New Japan Pro Wresting returned to the U.S. at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California for the G1 Special. Just to quickly speak on the show as a whole – it was a lot better paced. There were some instances during Strong Style Evolved back in March where the card dragged. You felt every bit of that time length getting to the main event.
New Japan tells their stories and feuds often through multi-man matches. Instead of feeling like a special event, Strong Style was essentially a “Road To” show with an amazing Young Bucks vs. Golden Lovers match at the end. With the G1 Special, you can see New Japan trying to adapt a little bit to America. If you are committed to this expansion, you do not want to sacrifice what makes you unique, but rather morph that into something that will draw fans to your product.
Let’s take a look at the show:
Chase Owens, Haku, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Gedo, Rocky Romero, SHO, YOH, & YOSHI-HASHI: The novelty with this match was to see 59 year old Haku back in action. It was great to see him lock the Tonga Death Grip once again. This tag match was a show opener to showcase all the talent involved with Bullet Club getting the win.
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre, Jr.: Another tag match that you knew what you were getting. There was the Ishii/Sukuzi striking and strong style spots. It was also the sneakiness of Yano vs the submission technique of Zack Sabre Jr. A cool spot of Yano going for the low blow and ZSJ blocking it with his legs.
A little surprised that Yano got the win with the roll up, but it’s one of those tag matches at the beginning of the show. Zack Sabre Jr. went from winning the New Japan Cup to having a very good title match with Okada to just nothing. Now, he has been overseas, but hopefully we get a really strong G1 showing from him to get his momentum back.
Hangman Page & Marty Scurll vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA: Another match to highlight some talent who weren’t in a major feud for the show. A lot of people have high hopes for Hangman Page being included in the G1. Post-match, he eluded to wanting to beat Tanahashi there. I like that they were pushing some of the G1 match ups in this event. A standard tag match to showcase New Japan talent.
Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight Championship: Jeff Cobb did a great job in this match showing what he can do. Goto complemented that with being more ruthless in designating himself as the heel. I would not mind seeing a rematch of this. Both men worked really well with each other and it was one of the first matches that the crowd really got into.
EVIL & SANADA vs. Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship: This was a good rematch. I would rank their Wrestle Kingdom match slightly higher. The Young Bucks worked their style of match really well as they always do. Evil came in and handled the power end of it. There was a cool spot where Matt Jackson hit Evil with his own STO. I’m not sure if they all face each other again or if The Young Bucks look ahead to a match with K.E.S. down the road.
Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay vs. BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito: The crowd was really behind Naito at points. Despite the losses, he continues to be one of the most popular wrestlers in New Japan. The crowd also loved the Naito/Okada match up. That rivalry continues and you never know, a possible G1 final? Just like the previous tag matches before it, nothing really special to note. All these multi-man matches are just meant to show what New Japan has in terms of the roster.
Dragon Lee vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: If you have followed the Dragon Lee/Hiromu rivalry, you knew that they would have to ratchet up the violence a bit. This match started with a Dragon Lee hurricarana to the floor and went up from there. These men didn’t hold anything back, but there were a few spots like the “strikes” and “suplexes” that maybe ran a little longer than the intended effect.
Unfortunately, one of the most scary spots I’ve ever seen happened in this match. First off, I’m amazed that Hiromu even finished the match. That’s crazy in itself. Secondly, no more ‘Steenalizer.’ That move is insanely dangerous and should never be done again. Hiromu is one of the most talented wrestlers in New Japan and I really hope he’s ok.
“Switchblade” Jay White vs. Juice Robinson for IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship): This was Jay White’s best match as Switchblade to date. He really embraced the cunning heel and it helped that he was going against a great baby face in Juice Robinson. Let’s just say that Josh Barnett and Jim Ross aren’t big fans of Jay White right now, in the least bit.
If you haven’t seen Juice’s promo leading up to the G1 special, you definitely should. The finish of the match was a call back to that promo where he stated that he’s beaten the biggest names in New Japan with a roll up. With the broken hand, this was the perfect finish. Juice Robinson definitely deserved to win the U.S. Title.
Okada and Naito will have the undying rivalry, but for the G1, they should build up to Switchblade vs. Okada. Especially with this match, Jay White finally has this edge to him. Okada since losing the belt has been kinda happy-go-lucky in the limited times we’ve seen him. Kind of down, understandably. Who better to get the fire back that fellow Chaos member whose desperate after losing the US title than Switchblade?
Cody Rhodes vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship: I have to say that I felt a little disappointed with this match. It was fine. It wasn’t a bad match by all means. However, this was supposed to be the end game. There was a lot at stake.
After all, this was the accumulation of the Kenny/Cody saga. Cody scored a victory over Kenny and thus, had a legitimate argument to claim Bullet Club leadership. I was expecting something a little bit more visceral from both guys. There were some spots like the super plex off the top rope and the scary power bomb to the outside into the table that didn’t break.
The most noteworthy thing that happened in this match is what occurred after it. Guerrillas of Destiny finally made their turn and laid waste to everybody in Bullet Club. One would assume Bad Luck Fale would also be involved with the re-ignition of Bullet Club OG. Tama Tonga is the guy to watch. What they should do is make sure that he has a strong showing in the G1 tournament. Tama had a good promo before last year’s G1 and it didn’t seem like they really capitalized on it. There was a show of frustration with Kenny Omega in their match, so this has been a slow build.
I feel that the play would be to have Tama beat Kenny in their G1 match this year. From there, you can have Tama challenge Kenny for the belt either at The Fighting Spirit Unleashed on September 30th in California or King of Pro Wrestling in October. Either way, this Bullet Club story has to reach a conclusion. You can’t let this story line linger into Wrestle Kingdom 13. Unless, you have G.O.D. vs The Young Bucks for the Heavyweight tag titles.
The major thing that New Japan has going for it going into the start of the G1 this weekend is that the field is so wide open. I still think the match to make is Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom. Kenny has never beaten Kota in a singles match. Kota has made comments about wanting a title of his own. Besides that, it’s anybody’s field.
