Puro Fury: G1 Climax 26 Day 7

G1 Climax 26 Day 7

 

July 28 2016

 

We’re in Saitama, Japan. Yesterday went a bit wrong. New Japan World didn’t upload the 7/27 show to the streaming gimmick so I couldn’t watch it on the day. So I went out with my friends on an impromptu whisky binge. I am still inebriated and I’ve not seen yesterdays show. But hey, G1 is still going on so reviews must be done.

 

Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay vs. Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask IV

Yesterday I was drinking this whisky called “Sheep Dip”. It is not the best decision I have ever made. 12 hours later and I’m still tipsy. I have definitely not taken the Jushin Liger approach to drinking, which is mellowing out and just sticking to a few beers in my sensible old age. Finlay looks impossibly young in this match, like a brand new garden gnome. He’s so spritely and agile. The older juniors take exception to that and beat the shit out of him. Tiger Mask finishing with a superplex. Because Liger doesn’t get the pin it means we don’t get his music played twice. I dock the match points for this.

Final Rating: **1/2

 

Katsuhiko Nakajima, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo vs. Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi

Honma has Yano on Saturday. Nagata has Nakajima. The latter should be a terrific match. Y-H has EVIL tomorrow so again he’s been booked into an odd match, instead of hyping his contest. It’s like they keep forgetting HASHI is in the G1. The Nagata-Nakajima hype is suitably hyped, with kicks a plenty. The rest of the match is a bit goofy with Gedo doing the chop rush on Kojima and all Yano’s business. Kojima puts Gedo away with the lariat. The main take away from this match is that Nagata vs. Nakajima is going to kill it tomorrow. They have to be separated after the match.

Final Rating: **3/4

 

Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Michael Elgin & Captain New Japan

Omega vs. Elgin is on Day 8. Omega and Yujiro as a tag team has produced one of the worst undercard matches in G1 so far. Captain New Japan is also guilty of having awful undercard matches. The interaction between Bullet Club and the Captain is, once again, the drizzling shits. Elgin is able to drag the match up by doing his freakish power spots. He also makes me chuckle by yelling at CNJ for his incompetence. Yujiro pins the Captain with his DDT variant. Takahashi is getting way too many wins on these undercards.

Final Rating: *1/4

 

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI) vs. Katsuyori Shibata, KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson

Shibata has Naito on Day 8. EVIL has YOSHI-HASHI, which makes it totally weird that he’s not in this match. Instead teamed up with his CHAOS buddies earlier. LIJ have fantastic chemistry as a unit and their trios matches are generally great. This has the added bonus of the Naito-Shibata hype with Naito looking to set up another leg match by destroying Shibata’s knee. Shibata smashes Naito for this, like John Nada when he’s out of bubblegum. Poor Juice gets his nose busted during this but his fighting spirit is part of the reasoning for him getting so over on these undercards. EVIL polishes him off with his evil STO while Naito is still tearing away at Shibata’s knee to try and soften him up for tomorrow. Shibata is legitimately injured at the moment but the problem is with his shoulder. Because it’s G1 he’s working through it. Quite why he, and YOSHI-HASHI, keep working the tags is a mystery. Although Shibata did very little in this match because of the shoulder.

Final Rating: ***

 

The second half of this show is all matches from Block A of the 26^th G1 Climax.

 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] vs. Togi Makabe [6]

Tenzan has been one of the key stories in this tournament and his undercard matches have been really strong, allowing a secondary focus away from the top main event matches. Meanwhile Makabe has been on a winning streak and is the only undefeated man in Block A. This is not a show stealing match up but the emotional attachment to Tenzan’s story allows it to coast by. Togi goes hair-punching again and Tenzan has one of the finest barnets in all of wrestling so again I am offended. Big Tenzan teases winning with the Anaconda Vice and then misses a moonsault. Togi looks mortally offended by Tenzan’s attempts to beat him. The crowd does not want Makabe to win but that’s exactly what happens when he hits the King Kong Kneedrop. Makabe goes 4-0. Another battling display from Tenzan and his continued efforts to salvage his ‘final’ G1 are heart warming. I’m not sure I understand the booking here though.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

SANADA [2] vs. Hirooki Goto [4]

Goto isn’t holding my interest in this tournament because his character has been so static for so long and he’s not doing much in the ring either. It doesn’t seem to matter what’s happening in his life, he wrestles the same way. It’s frustrating and SANADA has no facials to get me into his work so the match just plods along. It’s not a combination of guys I’m excited for. My whisky induced Thursday morning funk definitely doesn’t help. The match does pick up when they start teasing finishes. Goto does tremendous selling of the threat that the Dragon Sleeper brings. SANADA can’t get a submission out of a stubborn Goto but is able to pin a weakened Goto with the moonsault instead.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Naomichi Marufuji [2] vs. Tomohiro Ishii [2]

My hype levels increase rapidly for this match. Ishii is stiff as fuck and Marufuji has been scarring up chests with those chops. Ishii looks pained by them here but refuses to back down. Marufuji isn’t at his best in this match, frequently pausing before hitting his spots, which takes me out of the contest slightly. I get back into it when Ishii instigates a chop duel, going after Marufuji in his strongest suit. Ishii takes a savage beating and gets scarred up something fierce. It’s horrific. It pains me to see Ishii take this level of abuse. His marching into Maru’s chops completely freaks the NOAH Ace out. Marufuji doesn’t look thrilled to get dropped with the Emerald Flowsion either, seeing as he uses it as a finish sometimes. It’s Ishii’s way of getting revenge for Okada’s loss. As the match progresses Marufuji’s gets his game together and the early work is long forgotten. Ishii flattens Marufuji with a brainbuster for the win. Despite early issues this was match of the night.

Final Rating: ****

 

Tama Tonga [2] vs. Kazuchika Okada [4]

Tonga beat Tanahashi last time out. What are the chances of him winning back to back against Tana and Okada? Very, very slim. Okada looks calm and composed, as always. Tama isn’t someone I particularly enjoy watching and his offence here is worryingly bland. The crowd only care because it’s Okada. When they attempt some fancy counters down the stretch it’s all a bit too deliberate but at least it draws the crowd back in. Okada clears Tama out with the Rainmaker and we swiftly move on.

Final Rating: **3/4

 

Bad Luck Fale [2] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [0]

Fale has a new mask, which makes him look like a total lunatic. I think I approve. Sadly he doesn’t wrestle in it. Tanahashi is 0-3, a situation that has me genuinely concerned that he might lose here. Tana has had success in drawing good matches out of Fale in the past. They have good big man/normal sized man chemistry. Tana’s win/loss record in this tournament allows for increased teases of him losing again. Fale, for his part, ambles through the match using his size. He is painfully slow compared to everyone else in the tournament. They do fine work in teasing a Fale win. Everyone has kittens when he goes for Bad Luck Fall. The near fall off the Grenade legitimately freaked me out. After slipping out of another Bad Luck Fall attempt Tana backslides Fale into a pin and scores his first points!

Final Rating: ***1/4

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

Either this was a middling G1 show or my whisky drinking ways ruined the show for me. It’s probably a combination of the two because during Ishii vs. Marufuji I was suitably revved up. Tanahashi finally registers a win after being blanked in his first three matches. It makes him an outside shot to make the finals, although he does face Okada on the last night.