So here’s the thing about the G1 Climax. There’s a lot of great wrestling. Like, so much. We are truly blessed. But some of it also feels like seeing a stand-up show twenty nights in a row. Tons of variety, yeah, but New Japan (and any wrestling) has a formula, and though the matches are impressive, it also feels like you’re seeing the same punchline every single night. When almost every match is ‘epic’ they need a little more flavor to truly stand out. Many absolutely do, and New Japan has blessed the American viewer enough with mostly the tip-top matches. But, still. My reaction as a viewer seeing so many in a row goes from a deaf baby hearing sound for the first time to a grown adult watching a restaurant magician.
Anyways.
NJPW ON AXS (3/10/17) – G1 Climax 2016 (Night 1) Part 1
G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA (7/18/16)
SANADA shows off his hops with an incredible run early (just WILD), SANADA works Tanahashi’s arm, Tanahashi works SANADA’s leg, super hot finish, and a big hard sell for SANADA beating Tanahashi. Total winer of a very good wrestling match. ***1/2
G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tomohiro Ishii (7/18/16)
Satoshi Kojima giving Tenzan his G1 spot and standing by for all his matches was an awesome angle. It’s a blast watching Tenzan go HARD in this tourney. He was never a GREAT wrestler, more a crazy fun wrestler (Mongolian Chops! Mr. G1! Mohawk!!), so though he might be a little slower it’s not like he ever had many steps to lose – he’s stil the same fun ol’ Tenzan, and now he has an angle that makes him compelling. This was the match you expect from these fellas – a dirty slugfest from two stocky-ass Japanese professional wrestlers. Shoulder tackles, chops, elbows, and ugggghhhh headbutts dn dss sdk nfdskndsfnskf. It was fun while it lasted. ***1/4
NJPW ON AXS (3/10/17) – G1 Climax 2016 (Night 1) Part 2
G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Bad Luck Fale (7/18/16)
This was a match between possibly my two least favorite guys in New Japan. Loved young lion Goto having kick-ass matches with the future Yoshi Tatsu, but he’s the least interesting top New Japan guy, and Fale has too good a look to not be any good. Short match, kept it moving, whatever. **
G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji (7/18/16)
Not ashamed to admit I flipped out for hearing HEREWEGO! for the first time in ten years. This was great, with good action and a STORY. The two ACES of their respective promotions tried to out-do each other, and then Marufuji worked the shit out of Okada’s Rainmaker arm and basically had his number. Marufuji was the star here – Okada did his thing and sold well and kept up but Marufuji came in, worked the top guy’s finisher arm, chopped the fuck out of him, bumped HUGE on a back body drop, hit a Van Terminator, and WON. Typically awesome Okada finish that also continued the story, as Okada kept trying to go for a Rainmaker and Marufuji kept using his speed to avoid it and finally just BEAT HIM. Loved the moment where Okada did the Rainmaker pose but hesitated, giving Marufuji an opening to hit a knee right to the face. The win felt both sudden and like a pleasant surprise. ****
NJPW ON AXS (3/17/17) – G1 Climax 2016 (Night 2)
G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito (7/22/16)
This show took place in Korakuen which automatically means a hotter crowd but somehow the show also had a couple rare duds. This was the first – went 15 minutes and never got very good. Told its’ story alright, with Naito using his youth and dickishness to keep Nagata from doing anything until he got a receipt. A fine enough undercard match but at 15 minutes it felt like they were trying something beyond that and never got there. **3/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma (7/22/16)
This went under 10 minutes and was pretty fun but not AWESOME like I expected from this pairing – both good at the wrestling but also good at the character. Lots of fun intense exchanges between two fun intense fellas but never got cooking outside of the hot first minute. Feel-good finish though. **3/4
G1 Climax – Block B: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kenny Omega (7/22/16)
Amazing 12-minute sprint, and I don’t mean a quick match with no story… this was fast-paced, high-impact, high energy, with YOSHI (who I’m seeing for the first time outside of a nothing tag) doing everything he possibly could to beat Kenny. YOSHI reminds me of Yoshihito Sasaki who I liked a ton back in the day. He and Kenny have great chemistry, fast-paced hard-hitting fellas where one’s a condescending blue-hair blonde eyed guy and the other is a fired up underdog eager to please. Big moves, massive pops, tons of drama and desperation. YOSHI pulls out a new finish and actually WINS, which is too cool. They packed an epic awesome match into just over 10 minutes,
which is a very admirable use of time. ****
NJPW ON AXS (3/17/17) – G1 Climax 2016 (Night 13)
G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji (8/6/16)
I liked a lot of this, though it also had some dumb shit. It felt like how a fight between spectacular wrestlers should feel, with the intensity and insanity upping as they want on. Liked the working of holds early, making everything feel like a struggle. Then Marufuji gave Tanahashi a piledriver on the god damn apron because what in the HELL. Then Tana’s just floppin’ around a minute later, I mean come on fellas. There’s doing a crazy move to up the excitement and there’s doing a crazy move that just feels empty. Tons of cool stuff though – Marufuji remains an impressive flyer who’s kicks and chops all have a little EXTRA to him, creating a weird credibility. They pull off a couple wild spots, highlighted by Tanahashi preparing to roll inside and Quickdraw Marufuji running up to the apron and springboard dropkicking him as he rolled back in, as well as Marufuji’s counter of the High-Fly Flow with a straight-up knee. Barnett got in a great call late in the match too, wondering if Tanahashi kicked out of a near fall because the ref’s counts woke him up – niiiice. Very fun just a little stupid, too, and a classic example of too much of the same thing – it was crazy, but so was a lot of stuff. ***3/4
G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii (8/6/16)
Awwww FUCK YEAH!! Ishii’s Last Stand for G1 finals contention, teammate vs. teammate, crowd buying everything, absolutely INSANE finish, ISHII, OKADA – awesome. This is a great, balls out match, upped to another level by the drama of Ishii being eliminated from the G1 if he lose. Well, not just that – there’s plenty of guys who go through that scenario. But Ishii is a guy who has that classic Japanese stoic charisma and makes everything SO GOD DAMN INTENSE. THIS IS THE LAST GO, BABY, AND HE’S FACING THE CHAMP. He enters by charging down the entrance and just staring forward, ignoring all the riff raff surrounding him. Okada tries to fool around, doing a cocky clean break, so Ishii looks at him like “you FUCK” and lariats his ass for a 2.9999 fall and it is ON.
This was like a 20-minute finishing sequence – Ishii takes a DDT on his head, then takes a hangman DDT on the outside on his head. Okada does the Rainmaker pose and Ishii immediately cuts him off with a chop to the throat. Okada boots at Ishii’s face, Ishii calls for more, Ishii blocks a boot and hits a headbutt, Okada lifts Ishii and Ishii escapes, Okada goes for a dropkick and Ishii holds the ropes, Ishii goes for a sliding lariat but Okada moves… and Okada hits the fucking boot – oooh. Ishii goes for his braunbuster, Okada knees out, Okada goes for Rainmaker but Ishii blocks, Ishii spins Okada around and tries the brainbuster again, Okada slips out and hits a dropkick to the head – aaaaah. Crowd is positively buzzing, Okada tries a tombstone and Ishii refuses, then stomps Okada’s foot and throws elbows at his face, then runs into a dropkick – WOAAAAHHHH. Ishii keeps ducking the Rainmaker, then headbutts Okada a few times and tries the brainbuster, Okada slips out and lifts him for a tombstone, Ishii fights out, Okada tries to lift again and Ishii refuses to go up, then hits a SITTING tombstone, a LARIATOOOO for THE BIGGEST F’ING NEAR FALL, and finally a brainbuster for 3. Just. So. Wildly. Good. ****1/4
NJPW ON AXS (3/24/17) – G1 Climax 2016 (Night 17) Part 1
G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. SANADA (8/12/16)
These two didn’t have great chemistry. Followed the reliable formula and had some fun moments here and there, but it also got weird sometimes, like Tenzan countering out of SANADA’s Dragon sleeper and SANADA just kind of letting it happen. For that matter, I like SANADA, but he has a really shit Dragon sleeper. A very OK match. Tencozy crying together backstage about Tenzan’s elimination was the best though. **1/4
G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii (8/12/16)
If you’re a wrestler who relies mostly on strikes, you gotta do something around those strikes – Ishii does something around those strikes. He leans in, calls for more, is expressive as all hell. This is a match between MEN. Non-stop beating the pulp out of each other and just taking it because MEN. The endless slap / Vader Hammer exchange was NUTS. Makabe had a nice moment where he takes a German suplex and gets up, then takes a Dragon sleeper and gets up slower, eyes glazed. Headbutts, lariats, brainbuster – Ishii wins. ***1/4
G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Naomichi Marufuji (8/12/16)
The odds are stacked against Goto – he’s out if he doesn’t win, and even if he does Okada and Tanahashi have to draw for him to advance. What a hook! It weirdly made Goto a compelling underdog, with the evil outsider Marufuji using chinlocks and chops and superkicks to take down our man. Marufuji takes an awesome bump over the top off a lariat here and sells a sleeper hold like death. Crowd is HOT for all of it, and the GTR keeps Goto alive. ***1/4
NJPW ON AXS (3/24/17) – G1 Climax 2016 (Night 17) Part 2
G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (8/12/16)
A 30-minute draw that is so, so good – never dragged, everything felt legit, leg work gave it a thread, escalated at all the right times, hot crowd, two maestros, great stuff. This might not be the most EXCITING!! or even dramatic Okada match, but it might be the one that has impressed me the most of him as a wrestler. They keep it interesting early – intense matwork, Tanahashi teasing a clean break then slapping Okada, rope-running, Okada going for a Rainmaker, excellent near fall off a cradle by Okada. Tanahashi works the leg for a good five minutes and I loved Okada’s selling here – he’d hit moves but couldn’t take advantage, could only lay there and recover. There’s an ugly counter Tanahashi does here of the Heavy Rain where he hits a weak-looking Sling Blade that seemed like it hurt him more than anything, but Tanahashi saves it by holding his finger up to show he got the better of it, which is SUCH a smart wrestler thing. The crowd reacts accordingly. Once this gets bumping for the back-half you get to see why the folks love these two so much. Big counters, big drama, all the near falls are timed brilliantly, and they keep going back to the leg. Tanahashi busts out a Dragon suplex hold, then hits TWO High-Fly Flow’s to wrap it up but the bell rings. The post-match press conferences really put this thing over the top, oddly enough, with Okada all exhausted and disappointed (as a draw means Goto goes to the finals and neither of these guys do), while Tanahashi just lies on the floor as he talks. Again, not a get-out-of-your-seat type of New Japan match, but SUCH an impressive use of 30 minutes by two absolute professionals. Amazing. ****1/2
NJPW ON AXS (3/31/17) – G1 Climax 2016 (Night 18)
G1 Climax – Block B: Katsuyori Shibata vs. EVIL (8/13/16)
This is a SPRINT. A big, physical sprint. EVIL’s stocky body that can dish out and take hits vs. Shibata being Shibata. EVIL basically shatters Shibata’s arm with a chairshot on the guardrail at one point, and just wrecks Shibata’s shoulder for a lot of the match. At the end the ref checks on Shibata, Shibata pushes him away cause he wants to FIGHT, EVIL hits his powerbomb thing for 2, then an STO for 3 as everybody goes absolutely NUTS. This was exactly what it needed to be. ***1/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega (8/13/16)
With the ascent of fellas like Naito, Okada, and Omega, great New Japan heavyweight matches have started to feel a little bit like great New Japan juniors matches. This is the match that made me think about that. It has each guy working a body part but also has a lot of wild flying. All of it is just super crisp, gorgeous, beautiful ACTION – everything with a little extra to it — quicker, bigger, tougher. The first 5-10 minutes or so didn’t exactly have me – they spit at each other in the face, yeah, and they had a lot of speed and big impactful moves but it wasn’t connecting. But then they did a powerbomb through the announce table and shit got wild. A springboard somersault plancha into the crowd, Dragon suplex on the apron, or this thing: Kenny tries a Doctor bomb > Naito tries to counter with a rana > Kenny catches and lifts him up > Naito counters with a massive DDT. Naito’s One-Winged Angel counter into a heel hold on Kenny’s bad leg was incredible. Liked how they teased going to the draw too… added a ton of drama towards the end, and it’s something that gets lost in translation when JR and Barnett are on commentary – crowd’s going wild, and you know Japanese commentary is flipping the fuck out. The last 5 minutes of this are exactly what you’d hope the last 5 minutes of a match heading towards a draw would be – both guys throwing it all on the line, trying desperately to get into the finals. Everything connects more, dudes are just slapping each other, finishers are being blocked, and Kenny finally manages the One-Winged Angel with 2 minutes left. The start didn’t have me, some of it was a little goofy, but FUUUCK was this great stuff. ****1/4
NJPW ON AXS (3/31/17) – G1 Climax 2016 Finals
G1 Climax – Final: Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega (8/14/16)
This is a great match, but it’s a great match because it’s a G1 Climax final. Like a G1 final, unless the fellas in it absolutely completely suck, is **** minimum. It has the Big Fight Feel and the crowd is buzzing for EVERYTHING, and both guys work off of that vibe. It’s a blast to watch. Omega does kind of nail Goto in the AXS interview though: “He… is one of those guys where if he’s not motivated, he’s not a threat. He’s just there… hanging’ out, being one of the guys. Midcard at best” and “He hasn’t had good match this year. Not even one good match! His matches suck!” The thing about Goto is that he just doesn’t have any hook to him other than Good New Japan Wrestler. He hits hard, does cool suplexes, times his near falls well, everything crisp and connects… but emotionally, nothing there. If anything, this match might be one of the finest examples of how important presentation is to wrestling – make it count, make them care, do some cool shit, and you’ve got yourself greatness. When he’s in a match that matters, Goto does have the tools to get stuff done. Not to discount Omega either, guy is a rock star. Perfectly timed near falls towards the end… got some real AJPW-vibes, with both guys just hitting the fuck out of each other and kicking out at the last of all seconds. Dug Omega bringing out the Bloody Sunday and Styles Clash leading to the One-Winged Angel for the win. Incredible promo work by Omega post-match, with him talking completely in Japanese for the first time and the crowd flipping out as if they were at the god damn Apollo. “You must be surprised” HUGE LAUGHS. “I’m the heel, after all” – PEOPLE ARE CRYING WITH LAUGHTER. Then he says he won’t go to “that” side and the crowd FREAKS. ****1/4
