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G1 Climax Day 7, Tokorozawa Citizen Gymnasium in Saitama, July 28:
Tiger Mask IV & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi
Finlay had a beating put on him by the legends. He got in some offence on Tiger before he was finished with a Tiger Suplex.
Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata defeated Gedo, Katsuhiko Nakajima, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano
We got a preview of Nagata vs Nakajima, which should be fantastic on Day 8. Other than that it was the usual tag. Gedo tried to use Kojima's machine gun chops, but it backfired. Kojima pinned Gedo after a Koji Cutter and a Lariat.
Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega defeated Captain New Japan & Michael Elgin
Another Captain vs Yujiro classic here. It was what it was. My eyes are starting to glaze over every time they wrestle. Elgin & Omega meet on Day 8. Yujiro pinned Captain with the low DDT.
EVIL, BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito defeated Juice Robinson, KUSHIDA & Katsuyori Shibata
On paper this looked like it could be really good and it was a lot of fun. BUSHI went after KUSHIDA ahead of their future IWGP Jr title match. Naito attacked the taped shoulder of Shibata. They had a great battle. Their match and feud was a highlight of last years G1 and post few months. Robinson ended up with a bloody nose. He was pinned after an EVIL STO. After the bell Naito continued to attack Shibata.
Block A
Togi Makabe defeated Hiroyshi Tenzan
This was not pretty at all, but it was very good and was much better than it should have been. This was just a gritty brawl between two hard nosed veterans. Tenzan fought out of a spider German and hit a headbutt. Makabe survived the Anaconda Vise. The crowd were really into this by the end as they hit each other with lariats and headbutts. Tenzan missed the moonsault and Makabe hit the King Kong Knee Drop to pick up the victory.
SANADA defeated Hirooki Goto
This was a really good match that kicked into high gear and got great in the last couple of minutes. This was another impressive showing from SANADA. Goto fought out of Cold Skull time and time again. There were some fantastic counters between that move and GTR, which are both from a rear face lock position. Goto almost put SANADA down with a sleeper at one point. Goto was dropped with a TKO and locked in Cold Skull, looking like it would finally finish him off. But he hung on and wouldn't give up. SANADA then hit a moonsault to get the three count. This was a great. Another match worth checking out.
Tomohiro Ishii defeated Naomichi Marufuji
This was absolutely great. Just an all out physical as hell battle. Marufuji chopped Ishii an insane amount of times until his chest was bleeding. Ishii just took it until he chopped Marufuji in the throat. Marufuji countered a superplex into a reverse DDT, which looked crazy. Ishii countered Shiranui into a driver. Marufuji hit kick after kick and knee after knee until Ishii blocked one and nailed a headbutt. He then turned him inside out with a lariat and hit a Brainbuster to pick up a huge win.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Tama Tonga
This was a good match. Nothing spectacular, but one of the better matches Tonga has had. He looked really good when he was in control of Okada. He went for the Gun Stun several times, but Okada always had an answer. Tong had some really slick counters of his own. He countered a Rainmaker into a double arm DDT, which was the near fall of the match. Tonga again used his quickness and agility to try and unsettle Okada, but in the end Okada hit a German suplex followed by the Rainmaker to end the match. It was a good solid showing from Tonga.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Bad Luck Fale
Tanahashi finally got out of the blocks and scores his first win of the G1. He also proved what a special talent he is by bringing Fale to a fantastic match, all while nursing a bad injury. Tanahashi couldn't get going and was dominated by Fale. Fale attacked him with guard rails. Every time Tanahashi looked to get into it he was cut off. He finally managed to get a run of moves together. He hit a rana out of a Bad Luck Fall for a near fall, then a Slingblade and High Fly Flow to the back. He went for a second but Fale got his knees up. There were some nice false finished. Fale accidentally hit a Finlay Roll when he caught Tanahashi in mid air. That was a scary moment. He hit the Grenade for a near fall, but then Tanahashi countered the Bad Luck Fall into a backslide to get his win. Fale's shoulders weren't fully down for the pin fall, but I doubt anyone cared. The crowd chanted for Tanahashi after the match as he played air guitar.
This was another fun G1 show with Goto/SANADA, Marufuji/Ishii and Fale/Tanahashi all worth watching. It is available now at NJPWWorld.com.
Day 8 takes place on Saturday:
- Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay
- Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi & Captain New Japan vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi
- KUSHIDA & Juice Robinson vs. SANADA & BUSHI
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, Gedo & Naomichi Marufuji
B BLOCK : YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL
B BLOCK : Tomoaki Honma vs. Toru Yano
B BLOCK : Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
B BLOCK : Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito
B BLOCK : Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega
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