The Book Club: Rebooking The G1 Climax

Welcome to The Book Club! This is where I try to take current talent, storylines, and events and book them to their maximum potential.  To get a better understanding, you can read through last week’s installment on Roman Reigns.  This week we’re taking a look at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax 28 which just concluded on Sunday.  For an in-depth breakdown of every night of G1 action, check out the coverage of The Chairshot’s Andrew Balaz and Mathew Sarpraicone. If you watched and followed along for the past month you’re probably thinking that there isn’t really anything that needs to be improved on.  And I agree.  New Japan has a knack for consistently providing the best product in the world.  With that being said, instead of wiping the G1 clean and stating how it should have been booked, I’m going to give a few proposals on how it could have been booked.  Whether these proposals are better than what actually happened are completely up to you.

Proposal #1: The Path of Kota Ibushi

In the first booking article I wrote back in May, I stated how I hoped Kota Ibushi would win the G1.  My feelings remained the same up until the start of the tournament.  If you’re reading this then you probably know that he lost in the finals.  My big goal would have been to save the Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega match for the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 13.  Keeping Hiroshi Tanahashi in the finals is fine with me but I probably would have booked Ibushi to win.  In order to preserve the match against Kenny and still have Ibushi win the finals, I would keep everything the same except move Ibushi to the A Block and Tanahashi to the B Block.  If you watched the final night of the B Block then you heard the commentary team mention how the venue was above capacity just because of the Omega-Ibushi main event event.  Imagine if you could channel that type of demand for a match and pair it with a 5 month build to the Tokyo Dome.

Proposal #2: Kenny Omega Loses His First Match

We saw Taiji Ishimori defeat Will Ospreay in the first night of the Best of the Super Juniors.  This was shortly after Ishimori was revealed as the new Bone Soldier of the Bullet Club.  I thought we would see something similar since Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa turned on the rest of the Bullet Club right before the G1.  The win wouldn’t have been without outside interference, of course.  Tama did win his first match but didn’t beat Kenny and didn’t finish with a great record.  I was a little disappointed because I thought this would be the start of a big push for him.  I understand that Tama and Bad Luck Fale cared more about their impact than scoring points but I think their top priority should have been to ruin Kenny’s tournament hopes.  Regardless, Kenny Omega starting the tournament 6-0 as the company’s new champion was still a strong choice.

Proposal #3: Same B Block, Different Outcomes

This proposal works as an alternative to the last one.  Kenny Omega won his first six matches but lost his last three.  That worked just fine but I would have had his final three opponents be Zack Sabre Jr., Tama Tonga, then Kota Ibushi.  News broke last month that Kenny had been wrestling with a fractured heel.  With this news public, the heel would have been the perfect target for Zack Sabre Jr.  He could have targeted it with submissions throughout the match which would eventually lead to a referee stoppage.  This would then give Tama Tonga a path to cleanly defeat a hobbled Omega.  They could have a rematch for the belt later when Omega is healthy and able to retain.  That leaves us with the Ibushi v Omega match.  I mentioned wanting to preserve that encounter.  I would accomplish that with a draw via an assault from the Firing Squad.  The assault would need to be long and violent enough to warrant a draw like the one in San Francisco.  The points would also need to be in a situation like in the A Block to where Ibushi only needs a draw in the final match to win the block.  Even though it makes sense, I ultimately decided against this idea because calling off that main event would basically be robbing the capacity crowd of their money.  That’s why I preferred the option of moving Ibushi to the A Block so his bout with Omega could wait for Wrestle Kingdom.

Proposal #4: Chris Jericho

I didn’t mind Jericho not being part of the G1.  He has a ridiculous schedule and his mystique within NJPW remains in tact.  However, it would have been nice to see him make an appearance on the final night to target his next opponent.  Kazuchika Okada and Jay White have the perfect characters at the moment to match Jericho’s insanity.  There’s already a story going on between Okada and White for control of CHAOS.  Maybe the Intercontinental Championship could alternate between the three of them until the score can be settled between two of them at Wrestle Kingdom.

Proposal #5: The Kick Out

Kevin Kelly addressed it during their match.  Kota Ibushi is the only person on record to kick out of Kenny Omega’s One-Winged Angel back in DDT.  Now that they’ve grown much closer since then, Kota should remain as the only person to do it.  The reasoning could be that perhaps Kenny doesn’t want to hurt him or that only Kota knows the intricacies of Kenny’s moveset like no other.  I wouldn’t have been surprised if it ending up happening in their match last week.  If they meet again on a big stage, Kota Ibushi kicking out toward the end of an arduous match would be beautiful.

Proposal #6: Juice in the A Block

Chris Jericho’s absence from the G1 means the second biggest belt in the company was left out of the blocks.  The B Block had three champions and the A Block didn’t have any.  I thought that was a bit of a peculiar decision.  Those that defeat champions during the G1 usually get rematches for the title later on.  That means the A Block competitors didn’t have any consolation belts to chase on their journey.  Since Juice Robinson lost many matches due to his injured hand, he may have been better served as the only champion in the A Block.  They tried to create the narrative that he has a long line of opponents waiting for title shots after the G1 but Kenny Omega and Hirooki Goto are bigger names that suffered losses to similar people.  So it would make more sense for guys like ZSJ and Ibushi to chase Goto instead.  In fact, Tomohiro Ishii has already hinted at a rematch for Kenny Omega’s heavyweight strap.  If Juice was the lone champion in the A Block, it truly would have felt like him versus the world.  He’s a bright babyface on the rise and just won his first championship.  Successful defenses against everyone in the A Block would have been a fun thing to get behind in the coming months.