What's up everyone? With the G1 Climax now just over halfway done and with each block having 5 nights each, I decided to go ahead and throw together a G1 Halftime Report for you. Sorry. No scantily clad cheerleaders, overblown lipsyncing from musical artists, or Terry Bradshaw's bald head to entertain you. Don't leave!!! Lol. I'm going to do the best I can to give you a status report on what's happened thus far, my picks for best matches and wrestlers thus far in each block of the tournament, and the top matches I am looking forward to in the next 2 weeks.
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A Block
A Block Standings (After Night 9)
EVIL (8 Points)
Hiroshi Tanahashi (8 Points)
Jay White (6 points)
Minoru Suzuki (6 points)
Kazuchika Okada (6 points)
Bad Luck Fale (4 points)
Michael Elgin (4 points)
Togi Makabe (4 points)
Hangman Page (2 points)
YOSHI-HASHI (2 points)
Thoughts on A Block:
1) I am surprised Okada is not tied for first at this point. A couple months ago, he was the longest reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history. Now he's lost to both Jay White AND Bad Luck Fale? I didn't see that coming. Granted, Okada has a good chance of winning this block still. But his journey has been an interesting one. Future matches still left for him include Elgin, Evil, Suzuki, and Tanahashi.
2) Jay White beating Okada and Tanahashi was very surprising. He became made in this tournament already despite whatever outcome happens. If Okada wins, he might get the shot at the G1 Climax contract after the tournament.
3) Hangman Page only has 2 points, which is another surprise to me. I had Page doing a lot better at this point. But he's done a great job in many of his matches and has looked great as a result. I get that he's an ROH guy, but New Japan seems to like the dude too.
3 Best Matches in A Block
1) Suzuki vs. Tanahashi- I loved this match on the opening night. It was so simple with Tanahashi's knee being the major focus of Suzuki. The drama was so well done that it didn't matter that a leg hold dominated a large portion of the match. The audience was hooked just like Tanahashi's leg.
2) White vs. Tanahashi
3) White vs. Okada
I'm going to lump these two together as they were very close on the grade scale and even the makeup of the match in general. Both matches did a great job in making Jay White look credible without going out of their way to make either Okada or Tanahashi look bad. Both men looked like they were going to win and worked their normal match. It was White who stepped up to the plate with his newfound aggression, taking it to both Okada and Tanahashi, and breaking every rule in the book in order to win by any means necessary. This also leads ironically to my A Block MVP thus far...
A Block MVP- Jay White
The 25 year old has come into his own during this tournament. It's funny: New Japan threw him at Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom, and it didn't work. They had White then beat Omega for the U.S. Championship. That didn't work for him. But the month before the G1 working with Juice Robinson and having that great match at San Francisco helped White find his character finally. The result has been White becoming a star in this tournament through his performances night in and night out. I gave White the nod over Tanahashi because I didn't expect it from White like I do every time for The Ace.
3 Matches to Watch Out For
1) Suzuki vs. EVIL- Not because it has any bearing on the A Block Results but just because it's going to be a physical brawl. Chairs will be broken. Young Boys will be hurt. And something tells me pain will be dished out.
2) Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL- EVIL makes the list again because he beat Okada in the previous year's G1. This is also very late in the A Block and will help determine who wins it.
3) Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi- Do I need to say more? This is going to main event the A Block. It's going to determine in all likelihood who wins the block and moves on to face the winner of B Block. And... Oh Yeah. This just happens to be one of the biggest feuds in wrestling history. I predicted an upset victory for The Ace to get one of his wins back, and I'm holding to that prediction.
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B Block
B Block Standings (After Night 10)
Kenny Omega (10 Points)
Tetsuya Naito (8 Points)
Zack Sabre Jr. (6 points)
Sanada (6 Points)
Kota Ibushi (6 Points)
Ishii (4 Points)
Hirooki Goto (4 Points)
Tama Tonga (2 Points)
Toru Yano (2 Points)
Juice Robinson (2 points)
Thoughts on B Block Thus Far
1) The B Block has been the best block of the tournament by a wide margin as show to show, there have been at least 2-3 very good matches. Night 8 was probably my favorite night overall of the tournament as so many of the matches were good to great that night. All this made my choices for the best matches of B Block (included below) all the more difficult. It's as if these guys are literally telling each other "Top that" after they come back through the curtain. (They may be.)
2) Ishii is still the most underrated wrestler in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but his tournament matches have been excellent thus far. I would like to see Ishii get a bigger push coming out of this whole thing into a singles championship as he's shown how awesome he truly is.
3) Sanada has also had a breakout tournament as well. The matches with Ibushi, Omega, and Sabre Jr. were all excellent. I know people are down on him because they feel he lacks charisma. For me, he has enough mystery about him that he doesn't need to have all the charisma in the world. He may add more to his gimmick later on to grab that charisma factor. Naito is the leader of LIJ, but with Sanada and EVIL on the rise in New Japan, he may have two more competitors to deal with (more on this later).
Top 3 Best Matches of B Block
1) Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii- This is the only A+ match I have on the tournament, and it earned its praise of being the best G1 Climax match so far this year. Back and forth action with both men hitting insane moves on each other: Ibushi using his aerial abilities to help off balance Ishii's brute power and toughness. Ibushi showing an aggressive streak in taking Ishii's best moves and come back at him. Ishii again proving to be able to take insane hits, sell his butt off to make his opponent look great, and take any loss without losing any mm of credibility.
2) Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito- Incredible match between Omega and Naito on Night One of this tournament. Anytime you get Omega vs. Naito, magic happens. This was no different. It set the pace for the rest of the tournament for both men: Naito playing catch-up, and Omega having the edge over the rest of the field and never looking back (as of yet).
3) Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.- Another great match in this tournament featuring Kota Ibushi, this time with Zack Sabre Jr. What can I say? This was another A level match I had on this block, but if you look at any of the honorable mentions, they could have easily been in this position.
Honorable Mentions: Sanada vs. Kota Ibushi, Goto vs. Ishii, Sanada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
B Block MVP: Tomohiro Ishii. I could have easily gone with Kota Ibushi, but the Ibushi match vs. Toru Yano dropped him to second place. For me, Ishii has been the most consistent wrestler in this block thus far having consistently entertaining matches with his opponents, including a good one with Yano. He's not going to top a lot of lists of wrestlers on this list as Omega, Naito, Ibushi, and Zack Sabre Jr. will likely get the most attention. But for my money, Ishii is the consistent guy you can count on in big time matches. He's not flashy. But he knows how to get you invested in what he's doing. So, I'm giving the nod to the Stone Pitbull.
3 B Block Matches to Look Forward To
1) Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kenny Omega- I think this is where Omega might fall for the first loss. Sabre has a style of wrestling that can mesh well with Omega's, and I believe Sabre is the kind of guy New Japan would give this win to in order to build towards an October King of Pro Wrestling-event match. Either way, this should be a FUN match to watch.
2) Sanada vs. Tetsuya Naito- This is another can't miss match as Los Ingobernables de Japon implodes here. Naito is still two points behind Omega at this point. Who knows what it will be by the time Sanada and Naito face off? Naito needs the points desperately to stay in the conversation. But Sanada may be in the same position. And it would be legendary if it were Sanada who beat his leader in LIJ, Naito, and cost him the world championship opportunity. Would Naito accept the loss? He's defeated his LIJ stablemates before, but he's never lost to them to my memory. If Sanada does this and costs Naito the G1, it could lead to a plethora of storyline possibilities for the short and long term.
3) Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi- The Golden Lovers will implode in the last night of the G1. This could be very important for a LOT of reasons. They are both storyline best friends, but they are also very high in the B Block. Both will likely be wrestling to outright win it, but Naito could be in a position to benefit from a tie of any sort. Omega winning would put him in the G1 Finals for a 3rd straight year, a record. Meanwhile, Ibushi could finally rise to the main event level by beating his best friend and winning the G1 Final. Therefore, he'd get the shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (currently held by Omega) at Wrestle Kingdom. Then again, if Omega wins the G1, he gets to choose his opponent for Wrestle Kingdom. And who's to say it won't be Ibushi anyways? Either way, this is a can't miss match that will likely break Meltzer's 5 star system again.
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Overall Nights
Best Night of G1 Action: B Block Night 8. As I said earlier, it was the best match for match show of the entire tournament from a block perspective (not including the insignificant tag team matches).
Worst Night of G1 Action: A Block Night 7. As I said earlier, it was average in the worst possible way. It didn't feel like a tournament show. It felt more like a house show. It's not one I would recommend for anyone to watch in the future.
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I hope you've enjoyed this impromptu look at the G1 up to this point. Monday starts the 2nd half of the tournament action, including the finals on August 12th.
What have you liked about the G1? If you haven't watched it, what was your favorite moment of any of the blogs I've posted covering this? I'll take any stroking of my ego at this point. Lol. In all seriousness, I hope you've found something to enjoy in the coverage, and I will continue to do more as we finish this monster of a tournament up.
For now, take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.
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