New Japan Pro Wrestling continued their G1 Climax tournament on Wednesday. Since the show began at 5:30am EDT, here’s a spoiler-free match listing for the non-nite-owl New Japan fans. Each match has been given a Need To Watch Rating of 0.0-10.0. The show is available at NJPWWorld.com
FIRST MATCH: Togi Makabe & Toa Henare vs. Michael Elgin & Shota Umino
Basic tag match. Shota continues to be a standout. Henare is getting better, but still feels miles behind where he should be.
Need To Watch Rating: (1.0)
SECOND MATCH: Bullet Club Elite (Hangman Page & Chase Owens) vs. CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & SHO)
Owens and Page continue to make their Virginia team a tandem to watch. SHO continues to grow, away from YOH.
Need To Watch Rating: (2.0)
THIRD MATCH: Bullet Club OGs (Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado)
Tongan match. You know the drill.
Need To Watch Rating: (1.0)
FOURTH MATCH: Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & BUSHI) vs. CHAOS (Jay White & YOH)
Solid tag match. Jay White and YOH continue to tag under duress. Jay White continues to be the utter worst tag partner.
Need To Watch Rating: (4.5)
FIFTH MATCH: Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Gedo)
Okada and Tanahashi. Finlay and Gedo. Okada and Finlay. Gedo and Tanahashi. There are no bad combos in this match.
Need To Watch Rating: (4.4)
SIXTH MATCH: B Block Match: Juice Robinson (4 pts) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (6 pts)
Ishii continues to have a career highlight tournament. Juice has been a solid hand. Neither man’s best match of the tournament but still solid stuff.
Need To Watch Rating: (8.1)
SEVENTH MATCH: B Block Match: Hirooki Goto (6 pts) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (8 pts)
Goto and Sabre always have thrilling bouts. Goto is a perfect foil for Sabre, suplexing out of Zack’s various holds. While not as essential as most matches, it’s still a gripping contest.
Need To Watch Rating: (9.5)
EIGHTH MATCH: B Block Match: Kota Ibushi (10 pts) vs. Tama Tonga (4 pts)
One of Tama’s better efforts of the tournament. Hurt by the usual shenanigans.
Need To Watch Rating: (7.9)
NINTH MATCH: B Block Match: Kenny Omega (12 pts) vs. Toru Yano (2 pts)
Not up to the standard of their previous matches. Still a fun, dramatic bout.
Need To Watch Rating: (9.0)
MAIN EVENT: B Block Match: Tetsuya Naito (10 pts) vs. SANADA (8 pts)
This match is hard to accurately rate. Both men’s history played a huge role in this emotional contest. The match is great, and the post match promo definitely pushes it into unique, sentimental storytelling.
Need To Watch Rating: (10.0)
