G1 Climax 24 - Day 3

G1 Climax 24

(2014/7/25)

1.       Block A: Doc Gallows vs. Tomoaki Honma

Both guys are 0-2 going into this one, so it’s serious business. Honma’s underdog glow glows yet again, this times against a dirty American roughhouse. I see many people didn’t dig this match, but fuck me if I know what they were watching, tbf. The story was poignant, and I’m a sucker for a good underdog flash, and Doc’s combo of power moves and stiff brawling was excellent.

***3/4

2.       Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Lance Archer

Chris Sabin’s Big Brother, aka Lance Archer, has those all sorts of cool early 90s WCW jobber tights. Good match, tbf, and I didn’t expect much from it considering it was two gaijin heels wrestling, but they did fine. Lance played a face, kind of, because no one’s rooting for Bullet Club, no way, so Lance is automatically cheered for. Good match, like I said, Karl attacked Archer’s legs in order to bring the tall man down, he also used his shameless RKO impression, hehe, there were some cool reversals in the finishing run, all in all – fun match.

***

3.       Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Tenzan’s working one helluva tournament thus far, considering his age and history of body crushing. Also, Yujiro has improved recently, mos def. This was a good match with Yujiro being a pushy aggressor and Tenzan hitting his comeback spots, dude’s very over with the crowds. The finishing stretch was very exciting, Tenzan’s use of submission holds is so smart and compact. Surprisingly (or not?) good.

***1/4

4.       Block A: Shelton Benjamin vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Benjamin is 2-0 going into this one, and he’s gained big confidence, so naturally he won’t let Ishii run through him with his rabid roughness. Instead, Shelton is the one trying to dictate the pace, and is not afraid to go batshit crazy. Can he score another upset, or is Ishii just too much this time? Smashing little sprint.

***1/2

5.       Block B: Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Naito

Similar to Yano/Styles, this was quite a clash of styles, but executed much better. Yano’s primal tactic is to troll Naito to death, obviously. But Naito is not a sucker, so shit is on. However, Yano throws a chair right across his poster boy face and busts him open. So, Naito’s juicing now, and it leads us to a very good face-in-peril session with Yano dominating and Naito surviving, it made the match very organic. Pretty nice match-up.

***3/4

6.       Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata

I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed this. Davey Boy knew things have to be done, because he lost against Nakamura, and is now wrestling a guy who defeated that same Nakamura, so the logic 101 says he has to focus like a motherfucker, no goofing around, just business. This was very shooty and slick, filled with careful and defensive wrestling, and with some nice counters and stuff, kind of reminded me on Ikeda/Honda back from NOAH 2001.

***3/4

7.       Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Yuji Nagata

These Fale matches are slow and methodical, I understand they’re not for everyone, but I quite like them. Fale is a big guy, but Nagata knows how to deal with those types (Takayama, Bernard, Morishima, etc), he’s not scared at all, he’s there to hit hard and give his best. But Fale is on the roll, he’s scored some major wins this year, and is looking to bounce back after the shocking Benjamin loss.

***

8.       Block B: Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto

Solid, but not good. It pains me to say Yujiro was a much better aggressor to Goto than MiSu was. The match was short, but still managed to drag in some parts, plus there was a stupid TAKA interference. At least Goto’s Shiki roll-up for the win was glorious.

**3/4

9.       Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Nifty match-up, and the best thing about it? They worked a bare minimum of what their chemistry is able to provide us. I know Kojima is miles away from main event scene nowadays, but I wouldn’t mind seeing these two headlining a big show one more time to rock the world.

***1/2

10.   Block B: Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe

These two have incredible chemistry together, just check the two bonafide classics for the last year, Dominion and G1, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. This one was no exception either, just a super sweet main event with Makabe still struggling with his injured jaw, and Okada taking advantage over it. Tons of manliness, teasing and cool counter attacks, plus Okada’s busting out high angle Germans on a more regular basis now, fuck yes.

****1/4

Well, the worst match was Suzuki/Goto, which was still solid, so there you go. Main event was great, and the rest was all good stuff.

G1 Climax 24 - Day 2

G1 Climax 24

(2014/7/23)

1.      Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Satoshi Kojima

This was pretty crazy, and their best match together, yes, even better than the NJC 2013 opener. Kojima is 43, Ishii is almost 40 (shocking, yes), but they were bumping like madmen right, left and centre here, like they were some green ass rookies with a chip on their shoulder, shit was impressive. I’m such a sucker for these 10 minute long sprints with fast pace and heavy smacks. Jesus, they were hitting each other hard. From a kayfabe perspective, Kojima made a colossal mistake by letting Ishii dictate the rollercoaster pace. It worked against physically more limited Nagata, but this Ishii fella is just something else.

****

2.      Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Shelton Benjamin

The NJC semi-finals rematch, this one was short as well. The story I got from this one is that Shelton gained tremendous confidence from the Gallows victory, so he was able to dismantle Fale’s pacing here, he caught him off guard with the hard-hitting blows. Quite back-and-forth action, and in the finishing stretch Fale made a mistake by not hitting Shelton with a Samoan spike as a prep for the Bad Luck Fall, and he screwed himself hard that way. Yet another stiff and super effective superkick + Paydirt finishing combo from Shelton, I’m digging it. Two days of the G1, two wins for Shelton against the Bullet Club giants.

***

3.      Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto

Had no interest in this whatsoever, but shit, I’m glad I watched because it was super sweet, almost great. Judging by these two days of the tournament, it looks like they found a perfect and simple formula to make Goto’s stuff much more interesting and compelling, and that’s working from behind where he gets dominated which builds to hard-hitting comeback spots. It really did wonders for him here, and Yujiro gets big credit too, for being a relentless prick and putting Goto over as a FIP. Shockingly very good.

***3/4

4.      Block B: Lance Archer vs. Tetsuya Naito

Joys and sweetness everywhere, oh dear… This was one hella 8 min long sprint with simple and effective big man vs. small(er) man formula that worked like a motherfucker. Tons of cool moves and counters; slick combos by Naito, grumpy smacks by Archer, such a cool little match.

***3/4

5.      Block A: Tomoaki Honma vs. Yuji Nagata

Very similar to Ishii/Kojima in terms of smashmouth style and pacing, with hellish blows and awesome… awesomeness. HONMA~!

***3/4

6.      Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Much better than their NJC match, but still not particularly good. Good enough, yes, but not very good, which is a shame because their encounters from the last year rocked. Technically and execution wise, this was almost flawless, but from an emotional side, the first half was quite dry, sometimes even bland. However, the second half has many cool moments that elevated the match to an acceptable territory. Btw, I’m all for goofiness, but Davey Boy’s facial expressions are just way too much these days, he’s trying too hard, and it doesn’t work, at all.

***1/4

7.      Block B: AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano

Solid, fun match, but not good, although the character and ring style differences in dynamics were very interesting, but hey, isn’t that the case with almost every YTR match? I’d rate the match higher if Styles bothered to hit Yano with something else before executing him with the Styles Clash, you know, that move Tanahashi uses as a transitional move. I know Yano is low on the totem pole, but I doubt Tanahashi would defeat him with the Styles Clash. Eh, maybe it’s that thing where many wrestlers use lariato, but only some of them use it “properly”, aka in a decapitating fashion.

**3/4

8.      Block B: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Tenzan’s best match in years, and you wanna know the best part? He wasn’t carried to it, just like he wasn’t carried to it by Karl two days before. Coincidence? I think not. He looks and moves very well, is motivated, but for fuck’s sake, he needs to stop missing those knee crushing moonsaults, I cringe every damn time. Same with Naito and Makabe. Stay safe, fellas. Okada? Oh yes, he was class too, but you already knew that.

***3/4

9.      Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Togi Makabe

Makabe’s astonishing charisma and overness aside, this was not good. While I greatly appreciated the story continuity with Makabe’s injured jaw, which he sold very well, I just wasn’t a fan of Makabe kicking out of the Super Gun Stun only to win the match one minute later, it simply didn’t click with me, and that’s the reason why I don’t think highly of this. Solid, but not good.

**3/4

10.  Block A: Doc Gallows vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Doc’s pants = five stars and more! This was a very enjoyable main event, where they got the most out of the basic setup and storytelling, it was simple and effective (I know that phrase gets repetitive, but it is what it is). It worked because Tanahashi translates his immense charisma into matches like almost no one else, and Gallows is an awesome brawler, traditional dirty style from America. He used nice shortcuts to gain control, such as pulling the Ace’s hair, and stuff like that. Doc’s palm strikes look and sound quite vicious, it meshes so well with Japanese dudes. Tanahashi’s underdogish taunts were awesome, he also bumped and sold for Gallows properly, and there was a 19 count spot with a nice twist. Since the match was only 11 minutes long, they skipped a phase or two in the climax, but it didn’t hurt the match at all. Long story short, this was a totally fine main event.

***3/4

Another strong show, you know shit’s great when an opener is your MOTN, and the show still never misses a beat or falls off. JOY~!

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.