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

The 29th edition of the G1 Climax is just about one-third complete with 12 shows to go. Let’s take a look back at the highs and lows from the first 7 shows of the massive tournament.

There are 91 NJPW G1 matches over in just over a month, and that isn’t even including the undercard matches for each show! With so many encounters in a relatively short amount of time, there are sure to be a handful of Match of the Year candidates, surprise standouts, and disappointing performances.

In keeping with New Japan tradition, though, you also have to reach a bit further to grab the negative in light of all of the positive. For a promotion who prides itself on the quality of wrestling produced each show, pitting 20 of their top names against one another is an easy way to let everybody shine.

Last year’s G1 was plagued by Bullet Club shenanigans. Guerrillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale made sure to spoil everybody’s fun almost constantly causing multiple disqualification finishes and some of the most boringly predictable matches in recent memory.

This year, Fale is back in the tournament alongside Jay White and Lance Archer who is making his first G1 appearance since 2014 and everybody is fighting to win rather than attempting to act as spoilers and party poopers which makes for a far more enjoyable experience.

Still, though, there are ups and downs. Just as my heart breaks whenever I have to watch a Fale match, it swells when we’re treated to a Handsome Battle between SANADA and Kota Ibushi. There are more positives on this list than negatives, but let’s break down the best and worst from everything we’ve seen in the G1 thus far!

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.

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.

The Worst: KENTA Finding His Footing

This is another frustrating add to the “Worst” list. I love KENTA. Outside of the odd match here and there, my main exposure to KENTA first came through Ring of Honor. I was nervously excited when he signed with NXT, and we all unfortunately know how that whole run wound up.

As Hideo Itami, it seemed like bad luck followed KENTA. Early on in his run, a shoulder injury with complications kept KENTA out of the ring for over a year. Less than 4 months after returning, a neck injury put him on the sideline again, keeping him out of action for almost another year.

With the injuries piling up and KENTA not being able to build momentum in NXT, he was shuffled to 205 Live where (like many before him) he was treated as an afterthought.

When KENTA finally won his freedom from WWE, the assumption was that he’d be returning to NOAH but he surprised everybody at Dominion by not only arriving in New Japan but declaring his intentions to enter G1 Climax 29.

From there, things have just been okay. What’s intensely confusing is that none of KENTA’s matches have been technically bad. I’ve even enjoyed them to a certain degree! Something about him, though, or his matches just don’t seem to be connecting in the same way as a Tanahashi, Ospreay, or Okada.

In the case of the three names mentioned above, there is a fine thread woven throughout each of their matches in the G1.

Tanahashi is trying to go back-to-back and, once again, prove that his age isn’t a factor in his performance.

Ospreay is looking to prove that he can hang with the Heavyweights and proudly represent the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship through the entire tournament.

For Okada, the necessity to win every match in the G1 is clear. As the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, any misstep could be critical as the road to Wrestle Kingdom is being paved.

In the case of KENTA… I’m not sure what his motivation is quite yet other than his desire to kick people really hard (which I love) and be a gigantic jerk to his opponents (which I also love). Is that enough motivation, though, to carry someone through a G1 with so many other dynamic wrestlers and characters?

If I want someone with an attitude, I’ve got Taichi. If I want someone who strikes like a beast, there are at least half a dozen guys in the tournament who strike just as hard as KENTA. So, what else is on the line for KENTA other than the same thing that’s on the line for everybody else – wanting to win every match and become the champion?

It may simply be an issue with longevity holding me up. Most of the other wrestlers in the G1 have been in New Japan and have had their characters and stories told over time. KENTA is a fresh face and only arrived in NJPW a month before the G1 kicked off in Dallas.

Perhaps with time and some more spirited matches, KENTA will begin to shine a bit more. After all, as unlikely as it may seem, I’d love to see a G1 final of KENTA/Goto in a battle to see who is Shibata’s actual best friend.

The Best: The New Lance Archer

Lance Archer has a bit of a polarizing history in New Japan. While teaming with Davey Boy Smith Jr. as Killer Elite Squad, Archer held the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles on 3 separate occasions. Even with past successes, Archer never necessarily felt like a major player in New Japan in the tag team division.

A few months back, Davey Boy took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with his position in New Japan. This came after taking a loss to Toru Yano in the New Japan Cup where Yano used, as Yano does, his Sublime Master Thief techniques to outsmart his larger opponent.

This didn’t sit well with Davey Boy who demanded better opponents and to be taken more seriously by the company.

Shortly after this, it was announced that Davey Boy and New Japan had parted ways. This left Archer in a tough spot – without a tag team partner in a Suzuki-gun full of accomplished singles wrestlers. The one thing he had going for him? Being entered into the G1, something the leader of his faction couldn’t also boast.

As Archer built toward his return to the G1 after a 5-year absence he promised that “this year will be a year that you can not ignore me.” He couldn’t have been more on point.

You can count me in as one of the many surprised by the sudden turnaround of Lance Archer. He stormed through the curtain in Dallas like a beautiful horse with a dyed red bouffant and it couldn’t have been more perfect. On a night where Okada and Tanahashi main evented, I found myself placing Archer/Ospreay as my favorite match of the night. Really?!

Archer isn’t a spring chicken and his body has been through Hell throughout his wrestling career, so this may be one of his last chances to make his mark before he begins winding down. Or, this could be the birth of an entirely new Lance Archer who blazes new trails for years to come in New Japan. Either way, I’m all aboard the Archer train rolling through the G1.

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?

The Best: Toru Yano

You probably either love or despise Toru Yano, and if you despise him you’re completely wrong and need to start evaluating where you are in your life. Yano brings an aspect to New Japan unique from anyone else on the roster and his placement in the G1 each year is one of the most entertaining parts.

Sure, we probably won’t get a 5-star match out of Yano throughout this series, but he gets another star in my heart every time I see him.

Not only are Yano’s antics fun to watch, but he’s also been used in such a smart way so far. His only loss has come at the hands of Shingo Takagi who absolutely should be protected and pushed as a legitimate threat at this point. Still, though, there were some close calls.

In defeating Naito on the first night of B Block matches, Yano proved yet again that he has the answers to the question of Tranquilo. After getting riled up by Naito’s painstakingly slow entrance gear removal, Yano channeled his frustration into a sneaky rollup via low blow.

Against Jay White, Yano plays the role of spoiler against a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion who is coming apart at the seams. White is still without a victory in the tournament so far, dropping losses to Goto and Ishii in drawn-out wars before being out-cheated by YTR in just over 3 minutes.

Yano has another tall order ahead of him next with Juice Robinson and on paper, it would seem like an easy win for the former US Champion. New Japan, though, continues to do a masterful job at portraying Yano as equal parts trickster and threat.

I wouldn’t expect Yano to walk away with a victory over Jon Moxley, but their match is one of my most anticipated matches of the tournament for completely different reasons than I’m anticipating a match like Ibushi/Okada. When you can have that kind of variety and unpredictability on different in a series like the G1, something’s being done right.

The Best: Ospreay and Shingo Raise The Bar

Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi tore it down in one of the most exciting Best of the Super Junior finals I’ve seen. Their contest is an easy Match of the Year contender and was enough to push both men outside of the bubble of Juniors and into the less-traveled path of cross-division wrestlers.

Shingo rampaged through New Japan since debuting and Ospreay has been on the rise with NEVER Openweight and Junior Heavyweight Title reigns to his credit. Still, with as successful and dominant Ospreay has been it was hard to see the finals of the BOSJ going any other way than Shingo remaining undefeated.

When Ospreay pulled out the victory, it made sense and was a shock at the same time. Not only did Ospreay get the rub from being the first man to pin Shingo in a New Japan ring, but with the way Kevin Kelly has talked about Shingo’s questionable weight class it was somewhat expected to keep him from holding the Junior Heavyweight Title.

Once the BOSJ wrapped up, Shingo and Ospreay threw their names into the hat of G1 hopefuls and we all crossed our fingers. Their involvement in the tournament has been a huge plus to both brackets.

Ospreay pulled, perhaps, Lance Archer’s best match ever out of the monster in Dallas and has gone on to have instant classics with Ibushi, Okada, and SANADA.

In B Block, Shingo outsmarted Yano, dropped a loss to Juice Robinson in a close match, and overcame Taichi to lend more credibility to his Heavyweight claims. Taichi himself competed as a Junior before making the step up to Heavyweight, so the similarities between his and Shingo’s paths can’t be ignored.

The great thing about the G1 is the number of high-quality matches you’re poised to see. What makes the inclusion of Ospreay and Shingo even more exciting is that we’re opened up to a world of matches we wouldn’t have otherwise seen had they stayed exclusively in the Junior division.

While Ospreay has a pretty well-defined spot in New Japan at this point, the tournament is going to do wonders for Shingo. By losing to Ospreay in the BOSJ finals, his G1 matches are now more unpredictable as the undefeated streak doesn’t need to be protected.

Plus, when he does take a loss it can be used as a building block – he’s just leaving the Junior division and has more to learn before beating every Heavyweight.

While I don’t see either man making the finals, there’s no doubt that they’ll place high in their brackets. This time next year, we could be on the verge of a Shingo/Ospreay final in G1 Climax 30.

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.