Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night 12 Review

Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night 12 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– B Block Match: Tama Tonga defeated Tomohiro Ishii @ 10:45 via pin [**]
– B Block Match: Juice Robinson defeated SANADA @ 12:45 via pin [***¼]
– B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito defeated Toru Yano @ 8:30 via pin [**¾]
– B Block Match: Kenny Omega defeated Zack Sabre Jr @ 15:15 via pin [****]
– B Block Match: Kota Ibushi defeated Hirooki Goto @ 18:03 via pin [****]

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– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– 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

Tama Tonga vs. Tomohiro Ishii: Loa is out with Tonga. Ishii is looking rough, sporting black eyes. Loa distracts Ishii and Tonga teases gun stun. Tonga attacks with strikes, Ishii shakes him off and just absorbs them. They pick up the pace and after misdirection, Tonga hits a dropkick and follows with ground and pound. The snap suplex and dropkick follows as Ishii spills to the floor. Loa of course attacks and then rolls Ishii in. Tonga follows with strikes and a back elbow, covering for 1. Tonga lays in strike again, Ishii fires up and he’s pissed. Ishii hits a powerslam and lays in chops and strikes in the corner. The shoulder block follows and Loa trips up Ishii and Ishii attacks and works him over as we get a ref bump. Tonga hits velleno and that gets 2. We get another ref bump Loa attacks with chair shots. Guerrilla warfare is fought off, Ishii Germans Loa and then Tonga. Ishii gets the chair and lays into Tonga with it. Tonga counters out with the Tongan twist in the chair and Ishii kicks out. Ishii fights off gun stun and hits a German. The lariat kills Tonga for 2. The sliding lariat gets 2 as Loa pulls out the ref. Fale arrives and Ishii fights him off initially but Fale hits grenade. Tonga covers and Ishii barely kicks out. Tonga hits gun stun and wins. Tama Tonga defeated Tomohiro Ishii @ 10:45 via pin [**] The crowd was into it at the end and it came off better than most of Tonga’s outings, but it was still more of the same. It was ok at best.

Juice Robinson vs. SANADA: SANADA beat Juice in last year’s G1. They lock up and SANADA attacks the injured hand, but Juice escapes with arm drags. SANADA works into slick escapes, and they end in a stand off. They both look for planchas, and battle on the floor and trade strikes. They barely beat the count and Juice dumps SANADA and hits the plancha. SANADA drags Juice into the crowd, locking on skull end and then drags Juice back into the ring. Back in and SANADA covers for 2. SANADA now works the injured hand of Juice, grounding the action. Juice powers out but SANADA drags him back down until Juice makes the ropes. Juice now cuts him off with a full nelson slam. Juice now lays in jabs, and a spinebuster. Juice follows with cannonball and heads up top. The high cross connects for 2. SANADA now cuts him off with the dropkick and plancha to the floor. Back in and SANADA covers for 2. SANADA counters juice box and hits a dropkick. Juice fires back and hits the leg lariat, but SANADA gets skull end. Juice counters into skull end and drops down. Juice releases and misses the moonsault. Don’t steal Juice. Juice counters a RANA into a powerbomb for 2. Juice unwraps the cast and can now use the left, but it will hurt. He fires up and SANADA counters and gets skull end. Juice walks up the ropes and counters out. SANADA gets it back, swings Juice around and drops down but Juice counters and hits the left and pulp friction for the win. Juice Robinson defeated SANADA @ 12:45 via pin [***¼] This was a good, back and forth match, with some fun and interesting counters down the stretch and Juice picking up a big win as he now plays spoiler. Juice is adapting well now to his opponents and looking for a strong finish to the G1.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano: Yano is impatient as Naito takes off his suit. Naito is traquilo. Naito stalls and frustrates Yano. Naito pulls him to the floor and then traquilos. Yano poses and attacks. They work to the floor; Yano posts Naito and slams him to the barricade. Yano brings out the tape and Naito tapes him to the barricade. Yano fights to escape, and drags the barricade in with him. Naito dropkicks him back to the floor, and follows to attack. Naito whips him to the barricades, and hits Yano with his DVD. Back in and Naito covers for 2. Naito follows with rights, Yano fights back and undoes the buckle pad. Naito slams Yano to the exposed buckle and hits the corner dropkick combo. Naito hits Yano with the buckle pad and covers for 2. Yano rakes the eyes, but sends Naito to he exposed buckle and hits an atomic drop and catapults Naito to the exposed buckle and cradles him for 2. The hair pull and cradle gets 2 for Yano. He follows with a belly to belly and chokes out Naito with his shirt. Naito blocks the low blow and rolls up Yano for 2. Destino finishes Yano. Tetsuya Naito defeated Toru Yano @ 8:30 via pin [**¾] Stupid and silly fun with the right guy winning and Yano having a really fun G1; the crowd loved it.

Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr: They work a tentative start with the action going to the ground and Omega looking to grapple with ZSJ early on. They separate and ZSJ now grounds things, working into a bow and arrow, but Omega escapes. Omega connects with a running boot, and dropkicks ZSJ to the floor. The rise of the terminator is cut off and ZSJ works an ankle lock. ZSJ looks to work that injured heel/foot of Omega, but Omega fights him off and hits a moonsault off of the barricade. They brawl up the ramp; Omega lays in strikes but ZSJ locks on a heel hook and transitions into an STF. ZSJ breaks and heads back to the ring. Omega follows and ZSJ immediately grounds him, attacking the leg. ZSJ connects with uppercuts, mixes in leg kicks, and then sweeps the leg. Omega manages to cut him off with the kotaru crusher, and follows with a RANA. Omega looks for you can’t escape, but ZSJ can and locks on a sleeper. Omega escapes and moonsaults into a triangle, but Omega makes the ropes. Omega picks up the pace and hits a jumping DDT. ZSJ to the floor and Omega follows with a tornillo. Back in and Omega heads up top and ZSJ cuts him off, attacking the arm and gets shoved off. Omega hits a high cross but ZSJ rolls into a kimura. Omega rolls and counters out into a German. The neck breaker follows and Omega fires up but ZSJ grabs a triangle. Omega powerbombs out to escape and hits v trigger. The one winged angel is countered into a rolling triangle and ZSJ now looks for an arm bar, but Omega rolls into a snapdragon. ZSJ counters out and gets the European clutch for a near fall. ZSJ counters v trigger into a half crab, transitions into a triangle/heel hook combo. Omega fights to his feet and ZSJ hits a German. The PK follows from ZSJ for 2. ZSJ looks for orienting with napalm death, Omega fights, but ZSJ just locks it in tighter. ZSJ transitions to a calf slicer, but Omega makes the ropes. Omega blocks the PK, they trade strikes, ZSJ blocks v trigger once but Omega hits it on the second try and cradles ZSJ for the win. Kenny Omega defeated Zack Sabre Jr @ 15:15 via pin [****] This was a great and tremendously fun match and clash of styles. ZSJ had him scouted and was seemingly one step ahead of him the whole way, but Omega dug deep and pulled it out to pick up the big win. The near falls were great and the crowd bought into the ZSJ upset. This was great, but I think Omega’s dodgey/lack of selling of his leg hurt it from being more. It’s a match I want to see again and soon as I think they can do even better.

Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto: Goto look to overpower Ibushi to begin. Goto then clotheslines him to the floor and follows. Goto work him over and rolls him back in. Goto grounds the action, lays in strikes but Ibushi fires up and dropkicks him to the floor. Ibushi then follows with the golden triangle. Back in and Ibushi hits the missile dropkick. Goto fights off the suplex, and decapitates Ibushi with a lariat. The spin kick and Saito suplex connects for 2. Ibushi fights off ushigoroshi, they trade strikes and kicks, and Ibushi hits the PELE kick. They trade strikes from their knees, and fire up to the feet as they continue to trade. Ibushi goes rapid-fire but runs into ushigoroshi and Goto covers for 2. Goto takes him up top, follows, and they trade strikes. Goto looks for a super ushigoroshi, but Ibushi counters out and hits another PELE kick. Ibushi back up top with Goto, Goto fights him off and Ibushi keeps fighting. Ibushi back flips out of the super code red, and follows with a huge lariat for 2. Ibushi drops the kneepad, looks for kamigoye, they trade strikes and Ibushi hits the straight jacket German for 2. Goto counters kamigoye with a head butt, and hits a big lariat. The reverse GTR connects, but Ibushi counters the regular GTR but Goto gets a sleeper. Ibushi fades, and Goto hits another lariat. Ibushi counters GTR but Goto hits shouten kai for 2. Goto lays in kicks, but Ibushi gets a cradle for 2. Goto hits a head butt, Ibushi lays in strikes and the running knee strike gets 2. The last ride follows by Ibushi for a great near fall. Kamigoye connects and Goto is done. Kota Ibushi defeated Hirooki Goto @ 18:03 via pin [****] This was another great match, and completely different than the previous match as this was a hard-hitting match that constantly built throughout and had a definitive finish.

G1 BLOCK A

* Hiroshi Tanahashi: 5-1 (10pts.)
* Jay White: 4-2 (8pts.)
* Minoru Suzuki: 4-2 (8pts.)
* EVIL: 4-2 (8pts.)
* Kazuchika Okada: 4-2 (8pts.)
* Bad Luck Fale: 3-3 (6pts.)
* Michael Elgin: 2-4 (4pts.)

~~Eliminated~~
* Togi Makabe: 2-4 (4pts.)
* YOSHI-HASHI: 1-5 (2pts.)
* Adam Page: 1-5 (2pts.)

G1 BLOCK B

* Kenny Omega: 6-0 (12pts.)
* Tetsuya Naito: 5-1 (10pts.)
* Kota Ibushi: 4-2 (8pts.)
* SANADA: 3-3 (6pts.)
* Zack Sabre Jr: 3-3 (6pts.)

~~Mathematically Eliminated~~
* Hirooki Goto: 2-4 (4pts.)
* Tomohiro Ishii: 2-4 (4pts.)
* Tama Tonga: 2-4 (4pts.)
* Juice Robinson: 2-4 (4pts.)
* Toru Yano: 1-5 (2pts.)

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Night 12 of the NJPW G1 Climax 28 was an overall good show with a big swing in the standings and the top two matches delivering.