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.