wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NJPW G1 Climax 32 Night One Review
Image Credit: NJPW
Loading...NJPW G1 Climax 32 Night One
July 16th, 2022 | Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo, Hokkaido | Attendance: 2,891
My hectic week has basically come to a close and it’s in perfect time for the start of the G1 Climax. I’m not sure about this year’s weird format but it does mean on days like this, I only have to cover four matches instead of five!
C Block: Aaron Henare [0] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [0]
If this year follows the trend of past G1s, there will be an upset or two on the opening night. This match feels ripe for an upset as it would mark Henare’s biggest win ever in his G1 debut and Tanahashi tends to fall to one surprising opponent per year like Owens in 2021. A good point from commentary that this shorter format could benefit Tanahashi. These are former World Tag League partners by the way. For the most part, Henare controlled the early stages by using his power advantage and throwing some impressive kicks. I loved Tanahashi having to fight from behind because it’s something he does so well and it makes Henare feel like a tough opponent. Tanahashi fighting off the Full Nelson and turning it into Twist and Shouts and Slingblades was great. The exchange following that was strong, with Henare showcasing quickness to go along with his strength. Since he couldn’t get the Full Nelson to work, he opted for Streets of Rage (a fisherman buster) to win in 11:11. A very good opener that made Henare look good, though not on the level of past Tana night 1 upsets like Sabre Jr. or SANADA. [***½]
D Block: El Phantasmo [0] vs. Will Ospreay [0]
I may not like him but Ospreay feels like a strong bet to win it all this year. These two have a decent history. I’ve seen them at BOSJ 2019 (***½), Super J-Cup 2019 (***), King of Pro Wrestling 2019 (***¼), and this year’s New Japan Cup (***), which are matches they split. ELP talked trash before the bell, causing Willy to come out aggressively. ELP weathered the storm and came back at Willy with similar offense. Will got bigger but outside of a few moves, still wrestles like a junior heavyweight so it lines up that ELP could go toe-to-toe with him. I like the idea of them kind of battling to see who is a bigger jerk. ELP made sure to showboat while he was on offense and Will didn’t do as much of that but was extra aggressive as he tries hard to make everyone believe he’s a badass. As they went into a strike exchange, you got the sense that ELP was still hitting about as hard as his larger opponent. I always pop for Slumdog Millionaire but Orange Cassidy has the best in the business. Willy threw big moves late but ELP kept kicking out. He grew frustrated, especially given ELP’s past success over him. Some of the late close calls felt a bit overdone but I did like the final moment. ELP turned the Oscutter into a backslide for two and as he stopped to check with the referee, Will knocked him out with Hidden Blade at the 15:06. Just shy of being truly great. I liked parts of the story and the finish itself a lot. [***¾]
B Block: Jay White [0] vs. SANADA [0]
Surprisingly, they’ve only met once before at New Beginning in Osaka 2020 (***¼), which Jay won. SANADA is another possible upset here as he tends to win shit like this but then eat a loss if he gets a title shot. He truly is Hirooki Goto 2.0. Jay started by dissing the fans for not being able to chant and then demanding SANADA hold the ropes open for him since he’s the champion. Even as he got his offense going, he made sure to mock the crowd and talk trash. You got the sense that he was a bit too overconfident here. The actual wrestling in this didn’t fully work for me. I dug Jay’s character stuff, as always, but the action lacked. SANADA is just so dull to me at this point and Jay wasn’t exactly bringing out the best in him. At one point late, Jay tried to convince Red Shoes to disqualify SANADA but it failed and SANADA got going with pinning combinations and strikes. It was the first true bit of fire that he showed off. The closing stretch was really strong and bumped the match up, with Jay winning out after hitting Blade Runner in 18:07. A solid match that never really sniffed greatness. [***]
A Block: Jeff Cobb [0] vs. Kazuchika Okada [0]
Okada holds a 3-1 lead over Cobb in history, winning in the G1 30 (***), Wrestle Grand Slam in the Tokyo Dome (***¾), and to stop Cobb’s streak in last year’s G1 (***¾), while Cobb won at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome (***½). I appreciate that Cobb brought some personality here, mocking Okada’s signature rope break early on. Okada also got thrown around quite a bit early, including a sweet fallaway slam that saw him seemingly hang in the air for extra long. The combination of Cobb being a brute and Okada bumping made for something really good. Okada was in serious trouble until he turned a stalling suplex into a DDT and got a true opening. There was an interesting moment where a board under the ring popped on a flapjack and they had to head outside as things were likely fixed back inside. For the most part, whenever Okada seemed to get going, Cobb had something to wallop him with. Cobb managed to pop that board again soon after, causing even more trouble. That triggered the closing stretch with Okada going for the Money Clip and Cobb doing things like hitting an impressive deadlift Tombstone. They did the stereotypical exchange of finisher counters that grow less impressive the more you see it and the Money Clip always seems to stop things in their tracks. Okada won with the Rainmaker in 21:30 and I thought this was a very good main event but again, these two have never fully done something great together to me. [***¾]
