NJPW G1 Climax Results (Night 11): Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi

NJPW G1 Climax Results
August 1, 2017
Kagoshima Arena, Kagoshima, Japan

UNDERCARD MATCHES

Michael Elgin & Jushin Thunder Liger def. Katsuya Kitamura & Shota Umino

The Young Lions were all fired up to start off the show and had some good back and forth exchanges. Umino got in some shots on Liger but was easily dispatched by Big Mike. This led to the hot tag and obligatory hoss fight between Elgin and Kitamura, with Big Mike hitting a deadlift powerbomb into a deadlift Elgin Bomb for the win. Awkward ending as Kitamura kicked out before three but the referee counted it anyways.

Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Desperado def. Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hirai Kawato

Desperado pinned Kawato with the Guitarra de Angel. Taichi mocked the Mongolian chops to some boos from the crowd, before Tenzan came in and made him pay for it. Kojima hit Minoru with dozens of machine gun chops to look like a threat in their upcoming match, but it barely made a dent. Young Lions had to hold them back after the match and got brutalized with a chair for their trouble.

Sanada & Bushi def. Juice Robinson & David Finlay

Poor Finlay played the role of the guy getting picked apart by Los Ingobernables double teams here, while Juice got to look strong firing off with punches and dropkicks to take them both out. Sanada put the Skull End on Finlay to pick up the submission in a short match.

EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi def. Kenny Omega & Chase Owens

EVIL pinned Chase Owens with the STO in a short match without a whole lot of involvement from the Bullet Club leader. Omega took out both men with snap dragon suplexes after the bell and choked out EVIL with his shirt. He tried for the One Winged Angel and EVIL escaped looking for the STO, but Kenny rolled out of the ring in shock.

Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi

Lots of comedy. Bullet Club attacked before the bell and Tama put on Okada’s golden chains and robe while Yujiro dressed up like Toru Yano and pretended to be popular. There was some brawling between the champion and his B Block challenger to put over their match on night twelve, and Yano rolled up Takahashi after punching him in the balls to steal the win.

A BLOCK TOURNAMENT MATCHES

Yoshi-Hashi (2) def. Bad Luck Fale (6)

Fale tried to get the easy count-out win early on, brawling out into the crowd and throwing his opponent off everything, but Yoshi-Hashi crawled his way back into the ring by 17. The Underboss dominated throughout with power moves easily maintaining control, but YH showed tremendous heart fighting back after every single one of them to work the crowd into a frenzy. He even tried to put the Butterfly Lock on midway through but couldn’t hook his arms around the big man. Fale tried for both the Grenade and the Bad Luck Fall but YH struggled out of both and came back with an explosive lariat to take him off his feet. Fale crushed him with a running splash but only got two. YH came off the top rope with a neckbreaker, then took the giant to his knees with a rear mounted sleeper hold. Once he went out YH hit a running knee to the back of the head followed by a double stomp for a nearfall. Fale fought out of a second Butterfly Lock attempt but ended up getting caught with a victory roll for the surprise pinfall. Yoshi-Hashi plays spoiler to the Underboss and somehow manages to stay alive in the G1.

Zack Sabre Jr. (6) def. Togi Makabe (6)

Sabre has been something of an unstoppable wrecking crew in his first ever G1 as nobody seems to have an answer to his never-ending supply of counters and submission holds. People have tried various methods and Makabe went with the simple “beat the holy hell out of him until he’s unconscious” method, as one might expect. It worked for awhile as they went back and forth, Makabe brutalizing him with lariats and stiff forearm shots, and Sabre had more trouble than usual transitioning into his holds as his opponent had no interest in a wrestling match and instead set out to murder him. His game plan won out in the end though, as ZSJ rolled through into an ankle lock, applied a grapevine and actually made the Unchained Gorilla tap out. That’s the first time in 11 years that Makabe has tapped out to anyone.

Tomohiro Ishii (6) def. Yuji Nagata (0)

This was awesome. If you’ve seen any of their matches you know what both guys are about and exactly what to expect, but with Ishii in his prime and Nagata putting on his best performances in over a decade this was on a totally different level. They killed each other with everything in their arsenals over and over again. Dozens of strikes, tackles, elbows, chops, knees and kicks until you could see the welts and red marks on both their bodies. Every time Ishii looked to have it put away Nagata would kick out and the crowd would come unglued. By the end it was the hottest a crowd has been during the entire G1 so far. There were so many nearfalls I thought the arena was going to catch fire. When Nagata locked in the armbar and rolled his eyes back everyone thought it was over. When Ishii hit a brainbuster from the top rope everyone thought it was over. And when Nagata hit an exploder suplex from the same top rope, everyone thought it was over. They just kept coming back for more, taking a brutal lariat and popping back up to hit a spinning wheel kick, or a suplex, or another brainbuster. Everyone was chanting for Nagata to pick up his first win, but eventually Ishii hit a lariat, followed up with a sliding lariat, then connected with one final brainbuster and put him away. Incredible match.

Tetsuya Naito (6) def. Hirooki Goto (6)

Naito targeted his opponent’s neck from the start and continued to work on it throughout the match, weakening him up for the Destino. Goto employed his usual stiff strong-style offense and couldn’t be kept down for very long. He went for the Ushigoroshi but Naito countered into a sick DDT for two. On two separate occasions he tried for the Destino but got countered into the Ushigoroshi, so both men were favoring their necks by the end. They fought back and forth and eventually Naito did connect with his first Destino but Goto got his shoulder up before three. He immediately picked him up and hit a second Destino and this time got the win. A good match but I don’t envy anyone trying to follow Nagata and Ishii.

Kota Ibushi (4) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi (8)

The fans were squarely behind their hometown boy Kota Ibushi and Tanahashi took advantage of the rare opportunity to be the bad guy. It started off as a clean back and forth exchange, but the Ace took a cheap shot during a ropebreak and the crowd immediately rained down boos on him. From there he started to work the knee and ankle which only infuriated people more, refusing to stop even when Ibushi got to the ropes. Kota fought back with kicks and a rapid flurry of strikes, then caught him with a spin kick and standing moonsault. He set up for the Golden Triangle Moonsault and connected, but moments later Tanahashi fought back and hit the High Fly Flow to the floor. The Ace went back to work on the knee with dragon screws over the second rope and some clearly dirty kicks, then locked in the Texas Cloverleaf to a torrent of boos. Ibushi dragged himself to the ropes and this time the ref threatened to disqualify Tanahashi if he didn’t start listening. Kota took advantage and hit a German suplex out of nowhere, following up with a double foot stomp to take both down. They traded rights and lefts, swinging wildly out of pure desperation and pride. Tana went for uppercuts and Ibushi fired back with kicks. The champion countered a lawn dart attempt into the Slingblade and tried for the High Fly Flow again, but got caught with a series of forearm shots and a huge Pele kick to send him crashing. This time Ibushi hit the lawn dart and powered him over the ropes with a deadlift German. He signalled for the end but got caught in a Tongan Twist. A dragon suplex from Tanahashi set up for the High Fly Flow but Ibushi got his knees up just in time. Both men dead on their feet as they started traded punches back and forth yet again, but Kota knocked him out stone cold with a brutal kick to the side of the head. The Golden Star Powerbomb connected but somehow the Ace got his shoulder up before the three and Ibushi couldn’t believe it. With one last gasp he pulled Tanahashi up by his arms, drove his knee square into his opponent’s jaw, and this time got the three-count.

UPDATED A BLOCK STANDINGS

Zack Sabre Jr. – 8
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 8
Tomohiro Ishii – 8
Tetsuya Naito – 8
Kota Ibushi – 6
Togi Makabe – 6
Hirooki Goto – 6
Bad Luck Fale – 6
Yoshi-Hashi – 4
Yuji Nagata – 0

KILLAM’S POST MATCH RECAP

This will definitely go down as one of the best shows of the G1, at least as far as the tournament matches are concerned. There have been far better undercards with excellent builds towards the next night’s block matches, but only a handful have come close to reaching the second and third hours.

The feel good moment of the night went to Kota Ibushi for defeating the greatest NJPW star of the last decade in his hometown. The crowd was beyond hot and reacted perfectly, exactly when they needed to. Tanahashi deserves a ton of credit for playing the villain and knowing exactly when to pull the fans’ strings in a role we rarely get to see from him. They worked a classic New Japan main event style match among the best of the year, and would have easily taken Match of the Night without a doubt had it not been for an incredible performance from Nagata and Ishii just an hour earlier. It’s becoming almost a cliche at this point, but in any other year you could make a case for either being in contention for Match of the Year.

We went into the night with an extremely close A Block expecting things to open up a bit heading into the final three shows, and instead things are even closer. The six-way tie for second place has now turned into two separate four-way ties, and with six points remaining on the board it really is anybody’s tournament to win. Quite a difference from the B Block where Okada’s 12-point undefeated streak has already knocked off three competitors and will likely add a few more victims to the list on night twelve.

In one of many surprises on the night Yoshi-Hashi defeated Bad Luck Fale to stay alive at four points. Perhaps more unlikely, the match was actually quite good. Hashi showed tremendous heart and fighting spirit, and Fale did his part to create a seemingly unstoppable hurdle which got the crowd heavily invested. While it may go underrated in a night full of great matches, Zack Sabre Jr. also continued his impressive domination over the A Block (he’s technically leading the four-way tie for first place) with another victory over Togi Makabe. He’s been booked as a killer throughout the entire tournament, not having to pay any of the dues you normally see from a brand new New Japan talent coming in from another country. You know that’s true, because he just became the first man to make Makabe tap out in over 11 years.

The next A Block show is Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. EST with several big matches that should start to clear things up a bit. We’re getting down to the wire and Ibushi, Makabe, Fale and Goto will all be looking for wins to keep themselves within striking distance. Naito and Sabre will also face off with both men in first place at eight points, and with Tanahashi (8) facing Togi Makabe (6) in the main event, things are either going to get a lot more clear, or a lot more tight as we head into the final two A Block shows.

Join us Wednesday morning at 5:30 a.m. EST for B Block action featuring: