G1 Climax MVP's

Hi guys,

This year's G1 has been so epic and it makes me wonder why it took me so long to find NJPW, but hey ho! I know I've touched upon how amazing the tournament matches were and how awesome the competitors were. But, throughout the 5 weeks, there have been a few of the wrestlers who really stood out for me and are my MVP's.

Before I get into my list, there are some honourable mentions that I have to put in who, even though they weren't actually part of the G1, were out there every night and putting on great tag matches. Firstly, honourable mentions for Shota Umino and Roppongi 3k because Rocky has been immense on commentary and Shota, Sho and Yoh have competed at every event. I can't forget my boys David Finlay and Toa Henare who tried to bring the people the C Block (sighs of sadness) and Chase Owen's tagging with both Hangman and Kenny in some great matches - all three have to be part of next years G1! Now onto my main list:

1. Adam 'Hangman' Page
I've been a massive fan of Adam Page for ages and a lot of haters are always saying he was the weak link of Bullet Club - well the G1 proved them wrong! I have to say that, for me, Page probably had some of my favourite matches! He started on a rocky ground having only one win through a DQ against Fale and then his failed attempts to prove his legitimacy with a real win . BUT, this didn't stop him having awesome matches with Okada and Tanahashi by pushing them to their limit! He managed to get the real Rainmaker back and break his losing streak and even Tana had to say that Page was too good for Bullet Club! Even though I don't agree with Tana because he's great in BC, I agree that he's mega talented! I love Hangman's style of pure strength by flinging big men like they were bags of sugar as well as being so agile - I mean there wasn't a shooting star press that Page did that didn't make scream with happiness! Even though he didn't get as many wins as he probably wanted, with one of his wins including beating Suzuki, Ican't wait to see Page grow even more and show the world that he deserves to main event NJPW shows and is an amazing wrestler!

2. Kota Ibushi

I definitely know that Kota Ibushi will be on the list for everyone's G1 MVP's because, by god, this guy is unbelievable. As well as being part of one of the biggest G1 storylines, he's also had some amazing matches. We had that amazing and quick paced Sanada match and the Ishii match where Ibushi seemed superhuman! We've had moonsaults off balconies, chops galore and THAT Kenny match which was 6 years in the making. I was worried that the hype would be too much or that the BC OG's would ruin it, but luckily it was a match that had me on the edge of my seat and one where I honestly couldn't have bet on the winner (although I did think Kenny had the upperhand). All of Kota's hard work got him to the final and, even though he lost, he proved himself to be one of the top NJPW stars and hopefully he'll be full time with New Japan.

3. Sanada
I always knew that Sanada was amazing, you know like that who silent bud deadly thing he has going on. But, this G1 really showed me what Sanada can do a! I think my favourite had to be his match against Ibushi on Day 8 because it was high flying, high risk and quick pace - so basically everything I love! I think the biggest thing was how surprised everyone was when Sanada actually won *which was what I wanted to happen*, because we all thought Ibushi was going to wipe the floor with my LIJ boy. Speaking about LIJ, the story telling throughout the entire G1 with the tension between Sanada and Naito was so pure and raw. It carried on all the way to their match and, after Naito beat Sanada, it all came to an end but in a proper natural way! I also can't forget one of the best parts of the G1: that Yano match! I've never really thought about putting humour and Sanada in the same sentence! After Yano tried to put Sanada in a paradise lock, Sanada got his own back until Rocky Romero interfeared which meant that Romero was put in his own Paradise Lock - it was just pure humour. So, overall, Sanada has shown how good he is and that he isn't just EVIL's partner!

4. Jay White
I was so excited to see the Switchblade's character development after his loss to Juice Robinson because I didn't know whether we'd see a losing streak like Okada. Luckily, it was the complete opposite and Jay really just smashed most of his matches and was on this crazy vendetta to save Chaos! We saw his statement on the first night by defeating Okada and then Tanahashi. I have to put a special shout out to his match against Okada which was probably one of my favourie matches of the G1 with it's rough and quite brutal nature along with awesome storytelling e.g. mad Okada and his balloons v Switchblade who needs to prove a point. But, it went further than just the singles matches. This need to make Chaos his faction was played perfectly throughout the tournament, especially within the tag matches he did with Yoh, and I feel like it could be a storyline that really matters in the future and impacts the route that NJPW's going to take in future tours! Even though Jay's tournament will probably be defined by chairs and low blows, it was the only way I could imagine Jay getting through the tournament! He's still one of my favourite ever wrestlers and this G1 proved why!

So, that was a list of my G1 MVP's and I know it'll be really different to everyone else's (who probably have Ishii, Omega, Naito, Tanahashi etc) but it'd be boring if we were all the same. Even though so many wrestlers did better than these guys, for me, these were the guys I wanted to see and, especially in the case of Hangman, the people who've grown so much!

Will I ever get over my post-G1 blues? Or will I keep blogging about them until NJPW starts again in September - I guess you'll all have to wait and see.

Until Next Time

Bye!