10 Must-See NJPW Matches From 2019

Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii – G1 Climax Day 6 (July 19, 2019)

Anyone who has ever considered themselves a fan of Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose needs to watch this match. If I may take a step back for a moment, I can say that this may be my personal favourite match of the year. At the very least, it is in the conversation. This performance is to see a man liberated. Moxley wrestled maybe the match of his career and after hearing him vent his frustrations about WWE, it must have felt good.

Let’s not forget the other man involved, Tomohiro Ishii. This man’s character in 2019 is simply that he has amazing matches. Seriously, if you want to have an amazing match, look this guy up in the phone book. Wait, do people still use phone books? Regardless, this match was everything you could want in a brawl and Moxley’s post-match promo was enough to give this fan goosebumps. I cannot recommend it enough.

---

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay – G1 Climax Day 7 (July 20, 2019)

This is another match that is a top contender for match of the year. Perhaps the two best wrestlers in the world did battle on the seventh night of G1 Climax competition and they produced a masterpiece. It wouldn’t have worked for the story NJPW was telling in the overall tournament, but if Ospreay had won this match it would have been the clear match of the year.

That being said, it is still an instant classic. The old big brother vs. little brother storyline was told here to perfection. Each time Ospreay has faced Okada he has gotten that much closer to beating him. For Ospreay, this was as close as he could get without getting the W. He may not have been able to defeat Okada on this night but he proved Okada right when he said that in a short period of time, Ospreay would be the best in the business.

---

SANADA vs. Kazuchika Okada – G1 Climax Day 13 (August 3, 2019)

In many ways this was SANADA’s last chance to solidify himself as a main eventer. Kevin Kelly even said so on commentary. SANADA and Okada had four singles matches in 2019 and all of them were excellent but this was the very best of the best. It is fairly easy to understand why; in the G1 Climax, Okada can believably lose to anybody. That increases the level of drama as the audience sits on the edge of their seats hoping to see an upset.

Just in the nick of time, SANADA pinned Okada with just 13 seconds left in the match. Okada would get his win back at King of Pro Wrestling but their clash in the G1 Climax remains their best encounter and the biggest win of SANADA’s career. For the time being, SANADA reputation remain intact.

---

Tetsuya Naito vs. Shingo Takagi – G1 Climax Day 14 (August 4, 2019)

Los Ingobernables de Japon has been in existence for roughly five years. Tetsuya Naito has gathered a close-knit group of like-minded wrestlers to follow him, with Takagi being the latest to join their ranks. Since joining the faction in October of 2018, this was the first time that Takagi went one on one with his stablemate.

They were able to tell the story of their history in this match. The two had spent time as sparing partners prior to their time in New Japan and that played a role in the drama. Takagi was very game here but in the end, Naito is the leader of the group for a reason. He proved it once again by picking up the two points from Takagi in a technical classic. This was one of the more forgotten matches from the G1 Climax but nevertheless you will not regret going out of your way to see it.

• lists
• Kazuchika Okada
• NJPW
• Will Ospreay

Share this article with friends