Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night 18 Review

Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night 18 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– B Block Match: Toru Yano defeated Tama Tonga @ 5:05 via DQ [DUD]
– B Block Match: Juice Robinson defeated Hirooki Goto @ 10:45 via pin [***¼]
– B Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated SANADA @ 17:10 via pin [****½]
– B Block Match: Zack Sabre Jr defeated Tetsuya Naito @ 18:21 via pin [****¼]
– B Block Match: Kota Ibushi defeated Kenny Omega @ 23:13 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
– Night Twelve Review
– Night Thirteen Review
– Csonka’s NJPW G1 28 Undercard Thoughts (Days 11-13)
– Night Fourteen Review
– Night Fifteen Review
– Night Sixteen Review
– Csonka’s NJPW G1 28 Undercard Thoughts (Days 14-16)
– Night Seventeen Review

Tama Tonga vs. Toru Yano: If the Firing Squad douche bags get involved in any B Block matches, they will be fined and suspended for three months. Yano picks up a bunch of near falls early on, removes buckle pads and then gets cut off as he’s whipped to an exposed buckle and they brawl to the floor. Tonga takes control and they roll back in, and Tonga chokes out Yano. Tonga chokes out Yano, Tonga shoves the ref down and Yano makes the big comeback with a throw and tackle. Loa & Fale arrive, officials head them off, and that allows Tonga to attack Yano. Tonga shoves the ref down again and then gun stuns the ref. Toru Yano defeated Tama Tonga @ 5:05 via DQ [DUD] Well, I guess it’s a good thing that Tama doesn’t care about stars and praise.

Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto: Robinson immediately removes his cast to avoid the possible DQ and to show he’s fine. They lock up and work to the ropes. Goto finally hits a shoulder tackle, and then locks on a sleeper. Robinson escapes and follows with a clothesline. The cannonball follows. Robinson now attacks the taped up arm of Goto, and grounds the action. Goto makes the ropes. Robinson follows with head butts, but this angers Goto. Robinson now lays in forearms, but Goto drops him with a body kick. Goto follows with the spin kick and Saito suplex for 2. Robinson counters Ushigoroshi, lays in jabs and hits the spinebuster. He heads up top and hits the high cross for 2. Goto fights off the powerbomb, they trade lariats but Goto hits Ushigoroshi. Robinson fights back and hits a desperation juice box and both men are down. Robinson looks for pulp friction, they work into counters, and Robinson counters shouten kai but Goto head butts him and hits GTR. Goto counters pulp friction with a sleeper, Robinson counters out and pulp friction is countered. Robinson hits the left hand of God and pulp friction for the win. Juice Robinson defeated Hirooki Goto @ 10:45 via pin [***¼] This was a good back and forth match, with Juice finally getting the big singles win over Goto, which he had been looking for after a few failures.

– Tonga, Loa, & Fale have reportedly been escorted out of the building. REPORTEDLY.

SANADA vs. Tomohiro Ishii: They lock up and Ishii looks to work the arm, but SANADA works slick escapes, and into a stand off. SANADA lays in strikes and chops, Ishii gets pissed and fires back, dropping SANADA. Ishii now lays in chops, SANADA fires back and Ishii tells him to bring it and SANADA then hits the dropkick. SANADA follows with a plancha to the floor. Back in and SANADA grounds the action, but Ishii finally makes the ropes. They trade strikes, Ishii drops to the mat, and SANADA lays the boots to him. Ishii is not amused, fires up to his feet, and is just absorbing strikes now. SANADA keeps throwing and Ishii walks through them and lays in strikes and takes SANADA up top and hits the delayed superplex for 2. SANADA fights off a Saito suplex, they work into a series of counters as SANADA scores with the RANA. The missile dropkick follows and looks for a TKO, but Ishii counters into skull end. But SANADA escapes and hits a sliding lariat for 2. SANADA now gets skull end and then transitions into a draping neck breaker; the TKO gets 2. SANADA locks on skull end, Ishii battles out and SANADA hits a Saito suplex, but Ishii pops up and he hits a Saito. SANADA pops up and eats a head butt. The lariat follows and then hits a last ride powerbomb for 2. The sliding lariat connects for 2. SANADA counters the brainbuster, and works into skull end but Ishii escapes, but runs into a SANADA lariat. Skull end follows, SANADA drops to the mat, Ishii fights and escapes but SANADA gets it back. SANADA releases, and the moonsault misses as SANADA lands on his feet and Ishii chop blocks him. SANADA tries to fire back with strikes, lays in uppercuts, a flurry of strikes and hits a tiger suplex for a great near fall. SANADA hits the slam, heads up top, and misses the moonsault. Shining wizard by Ishii! Ishii fires up and SANADA counters the lariat and rolls into skull end. Ishii escapes, they trade enziguris and Ishii hits a pop up head butt and lariat. Ishii the fucking destroys him with a huge lariat for an awesome near fall! The brain buster finally finishes SANADA. Tomohiro Ishii defeated SANADA @ 17:10 via pin [****½] This was an absolutely awesome match, with Ishii delivering once again. I really like SANADA and think he’s an amazing athlete, but at times there is something missing from his matches, but I feel that it really all came together here tonight. This was an absolutely tremendous hard hitting match, with a great layout that allowed both men to shine and while SANADA’s deal is the fact that he’s largely emotionless, he showed more here than usual as he tried to overcome Ishii, who just kept coming and fighting through everything he had. The crowd loved this, they worked so well together, with some excellent counter exchanges, and some great drama. SANADA may have lost but this is a match that while he did take the loss, he lost nothing because he looked so great and absolutely delivered the goods. I also loved the battle of a Choshu guy vs. a Muta guy, as they mixed in some of that with classic moves and counters. Make sure to catch this one for sure.

B Block outcome permutations: #G128 pic.twitter.com/gts0ck5kUz

— Allan (@allan_cheapshot) August 11, 2018

Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr: Naito is Naito right away, frustrating ZSJ. ZSJ defeated Naito in the New Japan Cup earlier this year. Naito goes traquilo, but ZSJ attacks with submissions, forcing Naito to the ropes. Naito powders to the floor. Back in and Naito hits arm drags, and grounds the action. ZSJ counters out and attacks the neck of Naito. ZSJ grounds the action, and starts tying up Naito with submissions. Naito makes the ropes, they trade strikes, and ZSJ immediately grounds things once again, just working his game. Naito fires up and looks for the corner dropkick combo, but ZSJ counters that and sends Naito the floor. Back in and ZSJ is back to his torture porn submission game, effortlessly transitioning from hold to hold. They trade chops, and Naito hits a neck breaker and basement dropkick to finally cut ZSJ off. Naito follows with the RANA and corner dropkick combo. ZSJ fires back with kicks, but Naito cuts him off with a pair of neck breakers, and covers for 2 as Naito focuses on the neck to set up destino. They trade strikes and ZSJ catches the rolling kick and transitions into an STF, but Naito makes the ropes. Naito lays in strikes, ZSJ answers back but Naito drops ZSJ. Naito then hits the tornado DDT, but ZSJ counters Gloria into a triangle and drags Naito to the mat. Naito counters out but ZSJ hits a PK. Naito counters the ZSJ driver into an inverted DDT. They trade strikes, lighting each other up and Naito hits Gloria for 2. ZSJ counters the flying forearm into an octopus hold, tying Naito up. Naito tries to power out, ZSJ now cranks back and ties him up further, stopping Naito from getting the ropes, but he finally makes it but collapses. ZSJ now lays in PKs, but Naito blocks one and hits the German and the flying forearm, but ZSJ get the European clutch for 2. The Fujimani cradle follows for 2. ZSJ counters destino, but Naito gets it on the second try, but ZSJ counters the second into the ZSJ driver for the HUGE win! Zack Sabre Jr defeated Tetsuya Naito @ 18:21 via pin [****¼] This was a great match, filled with beautiful counters and great call backs to their New Japan Cup match. This was not only great, but tremendously fun and they did an excellent job of creating drama throughout and down the stretch, but the ZSJ win came off as a huge surprise, as he ended Naito’s G1 hopes. The work was great, clean, and came off as effortless from both. I want more from these two.

Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi: The Bucks are at ringside. They work some chain wrestling to begin, and then work to the ropes for the break. Omega hits a shoulder tackle, but Ibushi pops up and hits a dropkick, sending Omega to the floor. Omega right back in and lays in chops. Ibushi fires back with kicks, and Omega rolls to the floor. Ibushi misses the plancha and Omega slams him to the barricade and then the apron. Back in and Omega hits kotaru crusher for 2. Omega lays in kicks and hits a sliding dropkick. They fire up and trade strikes and kicks. Ibushi hits the powerslam, but moonsaults into the knees of Omega. Omega looks for you can’t escape, but heats knees on the moonsault. They trade RANAs, Omega to the floor, and then cuts off the golden triangle and they battle on the apron. Omega looks for one winged angel, but Ibushi counters only for Omega to hit jig’n tonic onto the apron. Back in and Omega up top and hits the missile dropkick. The neck breaker across the knee follows for 2. Ibushi avoids V trigger, but Omega hits one to the back. One winged angel is counters, so Omega hits the German for 2. V trigger connects, and then a tornado DDT. Ibushi rolls to the floor, Omega looks for rise of the terminator and connects with the tope. Back in, Omega up top, and Ibushi hits the PELE. Ibushi follows him up, teases a piledriver. The super RANA follows for 2. Omega to the floor and Ibushi hits the golden triangle. Back in, Omega teases one winged angel, but Ibushi lays in kicks, and hits the double kneed moonsault for 2. Omega avoids kamigoye, hits knee strikes, and looks for snapdragon, but then hits a spin kick. V TRIGGER to the back of Ibushi’s head. Omega takes him up top and follows. SUPER snapdragon is countered as Ibushi lands on his feet, they trade strikes, Germans from Ibushi follow and he decapitates Omega with a HUGE lariat. The last ride powerbomb connects for 2. Ibushi looks for kamigoye, and it connects but Omega kicks out! Ibushi drops the kneepad, Omega fights, they trade strikes, and Ibushi maintains wrist control as he peppers Omega with forearms. They continue to trade, Ibushi fades and Omega hits a knee strike. Ibushi fires back with strikes but Omega hits a jumping V trigger, but then runs into a head kick. Ibushi up top and misses the phoenix splash! V trigger to the back of the head, and the Jay driller follows for a great near fall! We’re 20-minutes in. V trigger connects, Ibushi counters one winged angel, but Omega hits an Omori diver variation and covers for 2. V trigger follows. Omega climbs the ropes and looks for the super one winged angel. Ibushi fights for his life and climbs on Omega’s back for the double stomp! Ibushi follows him back up top and hits a SUPER TIGER DRIVER but Omega somehow survives! Kamigoye connects and Omega is done! Kota Ibushi defeated Kenny Omega @ 23:13 via pin [*****] This was an absolutely amazing main event match, one that was years in the making, and one many thought we wouldn’t get. It’s been teased for so long, and when you get a match like this, expectations are high, and sometimes fail to live up to them. Thankfully that wasn’t the case here, as they met and maybe even exceeded them. This match had a ton of history and emotion behind it, but they never labored down the match with it, doing long stretches of them contemplating fighting. It was all action, with both men going for broke as they sold their determination and desire to win the G1; Omega to win his second and make a third final in a row, and Ibushi to simply prove himself worthy. They let the work tell the story, to build the drama, and that was magnified by the excellent commentary work of Kelly & Romero, who again, have been absolutely tremendous all tour. It ended up being a blessing in disguise that Callis had to be away as Romero killed it all tour long and really added to things. The work here was excellent, single minded, and with a complete sense of urgency in terms of both men putting it all out there and showing that winning was their only priority. The action started at a fine base level with Omega initially controlling and then for the next 20-minutes, it gradually grew and became even more intense, and the crowd followed suit. It never felt wrong and they [peaked at the right time. There are several contenders for best match of the tournament, you can make an argument for many, but right now, this is the one for me; it checked all the boxes.

– So it’s Ibushi vs. Tanahashi in the finals tomorrow.

JOIN ME TOMORROW AT 2AM ET FOR LIVE G1 FINALS COVERAGE

G1 BLOCK A

* Hiroshi Tanahashi: 7-1-1 (15pts.) – Block Winner
* Kazuchika Okada: 6-2-1 (13pts.)
* Jay White: 6-3 (12pts.)
* Minoru Suzuki: 5-4 (10pts.)
* EVIL: 5-4 (10pts.)
* Michael Elgin: 3-6 (6pts.)
* Adam Page: 3-6 (6pts.)
* Bad Luck Fale: 3-6 (6pts.)
* Togi Makabe: 3-6 (6pts.)
* YOSHI-HASHI: 3-6 (6pts.)

G1 BLOCK B

* Kota Ibushi: 6-3 (12pts.) – Block Winner
* Kenny Omega: 6-3 (12pts.)
* Zack Sabre Jr: 6-3 (12pts.)
* Tetsuya Naito: 6-3 (12pts.)
* Tomohiro Ishii: 5-4 (10pts.)
* SANADA: 4-5 (8pts.)
* Juice Robinson: 3-6 (6pts.)
* Hirooki Goto: 3-6 (6pts.)
* Toru Yano: 3-6 (6pts.)
* Tama Tonga: 3-6 (6pts.)

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

Outside of the bullshit in the opener, Night 18 of the NJPW G1 Climax 28 was a GREAT show. Skip the opener and be rewarded with greatness my friends.