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

The Best: Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii, Night 6

It may be physically impossible to have a bad match with Tomohiro Ishii. Still, a different Jon Moxley came to Korakuen Hall than the one we saw face Jeff Cobb in Hokkaido.

The in-ring styles of Moxley and Ishii don’t exactly match up, but they’re both physical enough for you to know that any encounter between the two is going to be wild and potentially dangerous. They didn’t disappoint. With both men sitting at 4 points before the bell, they were each determined to walk out with an undefeated streak intact.

New Japan did what it does best here, in having a tremendous match between two wrestlers with both looking strong when the match was over. Moxley desperately needed the breath of fresh air after his lackluster match with Cobb a few nights prior and he reminded everybody, Ishii included, just what he can bring to New Japan.

As he has done several times in the past, Moxley looked to rely on plunder to get the job done. After pulling a table out from under the ring, Moxley failed to put Ishii through the furniture. Fighting back from underneath, Ishii shifted the momentum and laid Moxley out across the wood.

Have you ever seen a shooting star? Have you ever seen Hailey’s Comet? Have you ever seen a snowflake falling from the sky and been able to see enough of its detail to make out the different points and shapes? All of those things pale in comparison to the majesty we saw in Korakuen Hall.

Defying all laws of sensibility or reason, Tomohiro Ishii ascended the top rope while Moxley lay prone on the table out on the arena floor. With everybody’s breath caught in their throats, Ishii leaped and came crashing down on Moxley through the table and to the arena floor. Kevin Kelly couldn’t restrain himself on commentary, belting out “Jesus Christ!” as their bodies connected.

And then? The maniacs fought for another 7 minutes!

In the end, Moxley put Ishii away with an implant Death Rider to continue his so-far perfect G1 fun run. Ishii has nothing to be disappointed about, though. Moxley is on a roll wherever he goes and dropping a loss to the current IWGP US Champion in a near-30-minute match is a good look.

Moxley is in store for Shingo Takagi when G1 action resumes while Ishii battles Tetsuya Naito. Both men will be bearing the wounds of their war in Korakuen Hall, and I can only hope that we see them square off again in the future before Moxley is whisked away to a full-time gig in AEW.

The G1 continues on July 24 with a dozen shows left to go, including the finals on August 12 in Budokan. The winner will challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion at the biggest Wrestle Kingdom in history on January 4 or January 5 – unless Kazuchika Okada wins the tournament, in which case he’ll handpick his own opponent.