August 15, 2022 News and Notes

• A very unusual and interesting scenario in the annual G1 tournament to declare the challenger at next January's Wrestle Kingdom, during the 50th anniversary of New Japan Pro Wrestling.

First:  This year, there are FOUR blocks instead of two.  So the second and third nights at the Budokan this week will determine the winner.  

Second:  Most times, you can kind of tell who is going to win the block (or at least have contention) by the final night's order.

This is the case in two blocks:  A and B.  A, Kazuchka Okada wins the block unless Lance Archer beats him.  That's the main event.  B, Jay White wins the block (and undefeated) unless Tama Tonga beats him.

But they are ordering the matches weirdly.  Two matches in each of the four groups, and the order has no merit on the situation, except for the two win-and-in matches.

And they pair the matches of each group in reverse order.  Group D first, then C, B, and A.

In Group C, both matches have importance.  Hirooki Goto faces EVIL in the third match of the night.  Goto must win, and then...

In Match 4:  Tetsuya Naito is must-win against Zack Sabre, Jr., and that's only if EVIL beats Goto.  Sabre only needs a draw to advance to the semis.  A three-way decision match between Sabre, Naito, and Goto is possible with wins by EVIL and Naito.

But that PALES in comparison to Group D, where, entering the opening two matches of the card tomorrow night, EVERY ONE OF THE SEVEN WRESTLERS IN THE GROUP is still in contention.

Will Ospreay faces Juice Robinson with undertones of the IWGP United States Championship involved.  If Ospreay wins or draws, he eliminates Robinson, along with El Phantasmo, Yukiri Takahashi, YOSHI-HASHI, and David Finlay.

Shingo Takagi does the same if he beats El Phantasmo, and he holds the tiebreaker with a tournament victory over Ospreay.

So if Takagi has a better result than Ospreay or they equal -- as long as they both win or tie -- Takagi advances.

If Ospreay has a better result than Takagi, he advances.

If El Phantasmo beats Takagi and Robinson bests Ospreay, we have a 7-way tie at 3-3!!  All we know at this point is that all seven would compete...  SOMEHOW... semifinal night in the Budokan, with the winner being in the semifinal later in the evening.

• If you want to see how fucked I think we are as a country, this story I found the headline for on MSN should do the trick:  A 14 year old, under the foster care of Texas Child Protective Services, was told by a worker for that division to enter sex work.  Being hungry and asking for more food while in a hotel, awaiting places, the Texas CPS worker encouraged the girl to become a prostitute for food money -- SURVIVAL SEX...
• Needless to say, the worker WAS fired.  I only wish it were out of a cannon, no net...