Night Five (Block A)
July 26th, 2015 | Hiroshima, Japan | Attendance: 3,360
Night Six (Block B)
July 28th, 2015 | Oita, Japan | Attendance: 1,580
Things get a bit shaken up heading into this set of shows. Shinsuke Nakamura, a heavy favorite to win the whole thing, injured his elbow and would be forced to forfeit his night six match against Michael Elgin. His status for the rest of the G1 Climax was up in the air.
Block A
Bad Luck Fale (2) vs. Doc Gallows (0)
These two guys also met in the G1 Climax 24 and it was a similar match. Honestly, that’s kind of what you have to expect from Fale and Gallows. You get a plodding brawl because that’s what they’re good at. This was never going to be Tanahashi vs. Ibushi or Nakamura vs. Okada. They fought in the crowd, did the trademark big man spot of trying to out-clothesline the other and not much athleticism. I liked their match from a year before better, though I guess that isn’t saying much. Fale won with a shitty grenade, most likely because Gallows taking the Bad Luck Fall could have had issues.
Winner: Bad Luck Fale (4) in 8:43
This was about what you’d expect from Fale and Gallows. A plodding hoss battle between two big fellas. Though just because it’s what I figured I’d see, doesn’t make it any good. *½
Block B
Yujiro Takahashi (0) vs. Yuji Nagata (2)
Anybody that has seen enough Yujiro Takahashi matches knows that he works best in small doses. Not because he’s much better in that setting but because he’s plain awful when his matches go long. Unfortunately, this one passed the ten minute mark. It felt like it went for about 25. It just dragged as neither guy seemed to bring their best. Like most Takahashi matches, it was just there. I like Nagata but this was about as bad as the previous match. Takahashi got his first win via Miami Shine.
Winner: Yujiro Takahashi (2) in 12:02
Watching lengthy Takahashi matches is the worst. Like getting a root canal bad. He brings it all down. This sucked ass. *½
Block A
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2) vs. Toru Yano (0)
This was the third G1 Climax meeting between the two in three years. The first two weren’t anything special and I came in expecting more of the same. I came away pleasantly surprised. Yano had some different tricks, including taping Tenzan to the guardrail outside to try and steal a countout victory. After some back and forth, we got a very scary moment. Tenzan connected on a headbutt off the top, instantly busting Yano open. I mean, the blood was everywhere immediately. The true trooper that he is, Yano kept going and won after a low blow and backslide.
Winner: Toru Yano (2) in 6:38
The best match I’ve seen between these two. They didn’t do anything crazy, but it was fun for the most part. It’ll be memorable for the blood and I’ll give it an extra ¼ for Yano being badass. **¾
Block B
Hirooki Goto (2) vs. Tomoaki Honma (0)
The Intercontinental Champion against the guy that never wins but manages to stay super over. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Honma was born for the G1. They worked this match at a great pace and delivered some great hard hitting stuff. Honma relentlessly went for Kokeshi and the crowd bit on it every single time. It’s great because the fans knew Honma won’t win but they believed hard as the match progressed. He countered Shouten Kai into a small package and I actually thought he had it and I knew the result going in. That tells you something about underdog Honma’s ability. Despite the valiant effort, as always, Goto put him down with Shouten Kai. Honma sold the loss like it killed him.
Winner: Hirooki Goto (4) in 12:20
Tomoaki Honma does it again. The guy just clicks in this setting. He and Goto had a really strong, hard hitting battle that worked the crowd into a frenzy. This was just shy of being great and easily the best thing on the two nights up to this point. ***¾
Block A
Katsuyori Shibata (2) vs. Togi Makabe (2)
Two of the toughest, hardest hitting dudes in all of New Japan. They came out of the gates charging and Makabe laid out Shibata with a big lariat. That set the tone for the kind of match it would be. Both guys played to their strengths and waged war for the duration of the match. There were some cool close calls, like Makabe getting a near fall on a powerbomb. They exchanged forearm shots and did the “kick out at one” tough man thing that is a staple of Shibata matches against other badass dudes. It works in these situations because it is just two guys trying to prove who is tougher. Shibata won this won after the sleeper hold/penalty kick combination.
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (4) in 9:35
If I asked you to tell me what you’d expect from a ten minute Shibata/Makabe match, this would be it. That’s not a bad thing at all. It’s what you want, need and get from them. This was a tidy ten minute battle and another strong outing from Shibata. ***¾
Block B
Karl Anderson (4) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (4)
Two guys that have started this tournament 2-0 collided here. Both guys game out of the blocks firing, looking to have a great match. I have to admit, Anderson, who I usually like, seemed to be coasting through the first two nights. He’s had two solid matches but they weren’t anything special. He picked up the pace here, trying to match Ishii’s intensity. Having to make up for the lost Elgin/Nakamura match, they were given a good chunk of time and did well with it. As Anderson talked smack, Ishii fired up and just took some heavy forearms like they were nothing. Anderson learned that Ishii is like a Samoan. He tried to headbutt him but it went very poorly. Ishii hit a headbutt of his own before scoring with the Brainbuster, remaining unbeaten.
Winner: Tomohiro Ishii (6) in 16:31
Despite the slow start, this really picked up near the end. The final five or so minutes are pretty great. Ishii staying undefeated is certainly interesting. Best Anderson match of this G1 so far. ***½
Block A
AJ Styles (4) vs. Kota Ibushi (2)
Back in April, AJ Styles successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Kota Ibushi. This match ranked tenth in my “Top 100 Matches of 2015” list, putting it third among G1 Climax matches. There was so much to like about this. They played off of their previous match, countering each other early and often. Ibushi is a freak athlete and has the high flying skills that Styles used to possess. No longer in that stage of his career, Styles changed his game up and continued to show why he is among the smartest workers in wrestling. He did show that he still has it as he responded to an Ibushi backflip kick with his signature Pele. Styles survived some of Ibushi’s biggest offense. Knowing the damage it does, Ibushi did everything in his power to avoid the Styles Clash, which was the move that he lost to at Invasion Attack. After some incredible back and forth, Ibushi nailed the Phoenix Splash and won. He joined Tanahashi, Okada, Naito (and eventually Nakamura) as the only men to pin Styles in NJPW.
Winner: Kota Ibushi (4) in 19:10
The best match of the tournament up to this point. They played off of and bested their first encounter. Both guys worked very hard and this just had a big fight feel. Both guys are among the best in the world and showed why here. Unfortunately, we never got a rubber match between them. ****½
Block B
Kazuchika Okada (4) vs. Satoshi Kojima (2)
With no Nakamura/Elgin match, we’re already up to the B Block main event. Kojima is only behind Nagata as my favorite of the older generation of NJPW stars. The crowd loved him and were into him from the start. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm died down as the match wore on. They were actually mostly dead for the entire night. Kojima and Okada worked hard to get them invested. It was good at times but never reached great territory. Kojima nearly took off Okada’s head with a lariat before Okada made his big comeback that we’re all used to. They built towards a good finish that saw Kojima try for a lariat, only to get nailed with the Rainmaker.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada (6) in 18:22
This was good, just nowhere near great. The crowd’s lack of energy contributed to that for sure, but neither guy seemed to take it to the next level. Solid performances, though I wish we got more. The big main events so far, outside of night one, have failed to outperform some of the undercard stuff. This was another example. ***¼
Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) vs. Tetsuya Naito (2)
This match came in at #84 on my “Top 100 Matches of 2015” list. Two years prior, these two men faced off in the finals of the G1 Climax, which proved to be disappointing. This match wasn’t. Naito was fresh into his heel turn and just starting to turn on the persona. I feel like this was the match where he really solidified it. His mannerisms during the match were spot on. They brought a table into play, which was a nice change of pace since we don’t see much of that in the G1 Climax. Tanahashi continued to step his game up in the G1, but the real story was Naito. He really seemed rejuvenated in this role. Naito worked the neck throughout, setting up Destino, which earned him the victory.
Winner: Tetsuya Naito (4) in 24:14
A fitting way to close things out with one of the better main events so far. There are certainly better matches in the tournament from a pure in-ring perspective, but there weren’t many others that solidified a character the way this one did for Naito. He rode that wave all the way to the Heavyweight Title less than a year later. ****
Overall: 7.5/10. After a very sluggish start for both nights, the shows combined to put on a very good series of matches. Block A was the better half again, with a really strong Shibata/Makabe match and two great main events. Ibushi/Styles was the best thing the tournament has delivered so far. The four B Block matches were pretty good. None of them were must see and only one was flat out bad.
| Block A | Points | Block B | Points |
| AJ Styles | 4 | Kazuchika Okada | 6 |
| Bad Luck Fale | 4 | Tomohiro Ishii | 6 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 4 | Karl Anderson | 4 |
| Katsuyori Shibata | 4 | Hirooki Goto | 4 |
| Kota Ibushi | 4 | Michael Elgin | 2 |
| Tetsuya Naito | 4 | Satoshi Kojima | 2 |
| Togi Makabe | 2 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 2 |
| Toru Yano | 2 | Yujiro Takahashi | 2 |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 | Yuji Nagata | 2 |
| Doc Gallows | 0 | Tomoaki Honma | 0 |
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