NJPW G1 Climax 28 Night 4: Review, Grades, and Analysis

Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) (1-0) vs. Tetsuya Naito (LIJ) (0-1)

The crowd was very firmly on the side of Tetsuya Naito here, as they immediately started chanting his name as the match started. Naito and Ishii started this match fast and furious, with Naito being one step ahead. After a leg sweep that sent Ishii crashing to the mat, Naito went outside of the ring and toss Ishii into a barricade.

Naito hit a series of elbows, and Ishii liked it, which was kind of terrifying. Ishii side stepped a dropkick and hit a low dropkick of his own. Ishii killed Naito with a series of hard chops, and Naito just smiled and spit at him. With that being said, Ishii was still hitting him hard, and it was awesome. Ishii hit a chop to Naito’s back too, then one more to the chest, and Naito fell to the mat.

Naito got up and hit a few chops of his own, and a few forearms. Ishii just ate them and no sold them, which was great. Naito hit an inverted atomic drop and a neckbreaker. This was followed with an inverted DDT, a dropkick, and a triangle dropkick to Ishii. Naito stomped on him a bit, and Ishii just stood up and killed him with a forearm smash.

Ishii decided to facewash Naito with his boots a few times, trash talking him. Naito stood up, smiled, and hit a few forearms before slapping Ishii. This just made Ishii angry, and he started chopping Naito right in the throat. Ishii hit a big back suplex, and he went for a brainbuster, but Naito escaped. Both men exchanged attempts at striking one another before Naito was able to hit a big boot sending Ishii to the mat.

Naito hit an enziguri and a missile dropkick, but Ishii just ate it and moved forward hitting a shoulder block! Ishii went for a top rope brainbuster, but Naito fought it off and hit a sunset flip powerbomb. Naito went for Gloria, but Ishii fought out of hit and hit a German suplex on Naito. Naito went for a flying forearm and followed with a Destino attempt, but Ishii blocked it. Tetsuya Naito slapped Ishii, rocking him, and hit a DDT. Ishii responded by hitting a massive lariat, and both men were down.

Both men started exchanging forearms, and Ishii hit a massive headbutt. Ishii hit an elevated powerbomb, but Naito kicked out. Ishii hit a sliding clothesline, but Naito kicked out again. Two lariats absolutely floored Naito. Naito kicked out again! Ishii went for a brainbuster, but Naito countered and hit an enziguri. Destino was countered, and Ishii hit an enziguri of his own! Naito hit a koppo kick! Ishii went for a brainbuster, but Naito countered into a Destino! Ishii kicked out! Naito hit another Destino and finally got the pinfall. What a match.

Result: Tetsuya Naito (1-1)

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Naito has another “Match of the Tournament” performance. Ishii always delivers, and he and Naito seem to bring the absolute best out of each other. NJPW has positioned both Ishii and Naito to deliver big in the tournament, and this match was no exception.