NJPW G1 Climax 29
Night 18 – B Block
#g129
Event Date: August 11, 2019 (18:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Venue: Nippon Budokan
Attendance: 9,821
Series: G1 Climax 29
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero, Chris Charlton
Commentary (Japanese): Milano Collection AT, Miki Motoi, Kazuki Kusanagi (1, 4, 7), Shinpei Nogami (2, 6, 9), Yuichi Tabata (3, 5, 8), 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
Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji vs Ren Narita & Shota Umino
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Ren Narita submits Yuya Uemura with a Boston crab
Time: 7:34
Match Thoughts
Very good math. This was probably one of the best young lion matches I’ve seen outside of the young lion solo shows. It was basically two one on one matches back to back, but both of those matches were very good. Tsuji started by dominating Umino, then Umino came back and evened the odds. Tsuji and Umino tagged out and continued their fight on the floor as Narita and Uemura traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Narita got the better of Uemura most of the time, but Uemura showed a ton of heart despite taking kind of a beating and being tortured in a Boston crab for a long time.
Match 2
Yujiro Takahashi w/ Pieter & Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale vs BUSHI & SANADA & EVIL
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Yujiro Takahashi pins BUSHI after Pimp Juice
Time: 7:54
Match Thoughts
Good match. The match started with a bit of a brawl, then Fale began to dominate EVIL. LIJ came back with some great teamwork a little later in the match, but Bullet Club was able to work well together near the end. This was fun, though it didn’t really stand out too much. I did like seeing Chase Owens try and fail to put SANADA in the Paradise Lock again though.
Match 3
Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors & KENTA vs Toa Henare & Tomoaki Honma & Kota Ibushi
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Toa Henare pins Karl Fredericks after the Toa Bottom
Time: 8:22
Match Thoughts
Good match. Connors faced Henare to start, and Connors looked good. Henare has had some trouble with young lions during this tour, and Connors was able to take the fight to him tonight. Fredericks and Honma tagged in next, and Fredericks looked like he was struggling a little. I had said at the beginning of the tour that I though Fredericks looked better than Connors, but at least for tonight I would switch that statement around. KENTA and Ibushi had a brief exchange next, but they finished quickly presumable so Ibushi could rest. Henare finished the match against Fredericks in a short but nice sequence.
Match 4
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer & Zack Sabre Jr. (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) vs YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi pins Zack Sabre Jr. with a prawn hold
Time: 10:35
Match Thoughts
Very good match. The action was chaotic, and it’s difficult to really explain anything in regards to momentum and who had control of the match at any given time. Everyone was in and out of the ring for most of the match, and even as crazy as the match was, there was still a big breakdown at the end. Everyone was hitting big moves in succession, then Sabre ended up alone in the ring with Tanahashi. With the rest of Suzuki Gun keeping the rest of Chaos at bay, Sabre tried to wrap Tanahashi up and submit him. Tanahashi wouldn’t go down without a fight though. This was a lot of fun.
Match 5
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Jeff Cobb (3-5-0: 6) vs Toru Yano (4-4-0: 8) (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Jeff Cobb wins via pifall after Tour of the Islands
Time: 5:18
Match Thoughts
As always with Yano, this was fun. I also liked this as Jeff Cobb’s final match of his first G1 Climax. This was a light and entertaining match where you could see both guys having a good time. Yano tried a bunch of his old tricks and a few new ones, and overall this was a very nice way to start the block competition for the night.
Match 6
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Taichi (3-5-0: 6) w/ Miho Abe, Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Tomohiro Ishii (4-4-0: 8) (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Taichi wins via pinfall after Black Mephisto
Time: 11:56
Match Thoughts
Great match! This was Taichi’s best match of the tournament. Taichi started the match quickly by attacking Ishii immediately after the opening bell, and Taichi continued to press the attack by wrestling a hard-hitting strong style match. Taichi didn’t cheat once in the entire match, and Miho Abe and Kanemaru never got involved. They just watched as Taichi and Ishii battled until one of them couldn’t get back up. Taichi can be an enigma at times. He carries multiple weapons to the ring and sometimes he cheats more than he fights, but tonight he looked like a main eventer. I’d definitely watch this match again and again.
Match 7
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Jon Moxley (5-3-0: 10) (IWGP US Champ) w/ Shota Umino vs Juice Robinson (3-5-0: 6)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Juice Robinson wins via pinfall after Pulp Friction
Time: 16:26
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Juice was looking for revenge in this match, and if he just so happened to contribute to Moxley losing the block, then so much the better. Juice and Moxley started with some back and forth action, but Juice’s knee started giving him problems early. Moxley attacked Juice’s knee, and he never really stopped focusing on that attack throughout the whole match. There was some brawling outside the ring of course, but Juice tried to keep the fight in the ring as much as possible. Juice was in a bad way for most of the match, but Moxley’s overconfidence at times helped give Juice the openings he needed to make this a fun and competitive match.
Match 8
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Shingo Takagi (3-5-0: 6) vs Hirooki Goto (5-3-0: 10)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Shingo Takagi wins via pinfall after Last of the Dragon
Time: 15:10
Match Thoughts
Really great match! This was another great, hard-hitting battle for Shingo Takagi just like he had with Ishii in the previous round. Shingo and Goto hit each other really, really hard multiple times. Shingo started the match strong, but Goto started to dominate after hitting a hanging neckbreaker on Shingo. As the match neared its finish, both men were trading mostly lariats, but they were also hitting some high impact moves while looking for a pinfall. I think this was up there for both men as one of their best in the tournament.
Match 9
G1 Climax 29 B Block Match
Jay White (5-3-0: 10) w/ Gedo vs Tetsuya Naito (5-3-0: 10) (IWGP IC Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Jay White wins via pinfall after Blade Runner and wins B Block
Time: 18:51
Match Thoughts
Great match! The match started with both men playing mind games as they usually do, and that meant an extremely slow start with neither man even touching the other for the first few minutes. Once the action started, it was back and forth for a while with both men attacking their opponent’s neck. Naito managed to annoy White and bait him a few times, but White picked up his shenanigans with distractions and misdirections late in the match. The finish was tense, and some of the sequences near the end were very good. I think the A Block finale might have been a little more exciting, but this was definitely a great finale for B Block.
Show Impressions
I think overall the finale of A Block was slightly more entertaining, but this was still one of the better full nights of the G1 tour.
Match of the Night
Shingo Takagi vs Hirooki Goto
Maybe it’s the difference in styles, or maybe it’s the fact that Jay White is such a good bad guy that he frustrated me during the main event, but my initial gut reaction is that I enjoyed Shingo versus Goto the most tonight. I love a hard-hitting match, and this was exactly that. Plus, seeing Shingo get another big win over a prominent heavyweight was pretty darn exciting.
Standings After Night 18
Block A
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kota Ibushi | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Kazuchika Okada * (IWGP Heavyweight Champ) | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Bad Luck Fale * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| EVIL * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| KENTA * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| SANADA * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Will Ospreay * (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Zack Sabre Jr. * (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Lance Archer * | 6 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
* = eliminated
Block B
| Wrestler | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay White | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| Hirooki Goto * | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| John Moxley * (IWGP US Champ) | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito * (IWGP IC Champ) | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Juice Robinson * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Taichi * | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii * (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Toru Yano * (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
* = eliminated
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/192660?showResult=1