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NJPW G1 Climax 32: Final Night Review

2 years ago

NJPW G1 Climax 32: Final Night Review

NJPW G1 Climax 32: Final Night Review

By Trent Breward

Will Ospreay and the United Empire had sacrificed sleep in order to study up on all those who had managed to overcome the Rainmaker. After six losses to Okada he needed to win this. You could hear the desperation in his voice.

Sometimes no matter how much you want something, it remains out of reach.

It had been a mature performance from Ospreay. In years past he would get headstrong and rush into big moves, but this time he kept his head and picked his spots, reading Okada’s moves and knowing how to counter. It was just one moment of weakness – after countering the Cobra Flowsion he saw Okada in the perfect position for a Hidden Blade, but he hadn’t managed to stun him. He desperately launched into the killer strike, only for Okada to pop up and catching him a dazzling spinning Cobra Flowsion. The following Rainmaker made it all elementary.

Kazuchika Okada once more proved that he is an all time talent that is all but peerless. With this victory over Ospreay he notches his fourth G1 Climax tournament victory (behind only Masahiro Chono under the G1 designation) and became just the fourth person to win the tournament back to back. There was a calmness to this performance, even when the momentum swung Ospreay’s way. A true master at work.

He nearly had the match won early on. Ospreay was noticeably hindered entering the match after suffering several piledrivers to the outside in the week courtesy of Juice Robinson. Okada knew this, and landed successive DDTs on the outside that left the Ospreay struggling to find his feet minutes later. If Will was still a Junior Heavyweight that might have been it, but years of bulking up gave him the physical strength to survive the crushing blows and fight back.

That’s when he used the night’s worth of study to his advantage, calling upon the signature moves of men who felled Okada in the past. When perched on the top rope he decided against his usual Shooting Star Press or 450 Splash to hit the High Fly Flow of the incomparable Hiroshi Tanahashi. Then he dialled the clock back to the Phenomenal AJ Styles with a Styles Clash. Finally, on the day Kenny Omega returned to the ring in AEW, Ospreay landed a flush V-Trigger.

If he had managed to hit the One Winged Angel (a move he had already practiced on the independent scene just before the tournament) then it might have been enough. However Okada had learned long ago how important it is to avoid that finisher.

Okada now has his sights set on familiar territory. Wrestle Kingdom 17 will mark his eleventh IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at the Tokyo Dome, providing he can defend that right. JONAH owns the only victory over The Rainmaker throughout the tournament, but Okada named another person he was interested in facing. Tetsuya Naito – a long time rival who he’s butted heads with several times in 2022 already.

The main event of Wrestle Kingdom once more becomes as elusive as ever, with news earlier on the show that they were returning to just one night inside the Tokyo Dome. Momentum in the second half of the year will now be as important as ever with limited high profile spots being available on the biggest show of the year.

As it stands now a Dominion rematch could headline that show. However Okada’s not the only person who needs to defend his spot. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White had only one blemish in his tournament as well, but that was all it took to get knocked out in the block stages. His former Bullet Club comrade Tama Tonga now hangs in his rear view mirror, and after their tag team match he made his intentions clear to wrestle the title away from the Switchblade and continue an incredible run since leaving the faction.

It was not a good night for Bullet Club, losing three of their four matches and having their championships threatened from all corners. Alongside Tama Tonga targeting Jay White, KUSHIDA picked up the key victory over IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Taiji Ishimori, and a High Fly Flow from Hiroshi Tanahashi earned him a pinfall over the NEVER Openweight Champion Karl Anderson. Their sole bright spot came from El Phantasmo, who managed to pin Shingo Takagi for the third time in three nights inside the Nippon Budokan.

With the biggest tournament in wrestling finished for another year, everyone has a couple of weeks to lick their wounds ahead of the Burning Spirit tour kicking off September 2nd at the Yokohama Budokan. Then a month later their eyes stretch beyond Japan, with the Royal Quest shows in the UK and the just announced Rumble on 44th Street New York City show. Of course no matter how far they travel, all roads lead back to the Tokyo Dome.

Full Show Results:

  • YOH, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii def. EVIL, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo
  • JONAH & Bad Dude Tito def. Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs
  • Jeff Cobb, Great O-Khan & Aaron Henare def. Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale & Juice Robinson
  • Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & Lance Archer def. BUSHI, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito
  • El Phantasmo & KENTA def. Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay def. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson
  • KUSHIDA & Tama Tonga def. Jay White & Taiji Ishimori
  • G1 Climax 32 Finals: Kazuchika Okada def. Will Ospreay

Rapid Fire Takeaways:

  • CHAOS made pretty convincing work of the House of Torture in the opening match. The post-match attack on YOH suggests the story isn’t done but HoT will need to come back with a new strategy based on this performance.
  • JONAH continues to be the biggest revelation of the tournament, at least domestically. He was the only person in the tournament not to be pinned or made to submit, picked up the sole victory over Kazuchika Okada and held the audience in the palm of his hands, earning oohs and aahs from clap-only crowds across the country whenever he went to the top rope.
  • One of the biggest reactions of the night belonged to Shingo Takagi ripping apart the dust cover from KENTA’s best selling book. Given how hard it is to find the book right now that was quite the act, though thankfully for KENTA he was able to take the dust cover off of Chris Charlton’s copy to retain his book’s value.
  • Will Ospreay fell one step shy of G1 glory, but now he has to rebound and worry about defending his IWGP US Heavyweight Title. David Finlay and Shingo Takagi might be knocking on his door after their victories over him in the block stages.
  • KUSHIDA seemed apprehensive at first, but he seems to have slowly come to the understanding that Tama Tonga is not the same guy he was when the Timesplitter was last in the company.
  • After his match Lance Archer took to the microphone to assure people that Japan is still his home, and he’s not done there. Good news for fans of the Murderhawk, who just 48 hours prior had one of the matches of the tournament against Okada.
  • NJPW’s return to New York City in October was big news on its own, but it will also mark the first time STARDOM will be appearing on a NJPW America show. As a further sign of partnership between the two brands, World of Stardom Champion Syuri and Donna Del Mondo leader Giulia were on hand to present the two G1 finalists with flowers. Despite the duo recently going their separate ways, it seems the ALK bond will never truly die.

Date:

August 18, 2022

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