New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 32 Night 8
July 30, 2022
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (Dolphin’s Arena)
Aichi, Japan

Watch: NJPWWorld

From the world-famous Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium comes Night 8 of the G1 Climax! This has been a rock-solid tournament so far, but it has lacked that buzzworthy main event match that gets people talking. Will it come on this night? Let’s find out.

Undercard (Names in bold were involved in the fall)

  • SHO & Yujiro Takahashi defeat Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa (6:08)
  • El Phantasmo & KENTA defeat Jado & Tama Tonga (6:33)
  • Aaron Henare, Jeff Cobb & Will Ospreay defeat Lance Archer, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku (6:28)
  • BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito defeat Dick Togo & EVIL (8:05)
  • Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI defeat Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Gedo, Jay White & Juice Robinson (8:36)

G1 Climax 32 D Block
David Finlay (4 points, 2-1) def. Shingo Takagi (2 points, 1-2)

El Phantasmo joined Kevin Kelly on English commentary for this night. David Finlay had the US Title that he stole from Juice Robinson after their Korakuen Hall main event. This was treated as a big upset that Finlay got after catching Shingo with a rollup after a stunner. The match itself was a perfectly fine professional wrestling bout. Finlay is now at the top of the D Block alongside Will Ospreay with 4 points, while Shingo is stuck in the middle of the pack. Speaking of Ospreay, he is both men’s next block opponent. It’s Ospreay vs. Finlay on August 2nd before Shingo gets his shot against Will on August 6th. I am definitely looking forward to one of those two matches. ***

G1 Climax 32 A Block
JONAH (2 points, 1-1) def. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (0 points, 0-2)

Filthy Tom has gotten his crowd clap over in Japan as they were doing it as soon as he came out. The ref and the ring announcer sold JONAH’s stomp on his entrance, which made me laugh. This match was Filthy Tom using his MMA technique to wear down the stronger JONAH, which worked until Tom went for a Tornado DDT. JONAH held him up and F-5’ed him onto the ropes, then hit a powerbomb and the Torpedo Splash from the top onto Tom’s worked-on ribs for the win. Someone’s 0 had to go, and it was JONAH’s. Filthy Tom is in the basement, but he’s got 4 matches to go in his G1. Nothing’s over just yet. It is good to see Filthy Tom getting over in Japan after his work on New Japan Strong earned him this spot. His next match is August 2nd against Toru Yano. JONAH takes on Jeff Cobb on August 5th. ***1/2

G1 Climax B Block
SANADA (4 points, 2-1) def. Great-O-Khan (0 points, 0-2)

With this loss, O-Khan has lost 6 straight G1 matches, going back to last year.  You know the trope in old cartoons where one character would be saying something important to another character, and the words would literally go in one ear and out of the other? That’s me with SANADA matches. They happen. I watch them, and time passes. Then the bell rings and it’s gone. I have no thoughts on the match. I have no memory of it. It happened in a G1 Final against Kota Ibushi, I still don’t have any idea if that match was good or not. Anyway, SANADA won with a moonsault. SANADA is now at 4 points, technically tied with Jay White but losing on the tiebreaker. O-Khan is by himself at the bottom of the block with no points. Both men return to the ring for G1 action on August 2nd, with O-Khan taking on Tomohiro Ishii, and SANADA going against Tama Tonga. ***

G1 Climax C Block
Hiroshi Tanahashi (4 points, 2-1) def. Zack Sabre Jr. (4 points, 2-1)

I got incredibly sick of this pairing when New Japan ran it to death a few years back, but I was into this one. I’ve been on a Zack kick lately, so that may be why. Zack zeroed in on Tanahashi’s arm and tried his best to grind it into dust with armbars and dragon screw-style arm whips. Tanahashi worked on Zack’s knee any chance he got, but they were few and far between with the way Zack was working. I’ve grown a real appreciation for Sabre’s work ever since his New Japan Cup run. He’s always been a great wrestler, but something about him this year has really reminded me of how awesome he is in the ring. The crowd was vocally getting into this one toward the end, as they gasped at a European Clutch near fall. Tanahashi reversed an armbar into a rollup for the win, although Sabre’s arm was under the ropes incidentally. Both men are now tied with Hirooki Goto at the top of C Block with 4 points, with the caveat that Goto has only wrestled twice. Sabre gets a chance to bounce back on August 6th against Goto, while Tanahashi takes on EVIL on August 5th. ****

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