[7/06 - 8/12] NJPW Present: G1 Climax 29

[Toe Jay Simpson]

I really....really enjoy the G1

Can't wait

Best thing in wrestling at least 3 years running

 

[Honga Ciganesta]

Give the US title to someone who can't contractually compete in the US brehs

I'm liking this AEW/NJPW beef Moxley/Cobb result is one to watch

 

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

Like @Beautiful Bobby Eatin said, Day 1 doesn't really have any match that could be called a legit upset. At most they could use the "IWGP champ gets beat" trope that Choshu used throughout the 90's for Okada/Tanahashi.

But a "returning from working in the U.S" KENTA facing Ibushi is a pretty even matchup in puroresu kayfabe.

I'll even go a step further and say that Ibushi beating a KENTA returning to Japan after 4 or 5 years would be the upset. But yeah it looks even this year

 

[The Rainmaker]

Zack Sabre Jr. is putting his G1 Climax entry spot on the line against... you guessed it...

Spoiler

 

[PlayerNinety_Nine]

Zack Sabre Jr. is putting his G1 Climax entry spot on the line against... you guessed it...

Spoiler

With the exception of :misuz: getting screwed, we're so close to having two damn near perfect blocks.

If Zack loses and I'm forced to fast forward through a whole G1 of Yo, He Trash, B matches.

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

Updated card for Night 1:

A Block Tournament Matches
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Kota Ibushi vs. Kenta
Sanada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Evil vs. Bad Luck Fale
Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer

Jushin Liger, Juice Robinson & Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Bushi

Jay White & Chase Owens vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto

Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino vs. Jeff Cobb & Ren Narita

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Sho & Yoh

Also, a couple of G1 previews:

https://deadspin.com/a-guide-to-new-japan-pro-wrestlings-g1-climax-the-best-1835907042

NJPW G1 Climax 29 All-in-One Preview & Schedule

 

[Apex]

Watching closely to see if KENTA can enter a 2nd prime like AJ did in NJPW

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

Watching closely to see if KENTA can enter a 2nd prime like AJ did in NJPW

KENTA Explains Why He Is Better Suited For NJPW Than WWE

The New Japan Pro Wrestling website has published an interview with KENTA. Coming off a disappointing run with WWE as Hideo Itami, KENTA returned to NJPW last month at Dominion. He will be part of this year’s G1 Climax Tournament, which kicks off Saturday.

KENTA is speaking out about this next chapter of his career and is determined to show fans he’s still the wrestler who became a global star years ago.


“I don’t want to end it like this,” KENTA said about his career. “I want to try once more to bring my vision of pro wrestling to the world.”

“My Style Isn’t Really Like The WWE Style”
KENTA was lauded as a huge acquisition for WWE when he joined NXT nearly five years ago. For a variety of reasons, he never achieved his full potential there. He’s had a lot of time to reflect on what went wrong in WWE and is starting to make sense of it all.

“I’s hard to put into words but… it was a very tough five years,” he said. “I got hurt, and beyond that I was really grasping for something during that whole time. It’s like, I came into the company to bring my style of wrestling worldwide, but what that actually became was bending and adapting to what the company wanted. That’s important in a sense, but the strength and aggression that I bring to the table got lost. That’s a real shame.”

KENTA says he felt micromanaged in WWE, a sentiment echoed by many disgruntled stars like Jon Moxley.

“One person there might tell you ‘do it this way’, and then another would be ‘no, no, do it like this’. That meant my own personal vision just crumbled away. There are people who can do very well in that environment, but I just couldn’t.”

Now that he’s back in Japan, he hopes to awaken the strong style competitor within him and make an impact in today’s evolving wrestling landscape.

“My style isn’t really like the WWE style. There’s an aggression there that’s closer to Strong Style, my matches evolve in a more thrilling way. I think if I can fit in here, I’ll be able to awaken something that’s been dormant for a long time.”

 

[2CT]

we bout to eat extremely good off this

 

[THE 101]

Night 1 has potential to be one of the best wrestling shows of the year just on its own.

I just hope that arena doesn't look like a recent Smackdown show

 

[TheGodling]

Predictions:
Okada beats Tanahashi
KENTA beats Ibushi
SANADA/ZSJ is a toss-up because I don't trust Gedo to do right by SANADA.
EVIL beats Fale
Archer beats Ospreay (big upset but it will sell Ospreay fighting at Heavyweight and I think they want Ospreay to fight his way up from the back of the field like Okada last year)

 

[Legal]

 

[JerseyBoy23]

Still trying to get through the BOSJ, only saw the Finals so I backtracked. If following G1 is anything like that, I might not make it brehs.

 

[Jmare007]

Oh shyt it's this weekend

By far the most interesting thing for night 1 is KENTA. He was underwhelming before going to WWE, then he did had as lackluster a run as possible and now he roided up and is at least selling the idea he wants to wreck shyt up in New Japan. I'm all for pissed off HGH KENTA beating people up, I hope he gets to show that before he inevitably gets hurt again.

I'm also curious to see how a U.S audience reacts to Okada vs Old Man Tana, and what kind of match Tana works, the veteran underdog or the a$$hole veteran, I hope is the latter

Any news on how ticket sales have been so far? Have they sold out that big ass building, are they expecting a sellout a this point?

 

[Apex]

Oh shyt it's this weekend

By far the most interesting thing for night 1 is KENTA. He was underwhelming before going to WWE, then he did had as lackluster a run as possible and now he roided up and is at least selling the idea he wants to wreck shyt up in New Japan. I'm all for pissed off HGH KENTA beating people up, I hope he gets to show that before he inevitably gets hurt again.

I'm also curious to see how a U.S audience reacts to Okada vs Old Man Tana, and what kind of match Tana works, the veteran underdog or the a$$hole veteran, I hope is the latter

Any news on how ticket sales have been so far? Have they sold out that big ass building, are they expecting a sellout a this point?

So many WWE guys do steroids so why did KENTA refrain in the US?