The G1 is back in Japan after kicking off in “Chicago” for an A Block show (with one B Block match) in Sapporo. Even though it doesn’t affect the block matches on this show, it should be noted that Shota Umino suffered what must have been a severe concussion during his match with Zack Sabre Jr. on Night 1 and has been pulled from the tournament, so he will forfeit the rest of his matches and the man who he was scheduled to wrestle that night will get the night off. On to the action…

B Block: Gabe Kidd vs. Drilla Moloney [Unbound Co.]

Walker Stewart is joined on commentary by OSKAR, who gets the color commentary role in ways that few active wrestlers do, though he could still stand to lay out more often; I get the impression that he was told he needs to always be talking, which is generally true but requires a bit of nuance. They noticeably haven’t been doing the “English-speaking wrestler on color” thing much this year – there was a show late last year where Hartley Jackson essentially didn’t say a word for the last few matches of the show, presumably because he’d rather be watching matches than talking about them, and they put the idea on the shelf after that – but it’s generally still better to have two guys in the booth playing off each other than to have the play-by-play guy do shows like this solo. 

This match would have taken place on Night 1, but Kidd is still having issues with his U.S. work visa and couldn’t get into the country. Kidd, like a good heel, is trying to take credit for injuring Umino in the match they had at Korakuen Hall last Monday, but, logically, Umino never would have been allowed to fly to the U.S. so soon after suffering a concussion. It takes a little while for this one to get going, as it opens with some methodical crowd brawling and Kidd repeatedly telling the crowd, “AEW ichiban,” but once it gets going, it gets good, with both guys gigging (which I’m not used to seeing in the G1) and lots of heavy striking and power moves. Moloney wins with the Drilla Killa to take the two points and stake his claim to an IWGP Global Championship match down the road.

What’s next? Moloney (2 points) wrestles HENARE on Night 3 in Sapporo tomorrow night, while Kidd (0 points) wrestles OSKAR on the same show.

A Block: Great-O-Khan [United Empire] (0 points) vs. SANADA [HOUSE OF TORTURE] (0 points)

SANADA is back in his gold entrance gear, and OSKAR is just aghast. For a heel vs. heel matchup, this isn’t as spicy as you’d probably think, as SANADA doesn’t really use any of the heavy-heat HOUSE tactics (he seems to be trending back toward being a babyface) and Great-O-Khan’s heel style involves a lot of stalling. Great-O-Khan wins by count-out after hitting SANADA with a chair on the ramp and then giving SANADA the TTD onto the chair, all in clear view of ref Kenta Sato, which OSKAR rightly points out should have resulted in the ref stopping the count. After the match, Great-O-Khan beats up SANADA some more (what a gimmick this HOUSE OF TORTURE is – half a dozen dudes there for you when you don’t need them and none when you do) and taunts longtime rival Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who is at ringside doing Japanese-language commentary. (Earlier in the day, Tenzan announced that he would be wrestling his longtime tag team partner, Satoshi Kojima, in his final match on August 15 at Ryogoku.)

What’s next? Great-O-Khan (2 points) wrestles Ryohei Oiwa on Night 4 in Sendai on Tuesday, while SANADA (0 points) wrestles Yota Tsuji on the same show.

A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (0 points) vs. Jake Lee [United Empire] (2 points)

Lee’s clown makeup is minimal tonight. This starts off as another schtick-heavy match, though Takeshita understands how to keep it moving. Midway through, Takeshita wipes off Lee’s face paint, which temporarily breaks the “silent jester” spell and leads to a surprisingly uptempo closing stretch. Takeshita wins with Raging Fire in a match that ended up being one of the better Jake Lee matches I’ve seen.

What’s next? Takeshita (2 points) wrestles Yuto-Ice on Tuesday, while Lee (2 points) wrestles Hirooki Goto on the same show.

A Block: Boltin Oleg (0 points) vs. Yuto-Ice [Unbound Co.] (2 points)

After hearing a clean version of Yuto’s new music, I have to say, it’s not bad; there’s more going on in it than I could hear in the arena. OSKAR helpfully explains that Yuto and Boltin have beef going back to the dojo. They go hard from the beginning, although there are some slight timing issues at first, but then they settle into a super fun match full of heavy, heavy striking. Boltin wins by ref stoppage after a series of power bombs, which is portrayed as Boltin losing himself and snapping. The ending wasn’t quite as impactful as I think they were going for, as Yuto didn’t get all the way up for any of the power bombs, but adding an edge to Boltin is a needed character development. After the match, Boltin appears to regret what he’s done, at least to a degree, and OSKAR carries the still-unconscious Yuto out of the arena.

What’s next? Boltin (2 points) wrestles Shingo Takagi on Tuesday, while Yuto (2 points) wrestles Takeshita on the same show.

A Block: Shingo Takagi [Unbound Co.] (0 points) vs. Ryohei Oiwa [TMDK] (2 points)

I didn’t clock Oiwa’s new Oakleys at the show last Saturday, but they go perfectly with his mullet and the “FrankenStrat” design on his trunks. He’s beginning to look like an adjunct member of The Outrunners. OSKAR returns and says Yuto is being evaluated for a concussion, which is maybe not the best or most tasteful booking direction after losing a guy to a legitimate concussion, but we’ll see what happens.

This was another really solid, physical match, and it just flew by. Oiwa works on Takagi’s arm, just like he did with Boltin on Night 1, and his arm offense is, shall we say, a work in progress; the arm dragon screws, especially, don’t really look like they’d hurt at all, and I think he needs to come up with something different than a standing armbar to use as a submission finisher, since it’s been done to death as a rest hold over the years. Aside from that, though, this is very good, and Takagi wins a back-and-forth match with the Burning Dragon.

What’s next? Takagi (2 points) wrestles Boltin on Tuesday, while Oiwa (2 points) wrestles Great-O-Khan on the same show.

A Block: Yota Tsuji [Unbound Co.] (2 points) vs. Hirooki Goto (2 points)

Goto is clearly the crowd favorite here, which is the second time in two matches that the babyface IWGP Champion is clearly less popular than the guy he’s wrestling. Now, there are extenuating circumstances in both cases – Takeshita is an AEW star and the match with him was in the U.S., and Goto is the last major star from the company’s most recent golden era to still be doing it at this level – but I also think Tsuji’s recent dickish statements about defending the title at Forbidden Door may have gone a step too far in the fans’ eyes. His terrible new music likely doesn’t help, either.

This is a really terrific match with lots of hard-hitting, perfectly timed offense, as you’d expect from two of the best wrestlers in the world. After a lengthy struggle, Goto wins with the GTR Kai. I figured Goto was going over here, because now he can challenge for the title at around the same time that the Street Fighter movie is released, which is scheduled to be just a few days after King of Pro-Wrestling (or whatever it will be called moving forward, as I believe “King of Pro-Wrestling” is a Bushiroad trademark). After the match, Goto praises Tsuji but tells him that he should be more respectful of the old-school ways.

What’s next? Goto (4 points) wrestles Lee on Tuesday, while Tsuji (2 points) wrestles SANADA on the same show.

We’ll be back at it with the somewhat depleted B Block in this same building tomorrow. See you then!