wrestling / TV Reports
Puro Fury: G1 Climax 26 Day 4
Loading...G1 Climax 26 Day 4
July 24 2016
We’re in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall. The same day both Dragon Gate and Big Japan ran massive shows. Big Japan in Sumo Hall. I was watching that live right before switching over to New Japan World. What a time to be alive!
David Finlay vs. Juice Robinson
These two are potential superstars for NJPW. Juice is a little further along but he is older. Their match up here shows how good both guys are and the continued success of the New Japan dojo at producing world class talent. They’re allowed to do a super sprint with fast fluid action. It’s a tidy showcase match for two great up and coming talents. Finlay somehow looks even better with Jay White not involved and those two had terrific chemistry. Maybe he’s out to prove himself as the top Dojo talent. Both guys go hell for leather and have a fantastic opening match. Juice hits a massive left arm lariat and finishes with the Unprettier. These two went out of their way to prove a point here and that point is that juniors can tear the house down given the chance.
Final Rating: ***1/4
Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & BUSHI) vs. Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi
SANADA vs. Makabe is a Day 5 match up in the G1. Togi happily flops back babyface to cope with this. He’s still punching hair and SANADA’s is an enormous target. You can’t blame him. Togi’s raw unfocused aggression could be too much for SANADA, like it is for BUSHI here, but SANADA is definitely the more refined worker. Togi gets the pin on BUSHI with the King Kong Kneedrop and SANADA walks off, having learned very little about Makabe for their match.
Final Rating: **1/4
Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & Captain New Japan
Tama has Tanahashi tomorrow. Fale has Ishii. Of all four only Fale has a win so far. Tama can only hope he has a good performance against Tanahashi. If he can’t have a good match with Tana then he’s fucked. The interactions, which are very fast, in this match implies it will be a good contest tomorrow. KUSHIDA going after Fale shows how close he is to being a genuine contender for next years G1. His inventiveness and risk-taking make him able to compete. The final third of the match is CNJ vs. Yujiro, which is probably the worst combination of wrestlers New Japan currently possess. KUSHIDA’s face when the Captain tags in is a picture. The ‘oh no, we’ve lost again’ picture. He’s right too. Takahashi beats CNJ and the Bullet Club take the win. The Tana-Tama teases were the best part of this match.
Final Rating: **
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Gedo & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask IV
Maru has Tenzan tomorrow. Okada has Goto but as CHAOS buddies they’re not competing against each other in teaser tags. The rest of the tag is old guys vs. CHAOS although that’s fun and everyone gets to shine. Ishii vs. Kojima is fantastic. I’m still torn as to whether Kojima giving up his spot for Tenzan was the right thing to do. Tenzan’s performances suggest it was but Kojima keeps reminding me how great he is. This match is chaos with everyone piling in to hit spots completely at random. It has certain Dragon Gate properties. It’s brisk and Goto beats Tiger Mask with the GTR. That move still isn’t doing it for me. The mass of humanity in this match allowed most of the big names to take it easy. Okada and Tenzan especially. They have hard work ahead of them in the G1.
Final Rating: ***
All the matches in the second half are Block B G1 Climax matches.
YOSHI-HASHI [2] vs. Tomoaki Honma [2]
These two were supposed to be loveable losers but they both won their opening match. It’ll be extremely interesting to see who triumphs here. I’m not used to seeing either pick up wins. Honma has been made a big deal, after winning against Shibata to headline Day 2 so he should be a slight favourite, despite only one previous win in two years of G1. YOSHI-HASHI doesn’t traditionally win at all. It’s a tough call to make and the fans are less into this than you’d expect for that very reason. Who’s the underdog here? Is there one? The tension clearly translates to the wrestlers and Honma makes a few mistakes, including a dodgy bump from what appeared to be a Stunner and failing to grab YOSHI’s hair on a bulldog. It’s YOSHI-HASHI who forces the pace and Honma has definitely lost a step in becoming a winner. His timing isn’t great all through this match and it leaves Tacos standing around waiting to get hit several times. YOSHI-HASHI looks like he belongs and his flash attacks (that flying Blockbuster and the lariat) look devastating. A shoulderbreaker sees Honma land square on the top of his head. God knows what he’s neck is made of but he walks away from that. KOKESHI! Honma goes 2-0. A massive contrast to his previous G1 fortunes.
Final Rating: ***1/2
EVIL [2] vs. Yuji Nagata [2]
Both these guys got slightly unexpected Day 2 wins. Nagata over tournament favourite Naito helps to set up this match as EVIL gets a shot at vengeance. EVIL also hopes that Nagata might actually sell the leg for him. He doesn’t. To be fair to Nagata, he’s an old guy and his knees are shot anyway. You can’t break what’s already broken. When EVIL realises this we go into trading and that’s way better. EVIL is starting to look like a genuine beast due to his power and speed combination and he the way he hurls Nagata around makes EVIL look like a legitimate top tier star. Nagata shows his experience in cutting EVIL off during the strike duels though. The first Backdrop Hold is murderous, leaving EVIL virtually finished. The second Backdrop Hold has the bridge and EVIL isn’t kicking out, the damage already done. This was a tidy match. EVIL is rapidly looking like a main eventer in the making. Nagata is finally getting a solid start in the G1. I’ve been wanting him to get a good run for years.
Final Rating: ***3/4
Kenny Omega [0] vs. Toru Yano [0]
Omega isn’t best pleased with losing to YOSHI in the first round of matches and now brings his subtle ‘I hate comedy’ approach to comedy to attempt to see off the King of Comedy himself Toru Yano. They repeat a few spots from the tag match yesterday, including the test of strength and the BREEEEAAAAAAK spot. Kenny isn’t best impressed. Yano is known for fluke roll up wins in G1 so they tease those on virtually every exchange. Omega’s claims to not want to do any comedy prove completely unfounded as he breaks out the Chainsaw Arm. Clearly he’s ribbing/trolling everybody. Which normally I’d be fine with but it is the G1. Hopefully he gets it out of his system against Yano, which was always going to be a comedy match. In a battle of the comedy low blows Omega comes up trumps. A lot of the comedy spots are being recycled from yesterday’s tag but Omega brings a brand new comedy water spit to coincide with another low blow. They get in some ref shenanigans before Kenny wipes out Yano with a knee strike for his first win.
Final Rating: ***
Katsuhiko Nakajima [2] vs. Katsuyori Shibata [0]
The hype for this one is off the charts. As soon as they walk to the ring my Twitter timeline just explodes with excitement. The early teases for head kicking are glorious and the crowd erupt at the prospect of someone getting their head kicked clean off. Shibata wants to prove he’s not just about kicks, after it was suggested he and Nakajima were the same, and he sneakily works in Zack Sabre Jr. Britwres stretches, following their match in Rev Pro a few weeks ago. Nakajima on the other hand just wants to beat some respect into Shibata and does so by stealing Shibata’s corner dropkick! That gets heat and an instant “Shibata” chant. Shibata’s personal response is to fuck Nakajima up with strikes. Including his own corner dropkick, which is a peach landing flush upside Nakajima’s head. The sequences they do to establish parity are beautifully violent. Head drop suplexes and tandem big boots to the face included. Clearly neither man is any mood to take shit from the other. Shibata takes a load of bumps on his neck and that taped up shoulder starts to look a little suspect but if it is Shibata is giving nothing away. Nakajima frequently gets patches of offence going but Shibata always has an answer. Finally hitting a vicious slap, hooking the sleeper and finishing with PK. Nakajima looked great here but Shibata wanted nothing to do with him or his similar style and just crushed the poor guy.
Final Rating: ****1/4
Tetsuya Naito [0] vs. Michael Elgin [0]
Both guys were blanked in Round One. Naito seemed a little jokier than usual in the process too. As if having been IWGP champion already has altered his goal in the G1. Does he still want to win? After the first night I’m not sure. It’s almost like his goal is to bring back limb work and pose more. Not that I have an issue with either of those goals. Elgin has to carry more weight around on that knee joint and the result is a more effective leg match strategy for Naito. Is he aping Tanahashi perhaps? Aiming to become the ace he feels NJPW needs, rather than the cocky one they’ve already got. Naito’s motivations continue to be the most fascinating aspect of his character. He seems to get a rise out of slapping Big Mike on his big bald head and seeing the anger that provokes. Ultimately he wants to piss people off. Whether that’s the crowd or his opponent. They tell an interesting story in this match where Naito switches between limb work and big spots and Elgin looks to plant Naito with power moves. The strike exchanges are effective, with Elgin having to fight for everything, working like an underdog despite his clear size advantage. This is until he straight up murders Naito with DVD into the corner pad. That looked sick. Elgin’s ridiculous strength gets him over huge in Korakuen and the super rana block into a superbomb is wonderful stuff. The crowd eat that shit up. Elginbomb is blocked into a flying reverse rana in sensational fashion as they start to make an argument for being the best match in the G1 so far. They hit some awesome fatigue selling during a strike duel that showcases this perfectly. It’s hit the level of epic that is tough to achieve. When Elgin hits a massive lariat to end it, you know it’s a big spot. I love Elgin powering out of Destino and Naito rolls with it into a kneebar in one glorious motion. Yes, this rocks! Elgin fucking dead-lifts him out of that but Naito counters into Destino in the process for the win. Holy shit that was awesome!
Final Rating: ****1/2
