NJPW G1 CLIMAX 27, 7/27/17 (Day 8)
Aore Nagaoka
We are right around the halfway point of the tournament and this day has some great looking matches on the card.
G1 Climax – Block B: Tama Tonga [2] vs. Juice Robinson [2]
I have yet to be sold on Tama yet this tournament but if there’s anyone that can turn that around it’s Juice Robinson right now. Juice is still favoring the left leg that Minoru destroyed a few days ago as Tonga controls the first portion of this match. They exchange some chops and Juice applies the camel clutch but Tonga gets to the ropes. Juice limps around a bit and goes to lift Tonga up for a brainbuster but his leg gives out a bit. Tonga reverses and spears Juice right in the damn leg. He’s got Juice hanging upside down from the top turnbuckle as he rips the kneepad and wrap off and charges into the corner a few times, jumping directly onto the injured knee. He hits the Tongan Twist and goes for the Gun Stun but Juice tosses him off the topes and lands a lariat. Crowd is behind Juice HARD as he stands up and bashes his chest like a damn gorilla, ready to take out the damn gorilla that’s laying on the mat. He lifts Tonga up and goes for a powerbomb but Tonga teases another Gun Stun and Juice tosses him to the mat. Another Gun Stun reversal and he goes for the Pulp Friction but Tonga breaks free and kicks Juice’s knee out from under him. A few more finisher teases lead to Tama nailing the Headshrinker and it looks like it’s over but Juice kicks out. UNBELIEVABLE! He goes for the Gun Stun but Juice blocks it and rolls him up for a near fall but Tonga would then finally land the Gun Stun and get the victory. Juice gets an incredible ovation from the fans when he exits the ring, the entire arena yelling JUICE! JUICE! JUICE! Yessss. This was good. Real good. Another MVP-like performance by Juice and Tonga finally is able to impress with a real good match. ***1/2
G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano [2] vs. SANADA [2]
I gotta say, having Yano in the G1 has been great. Toru goes under the ting and finds a roll of tape, teasing the greatness from the Kenny match, but SANADA rips the tape out of Yano’s hand and throws it as far as he can back towards the entrance way. Yano will eventually find another roll of tape but this time SANADA grabs it, drags Toru up the ramp, and tapes him up in the Paradise Lock. He walks back to the ring like a badass as Yano gets counted out. Loved this. NR.
G1 Climax – Block B: EVIL [4] vs. Minoru Suzuki [4]
Immediately the two go at it, taking the match to the outside and EVIL chopping the hell out of Suzuki. Into the crowd we go and Minoru bashes EVIL over the back with chairs three times as the ring announcer yells PLEASE BE CAREFUL to the crowd. Minoru with a stiff punch to the face as he prances around on the outside while the 20-count begins. EVIL stumbles back into the ring and Minoru has concealed a pen which he uses to jab into EVIL’s head while the referee’s back is turned. Now, EVIL taking control of the match heads outside and hits Minoru with a chair. He rolls Minoru right back into the ring and kicks at his head while he’s down. He makes the throat slit motion across Minoru’s neck but Minoru grabs EVIL’s thumb and twists the shit out of it, taking him down in an armbreaker, pulling down on EVIL’s thumb making him scream in pain. EVIL lands a kick and as he goes for a lariat the referee is knocked down. Desperado enters the ring and starts hammering on EVIL before BUSHI runs down the ramp and takes him out. Taichi enters with a chair, knocking EVIL out. HERE COMES HIROMU to take out Taichi. Now, Suzuki and EVIL are alone in the ring, Minoru with a chair. He attempts to use the chair but the referee stops him and EVIL lands a kick. He goes for the STO but they go through some reversals and eventually Minoru applies the sleeper. He spins EVIL around for the Gotch piledriver but EVIL counters and hits the STO to pin Minoru for the victory! A brawl that furthered the SUZUKI-GUN/LIJ feud and I have no problems with that. ***
G1 Climax – Block B: Kazuchika Okada [6] vs. Satoshi Kojima [0]
Crowd is HOT from the start and they are chanting HARD for Kojima. Okada mocks them, clapping and chanting KOJIMA with them until he kicks Kojima in the stomach and starts pounding on him. He goes for an EARLY Rainmaker but Kojima is having NONE of that and he lariats Okada to the mat before flexing his pecs. ANOTHER Rainmaker attempt and Kojima knocks him away. He heads to the top rope but Okada dropkicks him off and into the guardrail outside. Okada slowly rolls to the outside, talking smack and tossing Koji into the guardrail and then kicking him over into the crowd. Okada stares into the crowd and he is playing this up perfectly. He pulls Kojima up and hits a DDT onto the mat outside. The crowd BOOS and Okada covers his ears. He grabs Tenzan and tosses him into the ring getting SUPER HEAT from the crowd. Kojima is DEAD in the ring and Okada plays up the heel, mocking the crowd and stomping and stepping on Kojima while he crawls around the mat, even doing the Rainmaker pose on top of Kojima and it’s fantastic. The crowd is eating it up and Okada proving what a great heel he can be. Kojima tries to get up and throw some punches but Okada sends him right back down to the mat quick with a STIFF elbow. He mocks Tenzan on the outside and that gives Kojima a small opening to get in some chops and a reverse neckbreaker before hitting a lariat. Okada is SO GREAT in this, being the heel and making the crowd BOO him every chance he gets. He doesn’t allow Kojima to get his catchphrase off in the corner and hits a reverse neckbreaker and elbow drop from the top rope for a near fall. Okada goes full on RAINMAKER POSE and the crowd HATES IT. He chuckles as he looks to the crowd, eating up every second of it. The grin he gives them that just pisses them off even more is SO GREAT. Kojima backs Okada up into the corner and ends up knocking him off the top rope and to the outside with a lariat.
Back in the ring they trade for a while and I am soaking it all up. They head to the top rope again, Kojima landing the Koji cutter after a bit of a struggle and a BRAINBUSTAAAAA. Kojima is BRINGING IT. Not backing down from the champ but selling the strength of Okada perfectly. He removes the elbow pad and goes for the strong lariat but Okada ducks. He lands a German suplex and goes for the Rainmaker. Koji ducks it and LARIATS Okada in the back of the head. Okada is STUNNED, he CAN’T BELIEVE IT. Kojima off the ropes for a lariat but Okada DUCKS. He grabs Koji’s wrist and tries for the Rainmaker AGAIN but as he spins Kojima back towards him, Kojima PUNISHES HIM WITH A BRUTAL LARIAT. Okada nearly loses, kicking out at the last possible MILLISECOND. Okada lands a dropkick and then A FIFTH RAINMAKER ATTEMPT IS DODGED BY KOJIMA, AND A ROLLING ELBOWWWWWWW. He lifts Okada up for the COZY CRUSH BUT Okada reverses into the piledriver and RAINMAKAAAAAAAAAAAA. That was freaking AWESOME. Okada was incredible here playing the heel role against the legend and doing it perfectly. ****1/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Kenny Omega [6] vs. Michael Elgin [2]
That’s gonna be tough to follow up but if anyone can do it, it’s THE CLEANER and BIG MIKE. Elgin sends Kenny off the ring apron with a lariat and then an elbow over the guardrail. He goes for a suplex but Kenny counters, jumping back over but Elgin catches him and suplexes him out on the outside. They tease a spot on the top rope where Elgin rolls over and is going to powerbomb Kenny but Kenny reverses and ends up landing a superkick for a near fall. Elgin will hit some power moves and Kenny’s selling and mannerisms are just amazing as always. He sells everything to perfection and his facial expressions….. Elgin lands a NASTY elbow to the face and a German suplex before hitting running lariats in the corner. Kenny to the top rope but Elgin catches him and FLOPS HIM AROUND with a swinging side slam. Kenny can’t get anything going as Elgin’s power proves to be a huge hurdle in this match. He is able to make a comeback and land a hurricanrana. He flips out of a German suplex, hitting the snap Dragon suplex and sending Elgin rolling to the outside. Kenny takes to the air flying over the top rope onto Elgin on the outside. Back in the ring, a dropkick to the back of the head gets a near fall. He teases the V-Trigger but Elgin counters with elbows until he gets kneed right in the damn face and Kenny hits a neckbreaker, teasing the OWA. Kenny can sense it now as he hits a V-Trigger into the ropes but Elgin has enough strength to stand up and lariat Kenny down to the mat while falling forward. They exchange chops and elbows until Elgin fucking DEMOLISHES Kenny with a rolling backhand chop. He calls for the finish but Kenny gets back up, throwing elbows, and Elgin sends him STRAIGHT TO HELL with a brutal lariat. Turnbuckle powerbomb and he goes for the Elgin bomb but Kenny counters, lifting Elgin on his shoulders for the OWA and Elgin uses Kenny’s REVERSE HURRICANRANA. LARIAT. ELGIN BOMB. 1, 2, NOOOOO. Out on the ring apron, Kenny hits a V-Trigger and then lifts up the mat on the outside, exposing the hard floor. He gets back to the apron and teases a hurricanrana onto the floor, Elgin counters and POWERBOMBS Kenny on the ring apron. Kenny’s mouth is bleeding as Elgin lifts him to the top turnbuckle. He sets up for the Elgin Bomb and as he drops Kenny down, Kenny reverses into a hurricanrana and gets a near fall. V-TRIGGER to the back of the head. V-TRIGGER. He applies a double underhook and then lifts Elgin up and DROPS HIM damn near on his head. Elgin kicks out. Kenny can’t believe it. He lands a couple knees but Elgin catches the third one and elbows Kenny right in the face. They duck each other’s lariats before Kenny lands a running knee and a reverse hurricanrana for ANOTHER near fall. Kenny puts his hands on his head, wondering what the hell he has to do to win. Elgin with another turnbuckle powerbomb AND THE ELGIN BOMB. KENNY KICKS OUT AT 2.99999. UNBELIEVABLE. I’m marking out like I’m 17 again. Elgin teases the Burning Hammer but Kenny falls out of it, elbowing Big Mike in the back of the head so Elgin hits a snap backdrop and another NASTY backdrop suplex, covering for a near fall. BAAAANNNNINNNNGUUUU HAMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. ELGIN WINS. ELGIN WINS.
They lost a little steam towards the finish but damn that run towards the end was fantastic and I loved this match. The similarities and callbacks to their match on G1 USA (7/1) were pretty great as they teased similar spots throughout the entire match with different outcomes. Elgin avoided the One Winged Angel twice that finished him in the last match, and needed to bust out the Burning Hammer to beat Omega. ****1/2
Final Thoughts: Hands down the best show of the tournament so far, surpassing the first show. I LOVED Okada/Kojima and Kenny/Elgin. Seek these two matches out. Okada/Kojima is probably my favorite match of the tournament so far though I think it was a bit short. With that being said, the time was filled perfectly and every aspect of the match was incredible. Omega and Elgin took it to the next level and one-upped their G1 USA match in another MUST SEE.
