New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 32, Day 5
July 24, 2022
Ota City General Gymnasium; Ota City, Tokyo, Japan
The undercard
YOSHI-HASHI, Toru YanoW, Hirooki Goto p. Dick TogoL, SHO, EVIL (low blow): House of Torture put the boots to a turnbuckle pad as Yano watched in horror.
Chase OwensW, KENTA p. Royce IsaacsL, Tom Lawlor (Package Piledriver).
Bad Dude Tito, JONAHW p. BUSHIL, Shingo Takagi: BUSHI was truly living that inglorious life of a junior heavyweight on the G1 tour.
Aaron HenareW, Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay sub. TAKA MichinokuL, Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer (Ultima): Archer and O-Khan had a braid fight, which is rare when Bianca Belair isn’t on the card.
David Finlay, Tama TongaW, Kazuchika Okada p. GedoL, Juice Robinson, Jay White (Gun Stun).
The report card
El Phantasmo vs. Yujiro Takahashi (D Block)
Result: Phantasmo p. Takahashi (Thunder Kiss ’86)
In short: As Kevin Kelly mentioned on commentary, there was a stark difference between the pace of the offense when Yujiro was in control compared to when ELP was attacking. The bout probably fulfilled most expectations: a little comedy, nothing earth-shattering.
Highlights
+ At the start, Yujiro tried to pimp Pieter to ELP in exchange for the victory. Pieter left with Phantasmo after the match — scandalous.
+ Yujiro hit a low blow while kicking out, which was a new one. ELP sold it the rest of the way.
+ Phantasmo triumphed against outside interference from SHO by stealing a page from Eddie Guerrero and framing Yujiro with a wrench, smashing Yujiro with a low blow and hitting SHO with a dive. A nice closing sequence.
Grade: B-
SANADA vs. Taichi (B Block)
Result: SANADA p. Taichi (O’Connor Roll).
In short: This bout was similar to YOSHI-HASHI and Shingo Takagi. It meandered for a while before reaching a turning point and kicking into high gear.
Highlights
+ Both guys kicked out at 1 after high-impact moves and breathed some life into the match.
+ SANADA back-flipped out of a second-rope chokeslam attempt.
+ There was a great nearfall after they rolled through a few pinning combinations.
Lowlights
– The pec-popping doesn’t do much for me, and there was a lot of it.
– Taichi tried to hit a chokeslam as SANADA jumped off the ropes, but Taichi fell and the whole thing looked sloppy.
Grade: B
Jeff Cobb vs. Bad Luck Fale (A Block)
Result: Cobb p. Fale (Tour of the Islands).
In short: It was short and sweet. Fale pounded on Cobb for a while. Then, Cobb hit two power moves — a vertical suplex and the Tour of the Islands — to wrap things up in fewer than 10 minutes. It was fun for what it was.
Highlights
+ Fale stole Cobb’s surfing taunt. He looked like a natural.
+ Any way you slice it, Cobb spinning Fale around for the Tour was damn impressive.
Grade: C
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (C Block)
Result: Tanahashi p. Naito (inside cradle).
In short: Tanahashi, who showed great fire throughout, fought from underneath for most of the bout. There was a well-constructed story, as you might expect from a Tanahashi outing. It wasn’t an all-time classic, but it was very good. Tanahashi hooked an inside cradle as Naito tried to set up the Destino.
Highlights
+ There was a callback to Naito’s recent New Japan Cup victory, as he tried to score a flash pin after Tanahashi missed a High Fly Flow.
+ Tanahashi hit a German suplex, was crushed by a spinebuster and retaliated with a dragon screw in what was probably the best exchange of the match.
Lowlights
– There was a weird stalemate in which both wrestlers just stood still before Tanahashi hit a trio of Twist and Shouts.
Grade: B+
In conclusion
The decision to have Cobb-Fale as the penultimate match was puzzling. This was another event to file in the good-not-great folder.
Block standings
A Block
Kazuchika Okada 2-0-0 (4)
Jeff Cobb 1-1-0 (2)
Bad Luck Fale 1-1-0 (2)
Toru Yano 1-1-0 (2)
Tom Lawlor 0-0-0 (0)
JONAH 0-1-0 (0)
Lance Archer 0-1-0 (0)
B Block
Jay White 2-0-0 (4)
Tama Tonga 1-0-0 (2)
SANADA 1-1-0 (2)
Taichi 1-1-0 (2)
Great-O-Khan 0-0-0 (0)
Chase Owens 0-1-0 (0)
Tomohiro Ishii 0-2-0 (0)
C Block
Zack Sabre Jr. 2-0-0 (4)
Hirooki Goto 1-0-0 (2)
Aaron Henare 1-1-0 (2)
Hiroshi Tanahashi 1-1-0 (2)
EVIL 0-0-0 (0)
KENTA 0-1-0 (0)
Tetsuya Naito 0-2-0 (0)
D Block
Juice Robinson 1-0-0 (2)
Will Ospreay 1-0-0 (2)
El Phantasmo 1-1-0 (2)
Shingo Takagi 1-1-0 (2)
Yujiro Takahashi 1-1-0 (2)
YOSHI-HASHI 0-1-0 (0)
David Finlay 0-1-0 (0)
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