19 Ups & 4 Downs From NJPW G1 Climax 2019

15. In Which Jon Moxley Proves He's The Best (Night 2)

Taichi Jon Moxley
NJPW

You wanna know why Jon Moxley is the king of wrestling? He had a great match with Taichi.

The Suzuki-gun jester can be carried when he plays it relatively straight and keeps the Sports Entertainment-style shenanigans to a minimum. That's what happened here, with the 'Holy Emperor' attacking Mox as he made his entrance through the crowd. Cracking the former Dean Ambrose's back with a steel chair provided a smart, simple story to build the work around, p*ssing Mox off and bringing out his hard-brawling best as he put the potential banana skin in just under eight minutes.

Moxley vs. Taichi wasn't match of the night, though: that honour goes to Tomohiro Ishii and Jeff Cobb, whose hard-hitting beef-slapper hit all the right notes. This is the time of year when everybody suddenly sits up and realises that the former is one of the best in the world, and while it felt like the duo still had another gear to reach, this was by design.

The opener saw Shingo Takagi learn that this heavyweight business is a lot harder than bullying juniors around as Juice Robinson bested him in a bruiser encounter. Later, Toru Yano bantered Tetsuya Naito into oblivion by pulling his t-shirt over his head for a shock pin, while Hirooki Goto brought his A-game in a vicious humbling of Jay White in the main event.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.