G1 Climax 2015 Day 11 (Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito, A. J. Styles, Toru Yano)

Results

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Sixth Day of competition for A Block already and we start with some Tiger Mask IV news. It seems he has suffered some kind of neck injury and will be out for some time. Let’s hope it’s not too serious. But, as they say, the show must go on so let’s see what happened today:

Bad Luck Fale defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 9:51 via pinfall. Smartly booked as neither of them was required to do much beyond some spirited brawling. Fale’s win was logical in so far Tenzan is mostly there to put the younger wrestlers over.

Toru Yano defeated Katsuyori Shibata in 4:01 via pinfall. The Sublime Master Thief did it again by stealing the victory from one of this block’s favorites. And I called it for once. Short but fun match with Shibata going on the offense and Yano exploiting the first opening he got. Crowd reaction was huge. But I called it. What, I can’t give myself a pat on the back from time to time?

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Doc Gallows in 11:37 via pinfall. Not a bad match, with Tanahashi working well with Gallows. Last part of the match was really good with Gallows unleashing some power moves for a great near-fall. Tanahashi countered a power-bomb attempt with a roll up for the win. Fun.

A. J. Styles defeated Togi Makabe in 11:17 via pinfall. Very physical and intense match-up between those two. Crowd loved it. My only complaint was that it could have been at least five minutes longer. Really good stuff regardless.

Tetsuya Naito defeated Kota Ibushi in 17:18 via pinfall. Amazing back and forth affair with some insane moves. Ibushi landed on his neck at some point, but, luckily, without apparent consequences. Crowd ate it up and Naito used his new finisher, Destino (a modified reverse DDT) to finish things off. go out of your way to watch this!

Standings:

Katsuyori Shibata – 8
Bad Luck Fale – 8
Tetsuya Naito – 8
A. J. Styles – 8
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 8
Kota Ibushi – 6
Togi Makabe – 4
Toru Yano – 4
Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 2
Doc Gallows – 2

Analysis: Yano got his big win which will probably set up a feud against Shibata in the coming months. Fale continues to be pushed as the dominant monster heel, which he isn’t really but who cares? It’s the perception that counts in wrestling. Styles, Tanahashi and Naito complete the list of wrestlers tied for first place. Ibushi needs to win against Fale next, if he wants to keep his chances intact. Styles is still my favorite, but it’s anyone’s ballgame at this point.

In other results:

Hirooki Goto, Michael Elgin and Mascara Dorada defeated Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Yohei Komatsu. (Dorada pinned Komatsu)

Karl Anderson and Cody Hall defeated Tomoaki Honma and Jay White. (Anderson pinned White) Honma is always popular but White is starting to get some good crowd reaction too.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Tama Tonga. (Ishii pinned Tonga)

Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI and Gedo defeated KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi and Captain New Japan. (Okada pinned Captain New Japan)

 

Next day of competition is on Friday 08/07 and will feature the following B Block matches:

Yuji Nagata vs. Michael Elgin
Tomoaki Honma vs. Karl Anderson
Satoshi Kojima vs. Hirooki Goto
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Elgin should continue his series of strong performances by pinning Nagata. Honma vs Anderson might be interesting since Anderson already has done what he came for (defeating Nakamura and Goto) so thhis could be Honma’s big win. Nakamura and Goto should have no problems winning. Which leaves Okada vs Ishii. At first glance it seems simple, Okada wins. Only problem Okada isn’t the one supposed to win this tournament, meaning he has to lose a couple more matches here and there. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ishii scored the upset win here.

 

 

I've been following wrestling for almost 30 years now, and the metal scene for even longer. And let's just say that all that head-banging has left me with some weird ideas that i will share with you from time to time. Aren't you glad?