August 3rd, 2016 | Kagoshima Arena in Kagoshima, Japan
The G1 Climax returns with more A Block action. These middle of the tournament shows weren’t anything to write home about last year, and so far, it has been more of the same this time around. However, this show has some big implications since the two guys tied atop the standings, Kazuchika Okada and Togi Makabe, face off for first place. As always, I’ll just be reviewing the tournament matches.
A Block: Bad Luck Fale [6] def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] in 8:22
I still don’t get their thinking with the Tenzan story. His final run story should have handled much better than it has been thus far. Fale beat up the ring announcer during his introduction again. The match between these two was pretty terrible last year. This was better than that night, but I still didn’t find myself very interested. Fale used his power before Tenzan rallied and started nailing headbutts. He went up top but missed the moonsault. Tenzan then avoided some of Fale’s shots before ultimately falling to the Grenade. I would have written more about this, I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough. **
A Block: Hirooki Goto [6] def. Tama Tonga [4] in 12:31
Hirooki Goto started this G1 2-0, but has lost three straight since then. On the other hand, Tama Tonga began 0-2 before winning two of three. It looked like Tonga was going to give a clean break early, but he came back to get in a cheap shot. Shortly after, it was time for the typical G1 brawling on the outside and countout tease. I shouldn’t even call it a G1 thing since it happens so often in NJPW period. They even did another countout tease a little while later, though this one wasn’t as dramatic. They started slugging it out in the ring and Goto fired up around the ten minute mark. He hit a suplex/facebuster but Tonga countered his next move into the roll of the dice. Somewhere, Reno is proud. Tonga got two on the headshrinker DDT and then they went into a strange series of running the ropes. Both guys were stopping midway to run off of different ropes, which was kind of cool. Goto blocked the Gun Stun three times before winning via GTR. Like Tonga’s match with Okada, this started rather slow before picking up in the finishing stretch. It might have been Tonga’s best performance to date and another pretty good, but far from great Goto showing this year. ***
A Block: Naomichi Marufuji [8] def. SANADA [4] in 10:39
This was actually the match I was most excited about coming into this night. Their first exchange was pretty cool and saw the crowd come to their feet in appreciation. Marufuji nailed a dive outside onto SANADA but the crowd barely responded to it. They seemed less into this match than the others on the card. They engaged in a chop battle that saw SANADA remove his tank top and daring Marufuji to bring it. Marufuji certainly chops hard, so SANADA has some balls. SANADA did get tired of being lit up and resorted to an uppercut before scoring on his sweet dropkick. Both guys countered each other’s finisher a few times until SANADA got two on a TKO. SANADA should just use all moves with all uppercase letters so when I write about his matches, it’ll look insane. Marufuji got to the ropes to break the dragon sleeper and nailed a running knee. Marufuji then reeled off a series of kicks and Shiranui to pick up the win. Best match so far. I’d have switched match length around for this and the previous match since they felt like they were just about to really get going. Marufuji continues to deliver and SANADA has been solid throughout. I just don’t see why he continues to be at the bottom of the standings. Marufuji offered a post-match handshake but SANADA declined. ***½
A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] def. Tomohiro Ishii [4] in 16:15
I gave their match in the G1 23 ****½ and their G1 24 outing ***¾. These are two men that usually deliver, especially in the G1 Climax. The Tanahashi redemption rally story for this G1 isn’t very intriguing to me. He fought from behind here again, as Ishii started hot. Ishii even took a page out of Tanahashi’s book and busted out dragon screws. Ishii continued to go after the leg but Tanahashi answered that with some of his own leg work. Disrespectful kicks to the face by Ishii saw Tanahashi respond with a flurry of slaps. They fought up top where Tanahashi laid into Ishii with forearms until Ishii seemed to spit at him and fire up, leaning into each shot. Ishii hit the stalling superplex and both men were down. It was time to man up as they traded shots in the center of the ring and again, Ishii leaned into the shots BECAUSE HE’S A MAN. Tanahashi countered the Brainbuster twice but got hit with a dragon suplex. Once he got up, he hit Ishii with his own and a straightjacket suplex for two. Ishii rolled away from High Fly Flow and nailed the seated lariat for the closest near fall of the night. Tanahashi made the mistake of headbutting Ishii because Ishii’s retaliation headbutt made him crumple. Ishii kicked out of another dragon suplex but then Tanahashi got going. He nailed slingblade and two High Fly Flows to even his record at 3-3. Awesome match that is a contender for the best of the tournament so far. They always work well together and Ishii kicking ass at the start was great. It really felt like Tanahashi had to dig deep to win, which it sometimes doesn’t. Sometimes you just feel like it is a typical babyface rally but this worked extremely well. ****¼
A Block: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada [10] def. Togi Makabe [8] in 15:04
I get this going on last since it A) includes the champion and B) is for first place, but I couldn’t see them topping the previous match. Makabe and Okada have a very weird chemistry and they always seem to do well together for some reason but neither guy has had a good tournament thus far. Guess what happened early in this match? That’s right, another countout tease. Considering their hair color and gear, this looked like Okada wrestling a meaner, bigger, tougher version of himself from 15 years in the future. Both guys did their standard offense and nothing felt important. Makabe nailed a spider belly to belly instead of a German but missed the King Kong Knee Drop. Makabe countered a Rainmaker into a German but still fell victim to one and took the loss. Look, I never expected Makabe to win but unlike Tanahashi/Ishii, these two were unable to make me feel like it was even a possibility. This was maybe our third straight A Block main event that lacked drama or intensity. This never felt like a battle for first place, instead seeming like two guys putting on a house show match. **¾
Overall: 6.5/10. A step from the last A Block show. Fale and Tenzan basically had the match I expected them to have. Tonga and Goto was better than expected and I found SANADA/Marufuji to be the second best match of the evening. The main event was severely underwhelming, which is becoming an A Block trend. The show stealer was Ishii/Tanahashi, which is a match of the tourney contender and is up there with Ishii/Tenzan from night one for best A Block outing so far.
| A BLOCK | POINTS | B BLOCK | POINTS |
| Kazuchika Okada | 10 (5-1) | Katsuhiko Nakajima | 6 (3-2) |
| Togi Makabe | 8 (4-2) | Tetsuya Naito | 6 (3-2) |
| Naomichi Marufui | 8 (4-2) | Michael Elgin | 6 (3-2) |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 6 (3-3) | YOSHI-HASHI | 6 (3-2) |
| Hirooki Goto | 6 (3-3) | Kenny Omega | 6 (3-2) |
| Bad Luck Fale | 6 (3-3) | Yuji Nagata | 6 (3-2) |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 4 (2-4) | Toru Yano | 4 (2-3) |
| Tama Tonga | 4 (2-4) | Tomoaki Honma | 4 (2-3) |
| Tomohiro Ishii | 4 (2-4) | Katsuyori Shibata | 4 (2-3) |
| SANADA | 4 (2-4) | EVIL | 2 (1-4) |
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