wrestling / Video Reviews
Puro Reviews: G1 Climax 25 Nights Eleven and Twelve
Loading...G1 Climax 25 Nights Eleven and Twelve
Night Eleven (Block A)
August 5th, 2015 | Iwate, Japan | Attendance: 2,396
Night Twelve (Block B)
August 7th, 2015 | Shizuoka, Japan | Attendance: Unknown
For the first time in the tournament, A Block gets the single camera treatment, which really gives the show a lesser feel. Though the B Block also gets it, so go figure. If I remember right, it was right around here that the A Block’s match quality started dropping (every possible big match involving the best guys like AJ, Tanahashi, Ibushi, Shibata and Naito had been done except for two) and B Block began to dominate.
Block A
Bad Luck Fale (6) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2)
I still don’t understand why the “Boss” in Fale’s shirt is written backwards. Slow Fale, even slower Tenzan and the single camera all made me not look forward to this match. It was certainly a slow open as Fale wore down Tenzan with dull offense. As usual, the crowd was really into Tenzan, but not enough to help this. Fale missed a small splash, opening the door for Tenzan to start a bit of a rally. He climbed to the top but Tama Tonga got involved and knocked him off. Tenzan still followed with the Mongolian chops and applied the Anaconda Vice. Fale fought out and won with the High Fly Fale, adopted after defeating Tanahashi recently.
Winner: Bad Luck Fale (8) in 9:51
I had no expectations for this and they managed to be about equal to that. While it only went nine minutes, it felt like nineteen. I also didn’t like the Tonga interference, since Fale should have been able to win this clean. Slow and plodding. *¼
Block B
Michael Elgin (6) vs. Yuji Nagata (2)
After tons of doubts, Michael Elgin has been really good in the G1 Climax. Nagata is usually a safe bet for a strong match, but I found this to be rather disappointing actually. Elgin did his power spot that the crowd tends to really like now. Nagata came back with some kicks. I don’t know if I’d call this slow exactly, since they were hitting each other hard and kept up the pace, but it lacked something. Nagata got the armbar on, but it loses its luster when the camera can’t zoom in on his face. The fans were shocked to see Nagata kick out of the second rope deadlift falcon arrow. Nagata made a costly mistake when he tried a running knee in the corner as Elgin caught him and delivered a buckle bomb. He followed with the Elgin Bomb to stay hot and continue Nagata’s struggles.
Winner: Michael Elgin (8) in 11:02
Like I said, this came off as a disappointment. Still, it was better than the first three matches of the A Block a night earlier. Fine hard hitting stuff, it just never reached that next level. ***
Block A
Katsuyori Shibata (4) vs. Toru Yano (2)
Entering this set of nights, Shibata is tied for the best overall and is alone atop the A Block. He mostly dominated this and kicked Yano’s ass the way he’s been kicking most asses so far in the G1. Yano teased some wins with rollups and via countout. Shibata slapped on the sleeper but whiffed on the Penalty Kick. He went for an armbar, but Yano rolled forward and won with a school boy.
Winner: Toru Yano (4) in 4:01
It’s the Toru Yano special. He gets beat up and picks up a flash win in short order. I understood why they did it and crowd’s surprised reaction was top notch. This opens the door for a lot of others in this block. **
Block B
Karl Anderson (6) vs. Tomoaki Honma (0)
Tonight, Anderson chooses to have Cody Hall and Tama Tonga with him. “Honma” chants came early and that isn’t any surprise. Anderson was quick to stop his momentum and even made sure to mock the Kokeshi taunt. His heat segment kept things moving at a slow pace and the match wasn’t off to the greatest of starts. Things began to pick up because HONMAMANIA started to run wild! That always gets the crowd invested. He managed to score a few near falls and the poor fans bought into all of them. He went for a big lariat, but Anderson nailed a TKO for two. The final exchange was great, as Honma picked up more near falls and kept blocking the Gun Stun. However, when he tries the Kokeshi off the top, Anderson was ready and caught him with a mid-air Gun Stun that won it.
Winner: Karl Anderson (8) in 11:37
While it certainly started slow, the final stretch was excellent and really raised the score of this. Honma matches always have a hot crowd and that was the case here. Anderson played his role well and it equaled a good match. ***¼
Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) vs. Doc Gallows (2)
Doc Gallows was accompanied by Cody Hall for the match. As always, the crowd was pumped because it was Tanahashi. Gallows tried using his size advantage early on, so Tanahashi climbed to the second rope to negate it. The crowd seemed to enjoy that little moment. Gallows got a countout tease after beating up Tanahashi outside. Gallows gets in a fair amount of offense until Tanahashi attacks the leg, though even that doesn’t turn the tide enough. He never actually fully gains control, even after a slingblade. It takes a victory roll for Tanahashi to pull it out.
Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (8) in 11:37
A slight notch below their match a year earlier, but still pretty good. It wasn’t meant to be anything special and was worked like so. I enjoyed Tanahashi going a different route for the win as it changed things up and allowed Gallows to maintain a slight amount of credibility. **¾
Block B
Hirooki Goto (6) vs. Satoshi Kojima (4)
When I watch these two, I want to see hard hitting action. Like a lot of matches on these two nights, it started a bit slow. However, they really began to build to something that could have been great. There wasn’t anything particularly fancy about this in a good way. It was no frills. Kojima nailed the apron DDT and the crowd came alive for him. Goto was ready for it and stopped his momentum. Shortly after, he scored the highlight of the night so far with a top rope code red but it was only enough for two. Kojima came back with a Brainbuster and a lariat though he was too exhausted to instantly cover. Goto blocked a second lariat and then, with no drama, hit Shouten Kai to earn the win.
Winner: Hirooki Goto (8) in 12:39
Usually, I like the 10-15 minute period that G1 Climax matches get. This time though, I wanted more. It felt like these two were really on their way to something great before the finish came rather abruptly. What we did get was still really solid, I just wanted a bit more drama from them. ***½
Block A
AJ Styles (6) vs. Togi Makabe (6)
Like Gallows, Styles had Cody Hall in his corner. These two had a solid match in the G1 24, though all of AJ’s G1 matches are good to great. AJ gave his all here, bumping like crazy for nearly everything Makabe threw at him. The crowd was hot for this and I feel like Iwate earned a bigger show in the 2016 G1, so I hope they get it. They worked this smartly, like Makabe blocking a second tornado DDT, learning from his mistakes. The crowd’s reaction to the Styles Clash tease was perfect. I love the way that move was handled in NJPW. AJ made the mistake of getting into a strike battle, which led to him getting turned inside out on a lariat. Makabe missed the King Kong Knee Drop, so AJ fired off some shots and won with the Styles Clash.
Winner: AJ Styles (8) in 11:17
Like their match a year prior, this was pretty damn good. Styles has to be one of the best, and easily among the most consistent G1 performers ever. I’ve yet to see him have a bad G1 match. This flew by as the action never ceased and featured some really good hard hitting stuff. ***½
Block B
Shinsuke Nakamura (6) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (4)
Instead of a hot chick, Yujiro brings Cody Hall. Color me disappointed. As expected, Takahashi attacked Nakamura during his entrance taunt, getting the jump on him. This was a bad combination of Nakamura being injured and not really caring, along with Takahashi being Takahashi. They both kind of just did stuff, with Nakamura getting in his signature offense mostly. He hit Boma Ye and Takahashi kicked out. Let me repeat that. Takahashi kicked out of Boma Ye. I know that move isn’t protected, but it’s fucking Takahashi. He hit two more to put him away.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (8) in 10:36
I didn’t write as much about that match as I probably could have but fuck it. Having Nakamura, one of the top guys, burn three finishers on the worst performer in the tournament, was insulting. The layout of the match was dull and almost nothing about this was interesting. The worst Nakamura match I’ve ever seen. *½
Block A
Kota Ibushi (6) vs. Tetsuya Naito (6)
It warmed my heart to see these two get a main event. Not only have both been among the best performers in the tournament, but are two of my favorites in the company. Naito took a while to start, so Ibushi attacked once the bell rang. Naito also stalled outside so Ibushi met him and brawled in the crowd. Naito’s attack seemed focused on the neck, with Ibushi pulling out random bursts of offense to wow the fans. Despite his best rally attempts, Ibushi was always stymied by Naito, who always had an answer. There was a dangerous moment as Naito tried a super reverse rana, only for Ibushi to kind of hold on. He still took him over, but it could have ended badly. Ibushi came back with some dangerous looking offense of his own. He then missed the Phoenix Splash and we got an exchange of blows between the competitors. Naito got two on a dragon suplex, but stayed on Ibushi and hit Destino for the victory.
Winner: Tetsuya Naito (8) in 17:18
Much better than I remembered it being. I think the single camera style put me off originally but these guys went at it. The counters, strikes and some of the moves they busted out were all awesome. This was one of the better slept on matches in this year’s G1. ***¾
Block B
Kazuchika Okada (8) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (8)
Oh snap it’s a battle for first place as both men enter 4-1. They both also represent the Chaos stable. Early on, they chose to fight outside and in the crowd for a bit. Usually, I’m okay with that, but on a single camera show, it’s a bad decision. With that out of the way, they got back into the ring and worked some really strong back and forth stuff. They did a good job in showing that although Okada is the champion, Ishii’s 4-1 start was no fluke and he belonged in there against the top guy. Okada held serve for a bit until Ishii started leaning into forearm strikes because he’s just a bad dude. Ishii also avoided the Rainmaker twice and hit a sick headbutt before getting two on a lariat. He racked up several near falls that the fans bit on hard. Okada delivered some dropkicks before finally nailing the Rainmaker to stand alone atop the standings.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada (10) in 17:08
Maybe it’s just me and how unappealing I find the single camera shows, but I didn’t love this. That being said, this was the best match of the night and slightly better than the A Block main event a night earlier. Ishii and Okada worked to a great finishing sequence and had a really good, albeit slightly disappointing, main event. ***¾
| Block A | Points | Block B | Points |
| Katsuyori Shibata | 8 (4-2) | Kazuchika Okada | 10 (5-1) |
| Tetsuya Naito | 8 (4-2) | Karl Anderson | 8 (4-2) |
| AJ Styles | 8 (4-2) | Shinsuke Nakamura | 8 (4-2) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 8 (4-2) | Tomohiro Ishii | 8 (4-2) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 8 (4-2) | Hirooki Goto | 8 (4-2) |
| Kota Ibushi | 6 (3-3) | Michael Elgin | 8 (4-2) |
| Togi Makabe | 6 (3-3) | Yujiro Takahashi | 4 (2-4) |
| Toru Yano | 4 (2-4) | Satoshi Kojima | 4 (2-4) |
| Doc Gallows | 2 (1-5) | Yuji Nagata | 2 (1-5) |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 (1-5) | Tomoaki Honma | 0 (0-6) |
