Full result and some thoughts on the first day of the G1 climax. A word of explanation to those who are unfamiliar with this event. Traditionally, while wrestlers of one block will be engaged in tournament matches, wrestlers of the other will be fighting in various tag matches. I will always give you the relevant results and standings first and then speak of the other matches on the card and point out the notable happenings. That being said…
A block:
Hirotoshi Tenzan defeated Doc Gallows in 9:17 via submission. A rather boring affair, Tenzan clearly needs a couple of matches to warm up this year. Gallows was his usual self.
Togi Makabe defeated Toru Yano in 6:26 via pinfall. Short but fun due to Yano’s antics.
Testuya Naito defeated Bad Luck Fale in 10:41 via pinfall. Rather typical David and Goliath affair, Naito continues building up his heelish ways.
A. J. Styles defeated Katsuyori Shibata in 13:36 via pinfall. Great and intense match-up those two went at each-other with abandon. Incredibly heated back and forth affair, both Styles and Shibata looked great out there which bodes well for the rest of thier tournament. Seek this one out.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kota Ibushi in 20:53 via pinfall. Amazing match between those two, Tanahashi proved beyond a shadow of a doubt he is back to his top from and Ibushi went all out. Crowd was firmly behind both making this match one to watch.
Standings:
Hiroshi Tanahashi 2
A. J. Styles 2
Togi Makabe 2
Hirotoshi tenzan 2
Tetsuya Naito 2
Kota Ibushi 0
Katsuyori Shibata 0
Toru Yano 0
Bad Luck Fale 0
Doc Gallows 0
In other results:
Yohei Komatsu, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger and Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoaki Honma, Mascara Dorada, David Finlay and Jay White. All about Nagata and Honma who face each-other on Day 2.
Hirooki Goto and Captain New Japan defeated Cody Hall and Yujiro Takahashi.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Yoshi-Hashi defeated Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga.
Michael Elgin and Satoshi Kojima and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii and Gedo. Good match, most notable for Ishii who had fun picking fights with Elgin and Kojima. I told you Ishii would be one to watch, the tournament hasn’t started yet for him and he’s already on fire.
Program for Day Two (July 23):
B Block:
Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma
Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson
Watch out for Ishii vs Kojima, this one will be a war.
Until Thursday for day 2!
