Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks (NJPW, Strong Style Evolved, 3/25/18)

Tag-team wrestling too often gets the short shrift in the industry. WWE dismissively treats teams as nothing more than stepping stones to a singles push, while New Japan Pro Wrestling sees tags as a great way to build feuds for established stars, preserving the “important” singles matches for big events. And when teams are left alone to let their freak flags fly, the matches often toss out psychology in favor of car-crash spectacle, bodies colliding in sugar-rush ecstasy that rarely lasts past the finish. Of course, this ignores the fact that, when done well and properly, tag-team wrestling is arguably the pinnacle of the artform, with added suspense, heartbreak and triumph built into its group dynamic.

Part of the draw, then, of the reunion of the Golden Lovers wasn’t merely the resolution of a decade-long arc between Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi but also the promise of two of wrestling’s peak innovators updating their old sizzle with new experience. Omega in particular was open about his desire to elevate New Japan’s, and by extension the industry’s, tag scene, and his lucid understanding of how teams can mix group and individual attitudes and goals. He and Ibushi already had a grand time back in the ring against Omega’s new nemesis, Cody, but the first true test of Omega’s ambitions came in the form of a match against his erstwhile enforcers and jilted pals, the Young Bucks.

From the start, it’s obvious that these conflicts are affecting the men. Ibushi makes his way to the ring like it’s any other fight, glad-handing the audience and looking excited; Omega, meanwhile, walks a bit slowly, smiling half-heartedly at fans as his attention is focused on Matt and Nick Jackson in the ring, his reluctance to fight them plain on his face. And though the Bucks are united in their resentment of Omega setting them aside in favor of Ibushi, it’s equally obvious that Matt and Nick differ in the level of their anger. Nick is at least willing to treat this as a display of skills, a contest to determine the better team. Matt, though, wants revenge. From the opening bell, in which he and Ibushi are the first legal wrestlers, Matt strolls right past his opponent without a glance so that he can demand Kenny come fight him.

The New Japan main event style is as enthralling as it is rigid; no matter what the story is going into a show-closing match, it will feature a slow, feeling-out segment at the beginning, a period of targeted offense with a clear dominant worker, then an explosive closing stretch in which finishers and near-falls are traded with abandon, no matter how worn down the fighters looked even a few minutes earlier. This match follows that format, but the two teams use their external and internal conflicts to add narrative heft to the structure. Omega’s reluctance to bring the fight to the Jacksons helps to slow the action throughout early passages, resetting just as Ibushi’s spectacular moves threaten to kick the proceedings into the next gear. When Kota opens up a potential escalation of heat by laying in some nasty kicks on Matt’s injured back, Omega actually runs in and pulls his partner off their opponent out of concern for Matt, who responds to this condescending show of pity by striking Omega. Left sitting against the ropes, Omega is wide-eyed with shock and hurt, protesting that he was only trying to help.

Omega’s hesitation throws off the Lovers’ pacing, making even legitimate botches look like part of the overall narrative of the match. Meanwhile, the Bucks are their usual, synchronized selves, chaining together elaborate moves on Ibushi while saving their nastiest offense for Omega, such as a perfectly timed spot in which Kenny goes for a Terminator dive on Matt, only to be cut off by Nick superkicking him hard from the apron. Omega sits out for extended periods after every major attack he endures, less to sell injury than him recognizing a chance to minimize how much time he has to spend fighting his friends. 

Omega’s in-ring acting has long been a topic of debate over his over-the-top, anime-esque facial expressions, though detractors tend to overlook how he has always balanced out his operatic gestures with more naturalistic body language. Omega’s mercurial blend has rarely been as evident as it is here, selling the small and overwhelming moments of anguish that he feels in attacking loved ones. Gradually, he succumbs to outright despair; at one point, Omega cuts off Matt with a vicious backbreaker that makes the man scream in agony, causing Omega to look down on Matt still draped over his knee with a look of utter despondency. More than once, Omega visibly has tears in his eyes over the pain he inflicts on Matt and Nick, and his wild expressions of grief are hammered home with smaller slumps of shame. From a wrestling standpoint, this is the least active Kenny has been in a main event in years, yet this should go down as one of his all-time best performances.

Matt is the reverse of Kenny. Where Omega keeps retreating from the fight, Matt is lost to his rage. From that moment at the start where he walks past Ibushi without sparing a second glance to demand Kenny enter the ring, Matt has already forgotten about his stated objective of proving who is the best tag team. He merely wants revenge, and numerous turning points of the match hinge on him going to the top turnbuckle and freezing as to whether attack Ibushi in the ring to possibly win or to leap onto Kenny at ringside just to inflict damage. The first two times, Matt’s hesitation costs him dearly, but the third sees him go up for the Bucks’ More Bang For Your Buck moonsault, only to pivot and send Kenny through a table with a sick diving elbow. Throughout, Matt eggs Kenny to hit him, urging him to sack up and see this through.

The shredded bonds between Kenny and Matt drive the match, but not to be outdone is the supporting work from Ibushi and Nick. Though Nick also fumes at Kenny for seemingly turning his back on the Bucks, he, like Ibushi, approaches this initially as a normal match. At first, Nick plays the whirling dervish that the Bucks are celebrated and reviled for being, nailing mesmerizing combos in which he seems to be in three places at once. Yet as Matt becomes more and more hobbled by the Lovers’ offense and his own dangerous moves, Nick gets increasingly incensed, and he starts working offense less to impress than to truly hurt his opponents. Ibushi, meanwhile, carries the load for his reluctant partner, working so smoothly that he even manages to save botches, as when he recovers deftly from his missed Cross Slash or saves his, Kenny’s and Matt’s lives from a wobbly superplex at the last second by moving his foot and shift all their weight back toward the ring. Ibushi has to encourage Omega from the start, confused as to why his partner is holding back.

All of these pieces tie into one of the best finishing sequences of recent memory. Omega, fired up into landing multiple V-triggers on Matt, hauls him up and points a finger gun at him to telegraph yet one more running knee, but as he does so, Omega freezes, his hand visibly shaking before he walks away. Ibushi, fed up with the toll this is taking on everyone, runs up and grabs Omega’s hand and forces it back into the finger gun, a pantomime that makes clear what he is saying without words: “end this.” Omega does so and lifts up Matt for his One-Winged Angel but again cannot bring himself to brutalize his friend further. This time, it’s Matt himself who grabs Omega’s hand and pulls it back up to his own head, screaming “Do it!” at Kenny until he is brought crashing down.

A singles match would have ended here. Hell, any logical match would have ended here. But this match has gone past logic and into the realm of mass despair, and before Red Shoes can count the pin, Nick dives in to save his brother, operating on pure instinct. This does nothing but prolong the inevitable, as Nick tries to rally Matt but can only cradle his limp, devastated brother. Nick yells “What’s your problem” at Kenny, but the anger in his voice doesn’t match the look of sadness on his face, a look that silently asks how it all came to this as Kenny looks on in equal sorrow. Nick shouts that this isn’t over, yet in saying it aloud he seems to recognize the full implications of this, and as he considers his shattered, half-dead brother and the fact that saving Matt has only prolonged his pain, Nick’s shouts turn into a wordless scream of rage and heartbreak, almost a wail. Nick barely puts up a fight as the Lovers dump him for the ring, then the team hits their Golden Trigger finisher on Matt. Kenny, the legal man, covers, and Kota piles on Kenny, perhaps as much to make sure that his partner doesn’t lose his nerve as much as to keep Matt down for good. The referee makes the three count, all the while as Kenny shakes with sobs.

Many of the most emotional moments in wrestling history come from tag matches: the Revival holding each other’s hands to stop from tapping as DIY wrenches them in center-ring, Kenta Kobashi crawling on top of partner Misawa to absorb the kicks of Kawada and Taue. But there may never have been a wrestling match that did not end in serious injury or death that concludes as sadly as this one. Ibushi looks drained and bewildered as Red Shoes raises his hand, while Omega can only just manage to stop crying as he lifts his hand in dispassionate victory. Omega is completely lost in his sadness, awkwardly stumbling between Ibushi and Matt with his ice bag, offering it to each. At last, he poses with Ibushi and cracks a smile, but it’s painted-on and mirthless, his face still wet with sweat and tears as he runs on autopilot celebration.

Somehow, there’s more. Cody runs in and angrily castigates the Bucks for their failure, prompting a run-in from the Lovers to clear the ring. It brings the conflict between Kenny and the Bucks full-circle; this all started because Matt finally snapped after spending years being the one to save Kenny’s ass over and over without any reciprocal gratitude, and at long last Kenny saves him. This moves Nick, who hugs Omega in a gesture of forgiveness, but for Matt it’s just too late and too ill-timed. Having just lost to Kenny, having been saved from the wrath of his new boss whom Matt helped install, it’s too much to bear. He doesn’t slap Kenny’s hand away or attack his friend; he just silently slips out of the ring and heads backstage, causing Nick to glumly follow him.

It’s the final devastation of the match, a moment that causes Kenny and Nick to sink with heartbreak, and even Ibushi to walk away uneasily, aware that this fight is going to linger well after the final bell, and that it’s going to completely consume his best friend. It caps off one of the greatest, most moving matches in history, and the fact that it is transparently just the first in a series would be thrilling if this prospect of this cutting even deeper weren’t so terrifying.

G1 Climax 27 Days 13 & 14

DAY 13 8/4/2017 EHIME, ITEM EHIME (A BLOCK)

Kota Ibushi vs. Yuji Nagata

Ibushi has spent most of the tournament fighting opponents who targeted his aerial game while he ducked expectations and went from a striker approach. Nagata wastes no time meeting him on these grounds, laying in kicks early and trading lock-ups. Nagata cuts off Ibushi's potential flying not with offense but by scouting it and running out of the way, causing Ibushi to pause and re-strategize. After some brief work on Ibushi's leg, Nagata start in on the arm, going for armbars and drags to set up his signature. Ibushi keeps struggling for ropes, and neither man is gathering much heat, but soon it comes when Ibushi rallies and dropkicks Nagata before mounting his comeback. A rana sends Ibushi to the floor and Ibushi busts out the Golden Triangle moonsault for a rare appearance in this tournament. Ibushi shows more respect to his opponent by rolling him back into the ring, though he pays for his honor with a quick xploder suplex and kicks that actually propel the prone Ibushi around the ring. Ibushi gets up and starts kicking back, and this match finally starts to get the crowd into it. They level each other with kicks and start punching each other while on their knees. Nagata locks on the Fujiwara as Ibushi throws his body toward any rope he can. He eventually escapes as Nagata switches to suplexes, including a nasty-looking Saito suplex that plants Ibushi squarely on the neck. Ibushi fires up and staggers Nagata with a head kick before Blue Justice offers one last act of defiance in kicking out of the Last Ride to the shock of everyone in the room. He can't stand up to Ibushi's Kamigoye knee, though, and he loses his seventh match. Afterward, Ibushi cannot stop shaking his hand, not even letting the poor man get off the mat before rushing over to grab his wrist. ***3/4

Bad Luck Fale vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Fale works even slower than usual as tourney fatigue sets in, but Ishii makes the mistake of opting to meet him on his own terms, letting Fale lay in his meaty hands. Fale slowly but surely stomps on the Pitbull until a switch flips and Ishii gets to stress his speed. This is a fun change-up for Ishii, and he makes the most of it, ducking attacks and using rope rebounds to land his blows, including a great DDT that he leaps up into Fale's face to perform. They work on equal terms until Ishii powers up and hits a delayed suplex to a huge pop, only for Fale to catch his sliding lariat into a grenade attempt, which Ishii then foils with an armbar. Terrific sequence there. Ishii withstands a spear, then eats a grenade before he gets to play escape artist from a Bad Luck Fall, hitting an enziguri, shining wizard and lariat. Another armbar leads to a spear and Bad Luck Fall to put away Ishii in a hotly worked little match that played well off of Fale and let Ishii play a different game than usual. ***1/2

Hirooki Goto vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Here comes your bathroom break match, though it's nice that a bathroom break match in the G1 will probably beat out 60% of the upcoming Summerslam card, and that's being generous to WWE. Goto casually kick at HASHI until the latter mounts a small comeback and end up hanging Goto over the ropes for a dropkick. There's no point in recapping the rest; these two, non-factors in the endgame of the tournament, decided to go out and recuperate after a grueling month, playing it safe and easy with the most basic match in the world. And good for them, to be honest. Goto ends it with two GTRs and these two boys head to the back for a hot shower and a meal. **1/2

Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Naito folds his tranquilo persona into caution for Sabre's grappling, dancing around the lad at the bell. Naito irks Sabre, who responds by getting Naito's head between his ankles and twisting into some gnarly headscissor variation that looks like torture. Sabre continues to tie human knots, and at one point he arcs up and over while still holding Nait's head in his feet to bring Naito off the mat, up to a seated position, and then down so his head ends up in his own lap as his back folds over itself. Sabre cuts off comebacks and punishes Naito for spitting in his face, but Naito finally mounts some offense with a corner neckbreaker, though Sabre gets a wristlock when Naito takes him to the top. It's legitimately shocking just how much of this match Sabre is taking, coming out on top even in strike exchanges as he keeps looking for openings for precisely targeted blows and ever-more elaborate holds. Naito hits his tornado DDT but Sabre goes for a European clutch roll-up. Naito goes for a cannonball only to be caught in yet another pin attempt. Naito finally rallies when he avoids a PK and throws a quick Destino for the pin. This was completely one-sided until the end, yet it's a testament to Sabre's rapid rise in the company (no doubt being set up to be a contender in future US shows) and Naito's inherent strength as a performer that they never lost the crowd. ***3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe

Makabe got two main events in this tournament and Nagata didn't even get one. This is a cruel, shitty world. I guess it's good for Tanahashi to work Makabe's basic-ass matches as he gets ready for the end of the tournament, but Christ, Makabe makes Triple H look like Eddie Guerrero. Some floor brawling to start until they head back in and Makabe nails a powerslam. Makabe controls most of the match, with Tanahashi sneaking in offense where possible. A sequence of moves from Makabe ends with Tanahashi hitting a spinning neckbreaker, enduring a lariat and hitting a slingblade to set up High Fly Flow that misses when Makabe rolls away. They trade suplexes (Makabe hits a nice one for a good near-fall), then both go up top and fight for position. Tanahashi slips free and gets a German from the top rope, then a slingblade and two High Fly Flows to end this plodding number on a high note. ***

OVERALL: Something of a rest show as we get closer to the final. Nothing was bad but the only thing to keep an eye out for is Nagata's match with Ibushi and some fine performances from Ishii and Sabre.

DAY 14 8/5/2017, OSAKA, OSAKAPREFECTURAL GYMNASIUM (B BLOCK)

Tama Tonga vs. Toru Yano

Tonga is first out, yet he manages to slink behind Yano during the latter's entrance and play games, eventually giving chase around the ring. Having watched boss Kenny get taped u, Tonga gets ahead and tapes Yano to a rail, but Yano has scissors and manages to get free and just barely beat the count. Tonga keeps stealing Yano's spots, trying to untie the turnbuckle pad and thwarting his cheap shots by slinking around behind the comedy wrestler. Yano grabs the bell hammer, but Tonga gets it from him as Yano panics and flees. Tonga tries to cheap shot Yano, but Yano ducks and hits a low blow for the win. Short, sweet and legitimately funny. It's a bit unsettling that Yano has a decent claim to the biggest match variety of this G1 as Tonga changed things up by stealing Yano's moves instead of countering them. ***

SANADA vs. Satoshi Kojima

Kojima isn't fighting for anything but his dignity at this point, but sometimes that is enough. They do some fun early exchanges where each rolls around the other's offense, putting over both as athletes. SANADA gets the Paradise Lock out of the way early. Kojima fires up but lets himself get a bit winded, keeping SANADA on his toes while selling the cost of keeping up with this ferocious young athlete. Both pick up the pace, chaining counters so that Kojima gets out of Skull End and but is then hit with a TKO. Another Skull End gets Kojima arced in agony. SANADA goes for a moonsault but misses and Kojima beats him back down with a gut kick. SANADA cuts off a charge with a dropkick but Kojima refuses to go down, then counters Skull End with an Emerald Flowsion for a near-fall. Kojima crushes SANADA with a lariat but the latter kicks out at one! Then Kojima hits one even harder and gets a pinfall! Kojima gets his first win of G1 Climax 27! This was great and another sharply worked match with a New Japan Dad. SANADA comes off as someone who both carried and let himself be carried by the older legend, a performance as much for the people behind the curtain as the crowd. Kojima just looks so great; please let next year be his last G1. He deserves his own send-off, not to toil this well in Nagata's departing shadow. ***3/4

Minoru Suzuki vs. Michael Elgin

Elgin is out thanks to that bullshit Yano match, so he's here to save face against Japan's toughest sumbitch. Taichi and Desperado are out with the boss, but Elgin is not in the mood, addressing them before going to work on Suzuki. The floor brawling oscillates between SZG interference and some of Suzuki's most brutal offense of the tournament. Never once showing fear of Elgin, he nonetheless works methodically to weaken Big Mike, torturing the man's arm before also hitting chair shots to the back. Back in the ring, Elgin fires up with clotheslines until Suzuki gets bored and locks an armbar. More interference and Suzuki flips over Mike to try another armbar, but Elgin lifts him into a powerbomb. Suzuki keeps going for dismissive, taunting attacks, but Elgin keeps powering out. A ref bump gets Taichi and Desperado in the ring, only for Elgin to grab both at the same time and slam them to get back to his actual opponent. Elgin cuts off Suzuki's Gotch piledriver attempt with a strike, then lands an Elgin bomb to win! Maybe the purest example in this tournament yet of a four-star match held back by Suzuki-gun interference, but here it made Elgin look so good it's hard to be mad. Suzuki looked motivated here as well, and he sold without reserve, even down to the post-match where he staggered around, still punch-drunk. ***1/2

Juice Robinson vs. Kenny Omega

What a difference a year makes. Last year, Omega was killing himself in his first G1, advancing through a series of grueling matches that he sold as a pile-on of brutality that got him into the finals held together with gumption and rubber bands. This year, apart from his harsh bouts with Suzuki and Elgin, he has been taking it relatively easy, letting the other man lead in his matches and clearly preserving his body for his third match with Okada and a possible/likely final. Meanwhile, poor Juice has taken on the 2016 Kenny role, albeit of a doomed variety. Already eliminated, he comes to the ring here just looking to prove he deserves to be here. Omega downright ignores him at the bell, turning to the crowd and peacocking. Some taunting corner breaks get Juice fired up, and he starts surprising Omega with some punches and lariats and even a crossbody, all done at a deliberate pace so as not to forget his leg.

Finally, Omega catches the kid and suplexes him out of the ring before going to work on his leg, punishing him with a figure four around the ringpost, then lifting him over a rail to bring down down on the commentary table on his knee. Juice beats the count at 16 and probably regrets it immediately as Omega breaks out the Bret Hart Leg Targeting Playbook, dragging the limb, wrapping it around other posts, the whole nine. Juice DDTs his way to a break but cannot follow up with an intended piledriver and Kenny throws a snap dropkick to the leg and does his Finlay roll/moonsault gimmick right onto the knees of Juice, who screams louder than Kenny over the blow. Kenny runs the ropes into a lariat and slam. Kenny gets Juice down and teases the V-trigger, but Juice kicks his head off and screams from the agony of his desperation move. Compare how Juice sells the leg here to how Omega did with Suzuki; Omega sold the impact of using his weakened leg but nonetheless used his same offense without attempting to change it up. Juice, on the other hand, spares the leg until he has no choice but to use it, and his whole body buckles from the pain. WE gets some finisher teases before Omega plants Juice with a rana and Juice kicks out as if by reflex. Another V-trigger leads to a setup for the One-Winged Angel, but Juice slips down and cradles Omega in a small package, One...Two...Three!

The crowd was flat for most of this, with everyone in the building expecting Juice to take his lumps and put in a fun showing on his way to adding another notch on Kenny's G1 record, and one might knock the match for the diminished atmosphere. But there's something even more special about the chance to feel the shock take place when Juice gets the pin and the crowd abruptly loses their minds, as if someone had been holding in all their energy and released it like the un-pinching of a hose. Absolutely everyone in the room is in disbelief. Kenny doesn't even realize he's lost, Juice's entire face goes wide as he screams "Oh fuck!" with more stunned confusion than joy, and even Red Shoes points at the victor as if to confirm that it is him and not to officially crown him the winner.  Juice is so beside himself he literally continues to scream the f-word as he walks up the goddamn ramp as Kenny just slumps in shame. God, this was so much fun. The only way Omega could done more to pay tribute to Bret Hart would have been to lock a Sharpshooter or cut a shoot promo on which canonical wrestlers he found overrated, and they capped it off with a throwback roll-up. ****1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL

Okada heads out to the ring like an absolute goof, hyperactively getting right into the camera and almost dancing his way to the turnbuckle when he gets in the ring. Cutaways to EVIL are bracing in the severity on his face, his complete focus. They start off at Okada's usual slow beginning, though the champ starts targeting EVIL's head after his nasty knock-out with Omega. He gets a light strangehold on EVIL, who makes the ropes and then punches Okada off the apron with the latter goes for a springboard. Outside, EVIL whips Okada into a barricade so hard the entire thing moves. Back inthe ring things are heating up as Okada recovers from the beating EVIL laid in at ringside, including a gorgeous DDT that flips EVIL completely over.  But EVIL has Okada scouted, and he counters Okada's offense all over the place and knows when to give up on a move when the ace might find a reversal of his own.  Okada gets a flapjack off a charge, eats a few corner counters before grabbing an Alabama slam. Okada gets him up top and kicks EVIL to the floor. When he goes for his crossbody over the rail, however, EVIL grabs a chair from nearby and wings it right into Okada's face in the single best counter to that move I have ever seen.

This opens up the field for EVIL, who proceeds to rain terror down on Okada with everything at his disposal. He drags multiple chairs from under the ring and sets up a pile deep into the crowd aisle, then drags Okada to them and hits Darkness Falls right onto the stack as everyone nearby shrieks but also takes enough photos to give the move a strobe effect, flashes of pure light staggered by black. Darkness falls, indeed. EVIL gets back in the ring but then rolls out to go fetch Okada to beat him the decisive way. This is a surprisingly solid heel move, honorable but done to ensure that Okada is properly embarrassed. Another darkness falls gets two and EVIL blocks the Rainmaker. Okada battles out of a superplex and hits a missile dropkick. Okada, nursing his neck, hits two more dropkicks in a fit of rage, but EVIL elbows out of a Rainmaker setup. EVIL removes Okada's head with a lariat, followed by a suplex and second lariat for an insanely close near-fall. Okada hits a Rainmaker to stop EVIL's finisher, holds the wrist and hits another, then goes for a third that EVIL ducks. Okada gets a German but EVIL finally connects the Everything is EVIL and pins Okada in the champ's first singles lost since his Osaka match with Ishii in last year's G1. Milano pops even bigger than he did for Juice's win, and EVIL is instantly a made man. One of the tournament's most bloodthirsty matches, with EVIL having fully shaken off the legit damage he took from Omega to deliver a passionate beatdown on the cocky ace, who finally ate it big for giving in to his fury. ****1/2

OVERALL: This was the best B Block show yet, not merely for its frequent spoilers but for the sheer match quality mixed with the block's strong storytelling chops. The crowd was surprisingly muted for an Osaka event, at least until Robinson scored the upset and then EVIL followed down with a merciless beating on Okada. EVIL has progressed so much this year, and it looks like LIJ has yet another star on its hands. Go out of your way to watch this show, even after the tournament ends.

G1 Climax 27 Days 11 & 12

DAY 11 8/1/2017, Kagoshima, Kagoshima Arena (A BLOCK)

Bad Luck Fale vs. YOSHI-HASHI

In the interest of catching up I'm not going to spend much time on filler matches like this. Neither, it seems, is HASHI, who charges Fale out of the gate in a shrewd bid to get a quick pin before the monster can hit him back. Fale responds in kind, torturing everyone's favorite anime-haired mid-carder by tosing him through multiple rows of chairs as if bowling. HASHI makes his way back into the ring with all the speed of your grandma. HASHI looks absolutely wiped but perseveres, and he manages to roll up Fale for the win. ***

Togi Makabe vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Not even neoliberalism itself presents Zack Sabre Jr. with an opponent this objectively mediocre yet inexorably entrenched. Makabe beats on the brat, but soon Sabre gains the upper hand by chaining the unchained King Kong into numerous submissions that neutralize his hoss game. Things are going well until Makabe starts to get into a strike game that only exposes how bad his are and how weak Sabre's look, but a knee bar gets Makabe to tap before either embarrasses himself. ***

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Nagata

Nagata went into this tournament as an old man on his last leg, and after the go-for-broke performances he's given every single night of his block it's a miracle that he can still go. Putting him with Ishii seems simultaneously like a cruel act of torture and a great way for him to get a bit of a break given Ishii's highly professional but stiff-looking work. Nagata shuffles his way down the ramp with great speed; he is ready for this fight. So is Ishii, who walks out to be patted down by Red Shoes as if he might rip apart the the ref to get to his opponent. Some perfunctory lock-ups move swiftly into strike exchanges; Ishii goes down, catches a PK kick but is thrown back down by Nagata anyway. Nagata kicks the shit out of Ishii but the Stone Pitbull merely growls through the pain. Nagata reciprocates by inviting Ishii's chops in a slo-mo recreation of Ishii's interactions with Shibata.

Ishii would sell for a child who wandered into the ring looking for its parents, and he fully puts over the strength of Nagata's submissions and strikes even as he absorbs them. Ishii doesn't play up the heel the way others have against Nagata. Instead, he shows respect by demanding that the old ace give him everything and by hitting Nagata with everything he's got because he does not dismiss Nagata's own endurance. And when Ishii does taunt, he pays for it with those brutal kicks of Nagata's, with their sickening thuds into flesh. An xploder gets a two-count as the crowd starts to chant loudly for Blue Justice. These two start throwing bombs at each other, with Ishii hitting a gorgeous superplex and Nagata absolutely wrenching his opponent's arm loose with his armbar as Ishii looks like he wants to die, folded into himself in an agonized attempt to escape. After yet more exchanges, Nagata hits a gorgeous super-xploder and crawls for a cover, but Ishii kicks out and then ducks a kick as he gets up and the two starts trading suplexes, lariats and an enziguri from Nagata. These guys keep leveling each other, and when Nagata manages to kick out of a brutal lariat, the crowd loses it, more so when he steals Ishii's brainbuster for another close near-fall. Ishii counters a saito suplex and hits a sliding lariat, then hits his own brainbuster for the win. This was yet another stellar performance from Nagata, with an ideal opponent in Ishii for their mutual ability to work a style that looks dangerous but is far safer than the increasingly high-risk methods of the younger roster.  This was outstanding, a showcase for both men that worked a simple story into an epic, high-stakes match that made both look incredible in victory. It was wonderful to see Ishii sidestep the ongoing narrative of Nagata's opponents dismissing his age, and as such they never had to slowly build to Nagata demanding respect because it was given from the start. ****1/2

 Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto

No down time on this match as Naito jumps out of the gate and Goto is equally in the mood for a fight, more so after Naito spits on him a few times. Goto goes up to the top turnbuckle but Naito immediately runs up and knocks him to the floor. At ringside, things slow way down for all the usual New Japan floor stuff that Gedo apparently must book in all matches, but Naito picks things up by working over Goto's neck. Goto hits a Saito suplex but Naito is clearly interested in putting this dude away. Yet after that initial flurry of activity, this mostly settles into a groove that is just functional, with moves that are safe and basic. Naito brings more flash, but Goto's neck targeting clearly takes a toll and sets up a sleeper hold. Goto manages to block Destino but eats a few moves on his neck for reciprocity. Naito hits Destino but Goto kicks out, so a second ends it. This was a good match that probably could have been great under different circumstances, but with the tournament now deep into its wearying grind and Naito no doubt looking to rest a bit and take fewer risks ahead of his Tanahashi match and likely appearance in the finals, it's understandable that this didn't hit high gear. ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi

The going strategy of Ibushi's opponents is to keep him grounded, which is funny since Ibushi himself has been working a stiffer strong style this tournament to prove he can work in the heavyweight level. Tanahashi slaps Ibushi on two breaks in a row to a chorus of boos, then the crowd roars as Ibushi kips up from being floored to kick Tanahashi right in the chest. Tanahashi chops Ibushi's knee and Ibushi sells like he got ambushed with a lead pipe. The broken ace wraps Ibushi's leg over a rope and begins to squeeze and tug before going back to strikes on the leg. It's legitimately impressive that Tanahashi entered this tournament after a huge babyface title feud and a shoot injury and has increasingly courted heat over the last three weeks. Lord, let this man leave this tournament a heel.

After a lengthy bit of torture, Ibushi fires up with a dropkick that buys him some time before using his good leg to kick the stuffing out of Tanahashi before hitting a standing moonsault. A headscissors sends Tanahashi outside and now Ibushi is downright elated as he basks in the crowd love. He divs out and works his way up to an attempted deadlift suplex over the apron, but Tanahashi fights out and hits a dragon screw leg whip. Tanahashi then does a crossbody to the floor to prompt a count-out tease for Ibushi. He gets in the ring to eat leg stomps and dragon screws to set up Tanahashi's cloverleaf that Ibushi sells by practically collapsing his upper body in pain. These two keep running brief sprints that end with both down and recovering. Ibushi goes to lawn dart Tanahashi but the ace turns it into a sling blade, only for Ibushi to stop a High Fly Flow and bring him down for a lawn dart into the opposite corner. Tanahashi rolls to the apron but Ibushi is ready and hits that deadlift suplex for a wild near-fall. Tanahashi slips out of a Last Ride and turns it into a dragon screw neckbreaker, then bridges a straitjacket suplex for two. Ibushi takes a KILLER bump for a slingblade, turning himself inside-out as he flops down for it. Ibushi eats one High Fly Flow but gets the knees up for a second. Tanahashi stops Ibushi's knee-strike finisher but eats a spinning counter kick to the head. Last Ride gets 2.999999999 and Ibushi is absolutely stunned to find that he has not won. Having had enough, he drags Tanahashi  up just enough for Ibushi's knee to crack into his skull, putting him down for good. ****1/2

OVERALL: We're in the stage of G1 where even the upper-tier workers start to show their fatigue, which made the two stand-out matches the surprising and delightful exception to the rule. Nagata and Ishii had an incredible, safe but passionate bout that brought out the best in both. Ibushi and Tanahashi, in turn, tore the house down, with Tanahashi leaning into a heel angle that he really needs to make his character going forward and Ibushi paying off the last few weeks of his NJPW re-introduction by refusing to let Tanahashi disrespect him and having an answer for anything the man had for him. Ibushi has opted to follow his muse for the last few years, and it's anyone's guess how long he'll be with New Japan this time. For the moment, however, he is working at a level of maturity only rarely glimpsed before, and it's refreshing to see him working at the level he deserves.

DAY 12 8/2/2017 FUKUOKA, FUKOAKA CITIZEN GYMNASIUM

Juice Robinson vs. SANADA

A fun side-effect of Juice's worked injuries, for his opponents at least, is that it offers his partners to work a slower pace than the rest of the tournament while still hooking a crowd. Despite this, both he and SANADA show off their athleticism at the top, trading various grapples before scouting each other's offense. Both jump for missed dropkicks but Juice stumbles to his feet while SANADA immediately rolls back up. Outside, the LIJ member tortures the leg as all the fighters of B Block must. Juice manages to stagger his way back inside without letting the count-out tease go too long, but SANADA is waiting. SANADA flips out of an attack to tease Skull End but Juice gets in a DDT, then another. Through it all, he just can't capitalize, favoring his leg after anything he does. SANADA sweeps the leg and goes for figure four as Juice tries for all his might to roll it over and finally succeeds after a few tries, but SANADA rolls it over again and they head to the floor still entangled. SANADA keeps the figure four on until the last second, lunging into the ring a few counts before 20 as Juice just barely crawls back in. SANADA goes for the figure four again but Juice rolls him up for two. Juice lands a spinebuster but his whole body goes stiff with pain. After a powerbomb tease looks like Juice's leg might implode he hoists SANADA back up and hits it for another near-fall. The crowd is flat but these two are going for broke, reversing everything to put over Juice's resilience. After some big finisher teases with pulp friction never hit, SANADA goes for Skull End to wear down Juice before finishing him with a moonsault. This was a hell of a match for two dudes with no shot to win this tournament this deep into G1. In fact, in front of a hotter crowd (this would have killed in Osaka) and this could have been a truly great match. As it is, two of this G1's three break-out stars reminded everyone why they are breaking out. ***3/4

Michael Elgin vs. Toru Yano

What a stupid match with cheap booking to eliminate a hot, well-liked worker. Elgin wards off multiple low blows, only for Yano to pull an Eddie Guerrero and fake being low-blowed himself. The ref sees Yano wincing and disqualifies Elgin, which might make sense in a world in which New Japan's referees had not spent all tournament long allowing various weapon shots, mass outside brawls and endless interference. This was insulting, and a shitty conclusion to Big Mike's great, rebounding work in this G1. DUD

Minoru Suzuki vs. Satoshi Kojima

Suzuki jumps Kojima as the latter is stepping into the ring and an absolute shitshow erupts at ringside as both Desperado and Tenzan get involved and Suzuki throws Kojima into enough barricades to qualify for Simpsons rake gag status. Eventually, this mess gets back in the ring and Kojima goes for his corner chops, which have no sting after watching Suzuki absolutely pummel Kojima's chest. This keeps up until Suzuki locks in an armbar near the ropes as Tenzan reaches in to try and drag his friend's leg to the rope as Desperado works to prevent this, resulting in cluttered camerawork. Kojima lacked all of the fire he's had in other matches, and this was an excuse for pile-ons of bullshit, including Tenzan getting in the ring to take out Desperado. After what feels like a lifetime, Suzuki stops this with a Gotch piledriver and then we get a post-match beatdown that manages to get no heat. Awful match. 3/4*

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tama Tonga

Tonga's been fairly impressive in this G1, putting over cheapjack tactics and peevish humor. He jumps Okada on the turnbuckle, steals his cloak and dons it for his own pose to the crowd, which gets Okada nice and furious. He dropkicks Tonga's head off of his body. They go outside and brawl; at one point, Tonga sarcastically throws a Rainmaker pose and the camera hilariously zooms out as if for the real thing. Back in the ring, these two go through the motions, with Tonga lacking the cobra speed and cagey slinking of his early G1 matches. Okada isn't going to risk so much as breaking a nail on a match this frivolous, so we get a time-marking affair on its way to some gun stun reversals and a Rainmaker victory. **1/4

Kenny Omega vs. EVIL

The usual feeling-out/floor brawling occurs, but we get a small variation on a theme when EVIL rips up the mats to expose the floor concrete, only for Omega to slam him on the announcer's table. In the ring, Omega does the Finlay/moonsault before settling into attacks on EVIL's back, including whipping him into the ropes to sneak a kick to his lower vertebrae. A delayed backbreaker gets two, and EVIL tries to fire up only to taken back down with Omega getting knees up to block a senton. EVIL attempts to do his chair swing bit, but Omega is in no mood, and he sets up a chair for a suplex, only for EVIL to escape and thread a chair through Omega's neck and tease slamming him into the ringpost. Omega ducks another chair shot but catches one in the gut when he goes for a springboard off the rail. Inside, Omega throws EVIL back out with a rana, then hits a suicide dive. Omega is working formula so far, but Kenny brings out a table and the two tease a number of table spots, all unsuccessful until EVIL headbutts Omega on the apron and hits a diving STO that sends both of them down and busts EVIL open the hard way.

Kenny beats the count and then the two start trader finishers and teases. EVIL looks intensely focused while Omega sells like a champ for him: laying completely still when covered until he desperately kicks out, letting his face go slack when dragged around by EVIL. The match itself may be the kind of thing Omega could lay out in his sleep, he puts a great deal of effort in putting over how devastating EVIL can be, never falling back on his comedy act as he instead tries his best to end this and save his strength. Both men throw lethal-looking suplexes and EVIL gets a sweet near-fall over a savage lariat.  Omega keeps looking for One-Winged Angel but EVIL won't let him hit it. This match is fully heated, but toward the end, Omega hits a V-trigger that clearly and blatantly knocks out EVIL for real, leaving the man a dazed, dead weight that Omega has to hoist into One-Winged Angel position without EVIL's assistance, bringing it down for the pin. This was a certifiable four-star match until that nasty and frightening knock-out, and while Omega deserves props for getting the match done, it would have made more sense to just go for a cover instead of sticking to the plan. This wasn't entirely his fault, as EVIL fell too close to the ropes to get an actual pin, but OWA wasn't necessary here. ***3/4

OVERALL: By far the worst show of this G1, Day 12 boasted book-end matches worth your time, surrounding three duds that lacked heat, storytelling panache or high-quality work. Juice/SANADA was a great match-up of two emerging stars, while Omega/EVIL was formulaic but nonetheless intense right up until the moment that Omega legit sent his opponent for a loop, souring the otherwise excellent final stretch. If you're looking to catch up before the G1 Finals, this is the show to skip.

G1 Climax 27 Days 9 & 10

DAY 9 7/29/2017, AICHI, AICHI PREFECTURAL GYMNASIUM (A BLOCK)

Yuji Nagata vs. Togi Makabe

You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself put over a guy only five years younger than you and in much worse shape. Admittedly I'm hard on Makabe, mainly because he's like an anti-Ishii in his ability to drag everyone down to their worst level, but he matches up well against Nagata as another old bull who refuses to quit. Nagata comes out with cupping marks on his back, a nice touch. After several stellar showings in a row from Blue Justice, Nagata basically gets the night off in laying down for Makabe's sluggish offense, though he gets in his usual kicks and xploder to let everyone know who's boss. All the usual spots are here, but even if nagata is going through the motions with an opponent who won't go in any unique direction, he still brings the fire. Some of his punches sound legitimate, and he always knows where the camera is to sell his fire. A battle on the top turnbuckle finds both men winded and focused solely on hurting the other guy, with Makabe ultimately striking Nagata down, landing a knee strike and then a lariat for a near-fall before the King Kong knee drop ends it. As is the running theme of everyone's A Block matches with Makabe, this was Nagata's weakest match of the tournament, but even here he was so compelling. This was probably Nagata's best shot at winning a match in this G1, which is a shame. ***1/4

Bad Luck Fale vs. Kota Ibushi

Ibushi gets Fale in the corner early and lays in one of his kicks to a completely unfazed Fale, leading to a wonderful facial expression on Ibushi not of fear but genuine disbelief. Fale spends most of his time wrecking Ibushi's leg to stop any high-flying before it can start. But Ibushi powers through, throwing a kick that he sells before doing a standing moonsault and generally reversing Fale's attacks. Ibushi shows off his strength by nailing a German suplex before he drags Fale around on the floor all the way to the wall, where he promptly climbs up into the mezzanine to hit a moonsault to one of the biggest pops of the entire tournament. Back in the ring, Ibushi nails a missile dropkick but then runs into the pissed-off wall of flesh that is Fale, who proceeds to thrash him without mercy, removing Ibushi's head with a lariat and then setting up bomb after bomb for Ibushi to desperately worm out of before he finally got dropped then hit with a running splash, grenade and bad luck fall for the three-count. For the most part, Fale has been booked well this year, giving up a lot of offense to put over his opponents while landing wins in dominating fashion. Ibushi got to have a thrilling, DDT-esque spot while remaining mostly grounded elsewhere, and work smart despite being unable to overcome Fale's mass. ***

Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Goto tries to get out ahead here and takes the fight to Sabre early, beating on the boy until Desperado distracts him enough for Sabre to start tying him up. Sabre is getting over so well in Japan; he gets Goto so knotted at one point that the crowd legitimately gasps as the multiple points of torque being applied on Goto's limbs and back. Goto hits his groove back and hits some running strikes on Sabre before it mostly goes 50-50 from there. Sabre focused less and less on his submissions as the match wore on, instead taking a page from Ibushi and trying to show he could hang as a striker. Surprisingly, this worked out decently well, mainly thanks to Sabre opting for targeting over attempting to sell power; late in the match, he wards off Goto with scouted blows to both elbows and a knee. Ultimately, however, Sabre pays the price for his pride. There were some nifty spots in this match, and Goto and Sabre do have chemistry, but it's still in an embryonic form, not fully developed, and they've yet to have that blow-away match that truly does seem possible. Maybe after this tournament when Sabre likely slots into the NEVER equation they might meet with a high-stakes match that pulls it out of them. As it stands, this was a good but undistinguished bout, albeit the strongest match of the night so far. ***1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI

HASHI works best as an underdog, which puts him at a disadvantage squared off against the mangled Tanahashi. This match could have used the increasingly heel Tanahashi, which is teased near the start with a cocky clean break, but soon these two just settle into a match. It doesn't help that all of Tanahashi's show-offs (hoisting himself back over the top rope, playing air guitar) get huge pops. Tanahashi works over the leg with dragon screw whips and a cloverleaf, attempting to level the playing field. In spite of this, the leg des not fact into the true meat of the match, with Tanahashi letting HASHI run wild (with nary any selling of the leg) and then falling back on the more general moves of his arsenal. HASHI has had good matches all tournament long, but he just can't get over the hump for actual greatness. Here, he looked like the mid-carder he is, hitting some moves with no sense of storytelling until the main eventer could put him down without having to change up any of his boilerplate approach. **1/2

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito

Ishii marches down the ramp with total focus, acknowledging fans' outreached hands by letting the backs of his hands gently tap them as they swing at his side. Then the bell rings and he's all caution, warily circling Naito before they lock up and head out for some basic floor fighting. Naito toys with Ishii for a while until Ishii lights up with chops and corner strikes until Naito grabs a hanging neckbreaker and then a normal variation in center ring. Things continue to grind along in first gear until Ishii gets a slam and then goes in for more corner strikes, a shoulder charge, and a delayed suplex. Naito foolishly targets the square inch of space that Ishii calls a neck, hitting first a neckbreaker then a corner dropkick to the back of Ishii's head. Ishii sells like a million bucks, fights out of a tornado DDT then hits a quick suplex to break up  Naito's flow. Naito spits a thick gob across Ishii's face and it's time for Ishii to get proper mad, planting him in a corner and taking him up for a superplex that Naito escapes into yet another hanging neckbreaker.

At long last, this match heats up, with both men trading suplexes and each cutting off the other ay every turn. Ishii throws some headbutts and hoists Naito up for a huge powerbomb for a near-fall. Naito counters a brainbuster into his tornado DDT then lands a desperation suplex when Ishii keeps coming for him. Ishii grabs Naito's neck for a reverse suplex but Naito hits Destino for a close near-fall. Naito tries for another but Ishii stops him with a Pele kick. This crowd is molten for Naito, but Ishii cannot hear their cries. He stops a Destino at the last second, sprints to the ropes for a sliding lariat, then a running one, and Naito looks dead. A brainbuster seals the deal. This match got there in the end, but this could have used more of Ishii's charging out of the gate instead of working this like a Dome main event. Naito didn't look in trouble until the final few minutes, but neither did Ishii look like he was working from underneath. This was a missed opportunity, a devastating finishing sequence without the necessary setup to push this over the edge into the kind of house-burning match these two can have and have had. ***1/4

OVERALL: Nothing on the card was bad, barring a mediocre match-up between YOSHI-HASHI and Tanahashi that exposed the former's plateau. By the same token, nothing on this show stood out until the final minutes of the main event. Naito looks to be well on track to winning G1, which would potentially set up a fine briefcase match at King of Pro Wrestling between these two that offers more possibility for absolutely killing it. Nonetheless, anyone pressed for time can skip this show entirely.



DAY 10 7/30/2017, GIFU, GIFU INDUSTRIAL HALL (B BLOCK)

Toru Yano vs. EVIL

After a surprisingly elaborate G1 performance, Yano gets back to his roots, rushing to get in his cock shots (to my shock, the ref actually stopped this), only to hit one that EVIL powered through for an STO. NR

Minoru Suzuki vs. Tama Tonga

The start of this match managed to be funnier than the Yano match, with Tonga sneaking up behind Desperado as he trails Suzuki to the ring and holding the Suzuki-gun banner over his face as if that might convince Suzuki not to question why his attendant just grew a foot taller. The two spend an eon out in the crowd before the bell rings, but their brawl lacks any heat as they trade warm-up strikes around the crowd until Suzuki wings Tonga over a barrier for pouring some water on him. The two make it into the ring just long enough for the match to begin officially before spilling back out and brawling for what seems like an eternity, with Suzuki literally ripping up the barricades to throw each section at Tonga before the ref decides to finally start counting the two out. Tonga and Suzuki trade dull strikes at ringside before diving in at 19. Suzuki finally has enough and goes for a few sleepers before stopping things with the Gotch piledriver. On paper this match looks so good, with SZG relegated to the margins and Suzuki looking like he just wants to murder his opponent, but in spite of Suzuki using any metal in his vicinity, he never really reached the level of fire he can usually mine in his sleep. Tonga floor brawling offered a chance for him to step outside his fleet-footed comfort zone, but he just looked sluggish, and this match puttered along with not an ounce of heat. In fact, with its sloppy booking, dull brawling and meaningless finish, this was the worst match of the tournament so far. *

Michael Elgin vs. SANADA

After two disposable matches, this looks to deliver, and Elgin and SANADA get down to it without any fuss, with Elgin running a train on his opponent, who manages to meet Elgin halfway in the striking department. Elgin holds SANADA vertical in a delayed suplex long enough for the crowd to make their way out of the building and into the nearest subway before dropping him, but Elgin balances this smug display later on by hanging half on the apron and half in the ring when SANADA recovers outside so that the man won't get counted out. Once SANADA gets back inside, these two start to rev up, with Elgin going for lariats and Germans while SANADA evades what he can and endures what he cannot. Even so, this doesn't quite get the crowd going until toward the end, where SANADA kicks out of the falcon arrow and then proceeds to dodge around Elgin while lobbing his own moves to stagger Big Mike. Skull End weakens Elgin enough for SANADA to sprint up for a moonsault that ends the match. ***1/4

Kenny Omega vs. Satoshi Kojima

Kenny lampshades the fact that he's wearing the rainbow tights out, addressing the camera with a rhetorical dialogue with a fan, "'Why are you wearing the house show tights?' Because this is a house show." He's got no respect for the old man he has to battle, and so he's just going to toy with him. The first sign of trouble comes early when Kenny shoulder charges Kojima and the old-man no-sells and instead sends Kenny reeling backward. The screwing-around continues with Kenny teasing Tenzan at ringside and walking away from Kojima doing a dive, giggling at the man hitting the floor before giving him a bomb on the apron. Omega won't even take his shirt off, that's how much he cares. Eventually, though, Kojima rallies, because he must; New Japan is running this narrative of persevering old legends into the ground, and yet Kojima and Nagata continue to be absurdly reliable in this G1. Watching Kenny slowly realize he needs to stop fucking around is great storytelling that plays on his wide-ranging facial expressions, but it is through Kojima's muted determination that this fear truly manifests. A turnbuckle battle ends with Omega planting Kojima, but he will not be stopped, and he comes back charging and manages to escape a One-Winged Angel before hitting a brainbuster and then moving into a stretch where he throws just as many bombs as teases as many finishers as Omega. Amid all the usual signatures, Kojima actually hits Emerald Flowsion for a super-close near-fall and now Omega's playfulness is wholly gone. Kojima fires up, but he just can't withstand Omega, who hits a few V Triggers (though not as many as his bigger matches) and wins with his finisher. A good match with a great story, particularly in the way that Omega went a separate route than Okada took, not merely opting for heel behavior but completely no-selling Kojima as a threat to make it all the more satisfying with the New Japan Dad began to rock his opponent's world. It may not have been enough, but Kojima still looks great in defeat. ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Juice Robinson

I'm sorry for turning every Robinson match into the Juice Robinson Selling Report, but this kid never ceases to amaze. Emerging not nearly as mummified as he was post-Suzuki, Robinson gamely makes his way down the ramp, pausing frequently to interact with the (mostly female) fans who swarm the rails to touch him. (That's another thing; New Japan doesn't use too many crowd reaction shots, yet they've increasingly cut to the audience when Juice enters the venue, and tonight they hang on some fans absolutely jittering when his music hits, with one woman actually looking faint.) Yet after Juice leaps up on a turnbuckle as his name is announced, he comes down gingerly, making sure to set down on his good leg before putting any weight on the one that's been torn apart during the tournament. This kid is 28 and honestly he should be teaching classes at training gyms.

As for the match itself, Okada starts off in a pissy mood because a decent portion of the crowd has the audacity to cheer for Juice, and the two start off slow, all the better to sell Juice's wear and tear and Okada's dismissal of this unworthy opponent. Juice slows down Okada's attempts to run around him with some arm drags and holds and even grounds Okada with a lariat that the ace decides to walk off on the floor before Juice attempts to charge him. Okada flips him over and then grabs a chair, sets it up and stands on it to start a condescending clap for himself before eventually tripping Juice onto it. The casual beating continues until they both get back in the ring for Okada to be more visible as he punishes Juice. But Juice will not stay down, and he chains together some offense before Okada starts going after the knee and gets a spinebuster as a warning. Juice is starting to move more than he has in the last few B Block shows, rallied by the importance of this match, but Okada is just a complete shit, locking in a Figure Four and adding extra pressure to the bum knee in the dead middle of the ring. Juice's entire body is red and the veins are popping everywhere. Juice hits some of his weak-legged strikes before fending off a tombstone and trades suplex teases from the apron, only for Okada to punch the knee out from under the kid and flip him over. The requisite countout tease leaves Juice dazed and barely able to get back into the ring, but once he's there, this match heats up nicely, Juice firing up for heavy moves like powerbombs as Okada takes advantage of his foe's ailing strength to slip away. In spite of it all, though, he just can't keep this kid down, and he finally snaps and starts screaming obscenities at Juice for his insolence. Okada whales on him but Juice begs for more, refusing to go down until he's completely knocked out. He stops an Alabama slam and gets a powerbomb for two. A pulp friction attempt becomes the Rainmaker, but Okada is so pissed he refuses to go for a cover, holding the kid up and landing another, then going for a third, only for Juice to punch this asshole right in the face to a massive pop. He goes for pulp friction again, but Okada catches him in a nasty German and then hits the Rainmaker again to put Juice away. ****

OVERALL: A mostly middling card delivered an excellent main event that built the ongoing storylines of both its wrestlers. Juice is walking out of G1 as the purest babyface since El Generico, with New Japan blatantly behind him as an increasingly talented worker and an unimpeachable character. Okada, meanwhile, is reaching the brink of a story that has been in the works since he regained the title last year. His heelish matches during this tournament have complemented the rising drama of his epic title defenses, doubling down on the sense that the ace is overextending himself and believing himself invincible, and a hard fall is coming.

G1 Climax 27 Days 7 & 8

DAY 7 7/26/2017 SENDAI SUN PLAZA HALL (A BLOCK)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. YOSHI-HASHI

It's almost a shame that these two are in the same stable, preventing them from squaring off much outside of tournaments like these. The two best underdogs in the company right now can't help but have chemistry, with HASHI taking the initiative at the start to try and hang with Ishii's hoss game, which largely amuses the Stone Pitbull until HASHI's chops actually add up to pain. From there the formula is pretty simple: Ishii brutally dominates the strike game while HASHI starts to pick up the pace to cut off his opponent's moves. These two put together a textbook opening match, gradually working a reserved crowd into a hot back half that found HASHI pulling out all the stops to wear down Ishii. Nothing too fancy here, with the most surprising move coming when HASHI scoops Ishii's leg for a single leg suplex, only for Ishii to lunge backward to counter into an old-school DDT. HASHI gets in some bombs in but Ishii puts it away with a brainbuster. ***1/2

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Bad Luck Fale

Such, such smart booking. Sabre runs at the bell to jump into a hanging guillotine that Fale does not so much work his way out of as shove down. Poor Zack comes in for a beating at ring side, getting his tiny frame crushed into any piece of steel in the vicinity. Fale squeezes in a moment to ruin Desperado to pre-empt any Suzuki-gun bullshit, and then the beatings continue. Fale tortures Sabre in the corner, only for Sabre to slip to the apron while hooking the leg to catch a quick break. At long last, Sabre starts getting in some offense, worming around into any catch he can grab before laying in some kicks and uppercuts to halt Fale's momentum. There's a mesmerizing sight of Sabre actually locking an octopus hold onto this mountain of a man, even working the wrist in his usual shitheel fashion. Sabre is so good at being a mean, punishing asshole that Fale gets some crowd chants. Sabre locks in holds that would torture anyone else, but Fale is just too big and thick, able to make the ropes just by virtue of his size. Finally, Sabre tosses his usual shtick to the wind, raking Fale's eyes and cradling him for a shock pinfall. Just a cleverly designed match that did not (and likely could never) kick into high gear but that showed off Sabre's indefatigable versatility and adaptability not merely in his chain wrestling but his shrewd ability to cut off a match the second he saw an opening. ***1/4

Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi

Kota Ibushi can literally get four-star matches out of inanimate objects, so here he is with Makabe. Ibushi continues to show off both his versatility and his striking power by meeting Makabe on his preferred ground of slobberknockers, brawling in and out of the ring. Ibushi controls the first stretch,eventually getting back in the ring and nailing Makabe with another dropkick. Makabe lands a few lariats to equalize, only for Ibushi to catch him with a head kick and then helpfully show Makabe how to throw a lariat actually worth a damn as the crowd begins to get hot. Ibushi gets a hurricanrana for a near-fall before the Makabe dares Ibushi to keep laying in his kicks before scoring a nice lariat to break things up. This match worked against usual small fast man/big bruiser dynamics in making Ibushi's strikes look, at almost all times, more devastating than Makabe's, which is a nice change of pace but also backs Makabe even deeper into a corner by showing how outclassed he was. He eventually turns it around by stopping Ibushi from nailing his super-piledriver and landing two knee drops for the win. The finish elevated the match and gave Makabe a credible win thanks to Ibushi's selling, but this is sure to be Ibushi's weakest bout of the tourney. **3/4

Yuji Nagata vs Tetsuya Naito

Everyone is working heel against Nagata by default, so Naito gets to bring his A game as a cocky asshole as he toys with the New Japan Dad. Great series of counters at the start with both men ducking strikes and halting whips, with Nagata looking like a spring chicken in how quickly he can adjust in the air to ground himself rather than fly into Naito's attacks. Naito plays up his tranquilo teases while Nagata just looks too old for this, hanging out for a bit at ringside as Naito teases him, not so much to rest but to collect himself, to get his temper under control over the disrespect. Naito is getting the most cheers out of anyone to go against Nagata so far; more than his actual point standing this seems like the best indication that he is on-track to win the tournament this year. But despite the crowd love he still makes sure to play mean little mongoose, forcing Nagata to fight defense until he can get a strong sequence in with kicks and a snap xploder. Naito's corner dropkick gets Nagata fired. up. and he starts to kick the holy terror out of the punk before slapping him to death for good measure. Naito sells these like a champ, like the pissy teenager who is absolutely shocked and horrified when he finally pushes a parent too hard and gets smacked. Naito gets some wind and goes for a superman punch, only for Nagata to duck away and grab him for a suplex. Nagata puts on such a  beating that he makes Naito the underdog, and both men send the crowd into hysterics, going nuclear when Nagata actually kicks out of Destino. A second Destino gets a win for Naito in a killer back-and-forth that changed up Nagata's approach in this tournament by having him help the crowd get even more invested in Naito than they were at the start. ****

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto

Tanahashi is putting more and more abuse on his torn arm, but he's up against perennial choke artist Goto. Goto, bless him, he tries; after letting Tanahashi dictate the flow of the opening stretch, he takes charge by nailing Tanahashi on the top turnbuckle with a lariat. From there, Goto does what all in this G1 must: he goes after Tanahashi's bum arm with the same menace that he attacked Omega's leg in last year's final. By the time Tanahashi fires up, his already weakened arm is all but useless, and his strikes cause him more damage than his opponent. When Goto rolls away from a High Fly Flow, he looks like he might actually have this, but he just can't help himself. After nailing one GTR, he spends too much time gloating as he sets up another, giving Tanahashi time to nail a neckbreaker and then a sling blade for a near-fall. Two High Fly Flows gets Tanahashi a victory that cost him a great deal, pushing him to the brink with his injury. Goto's tweener status let Tanahashi oscillate between a dick at the start and, as the crowd fully got behind him toward the end, play his usual face. That was a bit of a missed opportunity to have Tana keep reaching toward heel status, but given the opponent it makes sense. Regardless, this was a fine way to end the show, with the crowd absolutely invested in all of Goto's torture of Tanahashi's injured arm and the former ace's comebacks. ***3/4

OVERALL: This was a solid card from top to bottom, with two hot matches to end the show and sharp storytelling throughout. Even Makabe, still the least motivated, least interesting man in the block, told a solid story against Ibushi even as he picked up a win over his much better opponent. There's nothing on the show that will make a MOTY or even best-of-tournament list, but everyone worked smartly according to their personae and storylines for a satisfying event.

DAY 8 7/27/207, AORE NAGOAKA, NIIGATA (B BLOCK)

Tama Tonga vs. Juice Robinson

Juice starts selling out of the dang curtain, putting over the damage that has been wantonly done to his leg for the entire tournament. Just watch him staggering down to the ring, smiling at his fans through gritted teeth. God, he's so great. Juice ties up Tonga to begin, but once Tonga gets a hold on that knee, he puts the poor kid through the ringer. Tonga runs wild around Juice, who finally catches Tonga in a corner strike for a slam, but the knee won't let him capitalize. Robinson's punches and chops are worked so smartly around the energy; he has to take more time to throw them, keeping weight on his "bad" leg for as little time as possible which results in seesawing leans and quick, short jabs that cannot gather momentum and stopping power. Tonga is a rat bastard here, ripping away Juice's thick bandages and whaling away on the limb. Tonga fights out of a pulp friction and kicks the leg for the boy's impudence. After some finisher reversals, Tonga gets a sick headshrinker DDT for a 2.75-count that gets a massive pop for Juice's kick-out. But Robinson is just too worn down, and a gun stun ends a match that made Tonga look like a nasty tactician and continues to build Juice as the best babyface in the world. Juice even gets an ovation as he works his way to the back. ***1/2

Toru Yano vs. SANADA

Yano's spate of 10-minute matches in this tournament have been the equivalent of a 60-minute Broadway for the king of cock-punching quick pins. The universe rights itself here as SANADA refuses to let himself be embarrassed, lunging at Yano the second he gets into the ring. Of course, Yano always has a plan, throwing his robe into SANADA's face and trying a small package. SANADA gets pissed and pours a bottle of water onto Yano's head, only for Yano to drink enough to spit back into his opponent's face for another pin attempt. Yano gets little attacks where he can, but SANADA is always sure to stop his usual bullshit before it gets out of hand, disposing of the tape that Yano used to tie up Omega. SANADA lands on his feet over a failed moonsault but then ends up running into the exposed turnbuckle. A skull end counter leads to a slide to the outside that Yano catches for a tape tease but SANADA is done with this shit and refuses to give his opponent the dignity of a pinfall, dragging Yano up the ramp and taping him into a paradise lock before calmly walking back into the ring at 19 for the win. Then, for added insult, SANADA walks right back up the ramp to leave, casually stepping to the side as he passes the moaning Yano. This legitimately might be Yano's best G1; with the exception of the Kojima match, he's been absolutely hilarious with each opponent, and his matches have boasted a shocking level of variation for someone who usually only has about four tricks up his sleeve. ***

Minoru Suzuki vs. EVIL

We all know the deal with Suzuki-gun but honestly, it gets so old having to keep writing some variation of "this match would have ruled without the bullshit." But this was a rare case of the bullshit almost, almost working as Desperado makes a move at EVIL before the match even starts to get down to it early. We head out to the crowd with some shenanigans as Suzuki starts grabbing chairs and throwing them into Evil's lower back, the steel slapping his flesh in grotesque thwacks. EVIL only just manages to beat the 20-count before Desperado distracts the ref as Suzuki gets a nasty facelock and grinds a pen into his opponent's head. EVIL recovers with a lariat, but then they go right back out to ringside so EVIL can do his chair baseball swing, which Suzuki sells as the killer move it looks like. In shades of his match with AJ Styles, Suzuki gets pissed when EVIL goes for a facelock and tries to rip off the man's thumb. So far so good, but then a ref bump lets Desperado charge EVIL, only to be saved by BUSHI, then Taichi hits EVIL with a chair and Takahashi makes the save with a rana. This, too, recalled Suzuki/Styles in a good way, putting over how close-knit LIJ are with each other to prevent EVIL from being ganged up on by his lonesome. But then Red Shoes recovers in time to see Suzuki hit EVIL with chair and respond only by taking away the chair. New Japan Pro Wrestling will seriously sometimes make you wonder if the Japanese have a word for "disqualification." This kills the justifiable overbooking to this point, though things recover when EVIL converts a sleeper into an STO and wins to a massive pop. Were it not for just how convoluted things got after the ref bump this might have been closer to a four-star match, but for the most part the run-ins told a solid story about New Japan's key stable. ***1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Satoshi Kojima

The crowd is losing it for Kojima from the second hit music hit and Okada even encourages a chant for his opponent, only to cheap shot him at the bell and revel in the crowd's boos, sarcastically trying to get the chant going again. Folks, I'm happy to report that shithead Okada came to play. Okada could not possibly be more smug as he handles Kojima at first, kicking him to the floor and just sitting down in the ring, checking his fingernails as Kojima writhes on the floor. Okada finally heads out and beats down on the legend, landing a hanging DDT before rolling Tenzan into the ring with a few attacks and an emasculating taunt. Another condescending bit of applause from the ace when Kojima manages to roll back in the ring, and soon Okada is trying for pinfalls off the most basic moves, refusing to even go for signatures and blithely stomping on his prostrate opponent when he refuses to stay down. It's fun to talk about how Tanahashi subtly worked a heel angle on Nagata and then see this, with Okada, deep into his golden year as company representative, being the rattiest little shit on the playground. When Kojima fires up for some Mongolian chops, the crowd pops like Kawada just pinned Misawa.

This match is worked so simply, which lets any comeback that Kojima makes feel all the more thrilling while letting him duck having to work the high-risk style that Okada has dragged out of his title challengers. Chops and DDTs get the kind of reactions they got in the 1980s. When Okada does the Rainmaker pose, he gets booed right out of the building, out of the city and into a plane headed out of the country. After some teases, Okada goes up top in time for Kojima to hit a lariat to send Okada reeling on the floor. Kojima is beyond pissed and takes the fight to Okada when he gets on the apron, and though Okada responds with running kicks and an uppercut, the champ looks genuinely rattled and serious for the first time in this match. Kojima is fired up and so is the crowd, and when he nails a Cozy Cozy Cutter and a brainbuster for back to back near-falls this match goes nuclear. A lariat counter on a Rainmaker actually makes you think the old man might have it, and Kojima manages to avoid yet another Rainmaker before Okada finally says fuck it and hits a tombstone/Rainmaker combo to stop this.

Kojima is being booked as if this were his last G1 and I hope that's not true; he deserves to get the same fanfare-ridden bow-out that Tenzan, Liger and Nagata got/are getting in the last year. But if it is, he has put together a final tournament performance just as worthy of praise as Nagata. Okada flipped the script on the storyline he's been building all year, that of the ambitious ace whose need to not merely win but out-wrestle all of his challengers is pushing him closer to a hubristic fall from Olympus. Here, we got that smugness without the epic scale, allowing him to work a different match while still adding to the sense of his impending implosion. You got the sense that a match that he could have won in eight minutes went twice as long because Okada wouldn't stop toying with his opponent, who rallied in such a way that the champ was caught completely off-guard and even betrayed some fright, if not of Kojima than of the realization that he was screwing himself. Great storytelling, great fire from Kojima, great crowd, great finishing stretch. Great match. ****1/4

Kenny Omega vs. Michael Elgin

New Japan's camerawork lacks the fully glossy polish of WWE's, but just watch how they frame Elgin seething in the background when Omega poses in the ring and brags about his title to the camera. These two have unimpeachable chemistry, and Omega brings out his full heel persona at the top of the match, teasing Elgin and raking his eyes to fire up Elgin early for some heavy corner whips and a suplex that he delays to add insult to injury. Now Omega is equally pissed, and the two trade positions between the ring and apron until Elgin charges him into the barricade below, then over another. Elgin catches a springboard off the rail into a belly-to-belly. Up top back in the ring, Omega counters a sunset flip powerbomb and nails a superkick and Kotaro Krusher. These two have a way of using a million moves on each other while also selling the cost of missing an aerial attack or having something countered. Each has an answer for anything the other does, with Omega slipping away from a splash but then Elgin rolling away from Omega's Finlay roll/moonsault combo. There are so many little touches, like Elgin countering a German attempt by backhanding Kenny instead of slipping around for a suplex attempt of his own, or how Omega actually flies off his feet for Elgin's chops.

Omega and Elgin follow a basic pattern of constant escalation with each other, but it's amazing how different this fight felt even from the match they had earlier in the month at the G1 Special in America. Their ever-increasing familiarity with each other only makes each interaction more compelx, seen here when Omega goes for a Terminator dive, only for Elgin to roll in and cut it off, eating a V trigger for his troubles. Then, Omega lands cat-like out of a German suplex attempt, hits a snapdragon suplex of his own to send Elgin back out, then nails the Terminator dive. The intricacy of this bit, lasting not quite a full minute is the result of two monstrously talented men who have each other totally scouted and trust each other completely. Another great moment involves Omega landing a series of killer moves on Omega, only for him to drag Elgin up from a V trigger to be greeted by a furious lariat. Elgin slipping down from a One-Winged Angel into a rana and lariat that turns Omega all the way around while his neck is still attached to Elgin's elbow. Omega pulls back the mats at ringside in the hopes of a rana onto the concrete, but Big Mike lands an apron powerbomb. Omega lands two V Triggers and then a pitch-perfect butterfly driver that plants Elgin so deep on the canvas that you want to water him to see if Little Mikes will grow. Insane kick-out spot of Kenny surviving a buckle bomb and Elgin bomb back to back. This match just will not let up, so finally Elgin goes for broke and nails a burning hammer for the pin. ****3/4

What can you even say about these two? At this point you could slot "stunning Elgin/Omega match" right after  death and taxes on a list of cosmic absolutes, and this managed to be every bit as brutal as their ladder match last year while being worked in a (relatively) safe fashion. Elgin's win should set up an immediate MOTY contender for a defense of Omega's U.S. title, and he looks firmly back in his groove after some uneasy return matches. Omega, meanwhile, continues to stand out as the hottest prospect in the world. Everything he did was a work of art here, from the elaborate chains that sent the crowd into higher and higher plateaus of excitement to his consistent sell-job of increasing exhaustion, exasperation, and despair. The only criticism I have of this match are the two suplexes that Omega took directly onto his neck at the end, all the better to put over Elgin's dominating victory but the kind of crap that is going to truncate the career of a man who currently has the world on a silver platter. Omega manages to work safely in spite of his high risks, but working safe also means looking out for yourself as well as the other guy, and here's hoping that Omega stays healthy, for his sake and ours.

OVERALL: Easily the best B Block show so far. Toru Yano continues to have a shockingly good G1 that has changed up his formula in exciting ways, while Juice Robinson, SANDA and EVIL look like they are on the cusp of major breakouts with their exceptional in-ring and character work. The usual Suzuki-gun nonsense worked wonderfully until it ran too long, but at least it put over EVIL in definitive fashion. Kojima/Okada was utterly thrilling and would have stolen the show on any other night with Okada laying down a great blueprint for returning to his cocky heel persona when he eventually drops the title and Kojima putting in a world-class effort. Then came Omega/Elgin with the best match of the tournament so far, a dizzying array of perfectly scouted and executed moves that is sure to piss off old-school critics and thrill everyone else. If wrestling is typically more like opera, these two made it like ballet. Elgin's win puts Omega on the back foot as he struggles to win his second G1, which should light a fire under him for the rest of the tournament.

G1 Climax 27 Days 5 & 6

DAY 5 7/23/2017, MACHIDA GYMNASIUM (A BLOCK)

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

New Japan appears to be all in on Zack Sabre Jr. Sabre himself has risen to the pressures of G1, largely stripping away his occasionally over-demonstrative grapple showboating to focus on truly chaining together moves to look punishing. It's the subtle difference between playing to the crowd and keeping your attention on your opponent, showing off only to taunt the other guy instead of get a pop. HASHI continues to play up his underdog status, and he did his best to overcome Sabre's endless submissions. Some great struggle spots and as ever, Sabre's European clutch pinfall move looks amazing but eventually Sabre ties poor HASHI up into an octopus for the win. Great work from both men with Sabre increasingly positioned as a threat within the company and HASHI looking good in defeat. Solid opening match. ***

Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tanahashi registers how deeply the crowd is into Nagata from the start and brings out the heelish Tana he's occasionally brought to bear, especially since his fall from being the company ace. He goes after Nagata's knee with relish. Nagata escapes and rallies with an extended kick-and-stomp fest. Tanahashi slaps him for the heat at the two trade slaps and forearms for a while before Nagata gets a big pop for felling Tanahashi with a kick. Every time Tanahashi got the upper hand, the crowd booed him out of the building, and when Nagata cuts off his offense by locking an armbar on Tanahashi's bad arm the crowd pops big. Nagata has already excelled in this tournament, but he looked like a man half his age at times, rushing to break up Tanahashi's attacks, taking him up top for an xploder superplex and just generally never slowing. Toward the end it honestly starts to look like Nagata might be heading for a win, then Tanahashi slaps him so hard that he busts open the poor man's cheek. He hits a sling blade and heads up top but Nagata rallies and beats him up there, the two warring on the turnbuckle until Nagata finally gets knocked down and hit with a crossbody and a High Fly Flow to end it. Nagata continues to provide a model for how to go out in the business with his work in this tournament, and this may have been his best match in years. In all honesty the only thing holding it back from being even better is the fact that Nagata didn't score the victory, a shame since Tanahashi would have been an ideal opponent to take the fall, also on the downward slope of his career and with a legit injury that plays into Nagata's signature submission move. But this is a small complaint. Watching Tanahashi lean into the heel turn that was teased earlier this year was a delight; his face work against Naito for the IC belt was a great story, but this dickish, irritable falling star has such potential for him. Nagata, meanwhile, looked as good as he ever has, and a stone killer when provoked. ****1/2

Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale

Naito wastes no time seeking justice for Daryl as he attacks Fale before he even gets in the ring, tossing away his usual tranquilo vibe to get straight to the point. Fale quickly takes control, however, and he gets gassed so fast that the action slows to a crawl as Naito lays around to sell for this lard-ass beating. Naito eventually takes back over, but Fale, sweating so hard that it pour off of him in little streams more than drops, never convincingly comes off as a monster. Naito takes a grenade and a Bad Luck Fall to end it well after the initial heat cooled. This match made sense from a booking perspective; Fale always plays spoiler in G1, and he can believably ragdoll nearly anyone on the roster. But this either should have been a squash or Naito should have shown more fire. The start of this match suggested a story that the remainder did not follow, and it came across as a wasted opportunity. Hopefully LIJ and Bullet Club have a more built-out fight later on. **1/4

Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

These two are hard and fast from the start, with Ibushi attempting to match Ishii's ground game with strikes and lariats. This of courses pisses off the Stone Pitbull into a beatdown, but Ibushi eventually recovers with a brainbuster and dropkicks. The two trade strikes and moves with 50-50 intensity, with Ishii absorbing punishment as if it were nothing and Ibushi refusing to back down himself. Ishii gets so mad that he spits in Ibushi's face, and the two go in or yet another strike exchange that ends with Ibushi hiitting one of those shotgun kicks of his. Ibushi survives a suplex and jumps up for a Pele kick, only to get turned inside out by a lariat for a good near-fall. A great sequence of moves follows, from a superplex to a vicious sliding lariat, peaking when Ibushi manages to land on his feet out of a release suplex and level Ishii with a superkick. More suplexes and lariats galore until Ibushi ends it with a last ride bomb. This was a classic Ishii match, repetitive to describe on paper but manic in action, with both wrestlers knocking the crap out of each other for nearly 20 minutes of stiff battle. Ibushi almost entirely left his aerial game in the back, instead focusing on his underrated physical strength in addition to the immense speed advantage he has on Ishii. Ishii's blows hit harder, but Ibushi could lay in more strikes with less time, and his own kicks, lariats, and Germans were strong enough to hang with New Japan's living fridge. ****1/2

Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto

This is Makabe's hometown, which explains how this got main event status but also doesn't because only a fool would book this match last after Nagata/Tanahashi and Ishii/Ibushi. The usual lock-ups start things off before Goto starts playing heel, doing a dirty break on the ropes before taking things to the floor and doing his barricade spots. Generally speaking, he replicates his bits from his Nagata match from day three, but with Makabe dully taking the abuse rather than showing a fighting spirit. Eventually Makabe gets up on his knees and invites Goto's strikes, but Ishii he ain't, and he no-sells by just looking bored instead of strong. Minutes into the match, Makabe puts on some offense with a simple shoulder block before setting up some corner clotheslines and a suplex. Goto looks like he's trying to decide what he wants for dinner after he gets off work. An ushigoroshi from Goto gets a near-fall but then Makabe counters a GTR with a German. A good near-fall off of a Makabe lariat finally gets some heat, as does Goto subsequently rolling away from a King Kong knee drop. Goto gets in a lariat and some kicks before locking in a sleeper that Makabe escapes after the crowd does a kindness and chants for Makabe. A battle up top ends with Makabe hitting the knee drop and then a powerbomb for a two count. Some more moves from Makabe and a second knee-drop ends this after 17 tedious minutes. Booking Togi Makabe into a current-day NJPW main event style was nearly disastrous. G1 affords so many opportunities to change things up with match layouts, and it actively encourages sprints between major opponents. But to put Makabe out there and have him do a slow-start, escalating comeback structure was stupid and it killed the crowd, negating the hometown pride reasoning for putting this last. Goto looked like he just wanted to get through it, and without a partner willing to carry him, Makabe looks like he's marking time. *3/4 

OVERALL: Setting aside the poor booking of Naito/Fale and ludicrous decision to give Makabe the main event, this show was outstanding, producing two of the four best matches of the tournament so far. Nagata/Tanahashi was the best story in the A Block to date, while Ibushi excelled while also modifying his offense to avoid being just a lightweight flyer.

DAY 6 7/25/2017, BIG PALLETE FUKUSHIMA (B BLOCK)

Satoshi Kojima vs. Michael Elgin

Kojima tries to charge Elgin, who shrugs it off and wags a warning finger, but after a few exchanges Kojima gets him down. Kojima is receiving the same old-man farewell booking that Nagata is getting, but there's no aura around him, none of the heavy meaning that follows Nagata into the ring. That's a shame, because Kojima is more than holding his own. Where his partner Tenzan spent his own departing G1 on a safe nostalgia tour, Kojima (to a lesser extent than Nagata) is proving that he can still take a fight to younger opponents. Dwarfed by the wall that is Big Mike, Kojima is cagey, actually getting to play the speed angle typically denied to older wrestlers. He lays in the Mongolian chops and lands an apron DDT, only to get caught in a follow-up dive and eat a powerbomb on the apron, leading to the usual countout tease. Elgin grabs Kojima when he rolls in for a falcon arrow, leading to a great near-fall and crowd reaction. Kojima looks like he can keep pace with Elgin, but soon Big Mike starts throwing so many bombs that Kojima's counters are desperate, especially when he rebounds out of a powerbomb/buckle bomb combo with a lariat that marks his last true moment of offense. The last minute or so loses steam as Kojima puts over how complete Elgin's attacks have weakened him but both men go up to the top turnbuckle anyway to play out a pre-ordained finish and something about it just lacks the same intensity of the middle. ***1/2

EVIL vs. Tama Tonga

Both men share a moment of warped sportsmanship at the start in mutually agreeing to go outside for a brawl, with Tonga controlling the early match with slams onto barricades and ragdoll tosses that get the countout tease out of the way early. EVIL worked from underneath for most of the match, finally getting the upper hand at ringside, replicating his sick-looking chair spot from his match with SANADA. Tonga catches a corner running strike into an Alabama slam. Great series of reversals toward the end, with EVIL lariating Tonga into next week when Tonga tries to run circles around him, then both weaving out of each other's finishers until Everything is EVIL ends this disposable but fun lower card match. **1/2

Juice Robinson vs. Minoru Suzuki

Suzuki cheap shots Juice during the pre-match announcements, immediately heading out where Juice shows great scouting by tossing around Suzuki. Back in the ring, however, Suzuki starts to target Juice's left leg, which he has been subtly favoring as the tournament wears on. A hanging kneebar leads to Suzuki slamming a barricade and chair onto Robinson's leg. Juice desperately hobbles back toward the ring to narrowly beat a countyout, only to get thrown right back out for yet more rail-'n-chair abuse. This was an ideal showcase for Suzuki's brand of viciousness; the short running time let him just go for broke in torturing Juice, who showed absolutely world-class babyface selling. He hits a spinebuster on one leg and hits strikes with weak realism, selling how much punching power derives from stable and correct stance. A great face-in-peril spot follows with Juice seeking the ropes from a nasty kneebar. Juice goes for chops and Suzuki responds with arrogant kicks to the bum leg, and some late-stage attempts by Juice to rally just cannot overcome how much punishment Suzuki doled to him. A brief sleeper and mockingly teased-out Gotch piledriver ends it, with both men looking strong in their roles. Juice may just walk (or, giving how good his selling is, limp) out of G1 as the best babyface in the world since Bayley's NXT run. ***3/4

Kenny Omega vs. Toru Yano

Absolutely no joke, this was one of my most anticipated matches of the entire tournament. After Yano brought out Okada's humorous side as a pissed off straight man, he found his dream opponent in Omega, New Japan's most innovative worker and a storied veteran of comedy wrestling. That unique blend results in such an exciting pairing that they even send Red Shoes out to referee this match, lending an added sheen to the proceedings while also involving his own exceptional sense of timing. Things start out great with Yano earnestly offering Omega a copy of his DVD and begging him to open it, leading to an explosion of salt that blinds Omega and coats his face in white powder as Yano gleefully unties all four turnbuckle pads. Great corner whip teases mark one of the few moments of order as the match devolves into mutual hair-pulling (broken up by Red Shoes in a hysterical middle rope chop) and a profoundly silly closing stretch in which both men tape together each other's legs and hobble into attacks, leading to the funniest dragon suplex you'll ever see and a count-out victory that is honestly inspired. This is everything you would hope this match would be, provided you're not a killjoy, and this was a fun display of Omega applying his ambition to his comedy, and an all-time performance from Yano capped off this outstanding diversion. Honestly this will be one of the most rewatchable matches from the tournament. ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA

Some basic tie-ups and clean breaks to start. The two keep things so slow that SANADA cannot even must much heat when he tries to get the crowd invested by choking Okada with his shirt. SANADA has been putting over his versatility in the tournament so far, but his early work here is shockingly simple, with constant returns to rest holds that do not even look painful. The pace picks up a bit when SANADA goes for a quick springboard attack but is countered. From there, the two competitors start to look like they're in a fight, with a great DDT spot that SANADA sells as if he'd been literally spiked into the ground like a re-potted plant. Solid series between the two men as they begin to trade moves in earnest. SANADA goes for a diving attack but Okada grabs him into a neckbreaker, then sets up the Rainmaker only for SANADA to duck it, then counter a tombstone before landing a dropkick. One great spot finds SANADA landing a moonsault into a setup for skull end, which Okada narrowly avoids by getting to the ropes. SANADA is finally fired up, and he counters a Rainmaker with a tombstone and then skull end to a massive pop. Okada makes the ropes and the two trade counters for a bit until Okada manages to roll through a skull end attempt and hit a Rainmaker, still holding SANADA's wrist. He lands a second but, in an increasingly common trope with the story of his ace showboating, is countered when going for a third, though Okada subsequently lands the move for the pin. I like Okada's epic-match booking on shows, but it did not work here, dragging out the fun sprint of the match's second half with perfunctory feeling-out. Both men looked like they were saving their energy for the long haul of the tournament but a 12-15 minute sprint would have gotten the point across with less downtime. This was probably Okada's weakest singles match since his lugubrious defense against Suzuki, and SANADA only kept up his ongoing image as a future NJPW star in the last five or six minutes. ***1/4

OVERALL: This was a bit of a letdown after the first five nights, with a mostly solid card that, amusingly, was outshone by the best and wildest comedy match to ever hit a serious-minded tournament. Omega/Yano was an absolute delight and genuinely, deeply funny in a way that comedy matches rarely are on any level. Kojima has an undersung arc as the other supremely talented old guy still capable of working, and Juice Robinson is looking more and more like a breakout star. The disappointing main event dragged down the proceedings a bit but otherwise this was still a solid, if unspectacular show.