Block B got their night at Korakuen Hall as the fourth round of this year’s G1 Climax concluded… as the undercard brought a tragic end to an innocent kitty.
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs. Togi Makabe, Kota Ibushi & David Finlay
It’s a two-for-one here as we’re building to Goto/Makabe and Ishii/Ibushi tomorrow, and it’s that latter pair that start us off with plenty of clubbing forearms!
Ishii quickly takes over with a series of chops to Ibushi’s throat, and that leaves the Golden Star in position to be worked over by all three of his opponents, courtesy of some frequent tags. Eventually, Ibushi nails a dropkick and makes the tag out to Makabe, who has no trouble bulldozing over Goto into the corner.
Goto’s forced to kick out of a bridging Northern Lights suplex, before some clotheslines left both men laying… and Goto with a sore mouth. Next is Gedo and Finlay, and things quickly escalate as Ibushi cuts off Ishii’s attempted run-in by throwing him outside for a massive plancha. Meanwhile Gedo tries for some cheap wins, before getting nailed with a Stunner as Finlay picked up the W. Brief, but a fun trios tag as those wrestling tomorrow decided to keep brawling after the bell. **½
Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & El Desperado) vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Jado
Of course we had a jump start as Sabre throws YOSHI-HASHI to the outside at the bell… but the camera decides to focus on Jado charging down Despy with shoulder tackles rather than what Sabre’s doing to YOSHI-HASHI.
Desperado returns those chops, as Jado takes such a beating that he had to throw himself into the corner to try and make the tag out… before missing wildly. Sabre tries to capitalise with an armbar to Jado, which YOSHI-HASHI breaks up, before Jado eventually lands a clothesline in desperation to take down Despy.
Both men tag out as YOSHI-HASHI tries to clear house on Sabre, but European uppercuts stall things before Zack takes a rope-hung dropkick for a near-fall. A leg sweep gets the Suzuki-gun tandem back in it, at least until a Bunker Buster dropped Despy, as did a running Blockbuster with Jado snatching the near-fall.
Back in the ring, Jado nearly wins with the rope-hung DDT on Desperado as YOSHI-HASHI was restraining Sabre outside… but Zack comes in and hits Travis Banks’ Slice of Heaven to the back of Jado before tying up YOSHI-HASHI in an Octopus hold. A spear from Desperado nearly beats Jado, before the Guitarra de Angel got the win. Fun stuff here, with plenty of stuff to look forward to in tomorrow’s G1 match. ***
Yuji Nagata & Tomoyuki Oka vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuya Kitamura
Nagata and Tanahashi start us off, and after a few feints they bring in the youngsters to have a go… and their first exchange is a bit of a stalemate.
Things change when Nagata comes in to work over Kitamura’s arm, but the rookie monsters up after a series of kicks. Oka has another go, and knocks Tanahashi off the apron so he can keep taking shots at Kitamura… but of course, Kitamura lights him up with some vicious chops as the Young Lions charge into each other repeatedly.
Oka edges ahead with an elbow drop to get a two-count on Kitamura, but then both men tag out as we go back to Nagata and Tanahashi… of course, Tanahashi dropkicks Oka off the apron as he tries to isolate Nagata ahead of a flip senton. Nagata blocks a Slingblade and gets off an Exploder suplex, before taking down Tanahashi with the Fujiwara armbar… which Kitamura quickly breaks up to a chorus of boos.
Kitamura comes in and drops Nagata with a spear before deadlifting him up into a gutwrench suplex for a near-fall. A torture rack follows from Kitamura, but Oka broke that up after gutwrenching Tanahashi to the outside. In the end though, Nagata comes back with an enziguiri before the Backdrop Hold earned him the win over Kitamura – another fun tag, but they perhaps gave away too much for tomorrow’s match… ***
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI)
Fale waves away Naito at the bell, which just earns him a sneak attack as the match spilled to the floor for the usual gubbins. Back in the ring, BUSHI takes down Owens with a dropkick and starts choking on him with his t-shirt as the Ingobernables take shortcuts a plenty against Chase, but then we go back outside as Naito gets thrown onto the commentary table… which collapses under his weight!
Fale grabs Daryl and rips him apart – to the horror of the Korakuen crowd! Parts of Daryl’s guts somehow end in the ring as Hiromu’s worn over by Yujiro.
Eventually a Dragon screw takes down Yujiro as we end up back at Fale and Naito… and yes, the Ingobernables try to double-team to keep the big man down. It doesn’t work. Chase Owens gets in and nearly picks up the win with a backbreaker on Naito, but he comes back to escape a package piledriver and go for a satellite DDT. BUSHI distracts the ref in the background so Naito can punt Owens low, as a roll-up gets the Ingobernables the win… but the big story here was Daryl. Purr in peace… **¼
After the match, Hiromu picked up was left of Daryl and took him to the back… am I cruel for hoping that he comes back all patched up and zombified?
G1 Climax, Block B: Toru Yano vs. Satoshi Kojima
Yano nearly steals it with a schoolboy out of the gate after spraying Kojima with a water bottle… and then he runs for his life!
Right into Tenzan, as Kojima started to stomp away… and then get some payback by spraying Yano right back. There’s a rather unimpressed look on Kojima as he watches Yano do his break shtick, before he’s taken outside and whipped into the barricades.
The turnbuckle pad comes off and gets whacked on Kojima’s head like it were a very padded chair, and Yano surprisingly is able to get a decent string of offence in, at least until Kojima hit some Mongolian chops and then the machine-gun chops into the corner.
Yano log rolls away from an attempted elbow drop, which is perhaps the first smart thing he’s done in the entire match, but he can only delay a DDT as Kojima gets a grip on the match. Things go sour as Yano whips Kojima into Tenzan, but another DDT levels things up, as does a Koji Cutter. Yano ducks a Strong Arm lariat and unsights the ref for a while… two low blows later, and bloody Yano gets the win. Fun while it lasted, but a little long for my liking, especially with that finish! ***¼
G1 Climax, Block B: EVIL vs. Juice Robinson
Juice surprises EVIL out the gate with a shotgun dropkick and a cannonball before flying to the outside with a plancha… but EVIL quickly comes back with a drop toe hold into the guard rails as he was seemingly trying to decapitate Juice.
A clothesline takes Juice into the front row… which he narrowly beats the 20 count to get back to the ring from, as EVIL continues to wrench away on the neck with a chinlock. Robinson comes back with some Dusty punches, and fakes out into a DDT as he gets a near-fall on EVIL, but things swing back the other way when EVIL crotched Juice on the top rope.
Eat Defeat leaves EVIL reeling as the pair trade strikes in the ropes, leading to a Juice spinebuster… and a top rope Kokeshi for a near-fall! Juice is having more luck with that move than Honma ever did! A Fisherman’s suplex into the corner gets things back for EVIL, before he superkicks Robinson in the midsection… but Juice comes back with a lariat, then a powerbomb that almost got him a second win!
EVIL blocks a Pulp Friction though and nails Juice with a release German suplex… but Juice pops back up and lays into EVIL with a clothesline. They switch between Pulp Friction and Everything is EVIL, before EVIL just says “screw this” and plants Juice with a Tiger suplex! A lariat from EVIL follows, but Juice finds a way to kick out, only to fall to the Everything is EVIL STO for the loss. Both men move to 1-1 records, and my word, EVIL’s getting a trend of really good G1 outings this year! ****¼
G1 Climax, Block B: SANADA vs. Minoru Suzuki
Suzuki tried to rough up SANADA at the bell, but that quickly backfired as SANADA took him to the corner and stomped on him… although Suzuki was grinning throughout, so… I don’t know?!
Suzuki cuts off a springboard and catches SANADA with a rope-hung armbar before booting him off the apron with a PK. They head into the crowd as Suzuki breaks a chair on SANADA’s back, and of course Desperado gets a shot or two in as the referee tried to deal with things. SANADA’s forced to crawl back to the ring, but Suzuki immediately tried to shove him back outside so he could rough him up some more.
SANADA tries to mount a comeback, but it doesn’t even register until a series of low dropkicks knocks Suzuki back. Desperado comes in and is quickly taken out as SANADA sprung back into the match with a missile dropkick, but his insistence on rolling up Suzuki in a Paradise lock ended up with him being caught in an armbar.
After escaping, SANADA catches a PK and drops Suzuki with a Dragon screw before finally succeeding in the Paradise Lock at the third attempt. From there, he tries for a Skull End, but gets caught quickly in a sleeperhold before Suzuki turned into a Gotch piledriver attempt that was countered out of.
Another rear naked choke’s broken up with a side suplex by SANADA, who then went for the TKO, earning a near-fall, but Suzuki gets back up and like a rabid dog works back to that rear naked choke, turning it into a Gotch piledriver for his first win of the tournament. A solid enough match, but given the high floor that the G1’s had this year, this may have been one of the more skippable matches. ***¼
G1 Climax, Block B: Tama Tonga vs. Kenny Omega
Part of the story going in here was the simmering feud within the Bullet Club, with Tama Tonga openly questioning Kenny Omega’s loyalty – especially considering he’s more apt to count himself as part of the Elite.
Tama jumps Omega during the entrances, and it’s notable that Tonga’s got Fale and Chase Owens with him, whilst Omega’s only got Yujiro. Tama quickly rips off Kenny’s Elite shirt, with Omega returning the favour as they lit into each other. Tonga’s dropkick quickly sends Omega to the outside, where he takes a whip into the guard railings, before Tama blocked a receipt and just charged back at Kenny with a clothesline.
Tama gets the mic during the match, calling out Omega for not representing the Bullet Club… and then launches into him with a Stinger splash! It’s quite the tear-down of their current (?) leader, but Omega’s able to try and make a comeback, only for Tonga to kick him in the knee to get some separation. A neckbreaker gets Kenny down again, allowing Tama to work over the injured knee of Omega, but another missed Stinger splash opened the door for Kenny. Some double axehandles put Tonga on the back foot as a Kotaro Krusher gets a near-fall, before a snap ‘rana takes Tama to the outside… for a Terminator tope con hilo that almost put Kenny into the front row!
Back in the ring, a Doctor Wily Bomb gets another two-count, but he took too long to go for the V-trigger as Tama popped up and speared Kenny out of his boots instead. A discus elbow knocked Tama down, but he’s able to hit an overhead kick to avoid a Dragon suplex… only to take a V-trigger and the over-the-knee brainbuster… and the V-triggers rain down as Kenny went for the One Winged Angel, only for Tama to escape!
In the end, a blocked Gun Stun allows Kenny to hit a snap Dragon suplex and a couple of V-triggers before the One Winged Angel finally puts away the dissenter. This was a really solid match, backed with the bubbling undercurrent of the intra-Bullet Club feud… which is far from over! ***¾
G1 Climax, Block B: Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada
We start with rather heavy-handed feeling-out process as the pair went after each other with shoulder blocks in the opening stages, before Elgin responded to Omega’s mockingly-clean break with some forearms.
Elgin clotheslines Okada to the outside after snapmaring his way free of a Rainmaker, and he followed Okada to lay into him with forearms, only for his charge to get countered as he’s backdropped into the front row. Okada goes after him with a leaping crossbody over the guard rail, but Elgin easily catches him and slams him back into the ringside area!
After some more slams and a back suplex onto the apron, Elgin pushed Okada in to score his first near-fall, but a slingshot splash misses and opens the door for Okada to get back into play. Elgin’s taken outside for a whip into the guard railings, which just cemented Okada’s advantage here… at least until Big Mike fought out of a strait-jacket strangle hold.
Okada tries to charge at Elgin in the corner with back elbows, but they’re eventually caught and turned into a German suplex before blasting Okada with avalanche clotheslines. Big Mike’s able to string together plenty of offence, but he couldn’t make any of it go for a pinning attempt… so when Okada dragged down Elgin with a flapjack, you got a sense that perhaps it was a missed opportunity, especially as Okada quickly took him down for a diving European uppercut that earned him a two-count.
Elgin is able to avoid the Red Ink STF, before dropping the champ with a powerslam. An attempted big boot just earns Okada a massive right forearm, but he runs into a neckbreaker slam instead as Okada countered a charge into the corner. The top rope elbow gives us a mini-Rainmaker pose, but Elgin’s able to counter the move… and get dropkicked out to the floor once again.
Okada tries to sneak back with a missile dropkick, but Elgin catches it in mid-air, turning it into a powerbomb to almost win it, but the pair went back to clubbing shots as Okada went for a tombstone, and ended up seeing it countered into an enziguiri. A missed clothesline gave Okada the shot to drop Elgin with a German suplex, then again with a dropkick, before Elgin decked Okada with a lariat as he was mid-Rainmaker!
Another clothesline dumped Okada on his head as Elgin’s sit-out crucifix bomb almost got him the win! Elgin keeps up the offence with a spinning forearm, before setting the champ up for a deadlift superplex… but Okada escapes and ends up dropkicking Big Mike out of the air as he went flying off the top rope! That tombstone’s countered again by Elgin, who sees Okada fall onto the apron as the pair threw forearms at each other, before Elgin went for that deadlift superplex again.
That doesn’t work, but he does drop Okada on the top rope with an enziguiri as the superplex worked on the next attempt for another two-count! From there, Elgin dumps Okada with a buckle bomb and a pop-up powerbomb, the latter countering away from a Rainmaker, but he still can’t get the three count! Just like that, Okada went for a Rainmaker, but ended up getting it countered into a spinning backfist, before Elgin fell to a tombstone and a Rainmaker as Okada flashed together his heavy hits for the win! My word, a brutal main event, and one that perhaps dragged Elgin back into the contendership picture – after so many had written him out? ****½
Especially when the G1’s been as good as it has been this year, it takes something special to overshadow it… and the undercard certainly did. Or, in fact, the actions of Bad Luck Fale. Yes, Daryl’s tragic demise overshadowed what was a solid round of G1 action, but if you’re cherry picking, EVIL/Juice and Elgin/Okada are your cherries today!
G1 Climax 27 Standings
Block A (after two matches):
Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito (2-0; 4pts)
Bad Luck Fale, Kota Ibushi, Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI, Zack Sabre Jr. (1-1; 2pts)
Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata (0-2; 0pts)
Block B (after two matches):
Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega (2-0; 4pts)
EVIL, Juice Robinson, Minoru Suzuki, SANADA, Tama Tonga, Toru Yano (1-1; 2pts)
Michael Elgin, Satoshi Kojima (0-2; 0pts)