wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 31 Night 5 Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax 31 Night 5
September 26th, 2021 | Kobe World Hall in Hyogo, Kobe | Attendance: N/A
We had our first dip in quality with night four and it’s a wonder if it’ll be middling here. We’ve got two matches that sound good on paper and two that don’t.
A Block: The Great-O-Khan [6] vs. Yujiro Takahashi [4]
PIETER! Commentary talked up how Yujiro and KENTA have mostly wrestled in this tourney without shenanigans. Alas, O-Khan is not the guy to get the best out of Yujiro. The big man went for some mat based stuff early but abandoned that for chops and the kind of offense you’d expect from someone his size. Yujiro resorted to some underhanded tactics like biting but he never went into House of Torture territory. He also kept ahead of the game with shots to the knee and leg drops. They went into attempting finishers late but neither guy had the upper hand there until O-Khan won with the Eliminator at the 14:15 mark. This was fine enough and probably as good as you’d get from them in a 15 minute match. [**½]
A Block: Tanga Loa [2] vs. Toru Yano [4]
Oh no, it’s Tanga Loa. Given Yano’s fear of Tama Tonga though, this could be fun, especially if kept short. We were treated to the early Yano antics, including a bag full of goodies, undoing the corner padding, and even a hockey style fight outside of the ring. The issue is that there’s not much in the way of personality from his opponent, so it wans’t as fun as it can be. Jado got involved to add to how this wasn’t all that fun. Yano pulled an Eddie Guerrero after some kendo stick interference before using a low blow and rollup to win in 10:46. I miss 5 minute G1 matches. [**]
A Block: KENTA [4] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [2]
A dream match for me years ago, they did meet twice in 2019 at Royal Quest (***½) and Power Struggle (****¼), with KENTA winning both. KENTA played mind games to start, taking a powder and trying to goad Ishii into making a mistake. This was the hard hitting match you’ve come to expect from them even if it didn’t live up to their best work. KENTA continues to be the best jerk in New Japan not named Jay White and Ishii remains one of the best when it comes to fighting from behind. He undid a turnbuckle pad, which felt redundant after the previous match but everything else he did was good heel stuff. KENTA went after the shoulder a bit to set up Game Over but he couldn’t really get a good grip on it, so it wasn’t going to be his finisher. Ishii did his comeback offense, hitting hard lariats and cutting off KENTA’s signature moves. That included countering Go to Sleep and avoiding the Busaiku Knee until he finally got caught with one. Still, Ishii survived until he hit the exposed corner and got rolled up with a handful of tights in 21:08. A very good match though some bits were repetitive coming after the last match including the turnbuckle spots and the finish. [***½]
A Block: Kota Ibushi [4] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [4]
One of my favorite pairings in wrestling. Ibushi won in the G1 27 (****½), G1 28 (****½), Sengoku Lord (****¼), G1 29 (***½), and New Japan Cup 2020 (***½), while ZSJ beat him in the New Japan Cup 2018 (****½) and 2019 (***¾). Alas, it seems like their recent stuff hasn’t been as good to me. As usual, Zack’s pride led him into a striking/kicking exchange with Ibushi. However, he actually outdid him at points here, possibly due to Ibushi coming into the tournament in a weakened state. Of course, in the event he got into trouble, he could resort to mat work or twisting a body part. ZSJ got so confident that he dared Ibushi to hit him harder, which was a mistake for a bit until ZSJ hit a kick from out of nowhere and added a powerbomb, which is rare for him. Ibushi remained alive and hit stuff like the Boma Ye but Sabre Jr. countered his Kamigoye attempt into an armbar attempt only for Ibushi to roll that into a boot. Great sequence. Sabre turned another Kamigoye into something that NJPW’s website called the “Clarky Cat,” winning in 19:56. A hell of a match that told a great story and continued Sabre Jr.’s impressive start. [****]
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| The Great-O-Khan | 8 (4-0) | Kazuchika Okada | 4 (2-0) |
| Zack Sabre Jr. | 6 (3-0) | Taichi | 4 (2-0) |
| Toru Yano | 6 (3-1) | Jeff Cobb | 4 (2-0) |
| KENTA | 6 (3-1) | HIroshi Tanahashi | 2 (1-1) |
| Shingo Takagi | 4 (2-1) | EVIL | 2 (1-1) |
| Yujiro Takahashi | 4 (2-2) | SANADA | 2 (1-1) |
| Kota Ibushi | 4 (2-2) | Tama Tonga | 2 (1-1) |
| Tomohiro Ishii | 2 (1-3) | Hirooki Goto | 0 (0-2) |
| Tanga Loa | 2 (1-3) | Chase Owens | 0 (0-2) |
| Tetsuya Naito | 0 (0-9) | YOSHI-HASHI | 0 (0-2) |
