G1 Climax 24 - Day 6

G1 Climax 24

(2014/7/31)

1.       Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Doc Gallows

Unfortunately, this sucked. Sure, it wasn’t a DUD, but it was bad nevertheless. Both guys are big ass villains from Bullet Club, and the crowd was dead silent, no one was worth rooting for. Just a bad pro-wrestling match.

bad

2.       Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Yuji Nagata

The crowd was tough here, but mad, mad props to Nagata for waking them up in the second half. As for the match itself, eh, solid stuff, nothing particularly memorable or must-see, just decent pro-wrestling.

**1/2

3.       Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Togi Makabe

These two had a solid feud last year, but this was not good. Sure, it had the focused story of Makabe struggling with the injured jaw, Yujiro taking advantage of it to build for Makabe’s hope spots, and so on, but there was just something missing, that “it” factor, that color that makes for good matches.

**1/4

4.       Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Katsuyori Shibata

There’s a running theme in Shibata matches that I really dig – if you want to execute your signature moves and combos, then you have to upgrade your game for a level or two, otherwise you’re fucked in the ass. And to be frank, this might be the match where that theme got expressed in its truest fashion. Kojima was trying, but in the end, he failed to step up, and paid the deadly price. Great sprint, great match.

****

5.       Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Hirooki Goto

Decent match, but in the end, forgettable and skippable. The wrestling was solid for the most part, but not particularly memorable or organic to care about, the only thing that was really good was the last minute where they were countering everything, those were cool visuals, so there you go, I’ll be remembering the finish at least.

**3/4

6.       Block B: Lance Archer vs. Minoru Suzuki

So, MiSu is an ace, but you already knew that. He goes after his SZKG mate’s leg and makes it a focal point of the match, simple and cool strategy, but Archer barely fucking sells it, which brought the match down, significantly, because it’d be really fucking good, but this way it’s just… solid. MiSu being a fucking ace he is, saves the match from total mediocrity by creating another stellar finishing run, and, of course, his angry goblin face tells the entire story.

**3/4

7.       Block A: Shelton Benjamin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Benjamin is pissed off for having his winning streak broken, so he wants to make sure not to fail again, he targets Nakamura’s leg relentlessly, which was a nice focus from Shelton, and just goes after it, really cool to see. Nakamura sold it perfectly DURING the workovers, but not so much when it was time for him to hit the comeback spots. However, post-match selling is extremely important in puroresu, Shinsuke was letting us know his leg is in big pain, it’s just that he got hit by adrenaline rush to fight through pain. Very good match.

***1/2

8.       Block B: AJ Styles vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Aaaaand, this wonderful Tenzan redemption journey continues! Yet another good match and good performance by the good old Bull. Of course, Styles is a fucking BOSS too, it takes two to tango. Good shit.

***1/2

9.       Block B: Toru Yano vs. Kazuchika Okada

These Yano matches, man, you know exactly what you’ll get, but they’re still fun and… fresh. Yes, fresh, no kidding. He knows, logically, he stands no chance against Rainmaker, so he cheats right, left and centre, but Okada is just too smart… or is he? Finishing stretch was superb.

***1/4

10.   Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

These two gladiators, they did it again, an excellent match, alls I’m sayin, I don’t really feel like writing much about this one, hopefully those four snowflakes down under can tell you everything. The match was rough and well paced, manliness 101, and they also added some neat twists, especially Tanahashi in the end.

****

The weakest event of the tournament so far, but still had two great matches, and three good ones. Sweet.