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NJPW G1 CLIMAX 32: NIGHT 13 REPORT
AUG. 7, 2022
OSAKA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
RADICAN’S SPOILER FREE VIEWING GUIDE
(6) Tom Lawlor vs. Bad Luck Fale – A Block match (***½)
(8) Chase Owens vs. Tomohiro Ishii – B Block match (***3/4)
(9) Jonah vs. Kauzchika Okada (****¼) – A Block match
Announcers: Kevin Kelly & Chris Charlton
(1) YOSHI-HASHI & TORU YANO & HIROOKI GOTO vs. YUTO NAKASHIMA & DAVID FINLAY & HIROSHI TANAHSHI.
Hashi submitted Nakashima with the Butterfly Lock.
WINNERS: Yoshi-Hashi & Toru Yano & Hirooki Goto at 8:28.
(2) HOUSE OF TORTURE (Yujiro Takahashi & Sho) vs. JADO & TAMA TONGA
Takahashi ended up hitting Pimp Juice on Jado for the pin. .
WINNERS: Yujiro Takahashi & Sho at 7:04.
(3) SUZUKI-GUN (Taka Michinoku & Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. & Lance Archer) vs. L.I.J. (Bushi & Sanada & Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito)
Bushi hit the MX on Michinoku for the win.
WINNERS: Taka Michinoku & Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. at 8:03.
(4) UNITED EMPIRE (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay) vs. BULLET CLUB (Jay White & Gedo & Kenta)
O-Khan got the win over Gedo with Sheep Killer.
WINNERS: Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay at 7:02.
(5) AARON HENARE (2) vs. EVIL (w/Dick Togo) (2) – C Block match
Henare is essentially eliminated at this stage with three losses even though he’s been competitive in the tournament. Togo baited Henare into chasing him into the ring, which allowed Evil to wipe him out with a clothesline. Henare fended off a double team on the outside and whipped Evil hard and he spilled over the barricade. Henare set up in the corner, but Togo grabbed his leg with the ref distracted to give Evil the upper hand. Henare no-sold a whip into the exposed corner and hit Rampage to a big pop from the crowd. Evil grabbed the ref and he tried to swat Evil away, but he slapped Henare instead. Henare grabbed the ref and Evil shoved them from behind and the ref got squashed in the corner.
Togo missed a chair shot when Henare ducked. Henare got The Ultimo on Togo and sent him to the floor. Evil then tossed a chair right into this face. He then hit everything is Evil for the win.
WINNER: Evil (4 pts) at 10:28. (**½)
(Radican’s Analysis: The crowd got behind Henare, but Evil’s tricks were too much for him to overcome. Henare is officially eliminated from the tournament with the loss.)
(6) BAD LUCK FALE (4) vs. FILTHY TOM LAWLOR (w/Royce Isaacs) (2) (w/Royce Isaacs) – A Block match
The crowd continued to clap to Lawlor’s music after the introductions and Lawlor danced around, so Fale wiped him out. Fale piled a bunch of guardrails on top of Lawlor. Isaacs helped him get free and he got back into the ring. Lawlor mounted a comeback, but Fale nailed him with a big spear. The announcers talked about how Lawlor had done damage to his head in a recent tag match. Lawlor finally mounted a comeback and took off his jeans and choked Fale with them on the apron. Lawlor chopped Fale down with some kicks to his leg. He then hit a spinning wheel kick to the back of Fale’s head for a nearfall. Lawlor tried to set up for the Nasty Knee, but Fale fought out of it. Fale hit a clothesline and a splash for a nearfall. Fale hit The Grenade, but Lawlor kicked out at the last second.
Lawlor slipped out of the Bad Luck Fall. He got a choke and then hit a DDT out of the corner for a two count and the fans fired up. Lawlor hit a running knee to Fale’s head, but he kicked out. Lawlor went for the NKOTB and connected. He rolled Fale over and it was good for the win!
WINNER: Tom Lawlor (4 pts) at 11:05. (***½)
(Radican’s Analysis: Lawlor was great here. The crowd kept behind him the whole way. They told a really good story of Lawlor chopping Fale down so that he could set him up for his finish.)
Lawlor is still alive, but Fale with four losses under his belt is likely to be eliminated by the end of the night.
(7) EL PHANTASMO (2) vs. JUICE ROBINSON (2) – D Block match
Robinson hasn’t won since his loss to David Finlay. Kelly said Robinson doesn’t have the time to right the ship as he would have under traditional G1 blocks. Kelly said Robinson is on the bubble and on the verge of elimination. Kelly speculated that there might be a deal in place with ELP still alive and Robinson not having much of a chance at all. They promised to have a clean professional match after the bell rang. Both men accused the ref of farting after the bell rang. They did a fake back and forth spot where they came to a fake stalemate and the fans clapped. ELP got a pinning combination with his feet on the ropes, but the ref saw it. Robinson got a rollup with a handful of tights and the ref saw it as well. Robinson and ELP shoved the ref back and forth. They both went after the ref and bumped heads and then fell down and the fans applauded. This is like a Three Stooges movie.
Robinson and ELP began yelling at each other. They then rolled out of the ring on opposite sides and grabbed some plunder from under the ring. ELP set up a table and Robinson put a chair next to it. They ended up having an arm wrestling contest. The fans clapped and ELP used two hands to cheat and win the arm wrestling match. Robinson took his chair and tossed it right into ELP’s face. It appeared the games were now officially over. Robinson hit a piledriver on the ramp and rolled ELP off the stage to the floor. ELP barely beat the 20 count back into the ring in a very cartoonish way. ELP set up Robinson on a table on the floor. He went up top, but Robinson rolled off the table. ELP tried to rope walk, but lost his balance, so he ran across the ring to set up a huge dive to the floor to wipe out Robinson with a tope con hilo. ELP climbed up the middle rope and hit a big splash for a two count.
ELP hit a Styles Clash a short time later for a nearfall and the fans fired up. He followed up with A V-Trigger a short time later. Robinson mounted a comeback. He eventually hit the Left Hand of God and Pulp Friction, but ELP kicked off at the LAST second and the fans fired up. Robinson went after the ref. Robinson brought a chair into the ring and set up for a piledriver on the chair, but ELP fought out of it and caught Robinson low. He tossed a chair into Robinson’s head and the ref called for the DQ.
WINNER: Juice Robinson (4 pts) via DQ at 16:09. (***¼)
(Radican’s Analysis: This started out as a comedy match and turned into a serious match. It got good for a while until ELP tossed a chair into Robinson’s head right in front of the ref, which was not a satisfying finish.)
(8) TOMOHIRO ISHII (2) vs. CHASE OWENS (2) – B Block match
Both men are eliminated from winning the block. They did a ref pushing spot early, which shouldn’t have happened right after the previous match. Ishii had the upper hand early, but Owens went after his knee to gain the upper hand. Owens worked over Ishii’s knee for a long period of time. Owens tried to attack Ishii on the outside, but Owens ended up chopping the post. Ishii went for a Vertical Drop Brainbuster on the floor, but Owens sent Ishii into the guardrail with a Code Red. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Ishii mounted a comeback inside the ring and hit a vertical superplex. He made the cover, but only got two.
Owens mounted back and hit the Jewel Heist for a two count and the fans fired up. Owens tried to replicate Ishii’s strikes and he took a dragon suplex. Owens got up to his feet and fired up and nailed Ishii with a superkick. Owens made the cover for a two count. Owens went for a package piledriver, but Ishii fought out of it. Owens hit a rebound lariat, but Ishii didn’t go down. He fired right back with a headbutt to the chest and both men were down as the fans applauded. Ishii screamed and got up first. They went back and forth and Ishii hit a lariat, but Owens kicked out at one. Ishii hit another big lariat, but this time he got a nearfall and the fans applauded. Owens hit a C-Trigger and went for the package piledriver, but Ishii fought out of it. Owens caught Ishii with a big knee to the head. He then hit the package piledriver for the win.
WINNER: Chase Owens (4 pts) at 16:50. (***¾)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a fantastic match. Owens brought the fight to Ishii throughout the match and got the win in the end. This was one of Owen’s best in-ring performances in NJPW.)
(9) JONAH (w/Bad Dude Tito) (4) vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA – A Block match
Okada tried to set up Jonah for a big move on the ramp, but Jonah countered him and eventually caught him with a big avalanche. Jonah used his size to overwhelm Okada and maintain the advantage for a long period of time. Jonah missed a charge and Okada rolled him up for a two count. He then caught Jonah with a big uppercut right before the 10 minute mark and both men were down as the fans fired up. Tito got in Okada’s face on the floor and Jonah tried to charge at Okada from behind, but he got out of the way and Jonah wiped out Tito. Okada then hit a DDT on the floor. Okada went into the ring and hit a big flip dive over the top to the floor to wipe out Jonah and Tito. WOW! Jonah caught Okada with a spear a short time later. He followed up with a senton for a nearfall.
The 15 minute mark came and went. Okada backdropped Jonah when he tried to lift him. They went at it and Okada eventually caught Jonah with a shotgun dropkick. Okada placed Jonah up top, but Jonah pushed him off and splashed him off the turnbuckles. He followed up with a big lariat for a nearfall and the fans applauded. Okada lifted Jonah and successfully connected with a bodyslam and the fans really fired up with their clapping. Okada went up top and dropped an elbow. Okada set up for a Rainmaker. Jonah tried to elbow out, but Okada hit a German. Okada held on, but Jonah countered a Rainmaker. He connected with a big running lariat a short time later for a nearfall. The fans applauded as the 20 minute mark came and went. Okada fought Jonah off and went for a dropkick, but Jonah connected with a powerbomb. He hit the Black Forest Bomb and then the Torpedo for the win. WOW!
Jonah stood over Okada and had the ref raise his hand. Okada and Jonah are now tied on top of the block with 6 points each.
Jonah called Okada little Kazu after the match. He said he told Okada he would beat him and he did. The fans applauded. Jonah said he wanted to speak to Osaka. Jonah looked into the camera and said to keep the red light on him. He said he was going to sit on the apron TMDK style with Tito. He shouted out Shane and Mikey.
Jonah said one year ago he was told no and it was heartbreaking (this was in reference to his NXT release). Jonah said he has fighting spirit just like all of the people in Japan. Jonah said one year later to the day he beat the best wrestler in the world. Jonah said he doesn’t see time as a linear thing. Jonah said the past, present, and future were happening all at once. He said tonight he shined the brightest light ever when he beat Okada and it would be remembered forever.
Jonah said he’s the best super heavyweight in the world to conclude his promo.
WINNER: Jonah (6 pts) at 21:53. (****¼)
Overall thoughts: (8.0) – This was a very good night of block action capped by a tremendous main event between Jonah and Kazuchika Okada. Go out of your way to see the star-making performance from Jonah in the main event. Owens vs. Ishii is worth checking out as well, as Owens delivered one of if not the best performance he’s had in a NJPW ring. If you’re pressed for time just check out the above mentioned matches, but it’s definitely worth checking out Tom Lawlor vs. Bad Luck Fale if you have the time.
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @SR_Torch
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