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Night 14 of the G1 Climax came fast on the heels of 13, ready to scorch the earth to outdo Night 13's energy.
Jon Moxley was set to clash with Jay White as their G1 Climax futures hung in the balance!
Toru Yano was ready to stomp on Tomohiro Ishii's dreams!
Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi were the main event, ready to destroy the Osaka EDION Arena!
New Champs in WWE! More RIGHT HERE
G1 Climax is a yearly 19-night tournament held by NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) to determine the most tenacious member of the roster. For the first time, all of the events will be available legally outside of Japan without a time delay via the NJPWWorld streaming service and with a delay on AXS TV.
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There are two blocks with 10 fighters per block. Each fighter will have a match with every other fighter in their block, and they are awarded 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and none for a loss.
The highest scoring fighter from each block will face off at the Finale. Night 14 was a B-Block night, opening as usual with 4 short feature tag matches featuring the A-Block competitors.
Toa Henare & Yuya Uemura vs. Shota Umino & Ren Narita
Henare was the only veteran in this match, and his young lion had a better W-L record than Umino. Narita and Henare went for each other with ferocity, and Narita showed his fighting spirit with every hit he took!
Uemura was tagged in and kept Narita grasping for his partner until Henare was ready to take his part. Once Narita tagged Umino in, Uemura got Umino in a brutal hold.
Narita was able to get back to the ring and double-team Uemura with Umino. Moments later, Henare failed to make it to the ring in time, and Umino kept Uemura down for the count.
Results: Shota Umino & Ren Narita def. Toa Henare & Yuya Uemura via pinfall
Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) vs. Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki)
The heelish Suzuki-gun members were antsy as LIJ headed to the ring with their intimidating masks and audience love. Archer however wasted no time throwing SANADA into a young lion outside of the ring.
SANADA took several hard strikes and Archer would have continued, but Suzuki and ZSJ had ideas too. Archer stood back, and his teammates locked SANADA into a double rest hold. Grinding his boots into SANADA, Archer refused to relent, but SANADA got his feet to connect with Archer's knee. He got up and over with a springboard, and both men tagged out.
EVIL and ZSJ reversed throws and holds until ZSJ got enough room to bring the brutal Suzuki to face BUSHI. LIJ triple-teamed Suzuki for a moment, but once they were alone, Suzuki and BUSHI were entertainingly matched. A Dutch style piledriver from Suzuki put BUSHI away.
Results: Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) via pinfall
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)
Bullet Club's Takanashi is an intimidating guy in real life, and he's even more intimidating when the beguiling PIETER joins him! As is often the case, she wasn't wearing pants. Owens has been the linchpin of Bullet Club's offense during the tournament, and the Ace Tanahashi was up for the challenge.
Tanahashi and Takahashi tangled first, with Owens keeping the advantage firmly in Bullet Club's court. Fale and Owens walked all over Tanahashi's back right after, but the Ace fought back.
From the moment Ibushi was tagged in, Takahashi met speed with brutality before tagging out to Owens. They ran around each other until a back dropkick from Ibushi let him get enough time to tag in Honma.
The veteran Honma attempted his first finisher unsuccessfully, but a running Kokeshi from him led all of his teammates to deliver Kokeshis of their own in at the same time! Owens didn't stay down, and when he rallied it was still against Honma. He had enough stamina to deliver a package piledriver to Honma to end the match.
Results: Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma via pinfall
Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks
KENTA's entrance music slaps. Find it and feel epic listening to it! This was a match filled with heroic faces, and the the audience was more heavily on the Rainmaker's side tonight.
Ospreay and KENTA stared each other down as they rounded the ring and each other. When they locked up, their grappling was a show of strength and playful disrespect. Kicks became involved and KENTA's strength beat Ospreay's speed.
Fredericks looked at his opponent, Okada, with something like hesitation when they grappled. Okada dominated with a series of rest holds and a shoulder slam, and Fredericks made the first pinfall attempt after a full body slam. Okada kicked out at 1 and tagged Ospreay.
Ospreay fought as though KENTA never left his mind. YH found numerous ways to pain Fredericks throughout the match, but when Connors came through, he drove through Ospreay and YH with haste.
YH's first finisher attempt didn't end the match, but it put him in place to make Connors tap out.
Results: Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & YOSHI-HASHI def. KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks via submission
Tomohiro Ishii (6) vs. Toru Yano (6)
Yano, the greatest agent of chaos in NJPW, was ready after taking Moxley down on night 10 to humble Ishii tonight. He primed the ring pads for freedom as the Stone Pitbull scowled his way down to the ring.
Yano smacked Ishii into the exposed turnbuckles and used his shirt to attempt three pinfalls. Once he was outside of the ring, he sat in an audience chair and taunted Ishii mercilessly. Yano took the taunt until the 19-count and came back to absorb the night's first singles match beating.
A powerslam left Ishii standing above Yano and gloating. His little kicks woke Yano up and the men traded elbow strikes and right hands until it was Ishii on the mat. They traded pinfall attempts and Yano kept Ishii acquainted with the turnbuckles.
Yano began to bloom with new strength and resilience, though Ishii's headbutts and lariat took some of his momentum. They reversed everything the other pulled out, from throws to roll ups. Ishii's impressive vertical drop brainbuster ended the series of reversals with a win for the Stone Pitbull. Strength beat craftiness.
Results: Tomohiro Ishii (8) def. Toru Yano (6) via pinfall
Juice Robinson (6) vs. Taichi (4)
I'm a simple fan. I see Miho Abe, I pay attention. Taichi is more delightful at her side and her presence at ringside with Kanemaru guaranteed shenanigans. In fact, Kanemaru began throwing Robinson into the ringposts and barricades before the match began.
Taichi used that early advantage to wear Robinson down after their match properly began. Robinson showed spirit by rallying with a full Nelson bomb. Outside of the ring, though, it was three-on-one against Robinson and Taichi gave no quarter.
Robinson scrambled up to beat the 20-countout at 15, and Taichi met him with methodical brutality. It took a spinebuster from a desperate Robinson to fire up the crowd, and as they traded blows, the audience was deeply invested.
When Taichi gets serious, the pants come off! Robinson and Taichi thwarted each other's kicks until a leg lariat from Robinson connected loudly. He slammed Taichi into the corner and followed up with a cannonball.
Robinson failed to complete his Pulp Friction finisher, and Taichi suplexed him to grab the advantage. When Taichi got cocky, Robinson completed his Juice Box move to take the wind out of him.
Robinson powerbombed Taichi but still couldn't finish Pulp Friction. Kanemaru tried to spray Suntory whiskey in Robinson's eyes and failed, but Taichi succeeded, nearly ending the match. A superkick and Black Mephisto finisher combo brought victory to Taichi.
Results: Taichi (6) def. Juice Robinson (6) via pinfall
Hirooki Goto (6) vs. Jeff Cobb (6)
Cobb is a suplex specialist and Goto is a wall of a man, so the grapplers would need to pull a little deeper from their toolboxes to gain the upper hand. Red Shoes Unno refereed.
Cobb and Goto locked up trading holds in the middle of the ring before they foiled finisher attempts from each other. Cobb doesn't ever look as fast as he is, and he used that surprising speed to take the lead both inside and outside of the ring.
The moment Goto got space between them, he was able to meet Cobb more equally with a nasty slam and a 2-count. Cobb still threw Goto around with a Spin Cycle, tenderizing him in a series of chest chops and clotheslines.
Cobb didn't relent, but he also wasn't able to keep Goto down for a full 3-count. He began risking more, bringing Goto up on the ropes for a deadlift superplex. It was beautiful, but it too didn't bring Cobb the win.
A Yushiguroshi from Goto to Cobb in response to an attempted Tour of the Islands brought them back to earth. Cobb's forearms were matched to Goto's kicks, and when Goto's reverse GTR finisher connected, he was able to get his shoulders off of the mat.
They made each other angrier by the second, reversing finishers and kicking out, but Goto was faster. He completed the GTR and pinned Cobb cleanly.
Results: Hirooki Goto (8) def. Jeff Cobb (6) via pinfall
Jon Moxley (10) vs. Jay White (6)
White brought Gedo to the ring. Gedo brings brass knuckles when he comes out with White. So it stood to reason that Moxley was in danger of eating a healthy dose of cheating. Red Shoes Unno refereed.
When he entered, Mox wasted no time getting into the ring and taking the fight into White's face and neck. White and Bullet Club are hated by Unno, whose son "Shooter" Umino is Moxley's protege, and that dynamic is a new thread in the tapestry of Unno's character.
Moxley's neck was snapped against the ropes and he ate a pair of DDTs after a scuffle outside the ring left Moxley empty-handed. White couldn't keep Mox down for more than a 1-count, but White's barricade/ringpost combination chipped at Moxley little by little.
White slammed himself into Moxley to keep him in the corner, but Moxley connected a shotgun dropkick. A dive from Moxley sent them both outside again, and he introduced White to the blue barricades, the white barricades, and the arena floor.
Unno had to encourage the men back to the ring, where Mox locked White in his signature figure four around the ringpost. Another submission hold followed but Bullet Club's leader got a hand on the bottom rope to break it up.
White's snap suplex, flatliner, deadlift German suplex, and urenagi didn't dissolve Moxley's chances, and Mox fought his way free of the Kiwi Crusher. He gave White a textbook suplex to gain a 2-count.
Both men were soon to their feet, trading quick strikes until Gedo distracted Unno. Mox still made an underhook DDT (a snap Death Rider finisher? Sound off in the comments!) connect for another 2-count. Mox tangled white and Unno up by accident and took not only a low blow but Gedo's brass knuckles.
Mox fought back with a Regal Knee, but he took a sleeper suplex and lost a series of reversals to take a second. After the earlier brass knuckles and the low blow, Mox was in no shape to fight back seriously. Bloody Sunday and Blade Runner finishers from White dealt Moxley his first NJPW pinfall loss.
Results: Jay White (8) def. Jon Moxley (10) via pinfall
Tetsuya Naito (6) vs. Shingo Takagi (4)
Faction brothers in Los Ingobernables de Japon, Naito and Takagi knew each others' talents in and out. Their union has been built around a rivalry spanning their entire careers, so the chance to see their clash here in the G1 was a real thrill! Red Shoes Unno refereed.
Naito's tranquilo style was excellent at frustrating Takagi, and he scrambled for a side headlock the moment he could. A pair of body blows separated them, and Naito's sunset flip led to a fast and brutal series of reversals that moved all over the ring.
Once they were to their feet, Naito threw Takagi out of the ring and taunted him with the Tranquilo pose. Takagi happily took the time to get a chair from under the ring. Naito kept it from being used in the ring before fighting Takagi down to the floor in a hold Takagi struggled fro the rope to break up.
They were on their feet again and trading elbows in short order until Naito went for the eyes and Takagi, the hair. A well-earned separation gave Takagi the space to deliver a combination of strikes and take Naito outside of the ring for some blue barricade time.
Takagi slammed Naito's head into the arena floor with a DDT before rolling him back into the ring. He was explosively strong, treating Naito like a doll with a vertical suplex so loud the crowd gasped. A knee drop kept Naito in the middle of the ring, rolling in pain.
Naito's rallying led to absorbing more strong strikes, but he was able to drop Takagi into his knee and get into a better position. A combination punctuated by a neckbreaker saw Takagi rolling on the mat, a stark contrast to his position not much earlier. Takagi wasn't having it and managed a pop-up Death Valley driver.
A Dragon Spirit elbow put Naito down for only 2 smacks on the mat. Naito dodged a sliding lariat but ran into Takagi's feet before delivering yet another neckbreaker. Takagi escaped Naito's ringpost offense and put him down with a noshigami.
Naito surprised Takagi with a swing DDT when they came to their feet, following with a strong forearm. He completed his Gloria move and didn't gain the pinfall, so he prepared for his finisher, Destino.
Naito was caught in his attempt, and Takagi slammed him flat. He completed a wheelbarrow German suplex that rang Naito's bell. Naito soaked up pain like a sponge, but he fought back from the top rope with forearms to Takagi's face. Naito got them both down violently, delivered a poison rana, and leveled their playing field significantly.
Takagi was up first, dragging Naito up for his Made in Japan finisher, and Naito fought his way free into a nasty clothesline. Takagi's Psycho suplex was met with a suplex of Naito's own.
The Made in Japan finisher did connect with Naito eventually, but Naito kept kicking out! It was time for Takagi to play his Last of the Dragon card, and Naito trumped him with a reverse DDT.
They grappled until they could get to their feet, trading elbow strikes. Naito's palm strike and headbutt opened Takagi up for a brainbuster. He didn't get his pinfall, and Takagi reversed Naito's Destino finisher to once more grab for dominance of the match.
Naito hit a destroyer and the Destino twice to pin Takagi, thwarting his rival's reach for victory with only 2 minutes remaining.
Results: Tetsuya Naito (8) def. Shingo Takagi (4) via pinfall.
