wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s NJPW G1 Climax Night Twelve Review
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax Night Twelve
August 1st, 2019 | Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka | Attendance: 3,758
We’re officially in August. That means the G1 Climax is in the back half and things are taking shape. It’s our last show before heading to Osaka for what are usually two big nights. Can Jon Moxley remain unbeaten or will Toru Yano steal one? Do favorites to win Tetsuya Naito and Jay White stay alive? After a lackluster A Block show, let’s see.
B Block: Jeff Cobb [4] vs. Shingo Takagi [4]
Considering Moxley’s point total and his wins over both guys, the loser is eliminated. This was a hard hitting fight between two big boys. Though Cobb has thrown guys around in the tournament, it hasn’t been to the level he’s capable of. It’s like he was holding back for the sake of his opponent. Here, he was let loose and it was great. Japanese crowds love a powerful monster gaijin and he delivered here. Him tossing Shingo looked great. Shingo gave it right back to him, proving once again that he belongs in the heavyweight division, even if his G1 record doesn’t show it. And yet you can tell he needs work as the punishment led him to be too tired to even come off the ropes near the end. Cobb hit the Tour of the Islands to win in 12:27. If you know me, then you know this is my kind of match. Just hard hitting, no nonsense, and great stuff. The added drama of elimination being on the table was a bonus. [****]
B Block: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley [10] vs. Toru Yano [4]
A Moxley win eliminates about half the field. This is the kind of match I love having Yano around for. He and Jon Moxley made for one of the most fun combinations in the entire tournament. Yano brought all the antics to this one, from the tape to the turnbuckles. But Moxley has been prepared for every opponent so far. He had Yano well scouted and had an answer for pretty much everything. The fight moved outside and Yano hilariously taped Moxley to Shota Umino. They tried to three-legged race it back to the ring but couldn’t beat the count, giving Yano the victory in 5:08. Super fun match and a creative way to hand Moxley his first loss. Yano has beaten Moxley, White, and Naito. Yano the G1 God. [***]
B Block: Juice Robinson [6] vs. IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito [4]
Naito has beaten Juice in a title match in 2017 (****¼) and in last year’s G1 (****½). Naito is still alive because Moxley lost. I loved Juice playing mind games with Naito. He undressed slower than Naito and had THREE shirts on. Great stuff. Naito was chill about it until that third shirt and he jumped him. There was some stealing of taunts and a handful of strong character moments from both guys. While the actual action was also strong, it felt like it was lacking something. The intensity and drama from their previous matches was missing. That has been the case with pretty much all of Naito’s G1 Climax this year. A few moves saw some mistakes, like a DDT outside, a Juice Box counter, and a Destino counter spot. Naito won with Destino in 13:47. There were elements of a great match in there, but they missed on a few things that keep it out of the upper echelon. [***¾]
B Block: Jay White [4] vs. Taichi [4]
The two guys in the tournament who rely most on outside interference and shenanigans. That doesn’t exactly bode well against each other. They opened the match by being complete jerks to each other. It had a couple of funny moments, but went on for too long. That’s kind of the explanation for the match too. It went too long and wasn’t good enough to merit that length. While elimination was on the table, it lacked the drama that Shingo/Cobb had because everyone knew White was winning. I did appreciate Taichi getting babyface fire down the stretch. That’s a rarity so it was cool to see, even if it’s not something he did great at. Each time they got something good going, they’d halt it by resorting to the same old tricks. That dragged this down. White won with Blade Runner in a long 15:07. A totally forgettable contest. [**]
B Block: Hirooki Goto [4] vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii [6]
CHAOS buddies with history. Ishii beat Goto in a NEVER Title match in 2014 (****½) and Goto won their G1 25 meeting (****½). Goto also won in the G1 26 (***½) and 27 (****), before Ishii won in the G1 28 (****). Usually, this matchup delivers. This followed a similar pattern to those contests. It was hard hitting and filled with stiff shots. You know what to expect from them. Moments where they no sell stuff and fire up to lay into each other. Goto, ever the geek, needed a win to stay alive. He brought a fire that we don’t see from him in a lot of other cases. Ishii brings out the best in him. This felt like the Goto of a few years ago. Before Okada buried him to the midcard. The thing with this match was that their stuff doesn’t change much and we’ve seen it already. I’ve watched Ishii and Goto batter each other until one can’t stand so many times. Goto picked up the win with GTR in a very good 18:01. [***¾]
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Kazuchika Okada | 12 (6-0) | Jon Moxley | 10 (5-1) |
| KENTA | 8 (4-2) | Tomohiro Ishii | 6 (3-3) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8 (4-2) | Juice Robinson | 6 (3-3) |
| Kota Ibushi | 8 (4-2) | Toru Yano | 6 (3-3) |
| EVIL | 6 (3-3) | Tetsuya Naito | 6 (3-3) |
| Lance Archer | 4 (2-4) | Hirooki Goto | 6 (3-3) |
| Will Ospreay | 4 (2-4) | Jay White | 6 (3-3) |
| SANADA | 4 (2-4) | Jeff Cobb | 6 (3-3) |
| Zack Sabre Jr. | 4 (2-4) | Shingo Takagi | 4 (2-4) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 2 (1-5) | Taichi | 4 (2-4) |
