To my regular clientele this will be a disappointing entry but to those looking for RATINGZ step inside as I have to review 35 matches ahead of the final trio of shows at Sumo Hall and the energy to write them all up as overly-verbiaged artistic assessments is not quite in me. I have acquired a temporary job that requires me to listen to mostly-decent but occasionally-vitriolic people yell about matters that to we in the higher pantheon of the arts (wrestling) seem trivial but to some are life and death. I then have to type up summaries of these lengthy diatribes. It saps me of my will to do anything but sit there and enjoy the raw spectacle of the two blokes paid to hit each other for my amusement. Sorry! Normal service will be resumed after the final shows of each block as well as a dedicated post for the G1 Final.
 |
| But for who? Find out at the end! |
G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY TEN
Sun Plaza, Sendai
4th August 2015
Elgin pulled a decent one out of Yujiro here. Good STRONK action. ***1/4
SATOSHI KOJIMA vs. TOMOAKI HONMA
Kojima gave a lot to Honma who delights as ever in Sendai. ***1/4
TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. YUJI NAGATA
Not quite as grudgeful and merciless as the 2014 edition but raw and delicious. ****
KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. KARL ANDERSON
They have good chemistry from some top battles down the years but this one was just fine. ***
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. HIROOKI GOTO
Solid and occasionally blockrocking main event with a believable finisher from an essentially standard move (flying armbar/jujigatame). ***3/4
G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY ELEVEN
Industrial Bunker Centre, Iwate
5th August 2015
BAD LUCK FALE vs. HIROYOSHI TENZAN
What they did was totally fine but a touch long at the speed both men move. **1/2
TORU YANO vs. KATSUYORI SHIBATA
The wheels start to come off for Shibata as he takes a roll-up trying to chase down a clown. **1/2
HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. DOC GALLOWS
Tanahashi spun a web and Gallows chased him about like an angered fly. Fine enough! **1/2
AJ STYLES vs. TOGI MAKABE
It isn't ringing any bells but I did write down a mark of ***1/2.
TETSUYA NAITO vs. KOTA IBUSHI
Hey remember when those two flippy jerk-offs actually decided to kick the fuck out each other constantly make the opponent land on the back of their head? Oh wait that was THIS MATCH. It was very good stuff, entirely commensurate with both guys and their talent level. ****
G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY TWELVE
Act City, Hamamatsu
7th August 2015
MICHAEL ELGIN vs. YUJI NAGATA
It was fine I guess. Single cam setup and it wasn't performed for the internet stream, if you get me. Unfair mark probably. **1/2
KARL ANDERSON vs. TOMOAKI HONMA
Really cool finish tacked onto the end of a match that most reasonable pros can manage. **1/2
HIROOKI GOTO vs. SATOSHI KOJIMA
Surprisingly energetic back and forth between the exemplars of the 'solid battler' mode. Comfortably better than all before and resonated in Web 2.0. ***1/2
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI
Surprised they haven't made much of Yujiro screwing CHAOS way back when. No one hates Yujiro, they're almost glad he's gone. Nakamura tried, he's a genius, he's hurt, but this wasn't good. **1/2
KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs TOMOHIRO ISHII
As the Elgin match, a match performed for the house - plenty of arena-wide stuff that we couldn't see at home. Was expecting the Ishii win perhaps to play into a conflict down the road, but Okada won a fine main event. ***3/4
G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY THIRTEEN
Bunka Gymnasium, Yokohama
8th August 2015
BAD LUCK FALE vs. KOTA IBUSHI
Good brawl where the monster swings and swipes hoping to hit his ever-moving target. Short and sharp. **3/4
TETSUYA NAITO vs. TORU YANO
Naito's heelish turn has a little bit of clowning into the mix, so there's a nice contrast here between the guy who's donned a new mask and the guy who is a lifelong mockingbird. Yano's win in the previous round buys his attempted falls that extra bit of drama. Fun and funny. ***
AJ STYLES vs. HIROYOSHI TENZAN
Meltzer and Voices of Wrestling went 3.25 here but it was much better than that. Styles has huge respect for the Raging Bull and went to lengths to make this more than just a G1 match. AJ sold big, made Tenzan look like the venerable legend that existed in AJ's first eastern journeys. Really compact and enjoyable and heartwarming. ***3/4
TOGI MAKABE vs. DOC GALLOWS
This was not too great. **
HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. KATSUYORI SHIBATA
By contrast this was absolutely bloody brilliant. It felt like a BIG MATCH even though they have supposedly kissed and made up. Shibata went looking to murder once again and Tanahashi dug in to find that remorseless dick that finds a way. Both have been outstanding this tournament and their history suggests that this match was a lock for success. Look it up! ****1/2
G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY FOURTEEN
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
9th August 2015
MICHAEL ELGIN vs. KARL ANDERSON
Didn't have this one earmarked as a cauliflower alley classic but it overdelivered. Anderson had his working boots on, whilst Elgin hasn't taken his off since stepping off the plane. ***1/2
YUJI NAGATA vs. SATOSHI KOJIMA
A main event of 13 years ago, no doubt, but now just a match between two guys with three wins between them. You wouldn't know it: they give it hell and turn in a solid effort. ***1/4
KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI
As much Okada vs. Bullet Club as Okada vs. Yujiro. Mao, Yujiro's valet, got more heat than Yujiro. Okada did his level best and single-handedly dragged this to ***1/2.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. TOMOAKI HONMA
Obvious result aside, this was Nakamura stepping up in front of a hot crowd that were divided in their affections. Hapless Honma did his bit and his adoption of the Mascaras Diving Headbutt off the ropes is probably one of my favourite things in wrestling today. ****
HIROOKI GOTO vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII
A GREAT match that doesn't need to resort to the bloodcurdling lengths they went to over the NEVER title in late 2014. Goto, the Intercontinental Champion, is palpably elevated over the course of this tournament and is roundly-applauded after victory in a first-class main event. ****1/2
G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY FIFTEEN
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
11th August 2015
DOC GALLOWS vs. TETSUYA NAITO
Gallows spoiled Shibata's run last year and here, with a Top Rope Gallows Pole, he spoils Naito's. Not a bad little run-around, with Gallows as similarly disenchanted with Naito's new attitude as his own stablemate AJ Styles. **1/2
HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs. KATSUYORI SHIBATA
Like AJ before him, Shibata sold big for the legend Tenzan. His SERVED face when tapping to the Anaconda Max will stay with me for quite a while and I enjoyed this one quite considerably more than critical consensus says I ought. ***1/2
TORU YANO vs. KOTA IBUSHI
Yano wins in 50 seconds, avenging his loss in the New Japan Cup. It doesn't affect Ibushi, who lest we forget, has worked over an hour in matches against a sex doll. **1/2
AJ STYLES vs. BAD LUCK FALE
Discord in the Bullet Club ranks as a pre-planned Finger Poke of Doom in AJ's favour is kicked out of by Fale, suggestive of a face turn down the line. The match goes haywire, brawling up and down the Korakuen steps like a ZERO1 main event. AJ got the win later in the match. The story probably elevates this to a ***.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. TOGI MAKABE
A fairly predictable though nonetheless well-contested match between Mr. Justifiably Smug Tanahashi and Mr. Business Casual Gorilla. Can't fault any aspect of the actual work, though nothing was mindblowing. Just really quite good. Kobashi, on comms, loved it. ***3/4
G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY SIXTEEN
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
12th August 2015
KARL ANDERSON vs. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI
Barely tolerable. *1/2
HIROOKI GOTO vs. MICHAEL ELGIN
Dear New Japan. Please hire Michael Elgin. Please keep Hirooki Goto in big matches. Thanks! ****
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA vs. SATOSHI KOJIMA
Given his injury and relative dip in quality, it would be tempting to cool the Nakamura superpush for now. That said he could always heal and be back to megamatches by October. This was pretty good but the injury is preventing Nakamura sticking his head above the parapet as the standout of the tournament. He's just been in the mix. A very good mix in which he has deserved to belong. But winner level? Maybe not this time. Kojima goes close but Naka prevails. ***1/4
KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. YUJI NAGATA
Blue Justice really brought it to the IWGP Champ Okada here with a partisan crowd at his back. Real classic fare here, the type of stuff you'll see in five-ten years and realise you completely overlooked even though you liked it at the time. Nagata goes FULL HAM and Okada digs deep against the will of the world. ****
TOMOAKI HONMA vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII
Honma finally does it in a match befitting of the modest act of ending a losing streak that stretches back seemingly forever. It's as bold and as beautiful as you want from the crazy man in turmeric underpants; he throws seemingly a thousand chops and kokeshi headbutts, Ishii gruffaloes back in his face, and both emerge like they've gone two hours in a cement mixer. Not a dry eye in the house and a well-earned, modest victory lap to seal the run at the Korakuen. ****1/2
Block A is basically Tanahashi vs. Styles for the final place. Block B is basically Okada vs. Nakamura. Bit predictable.
No comments:
Post a Comment