NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
G1 CLIMAX 32 FINAL
AUGUST 18, 2022
NIPPON BUDOKAN
CHIYODA, TOKYO, JAPAN

Watch: NJPW World

It’s time to go Over The Max one last time, as after 19 nights of grueling action, G1 Climax 32 comes to an end tonight. Who will stand tall as G1 Champion?

CHAOS (HIROOKI GOTO, TOMOHIRO ISHII, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI) DEF. HOUSE OF TORTURE (DICK TOGO, EVIL, SHO & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI)

YOH scored the fall on Dick Togo with the Direct Drive. SHO immediately laid out YOH with the NEVER Six-Man Title, leading to the hilarious image of YOH getting announced as the winner while face down on the mat. Your typical multi-man opener, continuing the House of Torture/CHAOS feud for the Six-Man Titles. **1/2

TMDK (BAD DUDE TITO & JONAH) DEF. TEAM FILTHY (ROYCE ISAACS & TOM LAWLOR)

The last outing for the NJPW Strong crew on this tour, and they impressed. Both Filthy Tom and JONAH accounted for themselves greatly, getting over quickly and having great performances. JONAH had the most memorable moment of the tournament to date, with his shock win over Okada. He climbed the ropes here for the Torpedo and the crowd audibly gasped, a sign as to how over that move is now. JONAH pinned Isaacs with the Torpedo. Both TMDK and Team Filthy should be welcome additions to the New Japan unit structure. ***1/4

UNITED EMPIRE (AARON HENARE, GREAT-O-KHAN & JEFF COBB) DEF. BULLET CLUB (BAD LUCK FALE, CHASE OWENS & JUICE ROBINSON)

There was talk of who would challenge next for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles, currently held by FTR. The two most recent champion teams being in this match didn’t factor into the finish though, as Cobb caught Juice with the Tour of the Islands to win. As someone who had Juice penciled in to win his block in the G1, it confounds me that he’s basically in the same spot on the roster but on the heel side now. He had some juice after his turn, pun fully intended. I’m not saying it’s all gone, but results like this won’t help. **1/2

SUZUKI-GUN (LANCE ARCHER, TAICHI & ZACK SABRE JR.) DEF. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (BUSHI, SANADA & TETSUYA NAITO)

BUSHI had a sunflower/bird type mask on tonight for all the gearheads out there. This was a very fun pre-intermission match here, with pushup contests and pec popping going on. Sabre was spoiling for a fight with Naito after the 90-second embarrassment on the final block night. That feud looks like it’s going to continue, which should be great. Taichi pinned BUSHI with the Yokozuna Elbow. ***1/2

We had show announcements here. New Japan announced their return to New York City with the Rumble on 44th Street PPV, where STARDOM will have a presence. They also announced Wrestle Kingdom 17 for January 4th, with New Year Dash!! on the 5th. RIP Double Dome Dash, we hardly knew ye.

BULLET CLUB (EL PHANTASMO & KENTA) DEF. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (HIROMU TAKAHASHI & SHINGO TAKAGI)

Shingo and new heavyweight Phantasmo continued their battle here, with some sequences that made me want another big-time singles match between them. Meanwhile, KENTA and Hiromu did comedy with KENTA’s new book. Phantasmo hit a low blow behind the ref’s back and small packaged Shingo to score a second fall over Shingo in three days. ***1/4

DAVID FINLAY & HIROSHI TANAHASHI DEF. THE GOOD BROTHERS (DOC GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON)

I tell you what, hearing that Good Brothers music at 5:30 AM really made me second guess my choice of reviewing this show live. Never say I don’t do anything for you people. They had a tag match that wouldn’t have been out of place 90 minutes into an Impact before Toru Yano got involved and led Doc Gallows to the back. That allowed Tanahashi to pin Anderson with the High Fly Flow. You would be forgiven if you forgot that Anderson was NEVER Openweight Champion, but Tanahashi remembered and did the belt motion with his hands. **1/2

KUSHIDA & TAMA TONGA DEF. BULLET CLUB (JAY WHITE & TAIJI ISHIMORI)

This was the Heavyweight and Jr. Heavyweight Champions taking on who we presume to be their next challengers. Ever since KUSHIDA came back, Ishimori has said that he needed to do something to earn a title match. KUSHIDA did that by rolling up Ishimori for the win here. The babyfaces stood tall with their opponents’ titles. I’ll say it again, I hope Tama Tonga rises to the occasion in this title match against Jay White. He’s been doing good work in this new role, and this match is going to be without a doubt the biggest match of his career. ***

G1 CLIMAX 32 FINAL MATCH
KAZUCHIKA OKADA DEF. WILL OSPREAY

They got me. They really got me to believe that Will Ospreay was going to win the G1. Really it was Ospreay that convinced me, between the upset over Tetsuya Naito in the semifinals and the promo he cut afterward declaring that beating Okada clean was his final hill to climb. It felt like it was Ospreay’s time to step into that true Main Event spotlight. He’s won every singles title there is for him to win. He’s been World Champion in this company. He’s won Best of the Super Juniors twice. He won the New Japan Cup. Winning the G1 Climax, and beating his “big brother” to do it? Everything was lined up for this to be the moment where Will Ospreay became the Ace of the company. I was convinced that Ospreay was winning this match the same way I was convinced that Okada himself would beat Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 9. I was convinced Will Ospreay was winning the G1 the same way I was convinced that Tetsuya Naito was going to beat Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 12. And just like both of those instances, I was dead wrong. And in remembering those instances, I learned that I should have seen this coming. It’s “white whale” booking, and it’s what New Japan does to turn its big names into money-drawing megastars. We’ve seen this for nearly a decade, but it takes so long to develop that a lot of fans, myself included, fall for it every time. Okada’s white whale was beating Tanahashi in the Dome, and he got it. Naito’s white whale is getting to do the LIJ roll call at the Tokyo Dome, and he’s still chasing it. Now Will Ospreay has his white whale. He has to beat Kazuchika Okada, and he has to do it on his own. It’s another example of Bushiroad-era New Japan, despite the warts of the last few years, still staking its claim as one of the most consistently well-booked promotions in pro wrestling history.

The match itself was phenomenal, as you would expect from two of the best wrestlers alive today. Okada went for Ospreay’s bad neck early and often, dropping him with two DDTs on the floor in the opening minutes. Will fought back, hitting an Oscutter on the floor and on the apron for the countout tease. Ospreay went for a third in the ring, but Okada cut him off in mid-air with a dropkick. Ospreay got control back and went on an awesome rally, hitting a cross-legged Tombstone and a Hidden Blade, but Okada kicked out. Ospreay’s strategy after that was to take inspiration from the people who had beaten Okada in the past. He used the springboard forearm and the Styles Clash for a nearfall. He went to the top and hit the High Fly Flow, but that couldn’t finish the job. He escaped the Money Clip, and he kicked out of a Rainmaker. Then, Ospreay flew a little too close to the sun. He drilled Okada with a V-Trigger before putting him on the shoulders for a One Winged Angel, hours after Kenny Omega made his return to wrestling on AEW Dynamite. But Okada slipped off the back, hit the Landslide Tombstone and the Rainmaker. It wasn’t enough to beat Ospreay, and an attempt at a second Rainmaker was countered with a Spanish Fly. Ospreay went for a Stormbreaker, but Okada countered it with his reverse neckbreaker over the knee. Okada started his Death Sequence with the enzuigiri, again targeting the neck, but Ospreay got out of the Cobra Flowsion and hit a pop-up elbow right to Okada’s jaw. Ospreay tried to follow up with a second Hidden Blade. Okada countered it with a spinning Cobra Flowsion and a second Rainmaker to take his 4th G1 Climax. A worthy G1 Final, and another excellent chapter in another excellent feud in the catalog of both of these men. ****3/4

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