G1 Climax 23 Day Four Review

G1 Climax 24 Day Four
July 26th, 2014 | Akita, Japan

As we continue through the G1 Climax 24, we’ve seen a really good night one and two solid shows to follow but nothing that I would consider spectacular. I have a sense that will change here. The two guys getting the night off tonight are Doc Gallows and Yujiro Takahashi. I’m going to try and stray from play-by-play during this recap to try something different. Let’s see how well that goes.

Block A
Bad Luck Fale (4) vs. Satoshi Kojima (2)
It looks and sound like this will another hot crowd. The early story is that Satoshi Kojima tries to come at Bad Luck Fale with everything he’s got, but is too overmatched by the big man. It takes a miss by Fale to give Kojima any sort of hope. They tease these a few times, which is good as the crowd is firmly behind Kojima and his rally attempts. Kojima is resilient, kicking out of a spear and Samoan drop. Kojima escapes some of Fale’s signature moves and then pulls out the win following a massive lariat.

Winner: Satoshi Kojima (4) in 8:25
A rather solid match here. Bad Luck Fale was once again booked to look like a monstrous force throughout and Satoshi Kojima had to rally to beat him. Things weren’t very exciting when Fale was in control but that was to be expected. They worked a smart match and, while there may have been a better choice for a hot opener, this was fine. **¾

Block A
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (2) vs. Shelton X Benjamin (6)
Both of these guys are part of Suzuki Gun. Thy shake hands but Shelton goes right into a slam. I think that’s cool because it shows that while they get along, this tournament means that much. Taka Michinoku has accompanied both guys throughout and he’s out here to play peacemaker, telling them not to use steel chairs on each other. Interestingly, Davey, the bigger guy, controls the mat while Shelton, the guy with the amateur background, comes back with strikes. Shelton locks in the ankle lock but Davey, like a boss, just stands up with his other leg to counter it into a sharpshooter. The finish comes when Shelton hits some kicks and the Paydirt.

Winner: Shelton X Benjamin (8) in 8:44
Whoa, Shelton keeps winning. I thought this was another good match. Both guys continue to have those, but haven’t produced anything particularly great yet. The fact that their alliance was put aside due to the importance of the tournament was cool and I thought that the shoutouts to Kurt Angle and Bret Hart during that submission spot were really cool. ***

Block B
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4) vs. Minoru Suzuki (0)
At this point, Minoru Suzuki is one of only three guys to not have any points yet. I’ve always heard good things about him but so far, he had a short match with Yano, a day off and a solid match with Goto. Suzuki has control early and goes right to the underhanded tactics, using the ring bell outside. Of everyone in the G1 so far, he’s been the most heelish. Suzuki targets the arm with various holds. So far in the tournament, Tenzan has looked like he’s fighting hard and giving his all to show that he’s still got it. At least that’s how I see it. He rallies at times but never seems to fully overcome Suzuki. He is able to block several piledriver attempts, which is a recurring theme here. Suzuki makes Tenzan tap out for his first win.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki (2) in 11:04 
While he hasn’t had a standout match yet, I’m really enjoying Suzuki heel it up so far. He tried hard for the piledriver here, but Tenzan had it well scouted and he was forced to try something else, which is how he ended up winning. I appreciate little things like that. ***

Block B
Hirooki Goto (6) vs. Toru Yano (2)
Entering this show, Hirooki Goto is one of four undefeated people, along with Benjamin, Okada and Tanahashi. Yano throws his water bottle at Goto, who just fires back and proceeds to kick Yano’s ass. He even stops the turnbuckle spot before tossing him around a bit. It looks like Goto is about to end this quick, but Yano hits him with a low blow and rolls him up to steal another one.

Winner: Toru Yano (4) in 1:21
That Toru Yano is a tricky fellow isn’t he? Normally, it’s hard to rate something so short, but for the time it lasted, I was having a good time. Goto was kicking ass and Yano was his wacky self. **

Block A
Tomoaki Honma (0) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (2)
From the work I’ve seen these two do, things should be about to pick up. As expected, they go into just beating the fuck out of each other and Honma misses a headbutt. Has he ever hit it on the first try? They just continue to batter each other. If you are a fan of manly man type matches where things are just hard hitting and brutal, these two deliver. The crowd is MOLTEN hot and pop hard when Honma nails the headbutt. Ishii sells a DDT here like it killed him. I don’t see many people talk about it, but he’s pretty good at that aspect. Unfortunately for Honma, he misses the top rope headbutt. The reaction for him getting two on a rollup and then hitting a flurry of offense is insane. They go to war with strikes and when Honma survives a lariat, again, the crowd comes unglued. He is unable to survive a Brainbuster though.

Winner: Tomohiro Ishii (4) in 12:06 
Once again, these two get together and deliver one hell of a match. This was hard hitting, emotional, featured some close calls and best of all, had the crowd in the palm of their hands. They want to see Honma win so badly and you could feel and hear it each time he got close. They did everything well here, from the selling to the mannerisms to the actual in ring moves, this was great. ****¼

Block B
Lance Archer (2) vs. Togi Makabe (2)
Archer manages to spit a ton of water at the referee and Makabe before the bell. Like, more than Triple H spits in his entrance. A good chunk of the start of the match sees Archer pound on Makabe outside. While I don’t consider him to be the most imposing of big men (similar to Doc Gallows), he plays mean very well. It’s honestly a pretty one-sided math, with Archer really in control. Archer hit one of his signature moves and it looked like Makabe died. His eyes rolled back and everything. He was faking though and attacked a taunting Archer on the top. He then hit the spider German and knee drop to win.

Winner: Togi Makabe (4) in 10:35
I think that Togi Makabe did good work here. He sold well for Archer throughout. While Archer has improved since his days in TNA and WWE, he still isn’t great and having him control the majority of a match isn’t going to make it one that I love. However, credit goes to the finish, which was pretty great. **½

Block A
Shinsuke Nakamura (2) vs. Yuji Nagata (2)
Once the fans see Shinsuke Nakamura on the screen, they go nuts. This starts with the two men feeling each other out, but they seem to know each other so well that they are ready for the moves that the other one tries. When Nakamura gains control, he gets cocky and it angers old man Nagata. That is where things pick up because Nagata goes off on Nakamura, delivering some fun facial expressions in the process. Like, at one point Nakamura kicks him and he just gives him this offended look like “HOW FUCKING DARE YOU KICK ME LIKE SOME LILTTLE BITCH?” Nagata then proceeds to slap the shit out of Nakamura. Nagata goes after the arm, even applying his trademark armbar. Nagata picks up some close near falls that the fans bite on. Nakamura uses his knee to block a suplex and follows with two Boma Ye’s that gets the three.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (4) in 11:16
I saw these two have a match a year later in the G1 but it didn’t reach this level. I loved Yuji Nagata just being a complete badass and not taking Nakamura’s shit. Nakamura had to find a way to overcome that and I just thought this worked really well. ***¾

Block B
AJ Styles (2) vs. Tetsuya Naito (4)
These two would go on to wrestle at Wrestle Kingdom 9 a few months later. From the start, AJ Styles targets Naito’s head injury from the previous night. During his TNA run, I always felt that AJ made a far better face, but he’s become so good at playing the heel. Naito hits AJ’s trademark dropkick and even does the pose. Because of that, when AJ actually hits his, Naito flips inside out and it feels earned. Naito starts bleeding from the cut. With everything that AJ does, he just has this asshole look on his face, which is great. Naito has to work from behind because of the blood and it works better here than last night since Styles is a much bigger threat than Yano. Naito continues to try comebacks, but Styles is prepared for them all and stops them with various moves, including a Pele kick followed by Bloody Sunday. We nearly see a super Styles Clash, but Naito escapes and hits a gorgeous bridging German suplex for a VERY close two count. Naito is able to hit the Stardust Press and pin the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito (6) in 15:55
As I said, I really liked their Wrestle Kingdom 9 match, but I liked this one more. AJ Styles playing the dick heel while also being vicious and attacking Naito’s weakness was so damn good. It was a side of him that wasn’t seen much until recently. Naito has disappointed me since I’ve been watching him as a face, but this was his best performance for sure. The blood added to his resilient performance in a big way. ****½

Block B
Karl Anderson (0) vs. Kazuchika Okada (6)
Here we have a rematch of the 2012 Finals, where Anderson became the first foreigner to make the finals since Rick Rude in 1992. Okada won that one. Anderson attacks before the bell but Okada takes a slight advantage when they brawl outside. A kick changed that and Anderson got in the driver’s seat, leading to a countout tease. Anderson holds serve with Okada making a few rally attempts but something about this isn’t clicking the way I’d hoped. Near the end, I feel like things pick up as they bust out some bigger offense and start countering each other. We see piledrivers, before they reverse each other’s finishers until Anderson scores the pinfall after the Gun Stun.

Winner: Karl Anderson (2) in 12:34
Something about this match just didn’t connect with me early on and I was actually kind of bored. Things picked up down the stretch, which seems to a theme in Okada matches. His end sequences are usually hot. They would have a better match a year later as Anderson’s G1 25 has been better than what I’ve seen of his 24 performances. ***¼ 

Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2)
Up until recently, I had no clue that there were issues here. Tanahashi had some negative things to say about Shibata in his autobiography and this is their first meeting since then. There seemed to be a buzz in the air for this that other matches tonight haven’t had. Tanahashi is surprisingly the first person to bring the strikes but has to scurry when Shibata tries to murder him. Shibata follows out and beats the fuck out of Tanahashi. It’s like Shibata’s goal in this match is to just obliterate Tanahashi. Pretty much anytime that Tanahashi looks to gain traction, Shibata just takes his offense and comes back with something that looks vicious. When Tanahashi finally attacks the leg, it makes sense because he doesn’t want to get kicked into oblivion anymore. He hits High Fly Flow, but his second attempt is stopped by Shibata’s knees. They go into a strike exchange where Shibata just DESTROYS Tanahashi with one particular blow. That’s part of an excellent finishing stretch that sees Shibata hit a go to sleep and the PK to hand Tanahashi his first loss.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (4) in 16:16
This is what I wanted from this match. They had one a year later in the G1 that disappointed me. Here though, it’s more Shibata’s style than Tanahashi’s, which works for the better. The atmosphere was electric as the fans seemed to know that there was tension between the two men and they just went out and made sure to show it during the match. This was intense and worked in a great way. ****½

Overall: 9/10. After the great opening night, the next two nights have been good, but as I stated, I wasn’t blown away. They shut me up here. The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of was the Makabe/Archer match as even the short Yano match was fun. You have arguably the three best matches of the G1 so far in Honma/Ishii, Styles/Naito and Shibata/Tanahashi, plus a really fun Nakamura/Nagata match and more than a few solid to good bouts. An excellent show top to bottom. Also, Shelton Benjamin is actually leading this thing after four nights?

Block A Standings
Shelton X Benjamin 8
Hiroshi Tanahashi 6
Katsuyori Shibata 4
Shinsuke Nakamura 4
Bad Luck Fale 4
Tomohiro Ishii 4
Satoshi Kojima 4
Yuji Nagata 2
Doc Gallows 2
Davey Boy Smith Jr. 2
Tomoaki Honma 0

Block B Standings
Kazuchika Okada 6
Hirooki Goto 6
Tetsuya Naito 6
Toru Yano 4
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 4
Togi Makabe 4
AJ Styles 2
Minoru Suzuki 2
Karl Anderson 2
Yujiro Takahashi 2
Lance Archer 2

Top Five 10/19/15-10/25/15

1) Alberto Del Rio: Hell in a Cell turned out to be far better than I ever expected it to be. The biggest news coming out of the show came right at the start as John Cena's United States Title Open Challenge was answered by a returning Alberto Del Rio. It's been over a year since we last saw Del Rio in the WWE, and in that time he's done some great work with AAA, Lucha Underground and ROH. He is now paired with Zeb Colter, which could certainly help since he needs a mouthpiece. Del Rio came out and proceeded to defeat Cena cleanly. Not only that but he did so in under ten minutes. Since Cena became the man in 2005, only a handful of people have beaten him clean and none have done it this quickly. The match was anti-climactic and not very good, but the result and return were incredibly memorable and one of my favorite moments of 2015.

2) Roman Reigns: Raise your hand if 10 months ago, you thought Roman Reigns to be a top performer in 2015. Both of the matches inside of the Hell in a Cell delivered at the Pay-Per-View. I enjoyed Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns more than Lesnar/Taker, resulting in Reigns' position here. He overcame Bray in a twenty plus minute war that was another in a string of good to great Pay-Per-View performances by Reigns in 2015. Honestly, outside of the Royal Rumble, I've given every Reigns PPV match somewhere between ***1/4 and ****1/4. That's impressive. Reigns and Wyatt got a chance to have a great Cell match with no extra bullshit and went out and delivered. He still needs tons of work on his promo skills, but Reigns has done nothing but step up in big matches this year and this might have been the most impressive.

3) Brock Lesnar: The other Hell in a Cell match featured Brock Lesnar taking on the Undertaker. I was vocal in how I didn't care for the match and that never wavered. I will admit that they managed to have a damn good match that was nearly on the level of their 2002 Cell encounter. As always, things just felt different in a Brock match. He and the Undertaker went out and had a war, including blood, violence and some close near falls. The WWE did the wise thing and Brock cleanly went over after hitting an F5 on the exposed wood under the mat. I'll admit that was one of the most creative finishes to a match that I can recall. Brock should absolutely move into something new and fresh now that the Undertaker is behind him.

            4) Jay Briscoe: For over 800 days Jay Briscoe went without being pinned or submitted for Ring of Honor. That streak ended a few months back when he lost the ROH World Title, but since then, he's been back on a role. He was targeted by Adam Page of the Decade. Questionable decision by Page in the eyes of some but it did give him a big program to work. This all led to a No Disqualification match on ROH TV during the week. They main evented and went for about 16 minutes. Outside of Brock/Taker and Reigns/Wyatt, this was my favorite match of the week. It was a big performance by Page but Briscoe was his usual solid self. He won a pretty brutal match after two Jay Drillers, including one through a table. It was a another high profile win for one of the MVPs of Ring of Honor.

5) The New Day: The feud between the Dudley Boyz and the New Day has been hit or miss. On the one hand, the promos have been fantastic and New Day has delivered great there. On the other hand, the matches have disappointed. At Hell in a Cell, the teams met for the third time and we finally got an actual finish instead of a disqualification. The New Day were able to beat their latest rivals and hopefully, put them away for good. The WWE Tag Team Champions continue to be the best thing in WWE. I say that pretty much weekly because it's still very true and that hasn't changed.

Hell in a Cell Review

The Kickoff match this month was just a rematch of something we saw on Raw this week. Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler and Neville took on King Barrett, Sheamus and Rusev. Now, the heels won on Raw, which made it obvious that the faces would win here because they just have to keep that 50/50 booking going. Despite the clear outcome, I felt that this was a fun match. Cesaro went nuts and stole the show when he got the hot tag, really adding to this match. Barrett ate the pin after taking signature moves from all of his opponents. Also, on the Kickoff show, Renee Young was wearing a bit of a revealing dress and the camera never did a closeup of her. Later in the show, they did after she put on a jacket. Strange and unfortunate and unnecessary censorship. Anyway, fun match. ***1/4

The John Cena United States Title Open Challenge kicked off the show. It was answered b Zeb Colter in surprising fashion. Instead of bringing out Jack Swagger, he brought out a returning Alberto Del Rio in a shocker. I pretty much marked out as a Del Rio fan. Del Rio and Cena faced off in a match that unfortunately, was about as good as their old matches and I don't really remember liking any. This only went about seven minutes and saw Del Rio win with a superkick to the head. I liked the surprise finish but it came off as anti-climactic after everything that Cena kicked out of during the open challenges. The match was decent at best, but I bump it up a bit for the cool moment. **3/4

The war between Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns came to an end in the second match. That was absolutely what this was. War. It needed to be. They went out and used chairs, tables and kendo sticks in good ways. At one point, Reigns beat on Bray with two kendo sticks at once. Outside of that, Bray got to look like a total monster. It was the kind of showing that he isn't given often enough. The highest spot came from a massive spear off the apron through a table. The finish came from another spear after about 23 minutes and Reigns won. I was totally okay with this because of how great the match was and it was an example of how to keep Bray strong in a loss. Unlike the ones against Cena and Undertaker, where he looked like a chump. Reigns joins elite company as a guy with more than three four star matches from me this year. ****

Up next, the New Day came out for the Tag Team Title match. They cut a promo bashing the Lakers and mourning Xavier Woods, who missed the show due to a table bump, but he was apparently really getting married. They worked a decent match with the Dudleys. Kofi Kingston pulled an Eddie Guerrero and tried to fake it as if Bubba hit him with the trombone but the referee didn't buy it. I expected this to lead to a 3D but instead, Kofi was able to score with Trouble in Paradise. Wisely booked and the right decision was made, but the match itself once again disappointed. I've liked the promos in the feuds but not really the matches. At least New Day was their usual fun selves. **1/2

The Divas Championship was on the line and everyone was barred from ringside for it. Now, people like to give Nikki Bella shit, but she was surely the MVP of this match. She targeted Charlotte's back, which made way more sense than when she targets the arm for no reason. They messed up a big time top rope spot that nearly killed both. Nikki  busted out an impressive Alabama slam on the apron near the finish. Unfortunately, Charlotte failed to sell any of this as she applied the figure eight to win. She should have just done a regular figure four. It wasn't a great performance for Charlotte, but overall, it was a good match. Charlotte's lack of selling hurt the final score for me. ***

I guess that Seth Rollins didn't think Kane was worthy of the all white gear that John Cena and Sting faced the last few months. I don't think the build for this has been really good but at least split personality Kane has been entertaining. Here, Demon Kane wasn't. Seth Rollins wasn't on his A game either but he really seemed to try. Unfortunately, it just wasn't working. This only went about fourteen minutes but felt like thirty. There was nothing about this that you needed to see and is completely skippable. It was the worst title match in Seth's run, even more than the mediocre Steel Cage match with Randy Orton. Seth won clean with a Pedigree, so at least that was a positive. Corporate Kane is now fired. *3/4

In the slot before our main event, Kevin Owens defended the IC Title against the Ryback. Ryback was sporting some pretty rad Halloween themed gear. I rather enjoyed their Night of Champions match and how they worked a body part and stuck with it. Here, not so much. They kind of went through the motions and the match was really just kind of there. It felt like something you'd see on Raw where it was there to fill time. That's unfortunate since I think they could have topped their previous match. Instead, Owens wins with a popup powerbomb in a match with zero drama after about five minutes. **

I've been vocal about not caring about this feud in 2015 and I stick by that thought process. However, they managed to go out and nearly top their original Hell in a Cell in 2002. Both guys bladed, which is special considering this era. It was the war that it needed to be. They told a good story and didn't overdo it on the kickouts that a lot of big matches tend to. Brock exposed the wood under the mat and took a tombstone on it for a close two count. He then used a low blow, which makes perfect sense considering Undertaker's attacks in recent months, to set up an F5 on the wood and defeat the Undertaker. Better than I expected and a really good match. My second favorite of the night. ***3/4

After the match, Undertaker got to his feet, only for the Wyatt Family to show up. All four of them attacked Undertaker and then carried him out of the arena. It's been reported that Undertaker will work Survivor Series, which seemed dedicated to him, so I'm interested in what comes next as long as Taker puts Bray over this time.

I came into this show incredibly disinterested. The WWE went out and put on their second best Pay-Per-View this year, behind WrestleMania. The two Hell in a Cell matches were both pretty great, there was a solid women's match and the excellent surprise of Alberto Del Rio's return and title win. The rest of the card was okay at best, but it made for a good show overall. 7/10.

Hell in a Cell Predictions

Why should I care at all? This happened on Raw so there's no need to happen here. The heels won on Raw and the WWE "midcard" is built on shitty 50/50 booking so the faces will take this one.

Winners: Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler and Neville

Man, Kevin Owens has really cooled off hasn't he? I know that he's the Intercontinental Champion, but the buzz surrounding him is just gone. Still, he's been more enjoyable as IC Champion than Ryback was. To be fair, that was more the fault of creative than Ryback himself as there is only so much a guy can do when he's booked against Miz and Big Show. I don't see this continuing past this show and you're not going to cut the legs out of Owens' run just yet.

Winner: Kevin Owens

Remember when Charlotte won the Divas Title and it felt hollow because she didn't stop Nikki from breaking the record? Well this match feels rather hollow too. Granted, that's a bit unfair to these girls, who are both among the top five main roster female workers. However, we've seen this twice already. The fans have been very vocal about wanting one woman and that's Sasha Banks. I think that Sasha should have been added here. She beat Nikki clean twice so it would make sense. The fans would be interested, the match would most likely be better and you could still have Charlotte pin Nikki to retain, while protecting Sasha. Anyway, enough fantasy booker, Charlotte retains here.

Winner: Charlotte

Easily, the best thing about the WWE in the past few months has been the New Day. Their heel turn absolutely not only saved their run, but shot them into the spotlight. They are highly entertaining and have been a focal point on Raw (while also being the top highlight). What does that mean? That means it's time for the hot new act to be beaten by veterans from the old guard. I have nothing against the Dudley Boyz, but this return came at a time when it's going to come at the expense of something as great as the New Day. I'm sure New Day will bounce back, because they are that good, and probably even win back the titles from the Dudleys. On this night though, it's all Dudley Boyz.

Winners: The Dudley Boyz

With the rumors that John Cena is taking time off, it would be pretty easy to actually pick the TBA choice here. Honestly, depending on who accepts the challenge, I could totally see Cena losing especially since this is the first open challenge to happen on a Pay-Per-View. With all of that being said, I'm not picking the unknown entity. I said earlier this year that I wasn't picking against John Cena and I'm sticking by that.

Winner: John Cena

Despite the fact that I think this feud has been pretty good, this needs to be the blowoff. It's been about five months and they've already kind of run out of things to do. Unfortunately for Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns needs to win this feud. A good showing in a Survivor Series match and something at TLC should lead to Reigns pulling a 1996 Shawn Michaels and winning the Royal Rumble again. Now that he has some actual great matches under his belt (Fastlane, Mania, Payback), it feels like he's working towards the big push instead of being thrust in there this past Royal Rumble. Bray will aimlessly float after this most likely before doing the job to a bigger star again at Mania.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Let's get this straight. In no world should Seth Rollins' title reign come to an end at the hands of Kane. Admittedly, Kane's split personality character has been rather entertaining on Raw, but he should be nowhere near the WWE Championship. Having Kane go over Seth on Raw recently was a really terrible booking decision, but what can we do about that now? Have Seth cleanly beat Kane and send him away. I appreciate all that Kane has done for the company and the versatility he brings to the table. However, his runs needs to be over and Seth ending his career would be the best way to go.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Please, for the love of everything, let this be the end of this rivalry. As I noted going into SummerSlam, I was interested in this rivalry over a decade though. I didn't care heading into WrestleMania XXX and I care so much less now that they're doing it again. I'm sure the match will be relatively good and a bit brutal, but the whole feud has been incredibly lackluster. Brock should murder Undertaker and sweep this under the rug as if it never happened, before allowing someone down the line to beat him. Instead, I'm pretty sure Undertaker goes over and nobody really wins.

Winner: The Undertaker

2015 Prediction Record: 45-30
2014 Prediction Record: 22-18 (Only five PPVs)

NJPW Road to Power Struggle Review

NJPW Road to Power Struggle
October 24th, 2015 | Tokyo, Japan

Earlier this morning, New Japan Pro Wrestling held a “Road to Power Struggle” show. There was also one the prior day that I didn’t have time to review. This works mostly as a house show like event to hype the upcoming Power Struggle event, with the addition of the Super Juniors Tag Team Tournament beginning.

Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata and Togi Makabe def. Jay White, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu in 9:31
Once again, the Young Lions impressed me. They have been a pretty enjoyable part of recent New Japan shows for me, more so than things like the Juniors divisions and heavyweight Tag division. I liked seeing them work with guys like Goto and Makabe, who I don’t believe I’ve seen them work with before. The Young Lions seemed to be doing their best to impress once again, while Shibata’s team just took joy in kicking their ass. At one point, Goto absolutely slapped the hell out of Tanaka. Just a fun opener that finished when Shibata made White submit to a Boston crab. ***¼

Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI def. Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga in 10:47
This was here to build the Nakamura/Anderson Intercontinental Title match coming up at Power Struggle. With that being the goal, I’d say this accomplished the task. Anderson attacked Nakamura during his introduction taunt and kept going after him. The brawl went through the crowd and saw Anderson steal Nakamura’s jacket and mock him. Anderson was doing a very good job of being the dick heel that you just want to hate. Nakamura would get the win for Chaos with a Boma Ye on Tama Tonga. **¾

Gedo, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson and Tomoaki Honma in 15:36
It was pretty surprising to see Juice Robinson get shine with guys like Tanahashi and Okada. I loved how, right from the start, Tanahashi and Okada insisted on starting things off, giving fans a preview Wrestle Kingdom. This match built to that, while also focusing on the upcoming NEVER Title match between Ishii and Honma. Those four men work incredibly well against their respective upcoming opponents. There were some funny moments between Gedo and Robinson as well, playing off the old man/young guy dynamic. As expected, one of them was there to eat the pin and it was Robinson after a Rainmaker. Decent enough but felt longer than the actual 15 minutes. **½

Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament: reDRagon def. Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask IV in 10:24
The crowd pretty much loves Liger and Tiger Mask, but they also like reDRagon. That helped the match out as they were hot, which they wouldn’t be for the next contest. reDRagon actually dominated most of this match, which worked for the better. They are the champions and should come across as legit threats. They focused on the arm of Liger, taking him out and leaving Tiger Mask to the wolves so to speak. He would fall victim to Chasing the Dragon. After the match, all four men shook hands and embraced. A good start to the tournament. ***

Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament: Roppongi Vice def. Chase Owens and Kenny Omega in 13:11
This is where I would have done things differently in the tournament. The crowd was dead for this since Roppongi Vice aren’t among the most popular guys and the crowd didn’t care enough about Omega and especially Owens to really get involved. I would have swapped the Time Splitters with Roppongi Vice here. Anyway, Baretta played the face in peril and that lasted far too long. Owens is incredibly bland and generic, which is kind of the opposite of the overly campy Omega. Owens took the pin of course in a match that was kind of just there. **

Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament: The Young Bucks def. Mascara Dorada and Ryusuke Taguchi in 11:08
Right off the bat, there are three guys in this match that are among my four least favorite wrestlers in New Japan. Dorada, the one guy I don’t hate, was certainly the star here, busting out some impressive offense. They worked some comedy spots but none of it clicked with me. I enjoy my comedy wrestling when done right (a lot of Toru Yano stuff, some of Santino’s old work, etc.) but when comedy in wrestling is done wrong, it’s pretty awful. That was the case here. None of what they did made me chuckle and I found myself groaning more often than not. They also repeated some spots from the day before that weren't really worth doing again. The Young Bucks advanced with the Meltzer Driver. *¾

Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament: Matt Sydal and Ricochet def. The Time Splitters in 18:48
Since KUSHIDA dropped the Jr. Heavyweight belt in an absolutely baffling decision and the Time Splitters failed to dethrone reDRagon at Destruction, I felt that they could have used a win in the tournament. Roppongi Vice didn’t and that’s why I would have switched them. The duo of Sydal and Ricochet aren’t my favorite, but they worked very well together and showed off some of their breathtaking aerial skills. The Time Splitters held serve for the most part, which made sense given their regularity as a team. Sydal and Ricochet advanced with stereo shooting star presses in a good match that did feel a bit long near the end. I do think that Sydal and Ricochet are the best choices to win this thing since it would give us something different instead of reDRagon against either RPG Vice or the Bucks for the 100th time. ***¼

The Semi-Finals of this tournament take place on November 1st. Sydal and Ricochet meet the Young Bucks, while reDRagon faces Roppongi Vice again.

Overall: 6/10. About what I’d expect from a show like this. I thought that the opener and main event were the two best things on the card, while reDRagon had a good showing. The other two multi-man tags accomplished their goals of building towards future shows. Despite being under three hours, the show seemed longer, especially during the two bad Jr. tag tournament matches.

G1 Climax 24 Day Three Review

G1 Climax 24 Day Three
Jul 25th, 2014 | Yamagata, Japan

So far, the G1 Climax has produced two good shows, with night one being better than night two. This card doesn’t look better than the first, but my biggest disappointment is that it looks like two of my favorite guys to watch here, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, both have the night off here.

Block A
Doc Gallows (0) vs. Tomoaki Honma (0)
In classic Tomoaki Honma fashion, he misses a headbutt early on that allows Doc Gallows to take control. He pounds away on Honma on the outside for a bit. Gallows starts to work his wear down offense, which works here because the crowd is always so hot for Honma and, strategically, Gallows should want to take them out of the equation. They mess up a body slam spot, but eventually nail it and then Honma hits the headbutt. Honma uses several lariats to get Gallows down and calls for the big headbutt. He’s Honma though, so he misses. The Gallows Pole hits but when Honma kicks out, the place comes alive. Honma blocks a second one and gets two on a rollup. A second Gallows Pole puts him down though.

Winner: Doc Gallows (2) in 7:37
Relatively fine match here. Tomoaki Honma is a good person for Doc Gallows to go against here considering the crowd is always hot for Honma and his frantic comebacks, making Gallows’ offense worth sitting through. The close calls for Honma and the finish were my favorite parts. **¾

Block B
Karl Anderson (0) vs. Lance Archer (0)
The early focus of Karl Anderson is the leg of his larger opponent. He kicks it, stomps it and wraps it around the guardrail. Anderson does a real number on it, but it seems like Archer forgets about it for a second, going into a flurry. Anderson eats a Chokeslam but kicks out. Anderson gets two of his own on a TKO. Seriously, Archer’s tramp stamp is distracting. They both counter each other’s moves and Archer hits a reverse DDT. He does a lot of screaming around the ring. Archer nails his finish and…wins.

Winner: Lance Archer (2) in 7:35
For a guy who made the finals two years prior, Karl Anderson isn’t doing too hot. I wasn’t a fan of this match. Lance Archer’s lack of selling really hurt it and nothing about it was really worth seeing. That’s two disappointing Anderson matches so far out of three. Not good. **¼

Block B
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2) vs. Yujiro Takahashi (2)
During the 2015 G1 Climax, neither of these guys were among my favorites to watch but both guys have been better so far in this. They start with some uninspiring back and forth that isn’t wowing anyone. Yujiro hits a nice dropkick on the outside for our first interesting moment and Tenzan gets in at the count of 15. Tenzan tries to rally but misses a headbutt. Who does he think he is? Tomoaki Honma? They trade blows in the center of the ring until Tenzan busts out his chops. Tenzan eventually applies the Anaconda Vise and wins via submission.

Winner: Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4) in 11:16
Just a very uninspiring match. It was two guys that I don’t particularly enjoy, and they didn’t do much to change my perception of them here. It was kind of just there. **

Block A
Shelton X Benjamin (4) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (2)
Okay, things should start picking up here. It looks like Shelton may be selling work done from the first two nights, which I appreciate. Ishii tries to overpower him early but Benjamin is having none of that, knowing Ishii on his ass. Because he’s Ishii though, he wants to trade shots, yelling after some of Benjamin’s strikes. Shelton misses a corner splash so Ishii clotheslines him. They go to another forearm battle, which is always fun with Ishii. Brilliantly, Shelton trips him up as he goes for a big one and applies the ankle lock. Ishii counters into one of his own because why not? Shelton counters back and locks it in. Remember when Kurt Angle would do that and it was a wrap, you weren’t getting out? Shelton hits a stinger splash and then a series of Germans for two. Man, he looks motivated. Shelton goes for Paydirt, but Ishii ducks and hits a sweet German of his own. Ishii comes close with some lariats but Shelton blocks the Brainbuster. Ishii shrugs off the dragon whip but charges into a superkick. Paydirt hits and Shelton moves to 3-0.

Winner: Shelton X Benjamin (6) in 8:11
Yup, Shelton Benjamin leads the G1 as of this moment. This was my favorite match of his so far. Tomohiro Ishii is not someone I expected him to gel this well with but it happened. The constant counters, the stiff shots and the near falls and the surprise win all made this entertaining. I wish this got the time that the previous match did. ***½

Block B
Tetsuya Naito (2) vs. Toru Yano (2)
BREAK! BREAK! Toru Yano is up to his usual antics. He does it pretty much every single time Naito tries anything, even shouting it after Naito is pulled far away. Naito is finally able to send Yano outside, but when he follows, Yano hits him with a chair and busts him open. Inside, Yano uses his famous buckle spot and Naito even misses a splash, running into it himself. It’s fun that Yano is a step ahead of Naito throughout, until Naito trips him up and hits a corner dropkick. They work a fun spot involving the referee before Naito hits his rebound attack. He goes into a burst of offense, finishing with the Stardust Press.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito (4) in 9:12
As usual with a guy like Toru Yano, this was no technical masterpiece, but it was a fun bout. The blood added something to it though, making it a bit more than most Yano matches I’ve seen. Solid work from both guys here. ***

Block A
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (0) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2)
Hey, it’s the two guys who faced Shinsuke Nakamura so far. The match starts with chain wrestling that commentary is rather soft spoken for. For some reason, this adds to the work and I like it. Once things get physical, Shibata does what he does and kicks delivers stiff ass shots. Shibata applies the sleeper and Smith breaks it with a back suplex, but Shibata goes right back to it. I love that Shibata just goes to these badass submission style moves and they all look pretty legit. He tries for the PK after Smith is unable to break the hold due to being worn down, but misses, only to hit a kick to the back. A LARIATOOOO and powerbomb win it for Smith.

Winner: Davey Boy Smith Jr. (2) in 9:42
Another upset tonight. I wasn’t in love with Davey Boy Smith Jr. in WWE, but he’s done pretty well so far in the G1. I liked that it started slow and then moved to the physical stuff before ending on a good finishing stretch. Similar to the Shelton/Ishii match, I wish this got a bit more time. ***½

Block A
Bad Luck Fale (2) vs. Yuji Nagata (2)
Like any smart wrestler against a guy bigger than him, Yuji Nagata’s early focus is the leg and he takes Fale over and out with a big boot. Nagata tries to shift focus to the arm but Fale overpowers him. Nagata turns the tide by locking in a figure four, involving both guys slapping the fuck out of each other. Then Nagata goes badass old man and just suplexes the hell out of Fale. He then locks in the seated armbar but Fale is free. Fale then hits a Samoan drop and the Bad Luck Fall for the two points.

Winner: Bad Luck Fale (4) in 10:57
Bad Luck Fale has impressed me for the most part so far in the tournament and this was another strong showing. Yuji Nagata is a blast to watch as he just does things that men his age shouldn’t be able to. Not the greatest match but a fun outing by both men. ***¼

Block B
Hirooki Goto (4) vs. Minoru Suzuki (0)
Unlike the recent matches, this begins with a brawl. Minoru Suzuki fakes out Goto as the trade violent chops in a funny moment. They fight outside where Suzuki kicks a seated Goto, giving us a countout tease. Back inside, they headbutt each other and it just looks so brutal. Suzuki holds the referee as Taka Michinoku tries to interfere. It backfires when Goto nearly kills him with a neckbreaker. There’s an awkward moment where they kind of get stuck but Goto quickly recovers to make it look as good as possible. Goto looks to be falling out from a sleeper but is playing possum and rolls Suzuki up in odd fashion to steal it.

Winner: Hirooki Goto (6) in 7:03
Disappointed in how short this ended up going because it was pretty good. I do appreciate that they knew they weren’t getting much time, but wanted to do everything in their power to make that time work. Hot stuff. ***¼

Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) vs. Satoshi Kojima (2)
Here, Tanahashi starts in control, sending Kojima to the outside and following with a dropkick. Once inside, Kojima is the one to take control, trying to wear down the top dog in New Japan. They move into trading blows, which Kojima wins out in. Kojima strikes with a diamond cutter but both guys are down. They fight to the middle rope where Tanahashi fights off some offense, only to take a lariat that sends him to the outside. Kojima seems to call for the finish but Tanahashi is having none of that, nailing a straightjacket German for two. Tanahashi then nails a diamond cutter of his own, only to have High Fly Flow blocked. Kojima misses a lariat but hits one on the rebound, covering Tanahashi for a close two count that the fans absolutely bite on. Once up, Tanahashi takes another one to the back of the head but comes back with sling blade. Two High Fly Flows later and that’s a wrap.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) in 13:01
My favorite match of the night so far. Satoshi Kojima looking like he prepared for this and having a game plan ready was good, as it gave Tanahashi something to overcome. ***¾

Block B
Kazuchika Okada (4) vs. Togi Makabe (2)
Despite my feelings that these two guys may not mesh, I’ve heard good things about their clashes. They surprisingly brawl here with Okada being the aggressor. I didn’t expect this to take this route. He uses the guardrail to his advantage and is just a complete ass as he holds the upper hand. Hell, even as Makabe tries to fire up, Okada is ready with a DDT. It’s still early but the Rainmaker pose comes, which upsets Makabe who just gets right in his face. Togi lays him out with a lariat, seemingly ready to swing the momentum. The crowd is firmly behind him. There are some cool guardrail spots outside and once they go back in, Okada is back in charge with a kneebreaker and red ink submission. Makabe gets out and ducks the Rainmaker, only to hit his own lariat. A powerbomb is unable to get him the win so he hits a corner lariat and spider German! Makabe misses the big knee drop, so Okada dropkicks him. Makabe counters the Tombstone which leads into a series of counters ending in an Okada German for two. He holds the bridge and then uses the Rainmaker to win.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada (4) in 14:49
Okay, new match of the night. I didn’t expect this to work as well as it did but they delivered. I loved the brawling aspects and the crowd being red hot, especially for Makabe, added to this. Okada is so good in the dick heel role that I always end up preferring the matches, like this one, where he does that. ****

Overall: 7/10. In the same vein as the second show, the card for this event didn’t wow me but I think it again, delivered better than I thought it would. The first half of the show is kind of just there as only Ishii/Benjamin stands out and Naito/Yano is solid. The second half is much better, with every match being good and culminating in a great main event. So far, so good in this tournament, but it hasn’t blown me away just yet.

Block A Standings
Hiroshi Tanahashi 6
Shelton X Benjamin 6
Bad Luck Fale 4
Katsuyori Shibata 2
Shinsuke Nakamura 2
Satoshi Kojima 2
Yuji Nagata 2
Tomohiro Ishii 2
Davey Boy Smith Jr. 2
Doc Gallows 2
Tomoaki Honma 0

Block B Standings
Kazuchika Okada 6
Hirooki Goto 6
Tetsuya Naito 4
Hiroyoshi Tenzan 4
AJ Styles 2
Togi Makabe 2
Toru Yano 2
Yujiro Takahashi 2
Lance Archer 2
Karl Anderson 0
Minoru Suzuki 0