G1 season has begun, and instead of just watching Night 1, I made the not terribly long nor particularly arduous journey from my home in the Chicago exurbs to the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates to watch it live. Here are some thoughts about the show from a live perspective.

It should be pointed out that there are only nine matches because Gabe Kidd is having visa issues and can’t get into the U.S. at the moment, so his B Block match with Drilla Moloney will take place on Night 2, which is otherwise an A Block show.

B Block: Aaron Wolf vs. HENARE [United Empire]

This was a good opener with some big meaty men slapping meat. Wolf has new gear that isn’t much more forgiving to his physique than his “fake Young Lion” getup, but he’s over, and even the crowd here gets it with him. HENARE is very good and does a good job working the crowd; he’s kind of miscast as a heel, but that’s not working against him in a situation like this. The finish was not the smoothest, as HENARE came in a little hot on the move Wolf was supposed to catch, but Wolf’s new reverse Angle slam finisher looks good enough, and it worked out in the end with Wolf getting the pin.

What’s next? Wolf wrestles Shota Umino on Night 3 in Hokkaido on July 19, while HENARE wrestles Drilla Moloney on the same show.

A Block: Shingo Takagi [Unbound Co.] vs. Jake Lee [United Empire]

I would not say this was “good,” per se, but, for better or worse, this Jake Lee thing is getting over, and the pace with which he works is not quite as glacial as it was when he returned from injury earlier this year. Takagi is settling into the “gatekeeper” role that Tomohiro Ishii used to have where he can believably challenge for any title and will win those challenges from time to time, but spends most of his time making other guys look good and losing a bit more than he probably should, like he did here – Lee won with the Face-Break Shot, to a surprisingly loud pop.

What’s next? Lee wrestles Konosuke Takeshita on Night 2 in Hokkaido on July 18, while Takagi wrestles Ryohei Oiwa on the same show.

B Block: OSKAR [Unbound Co.] vs. Ren Narita [HOUSE OF TORTURE]

OSKAR has new solo music and slightly altered entrance gear that suggest that NJPW is going down the spooky road with him, which seems like a terrible idea to me. He already looks too much like Zach Woods cosplaying as a long-haired Lurch – NJPW shouldn’t be emphasizing it. I get that you don’t want him to just be Yuto’s bro, but he’s really charming as Yuto’s bro, and the spooky road is almost always a road to failure in pro wrestling, at least in my opinion. Anyway, the match was about what you’d expect – OSKAR used his size to his advantage and Narita cheated, which prompted a “house of bullshit” chant from the crowd. Of course, flights from Japan are expensive, so the HOUSE clown car was not in effect, and OSKAR overcame the cheating to win with the Nightmare Sleeper. It was okay.

What’s next? OSKAR wrestles Gabe Kidd on Night 3, while Narita wrestles Callum Newman on the same show.

A Block: Yuto-Ice [Unbound Co.] vs. Great-O-Khan [United Empire]

Yuto also has new solo music, and it’s… fine. “Knockout Anthem” is so much better, though. Anyway, Great-O-Khan takes most of this match with cheating and power moves, but Yuto keeps fighting back and wins with Cruella, getting a measure of revenge for the Knockout Brothers’ title loss to Great-O-Khan and HENARE. Yuto seemed to be dragging a bit between the bells, which was also the case with his first U.S. match in February, so maybe short-turnaround international travel is not his friend, but he was still very over.

What’s next? Yuto wrestles Boltin Oleg on Night 2, while Great-O-Khan wrestles SANADA on the same show.

B Block: Shota Umino vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [TMDK]

This was the first match on the show with a “big match” feel. Most of the match was very good, and the crowd was into it, but then, toward the end, Sabre hit the Zack Driver and Umino kicked out at two; Sabre immediately grabbed a sleeper and noticeably had a few words for Umino (something along the lines of, “That was the finish, dickhead,” if I had to guess), and then unceremoniously dragged him up and hit another Zack Driver for the pin. Umino is so close to being the star NJPW wants him to be – he got a great reaction here – but he always manages to step on rakes at inopportune times.

What’s next? Sabre wrestles Yuya Uemura on Night 3, while Umino wrestles Wolf on the same show.

A Block: Hirooki Goto vs. SANADA [HOUSE OF TORTURE]

SANADA got a superstar entrance with new gold entrance gear and the widest of wide-brim hats. The match was rock-solid – not great, but fundamentally very good – and featured no cheating or HOUSE shenanigans whatsoever. It was the best SANADA has looked in ages, and Goto was a perfect opponent for him to have this kind of match before the HOUSE silliness presumably ensues upon the tournament’s return to Japan. Goto won with the GTR.

What’s next? Goto wrestles Yota Tsuji on Night 2, while SANADA wrestles Great-O-Khan on the same show.

B Block: Yuya Uemura vs. Callum Newman [United Empire]

This was a rematch of this year’s New Japan Cup final and felt like a bit of a Reader’s Digest version of that excellent match, right down to Newman winning with Make Way following Kiss the Crown. The story of the match was Uemura working on Newman’s shoulder, which was legitimately injured at Dominion, but Newman managed to persevere and won the match without cheating. This was very, very good. Both these guys are likely to be in the mix down the stretch, so make what you will of Newman taking this one.

What’s next? Newman wrestles Narita on Night 3, while Uemura wrestles Sabre on the same show.

A Block: Boltin Oleg vs. Ryohei Oiwa [TMDK]

Oiwa also has new music, which is not good, although it’s a somewhat better fit for his faction than his previous theme, which sounded like Hontai all the way. The not-so-great new music is not an encouraging trend, although if it is the price we have to pay for Gabe Kidd’s killer new theme, so be it, I guess. Oiwa didn’t get much of a reaction from the crowd, likely because his push has been minimal compared to just about everyone else on this show. The match was good, with two hosses hossing it up, although the crowd didn’t seem to buy for a second that Oiwa could win. So, when Oiwa did win by submission with an armbar – again, playing off a legitimate injury from which Boltin just returned on Monday – there was very little reaction. I think some of that can be chalked up to most casual fans not knowing about Boltin’s injury – heck, even I didn’t realize he was hurt until his “comeback” match was announced, since most of the time he missed was during Best of the Super Juniors, which he obviously wouldn’t have been working anyway – but it also suggests that they need to do a better job with Oiwa. He’s got a lot of potential and could be a player for them, if they push him properly.

What’s next? Oiwa wrestles Takagi on Night 2, while Boltin wrestles Yuto-Ice on the same show.

A Block: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji [Unbound Co.]

This was excellent, as you can probably imagine. The crowd was into both guys, but clearly preferred Takeshita. Again, this seemed like a compressed version of their Wrestle Kingdom match, although it wasn’t necessarily worse for it, and Tsuji’s new wrinkle, the Fire Blaster, winning the match for him made all the sense in the world. However, I will say that Tsuji’s win kind of sucked the air out of the room, and a lot of people got up to leave the instant Red Shoes’ hand hit the mat for the three count. I’m not sure Tsuji’s whole NJPW supremacy thing is playing as a babyface act to the degree it’s supposed to, at least not in America, where the Venn diagram of NJPW and AEW fanbases is a circle within a circle. Also, Tsuji’s new theme sucks; I wasn’t the biggest fan of his old theme, but it’s 100 times better as a wrestling theme than this powerfully mid J-pop song.

What’s next? Tsuji wrestles Goto on Night 2, while Takeshita wrestles Lee on the same show.

The G1 Climax 36 tour gets underway next Saturday in Hokkaido, with an A Block show, as well as the Kidd/Moloney B Block match that couldn’t happen in Hoffman Estates. I’ll see you then!