAOS moving forward), and it’s hard to say that they aren’t doing their job.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”