NJPW G1 Climax 25: Night 18
Tokyo, Japan (Ryogoku Sumo Hall) 8/15/15
1.) reDRagon vs. Yohei Komatsu &
Sho Tanaka: ***1/4
We kick off the second night in Sumo
Hall with reDRagon taking on two of New Japan’s young lions. This was actually
a very solid opener. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish looked as good as they
always do, but Komatsu & Tanaka certainly put up a fight. There was some
good action between both teams here. reDRagon would, of course, pick up the win
after hitting Chasing The Dragon.
After the match, as Fish & O’Reilly
are celebrating, The Young Bucks ran out and attacked them. The other two young
lions, David Finlay & Jay White, then ran out to make the save, and out 2nd
match of the night was underway!
2.) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team
Champions The Young Bucks vs. David Finlay & Jay White: ***1/4
Much like the opener, this was a solid
tag team match, and served as a fine tune-up for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag
Team Title match the next night. The Young Bucks were their usual awesome
selves, while Finlay & White looked good here as well. As you might have
guessed, The Young Bucks got the win.
3.) Ten-Man Tag – CHAOS (Toru Yano,
Kazushi Sakuraba, YOSHI-HASHI, & The Kingdom of Matt Taven & Michael
Bennett with Maria Kanellis) vs. The Bullet Club “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles,
Bad Luck Fale, IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Doc Gallows, Tama Tonga,
& Cody Hall): **3/4
Since the guys in Block A have finished
their portion of the tournament, some of these multi-man tags don’t have much
of a purpose to them. This particular Ten Man Tag was fine for what it was. A
solid undercard match, but nothing that memorable, save for Tama Tonga’s
reaction to a dancing Maria Kanellis, and the brief interaction between AJ Styles
& Sakuraba. YOSHI-HASHI got the win for his CHAOS team after pinning Cody
Hall.
4.) Ten-Man Tag – Hiroshi Tanahashi,
NWA World Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA, & NEVER Openweight Champion Togi
Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, Ricochet, Manabu Nakanishi, &
Captain New Japan: ***
In contrast with the previous match,
this Ten-Man Tag actually has a little juice behind it, as we’ve got KUSHIDA
& Ricochet on opposite sides (Ricochet is challenging for IWGP Jr.
Heavyweight Title, being held by KUSHIDA at the time, the next night). This was
a relatively good match. I preferred this match to the previous Ten-Man Tag. We
saw some good action, along with more important interactions, mainly between
Ibushi & Makabe as well as between Shibata & Naito (who was fantastic
in this match despite not actually doing a lot). Those would be two matches
that would eventually be made as part of Destruction
that September. Good build for those matches. As far as this match goes,
Tanahashi would win the match for his team after hitting the High Fly Flow on
Captain New Japan.
5.) G1 Climax – Block B – Tomoaki Honma
vs. Yujiro Takahashi: ***1/4
Homna is coming off an emotional high
after winning his first match of the tournament against Tomohiro Ishii. Yujiro,
on the other hand, hasn’t been impressive at all in this tournament. He was
easily the worst competitor in Block B. As far as this match goes, it was
actually pretty solid. The only real complaint I had was with result, as Yujiro
won. I really don’t know why Honma lost here. Both guys were eliminated, so it
really didn’t matter who won. Having Yujiro beat Honma right after Honma got
his first G1 win was so weird.
6.) G1 Climax – Block B – “Unbreakable”
Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii: ****3/4
Now THIS was one of my most anticipated
matches of the entire tournament. I’ve always found these two to be very
similar in terms of their style. I was really excited to see them go at it in a
New Japan ring, and boy, they didn’t disappoint. This match was AWESOME!! I
loved every second of it. These two went at each other right from the opening
bell, and never let up. This was just a FIGHT. These two beat the absolute crap
out of each other, and it was so much fun to watch. Ishii would eventually get
the win, but lets be honest…..We’re all winners with this one.
7.) G1 Climax – Block B – IWGP
Intercontinental Champion Hirooki Goto vs. Yuji Nagata: ***3/4
I think Goto was still alive coming
into this match. Basically, if he won, then Okada would have been eliminated
from contention to win Block B. Fortunately, we didn’t need to worry about
those scenarios here, as Nagata ended his tournament with a big win over the
IWGP Intercontinental Champion. It was a really good match that was just
bordering on being great. Though I’m not sure if Nagata will actually get a
title shot out of this…
8.) G1 Climax – Block B – IWGP
Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Karl Anderson vs. Satoshi Kojima: ***3/4
Coming into this match, Anderson was
also, technically, still alive in the tournament. If he won, he would have
needed Nakamura to win against Okada, but much like the previous match, Satoshi
Kojima scored a big win here over Karl Anderson. The match quality was actually
very similar to the Goto/Nagata match that preceded this one. It was very good,
but just fell shy of being great. As Anderson is one-half of the IWGP
Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, this could lead to Kojima & Tenzan getting
a title shot.
9.) G1 Climax – Block B – IWGP
Heavyweight Champion “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: ****3/4
Of course, these two met in the Finals
of the 2014 G1 Climax in the Seibu Dome. Okada won that encounter, and this is
the rematch. I thought it was fantastic!! One again, these two delivered
another stellar singles match. There was great action, but it told a good story
as well, with Okada being a little cocky towards his CHAOS stablemate. The
latter stages of the match were especially great, and included a great counter
into an armbar by Nakamura. Awesome stuff from both guys in this match. Eventually,
Okada was forced to tap out, and Nakamura punched his ticket to the G1 Climax
Finals!
Overall: 9.25/10
I thought this was easily the best
night of the tournament. Of course, a lot of that had to do with Okada vs.
Nakamura & Elgin vs. Ishii, which were both legitimate MOTYC. Those are two
matches that are definitely worth seeing. The rest of the tournament matches on
this show were good as well. Two of those matches (Goto/Nagata &
Anderson/Kojima) were both bordering on being great, while Honma vs. Yujiro was
fine as well, despite the wonky result. The real advantage of Block B in this
particular tournament was that the talent wasn’t top heavy like Block A. Yujiro
was really the only guy in Block B who produced subpar matches. The rest of the
undercard was pretty solid, as we got more build for two junior title matches
the next night.
Final Standings
Block B
Shinsuke Nakamura (7-2-0) - 14 Points - Block B Winner
"Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada (7-2-0) - 14 Points
Karl Anderson (6-3-0) - 12 Points
Hirooki Goto (6-3-0) - 12 Points
Tomohiro Ishii (5-4-0) - 10 Points
"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin (4-5-0) - 8 Points
Satoshi Kojima (3-6-0) - 6 Points
Yuji Nagata (3-6-0) - 6 Points
Yujiro Takahashi (3-6-0) - 6 Points
Tomoaki Honma (1-8-0) - 2 Points
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