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Puro Fury: G1 Climax 26 Day 8

July 30, 2016 | Posted by Arnold Furious
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Puro Fury: G1 Climax 26 Day 8  

G1 Climax 26 Day 8

 

July 30 2016.

 

We’re in Aichi, Japan. I’m not feeling fatigue at this point, although the shows are piling up and I feel like free time is something I used to have…many moons ago. My ‘to read/to watch’ pile is slowly getting bigger.

 

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay

Taguchi is once again wearing a sparkly green suit jacket and miming into a golden microphone. This is lost in translation. I’m sure for Japanese people it’s hilarious. Finlay has been getting an increased number of singles matches since Jay White buggered off to North America on his excursion. He’s impressed with a range of different opponents, showing he’s not just got that one contest with Jay down. Finlay Jr. is a legitimate talent and he’ll go far. He even gets a spot of mockery going by lifting Taguchi’s stupid ass spots. Taguchi keeps his nonsense to a minimum, if you just accept his iron butt is a genuine weapon, and has a competitive match. Finlay gets to look a threat and escape some near finishes before Dodon puts him away. Solid match. Finlay is yet another in a string of successes for New Japan’s dojo. The latest round of Young Lions have barely scraped onto TV though. Perhaps the golden streak is nearly over.

Final Rating: **3/4

 

Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi & Captain New Japan

I’m so sick of these Bullet Club assholes I’d be quite happy if I never saw them again. The stable has always grated the nerves of serious grappling fans because of their love of shenanigans but the current incarnation is barely entertaining at all. This match doesn’t even achieve a thing. Fale has SANADA next in the G1. Tama has Ishii. No one else is in G1. So not only is it guaranteed to be a poor match but it doesn’t even further anything and it’s getting to the point where New Japan just doesn’t give a shit about Bullet Club and with good reason. It is notable that Kojima gives G1 participant Tonga an utter thrashing. If Kojima pins Tama can he take his place? They skip over any pretence of this being serious and have the Dads encourage the Captain to succeed for once in his life. Of course he fails miserably and gets pinned, again, by the awful Yujiro.

Final Rating: *3/4

 

KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson vs. SANADA & BUSHI

For the record SANADA is wrestling Fale tomorrow so he’s naturally in a tag against KUSHIDA and Juice. Neither of whom are in the G1. Is this Gedo’s idea of shaking things up a bit? Because I used to like the preview tags. At least they’d get you hyped up for the next day’s show. Los Ingobernables seem to bring the same kind of cheating that other heel groups have employed in the recent past and yet it’s somehow more endearing. As if BUSHI’s cuteness when he’s choking someone with a t-shirt or spitting mist in their face makes it more palatable. Juice is getting a lot of love from the crowd on these undercard tags and his personality is growing based on that. LIJ work well as a two-man team and both opponents have good showings, KUSHIDA being particularly good. Eventually SANADA, the only G1 participant, taps out Juice, the only ‘young boy’, with the Dragon Sleeper. This was hugely enjoyable and KUSHIDA is setting about a streak of excellent undercard performances on this tour to point out to officials how talented he is. Next year, Kushi, next year.

Final Rating: ***

 

Naomichi Marufuji, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & Gedo vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe, Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask IV

Okada has wisely recruited Marufuji as a buddy after getting beaten by him on Day 1. We’re previewing a few matches on Day 9 here where Okada has Tenzan, Marufuji has Block leader Makabe and 1-3 Tanahashi has Goto in what will probably be the main event. Unless they’re planning on having Okada-Tenzan be an absolute riot. Speaking of absolute riots; Marufuji and Makabe beat the shit out of each other right from the bell and that promises to be a donnybrook tomorrow. When Makabe wants to really, really brawl with someone, not just do his stupid corner punches, shit gets real in a hurry. Another wonderment of the tag is Liger vs. Ishii. I never knew how much I wanted that match. NJPW’s size obsession will likely result in “junior” Liger never going one on one with “heavyweight” Ishii. Even though they’re basically the same size. One of the major talking points in this match is not Tanahashi’s hair, as it usually is, but rather Tenzan’s back, which is covered in suction cup marks. He’s been having all kinds of therapy to try and get him through G1 in one piece. It’s not just a storyline, it’s a goddamn shoot. It also looks disgusting and the producer cuts away from it wherever possible. The match clips along nicely until Gedo decides he’s putting Tiger Mask over today. Far more interesting is Okada’s sudden post match decision to attempt to break Tenzan’s neck with a Tombstone on the floor, which doesn’t come off. This was great for a while but didn’t finish strongly. All in on Ishii vs. Liger if anyone wants to book it (coughRevProcough).

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

Toru Yano [0] vs. Tomoaki Honma [4]

Normally Yano matches are hard to predict because he gets so many fluke wins but this year he’s just been losing and everyone else has been getting upset wins. Including Honma, who already has two! As you’d expect this is comedy heavy, with lots of missed Kokeshi’s and Yano hijinks. Honma does the best look of surprise when Yano catches him sneaking up during the YTR thumb pointing. Yano’s trolling is a perfect match for avoiding the Kokeshi. Yano gets two low blows to set up the backslide and the Sublime Master Thief is finally off the mark. This was fun but there was another worryingly ugly botch near the finish. Honma is starting to rack those up.

Final Rating: **

 

YOSHI-HASHI [2] vs. EVIL [2]

To recap: scythes and cloaks are evil. Other things that are evil: avoiding the touch of the common man, darkness, beating #BigMike. Tacos is decidedly less evil but he is also ALL CAPS. All caps is evil. Both men entered the tournament unfancied but were considered to be solid hands. Little has changed there, bar both men getting big upset wins in their first match. They’ve both gone 0-2 since then. YOSHI-HASHI is game for trying to make EVIL more…evil by taking silly bumps off his spots. The way he takes the ring post chair spot shows how painful that move should be, with him taking the chair in the jaw instead of protecting himself like a sensible person. Chairs to the jaw are also evil. YOSHI’s top asset is either his childlike innocence or his desire to prove himself worthy of the CHAOS legacy. The first one tends to get in the way of the second. When he started channelling Nakamura in the first match, to get one over on Shinsuke’s rival Omega, that’s when he had the most success. Or in fighting to overcome SANADA. When YOSHI believes in what he’s doing, he’s harder to beat. He certainly takes the fight to EVIL but sadly for him EVIL has too much in his strikes, too many moves available to him. YOSHI-HASHI just has pluck and determination. Despite this mismatch becoming apparent Tacos still comes so close to winning with the Senton. The crowd counting three while EVIL’s shoulder shoots out. To my surprise YOSHI-HASHI’s pluck is just about enough as Karma is enough to put EVIL down and get Tacos his second win. Even without the madcap Nakamura theft that won him his first match. Good for you, YOSHI-HASHI. He’s performed as his level best during this tournament and has been a minor revelation.

Final Rating: ***3/4

 

Katsuhiko Nakajima [4] vs. Yuji Nagata [6]

Nagata sits atop Block B having won his first three matches. Comparisons between Nakajima and Shibata have been prevalent but Nakajima’s style is not unlike Nagata, who also bases his strikes around his kicks. Nakajima clearly sees Nagata as a big scalp and attacks him before the introductions, which earns him the scorn of Aichi. As does his patented kick attack, a little too similar to Nagata’s own tactics for the crowd’s liking. Once he’s regained his instincts Nagata takes no shit from Nakajima, beating the crap out of the youngster and lacing in the strikes at every opportunity. Nagata will probably not thank Nakajima for booting his thighs only eight days in to a nineteen day tour but Nagata is prepared to answer all Nakajima’s assaults with aggression of his own. He’s not lost a step and looks as spritely as ever. “Anti-Aging” is a highly appropriate t-shirt slogan for this motherfucker. I love Nakajima’s attempts to stand up to Nagata but instead of backing down Nagata slaps the fuck out of Nakajima. He’s not transferring his power, Antonio Inoki style, he’s aiming to slap the piss out of his NOAH based opponent. Nakajima is intent on not lying down and kicks out of the first Backdrop Hold before going after Nagata’s leg. It’s a terrific back and forth, with Nakajima trying to out-fox the veteran and Nagata flat out refusing to let the young punk get the best of him. Nakajima gets enough strikes together to hit a brainbuster and he picks up the win. You can tell from Nakajima’s reaction that beating Nagata means a lot to him because Yuji didn’t budge an inch. He brought everything and Nakajima still managed to overcome him. This is likely to be match of the night! It also sets up Nagata’s storyline for the tournament. Whereas in the first few matches he had his leg targeted and refused to sell, here he limps out having finally succumbed to leg abuse. Great tactics from Nakajima and a manly goddamn match.

Final Rating: ****1/4

 

Michael Elgin [2] vs. Kenny Omega [4]

These two are fresh off a ladder match, the first in New Japan, where Elgin took Omega’s IWGP IC title. You can tell Omega now means business because he doesn’t bring his broom. He’s focused on getting revenge for that loss. Belt collector #BigMike brings the strap with him to remind Kenny that he took the damn thing and he still has it. The plan is for Yujiro to attack ahead of the bell but Mike punches him in the throat and unfortunately turns around too quickly for a surprise Omega dive. The match is a contrast of Omega’s willingness to cheat and Elgin’s pure as driven snow babyface power showcase. As Tanahashi’s best mate Elgin isn’t allowed to demonstrate any evil tendencies. He’s just supposed to frown upon Omega’s antics and overcome them with his raw athleticism. Ultimately evil will always triumph because good is dumb. I learned that from Spaceballs but it’s equally applicable in pro wrestling. Another thing I’ve learned over the years is that if I like two wrestlers about the same the tie-breaker is generally whoever has the better hair wins. With Omega and Elgin that has to be Kenny because his hair is a blonde electric storm while Big Mike only has hair on his chinny chin chin. I’m not insinuating that Elgin looks like a pig by the way…unless the pig benches 600lbs and is fucking jacked. They had a solid ladder match and this is a decent follow up. They’re willing to throw in the Japanese strike exchanges, which is where Elgin shows how much he’s learned in NJPW. Elgin’s clubbing manly blows are extremely popular with the crowd. As is his fighting spirit. Across the ring Omega retains just enough of his heel attitude to not break character but his effort and execution are far better here than during the past week of G1. Kenny Omega has finally arrived at the tournament! They do some amazing near falls, including both guys stealing the others finisher. Omega’s Elginbomb is incredible. A Fuck You Kenny lariat sets up the Elginbomb itself and Big Mike gets his second win at the expense of Omega, again! This was fucking great. I may have misspoken on the ‘match of the night’ honours. A contender for match of the tournament so far, in front of all these lucky sons of bitches in Aichi.

Final Rating: ****1/2

 

Tetsuya Naito [4] vs. Katsuyori Shibata [2]

Naito might have lost his first match but he’s gone 2-0 since. However he pissed off Shibata at last year’s G1 and Shibs isn’t going to let him forget about it. Shibata is a no nonsense grappler but he’s already carrying multiple injuries and Naito, a genuine main eventer and former IWGP champion, is keen to exploit both the injuries and Shibata’s temper. Which he does with some aplomb. Shibata has more tape on body parts than Linnea Quigley has body parts on tape (that’s a pure 80s reference). The injuries prevent Shibata from mounting comebacks as he’s got so many injuries his offence hurts him. The match has moments where it’s great, largely when Shibata overcomes his injuries and pounds Naito for being a dick. However the injuries allow Naito to simply pick Shibata apart for the rest of the match. If it were a different wrestler, with less effective offence, this would be a perfectly logical and sensible match to have but the match suffers from Shibata not being able to unleash hell upon Naito. It does offer the crowd plenty of reasons to be vocally supportive of Shibata and the match works surprisingly well with Shibata as the underdog. Especially as Naito refuses to back down from an injured man. Contrast this to the amount of chickening out he managed against Shibata last year. Shibata’s defensive strikes are amazing. His punches to get out of a knee bar, the headbutt to block Destino and the slap to set up his sleeper are all top notch. I also dig the finish where Shibata gets ultra-pissed off about the way Naito has attacked his injuries and uses the PK, his usual finish, to set up a choke and uses that to put Naito to sleep (as @Bohsjohnny stated on Twitter Shibata wanted to punish Naito, not just pin him). This could have been incredible if both guys were fit but they used Shibata’s injuries to tell a terrific story. The character work was sensational and it was another great match.

Final Rating: ****

8.5
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
A sensational final three matches make this one of the best nights of the tournament so far. There’s great news for the tournament going forward too as some of the main players in Block B are starting to make their moves. Shibata, a wounded animal, is starting to look dangerous. Nakajima has discovered he can match up to New Japan talent and is surprising a lot of them in the process. Nagata is rolling back the years. Naito is as sneaky as ever. Omega is taking this seriously. Elgin is all power and honour. YOSHI-HASHI is all heart and Honma is losing again. All is right with the world.
legend

article topics :

G1 Climax 2016, NJPW, Arnold Furious