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

11. Bad Luck Fale Vs Kazuchika Okada (July 16th)

Kenny Omega Tetsuya Naito
NJPW

Rating: ***

Bad Luck Fale's post-match interview was about as entertaining as his clash with a crumbling Kazuchika Okada, but much of the contest's bang-averageness felt completely by design thanks to a world class display of just okay from the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

It was, and hopefully will continue to be, a miraculous thing to watch. One of the best professional wrestlers in the world is now so good that he can convincingly pretend to be less so in order to put across just how spectacularly his world has fallen apart since his epic dethroning.

It may be the best thing in the entire industry. As a result though, this match was sadly not.

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