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