Pro Wrestling Report Card

New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 32, Day 14
Aug. 9, 2022
Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall; Hiroshima, Japan

The undercard

BUSHI^W, Shingo Takagi sub. Kosei Fujita^L, Tomohiro Ishii (Boston Crab).

Royce Isaacs, Tom Lawlor^W p. TAKA Michinoku^L, Zack Sabre Jr. (NKOTB): ZSJ’s utter disgust with Filthy was the highlight of this matchup.

Aaron Henare^W, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay sub. Dick Togo^L, SHO, El Phantasmo, EVIL (Ultima).

Hirooki Goto^W, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada p. Gedo^L, Bad Luck Fale, Juice Robinson (GTR).

The report card

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi (D Block)
Result: Takahashi p. YOSHI-HASHI (Big Juice).
In short: Yujiro’s reign of terror continued. SHO hit YOSHI-HASHI with a wrench to set up the finish. As El Phantasmo said on commentary, “10 minutes gone; it feels like 20.”
Lowlights
– They presumably screwed up a spot where SHO was supposed smack YOSHI-HASHI in the back with a chair when he hit the ropes. They got it on the second try.
Grade: C–

SANADA vs. Chase Owens (B Block)
Result: SANADA d. Owens (referee stoppage, Skull End).
In short: A decent match with a puzzling finish. Owens’ lower body was too close to the ropes, which ruined any sort of believability.
Highlights
+ “Ah, God damn it.” – Chase Owens in the Paradise Lock.
+ Owens hit a snapmare on SANADA off the ropes. Points for creativity.
+ Owens used the Skull End on SANADA. He then missed a pretty lackluster second-rope moonsault.
Lowlights
– SANADA’s pop-up TKO didn’t have much pop-up.
– Owens touched the ropes multiple times and almost had his entire leg underneath the bottom rope while in Skull End at the finish — that’s not a rope break? OK.
Grade: C

Tama Tonga vs. Taichi (B Block)
Result: Tama p. Taichi (Gun Stun).
In short: A match built around a gimmick. Taichi brought back the Iron Fingers in an attempt to unlock Tama’s evil past. Both wrestlers had segments where they acted like the object was talking to them … Anyway, the action at the end was all right.
Highlights
+ Tama countered the Yokozuna Forearm with a Gun Stun for the finish.
Grade: C+

JONAH vs. Lance Archer (A Block)
Result: Archer d. JONAH by countout.
In short: A good fight that featured both guys laying in their shots and teasing big spots. ANOTHER countout to protect JONAH. Obviously, NJPW has plans for the big guy. The organization wants a pinfall to really mean something.
Highlights
+ JONAH countered the Pounce with a body tackle.
+ JONAH throws one hell of a lariat. He waffled Archer.
+ Archer took the Black Forest Bomb, sprung up and cracked JONAH with a flying knee.
+ Bad Dude Tito sacrificed himself and received a cannonball from Archer against the barricade.
Grade: B

Tetsuya Naito vs. KENTA (C Block)
Result: Naito p. KENTA (Destino).
In short: A formulaic battle where both wrestlers played their hits. Naito got split open at the conclusion. Unfortunately for him, the match probably ended before most of the crowd noticed.
Highlights
+ KENTA hit Naito with a draping DDT from the top rope.
+ Naito had his head busted open by an exposed turnbuckle.
Grade: B

In conclusion

Probably the weakest event of the tournament so far. Nothing stunk, but there’s no required viewing here.

Block standings

A Block
Kazuchika Okada 3-1-0 (6)
JONAH 3-2-0 (6)
Lance Archer 3-2-0 (6)
Jeff Cobb 2-2-0 (4)
Tom Lawlor 2-2-0 (4)
Bad Luck Fale 2-3-0 (4)
Toru Yano 1-4-0 (2)

B Block
Jay White 4-0-0 (8)
Tama Tonga 3-1-0 (6)
SANADA 3-2-0 (6)
Taichi 2-2-0 (4)
Chase Owens 2-4-0 (4)
Great-O-Khan 1-3-0 (2)
Tomohiro Ishii 1-4-0 (2)

C Block
Hiroshi Tanahashi 3-1-0 (6)
Zack Sabre Jr. 3-1-0 (6)
Tetsuya Naito 3-2-0 (6)
Hirooki Goto 2-2-0 (4)
EVIL 2-2-0 (4)
KENTA 1-3-0 (2)
Aaron Henare 1-4-0 (2)

D Block
David Finlay 3-1-0 (6)
Yujiro Takahashi 3-2-0 (6)
Shingo Takagi 2-2-0 (4)
Will Ospreay 2-2-0 (4)
YOSHI-HASHI 2-2-0 (4)
Juice Robinson 2-3-0 (4)
El Phantasmo 1-3-0 (2)

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