Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax Day 17 Review

NJPW G1 Climax Day 12 8.14.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
* Block A: Doc Gallows defeated Katsuyori Shibata @ 7:43 via pin [***]
* Block A: Toru Yano defeated Bad Luck Fale @ 3:43 via countout [DUD]
* Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Tetsuya Naito @ 14:14 via submission [***]
* Block A: Kota Ibushi defeated Togi Makabe @ 9:10 via pin [***]
* Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated AJ Styles @ 27:00 via pin [****¾]

* Disclaimer I will be doing what I did with the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, I will just be reviewing the tournament matches from each day. They are what matters, and I don’t worry about burning out.

Doc Gallows defeated Katsuyori Shibata: This wasn’t bad at all, as Gallows appeared to be more motivated than usual and Shibata was being Shibata. Gallows worked the power game and looked to have the win with the Gallows poll, but Shibata kicked out and made his comeback, including locking in the sleeper. Gallows would escape, hit the big boot, sidekick and then another Gallows poll and that was finally it. Gallows came off better here than in most matches overall, there are times where he uses his power well and actually looks like he is a bad ass, and this was one of those times. This was another criminal misuse of Shibata, but there are a lot of hard feelings still as many do not think he has paid his debts and is not completely committed to New Japan. The wrestling business being the wrestling business, it should be no surprise to anyone. I think he could have and should have been booked better, but what can you do.

Toru Yano defeated Bad Luck Fale: This was a combination of the badness of Fale and the bullshit of Yano, all rolled into one package. Yano attacked early, Fale beat on him, they went to the floor, Yano escaped the Bad Luck Fall and gave low blows to Fale and Tonga, and then picked up the countout win. These are the kinds of matches that destroy my will to live; it was horrible. I get Yano, I get it, and there wasn’t anything that would have made this a good match, but it wasn’t good in any way imaginable. I can go a long while without seeing any singles matches with these guys, but with the big wins Fale picked up during the tournament, we’ll be seeing more of him. Moving on…

Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Tetsuya Naito: The story of the match was Tenzan going on the offensive as the new Naito just gave no fucks and didn’t seem to care about who he was in the ring with. The story worked on many levels, with Naito looking to disrespect Tenzan ay chance he got and Tenzan looking to prove himself; but I have to admit that this was another finish that bothers me to a degree. It has been discussed that this may be Tenzan’s final G1 (not sure, but it’s been speculated), and him picking up some wins I get, but they seem invested in the new Naito gimmick, so him taking another loss made little sense as a win would have really locked in a stronger tournament performance in the standings. Sure it played into the new Naito, and the match was a quality one overall, but just watching Tenzan get the win here with the anaconda vice didn’t feel right for the future. They worked a good story and the action matched it, I just felt it was the wrong decision.

Kota Ibushi defeated Togi Makabe: This was another overall good match, but in a way I came away disappointed because I felt as if they were capable of so much more. The match was a good one, with a nice pace and good action, but it hit that level and never escalated past it. It really had the feeling that they were holding back, which is a shame. Ibushi countered the spider German, laid in kicks and connected with the Phoenix splash for the win. With the Ibushi win, they can do a NEVER title program, and if that is the case, I would expect a great match when and if that happens. The thing here to me again is the booking, Ibushi has this career making performance back on January 4th against Nakamura, and since then nothing has really happened for him. Yes he won the New Japan Cup and had a title shot, but otherwise he’s just been a guy. It feels as if he should have had a bigger impact overall, especially with some of the performances he’s had.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated AJ Styles: It had been a good, but forgettable so far and the main event needed to deliver. The consensus going in was that Tanahashi was winning the block, and I still had that feeling here. But would they be able to put on a match and make me believe AJ could win? That was going to be the task. So yeah, this kicked all kids of ass. These two work well together, using a nice back and forth formula early (both working the leg at times) before they went to the floor to do some of their trademark stuff. We got a ref bump, and AJ looked to take control with a low blow. Then, not to be outdone, Tanahashi hit a low blow of his own to even the odds. I didn’t min this because it was mid-match, had no impact on the finish and was a point in where Tanahashi could get even with AJ for his attempted cheating. I discussed in earlier reports how important it was for AJ to get the calf killer over as a secondary finish, because doing so would make for a great near finish in a bigger match. They did that and it worked here when Styles did get the calf killer on Tanahashi, the crowd bought it well. They both battled to try and hit the clash, which Tanahashi hit and AJ kicked out. He then looked to finish things off with the high fly flow, but Styles got up the knees to stop that noise and then turned things around as he hit a frog splash (basically the HFF) and the bloody Sunday. Styles would go for the clash, but Tanahashi escaped and hit some dragon screw leg whips (playing off of the earlier work) and finally the high fly flow, and that was all. This was one of the tournament’s best matches, from two of the tournament’s best performers. The final five minutes or so was simply spectacular. For as much as I would have loved for AJ to win this, I get why they did what they did. First of all they don’t want to run Styles vs. Okada (again) in the finals, or give away Styles vs. Nakamura on a show that is already sold out and essentially has no build. Also, they have set the stage for Tanahashi to step back and then come back to his former glory here, which he did. Finally, Tanahashi should beat Okada in the finals (my pick) leading to the WK rematch where Okada finally wins. Okada’s year has been in part to tell the redemption story. The crushing loss to Tanahashi at WK, and then the losses to Fale, having to battle back through Bullet Club and then back to the title were all part of the story. I think that the end game is a “final battle” so to speak with Tanahashi, where Okada is finally set as the man with the win on the biggest stage. I get that it’s not what a lot of people wanted, I just think that was the plan going into this. Anyway, go watch this match now. This was everything you want and expect from a big time main event.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

BLOCK A
– Hiroshi Tanahashi – 14 POINTS [7 wins, 2 losses]
– AJ Styles – 12 POINTS [6 wins, 3 losses]
– Tetsuya Naito – 10 POINTS [5 wins, 4 losses]
– Bad Luck Fale – 10 POINTS [5 wins, 4 losses]
– Katsuyori Shibata – 8 POINTS [4 wins, 5 losses]
– Togi Makabe – 8 POINTS [4 wins, 5 losses]
– Kota Ibushi – 8 POINTS [4 wins, 5 losses]
– Toru Yano – 8 points [3 win, 5 losses]
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 6 POINTS [3 win, 6 losses]
– Doc Gallows – 6 POINTS [3 win, 6 losses]

“I’m out…”