Back to A Block for a G1 Tournament that is already delivering some big matches and results:
Kota Ibushi defeated Doc Gallows in 8:35 via pinfall. Big guy vs small guy routine but that actually delivered a good match of course. Ibushi has no problem carrying anyone to a good match, but, it must be said, Gallows did well here.
Bad Luck Fale defeated Togi Makabe in 8:06 via pinfall. Worst match of the day, Fale overwhelming Makabe meant he had the initiative for the biggest part of the match and that’s almost always a bad thing. Fale’s victory also means we’ll have a Makabe/Fale match for the NEVER Championship soon. Not sure I like that idea.
A. J. Styles defeated Toru Yano in 10:13 via submission. And another amazing effort by Styles. Those two had great chemistry and delivered a very enjoyable match. Styles is on fire right now.
Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tetsuya Naito in 12:11 via pinfall. Best match of the night, and, maybe, of the tournament thus far. Naito is quickly growing into one of the most interesting characters in wrestling right now, and Shibata came out like he had something to prove. Great stuff from both, watch this!
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Hirohoshi Tenzan in 15:11 via pinfall. Solid effort, Tanahashi is definitely back into full form, Tenzan does seem to struggle a bit to keep up on occasions. Good stuff from Tanahashi and hard work from Tenzan, the crowd loved it.
Analysis: No big upsets this time, Shibata is keeping himself in the running by beating Naito, NJPW still has faith in Fale for some reason, Tanahashi is going strong, but the talk of A Block is Styles’ current form. And Styles vs Ibushi is next! This will be a key match.
Standings:
A. J. Styles 4
Hiroshi Tanahashi 4
Kota Ibushi 2
Tetsuya Naito 2
Katsuyori Shibata 2
Togi Makabe 2
Bad Luck Fale 2
Toru Yano 0
Hirohoshi Tenzan 0
Doc Gallows 0
In other results:
Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Yohei Komatsu defeated Michael Elgin, Máscara Dorada, Jay White and David Finley
Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Yujiro Takahashi and Cody Hall
Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga defeated Hirooki Goto and Captain New Japan
Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Gedo
G1 climax is picking up speed as the next day for B Block is scheduled for tomorrow:
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Satoshi Kojima vs. Michael Elgin
Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yuji Nagata
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomoaki Honma
Ishii should have no problems putting away Takahashi. It’s crunch time already for Elgin and Kojima who both need a win quickly. Gooto vs Anderson is perhaps the most intriguing, will Anderson prove his win over Nakamura wasn’t a fluke by beating the IC Champion next? Nakamura needs to win to keep his chances intact. Problem is Nagata isn’t an easy man to beat. I can’t wait for Okada vs Honma, this will be another fantastic match. Upset for Honma? Nah, not in this spot.
I’ll keep you all posted over the week-end!
