NJPW G1 CLIMAX 27, 8/4/17 (Day 13)
Item Ehime
G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi [6] vs. Yuji Nagata [0]
Nagata is seriously putting on a legendary performance in this tournament. He hasn’t had one bad match, and has been the standout of the two in each of his matches. Nagata works over Ibushi’s arm for a while he isn’t physically selling his arm being hurt he’s selling it more subtly and more through his slower movements in the next portion of the match. Ibushi would use his athleticism to try and get the best of Nagata, but Nagata the seasoned vet always had an answer. The kick exchange that knocks them both out is great and after Ibushi knocks Nagata out with a reverse enzui to the damn face Nagata applies a surprise cross armbreaker and begins punishing Ibushi. An incredible near fall after a Nagata brainbuster kicks this match into the next gear. Nagata kicks out of the Golden Star powerbomb much like Tanahashi did and Ibushi can’t believe it. I thought this perhaps went a little too long but that’s just being nitpicky. ***3/4
G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [8] vs. Bad Luck Fale [6]
Holy crap this was damn good. Ishii turns loose and just goes crazy on Fale, throwing everything he had at him and even lifting him up and landing a brainbuster. Ishii goes for a sliding lariat and Fale counters with a damn chokehold so the next time Ishii went for that move he did a sliding leg lariat instead and it was freaking awesome. The last few minutes were balls to the wall with Ishii focusing Fale’s arm, throwing on armbreakers and triangle locks trying to get the big man to submit. But in the end, Fale hit the Bad Luck Fall and no one is kicking out of that. Fale’s best of the tournament. ***1/2
G1 Climax – Block A: YOSHI-HASHI [4] vs. Hirooki Goto [6]
Solid match. Quite a few reversals and nice exchanges towards the end and they teased the quick roll up for YOSHI a few times that he used to pin Fale on 8/1. Overall YOSHI has been pretty consistent all tournament long and this was another good performance from him. ***
G1 Climax – Block A: Tetsuya Naito [8] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [8]
Naito sells his ass off for Sabre as he does his thing. Zack literally gives it everything he’s got but Naito just wouldn’t go down. There were several near falls that were so damn close everyone in the building thought Zack would pull it off but once Naito hit the Destino it was over. Zack knows how to control a match and he displayed that here once again doing all of the things that make him great and that he has done all tournament long. I would say that a lot of Zack’s matches are structured the same, but he does it so damn well that it doesn’t matter. He brings a new wrinkle into every match and I usually see something I haven’t seen when he is in the ring. Great stuff and in the conversation for a top 5 match in this tournament so far. ****
G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] vs. Togi Makabe [6]
A worthy main event. This was better than I was expecting given Makabe’s lackluster performance so far in the G1 but Tanahashi can bring out the best in everyone. Power moves from Makabe and the finesse of Tanahashi work well. The last three minutes or so of this were really fun as they dodged each other’s moves and Tanahashi eventually takes the victory. ***1/4
Standings
Hiroshi Tanahashi [10]
Tetsuya Naito [10]
Bad Luck Fale [8]
Kota Ibushi [8]
Tomohiro Ishii [8]
Zack Sabre Jr. [8]
Hirooki Goto [8] x
Togi Makabe [6] x
YOSHI-HASHI [4] x
Yuji Nagata [0] x
Final Thoughts: Nagata, YOSHI, Makabe, and Goto now have no chance of winning Block A. Again, another solid show this one with 3 great matches and two other worthy of viewing. It’s pretty much safe to say at this point that every single show has been worth checking out.
Twitter: @ ligersama
