NJPW G1 Climax 29
Night 9 – A Block
#g129
Event Date: July 27, 2019 (18:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Naka, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Venue: Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
Attendance: 6,142
Series: G1 Climax 29
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero
Commentary (Japanese): Shigeki Kiyono, Milano Collection AT, Yoshinobu Kanemaru (5 – 9)
Ring Announcer: Kimihiko Ozaki (1 – 4), Makoto Abe (5 – 9)
Video
The wrestlers in A Block of the G1 Climax tournament are briefly profiled.
Match 1
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki & Taichi vs Yota Tsuji & Ren Narita & Jeff Cobb
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Yoshinobu Kanemaru pins Yota Tsuji after Deep Impact
Time: 8:46
Match Thoughts
This was a really good opening tag match. Suzuki Gun started the match with a brawl as usual, and Taichi paired off with Cobb as a preview for their upcoming tournament match. A typhoon was threatening Japan as this show was happening, and Taichi stole a woman’s umbrella to use on Cobb. The preview between Cobb and Taichi was good, but I think the young lions really stood out in this match. Tsuji and Narita double-teamed Kanemaru for a while, and Narita kept going after Suzuki. At one point Narita hit Suzuki with about ten forearms to the head, but Suzuki dropped Narita with one forearm of his own. This was a lot of fun.
Ring Area
After the match, Minoru Suzuki beats up some young lions on his way out. Back in the ring, Taichi offers his hand to Jeff Cobb. Cobb understandably hesitates, but he does eventually shake Taichi’s hand. Taichi smiles after the handshake, picks up his microphone and the iron glove he has in a sling, and he leaves the ring area without doing anything dastardly. Somehow Taichi seems more menacing when he doesn’t do anything and just smiles.
Match 2
Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi w/ Pieter & Jay White w/ Gedo vs Toa Henare & Tomoaki Honma & Juice Robinson
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Chase Owens pins Toa Henare after a package piledriver
Time: 9:06
Match Thoughts
Good match. Bullet Club tried to start a brawl as Honma was starting the match for his team, but Honma fought out of trouble pretty well. Unfortunately for Honma his colleagues didn’t fare as well on the outside, so Honma got isolated for a long time. Juice came in next and gave a pretty good preview for his match with White coming up in a later round of the G1, and Henare looked good as he finished the match against Owens. Also, Pieter writhed around in the ring a lot prior to the match. I liked all of it.
Match 3
Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) & Toru Yano (NEVER Openweight Champ) vs YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Toru Yano pins YOSHI-HASHI with a schoolboy (after a low blow)
Time: 7:15
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was a Chaos intra-faction match, so Yano was being actively discouraged from using some of his usual tactics. He went for the turnbuckle pad early, but some harsh looks from Goto made Yano stop. In the middle of the match, Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI had a really good (and really long) exchange of chops, and YOSHI-HASHI looked impressive. He fought Ishii to essentially a draw, then YOSHI-HASHI and Goto worked on Yano together for a while. Yano would eventually fall into his usual habits by the end of the match which is something YOSHI-HASHI sdidn’t seem prepared for. This was fun.
Match 4
Shota Umino & Jon Moxley (IWGP US Champ) vs Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Shingo Takagi pins Shota Umino after the Pumping Bomber
Time: 7:50
Match Thoughts
Very good match. The action was good, but the real story here was the preview for the match between Moxley and Naito coming up during night ten of the G1 tour. Naito started antagonizing Moxley during their ring entrances. Naito took his time walking down the aisle towards the ring. Naito stopped for a while, walked in slow motion, took some baby steps, then he asked for Moxley to hold the ropes open for him. Naito continued to antagonize Moxley throughout the entire match, and it worked very well. Moxley was pissed pretty much the entire time, and that mostly left Umino to try to win this tag match on his own. This was a masterclass of mind games from Naito.
Match 5
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Lance Archer (2-2-0: 4) vs Kota Ibushi (2-2-0: 4)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kota Ibushi wins via pinfall after two Kamigoye knee strikes
Time: 11:42
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Ibushi’s ankle was still a problem for him in this match, but he knew he needed to try to get ahead of Archer and attack first. That led to a quick start to the match, but Archer took over when the fight ended up on the floor. Archer used his power throughout the match to put Ibushi in danger, but Ibushi found ways to counter and to keep fighting. This was a fun back and forth where Ibushi showed his resiliency in the face of overwhelming power, and Archer once again showed surprising agility and elite toughness as he stood up to some of Ibushi’s hardest strikes.
Match 6
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Bad Luck Fale (1-3-0: 2) w/ Chase Owens, Jado vs Will Ospreay (1-3-0: 2) (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Will Ospreay wins via DQ after a whole bunch of shenanigans by Bullet Club
Time: 9:08
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. This match was dominated by shenanigans from Bullet Club for nearly the entire duration of the match. Ospreay was attacked before the opening bell, and the match itself felt almost like a three on one handicap match. The match did one good laugh out of me towards the end, but this was definitely one of the lesser matches of the entire G1 Climax 29.
Match 7
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Zack Sabre Jr. (1-3-0: 2) (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) vs EVIL (2-2-0: 4)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: EVIL wins via pinfall after Everything is EVIL
Time: 16:00
Match Thoughts
Good match. EVIL and Sabre opened with a brief technical exchange and a series of strikes and dodges. The match from there was very back and forth, with both men looking for an opening. Sabre got some good holds in as usual, but EVIL tended to find ways to get out of them. EVIL also started adding some of his power moves as the match went on, and it started to feel like Sabre might be losing control. I think the finish was kind of sudden, but I did enjoy the match.
Match 8
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
SANADA (1-3-0: 2) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (2-2-0: 4)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi pins SANADA after the High Fly Flow
Time: 18:07
Match Thoughts
Very good match. SANADA and Tanahashi had a respectful match where both men were practically mirroring each other. Tanahashi would hit a dragon screw, then SANADA would hit one. SANADA applied Skull End, so Tanahashi reversed into one of his own. This sort of thing happened many times during the match, and it built some tension by making us wonder who was going to make a mistake first. SANADA did have speed and agility on his side, but the ace has an intangible drive that always pushes him forward in big matches, so this was anyone’s match. This was fun.
Match 9
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
KENTA (4-0-0: 8) vs Kazuchika Okada (4-0-0: 8) (IWGP Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Kazuchika Okada wins via pinfall after the Rainmaker
Time: 26:53
Match Thoughts
Great match. The action built gradually as the match got longer and longer, and as the match passed the 25 minute mark, the crowd was buzzing as the match entered into its dramatic finish. KENTA came to this match with lots of kicks and stomps early, and he rocked the champ. Okada was supremely confident though, and KENTA’s repeated disrespectful actions seemed to fire Okada up more than it threw him off his game. There were some great sequences of counters and reversals, and for the most part both men stuck to what they do best and what brought them to this match undefeated.
Ring Area
After the match, Okada holds his hand out to KENTA. KENTA hesitates, but he then shakes Okada’s hand.
Show Impressions
This was another good show with a great main event. I’m disappointed that some of the guys I really like seem to be dropping out of contention, but I was always going to be disappointed at least a little since I like most of the guys in the tournament.
Match of the Night
KENTA vs Kazuchika Okada
This was a great way to mark the end of the first half of the tournament and the start of the race towards the finish.
Standings After Night 9
Block A
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champ) | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| KENTA | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| EVIL | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Kota Ibushi | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Lance Archer | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| SANADA | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. * (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Bad Luck Fale * | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
* = eliminated
Block B
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Moxley (IWGP US Champ) | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Juice Robinson | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Taichi | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Toru Yano (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Jay White | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/192652?showResult=1