G1 Climax 29 Block B: Shingo Takagi vs. Juice Robinson

I’ve mostly hated Juice Robinson since the first moment I saw him. Something about his neon colors and obliviousness, plus an underwhelming in-ring style — he felt like a lame Randy Savage cosplayer.

But his match against Jon Moxley made me totally rethink my irritation. It felt like he was reinventing himself, even beyond abandoning the dreadlocks, and I impressed; it was clear he played a big part in that match being as successful as it was.

And then his G1 Climax debut saw him walk out with ridiculous neon colors and dumb glasses and dumb hat. So maybe I opened my mind too soon. Still, I’m interested to see if he shows something more in his style; it took me long enough to start to come around on him and I will not give up easily!

Pretty straightforward match; hard-hitting and largely evenly matched so far. Juice is holding his own and keeping the crowd behind him. I really wish Juice would get some different pants. I do think there’s something different about his body language and overall attitude. Jackson Pollock pants don’t help though.

Takagi’s strength and brick-houseness is starting to play more of a role in the match though. It’s giving Juice some good material to play underdog off of. I was surprised the Juice Box didn’t get more of a reaction though.

After a good run of energy, Takagi ends up taking over and really dominating Robinson, in a way that turns the fans to his side. But true to form, Robinson has some fight in him and almost gets a surprise rollup and connects with some punches before scoring the win with the Pulp Friction.

I was kind of surprised to see Juice get the win here; Takagi was really holding the crowd and Juice seemed to be in a spot where he could lose the match without losing much. Takagi had enough control through much of the match that his loss felt like a bit of a choke. Curious to see where both of them go from here.