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G1 Climax Day 4, Korakuen Hall
B Block
Toru Yano defeated Satoshi Kojima
Fun match here. This was longer than your usual Yano match. Kojima controlled the majority of it and didn't let Yano away with his usual tactics. Kojima hit a lariat to the back of the head, but it wasn't enough. A ref distraction followed by a low blow and a roll up got Yano his first win of the tournament.
EVIL defeated Juice Robinson
This was fantastic. The neck was the target for EVIL, which got worse when EVIL knocked Juice off the top rope. Juice showed loads of heart and fire as he fought from underneath. He battled back and hit a huge lariat. EVIL then hit a fishermans buster into the corner, which damaged the neck even for. Juice pooped up after a German, but was nailed with a lariat. The finishing sequence here was excellent with EVIL escaping the Pulp Friction time and time again, turning it into a half and half suplex. EVIL then hit the STO to score the points. This was a great showing from Juice.
Minoru Suzuki vs SANADA
This was one hell of a wrestling match. Suzuki beat the hell out of SANADA in the crowd and in the ring for the first portion. SANADA showed what a great technician he is by going hold for hold with the master of it. They went in and out of armbars. Suzuki is so scarily quick, even at his age. He can grab holds in the blink of an eye. SANADA tied Suzuki up in the middle of the ring, for a big pop from the crowd. The finish saw some fantastic counters between the sleeper and the Skull End before Suzuki was able to hit the Gotch Piledriver.
Kenny Omega defeated Tama Tonga
This was probably the best singles performance of Tonga's career. He took the mic early and said if Omega wanted to lead Bullet Club, he had to be with them and not playing with The Elite. Tonga was on a mission and aggressively beat down Omega. Omega got back into the match and it became a game of one upping each other. Tonga would hit a rana, and Omega would then hit a better one. Omega hit some V-Trigger variations and Tonga would hit the Tonga Twist. He attempted the Gun Stun, but he was finished with a V-Trigger and the One Winged Angel. After the match Omega forced a reluctant Tonga to too sweet with the rest of the group.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Michael Elgin
This might just have been the match of the tournament so far. This was absolutely sensational. If Elgin had drifted off for a few months, he returned with a bang here. Elgin was a monster that stopped everything Okada had with a power move. This just built and built until Elgin countered a Rainmaker with two insanely stiff lariats and a crucifix powerbomb for an incredible near fall. Elgin hit a ridiculous superplex late in the match. The near fall of the match saw Okada counter an Elgin Bomb into a Rainmaker attempt, but before he hit it, Elgin hit a pop up Elgin Bomb. Just an amazing counter and false finish. Okada hit a Rainmaker, but couldn't make the pin. Elgin again attempted an Elgin Bomb, but Okada hit a quick Tombstone and another Rainmaker to finally put him down. This is must see.
G1 Climax Day 5
A Block
Zack Sabre Jr defeated YOSHI-HASHI
Really good stuff here and somewhat of a showcase for Sabre. Sabre went after the arm and tore him apart with hold after hold. YOSHI made the comeback and started hitting some of his explosive moves. He hit the lariat and missed the Swanton. Sabre would catch him in a triangle choke, but YOSHI battled out. The finish saw Sabre go from and Octopus to grabbing YOSHI's arms. YOSHI had to verbally submit.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Yuji Nagata
I'm surprised this wasn't a main event given that it was Nagata's last G1. This was awesome. Knowing that the crowd were firmly behind Nagata, Tanahashi heeled it up as he worked over the knee of Nagata. Nagata showed all the fire as the veteran not willing to lay down as he hit a major exploder from the top rope. He got the Nagata Lock on the injured arm, but Tanahashi escaped it. There was a slap exchange that split Nagata opened under the eye. This made for fantastic imagery as the camera zoomed in on him as he tried to hang onto the ropes just as Tanahashi was trying to send him to the mat. Tanahashi hit two High Fly Flows to win a really great sentimental match.
Bad Luck Fale defeated Tetsuya Naito
Big win for Fale here. This definitely wasn't one of the better matches of the tournament. There were a couple of sloppy moments and the middle of it dragged a bit, but the last few minutes were good with Naito struggling to combat Fale's size. He couldn't hit Destino, so instead turned it into a DDT. Fale continued to fight off the move and hit The Grenade for a near fall. Fale then hit The Bad Luck Fall to pick up the win in what is somewhat of an upset.
Kota Ibushi defeated Tomohiro Ishii
AWESOME! This was so good. The match revolved around strikes for the most part with Ibushi taking to the air a couple of times. They traded off with Ishii hitting forearms and chops. Ibushi would lay in the stiff kicks. As the match went on the shots got harder and so did the suplexes. Ibushi hit some amazing looking bridging suplexes, which are difficult to do on someone as short as Ishii. There were some big sequences that ended in double downs, which the crowd went insane for. Ibushi nailed some really hard lariats, a KO kick and a knee before putting Ishii away with the last ride. If you like, stiff, believable wrestling, this is the match for you.
Togi Makabe defeated Hirooki Goto
This was a surprising choice to main event, but it was one hell of a brawl and was better than I expected it to be. No frills here, this was two big guys slugging it out, hitting each other as hard as they could and with everything they had. There were some ludicrously stiff lariats and Goto's move set looks devastating at the best of times, which was amplified on Makabe. This built into a hot finish with Makabe hitting a King Kong Knee Drop on a seated Goto. After some more reversals, Makabe got Goto on the top rope and bounced him off the ring post until he could hit the Spider German followed by another Knee Drop. Really great, physical match.
Both of these shows are available in full at NJPWWorld.com complete with the undercard tag matches.
Day 6 takes place on Tuesday morning.
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