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G1 Climax Day 5, July 18, Korakuen Hall
A Block
KENTA defeated Lance Archer. Very good match that told a simple story. It was the size of Archer vs the kicks of KENTA, as he tried to chop the big man down. Right from the bell he laid in leg kicks. Archer blasted him with a pounce and began taking control of the match. Archer hit a canon ball from the apron. KENTA got back into that match when he countered a pounce into a powerslam. Archer countered a GTS into a claw and hit a big powerbomb. KENTA got the submission win when he wrestled Archer into a LeBelle Lock. KENTA remains unbeaten.
EVIL defeated SANADA. This was a clash of LIJ members and former tag team championship partners. The match began with them countering each other’s big moves, including SANADA’s paradise lock. That was the story of the match. Two guys that know each other extremely well, but it was lacking a spark. There were some really good near falls in the last couple of minutes. SANADA hit Everything is EVIL. SANADA had the moonsault blocked and was almost caught in a small package. EVIL showed a lot more fire than SANADA did, which is something he lacks. SANADA kicked out of a lariat at one, but was then blasted with another and finished off with Everything is EVIL. This was another big win for EVIL, who after months of refusing to take part in the LIJ post ,a5g fist bump, offered it to SANADA, which was a nice little story paid off.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale. Not much of a match here, and one of the weaker Fale vs Okada matches we’ve seen. Fale jumped Okada in the aisle and began working him over. Okada got back into it and hit a big dive over the top. Okada hit his air raid crash backbreaker, which was very impressive on a man that big. Chase Owens got involved at the end after a ref bump, but Okada was able to catch Fale with a cradle and pin him. After the match Fale tried to attack again, but he was taken out with a dropkick.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. This was a beautiful pro wrestling match. They spent a lot of time chain wrestling and Tanahashi was able to find an answer to almost everything ZSJ came at him with, which frustrated Sabre. There were some fantastic flash pin attempts from both men. ZSJ locked on a gnarly submission, but Tanahashi had to bite the bottom rope to get free. ZSJ used some strikes, but Tanahashi had answers with things like a twist and shout of a slingblade. Tanahashi hit a nasty looking inverted dragon screw and two High Fly Flows, but ZSJ got his knees up on the second attempt, which allowed ZSJ to catch him in a pin, and just like the story of the whole match, Tanahashi rolled through and managed to pin ZSJ. With this, Tanahashi picks up his first win of the G1.
Kota Ibushi defeated Will Ospreay. This was an incredible main event, and amazingly, they didn’t try and kill each other with crazy head drops. Ospreay came into this with a back injury, one that kept him off the previous days show and Ibushi was still nursing an ankle injury. Ospreay went after that early on. A kick to the back stunned Ospreay, and Ibushi targeted the neck, but not viciously. Things really picked up when Ospreay landed on his feet out of an Ibushi second rope German, and the blasted Ibushi with a hidden blade to the side of his head. Ibushi barely got a finger on the ropes for an amazing near fall. Ibushi countered a Stormbreaker into what was almost a version of Hangman Page’s finisher. Ibushi kicked out of an OsCutter. Ibushi was able to block another attempt at a hidden blade. The finish saw Ibushi hit a huge lariat followed by a Bomb Ye for a near fall. Ibushi then followed up with Kamagoye to pick up the win in a sensational match.
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