New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/16/2022 G1 Climax 32 Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling 7/16/2022 G1 Climax 32 Day 1

Here's what I saw:

Tom Lawlor vs Kosei Fujita

Tom pulls his shorts off only to reveal shorter shorts underneath. Fujita ain't impressed. They wrestle over an armlock and Tom leglocks him. Tom shoots in and drives him int othe buckles. He then punch and chop combos him there. Tom then hits machine gun chops. Fujita fights back with a forearm flurry. Fujita flies at him and takes a hard spinebuster down.

Tom showboats and hits a very unique suplex. Tom then guillotines him but Fujita slams him out of it. Fujita hits forearms and chops then belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Tom hits some upkicks and twists him into a choke. Tom then strangleholds him and drives his knee into his back for the win.

This was all squash but it was entertaining with Tom doing a lot of showboating and Fujita getting a nice fire-up spot in.

Ryohei Oiwa and Toru Yano vs Bad Dude Tito and JONAH

Bad Dude Tito sounds like a boss name, but he's not that big. Yano tries to bear hug Jonah but can't. He angers him by implying he outsmarted him by escaping him, then is shouldered and goes out. Tito and Oiwa go at it then Oiwa shoulders him. Tito enzugiri's him then hits a chop and punch combo. Tito lariats him for 2.

Jonah delay suplexes Oiwa then Tito slingshot sentons him. Tito hits some crossfaces on Oiwa then Oiwa hits a nice dropkick. Yano takes off a turnbuckle pad and throws it to Tito. The ref intervenes and Yano hits Tito. Yano rolls up Tito then Tito spinning forearms him. Tito hits a 2nd rope blockbuster for 2.

Oiwa hits some forearms and dropkicks then is shouldered over. Jonah bodyblocks him and powerbombs him. He pins him with a foot on the chest.

This was a quick squash but Oiwa looked good.

G1 Climax 2022 Block C - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Aaron Henare

Henare hits body punches then Tana 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Henare then does a 2nd rope twist into a nice knee. Henare then does Tana's air guitar taunt. They trade forearms and Henare back kicks him. Henare pounds on him with forearms and his leg kicks and a punch.

Henare does a camel clutch variation on him and then curbstomps him for 2. Henare hits some headbutts then takes a flying forearm. Tana then flipping sentons him from the 2nd rope. Henare side slam bombs him. Henare then step-up knees him in the corner and samoan drops him. Henare then hits a 2nd rope senton and full nelson's him.

Tana hits some twists and shouts then sling blades him. Tana top rope crossbodies him. Tana goes for a high fly flow and Henare gets his knees up. Henare spinebusters him and full nelsons him. Henare spinning high kicks him then hits a fisherman's buster for the win.

The result was a surprise. It was on the shorter end but it was okay. Tana really didn't get a ton here and the spinning high kick Henare hit was nasty.

G1 Climax 2022 Block D - Will Osperay vs El Phantasmo

Will shotgun dropkicks him to start then flying space tigers him. Will springboard forearms him. ELP rakes his back and Will chops him down. ELP's headscissors gets blocked, then he is facekicked after. Will chops him down then ELP springboard twisting crossbodies him. ELP then topes him outside.

ELP top rope springboard moonsaults him to the outside. They trade forearms inside and will gets stomped in the tree of woe position. ELP then baseball slides him as he hangs and dropkicks him. Will handspring back enzugiri's him then hits a hard kick to the chest. Will hits a big spinning backbreaker.

ELP slams him and 2nd rope kneedrops him. Will hits a back body drop and they trade forearms. They trade more froearms and trade a dropkick for an enzugiri. Will jumps up to the 2nd rope and ELP hits a reverse spanish fly for 2 at 10 minutes. WIll spinning forearms him then neckbreakers him in the back of the head. Will blocks a hurricanrana and hits a stiff ligerbomb for 2. Will then suplexes him into a sitout powerbomb for 2.

They fight up top and ELP top rope hurricanrana's him. Will moves on a top rope frogsplash then hits a nice corkscrew kick. ELP superkicks him for 2. Will hits a hook kick then goes for an OS cutter but takes a backslide instead. Will then hits a hidden blade out of nowhere as ELP is looking at the ref and wins it.

It had a lot of flying and big moves as you would expect. Not a lot of selling or story as you also would expect. The finish was something different. I liked the Os cutter counter into a backslide here and the suplex ligerbomb was cool.

G1 Climax 2022 Block B - SANADA vs Jay White

Jay mockingly tries to get a Sanada chant going outside and Sanaga helps get him back in. Sanada dropkicks Jay and Jay rolls out. Gedo tries to start something inside and Sanada misses a plancha on Jay. Jay then flatliners him into the guard rail. Jay puts him into the rail and apron. Jay then takes over for a while and Sanada dropkicks him in the knee.

Sanada atomic drops him and fails on a paradise lock attempt. Jay rolls through his hurricanrana then Sanada finally paradise locks him. Sanada dropkicks him out of it then Jay implant ddt's him. Jay euro's him and hits a twisting brainbuster for 2. Jay flatliners him and hits a german. Jay then uranages him for 2.

Sanada hits back elbows and is knocked off the apron to the floor. Sanada TKO's him. He then dragon sleeper swings him and grounded dragon sleepers him. Gedo gets on the apron and Sanada drops the submission and goes after him, then Jay kicks the rope in Sanada's crotch.

They trade shots and Sanada goes down and kicks him in the crotch on accident. Sanada misses a top rope moonsault and Jay calls for Sanada to be DQ'd. Jay gets rolled up while arguing with the ref. Sanada spinning forearms him and Sanada hits some weird elevated move that they call a TKO. They try for finishers and Sanada rolls him up for 2. Sanada flips out of a sleeper suplex then dragon sleepers him. Jay rakes his eye and flips out of it into a blade runner to win it.

Eh, you know the deal with Jay White matches. Lots of goofing around early then they eventually get to the match. The finish was good but I didn't think it was special otherwise.

G1 Climax 2022 Block A - Kazuchika Okada vs Jeff Cobb

Okada gets lifted out of a side headlock and they shoulder battle. Cobb wins that battle and Okada leapfrogs but is caught with a fallaway slam and rolls out. Okada gets his head banged off the apron then Cobb whips him into the rails. Okada beats the count back in and Cobb stands on his back. Cobb does a running suplex on him and bearhugs him.

They fight over a suplex and Okada ddt's him. Okada ducks lariats then hits a running back elbow. Okada flapjacks him and puts him in the money clip, but Cobb immediately ropebreaks. Cobb is sent into the rails outside then Okada ddt's him on the floor. Okada neckbreakers him over his knee and Cobb misses a dropkick. He then hits one on his second attempt and Cobb jumping euro's him.

Okada hangs onto the ropes but Cobb pulls him into a tour of the islands backdrop. Cobb tries to deadlift superplex him in from the apron and Okada sits on top. Cobb then dropkicks him as Okada sits on the top. Cobb then hits a top rope gutwrench suplex and makes him bounce real high. Cobb then standing moonsaults him for 2.

Okada shotgun dropkicks him then Cobb tombstones him. He lifts him up for another but then Okada tombstones him. Okada money clips him and Cobb hits the ropes again. Okada top rope elbows him and then hits a nice dropkick. Okada goes for a rainmaker but Cobb reverses it and gives him a rainmaker. Okada hits forearms and Cobb gives him a hard one back which drops him. Okada money clips him again and hits a spinning lariat. Cobb kind of counters a lariat with a headbutt to the chest.

Okada enzugiri's him then hits an emerald flowsion. Okada then hits a rainmaker and wins it.

It was a good match here with Cobb getting a ton of stuff in and really being put over. Him doing Okada's moves was interesting and it seemed like he would win, but that was not the case. The crowd was into it and they had a bunch of time, but there wasn't a real great story to this except for Cobb doing some of Okada's moves.

Overall thoughts: Nothing bad here. The main was good and White/Sanada had some okay stuff to it. Tana/Henare was decent.