By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax Tournament Night 9”
July 31, 2022 in Aichi, Japan at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
Streamed live on New Japan World
This is a 28-man round-robin tournament, which is spread out over 20 shows held in a 33-day span. There are four blocks, each comprised of seven wrestlers. Thus, each competitor has six tournament matches. The first eight nights had four tournament matches per show, but we have fight on this card.
Kevin Kelly provided commentary from ringside. He said Tom Lawlor would join him for the block matches.
1. El Phantasmo, Yujiro Takahashi, Kenta, and Sho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, and Ryohei Oiwa at 8:24. All eight brawled at the bell. Sho choked Tanahashi with a hankerchef. Got hit a spin kick in the corner on Kenta at 5:00. Kenta came back with a powerslam. Oiwa tagged in and applied a Boston Crab on Sho. However, Sho applied a cross-armbreaker, and Oiwa tapped out.
2. Jonah and Bad Dude Tito defeated Tom Lawlor and Royce Isaacs at 10:00. Lawlor opened with Tito. Jonah got in at 4:00 and worked over Royce. Isaacs hit a stunner out of the ropes on Jonah. Lawlor made the hot tag and unloaded some chops and strikes on Jonah. Royce nailed a Saito Suplex on Jonah at 9:00. Tito dove to the ropes on Lawlor. Jonah nailed a standing powerbomb on Isaacs for the pin.
3. Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare, and Will Ospreay defeated David Finlay, Jado, and Tama Tonga at 7:36. Finlay and Ospreay immediately traded blows; Finlay has the stolen US title that belongs to Ospreay. The UE worked over Finlay. Tama hit a Stinger Splash on O-Khan for a nearfall at 5:00. Ospreay hit a plancha on Finlay. In the ring, Henare dropped Jado with a punch to the gut, then he applied the Full Nelson, and Jado tapped out. Ospreay and Finlay continued to jaw after the match, and they grabbed each other’s hair.
4. Bushi, Sanada, and Shingo Takagi defeated Taka Michinoku, Taich, and Zack Sabre Jr. at 8:15. Sabre yelled at the camera that his “arm was under the bottom rope,” still angry about his loss a day earlier against Tanahashi. Sanada and Taichi opened with an intense lockup. Bushi tagged in and traded blows with Taka. Shingo entered at 5:00 and brawled with Sabre, with Sabre hitting some European Uppercuts. Taka couldn’t pick up Shingo for a bodyslam. Shingo nailed the Pumping Bomber clothesline to pin Taka. Sabre ran over to the commentary booth to complain some more to Kelly about how his arm was under the ropes and he shouldn’t have lost a day ago.
* Intermission and Tom Lawlor joined the commentary booth.
5. Jeff Cobb (4) defeated Lance Archer (2) in an A Block match at 11:38. Quick reversals early, with Archer hitting a dropkick that sent Cobb to the floor, as these two acted like cruiserweights. Archer hit a flip dive off the apron to the floor. Archer then slammed Cobb onto the ring apron at 2:30. Archer did the old school tightrope walk, but Cobb yanked him off the rope and hit the Spin Cycle suplex. Cobb stood on Archer’s chest and did the surfing motion.
Cobb caught Archer in his arms, but Archer turned it into a tornado DDT at 5:00. Cobb hit his standing moonsault for a nearfall. Cobb couldn’t hit the Tour of the Islands. Archer nailed the Black Hole Slam for a nearfall at 7:30. Archer hit a chokeslam for a believable nearfall. Archer nailed a running knee strike to the jaw in the corner at 10:30, and he went for Blackout, but Cobb escaped and hit a German Suplex. He hit two more German suplexes, then the Tour of the Islands swinging powerslam for the pin. Really, really good big man match.
6. Yoshi-Hoshi (2) defeated Juice Robinson (2) in a D Block match at 12:15. Juice attacked at the bell. Lawlor said, “How can he be mad, raking in all that Onlyfan money,” referencing Juice’s wife, Toni Storm. Funny, and I’m sure most fans didn’t catch what he was saying. Juice hit a piledriver for a nearfall at 2:00, and he’s jawing at the referee. Lawlor is really good here on commentary, talking about how Juice is so angry about not only losing to David Finlay, but having Finlay take the U.S. title, too. They brawled on the floor, but Yoshi-Hoshi flipped Juice into the ring post, and Juice barely got back in the ring before being counted out at 4:00.
Yoshi-Hoshi unloaded numerous chops in the corner. Yoshi nailed a flying forearm at 7:00, then a top-rope Blockbuster for a nearfall. Juice got a rollup with a handful of tights, so the ref stopped the count. Juice and the ref exchanged shoves. Yoshi hit a Lungblower to the back at 10:00. Juice nailed the Left Hand of God punch, but he couldn’t hit Pulp Friction/Unprettier. Yoshi hit a Dragon Suplex and was fired up. Yoshi-Hoshi then hit Karma/pump-handle sit-out powerbomb for the clean pin. Good match.
7. Jay White (w/Gedo) (6) defeated Chase Owens (2) in a B Block match at 13:11. Over the past two shows, it was made clear that everyone in Bullet Club expects Owens to just lie down and get pinned, so let’s see how this plays out. They did the “Too Sweet” hand motion, and White handed Owens a thick envelope. When Chase went to open it, White said “no, just trust me,” and instead the package was given to a ringside attendant. Owens was going to lie down, but instead rolled to ringside to check the envelope. There were two real bills in there, but a lot of blank paper. White got angry and claimed the ringside attendant must have taken it. This is funny. White ran up behind Owens and tried to hit the Blade Runner, but Owens avoided it.
White atacked him. Owens hit a knee strike to the jaw for a believable nearfall at 4:00, and they brawled to ringside. “Where’s my money!” Owens shouted, before ramming White into a guardrail. Owens set up for a package piledriver on the floor, but Gedo convinced him not to do it. In the ring, they traded rollups. White hit a DDT. Owens hit a superkick at 8:30. He again set up for a package piledriver, but Gedo again stopped him. White nailed a Flatliner at 10:00, then a Rock Bottom uranage for a nearfall. Owens set up for a Package Piledriver, but instead he nailed a Styles Clash for a massive pop, and he got a nearfall. Owens nailed a C-Trigger running knee, and he again set up for the Package Piledriver, but White escaped, hit the Blade Runner swinging faceplant, and scored the pin. Entertaining.
8. Kazuchika Okada (6) defeated Bad Luck Fale (4) in an A Block match at 11:53. Okada tried shoulder tackles, but Fale didnt’ budge. Fale hit a high backbody drop, with Okada getting some real air time, and Okada rolled to the floor in pain. Fale gave him the Tongan Massage Parlor, standing on Okada’s back at 2:30. Fale applied a bearhug and remained in charge. Okada hit a basement dropkick at 5:30, then he hit a bodyslam, but he sold a back injury from doing the move. Okada immediately applied a Money Clip sleeper hold on the mat.
They went to the floor, with Fale whipping Okada into the guardrail. Okada nailed a DDT onto the thin mat, and they were both down at 8:00. In the ring, Okada was able to pick him up and hit a neckbreaker over his knee. Okada hit a top-rope elbow drop, but he couldn’t hit the Rainmaker; Fale hit a Samoan Drop, and they were both down. Fale nailed a spear for a nearfall at 10:00. Okada hit his dropkick to the jaw. Fale hit the Grenade chokeslam move for a believable nearfall. He set up for the Bad Luck Fall/Razor’s Edge, but Okada escaped and applied a Moneyclip, and this time, Fale tapped out. Okada, like Jay White, remains perfect at 3-0.
9. Tetsuya Naito (2) defeated EVIL (w/Dick Togo) (2) in a C Block match at 25:01. EVIL attacked before Naito got his jacket off, and they immediately brawled to the floor. In the ring, EVIL removed a corner pad, and Naito slammed his back into the exposed corner. Back on the floor, EVIL slammed Naito into the guardrails. EVIL put a chair over Naito’s head and hit it with another chair at 4:00, and Naito rolled back in at the 18-count. Naito hit a basement dropkick, then a slingshot dropkick in the corner at 7:30. Naito set up for a standing neckbreaker, but EVIL escaped and bailed to the floor. Naito nailed a folded chair to EVIL’s gut on the floor, and he did the same move from earlier, placing a chair on EVIL’s head, and hitting it with another chair.
In the ring, EVIL applied a Sharpshooter, but Naito reached the ropes at 12:00. EVIL hit Darkness Falls/modified DVD for a nearfall. EVIL clotheslined Naito off the top turnbuckle, and Naito tumbled to the floor. Togo set up a table on the floor at 15:00. Naito shoved EVIL into Togo as they brawled on the floor, then he threw EVIL into, and over, the railing. In the ring, Naito was now in control, and he hit a running Destino flipping faceplant for a nearfall at 18:00, then an enzuigiri. The ref got bumped, and EVIL hit a low blow. However, Naito kicked at the ropes to crotch EVIL as well.
In an awesome spot, Naito hit a piledriver, jumping off the ring apron and through the table at ringside at 20:30, and they were both down on the ground. In the ring, Naito hit his modified Blockbuster. However, EVIL shoved Naito into that exposed corner, and they were both down again at 23:00. EVIL hit a hard clothesline for a believable nearfall. Naito fired back with a flying forearm, then a tornado DDT, launching himself off of Togo’s chest. Naito then nailed the Destino in the middle of the ring for the clean pin.
* Naito spoke on the mic. Lawlor tried to help interpret, but he wasn’t nearly as funny as El Phantasmo was a day earlier.
Final Thoughts: A really good main event, but no one thought Naito would start 0-3, so that took away from a lot of the drama here. I actually liked the shorter Cobb-Archer and Yoshi-Juice matches more. The White-Owens stuff was fun and funny. Lawlor was a wonderful choice to join the booth. He was knowledgeable and engaged, but wasn’t as heelish as ELP was.
I was really happy to see the switch to five tournament matches, and that will continue as the tournament goes on. I have stated before that wrestlers should just have a full recovery day rather than compete in the undercard tag matches, and not even travel to some of these cities if they don’t have a tournament match. The show clocked in at about three hours. The tournament now takes a day off before resuming on Tuesday.
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