NJPW G1 Climax 29
Night 17 – A Block
#g129
Event Date: August 10, 2019 (18:00 JST)
aired live on NJPW World
City: Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Venue: Nippon Budokan
Attendance: 9,641
Series: G1 Climax 29
Commentary (English): Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero, Chris Charlton
Commentary (Japanese): Kazuo Yamazaki, Milano Collection AT, Kazuki Kusanagi (1, 4, 7), Yohei Onishi (2, 6, 8), Shinji Yoshino (3, 5, 9), Jushin Tunder Liger (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
Shota Umino & Jon Moxley (IWGP US Champ) vs Ren Narita & Juice Robinson
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Shota Umino pins Ren Narita with a bridging fisherman suplex
Time: 3:41
Match Thoughts
This was a good opening tag match and one of the better tournament previews in the G1 Climax tour. Juice and Moxley started the match against each other, and after a brief and violent exchange, the young lions tagged in. Moxley and Juice kept fighting outside the ring while Umino and Narita had a good exchange that ended the match pretty quickly. The match was short, but you could see and feel the animosity between Moxley and Juice. Juice hurt his knee during this match, and Moxley kept attacking his knee even after the match was over. Their final block match against each other is going to be good.
Match 2
Toa Henare & Jeff Cobb vs Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Jeff Cobb pins Tomoaki Honma after Tour of the Islands
Time: 5:23
Match Thoughts
This was fun. Toru Yano wanted no part of Jeff Cobb, so Yano let Honma start the match. Honma and Henare had a pretty good exchange, then Yano ended up in the ring with Cobb. Yano tried to stay away from Cobb and start cheating, but Cobb was able to get a hold of Yano a few times. The preview for their match tomorrow was brief, but it was fun.
Match 3
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki & Taichi vs YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii (NEVER Openweight Champ)
(referee: Kenta Sato)
Result: Minoru Suzuki pins YOSHI-HASHI after a Gotch-style piledriver
Time: 7:50
Match Thoughts
Good match. Suzuki Gun started with a brawl, but most of the action did take place in the ring. The main focus of the match was to preview Taichi versus Tomohiro Ishii tomorrow night. Taichi tried striking Ishii down, but that didn’t work very well. Taichi is going to have to bring a big fight and probably a fair amount of cheating if he wants to beat Ishii. But tonight, Minoru Suzuki finished this match against YOSHI-HASHI in a brief back and forth exchange.
Match 4
Yujiro Takahashi w/ Pieter & Chase Owens & Jay White w/ Gedo vs BUSHI & Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Shingo Takagi pins Yujiro Takahashi after Made in Japan
Time: 8:37
Match Thoughts
Good match. the big preview here was between White and Naito and they ended up both getting tagged in at the same time in the middle of the match. They were both slow to get into the ring, but not because either was scared. They both like to play mind games, and in that battle, Naito seemed to get the better of Jay White. The rest of the match was fun as well, and Shingo ended up finishing in the ring against Yujiro Takahashi after LIJ had pretty much taken over the match.
Match 5
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Lance Archer (2-6-0: 4) vs EVIL (4-4-0: 8)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Lance Archer wins via pinfall with the EBD Claw
Time: 10:02
Match Thoughts
Great match. Lance Archer has been getting increasingly angry about losing, and he came into this match intent on proving a point. EVIL tried to stand up and trade strikes with Archer to start the match, but that ended badly for EVIL. Archer dominated large segments of this match and even added a new high flying move we haven’t seen him do in the entire G1 tour so far. Archer definitely ended his G1 on a high note, and EVIL (along with every young lion around the ring) was his unfortunate victim.
Match 6
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Bad Luck Fale (3-5-0: 6) w/ Jado, Chase Owens vs SANADA (4-4-0: 8)
(referee: Marty Asami)
Result: Bad Luck Fale wins via pinfall with a small package
Time: 10:38
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Bad Luck Fale has become a baffling part of the G1 Climax as the tournament comes to an end. He went about this match cheating as much as he has in any other match he’s had, but lately he’s been attempting to end matches with basic wrestling holds. He did that again tonight, and SANADA was just trying to say ahead of everything Fale (and Jado and Owens) was trying to do. It was a fun match that featured the glorious return of the paradise lock and a surprisingly entertaining and bonkers finish.
Match 7
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Zack Sabre Jr. (3-5-0: 6) (RPW British Heavyweight Champ) vs KENTA (4-4-0: 8)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Zack Sabre Jr. wins via submission with a Jim Breaks armbar
Time: 16:26
Match Thoughts
Great match. Sabre started this match trying to match KENTA with strikes, but for the first part of the match Sabre was just taking a beating. Sabre started to do better when he started looking for submissions, but KENTA kept drawing Sabre into striking sessions. Late in the match Sabre was able to bait KENTA with strikes and use that to get KENTA in various holds, but this match ended up being a race to see if KENTA could knock Sabre out before Sabre found the submission that would end the match.
Match 8
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Will Ospreay (3-5-0: 6) (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champ) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (4-4-0: 8)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Will Ospreay wins via pinfall after Stormbreaker
Time: 17:12
Match Thoughts
Great match! This was a huge match for Ospreay personally, and you could see how much respect he had for Tanahashi. Tanahashi looked like he had respect for Ospreay as well, so this was a great, fair fight. Tanahashi started going for Ospreay’s knee early in the match. That was a smart move that negated most of Ospreay’s kicks and slowed Ospreay down at times. Ospreay pushed through the pain as the match went on though, and he started picking up the pace with dives and quick offense. The fight was back and forth for a while, and the intensity grew as the match neared it’s exciting conclusion. With as important as this match was to Ospreay, I’m glad it was as good as it was.
Match 9
G1 Climax 29 A Block Match
Kota Ibushi (6-2-0: 12) vs Kazuchika Okada (7-1-0: 14) (IWGP Heavyweight Champ)
(referee: Red Shoes Unno)
Result: Kota Ibushi wins via pinfall after Kamigoye and wins A Block
Time: 25:07
Match Thoughts
Great match! This match was to determine the winner of A Block, but Ibushi needed to beat Okada while Okada could win with just a draw. As always, Okada seemed extremely confident going into the match. Okada took his time early in the match, and he set the pace. It was up to Ibushi to push the action forward, but Okada kept Ibushi down early in the match. Ibushi was finally able to speed things up with a bug burst of offense partway through the match, and the match would continue to build in intensity. Both men started hitting big moves early, but their biggest moves (as in, their finishers) were avoided until late in the match. Okada never really let his confidence falter, but as Ibushi piled on the offense, Okada’s actions in the ring suggested that he was having to play defense more and more as the match went on. That led to an exciting finish that was a great way to end A Block action in the G1 Climax 29.
Show Impressions
This was one of the best A Block night of the tournament. Off the top of my head, I think the opening night in Dallas might compare to it, but with the added drama of having seen everyone fight their way to night 17, I think tonight might be the best. B Block has a tough task if it wants to compete with tonight’s show.
Match of the Night
Kota Ibushi vs Kazuchika Okada
This was a night of great block matches, but there was no real question in my mind what the best match was.
Standings After Night 17
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hirooki Goto | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Jay White | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| John Moxley (IWGP US Champ) | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Tetsuya Naito (IWGP IC Champ) | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii * (NEVER Openweight Champ) | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Toru Yano * (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Champ) | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Jeff Cobb * | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Juice Robinson * | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Shingo Takagi * | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Taichi * | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
* = eliminated
Official Results (Japanese): https://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/192659?showResult=1