{"id":9777,"date":"2018-07-31T19:55:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T19:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/?p=9777"},"modified":"2018-07-31T19:59:30","modified_gmt":"2018-07-31T19:59:30","slug":"njpw-g1-climax-nights-8-11-review-26-7-18-30-7-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/31\/njpw-g1-climax-nights-8-11-review-26-7-18-30-7-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NJPW G1 Climax Nights 8-11 Review 26\/7-30\/7\/18"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Tokyo Wrestling Fan @twf87<\/a>, Laura Maura @LauraNMauro<\/a>, and Mike Grindle @MikeGrindle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The G1 Climax has reached the half-way point now, and there have already been some top quality matchups.\u00a0 After the first seven shows mainly took place in Tokyo the tournament went on the road for nights eight to eleven, stopping in the home prefectures of SANADA and Kazuchika Okada.\u00a0 Once again I was joined by my colleagues Laura Mauro and Mike Grindle to provide analysis of nights eight to eleven of the G1 Climax 28.<\/p>\n

G1 Climax Night Eight, Ao-re Nagaoka, Niigata (3,106 attendance)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hirooki Goto def. Toru Yano, 2:17<\/p>\n

Tetsuya Naito def. Tama Tonga, 10:06<\/p>\n

Zack Sabre Jr. def. Tomohiro Ishii, 14:35<\/p>\n

Kenny Omega def. Juice Robinson, 15:31<\/p>\n

SANADA def. Kota Ibushi, 22:23<\/p>\n

The G1 Climax returned for night eight in Niigata, at the start of the western leg of the tour.\u00a0 The opening match was between Goto and Yano, in a fast-paced, fun match that featured Yano doing his best to catch Goto out with roll ups and a general return to his cheating ways.\u00a0 Goto recovered from a shaky start and quickly put Yano down with an ushigoroshi<\/em> and a GTR for a win and two more points under his belt.\u00a0 The second match of the night was Tama Tonga against Tetsuya Naito, and so far during this tournament I\u2019ve been underwhelmed by Tama.\u00a0 However, this was a Tama match that I actually quite enjoyed, and while there was still plenty of cheating it was done in a less obvious way that didn\u2019t just result in an automatic DQ.\u00a0 In between trying to cheat Tama and Naito had some decent wrestling, then EVIL and BUSHI came down to even the numbers for Naito, who got a win following a Destino.\u00a0 I think Naito and Tama could have a good match if they fully focused on the wrestling, their styles are quite complimentary.<\/p>\n

The third match saw Tomohiro Ishii take on ZSJ in a rematch from last year\u2019s G1.\u00a0 This was another really enjoyable match \u2013 Ishii has yet to put on a bad match in my opinion \u2013 and Ishii somewhat surprisingly stood up to Zack in terms of technical wrestling.\u00a0 He even broke out some submissions, catching Zack in an ankle lock, and nearly forcing him to tap.\u00a0 ZSJ was lured into some strike exchanges with Ishii, which he obviously came off second best in, but he finally forced Ishii to tap out to an armbar after a punishing bout.\u00a0 The semi-main event pitted the undefeated Kenny Omega against the winless Juice Robinson. \u00a0Last year Juice got a shock win over Kenny with a roll-up, and that was teased in this match, including a close roll-up from a One Winged Angel attempt.\u00a0 Kenny shook hands with Juice to start the match, but quickly dropped the pretence of sportsmanship by targeting Juice\u2019s injured hand.\u00a0 Juice weathered most of what Kenny threw at him, and came very close to hitting Pulp Friction, but ultimately a V-trigger followed by a One Winged Angel put him down for the three count.\u00a0 This was a decent match, and the crowd were vocally behind Kenny, but for me it never got into top gear and lacked some heat to make it a great match.<\/p>\n

The main event saw SANADA take on Kota Ibushi in the B Block \u201chandsome battle\u201d.\u00a0 SANADA, who is from Niigata, was extremely popular with the crowd, even more-so than fan favourite Ibushi.\u00a0 This was an interesting match, since both wrestlers had technical skill and high flying ability, so the early portion of the match was quite slow and methodical as they felt each other out.\u00a0 The match was very even throughout, with SANADA getting the Skull End locked in at one point only for Ibushi to escape, and Ibushi hit a Last Ride powerbomb for a very close two count.\u00a0 He nearly managed to connect with the Kamigoye, but SANADA dodged his attempts, and finally caught Ibushi in the Skull End in the centre of the ring.\u00a0 Ibushi fought but couldn\u2019t escape, and as he started to fade SANADA leapt up, climbed the turnbuckle, and hit a moonsault to claim victory in the style of his mentor Keiji Mutoh.\u00a0 This was a very good match, and SANADA really stood out as having taken a step up from last year\u2019s G1.\u00a0 After the match he cut a promo saying how much he liked Nagaoka and promising to win the G1.\u00a0 The results of night eight meant that Kenny Omega stayed on top of B Block with 8 points, SANADA and Naito on 6 points, ZSJ, Goto, Ishii, and Ibushi on 4 points, Yano and Tama on 2 points, and Juice still languished on 0 points.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G1 Climax Night Nine, Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka (2,800 attendance)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Minoru Suzuki def. Michael Elgin, 14:10<\/p>\n

EVIL def. Hangman Page, 15:40<\/p>\n

Bad Luck Fale def. Jay White, 11:42<\/p>\n

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Togi Makabe, 12:00<\/p>\n

Kazuchika Okada def. YOSHI-HASHI, 19:40<\/p>\n

The G1 moved on to Hamamatsu for night nine, and Minoru Suzuki and Michael Elgin opened the show with a hard-hitting bout.\u00a0 Elgin won his first two matches, but then lost to YOSHI-HASHI, whilst Suzuki had the momentum coming into this match having lost his first, but then won two in a row.\u00a0 Both men hit hard, so Suzuki targeted Elgin\u2019s right arm in order to stop him utilising his big chops and strikes.\u00a0 This was pretty effective, and Suzuki got the better of most of the striking exchanges, although Elgin was able to fight through the pain and deliver some hits with his right arm nonetheless.\u00a0 Suzuki got the win in this match after a sleeper hold and a Gotch-style piledriver to move up to 6 points.\u00a0 In the next match EVIL took on Hangman Page, in a match that had a pretty slow start but a hot finish.\u00a0 There was quite a long feeling out process, and then some brawling on the outside to start the match, but the match picked up steam when Page hit EVIL with a moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the outside.\u00a0 Page and EVIL both have some good lariats and strikes, and the crowd particularly popped for Page\u2019s Buckshot Lariat.\u00a0 EVIL got a near fall with Darkness Falls, and then finally hit an STO after a big lariat for the victory.<\/p>\n

The third match saw the two resident bad boys of A Block, Jay White and Bad Luck Fale, go head to head in a match that was probably one of the better interference heavy matches of the G1 so far.\u00a0 Jay took the initiative early on by attacking Tanga Loa before the bell rang, and he managed to keep Fale off balance by attacking his leg and trying to ground the big man.\u00a0 There was the requisite ref bump after Jay tried to hit Fale with a Blade Runner, which led to Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga rushing the ring to attack Jay.\u00a0 Jay managed to fight off the attackers and hit Fale with a low blow, but then fell victim to a Gun Stun, which allowed Fale to hit a Bad Luck Fall to pick up only his second win this year.\u00a0 During this match the English commentary was knocked off the air, so most of this match had no commentary, just the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and Jay and Fale battered each other.\u00a0 Interestingly no one from CHAOS came out to help Jay when he was attacked by the Tongans.\u00a0 The semi-main event featured Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe, who both debuted in the G1 around the same time in the early 2000s.\u00a0 Tanahashi went on to win two G1 tournaments, and while Makabe never managed to win overall, he\u2019s been performing at a high level this year.\u00a0 The crowd support was split quite evenly between Tanahashi and Makabe, who had a decent match, but one that never really got beyond that.\u00a0 There were some good spots of Makabe hitting hard, and Tanahashi managing to stay one step ahead of him with his speed and technique.\u00a0 Makabe managed to hit Tanahashi with a spider-belly to belly suplex from the top turnbuckle, but he missed the follow-up King Kong Knee Drop, which was the opening that Tanahashi needed to hit a pair of High Fly Flows for the victory.\u00a0 In keeping with many of the A Block matches so far, this was good but lacked a certain something to get it to great.<\/p>\n

The main event of night nine again featured Kazuchika Okada, this time taking on his CHAOS teammate YOSHI-HASHI.\u00a0 The story of YOSHI-HASHI this G1 has been that he is an epic underdog, and between the Elgin match and this match he\u2019s impressed me on recent shows.\u00a0 This match had a slow start, as Okada controlled most of the opening ten minutes, and clearly looked down on YOSHI-HASHI.\u00a0 The crowd was surprisingly behind YOSHI-HASHI, and when he kicked out of a sitout Rainmaker by Okada there was an audible pop.\u00a0 I appreciated YOSHI-HASHI\u2019s fire in this match, and he clearly was desperate to win, although I\u2019m not sure that they really did enough to convince me that was a possibility.\u00a0 The Butterfly Lock still looks like a weak submission, and despite Okada\u2019s best selling it never seemed likely that he was under threat of tapping out.\u00a0 Okada finally triumphed after hitting YOSHI-HASHI with a rolling Rainmaker, which seems to be one of his new favourite moves of the tournament, and then a full Rainmaker.\u00a0 At the end of night nine Tanahashi and EVIL topped the block on 8 points, Okada, Suzuki, and Jay were on 6 points, Fale, Makabe, and Elgin were on 4 points, and YOSHI-HASHI and Page were on 2 points.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

G1 Climax Night Ten, Aichi Prefectural Gymansium, Aichi (5,735 attendance)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zack Sabre Jr. def. Tama Tonga, 10:59<\/p>\n

Juice Robinson def. Toru Yano, 8:28<\/p>\n

Kota Ibushi def. Tomohiro Ishii, 16:13<\/p>\n

Tetsuya Naito def. Hirooki Goto, 13:26<\/p>\n

Kenny Omega def. SANADA, 20:12<\/p>\n

Night ten saw the G1 tournament head to Aichi, the home prefecture of Kazuchika Okada, and the opening tournament match saw ZSJ take on Tama Tonga.\u00a0 As Tama matches in this G1 go it was pretty good \u2013 lots of interference as expected, but ZSJ had some inventive counters for the Gun Stun, and nearly got a submission victory before Bad Luck Fale came into the ring and attacked him for a DQ.\u00a0 I\u2019m still not really sure what the point of this Bullet Club OG story is, but hopefully there will be some payoff worth ruining all these G1 matches.\u00a0 Luckily the next match was a fun bout between Juice Robinson and Toru Yano, who had spent most of this G1 trying not to cheat and play fair.\u00a0 This lasted for a few minutes of the match, when he went back to his amateur roots, but soon he was back to his old cheating ways.\u00a0 Juice and Yano had some fun physical comedy between them, and Juice finally took off his cast in this match, which presumably means that his hand injury story will be coming to an end.\u00a0 Juice picked up his first tournament win after hitting Yano with Pulp Friction.<\/p>\n

The next match saw Kota Ibushi take on Tomohiro Ishii, which was a rematch from last year\u2019s G1, when Ibushi beat Ishii.\u00a0 This match began with Ibushi going to the outside and hitting one of his death-defying moonsaults from the balcony early on.<\/p>\n

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IBUSHI!! #NJPW<\/a> #G128<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/wRupFhxVAb<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/RIa14wgkf7<\/a><\/p>\n

— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) July 28, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n