Tokyo’s Machida Gymnasium provided some different scenery as the G1 continued with the third round of block A action!
Michael Elgin & Katsuya Kitamura vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
As you’d expect, Kojima only has eyes for Elgin – his G1 opponent on Tuesday in Fukushima – but he quickly got taken down with a shoulder tackle as Big Mike threatened to steam roll over him.
Kitamura comes in and has similar fun, dropping Kojima with a gutwrench suplex for a near-fall, which just gets him some Mongolian chops from Tenzan, before Kojima unloads with those rapid-fire chops in the corner. The diving elbow off the top follows for a near-fall, before Elgin comes in to squash Kojima and Tenzan in the corners. Nevertheless, the veterans make a comeback, and of course it’s a Strong Arm lariat that puts away Kitamura as Kojima quickly focused on Elgin ahead of Tuesday. Very short, but decent for the time. **½
Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado) vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay & Hirai Kawato
Poor Juice. He’s in for a beating on Tuesday… and today too! Juice has a very noticeable limp, and Suzuki smells blood right away.
Whilst Taichi and Despy take everyone else outside, Suzuki tries to batter Juice with kicks… but Robinson gives as good as he got, firing off some chops and Dusty punches before Suuzki ducked one and immediately went for a kneebar. Hirai Kawato tried to break it up, but Desperado tripped him, before he broke free and after hitting Juice… finally kicked away Suzuki. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!
Yeah, Suzuki dropped him with a forearm before punting him to the floor, which is also where he and Juice went as Suzuki took a chair to that knee. Somehow in all this, Juice chopped Suzuki’s chest open, drawing blood, and Juice’s night went from bad to worse as he had to deal with Taichi and that bloody bell hammer.
Eventually Juice ducks a head kick and drops Taichi with a clothesline… but nobody’s on the apron for him to tag, as Juice was left in the ring… before finally clotheslining Suzuki and made the tag out to Finlay. A dropkick from Finlay takes down Taichi, as he and Desperado eat uppercuts, before Kawato begged to come into play.
The first thing Kawato did was knock Suzuki off the apron, because he’s got a death wish, before he nearly stunned Despy with a backslide. In return he takes a spinebuster for a near-fall, before Pinche Loco (the Angel’s Wings) gets Desperado the win… as Juice and Suzuki leisurely slapped the taste out of each other’s mouths at ringside. A brutal but fun brawl, and I fear for Juice on Tuesday, particularly since Suzuki tried to snap his knee in the guard railings after. ***
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. Bullet Club (Tama Tonga & Chase Owens)
Hiromu cradled an invisible Daryl today, and he started by going straight for Chase as the match started on the outside. EVIL and Tama ended up in the crowd, where Tonga used one of the weights from the lighting rigs to blast EVIL with, all whilst Hiromu and Chase Owens tried to have something resembling a match in the ring.
An Owens dropkick leaves Takahashi down, just in time for Tonga to make it back to the apron as the fireman’s carry/corkscrew neckbreaker combo picked up a near-fall for the Bullet Club tandem. Tama mocks Daryl, which wasn’t wise as Hiromu took him down with a Dragon screw before bringing EVIL back into it.
We get a glimpse of EVIL and Tama, with a back senton squashing Tonga for a near-fall, as did a sidewalk slam. The Tongan Twist leaves EVIL down though, as Chase comes in to pick apart the pieces… but Takahashi runs in to try and buy some time… and it backfires as the Ingobernables duo took a Downward Spiral /DDT combo. Another Fireman’s carry/corkscrew neckbreaker attempt’s cut-off though as Hiromu pulled out Tama, but a superkick/clothesline combo from the Ingobernables signalled the end as EVIL caught Chase in the Banshee Muzzle… and there’s our quick submission. My feed skipped a bit here, but what I saw was alright – typical undercard fodder, really. **¾
After the match, Tama Tonga tried to surprise EVIL with a Gun Stun… but it was easily shoved off as Tonga went to the back with his proverbial tail between his legs.
Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Toru Yano & Jado
Yujiro falls for the old “look up” trick early, and doesn’t figure out how to give a receipt as Jado takes him to school early on, but when Omega comes in things take a turn for the comedic, as his springboard axehandle smash dropped Jado for a two-count. With a LOT of theatrics.
Yujiro returns and grabs a chinlock for Jado to fight out of, but Jado telegraphs a back body drop and gets kicked… before returning with a clothesline as he’s able to bring in Yano. Now we get our preview of Tuesday as Yano tries to Yano, eventually removing the turnbuckle pad to whack Omega with it. Yujiro does the same, accidentally battering Kenny with the padding, before Kenny gave Yano a taste of his own medicine, pulling him down by his hair.
An atomic drop and a clothesline of all things nearly gets Jado the win as Omega and Yano move to the double hair-pull spot… which the ref is forced to break up with an axehandle smash! With them out of the picture, Yujiro quickly goes back after Jado and gets the win with the Pimp Juice DDT… and given how little we saw of Omega and Yano here, Tuesday’s going to be rather ridiculous. **¼
Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & BUSHI) vs. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo
Our final match of a longer-than-usual undercard previews SANADA and Okada for Tuesday night…
SANADA experiences a mockingly-clean break straight away, before being taken down with a slam… only to roll away from a senton atomico. An early attempt at a Paradise Lock’s avoided though, as is a Rainmaker as they tease each other’s greatest hits before making the tag out.
Next up is Gedo and BUSHI, who try to glad hand the referee but of course it goes sour as Gedo ends up briefly getting double-teamed, before BUSHI chokes him with the t-shirt. BUSHI pulls away on Gedo’s beard, allowing SANADA to come in and tie up Gedo in a ball as Okada’s cheerleader took a pounding.
Speaking of Okada, he managed to get in and drop BUSHI with a flapjack before a neckbreaker slam put down SANADA. Gedo picks apart the pieces with a jawbreaker and superkick to BUSHI, before SANADA avoided an Okada dropkick to catch him in a Skull End… tying up Okada as BUSHI nailed an MX for the win. Brief, but fun, and I’m almost salivating over that SANADA/Okada match on Tuesday! ***
Once again, there’s no intermission… the Voices of Wrestling crew must have gotten to New Japan!
G1 Climax, Block A: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. YOSHI-HASHI
Sabre goes for YOSHI-HASHI’s legs at the bell, before opting for a more traditional approach… trying to twist his head off with a cravat! Of course, there’s outside interference as Desperado gets involved early, but YOSHI-HASHI quickly shrugs it off and lands some clotheslines.
Just like that though, Sabre twists away at YOSHI-HASHI’s arm between his legs as the sadistic side of his arsenal came into play, kicking away at YOSHI-HASHI like he was nothing. Of course, that woke up YOSHI-HASHI… who was quickly kicked back to the mat again, where Sabre tied him up in a double armbar, trapping the head in the process.
It’s all very torturous… for YOSHI-HASHI, that is! He’s still able to get back into it with a dropkick against a hung-in-the-ropes Sabre, before folding Zack in half with a Bunker Buster for a near-fall. A flipping powerbomb gets another near-fall for YOSHI, but Sabre quickly snapped into him with a PK and a triangle armbar… which nearly got broken free of, only for YOSHI-HASHI to have to make do with squirming to the ropes instead.
Sabre inadvertently runs into a left-arm lariat as YOSHI-HASHI somehow built up a head of steam without the crowd getting too much into him… but an attempt at Karma’s elbowed out of as Sabre switched into a Euro clutch for a near-fall. Another cross armbreaker follows, but YOSHI-HASHI tries to stand up out of it and turn it into Karma… which just gets countered into an Octopus hold, then the Young Boy Killer as the double armbar forces the Headhunter to tap. A solid match, but compared to last year, there’s something missing with YOSHI-HASHI – almost like the fans have relegated his status somewhat. ***¾
G1 Climax, Block A: Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Well… this is special, is it not? The pair open up with a spot of grappling, with neither really prevailing before Nagata’s attempt at a low dropkick fell short, and opened him up to one from Tanahashi.
Tanahashi starts working over Nagata’s leg, and gets booed for being cocksure about it, as he went to a figure four leglock instead. Nagata reverses it, but Tanahashi gets the ropes and instantly kicks away the knee as arrogant Hiroshi came across as a bit of a dick. There’s a comeback from Nagata, but his kicks get caught and returned with a slap… which just lit a fire as he started kicking away at Tana, laying waste to the Ace.
A Yakuza kick in the corner follows, as does an Exploder, but Tanahashi gets back into it as he targets the knee… only to get caught as Nagata traps the arm for the Fujiwara armbar! The comeback continues with the Blue Justice knee in the corner, as Nagata took Tanahashi up for a super Exploder! Somehow that only gets a two-count, as does a brainbuster as Tanahashi almost took the loss, before flipping out of a Backdrop Hold as he went back to Nagata’s knee.
The pair tee off on each other with slaps a plenty, eventually with Nagata sinking to a knee before he powered back up, and fell to a slap that looked to have busted him open! A Slingblade follows as Tanahashi started to win the crowd back, but his attempt at a High Fly Flow’s caught as Yuji popped up and went for another super Exploder… but this time he’s headbutted down as the High Fly Flow follows! A second one, a la a frog splash, also succeeds, and that’s plenty for Tanahashi to get the win… and leave Nagata pointless. Just as enthralling as I expected – and this G1 is still to have anything even approaching a bad match! Yeah, I think I might have jinxed it… ****
G1 Climax, Block A: Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale
Fale came out with a towel, but we didn’t get to see it as Naito leapt into him before he could enter the ring. For Daryl!
When we got going, Fale bulled Naito into the ropes, before this turned into something of a fight as Naito was taken down and sent into the barriers outside. This was quickly becoming men against boys stuff, with Naito struggling to get off the mat repeatedly as the monster Fale ran at him with splashes into the ropes.
After stomping a mudhole in Naito, Fale’s only able to get a one-count before Naito finally made a comeback with a reverse DDT and a low dropkick as he was forced to utilise his quickness if he were to have any hope here. Somehow he’s able to land the outside-in slingshot dropkick on Fale, before a missile dropkick staggered the big lad into the corner… but Fale’s still easily able to boot away Naito.
An avalanche in the corner and a big splash squashes Naito for a near-fall, before a Bad Luck Fall’s wriggled out of… but Naito’s flying forearm attempt is caught as he’s forced to take down Fale into a Pluma Blanca (Koji clutch)… but Fale’s far too fall and can easily get to the ropes. From there, Naito for some reason goes for a German suplex, and instead has to make do with the Koppo kick as that flying forearm finally takes down Fale.
Naito then pulls him up for Destino, but he’s caught and is forced to wriggle free and settle for an enziguiri instead. Fale quickly responds with a lariat, before Naito countered a Grenade into a DDT… but a second Destino attempt then countered into a Grenade as Fale almost won it. A Bad Luck Fall follows though, and Fale picks up a shocking win! That was not a result I’d picked… and that was quite good given the clash of styles here. This maybe wasn’t “Big Match Fale”, but this was a lot better than it could have ended up as. ***
G1 Climax, Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kota Ibushi
Just. Wow.
Perhaps surprisingly given the size difference, these two started off trading shoulder tackles, before Ibushi flipped out of a back suplex as the pair ended up leathering each other with forearms… with Ibushi finally drawing first blood with a couple of kicks. Ishii replies by taking Ibushi into the corner to choke him, before a suplex was reversed… only for the Golden Star to see Ishii pop straight back up!
They head outside, with Ibushi almost plancha’ing himself onto Ishii’s head, but it’s a familiar story back in the ring as Ishii tries to bulldoze past Kota, eventually dumping him onto his neck with a back suplex. Kota comes back with a kick to the chest before a missed PK just allowed him to land a standing moonsault for a near-fall… but Ishii fired himself back up. With the help of several of Kota’s kicks.
Several chops to the throat later, and Ishii was firmly back in control, toying with Ibushi in the corner before instantly getting some receipts… and nonchalant kicks as Ishii was trying to cover up on the mat. A spit sparks a slap battle, as the pair just wheeled away with those open handed shots before another Ibushi kick left the Stone Pitbull down.
Kota’s “I hate my neck” tour continued as he took a brainbuster off the top rope, still managing to kick out at two, before catching Ishii with a Dragon suplex for a near-fall of his own. More back and forth follows as an enziguiri and a sliding lariat from Ishii get him slightly closer to the win, before Ishii wriggled out of a lawn-dart attempt, only to fall to another enziguiri as both men collapsed in a heap on the mat.
Ishii blocks a clothesline, but has no answer for Kota’s barrage… until he kills him with a clothesline for a one-count! A Dragon suplex follows from Ibushi that almost gets the win, as they go back to stiff slaps… until a lariat from Ibushi and a vicious knee to the head again left both men down. In the end, Kota snatched the win with the Golden Star Powerbomb, and I have no words to even begin to summarise that… it wasn’t the match we expected, but both men delivered in spades here. ****½
G1 Climax, Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Togi Makabe
For the first time I can remember (that wasn’t a tribute show), Togi came out without being muted! So we got the Immigrant Song and a hometown pop for Makabe, who went straight for Goto with shoulder tackles right out of the gate.
Goto responds by clotheslining Makabe to the outside, where Togi decides to do the Bret Hart bump, chest-first into the guard rails. Maybe he hates his chest as much as Ibushi does his neck? Back in the ring, Goto ties up Makabe in a single-leg crab, before Makabe just invited him to punch away. So he did…
At least until Makabe got back to his feet as he ended up knocking Goto down with a shoulder tackle, which all built up to those mounted punches in the corner, which this crowd ate up. Goto kicked out of a Northern Lights suplex, before elbowing Makabe into the corner for a spinning heel kick.
The pair exchange clotheslines which eventually put them both on the mat in a heap, but Goto comes back with an ushigoroshi, only to take a German suplex as Makabe made sure he was still in it. More clobbering clotheslines follow, which Goto gets the worst of, before somehow finding a way to roll out of the path of the King Kong Kneedrop. Once both men got back up, Goto waffled Makabe with a kick to the head that almost won it, with both men almost working on fumes after the onslaught they’d subjected the other to.
A sleeperhold follows as Goto seemed to be softened up Makabe for a GTR, but Togi tried to escape and instead got pulled into a headbutt. More clotheslines follow as Goto cornered Makabe, before taking him up top… but Makabe head chopped his way free as he finally connected with the King Kong kneedrop, wiping out the face of Goto! One kneeling powerbomb later, Makabe still had to keep fighting as Goto’d kicked out, but the end was nigh as Goto was taken up top for a Spider German suplex attempt.
Makabe ended what little resistance was offered by ramming Goto’s head into the turnbuckle, before finishing with a Spider German and another King Kong Kneedrop as he picked up the win and his first two points! A decent main event, one for the hometown/live crowd, and poor Goto loses his undefeated run. ***½
Yet again, another sterling night of G1 action – although perhaps the weakest if you’re just going off of the snowflakes. We’re already seeing names falling away after just three rounds, albeit an entirely predictable one, and results today mean a third of the way through the tournament, there’s still a lot to do and no clear victor in sight!
G1 Climax 27 Standings
Block A (after three matches):
Bad Luck Fale, Hirooki Goto, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Zack Sabre Jr., Hiroshi Tanahashi (2-1; 4pts)
Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI (1-2; 2pts)
Yuji Nagata (0-3; 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)