Another week of G1 Climax and not much on the American front. What’s the Top 5 look like this week?

Once again, we had a very close vote for match of last week. Again, winning by one vote, NJPW G1 Climax Night 6: B Block: Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii ! Given how much Moxley has intrigued fans and the fact that most of Ishii’s matches are solid material, this isn’t all that surprising.

For Puro fans, this Top 5 will be right up their alley. For WWE fans, tune in next week, unless you’ve been following the G1 Climax. But check out the Honorable Mentions, it wasn’t for lack of trying!

5. NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 9: A Block: SANADA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

From My Analysis:
So I’ve been fairly critical of Tanahashi’s matches this year, but this was one of his best since coming back from his most recent injury. SANADA is a great opponent to work a deliberate pace with a lot of easy story telling, especially given they have a similar training history. Tanahashi is a Tatsumi Fujinami trainee and SANADA is Mutoh’s student, so everyone is from the Dragon style. Aside from a few hiccups on transitions, this was well wrestled, well paced and Tanahashi countering a Skull End, left the door open for two High Fly Flows and 2 more points.

Winner: Tanahashi via High Fly Flow

Rating: **** 1/4

4. AJPW Summer Action Series Day 8: Triple Crown Championship: Kento Miyahara (c) vs Zeus

So these two have had a great rivalry this past year. Zeus beat Kento for his first title run last July after turning the corner on Kento usually handling him. Kento did win the belt back from Zeus after he won the Royal Road Tournament and has held it since. This is Kento’s sixth defense. Does Zeus avenge his title loss from last October, or does Kento continue to prove why he’s the Ace?

This kept a very similar feeling to their two matches from last year. Lots of explosive moments, big suplexes to the outside and just general signature spots. Zeus does seem to be employing a Bear Hug Suplex and Knee Bar more often than before, but still mostly a hard hitting affair.

Biceps Explosions, Black Outs, counter holds and Kyohei Wada moments make this a very fun and familiar match. Granted, for as good as this match was, it did hearken back a little too much. And I don’t mean callbacks (though there were some), I mean the pacing and timing on big moves felt a lot like the match where Kento got the belt back.

There we go, damn good match, but it didn’t feel like it built up the rivalry and was just another good match by two of the bigger stars in current All Japan.

Winner: Miyahara via Shutdown Suplex Hold

Rating: **** 1/4

3. NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 8: B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito

From My Analysis:
I think we all assumed being in Hiroshima, which is Naito’s second home town, he wasn’t losing to Ishii. Ishii had a loss to give since he’s 2-1 going into this, and Naito really needs to keep this momentum. As for the match, it was a great match between two guys who never fail to deliver. That’s also not hyperbole, I can’t remember a match between these two being bad. Words don’t really do it great justice, just watch the match. Naito moving his way into the middle of the pack is exactly what he needed though.

Winner: Naito via Destino

Rating: **** 1/4

Honorable Mentions:

NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 9: A Block: Lance Archer vs Kota Ibushi
Winner: Ibushi via Kamigoye
Rating: ****
205 Live: Drew Gulak vs Isaiah Scott
Winner: Gulak via Cyclone Crash
Rating: ****
AJPW Summer Action Series Day 7: World Tag Team Championship Match: Violence Giant (Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama) (c) vs Naoya Nomura & Jake Lee
Winner: Suwama via Last Ride
Rating: ****
IMPACT!: X Division Championship: Jake Crist vs Rich Swann(c)
Winner: Crist via Tornado Cutter
Rating: *** 3/4
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 8: B Block: Jon Moxley vs Shingo Takagi
Winner: Moxley via Texas Cloverleaf
Rating: *** 3/4
NXT UK: WALTER vs Trent Seven
Winner: WALTER via Referee Stoppage
Rating: *** 3/4
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 10: B Block: Shingo Takagi vs Jay White
Winner: White via Blade Runner
Rating: *** 3/4
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 9: A Block: Zack Sabre Jr vs EVIL
Winner: EVIL via Everything is Evil
Rating: *** 1/2
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 10: B Block: Tetsuya Naito vs Jon Moxley
Winner: Moxley via Death Rider
Rating: *** 1/2
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 10: Ren Narita vs Yuya Uemura
Winner: Narita via Belly to Belly Hold
Rating: *** 1/4
IMPACT!: Willie Mack vs Rob Van Dam
Winner: RVD via 5 Star Frog Splash
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 9: Jon Moxley & Shota Umino vs Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito
Winner: Takagi via Pumping Bomber
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SmackDown Live: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Apollo Crews
Winner: Nakamura via Kinshasa
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 9: Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Minoru Suzuki & Taichi vs Ren Narita, Yota Tsuji & Jeff Cobb
Winner: Kanemaru via Deep Impact
Rating: ***
NXT UK: Kay Lee Ray, Jazzy Gabert & Jinny vs Xia Brookside, Piper Niven & Toni Storm
Winner: Jinny via Draping X Factor
Rating: ***
WWE Smackville: WWE Championship Match: Kofi Kingston(c) vs Dolph Ziggler vs Samoa Joe
Winner: Kofi via Trouble in Paradise
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 8: B Block: Jeff Cobb vs Jay White
Winner: White via Blade Runner
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 10: Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Lance Archer & Zack Sabre Jr vs Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI, Will Ospreay & Shota Umino
Winner: Kanemaru via Deep Impact
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 8: KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredricks vs YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada & Toa Henare
Winner: YOSHI-HASHI via Butterfly Lock
Rating: ***

2. NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 10: B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs Juice Robinson

From My Analysis:
Juice started off the tournament strong while Ishii has been sputtering a little bit. This match started off with stiff strikes and just a hard hitting, well paced, insane match. Juice took it to Ishii, maybe in hopes of toughening himself for Moxley later in the tournament, or just because he’s stubborn. Only the second block match of the night, and we may have peaked. Damn, this was a hell of a slobber knocker!

Winner: Ishii via Vertical Drop Brain Buster

Rating: **** 1/2

1. NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 9: A Block: Kazuchika Okada vs KENTA

From My Analysis:
Aside from being the match between the two A Block leaders, it carried a lot of weight for both men. KENTA is trying to prove he’s still who he was before he went to WWE and Okada is trying to get over a few things. Okada tends to have issues against former NOAH wrestlers and he was tied with Masahiro Chono for most consecutive victories in the G1 Climax. We saw a great match. KENTA pulled out a few Draping Foot Stomps and Draping Knee as well as a Game Over attempt. KENTA was never able to connect with a Go 2 Sleep, so his finish is protected. Numerous counters and just a great match.

Winner: Okada via Rainmaker

Rating: **** 3/4

Thoughts:

So as much as I liked KENTA and Okada, part of the enjoyment and rating came from the story and following both more than many others. SO – with that being said, I’ll give my vote to, Juice Robinson vs Tomohiro Ishii, since that was possibly Juice’s best match. Maybe his New Japan Cup match against Tanahashi is a little better, but this is damn close.

Now vote on your favorite match of the week, and follow the G1 Climax dammit! You’re almost guaranteed a MoTY challenger every night.