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Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax (Night 18) Review 8.12.17

August 12, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
NJPW G1 Climax Sent to us by AXS TV & NJPW
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Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax (Night 18) Review 8.12.17  

Csonka’s NJPW G1 Climax (Night 18) Review 8.12.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA and Hirai Kawato
– Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Chase Owens, Tanga Roa and Yujiro Takahashi
– Takashi Iizuka and Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Yuji Nagata and Togi Makabe
– Cody, Young Bucks, Hangman Page and Bad Luck Fale defeated War Machine, Ricochet, Ryusuke Taguchi and Katsuya Kitamura
– David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi defeated Naito, Takahashi, & BUSHI
– Block B Match: Juice Robinson defeated Michael Elgin @ 11:53 via pin [***½]
– Block B Match: Tama Tonga defeated SANADA @ 12:15 via pin [***]
– Block B Match: Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki @ 7:08 via pin [**]
– Block B Match: EVIL defeated Satoshi Kojima @ 14:31 via pin [***½]
– Block B Match: Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada @ 24:45 via pin [*****]

* NOTE: Like in past G1s and the BOTSJ, I will be focusing on the tournament matches only. Due to that, the final score for the show is only based on those matches.

– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– You can watch the shows with a subscription to New Japan World.

Michael Elgin vs. Juice Robinson: Good back and forth to begin, Elgin relied on his power to take the advantage and then sent Juice to the floor for the cannonball. The slam on the apron followed, and back in large Michael took Juice up top and had bad intentions. Juice fought him off, hitting a high cross but Elgin rolled through so Juice had to alter plans and go to the striking game. The full nelson slam followed for 2. Thy traded strikes and lariats, with Juice firing up and trying to go strike for strike with Elgin. Elgin then countered the high kick into a high angle spine buster. A sick lariat turned Juice inside out. Juice managed to counter the powerbomb and slid out into a reverse DDT, but ate a superkick when he went for the cannonball; Elgin up top but Juice hit a desperation powerbomb for 2. Juice looks to finish things, but Elgin escaped pulp friction but Juice gets a pop up gut buster and then his the cannonball but Elgin catches him and hercs him up, powerbomb, buckle bomb but Juice counters the Elgin bomb into a cradle for 2. Elgin is stunned. That was a great series there. Elgin takes Juice up top, looks for a burning hammer, but Juice escapes and hits the big left and hits pulp friction for the win! Juice Robinson defeated Michael Elgin @ 11:53 via pin [***½] This was a very good match, with Juice surviving the power game of Elgin and picking up another big win. They had a great layout and a great crowd to play off of, with the crowd loving the Juice victory.

– After the win, Juice said, “It’s time to drink some Sapporo and go balls deep on some Japanese ladies.”

SANADA vs. Tama Tonga: They work the criss cross spot, with both men hitting dropkicks. They stall a bit, taking off their shirts; Tonga had some issues and then nicely folded his shirt before handing it to a young lion. Thy shook hands and then both looked for low kicks before trading RANAS. Tonga then tried to apply the paradise lock, failed and then laid the boots to SANADA. SANADA then took things to the floor, he applied the paradise lock and got a countout tease. Tanga Loa & Yujiro tried to untie him, got him free and Tonga just barely beat the count. SANADA chased Tonga, but Tonga took control on the floor and then sent him back in. Tonga took control, beating down SANADA. They traded strikes, but Tonga missed the corner splash allowing SANADA to hit a missile dropkick, sending Tonga to the floor. The plancha followed, and he applied skull end on the floor. Loa broke that up, leading to a double count out tease but they both broke the count. They then traded strikes center ring with SANADA hitting a TKO for 2. Tonga avoided the moonsault, they work into a counter sequence with SANADA countering gun stun into the skull end. Tonga then got a roll up for a good near fall. SANADA followed with a gun stun, covering for 2. SANADA works skull end but Tonga counters out, but SANADA counters gun stun into a backslide for 2. Gun stun by Tonga and that puts SANADA away. Tama Tonga defeated SANADA @ 12:15 via pin [***] This was a good, fun, back and forth match.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Toru Yano: Suzuki looks like he wants to straight up murder Yano. Suzuki attacks during the introductions and takes him to the floor and beats his ass while Taichi helps out. Fuck Taichi. Suzuki lays in strikes and rolls him back in, but Yano rakes the eyes and goes for the buckle pad. Suzuki cuts him off and lights him up with strikes, works the sleeper but Yano grabs the ref to counter the Gotch piledriver. Taichi pulls him to the floor, works him over and Suzuki follows. Yano hits an atomic drop, gets tape and tries to tie Suzuki up, but Suzuki kicks him into the barricade. The ref is down as they work back into the ring and Suzuki ties up Yano with the tape, using the whole damn roll. The ref is back, breaking things up and Taichi gets involved again, but Rocky Romero in dress clothes makes the save. Suzuki attacks him, but Yano then tries to tie him up with tape after a chair shot, hits a low blow and rolls him up for the win. Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki @ 7:08 via pin [**] The sublime thief strikes again.

– Suzuki then murders some young lions with chair shots.

Satoshi Kojima vs. EVIL: And now we come to Kojima’s final G1 match. They go power for power early, with Kojima sending EVIL to the floor and missing a plancha. EVIL grabs hairs and does his usual, placing one on Kojima’s head and taking a baseball swing with another. Kojima beats the count back in. EVIL takes control, hitting a running senton and then working ground and pound. Kojima battles back, using the Tenzan Mongolian chops to take EVIL down. The rapid-fire corner chops follow as Kojima fires up. The corner elbow follows, Kojima up top and hits the elbow drop for 2. EVIL rakes the eyes and hit the superkick. Kojima counters the lariat and follows with a koji cutter for 2. EVIL cuts him off by stunning him off the ropes; they battle on the apron with Kojima planting EVIL with a desperation DDT. Back in and they work up top and Kojima hits a koji cutter off the ropes for the near fall. Kojima drops the elbow pad, fires up but EVIL counters the lariat with a German. EVIL hits the corner lariat and fisherman buster for 2. EVIL then connects with darkness falls, but Kojima kicks out at 2. EVIL follows with a lariat, Kojima shakes it off, but EVIL hits another and Kojima drops to a knee. EVIL dares him to get up as the crowd rallies Kojima EVIL hits a lariat, but Kojima rolls through and decapitates EVIL with a big lariat. Kojima drags himself up and hits the brainbuster but EVIL kicks out! Kojima looks to fire up one last time, counters the STO and hits a lariat! EVIL hits a head butt, and then everything is EVIL as e hits the STO to finish Kojima. EVIL defeated Satoshi Kojima @ 14:31 via pin [***½] This was a very good match, with an invested crowd that desperately wanted Kojima to win; he had chances, the drama was good, but at the end of the day, EVIL prevailed and Kojima leaves his final G1 on a loss.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega: The story here is that Omega lost to Okada in January in a 47-minute epic, and then followed that with a 60-minute draw; the time limit here is only 30-minutes, so if Omega is finally going to overcome, he’s going to have to drastically change his strategy. I think the obvious play here is to go deep and tease the draw, but if Omega is going to win, I’d do the opposite and go against the grain and work a 10-15 minute sprint. The Bucks are out with Omega, just like they were for the previous two matches. Gedo is with Okada. Okada’s neck and upper back are still taped up from the match with EVIL, plus he’s coming off of the grueling draw with Suzuki. Omega is fired the fuck up at the bell, hitting a snapdragon and teasing the one winged angel early; Okada fires back and dropkicks him to the floor. The fight goes to the floor, Okada sends him into the crowd and hits the running high cross over the barricade. Back in the ring and Okada hits the top rope elbow drop, but Omega avoids the rainmaker and sends Okada to the floor and follows with a plancha. Okada hit the barricade and I favoring his injured neck. Back in and Omega hits the missile dropkick to the back of the neck. Omega then works a neck crank, focusing well on that pre-existing injury. Elbows follow and Omega rips off the tape from Okada’s neck. Omega follows with the back breaker, and follows with kicks to the upper back and neck. Smart gameplan by Omega so far, staying focused on the work of the neck. Okada looks to make a comeback, but the senton eats knees. Omega looks for a piledriver, but Okada backdrops out. He follows with the neck breaker across the knee and finally gets some separation. Okada fires up with running elbows and the DDT, but couldn’t kip up. He hits the running uppercut, but that only gets 2. Omega goes right back to the neck to take Okada down and looks for a tombstone, Okada escapes but Omega hits the Finlay roll, but the moonsault eats knees. Omega quickly cuts off Okada with a RANA and sends him to the floor. Okada rushes back in, cutting off rise of the terminator with a flapjack @ 11:00 in. Omega attacks the neck again, but Okada cuts off the springboard with a dropkick and they go to he floor and Omega plants Okada with a reverse RANA on the floor. Red shoes checks on Okada and brings over the doctor. Omega wants none of this bullshit, pulling Okada to the apron and hits the snapdragon, back in the ring and Omega hits the last shot for a great near fall. Omega drags Okada to his feet and fires away with Kota Ibushi like knee strikes. Okada tries to fire back, but there’s nothing behind his strikes. Omega right back to the neck, but Okada blocks V trigger and then counters the one winged angel into a tombstone! Omega rushes Okada to the corner, follows him up and they battle for position and Okada knocks him to the mat and follows with a missile dropkick. Okada is officially fired the fuck up, but Omega avoids the rainmaker and hits a V trigger. Okada digs deep and hits the dropkick, the German follows but Omega counters the rainmaker into a uranage. Okada escapes the one winged angel and hits the rainmaker @ 20:00 in. Both men struggle to their feet, Omega escapes the tombstone into a roll up and hits the backslide for 2. RAINMAKER by Okada! He drags Omega up and hits another! Omega avoids the third, hits a German and another on Okada’s head! He looks for a third, but Okada elbows out. REVERSE RANA by Omega! But Okada kicks out at 2. One winged angel countered but Omega hits a German for another great near fall and he can’t believe Okada kicked out. Dropkick by Okada, but Omega hits V trigger and a driller for another tremendous near fall. V TRIGGER, One winged angel connects and Kenny wins! Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada @ 24:45 via pin [*****] They did it again, delivering an absolutely amazing match that was completely different than the previous two, with great drams and an excellent sense of urgency. Omega’s gameplan was perfect in attacking the neck of Okada, focusing on that weakness and it was in that where Okada fell as the toll of his great 2017 performances really caught up with him here. You could see him breaking down as we got deeper into the tournament, the loss to EVIL (where he “injured the neck”) and then the brutal draw with Suzuki. He was ripe for the pickings, and Omega’s tremendous focus and the fact that the pacing was so amped up was just too much for Okada to overcome this time around. It was a great story, laid out since January, and paid off in what I feel was the best match of the tournament so far with one last match to go. This also gets us to a rematch from last year, where Omega beat Naito, so we’re coming full circle, as Naito looks to complete his redemption story. I love the wrestling.

– SET FOR TOMORROW:
* IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Young Bucks vs. Ricochet & Ryusuke Taguchi
* IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Champions War Machine vs. Adam Page & Cody
* NJPW G1 Climax Finals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega

BLOCK B STANDINGS
– Kenny Omega: 7-2 (14pts.)
– Kazuchika Okada: 6-2-1 (13pts.)

ELIMINATED
– EVIL: 6-3 (12pts.)
– Minoru Suzuki: 4-4-1 (9pts.)
– Tama Tonga: 4-5 (8pts.)
– SANADA: 4-5 (8pts.)
– Juice Robinson: 4-5 (8pts.)
– Toru Yano: 4-5 (8pts.)
– Michael Elgin: 4-5 (8pts.)
– Satoshi Kojima: 1-8 (2pts.)

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

As proof to you that there is in fact a God, I present to you the resurrection of Daryl Takahashi; for the lord looked upon his son, after he brought him back, and his son said, “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee… AND WHEN I FIND YOU BAD LUCK FALE YOU WILL BE THUSLY FUCKED!”

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Block B closed out things on a high note, continuing the rise of Juice & EVIL as well as delivering an amazing main event and paying off long time stories as we head into tomorrow’s finals.
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