Pro Wrestling Report Card

New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 32, Day 2
July 17, 2022
Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center; Sapporo, Japan

The undercard

David Finlay^W, YOSHI-HASHI p. Royce Isaacs^L, Tom Lawlor (Trash Panda).

El Phantasmo^W, Bad Luck Fale p. TAKA Michinoku^L, Lance Archer (Sudden Death): Archer and TAKA: Truly a Dream Team. It was impressive how much sweat Fale was spouting after an opening test of strength. ELP’s back rake lives!

Aaron Henare^W, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay sub. Dick Togo^L, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, EVIL (Ultima): Cobb cradled Togo like a baby to assist Ospreay with an abdominal stretch — what a sight to behold.

Chase Owens^W, Jay White p. Jado^L, Tama Tonga (C-Trigger).

Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi^W, Kazuchika Okada p. BUSHI^L, SANADA, Tetsuya Naito (High Fly Flow): If I were Tanahashi, I’d skip the High Fly Flow in preview tags … but, alas, I’m not.

The report card

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi (B Block)
Result: Taichi p. Ishii (Black Mephisto).
In short: It was the type of match fans have come to expect from this pairing: hard-hitting and snug. The action was totally contained to the ring and absent of unnecessary frills.
Highlights
+ Ishii was floored by an opening palm strike. His reaction and subsequent selling was great.
+ Taichi had an interesting change in demeanor throughout the bout, evolving from distant at the beginning to fiery in the closing moments.
+ There were a handful of great back-and-forth exchanges.
Grade: B+

Toru Yano vs. JONAH (A Block)
Result: Yano d. JONAH by countout.
In short: JONAH beat Yano’s ass for most of the match. Yano pushed Bad Dude Tito into JONAH on the outside and then hit both with a low blow (right to the “nut sack” as JONAH so eloquently put it), prompting the countout.
Highlights
+ Yano drew a nice reaction from the crowd by hitting a belly-to-belly suplex on the big fella.
Lowlights
– Lose your stupid T-shirt, Yano.
– How, exactly, did the referee (Marty Asami) not see the low blow? They didn’t even bother with a distraction.
Grade: C-

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. KENTA (C Block)
Result: Sabre sub. KENTA (arm bar).
In short: This was one of the most physical ZSJ matches you could witness, especially considering he won. He’s typically been booked to drop the more rough-and-tumble exchanges in NJPW. Overall, it was an entertaining bout with a good backstory.
Highlights
+ KENTA taunted Sabre about their history in Pro Wrestling Noah and repeatedly called him a young boy. The needling provided an interesting undercurrent to the bout’s physicality.
+ Sabre discarded a kick exchange for a pair of neck cranks.
+ KENTA absolutely beat the hell out of ZSJ with strikes near the conclusion.
Lowlights
– It seemed like the designed ending got temporarily derailed when Sabre lost grip of KENTA’s left arm. He eventually got back to it.
Grade: A-

Shingo Takagi vs. Juice Robinson (D Block)
Result: Juice Robinson p. Shingo Takagi (Pulp Friction).
In short: On paper, this match looked like the launching point for Robinson’s new heel persona. And that’s how it played out as he scored a big win over a former world champion. The match itself, while not bad, left more to be desired. Robinson’s postmatch promo was dreadful.
Highlights
+ Takagi revved up for shoulder tackle, surging off the outside railing, and once again showed he makes simple things look awesome.
+ Takagi using Robinson’s old punch combination was a nice touch.
Lowlights
– They seemingly lost their place when Robinson pulled Takagi’s tights on a rollup and then knocked over Red Shoes Unno. They talked their way back on track, but something was off.
– The ending was a dud. Robinson couldn’t lift Shingo for Rockslide and went back to Pulp Friction, which he hit earlier.
Grade: B-

In conclusion

Day 2 of the G1 and the match order was once again a head-scratcher. Regardless, it was a fine opening weekend, although the best is surely to come.

Block standings

A Block
Kazuchika Okada 1-0-0 (2)
Toru Yano 1-0-0 (2)
Lance Archer 0-0-0 (0)
Tom Lawlor 0-0-0 (0)
Bad Luck Fale 0-0-0 (0)
Jeff Cobb 0-1-0 (0)
JONAH 0-1-0 (0)

B Block
Jay White 1-0-0 (2)
Taichi 1-0-0 (2)
Tama Tonga 0-0-0 (0)
Great-O-Khan 0-0-0 (0)
Chase Owens 0-0-0 (0)
SANADA 0-1-0 (0)
Tomohiro Ishii 0-1-0 (0)

C Block
Aaron Henare 1-0-0 (2)
Zack Sabre Jr. 1-0-0 (2)
Hirooki Goto 0-0-0 (0)
Tetsuya Naito 0-0-0 (0)
EVIL 0-0-0 (0)
Hiroshi Tanahashi 0-1-0 (0)
KENTA 0-1-0 (0)

D Block
Juice Robinson 1-0-0 (2)
Will Ospreay 1-0-0 (2)
David Finlay 0-0-0 (0)
YOSHI-HASHI 0-0-0 (0)
Yujiro Takahashi 0-0-0 (0)
El Phantasmo 0-1-0 (0)
Shingo Takagi 0-1-0 (0)

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