New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/5/2022 G1 Climax 32 Day 12

New Japan Pro Wrestling 8/5/2022 G1 Climax 32 Day 12

I just reviewed the G1 matches here:

G1 Climax 32 Block D Match - Juice Robinson vs Yujiro Takahashi

Yujiro and Sho try to give a too sweet sign to Juice early and Juice punches them. Juice hits punches early then takes some back. Juice facekicks him then sends Yujiro into the rails outside. Juice then takes a very hard back body drop onto the floor. Juice then is suplexed inside. Juice hits a corner lariat then a corner cannonball. Yujiro pulls off the turnbuckle pad and Juice goes into it then takes an elevated ddt.

Sho tries to bring in a weapon and Juice ends up getting it. Juice gives it ot the ref and accidentally hits the ref with it then Juice is pushed into the ref. Yuta hits juice in the crotch with his stick and hits a spinning elevated ddt to win it.

It wasn't good, but at least it was short.

G1 Climax 32 Block B Match - Chase Owens vs Taichi

There was a lot of screwing around here as expected. They did sumo early and Chase kept trying to get Taichi's girl to kiss him. They traded some kicks during the match and went back to sumo. Taichi then ended up winning this with a schwein. If it was serious the whole way through, it might not have been that bad but that just wasn't in the cards.

G1 Climax 32 Block C Match - Aaron Henare vs Tetsuya Naito

Henare controlled a little of this early, but Naito ended up being in charge here for a lot longer than he should have. Naito hit a big slap here that made spit fly then took a spin kick to the face for it. Henare 2nd rope senton'd him then Naito came back with a koppo kick and stpe up enzugiri. Henare went for a fireman's carry slam but it was reversed into a reverse ddt then Naito won with a destino soon after.

It wasn't anything special, though not awful. Henare needed to get in a lot more offense here to make Naito's finishing run better.

G1 Climax 32 Block A Match - Jeff Cobb vs JONAH

They did some bumping into each other early and both shouldered each other out at the same time. Then they shoulder rammed each other at the same time on the floor. Jonah then shouldered him off the apron and swung the rail door into his body. Jonah stood on Jeff and they trade shots before Jeff body blocked him. Jonah then did the same to him and Jeff lariated him and Jee went out.

They crossbodied each other at the same time in mid-air then chooked and forearmed each other from their knees up to their feet. Jeff hit a chop and forearm combo in the corner then Cobb ran him over with a shoulder. Jeff did a great wrist club suplex where he really threw him for 2.

Jeff dropkicks him then takes a big spear. Jonah came off the 2nd rope and was caught with a slam but Jonah rolled him up off of it. Jonah then hit a superkick and a lariat for 2. Jonah hit a huge top rope superplex then top rope splashed him for the win.

Great match here with the two working as you would want them to. Jonah getting caught in mid-air was cool, them hitting each other with the crossbody at the same time was good and the superplex at the end looked great. I wouldn't say it was a 5 star classic as it would have been better, but they got it right here and I really did enjoy it. 

G1 Climax 32 Block C Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs EVIL

Tana crossbodies him off the 2nd rope early. They go outside and Tana is thrown into the rail, knocking over the announcer and his table like usual. The turnbuckle pad is taken off. Tana eye raked him and did a baseball slide on Togo. Tana then flying forearmed Evil and hit a 2nd rope flipping senton.

Evil rammed Tana's crotch into the post then banged his leg off of it. Evil worked the knee then sharpshootered him. Tana hit a dragon screw then did more dragon screws. Tana has him in a texas cloverleaf and Togo rings the belly. Tana thinks he won and breaks the hold. Togo gets ejected and Evil throws a chair at Tana. Evil hits some lariats. Tana hits a twist and shout then hits slingblades. Tana almost has it won with a high fly flow but Sho pulls the ref out and stomps on Tana. Togo got in the ring, two refs came down and Tana used one of the refs to hit a magic killer on Evil. Tana had to fight off Togo and Sho. Tana then rolls up Evi land wins.

This was garbage with tons of logic loopholes.

Overall thoughts: I thought the G1 matches here are a good example of what present day NJPW is - a mix of good traditional Japanese matches and Vince Russo style crap. Jonah/Cobb was very good and worth a watch and Naito/Henare was decent, but the other stuff was garbage.