Greetings everyone. We're done with Block Play in the G1, and that means for many of the people participating that means their stories are now concluded, alignments reconfigured, and new trajectories set in place for a whole bunch of folks. So with that in mind, I felt like sharing who I felt were the three biggest winners and losers of the tournament this year. So without further ado!
The 3 Winners
Yuya Uemura – Let's just get the biggest winner of them all out of the way here, cause going in no one though Uemura had very good chances at all. After his win against Tsuji at the Dome, it's been nothing but downhill for him, and at the start of the tournmant if you asked me to name who the biggest geek in the company is, Uemura would top that list and it wouldn't even be close.
And then the first night of Block B happened and Yuya and Finlay tore the house down out of nowhere? And since then it's been nothing but upside for Uemura. I don't know what happened but dude found whatever hidden quality he was missing and he became the ultimate babyface. Fuck all the people saying Umino was Tanahashi 2.0, this is your Tana clone, and if the naysayers are correct and the push to make Shota the new Ace crashes and burns, Uemura is set to take up the reigns. If his arm injury isn't too serious and he can come back relatively soon, the sky is the limit if he can keep this trajectory up.
David Finlay – Take what I said for Yuya finding that hidden quality for being a babyface, reverse it to apply for heels, and then apply that to Finlay. I've always been a Finlay defender, but even I'm sitting here kind of flabbergasted just how much better he is compared to where he was. If this was the Finlay we got when he first took over Bullet Club last year, we'd no doubt be getting a lot less of the obnoxious Gabe Kidd Should Take Over Bullet Club takes that have overtaken any David Finlay Discourse.
Great O-Khan – I'm not a GOK guy, I find him a decent enough midcarder but mostly I find his schtick tiresome. And yet even I, a GOK hater, cannot in good consciousness not put him here simply I don't think anyone expected him to end with a winning record, let alone leave block play. So, good job O-Khan.
Honorable Mention: Konosuke Takeshita: Only reason Big Take's not in the list is cause everyone knew he was gonna be great, it was just a question of how much New Japan would give him an opportunity to shine. Fortunately, he's gotten way more than that, and if my hunch that Takeshita may not be much longer for AEW is correct I would not be shocked if him doing the G1 was a sort of audition for New Japan.
The 3 Losers
Tetsuya Naito – Oof. I'm not gonna pretend I was ever a Naito guy, but I recognize the dude has talent. As such, I can also recognize the dude is just broken down. For the past few years we've had this song and dance where Naito comes out and puts on a subpar performance and people try to wave it away, but at this point trying to ignore it is just insanity. Naito's washed, and New Japan is gonna have to find some major smoke and mirrors to get him to last to the Tokyo Dome at this rate.
SANADA – Like. I dunno what to say here, dude went undefeated in Block play last year, and this year couldn't even get a winning record. That's a fucking plummet. Combine that with the fact he's still just not interesting and yeah, loser. Loser loser loser.
Shota Umino – Ohhhhh maaaaaaaaan this one hurts. Shooter is my man. My dawg. My top squeeze. His actual matches have been great this tournament – his match with Kidd is my match of the tournament in fact – but fuck, his character has just been… off. I hope guesses that his clear discomfort and mismatch in playing the White Meat Babyface role is and intentional part of his character arc, but even as a big Shooter fan that kinda feels like cope. I realize his injury also probably put a big snag on things, but fuck man.
Dishonorable Mention: Jake Lee: I didn't like Lee in NOAH, and in fact his title run last year was the main reason I bailed out of the Ark when I tried to give them a shot, and unfortunately I've seen very little to suggest his run in New Japan will offer much to change my mind. Only reason he's not in the actual list is cause I didn't have any expectations of him in the first place.
by The_Reptile_