Cero Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 31, 10.4

NJPW, RevPro, CMLL, DDT, etc
Post Reply
User avatar
cero2k
Site Admin
Posts: 20950
Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 11:32

Cero Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 31, 10.4

Post by cero2k » Oct 7th, '21, 10:52

NJPW G1 Climax 31, Day 10
October 4, 2021
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

G1 Climax 2021 Block B Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] vs. Chase Owens [0] - 7/10
This was a good solid match, with a little bit of story in it about Owens making a big effort that he can become trouble if he manages to find that good cut off. Owens took out Tanahashi's leg early on and didn't allow him to come back, went for the Package Piledriver and after failing once, landed his second attempt for the win. Owens' first ever G1 win was against Tanahashi.

Post-match - Owens kinda allured at the idea of going for the US title.

G1 Climax 2021 Block B Match
Tama Tonga [4] (w/Jado) vs. EVIL [6] (w/Dick Togo) - 7.5/10
This was pretty good until the finish, which I actually didn't hate as some other EVIL finishes. Tama Tonga played the babyface and he looked great at it, he's speedy style just works perfect as a babyface as it can for a heel, but what also made the difference was his selling. Even Jado's presence helped the match A LOT because he cancelled out Dick Togo on a couple of occasions.

The saw EVIL work on Tonga until Tonga made a comeback and came really close at finishing EVIL, who just couldn't maintain control or end the match, so they had to rely on option c, SHO turning off the lights to allow Togo to choke out Tonga. Jado attacked Togo to release Tonga, but the distraction allowed EVIL to low blow Tonga and hit Everything Is Evil for the win.

Post-match - With Tonga down, they didn't really confront EVIL about the cheating, but SHO did show up on the entrance, telling us that it had been him to turned off the lights. I don't know if they have any big angles prepared for the end of the G1, but I think it's the best time for the House of Torture to break away from the Bullet Club.

G1 Climax 2021 Block B Match
Taichi [4] vs. Jeff Cobb [8] - 8.5/10
This was great! I love babyface, fighting spirit Taichi, and him fighting a monster like Cobb really brought that out from him. Much alike other Cobb matches, he's just been an agent of destruction and he dominates his opponents, Taichi had many comebacks and he did manage to hurt Cobb at one point, but it takes more to keep Cobb down, he was a second away from landing Black Mephisto, but Cobb countered, came back with the Tour and won.

G1 Climax 2021 Block B Match
Hirooki Goto [0] vs. YOSHI-HASHI [2] - 8/10
This was really good, two tag team partners with no reason to hold back. The bell rang and they went straight for the strike exchange, and from that point on, the whole match was just back and forth wrestling, escalating in violence, mixing up striking and moves, until they both started to chase their signature moves. At the end Goto got the win with the proper GTR. Really good match, but there wasn't much to talk about as it was straight forward.

The small glimpse of story we got was the same as YH and Okada, where YH showed that he ain't the geek he used to be, and now he's a man that will bring you down if you let your guard down.

G1 Climax 2021 Block B Match
Kazuchika Okada [8] vs. SANADA [4] - 9.25/10
I've always been a fan of the Okada versus SANADA matches, and I think this may had been one of my favorites, it had been some times since these two wrestled and for this one, it kinda felt like SANADA was more of a top guy and with Okada having his best run in years, their first lock ups felt like a big deal.

Half of the match was about them trading momentum and getting some of their spots in even starting to chase their signature moves, but everything got turned around when SANADA accidentally had a bad landing on a moonsault, right when he seemed to be cutting down Okada for the finish, but with an injured leg, as much as as he kept trying, and he DID get a couple of near falls, Okada was able to recover and take him down with a Rainmaker for another 2 points.

Okada ties Cobb for 10 points at the top of the card, it's gonna come down to them. EVIL and Tanahashi aside, they've pretty much eliminated everyone in the block.

Post-match - Okada and SANADA acknowledged each other. After SANADA left, Okada cut his winner's promo.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was top 3 shows of the G1, every single match had great wrestling and compelling stories to them one way or another.

Block A
Great-O-Khan - 3-0-2 -- 6
KENTA - 3-0-2 -- 6
Kota Ibushi - 3-0-2 -- 6
Shingo Takagi - 3-0-2 -- 6
Tanga Loa - 2-0-3 -- 4
Tetsuya Naito - 0-0-5 -- 0
Tomohiro Ishii - 2-0-3 -- 4
Toru Yano - 3-0-2 -- 6
Yujiro Takahashi - 2-0-3 -- 4
Zack Sabre Jr. - 4-0-1 -- 8

Block B
Chase Owens - 1-0-4 -- 2
EVIL - 4-0-1 -- 8
Hirooki Goto - 1-0-4 -- 2
Hiroshi Tanahashi - 3-0-2 -- 6
Jeff Cobb - 5-0-0 -- 10
Kazuchika Okada - 5-0-0 -- 10
SANADA - 2-0-3 -- 4
Taichi - 2-0-3 -- 4
Tama Tonga - 2-0-3 -- 4
YOSHI-HASHI - 1-0-4 -- 2
Image

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests