Tomohiro Ishii looks to get his first points in this year’s G1 as the tournament stays in Korakuen Hall.
Quick Results
G1 Climax 32 – Block D: Will Ospreay pinned Yujiro Takahashi in 11:17 (***¼)
G1 Climax 32 – Block A: Bad Luck Fale pinned Toru Yano in 5:36 (*¾)
G1 Climax 32 – Block C: Hirooki Goto pinned Aaron Henare in 17:12 (***½)
G1 Climax 32 – Block B: Tomohiro Ishii pinned Tama Tonga in 20:07 (***½)
It’s the second night at Korakuen Hall for this tour – and we’ve still got Kevin Kelly and Chris Charlton on commentary.
G1 Climax 32 – Block D: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay
Ospreay holds the win in their only prior singles meeting, at the start of 2020’s G1.
Yujiro was originally out on his lonesome after he “lost” Pieter to El Phantasmo last time out… but Pieter trailed after him eventually and had a make-up hug. We get going with Yujiro landing a series of front kicks to Ospreay, but a forearm out of the corner helps Ospreay get in it, as he proceeded to chop Yujiuro into the ropes.
A dropkick from Ospreay sinks Yujiro, taking him outside for a plancha that missed, and a suplex that Yujiro bit his way out of. Ospreay Bret Harts the railings ahead of a reverse DDT on the floor, as Yujiro fired some forearms back inside the ring. A snapmare and a low dropkick gets just a one-count for Yujiro, while an eye rake took things to the corner as Yujiro fired away some elbows.
Ospreay’s caught with another front kick, this time in the corner, before a side headlock was fought out of as a handspring enziguiri caught out Yujiro. A running front kick batters Yujiro ahead of a springboard forearm, before some Kawada-ish kicks were caught as Yujiro went back to the eyes. In return, a double chop has Yujiro down, only for a running shooting star to land on Yujiro’s knees as he began a fresh offence.
A front kick in the ropes traps Ospreay ahead of a Fisherman buster for a near-fall, before Ospreay escaped a Miami Shine. A step-up enziguiri caught out Yujiro, but Ospreay took too long to telegraph an OsCutter as he gets pulled into an Incolle slam for a near-fall. Ospreay gets back with a gamengiri in the corner, but again took too long to follow up as Yujiro crotched up on the top rope… he recovers to headbutt Yujiro down for a springboard forearm to the back of the head for a near-fall.
Ospreay goes back up for a springboard 450 for a near-fall, before Yujiro used the referee to avoid a Hidden Blade. The ref misses a low blow as Miami Shine dropped Ospreay for another two-count, before Ospreay rolled his way out of Pimp Juice for a near-fall. Yujiro surprises everyone with a satellite DDT as the Pimp Juice landed… but it’s still not enough for the upset.
Ospreay escapes a Big Juice attempt and cracked Yujiro with a hook kick before the OsCutter’s blocked… a pop-up forearm certainly wasn’t, as Yujiro ended up tasting a Hidden Blade to the face as Ospreay took the win. Zero House of Torture bollocks here as Ospreay got the win in what was a pretty decent match given the reputation of his opponent. ***¼
Ospreay’s next match is on Tuesday in Hamamatsu against David Finlay, while Yujiro picks up on August 5 in Ehime against Juice Robinson.
G1 Climax 32 – Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Toru Yano
We have history here – Yano’s 5-1 against Fale in prior matches going back as far as July 2020… and none of their matches have even hit the nine minute mark. Don’t break that record today lads.
After Yano’s relatable reaction, we get going with Yano trying to attack Fale, only to get swatted away. He literally ran and bounced off of Fale, before an attempted roll-up as Fale ran into the corner got just a one-count. Yano heads outside for a sit-down, as Fale did the same – but in the ring.
The referee starts a somewhat accelerated count-out attempt, forcing Yano to run back in to beat the count. He drop toe holds Fale into the chair, then rolled him up for a two-count… but a bodyslam obviously goes nowhere as Fale dumped him instead. Yano hooks the ropes, then bopped Fale in the head, then repeatedly after he tripped Fale into the ropes.
Yano bails outside in fear, but Fale now gives chase, booting Yano down. Yano tries to scurry under the ring, but Yano pulls him out… only to get sprayed in the face with water. Fale beats the 20-count though, and avoided running into a newly-exposed corner before he bopped Yano with the corner pad.
The ref disarms Fale, who hits an elbow drop instead for a near-fall, before Yano went for a backslide. He mule kicks Fale, but can’t get the backslide off as Fale instead bounced him into the corner before he put away Yano with a roll-up. Probably exactly what you expected, just with less prop comedy. *¾
Yano returns on August 2 in Hamamatsu against Tom Lawlor, while Fale has Kazuchika Okada in Nagoya on Sunday.
G1 Climax 32 – Block C: Aaron Henare vs. Hirooki Goto
Just the one prior singles match here, with Goto getting the win in February 2019.
We open with a tie-up into the ropes before the pair tried their luck with shoulder tackles. A headlock takedown has Goto ahead, before they headed outside, with the guard rails coming into play. Back inside, Henare stomped Goto into the corner before a back elbow and a springboard enziguiri out of the corner kept Goto down.
Mounted forearms from Henare allowed him to transition into a heel hook on Goto. He ties up the legs ahead of a curb stomp afterwards, before a chinlock kept Goto down again. Goto gets free and fires away with forearms into the corner, taking Henare down with a spinning heel kick and a bulldog for a two-count, before a mid kick from Henare knocked Goto down again.
Henare’s strikes knock Goto back into the corner ahead of a running step-up knee, then a running Samoan drop out of the corner. A back senton off the middle rope’s next for a near-fall, before Henare tried to follow-up with Rampage. Goto’s knee stops that as Henare tries for Ultima instead, only to get met with an ushigoroshi as Goto pulled ahead.
Goto looks for a GTR, but Henare punched free… only to take a reverse GTR and a lariat instead. Henare’s out at two from that, then caught a kick… only for Goto to ping away with some forearms to knock him down. Out of nowhere, a Blue Thunder bomb buys Henare time, as the pair then resume by trading strikes, with Goto’s palm strikes barely registering on Henare, who returned in kind.
A leaping knee from Henare sinks Goto ahead of a Rampage for a near-fall, before the Ultima’s applied. Goto tries to break the grip before Henare looked for a Streets of Rage. Instead, he cracks Goto with a superkick, only for Goto to sidestep a charge as Henare hit the buckles… and came back with a one-man Shoto out of the corner.
Henare pops up after taking another kick, only to run into a GTW as Goto nearly took the win… A GTR follows, and that’s the win. A good effort from Henare in defeat, whose tournament is virtually over given he’s lost to the top two in the block. ***½
Henare’s back against Tetsuya Naito on August 5 in Ehime, while Goto has a quicker turnaround, up against KENTA on August 2 in Hamamatsu.
G1 Climax 32 – Block B: Tama Tonga vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Tama’s 2-0 against Ishii in prior singles matches – with both wins coming in the G1 (2016 and 2018.)
Ishii’s pretty much on the bubble after losing his first two matches. We start with the pair trading shoulder tackles, before Ishii knocked Tama down. Tama tries his luck with forearms, but Ishii just walks him into the corner before he sank Tama with an elbow shot of his own.
Ishii sidesteps a dropkick before Tama scored with a suplex… Ishii’s chopped in the corner, but doesn’t register it much before he switched around and blasted Tama with forearms and chops. A Saito suplex lands despite Tama’s elbows to break it free, before a dropkick from Tama almost out of desperation connected.
Tama’s taken up top for a superplex but recovered with a Tongan Twist after he’d avoided a powerbomb from Ishii. Tama stays on Ishii with some elbows, before another dropkick took Ishii down after a missed clothesline. That’s followed up with a Stinger splash attempt, but Ishii sidesteps… then went for a powerbomb, only for Tama to ‘rana out.
The SRC rolling death valley driver lands next for Tama, who then went up top for a Supreme Flow… which lands for a near-fall. Ishii stops a Gun Stun… then countered a second one into a back suplex as Tama seemed to overshoot things. We’re back to the pair trading strikes as Ishii looked to edge ahead, but an uppercut from Tama took him down to the mat.
A powerbomb from Ishii lands for a near-fall as he folded Tama in half. An enziguiri keeps Ishii ahead, as did a clothesline that Tama ran into, but it’s not enough to end things, as Ishii looked for the brainbuster… but Tama looked to counter it into a Gun Stun. We doe-see-doe a little as Tama lands the Veleno jumping DDT for a near-fall, then a sliding lariat, only for Ishii to come back with headbutts.
Tama ducks a clothesline as Ishii was looking for one more big hit. Rapid elbows earn him a brainbuster from Tama, which nearly wins it, before a TKO added another near-fall for Tama. A running Gun Stun’s avoided by Ishii, who adds a TKO and a big lariat to spin Tama to the mat, before another Gun Stun’s finally countered into a vertical drop brainbuster for the win. A pretty solid main event, but like most with these clap crowds, was missing that special something. ***½
Tama’s next match is on August 2 in Hamamatsu against SANADA, while Ishii faces Great O-Khan on the same night.
Your standings then…
Block A: Okada (2-0 / 4pts); Fale (2-1 / 4pts); Archer, Cobb (1-1 / 2pts); Yano (1-2 / 2pts); Lawlor, JONAH (0-1 / 0pts)
Block B: White (2-0 / 4pts); Owens, SANADA, Taichi, Tonga (1-1 / 2pts); Ishii (1-2 / 2pts); O-Khan (0-1 / 0pts);
Block C: Goto, Zack Sabre Jr. (2-0 / 4pts); EVIL, Tanahashi (1-1 / 2pts); Henare (1-2 / 2pts); KENTA, Naito (0-2 / 0pts)
Block D: Ospreay (2-0 / 4pts); Finlay, Phantasmo, Robinson, Takagi (1-1 / 2pts); Yujiro (1-2 / 2pts); YOSHI-HASHI (0-1 / 0pts)
The G1 has a couple of days off, and returns this weekend with a pair of shows in Aichi – starting on Saturday with Zack Sabre Jr. and Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event.
Another solid night in the G1 as we’re still waiting for our first official eliminations – but the dies are really starting to be cast as some folks are inching up to the halfway mark in their campaigns.