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NJPW: The Best & Worst of G1 Climax 29 So Far

By Corey Collins

TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 19: Tomohiro Ishii and Jon Moxley compete in the bout during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 29 at Korakuen Hall on July 19, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 19: Tomohiro Ishii and Jon Moxley compete in the bout during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 29 at Korakuen Hall on July 19, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images) /
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The Worst: Bad Luck Fale

Bad Luck Fale is an interesting case. He’s one of the very few members of the New Japan roster who makes me tune out as soon as he shows up. Tomoaki Honma has a similar effect on me, but that stems more from his personal life and allegations of long-term domestic abuse. For Fale, it’s simply boredom.

I wasn’t watching much New Japan during the Prince Devitt era and I know many look fondly on the days of Devitt riding Fale’s shoulders to the ring. Putting a monster the likes of Fale with a smaller guy like Devitt was a no-brainer and the pair seemed to truly flourish as those types of relationships often do.

As one of the founding members of Bullet Club, Fale’s place in New Japan history can never be erased. I only wish some of his matches could.

Despite what he’s brought to NJPW in the form of Bullet Club, his connection to New Zealand, and his eloquent promos, I can’t bring myself to get excited about any Bad Luck Fale match. Even when battling the goth prince of LIJ, EVIL, in Dallas I took the match as an opportunity to use the bathroom rather than watch Fale lumber around for 10 minutes.

What I find intriguing about Fale, though, is the amount of work everybody else does around him to try to make their matches enjoyable. When Juice Robinson battled Fale at Sengoku Lord, Juice made the contest about his obsession with body slamming Fale. When Zack Sabre Jr faced Fale in this year’s G1, ZSJ told the story of using all of his tricks and skills to outsmart the behemoth.

Lance Archer and Kazuchika Okada also told their own stories against Fale – Archer showing the difference between the two largest men in New Japan and Okada, like Juice, trying to prove his strength and dominance against the man who bested him in last year’s tournament.

Any enjoyment from these matches, though, seems to come at the storytelling of the opponents of Fale rather than anything Fale is doing himself other than being a large dude. With such a large field of competitors in the tournament and some other solid names left off of the list (like Minoru Suzuki), Fale wrestling below the level of block-mates like Okada, KENTA, and Kota Ibushi becomes glaringly obvious.

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