14th August 2015.
We’re in Tokyo, Japan at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. Or Sumo Hall for those who have difficulty spelling that. Before we head into the conclusive night of Block A action here are the Blocks after Day Sixteen: BLOCK A: AJ Styles 12 Hiroshi Tanahashi 12 Tetsuya Naito 10 Bad Luck Fale 10 Katsuyori Shibata 8 Togi Makabe 8 Kota Ibushi 6 Toru Yano 6 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 4 Doc Gallows 4 BLOCK B: Kazuchika Okada 14 Karl Anderson 12 Hirooki Goto 12 Shinsuke Nakamura 12 Tomohiro Ishii 8 Michael Elgin 8 Yujiro Takahashi 4 Satoshi Kojima 4 Yuji Nagata 4 Tomoaki Honma 2 Block A is really simple. Whoever wins the AJ Styles-Hiroshi Tanahashi main event tonight is going to the G1 Final. Both guys were runners up last year and Tanahashi scored a decisive pinfall victory over AJ in their unofficial third place play off. Tana is 3-1 over AJ (in New Japan) although lost his prestigious IWGP title to AJ earlier in the year in their last meeting. Block B is a bit more complex but we’ll get to that tomorrow. Bullet Club (Karl Anderson, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga) vs. Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada Anderson has Kojima tomorrow night, which is a match that has huge ramifications. If Karl wins that contest he could sneak into the G1 Final by virtue of a strong record against the other contenders. There’s another G1 match being hyped here as Honma faces off against Yujiro in an attempt to extend his winning streak to TWO matches. Honma’s victory has not effected his popularity and he’s greeted by a gigantic “Honma” chant. HONMANIA is runnin’ wild! I’m pretty sure the Kokeshi Count gimmick is getting over with the announcers too as it sounds like they say “one hit” when Honma lands his first Kokeshi. Anderson vs. Kojima is a bludgeoning session and Kojima looks in fine form ahead of his final Block contest. Even Tama vs. Dorada is all kinds of great. Dorada bringing reckless abandon and Tama his usual weirdness. Honma accidentally bashes Dorada with a Kokeshi though and Tama wins with the Headshrinker DDT. So much for Honma’s winning streak! Hopefully he’ll do better in singles tomorrow. Final Rating: **3/4 KOKESHI COUNT – 1 missed. 2 hit (1 on a team mate, accidentally) Michael Elgin & reDRagon vs. The Young Bucks & Cody Hall ROH and Razor Ramon’s son in the house! Matt Jackson has words for Jim Cornette, right into the camera, telling him to “suck it”. Cornette has been quite outspoken in calling the Bucks “spot monkeys”. Part of me agrees with him, part of me thinks Jim hasn’t quite moved with the times and wrestling isn’t wrestling anymore. It’s more about showmanship and executing difficult moves and that’s where the Bucks excel. I think the Bucks just about do enough to keep their work the right side of business exposing. There’s a lot of comedy miscues and high-pitched yelling of “suck it” during this before Elgin freaks everyone out by hitting a dive. They fucking LOVE Elgin in Tokyo. He’s had a career making tour. The ROH guys work a great spot where reDRagon double suplex Cody and Elgin takes the Bucks over by himself. There’s a tidy sequence later on too where O’Reilly thinks he’ll take Cody to school, only to discover Hall has been working hard in the NJPW Dojo and he knows a few counters now. Combine that with his size and he’s become a threat to bigger name guys. Nobody can compete with #BigMike though. Elgin is outstanding throughout this match as he has been all tour long. Not sure why he’s not wrestling Ishii here as that’s the Block B match tomorrow. They hyped it earlier in the tour and made me very excited at the prospect so maybe they figure it’s job done. The Bucks end up double teaming Elgin but even that doesn’t get them anywhere, although Cody gets a surprising about of offence in against Elgin. They manage to get the deadlift powerbomb they botched earlier in the tour and the Elginbomb finishes. Seriously good little tag match and arguably the best match of Cody Hall’s career to date. Final Rating: ***1/2 Hirooki Goto, Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & KUSHIDA Tour debuts for part-timer Nakanishi (who’s not wrestled in the G1 tournament since 2010) and Junior title contender Ricochet. This is his chance to get one over on KUSHIDA. Goto and Nagata meet in G1 action tomorrow. Nagata looks to be playing the part of spoiler but also winding down his G1 career. How many more of these can he wrestle? Especially at the pace he seems to enter into every match; eager to wail on his opponent and Goto is equal to everything Nagata brings in this match. You could be forgiven for thinking it was Nakanishi who’s competing in the G1 as he throws everyone around with consummate ease. Presumably because he’s well rested after three weeks of kicking back and watching everyone else bust a gut. I don’t think Nakanishi could bust his gut, it looks like it’s made of iron. Ricochet hasn’t been in New Japan for a while (not since his last bout with Kota Ibushi at Dominion in June over a year ago), after starring in last year’s Super Juniors tournament, and he quickly reminds the crowd of how awesome he is. His speedy counters are ridiculously innovative and yet high-impact and KUSHIDA looks out-matched for once. They do enough cool stuff in this match to sell their title bout in two days time. Likewise Nagata and Goto go hell for leather to sell their match tomorrow, even though for Nagata there’s only pride at stake. I sense they will have a war. For a throwaway tag this is also really good with even the weaker elements working hard. Nagata ends up submitting Captain New Japan for the win. Final Rating: ***1/4 CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Kazushi Sakuraba & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Gedo & The Kingdom (Michael Bennett & Matt Taven) Well, this is unusual. Okada vs. CHAOS! Throughout the G1 the hype matches have not included tag contests between faction members…until now. That’s how key the Nakamura-Okada match is tomorrow night. The New Japan cameramen get very feisty at the sight of Maria Kanellis and her dress allows the commentators to perve over her arse. The whole CHAOS colliding deal here has Nakamura in pensive mood. Should he fight Okada to get an upper hand in the tournament or should he put their brotherhood in CHAOS first? Ishii is completely different and looks like he wouldn’t need paying to punch Gedo in the face (THAT’S FOR JOBBING ME TO HONMA. HONMA!) Gedo also has no compunctions about wrestling his CHAOS buddies, and cheating. This winds Ishii up a treat! He clearly believes that CHAOS should stick together through thick and thin and shouldn’t work each other in this match. But as soon as that line is crossed it’s on and Nakamura vs. Okada is on! Okada comes across as sensible and he uses the tag environment to soften up Nakamura. It’s not a babyface move but Okada doesn’t care about any of that crap, he just wants to win. CHAOS set Okada up for the Boma Ye though and Taven has to save. It’s a very dramatic moment for a throwaway tag. It shows where everyone’s loyalty lies. The big swerve is that Sakuraba finds Maria attractive…to the point where he’ll release a submission hold on Gedo to check her out. He still beats Gedo but there was a moment of tension created by Maria. Some good storytelling all round during this one. I’m pleased to see Ishii go and check on Gedo after the match and Nakamura to show those same signs of ambivalence toward Okada after the match. Final Rating: *** G1 Climax 25 Block A Doc Gallows vs. Katsuyori Shibata Pre-Match Pick: Shibata. Gallows was here to make up the numbers and he got his spoiler win over Naito. Shibata is already eliminated after several catastrophic losses (Yano was bad, Tenzan unfortunate and Tanahashi heartbreaking). There’s no logical reason for Gallows to beat Shibata. The Wrestler’s first order of business is removing Gallows’ facepaint…with his boot. Take away the mystery of the faceless man. After all, he’s just a man. The main crux of Gallows strategy is to try and win by count out, like Shibata lost to Fale last year. We’ve not had a count out, despite a lot of teasing, this year. Due to the relative clash of styles (Gallows clubbering and WWE big spots vs. Shibata’s hardcore love of Strongstyle) the match is a bit of a clunker. At least Katsuyori has a nice time kicking the fuck out of Doc and Gallows gets to hit a few meaty power moves. It’s not a bad match, by any stretch. Gallows kicks Shibata in a face a lot and finishes with the Mehshugganator. Holy shit. I guess he didn’t have enough points or something? There was no need for this. Unless this is specifically so Shibata and Ishii finish level in the Blocks so they have an excuse for them to wrestle each other in two days. In which case…I approve. Final Rating: **1/2 Picks: 58/81 G1 Climax 25 Block A Bad Luck Fale vs. Toru Yano Pre-Match Pick: Yano. Does it really matter who wins this match? One would hope Fale doesn’t win because the higher up he finishes the more likely he’ll feature during the G1 Finals show. Yano trolls the hell out of Fale with the water bottle spots before the bell. DDT should book Yano to tag with the Brahmen brothers. Fale’s idea of assault is hitting Yano with the YTR VTR CHAOS DVD. Then Tama shows him the true meaning of heeldom and smashes the DVD up. Seriously though Fale, who hits someone with a DVD case? Yano manages to punch Fale in the balls on the outside and wins on count out. Ah, the count out victory! Long overdue. Final Rating: * Picks: 59/82 G1 Climax 25 Block A Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan Pre-Match Pick: Tenzan. Naito is in trouble as he disparaged Tenzan before the tournament calling the G1 veteran a “has-been”. Like Nagata, there’s a feeling that Tenzan is winding this stage of his career down and he might not be in the G1 next year. He’s out to make one last point against young punk Naito. Skeletor is painfully slow undressing so Tenzan just starts the match. Naito doesn’t think much of Tenzan’s stuff and spits on him while stealing the Mongolian Chops and smirking. He is insufferable. The constant gobbing on opponents is perhaps even worse than the languid performances. Naito is trying hard to symbolise everything that I hate about humanity. The match has almost nothing to do with Naito, as the fans rally behind Tenzan and it becomes about an old timer fighting against the odds and the disrespect of youth. The storyline is so overwhelming they can sit in submissions for longer and both the Anaconda Vice and Pluma Blanca work as rallying near finish spots. Tenzan hits a headbutt on Naito that’s so vicious, so brutal, I can’t breathe. The *CLUNK* noise when it connects is absolutely sickening. It leads right into the finish via Anaconda Vice and old man Tenzan gets another win to go out on. This was more about storyline than action but the storyline worked fine. Final Rating: ***1/4 Picks: 60/83. Quite pleased with this as 60 was what I was hoping to hit pre-tournament. A two-thirds accuracy overall… and the tournament isn’t finished yet. G1 Climax 25 Block A Kota Ibushi vs. Togi Makabe Pre-Match Pick: Ibushi. Kota has had a disastrous tournament in terms of wins and losses and yet his performances have been unparalleled. Surely he won’t finish the Block in a tie with Doc Gallows and in joint last place? Makabe is tough but Ibushi is tough and fast. Kota is a lot smarter than people give him credit for too and he targets Makabe’s heavily taped left leg. Another injury in a string of them during G1. Wear and tear alone sees most guys develop an injury during G1. It’s exhausting. Togi and Kota have similar weaknesses too, both unable to tell a storyline that involves an injured body part. Togi’s selling is slightly better than Ibushi’s but that’s not saying much. At least Togi leans heavily on his healthy side when moving around the ring. Togi’s inability to flee also sets him up for Ibushi’s more dramatic flying spots like the Triangle Moonsault. It makes sense that Togi is just standing there because he can’t evade it with one leg. Kota can also bump like a maniac to make Togi’s wild swinging, from his motionless base, look more effective than it is (it’s a bit like watching Ken the Box, PWG fans. YouTube it!). Ibushi takes more bumps on his neck than I would in a match that essentially means nothing. Another Ibushi strength is his ability to escape the inescapable and he flips out of the Spider German Superplex. That’s generally a killer. Makabe’s lack of mobility finds him floored for the Phoenix Splash and Ibushi finishes his tournament with a well earned win. Final Rating: ***1/2 Picks: 61/84 G1 Climax 25 Block A AJ Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi Pre-Match Pick: Tough as I picked AJ to win the Block but I’ve also developed a policy of always picking Tanahashi to win because it pays off more often than not. I went with Tanahashi. Regardless; this is the big one. Winner takes Block A and advances to the G1 25 Final. The crowd are noticeably into AJ Styles, as if his attitude during G1 has shown slight babyface inclination. That’s evident in the early going where he flat out challenges Tana to out-wrestle him, if he can. As they miss each other at speed before an Indy Stand Off, the match develops a big match feel that you can’t fake. It’s also a very defined slow burn. This won’t be a ten-twelve minute match. They’re in it for the long haul. As per usual Tana works the knee. That’s his big match crutch, one it’d be nice to see him vary from every once in a while. Mainly because his finisher is a top rope move. Work the back, the ribs maybe? I understand the knee stops his opponent from getting up on the HFF but the impact is all on the torso. AJ is never usually grouped together with the guys who don’t sell effectively (like Kota or Shinsuke) but that’s very true of him. He sells the knee when Tana is working it over and then forgets about it. The match is starting to drag and Tana must sense that as he inserts a clearly pre-planned HFF to the floor. It gives the match a little boost. Not that Tana can take advantage with AJ springboarding back into the ring with the quebrada inverted DDT. That doesn’t make much sense to me, in terms of the bigger story they were going for. Have we switched gears? Nope, Tana goes right back to the leg. Following that is a ref bump and AJ making sure he’s a heel with a low blow. Another irksome occurrence is the ‘fatigue selling’ that the WWE main eventers are so fond of. Staggering around in between spots or, even worse, lying on the mat doing nothing. You’d think Tanahashi and Styles had better conditioning than that. AJ gets the Calf Killer and Red Shoes does an epic job of teasing Tanahashi having quit. Being a Superman babyface Tana gets into the ropes and it’s merely a false finish. Tanahashi isn’t going to submit to lose a place in the G1 final. The match continues to grind on with both guys selling fatigue in a big way and yet still capable of hitting big moves like Tanahashi’s snap neckbreaker or AJ’s springboard forearm smash. Things get interesting as Tana tries to showboat and steal the Styles Clash only to get countered by AJ, who obviously knows the hold. This doesn’t put Tana off and he drags AJ out of the corner; STYLES CLASH…FOR 2. HIGH FLY FLOW…GETS KNEES! AJ hanging on by a thread there and up he goes; HIGH FLY FLOW…for 2. No Spiral Tap? BLOODY SUNDAY! They’re really going all out down the stretch, having dragged the match kicking and screaming into it. AJ’s bad leg eventually pays off as Tana hits a few spots on it and finishes with the High Fly Flow to advance to the G1 Final! A lot of folks are calling this “great”, which I disagree with. The last couple of minutes were a thrill ride but I’d question the need for all the stuff that got us there. Fatigue selling rubs me up the wrong way when it’s not done well and neither of these guys are good at it. Not that many people are. At least all that legwork paid off. This was a good match but not the showstealer I thought it would be based on their previous contests. Final Rating: **** Picks: 62/85. Here’s the Block as we wave goodbye to Block A for good, with Hiroshi Tanahashi perched on top permanently now. BLOCK A: Hiroshi Tanahashi 14 – Winner! AJ Styles 12 Tetsuya Naito 10 Bad Luck Fale 10 Katsuyori Shibata 8 Togi Makabe 8 Toru Yano 8 Kota Ibushi 8 Doc Gallows 6 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 6 Summary: How much you get out of this show depends on how much you enjoyed AJ vs. Tana and for me it was their worst match together, to date. There are several better matches out there between them. The finishing sequences were fine and the way they built up to it was fine but the stalling at the start and the overselling killed it for me. It was a very American match and I don’t watch Japanese wrestling to see that sort of style. It’s a smidge disappointing for them to go this route but, like I said before, most people liked it more than me (consensus being around ****3/4, I’m not seeing it). Unlike other irate NJPW fans, I’m not that bothered that Tanahashi won because that makes it very hard to predict the final. If AJ made the final, he’d have lost. Tanahashi being there makes the whole thing a little harder to predict. Regardless of who he faces. Verdict: 82
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AuthorArnold Furious Archives
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