A Block action in the G1! Do we get any upsets or will A Block look a bit like B Block?

2021 may go down as one of the most forgettable G1s unless the last few nights really set the world afire. Looking at this card, there’s a very real chance that Hiromu Takahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii will steal the show and it’s not even a tournament match.

Aside from that, KENTA needs the win over ZSJ to stay alive and Great-O-Khan needs to beat Kota Ibushi for those same reasons. No one cares about Toru Yano and Yujiro Takahashi, don’t act like you do. Lastly, if Shingo loses to Tanga Loa then I’ll eat my shoe.

So let’s see where this goes!

Ratings:

• Tomohiro Ishii vs Hiromu Takahashi: Ishii wins via Vertical Drop Brainbuster @18:12 – *** ¾
• KENTA vs Zack Sabre Jr: KENTA wins via Go 2 Sleep @22:23 – **** ¼
• Yujiro Takahashi vs Toru Yano: Yano wins via Count Out @10:21 – *
• Tanga Loa vs Shingo Takagi: Takagi wins via Last of the Dragon @19:07 – *** ¼
• Kota Ibushi vs Great-O-Khan: Ibushi wins via Kamigoye @20:21 – *** ½

Results:

Tomohiro Ishii vs Hiromu Takahashi

This was a great match for Hiromu. It builds off their New Japan Cup match from last year and Hiromu’s desire to move up to Heavyweight eventually. He comes out the hot and fast, and Ishii is put on the back foot from the opening bell. The beauty in this matchup is that Ishii is not very tall, so Hiromu has a level of believability, mixed with his Cup victory.

Ishii rocked Hiromu back every time there was a strike spot, but Hiromu found plenty of opening with Dynamite Plunger, Death Valley Driver on the apron and into the corner, and he had a big moment where Time Bomb looked to give Hiromu the win, but there was a kick out. Ishii had to dig deep, Hiromu tried to Lariat Ishii down, but Ishii absorbs it, hits a Enzuigiri, followed by Hiromu going for a Small Package, Ishii pops out and finally hooks in the Brainbuster for the win.

This was one of the better matches of the G1 tour and it’s not even a tournament match!

KENTA vs Zack Sabre Jr

ZSJ plays out of his comfort zone a lot through this match and wants to stand up with KENTA. The only advantage for ZSJ is that most of his strikes and submission attacks are focused on the damaged arm of KENTA. Even with a good strategy, ZSJ’s hot headed tendencies cause him to charge in and get caught. A Green Killer followed by Dropkicks in the corner and a Double Footstomp swing the momentum to KENTA.

KENTA tries Go 2 Sleep, ZSJ slips out and into a Cobra Twist. He readjusts the hold as he and KENTA trade submission attempts when they go to the ground and KENTA slips out for Game Over attempts. As they get back to their feet, there’s a small trade, ZSJ gets something going but KENTA hits the Busaiku Knee. When he goes for a second Busaiku Knee, ZSJ grabs him and wrestles him down with a Knee Bar.

A Rolling Lariat from KENTA, leads to him trying to continue and ZSJ drops down and grabs him in either Cremation Lilly or Orienteering with Napalm Death, but either way, KENTA is in the submission for a good amount of time before finally reaching the ropes. KENTA slaps the British out of ZSJ’s face and lowers the knee pad for a Go 2 Sleep, but ZSJ catches the knee.

Zack twists and has an Ankle Lock in, but KENTA keeps searching for an out. He rolls forward and Zack stumbles into the exposed turnbuckle, staggers back to KENTA, KENTA scoops him and Go 2 Sleep.

Damn good match.

Yujiro Takahashi vs Toru Yano

Yujiro kicks Yano out before he even gets in the ring for his 10 yearlong entrance, and then Yujrio hits a Tope Suicida and starts going through Yano’s gimmick bag. From this point Yujiro does all of Yano’s tricks, they just take a bit. He goes to take down the turnbuckle pads, but I guess whoever put the one KENTA took off back up, tied the bottom knot too tightly.

So the match slows down a bit too much for turnbuckle spots, roll ups, low blows, and referee shenanigans. Yano runs to hide under the ring, Yujiro goes to follow, then Marty gets sick of yelling at them so he starts the count out. Yano gets back in around 13, Yujiro resurfaces around 16, but he’s handcuffed and can’t get back to his feet to get in the ring.

Yano’s charm really wears thin doing these so often during a tournament. These matches are always hit or miss, and this was a big miss. Too slow, clunky and an awkward finish where we saw nothing for a about a minute

Tanga Loa vs Shingo Takagi

Loa forces the power issue early as he goes at Shingo immediately. The opening flurry and Shingo’s initial comeback keep things looking really close. Shingo doesn’t start taking over until the punch fake out into the Snap DDT. We get a back and forth where Loa hits the Blue Thunder Bomb where Shingo is rocked a bit.

Somewhat concerning spot was Loa has Shingo over his shoulder on the turnbuckles and it looks like his foot slips as they go for an Avalanche Power Slam. It looked to land safe enough, the slip just made it look a little scary. Red Shoes does check on Shingo but the match continues for another like 10 minutes, so Shingo is probably fine.

Haymakers galore, Shingo returns the Avalanche more with a Superplex of his own. There’s a classic Firearm strike exchange, where Shingo seems to get rocked but refuses to get scooped for Ape Shit. A few snapping strikes from Shingo, Last of the Dragon, and then we’re on to the main event!

A decent match but Loa hasn’t proven enough in this tournament to be a real threat to any of the bigger names. More importantly, my shoes are safe!

Kota Ibushi vs Great-O-Khan

This match is what O-Khan seems to like to do when he faces Strikers or fliers. He grounds them, stays low on the match and employs that Antonio Inoki style of classic amateur wrestling. Ibushi kept trying to push the situation to their feet, but that took a while. Both men have moments where they dive at legs and just hunt for openings, but Ibushi needs this to stand up.

Ibushi has the advantage, charges but gets caught in an Over the Shoulder throw followed by a straight right punch. O-Khan kept slugging with Palm Strikes and slaps, dropping Ibushi. Ibushi fires up, rocks O-Khan, hits a Bomaye for a near fall. Pele kick keeps the pressure on O-Khan. Ibushi goes for the Kamigoye, but O-Khan intercepts it with the claw. Lifts Ibushi up by the knee, but Ibushi manages to counter with a head kick. Kamigoye attempt again, and this time it connects as Ibushi falls into the pinfall for the lead in the block!

Overall Score: 7/10

Now this block isn’t as top heavy as B Block, but there are a level of matches and/or fighters that don’t really matter. Thankfully for the way the show was laid out, everyone with at least 6 points was still alive. But then we also had to tolerate whatever that Yano vs Yujiro match was. Plus who really takes Tanga Loa seriously?

There was more good than bad of course, but coming out of intermission with a lame comedy match and a match with such a skill disparity it was hard to care. Hiromu and Ishii was great, KENTA vs ZSJ stole the show and even the main event wasn’t bad. I feel like Great-O-Khan needs to learn better ring psychology. He’s got intensity, he’s got a lot of tools but

Let’s see the standings.

A Block:

1. Kota Ibushi/ 6-2/ 12 Points
2. Zack Sabre Jr/ 5-2 / 10 Points
3. KENTA/ 5-2/ 10 Points
4. Shingo Takagi/ 5-2 / 10 Points
5. Tomohiro Ishii/ 4-3/ 8 Points – Eliminated
6. Toru Yano/ 4-3/ 8 Points – Eliminated
7. Great-O-Khan/ 4-4 / 8 Points – Eliminated
8. Yujiro Takahashi/ 2-5 / 4 Points – Eliminated
9. Tanga Loa/ 2-5/ 4 Points – Eliminated
10. Tetsuya Naito/ 0-9/ 0 Points (Eliminated Injury)