NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Night 14 (August 4) - B BLOCK: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best
Los Ingobernables de Japon members reach new heights, but Jay White goes low with Jon Moxley.
Far be it for viewers to dare cry exhaustion whilst watching the gutsy G1 Climax competitors working themselves into the ground for the grind of the industry's toughest tournament, but B Block's Night 14 may have been the most challenging to get through thus far.
Much like the night before, the Osaka audience were provided with a fabulous main event. The type of match that typifies what people want to think the entire event is like, even if such expectations are dangerously unrealistic. The undercard, unlike almost all of A Block's banger 24 hours earlier, rather sadly stuttered in its shadow.
For a Block with the bulk of the field still able to win, the card lacked much of the urgency on display the prior evening. The matches all felt a little meaningless, despite headliner Shingo Takagi and comedy heel Taichi being the only ones officially ousted before the first bell.
Not all pairings can provide the sort of action that leaves an impression, but what may serve to be the worst show of the tournament will rapidly be forgotten when the gang return to action in Kanagawa later this week. There's at least still so much to play for as they head down the home straight...
5. Hirooki Goto Vs. Jeff Cobb
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the two coldest competitors in this year’s G1 contested a clash that never escalated beyond strictly serviceable, but this again felt like a missed opportunity for both Jeff Cobb and Hirooki Goto to bounce back from the rather boring booking of their tournament trajectories.
In recent outings, Cobb showed flashes of the monster that tore up Madison Square Garden with Will Ospreay, whilst Goto lit the Climax up with Tomohiro Ishii for the second consecutive year. Together, they were sadly back to worst.
A ponderous (and point-wise, mostly meaningless) battle never really got out of first gear, let alone in to the high octane space others on this card would. It’s been an unfortunately familiar criticism of both this year, and for Goto especially could signal the end of the former winner’s entry into the tournament.
Of Shingo Takagi (more on him later), Kevin Kelly noted how NJPW bosses would be “out of their minds” not to include him in next year’s event. With this, Goto and Cobb sadly stood in dull contrast to that sentiment.