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Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax Finals Review 8.14.16
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Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax Finals Review 8.14.16
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger defeated David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi @ 5:22 via pin [**¾]
– Jado and Gedo defeated Captain New Japan & YOSHITATSU @ 5:44 via pin [*¾]
– YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe @ 9:20 via pin [***½]
– Team NOAH defeated Team New Japan @ 11:02 via pin [***¾]
– IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Briscoes defeated Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page @ 15:20 via pin [**]
– ROH Title Match: Champion Jay Lethal defeated Satoshi Kojima @ 10:44 via pin [***½]
– Los Ingobernables defeated Tanahashi and Friends @ 12:34 via pin [***]
– Naomichi Marufuji, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada defeated Bullet Club @ 9:13 via pin [**½]
– G1 Climax 26 Finals Match: Kenny Omega defeated Hirooki Goto @ 26:48 via pin [****¾]
Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger vs. David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi: Taguchi and Finlay attacked before the bell and took control early. With the sneak attack and the fact that the masked legends were so loved, Taguchi and Finlay took the heel role here. Taguchi and Finlay tried for the flying ass attack at the same time, but ended up colliding as Tiger Mask moved and got the tag to Liger. We got a bunch of Taguchi ass attacks, it would break down and Tiger Mask would eat the ass attack and then the Finlay roll for a near fall. Good near fall on Finlay off of the palm strike and tiger driver combo. Liger worked a Romero special on Taguchi, allowing Tiger Mask to hit the butterfly suplex off the top to pin young Finlay. That was a fun little sprint there; with a sense of urgency I wish more US TV matches had. Good work from all in the short time frame they had to work with.
Captain New Japan & YOSHITATSU vs. Jado & Gedo: YOSHITATSU is still playing Dollar Tree Triple H. Gedo and Jado of course cheated right away, sending YOSHITATSU to the floor and isolating CNJ. They were glorious assholes, just slapping CNJ around like the geek he is. CNJ eventually made a tag, the silence for this match is pretty sad. YOSHITATSU got the theoretical hot tag (in theory because there was no heat) and ran wild but got cut off. Gedo took YOSHITATSU to the floor, Jado got the crossface on CNJ and he tapped. It was cool seeing Jado and Gedo tag here, but there was no life to this at all. Captain New Japan & YOSHITATSU are the biggest geeks on the roster, and suck the life out of every match they participate in. YOSHITATSU walked out on CNJ, hopefully to find a new cosplay as the Tokyo Brawler. Some will complain about the bookers winning, but I won’t because Captain New Japan & YOSHITATSU bring absolutely nothing to the product.
Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii: The winners here are likely in line for a tag title match. Honma looked so happy to hit the falling kokeshi in the first minute of the match, almost surprised. After some back and forth, Ishii and HASHI worked over Honma, who is still favoring the injured ribs. Honma fought Ishii and then got the deadlift suplex, which makes no sense considering how he’s selling the ribs. But this led to Ishii vs. Makabe, which meant that it was clobberin time. HASHI then got his chance to battle with Makabe, his offense was largely no sold and he was leveled with a clothesline. Honma tagged in and hit a series of kokeshis for a near fall. It broke down, Makabe took out Ishii and Honma hit a missile kokeshi off the second rope. But he would miss the top rope kokeshi, leading to he and HASHI going back and forth. Back stabber by HASHI, sliding clothesline by Ishii and then a basement dropkick by HASHI got the near fall. Makabe and Ishii back to the floor, lariat by HASHI and then hit karma for the win. YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii getting the tag title shot works for me, as they are a fresh team and it plays off of HASHI’s G1 run where he gained a lot of momentum. That was really enjoyable, didn’t overstay its welcome and was the best match on the show so far.
Team New Japan (Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Katsuyori Shibata) vs. Team NOAH (Masa Kitamiya, Maybach Taniguchi, Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima): The crowd was invested early simply for the fact that this was NJPW vs. NOAH; they did not like the NOAH team right off the bat. Lots of back and forth, Kitamiya and Tenzan beat the hell out of each other; the crowd took a collective shit on Shiozaki when he tagged in, most heat in the match. It started to break down, with Shibata and Blue Justice kicking ass. Shiozaki and Shibata then went back and forth, with Shibata YELLING at Shiozaki to continue to attack. He allowed him to attack and then kept firing back, and they set the stage for a singles match well with their interaction. Team NOAH cleared out the New Japan dads, and took control and got a near fall on Shibata. Shibata then busted himself open giving Nakajima a shot head butt that resonated through out the arena. Nakanishi got the tag, the crowd loved him as he cleaned hose and then it finally broke down with everyone in. Shiozaki and Nakajima worked over Nakanishi, and Nakajima hit the brain buster for the win. Shibata then attacked everyone NOAH post match and they did a big pull apart focusing on Shibata and Nakajima and then Shiozaki. This got over great with the crowd, and Shibata is a fucking bad ass. Seriously, this seemingly unimportant undercard tag was not only a very good and heated match, but the post match angle with Shibata going savage came off VERY well, and felt like the start of something potentially big. I love this, Shibata as a fucking savage, Nakajima (who saw his stock rise in the G1) as an antagonistic little prick; add in the fact the key wins that the NOAH pairing got in the G1 and you have some great groundwork for the NJPW vs. NOAH feud. The booking goes way back when you consider that Shibata feuded with Nagata and the New Japan dads, won their respect and was officially back in the good graces of the NJPW fans. The NOAH guys came in for G1, picked up important wins over Elgin, Okada and Tanahashi, all leading to tonight where the officially kicked off the angle. Making Shibata the focal guy from NJPW in the feud is also great, because they can make him a hero while keeping him away from the title scene before he is elevated to that, which I see happening next year.
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Briscoes vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page: Takahashi is now cosplaying as the Godfather. The Briscoes attacked right away and were the old house of fire, working over the Bullet Club goofs on the floor. They teased a fuck finish in the first 90-seconds as Jay got busted open with a belt shot and survived a near fall. Jay took punishment, but got the tag to Mark who ran wild and ht the Cactus Jack elbow to Page on the floor. The Briscoes are working really hard here, but there is no heat for this. They really should have gone to intermission after the NJPW vs. NOAH pull apart. They did a long brawl on the floor, where Page and Takahashi took control and then worked the heat on Mark. The heat was fine, but very bland as Page and Takahashi really did nothing to add to anything they did. You’re the heels, do some shit to make me hate you, work beyond the holds. Mark got the luke warm tag to Jay, and I need to say that the Briscoes are doing so much to try and get the crowd to care but they are getting noting back. Jay then hit Page with a DVD on the apron, leaving Takahashi alone. The Briscoes set for the doomsday device, Takahashi fought out and slammed Jay into Mark and tagged in Page. Mark countered last rites but ate a nasty belly to back suplex for a near fall. Even with the crowd being out of it early, they have had more than a fair chance to get them into the match, but they are barely reacting to the big moves. Page and Takahashi hit a double team for a good near fall, and this needed to go home 5-minutes ago, The Briscoes made a comeback and ht the doomsday device to retain. This needed to be placed after intermission, and needed to be five minute shorter and it may have been a different story; it wasn’t bad work wise, but no one cared and if you can’t make anyone care, you just didn’t succeed. The Briscoes worked really hard, but the Bullet Club goofs do nothing for me as a team. They are just dudes.
– They teased a time bomb that will “blow up” at the Power Struggle event on November 5th. SUZUKI-GUN? Tune in to find out.
ROH Title Match: Champion Jay Lethal vs. Satoshi Kojima: After an even back and forth beginning Lethal sent Kojima to the floor and took control, working him over with elbows on the apron. Lethal worked the heat until Lethal missed a corner elbow, and then Kojima laid in about 43 rapid-fire chops. The elbow drop followed for 2. They traded strikes center ring, Kojima got the better of that but lethal hit a belly to back suplex, rolled into a second and hit the lethal combination. Lethal then hit the top rope elbow drop for a near fall. Kojima fought back and hit the cutter, and then worked Tenzan like chops and then the anaconda vice. That’s a great call back to the G1 where Tenzan was using Kojima spots to pay tribute to his partner that gave him the G1 spot. Kojima then hit the brainbuster for a near fall and the crowd is now into Kojima possibly winning. Kojima calls for the lariat, Lethal counters with kicks but then walks into a left handed lariat for the near fall. lethal then cut off Kojima with a superkick, sent him to the floor and hit two suicide dives. Back in Kojima cut off the lethal injection with a lariat, he fired up but Lethal countered the lariat and then he pulled the ref aside and hit a low blow. Lethal injection finishes it. That was a complete shit ending to a match that was going really well. It’s a very good outing, but the fact that Lethal can’t win clean once again shows where ROH stands in the relationship with New Japan.
Tanahashi and Friends (KUSHIDA, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin) vs. Los Ingobernables (BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito): Naito is over HUGE here tonight. He teased starting with Tanahashi, but traquilo, and SANADA started. They worked through a few pairing and then Los Ingobernables rushed Tanahashi and friends, with the action spilling to the floor and BUSHI left in to work over KUSHIDA for a bit. Los Ingobernables took control, with Naito finally tagging in and working the dropkick combo in the corner. Naito talked too much shit, allowing KSHIDA to fight back on he and EVIL. Elgin got the tag, ran wild on Los Ingobernables. He then did a double powerslam spot on Naito and EVIL and then the Samoan drop/sack of shit slam combo on BUSHI and SANADA. Elgin is just a freight train here, hitting the falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) on Naito. He and Tanahashi did the double team Alabama slam on Naito for a near fall as the rest of Los Ingobernables saved Naito. Naito finally fought back and hit the tornado DDT, EVIL and Juice tagged in. Juice ran wild to little reaction, but his hot tag was actually strong. BUSHI ran in and hit the code breaker, it broke down and EVIL hit the fisherman’s buster for a near fall. Tanahashi returned to make the save, SANADA then caught him in skull end but Elgin saved Tanahashi. Los Ingobernables took him out, leaving Juice to fight off EVIL and Naito. They destroyed him and EVIL hit the STO for the win. That was a good tag match overall, but to me lacked the fire and energy of the Los Ingobernables vs. CHOAS tags. This seemingly sets up an Elgin vs. Naito feud.
Naomichi Marufuji, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada vs. Bullet Club (Tanga Roa, Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale): After the big NOAH vs. NJPW brawl earlier, it’s interesting to see Marufuji tagging with CHOAS here. Okada came out all fired up and took the fight to Fale, it then broke down as Fale and Okada went to the floor and Fale beat down Okada and Gedo. Tonga and Roa worked over Yano, who got posted crotch first on the post. Bullet Club worked the heat on Yano, and after a few minutes he finally got the hair grab takedown on Tonga and tagged in Marufuji. Marufuji worked over Tonga with a series of kicks and chops. Tonga fought back and did his confusion rope run spot and hit a dropkick and tagged don Roa. Tonga and Roa worked over Marufuji for a bit, he got the tag to Okada but there is a severe lack of heat for this thing as it goes on. Okada got cut off right away and got beat down and then it broke down with Roa and Okada left in the ring as the others battle don the floor. Okada came back with the dropkick and elbow drop, rainmaker pose and then he takes out Fale. Rainmaker on Roa and that was that. This was a completely paint by numbers and lackluster match.
– Post match, Okada talked shit to Fale (setting up their match so that he can avenge his G1 loss) and then called out Marufuji for the same reason, offering him a title shot. Marufuji accepted and he offered his hand to Okada, who walked right past him and posed in the corner.
– Five-time G1 winner Masahiro Chono (in an nWo hat) joins commentary. He is in fact nWo for life.
– We now get a video recap of the G1 tournament.
G1 Climax 26 Finals Match: Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto: Here we are, the finals that no one predicted. The last two nights have provided awesome main events, so they have a lot to live up to. The crowd is very pro- Omega. They started off with a deliberate pacing, going back and forth and seemingly setting the stage to go long. Goto attacked the knee of Omega, which Naito worked on big time yesterday, and the crowd was not pleased with that. They aren’t booing because of his work, but because he’s a massive choke artist. It’s making for a great atmosphere, and I love that he knee stuff from yesterday was not ignored. They worked to the floor, where Omega battled back and hit a moonsault off the barricade but immediately started to favor the knee. He then slammed Goto on the apron and then hit the apron bomb to turn the tide. Back in the ring, Omega did a little Rick Rude neck breaker with the hip swivel towards Chono for added emphasis. Omega grounded Goto, working a modified camel clutch to follow up on the apron bomb. Nice focused work by Omega here, and was rolling until he missed the corner elbow. Goto got a good hope spot, but was cut off with a bulldog for a near fall. Goto fired up as they traded chops center ring and then decapitated Omega with a lariat. Goto finally put together his first sustained series of offense, hitting the top rope elbow drop for a near fall. Omega battled back, hitting the Finlay roll into a second rope moonsault for the near fall. Omega sent Goto to the floor with the dragon snap suplex, and followed with a great plancha. Omega kept favoring the leg, having issues getting to the top and selling it after a missile dropkick. It slowed Omega enough that Goto scored with the ushigoroshi, and then ht a lariat to Omega on the apron that folded him inside out. They battled up top. Goto with the USHIGOROSHI off the second rope, which got a great near fall. He then worked the sleeper, Omega kept fighting and countered the German ad hit the running knee strike and then the suplex onto the knee. Omega trying to fight through the pain, hits the running knee strike but Goto escapes the one winged angel and works the sleeper again. Omega then climbed the ropes with Goto on his back and did the Nestea plunge off the top with Goto on his back, taking a SICK bump on the fall. My God. They struggled to their feet, exchanging strikes center ring. Omega then kicked Goto o the face and hit the sit out last ride for a great near fall again! Omega struggled to his feet and MISSED the Phoenix splash! Goto fired up here, Omega countered a suplex but his knee buckled and Goto hit a spinning faceplant for a near fall. Goto went for the GTR, but Omega hit a knee strike, they traded strikes and Omega then ht the snap dragon suplex for another near fall. Goto caught a knee strike, turns Omega inside out with the lariat and hits the shouten kai but Omega somehow kicks out as the crowd is going crazy for this. GTR countered, bloody Sunday by Omega! Styles Clash by Omega but the ode to Bullet Club only gets 2. One winged angle then connects, and Omega wins! Omega was the third westerner (Rick Rude and Karl Anderson) to make the finals and the first to win the G1. In all honesty that was a brilliant match, especially from Omega. Omega digging deep into the past to use moves by Ibushi, Devitt and Styles to try and win were beautiful homages, but in the end he won on his own with his own move. And take nothing away from Goto, he was half of a finals that no one predicted or really wanted, but he brought his A Game, and they delivered an absolutely awesome main event. The pacing was excellent, the build felt organic, the crowd was amazing and they went home at the right time and didn’t try to go way too long to make it “feel” like an epic, it didn’t need that because it was one. Some want to point to the way overbooked Tanahashi match as Omega’s coming out party, but that true moment was tonight, all of the reactions he received were star reactions and after a lot of work and some misfires, they have finally made Kenny Omega. Kenny Omega, from junior comedy guy wrestling kids and dolls to a Bullet Club stooge to G1 winner. Wrestling in 2016 is a hell of a thing.
https://twitter.com/DeathToAllMarks/status/764753003161288709
– Bullet Club arrives to celebrate with Omega, who drops the G1 flag to wave the Bullet Club flag. Omega said that Bullet Club and the ELITE are for life and will never end. He then said to not be afraid to dream and reach for the stars, just know someone like him will be there to steal that moment. He then said that he just gave a G1 study course, even for the boys in Orlando. He then cut a promo in Japanese, and the crowd reacted to everything. According to Twitter he said Japan and New Japan were his home and he wasn’t going “there.”
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
