NJPW G1 Climax 2019 Night 5 (July 18) - A BLOCK: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

4. EVIL Vs. SANADA

Will Ospreay Kota Ibushi
NJPW

EVIL and SANADA have shared some lofty plaudits in this year's tournament having contested thrillers with the likes of Kota Ibushi and Will Ospreay respectively, but a battle between the two this year was broadly framed around passable dissension between the tag partners.

Trading - of all things - The Paradise Lock to highlight just simpatico they were physically in spite of the war they found themselves waging, the two huffed and puffed a bit trying to get the match to spring to life before it finally just about managed it by the end.

SANADA's entire arc this year tacitly revolves around pinning Kazuchika Okada - a feat EVIL has managed once before - but his middling streak of matches should possibly be of greater concern.

This was okay in patches, but 'Cold Skull's selling couldn't make EVIL's match-winning hammering particularly satisfying. The pair don't have bad matches with each other or the rest of the field in the tournament, but they both could have done with this being match of the night instead of merely middling.

The Los Ingobernables de Japon fist bump at the conclusion of the match had more drama than every heavy blow they dished out in the 18 minutes beforehand. This was, subsequently, less than ideal.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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