NJPW G1 Climax Results
July 21, 2017 (Night 3)
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Quick results for this show are available below. We are working on adding more detailed results currently…
UNDERCARD MATCHES
– EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi def. Juice Robinson & David Finlay. Fast-paced opener with good action between Finlay and Hiromu as the two heavyweights battered each other in and around the ring. If their intensity here is any indication, the night four tournament bout between EVIL and Juice is going to be a lot of fun to watch. EVIL got the win with his new Banshee’s Muzzle submission on Finlay, then locked it on Juice after the match to sell some tickets.
– Minoru Suzuki & Taichi def. Sanada & Bushi. The juniors did their own thing in an eight minute match as Suzuki and Sanada fought up into the crowd and unseated some fans. Sanada did a great job showing he’s not intimidated by the torture artist of Suzuki-Gun, which is either admirable courage or blind stupidity. The crowd was into everything and chanted “go home Taichi” every time he was on offense. He would end up pinning Bushi after a shot from his microphone stand, with a little assist from Desperado.
– Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi def. Tama Tonga & Chase Owens. The first half of the match was pure comedy as the Bullet Club members refused to fight each other. Tama Tonga was biding his time though, and went after Omega’s knee as soon as he had the opportunity. Owens was visibly conflicted the whole match and Takahashi took advantage with a DDT to pick up the win, but not before Tama dropped Omega with a Gun Stun and did considerable damage to the injured knee. It looked like there were no fractures in the Club when it was all over, just the assumption that Tama Tonga did what he had to because winning the G1 is bigger than any faction.
– Michael Elgin, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan def. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano & Gedo. Rough draw for Okada as far as teammates go. The story was Elgin trying to show the champion that he’s a threat, as this will be their first match in two years and Big Mike is a vastly better performer now than he was in his first G1. He did a good job of establishing dominance and got the better of Okada several times throughout the match, but after the bell Okada was goofing off with the fans and showed no sign of being intimidated. Tenzan submitted Gedo with the Anaconda Vice.
A BLOCK TOURNAMENT MATCHES
HIROOKI GOTO (2) def. YUJI NAGATA (0)
The battle between two big warriors started off with a back and forth exchange of strikes and kicks. Goto hit the first lariat of the match to take control and followed up with a few more clotheslines in the corner before slowing things down with a rear chinlock. Nagata attempted to power out by pure force and Goto made the mistake of slapping him in the back of the head a few times. Blue Justice fired up with a “you f–ked up” look in his eyes and fired off with ten straight kicks to the midsection. He gave a receipt for that slap to fire up Goto right back and they exchanged stiff forearm shots with both men refusing to go down. Nagata leveled him with a big kick into an exploder suplex, but Goto answered with a string of kicks and suplexes leading into the Ushigoroshi for a nearfall. The referee checked on Yuji who was playing possum and caught his opponent in the Fujiwara armbar. The eyes rolled to the back of his head lighting up the crowd as Goto struggled to the ropes, but he brought the submission back to the center of the ring and sat down hard on it. They teased a submission but Goto eventually got the tip of his toe on the bottom rope to break it.
Nagata then went into an incredible flurry of moves that made him look 30-years-old again; another half dozen stiff kicks, an armbreaker to set up another submission, step-up knee strike in the corner, a hanging neckbreaker off the top rope and a picture perfect vertical suplex to put the icing on the cake. The crowd roared and chanted for the third generation legend as he fired off with an enzuigiri and another back suplex for a nearfall. Goto would eventually create some space with a bulldog out of the corner. Both men slowly got up and started chopping each other down with more high kicks. Nagata counters a deadly kick but Goto floated over the brainbuster and slapped on a sleeper hold. Once again Blue Justice thundered out of the hold with raw power, but turned around into a sick headbutt that had him reeling. Goto hit the GTR and made the cover for the win.
The crowd gave Nagata a massive chant after the match to show their appreciation, knowing it may have been his final singles match at the historic Korakuen Hall. He took a moment on his way out to soak it all in, clearly very emotional, and gave the fans a deep bow before exiting to let Goto celebrate his win.
TOMOHIRO ISHII (0) def. TOGI MAKABE (0)
We go from one grueling hoss fight to another. They start off charging each other with shoulder tackles over and over again but neither would go down. Since the tackles weren’t working they started pelting each other in the head with forearm shots as the crowd chanted along with every single one. Makabe burst out of the corner with a big shoulder tackle to score the first takedown of the match, then sent his opponent flying into the barricade on the floor. Ishii turned an Irish whip around and began to whip the Unchained Gorilla into every available surface and turnbuckle, doing massive damage to his chest. Back in the ring and Makabe was selling his chest like it had collapsed, but told his rival to bring it anyways. Ishii fired off with hard chops and headbutts, which he soaked in like a sponge before busting out of the corner with a snap powerslam. The Stone Pitbull responded with a sick chop to the throat, which looked like an accident until he did a half dozen more times. Makabe again came out of the corner with a devastating lariat. They started screaming at each other for more and traded forearm shots, battling all the way up to the top rope before Ishii sent them crashing with a superplex that shook the entire ring.
Both men were slow to recover and Makabe started swinging wildly with animalistic rights and lefts. Ishii ducked under and came off with a German suplex, but the Gorilla popped right back up and came back for more. Ishii lit him up with a lariat but he wouldn’t go down. Another sends him staggering, but he remained on his feet. Makabe tried for a lariat of his own but his opponent clotheslined his arm to block it – ouch! He’s on the ropes and not looking good but powers into another lariat attempt and finally connects. A textbook powerbomb sends Ishii hard into the mat, but he gets the shoulder up and this time it’s his turn to pop right back up and ask for more. Makabe obliged with two running lariats to this tree trunk of a man, then hit another to the back of his neck to pick up a nearfall.
The fight continues. They made their way up to the top rope for the second time in the match, trading strikes back and forth. Ishii connected with a huge right hand that knocked his opponent out, but Makabe suddenly spidered his way back up and sent him flying to the mat with a fallaway slam! Still hodling on to the ropes Makabe flew off looking for the King Kong knee drop, but came up empty and returned to Earth the hard way. We’re back to square. They traded lariats back and forth as Ishii begins to fade, looking closer to death with every blow. Finally what must have been the 30th lariat of the match sent Ishii down to one knee, but he exploded off the mat with a brutal lariat of his own. Makabe kicked out at ONE! The Stone Pitbull looked to put things away with the Brainbuster but his opponent had it scouted, floating over and connecting with a clothesline to the back of the head. A German suplex got him an extremely close nearfall, but Ishii fired back with a killer headbutt. Two more lariats found their mark square on Makabe’s forehead, and this time Ishii was able to land the Brainbuster. 1…2…3.
KOTA IBUSHI (0) def. ZACK SABRE JR. (2)
Zack showed off just how much of a killer he can be in his opening night match with Hiroshi Tanahashi, but took that to a whole different level here. He forced Ibushi to wrestle outside of his comfort zone, and had a counter for literally every singe piece of offense in the Golden Star’s playbook.
Ibushi tried to deploy strikes and kicks early on but quickly got caught but Sabre’s superior range and taken to the mat. The Suzuki-Gun newcomer applied a heel hook and wrenched his foot in sick directions doing some early damage. After several more counters and having to struggle to the ropes over and over again Ibushi realized he needed a new strategy and connected with a savage slap across the face to level Sabre. It didn’t last long however as the Brit was back in control with another heel hook almost immediately, this time standing on his opponent’s neck and kicking away at his face until the referee forced a break. Ibushi got some space with a snap armdrag but ZSJ caught him in a leg scissors and continued to dominate.
Sabre got a little too cocky and ended up paying for it in the form of stiff strikes, but the mind games paid off as he shot in and got a single leg takedown, transitioned beautifully into a seated surfboard stretch. Ibushi powered out of the hold and fired off with a European uppercut but again got caught, this time in a straight jacket submission. This went on for another ten minutes; every single time Ibushi got the advantage he was back on the ground struggling for freedom before he could get a second move off. A standing moonsault got countered out of the air into a triangle choke. A leapfrog got countered, again out of the air into an octopus stretch. Deep into the match Ibushi caught him with a double foot stomp and rattled off with stiff kicks to the chest, literally the first time in the match he connected with more than one offensive manuever, but almost immediately Zack landed a penalty kick take him back down. Pure dominance.
At the end Ibushi was just enraged. They came face to face and pressed foreheads before exchanging wild uppercuts and forearm shots. Sabre gave him a pieface in a show of total disrespect which pissed off Kota enough to get caught looking for a pele kick, transitioned beautifully into an ankle lock. Sabre transitioned that into the STF on the mat, then switched it up to a trailer hitch and reapplied the crossface. Kota looked close to giving up but got to the ropes one last time, so instead of breaking the hold Sabre lifted him into the air and tossed him a dragon suplex. Unreal. Ibushi fires up for one last attempt and gives him everything he’s got with a flurry of strikes and kicks. Zack is reeling but explodes across the ring into a flying triangle choke! He wrenches on the hold arching his own neck on the mat to give it some extra extension. Ibushi is fading and it looks to be over, but he digs down deep and powers up the Brit, breaking the hold with the Golden Star Powerbomb. 1…2…3! Wow!
HIROSHI TANAHASHI (0) def. BAD LUCK FALE (2)
Tanahashi was basically counted out by the commentators from the start, but came out of nowhere with a rollup as soon as the bell rang, almost stealing the match. He immediately poked Fale in the eyes in a very out of character move, and it was clear the Ace knew had to compensate for his injured arm. The Underboss rolled to the outside baiting Tanahashi to the apron, dropping his arm over the top rope. From there the slow, expected beatdown commenced. It was all Fale going forward, whipping the Intercontinental Champion into barricades and firing off with methodical meathooks at his leisure. Tanahashi had brief offensive flashes even getting the big man up for a German suplex, but Fale crushed him with splashes and a devastating Banzai Drop that caved in his chest. He looked to put the match away with the Bad Luck Fall but Tanahashi countered in midair with the Slingblade! Seeing his opening the Ace jumped to the top rope and connected with the big match High Fly Flow all the way to the floor on the outside, killing both of them in the process. They were both slow getting up and made it to the apron by a count of 16. Tanahashi connected with a huge Slingblade on the apron sending Fale to the floor, rolling back into the ring just as the referee counted to 20 to win by count-out.
TETSUYA NAITO (2) def. YOSHI-HASHI (2)
They started things off with a nice back and forth exchange, jockeying for position, and Yoshi-Hashi took the first advantage with a series of shoulder tackles. He fired off with chops in the corner but Naito took it to the mat and connected with a dropkick to the back of the head. The Los Ingobernables leader beat him down on the floor and sent him crashing through the barricade, and was content to wait in the ring and relax as the referee counted. The slow assault continued for several minutes as Naito just had his way, picking his spots with knees, strikes and forearms all over the ring. Finally Yoshi-Hashi showed some life with a running neckbreaker, following up with a headscissors takedown and a running dropkick into the ropes. The kid couldn’t catch a break as the fans still chanted for their nihilist leader. Naito answered back with another dropkick to the back of the head, then rushed the corner, sweeping the leg and connecting with yet another dropkick. He looked for a DDT off the ropes but YH had it scouted with a powerslam, then drove his feet into the back with a double stomp. A powerbomb attempt fell flat, but Hashi recovered and dropped the former IWGP champion with a Tombstone shoulder breaker, taking a page out of the CHAOS playbook. Naito responded with a step-up enzuigiri then stacked him on his neck with a German suplex bridge. He went for the hammerlock but YH fought back with rights and lefts, catching him with a flash kick to give himself some room to breath.
A neckbreaker took Naito down to set up for the Swanton, but it took too long and he countered with a hurricanrana off the top rope! Naito connected with Gloria but couldn’t find Destino as both men went crashing to the mat. They exchanged forearms back and forth and Yoshi-Hashi showed that white meat babyface fireup he’s become famous for. He dropped Naito with a huge right hook, following up with kicks all over the body. Naito flew off the ropes looking for something but got caught out of the air with a Codebreaker. YH rolled through into a Butterfly Lock, Naito tried to counter with a dragon suplex but got driven into the mat instead. Hashi went back to the top rope and this time connected with the Swanton Bomb. Back into the Butterfly Lock he went. This time Naito faded, and YH pulled the submission back to the center of the ring as the crowd chanted for their Los Ingobernables hero. The referee almost called the match but Naito made a last ditch effort and kicked his way to the bottom rope to finally break the hold. Hashi immediately dropped him with a kick to the back of the head and looked to finish things off with Karma, but Naito countered back with a spinning wheel kick. Both guys slowly got up, and it’s Hashi who exploded out of the corner with a lariat that turned him inside out. Another Karma attempt, but it’s countered into Destino! 1…2…Tacos kicked out! Naito lifted him up, connected with a second Destino, and this time got the pin.
Updated A BLOCK standings:
Tetsuya Naito – 4
Hirooki Goto – 4
Tomohiro Ishii – 2
Kota Ibushi – 2
Zack Sabre Jr. – 2
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 2
Bad Luck Fale – 2
Yoshi-Hashi – 2
Togi Makabe – 0
Yuji Nagata – 0
