G1 Climax 29 Block A: Will Ospreay vs. Sanada

This should be good. Ospreay is the best around, and even though Sanada isn’t really at that level, he should definitely be able to keep up well enough. I’m really hoping the NJPW / ROH partnership falls apart soon so that Ospreay could do some AEW events. This guy could be a major breakout star (for some company other than WWE). In WWE, they’d probably have him be like Downton Arby or Doctor How.

Kelly brings up Ospreay’s Lucha training and parallels that with Sanada’s time wrestling in Mexico, and that aligns with the two wrestlers showing their balance in the ring with an evenly matched opening flurry that leads to a standoff that gets the crowd going.

I love the light storytelling and crowd-nudging gestures they use in New Japan; the crowd seemed evenly split during that standoff, so Sanada comes out of the standoff by offering a handshake, which Ospreay gingerly accepts … only to be suckered by Sanada. Unlike the usual WWE suckerings of babyfaces, this was no pivotal moment leading to losing the advantage or even losing the match — it was just a quick exchange that dropped an important cue to the crowd.

I guess it doesn’t really work; Sanada gets Ospreay trapped in the ropes with the Paradise Lock and plays to the crowd, and the crowd responds with cheers. Sanada keeps the pace slow in these early minutes, with a lot of submission holds and deliberate chipping away at Ospreay — but then Ospreay finds openings to spring out of nowhere with an amazing sequence. It’s a great example of how different styles can tell an interesting story through their contrast and the clarity of the momentum shifts.

After some quick exchanges, the crowd is now chanting Ospreay’s name, but Sanada holds his own with Ospreay’s increased pace and answers accordingly. An awesome exchange of holds, finishing move attempts and reversals is even more impressive partially based on what appears to have not worked — in a few of the quick exchanges, it looked like maybe some aim was off or grasps were missed, but these two are so good that they immediately recovered and did so in a way that seemed totally natural, as opposed to “Oh oops I missed my spot, so let me very unnaturally get back into position.”

These two put together an amazing sequence leading to an Ospreay powerbomb, but Sanada kicks out at two. Ospreay lands a shooting star press (that looked a little short, to be honest) and Sanada kicks out again. But Ospreay goes for a Stormbreaker that Sanada beautifully reverses into a Skull End. Ospreay lands the (not super impressive looking) Robinson Special into an Os Cutter and finally hits the Stormbreaker for the win.

Fun match that earns Ospreay his first two points, and the announcers make a point of emphasizing the significance of Ospreay scoring for the first time in this heavyweight tournament. Sanada may not get any points out of this, but he still comes out of the match looking strong.