NJPW G1 CLIMAX 27, 8/5/17 (Day 14)
Osaka Edion Arena (Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium)
G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano [4] vs. Tama Tonga [4]
Comedy gold once again. Not as good as Omega/Yano (if you like that kind of stuff) but this was fast paced and action packed fun. Tonga came out with the face paint and pulled some of Yano’s own tricks on him and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
G1 Climax – Block B: Satoshi Kojima [0] vs. SANADA [8]
SANADA humiliates Kojima with the Paradise Lock right in the middle of the ring, standing on top of him with one foot and posing. Kojima would hit his spots but SANADA controls the match for the most part, outsmarting Kojima during points of the match. Kojima would dominate the power moves but SANADA would get the best of Kojima several times. He applies the Skull End and goes for the moonsault but Kojima dodges it twice, knocking SANADA to the mat with a lariat. They go into a counter sequence teasing another Skull End but Kojima hits the CCD for a near fall. SANADA blocks a lariat and then takes one that sends him to the mat and he kicks out after ONE and that PISSES Kojima off so he CRUSHES SANADA with one final lariat and gets the victory. Kojima’s strength is just too much for SANADA and he gets his first win of the tournament. ***1/2
G1 Climax – Block B: Michael Elgin [4] vs. Minoru Suzuki [8]
It’s Minoru so the chairs are out and he beats the crap out of Elgin, smashing his arm against the ring post wrapped in a chair. He continues the badassery in the ring, demolishing Elgin’s arm and distracting the referee so Taichi could get some chair shots in too. Taichi and Despy try to interfere but Elgin takes them both out and after Minoru applies a sleeper hold, Elgin goes full rage mode backhand chop to the freaking NECK and then drops Minoru with an Elgin Bomb. I love badass Minoru and I love badass Elgin but I don’t love incessant interference so while this was a pretty ok match it was also pretty annoying. **1/2
G1 Climax – Block B: Kenny Omega [10] vs. Juice Robinson [2]
I feel like these guys BELONG in the ring together. Their styles mesh so well and this was really great to finally see. Kenny puts the work on Juice’s injured leg just like everyone else has done in the tournament but he really goes to work on it, applying the figure four hanging off the ringpost and then tossing him over the guardrail knee first onto a table. Juice sells it like he can barely finish the match and as soon as he crawls back in the ring Kenny is right back on it. I love all the little things these guys do. Juice’s selling is always top-notch and he’s in the ring with the damn selling MASTER so this is just great to watch. Kenny smelling blood and pushing down his knee pad is great but Juice would avoid the V-Trigger for quite a while. Actually they tease each other’s big moves several times and they counter each other a ton, showing that maybe Juice really is that good. Finally just when it looked like Juice would hit the Pulp Friction, Kenny counters with a snap Dragon suplex. Juice attempting a comeback with a leg lariat as Kenny comes off the ropes but he SCREAMS in pain on the mat after hitting it and that leaves the door open for a crushing V-Trigger. The finishing sequence was awesome. More counters and more counters and Juice punches Kenny square in the face before teasing each other’s finishers MORE. Kenny catches Juice with a reverse hurricanrana and V-Trigger. He lifts juice up for the Katayoku No Tenshi, drops him, but Juice rolls through and GETS THE SURPRISE PIN AND HE CAN’T BELIEVE IT. A DAMN deserving victory for Juice because he’s been just killing it all tournament long. I definitely smell a U.S. Title feud after this. Another great performance by Kenny, and another great performance by Juice who has just been stellar. I was expecting a lot more heat in this because the match was damn good and structured well but that was about the only disappointing part. I KNOW they will kill it in a rematch or rematches and I can’t freaking wait. Check this out. ***3/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Kazuchika Okada [12] vs. EVIL [8]
EVIL is right back at it after heading to the hospital following his match with Omega on 8/2. The first 5-10 minutes of this were worked at a pretty good pace. There were a few slow spots but they were focusing each other’s necks and upper body, so the holds they would apply made sense. Actually most of the offense in the match by both guys was focused. It wasn’t until Okada dropkicks EVIL off the top rope onto the outside that this got really good. He kicks EVIL over the guardrail and walks backwards before charting at him but EVIL just THROWS a chair right at his face. More chairs come out and EVIL piles them up on the concrete floor, hitting Okada with the DARKNESS FALLS right onto the chairs. Okada is DEAD at that point and EVIL has to drag him back into the ring himself. Okada would take some bumps for EVIL and hit his missile kick and dropkicks to get the crowd going more while still being able to sell hard. Both guys sold hard actually through all of this – EVIL still selling the damage done from Omega (not that he really has to sell it because I’m sure the dude is still in pain) and Okada reaching for his neck after almost every movement, unable to string together more than one move at a time and unable to hit the Rainmaker. The finishing stretch is just freaking awesome. Just as it seemed like Okada was making his usual comeback, he nails two Rainmakers but is unable to pin EVIL after either one. After the second Rainmaker Okada lifts EVIL back up and goes for a MONSTER RAINMAKER but EVIL ducks it and as he turns around, forearms away a lariat from Okada and headbutts him RIGHT IN THE FACE. He lifts Okada up and goes for the STO but Okada hits a giant German suplex, one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, and rolls over, going for the Rainmaker but EVIL CATCHES HIM AND HITS THE STO. He pins the champ and everyone goes nuts. Yeah, the finish here was absolutely fantastic. Okada got a little cocky and it ended up costing him his first singles loss in over a year. EVIL was DAMN good here as was Okada, as always. ANOTHER title rematch on the way HOPEFULLY! ****1/4
Standings
Kazuchika Okada [12]
EVIL [10]
Kenny Omega [10]
Minoru Suzuki [8]
SANADA [8] x
Tama Tonga [6] x
Michael Elgin [6] x
Juice Robinson [4] x
Toru Yano [4] x
Satoshi Kojima [2] x
Final Thoughts: Worth watching just for the last two matches. This was a night of upsets and this will keep everyone on their toes for the rest of the tournament.
Twitter: @ ligersama
