NJPW G1 Climax 29
Night 4 – B Block
#g129
Event Date: July 15, 2019 (18:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Venue: Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center (Hokkai Kitayell)
Attendance: 6,946
Series: G1 Climax 29
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero
Commentary (Japanese): Katsuhiko Kanazawa, Milano Collection AT, Shunpei Terakawa (1, 5, 7), Yuichi Tabata (2, 4, 8), Yohei Onishi (3, 6, 9), Jushin Thunder Liger (5 – 9)
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 4), Makoto Abe (5 – 9)
Video
The wrestlers in B Block of the G1 Climax tournament are briefly profiled.
Match 1
Yota Tsuji & Shota Umino vs Jushin Thunder Liger & Kota Ibushi
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Kota Ibushi submits Yota Tsuji with a half Boston crab
Time: 8:19
Match Thoughts
I liked this opener. The young lions are always aggressive, but they really worked hard against Liger and Ibushi. Ibushi is still feeling the effects of his ankle injury, and that probably had a lot to do with how much offense the young lions got. Liger did his part, but Ibushi seemed to do most of the work for his team. The match was good, but one of the best parts was seeing Ibushi’s smile when he bowed and shook hands with Liger after the match. This is the last NJPW show in Sapporo this year, so by default that means it’s likely Liger’s final match in Sapporo. You could tell it meant something to Ibushi to be able to team with Liger tonight.
Ring Area
After the match, Liger says tonight is his last match in Hokkaido. He says farewell to the fans and bows. He and Ibushi leave the ring area together.
Match 2
BUSHI & SANADA & EVIL vs Ren Narita & Toa Henare & Tomoaki Honma
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: BUSHI pins Ren Narita after MX
Time: 7:18
Match Thoughts
Good match. SANADA and EVIL have a match against each other in a few days, and before tonight’s match they were staring each other down. They worked well together during the match though. Honma, Henare, and Narita did well individually and had one good triple-team sequence, but LIJ’s teamwork was superior. Narita ended the match against BUSHI, and Narita got destroyed by an LIJ triple-team.
Ring Area
After the match, SANADA and Evil are the only two men left in the ring. They look at each other before turning away towards opposite sides of the ring. EVIL turns back around and grabs SANADA. EVIL goes for his STO, but SANADA reverses it into Skull End. SANADA quickly releases the hold, and both men quietly leave the ring in opposite directions.
Match 3
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer & Zack Sabre Jr. (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) vs Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors & KENTA & Hiroshi Tanahashi
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Yoshinobu Kanemaru pins Clark Connors after Deep Impact
Time: 11:32
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This was a chaotic mess of a fight, and it was super fun! Suzuki Gun started the match with a brawl which the naturally took out to the floor. Sabre paired off with Tanahashi, and KENTA paired odd with Archer for most of the match, and both tandems gave very good previews for their upcoming tournament matches. Back in the ring, Fredericks got isolated and spent a lot of time taking punishment from the members of Suzuki Gun. When he did try to tag out, KENTA tried to prevent Tanahashi from tagging in which was interesting. I think their feud is far from over even though they’ve already had their tournament match. There was so much going on in this match that it’s difficult to recap with just listing random things. I loved it.
Ring Area
After the match, Sabre and Archer continue to try to get a few shots in on Tanahashi and KENTA. Suzuki Gun leaves, and KENTA helps Tanahashi get up and get to the backstage area.
Match 4
Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale vs YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kazuchika Okada pins Chase Owens after the Rainmaker
Time: 8:43
Match Thoughts
Good match. Owens and Fale had some good teamwork tonight, but the efforts of Okada (with some help from YOSHI-HASHI) were also quite strong. Okada managed to isolate Owens late in the match, and even though Owens has looked really good lately, he was no match for the champ. This was a fine match, but the Suzuki Gun eight-man tag was my favorite tag match tonight.
Video
Before the start of tonight’s tournament matches, a video is shown advertising two New Beginning in Sapporo shows happening in February of 2020.
Match 5
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Shingo Takagi (0-1-0: 0) vs Toru Yano (1-0-0: 2) (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Shingo Takagi wins via pinfall after the Pumping Bomber
Time: 6:16
Match Thoughts
This was fun. It was nearly twice as long as Yano’s match against Naito, mostly because Shingo sort of knew what to expect after seeing his LIJ teammate lose in just over three minutes. Yano tried is brand of shenanigans, and it nearly worked right away against Shingo. However, Shingo pushed through and started to wrestle his own style of match against Yano. This was a good, fun opener for tonight’s tournament matches.
Match 6
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Hirooki Goto (1-0-0: 2) vs Juice Robinson (1-0-0: 2)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Juice Robinson wins via pinfall after Pulp Friction
Time: 12:23
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Juice came into this match seeming to want to prove a point. He wanted to win, and he wanted to stand up in the middle of the ring against Goto. Juice fell behind early after some bug moves from Goto, but Juice persisted and traded strikes with Goto multiple times. Goto seemed more powerful tonight, but Juice wouldn’t give up. This was a nice match that was mostly about the heart of Juice Robinson and the new serious attitude he’s had since his match with Jon Moxley.
Match 7
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Jon Moxley (1-0-0: 2) (IWGP US Champ) w/ Shota Umino vs Jeff Cobb (0-1-0: 0)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Jon Moxley wins via pinfall after a rope-hanging Death Rider (double-underhook DDT)
Time: 8:54
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was a bit of a surprise to me actually. It was shorter than I thought it would be, and Moxley got more offense than I expected. Moxley kept looking for a few big moves throughout the match, and he persisted even when Cobb reversed or just absorbed the punishment Moxley was dealing out. I enjoyed the match, though the finish did seem a bit sudden.
Match 8
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Jay White (0-1-0: 0) w/ Gedo vs Tomohiro Ishii (1-0-0: 2) (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Tomohiro Ishii wins via pinfall after a brainbuster
Time: 19:13
Match Thoughts
Great match! This was Jay White’s second match in a row against a big, strong opponent who can absorb a ton of punishment while hitting really hard, and White tries to pull a lot of shenanigans similar to what he did to Goto. Ishii was having none of it though, and this turned into a match about Ishii trying to keep from getting frustrated by White’s antics. White hit some big moves of his own, but Ishii remained calm enough to finally put together a lot of really strong offense late in the match. This was very good and built up to quite an exciting finish.
Match 9
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Taichi (0-1-0: 0) w/ Miho Abe, Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Tetsuya Naito (0-1-0: 0) (IWGP IC Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Taichi wins via pinfall after a Last Ride (and a throat thrust with the iron glove)
Time: 21:01
Match Thoughts
Great match! Taichi was very deceptive in this match. Taichi started by playing some of the same games Naito did against Yano in the last round. Taichi refused to lock up with Naito at the beginning of the match, and Taichi kept annoying Naito until it seemed to get to the IC Champ. Later in the match though, Taichi hit a series of very powerful moves while still working towards some elaborate plans for cheating and misdirection. I think Naito once again underestimated his opponent tonight, and that made the match very competitive when it might not have been otherwise. I like this a lot.
Show Impressions
The G1 Climax keeps delivering very good matches and more than a few surprises. This was a fun night of action that really built up to a fun climax in the final two matches. I think Naito is bound to get a lot of wins soon. B Block seems like it might be closer in terms of points towards the end, so I definitely think he’ll be in contention towards the end of the block matches. It’s still too early to pick a winner.
Match of the Night
Taichi vs Naito
Taichi impressed me again tonight. Sure, he pulled all sorts of dirty tricks, but he also put together some really good offense when he needed to capitalize on his cheating.
Standings After Night 4
Block A
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Lance Archer | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| KENTA | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Bad Luck Fale | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| EVIL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| SANADA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Kota Ibushi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Block B
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Moxley (IWGP US Champ) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Juice Robinson | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Taichi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Toru Yano (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jay White | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/192629?showResult=1