Hey, I decided to cover the G1 US Special and will be doing so in 2 parts. This first part focused on the tournament that crowned the inaugural NJPW US Champion, while part two will come at a later time and focus on the 4 title matches that happened over the 2 night event(Not including the finals which also crowned another champion).

FIRST ROUND MATCHES

Jay Lethal vs Hangman Page

Who’s who?

Jay lethal is a former ROH World champion and is wearing Black/Red/White attire, while Hangman Page is less decorated having yet to win any gold in NJPW/ROH and is blonde wearing all black attire.

How’s the match?

Good, probably the weakest tournament match at the two day event. Still that shouldn’t be an insult when nearly all the other matches were great if not even better than that adjective describes. The main messy part of this match would have to be the botched lethal injection that one move doesn’t sully the whole match though with Page looking impressive in singles competition which we haven’t seen him do much in NJPW.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Juice Robinson

Who’s who?

Zack Sabre Jr is in the red trunks and boots, is currently PWG Champion and Evolve Champion and very well regarded on the independent scene while Juice is relatively new to the scene. A ‘young lion’ as they are called, Juice has long dreads and a colorful pair of trunks.

How’s the match?

Great, Sabre Jr. pulls out his usual technical tricks and Juice Robinson is allows to showcase what he can do in singles competition against the more seasoned Sabre. I think Sabre Jr. likely got more fans in this tournament with his performances in this tournament.

Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito

Who’s who?

Tomohiro ‘Stone Pitbull’ Ishii is the bald man in black trunks who seems to feel no pain, while Tetsuya Naito has bleached hair and is wearing red/black trunks with white southeastern inspired boots. While Ishii is the oldest man in this tournament, Naito is 2nd in line behind him the two men being 41 and 35. Ishii though hasn’t had as much gold as Naito, who has also had the honor of winning the G1 Climax.

How’s the match?

Another great match, though it like the first has a noticeable botch, it’s handled much better than the frustrated miss of the first round. Ishii lives up to his nickname of the Stone Pitbull seeming impervious to any damage Naito threw his way, in the end lariat’s would help even the odds for Ishii who took massive amounts of offense from Naito.

Michael Elgin vs Kenny Omega

Who’s who?

‘Unbreakable’ Michael Elgin is in a red singlet which is pretty common for him and is bald with beard. While in contrast Kenny Omega is babyfaced with long hair and is wearing long black pants. Omega is second only to Okada in NJPW who is of course their IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Elgin has never lost one on one to Kenny and beat him in the first ever ladder match held by NJPW a year or so back for the IWGP IC Championship.

How’s the match?

Great! Many may call this the match of the 2 night event, but that’s a heated argument depending on who you ask. Big match Mike delivers here and Kenny Omega as always is impressive. It helps that this is the longest of 1st round matches from night 1 clocking in at a lengthy 22:31, plenty of time to breath and let the two workers with great chemisty pack that time with action from bell to bell.

Semi-Final Matches

Jay Lethal vs Kenny Omega

Who’s who?

Dressed mostly the same from the previous night Lethal is in black/white/red attire and has taped ribs while Omega is in black long pants and has long blond hair.

How’s the match?

Very good, one thing I particularly like is that while Omega has mostly been working a tweener style and heavily cheered, he actually pulled out some heel tactics here in way of attacking the injured side of Lethal and ripping away the bandage he had on it. This might be the worst of the Omega matches from the weekend, but to be fair it was also at least 10 minutes shorter of the other 2.

Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Jr.

Who’s who?

Ishii is still the bald older asian badass in black, where Zack Sabre Jr. is the Jr. Heavyweight British man in red.



How’s the match?

Very good, probably the best match under 15 minutes on either night’s card. Ishii and Sabre prove just how well different styles can mesh. Many people would think an Technican vs Brawler bout would work as well as Chocolate and Steak, but these two prove the naysayers wrong with this great clash. In the end, the technical prowess of Sabre couldn’t move the immoveable object that is Ishii.

Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenny Omega in the Finals of the NJPW US inaugural championship tournament

Who’s who?

Ishii is still the bald older asian badass in black, where Kenny Omega is the Bullet Club leader in long black pants.



How’s the match?

Fantastic! I think someone told Ishii and Omega that whoever wins this will be crowned the best wrestling in the world, because they fought tooth and nail in a finale that will make the viewers in Long Beach itching for the G1 to start already, but we all still have 2 weeks before a G1 that will include the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, The Evolve/PWG Champion, IWGP IC Champion and the newly crowned IWGP US Champion Kenny Omega. Not to mention Ishii, who will only meet Omega again if they both meet in the finals.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I think Ishii deserves a huge win somewhere. I doubt that will be at the G1 Climax, but if anyone can impress over a series of 9 matches vs the other competitors in Block A, it’s Ishii or Ibushi, when both of them collide it will likely collapse the universe we are all occupying so be careful.

If you enjoyed this stay tuned as later in the month I will be gifing the finishes to all the G1 Climax matches. So stay tuned right here at Wrestling with GIFs.

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