NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Night 8 (July 24) - B BLOCK: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best
Jon Moxley destroys an old friend. Not that one.
Approaching the halfway point of the G1 Climax feels as good a time as any to use this space to look at the points and positions following the latest mixed bag of matches from Hiroshima. On an event that boasted some of the best and worst of the what the G1 Climax as a concept can offer, B Block's biggest stars were in rare form, whilst the basement dwellers further cemented themselves to the bottom of the pile.
As noted in Kevin Kelly's commentary, the rankings are starting to matter for several strugglers as well as the outright Block leader, particularly heading into another intense run after the most recent break. The scores and standings are as follows:
Jon Moxley - 8pts (4-0)
Juice Robinson - 6pts (3-1)
Tomohiro Ishii - 4pts (2-2)
Shingo Takagi - 4pts (2-2)
Toru Yano - 4pts (2-2)
Taichi - 4pts (2-2)
Tetsuya Naito - 4pts (2-2)
Jeff Cobb - 2pts (1-3)
Hirooki Goto - 2pts (1-3)
Jay White - 2pts (1-3)
Much to take then, from yet another explosive Jon Moxley display, critical turning points for Tetsuya Naito and Jay White as well as yet more steady progress for Juice Robinson as the block's surprising dark horse favourite. It was, however, a bad night for the block's weakest babyface...
5. Hirooki Goto Vs. Taichi
Eesh.
The trick with enjoying most of Taichi matches in this year’s G1 Climax is to accept that little will feel overtly important until he tears away his trousers to reveal the tights.In this case, it worked in reverse, and to the dullest possible extreme.
Proffering the sort of performance many feared when he was first announced for the tournament, the Suzuki-gun sh*thouse went about his cheating in a “methodical” style almost WWE in delivery. Hirooki Goto, meanwhile wasn’t anywhere near the babyface he needed to be during comebacks nor attempts to diffuse his lesser foe’s passable Kawada tribute shots. Unfortunately for the LA Dojo cheerleader, this has been the story of his tournament, particularly as some of the hungrier wolves of A Block begin to bare their teeth at the halfway mark.
Goto’s yet to suffer a savaging, but he looks prime bait for one on evidence here, particularly considering how little the booking cared for him in taking this moribund low blow loss.