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Puro Reviews: G1 Climax 25 Nights Nine and Ten
Loading...G1 Climax 25 Nights Nine and Ten
Night Nine (Block A)
August 2nd, 2015 | Aichi, Japan | Attendance: 6,500
Night Ten (Block B)
August 4th, 2015 | Miyagi, Japan | Attendance: 2,525
I’m pretty sure this is the first set of shows that didn’t feature anything to make my “Top 100 Matches of 2015” list. Should be interesting since I don’t remember much about them.
Block A
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2) vs. Kota Ibushi (4)
The veteran Tenzan has been known to randomly dig deep and turn back the clock, as he did in the G1 24. It’s been tough so far in this one thanks to his injury. Tenzan used his power to his advantage early and really took over after Ibushi missed a moonsault to the outside. Tenzan wore him down, doing his best to keep Ibushi grounded. Of course, Ibushi fought back and some of their exchanges of strikes were great. Ibushi fought out of a Tenzan Anaconda Vice. He then scored with the Phoenix Splash and won.
Winner: Kota Ibushi (6) in 11:14
Better than the usual openers we’ve gotten for the tournament up to this point. Tenzan looked pretty good, though he was still immobile at times. Ibushi worked around it, leading to a pretty solid match. ***
Block B
Michael Elgin (4) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (4)
Yujiro’s lady this time is ****¼ or at least a full star better than the best Yujiro match. He was disrespectful early on, slapping Elgin, who retaliated with his power based offense. Cody Hall got involved at ringside. Unlike Yujiro’s lady friend, Cody is something like *½. Takahashi took control but his offense wasn’t anywhere near as boring as it usually is. Elgin was able to overcome it due to his strength, so Takahashi never stayed on offense for too long. Elgin did his power spots, which the fans continued to love. Dude really got over during this tournament. He bested Takahashi with a powerbomb to win his third straight match.
Winner: Michael Elgin (6) in 11:58
Easily one of the best Takahashi matches I can recall. He wasn’t in control for long, keeping it from the rest of his dull matches. Elgin continues to impress, putting this match on his back and giving us his best performance considering his opponent. ***
Block A
Bad Luck Fale (6) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (6)
A year earlier, Fale defeated Shibata via countout in the final few days, helping to prevent Shibata from winning their block. Shibata played this wisely, going after the legs of his bigger foe. He slapped on the figure four but Fale fought out and beat Shibata down. They did a great tease of repeating last year’s finish as Fale knocked Shibata outside and he just got back in at the count of nineteen. I love how the announcer sounds more frantic as the count gets higher. Fale missed a splash, opening the door for Shibata. He went for the sleeper, had it broken, blocked the Grenade with a kick and went right back to the sleeper. Fale continued to fight out but had the Bad Luck Fall countered into yet another sleeper. This one wore him to the ground, where the Penalty Kick finished him off.
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (8) in 7:51
After the surprise from Yujiro, Fale also puts on one of his better matches. They worked this in a smart way, playing off of Fale being powerful and Shibata having a game plan. I loved Shibata having to fight to wear down Fale with several sleeper holds. ***½
Block B
Satoshi Kojima (2) vs. Tomoaki Honma (0)
Two of the hardest hitting, most popular guys in the entire tournament. Judging by the crowd reaction, you wouldn’t think these were the two guys at the bottom of the standings. Kojima held serve early, getting in some of his trademark spots. Whenever Honma found an opening, he would miss Kokeshi because that’s what he does. The crowd popped for almost every Honma near fall. The finishing stretch was the best part, as Honma took a lariat and popped right up into his comeback. However, he of course missed another Kokeshi and fell to a lariat.
Winner: Satoshi Kojima (4) in 10:15
A good outing here, but not quite the great one I wanted. Their G1 24 match lacked and these two just never click the way I want them to. Still, this was strong and continued a string of solid matches so far. ***¼
Block A
AJ Styles (4) vs. Doc Gallows (2)
Two Bullet Club teammates in this first time ever meeting. They “too sweeted” each other before the bell, which has become customary when Bullet Club members face each other in the G1. They worked a big man/little man match. Styles took a really good looking Chokeslam onto the apron as Gallows beat him up on the outside. Styles did a great job of bumping for his buddy. It made Gallows’ offense look really powerful, which is tends to not do often. To combat Doc’s size advantage, Styles cut him down by attacking the leg. It set up the Calf Killer, but Gallows reached the ropes. Due to the lack of commentary, you’re able to hear them call spots on a few occasions. It wasn’t the leg work, but it was a Bloody Sunday that got Styles back on the winning track.
Winner: AJ Styles (6) in 10:14
A few odd spots where they over bumped or awkwardly got stuck kept this from being really good. Even so, it was easily the best Gallows match so far in the G1, while Styles continues to have good to great matches with everyone. ***
Block B
Tomohiro Ishii (6) vs. Yuji Nagata (2)
Their match at the G1 a year earlier was excellent. I really like both guys and their styles work well so I came in hopeful. This began with the men just slapping the shit out of each other and I loved it. Though Ishii was able to hit harder than Nagata, it was Yuji take took control for the most part. Lots of big suplexes from both men, with Nagata going for backdrops and Ishii hitting Germans. Ishii caught a high knee in the corner, countering it into a powerbomb in one of the cooler spots. Ishii survived Nagata’s armbar spot. Nagata fired up, getting the crowd more invested but Ishii blocked a suplex and nailed a jumping kick. Their final exchange of strikes, suplexes and kicks was a thing of beauty. That led into a battle of slaps that Ishii ended with a headbutt. A Brainbuster finished off Nagata.
Winner: Tomohiro Ishii (8) in 16:19
How did I forget about this match? It was have certainly made my “Top 100 Matches of 2015” list if I did. Two guys stepped in, beat the shit out of each other and it was all kinds of awesome. It was damn near as good as their G1 24 outing. Their chemistry comes across as natural and it produces great matches. ****
Block A
Tetsuya Naito (6) vs. Togi Makabe (4)
Like Ishii and Nagata, these two had a stellar match at last year’s G1. This is a completely different Naito though and it showed early as he stalled, taking forever to remove his entrance attire. Makabe got tired of waiting and attacked, leading to some outside brawling. Their back and forth is solid with Naito portraying the arrogant asshole heel and Makabe trying to teach him a lesson. Naito tried to steal it on several occasions towards the end with multiple rollups. He attempted Destino gut Makabe laid into him with a lariat. Makabe hit the spider German after a spot similar to their match a year earlier. He busted Naito open by smashing his head into the ring post. A King Kong Knee Drop followed and he got two more points.
Winner: Togi Makabe (6) in 15:45
A good match that, despite getting a fair amount of time. Makabe looked better here than in most other matches so far. Naito hadn’t quite hit that level where he could blend his excellent character work with a stellar match. In the end, this was a strong match but it never got close to being great. ***¼
Block B
Karl Anderson (6) vs. Kazuchika Okada (6)
Both guys entered this at 3-1 so far. In a recurring theme on these shows, this was another rematch from last year’s G1. Considering the guys involved, I was surprised that the crowd wasn’t that hot. There were times where they were silent for moves. The stuff done here was good. They played off of past matches and had some good counters and reversal sequences. We were given some countout teases that the fans bought into. A good battle of those counters led to Okada turning the Gun Stun into a tombstone and winning with the Rainmaker.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada (8) in 14:34
While this was good, it came off as a disappointment. It was one of those that featured solid work, though a lot of it fell rather flat. The crowd not being as into it as I hoped didn’t help.***¼
Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) vs. Toru Yano (2)
After dropping the IWGP Heavyweight Title in February, Hiroshi Tanahashi spent the rest of the first half of the year feuding with Toru Yano. It worked to allow Tanahashi to rest his body for the G1, which he’s been pretty great in so far. We got the usual fun antics from Yano. He shouted “BREAK” a lot, got in some dirty tricks and even tried to skin the cat, only to fail badly. There was an incredibly close countout tease about ten minutes in that really made you think Tanahashi would win that way. A perfect description of the Yano character came shortly after. He rolled up Tanahashi cheaply and the crowd totally bit on the near fall, but when he hit a big powerbomb, they never believed he had a chance. That’s Yano for you. There was an extra-long referee bump that allowed Yano to bring a chair into play. Yano’s cut from a few nights ago got reopened shortly before the end. Tanahashi won with High Fly Flow.
Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) in 14:59
Like his matches with AJ Styles, Yano does very well against Tanahashi. They bring out the best in him as this was my favorite Tanahashi/Yano match. It was one of his best performances and the match was fun. Not the best A Block main event, but a good note to end on. ***½
Block B
Hirooki Goto (6) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (4)
Earlier in the year, Nakamura lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Goto at Wrestling Dontaku. Nakamura also lost the rematch at Dominion and came into this looking for revenge. Like the Okada/Anderson match before it, this suffered from a dead crowd at times. Nakamura’s elbow injury seemed to come into play against as this was a safe match. Goto, knowing how to beat Nakamura already, knew to have the Boma Ye well scouted. He blocked it on several occasions so Nakamura had to go a different route for the victory. He slapped on his awesome armbar and even then, had to hold it for a while before Goto would finally submit. It was the win that earned Nakamura another shot at the title, which he’d go on to win.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (6) in 16:32
Another good match and another one that doesn’t reach the great level. Nakamura seems to be trying to have safe matches due to the injury. It’s understandable and has still led to good matches but nowhere near what he’s capable of. Their chemistry is strong and, while I normally prefer the shorter style of the G1, their longer matches at Dominion and Destruction were superior. ***½
| Block A | Points | Block B | Points |
| Katsuyori Shibata | 8 (4-1) | Kazuchika Okada | 8 (4-1) |
| Tetsuya Naito | 6 (3-2) | Tomohiro Ishii | 8 (4-1) |
| Kota Ibushi | 6 (3-2) | Karl Anderson | 6 (3-2) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 6 (3-2) | Michael Elgin | 6 (3-2) |
| AJ Styles | 6 (3-2) | Shinsuke Nakamura | 6 (3-2) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6 (3-2) | Hirooki Goto | 6 (3-2) |
| Togi Makabe | 6 (3-2) | Yujiro Takahashi | 4 (2-3) |
| Doc Gallows | 2 (1-4) | Satoshi Kojima | 4 (2-3) |
| Toru Yano | 2 (1-4) | Yuji Nagata | 2 (1-4) |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 (1-4) | Tomoaki Honma | 0 (0-5) |
