Michael Elgin vs. Minoru Suzuki – G1 Climax (Block A)
There are two types of Michael Elgin matches. There’s the match where his size advantage is used logically to tell a story, and there’s the match where his size advantage is used to do a lot of sweet videogame movez. This was very much the smart kind of Elgin match and I dug it a lot. Suzuki got manhandled right off the bat so this villainous bastard immediately figured out that the only way to stand a chance against a thigh-slapping colossus would be to cheat like a motherfucker and then break the big guy’s arm.
In that sense, it followed the same pattern as the Elgin/EVIL match (which I also liked), but Suzuki’s a much more compelling wrestler than EVIL. Despite all of his faults, Big Mike is pretty good at selling the arm and it made for a much more interesting match than Elgin trading bombs with YOSHI-HASHI or whoever. Suzuki countering all of his big move attempts by hooking him into a submission like a god damn snake is just good pro-wrestling, man. ***1/2
EVIL vs. Hangman Page – G1 Climax (Block A)
These guys went for the classic ‘’Let’s get Hangman over’’ approach, but it wasn’t clicking for me as much as the Okada match. The last third of the action was really fun and the crowd got into the near-falls big time, but the stuff before that was a little meandering. Hangman tried his hand at working heel for a bit: talking shit to the crowd and using a chair against EVIL. It was fine, but there is definitely a cognitive dissonance-type weirdness to a heel wrestler using a very FLIP-BASED move-set, since this stuff is 100% designed to get the biggest crowd pops possible. Props to EVIL though: he sold his ass off and managed to make Hangman look like a serious threat. I also liked him immediately guardrail-whipping the shit out of Page and then using the Homerun Chairshot as soon as he was able to make a comeback, as if to proudly reclaim his role as the guy that will do dubious shit to win a match. ***1/4
Jay White vs. Bad Luck Fale – G1 Climax (Block A)
Heel vs. heel matches are not an easy thing to pull off, but these guys did a good job using all of the screwy booking around the Firing Squad to their advantage and put together a fun match. Half of the match was just both guys beating the shit out of each other around the ring – an effective, time-tested formula. Jay used this setting to take his psychotic heel act to the next level by USING YOUNG LIONS AS PROJECTILES! Truly genius spot that Yoshinobu Kanemaru first pulled out in the BOSJ and that I was happy to see Jay bring back here. Just a bunch of solid character-based wrestling with the usual Tama Tonga-centric fuck finish. Everything before that was swell and I appreciated Fale taking that huge Back suplex bump for Jay. ***
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe – G1 Climax (Block A)
This was very much Tana and Makabe working a house show main event type of match. A compact little crowd pleaser that you’ll have trouble remembering 5 minutes later, with just enough fun moments and signature spots to keep the live fans engaged. Both guys went through the motions for most of the match, but the crowd was THERE for Tanahashi trying to ramp up a GO ACE chant and Makabe swinging himself back on the top turnbuckle to Spider suplex Tana. Not a bad match or anything, but I already forgot about half of it. **3/4
Kazuchika Okada vs. YOSHI-HASHI – G1 Climax (Block A)
The gap in charisma between these guys is truly incredible. Okada’s whole thing now is that he comes out in a crappy t-shirt and randomly bashes Rocky Romero in the face with balloons and he STILL comes off as a more convincing superstar than YOSHI-HASHI, who enters the ring with a SILVER TRENCHCOAT and an anime stick imbued with actual magic power. Lil Kazu might not have his precious belt anymore, but he still wrestled this match like the God Damn Ace and gave a masterclass in how to elevate someone while maintaining a believable aura of strength.
Okada getting irritated by YOSHI-HASHI jumping him at the bell and then just straight-up destroying him with a bored/slightly-annoyed look on his face perfectly set the tone for the match. They kept playing with everything that was apparent in those entrances: YOSHI-HASHI’s a shlob and Okada’s the star. And by the end of this thing, through the sheer power of Good Pro-Wrestling, the crowd was buying a possible win from YOSHI-HASHI. I absolutely loved YOSHI finally showing some balls and stiffing Okada to set-up the amazing ‘’Is Lil Kazu gonna have to choke a bitch?’’ spot.
Okada bringing back the Shitty Rainmaker as a callback to their Tokyo Dome return match from 2012 was also highly inspired: another subtle reference to the wildly different paths he and YOSHI went down. A super smart match and casual reminder that Okada’s one of the very best. ***3/4
