NJPW G1 Climax 25: Day 4
NJPW G1 Climax 25: Day 4 (7/25/2015)- Takamatsu, Japan
TIGER MASK IV, JUSHIN â€"THUNDER†LIGER, & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN vs. BULLET CLUB (Cody Hall, Tama Tonga & Doc Gallows)- 3.75/10
The spot where Cody and Gallows bumped into each other looked pretty darn ridiculous. The match felt a lot shorter than it actually was.
HIROYOSHI TENZAN, MASCARA DORADA, & DAVID FINLAY JR. vs. CHAOS (Gedo, Toru Yano, & YOSHI-HASHI)- 4/10
KOTA IBUSHI & JAY WHITE vs. BULLET CLUB (AJ Styles & Bad Luck Fale)- 5/10
That hat ups Fale’s swag-factor by about a million percent. That being said, I’m not sure that swag-factor is something Fale, the big evil bodyguard, should really have. The goal of this match was to make you want to see AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi tomorrow and holy crap did it succeed. They had nice little post-match bit, too, which you rarely see from New Japan.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI, KATSUYORI SHIBATA, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI vs. YOHEI KOMATSU, TOGI MAKABE, & TETSUYA NAITO- 7/10
During this match it occurred to me that Taguchi is basically a male version of ODB except without the drinking. Great match, especially the Makabe-Shibata stuff. Also… is it just me, or did YOHEI KOMATSU kick out of Taguchi’s finisher?!
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi (w/Cody Hall)- 8/10
Almost no stupid Ishii crap in this match, and when there was, I was fine with it because this time it actually felt like he hulked up for a second before starting to no-sell and seemed to be blocking Yujiro’s forearm (albeit with his face, but it seemed less stupid because of the hulking up). They had some great false finishes, too. I guess we can add Yujiro Takahashi to the list of men who can pull a good match out of Ishii with any regularity.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Satoshi Kojima vs. Michael Elgin- 7.25/10
A great match with an extremely disappointing result.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson (w/Cody Hall)- 7.5/10
Hell of a run for Anderson so far. The reaction of the crowd when he pins Goto is a GREAT example of what happens when you actually protect your champions. It makes beating them feel HUGE.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yuji Nagata- 6.75/10
Good mat wrestling followed by some good other stuff.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 7/10
Okada works over Honma’s head. Honma exacerbates the problem via his obsessions with trying to hit falling headbutts (and almost always missing).
A very good show from New Japan, and the first show where all of the tournament matches have been strong.
TIGER MASK IV, JUSHIN â€"THUNDER†LIGER, & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN vs. BULLET CLUB (Cody Hall, Tama Tonga & Doc Gallows)- 3.75/10
The spot where Cody and Gallows bumped into each other looked pretty darn ridiculous. The match felt a lot shorter than it actually was.
HIROYOSHI TENZAN, MASCARA DORADA, & DAVID FINLAY JR. vs. CHAOS (Gedo, Toru Yano, & YOSHI-HASHI)- 4/10
KOTA IBUSHI & JAY WHITE vs. BULLET CLUB (AJ Styles & Bad Luck Fale)- 5/10
That hat ups Fale’s swag-factor by about a million percent. That being said, I’m not sure that swag-factor is something Fale, the big evil bodyguard, should really have. The goal of this match was to make you want to see AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi tomorrow and holy crap did it succeed. They had nice little post-match bit, too, which you rarely see from New Japan.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI, KATSUYORI SHIBATA, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI vs. YOHEI KOMATSU, TOGI MAKABE, & TETSUYA NAITO- 7/10
During this match it occurred to me that Taguchi is basically a male version of ODB except without the drinking. Great match, especially the Makabe-Shibata stuff. Also… is it just me, or did YOHEI KOMATSU kick out of Taguchi’s finisher?!
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi (w/Cody Hall)- 8/10
Almost no stupid Ishii crap in this match, and when there was, I was fine with it because this time it actually felt like he hulked up for a second before starting to no-sell and seemed to be blocking Yujiro’s forearm (albeit with his face, but it seemed less stupid because of the hulking up). They had some great false finishes, too. I guess we can add Yujiro Takahashi to the list of men who can pull a good match out of Ishii with any regularity.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Satoshi Kojima vs. Michael Elgin- 7.25/10
A great match with an extremely disappointing result.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson (w/Cody Hall)- 7.5/10
Hell of a run for Anderson so far. The reaction of the crowd when he pins Goto is a GREAT example of what happens when you actually protect your champions. It makes beating them feel HUGE.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yuji Nagata- 6.75/10
Good mat wrestling followed by some good other stuff.
G1 CLIMAX 25 BLOCK B MATCH: Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 7/10
Okada works over Honma’s head. Honma exacerbates the problem via his obsessions with trying to hit falling headbutts (and almost always missing).
A very good show from New Japan, and the first show where all of the tournament matches have been strong.