NJPW G1 Climax 28: Night 3 Results, Ratings, and Analysis

From: njpw1972.com

NJPW’s G1 Climax 28 continued Monday with solid wrestling all around, a breakout performance, and some absolutely shocking results…

Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa def Toa Henare & Shota Umino

This was a decent tag match- about what you should expect from an opening match on a G1 card. Henare and Umino both performed well in their roles, but the Guerillas of Destiny dominated most of the match as The Firing Squad continues to gain momentum. Tonga Loa got the pinfall on Shota Umino.

Rating: **1/2

Toru Yano & Jado def Zack Sabre Jr & Taka Michinoku

Short and sweet. Jado started the match and was dominated by Taka for a bit. Eventually Jado manged to tag in Yano. The story of Yano trying to wrestle a less devious style continued to develop, but he never quite managed to one up ZSJ. Still, in the end, The Master Thief stole a victory by rolling up Taka.

Rating: **1/4

Juice Robinson & David Finlay def Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi

This was more eventful than the first two tags, but still fairly tame. Juice and Finlay have obvious chemistry together. They would make a great team to compete for tag titles in the future if that’s a route New Japan ever wants to explore.

It’s amazing to me how Ibushi gives his all 100% of the time, even in these mostly inconsequential tag matches. He and Juice had some great back and forth exchanges, which really got me excited for their upcoming singles match. The United States Champ got the pin after a big Pulp Friction to Yujiro.

Rating: **3/4

Tetsuya Naito & SANADA def Tomohiro Ishii & SHO

This was great for an opening tag. As should be expected, Naito and Ishii were both extremely over, which added heat to the match. Sho really shined, showing that he’ll eventually fit in just fine with the heavyweights. He hit SANADA with a big german suplex, then got a great near fall with an inside cradle. Cold Skull managed to weather the storm and got the W with Skull End.

Rating: ***1/4

Hirooki Goto & YOH def Kenny Omega & Chase Owens

Omega and Owens played a lighthearted heel role, which was fun and fresh. Kenny and co are in a unique position at this point where they’re able to adapt their character work to get the most out of any situation.

Yoh isolated Kenny, then Goto reversed Owens’ package piledriver attempt into a ushigoroshi. The GTR quickly followed for the win.

Rating: **3/4