2017 G1 CLIMAX THOUGHTS

2017 G1 CLIMAX THOUGHTS

With a rare break in the action today I thought it would be a good time to wrap up the tournament up until this point, just about halfway through. We are through 4 rounds in each block, with 5 to go so it’s a good time to try and put everything together as we push through the second half of the tournament. This will be a random collection of thoughts put into some sort of structure determined by me as I write.

The standings so far for each block:

With 5 matches left to go, the field remains pretty tight in both blocks. Block A seems completely up for grabs with 8 wrestlers within 1 win of the top spot. Block B SEEMS to be a two-horse race but with EVIL’s victory over Suzuki and Elgin picking up a HUGE victory over Omega, it looks like this block is gonna be a lot more up in the air than originally thought.

Here are my quick thoughts on every wrestler in the tournament thus far in THUMBS UP/THUMBS DOWN form, with quick explanations (some quicker than others) and one must-see match for each (if applicable). SPOILER: There are a lot of thumbs ups.

Tetsuya Naito
THUMBS UP. Naito started the tournament off in a huge way with a wild main event on 7/17 with Kota Ibushi. He has wins over Ibushi, YOSHI-HASHI, and Nagata; and a loss to Fale. Overall, Naito’s performances in every match have been fantastic. He’s the type of wrestler that can suspend disbelief in any match and it has been no different in the G1. None of his matches so far come even close to the match with Ibushi, but every one of his matches are worth watching just because of the Naito factor. SEE: Naito/Ibushi 7/17.

Zack Sabre Jr.
THUMBS UP. The win on night one against Tanahashi cemented Zack as a threat in the tournament and he has been riding that ever since. As I said with Naito, every one of Sabre’s matches are worth checking out because he is just SO GOOD at engaging fans in his matches. Every hold he applies is meaningful and he does all the little things that really add to his performances. His match with Ibushi (see a trend here) was incredible and even though he lost, he dominated most of the match. SEE: Ibushi/Sabre 7/21.

Hiroshi Tanahashi
THUMBS UP. Tanahashi coming into the tournament with a known injury was questionable at first but as we saw in his match against Nagata on 7/23, he can go just fine. His lone loss against Zack Sabre Jr on night one is his only setback, and has key victories over Fale and Goto who loom only 2 points behind the IC champ. SEE: Tanahashi/Nagata 7/23.

Bad Luck Fale
THUMBS UP. Fale has already played the potential spoiler with a victory over Naito. His matches have exceeded expectations with the only one I’d deem unwatchable the match against Makabe on night one. SEE: Tanahashi/Fale 7/21.

Hirooki Goto
THUMBS DOWN. Goto hasn’t impressed me so far and much of that I put on Goto himself. His first two matches, in my opinion, were severely brought down by his lack of selling and ring psychology. I am not the type of person to sit here and nitpick every single thing that goes on in a match, but when things jump out at me like the way they have in a lot of Goto’s performances, I can’t help but mention it. The flaws in matches with Goto and Nagata were really really glaring to me and I just can’t give the nod to either of them. His two main events, against Makabe and Tanahashi, were also pretty disappointing and I don’t know whether that’s because this tournament has been so good, or because of Goto being the common denominator there. I’m not saying he has been BAD, but going forward I am expecting better things from him.

Kota Ibushi
THUMBS UP. This man has been on FIRE. Every time he steps in the ring he brings it. I don’t think I really need to say much else. Watch every one of his matches. His loss to Naito may end up costing him a chance at coming out on top of Block A but he is definitely one of the guys to watch going forward. SEE: Ibushi/Sabre 7/21

Tomohiro Ishii
THUMBS DOWN. For me, Ishii has been the guy who hasn’t been bad, but may be exposed a bit by wrestling so many of the same type of matches so close together. I’ve started to notice patterns in his matches that are a bit of a distraction to me and I can’t stand the top-rope brainbuster that he does so early on in matches. His match with Ibushi was really great though, and being within 2 points of the top spot he has a chance to do some damage down the line. SEE: Ibushi/Ishii 7/23.

Togi Makabe
THUMBS DOWN. Makabe has just been kinda boring for me. He hasn’t done much in-ring that has been great and that could definitely be a product of the overall quality of matches in the tournament. His main event with Goto got fun towards the end and had some decent crowd heat but was just… boring overall. Makabe doesn’t stand a chance winning this tournament but has a key match with Naito coming up on 8/11 that could have implications on the top spot in the block. SEE: Ibushi/Makabe 7/26.

YOSHI-HASHI
THUMBS DOWN. I struggled with this one and I’ll tell you why. HASHI and Nagata opened the tournament up with a great first match on night one. In similar matches, HASHI has been impressive. He had shorter matches early on the card with Nagata, Sabre, and Ishii and all of them are worth checking out but for me the most telling match has been 7/21 against Naito. YOSHI was given every opportunity in this match to show what he can do and he disappointed. I think the match length and being that it was a main event exposed YOSHI a bit, with disjointed offense that was really pretty boring to watch even though Naito was spectacular. I just can’t go into a YOSHI-HASHI match expecting to see something great, and when I do, I am surprised. SEE: Nagata/YOSHI 7/17.

Yuji Nagata
THUMBS UP. The man is damn near 50 years old and he is churning out a fantastic performance in his final G1 tournament. He doesn’t have a win yet, but they will eventually come. I can see him getting one or two wins but if he continues at his current pace, he could lose every match and still possibly be the MVP of this tournament. I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing he and Ishii stiff the hell out of each other. SEE: Naito/Nagata 7/25.

Kazuchika Okada
THUMBS UP. Okada is on an entirely separate level than anyone in the world right now. Everything he does in the ring is fantastic and he can carry a paper bag to a MOTY. So far, the performance of the tournament goes to Okada in his match with Kojima on 7/27 which is easily my favorite match so far and one of my favorite matches of the year. I explained this in depth in my review of the match but Okada plays the heel PERFECTLY in this. The crowd eats it up and he puts on an incredible show with the legend Kojima. Okada is undefeated so far and I can’t even try to guess how the rest of the tournament is gonna play out for him. I’m just gonna soak it all in and enjoy it. SEE: Okada/Kojima 7/27.

Kenny Omega
THUMBS UP. I wasn’t the hugest fan of Omega’s match against Minoru Suzuki but Omega is one of the best in the world today and he has proved it in this tournament, wrestling a full range of styles. His match with Yano on 7/25 was a damn masterpiece of wrestling comedy and I don’t care what anyone else says. Oh yeah, not to mention one of the best matches of the tournament against Elgin, too. No doubt it will come down to the final match of the tournament but I think Omega sneaks through to the finals and wins again this year. SEE: Omega/Elgin 7/27.

EVIL
THUMBS UP. EVIL is slowly becoming a must see wrestler in NJPW as he’s been really impressive in the G1. A huge victory over Minoru Suzuki has kept EVIL in the mix in Block B and could play a major spoiler. CAN NOT WAIT to see him against Okada on 8/5. SEE: EVIL/SANADA 7/20.

Minoru Suzuki
THUMBS UP. Just a freaking badass. Every time Minoru sets foot in the ring you can expect to see something great. He’s the best heel in the company by far. I did think he had a shot at winning the block but the loss to EVIL put a damper on that for me. Still, a rematch with Okada on 8/8 is HIGHLY anticipated and that could be an extremely important match in the tournament. SEE: Minoru/Juice 7/25.

Tama Tonga
THUMBS DOWN. I’ve written about this previously but I was really hoping to see Tonga come out on fire in this tournament and he has been disappointing. There’s still a long way to go and he has shown a huge glimmer of hope with his last match, but so far only one worth checking out. SEE: Tonga/Juice 7/27.

SANADA
THUMBS DOWN. Yes yes I know, but I can’t just give EVERYBODY a thumbs up. It isn’t that SANADA has been bad, but I have been let down more often than not. I don’t know he just hasn’t quite found a groove yet but I find myself searching for more when I watch him work. His match with Okada, while not bad by any means, was just missing something. Really looking forward to seeing what he can do against Omega in this tournament, as I think the two can put on something great in the ring together.

Michael Elgin
THUMBS UP. It wasn’t the greatest start for Elgin, as he continued his streak of singles match losses, but damn some of them have been great. He picked up that HUGE win against Omega on 7/27 and now he’s in the running to come out of Block B. Elgin really performs in big matches and he as a ton more to show down the line. I love his versatility and the way he can adapt to different styles in the ring. SEE: Okada/Elgin 7/22.

Juice Robinson
THUMBS UP. Juice has been nothing short of incredible. His performances in every single match have been fantastic and I can say every single thing he does is worth checking out. The man can perform like a champion and I can’t wait to see what he does in the remainder of his career. He’s really showing that he can bring it in the ring and I feel like even with that, he hasn’t shown half of what he can do yet. Juice has matches with Okada, Omega, and Elgin remaining and I truly believe that those three matches will boost Juice to the next level. Watch every single Juice Robinson match. SEE: Kojima/Juice 7/20.

Toru Yano
THUMBS UP. A breath of fresh air in the tournament. Yano has been fun to watch and has put on some great comedy matches and provided plenty of laughs, most notably against Omega and SANADA. SEE: Omega/Yano 7/25

Satoshi Kojima
THUMBS UP. Much like Nagata, Kojima has really been solid. I can’t think of a match he’s had so far in the tournament that isn’t worth checking out. Again like Nagata, Kojima will pick up a win at some point and I’m really looking forward to see what he does in the ring with Kenny. I’m trying not to double up on matches yet here but the Okada match is 100% MUST SEE. SEE: Kojima/Elgin 7/25.

My Top 5 Matches
1. Omega vs. Elgin, 7/27
1a. Omega vs. Yano, 7/25
2. Okada vs. Kojima, 7/27
3. Okada vs. Elgin, 7/22
4. Naito vs. Ibushi, 7/17
6. Ibushi vs. Sabre Jr, 7/21

PREDICTION: Kenny Omega beats Tetsuya Naito to win the 27th G1 Climax.

There you have it. Hopefully I’ve provided enough to get you caught up to the action going into tonight. I will do another one of these write ups but much more in-depth following the conclusion of the tournament. For now, stay tuned to my individual show reviews and catch me on twitter.

@ ligersama