G1 Climax 24 - Day 1

G1 Climax 24

(2014/7/21)

1.      Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Tomohiro Ishii

I loved this, such a swell “irresistible force vs. immovable object” story, with Ishii being an underdog again, but also being tough enough to bring Fale down, to make him – resistible. Hard-hitting match, nasty lariats and vicious headbutts, you know it. By leaps and bounds, Fale is the most improved wrestler of the year, I’m really enjoying the big push he’s getting.

***3/4

2.      Block A: Doc Gallows vs. Shelton Benjamin

Fuck me, another Shelton Benjamin match from 2014 I enjoyed. It’s hard for two heel gaijins to make things work when they’re wrestling each other, so this was a tremendously tough task. They made it work, though, by creating simple dynamics with Doc working as a big badass brawler, and Benjamin working from behind by relying on big hope spots. The crowd recognized it too, and I fucking adored the finish. By the way, the match was very rough and stiff, Doc was throwing some gnarly punches.

***1/2

3.      Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Never doubt Tenzan. Seriously, I was in awe here, such a feelgood match, to see Tenzan going like it’s 2004… chills. Very good match right here, with zero dull moments and some awesome taunts. Small things, that’s it, that’s what makes me a happy camper.

***1/2

4.      Block A: Yuji Nagata vs. Satoshi Kojima

To be frank, I was quite surprised to witness the severe lack of praise for this one, because it rocked. What we got here is two veterans laying heavy smacks at each other for eleven straight minutes, like it’s nothing, like they’re in their twenties. Awesome crowd reactions, frantic pace, smart work, killer finish, I seriously loved this. What is wrong with everyone?

****

5.      Block B: Minoru Suzuki vs. Toru Yano

This never-ending feud needs to be killed with fire. I’ve lost a track on this shit months ago, how many times will Yano embarrass MiSu? At least they kept it very short, kudos there.

bad

6.      Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

These two are never gonna bust out a four star classic, I’ve made my amends with that fact long time ago. This is the maximum, I guess, because after all, Naito is not a wizard like Ishii to carry Yujiro to a MOTYC. Yujiro has become very reckless in the ring lately, he almost broke Naito’s neck here. First Ishii (twice), and now this. Well, at least his new finisher looks fine and dandy.

***1/4

7.      Block B: Hirooki Goto vs. Togi Makabe

They carried over the heat from the tag feud they have/had, and it was all good stuff. Intensity, organic feeling, nasty suplexes and lariats… goodies everywhere. Makabe is just ridiculously over everywhere.

***3/4

8.      Block A: Tomoaki Honma vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MOTN, and a very strong MOTYC. I’m insanely high on this match, I’m telling you. Honma > > > Ibushi, and it showed here. And I’m an Ibushi fan. No one books underdogs better than New Japan, the crowd is extremely pro-Honma, and the GOAT Tanahashi recognizes it, and heels it up. Taunts, teases and build everywhere. Hot finishing run, yada-yada-yada, a fucking excellent match.

****1/2

9.      Block A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

So, I see many polarizing thoughts on this one. I, for one, loved it. First few minutes were all about fake calmness and smartass psychology, it was just a matter of time before someone snaps and goes all out HAM. One might criticize Shibata’s partial lack of focus and structure here, but you can go the other way too – he just grabs whatever he can, whether it’s a leg, or arm, or neck, it doesn’t matter. Shinsuke’s selling of slams, suplexes and vicious strikes was sublime, and they were throwing in a lot of elements from the decade ago, as well as from the 80s. I can totally see why would others dislike this, but I hope they see why many of us dig the match. If Shibata were more focused and coherent in the early stages, and if Shinsuke sold his leg for few moments, this would’ve been a MOTYC.

***3/4

10.  Block B: AJ Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada

Aaaaand Yujiro wins the award for the most useless fucking interference of the year. Without it, the match could’ve been borderline great, instead of being just good. We already got the good, twice. Shame, really shame, this way we got at least six or seven matches better than this one.

***1/4

Very strong opening day, super promising, enjoyed the show tremendously.