Togi Makabe vs. Michael Elgin, YOSHI-HASHI vs. Hangman Page, and Minoru Suzuki vs. Bad Luck Fale were the other matches on this show.
1. G1 Climax – Block A: EVIL vs. Jay White
A New Japan formula match that skipped the holds and limb work, which is probably a good thing but it still wasn’t any good. I like EVIL as a wrestler and Jay White is growing on me, but these two didn’t really have any chemistry. Maybe Jay White actually still sucks and the Juice Robinson match was a special anomaly. He does some of the worst low blows there are and I didn’t even know you could mess that up. EVIL keeping Switchblade from the finals aside, this match was a bummer. *3/4
2. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
You know, the thing about these fellas is that they can wrestle. I’ll be honest though – my favorite part of these entire 30 minutes of professional wrestling may be outside of 30 minutes, as before the bell rings Tanahashi takes off his jacket and shows off his big tanned abs while Okada stands across him as this skinny geek with stupid receding red hair. It is a special contrast.
This is two all-time greats with a built-in legendary story wrestling for 30 minutes. It doesn’t have the epic storytelling from Dontaku, it isn’t a wrestling clinic classic like from the G1 2016, and it doesn’t quite reach the heights of their IWGP Heavyweight Tile feud… but it’s still a standalone great god damn wrestling match.
For the first half they traded some credible holds, each guy worked a leg, and I can’t say they completely had me for this first half, which is where a 30-minute draw lives and dies. But the work was sound and credible and led to THE STUFF.
Tons of great moments – Okada throwing a dropkick immediately, Tanahashi taking a DDT on his head, Okada managing a missile dropkick and giving this look like IIII’M BAAACK only to get planted with a tombstone, and Tanahashi’s incredible Texas Cloverleaf transitioned into a STYLES CLASH.
The true talent of these two is exemplified in the crowd’s buzzing for Tanahashi setting up a dragon screw in the ropes TWENTY MINUTES IN.
And when they picked it up, they picked it up. The pace they hit once the 5-minute announcement came was incredible. Dropkick, Rainmaker setup, SLING BLADE. Trading strikes on their knees, fighting for a tombstone, inside cradle and Dragon suplex hold near falls. Tanahashi just SLAPS Okada in response to a Rainmaker setup, hits the High Fly Flow for a near fall, and the bell rings.
I thought this story might’ve been over after Okada completely dominated Tanahashi just a few months ago. But here we are and Tanahashi has taken Okada to a draw and eliminated him from the G1 Climax, advanced to the G1 Finals, and Okada never hit the Rainmaker. ****
