{"id":16691,"date":"2019-08-12T10:09:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T09:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/?p=16691"},"modified":"2019-08-12T10:09:35","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T09:09:35","slug":"njpw-g1-climax-29-night-nineteen-finals-august-12-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/reviews\/njpw-g1-climax-29-night-nineteen-finals-august-12-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW G1 Climax 29 – Night Nineteen (Finals) (August 12, 2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A long summer of competition drew to a climax as Jay White and Kota Ibushi met in the G1 finals!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s back to Budokan as we had what some tagged as an underwhelming finals card. Yeah, we had some names on the card that missed the majority of the tour, but otherwise this seemed to be a line-up to build up future tours and shows. Like Royal Quest in London in a shade under three weeks\u2026<\/p>\n

Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero and Chris Charlton are on the call\u2026<\/p>\n

Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks vs. Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s dojo wars! Tsuji has a bee in his bonnet early, crashing into Fredericks with a dropkick at the bell before some chops left the LA Dojo lad on the back foot.<\/p>\n

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Fredericks throws in a nice leapfrog\/crossbody combo to surprise Tsuji, who just tags out to Narita, who took Clark Connors down with a toe hold. It\u2019s more measured, mat-based stuff here, before Connors got free and threw down Narita with a slam. A tag brings Fredericks back for a double shoulder tackle, as the LA Dojo team remained on the offence.<\/p>\n

Narita tries to fight back out of the corner, but he\u2019s got nobody to tag to\u2026 and nearly gets ended with a spinebuster from Fredericks. A Stinger splash and spear tackle helps Fredericks on the way to a near-fall, as I was wondering if Narita remembered what his corner looked like. Sure enough, that\u2019s the cue for him to catch Fredericks with the overhead belly-to-belly suplex as tags brought us back to Connors and Tsuji.<\/p>\n

Budokan \u201cyay\u201ds for chops, before Tsuji\u2019s nice big back body drop propelled Connors into the air. A Boston crab attempt from Tsuji\u2019s stopped as Connors got the ropes, but Connors got back in with a spear before he got in his Boston crab, dragging Tsuji away from the ropes, rearing back on him before we got the tap out. That\u2019s gotta go down as a shock, as the LA Dojo won this odd-tempered opener. Yeah, it didn\u2019t have the pace or the energy, but this got good – and broke down into another fight afterwards. ***\u00bc<\/p>\n

Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Jeff Cobb, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a final Budokan for Jushin Thunder Liger, and yeah, we\u2019ve a jump start.<\/p>\n

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Taichi and Kanemaru double-team Liger from the off, with Taichi looking to unmask the soon-to-be-retired Liger. The BOOS. They cut away as we saw more of Liger\u2019s face than usual here, before he fought free, taking down Taichi with a tiltawhirl backbreaker.<\/p>\n

I buffer a little as Tiger Mask leaps in with a crossbody\u2026 but Archer just caught him as Taichi tried his luck on Tiger Mask\u2019s mask. Archer\u2019s back in with elbows and boots to Tiger Mask, as I\u2019m sure Jeff Cobb\u2019s glad he isn\u2019t wearing a mask. Off come Taichi\u2019s trousers, but he needs Kanemaru to stop him from taking a Tiger Bomb. Second time was the charm, as tags got us to Archer and Jeff Cob. Ahem. HOSS FIGHT!<\/p>\n

Chops and forearms from Cobb have Archer on the back foot, as he was forced to elbow out of a Spin Cycle before booting Cobb to the mat. Archer goes for a spot of rope walking now, before a moonsault off the top looked goddamn effortless. Lance Archer continuing to impress, eh?<\/p>\n

The EBD Claw\u2019s next, but Cobb powers out and looked for a suplex, before he got shoved into the ropes for a Derailer. Tags bring in Kanemaru to keep up on Cobb\u2026 only for his Deep Impact DDT to get caught with ease. A clothesline from Cobb\u2019s good for a near-fall, before Kanemaru rolled up from a gachumuchi-sault, only for Cobb to kick out and finish him off with a Tour of the Islands. This was there, I guess, and massively disappointing for anyone expecting a Liger farewell performance here. **\u00bd<\/p>\n

Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Will Ospreay & Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)<\/strong>
\nPart of me legitimately wants New Japan to use the recorder version of Will Ospreay\u2019s music here\u2026 we\u2019ll never get it. Tiger Hattori\u2019s the referee for his final Budokan appearance.<\/p>\n

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We start with Ishimori and YOH as my feed gave out. It\u2019s back as Ospreay dropkicks Chase Owens outside ahead of a triple dive tease\u2026 but Ospreay and Roppongi 3K get pulled outside, then thrown into the guard rails as the Bullet Club found their groove.<\/p>\n

Owens\u2019 near-fall on YOH led to YOH\u2019s fightback, as Dragon screws took Ishimori down, before SHO came in and kicked Owens to the mat for a near-fall. Elbows from SHO have Chase rocked briefly, as does a spear off the ropes before a rebound lariat got Chase a breather. Ospreay and Yujiro tag in, with Will going full pelt with a forearm, following in with the springboard version after he\u2019d been lifted onto the apron.<\/p>\n

Yujiro avoids a Robinson special and returns with a low dropkick as the ring flooded. A Fisherman buster on Ospreay\u2019s good for a near-fall, starting a Parade of Moves that ended with a reverse DDT on Ospreay. He\u2019s forced to slip out of a powerbomb as Roppongi 3K eventually hit dualling dives to the outside, giving Ospreay a clear road as a Storm Breaker got the win. This was fine, but it felt weirdly muted at the same time. **\u00be<\/p>\n

After the match, commentary teased a new signee for Bullet Club. I bet it\u2019s Kurtis Chapman!<\/p>\n

Juice Robinson & Toa Henare vs. Jon Moxley & Shota Umino<\/strong>
\nI was pleasantly surprised they didn\u2019t go straight to a title rematch here\u2026 but this feels a little like a letdown too.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s a jump start as Moxley threw Henare out of the ring so he could go after Juice before the bell. Umino makes a mark too, coming in with a low dropkick for a near-fall on Juice, before a leg lock was put in to keep Juice grounded. A leg spreader keeps it going, before Moxley returned with a calf slicer to send Juice scurrying into the ropes.<\/p>\n

An elbow from Juice prevents a dropkick to the knee, as he instead came back in with a Juice Box. Umino and Henare tag in from there, which led to a nice spot where Shota tries to small package his way out of a suplex, only for Henare to get him down anyway. Juice and Moxley go back to it on the outside as Henare teed up for a spear tackle on Umino, but it\u2019s not enough, as Umino tried to win with a German suplex\u2026 only for a headbutt from Henare and the uranage to lead to the win. Again, this was fine, but strangely tailed off a little with the Henare\/Umino stuff (in my mind at least). They\u2019re keeping the Juice\/Moxley rematch for a bigger show – which is at least telling us Moxley isn\u2019t going anywhere anytime soon. **\u00bd<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Moxley and Juice have a stare-off over the title, which quickly broke down as Moxley clocks Juice with it, before heading outside to set up a table and throw Juice through it with a uranage. It\u2019s back to the jazzercise for Juice…<\/p>\n

Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)<\/strong>
\nFor the last time on this tour, how\u2019s BUSHI\u2019s mask?<\/p>\n

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Shingo Takagi is now officially a heavyweight, so he\u2019s left the juniors behind without ever being junior heavyweight champion. I guess that means that Will Ospreay\u2019s staying back for a little while longer\u2026<\/p>\n

EVIL and Makabe start us off, finally, as they exchange shoulder tackles before Taguchi joined in with hip attacks to EVIL. They\u2019re finally countered with an atomic drop as EVIL and Taguchi looked for Everything is EVIL\u2026 both of them blocked as Taguchi just flung himself to the mat in vain.<\/p>\n

In the aisle, we see that Yano\u2019s gotten tied up in a Paradise lock as Naito began to spank Taguchi, while Hirooki Goto ran into the aisle to free Yano from the lock. BUSHI comes in for more of the same, before a missile dropkick finally woke up Taguchi, who scored with the hip attack. A dual reverse\/regular DDT to Naito and BUSHI has Taguchi back in it, as Goto and Shingo tagged back in – and that crowd went wild for the do-over from yesterday.<\/p>\n

Goto\u2019s successful with a clothesline before landing a spinning heel kick and Saito suplex in and out of the corner respectively. A headbutt and a right hand from Shingo has Goto back on the mat, as SANADA tagged in, only to get caught with an ushigoroshi. Honma\u2019s in to try his luck with a Kokeshi, but BUSHI delays it as Honma finally took down SANADA and landed the headbutt.<\/p>\n

SANADA sidesteps a leaping Kokeshi as EVIL runs in to help double-team. A Skull End becomes the excuse for a mini Parade of hair-pulling, before Honma almost nicked the win with a wheelbarrow roll-up. From there though, he runs into a TKO for a near-fall, before SANADA went up for a moonsault, landing it for the win. Perfectly acceptable undercard graps – nothing that\u2019ll blow you away, but this didn\u2019t outlast it\u2019s welcome either. **\u00be<\/p>\n

After the match, SANADA initiated the LIJ fist-bump\u2026 is there moves afoot to usurp Naito?<\/p>\n

Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)) vs. KENTA, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI<\/strong>
\nWe don\u2019t speak of how the Guerrillas lost their ROH tag titles. They didn\u2019t want them anyway\u2026<\/p>\n

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Fale and YOSHI-HASHI start us off, as YOSHI was trying his hardest to send Fale into the corner\u2026 but ends up succeeding with a low dropkick and a spinning heel kick a la Tenzan. Tama Tonga interferes, but YOSHI outsmarts him as Fale charged Tama off the apron, before a shoulder charge finally has YOSHI-HASHI down\u2026 and now the Bullet Club trio look to make a mark.<\/p>\n

Fale gets his cardio in, running the ropes as YOSHI-HASHI continued to get worn down, with Tama Tonga coming in to\u2026 play Kid Lykos? Yeah, his brainbuster\u2019s countered into a Bunker Buster before tags brought in Ishii and Tanga Loa. They up the tempo with shoulder tackles before Ishii just bounced off Fale on the apron. That exchange has Ishii in the corner as Tanga Loa took control again\u2026 and right when Ishii fought back to make a tag out\u2026<\/p>\n

KENTA pulls back the tag and leaps off the apron. He walks into the aisle as he watched the Bullet Club continue to dominate, until a Gun Stun from Tama was turned into a back suplex from Ishii. Fale\u2019s in, as Ishii tries his luck with a suplex\u2026 and gets it! There\u2019s a big lariat for Tama until KENTA ran in and hit Ishii with a Busaiku knee\u2026 and there\u2019s the confirmation. Go 2 Sleep follows as Budokan rains down those jeers, while Tama scored the easy pin. KENTA is part of Bullet Club, as Katsuyori Shibata\u2019s never been so disrespected. This was fine, but I\u2019d have liked to have had more build to \u201cnew Bullet Club guy\u201d than it being built up and paid off in the same show… ***<\/p>\n

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KATSUYORI SHIBATA WITH THE DROPKICK!!!! #g129<\/a> #NJPW<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/d63mH2znnl<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WlCf2tm14p<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) August 12, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n