Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax Day Two Review

NJPW G1 Climax Day Two 7.23.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Block B Match: Tomohiro Ishii defeated Satoshi Kojima @ 12:20 via pin [***½]
– Block B Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi @ 11:48 via pin [**]
– Block B Match: Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoaki Honma @ 12:49 via pin [***½]
– Block B Match: Kazuchika Okada defeated Michael Elgin @ 11:48 via pin [***¾]
– Block B Match: Karl Anderson defeated Shinsuke Nakamura @ 17:40 via pin [***]

* 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.

* This was a single camera, no commentary show.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Satoshi Kojima: This was a good match to kick off the tournament matches, and gave me hope unlike the day one shows. This had a nice, hard-hitting, brawl feel to it with the usual stuff from Ishii (head butts, lariats, all the good stuff). I really liked the intensity here, and felt that the match was good. I’d actually like to see them again down the line. If you like a stiff brawl style of a match, this was in your wheelhouse. Ishii finished off Kojima with a brainbuster, I really enjoyed this because it was largely what I expected and was done well.

Hirooki Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi: Hirooki Goto defeated Yujiro Takahashi in a really basic match, with little to no heat. It wasn’t bad, but the crowd seemed to want no part in watching Takahashi on offense. They did stuff, there was no reaction, and they continued to do stuff and while fine it felt as if it just went on for too long. Takahashi doesn’t need to be in longer matches, and watching Goto try and sell for him, almost begging the crowd to react to something or anything was rough the longer it went on. If it makes sense this wasn’t bad (technically it was fine), but it also wasn’t good. Moving on.

Yuji Nagata defeated Tomoaki Honma: I love Honma, I am a big Nagata fan, so I am excited for this. Due to the guys involved, the crowd also woke up for the match. I really enjoyed the action, and the match overall was on par with the first tournament match of the evening. They worked well together, it felt intense and crisp and they did a good job of keeping me invested in the action Poor Honma, he’s so desperate to get a G1 win and repeatedly went for the Kokeshi, but just couldn’t connect. Nagata hit two backdrop drivers, and put the lovable Honma away. These fans are going to go nuts if Honma gets a win because they support him unconditionally, and I hope to see that this year.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Michael Elgin: And we had another good match, and maybe a surprise to some the best match of the night. Elgin gets a lot of shit (myself included) for his style at times, because he tends to go too long and just “does stuff”. This was a lot of fun, they worked a good and smart match and they did a great job of making it appear that Elgin could win here against the IWGP Champion. Elgin emptied his arsenal against Okada, hitting all of his big moves, but the champion survived and hit the tombstone and the rainmaker for the win. The G1 style, shorter and more explosive matches, works well for Elgin’s game and he came off like a player here. But he was also working one of the best guys in the world right now. It’s a positive sign for him moving forward, even if I really wanted Strong in his place.

Karl Anderson defeated Shinsuke Nakamura: I have been a big fan of Karl Anderson for a long time, and historically he has stepped up his game when given the chance in main event matches. Unfortunately, that didn’t really happen here. They had a good match, but it largely felt as if both guys were on cruise control here and they went too long. The crowd was never into the match all that much, which also hurt things. But I am not blaming them, as they weren’t treated to a main event performance from either man. Nakamura survived two stun guns, including one of them from the top, which woke up the crowd a bit, but simply reacting to the finishers wasn’t enough. Anderson hit a final stun gun to pick up the day two upset, in what was a good, but overall disappointing match. I expected more from these two.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”