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10/1 NJPW G1 CLIMAX RESULTS

G1 Climax Day 8, October 1st:

B Block

Juice Robinson defeated Toru Yano.  Amazingly, this was Yano’s first loss of the tournament.  Lots of Yano’s usual spots, and he tied Juices legs together, forcing him to hop back to the ring.  The finish saw Yano try to blindside the ref, but Juice hit a left hand and went for Pulp Friction, but Yano tried to roll Juice up, which Juice countered into a pin of his own and got the three.

Zack Sabre Jr defeated Hirooki Goto.  This did not last long. The taped up arm of Goto was obviously a bullseye for ZSJ. He went after that, with Goto struggling to get anything in. The most he got was a hard lariat and very soon after ZSJ caught him in a European Clutch to get the pin. This was great, and establishes that a match can end at any time.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated YOSHI-HASHIMOTO.   This was the best match YOSHI has ever had, and another example of the genius of Tanahashi.  This started slow and built. YOSHI hit a big running powerbomb, and soon after The Ace hit a slingblade and went for a High Fly Flow, but YOSHI got his knees up. We were far from done even at this point. They exchanges forearms and slaps, a battle YOSHI won when he hit a lariat. He then locked on the Butterlfy Lock, and Tanahashi sold it like death. Tanahashi countered Karma into a great neckbreaker and began attacking the knee with Dragon Screws, but he was unable to lock on the Cloverleaf, as YOSHI fought it off and almost caught him in a cradle. The Ace hit another Slingblade and a High Fly Flow cross body, to set up a regular High Fly Flow, to put away YOSHI after making him look great in the process. It’s one of those matches where both guys are the winner.

EVIL defeated KENTA.  This was the first all Bullet Club match of the tournament, and it was okay. KENTA was almost the babyface by default in this one, and I think he’s best as the aggressive, bully heel.  EVIL used a chair and went after the arm of KENTA. When KENTA got back into the match, he clattered Dick Togo with his briefcase, and this got Togo involved in the match. It all went to hell from here with exposed buckles, ref bumps and interference. EVIL hit a low blow and the STO to finish the match.

SANADA defeated Tetsuya Naito.   This was an all LIJ clash, and it started slowly before becoming a very good main event.  Things really picked up when SANADA hit a nasty neckbreaker from the top rope and a beautiful Tiger suplex. Naito used a series of elbows again, something he’s added to his arsenal this year. SANADA locked in Skull End and after a long struggle, he attempted a moonsault, but missed. There were some good counters between Skull End and Destino. Then there were other exchanges that were very sloppy, particularly some of Naito’s Destino attempts that look very contrived and like the guy taking the move is doing all the work. It was SANADA that hit a Destino and a moonsault to score a major win over his faction leader and current IWGP champ.  This will give SANADA a future shot at the gold.

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