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Day 2 of the G1 Climax tournament in Japan is the beginning of the B Block which is absolutely stacked. With the G1 Special in San Francisco, having just taken place on July 7th at the Cow Palace, the B Block has a lot more at stake, with 3 champions in the block whereas the A Block now has no champions.
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The aforementioned champions in the B Block are Hirooki Goto in his 3rd reign as NEVER Openweight Champion, Kenny Omega in his 1st reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and the newly crowned Juice Robinson in his first championship reign in NJPW after failing against Tetsuya Naito, Hirooki Goto (twice), and Kenny Omega. The title Juice claimed was the IWGP US Championship, beating Jay White at the G1 Special in San Francisco, winning with an injured hand (Juice specifies it's a broken metacarpal).
With all these factors now in place for New Japan's yearly tournament, it is shaping up to be very interesting. Let us take a look at how this day could play out with speculation and prediction.
Match 1- Juice Robinson Vs Tama Tonga
The two participants in this match were both big winners at the G1 Special in San Francisco. As stated earlier, Juice Robinson won the IWGP United States Championship, but Tama Tonga was arguably the bigger winner.
He kicked off the night by winning a 10-man tag match between CHAOS and Bullet Club, but he ended the night in controversial fashion. After the main event between Cody and Omega, the Tongans (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and King Haku) emerged to congratulate their leader. However, they betrayed him and stripped off Bullet Club and became Firing Squad.
With this boiling up inside Tama, and Juice looking to be his first victim, this match will be exciting to see not only for the in-ring performance but also for the slight character changes in the two men and if Tama Tonga's in-ring style has changed at all due to his more unhinged persona emerging.
Prediction- Juice Robinson. I believe Juice will get the roll-up victory and catch Tama by surprise so Tama isn't weakened at all. With Juice having just won the title and Tama seemingly going after Omega and possibly Ibushi, I don't believe Tama will win. If he does though, he has the option to challenge Juice for the IWGP US, which could be very intriguing for the Tongan.
Match 2- SANADA Vs Hirooki Goto
The last time this match took place was the 2016 edition of the G1 Climax. With SANADA having just suffered losses from Okada, Zack Sabre Jr and now the Young Bucks twice in tag team competition, the Los Ingobernables member needs something to bring him back into the limelight, and a feud with Goto could do this.
Hirooki Goto recently won back the NEVER title from Michael Elgin and just defended it against Jeff Cobb at the G1 Special, so Goto is in need of challengers come after the G1 at /on the Destruction tour shows and King of Pro Wrestling.
SANADA could provide him with a certain odd challenge with his blinding speed as he could outspeed Goto and as Paul Heyman said 'Speed Kills'.
Prediction- SANADA. I believe that SANADA will pull off the upset victory and win this match to go on and challenge for the NEVER title as he needs something so that he isn't always in the shadow of Naito.
Match 3- Tomohiro Ishii Vs Toru Yano
The 3rd match on the first day of the B Block is also faction warfare as two CHAOS members face off. Tomohiro Ishii and Yano together are a formidable tag team, as they've defeated teams such as War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) and Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) and won the IWGP Tag Team Championships at the Wrestle Kingdom 12.
But separated, Ishii is the more well known as he has had Meltzer 5 stars with the likes of Kazuchika Okada, Tomoaki Honma and Katsuyori Shibata, has won the NEVER Openweight title a total of 4 times and most recently was the RPW British Heavyweight Champion, along with having great matches with wrestlers such as Keith Lee, Zack Sabre Jr and the man he lost the RPW Title too, Minoru Suzuki.
With Yano however, stating that this year in the G1 he will pull no funny antics and be honorable, it begs the question, will Yano stay true to his word or go back to being the comic relief of NJPW? With this possibility, it is hard to predict, but it should be an entertaining match between the two none the less.
Prediction- Tomohiro Ishii. I believe that the 'Stone Pitbull' will claim victory here. Ishii will always be a fan favorite around the globe due to his presence and in-ring style and selling. The 141 (Japanese for Ishii as 'Ichi-Shi-Ichi') is winning this and 2 points as well.
Match 4- Tetsuya Naito Vs Kenny Omega
The matches that these two have had in the past have been high impact, dramatic and beautiful. With Naito is a rough patch right now and Kenny as champion, this match could provide some form of redemption for the LIJ Leader.
With this year looking like it's the year of 4's with Okada Omega IV having taken place and Ishii Omega IV taking place in the G1 along with Suzuki Tanahashi and Suzuki Okada, I believe that Naito could win to set up a future match.
However Kenny Omega is champion, and to keep credibility, you don't want him losing too much, as with the likes of Ibushi, Naito, Goto and Tama Tonga, all seeking revenge or to prove themselves to the Champion this could very well be Kenny's biggest G1 challenge.
Prediction-Tetsuya Naito. Naito needs this win. He's been down a rough path, and with this win, it could set him on a path that makes him a threat again. As NJPW's Fan Favorite, him challenging for the title after this at King of Pro Wrestling makes sense, however, it means that 'El Ingobernable' will not win the G1 again.
Match 5- Zack Sabre Jr Vs Kota Ibushi
A dream match fans wanted in WWE's Cruiserweight Classic Tournament in 2016, has now happened twice in New Japan. The first time was in 2017's edition of the G1 Climax, G1 Climax 27, with Ibushi winning. However this year in the New Japan Cup, Zack beat Ibushi in the 2nd round, before going on to win the prize and challenge then IWGP Heavyweight champion, Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis.
The two have had fairly good matches thus far, but with them main eventing Day 2, they've got to do something spectacular to live up to it. No doubt they will, but following Naito Kenny will be no easy feat, but with the two having this rubber match, they will go out of their way to make sure the match is worthy of its position on the card.
Prediction- Ibushi. Ibushi is the current favorite to win the whole G1 and face his Golden Lover, Kenny Omega. With this win, Ibushi would be solidifying himself as the best contender as he would've beaten the former NJ Cup Winner and the man who beat Okada on Night 2 in Manchester of NJPW UK Strong Style Evolved shows. With this win, Ibushi would look strong with plenty of momentum and Zack wouldn't be all that affected as he is still a top draw and guy in NJPW.
