For the final time, let's play that G1 Climax 28 theme....
Well, it's been almost 10 days since the end of the G1 Climax 28 (as of this writing). I've given myself some time to mull over the tournament as a whole and come up with some unbiased thoughts on it. So, in this, you will find my best of the tournament and my worst of the tournament as well as my overall thoughts on the tournament.
Best Performers
5. Tetsuya Naito- Naito had a really solid tournament. Match to match, Naito was definitely solid in the performances he had. However, I don't believe he had a match that truly stood out from the rest of the people on this list. Still, he makes the Top 5. After all, he is Tetsuya Naito.
4. Kenny Omega- The Best Bout Machine had a few amazing bouts in this tournament, but he wasn't even the best performer in his block. His matches with Ishii, Naito, and Ibushi were among my favorites of the tournament.
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi- The Ace proved that he still had it again especially towards the end of the tournament in my opinion with solid to great matches against Suzuki, Elgin, Okada, and Ibushi in the finals.
2. Kota Ibushi- Ibushi's performances throughout the entire G1 tournament should have won over NJPW management as far as going All In (you're welcome) on this guy. Besides the Toru Yano and Tama Tonga fiascos, I enjoyed every other match in this G1 that Ibushi was a part of.
1. Tomohiro Ishii (Tournament MVP)- But... there was one man who one-upped Ibushi in this tournament as far as match-to-match excellence. The reason I'm giving this to Ishii is because he may have flown under the radar due to his style of wrestling. But his ability to captivate the audience in his own unique way along with having a fun match with Toru Yano propel Ishii to the forefront for me as the best performer of this tournament with Ibushi slightly in 2nd place.
Worst Performers
5. Togi Makabe- Makabe didn't exactly do terrible in this tournament. But he didn't exactly stand out either. For that reason, he's at this level for me.
4. Toru Yano- It's Toru Yano. He's always going to be on this list. I get that Yano has a place in this company. But his matches were often the worst on his block.
3. YOSHI-HASHI- Uninspiring. Jobber. Period.
2. Tama Tonga- Big Shock. I am not even going to glorify this with an explanation. If you watched the G1, you know why he's here and why #1 is #1.
1. Bad Luck Fale- 3-6. 6 DQs. No change in the style of match. Yeah. I like Bad Luck Fale, but this tournament really annoyed me. And he didn't exactly do much to win me over any more. The Tongans hurt this tournament and not in a "doing your job" way.
Best Matches of the Tournament
5. Naito vs. Omega, Night 2
4. Tanahashi vs. Okada, Night 18
3. Ishii vs. Ibushi, Night, Night 10
2. Tanahashi vs. Ibushi, Night 19
1. Ishii vs. Omega, Night 14
Worst Matches
5. Bad Luck Fale vs. Minoru Suzuki
4. Bad Luck Fale vs. YOSHI-HASHI
3. Toru Yano vs. Kota Ibushi
2. Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe
1. Tama Tonga vs. Toru Yano
Why would I give you the nights for these shows? I'm not endorsing their viewing!
Best Night of Action- B Block- Night 14
- This was the show in which Ishii and Omega tore the house down and created magic. It was also the night that Naito and Ibushi were able to follow that up with another great match that somehow misses the countdown here. Add to that a funny Sanada vs. Yano match, a decent enough Goto vs. Tonga match (by Tongan standards anyways), and an excellent match between Juice and Zack Sabre Jr. It was the best of what was an overall excellent block of wrestling.
Worst Night of the Tournament- A Block - Night 7
- From the review: "This seemed to be a show just about getting matches done and out of the way. It was a house show in the middle of the tournament. The only notable thing that happened was that YOSHI-HASHI got on the board. Otherwise, this was a skippable show."
Overall Tournament Pros and Cons
Pros
+ Commentary- I felt that the English Commentary Team was excellent throughout this tournament. Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero, and Chris Charlton made a really good three-man team throughout the tournament. (Check out Charlton's books Lion's Pride and Eggshells, a book I'm still needing to read myself). If Callis decides he's too busy with Impact to continue doing commentary for New Japan, this team would make a great new team for the company to use.
+ Memorable Big Matches (B Block)- B Block was incredible this year for the sheer number of memorable big matches that were thrown our way throughout. Despite having our Yano and Tonga matches, there were usually 1-2 matches in the block that delivered B+/A- performances.
+ Storytelling- The G1 did an excellent job telling multiple stories at many times and making the matches mean something (even if they were Tongan garbage as I'll complain about again in the CONS). Omega was the champion trying to stay atop the mountain he just climbed on. Juice was nursing a bad left hand the entire tournament. Sanada and Naito were tense around each other before their match. Tanahashi was trying to prove he was still The Ace. And Suzuki... well, Suzuki just wanted to torture everyone he wrestled.
Cons
- Tongan Shenanigans- Do I really need to write more? The story didn't work. The execution didn't work. The wrestlers became boring and shoehorned into stereotypes where we all just knew to wait for a Tongan to interfere.
- Jobber Talent Taking Up Spots- While I understand that you need talent to basically be enhancement talent to your bigger stars, I don't think that having talent that has no shot of getting a world title opportunity (YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Tama Tonga, Togi Makabe) enhances the prestige of the tournament you are creating. Idea for next year: 2 of these wrestlers should be replaced by other talent on the roster like a Jeff Cobb or Marty Scurll.
- Start Earlier in July- Ok. This one is just a personal one. But for my own personal schedule, I'd like the G1 to literally take the month of July. Forget August: Let's just make it a July event and be done with it by August 1-2 at the latest. Again, this isn't counting as a con: It's just me venting.
3-2. The tournament wins as far as being successful in my opinion. I still think that the previous G1 was better overall. I think for this year, the weaker A Block along with the Tongans just dragged down the entire perception of the tournament. But I will also say that the B Block was the better of the 4 blocks of wrestling I've seen in the 2 years I've been watching the G1. In fact, if you are going to watch the G1, I'd watch the whole B Block, the first and last A Block shows, and the G1 finals match of Tanahashi vs. Ibushi (skip the rest of the show beforehand).
_ _ _ _
Well, that's going to be it for my G1 coverage finally. If I'm still blogging next year and still kicking, I will be covering the G1 Climax 29 next summer. Until then, we only have a ton of wrestling to go through.
Until next time, take care of each other. Spread some awesomeness.
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