(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Kazuchika Okada vs. JONAH (Bronson Reed) – NJPW G1 Climax 2022

Remember when Kazuchika Okada was considered THE best wrestler on the planet and many people agreed with that statement? Remember when he actually put in serious effort into his gimmick, angles, and matches, and as a result actually gave people their money’s worth? Those were good times.

Okada’s fall from grace is kind of disappointing from the fans’ perspective. Here’s a guy who, not too long ago, earned the near universal praise he got by being one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world. But it seems like a decade on top turned him into something of a cynic and led him to seek greener pastures. Well it turns out he found those pastures in AEW and since then he has been…underwhelming, to say the least. Most people watch Okada in AEW and see through him quite clearly: that he’s here for the fat paycheck and will do the minimum to get it.

While there’s a certain respect to be given for him managing to, for lack of a better word, hustle more money for less effort, it’s also disappointing to see a once exciting wrestler come down and fail to live up to the hype. And it’s not like Okada was only great during the 2010s when he was the challenger; he was having great matches as recently as two years ago that were by and large much better than what he has shown in AEW…

The Story

Reed was released from WWE in 2021 after an underwhelming two-year run and signed with New Japan shortly afterwards. Reed, who was then rechristened JONAH, joined The Mighty Don’t Kneel stable and became a prototypical monster heel. He picked up steam and eventually gained enough credibility to enter the G1 Climax tournament, which was different compared to previous editions. This one had four blocks of seven wrestlers and JONAH had a bit of a challenging bracket: fellow big man Jeff Cobb, another heavyweight monster in Lance Archer, and the tournament favorite (and unquestioned company ace) Kazuchika Okada.

Despite losing to wrestling troll Toru Yano in his opening tournament match, JONAH bounced back with wins over Cobb and Tom Lawlor. But then he had his biggest challenge in Okada, who was going full Inoki as the company’s biggest star ahead of the company’s 50^th anniversary (in hindsight boy did THAT gimmick pay off…). So here was JONAH, a big man who was on a roll taking on the biggest wrestling star in all of Japan one-on-one. Would he manage a surprise win, or would Okada use him as a stepping stone as he did everyone else?

The Match

This took place on August 7, 2022. It was rated ****3/4 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

They lock-up and Okada fails to make JONAH move an inch. JONAH powers Okada to the ropes with ease and pats him on the head. JONAH shoves Okada back on their next lock-up and Okada comes back swinging. JONAH answers with a headlock that brings Okada to his knees. Okada struggles to escape it as JONAH tightens his hold. Okada’s forced to stamp on JONAH’s toes to escape but JONAH shoots him into the ropes. A big shoulderblock sends Okada almost flying out of the ring. Feeling confident, JONAH attempts a dive from the apron but Okada dodges, causing JONAH to collide with the barricade.

Okada ties JONAH’s massive leg through the barricade and kicks it. He pulls JONAH up the ramp and teases a vertical suplex but JONAH blocks. Okada avoids a counter suplex and lands an uppercut, but when he charges JONAH drops him with a body block. JONAH lands some nasty forearms and breaks the ref’s count. Then he sends Okada into the barricade with so much force that the commentary table collapses from the shock. He does this again and the other table doesn’t break, though that’s probably because there’s like four people holding it up.

JONAH drives Okada spine-first into a ringpost causing Okada to take a long time to return to the ring. Once he does JONAH throws his weight around and lands some stiff shots to the gut, including a shoulder thrust that looks and sounds like it’s going to make Okada vomit. Okada fights out of a rear bearhug but JONAH drops him with a back elbow. JONAH dominates Okada for a while, shutting down comebacks one at a time with something simple like a chop or a belly stomp. JONAH misses a corner body splash so Okada gets a roll-up two and lands a basement uppercut.

Okada fires up and lands another running uppercut but it barely makes a dent. It takes a few more hits to finally get the big man off his feet and then Okada lands a corner splash/DDT combo for two. JONAH blocks a scoop slam and charges but Okada sidesteps and lands his running basement dropkick. JONAH’s second Bad Boy Tito taunts Okada so Okada flips him the bird. JONAH tries using this distraction to his advantage but Okada causing JONAH to wipe out his own ally. Okada follows with a DDT on the ringside mats and, after recovering, a suicide dive onto both JONAH and Tito.

Back in the ring Okada still tries a scoop slam but JONAH’s just too heavy so he goes to the ropes, only for JONAH to run him the fuck over with a head-butt and a senton for two. Okada impresses everyone by powering out of a powerbomb attempt but hurts his back in the process. Okada lands some forearms and then JONAH pulls back to retaliate but Okada catches his arm and locks in his Money Clip finisher. Okada gets JONAH in a corner but JONAH boots out so Okada lands a huge shotgun dropkick. JONAH avoids Okada’s corner dropkick and hits a massive second-rope body attack followed by a Burning Lariat. One, two, Okada kicks out.

JONAH attempts a powerbomb but Okada escapes via Frankensteiner, ducks a clothesline, and lands another dropkick. Okada manages something resembling a scoop slam but can’t get him all the way up and does more damage to himself once again. Undeterred Okada lands a diving elbow and teases the Rainmaker. JONAH blocks that, hits a thrust kick, charges, and runs into another dropkick. JONAH avoids another lariat so Okada lands a German suplex. Another trademark Okada counter sequence ends with JONAH trapping both of Okada’s arms and landing some nasty head-butts. JONAH removes his elbow pad and hits a big running lariat for two.

The two men fight in a corner as Okada avoids a superplex. Okada dives but JONAH catches him in midair and turns it into a powerbomb. Then JONAH lands a second powerbomb. That’s followed by a top-rope splash. One, two, and three! JONAH pins Kazuchika Okada clean!

Winner after 21:53: JONAH

Review

That was lots of fun. From time to time it’s refreshing watching someone so firmly entrenched at the top get shaken from their perch. Few people really believed that JONAH stood a chance here given how institutional Okada had become in New Japan, yet he did so here. Not only that, it was decisive, emphatic, and not even close. Okada didn’t have an answer for JONAH at any point. Hell, he couldn’t even get too close because doing anything strenuous did more damage to him than to his target. This made for an interesting story that one doesn’t get from technique-driven New Japan all that often: an explicit and on-the-nose David versus Goliath dynamic with the monster winning this time around.

From the opening bell it was clear that Okada was out of his depth. He moved gingerly and struggled to really make any progress for most of the match. He couldn’t reliably land anything requiring strength or lifting so instead he relied on speed, surprise, and his dropkick. Okada made small dents here and there but ultimately his offense proved to be completely ineffectual.

Because of this, JONAH was able to get away without really doing anything exceptional. He didn’t need to go the Undertaker or early career Big Show and be a giant that moves fast and does athletic things. Instead, he played André by standing his ground and using basic moves with utmost effectiveness. Okada sold these simple headlocks, chops, and forearms like he was being hit with a tree. His career-long cocky demeanor faded away once he realized he couldn’t rely on his usual move-set. And even when that arrogance crept back in and caused him to go for broke with a slam and a German suplex the results were not worth the effort. JONAH was too big, too heavy, and too difficult to break through. He JONAH kept his guard up the whole match so there was no chance of Okada sneaking by and landing a surprise Rainmaker. And even if he could JONAH would’ve likely brushed it off since Okada would’ve likely hit with 10% his usual power at best.

I’ve read that Meltzer once compared this match to Inoki versus Vader from 1989, a match so infamous it caused a riot in Japan because the audience couldn’t come to terms with their native hero being demolished by this invading monster. Though I can see the parallels between the two matches it’s hard to see them as one in the same since Vader was a much better superheavyweight (no disrespect to JONAH) and Okada, despite being a capable in-ring technician and mechanic, only wishes he was as magnetic as Inoki.

Still, there’s a sense of spiritual succession here. Okada literally cosplayed as Inoki, complete with robe and scarf, and took a gnarly beating that no one expected. And once the match was over JONAH was suddenly treated as a very big deal. Not only did he mop the floor with Okada, he did so without breaking a sweat. He didn’t have to go crazy with so many MOVES to get over; instead, he got more out of doing less and got some secondhand offense in from Okada’s struggles to hurt him. There’s something of a disappearing art to be seen here: a guy gets over not by showing everything he can do, but by telling a story with more simplified actions. And sure, he COULD do wild and athletic stuff if he wanted to, but in this case why would he bother with that unnecessary stuff when simpler actions were more than enough?

Final Rating: ****

Though this is far from the most impressive or historically great match from New Japan, it does stand out a lot compared to their more recent match offerings. This is more of a story and a throwback to something classical with more story repercussions than just ~BANGER~. JONAH left this match looking like a bigger deal than ever before, carried himself like a confident monster, and improved significantly from how he was before. I’ve read in some places that prior to joining New Japan Bronson Reed was just another acroFATic guy who did stuff just to break conventions. It was only after his stint in New Japan that he finally got a clue and changed things around.

And look where he is now: flirting with the main-event scene in the biggest wrestling company in the world. Though it’s hard to say if this particular match was the catalyst in Reed’s shift in thinking, you can’t deny that he left this match WAY better than how he entered.

Thanks for reading.