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RADICAN’S NJPW G1 CLIMAX 29 FINALS REPORT
AUGUST 12, 2019
BUDOKAN HALL
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD AND FITE TV
Commentary: Kevin Kelly, Rocky Romero and Chris Charlton.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
(1) Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks beat Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji.
(2) Jeff Cobb & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask beat Taichi & Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
(3) Will Ospreay & SHO & YOH beat Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori. Ospreay pinned Takahashi giving him another win over a heavyweight.
(4) Juice Robinson & Toa Henare beat Jon Moxley & Shota Umino. Moxley hit Robinson after the match with the U.S. Title belt and put him through a table.
(5) Tetsuya Naito & EVIL & BUSHI & SANADA & Shingo Takagi beat Hirooki Goto & Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi & Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma. EVIL participated in the LIJ fist bump after the match for the first time since before G1 began.
(6) Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale beat Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI & KENTA. KENTA turned on his partners and joined Bullet Club here. He refused to tag in when Ishii wanted to tag out. A short time later he wiped out KENTA with a running knee strike. The L.A. Dojo wrestlers tried to save Ishii from a post-match beatdown, but they got dispatched. Shibata then got into the ring and he was about to hit the PK on KENTA when Jado hit him with the kendo stick shot from the floor. Shibata got beat down and KENTA nailed him with a PK and then sat on top of Shibata in his signature pose while doing the too sweet hand gesture. Shibata managed to walk out under his own power.
(7) Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. beat Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi. Suzuki pinned Okada with the Gotch piledriver. After the match, he told Okada he lost to someone that wasn’t even in G1. He told Okada to hand him the IWGP Hvt. title.
G1 CLIMAX 29 FINALS HIGHLIGHTS & ANALYSIS
Jay White, the B block winner, came out first with Gedo. He looked back towards the entrance while coming out and KENTA came out with the rest of the Bullet Club. The deck is really stacked against Kota Ibushi. Ibushi came out second to a good reaction from the crowd. He walked slowly to the ring, but didn’t sell that his ankle was hurt. The entire Bullet Club was at ringside, so the deck is stacked against Ibushi. Red Shoes threw Bullet Club out from ringside. Gedo asked if he couldn just say. Red Shoes agreed to let Gedo stay.
(8) A BLOCK WINNER KOTA IBUSHI vs. B BLOCK WINNER JAY WHITE (W/GEDO) – G1 CLIMAX 29 FINALS
The bell rang and the fans began chanting for Ibushi. Ibsuhi offered a clean break and White tried to kick at his ankles. The ref saw Gedo grab Ibushi’s ankle. He backed White off and walked him to the back. White followed and Ibushi grabbed him and tossed him back into the ring and began working him over. Ibushi went for the Golden Triangle, but White jumped up on the apron and cut him off. He then began twisting Ibushi’s ankle around the ringpost. White wrapped Ibushi’s angle around the guardrail on the outside and cranked on it. White worked over Ibushi’s ankle inside the ring for a long period of time. He taunted Ibushi, who tried to fire back. He went for a rana, but White blocked it and slammed his ankle into the mat. Ibushi took a kick to the leg from White, but he fought through the pain and hit a snap rana and the fans fired up. Ibushi hesitated, but managed to hit a moonsault off the second rope for a two count. Ibushi went for a moonsault double knee drop a short time later, but missed. White went right back after Ibushi’s knee and ankle. He eventually hit a Blade Buster for a two count. White went for the TTO, but Ibushi fought him off. White went for it again, but Ibushi hit a kick to his face to break free. White went for a chop block, but Ibushi hit a double stomp to his back. What a counter!
The fans fired up and chanted for Ibushi. White fired back and eventually they battled up top. White hit a big superplex and Ibushi tried to lift his leg to prevent it from hitting the mat, but it did anyway. Ibushi countered the Kiwi Crusher into a Package Tombstone and both men were down. The fans roared. Both men traded blows from their knees. They got up and continued to trade blows. White went down after several big forearms. White fired back with a combination of strikes and a big clothesline. Ibushi got right back up only to walk into a uranagi from White. White followed up with the Kiwi Crusher, but Ibushi kicked out. White went for Blade Runner, but Ibushi got out of it. Ibushi went for a knee, but White caught it. White went for a sleeper suplex, but Ibushi countered it and hit one of his own. Ibushi went for the lawn fart, but White fought out of it. He then threw Ibushi right into the ref and hit him with a low blow. Gedo came down to the ring smiling. He went under the ring and gave White a chair. White hit a chop block that the cameras didn’t catch. Gedo Held Ibushi’s leg and White hit it with the chair twice. White hit a dragon screw on Ibushi’s injured leg. He then locked in the TTO. Gedo rolled the ref back into the ring. Red Shoes checked on Ibushi, who refused to tap out. Ibushi grabbed the ref’s hand, but he did not tap.
The ref checked on Ibushi and the fans fired up and chanted his name. Ibushi crawled to the ropes and finally got there to break the hold. Gedo was hiding in the corner and the ref still hasn’t seen him. White went for a sleeper suplex, but Ibushi blocked it and hit a backflip kick. Ibushi hit the lawn dart. He went for the outside in German on the ropes and hit it. WOW! Ibushi went for the Last Ride, but White blocked it by going down to his knees. White punched at Ibushi’s ankle to free himself. White hit a big chop and Ibushi just glared at where it landed. White asked him if he thinks he’s tough and Ibushi hit him with slaps, strikes and kicks. White went into the corner and Ibushi hit slaps and strikes. Ibushi then began kicking him and the ref backed Ibushi away. Ibushi told White to bring it. They went head to head White slapped Ibushi in the face and Ibushi DROPPED him with a HUGE slap to the face. WOW! The fans fired up and chanted for Ibushi, but White hit a dragon screw! Ibushi fired back with a clothesline and a Last Ride for a two count right before the 25 minute mark.
Ibushi set up for Boma Ye in the corner, but White collapsed to avoid it. White rolled over and laughed at Ibushi. White grabbed the ref and Gedo tried to attack Ibushi, but Ibushi wiped him out. White hit a sleeper suplex, but Ibushi got right back up and hit a Boma Ye to the back of his head. Ibushi set up in the corner and hit another Boma Ye, but White kicked out. WOW! THIS IS INCREDIBLE! Ibushi set up for the Kamigoye, but White hit his ankle. Ibushi went for it again, but White blocked it. Ibushi hit a head kick and then another one. He went for the Kamigoye, but White turned it into Blade Runner and both men were down. OH MY GOD! White finally went over to Ibushi, but he didn’t cover him. White grabbed Ibushi’s wrist. He got a cross-arm hold on Ibushi. Ibushi suddenly got wrist control and hit a headbutt. Ibushi then hit a straightjacket German. He held on and went for the Kamigoye, but White turned it into a sleeper suplex. White hit a second sleeper suplex and the fans gasped. White got wrist control and hit a brainbuster. He then signaled for Blade Runner, but Ibushi countered it into a standing Kamigoye. White went for a Blade Runner to counter the Komigoye, but Ibushi countered it into a jumping knee. Ibushi hit another jumping knee and a Kamigoye, but White kicked out. HOLY S–T!!!! Ibushi lifted White up one more time and hit another Kamigoye for the win. WHAT A MATCH!
WINNER: Kota Ibushi at 31:01 to win G1 Climax 29. (*****)
(Radican’s Analysis: Ibushi overcame all odds in this match. His ankle was damaged going in and although Bullet Club was ejected from ringside at the start of the match and then Gedo was allowed to stay only to be ejected, Ibushi overcome the ref bump and Gedo’s interference later in the match. This was an incredible performance from both men with Ibushi struggling to hit his offense because of the damage White did to his leg. The action down the stretch was INCREDIBLE. The match seemed to be over so many times for Ibushi from when White had him in the TTO to the end when White hit Blade Runner.
The final stretch was a work of art with so many twists and turns. White kicking out of the first Kamigoye at the end was bananas. What a way to end this tournament with Ibushi overcoming what should have been a huge day for Bullet Club.)
After the match, Meij presented Ibushi with the flag and trophy. He got on the mic and the fans chanted his name. He said it’s G1 to him and the most important month of his entire life. He said last year he made it to the finals and lost, but today I made it to the fans and was able to win. He said he couldn’t be happier than he is right now. He said to overcome last years loss, he could not be any happier. The fans chanted for Ibushi.
He said from here they will tear it up together. He said everyone together will tear up the pro wrestling together. He said a new era of NJPW starts today. He said everyone come with me. He then thanked the fans. He said he would see them at G1 next year. Ibushi went around the ring shaking hands with announcers and NJPW officials. He got back into the ring and was declared the winner and confetti shot out from the rafters while he held the trophy and flag.
Ibushi struggled to walk to the back with his flag and trophy.
UPDATED G1 CLIMAX 29 STANDINGS THROUGH FINALS
A BLOCK
Kota Ibushi 7-2 (14 pts) – WINNER A BLOCK *WINNER G1 CLIMAX 29
Kazuchika Okada 7-2 (14 pts)*
EVIL 4-5 (8 pts)*
Hiroshi Tanahashi 4-5 (8 pts)*
Zack Sabre Jr. 4-5 (8 pts)*
KENTA 4-5 (8 pts)*
SANADA 4-5 (8 pts)*
Bad Luck Fale 4-5 (8 pts)*
Will Ospreay 4-5 (8 pts)*
Lance Archer 3-6 (6 pts)*
B BLOCK
Jay White 6-3 (12 pts) – WINNER B BLOCK
Tetsuya Naito 5-4 (10 pts)*
Hirooki Goto 5-4 (10 pts)*
Jon Moxley 5-3 (10 pts)*
Tomohiro Ishii 4-5 (8 pts)*
Toru Yano 4-5 (8 pts)*
Taichi 4-5 (8 pts)*
Jeff Cobb 4-5 (8 pts)*
Juice Robinson 4-5 (8 pts)*
Shingo Takagi 3-8 (6 pts)*
*-eliminated from A/B Block final
Contact Sean at radicansean@pwtorch.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/sr_torch.
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