NJPW G1 CLIMAX 27, 8/2/17 (Day 12)
Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium
G1 Climax – Block B: SANADA [6] vs. Juice Robinson [2]
Juice is still selling his leg hard and it takes SANADA forever to attempt to capitalize on the injury. They do a spot where SANADA applies a figure four leg lock and Juice would eventually reverse it, before they reverse each other and end up rolling out of the ring onto the outside with the hold still applied. Other than Juice’s selling, and a continued great performance, there is not much here. SANADA is relatively boring and seems to be just going through the motions which I find lately has been the case with him and he has been leaving much to be desired. I guess that’s kinda his character but I just can’t get into it sometimes. ***
G1 Climax – Block B: Michael Elgin [4] vs. Toru Yano [2]
A typical Toru Yano match and this one was focused on the low blow for the most part. Yano would eventually land a low blow to Elgin and then fake that Elgin did it to him, and Elgin gets disqualified. This eliminates him from the tournament. NR.
G1 Climax – Block B: Satoshi Kojima [0] vs. Minoru Suzuki [6]
Minoru was his usual self here without the crowd brawling that we have been accustomed to in the tournament so far. Kojima has been great, as has been said repeatedly and this was no different. It started to unravel a bit when the referee went down as Kojima was going for the pin but they put it all together for a good match. ***1/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Kazuchika Okada [10] vs. Tama Tonga [4]
Tonga attacks Okada before the bell and would put on Okada’s jacket and do the Rainmaker pose on the top rope. He would then do the pose again and yell SNOWMAKER. Great way to generate some heat but thankfully Tonga will be eliminated with a loss here because his in-ring work in this tournament has been not so good, with only one match really worth watching (7/27 vs. Juice). Once he gets going he can be good but it takes a while for him to get there. If anyone can pull a good match out of him though it is Okada. Okada plays the face in peril for most of the match, avoiding the Gun Stun from Tonga several times and countering it the last time straight into a German suplex and the Rainmaker for the victory. ***1/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Kenny Omega [8] vs. EVIL [8]
EVIL looks like dead weight for most of this while Kenny controls the match. He picks up some heat on the outside using a chair on Kenny several times. Kenny would bust out the table and put a damn hole through it when he stomps on it over EVIL from the ring apron. EVIL hits a chokeslam from the ring apron through the table and it looks like his head crashes through the table HARD. He is bleeding around his eye as he gets up and enters back into the ring. The meat of this match is really good once they start the in-ring stuff, with each guy hitting their power moves and Kenny is just selling the hell out of everything amazingly. EVIL can really go and he shows in this match that he can hang with Omega, and hang very well. Kenny hits a NASTY V-Trigger and EVIL just looks DEAD to the point where Kenny could barely lift him up to hit the Katayaku No Tenshi. ***3/4
Standings
Kazuchika Okada [12]
Kenny Omega [10]
EVIL [8]
Minoru Suzuki [8]
SANADA [8]
Tama Tonga [4] x
Michael Elgin [4] x
Toru Yano [4] x
Juice Robinson [2] x
Satoshi Kojima [0] x
Final Thoughts: Another solid show from the G1 as it seems like it’s impossible for NJPW to put on a bad show, especially during this tournament. Following the conclusion of this show; Tonga, Elgin, Juice, Yano, and Kojima have been eliminated from Block A.
Twitter: @ ligersama
