Pro Wrestling Report Card

New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 32, Day 18
Aug. 16, 2022
Nippon Budokan; Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan

The report card

Juice Robinson vs. Will Ospreay (D Block)
Result: Ospreay p. Robinson (Hidden Blade).
In short: Started hot with Ospreay jumping Juice to get payback from an attack on the previous show. The match was a sprint, lasting seconds more than 11 minutes. Ospreay is just fantastic; it’s hard to say more.
Highlights
+ Ospreay threw himself into the barricades with reckless abandon, including taking a nasty neckbreaker into the metal.
+ Ospreay turned a sunset bomb attempt into an apron bomb with amazing athleticism.
+ Juice piledrove Ospreay onto the exposed floor on the outside, hit Pulp Friction in the ring … and Ospreay kicked out.
+ Another slick finish in an Ospreay bout. Juice caught Ospreay on his shoulders to stop an OsCutter; Ospreay flipped out of a Rockslide attempt and clobbered Juice with Hidden Blade.
Grade: B+

El Phantasmo vs. Shingo Takagi (D Block)
Result: Phantasmo p. Takagi (CR3).
In short: Another fun match at the start of the show. Predictably, it had a rapid pace, but something was a little off. Phantasmo might have been moving too fast. It seemed like he should have let the moments where he “fired up” breathe more — or perhaps the camera didn’t do a good job of capturing them.
Highlights
+ Phantasmo kicked Shingo in the head while Takagi was shouting his catchphrase into the camera.
+ ELP planted himself on his dome while taking a DDT after a solid strike exchange.
+ Shingo kicked out of CR2, which ELP hit out of nowhere.
+Phantasmo unveiled a new finishing move: the CR3, which is like a CR2-piledriver — so, way more dangerous.
Lowlights
– ELP overshot Shingo on a springboard moonsault to the floor.
– Phantasmo’s super hurricanrana was nice, but setting it up took a ton of obvious cooperation.
Grade: B+

Hirooki Goto vs. EVIL (C Block)
Result: EVIL p. Goto (Everything is Evil).
In short: The match was generally fine, but the finish stunk. How incompetent are these referees supposed to be?
Highlights
+ Goto escaped a near countout as Dick Togo was clutching his feet from under the ring.
Lowlights
– Two entrance jumpstarts on the ramp in the first three matches? Pass.
– Togo ran into the ring and kicked Goto in the nuts to set up the finish. The ref wasn’t even on the ground; he was standing 3 feet away being gripped by EVIL. It was crap.
Grade: C-

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito (C Block)
Result: Naito p. Sabre (cradle).
In short: Naito won via a flash pin in 2 minutes and 58 seconds. Naito almost took that long to take off his entrance gear. Afterward, Sabre had a temper tantrum that was probably longer than the match.
Grade: D-

Tomohiro Ishii vs. SANADA (B Block)
Result: Ishii p. SANADA (Vertical-Drop Brainbuster).
In short: This was an Ishii match all right. They fought; they fired up; they no-sold; and everyone was satisfied.
Highlights
+ An early flash pin attempt really got the crowd going, especially after the finish of the previous match.
+ There were two more dramatic nearfalls late: one on a crucifix pin and another on an O’Connor roll.
Grade: B+

Jay White vs. Tama Tonga (B Block)
Result: Tama p. White (Gun Stun).
In short: Upset special. This was different than the first two matches on the card but the outcome was the same: a very good bout.
Highlights
+ White countered a Superman Punch with a Complete Shot.
+ White’s ring presence is so natural and impressive. He’s a 20-year veteran inside a 29-year-old’s body.
+ Tama rolled the Blade Runner into a cradle for a nice nearfall.
Grade: B+

JONAH vs. Bad Luck Fale (A Block)
Result: JONAH p. Fale (Torpedo).
In short: Two big men who know how to use their size and got the most out of shoulder tackles and the like.
Highlights
+ JONAH hit Fale with a colossal powerslam before hitting the Torpedo.
Grade: B-

Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer (A Block)
Result: Okada p. Archer (Rainmaker).
In short: Every move in this match was landed with ferocity, including a kick by Archer that nearly killed a young lion. Like the rest of the card, this bout was fewer than 15 minutes. It had plenty of memorable moments, though. Archer hit his own finisher and Okada’s, and he still didn’t win — time to go back to the lab.
Highlights
+ Archer walked to the ring and stood like a statue in the center until finally blasting Okada with a chokeslam for the first move of the match.
+ Archer hit a cannonball while Okada was propped against the outside barricade.
+ Okada’s first piece of offense was a thunderous Rainmaker.
+ Archer hit a ridiculous dropkick followed by a massive Rainmaker for an exciting nearfall.
+ Lance threw another murderous lariat late in the match.
+ Okada used a Landslide to set up his Rainmaker.
Lowlights
– Archer nearly murdered Okada with a ropewalk moonsault.
Grade: A-

G1 Climax 32 semifinals: Kazuchika Okada (A Block winner) vs. Tama Tonga (B Block winner); Tetsuya Naito (C Block winner) vs. Will Ospreay (D Block winner).

In conclusion

The workers weren’t getting paid by the minute, apparently, on Tuesday. With eight singles matches, there was an obvious effort to keep the line moving. The card was assembled block by block in reverse alphabetical order, which, frankly, was stupid. But the order of matches has been an issue the whole tour, so at least that’s consistent.

Out of the four semifinalists, there’s one surprise: Tama Tonga. His babyface persona is still missing a little something, but this is a big spot for him. Assuming he doesn’t win the tournament, he’ll likely challenge White for the title before Wrestle Kingdom.

Final block standings

A Block
Kazuchika Okada 5-1-0 (10)
JONAH 4-2-0 (8)
Lance Archer 3-3-0 (6)
Tom Lawlor 3-3-0 (6)
Jeff Cobb 3-3-0 (6)
Bad Luck Fale 2-4-0 (4)
Toru Yano 1-5-0 (2)

B Block
Tama Tonga 5-1-0 (10)*
Jay White 5-1-0 (10)
SANADA 3-3-0 (6)
Chase Owens 2-4-0 (4)
Great-O-Khan 2-4-0 (4)
Taichi 2-4-0 (4)
Tomohiro Ishii 2-4-0 (4)

C Block
Tetsuya Naito 4-2-0 (8)*
Zack Sabre Jr. 4-2-0 (8)
EVIL 3-3-0 (6)
Hirooki Goto 3-3-0 (6)
Hiroshi Tanahashi 3-3-0 (6)
KENTA 3-3-0 (6)
Aaron Henare 1-5-0 (2)

D Block
Will Ospreay 4-2-0 (8)
Yujiro Takahashi 3-3-0 (6)
YOSHI-HASHI 3-3-0 (6)
El Phantasmo 3-3-0 (6)
David Finlay 3-3-0 (6)
Shingo Takagi 3-3-0 (6)
Juice Robinson 2-4-0 (4)

*Head-to-head tiebreaker

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