It’s that time of year again – 19 shows, 91 tournament matches, the G1’s back as a challenge for fans… and wrestlers alike! The first night left a heck of a mark too…
Sapporo was the site once again for opening day, and as usual we’ve got undercards featuring folks not in the tournament (and those whose block isn’t in action) to get through first…
Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin “Thunder” Liger
Robinson and Kojima is the match when block B gets going on Thursday, and those two started out well, exchanging a few series before Jushin Liger came in… with Kevin Kelly giving a shout-out to the British J Cup. No acronyms please!
Liger quickly dropped Finlay before pulling him into a Romero special, which Elgin broke up as the veteran was kept as far away from either of his partners. A stalling suplex from Big Mike helped, before we got to Elgin and Tenzan as the two hosses of the match laid into each other. Surprisingly, Tenzan had a brief upper hand courtesy of some Mongolian chops, but an Elgin enziguiri knocked him down.
Eventually we get back to Kojima and Robinson, with poor Juice taking the machine gun chops to exacerbate an already-wounded midsection. Nevertheless, Juice snapped back with a cannonball into the corner, before Finlay tagged in to capitalise with some European uppercuts for a near-fall, before he was forced to fight away from a TenKoji Cutter attempt. In the end, a Strong Arm lariat puts away Finlay as Kojima started the G1 tour on a high with a good showing in a by-the-numbers six-man. **½
Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Tama Tonga & Chase Owens) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado)
This year, Tama Tonga’s not wearing long Johns. Which is a shame, because he blocked me on Twitter for mentioning it last year! Thursday sees Omega vs. Suzuki in a block B match, which is mighty interesting…
Suzuki-gun jump start as Omega gets taken to the outside and into the crowd by Suzuki, where the two brawled towards the back of the arena. Minoru zombies up as Omega tried to choke him, and that just made a bad thing worse as it seemed they weren’t even being counted out as Taichi and Tama Tonga were legal in the ring. Yeah, we got the Taichi shenanigans as he whacked Tonga with the bell hammer, before Desperado turfed out Chase Owens.
Tama Tonga finally gets a Gun Stun to lay out Taichi as we got back to Suzuki and Omega, but Minoru avoided a moonsault after taking a Finlay roll before walloping Omega with a PK for a near-fall. Omega manages to nail a V-Trigger after escaping a rear naked choke from Suzuki, who then slipped out of a One Winged Angel into a sleeper hold. A Gotch Piledriver’s also fought out of as the two struggled, before we had some triple-teaming of Minoru, leading to a Flatliner/Kotaro Krusher from Omega and Owens.
That led to Owens trying to dump Suzuki with a package piledriver, but of course that was never happening, as Minoru slipped out and quickly got to the Gotch piledriver for the win. Energetic and fun, but I sincerely hope they avoid Bullet Club/Suzuki-gun run-ins during their match on Thursday… **¾
After the match, Omega was attacked by Suzuki as he headed to the back… they quickly went through the curtain as Desperado and Taichi were left flying the Suzuki-gun flag.
EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi vs. SANADA & BUSHI
EVIL has slightly different music as we have this weird LIJ vs. LIJ match… SANADA has a weird Tenzan-esque mask, whilst Daryl has a perm! All of this is normal, my friends.
We opened with a tentative handshake between SANADA and EVIL, but that just led to a parade of attempted finishers as all four squared off. SANADA tries to tie-up EVIL in a Paradise Lock (ball), but doesn’t succeed as SANADA and BUSHI double-teamed to get an advantage. Hiromu gets choked with a t-shirt before tasting that Paradise Lock and an STF before EVIL came back and splatted both opponents with a stacked-up back senton.
A release Fisherman’s suplex gets EVIL a near-fall, and the pace quickens with BUSHI and Hiromu for a brief spell, with the latter eating a tope before SANADA’s springboard dropkick knocked down EVIL. Dropkicks from SANADA and BUSHI gets a two-count on EVIL, who rebounds with a Fireman’s carry spinebuster on SANADA. In the end though, BUSHI gets caught in a trapped-arm chickenwing – which he’s branding the Banshee Muzzle – as EVIL drew first blood in the inter-LIJ wars ahead of his match with SANADA on Thursday. ***
Toru Yano & Jado vs. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo
Yes… we’re getting Yano and Okada on Thursday. This was the first time in over 11 years that Gedo and Jado were on opposing sides in a tag team match apparently.
We start with Okada and Yano, or to be precise, Yano going straight to the “break” shtick, which earned him a boot to the gut. He tried a Rainmaker early, which didn’t work, so he just tagged in Jado… which got us to Gedo vs. Jado. Those two exchange chops and punches, to the point where Jado nearly fell, before blindly going to tag in Okada… who just punched him.
Gedo keeps going after the eyes as Okada tagged in, which led to Jado again trying to dive out for a tag… but he missed and found himself cornered. Potty-mouth Gedo eventually took a clothesline as Jado tries to get back in, and we’re back to Yano/Okada… but the champ could only delay the turnbuckle pad gimmick, before missing his dropkick as Yano clung to the ropes.
A schoolboy nearly snatched Yano a win after Okada hit the unprotected corner, then again after Okada was dragged down with his hair, but the big lump barely got up for a flapjack. Yano recovers as he shoved Okada into Gedo, before a pair of low blows allowed him to get the schoolboy on Gedo for the win. Your usual Yano match, with the usual gimmicks and zero chance of this being repeated on Thursday! **½
G1 Climax, Block A: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yuji Nagata
Nagata, starting out his final G1 campaign, started out strong as he tried to out-wrestle YOSHI-HASHI, forcing a rope break early on as he looked for a submission. Unfortunately. Nagata’s next move was to go for kicks, which ended up being caught as YOSHI-HASHI tried to get a foothold in the match.
The pair ended up outside as Nagata was whipped into the guard rails, before YOSHI-HASHI hung up Nagata in the ropes for a dropkick that earned him just a two-count. Nagata fired back by breaking a rear chinlock and just driving a running knee to the gut, before laying into poor YOSHI-HASHI with kicks. That escalated into a slap battle, before another kick knocked YOSHI-HASHI loopy into the corner!
Nagata nearly took the win with an Exploder as he continued to batter YOSHI-HASHI, who quickly came back into play with a running Blockbuster before eating an overhead belly-to-belly. A top rope Exploder’s fought out of as Nagata instead takes a flipping powerbomb out of the corner for a near-fall, then a senton bomb, before switching into a Butterfly lock submission attempt.
Nagata clung on and fought free via a rope break, and swiftly rolled back into the eye-rolling armbar, but YOSHI-HASHI eventually dragged himself to the ropes too. Armbreakers follow as Nagata smelled blood, dumping his foe with a Saito suplex for a near-fall, but that just sparked a comeback as YOSHI-HASHI nailed a reverse spin kick to get some separation. That leads to a battle of forearms, before YOSHI-HASHI took Nagata off the top rope and pulled him down into a knee for a near-fall… and the end’s not too far away as a back cracker and Karma ends up getting YOSHI-HASHI the win. They told a good story here of Nagata having flashes of his old self, whilst pulling in YOSHI-HASHI as rekindling the form that saw him pick up impressive wins during his overall losing run in last year’s G1. A really solid opener, and yes, I’m one of the many fearing that Nagata goes the same way as Liger and Tenzan… ***½
G1 Climax, Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe
Yeah, Fale killed the ring announcer. One day he’ll learn.
We start with plenty of forearms as the two big men started off in a mean guy match. A missed clothesline from Fale ends up with him going down to a Makabe shoulder block, before they headed outside as both men tasted Irish whips into the guard railings.
Makabe has his chain used against him as Fale dragged him by it into the crowd, before hurling Makabe into some chairs. Somehow that’s not a DQ on either of the times he did it, not when he throws Makabe through some of the guard railings… but Makabe’s able to drag his body back to the ring in time to beat that 20 count, and run into a series of stomps as Fale just stood on his face and chest.
Fale just sits on Makabe for a near-fall, and you sense that the end may have been nigh as Fale just whaled on the veteran with forearms. A Bad Luck Fall’s avoided, as Makabe came back with a clothesline and some mounted punches before another clothesline earned him a near-fall. Fale came back with a shoulder tackle and a splash for a near-fall as the camera misses Makabe lifting up a shoulder. Some running splashes into the corner squash Makabe, who then slipped out of another Bad Luck Fall before a series of duelling clotheslines led to Makabe knocking the big man down for a two-count.
In the end though, Makabe’s King Kong Kneedrop was the end of him as Fale caught him… then dropped him with the Grenade for the win. A good mean guy match, exactly what you’d expect from these two. ***
G1 Climax, Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hirooki Goto
Just like the last match, these two started by running into each other with a tonne of shoulder blocks… and it was glorious! Ditto the strike exchange as Goto knocked down Ishii early, only for that favour to be returned.
Ishii stood tall with chops and headbutts as he took down Goto with a single ‘butt, but a suplex sees Goto pop back up and it’s more of the same as rope-running and misdirection led to a clothesline that knocked down Ishii this time. Both men kept popping up after the heavy hits, exemplified when Goto got a near-fall from a back suplex… only to get caught up top as Ishii went for a headbutt before finally hitting that superplex.
Goto responds by pulling Ishii’s head back across a knee as he was trying for a GTR, before they went back to the clonking clotheslines. An ushigoroshi gets Goto a near-fall, but Ishii rebounds with an enziguiri and a folding powerbomb as they came closer to a victory, as did a sliding lariat from Ishii, before they went back to the vicious clotheslines that left both men laying.
The war of attrition continued with an endless barrage of forearms before a lariat took down Ishii. For a one-count! More headbutt and sickening strikes followed, before a reverse GTR and a regular GTR finally put down the Stone Pitbull for the count. Bloody hell, this was strong style in a nutshell – some may have been put off by the headbutts, but aside from that, this was snug! ****
G1 Climax, Block A: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Oh my… this is certainly a way to debut in the G1. Get the big names out of the way! Zack had El Desperado out with him, which made my heart sink a little. Tanahashi’s got a new title belt, despite cleaning up the old one, and he’s got a new black sleeve for his injured bicep… which Sabre didn’t instantly go after.
Instead, Sabre grounded Tanahashi, going after the legs, before going after the “good” arm, wrenching away with wristlocks. Tanahashi tried to fire back, but his elbow drop landed in Sabre’s guard as he went after the injured arm, with Zacky busting out some weird and wonderful submissions to force Tanahashi to expend as much as he could to get to the ropes.
Zack keeps going after that arm, trapping and twisting it, before scoring with a Riddle-esque overhead kick to the wounded limb. Tanahashi tried to punch free, but literally seconds later Sabre goes for the Octopus hold – wrenching away on that arm – as neither Messrs Kelly or Callis opted to call the “Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than The Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness”.
Tanahashi escapes with a Dragon screw, before flipping Zack inside out with a low dropkick to the knee. Just like that, Sabre goes back to the arm, but this time Tanahashi countered immediately with a grounded Dragon screw, before a Cloverleaf forces Sabre into the ropes as the Ace of New Japan tries to out-Sabre Sabre with kicks. A schoolboy of all things nearly won it for Sabre, who continued to work his match, only for Tanahashi to again land a Dragon Screw, this time out of a caught overhead kick.
In response, Sabre leapt into a running Tanahashi with a guillotine’d armbar, before the Euro clutch earned him a near-fall. Some uppercuts and kicks only delayed a Tanahashi Slingblade, then a High Fly Flow as that proved to be the sign for a Desperado run in… which ended as he got shoved into the barriers. Another High Fly Flow led to a crash and burn as Tanahashi landed on Sabre’s knees, and got caught in a double armbar – with enough time to remove the sleeve and tape from Tanahashi’s arm for extra agony!
Tanahashi held on though, before Sabre bent Hiroshi’s wrist back on itself as the Ace had no choice but to TAP. Under quarter of an hour long, this felt like a war… and a match I’d really love to see again outside of a tournament setting. Lovely stuff, but really, this had the proverbial “high floor”… ****¼
G1 Climax, Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito
This time last year, Ibushi was in the Cruiserweight Classic… he turned down that WWE deal so he could do his own thing. Which included blowing himself up with fireworks outside a railway arch in London, wrestling as an anime… oh, and doing the G1. Funny how things work out!
After the usual theatrics of Naito ignoring a clean break and firing himself into the ropes so he could handspring into a pose, Naito went for a low dropkick on Ibushi… who leapt up and crushed him with a murderous double stomp in response. Naito comes back with something equally harsh – a rope hung over-the-knee neckbreaker as he targeted Ibushi’s surgically-repaired neck with another neckbreaker on the apron in the opening stages.
Naito tried to claim an easy two points from there, but Ibushi rolled back in and found that his former some-time tag partner was relentless in driving elbows to the head and neck area. The Axel Dieter Sr. special followed out of Naito, but Ibushi pushed himself back to try and pin Naito… only for a rope break to come first, which was worse as Naito just kept up with those darned neckbreakers.
Ibushi sprung back in with a flurry of shots, then a ‘rana… oh, and look where Naito rolled. Golden Triangle Moonsault! A missile dropkick back inside misses as Naito comes back with a dropkick, only to get blasted with an uppercut as Ibushi avoids the outside-in dropkick… and then tried to deadlift Naito back into the ring. That didn’t work, as Naito swept the leg and hit the outside-in dropkick anyway, crushing Ibushi’s back once again.
A German suplex dumps Ibushi on his neck for a near-fall, before Ibushi escaped Gloria and instead ate an enziguiri. Naito misses a lariat and takes a Dragon suplex instead, as Ibushi started to get a foothold in the match, kicking away on the Ingobernable, to the point where Red Shoes had to pull Ibushi back from a stunned Naito! Ibushi returns with a lariat that crushed Naito for a near-fall, but Ibushi was unable to complete a Golden Star powerbomb as Naito fought back, again dumping Ibushi on that neck. The Gloria puts Ibushi on the neck again for a near-fall, as did a reverse ‘rana off the top as I decide that Kota really doesn’t like having a neck that’s in one piece! Good LORD!
Somehow, Ibushi blocks a Destino and lawn darts Naito into the turnbuckle, before succeeding at deadlifting Naito off the apron, dumping him with a release German suplex as Ibushi somehow came close to victory. Naito escapes the Golden Star powerbomb and snaps back in with a tornado DDT, but both men were left spent on the mat as neither could go for a cover.
Ibushi tried for the Golden Star powerbomb out of the corner, before instead opting to leave Naito on the top rope with a backflip kick, then bring him back into the ring with a piledriver off the middle rope. Yet somehow, Naito kicked out! A rolling kick from Naito looked to set up for Destino, but Ibushi blocked it and threw some palm strikes… only for Naito to hit it at the third attempt… and Ibushi somehow kicked out just in time! Not to be deterred, Naito hit it again, and that’s all folks! An all-out war as Naito and Ibushi did a number on Kota’s own neck, and that is one massive way to open the G1! *****
Well, that was special, wasn’t it? A real “something for everyone” grab bag in the first round of the G1. You had your big lads matches, your sadistic Zack, your strong style slug fest and your stellar main event that left it all out there. It’s only night one, but there’s a LOT for the rest of the G1 to follow up…
How on earth do you do that?!
G1 Climax 27 Standings
Block A (after one match):
Bad Luck Fale, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito, YOSHI-HASHI, Zack Sabre Jr (1-0; 2pts)
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii, Yuji Nagata (0-1; 0pts)