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G1 Climax Day 5, Korakuen Hall, July 20:
Zack Sabre Jr & TAKA Michinoku defeated Shota Umino & Toa Henare.
Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi defeated Gedo & Toru Yano.
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated David Finlay & Juice Robinson.
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defeated Chase Owens & Kenny Omega. After the match Tonga laid Omega out with a Gun Stun setting up their clash tomorrow.
Tomohiro Ishii & YOH defeated Hirooki Goto & SHO,
Jay White defeated Michael Elgin. This was fantastic, and another cheap win for White. Early on, Elgin tried to suplex White into the crowd, but White dropped Elgin over the railing and from there had control. White hit a saito suplex on the floor and hit several big moves on Elgin. Elgin would make brief comebacks, but White was always one step ahead. There was an incredibly scary moment where White hit a Kiwi Krusher from the apron to the floor. Elgin barely made it in before the countout. Elgin finally burst with a flurry of moves late on. A half nelson suplex, a lariat and a Tiger Bomb, but it was only a near fall. Elgin hit the buckle bomb, but White grabbed the referee. From here it was a low blow and a Bladerunner, and once White wins his third in a row. White was great in this match, and NJPW are very serious about his push.
Minoru Suzuki defeated YOSHI-HASHI. Good match, with Suzuki getting his first win of the tournament. YOSHI was pelted with a chair at ringside as Suzuki took control. YOSHI fought his way back into it and put together a strong run of moves ending with the Butterfly Lock, but Suzuki was too strong. The tide of the match completely changed when Suzuki nailed a running dropkick and he got every single bit of it. YOSHI got a great near fall with a small package, but he was then rocked with some very hard forearms and finished off with the Gotch Style Piledriver.
EVIL defeated Togi Makabe. This was a really fun slugfest. If you enjoy watching two big guys hitting each other very hard, this is the match for you. The brawled into the stands early on, with EVIL running the width of Korakuen to hit a lariat only to be cut off by Makabe. Makabe pummelled EVIL with overhand strikes to the neck. EVIL locked on the Banshee Muzzle, but Makabe escaped. The ran at each other with lariats until EVIL won. He then hit the STO to score a very strong win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Bad Luck Fale via DQ. This was phenomenal. This was heroic babyface Tanahashi at his best. Some people will roll their eyes at another DQ finish, but this was extremely well done. Tanahashi went after the knee early, but Tanga Loa got involved to give Fale the advantage. The big man just wore out The Ace until he was able to comeback and again go after the leg with dragon screws, and locked on a Cloverleaf. Fale powered out of it. Tanahashi beautifully countered the Bad Luck Fall into a rana. The finishing stretch here was excellent. Tanahashi tried to roll up Fale, but he was able to block an attempt, but Tanahashi was able to explode with a Slingblade. Fale again looked like he had it won when he went for the Bad Luck Fall again, but Tana countered it into another Slingblade and a High Fly Flow, but Loa pulled the ref out. This all led to Tama Tonga hitting the ring and dropping Tana with a Gun Stun. Amazingly, referee Red Shoes realised something was wrong. So he gave Bullet Club the middle finger and DQ'd Fale, proving that NJPW has the smartest refs in the business.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Hangman Page. This was an outstanding match with Okada getting his first win since losing to Kenny Omega, but the real story here was Page having a career making performance. By the time this match evened Korakuen Hall were chanting his name and he's made in New Japan now.
Right from the bell, Page was all over Okada. He wanted the real Rainmaker and did his best to bring it out. Page was one step ahead of Okada, and threw everything he had at him. Page hit a slingshot lariat over the guardrail, a huge swinging neck breaker from the top rope, and just about everything else in his arsenal. Okada hit a Tombstone to turn things around. The counter of the match saw Page float over out of a Rainmaker and hit a powerbomb for an amazing near fall. Okada hit a discus lariat, followed by an emphatic Rainmaker to score his first points of the G1. This is a must see match that my words don't do justice too.
It's available now at NJPWWorld.com.
Day 6 is also in Korakuen Hall tomorrow with B Block:
Zack Sabre Jr vs SANADA
Kota Ibushi vs Toru Yano
Kenny Omega vs Tama Tonga
Tetsuya Naito vs Juice Robinson
Hirooki Goto vs Tomohiro Ishii
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