Top 5 NJPW Matches of July: Tomohiro Ishii Is On Another Tear
CREDIT: njpw1972.com
With the G1 Special in San Francisco and the first half of G1 Climax 28, it was a busy month for NJPW… and a busy month for NJPW means lots of great wrestling for us fans. Which matches stood above the rest?
Honorable Mentions:
-Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto (G1 28 Night 6)
This was everything you could ever want out of a Ishii/Goto match. Hard hitting, high intensity, strong style. A bit of added drama down the stretch would’ve put it in my top 5. Still, awesome match.
-Tetsuya Naito vs Juice Robinson (G1 28 Night 6)
In my opinion, these guys had the most underrated match of 2017, and the rematch in this year’s G1 certainly didn’t disappoint. They worked a bit of a slower pace for most of the match, but it was still extremely fun since Juice and Naito are two of the best storytellers in wrestling today.
-Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kazuchika Okada (G1 28 Night 1 & 3)
The meteoric rise of Switchblade has been one of the most intriguing aspects of this year’s G1. He started off the tournament with back to back wonderfully shocking victories over Okada and Tanahashi in which he absolutely defiled the two legends by cutting every possible corner- A pair of performances that have insured him nuclear heat for the remainder of the G1 and beyond.
【Replay G1 CLIMAX 28 Night10 on July 28】
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) July 30, 2018
Official #G128 B-Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii VS @ibushi_kota! A fighting sprit not yet seen this tournament erupts from Ibushi as he takes on the ferocious Stone Pitbull! pic.twitter.com/borV8rXHBf
5) Kota Ibushi vs Tomohiro Ishii (G1 28 Night 10)
Their match from last year’s tournament was great, but this completely blew it out of the water. It was an absolute war. Brutal and cringe-worthy without ever feeling unsafe, Ibushi and Ishii hit the sweet spot here.
This didn’t need any G1 implications to get the audience invested. However, the fact that it came at a pivotal time in the tournament where both guys desperately needed a win really put it over the top. These two are already among the most intense pro wrestlers on Earth, so when you add that extra desperation to win, the fire and urgency they put into every exchange is just insane. It’s something that has to be seen to be believed.