Daily DDT
Fansided

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 9
Next

The Best: A Revitalized Hirooki Goto

Hirooki Goto is a curious case. He’s been hanging around the New Japan midcard for years and has no shortage of fantastic matches with the likes of Ishii and Shibata. Just when it seems like Goto might reach out from the midcard, though, something is there to stomp him down. For whatever reason, main event glory has eluded The Fierce Warrior.

More recently, he’d been absent from Japan while wrestling a handful of shows with Ring of Honor and working at NJPW’s LA Dojo. The time away from the cerulean blue mat seems to have done Goto a world of good.

While he only has a pair of points in the tournament so far, his sole victory came at the hands of one of his most vocal (and annoying) critics – Jay White.

White has constantly ragged on Goto for not being able to get the job done when it mattered most. He’s insulted Goto’s pride and insisted that his family and friends are disappointed in his lack of accomplishments.

When it came time for Goto and White to lock up on the first night of B Block action, it seemed like the Switchblade had Goto’s number yet again. He was able to look out for and escape or counter Goto’s familiar offense leading everybody to believe that we would see the outcome most may have expected: Jay White defeating Hirooki Goto.

Instead, Goto broke out of his routine and changed his offense up just enough to be able to surprise White with a victory after a crushing GTR. Goto could go winless through the rest of the tournament and still walk away with one of the biggest moral victories of the 91 total bouts.

Goto’s next two matches ended in defeat at the hands of Juice Robinson and Tetsuya Naito, but Goto is still bringing fire every time he enters the ring. Plus, his time away at the LA Dojo has leaned him out as we’re seeing a much more cut Hirooki Goto than we saw before he left.

The next opponent for Goto is a familiar one in Taichi, the man he dethroned for the NEVER Openweight Title last November. If Goto can go on a tear through the rest of his opponents, we could see the final I mentioned before: Hirooki Goto vs KENTA. What better way to rehab the image of Goto than a decisive string of victories leading to a hard-hitting battle between two of Shibata’s best friends?

Home/NJPW