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NJPW G1 CLIMAX DAY 12 REPORT

G1 Climax Day 12, October 8th:

B Block

Hirooki Goto defeated YOSHI-HASHI.  This was way better than it had any right to be. Fantastic match and another outstanding YOSHI performance. This was an all CHAOS clash and co holders of the NEVER six man tag titles. It started friendly, but YOSHI soon targeted the arm and unloaded most of his big offence. Goto fired back with hard strikes, which fired YOSHI up even more. They blasted each other with lariats, and both attempted their finishers. YOSHI used the butterlfy lock unsuccessfully.  They exchanged hard slaps, a battle won by Goto, who then hit a hard mid kick followed by the GTR to pick up two points. 

Zack Sabre Jr defeated Toru Yano.  This was definitely Yano’s longest match of the tournament and something different to his usual matches. Early on he tied a chair to ZSJs arm and tried to trap him in the guard rail. Then when ZSJ got back in the ring, he complained to the ref that he brought a chair in the ring. Then all of a sudden, Yano pulled out a fireman’s carry and a belly to belly suplex.  ZSJ put on an ankle lock and tried to trap Yano up the entrance aisle. Yano hobbled back to the ring to break the count. We then had some fantastic near falls, until ZSJ locked on a heel hook and made Yano submit. 

SANADA defeated KENTA.  This was a match where they really just went through the motions. It was fine, but instantly forgettable. The first real moment where the match picked up was when KENTA used the running boot, corner dropkick and double stomp combo. A ref bump saw KENTA bring the briefcase into the ring, but he had it dropkicked in his face. After some roll up near falls and finisher attempts, SANADA caught KENTA in a bridging pin.

Tetsuya Naito defeated Juice Robinson.  This was really great, and easily one of the best B Block matches of the tournament. Naito showed up for this one, and had a spring in his step.  He was hitting some great, fast combinations of moves. Juice was so explosive. He dropped Naito with an amazing forearm, and hit a cannonball in the corner like he was shot out of a literal rocket. Naito even hit a reverse rana. Juice hit the superplex/Jackhammer combo again. The finishing stretch here was so good. Juice flattened Naito with a lariat, then Naito countered Pulp Friction into Destino for an amazing near fall. He followed up with a second to keel Juice down. This was fantastic.

EVIL defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi.  There was a lot of Bullet Club nonsense in this one, but still a very good main event. EVIL controlled the match with chair shots, exposed buckles and help from Dick Togo. He even attacked young lion Yota Tsuji. Tanahashi made the comeback as he attacked a knee with Dragon Screws. Tsuji held off Togo from interfering as Tanahashi hit a High Fly Flow cross body and locked on the Texas Cloverleaf. But Togo still managed to get into the ring and break it up. Tanahashi hit a Slingblade and a High Fly Flow to the back, but Togo stopped him from delivering a final one. EVIL hit a superplex to a stunned Tanahashi followed by Darkness Falls and the STO to pick up a very big win. 

B Block Standings:

 

• Tetsuya Naito -- 10 points 
• EVIL -- 8 points 
• Hiroshi Tanahashi -- 6 points 
• Juice Robinson -- 6 points 
• Zack Sabre Jr. -- 6 points
• Toru Yano -- 6 points 
• Hirooki Goto -- 6 points 
• SANADA -- 6 points 
• KENTA -- 4 points
• YOSHI-HASHI -- 2 points *eliminated*

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