NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Night 11 (July 30) - A BLOCK: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best
Bloodbath in A Block as Kazuchika Okada’s dominance rains down on all the rest...
Night 11 was one of significant consequence after Kazuchika Okada's latest victory brought down the curtain on the 2019 G1 Climax for half the field.
'The Rainmaker' didn't so much thrive against Lance Archer as he did survive, but his narrow victory (more on that later, obviously) resulted in more names being added to A Block's elephant graveyard. At just four points and under, Archer, Will Ospreay, SANADA, Zack Sabre Jr and Bad Luck Fale are now all out of contention. With six, EVIL remains just about in touch with the top end of the block, but another Okada victory would sink him too.
Such is life amongst the elite group that assembled this half of the tournament in the first place. 'The Rainmaker' has been in last-title-reign form against NJPW's best and brightest, whilst separate surges for KENTA, Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi have resulted in several four-point-swing matches against their lower-placed contemporaries. The permutations are, at some pace, beginning to peter out
It is now up to those men to play spoiler, but on evidence of this event, several may actually relish the reduced pressure of that particular role.
5. Kota Ibushi Vs. Bad Luck Fale
Kota Ibushi worked his b*llocks and bad ankle off to get something decent out of Bad Luck Fale, and just about managed it as the two definitively wrapped up the BC OG’s G1 Climax in just under 10 minutes.
Only Zack Sabre Jr’s count-out victory over Bad Luck Fale topped Ibushi’s worthy effort against the ‘Rogue General’ for drama, but the match required the babyface victory to get a pass. It again brought into focus if the tournament can continue to absorb Fale's shortcomings for the good of Gedo's mathematics - his purpose-serving position in the tournament isn’t half as palatable at the later stages, but this broadly competitive match was better late than never, at least.
A hard-fought win for the ‘Golden Star’ was pleasingly low on all the typical Bullet Club hijinks, with a Kamigoye finish almost as satisfying as the one that twice dented Lance Archer’s skull just days earlier. Ibushi has one giant of a different kind still left to slay...