Michael Elgin vs. Jay White – G1 Climax (Block A)
Liked the parts with Jay White acting like a Final Fantasy brat and getting into chop wars he couldn’t possibly win. Again, his character work is on point and he did a good job playing a guy who was in over his head. Also, him slapping people in the head before putting on the Muta lock is great. Beyond that, this had way too many throw-away head drops and a ridiculously-stupid botched apron spot where both guys almost died. Did we not learn anything from the last Hiromu/Dragon Lee match? Can we just chill the fuck out with the apron and floor spots? The action started picking up some real steam near the finish but all Jay White matches must end with a ref bump/low blow spot so this is what happened and it was kind of a bummer. **3/4
YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki – G1 Climax (Block A)
I was really into this when it started: YOSHI going off on Suzuki like a god damn LOOSE EXPLOSION and then immediately paying the price for doing something so stupid. The main issue here was that the match died a painful death whenever YOSHI went back on offense. Suzuki had trouble taking all of his fruity-ass 2008 TNA moves properly and the crowd completely flatlined. Lots of awkward miscommunication until Suzuki finally went back to beating the fuck out of the vanilla enigma known as YOSHI-HASHI, but the damage was already done. These two just do not click whatsoever. **1/2
Togi Makabe vs. EVIL – G1 Climax (Block A)
Meanwhile, these are two guys that really click and have a similar no-bullshit vision of Japanese pro-wrestling, so this match was tons of fun. Both guys quickly figured out that the most compelling match they could work involved spending all of their time outside of the ring beating the hell out of each other and it was a blast. I will mark out for any spot that features a wrestler taking a bump in the middle of the concourse in Korakuen Hall. This match had all of that and more so I was HOOKED! I also love how Makabe saves his nasty-looking Kesagiri chops for his big singles matches. You will never seen him do that shit in undercard tag matches, these things are his secret weapon and he used them to great effect to mess up EVIL. Perfect ending – brutal lariat showdown that recalled 90’s Kensuke Sasaki-ISM and then EVIL just drilling old Togi with an STO for the win. No false finishes or extended ending stretch. ROCK SOLID! ***1/2
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale – G1 Climax (Block A)
The only real way to evaluate a wrestler’s talent in New Japan is to watch them face off with Bad Luck Fale and see what they come up with. Using this criteria, Hiroshi Tanahashi is the GOAT. No one can put together an exciting match with Fale like Tana and this one was no exception. Just a crazy fun ride with no down time and IN-SANE Korakuen Hall heat. Living legend Tanahashi bumping and selling like a freak, making Fale look like the monster that he should be – this stuff is wrestling 101 in the best possible way. Unlike the Okada match, Fale seemed really motivated here: tossing Tana all over the place and pulverizing him with Vader hammers in the corner.
The Tanahashi comebacks were amazing and I’m pretty sure Tana dropped Fale with the best Sling Blade I have ever seen near the end. That thing looked LEGIT. Red Shoes flipping off the Bullet Club was hilarious, but this match deserved a clean finish. I would have to rewatch a few of them to be sure, but this seemed like one of the best Tana/Fale matches ever until the screwy finish. ***1/2
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hangman Page – G1 Climax (Block A)
Well, here we are. This is the match that finally made me turn the corner on Hangman Page. A lot of people loved the match with Elgin, but to me this one was on another level. Page was finally able to put everything together and walk away with massive ‘’PAJ-IUH’’ Korakuen chants. Big props to Midlife Crisis Okada who took the passenger seat here and let Hangman show all of his stuff. Okada was literally just hanging for the ride, rounding out the match by making tremendous faces. My favorites were the ‘’I have lost my mind and do not give a fuck about this match’’ faces early on and of course the Angry Okada faces later in the match. This man has the best faces.
The main thing that put this over all previous Hangman Page matches for me was that Page was actually doing interesting stuff between the spots. Talking shit to Okada, playing to the crowd, making faces. This stuff matters more than hitting a perfect standing Shooting star press. But yeah, the spots were great too. Holy shit at the Adam’s Apple over the guardrail and that BONKERS Orihara Moonsault. Also loved Okada pulling out a sweet DISCUS LARIAT out of nowhere to set-up the no-bullshit single Rainmaker finish. Shockingly exciting stuff all around and Okada coming out with the weirdest phallic-shaped balloons automatically bumps this into FOUR STAR TERRITORY. ****
