New Japan Pro Wrestling completed its second night at the Edion Arena in Osaka featuring an outstanding main event between Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi.
The stablemates wrestled in excess of twenty-seven minutes, subtly teasing the first time limit draw of this year’s tourney before a pair of Destinos were delivered and Naito gained two points.
It places Naito in a four-way tie with Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, and Jay White underneath block leader Jon Moxley, who remains at ten points.
Prior to the main event, Jay White pinned Jon Moxley with the Blade Runner and was Moxley’s first clean loss since coming to New Japan. Hirooki Goto defeated Jeff Cobb with an Ushigoroshi and GTR, Taichi defeated Juice Robinson with Black Mephisto after constant interference, and Tomohiro Ishii pinned Toru Yano after a brainbuster following a surprisingly competitive match.
White’s victory over Moxley on Sunday kept numerous participants mathematically eligible, even if it’s by a thread with the hope of a tiebreaker scenario.
In addition to the top five, Toru Yano and Juice Robinson remain alive despite having six points apiece. Yano holds a victory over Moxley in the event of a first-place tie (highly unlikely). For Robinson to hit ten points, he would need to defeat Jay White this Thursday and Moxley next weekend at Budokan Hall.
Here are the updated standings after Sunday’s card in Osaka:
*Jon Moxley – 10 points
*Tetsuya Naito – 8
*Tomohiro Ishii – 8
*Hirooki Goto – 8
*Jay White – 8
*Juice Robinson – 6
*Toru Yano – 6
*Jeff Cobb – 6
*Taichi – 6
*Shingo Takagi – 4
The G1 resumes on Wednesday with the A Block card in Shizuoka with Sanada vs. Lance Archer, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale, KENTA vs. Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., and Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL.
The next B Block show is Thursday in Yokohama with Toru Yano vs. Taichi, Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto vs. Jon Moxley, Juice Robinson vs. Jay White, and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi.
