19 Ups & 4 Downs From NJPW G1 Climax 2019

5. Old Dogs, New Kicks (Night 3)

While KENTA's night one performance was that of a performer still shedding his WWE stench, he fared better against the legendary Hiroshi Tanahashi three days later, sending the Ace to 0-2 while building his own undefeated streak. It was a tremendous match. While not quite on the same level as KENTA's old epics versus Bryan Danielson and Naomichi Marufuji, he kicked the living daylights out of Tana with a swagger missing from his previous life as Hideo Itami, and his opponent was his usual brilliant best, selling the beatdown like nobody else in the business can.

The closest thing night three had to a bum note was Bad Luck Fale vs. Lance Archer, though the Texan's high-effort performance dragged it forward. Archer's victory over Bullet Club's 'Rogue General' should coincide with him taking his role as NJPW's resident spoiler monster.

Will Ospreay enhanced his 'Best in the World' case with another strong performance against the impossibly slick SANADA, whose counter work looked smoother here than against Zack Sabre Jr. on night one. Speaking of ZSJ, his bout with Kazuchika Okada was a well-condensed version of last year's IWGP Title Match, with the Englishman's cunning once again falling short, while EVIL's match with Kota Ibushi brought a smart stylistic switch-up as LIJ's top goth picked the 'Golden Star's' ankle apart.