G1 Climax 24 - Day 10

G1 Climax 24

(2014/8/6)

1.      Block A: Tomoaki Honma vs. Satoshi Kojima

This could’ve been a bust, but some stories never get old, and Honma did try to refresh things, so kudos there, good opener. That lariat at the end was absolutely devastating.

***1/4

2.      Block A: Bad Luck Fale vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Unlike Gallows/Fale, this was a totally decent big man clash. Nice pacing, timing and all that stuff, solid match overall.

**3/4

3.      Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Tenzan’s final match of the tournament, and maybe even the final G1 match ever, so he’s ready to put up a fight, he’s not going down easily. Very good match, borderline great even, MOTN. Tenzan’s road of redemption might be the nicest story of this year’s G1.

***3/4

4.      Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Minoru Suzuki

In the end, this turned out to be a good match, but like with few other MiSu matches from this G1 (Archer, Naito…), could’ve been way better if MiSu faced a more inspired wrestler with a better sense for physical selling, a la AJ Styles. Here, Karl did a solid job in that department, but not solid enough. MiSu was awesome yet again, but you already knew that, obviously.

***

5.      Block B: Toru Yano vs. Togi Makabe

Sure, it was very short, and worked in the typical YTR fashion, but somehow I didn’t enjoy this. Plus, that roll-up did not look compelling. Nothing to see here.

bad

6.      Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. AJ Styles

The first half with Yujiro on offense, controlling pace and stuff, was very mediocre. Eventually, things got better when AJ took charge with his blistering offense and big pro-wrestling IQ. The final chapter was very good, and all things considered, the match was satisfying.

***1/4

7.      Block B: Lance Archer vs. Kazuchika Okada

A clunky moment here and there, but overall, good match, with Archer being really rough on offense, and Okada working from beneath was compelling and logical, both dudes sold very well, but I wasn’t a big fan of how the match ended, it was kind of too formulaic, but that’s just a small gripe.

***1/4

8.      Block A: Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Really fine match, and I’d rate it higher, but man, I just can’t go over Nagata’s total lack of struggle during that match-ending cradle from Tanahashi, I just can’t. It wasn’t a dealbreaker, but it most certainly didn’t help what was otherwise quite a smart way to end the match. Before the finish, things were mostly really good.

***

9.      Block A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii

These two bruisers met twice last year, first time during the G1 when they created that five star cult classic, and then in a rematch two months later, which wasn’t as good as the original, but still great. Obviously, you can only work a match like the original one once, so they had a massive chip on their shoulders. They did some things here that would totally suck in every other match, but considering their mutual past, it worked here, to some degree at least. Callbacks are always appreciated. Coming into this match, Ishii’s shoulder was heavily taped, but Shibata kind of didn’t was to be a huge dick and smash it in pieces. I wish he did, though, would’ve made for a lot better slugfest. Good match, with few insane gifworthy moments, but not even close to the first two, obviously.

***1/4

10.  Block A: Doc Gallows vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

The same story like in Doc’s main event against Tanahashi, which means the big, evil gaijin brawler taking on one of dem homeboys, controlling the most of the match, with Nakamura working from behind and hitting hope spots in order to tame the beast. One of the oldest pro-wrestling stories, and it always works if you have a good ass-kicking aggressor, and a babyface willing to sell for him. Very good main event.

***3/4

Here we go, the first show with no great matches on it, but still, there was a plethora of solid/good wrestling.