The new standard has formed in not only New Japan, but the wrestling world. In an era full of 1 fall kick outs and excessive matches is a technical masterpiece that is the culmination of over a year’s work to get the little things, like a headlock or a wristlock, over as match enders. Near 35 minutes of pure technical wrestling, where the closest they were to leaving the ring was to go on the apron, which only served for Oiwa to grasp the headlock. Uemura was unfortunately considerably less over than Oiwa, but rather than let that deter him or throw a fit, Uemura proved his worth in the ring and had Oiwa earn each and every second of offence. Uemura dominated the early match with a headlock (Oiwa’s move!), being just as keen on holding on as Oiwa is, before moving on to the arm. Oiwa then worked on the neck, getting back into it with headscissors which Uemura had to fight and scratch to escape from. And they just kept on building layers upon layers to create tension and drama. And just as I thought they were peaking, they elevated it even more with more dynamic high spots that would maybe be a regular in any other main event, but because they earned and worked for these spots, they work as they should. It proved their weight more than they did with the headlocks to be honest. And then that outstanding closing stretch with the rolling lariat nearfalls and the close misses like Uemura missing the diving crossbody. And finally when it came to the finish, they still managed to escalate the headlock where Oiwa was virtually twisting Uemura’s head and neck in a crank in order to force the submission, earning Oiwa the G1 Climax trophy in an ultimate classic. And in some ways it was pivotal to have Zack Sabre Jr watching on because it was him who was the bridge from the older New Japan style to today with his ultra flashy Submission style which conditioned fans to expect match winning holds once more. But the credit no doubt comes to Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa who stepped up, persisted with that kind of wrestling and it paid off here. *****
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