NJPW hits Gunma for the penultimate evening of block action for the A Block. Correcting my previous statement here, apparently Yuto-Ice and Jake Lee are not entirely eliminated from contention, but they would need an absolute mountain of things to go particular ways in order to make it to the semi-finals. Tonight’s show will surely provide some answers, so let’s get to it.

A Block: Ryohei Oiwa [TMDK] (8 points) vs. Jake Lee [United Empire] (6 points)

Walker Stewart is joined by OSKAR on commentary. Lee has to win this match to remain alive in the tournament, but at this point, it’s also worth considering that an Oiwa loss would do major harm to his chances to advance.

Lee enters to his NOAH music and is wearing his Good Looking Guys gear in reference to an angle these two were part of in NOAH when Oiwa was on excursion there. Rather than going for the side headlock again, however, Oiwa attacks Lee’s leg throughout the match. Partway through the match, they brawl on the outside, and Lee takes a shot to the ringpost; while he’s down, he smears on some paint around his mouth in Joker style and comes back in “Silent Jester” mode. It helps for a while, but then Oiwa takes over again and taps Lee with a reverse single-leg crab-type thing. This was okay, although it did underscore what a void of personality pre-Silent Jester Jake Lee was.

So, Lee is now definitively out, while Oiwa joins Boltin Oleg and Konosuke Takeshita at the top of the block. Notably, Oiwa beat Boltin on Night 1, and that tiebreaker could really come in handy down the stretch.

What’s next? Oiwa (10 points) wrestles Takeshita on Night 16, which takes place in Shizouka on Wednesday, while Lee (6 points) wrestles Yota Tsuji on the same show.

A Block: Konosuke Takeshita (10 points) vs. SANADA [HOUSE OF TORTURE] (6 points)

If SANADA loses, he is eliminated. This is, of course, a rematch from Dominion.

SANADA spends much of the match working over Takeshita’s knee, and Takeshita sells like crazy for him. SANADA has his working boots on tonight, and Takeshita is a great opponent for him, as he is typically a great opponent for everyone. The crowd doesn’t seem to be super into this until about 10 minutes in, when they suddenly decide it’s awesome. Takeshita wins with Raging Fire, ending SANADA’s hopes of advancing to the semifinal stage. This was very good, and there were no HOUSE shenanigans whatsoever.

What’s next? Takeshita (12 points) wrestles Oiwa on Wednesday, while SANADA (6 points) wrestles his former LIJ mate Shingo Takagi on the same show.

A Block: Yota Tsuji [Unbound Co.] (8 points) vs. Great-O-Khan [United Empire] (4 points)

With Takeshita’s win, this match suddenly becomes very important for Tsuji, as his road to the semifinals would get extremely difficult if he loses.

Great-O-Khan’s music hits and OSKAR audibly sighs, in an excellent comedic moment; OSKAR then proceeds to talk over his entire entrance, going on and on about how much he hates him. OSKAR then bets his next several years’ wages that Great-O-Khan will cheat (a bet he wins immediately), rips Hiroshi Tanahashi for failing to enforce the rules, and even takes a shot at the Japanese economy – he is on one. The match is mostly a showcase for Great-O-Khan’s cheating, some of it pointedly done right in front of Tanahashi. Tsuji battles back and eventually gets the win with three Gene Blasters. This was not good, and while it’s not like Great-O-Khan was some kind of super worker when he was a babyface (though he had his moments), this new version of the character just sucks; he might as well be in HOUSE OF TORTURE.

With Tsuji’s win, Yuto-Ice is officially eliminated from contention.

What’s next? Tsuji (10 points) wrestles Lee on Wednesday, while Great-O-Khan (4 points) wrestles Boltin Oleg on the same show.

A Block: Hirooki Goto (4 points) vs. Boltin Oleg (10 points)

These two have been partners quite a bit this year, of course, which adds a bit of intrigue to this one. Boltin controls most of this one, but Goto eventually comes back with his usual high-impact offense. Goto nearly takes down Boltin with a sleeper and a PK, but Boltin manages to battle back with a Kamikaze and a power bomb, both of which only get two. Eventually, Goto battles out of The Verdict, gets a nearfall with a flash pin attempt, and then hits the GTR for the win. This was very good, though I don’t think the crowd really thought Goto had a prayer until about 10 minutes in.

What’s next? Goto (6 points) wrestles Yuto-Ice on Wednesday, while Boltin (10 points) wrestles Great-O-Khan on the same show.

A Block: Shingo Takagi [Unbound Co.] (8 points) vs. Yuto-Ice [Unbound Co.] (6 points)

Takagi is facing elimination here by virtue of the fact that, if he loses, he can only possibly get to 10 points, and he has already lost to two of the three guys who are already at 10. 

This one starts off very physical, and the crowd is immediately into this in a way that it hasn’t been for anything else tonight. They brawl for the first several minutes; Takagi eventually tries some technical wrestling, but Yuto kicks him right in the face, and Takagi seems to say, “well, that’s enough of that,” and they get back to clobbering each other. Both guys kick out of finishers, and they continue just throwing bombs for several more minutes. Eventually, Yuto gets the pin with a ripcord knee strike. Afterward, Yuto cuts a promo and chats a bit with Taichi, who is at ringside doing Japanese-language commentary. This was excellent.

What’s next? Yuto-Ice (8 points) wrestles Goto on Wednesday, while Takagi (8 points) wrestles SANADA on the same show.

So, the four wrestlers still alive in A Block going into the last block show on Wednesday are Takeshita, Tsuji, Boltin and Oiwa, with Takeshita, Oiwa and Tsuji in control of their own destiny. Of course, Takeshita and Oiwa are wrestling each other in the main event, as luck would have it.

Next up is the penultimate B Block show, which takes place on Tuesday in Tsu. I’ll see you then!