Happy G1 Eve or depending on where you are in the world G1 Day!
The 2018 G1 Climax - G1 28 - is upon us and I hope everyone is ready for the awesome content John and Wai will be providing. And huge shout out to @chris with the G1 Contest.
Thought I’d start this thread for discussions during the live shows or thoughts and predictions as the tournament unfolds or reviews or whatever! Looking forward to a great tournament with everyone.
I personally wanna see Ibushi/Omega draw, which puts Ibushi into the finals against Okada. Ibushi beats Okada in the final.
This is exactly how I booked it as well.
I have Jay White beating Okada opening night.
I had White over Okada. I had ZSJ & Ishii beating Omega. I picked Ishii because I believe it’s in Osaka and usually there is an upset in Osaka. I think it’ll be Tama Tonga beating Omega now though, not Ishii.
I totally whiffed I’m reading the NJPW site and expected the first day to be posted. Then realized that’s tomorrow. Whoops!
bummed because tonights show starts at 2am my time and tomorrow’s show starts at 11pm. Would’ve loved that to be swapped. Going to be starting from behind. Still this is going to be great.
Jay White’s megaheel work is great. I love the callback to the cow palace spot which inadvertently injured Jim Ross. He got alot of legitimate heat for that, so why not play off that. At first I was shaking my head at that saito suplex spot from the ring to the outside but the replay revealed it was done pretty safely (Okada was holding on to the rope to control his fall. Overall very strong match.
Man, Suzuki’s grappling work was awesome!! I went with my head and chose Ibushi to win the G-1. But I really want Suzuki to go over and main event a Wrestle Kingdom.
Btw, I’m glad they got the Makabe/Yoshi match out-of-the-way, early. And I wish they would’ve had a clear finish for the Fale/Page match.
Suzuki was putting on a clinic in that match, kinda bummed he didnt win, hopefully he can pick up a few wins in his next matches to have a chance to win his block
Good first show. I was hoping for a Yoshi-Hashi win, but it wasnt to be. Suzuki & Jay White both looked great.
Just caught night 1.
Thought the Elgin/Evil match over delivered and the Page/Fale match underdelivered.
Had a gut instinct White would win. I think he’s going on a tear with some big wins but ultimately falls short when Okada comes back from a hole.
Sanada - Goto has been a tremendous sleeper for opening night of B Block
I asked John and Wai if Rollins/Ziggler might be match of the weekend, after just seeing Omega/Naito that would be a huge NOPE
I hate to say it since JR was the voice of my formative wrestling years but the local commentary team in Japan with Don Callis and Kevin Kelly are so much better than the American team. It’s not even close.
Don Callis shows glimpses of being a decent commentator but loses me when he uses industry lingo and can’t make up his mind if he wants to be an asshole or not.
Agreed, that was the match of the night for me. Ishii / Yano was strangely enjoyable as well.
I enjoy the three-man booth with Romero a lot more. He balances out Don Callis (and just prevents him from speaking).
I’m not a Sanada fan, I think he’s massively overrated, but I loved that match with Goto. Loved Omega/Naito too, but Ibushi/Sabre stole the show.
Ibushi And ZSJ have incredible matches and I’d say I enjoy them more than the ones Kenny and Naito have had. And to think these guys could be headlining 205Live!!! 
I love Naito but I continuously think his Destino isn’t the best finisher he could have - takes long to set up and easily reversible.
Anyone else sensing Kenny is getting very cocky as champion? Could be reading into it but maybe slight tweak in promos to become more heelish for his Ibushi match. Ibushi is such a pure babyface.
Sanada made Goto look golden. I loved that match. I’m a big Sanada fan. He just needs to work on his character direction and if possible, charisma. Btw, the Destino transitioning into the Tombstone looked awesome!!
The Destino lends itself to amazing transitions…which lend itself to Naito always losing! Okay I know it’s booking but I’m claiming it’s the move.
I think Sanada is beating Naito and it’s going to feel like a silent version of what’s going on with White and Okada. Sanada’s character doesn’t need to run his mouth like White’s but his beating Naito could be interesting.