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[avengers23]

So, in A Block:
Tetsuya Naito: 10
Hitoshi Tanahashi: 10
Zack Sabre Jr.: 8
Tomohiro Ishii: 8
Bad Luck Fale: 8
Hirooki Goto: 8
Kota Ibushi: 8
Togo Makabe: 6
YOSHI-HASHI: 4
Yuji Nagata: 0

Every match counts in A Block going forward, and Nagata, YOSHI-HASHI, and Makabe can play spoiler going forward.

B-Block:
Kazuchika Okada: 12
Kenny Omega: 10
EVIL: 10
SANADA: 8
Minoru Suzuki: 8
Michael Elgin: 6
Toru Yano: 6
Juice Robinson: 4
Satoshi Kojima: 2

Omega could beat Okada in their match to tie at 12, which would open the door for EVIL, Suzuki, or SANADA to make the finals. EVIL probably gets a title shot, so he doesn't need to make the finals. It feels too early for SANADA. So, Suzuki looks like the likeliest best for B Block.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

I didn't get a chance to post about Day 14 but man what a great show. The Night of upsets. I'm so glad they did that kind of show in a building that was receptive and reacting to everything. Juice beating Kenny was just fantastic, played perfectly by everyone involved, even Red Shoes had a role. Then of course EVIL went full evil and killed Okada like 3 times. Even Naito and Makabe's heat in the undercard was great.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

So with the penultimate day of A-Block in the books, here's how it breaks down for the final day, Everyone bar Naito and Tanahashi are eliminated. Naito beats Tanahashi, he's in the final. Tanahashi defeats Naito, he's in the final. If it's a draw, since Naito and Tana would finish with 13 points each and have identical records, they would do a coin toss to see who advanced, which has happened only once before (in 2009, Tanahashi and Makabe were tied going into the final day and went to a draw, they did a coin toss which Makabe won)

 

[pbayne]

Lads probably in self-preservation mode for the finals now. Cant blame them.
Nice to see nagata get a win.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

Yeah it's very much an afterthought at best. Hard to build a division though I admit since New Japan are focusing on their strengths to make $$$ rather than just have an insanely stacked roster that they can fill out divisions with like WWE.

Like, I'd love to see stuff like Revival, Motor City Machine Guns, etc in NJPW but growing that would take money and time away from ensuring the singles stuff remains high quality. Same with womens wrestling, having a joshi division in NJPW could be great for the long term viability of joshi wrestling in Japan but again, requires the same time, money and attention they give the the men singles to ensure top quality

It's funny because the Jr. Tag division used to be awesome. You had great teams like the Forever Hooligans/Roppongi Vice, reDRagon, Time Splitters, Ricochet and Sydal, none of which are around anymore, it's just the Bucks who are basically the entire division. Hopefully Tanaka and Komatsu will be back soon and can challenge for the belts, I'd like to see them join L-I-J.

 

[Hex]

So with the penultimate day of A-Block in the books, here's how it breaks down for the final day, Everyone bar Naito and Tanahashi are eliminated. Naito beats Tanahashi, he's in the final. Tanahashi defeats Naito, he's in the final. If it's a draw, since Naito and Tana would finish with 13 points each and have identical records, they would do a coin toss to see who advanced, which has happened only once before (in 2009, Tanahashi and Makabe were tied going into the final day and went to a draw, they did a coin toss which Makabe won)

Yeah i got mixed up.
I know Ibushi went over Tana, so if Ibushi beats goto...but that would still leave him at 10

 

[Kornflayx]

Just catching up on the G1

EVILLLLLLLLL!!!

God, that was an unbelievable match. EVIL is made!

 

[avengers23]

The cheek of Sabre to taunt Nagata with "Red Justice" during the match.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

I'm really happy with how well ZSJ has been doing. Gedo seems to be positioning him pretty high.

 

[lucebuce12]

I actually am starting to think EVIL will get the upset win and get a title shot at KOPW, I would have thought for sure it would be SANADA but that didn't happen. The problem with Suzuki is that he's the NEVER champion, and NJPW rarely does champion vs. champion matches outside of the G1 as they want each belt to be prestigious on its own.

Well, you were right.

 

[Heroman]

I'm really happy with how well ZSJ has been doing. Gedo seems to be positioning him pretty high.

He gotta be the set up guy for a Tanahashi vs Suzuki at the dome.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

It's funny because the Jr. Tag division used to be awesome. You had great teams like the Forever Hooligans/Roppongi Vice, reDRagon, Time Splitters, Ricochet and Sydal, none of which are around anymore, it's just the Bucks who are basically the entire division. Hopefully Tanaka and Komatsu will be back soon and can challenge for the belts, I'd like to see them join L-I-J.

Honestly I think L-I-J is exactly as big as it needs to be. Any more and people start getting lost in the shuffle. Hell, one could argue that BUSHI's already getting lost in the shuffle since his former role as the group's "Jr. ace" has been taken over by Hiromu. Now BUSHI pretty much exists to take pins. Plus how much bigger can L-I-J get before Naito has to stop doing the whole "naming off every member of the group" thing he does at the end of his post-victory promos because there's just too many people? :lol

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

He gotta be the set up guy for a Tanahashi vs Suzuki at the dome.

Tanahashi should be rehabbing from surgery by the time WK comes around.

Sounds like he won't do the surgery though, it's super sad. He's going to end up with one arm significantly smaller then the other at this rate. I hope someone can convince him to do it.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Tanahashi should be rehabbing from surgery by the time WK comes around.

Sounds like he won't do the surgery though, it's super sad. He's going to end up with one arm significantly smaller then the other at this rate. I hope someone can convince him to do it.

Tana's gonna Orndorff himself and it's gonna be awful.

 

[avengers23]

My God, Tanahashi vs. Ishii!

 

[miserable]

I missed today's show, cause I thought day 15 is gonna be tomorrow.

 

[avengers23]

Thank goodness there is a break until August 8 and then another little break until the Sumo Hall shows.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

And now, the best news of the G1 so far.

DARYL IS ALIVE!!!

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

Honestly I think L-I-J is exactly as big as it needs to be. Any more and people start getting lost in the shuffle. Hell, one could argue that BUSHI's already getting lost in the shuffle since his former role as the group's "Jr. ace" has been taken over by Hiromu. Now BUSHI pretty much exists to take pins. Plus how much bigger can L-I-J get before Naito has to stop doing the whole "naming off every member of the group" thing he does at the end of his post-victory promos because there's just too many people? :lol

I see your point. I would like to see a new member, maybe one that can team with BUSHI as the new Jr. team. Personally, I think each faction should have a guy that can go after each belt. For example, how Bullet Club is set up:

Omega: Top title (IWGP or US)
Bad Luck Fale: Enforcer, top-to-midcard (IC or NEVER)
GOD: Tag titles
Young Bucks: Jr. Tag Titles
Scurll: Jr. singles title
Yujiro/Owens: Job guys

I didn't include Cody or Page since they mostly work ROH, and any combination of these guys can go for the NEVER six-man belts.

 

[newdayrocks]

This is my first G1 I've watched all the way through, and I've also seen the two latest Wrestle Kingdoms, so I'm a real newbie. But I hate both Bad Luck Fale and Toru Yano so much, and wish I never had to see either of them on my screen.

Is there something I'm missing about one or both of them?

 

[British Monsoon]

Fale's a serviceable big man who's booked strongly, mostly because he's big. That's about it.

Yano's pretty much a comedy character nowadays, but is legit one of the best amateur wrestlers on the roster - mostly, though, he's a banana peel for people to slip up on and get annoyed by. Especially in tournaments.

 

[lucebuce12]

To be fair, I didn't like Yano at first either but he's really grown on me. He can pull off comedy well, and his matches are always entertaining if nothing else.

Fale can be a bit hit or miss in singles matches though. He's almost always good in Tags but in singles, he really needs a good opponent to sell his stuff. When you get high flyers like Ibushi or other Strong men like Elgin or a submission specialist like ZSJ or Suzuki then it has potential. But if they don't fall into those characters, it can get a bit dull.

Damn, Daryl's a stud

 

[RedHoodedOwl]

While I don't despise Tanahashi's latest theme, it can't supplant his previous intro music.

 

[miserable]

first man to pin Okada one-on-one in the last year or so -> loses to Elgin next match

master bookerman Gedo, right?

 

[Jashobeam]

Nasty botch, sanada was way too close

 

[CDiggity]

Oof, that was rough. Kenny really is a terminator.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Damn that was a nice setup for the OWA

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

AND IT'S A DRAW!

What a fucking match, incredible.

So here's how it breaks down for the final night...like with block A, everyone else is eliminated bar Okada and Omega. Okada with the win or draw, and he's in. Omega wins, he's in.

This is going to be some good shit this weekend

 

[Raw64life]

I thought for sure they were gonna have Okada/Omega go to a draw, but now I'm less certain. Back to back draws seems unlikely.

Was hoping Evil would win and Suzuki would win outright to create some type of possible underdog situation but they're not even pretending like anyone else other than the top 4 guys has a shot.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

I thought for sure they were gonna have Okada/Omega go to a draw, but now I'm less certain. Back to back draws seems unlikely.

Was hoping Evil would win and Suzuki would win outright to create some type of possible underdog situation but they're not even pretending like anyone else other than the top 4 guys has a shot.

I'm still going with my original call of Naito/Omega, with Naito winning. But dude, Naito and Omega had a ***** match last year with a 30 minute time limit...imagine what they can do with NO time limit.

 

[Spuck-uk]

That was pretty funny, but I'm still not feeling Tama Tonga personally :/

It wouldn't happen, but I'd love to see him switched to Suzuki-Gun and go full on asshole heel.

 

[Jashobeam]

A Block
So either Naito or Tanahashi will win A Block. Naito definitely is favored to win considering Tanahashi already is the IC champ.

B Block
must win situation for Omega and seeing how Okada's last 2 matches ended in a loss and a draw I think his chances are good.


Naito vs Omega seems a lock for the finals

 

[pbayne]

Sanada rarely pulls off that moonsault into the skull-end perfectly but when he does its a work of art

 

[Foggy]

I think there's a very good chance we get an Okada/Naito finals with Naito getting the win. Either Okada/Omega vs Naito is a-ok in my book. The only swerve left is if Tana wins his block and Kenny or Okada win the G1.

 

[pbayne]

Finished Okada/Suzuki. What a match. Cokeada is head and shoulders above every one else in his group, just awesome. That look he gives Gedo at the end were he's like "wtf pin him? is he down?".

 

[Net_Wrecker]

I don't understand how Okada does a match like that with Suzuki after the year he's had, this deep into the tournament. Incredible.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

I don't understand how Okada does a match like that with Suzuki after the year he's had, this deep into the tournament. Incredible.

He's the best wrestler on the planet today, no question. I love Omega and Naito, and they're my number 2 and 3, but Okada is just having consistently great matches with everyone and seems to have zero limit with what he can do.

 

[lucebuce12]

Okada DA GAWD. That was such a terrific match, how the hell does this guy keep pumping out 5/5 star matches what feels like every month.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Those strikes between Suzuki and Okada were unreal. All that sweat blasting off them. Fantastic match.

 

[FallingEdge]

So what happens if Okada wins the G1? Does he get to pick his opponent? Give it to 2nd place?

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

So what happens if Okada wins the G1? Does he get to pick his opponent? Give it to 2nd place?

He picks his opponent at wk.

 

[Hex]

He picks his opponent at wk.

If I am not mistaken there is also a fan vote thing which can override.
Pretty sure that is where the salt came from last time is that he won G1 but the fans overwhelmingly voted for someone else and the powers that be went with them.

 

[Mikke]

If I am not mistaken there is also a fan vote thing which can override.
Pretty sure that is where the salt came from last time is that he won G1 but the fans overwhelmingly voted for someone else and the powers that be went with them.

The only fan vote I can remember is when Naito won four years ago and the reaction to the Naito/Okada main event at WK was so lukewarm that they put the main event up to the vote (with Tanahashi/Nakamura winning). Naito still got his title shot, only second-to-last on the card.

That has nothing to do with the champion winning G1. Afaik that has not happened since they added the title shot stipulation to the tournament.

 

[meppi]

And now, the best news of the G1 so far.

DARYL IS ALIVE!!!

This really made my day!
I was actually wishing that we'd get to see him back wrapped in bandages as he recovers.
This is actually better than I imagined. lol

 

[digita1alchemy]

So does the English commentary return for these last few nights?

 

[Hex]

So does the English commentary return for these last few nights?

Yep

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Yep

Good to hear.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Good to hear.

Is it though?

 

[pbayne]

Rocky Romero will be joining the English commentary for the last days. So that'll be something.

 

[Rhaknar]

so if Im reading the standings correctly, finals has to be a combination of Naito/Tanahashi v Okada/Omega correct?

I want Naito v Omega with Naito winning, there is zero chance Omega would win 2 G1s back to back right?