What did you think of the show?
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0 voters
Nikita from Meadow Lake SK
Found your show at the beginning of the year and finally have enough money to send your way right before the G1.
I like Archer’s new Mad Max look. I guess he’s stealing the gimmick from Mikey Nichols. He looked a little bit sloppy but still had a great match. Evil and Fale went exactly how I expected. It was ok.
I really like ZSJ and Sanada. ZSJ is so unique and Sanada makes a great babyface. They have really great chemistry and I loved this match. KENTA looked pretty good but it’s too bad Ibushi had to slow down so much to make KENTA look good. Main event was good but I think their last match was better.
I’m 4/5 in predicitions so far (thought Osprey would win). New Japan needs to keep their regular production staff while doing shows outside of Japan. Production missed some stuff during matches and the over the shoulder shots during the KENTA match didn’t really work for me. Overall it was a good show 7/10.
1 Like
Home Run of a show, in part because I went 5-0 in the G1 contest. Fale vs. EVIL was the weakest match but not horrible. Archer vs. Ospreay was amazing and Okada vs. Tanahashi while not their best match was what I would call a collection of greatest hits that the massive crowd heat helped.
Seeing takes on social media on how KENTA looked slow. I guess he was but I still loved the match and it was a brutal war. It was also KENTA’s first match in like 6 months. KENTA’s injuries and age are a factor but he still has the mind of an experienced wrestler and I think his matches will get better.
Also given that Mike Johnson is reporting that ROH has no role in New Japan’s upcoming East Coast tour, do you think that relationship is long for this world?
Thanks!
Charles from Virginia
When they announced the G1 was coming to the States, I knew I had to see it. My friend and I drove it from Virginia and they made it worth. The building may not have been full but those in attendance were loud. Not sure if it came across on television but they seemed to get into everything. The atmosphere for Okada-Tanahashi was electric. Stranger turns to me after the Kenta match and says he is the most excited he’s been as a wrestling card. The match was great and I hope their energy was perceived by those watching at home. Kenta was also way over with the crowd. It was almost like the American audience was saying “Let’s forget Hideo Itami together”. I also really enjoy Archer-Ospreay. I’ve never been too impressed with Archer but Osprey brought out the best in him and they delivered. Anyways, looking forward to listening to live show while watching UFC 239 in a local bar. Have a good night, gentlemen and thanks for opening my wrestling world to NJPW.
1 Like
Brandon from Oshawa
Archer/Ospreay stole the show for me. Ospreay cant seem to have a bad match with anyone right now.
Despite my hate for Sanada, him & Zack always put on some really great matches. This was another fun one.
The worst and most disappointing part of the show for me, was KENTA. This guy fucking sucks. I remember when he came into NXT and hearing how amazing he was. I saw none of it. People can say its because of how he was booked or because of injuries, but tonight he had a chance to show the world something and he failed. I needed to see more than, kick, slap, kick, kick, double stomp and a shitty GTS that hit Ibushi’s armpit. When you cant have a good match with Kota Ibushi, you should be ashamed of yourself. If Will Ospreay cant pull a good match out of this guy, then Kenta needs to be replaced with Yoshi-Hashi, because at least he has some heart.
Alex from maple
I only watched the 5 matches that mattered and most were amazing. I was underwhelmed by the Ibushi and Kenta match but others were great and Fale match was a Fale match.
The arena looked very empty on TV. I wish they would have taken a page from the WWE and filmed it better. Took me out of it a little to see so many empty seats. Overall great start!
First time posting. Went to this show live so I feel obligated to. I’ll keep it short though.
Arena was pretty empty. We were second row and three seats to the left of us were empty. So a man next to ust decided to upgrade their seats and move into them. I’m curious how you guys feel about that behavior.
I enjoyed every match specifically ZSJ vs Sanada. Seeing ZSJ live made me appreciate his style of wrestling more. Sanada had him beat in looks for sure.
Kenta’s kicks felt like they were going to create a rift in the multiverse.
Crowd went to an entirely new level for Tanahashi v Okada. It was my match of the night and Tanahashi is my most attractive wrestler of the night. After the show Okada said it was the first time G1 was in America but not the last… dun dun dun.
Louis from Long Beach
I was at this show!! This is my 3rd New Japan show I’ve been to and while I would say this was definitely the sparsest crowd in comparison to Long Beach and San Francisco the matches were outstanding. The 6 man with Liger was great. But what we’re all there to see were the g1 matches. Outside of Fale EVIL which I don’t think anyone has high hopes for I wasn’t disappointed. If there wasn’t a tanahashi okada match in the main event my match of the night would have been osprey/archer. The 1st 2-3 minutes blew the doors off and they never let up. This was even better than their njpw cup match. Kenta ibushi was good but I expected a spectacular match and it never quite reached that. Okada Tanahashi was everything I wanted. Tana as the best baby face I’ve ever seen and Okada as superb as always. Really happy I traveled from LA to see this show. 8/10
Jake from The Windy City:
Really spectacular show watching it on the AXS TV feed. I liked that the in-ring action ended after 3.5 hours and they didn’t feel the need to fill out the full four hours that the show was listed for. Main event was on fire . They’ve had longer and better, but I love that they went with a clean finish rather than another tournament draw. The crowd really added to the atmosphere. I love the quiet and respectful Japanese crowds, but it was really fun to see the fans in attendance show so much knowledge and passion for the NJPW product.
I know some people will say Kenta was underwhelming but that was to be expected considering the injuries he’s been getting and I do believe that there will be better opponents and turnouts to come for him after this.
Looking forward to the Fighting Spirit tour in the East Coast and I’m so happy that Ring of Honor will be nowhere near those shows. Good riddance, and it looks like NJPW is inching closer and closer to kicking ROH to the curb.
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Watched the entire show, which doesn’t happen too often for me. Especially since it was a long show. But the 5 G1 matches delivered (except the typical Fale match) and I enjoyed the side multi-man matches. The only issue I had was with those crowd chants, which you thankfully don’t typically hear at NJPW shows.
I know I’m late to the game posting here but I just got home to Atlanta from Dallas and thought I’d share my thoughts from attending live.
The early start time was fantastic. I got to the venue about a half hour before the start and both merchandise stands were packed. When I went back to check during the third tag match, they still had pretty long lines, and they had set up some more stands including a stand selling shirts and posters with some cool drawings of Okada and Tanahashi on them, a table for the G1 trophy, and Scott Norton set up a table for his book and autographs.
Like others have mentioned, the crowd wasn’t the biggest but it was full of diehard fans who were educated to the product that made it sound like three times the size. All of the matches had a buzz to them culminating with the main event. I wear earplugs at events and even with them in it was still probably the loudest moment I’ve experienced at a wrestling event. Even if the company overall lost money on the event I hope they see the event as a net positive, as this was the best show they’ve put on in the US where they have previously seemed skittish on putting on a card they wouldn’t run in Japan. I can’t wait for the tournament show they do here next year.