{"id":22006,"date":"2018-07-12T15:57:56","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T19:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=22006"},"modified":"2018-07-12T19:54:20","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T23:54:20","slug":"inside-g128-will-the-g1-breathe-with-the-switchblade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/07\/12\/inside-g128-will-the-g1-breathe-with-the-switchblade\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside G128: Will The G1 Breathe With The Switchblade?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside G128 is an in-depth look at the 20 participants of New Japan Pro Wrestling\u2019s 2018 version of the G1 Climax tournament. The G1 is considered to be the most prestigious tournament in wrestling. Every individual in the field has their own unique story, as they prepare to make their claim as the best endurance wrestler in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Switchblade” Jay White<\/strong> is entering his first ever G1, right after he lost the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship to Juice Robinson<\/strong> [23:22] at the G1 Special<\/strong><\/em>; however, he has had an unbelievable year in singles competition. After returning from an excursion, he challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi<\/strong> for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12<\/em>, despite his loss [19:43] he showed that he could compete against the best in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He would defeat current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega<\/strong> [29:54] for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at The New Beginning in Sapporo<\/em>. He would defend the belt against Hangman Page<\/strong> [25:00], David Finlay<\/strong> [26:49], and Punishment Martinez<\/strong> [11:00] prior to losing the championship to Juice.<\/p>\n

Despite this being his first ever G1, Switchblade has a strong chance to win the ‘A Block’ if he can get past Bad Luck Fale<\/strong> and Michael Elgin<\/strong> in block competition. Below is a list of Switchblade\u2019s G1 opponents and the date he wrestles them:<\/p>\n

Kazuchika Okada, July 14th
\nHiroshi Tanahashi, July 16th
\nMichael Elgin, July 20th
\nMinoru Suzuki, July 22nd
\nBad Luck Fale, July 27th
\nHangman Page, July 30th
\nYoshi-Hashi, August 2nd
\nTogi Makabe, August 5th
\nEvil, August 10th<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Switchblade begins the G1 against CHAOS leader, Kazuchika Okada<\/strong> in what could be an amazing match and lead to internal strife in CHAOS. On July 16th, he looks to avenge his Wrestle Kingdom loss against Tanahashi. His path doesn’t get easier as on July 22nd he must face Minoru Suzuki<\/strong> who will not have time for White’s mind games and follows that with a date with Bad Luck Fale<\/strong> on July 27th. Fale has something to prove with the formation of the Firing Squad branch of the Bullet Club.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The odds were that Switchblade would have retained the IWGP United States Championship against a hurt Juice Robinson, yet he wasn’t able to. Meaning he could be upset by YOSHI-HASHI<\/strong> or Togi Makabe<\/strong> in late bracket action.<\/p>\n

The young Jay White has already made a name for himself in 2018 and has the opportunity to become the fifth individual to win the G1 in their first entry. He would join Masahiro Chono<\/strong> (1991), Hirooki Goto<\/strong> (2008), Okada (2012), and Omega (2016).<\/p>\n

Where the Switchblade goes chaos seems to follow, will that pattern continue in the G1? Can he hoist the G1 trophy and make all of NJPW breathe with the Switchblade? We’ll all find out extremely soon.<\/p>\n

Catch Up On The Inside G128 Series:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Part 1: Can Tetsuya Naito Go Back To Back?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 2: Who Can Stop Kenny Omega?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 3: Will YOSHI-HASHI Finally Break Out?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 4: Is Juice Robinson About To Get Loose?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 5: Will Michael Elgin Find Redemption?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 6: The Curious Case of Tomohiro Ishii<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 7: Is The Hangman Ready To Take A Big Step?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 8: Does Makabe Have One Last Run Left?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 9:\u00a0Decorated Goto Looks To Add Another G1 Trophy<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 10:\u00a0Will The Cold Skull Heat Up In Time?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 11:\u00a0Good Luck For Bad Luck Fale<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 12: Does The Ace Have Something To Prove?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 13: Yano Is Going To Spoil Someone\u2019s G1<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 14:\u00a0Oh The Web Tama Tonga Has Begun To Weave<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 15: Will G128 Be EVIL?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 16:\u00a0The King Is Coming For His Throne<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 17:\u00a0Just Tap Out!<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 18:\u00a0Is Kota Ibushi Prepared To Soar?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 19: Will The G1 Breathe With The Switchblade?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 20:\u00a0Can Okada Bring Rain A Third Time In The G1?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside G128 is an in-depth look at the 20 participants of New Japan Pro Wrestling\u2019s 2018 version of the G1 Climax tournament. The G1 is considered to be the most prestigious tournament in wrestling. Every individual in the field has their own unique story, as they prepare to make their claim as the best endurance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2048,"featured_media":22047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,14],"tags":[626,1699,1187,946,1030,1029,2928,3045,625,501,386,1252,620,385,188,631,1889,1031,618],"class_list":["post-22006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-njpw","tag-bad-luck-fale","tag-david-finlay","tag-g1","tag-g1-climax","tag-hirooki-goto","tag-hiroshi-tanahashi","tag-inside-g128","tag-iwgp-united-states-heavyweight-championship","tag-juice-robinson","tag-kazuchika-okada","tag-kenny-omega","tag-masahiro-chono","tag-minoru-suzuki","tag-new-japan-pro-wrestling","tag-njpw","tag-punishment-martinez","tag-switchblade","tag-togi-makabe","tag-yoshi-hashi"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2048"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}