NJPW G1 Climax 29
Night 11 – A Block
#g129
Event Date: July 30, 2019 (19:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan
Venue: Takamatsu City General Gymnasium
Attendance: 2,820
Series: G1 Climax 29
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero
Commentary (Japanese): Haruo Murata, Milano Collection AT, BUSHI (8 – 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
Yota Tsuji & YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: YOSHI-HASHI submits Yuya Uemura with a butterfly lock
Time: 9:24
Match Thoughts
This was a nice opener. I enjoyed the preview for Goto versus Ishii, and everyone else had a lot of energy. The young lions had a nice sequence in the middle of the match, Uemura looked good against YOSHI-HASHI to finish the match.
Match 2
Shota Umino & Jon Moxley (IWGP US Champ) vs Ren Narita & Toru Yano (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Toru Yano pins Shots Umino with a schoolboy (after a low blow)
Time: 4:08
Match Thoughts
This was fun. Yano tried to sell Moxley a DVD as the match was starting, and Moxley definitely seemed interested. He wasn’t interested in spending his own money though. SO yeah, there were some shenanigans in this match, and I expect nothing but shenanigans in the Moxley versus Yano tournament match coming up. Umino and Narita had a good but brief sequence in the middle of the match, but Moxley and Yano dominated the action tonight.
Match 3
Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi & Jay White w/ Gedo vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki & Taichi
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Chase Owens pins Yoshinobu Kanemaru after a package piledriver
Time: 7:39
Match Thoughts
This was a chaotic and entertaining match. It started with a brawl that spilled out to ringside. The referee started counting, but no one knew who legally started the match, so everyone rolled into the ring when Kenta Sato reached 19. After that, we got a good preview with a pretty evenly fought sequence between Taichi and Jay White, and Chase Owens once again looked good as he finished the match against Kanemaru.
Match 4
BUSHI & Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ) vs Toa Henare & Jeff Cobb & Juice Robinson
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Shingo Takagi pins Toa Henare after the Pumping Bomber
Time: 9:27
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was definitely the best tag match tonight. Shingo and Cobb started the match against each other, and they gave a lengthy preview for their tournament match. If this was any indication, their match is going to be a hard-hitting and a lot of fun. Naito and Juice had a good sequence as well, but Shingo did more work in this match than anyone (BUSHI did the least amount of work by doing almost nothing). Shingo finished the match against Henare. Henare tried, but Shingo easily dominated him.
Ring Area
After the match, Naito bends and twists at Juice’s hand while they brawl out in the crowd. Juice gets away and tries to leave, but Naito mocks Juice until Juice comes running back. The young lions separate the men as Naito continues to mock Juice on his way back into the ring.
Match 5
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Bad Luck Fale (1-4-0: 2) w/ Jado, Chase Owens vs Kota Ibushi (3-2-0: 6)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Kota Ibushi wins via pinfall after the Kamigoye
Time: 9:27
Match Thoughts
Good match. Fale had the help of Owens and Jado once again, and Fale slowly dominated a good part of this match. But Ibushi’s offense is quick and powerful, so he was able to get in a lot of strikes even in a three on one scenario. This wasn’t Ibushi’s prettiest match, but it did get fairly tense for a moment, and I did enjoy the outcome.
Match 6
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Zack Sabre Jr. (1-4-0: 2) (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) vs Will Ospreay (2-3-0: 4) (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Zack Sabre Jr. wins via submission with a modified octopus hold
Time: 20:02
Match Thoughts
Great match! As you would expect, there were numerous chains of holds, counters, and strikes, and they were all super fun to watch. After a technical exchange to start the match followed by a burst of offensive attempts from Ospreay, Sabre started to target Ospreay neck. Sabre’s attack was relentless, and though Ospreay looked great when he created space and started moving, Sabre was able to stay in close for a large portion of this match. As the match went longer, Ospreay started to get worn down, and that forced him to look for bigger moves to try to end the match. The finish to this was fantastic. This is one of my favorite matches of the G1 so far.
Match 7
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Lance Archer (2-3-0: 4) vs Kazuchika Okada (5-0-0: 10) (IWGP Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Kazuchika Okada wins via pinfall after the Rainmaker
Time: 14:15
Match Thoughts
Great match. Archer started quickly by attacking Okada before Okada had even removed any of his entrance gear. Archer would continue to pummel Okada for the next few minutes with huge, powerful moves and his increasing array of dives. Okada would fight back, but the sheer size of Archer limited what Okada could do. This was definitely a huge uphill battle for Okada, and it was very fun to watch.
Match 8
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
SANADA (1-4-0: 2) vs KENTA (4-1-0: 8)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: SANADA wins via pinfall after a diving moonsault
Time: 16:10
Match Thoughts
Very good match. I felt like SANADA might be having an off night after the first few minutes of the match, but it turned out he was just saving his best stuff for the end of the match. KENTA dominated a large part of this fight, but when SANADA started relying on his own speed and agility more, KENTA started to lose some ground. I think the last few minutes of the match were really good, and this finish was a nicely done surprise.
Match 9
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
EVIL (3-2-0: 6) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (3-2-0: 6)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi wins via pinfall after the High Fly Flow
Time: 23:02
Match Thoughts
Great match. This was an elimination match for Tanahashi, so he went all out despite going into this match with a hurt knee. Tanahashi and EVIL both looked very good, and by the end of the match they were traded heavy strikes and bug moves. Both men came close to winning a few times before the actual finish, and I think this match might have had the best build up from beginning to end of any match tonight.
Show Impressions
This was a big night. There were some fun surprises and some more great matches. Every night is getting more tense as everyone is chasing Okada, and that helps make the matches even more fun to watch.
Match of the Night
Will Ospreay vs Zack Sabre Jr.
I think the main event was great too and might have had more drama, but I loved the action in Ospreay versus Sabre the most. It’s one of my favorite matches of the tournament so far.
Standings After Night 11
Block A
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champ) | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| KENTA | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Kota Ibushi | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| EVIL | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Lance Archer * | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| SANADA * | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. * (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay * (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Bad Luck Fale * | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
* = eliminated
Block B
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Moxley (IWGP US Champ) | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Juice Robinson | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Jay White | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Taichi | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Toru Yano (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/192654?showResult=1