Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax Day Eight Review

NJPW G1 Climax Day Eight 8.01.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Block B Match: Yujiro Takahashi defeated Satoshi Kojima @ 13:01 via pin [**¼]
– Block B Match: Karl Anderson defeated Yuji Nagata @ 11:15 via pin [***]
– Block B Match: Michael Elgin defeated Tomoaki Honma @ 9:55 via pin [****]
– Block B Match: Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Tomohiro Ishii @ 12:00 via pin [***]
– Block B Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Kazuchika Okada @ 16:45 via pin [****½]

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* 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.

Yujiro Takahashi defeated Satoshi Kojima: Yujiro Takahashi working 13-minute matches is not a good idea, bad Gedo and Jado, bad! Seriously, I don’t hate the guy as much as some do, he’s not a favorite by any means, but I can only tolerate him in shorter doses. So they worked too long, the crowd did not really care, and when they did start to care (Kojima was about to win) Hall got involved in the Bullet club shenanigans that no one wanted. Takahashi then hit a low blow and the Miami Shine for the win. I just never got into it, at all; moving on.

Karl Anderson defeated Yuji Nagata: Things picked up here, I like both guys and felt that they worked a good match. They didn’t blow me away with amazing action or anything like that, they worked at a good pace, they had a good plan and I felt that it came together nicely. Anderson worked the ribs of Nagata a lot, Nagata finally fired up and avoided the stun gun and looked to go for the backdrop suplex. Anderson was able to counter it into the gun stun, and that was enough for the win. The counter was a great idea, because it can play off of the work of the ribs, but it didn’t look as great as they likely thought it would. It wasn’t ugly or anything, it just came off a bit rough. Anderson picks up another win, but isn’t really wowing me with any of his performances. Yuji Nagata is working as well as a 47-year old man with his history can.

Michael Elgin defeated Tomoaki Honma: Here we go kids, the action finally picked up here. This was the Tomoaki Honma G1 special; they worked in the 10-minute time frame, Elgin was able to stick to everything he does well and away from the things that take away from his longer matches, they had the hot crowd because it was Honma, they brutalized each other and they clicked very well together. Elgin continues to fit in well here, and in my opinion had his best match here. He looked like a complete bad ass, and this is the kind of stuff I’d love to see more of from him in ROH. I don’t need to see attempted 28-minute classics that end up doing way too much, get in, tell your story, be a bad ass, and get out. Elgin did the MDK finish with a sick delayed German, pop up powerbomb, the buckle bomb an then the spinning powerbomb for the win. I love Honma, and this is a Michael Elgin I want to see more of. Elgin picks up his first real victory of the tournament, as I still continue to hope for the day when Honma picks up the big win.

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Tomohiro Ishii: After missing a few days due to an arm injury, Shinsuke Nakamura returned to action and had a tough task as he had to battle Tomohiro Ishii. Nakamura’s arm was bandaged up and looked rough, and with so much of the tournament to go along with rumors that he could be the winner, it’s going to be a rough time for him. They worked a pretty basic, conservative match, which I expected due to the injury. The homestretch was fun, and Nakamura picked up the win with the falcon arrow and Boma ye. It was a fine match, but I worry about Nakamura’s immediate future and the severity of the injury. All things considered, this went about as well as possible.

Hirooki Goto defeated Kazuchika Okada: This was a pretty good show so far, but thanks to the main event it turned into a very good show. He match had the feeling of a bit time main event. As it was worked as a real even, back and forth battle with both guys really working hard. Besides the really high quality of work, it really felt like two top guys battling for the top position in the block, like what they were fighting for mattered, and that’s what makes it work so well. I believed that they were battling for supremacy, everything felt as if it had a purpose and like it mattered to them, and the crowd reacted to that in a great way. In the end, Goto avoided the rainmaker and head butted the hell out of Okada, and hit the shouten kai for the win. I dug the finality of the finish, no flukey bullshit here. This was an excellent main event match.

BLOCK B Standings
~ Kazuchika Okada – 6 POINTS [3 wins, 1 loss]
~ Tomohiro Ishii – 6 POINTS [3 wins, 1 loss]
~ Karl Anderson – 6 POINTS [3 wins, 1 loss]
~ Hirooki Goto – 6 POINTS [3 wins, 1 loss]
~ Shinsuke Nakamura – 4 POINTS [2 wins, 2 loss]
~ Michael Elgin – 4 POINTS [2 win, 2 losses]
~ Satoshi Kojima – 2 POINTS [1 win, 3 losses]
~ Yuji Nagata – 2 POINTS [1 win, 3 losses]
~ Yujiro Takahashi – 4 POINTS [2 wins, 2 losses]
~ Tomoaki Honma – 0 POINTS [4 losses]

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“I’m out…”