NJPW G1 Climax 2018, Week 1: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

12. Hirooki Goto Vs SANADA (July 15th)

Kenny Omega Tetsuya Naito
NJPW

Rating: ***

A bland opening deposit in both men's G1 accounts, this laboured, up-and-down affair was simpatico with the spells both are having outside the tournament.

Reaching his zenith at exactly the right time, SANADA was a subversively perfect pretender to Kazuchika Okada's throne at February's New Beginning In Osaka, but hasn't managed to regain his ice-cool composure since. Goto has been searching for similar standards since scalping Minoru Suzuki at Wrestle Kingdom, but he'll need more than a going-through-the-motions effort such as this in order to stick out from a outstanding chasing pack this year. Based on this evidence, neither look to be particularly strong contenders in a bloated B Block.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett