RADICAN’S 8/1 NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 12 Blog: Cobb vs. Takagi, Moxley vs. Yano, Goto vs. Ishii main event

RADICAN’S NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29: NIGHT 12 BLOG
AUGUST 1, 2019
FUKUOKA CITIZEN GYMNASIUM
FUKUOKA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD

(5) Jeff Cobb (4) vs. Shingo Takagi (4) in a G1 Climax 29 B block match. Cobb hit a big wrist clutch suplex on Shingo during the early going. Shingo fired back on the floor hitting a clothesline to Cobb’s leg on the apron. Cobb hit a belly to belly suplex that fired up the crowd. Cobb hit a standing moonsault, but couldn’t make the cover and favored his knee. Shingo fired back with a sick snap Saito suplex. Cobb took a superplex and got up and hit a t-bone. Shingo got right up and and hit a t-bone of his own on Cobb and both men were down. They went to a big strike exchange that Shingo ended with a Pumping Bomber. Shingo countered Tour of the Islands and hit Noshigami. He then hit a Pumping Bomber for a near fall. Cobb blocked Made in Japan and hit a big lariat. Cobb blocked a rana attempt and hit a spinning powerbomb for a two count. Cobb went for Tour of the Islands, but Shingo collapsed. Shingo lifted Cobb and finally hit Made in Japan for a near fall! Both men countered each other’s finishers and Cobb finally managed to hit Tour of the Islands for the win.

Winner: Jeff Cobb (6 pts). (****1/4)

(Radican’s Analysis: This was just a great battle between two powerhouses.)

(6) Toru Yano (4) vs. IWGP US Champion Jon Moxley (w/Shota Umino) (10) in a G1 Climax 29 B block match. Moxley got upset after Yano sprayed him win water from the floor. He offered Moxley 10,000 yen and a DVD, but he kicked it out of his hands. Moxley managed to turn the tide on Yano and tape him to the guardrail. He struggled but managed to free himself and beat the count. Yano told Moxley he was truly sorry and then grabbed his hair. Both men took down turnbuckle pads on opposite sides of the rings and had a joust. The ref took the pad from Moxley and Yano hit a low blow for a near fall. Moxley set up Yano against a table, but he pulled Umino in the way. He hit a double low blow and tied Umino and Moxley’s legs together. He got back into the ring and it was good for the win. Yano got the DVD and cash and ran to the back.

Winner: Toru Yano (6 pts).

(Radican’s Analysis: Amazing to see Moxley get his first loss of the tournament at the hands of Yano, who outfoxed him to get the win.)

Moxley got back into the ring and looked really upset. He finally left with Umino.

(7) Juice Robinson (6) vs. IWGP IC Champion Tetsuya Naito (4) in a G1 Climax 29 B block match. Robinson took forever to take off his entrance gear to mock Naito. He even wore three t-shirts to the ring. Naito finally jumped him when went to take off his third shirt. Robinson imitated Naito’s fake dive and pose. They botched a spinning DDT spot, but Naito got the upper hand and hit a dropkick in the entranceway. He then whipped Robinson hard into the guardrail. Naito kept mocking Robinson’s signature first pump. They went to a strike exchange and Robinson eventually caught Naito with a leg lariat. Naito fired back and hung Robinson’s legs up in the rope before hitting a neck breaker over his knee.

They were setting up a move up top and both men slipped down to the mat. They reset up top and Robinson hit a super rana and a powerbomb for a two count. They had a great contest sequence, but Naito finally got the last counter out of a suplex and hit a DDT. Juice blocked Destino and got Naito up on his shoulders, but Naito hit a poison rana and then a Destino for a near fall. Robinson blocked another Destino attempt and hit a Juice Box. The announcers mentioned Naito was bleeding from the ear. They went back and forth and Robinson blocked Destino and eventually hit a big lariat for a two count. Naito countered Pulp Friction Into Gloria for a near fall. He then hit Destino for the win.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito (6 pts). (**3/4)

(Radican’s Analysis: Odd match. It didn’t have a lot of spark and there were some blown spots. It got good late, but the match was missing something. Naito stays alive in the tournament with the win, as a loss would have all but eliminated him.)

(8) Taichi (w/Miho Abe) (4) vs. Jay White (w/Gedo) (4) in a G1 Climax 29 B block match. White left the ring first and then Taichi went out the opposite side of the ring. White went after Kanemaru on one side of the ring and Taichi went after Gedo on the other. They eventually ran into each other and went at it on the floor. Both men took turns raking each other’s eyes. Gedo grabbed Ave in the flood, which allowed White to attack Taichi from behind. Taichi fired back and ripped off his pants. White hit the Kiwi Crusher, but Taichi managed to kick out at two.

Gedo and Kanemaru were up on the apron distracting the ref. White went for a low blow, but Taichi blocked it and hit a low kick. Taichi got the Gedo clutch, but Gedo dragged the ref out of the ring. Gedo put the boots to Taichi and went to hit him with the brass knuckles, but Kanemaru cut him off and went for the Santori Surprise only got Gedo to duck. Taichi then wiped out Gedo. White hit a low blow and went for Blade Runner, but Taichi pushed him right into the Santori Surprise from Kanemaru. He then hit the Last Ride for a near fall. They went back and forth and White hit Blade Runner for the win.

Winner: Jay White (6 pts). (**)

(Radican’s Analysis: It was fun to see both men trying to cheat their way to victory.)

(9) Hirooki Goto (4) vs. Never Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii (8) in a G1 Climax 29 B block match. Ishii needs the win here to move into second place in the block. Both men traded shoulder tackles until Goto took Ishii down. Both men traded bombs and eventually Goto hit a big clothesline to take down Ishii. Ishii fired back and hit a seemingly endless series of firearms and chops, but Goto turned him around and hit an endless series of chops. They traded bombs in the middle of the ring and the fans fired up. Ishii finally caught Goto with a powerslam to end the exchange. Goto did some misdirection and caught Ishii with a clothesline to ground him. Ishii came up favoriting his neck. They battled up top and Goto hit a super Code Red. They had some really good hard hitting exchanges and Ishii managed to hit the me sliding lariat. Goto got a sleeper a short time later and he went for the GTR. Ishii blocked it and Goto hit the Ushigoroshi for a near fall. Both men traded headbutts and Ishii went down. Goto hit a sit out Ushigoroshi after countering the brainbuster attempt. He then hit the GTR for the win. This was a night of upsets.

Winner: Hirooki Goto (6 pts). (****1/4)

(Radican’s Analysis: Really good hard-hitting match as expected. They need to get rid of the headbutts though.)

The announcers mentioned six men are now in a fight for second place.

The fans fired up Goto’s show-closing promo. He concluded by saying the G in G1 stands for Hirooki Goto.

Email Sean at radicansean@pwtorch.com. Follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/sr_torch.