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10 August 2014

G1 CLIMAX 24: Finals

G1 CLIMAX 24: FINALS
Seibu Dome, Saitama
10th August 2014

int. New Japan headquarters

GEDO: So we need to do something big to sell the tickets for the G1 Final, it's our chance to earn the second and third biggest draws for any wrestling show worldwide in 2014.
  
JADO: I'm on it. You go back to your bandana collection. Anyway, isn't Inoki-san doing a big show in North Korea? 

GEDO: No, that stuff is 100% legit.

both look at camera


Promotion: DONE
So, in spite of them spacing it out and giving us more matches and indeed a separate event for the final match to headline, the G1 Climax 24 Final has rolled around really quickly. Critics all over the place are calling this the best edition of the tournament, the best tournament and the best thing that happened this year in wrestling. I cannot comment to that too heavily having not seen all the G1 Climaxes, all the tournaments nor all the things that have happened this year in wrestling. It is the best that I've seen though.

Tonight's card will see only one championship defended but still a whole lot of interest, particularly toward the back end of the card. Kota Ibushi has still not returned either. It might actually be nice to see a whole lot of relatively innocuous tag wrestling after a diet of 110 serious singles bouts before we hit the meat of the show. Jeff Jarrett is also slated to appear, having translated 'slapnut' into Katakana script.

Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., TAKA Michinoku and El Desperado (Suzuki-gun) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi

Our first three matches are just to get people who performed in the G1 Climax day-in day-out into bouts on the big card; they likely will not further any great angle of note nor will they contain any off-the-charts wrestling. I vow to you, dear reader, to watch these matches with an open heart and report the truth back should I be incorrect.

Taguchi levels TAKA (Sports Navi)

Nonetheless I am right here. The biggest stories are i. Taichi is back with Suzuki-gun after serving a suspension for a personal misdeed ii. El Desperado has a new mask that looks more 'bad guy' and iii. Ryusuke Taguchi is doubling down on the Eddie Guerrero theft, imitating some of his facial furniture and signature taunts.

It's a standard short match: everyone gets their stuff in, the referee loses control and bodies go flying and crashing all over the place to heighten the unpredictability of the finish. On this occasion, Taguchi takes down TAKA with the Dodon for the good guy win. **1/2

Tenzan, Kojima, Tiger and Taguchi d. Suzuki-gun

Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. BUSHI, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi

Togi Makabe pulled out of this one as a result of his crocked jaw, leaving NJPW to call up junior heavyweight also-ran BUSHI to replace the former world champion. Therefore, the match has an obvious pin candidate, ensuring that the difficult task of choosing who does the job in a match of three legends versus three present champions.

so faces, many funny (Sports Navi)
It's a tidier and more intelligently-structured affair than the match it follows. Nakanishi dominates early with a missile dropkick (!) and then crawls out of the ring not to be seen again. BUSHI takes a fair clobbering from all concerned and eats the fall from Takahashi's Miami Shine. **3/4

Bullet Club d. Nagata, Nakanishi and BUSHI

Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka and Shelton Benjamin (Suzuki-gun) vs. Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) and Kazushi Sakuraba

The final of the mass gatherings of those with not much to do actually results in a tease of an angle to come down the pipe. Suzuki-gun enter first, with Iizuka (memorably referred to as 'The Fighting Sea Goblin' by Suzuki) away in the farthest reaches of the gigantic stadium taking ages to plough through the crowd to the ring, getting to some of the later verses of Suzuki's theme tune.

Kazushi Sakuraba and Minoru Suzuki lock horns (Sports Navi)
Rather than being the continuation of the Suzuki/Yano feud, this match plays on twin tensions: between Yano and Iizuka and between Suzuki and Sakuraba. A match between the latter has the potential to be box office, and a slap exchange between the two is contested with real fire and venom. I have my doubts about Sakuraba as a pro-wrestler but of everything in this match, their war was most interesting.

Benjamin and YOSHI-HASHI exchange the more fluid parts of the match, though it is largely a dire, shapeless brawl that goes to the floor more times than an aging elevator. The finish pushes a potential match-up firmly into reality, with Suzuki being disqualified for refusing to break a chokehold on Sakuraba in the ropes. *1/2

CHAOS and Sakuraba d. Suzuki-gun (DQ)

Jushin 'Thunder' Liger and Captain New Japan vs. Adam Cole and Michael Bennett w/Maria Kanellis (The Kingdom)

The house style of Fujiwara Armbar, crafted lovingly after literally two-dozen entries, does not usually allow for the persons accompanying in-ring talent but in the case of Maria Kanellis I must make an exception given her bearing upon this match.

Michael Bennett, Maria Kanellis, Adam Cole (Sports Navi)
There's no pussyfooting around this: the live editor really tends to favour shots that heavily feature Maria's arse cleavage. During the entrance, during the match and the post-match we are treated to continual updates on the gluteal condition of Ms. Kanellis. I am a trained wrestling blogger and am not licenced by either my national government nor the people of Blogspot to comment upon anybody's seat. However, these directorial choices leave me little else to work with.

The men accompanying her are the actual wrestlers. Representing Ring of Honor come Kanellis' regular beau Michael Bennett and the former ROH champion Adam Cole, both of whom worked on the ROH/NJPW crossover show. Bennett was defeated that night by Hiroshi Tanahashi, whilst Adam Cole defended his title against Jushin 'Thunder' Liger and presumably that plays into the formation of this match a bit.

no comment (thanks to Bootaay on NEOGAF)
Apart from a rough-looking Liger Frankensteiner we see some basic but fundamentally decent in-ring activity, particularly from Cole. Kanellis is probably the biggest star of the match: she halts Captain's chase of Bennett outside the ring by rubbing his masked head into her breasts. She plays into the finish of the match, distracting CNJ by gyrating on the ring apron, causing the old fool to be mesmerised and subsequently sideswiped by Bennett, leading to a piledriver and the win. ***

The Kingdom d. Liger and Captain

IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA (Time Splitters) (c) vs. Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly (reDRagon)

There's no real conflict behind this match-up but solid speculation and hearsay that leads to people concluding that this could be a complete show-stealer. Both teams have, separately, had absolutely amazing matches this year against former IWGP Jr. Tag Champs The Young Bucks. This match effectively completes the triangle and offers an answer to whether it's the case that the Bucks did all the heavy lifting or that indeed it's all three teams that are fantastic in their own right.

reDRagon, who represent Ring of Honor on this occasion (but perform separately and together on independent shows), are a formidable unit. Bobby Fish is a veteran of Japan tours, having worked at least one NOAH tour per year since 2006. Kyle O'Reilly presently serves as the Pro-Wrestling Guerilla Champion in addition to his role as one-half of the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions, working an interesting style that takes in hard strikes and MMA-informed grappling that should work a treat in these climes.

Kyle O'Reilly prepares for splashdown on Alex Shelley (Sports Navi)

The fans might be a little familiar with Fish but perhaps not so with O'Reilly. However, within 5 minutes, they pretty much 'get' what the guy is about and light a little fire that rages with more intensity as the match progresses. Shelley, still wearing strapping on the shoulder he injured during Best of the Super Junior, works the babyface in peril spot, allowing both of reDRagon to really announce themselves on this stage.

Once icebreakers are over, the match goes volcanic. KUSHIDA and O'Reilly show how coolly they can change the game by turning flip attacks into brutal submission attempts, whilst Shelley and Fish jump around and kick things and basically have a great old time out there. Yes, it's probably more spots than classic psychology, but as there's no real backstory and the back row of the building is nearly 100 metres away, it probably pays to wrestle 'big'. Which they do:


reDRagon announce themselves to Japan as the thing I'd always thought of them: a really interesting, original and well-balanced tag team. Whilst O'Reilly has the brightest future, Fish showed just as much fire this evening and arguably the most individual character of anyone on offer. They take the loss after O'Reilly gets trapped in the Hoverboard Lock, but after the match they receive a warm hand from the crowd, surely re-opening the gates for their return. ****1/4

Time Splitters d. reDRagon

At this juncture Jeff Jarrett and Scott D'Amore, representing the still-shadowy Global Force Wrestling, sign a deal officially confirming the relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, overseen by Naoki Sugebayashi. Hmm.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomoaki Honma

The Honma Express rolls into the Seibu Dome high on hope. Ten singles defeats in the G1 Climax blocks have left him, in a bizarre twist, one of the emerging stars of the company. His huffing and puffing, sometimes comical and sometimes deeply charged with genuine pathos, have endeared him to thousands. Up against last year's overall winner Tetsuya Naito, he possibly has his hardest task to date. 

Naito, however, is having problems of his own. The crowd in Saitama and at home on the internet desperately want Honma to win. Naito has struggled to get those big reactions even in winning the tournament, ultimately spending much of 2014 wandering NJPW as a kind of Job figure, beseiged by injustice after injustice. Korakuen doesn't like him. Osaka hates his guts. There are signs of a comeback but there'll be hardly anybody jumping for joy if he wins here.

Honma nearly eats a fall (Sports Navi)
It's a fine match, with Naito expertly teasing the capitulation to Honma as well as the potential of a turn to the heel side of life; fans get on his back as he wallops his man to the ground and he takes them on, mockingly asking them to cheer some more.

Honma fights and fights and fights some more. He misses headbutts. He hits one of the best/hardest looking Brainbusters I've ever seen. He swings and misses and swings and hits and is determined to give the victory charge every ounce of strength that he has left. But it isn't enough, and Naito grabs the win with a fine-looking Stardust Press. The world is deflated. ***1/2

Naito d. Honma


Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Karl Anderson (Bullet Club)

On paper this might seem a little bit unusual. Yes, they had approximately the same kind of G1 Climax but where's the beef? Well. There is beef and it's not extremely important, but it exists. Anderson and Ishii were both members of the CHAOS stable at its formation, though Anderson and his then-partner Giant Bernard were unceremoniously booted out after being turned on by Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka. 

Since then Bernard has returned to WWE and Anderson has wandered as a singles competitor before finding renewal as the English mouthpiece of Bullet Club. Ishii has remained a cornerstone of CHAOS (about more later) whilst Anderson flies his new flag distinctly against the hegemony of NJPW guys and CHAOS guys. Sure, you could argue it's only each stables' #3 guys going to war, but what soldiers to choose?

Tomohiro Ishii: everything hurts (Sports Navi)

The match begins with Yujiro Takahashi, accompanying Anderson, mounting the apron to distract Ishii. It works and Anderson forearms Ishii in the face incredibly hard, busting his man within the first 15 seconds. Already sore in the shoulder and wrist and to be honest should be at home with a Kindle and a pair of hand-made slippers, the Stone Pitbull goes about his task one-armed, with blood streaming out of his face. How I love this man.

It's a pretty good match with plenty of back-and-forth. There's a botch in the middle that slightly takes the more critical or invested watcher, as Ishii attempts his second-rope deadlift suplex, but can't hold Anderson up because of his knacked shoulder, so Anderson falls awkwardly (but not dangerously) across the ropes.

Anderson wins with the Gun Stun, though the result is steeped in controversy, with Takahashi scooping the referee out of the ring when Ishii had the match won with the Brainbuster. It was short and bloody and brutal (again) and a lot of fun. ***1/2

Anderson d. Ishii

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto

The back story to this match as pertains to how NJPW arrived at booking this specific match on this specific eve is somewhat cloudy: the trajectories of their G1 Climax were not a mirror of the other, with Shibata nearly at the finishing line and Goto stalled in mid-pack. They have also been a tag team for much of the year (admittedly a frosty and occasionally truculent and only moderately-successful tag team) and that tag team was based upon the apparent settling of their singles rivalry throughout 2013 and early 2014.



This said the actual story of their conflict and resolution is nonetheless compelling (they actually were at school together in a fairly quiet part of Japan, in the Greater Nagoya area) and the matches the two put on during their feud were often scintillating. Two of the matches finished in the rarely-used Double KO, with Shibata and Goto winning one match apiece. In a bizarre sense it's a rubber match. Whether it cements their tag team or sees them break apart once again, it's going to be hard to tell.

With the slightly overwrought intensity of a pair of mating rhinoceroses, the Meiyu Tag pair proceed to hammer the stuffing out of one another. A lengthy forearm battle progresses into a back and forth of lariats, which then steps up into exchanges of Back Suplexes and German Suplexes. There's fighting spirit, one counts, the double knockout is teased and some of the violence still makes you wince even though you expect it. Shibata hits his Spinning Back Chop right on the side Goto's recently-broken jaw and I clutch my own jaw in reflex at its viciousness.  

RRRRRRAAAAARRRGHHH! (Sports Navi)
Shibata picks up the go-ahead win with the Go 2 Sleep/PK combo, crashing Goto out for the count. In the post-match, Shibata unceremoniously tosses Goto out of the ring. At first it looks like the pair have separated, but Shibata picks up Goto and carries him to the back arm-in-arm as the childhood dream lives on. A feud set to be worthy of its own retrospective DVD. ****1/4

Shibata d. Goto

G1 CLIMAX 24 RUNNERS-UP MATCH
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles (Bullet Club)

For two men who have spent the vast majority of their storied careers wrestling on their home continent, there is a little history between the two men that makes this match potentially quite interesting even if you ignore the gaping obviousness of how matched their skillsets are.

Owing to the occasionally partnership-focused vision of senior Japanese promotions, New Japan Pro Wrestling hooked up with a minor concern in the US by the name of Total Nonstop Action. Its ace was a unrefined young character named Allen Neal Jones who displayed a preternatural knack for constructing impressive multi-layered matches with plenty of give and take. 

With express instructions not to misuse their primo future property, TNA did their most respectful job with a Japanese guy until Seiya Sanada turned up, by pairing Tanahashi with this Jones kid, who went by AJ Styles. Whilst they only got 12 minutes on the 2006 Final Resolution PPV and the real head of steam that we know from our comfort in the future that both guys can produce was never reached, it was a fine success. In a match with a Vince Russo masterstroke ending, Styles won and Tanahashi impressed the crowd. Upon seeing that New Japan had evolved its style to include more televisual and smooth modern wrestling, TNA would spend the remainder of the talent swap burying the hell out of anyone who stepped off the plane.

Hiroshi Tanahashi in TNA, 2006

Back in Japan: early in 2008, Tanahashi defeated AJ Styles in February 2008 at the New Japan ISM show (New Japanism? Or is ISM a standalone acronym? Comment below.) in a main event length match that was actually situated on the midcard. Tanahashi won a well-received bout, with both men gaining plaudits: Styles for his innovative offence, and Tanahashi for allowing a relative unknown the chance to shine despite being a two-time World Champion at this juncture. As the talent exchange continued to occur, the pair partnered to take on another dream international mixed pairing during the G1 Climax 2008 tour: Shinsuke Nakamura and Kurt Angle.

What I'm slowly trying to point to is this: that whenever the opportunity has arisen for these two to go at it, their companies have sought to exploit it. They're two of the best workers of their generation, with a silky-smooth style that takes in flying, technical work, striking, timing, posing and generally a whole lot of winning. This may not be the big headline match but finally the pair have a stage worthy of their potential.

AJ Styles in NJPW, 2014
The match they have is probably the best of their three to date. There's a really tightly-wound structure that is best seen to be explained, but it involves a lot of mirroring and second-guessing and one-upping. Tanahashi recently dropped the Styles Clash from his arsenal upon the signing of Styles, but it's actually Styles' imitations that cause the biggest issue, with Styles attempting to finish the job with a High Fly Flow but missing by nanoseconds.

Whether in the ring, in the air, on the mat, the two display exquisite timing. But it's no mere finesse match for aesthetes: Tanahashi drills Styles with the Straitjacket German Suplex. Styles, going for the Styles Clash, finds Tanahashi tries to wriggle out too much. So he does this.


A fucking Ganso Bomb in 2014 New Japan. Christ. Maybe this tournament has gone too far. Tanahashi is SHOOT okay but sells well, allowing Styles to set-up the win with the Bloody Sunday DDT. Styles, with his man at his mercy, hooks in the Styles Clash. Tanahashi, never out for the count, rolls through and plants Styles with a roll-up for the sneaky win!

DOWN I GO (Sports Navi)
After the shock victory, Styles' accomplices in Bullet Club storm the ring and attack a celebratory Tanahashi, robbing him of his glorious moment. AJ hits the Styles Clash finisher as the rest of his gang rain down blows, with no apparent saviour at hand.

Then, out of the blue, Jeff Jarrett (complete with guitar case) and Scott D'Amore run to the ring and scatter the Bullet Club guys. Jarrett admonishes the overseas posse as D'Amore (after much fiddling) opens Jarrett's case to hand him a black guitar. Jarrett holds it aloft, before flipping the guitar over to reveal a reverse side...with a Bullet Club logo! Who in 2014 though Jeff Jarrett could be a duplicitous heel bastard?


With great ceremony, Jarrett smashes the guitar over the head of the most guitar loving wrestler in all of New Japan. He and D'Amore reveal Bullet Club t-shirts underneath their shirts. The remainder of the Club flood the ring and pose and lift Jarrett in the chair to crown one of the most divisive angles I've seen in quite some time (metric: Twitter vitrol).


The runners-up spot match was a McGuffin. The ending of the match is but a dream. Jeff Jarrett stole the show. Bullet Club march on, having at least got a little more interesting. ****1/4

Tanahashi d. Styles

G1 CLIMAX 24 FINAL
Shinsuke Nakamura (CHAOS) vs. Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)

Without a shadow of a doubt the greatest faction or stable or 'unit' since IV Horsemen (original) is CHAOS. Founded in 2009 after Togi Makabe's Great Bash Heel group turned on its leader almost one-by-one, CHAOS began life as a traditional heel unit who would feud with any and all of the forces of good within New Japan Pro Wrestling. 

From this fairly standard birth they have developed into a more diffuse, more amorphous and fluid entity with a largely uncodified and unexplained modus operandi. In short, their reason for being seemed not be 'to take over' or 'to claim all of the gold' or 'to dominate the main event' or 'to gain respect' but to look a bit more like 'dudes who enjoy each others company'. 


On paper that might sound rubbish and I can't imagine how quickly it would be shot down pitched to somebody like Vince McMahon. After the initial heelish rub, CHAOS were only ever heels of convenience. By banding together eight to ten guys, it gave a logical rigour to multi-man tag matches and therefore gave someone not in an individual program something to do. In the meantime they'd do awesome photoshoots and make DVDs of themselves goofing off that became bestsellers, without doing any of that boring faction nonsense like beating someone down en masse or interrupting on behalf of each other. 

The foundation of the group has always been Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Gedo, Jado and the defacto leader Shinsuke Nakamura, themselves representing a fairly significant cult of personality. People have come and gone and betrayed the group but none more significant than Kazuchika Okada in 2012. After nearly being laughed out of the Tokyo Dome in 2012 upon challenging Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, management decided to align the gawky and gangly guy back from excursion with this cadre of total oddballs.

Okada announced that he had joined CHAOS at the following day's press conference, thus setting the course that leads us to this moment. With Gedo as mouthpiece and the aura of CHAOS working on a very young man in an extremely high-pressure situation, Okada rose and rose to become the fully-fledged craftsman and two-time champion that he is today. Newly confident and effectively second-in-command (though hierarchical power structures are anathema to these guys in reality), it has been a dream of onlookers to see Okada attempt to topple his group leader since Okada became credible.

The seeds have been sewn slowly. Nakamura defeated Okada in 2012 during the G1 Climax, though Okada went on to claim overall victory. Upon winning the New Japan Cup, Nakamura opted not to take on Okada for his championship, at which Okada expressed disappointment. Though the two appear kayfabe friendly, having partnered up frequently and been seen in real life having fun together, there is a palpable tension akin to a pupil wishing to usurp his master and a master knowing that his pupil has been up to the task for some time.

Shinsuke Nakamura applies some pressure (Sports Navi)

The match between the pair, at the end of a long tournament in front of a good house in a high pressure situation, delivers completely and totally and unequivocally. It is wrestled as the main event of both tournament and night, granted the longest run time at just over 23 minutes, with grand guignol for the back-row dwellers and thousands of intricacies and character-infused moments for those fortunate enough to see up close.

The crowd are a little drained by the Bullet Club shenanigans but the two work expertly and stand by their faith in the story that they tell; Nakamura, all wiry intensity and masterful counterwork to Okada's directness and pomp. Okada's character continues its morph from cerebral dick heel to fiery babyface, whilst Nakamura's Brechtian "sex punk filth Nazi sleazeball" (credit to @canineinanity, watching with me) character work remains absolutely consistent despite not really being able to locate exactly where it comes from.

Okada attempts to console his friend (Sports Navi)

The final seven or eight minutes are some of the best you'll see anywhere and I urge you to savour the match for yourself. Nakamura's Rainmaker counter, rolling through into an armbreaker. Desperation Boma Yes to the back of the head of Okada but being too fatigued to make the cover. Okada countering a Boma Ye charge with that arcing, elongated, hanging, oceanic, beatific dropkick. These are all real things.

And the final moments where Okada transforms entirely from boy into man, powering through Nakamura with a Rainmaker and not even bothering to make the cover, driving through the line of Nakamura's throat and hitting the whipping lariat once again. With the greatest ceremony of all, Okada ends his stablemate and leader with one more juddering Rainmaker. He wins the G1 Climax for the second time.

"Ain't no big deal." (Sports Navi) 
After some hype from Gedo, Okada snatches the mic to cut a fierce promo, the likes of which he's never been able to do before. He tells Nakamura he'd like to do it all again. If it's that good, I won't stop you. ****3/4

Okada d. Nakamura to become the winner of G1 Climax 24.

I'm doing a G1 summary post in the week so I'm going to skip the trite conclusion. It won't be as fitting as this main event was. See?
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