NJPW G1 Special 2018 Results, Highlights, and Grades
G1 SPECIAL IN SF!
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) July 8, 2018
July 4 is over, but there’s fireworks in and out of the ring as Juice Robinson brings a fired up challenge to US champion @jaywhitenz !#G1USA is LIVE on @njpwworld ! (Non US)
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IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Juice Robinson def Jay White(c)
THIS. WAS. SO. GOOD.
Sometimes in wrestling everything just comes together organically to create a perfect, remarkable moment. This was one of those times. As always, Juice played the babyface role perfectly, and this was the best performance of Switchblade’s run by a mile. The crowd was hot, and the title change was perfectly timed. SO. GOOD.
The match was worked as a slow, grueling brawl, which completely separated it from the other top matches on the show. Robinson’s babyface fire and White’s outstanding heel work had the crowd in an absolute frenzy. There were lulls where there needed to be lulls, and fast paced/high impact sequences when the match needed to pick up a bit. I loved how Juice’s hand injury was worked into the match too. The pop when he finally hit him with it was great and well deserved.
I didn’t especially love the whole fiasco with JR and Barnett, as I feel it went on a bit too long, but it didn’t take away from the match much.
God bless the Juice-S-A, baby.