NJPW, The King of Thoughts – The Omega vs. Ibushi G1 Problem

It’s your man NJakePW back with some kingly thoughts on the world of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. And now that we’re rolling into the ring at 19 for G1 28, I think it’s time to take a look at why this year is feeling kind of bland.

For all those recent New Japan converts out there, it sucks that you didn’t get to experience the Block A and Block B combined shows during the short lived uStream era of 2013-2014. Of course, this was always the format in the years prior, but when NJPW started streaming these shows live it was an experience unparalleled in the Inoki-verse. For those first couple of years it was the combination of live eyes on every match, a roster that was pretty stacked, unpredictability, and incredible endurance that made those two tournaments a rare and fleeting gift to wrestling fans that I fear we will never get to experience again.

The single Block/under-card filler shows are fine, sometimes great, but it’s not the same. Really, neither the achievement as a wrestler nor the bombardment of quality to the viewer is as epic now. These current split Block shows that stretch over about of month of time feel more like the lumpy NBA Playoffs than the wild NCAA Final Four. And in now the third year of this format, I’m starting to feel like some real flaws are showing in the storytelling of a G1 tournament, since now there’s so much more time to think about things between shows. The problem is, there’s not that much scrambling and calculating to do as a fan for potential scores and upcoming results as there was when everything was closer together.

Firstly, the potential winners being obvious is more pronounced now. Just like the Royal Rumble, we all know that since the winner of the G1 is gifted the main event slot at the year’s biggest show, WrestleKingdom, at the country’s largest wrestling venue, the Tokyo Dome, you know there’s only about 3-4 wrestlers who truly have a shot at winning the whole thing. In those first couple of streaming years, when the shows were condensed and not as spread out, and you had these 3-4 favourites all competing in sometimes separate matches on the show.

It would be nice to think 90% of the field still did have a shot at winning the thing though. In real sports, elimination playoffs often do favour the bigger, better teams or stars, but it can happen that teams who play with strategy and passion can overcome the odds. In pro-wrestling this is rare if not completely unheard of. There are so many names on the G1 list this year that you would never see headlining at the Tokyo Dome with a 5-month build, and even some of the more prominent upper card guys like Ibushi, Suzuki, ZSJ or Jay White have been hard to take seriously as dome show main eventers.

That’s right, even Kota Ibushi. New Japan have had him in the unofficial fold for so long and have never pulled the (V) trigger on him main eventing a major show or winning the IWGP Title, what do we think has changed now? Kenny Omega being champion? Hmm. If they were willing to put Ibushi in the main event at WrestleKingdom finally, then why give away that long-awaited New Japan singles match between the two on the final night of the Block stage?

So that brings me to my second problem with this current extended G1 storytelling format: the schedule. Back in the legendary 2013 tournament, when they were running 8 Block matches on one show, they even threw in the Finals Match on the last night, so you really didn’t know what was coming, and the Tanahashi vs. Naito match was a surprise (and awesome). But in 2014 they moved the Finals Match to a separate night… and at a dome show, so you had to assume that match was going to be headline worthy, which it was being the first marquee singles match between Chaos stablemates Okada and Nakamura. Since they started these split Block shows three years ago, not only does that Finals Match have to be a dome-worthy main event, but now so do the predictive main events on the Block Finals Matches on the two nights prior.

When NJPW announced Omega vs. Ibushi as the main event for the final Block B show it was cool, but also deflating. We instantly knew that this match was going to be all-important to determining the Block winner, and that really all the other matches and standings in the month leading up to that match would be inconsequential. And that’s pretty much how it’s played out. To avoid predictability, they could have scheduled that big Golden Lovers match for Night One instead, and then had like Omega vs. Tonga and Ibushi vs. Naito on the final night. Or if they were still doing the combined Block shows, Omega vs. Ibushi wouldn’t have stood out as much since we’d still be watching the A Block winner being determined as well.

By splitting the Blocks not only have they made lesser shows, quality-wise, but they’ve inadvertently highlighted the potential predictability of the G1 format, especially with the need for marquee matches to sell-out these big venues in advance. Omega vs. Ibushi is such a problem because you want it to be great, you want there to be stakes, and you want it to be dramatic, but did it really have to sabotage a month-long G1 tournament in order to get all that? I don’t think so.

Stories From My NJPW Live Experiences

In 2014, my girlfriend (at the time) was planning a trip to Osaka and wanted me to come with her, so naturally I checked the NJPW schedule to see if they’d be in Osaka. They weren’t, but it turned out my favourite band ever – GWAR – was! But that tour of Japan was also taking them to Tokyo a couple of days later… on the same weekend as the New Japan annual Anniversary show. Needless to say, we went on separate vacations that year; I saw an Okada vs. Ibushi singles match main event, and the last ever live performance by GWAR frontman Oderus Urungas before passing away WAY TOO SOON a couple weeks later. And all of it was awesome!

The “Let’s All Laugh at WWE” Moment of the Week

The WWE is once again toilet booking a feud that everyone has been talking about for years. They did it with the Shield 3-way, they did it with the Owens/Y2J break-up, they did it with AJ/Nakamura, and now they’re doing it with Bryan/The Miz. Clearly the “writers” have no idea how to re-capture Miz’s legendary Talking Smack promo, so they have to dance around the feud now with dopey, forced speeches, reality show gimmicks, and the cheesiest of cheese: the fake baby throw.

Whereas in NJPW, Minoru Suzuki only needs about one minute to verbally take down Jay White by simply comparing him to a baby who just learned to walk. Simple, angry and jerky as hell: one minute. And you know Bryan and The Miz could do something similar with this short amount of time, but the WWE needs them to stretch and fill and try to build a “story”. How about just realistically threatening to kick a guy’s ass because you hate his guts without all the scripted nonsense? Ha ha, WWE you dumb!

Gedo, Jado, Yano, Yuji

1) With the G1 this year being arguably a bit dull, will this be the first year in the streaming era that the New Japan Cup was a vastly superior set of shows? The way they committed to Zack Sabre Jr during that run, and his incredibly escalating follow-through as a performer, is the kind of climatic arc your just aren’t getting in the G1 right now.
2) Balloons Okada is about the oddest attempt at a character transition I can remember, from his harmless losing streak, the pointlessly subtle tweaks to his appearance and expressions, and the real lack of difference in anything he does. And yet I still fully expect Okada to win the G1.
3) Has anyone’s stock actually gone up from the G1 this year? A lot are going down, but who are you saying: “This dude is so awesome this year he’s got a shot to win it all in the future?” Hangman Page? Juice Robinson? SANADA? Hmm.
4) Katsuyori Shibata. That is all.

Don’t forget, your man NJakePW is on Twitter over at @MatchADay so follow along during the G1 to get rare and random hilarity thrown your way, like these gems!

YOSHI-HAS-TO-BE-IN-THE-G1? #njpw #g128

— Jake Chambers (@MatchADay) July 30, 2018

Kazuchika Oka-dad #NJPW #g128

— Jake Chambers (@MatchADay) July 30, 2018