Pro Wrestling Report Card

New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 32, Day 8
July 30, 2022
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium; Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

The undercard

SHO^W, Yujiro Takahashi sub. Kosei Fujita^L, Ryohei Oiwa (arm bar).

El Phantasmo^W, KENTA p. Jado^L, Tama Tonga (Sudden Death).

Aaron Henare^W, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay sub. TAKA Michinoku^L, Taichi, Lance Archer (Ultima).

BUSHI^W, Tetsuya Naito p. Dick Togo^L, EVIL (MX).

YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano^W, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada p. Gedo^L, Chase Owens, Bad Luke Fale, Juice Robinson, Jay White (rollup).

The report card

David Finlay vs. Shingo Takagi (D Block)
Result: Finlay p. Takagi (rollup).
In short: Takagi isn’t going to have anything other than a quality match. He took a “banana peel” loss here against Finlay. The Dragon looked overconfident while in control late, missed a move and was ultimately rolled up.
Highlights
+ El Phantasmo, filling in on English commentary, called Finlay “a warm bag of milk,” which is as funny as it is insulting.
+ Shingo once again proved that he doesn’t take no for an answer on suplexes, absolutely launching Finlay with a snap.
+ There was a very nice nearfall after Takagi hit Made in Japan. It finally got those spectator hands clapping.
Grade: B

Tom Lawlor vs. JONAH (A Block)
Result: JONAH p. Lawlor (Torpedo).
In short: Lawlor tried to break JONAH down with leg kicks but got flattened with a gut-wrench powerbomb and the Torpedo, which drew gasps as the big man came off the ropes.
Highlights
+ JONAH military pressed Lawlor onto the ringside barricade.
+ Lawlor utilized the rarely seen headbutt-to-the-back-of-the-knee attack.
Grade: B-

SANADA vs. Great-O-Khan (B Block)
Result: SANADA p. O-Khan (Moonsault).
In short: This match dragged at some points and was sloppy at others. O-Khan is a little too over-the-top with his facial reactions.
Highlights
+ O-Khan showed a new move in his arsenal: a straight punch to the face. Who needs Mongolian Chops?
Lowlights
– SANADA hit the “unintentional” low blow after eating a chop. It continued to be a stupid spot that confuses the audience.
– O-Khan’s moonsault left a lot to be desired.
– The ending was flat and O-Khan’s kickout at 3.1 didn’t help.
Grade: C

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (C Block)
Result: Tanahashi p. Sabre.
In short: After the previous bout, Tanahashi and Sabre illustrated the difference between consequential grappling and just rolling around. The pair make a great combination because of Tanahashi’s proclivity to fight from underneath. The Ace stacked ZSJ for a pin during a great ending sequence, though Sabre’s arm was well underneath the bottom rope. The fact ZSJ didn’t complain about the ropebreak suggests the ending’s controversy was unintended, which takes a little shine off.
Highlights
+ ZSJ used Red Shoes Unno’s shirt as a napkin.
+ Tanahashi stole Sabre’s grounded neck twist.
+ Tanahashi’s selling, as usual, was excellent.
+ There was a tremendous nearfall after Sabre rolled through a High Fly Attack — probably the biggest reaction of the evening.
Grade: A-

In conclusion

It wasn’t a flawless night of action, but throughout the tournament there have been at least two very good matches per event. That trend continued.

Block standings

A Block
Kazuchika Okada 2-0-0 (4)
Bad Luck Fale 2-1-0 (4)
Jeff Cobb 1-1-0 (2)
JONAH 1-1-0 (2)
Lance Archer 1-1-0 (2)
Toru Yano 1-2-0 (2)
Tom Lawlor 0-2-0 (0)

B Block
Jay White 2-0-0 (4)
SANADA 2-1-0 (4)
Tama Tonga 1-1-0 (2)
Chase Owens 1-1-0 (2)
Taichi 1-1-0 (2)
Tomohiro Ishii 1-2-0 (2)
Great-O-Khan 0-2-0 (0)

C Block
Hirooki Goto 2-0-0 (4)
Hiroshi Tanahashi 2-1-0 (4)
Zack Sabre Jr. 2-1-0 (4)
EVIL 1-0-0 (2)
Aaron Henare 1-2-0 (2)
KENTA 0-2-0 (0)
Tetsuya Naito 0-2-0 (0)

D Block
Will Ospreay 2-0-0 (4)
David Finlay 2-1-0 (4)
El Phantasmo 1-1-0 (2)
Juice Robinson 1-1-0 (2)
Shingo Takagi 1-2-0 (2)
Yujiro Takahashi 1-2-0 (2)
YOSHI-HASHI 0-1-0 (0)

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