My favourite G1 matches so far

Hi guys,

We're just over halfway through the hottest tournament of the Summer and, by looking at some of the matches so far, it's crazy to think we're only this far in. 

Normally I wait until the end of a NJPW tournament to write my favourite matches. However, with the calibre so high and so many amazing matches already, it would be rude of me not to do one already! (This will be all matches from the start to 24 July).

Lance Archer v Hiroshi Tanahashi
After the tournament, I'll do my usual MVPs of the G1 but this match will probably show one of the names on that list. After dropping matches to Kenta and Okada, Tanahashi had a lot to prove in the G1, especially as the reigning tournament winner. However, Lance Archer wasn't going to make this easy for the Ace of the Universe. Although Tanahashi picked up the win, I don't think that's the main thing to take away from this match - it's Lance Archer. His first G1 in 5 years, Archer has come back even stronger since becoming a singles wrestler and has been dominating matches. This was no different and he really put the Ace to the test with his amazing mix of agility and strength. What was so funny was that this was in Korakuen Hall, the crowd was split for most of the match and we even had parts where the crowd were firmly behind Archer. This doesn't lessen his presence as a top heel, but is rather testament to how amazing he was against their beloved Tanahashi. Both men worked so well together and it just seemed effortless - give me more!'

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Visual representation of what’s going to happen all night at Korakuen Hall during tonight’s @njpw1972 @njpwglobal #g1climax LIVE on @njpwworld_official to @hiroshi_tanahashi ! #everybodydies

A post shared by Lance Hoyt/Archer (@lance_hoyt) on Jul 19, 2019 at 5:18pm PDT

Zack Sabre Jr v SANADA
The start of the G1 in America was amazing with some great matches and storytelling. However, this match had to be my favourite of the night. The two of them are both so quick, but in completely different ways. On one side, you've got Cold Skull who is pure athleticism and runs across that room like a Jr and then there's ZSJ who can transition and smoothly into any submission hold. The match managed to perfectly blend the two wrestlers styles effortlessly and it almost seemed as if both guys were trying to play mind games with the other. We had both countering each other showing their familiarity, but also taking time out to mess with their opponents head. Surprisingly, SANADA picked up the win and I wasn't even upset for several reasons: SANADA is one of my favourite wrestlers, it was an amazing match and Zack Sabre Jr is just pure magic to watch in the ring. Although both sit very low down on the ranks, they both always put on amazing matches.


Tetsuya Naito v Toru Yano
I mean, if you've seen this match, you will definitely know why this is one of my favourite matches and it barely lasted 3 minutes. What people sometimes forget is, even though NJPW is so amazing with fantastic matches, its main focus is to entertain the crowds. This is the perfect example of that with Yano playing his usual games. Naito tried his best to combat this 'sneaky style' of Yano in every way possible by staying Tranquilo, but of course it didn't work. We had turnbuckles, roll ups and low blows. In the end, not even Naito could stop Yano on his craziness and ended up losing in probably one of the shortest matches this year. It was not a technical showing, but it was so funny and I had tears streaming down my face throughout. It was also proof that Yano was going to be a game changer and can play upset for the rest of the tournament.

EVIL v SANADA
This was always going to be one of the best matches, but it was always going to be hard to live up to the hype and build up in the last tour. We came into this match with a bit of friction between the LIJ tag team partners and it seemed as if EVIL was really taking this match seriously, and even the tag team preview was tense with both men trying to get the upper hand. In the end, it really lived up to the potential from the word go. We had a perfect combination of SANADA’s athleticism and EVIL’s brutal strength and it was counter after counter all the way throughout. Some of the best bits was EVIL locking SANADA in his own version of the Paradise Lock and SANADA using Everything Is Evil. It showed not only how amazing the two guys were as single wrestlers, but also this connection the two have whether teaming or competing. It was also really funny seeing how conflicted Milano was with his EVIL towel and SANADA t-shirt. In the end, EVIL got the one and everything in the LIJ camp seemed to all be fine with both men going for the Los Ingobernables hand signal. I would happily watch the two of these fight again and again, but I think I prefer them teaming.



Will Ospreay v Kazuchika Okada
How could I forget this match? Going into the tournament, a lot of people were excited for another meeting between Ospreay and Okada who are their respective divisions champion. It was obviously even better because both are from Chaos and despite this, they both put their hearts into the match not taking the other lightly in any way. Even with Ospreay's dodgy neck, Okada was doing his job and targeting it as if Will was just any other opponent. Because they knew each other so well, they were countering each other like there was no tomorrow, including a beautiful rainmaker into Spanish fly, and it was a combination of athleticism and strength from both wrestlers. We saw some amazing offence from both guys including rainmakers, Oscutters and drop kicks. Even though Okada got the win, this was probably the closest the Aerial Assassin has been to beating the Rainmaker and I'd happily watch these two fight again and again.


Taichi v Shingo Takagi
Going into this match, I don’t think anyone had any huge expectations from it. I know people expected it to be good, because Shingo is such a talented wrestler and Taichi always puts on some sort of spectacle, but even I was impressed. Taichi went into this match with a good few wins under his belt, especially against Naito, and he seemed to be as cocky as ever against Shingo who wasn’t on the same winning streak as in the BOSJ. This match was the perfect example of how two wrestlers can get in the ring and create magic. The holy emperor Taichi tried his bag of tricks, but Shingo was ahead of the game and learnt from Naito’s mistakes. It may have not been the most beautiful and athletic match, but it was hard hitting and fast paced which is just as good. Shingo picked up the win with the Last of the Dragon after a nail biting match, and it really shows that Shingo can hold it with the heavyweights.

Obviously this wasn’t the only amazing matches, but these are the ones that stood out. Special shout out to Kota Ibushi’s match with SANADA, Ospreay v Ibushi and literally every Yano match possible.

So, what does everyone think about the matches so far and what are your favourites, any that I've missed off the list?

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Until next time,

Bye