NJPW G1 Climax 26: Day 14
RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, KUSHIDA, & DAVID FINLAY JR. vs. CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN, JUSHIN "THUNDER" LIGER, & TIGER MASK IV- 5.25/10
This was pretty great for the time it got.
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (Sanada & BUSHI)- 5.75/10
HIROSHI TANAHASHI, JUICE ROBINSON, & TOGI MAKABE vs. MANABU NAKANISHI, SATOSHI KOJIMA, & HIROYOSHI TENZAN- 5.75/10
Kojima ran into the camera, LOL.
NAOMICHI MARUFUJI & CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Gedo) vs. BULLET CLUB (Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, & Tama Tonga)- 6.75/10
Standard G1 undercard fare that succeeded in building up the next show's match, which in this case were Marufuji vs. Tonga and Okada vs. Fale.
BLOCK B MATCH: Michael Elgin vs. Toru Yano- DUD!
Some stupid comedy followed by stupid Yano tricks followed by a short amount of passable wrestling followed by Yano getting the win over the IC Champion. There is absolutely no reason for them to be keeping Yano as strong as they are in this tournament.
BLOCK B MATCH: Katsuyori Shibata vs. YOSHI-HASHI- 6.5/10
BLOCK B MATCH: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Tomoaki Honma- 6.75/10
Nakajima works over Honma's head. The match was very, very good.
BLOCK B MATCH: Kenny Omega vs. Yuji Nagata- 8.5/10
Nagata proves that he can still come through in a big spot despite his age, while Omega continues to prove that he is one of the best workers in the world. Nagata's selling of his knee was great, and they did a great job of building up to the One-Winged Angel.
BLOCK B MATCH: Tetsuya Naito vs. EVIL- 8/10
This was an awesome match marred by a poor beginning. The stalling was extremely frustrating, and the idea that these two heels in a stable together are trying to troll the fans gets thrown out the window for me the moment that one hits the other with a chair (with no DQ, of course. I'm so tired of that crap in this G1). Those things just against each other way too much for me to be able to buy it.
As for the good parts, there was one totally crazy reversal, one epic struggle to the ropes, and some great storytelling with EVIL working Naito's head and Naito working EVIL's knee. EVIL's performance here definitely justified the risk New Japan took in putting him in a main event spot.
A great G1 show from New Japan. The undercard is about what you should expect, the top two tournament matches were awesome, and at least the dud was short.