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NEW JAPAN G1 CLIMAX DAY THREE REPORT

By Matthew Macklin on 2017-07-21 17:08:00

G1 Climax Day 3, Korakuen Hall

EVIL & Hirmou Takahashi defeated David Finlay & Juice Robinson
Very good opening match. Finlay & Hiromu did some good stuff together. EVIL made Finlay submit to the Banshee Muzzle. After the match he locked the hold on Juice, who he faces tomorrow.

Taichi & Minoru Suzuki defeated BUSHI & SANADA
This saw a wild crowd brawl between SANADA & Suzuki, which was an awesome preview of their Block match tomorrow. Lots of fun stuff in this match.  Taichi pinned BUSHI with a Gedo Clutch after a shot with the microphone stand.

Yujiro Takahashi & Kenny Omega defeated Chase Owens & Tama Tonga
This all Bullet Club match had lots of comedy in the early going. There was some fun back and forth at the end before Yujiro pinned Owens with the DDT. Tonga & Omega meet tomorrow.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin defeated Gedo, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada
This was another good match. Elgin meets Okada tomorrow and Kojima takes on Yano. Tenzan made Gedo submit to the Anaconda Vise.

A Block
Hirooki Goto defeated Yuji Nagata
The atmosphere for his was absolutely sensational. I have chills towards the end of this. Every single person in the building was crying out for a Nagata win. Goto controlled Nagata until he finally got pissed and fired up. Nagata unloaded with kicks, forearms and slaps and began hitting one big move after another. He hit a corkscrew Brainbuster and a Back Drop Driver for near falls. Goto was on the defensive and survived the Nagata Lock. There was incredible drama as Nagata fought off a sleeper, but a headbutt and the GTR from Goto got the job done. This was awesome.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Togi Makabe
If you've ever seen these guys wrestle before, you know exactly what to expect, but it doesn't make it any less entertaining. This was war. They blasted each other with everything they had and ran into one another like two trucks. There were so many lariats that I couldn't possible count. Makabe hit a belly to belly off the top and missed the King King Knee Drop. At certain points this just broke down into a slugfest. Ishii destroyed Makabe with lariats until he was weakened enough to hit the Brainbuster. Amazing match!!

Kota Ibushi defeated Zack Sabre Jr
This was one of the most unique, futuristic wrestling matches you will see. This saw Sabre make Ibushi play his game. Ibushi didn't take to the air, and every time he did, it was met with some sort of incredible counter. Sabre caught a standing moonsault in a triangle choke and caught Ibushi in a pinning combination that made Kevin Kelly lose it on commentary. Ibushi hit several major strikes late in the match.  Sabre went after the neck at every chance he got, which played into the finish with Sabre using a Triangle Choke, which Ibushi countered into a last ride to score the pin. This match was outstanding and is one of my personal favourites of the year. Storytelling, incredible counters, and something very different. It's one of those matches that you just need to sit back and watch. Pro wrestling as an art form at its absolute finest.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Bad Luck Fale via countout
Another great match here. Fale was a monster and absolutely manhandles The Ace, working over the injured arm at times. He clubbed him in the corner, and it looked like Fale was swatting a fly.  Tanahashi fought from underneath me tried to chop down the giant. He escaped the Bad Luck Fall and The Grenade. Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow to the floor and a Slingblade on the apron to score a rare countout win in the G1. This was a great finish to keep Fale strong and get over that a countout can happen.

Tetsuya Naito defeated YOSHI-HASHI
This was another top quality match. These guys are so evenly matched in terms of size and speed and even then wrestling styles. Amazingly, Naito was almost the underdog, against the ultimate underdog. This match kept up a fast pace, but built and built as it went on with so much back and forth. No one controlled the match for a long period. YOSHI hit lots of big moves late on to big near falls, such as the lariat and the swanton. The false finish of the match saw YOSHI lock on the Butterfly Lock for what felt like forever, and just as it looked like Naito was finally dying, he made one last lunge for the ropes. Naito hit a version of Destino, for a great near fall and then followed up with the move again to end the match.

The standard in this tournament is insane. We're three days in and we've already seen so many outstanding matches. Every tournament match from this show is worth going out of your way for.

Day 4 takes place from Korakuen Hall tomorrow with B Block again in action:

Satoshi Kojima vs Toru Yano
Minoru Suzuki vs SANADA
EVIL vs Juice Robinson
Kenny Omega vs Tama Tonga
Kazuchika Okada vs Michael Elgin


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