NJPW G1 CLIMAX 27, 7/17/17 (Day 1)
Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center
Welcome to my coverage of the 2017 NJPW G1 Climax tournament. I will do my best to watch this tournament spoiler free and offer my live thoughts as I am watching each match. I am both excited and terrified that I have begun watching NJPW again after a LONG hiatus. Some shows I will be reviewing as I watch live, and some will be delayed until I have the time, but I will only be writing about and judging each show on the actual G1 tournament matches for these reviews because let’s be real, that’s all anyone really cares about. I will throw standings in at the beginning or end of some reviews if I feel it’s necessary. HERE WE GO!
G1 Climax – Block A: Yuji Nagata [0] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [0]
BLUE JUSTICE~. His final G1 tournament. He is in full beast mode and YOSHI gives it right back. This really starts to get going about 5 minutes in with Nagata struggling to get out of a facelock and YOSHI just slamming him down and bitch-slapping the back of his head. This PISSES Nagata off and he turns loose, kicking the hell out of YOSHI and then offering his own bitch-slap. YOSHI gets up and says screw that, and now we are in a slap war. Nagata launches YOSHI into the corner with a kick, Drive Screw suplex bouncing YOSHI’s legs off the top rope, and an Exploder for a near fall. We head to the top rope and YOSHI lands a powerbomb, rolling over into a pin for a near fall. Crowd is now going nuts and he hits a Swanton bomb for a near fall before applying the Butterfly lock. Nagata is in a tough spot in the middle of the ring but he reaches the ropes and YOSHI wonders what the heck he needs to do. Nagata drops him to the mat with the crazy-eyes armbar in the middle of the ring but this time YOSHI gets the break. Nagata crushes YOSHI with a knee strike and Exploder to nearly get the victory and we get a nice exchange where YOSHI rolls Nagata up but Nagata kicks out. Great stiff back and forth action and YOSHI calls for the finish. He nails the Karma and gets the first 2 points of the tournament. Really fun back and forth match to open up the G1. ***1/2
G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe [0] vs. Bad Luck Fale [0]
We go directly outside the ring and into the crowd with Fale punishing Togi. Back in the ring it’s exactly what was expected. Fale beats down Togi a bit and Togi tries to beat down Fale a bit but Fale is a very large man and that aint gonna happen. Makabe actually does finally land a lariat that takes Fale down, so he heads to the top rope for a knee strike and then again but Fale catches him by the throat while lying on the mat, gets up, and punishes him. Not much to see here. *3/4
G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto [0] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [0]
The bell rings and immediately they go at it, both displaying their strength and Ishii gets the upper hand from the start. He toys with Goto in the corner and Goto just stares at him like you are gonna pay for that later. The slap war begins and Goto goes on the offensive, getting the crowd into it. We go to the top rope and Goto knocks Ishii down with a headbutt, and Ishii gets up and returns the favor before delivering a top rope brainbuster which I literally can’t stand early in matches, ESPECIALLY when it gets no-sold like it’s getting no-sold right now by Goto. He gets up and IMMEDIATELY starts ducking and dodging Ishii, who eventually punches away a lariat, but Goto hits a neckbreaker across his knee. NOW Goto decides to start selling that arm, clutching as he tries to lariat Ishii over and over but he can’t knock him down. They attempt to exchange lariats several times, but both men stand strong to the point where the commentator starts yelling “WHY WON’T THEY GO DOWN” (in Japanese of course) and finally Goto wins the exchange which makes no fucking sense since he’s the one with the hurt arm. This kind of stuff bugs the hell out of me. I can see no-selling and it has its time and place but when it is so blatant it takes away from the match and my ability to enjoy said match, I lose interest. Maybe I’m being difficult. It’s early. Ishii lands a crushing enzui and a powerbomb for a near fall and now the crowd is into it and I’m coming back a little, too. Goto tries to sit up but Ishii flys off the ropes with a lariat across the face. Goto tries to buy himself some time, reversing Ishii’s attempts until finally the two go back and forth and knock each other out with simultaneous lariatooooooo. They get to their feet and throw elbows. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO? yells Ishii and they trade MORE elbows. Goto drops Ishii with a lariat and he pops right back up, takes another one and Goto covers but Ishii kicks at 1. THAT is BADASS. Goto can’t believe it and now they just start POUNDING each other. LARIATS. HEADBUTTS. BLOCKED LARIATS. HEADBUTTS. ELBOWS. HEADBUTTS. Ishii goes down after a headbutt RIGHT to the side of the head and Goto’s teeth are now BLOODY. He stalks his prey and delivers a stiff kick to the chest for a near fall. He picks Ishii up off the mat. REVERSE GTR! GTR! OVERKILL. Ishii ain’t getting up after that. OK the second half of this was really fun and that alone makes this worth checking out, although there wasn’t a TON to this match and Goto really pissed me off. ***1/4
G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [0]
Tanahashi is entering this tournament hurt so this could go either way. Some mat wrestling ensues and the crowd starts getting behind Tanahashi. After an elbow drop attempt, Zack catches him in an armbar and now the weakness is exploited. Zack smells blood and immediately goes after the left arm of Tanahashi some more, twisting it with his legs, bending his hand back, and stomping on it. ASK HIM! he yells at the referee. Zack walks around Tanahashi and just kicks him in the head a few times like he’s some kind of punk. Tanahashi tries to throw some shots in but Zack recovers and goes right back to that arm every time, eventually locking on the manjigatame, even grabbing the hand and twisting it. Tanahashi fights it but Zack applies the hold even tighter before Tana finally wriggles himself free and manages a dragon screw to take Zack down. Now Tanahashi smells blood and he starts kicking the leg of Sabre, dropping him to the mat with a dropkick to the top of the knee. Zack won’t leave the arm alone and Tanahashi won’t leave the leg alone. I love the focus Zack puts on in these holds and the little things he does like twist the hand, pull back the fingers, and dig his joints into the body of Tanahashi to intensify the pain. He STOMPS on the back of Tanahashi’s elbow a few times and limps around the ring before throwing a few more bastardly kicks while Tanahashi is down. They trade uppercuts for leg kicks and Tanahashi catches Zack off guard with another dragon screw to get him down to the mat, but Zack comes right back to that arm. He flips Tanahashi forward from under his legs and pushes his legs against Tanahashi’s shoulders while grabbing his hands and pulling back. Tanahashi tries to roll backwards out of it but Zack LIFTS HIS LEGS UP, CATCHES TANAHASHI’S, AND BRIDGES WHILE STILL HOLDING HIS WRISTS for a near fall. Jesus. Tanahashi hits a cross body and then heads to the top rope, leaps, but Zack blocks it and applies an arm bar. He realizes he has the wrong arm so ties the arm around his leg and pulls Tanahashi’s other arm back, extending it in the air. Tanahashi goes for the ropes with his leg but Zack GRABS HIS LEG and curls it back behind him. He starts DIGGING his elbow into Tanahashi’s side and then removes the elbow pad and tape from Tana’s elbow. This dude is just asking for a beat down. He twists the ever loving shit out of Tanahashi’s hand and wrist before applying a NASTY arm lock (Jim Breaks Armbar) and Tanahashi SUBMITS! Don’t fuck with this man. Zack is now a real threat in this tournament, making the IC champ submit. LOVED this. Lacked a little heat for me but damn it was good. ***3/4
G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi [0] vs. Tetsuya Naito [0]
Here we goooo. Now I’m PUMPED. Naito is a motherfucker in the best possible way. They start trading a little and running the ropes and just as Naito goes to slide under Ibushi, Kota just jumps and STOMPS on him with both legs and perfect timing. Then he poses on the damn mat just as Naito does and I am hooked already. Naito lands a couple neck breakers over his knee and then a damn neck breaker on the ring apron that has Ibushi flop down to the outside like a rag doll. Naito then takes control back in the ring, working over the back of Ibushi’s neck and generally just being a badass. Ibushi lands a dropkick to stop Naito’s momentum and then a frankensteiner once Naito finally gets up, that sends him rolling to the outside. Ibushi sees the opportunity and runs to the ropes, landing a quebrada onto Naito on the outside. IBUSHI KOTA COMEBAKKUUUUUU!! He rolls Naito back in the ring but took too long to capitalize and Naito looks like he’s about to get some momentum back but Kota elbows him out to the ring apron. As Naito stands up, Kota stands on the middle rope and is going for a swan-dive German but Naito counters. A neck breaker and German for a near fall have Ibushi rolling around on the mat and the crowd is chanting NAITO NAITO. Ibushi nails a German and now he’s starting to feel it. He kicks the crap out of Naito until Naito can do nothing but stare with wide eyes. He gets up and gets PUNISHED with a lariat. An elbow to the face gives Naito an opening to land a nasty German and GLORIAAAA for a 2 count! Kota is clutching his neck as they both slowly get back up. Naito lifts Kota to the top rope and drops him with a REVERSE FRANKENSTEINER! 2! DESTINO gets countered as Kota runs forward and tosses Naito headfirst into the turnbuckle. Naito rolls to the ring apron and Ibushi follows, slowly attempting to lift Naito and HE DOES INTO THE SWAN-DIVE GERMAN. They both land HARD and Kota goes for the cover but only a two count. Naito looks DEAD! Kota lifts him up going for the Golden Star powerbomb but Naito hops out of it and hits a reverse DDT. They both crawl towards the corner, Naito with a sick smile on his face. Up to the top rope they go and Kota slips down and kicks Naito in the head. He climbs the ropes AND A GOD DAMN PILEDRIVER OFF THE TOP FOLDS NAITO IN HALF. Holy SHIT. Somehow he barely kicks out and Ibushi has no clue what the fuck is going on. Naito is DEAD again on the mat clutching his head and Ibushi is going in for the kill. By the time Ibushi gets to him Naito is able to stand strong and run Ibushi into the corner. He attempts the Destino but can’t do it. Kota throws a few hard fists and Naito ducks a kick and DESTINOOOOOOOO. KOTA KICKS OUT. DESTINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. 1. 2. 3. That was a damn WAR and I loved every second of it. These guys put on a show with damn near perfect execution. Great pacing and great selling by both guys throughout the entire match. ****1/4
Final Thoughts: What a great way to kick off an amazing tournament. This show must be seen. Nagata/YOSHI started off HOT and it continued all throughout the show. Makabe/Fale was the low point but I didn’t expect anything from that anyway. Goto/Ishii while a little disappointing was really great towards the second half just as this show saved the best for last. Tanahashi/Sabre was awesome. Ibushi and Naito lit the place up. WATCH THIS. NOW.
