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

The Worst: Jon Moxley vs Jeff Cobb, Night 4

It pains me to write this one down in the “Worst” column. I’ve been excited to see Moxley run roughshod over New Japan and, so far, he’s turned out some awesome matches. His US Title win over Juice was fantastic and I’ll talk about his G1 bout with Tomohiro Ishii later on.

By the same token, Jeff Cobb is someone I’ve been wanting to see get a serious run in New Japan for quite some time. His NEVER Openweight Title reign was too short-lived for my liking and in the grand scheme of things, he’s a much better beef boy than trash human Michael Elgin.

Moxley and Cobb built to their G1 match on Night 4 well, but the payoff simply wasn’t there. It felt as though they were moving in slow motion and didn’t quite kick things into the next gear. Their match also featured one of the saddest double clothesline spots on the ramp that I think I’ve ever seen.

What makes this all the more frustrating is that both guys are obviously capable of so much better. Moxley, as noted above, has been on fire since leaving WWE and has turned out great matches in both New Japan and AEW.

Cobb has been consistently fantastic for years whether that be under his own name or as Matanza in Lucha Underground. Even in this tournament, Cobb/Ishii was a brutal slugfest and his match with Juice Robinson was a necessary step forward with an important victory.

Still, though, these two didn’t capture the same magic that either man has been able to capture with other wrestlers in the past. Perhaps they’ll meet again in a New Japan ring and be able to put this match behind them – after all, I was pretty sour on the SANADA/Minoru Suzuki match in last year’s G1, but they completely redeemed themselves with a flawless New Japan Cup performance.