Show will air LIVE at 5am EDT on NJPWWorld.com FIRST MATCH: Bullet Club OGs (Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale) def. Toa Henare & Togi Makabe Tanga Loa pinned Toa Henare after Apeshit. SECOND MATCH: Bullet Club Elite (Hangman Page & Chase Owens) def. CHAOS (Jay White & YOH) Hangman Page pinned YOH after Rite of Passage. Jay White refused to break up the pinfall. THIRD MATCH: Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & BUSHI) Minoru Suzuki pinned BUSHI after a Gotch Piledriver. FOURTH MATCH: CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & SHO) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino SHO pinned Shota Umino via Bridging German Suplex. FIFTH MATCH: Michael Elgin & David Finlay def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Gedo) David Finlay pinned Gedo after Prima Nocte. NEXT PAGE: B Block Matches<doc-sep>The ninth day of the NJPW G1 Climax 28 is in the books and five more competitors picked up crucial points in A Block matches. Chaos members Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi collided in the main event, with Okada picking up the win. Other wrestlers to get wins in A Block action include Hiroshi Tanahashi, Bad Luck Fale, Evil and Minoru Suzuki. In non-tournament action, it was a poor showing for the Chaos faction, who won just one of three tag team encounters. Related Article First Ever 60 Minute Iron Man Match In IMPACT History Set For 6/3 Before The IMPACT Here are the full NJPW G1 Climax 28 Day 9 quick results: NJPW G1 Climax 28 A Block Matches Kazuchika Okada def. Yoshi-Hashi Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Togi Makabe Bad Luck Fale def. Jay White Evil def. Hangman Page Minoru Suzuki def. Michael Elgin Non-Tournament Matches Los Ingobernables (Tetsuya Naito & Sanada) def. Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Chase Owens) Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi def. Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii & Sho) Juice Robinson & David Finlay def. Chaos (Toru Yano & Gedo) Guerillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa) def. Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku) Chaos (Hirooki Goto & Yoh) def. Toa Henare & Shota Umino<doc-sep>The G1 Climax is upon us! As we do with New Japan’s big tournaments, we’re focusing strictly on the tournament action here, folks. For full results of each show, you can check out our NJPW category right here, and for previous match recommendations, you can click right here for the first batch, here for the second, and here for the third. As always, I’ve got a very simple five point scale laid out where a 1 is total skip, 2 you can probably skip unless you love one of the folks in it, 3 is a match that’s worth watching but not necessarily worth making time for, a 4 is a solid recommendation to make time for if you can, and a 5 is a must-watch. Mind you, these are not star ratings. They’re not meant to be absolute ratings in any sense, but rather a simple (and hopefully sensible) way to determine if a match is worth your time. A one is not necessarily a bad match, but rather just one I feel like you’re best off skipping. I have my biases, of course, but hopefully I can make it easy for you to adjust for them. Night Twelve (B Block, August 1) Tama Tonga vs. Tomohiro Ishii (2): Ishii with eyes in the back of his head, forcing Tonga to play it straight in the early goings and they have a nice pleasant fast-paced matchup with plenty of hard striking... until the interference comes and it’s the same old Firing Squad story we’ve seen a dozen times this G1. Tom does manage to fight Tanga Loa off and, mercifully, the interference isn’t the direct end of the match and we get a few more sequences that actually build up some drama (as well as a pretty sweet finish for once), but there’s still not a lot here. Juice Robinson vs. SANADA (3): Robinson pulling ahead in the feeling out, which leads into some fast-paced high flying jockeying for position and a slugfest on the floor that nearly sees both men counted out. Juice tries to keep the pace up, but SANADA soon has him locked down, going after the broken hand. The pace picks up once again and there are some really cool exchanges in this, but something felt like they were holding back a little and not quite getting all the way to the raging climax that a match between them “should” have. Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano (4): Yano eager to get the match started so of course Naito stalls, and this gets the Sublime Master Thief hot enough to take it to the floor. A move, as it happens, that backfires, because it’s the Stardust Genius that busts the roll of tape out and we get one of the most epic countout nearfall spots I’ve ever seen. Thus is the tone of the match, Toru aggravated enough to drop any pretense of fair play, Naito giving him just as good as he’d get. This is an absolute hoot, and while not the best ever shenanigans-for-shenanigans Toru Yano G1 match, certainly good enough for a strong recommendation. Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (5): Sabre making every effort to pull ahead in the feeling out, cutting Omega off and grabbing holds, and he eventually succeeds in creating a target on the leg, keeping the focus even as they shift to striking. That story doesn’t go on to dominate the match, however, ZSJ taking a rather more kitchen sink approach as things escalate and escalate, trading big holds for big moves all the way into a pleasantly surprising finishing stretch. Great match, very much worth watching! Hirooki Goto vs. Kota Ibushi (4): Ibushi indulging in his tendency to meet someone at their own game at first, but soon enough he’s got the gas on and... gets cut down by grumpy champ Goto, actually. This leads to a good long sequence of Hirooki in control, but you can’t keep Kota down for too long and the next phase of the match is more back and forth with plenty of striking. Into the closing escalation from there and this is a really good match overall, although just shy of getting the full recommendation out of me. Night Thirteen (A Block, August 2) Bad Luck Fale vs. Michael Elgin (3): Strength testing from the jump, Elgin eager to prove that he can overcome the size differential but a bum right shoulder and bicep are hurting him and it’s not long before Fale is targeting the injury. And so the stage is set, with Mike fighting from underneath as Bad Luck tries to grind his arm into dust. Unfortunately, this does end up descending into the usual Firing Squad interference nonsense, but while the good stuff lasts it’s shockingly compelling, and so I’m going a little stronger than I’m usually inclined here. Hangman Page vs. Togi Makabe (2): Page playing Makabe’s game to start, testing his strength bull moose style and paying the price initially but a trip to the floor turns it around. Back and forth, slugging it out and trading power moves, the match never really builds to a firey crescendo or shifts into high gear but it’s a pleasant enough experience with Page again shining as the underdog. “Switchblade” Jay White vs. YOSHI-HASHI (3): Switchblade with a cheap shot at the bell, hurling abuse over YOSHI-HASHI’s refusal to play ball with his plan to take a night off and just throw the match in the undercard tags the night before and Tacos comes back just as hard. White takes control with one of his trademark apron bumps but a little too much time wasted trying to keep Red Shoes from stopping the match on a chair gives YOSHI-HASHI a chance to get back into it. So it goes, the tide turning as Jay’s viciousness is countered by Tacos’ heart, and the end result is a strong, heated match. The final act isn’t quite as strong as I’d like to give it a real recommendation, but consider this about as high a middle of the road recommendation as I can hand out.<doc-sep>It’s that time of year again, and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)'s G1 Climax tournament is back to ruin sleep schedules all over the globe! This year's version, the 28th annual, will feature 20 men competing across 19 dates for a spot in the finals on August 12. Each show will be broadcast worldwide on New Japan's streaming service, NJPW World. We'll have open threads & results for each show (past results can be found here) as well as the standard match recommendation posts at regular intervals throughout the tournament, so why not watch along with the best pro wrestling community on the internet? Current standings 12 Points Kenny Omega (B Block, 6-0) 10 Points Hiroshi Tanahashi (A Block, 5-1) Tetsuya Naito (B Block, 5-1) 8 Points EVIL (A Block, 4-2) “Switchblade” Jay White (A Block, 4-2) Kazuchika Okada (A Block, 4-2) Minoru Suzuki (A Block, 4-2) Kota Ibushi (B Block, 4-2) 6 Points SANADA (B Block, 3-3) Zack Sabre, Jr. (B Block, 3-3) 4 Points Bad Luck Fale (A Block, 2-4) Michael Elgin (A Block, 2-4) Togi Makabe (A Block, 2-4) Hirooki Goto (B Block, 2-4) Juice Robinson (B Block, 2-4) Tama Tonga (B Block, 2-4) Tomohiro Ishii (B Block, 2-4) 2 Points Hangman Page (A Block, 1-5) YOSHI-HASHI (A Block, 1-5) Toru Yano (B Block, 1-5) Our thirteenth day of action takes place in Fukuoka’s Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium, kicking off at a brisk 5:30AM Eastern / 2:30AM Pacific, and it's all about A Block, one of two groupings whose winner will go on to a spot in the finals. Chaos (Gedo & Toru Yano) over Ren Narita & Toa Henare Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) over Chaos (Hirooki Goto & YOH) David Finlay & Juice Robinson over Suzuki-gun (TAKA Michinoku & Zack Sabre, Jr.) by pinfall with a Stunner from Finlay on Michinoku. Chaos (SHO & Tomohiro Ishii) over Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Kenny Omega) by pinfall with the vertical drop brainbuster from Ishii on Owens. Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & Tetsuya Naito) over Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi by submission with Skull End from SANADA on Takahashi. Michael Elgin over Bad Luck Fale by disqualification when Tama Tonga runs in and beats Elgin with a chair. Hangman Page over Togi Makabe by pinfall with Rite of Passage. “Switchblade” Jay White over YOSHI-HASHI by pinfall with Blade Runner. Hiroshi Tanahashi over EVIL by pinfall with High Fly Flow. Kazuchika Okada over Minoru Suzuki by pinfall with the Rainmaker. Enjoy the show!<doc-sep>
New Japan Pro Wrestling continued their G1 Climax tournament on Saturday. Since the show began at 5am EDT, here’s a spoiler-free match listing for the non-nite-owl New Japan fans. Each match has been given a Need To Watch Rating of 0.0-10.0. The show is available at NJPWWorld.com FIRST MATCH: Bullet Club OGs (Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale) vs. Toa Henare & Togi Makabe Tanga Loa continues to prove he should’ve been in this year’s tournament. The Fale and Makabe sections of this match tease an amazing showdown that will surely be ruined by interference. Need To Watch Rating: (2.4) SECOND MATCH: Bullet Club Elite (Hangman Page & Chase Owens) vs. CHAOS (Jay White & YOH) Page and Owens continue to be a stellar tandem. Jay White cannot be trusted by even his own teammates. Gripping, if inessential stuff. Need To Watch Rating: (4.1) THIRD MATCH: Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & BUSHI) EVIL & BUSHI are a great team. Desperado and Suzuki are a great team. This match is fun. Need To Watch Rating: (3.6) FOURTH MATCH: CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & SHO) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino This match is worth the price of Tanahashi and Umino tagging, alone. The rest is pretty standard. Need To Watch Rating: (1.9) FIFTH MATCH: Michael Elgin & David Finlay vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Gedo) Simple, effective tag match. Broken Okada continues to be a delight. Finlay is the star of the undercard. Gedo is also there. Need To Watch Rating: (2.5) SIXTH MATCH: B Block Match: Tama Tonga (2 pts) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (4 pts) Look, more Tongan Shenganigans™. Need To Watch Rating: (6.5) SEVENTH MATCH: B Block Match: Juice Robinson (0 pts) vs. Toru Yano (2 pts) Really solid match, built around Juice’s hand. Yano continues to be a delight. Need To Watch Rating: (7.9) EIGHTH MATCH: B Block Match: Tomohiro Ishii (4 pts) vs. Kota Ibushi (4 pts) Easily one of the best matches of the tournament so far. From headbutts to throat punches, this match has everything. There is only so much one can say about a thrilling tale like the one Ishii and Ibushi told. Watch. This. Match. Now. Need To Watch Rating: (11.5) NINTH MATCH: B Block Match: Hirooki Goto (4 pts) vs. Tetsuya Naito (6 pts) A very good match between two of NJPW’s most solid hands. Unfortunately, following Ibushi/Ishii gave this match a lot to live up to. Need To Watch Rating: (8.5) MAIN EVENT: B Block Match: Kenny Omega (8 pts) vs. SANADA (6 pts) Omega and SANADA have wild, evenly matched bout. Omega continues to deliver brilliant performances with a broken heel and SANADA continues to show that he’s a future IWGP Champion in the making. A really stellar main event that got upstaged by Ibushi/Ishii. Need To Watch Rating: (9.1)