NJPW G1 Climax 32 - Day 1 & Day 2

NJPW G1 Climax 32 - Day 1 - 16/07/2022

G1 Climax 2022 Block C Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Aaron Henare

Henare started off strong, beating Tanahashi with punches to the gut, then hitting a springboard kick to the face before destroying the air guitar. The ultimate heel move. Tanahashi spent a lot of the match on the mat, selling for Henare who looked good. He wrestled a kick ass style that screams that he's a heel but in a different way to the Bullet Club members, meaning no cheating or interference. Henare's Full Nelson seemed like a good move that they tried to get over with how desperate Tanahashi was to escape it and then failed to escape later when Henare applied it. But Henare won with a Fisherman's Brainbuster for the not so surprising upset win. It was bound to happen. Good match. ***1/4

G1 Climax 2022 Block D Match: El Phantasmo vs. Will Ospreay

This wasted no time in going in the air. Ospreay hit a Sasuke Special almost immediately and Phantasmo soon followed with a dive of his own. The match is in a tricky place being heel v heel but I thought they played it like face v face. It was simple, competitive and didn't fall into the trap of their other faux epic matches. It seems that Phantasmo has finally matured into being a good wrestler. Even the closing stretch wasn't heavy with the counter heavy dancing style that New Japan can do. Phantasmo countered the Oscutter with the Back slide, which was a cool near fall but then he got caught with a Hidden Blade for the three. Good match. ***1/2

G1 Climax 2022 Block B Match: SANADA vs. Jay White

This reminded me of a really good house show match with the tone of it. It was really playful. That's the only way I can describe it. There was light comedy in the beginning of the match with Jay White stalling and SANADA offering to open the ropes for him. Then later, White kicked the ropes while SANADA was entering, leading to SANADA getting his revenge with a low blow of his own. Jay White went nuts at the referee who played up the ignorance of what went on. Plus there was heavy emphasis on crowd interaction. There was some traditional wrestling to tie it all together, such as White working on SANADA's ribs early on in the match and SANADA's knack for flash finishes, making this a fulfilling match, overall. MOTN ***1/2

G1 Climax 2022 Block A Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb

Very good main event. The match was a little too one sided with far too much of Cobb. No offence to him but the suplexes can get old after a while. Okada sold them all like a champ though, taking some wild bumps and the crowd was into the drama of the match. The closing stretch was good as well, aside from the Money Clip which always stops the crowd dead. I can't wait for the crowds to come back and still react with silence to it so Okada can get rid of the move***1/2

NJPW G1 Climax 32 - Day 2 - 17/07/2022

G1 Climax 2022 Block B Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi (w/Miho Abe)

It'll be harsh to say this is one of the feuds that I don't really get. I get their matches - Ishii tries to bring Taichi's toughness out of him - but they rarely resonate with me on any meaningful level. Taichi did seemingly rock Ishii a few times. The first time happened immediately and then a few minutes later after Taichi kicked him in the face and once more for the finish where Taichi caught Ishii with a nasty forearm to the face. If they went up with that type of match, I probably would've liked this more. But they opted for their usual match, and I've already said my feelings on that. I'm just jaded about Ishii in general I think. His matches are still good but I don't care much or get excited for them. ***

G1 Climax 2022 Block A Match: Toru Yano vs. JONAH (w/Bad Dude Tito)

This wasn’t nearly as bad as people said it was. I got a great kick out of Yano’s camp horror movie scream when he was trapped between JONAH and Tito. JONAH wasn’t any good though. He sort of lumbered around while Yano did things. Yano did suplex JONAH, which I thought was cool as well. The finish got a smile out of me also. But this didn’t really belong in this G1 with the break between matches being so big. Plus it made for an odd debut for JONAH. **1/4

G1 Climax 2022 Block C Match: KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

This was really good. Perhaps it lacked one that one thing that would’ve turned it into a MOTYC but it was the strongest match of the G1 thus far. Loved the trash talking. And KENTA can actually do it back unlike the other Japanese wrestlers, whose English is much less developed than KENTA’s, adding a little spice to the exchanges. Plus it made reference to ZSJ’s past as a NOAH Dojo trainee. Zack was immense offensively. His submission work was on point and KENTA’s injuries and flexible joints made the submission visually more effective as well. ***3/4

G1 Climax 2022 Block D Match: Shingo Takagi vs. Juice Robinson

This was certainly interesting. I definitely prefer punches to elbow strikes but the same thing I dislike about those applies to this match. The punches weren’t exactly Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee scrapping it out in the Mid-South Coliseum and they made no effort to hide that they were letting each other through them. Perhaps that was the point but that’s just stupid and would make it worse. This was supposed to be Juice’s big push and it felt too cold and unusual coming out of it. The awful finish certainly hurt but the match wasn’t up-to any standard that I expect from Shingo Takagi. **1/2