Live from Hokkaido, the 26th G1 Climax is underway! With 91 tournament matches spread over 19 shows, the G1 is a notoriously tough tournament to compete in, and this year’s edition is expected to be no different, particularly for guys coming whose injury status is already questionable (cough Hiroshi Tanahashi cough).
#TLDR: The first night of the G1 Climax presented us with three fantastic outings and a thoroughly decent undercard. Block A already gave us two shock results, with Pro Wrestling NOAH’s representatives giving a thoroughly good showing of themselves. We did have a stinker of a match, but you could probably have guessed that going in. If you have New Japan World… watch this. If you don’t… sign up. Or at the very least, wait until this appears on AXS in about a year’s time in the States!
The Full Review: The G1 winner will again be guaranteed a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight title at next year’s WrestleKingdom, which immediately gives the G1 a focal point rather than “just another tournament”, even if this has run since 1974 under various names…
Tomoaki Honma, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, Captain New Japan vs. Katsuyori Shibata, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask
From main eventing York Hall, to tagging with the legends! Shibata doesn’t have his NEVER title belt with him, and he immediately goes toe-to-toe with Honma, who he faces in block B on day two (on Friday).
The pair start by teeing off on each other with forearms, but Honma’s successful with a shoulder tackle, and of course he misses an early Kokeshi. Shibata tags in Tiger Mask, and he ends up in there with KUSHIDA, with Tiger dropkicking KUSHIDA to the outside and following up with a sweet tope. Back inside, the junior heavyweight champion renews ties with Liger, and goes straight into a surfboard, and of course we get Taguchi and his parade of hip attacks, as Liger and Tiger take their helpings of them.
KUSHIDA drops Liger with an inverted atomic drop, then a couple of dropkicks for just a one count, as he transitioned into a Hoverboard lock attempt, with Liger easily making the ropes. Honma gets tagged in to headbutt Liger’s arm, and we’re back to the “we’re reluctantly tagging with Captain New Japan” gimmick, as the guys tag anyone but the Captain in rotation.
The veterans (and Shibata) get cleared from the apron, but Liger mounts something of a comeback with a tiltawhirl backbreaker on KUSHIDA, but manages to make the hot tag to Shibata who races in at Honma, and connects with the corner-to-corner diving dropkick. Shibata steels himself for a bunch of chops from Honma, before replying with some knee strikes, and then taking a Kokeshi! Honma actually hit it… and then he tags in Captain New Japan. This won’t end well.
Shibata takes a couple of strikes from the Captain, then immediately decks him with a forearm, and we finally get Nakanishi into the match. Forearms into the ropes, and a lariat off the ropes gets Nakanishi a two-count. Nakanishi gets elbowed out of the Argentinian backbreaker attempt, and ends up taking a hip attack from Taguchi, a springboard dropkick from KUSHIDA and a Kokeshi from Honma, and the ring clears in time for Captain new Japan to go airborne with a diving headbutt for a held-up two count? That looked off.
Captain New Japan has no joy in suplexing Nakanishi, who ends up suplexing both he and Honma, before Shibata breaks up a roll-up from Captain on Nakanishi. The veteran Nakanishi ends up taking the fall seconds later, with the Hercules Cutter (Argentine backbreaker into an ace crusher) for the pin over the Captain. A fun tag team opener which did enough to build up to the Honma/Shibata match on Friday. ***
Katsuhiko Nakajima & Toru Yano vs. Satoshi Kojima & Juice Robinson
Not counting Lion Gate or cross-promoted shows, this is Nakajima’s first New Japan action in over 11 years… his last outing being at the age of 17 in a loss in the New Japan Cup to Tatsumi Fujinami. Toru Yano’s back from his trip to NOAH, and he’s got a souvenir in the form of one of the GHC tag team titles (which he currently holds with A block competitor Naomichi Marufuji).
Meanwhile, Satoshi Kojima dropped out of the G1 so he could be a part of these undercard tags? Not sure in what universe that makes sense…
Nakajima and Kojima lock up, with Kojima forcing a rope break, but was met with a kick and a forearm. An early strike battle ensues, which Kojima wins with a roaring elbow, before tagging in Juice Robinson. Toru Yano comes in and immediately asks for a rope break, and takes Robinson’s Dusty punches. The two end up on the outside, which gives Yano an opening to remove the turnbuckle pad, before tossing Robinson into the flimsiest crowd barriers I’ve seen for quite some time.
Back inside, Yano whips Robinson into the unprotected turnbuckle, before Nakajima kicks him stiffly in the back for a one-count. Robinson catches a kick from Nakajima and throws him overhead in a belly-to-belly suplex, before tagging Kojima back in. Nakajima quickly gets the upper hand with some kicks though, taking down Kojima with a Dragon screw.
Kojima ducks a PK attempt though and lands a Koji cutter, then brings Robinson back in as Yano remains MIA on the outside. Robinson hits Nakajima with a Fireman’s carry into a gutbuster, and there’s Yano to break up the pin. Inside, Nakajima hits a ‘rana to counter a powerbomb, before an enziguiri to Robinson on the top rope. Things broke down for a spell as Yano tries to interject himself once more, but Kojima put paid to that, before Nakajima nailed a PK and a stalling brainbuster for the win. Decent match when Yano wasn’t in it, but this sadly built to a G1 match we aren’t seeing in the two ‘jimas. ***
Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo
Omega and YOSHI-HASHI get us underway, and an immediate headlock from Omega, but YOSHI-HASHI scores an early takedown with a hurricanrana. Some brief offence follows around Gedo’s beard, with Omega pulling on it as he holds the veteran in place from the tag from Takahashi. Gedo pokes Omega in the eye, then stomps away at Takahashi.
The action spilled outside as the cameraman missed a chairshot on YOSHI-HASHI, whilst Gedo was choked by Omega’s broom. Takahashi continued the beat down on Gedo inside the ring, stomping on his chest before Omega choked Gedo in the ropes. Gedo blocked being thrust into a boot from Takahashi, and instead reversed it so Omega took the boot, before dropping him with a flatliner.
YOSHI-HASHI came in and dropkicked Takahashi out of the ring, before landing the Bunker Buster suplex/neckbreaker on Omega for a two-count. An Omega superkick dazes HASHI, as does a snap Dragon suplex. Omega hits what I think was meant to be a leg lariat to the back of YOSHI-HASHI, before Takahashi gets a near-fall from a bulldog. Gedo returned for some punches on Takahashi, before hitting a jawbreaker and a kick to the head for a near-fall.
Takahashi blocks a Gedo clutch attempt, but he too can’t pull off his move, as a German suplex is blocked. A short DDT gets Takahashi a near-fall, before he surprisingly gets the win with the Tokyo Pimps (sit-out Dominator). I was not expecting him to pick up the fall, but this was not very good. **¼
Yuji Nagata, Michael Elgin & David Finlay vs. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & EVIL
Elgin came out with his IWGP Intercontinental title and his ELITE world title belt from the Lucha Libre Elite promotion. A tad overkill there, methinks… BUSHI and Naito came out in customised Los Ingobernables de Japon baseball jerseys, and there’s the latest bit of New Japan merch to rocket to the top of my wish list.
Finlay and BUSHI started off, with Finlay taken into the ropes for an early break. BUSHI rolled away from a stomp attempt, and already we’re on the outside as Naito fought with Nagata, whilst EVIL took the Hirooki Goto chair spot into the ringpost. Back inside, EVIL flattened Finlay with a back senton, before Naito dropped him with a neckbreaker as they teased Friday’s Naito/Nagata match for the G1.
We got a hint of that with a bunch of kicks to the chest from Nagata, before Naito landed a tornado DDT for a near-fall. Nagata kneed himself out of a Gloria attempt, and we resumed with an Elgin enziguiri to EVIL. A pair of avalanche clotheslines rocked EVIL, who took a Falcon arrow for a two-count as BUSHI looked on from the apron, not even attempting to tease breaking up the cover.
EVIL fought back to lift Elgin into a Fireman’s carry, before dropping him with a Fisherman’s suplex. BUSHI dropped Elgin with a missile dropkick, before finding himself taking an impressive one handed press slam… which brought in Naito to rake the eyes. Naito and EVIL then took Elgin’s Samoan drop/fallaway slam combo, before Finlay came in to score a near-fall from a Finlay roll on BUSHI.
Finlay counted a rewind enziguiri from BUSHI into a stretch muffler, but Naito quickly broke that up. A package jawbreaker from BUSHI forced the ring to fill up to avoid a fall, before Finlay took an EVIL clothesline and a codebreaker from BUSHI a near-fall, only to fall to the MX from BUSHI as the Los Ingobernables trio sealed the win. A fun end to the first half of the show, teasing some good matches down the line… including Nagata vs. Naito’s black eye! ***¼
G1 Climax, Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
The G1 gets going with the man who was gifted a spot in the tournament… and he’s out with Satoshi Kojima. Tenzan and Ishii lock up, with Ishii immediately going into the ropes, and they exchange shoulder tackles before moving up to forearms. Ishii takes down Tenzan with a shoulder tackle out of the corner, before Tenzan takes a series of chops.
Ishii lands a suplex for a two-count on Tenzan, before mockingly kicking at Tenzan’s head. That seems to anger the veteran, as he fires back with strikes, and then a spinning wheel kick. Some Mongolian chops send Ishii staggering into the corner, before Tenzan follows with an avalanche clothesline and a suplex of his own for a two-count.
Tenzan and Ishii take it in turns to strong style no-sell, and this takes us to Ishii launching into Tenzan with some forearm/chop combos in the corner. An avalanche clothesline gets Ishii a near fall, as he then goes for a superplex, only for Tenzan to block with a series of Mongolian chops whilst on the top rope. A headbutt prepares Tenzan for a swandive headbutt off the top for another near-fall.
Tenzan then follows up by catching Ishii in the Anaconda vice, before switching it into an Anaconda Buster for a near-fall. Ishii cuts him off as Tenzan went for a moonsault, and dropped him with a running Ligerbomb, before a headbutt decks Tenzan to brutally end another chop battle. A running lariat forces Tenzan to kick-out at two, before a diving lariat sees Tenzan kick out again, only for Tenzan to block a brainbuster attempt.
The pair clonk into each other with headbutts, as Ishii eventually gets the worse of it, before having to kick out at two from a TTD (Tenzan Tombstone Driver). Ishii gets dropped with a lariat from Tenzan, who then goes to the top once more, and lands the moonsault for the win. That was awesome, even if it meant I got my first G1 pick wrong! ****¼
G1 Climax, Block A: Tama Tonga vs. Togi Makabe
And now, the come-down… Tama Tonga! I almost thought my speakers were broken, but no, the former IWGP tag team champion got silence…
Makabe launches into Tonga with a clothesline at the bell, but Tonga backdrops him to the outside almost instantly. Makabe takes a chest-first bump into the guard railings, before Tonga drops him throat first across the barricades by the commentary team. Yep, this crowd in Hokkaido is silent for this!
Tonga drops a bunch of elbows to Makabe as he tries to get back into the ring, and then brings him in hard with a spinning DDT off the middle rope. Makabe invites Tonga to keep punching him, before shoving off an Ace crusher attempt and dropping the former tag champion with a lariat. We get the ten count punches in the corner from Makabe, who then catches an axehandle attempt from Tonga and turns it into an overhead suplex for a near-fall.
A clothesline from Makabe gets a two-count, before Tonga scurries around the ring to disorientate Makabe and land a hurricanrana. That was innovative, I guess. A Stinger splash sends Makabe to the mat, but he finally started to fire back with some lariats, trading strikes with Tonga’s superman forearms, before Tonga was dropped for a one-count from a lariat. Wash, rinse, repeat with a forearm for Tonga.
Another Stinger splash sent Makabe to the mat, but Tonga got caught climbing the ropes, and was clotheslines into place for Makabe to attempt a German superplex. The hell?! Tonga clings onto the ring post for dear life, then headbutts himself free as Makabe falls into the tree of woe, only to sit up and land a belly to belly superplex, and then the King Kong Knee Drop for the win. Well, that was a time-filler – but given that they followed Tenzan/Ishii, they’d have struggled to do anything. **¾
G1 Climax, Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Hirooki Goto
Fale attacked the ring announcer during his intro, and immediately started the match playing the immovable object, as Goto bounced off of him. A shoulder block sent Goto into the ropes, but he replied with an armwringer, taking down Fale and sinking into an armbar, but the giant Tongan easily crawls into the ropes.
Fale clotheslines Goto off the top rope to the outside, and follows up by repeatedly whipping Goto into the security barricade. Goto provides us with our first “beat the count” spot, but rolls in to be stood on by Fale. A simple bodyslam gets Fale a two-count, but Goto avoids a corner charge and tried to follow up with clotheslines of his own, only before finally dropping Fale.
Goto lands a spinning wheel kick and a top rope elbow for a near-fall, before trying for the ushigoroshi… unsuccessfully. Fale squashes him in the corner in response, then lands a body splash for a near-fall. Goto kicked out of the Grenade by Fale at two, before wriggling free of the Bad Luck Fall, and meeting the Tongan with a headbutt.
Goto lands a kick to the chest, then works his way into a mounted sleeperhold on Fale, before hitting the GTR (lariat into a backbreaker) for the win. This wasn’t bad, but it was just “there”. After Tenzan/Ishii, Hokkaido has been almost eerily quiet… ***
G1 Climax, Block A: SANADA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
This is Tanahashi’s first match in almost two months after a shoulder injury forced him onto the sidelines – and this should be good. Early wrestling to start us with, as they go for hammerlocks, before SANADA scurries to the ropes after a takedown.
Tanahashi works a headlock, then takes down SANADA again with a shoulder tackle off the ropes. SANADA scores a near-fall, rolling-up Tanahashi from a grounded headlock, but that was more of a cheeky attempt than anything indicative of how the match was going here.
SANADA kicks Tanahashi in the ropes, and that sends the returning “Ace” to the outside, where he takes a drop toe hold into the crowd barrier, after having whipped “Cold Skull” into there second earlier. The damaged arm gets tied around the barricade and kicked, before SANADA stomps on it some more back inside.
Tanahashi’s left arm retained the massive bullseye on it, as SANADA hit a dropkick before going back to the arm. A somersault leg drop got Tanahashi back into it, as he continued to elbow out of a TKO attempt from SANADA, then landed a low dropkick and a Dragon screw. Tanahashi actually connected with the High Fly Flow to the outside, before landing a series of Dragon screw legwhips as SANADA tried to re-enter the ring.
SANADA found himself caught in a Texas cloverlead in the middle of the ring, but was able to drag himself to the ropes. Tanahashi kept up the pressure, trading forearms with SANADA, then uppercuts, before SANADA shocked him with a TKO for a near-fall out of almost nowhere.
SANADA went for the Skull End, but Tanahashi rolled through, only to be caught in it in the middle of the ring as SANADA hooked the bad arm. Tanahashi gutted through and made the ropes though, before avoiding a moonsault spot. A spinning DDT took SANADA down, as did a Slingblade for a near-fall, before getting another two-count with a bridging German suplex whilst clutching both of SANADA’s wrists.
Tanahashi went up top for the finale, but was caught in mid-air with another TKO from SANADA (not quite out of nowhere), for a near-fall. A snap moonsault got SANADA another two-count, with a second moonsault quickly going into a Skull End, and Tanahashi tapped! Tanahashi tapped! SANADA WINS! Surprise of the night right there, and I’m not talking about the quality of the match. Fantastic outing from both men…. ****¼
Throughout this match, there were tell tale signs that Tanahashi was still hurt. Things like selling the left arm a little *too* well, and the lack of symmetry in his arms due to what looked like a not-quite-healed muscle tear. I don’t like being the bearer of bad news, but this did little to calm my fears that Tanahashi won’t last the entire tournament.
G1 Climax, Block A: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kazuchika Okada
Marufuji came out with his GHC tag team title, and started out by having to try and reverse a wristlock, only to find himself in a headlock… and then taken down with a shoulder tackle by Okada.
Marufuji ducked an early Rainmaker attempt, before Okada scored a near-fall from a dropkick. The NOAH star was kept grounded with a rear-chinlock, and eventually broke it via the ropes. Okada tried to dump Marufuji on the top rope, but got kicked off and took a knee drop to the arm. That gave Marufuji something to target, as he repeated the Tanahashi spot from the last match of wrapping the arm in the guard rail, except this time he sandwiched Okada’s wrist in the gate by ringside and tried to smash it.
The one-armed Okada tried to trade shots, but found himself in the corner getting chopped by Marufuji. A big back body drop got Okada some breathing room, and he fired back with some diving forearms, before a DDT and a diving uppercut scored a near-fall. Marufuji drops Okada with a clothesline, then slingshotted himself to the outside, stomping on the injured arm, and then pulling Okada into the post with it.
Back inside, Marufuji works on the arm some more, bending it back and stomping it a la Zack Sabre Jr, and then continues that trend by going for an armbar. Okada breaks with the ropes, but he takes yet more chops to the chest, before dropping Marufuji with a flapjack off the ropes. More chops follow as Okada tries to counter with forearms, before Okada goes to the outside and is met by a step-up plancha.
Marufuji almost wins it with a top rope kneedrop to the arm, before he calls for the Shiranui… but Okada counters it with the Heavy Rain, then lands the top rope elbow drop and… Rainmaker pose!
Marufuji elbows out of the Rainmaker, and hits a knee, but gets sent into the ropes with an uppercut. An enziguiri and superkick helps Marufuji go for the Shiranui again, but Okada dumps him on the top rope. Back on the mat, Marufuji rocks Okada with kicks, but gets floored by a dropkick. Marufuji ducks a Rainmaker, and after several more reversals hits a kick and the Ko-oh (bicycle knee strike)… then the Pole Shift (brainbuster into a side slam)… and Marufuji wins?! The night of G1 shocks here, with two surprise results and three amazing matches right here. ****
For the opening night, this well and truly delivered. Yes, we had the stinker of a match with Tama Tonga, and the match that was just “there” with Bad Luck Fale, but this was a solid show that enticed you with the A block matches, and hyped up the B block stuff for Friday as well. It feels weird that we’re waiting so long for the next set of matches, but with the Super J Cup running at the same time – and the first night of *that* starts on Wednesday – we’re bound to get that.
If you’re just going to watch the G1 matches, you can skip one, perhaps fast forward through another, but make damn sure you watch Tanahashi/SANADA, Ishii/Tenzan and Okada/Marufuji. Yes, the 26th G1 Climax got off to a blazing start… and happy birthday to me!