April 8, 201312 yr Author comment_5541325 This had a really hot start and then turned into a solid match. Fujinami dominated most of this, making Muto an underdog facing a veteran. He spends most of the match working over Muto's knee with some nice, basic stuff. Muto's repeated pin attempts leading into the finish were really great. It did make the victory seem a little flukish, but this G-1 so far seems to be all about making Muto and Chono stars, and the win is a big deal. I can accept the nature of the fluke, as it keeps the door open for rematches.
April 23, 201312 yr comment_5542825 This one felt rushed. I liked where they were going, with Muto starting the match at 100 mph and Fujinami slowing him down by working the knee. But the transition from Fujinami attacking to Muto chasing the fall happened awfully quickly, without as much selling as I would have liked. The crowd gave Muto a huge pop, so I guess they still achieved their goal in building for the Muto-Chono final. In an aside, I know Tim Cooke mentioned this in another thread, but I'll just reiterate that this was a heck of a tournament, even outside the matches that made the set. I'm not all the way through it, but Choshu and Bigelow had a good match, and Scott Norton was the surprise of the tourney, with a solid outing against Muto and a hugely crowd-pleasing match against Vader. If you're a New Japan fan and haven't seen this stuff, it's worth the effort.
May 7, 201312 yr comment_5544145 Good opening and good ending with sort of a soft middle. Muto going all out at the start was great but the Fujinami control portion seemed lacking. It didn't really bother me or seem noticeable in the match with Vader but this did feel more like Fujinami was along for the ride than a great match between equals. This was the first time I've ever seen the "repeated pinfall attempts" series actually pay off with a win, so that was nice to see. A big "in with the new" feel to this tournament so far.
May 12, 201312 yr comment_5544562 Quick start, 10m of inconsequential matwork, quick finish. A bit lazy but the bookends were decent. I preferred the surprisingly fun Vader vs Norton bout.
May 20, 201312 yr comment_5545027 Very excitable female joining in on the announcing. Muto starts off good with a flurry of offense. Fujimani slows things down a bit and works the mat. I did like Muto being really aggressive with the multiple pin attempts that led to the finish. Didn’t feel too flukey to me.
November 7, 201311 yr comment_5571380 The least sucessful of the G-1 matches thus far. I liked the sentiment of Fujinami grounding Muto but I'm still having some trouble with Muto and Chono in singles matches especially Muto as it is abrupt from him selling to the big comeback with him looking fresh as a daisy. The crowd popped big so this may be a good match to analyze in that I didn't think it was very good at all but the crowd was a fan so YMMV on how successful it was.
September 6, 201510 yr comment_5697321 I liked this one on the level of "plucky young veteran takes all former world champion can dish out and gets a huge comeback win". Fujinami's pretty much a means to an end here; anyone with a good reputation could have filled his role, albeit not as well. This was all about Muto overcoming the odds regardless of who his opponent was, and it served that purpose very well. The first thirty seconds or so really didn't fit that particular story, but it was a good way to energize the crowd and get them into the bout. I can't wait to see what Muto does against Vader!
December 21, 20177 yr comment_5824849 Not a fan of this one. Muto blows off the leg selling way too fast for me. I like what they are doing in putting Muto and Chono over though. And the continuous roll-ups should actually pay off once in a while. Maybe something besides three straight inside cradles, but that's a minor quibble. Good enough match that serves it's purpose.
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