By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S “G1 CLIMAX 25: NIGHT 11” BLOG
AUG. 5, 2015
IWATE, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPWWORLD.COM

I’m not watching the tag matches on the undercard this year, but I will include the results. If anything noteworthy happens in a particular tag match, I will watch it.

Update: This show features one hard camera shot. Lord, help me.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

(1) IWGP IC champion Hirooki Goto & Michael Elgin & Mascara Dorada beat Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Yohei Komatsu in a six-man tag match.

(2) Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & Cody Hall) beat Honma & Jay White.

(3) Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii beat Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga).

(4) IWGP World Hvt. champion Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo beat IWGP Jr. Hvt. champion KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan in a six-man tag match.

G1 CLIMAX 25: NIGHT 11 A BLOCK RESULTS & ANALYSIS

(5) Bad Luck Fale (6) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2) in a G1 Climax A Block match. Fale won with his awkward top rope splash. This was fine for what it was, but Fale is going to hurt himself up too one day. He looks so clumsy.

Winner: Bad Luck Fale (8 pts.)

Star rating: (**)

(6) Toru Yano (2) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (8) in a G1 Climax 25 A Block match. Shibata went for an arm bar, but Yano folded up on top of him to get the leverage pin.

Winner: Toru Yano (4 pts.) – Yano always gets a couple of cheap wins during G1. This certainly puts a stop to some of Shibata’s momentum.

(7) Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) vs. Doc Gallows (2) in a G1 Climax A Block match. Tanahashi won countering a double hand choke into a roll up with Gallows dominating most of the action and fending off his high fly flow attempts during the match. This was fine.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (8 pts.)

Star rating: (**)

(8) A.J. Styles (6) vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Togi Makabe (6). Good back and forth action. Makabe hit the kneeling powerbomb, but missed the King Kong knee drop. Styles quickly mounted a quick comeback and hit the Styles clash for the win.

Winner: A.J. Styles (8 pts.)

Star rating: (**3/4) - Solid action, but nothing memorable. Styles comeback was short leading up to the finish.

(9) Tetsuya Naito (6) vs. Kota Ibushi (6) in a G1 Climax A Block match. Red Shows had enough of Naito taking forever to take his suit off and rang the bell, which was fantastic. Naito turned the tables on Ibushi quickly and then shoved the ref over. Naito took a stroll into the crowd and Ibushi nailed him with a kick from behind. Naito turned the tables on him and went back into the ring, but Ibushi followed him and went on the attack. Naito fired back and choked Ibushi with his pants. Naito began targeting Ibushi's neck. Naito hit a really dangerous looking inverted hurricanrana off the top for a 2 count. Ibushi hit the last rights powerbomb, but Naito rolled out of the way of a Phoenix splash attempt. The fans tried to rally behind Ibushi. They had a really good back and forth strike exchange and Naito got the upper hand. He hit a tiger suplex with a bridge for a near fall. Then he hit destino for the win.

After the match Naito went after Ibushi and then set up Red Shoes and nailed him with a running kick to the head off the ropes. The fans then booed as Naito cut a show-closing promo.

Naito attacked a young boy on his way to the back as well.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito (8 pts.)

Star rating: (****1/4) – This was an excellent match. Naito got a lot of heat from the crowd and they got behind Ibushi. It’s hard to get a really good feel on just how good this match was based on the single shot camera, but the finishing sequence and post-match segment cements Naito as a big player in this tournament. The question remains how long his attacks on officials and young boys will go without discipline.

Quick G1 Climax 25: Night 11 Viewing Guide

What to watch: Naito-Ibushi

What you can skip: Everything else.

Best G1 match on the card: Naito-Ibushi (****1/4)

Overall thoughts: There’s not a lot to say about this card. The first four G1 matches were underwhelming. The surprise result here was Yano getting a win with a leverage pin on Shibata in a quick match. This halts the momentum of Shibata, but with his arm injury it was a good idea to give him a short match when it was called for.

The single camera shows are hard to watch at times, as you don’t really get a great read on just how good a match is from the hard camera angle. That being said, the Ibushi-Naito match is worth going out of your way to check out. Naito was fantastic to open the match and he’s having quite a run in this tournament having beaten all the top names in the A Block with his finish now.

Overall, the rest of the matches weren’t very exciting and there isn’t much on here other than the main event worth checking out. You can safely skip the first four matches if you just watch the Ibushi-Naito match.

CURRENT G1 CLIMAX 25 STANDINGS

A Block Standings
- A.J. Styles (8 pts.)
- Shibata (8 pts.)
- Tanahashi (8 pts.)
- Bad Luck Fale (8 pts.)
- 2013 winner Naito (8 pts.)
- Kota Ibushi (6 pts.)
- NEVER champ Togi Makabe (6 pts.)
- Toru Yano (4 pts.)
- NWA World champ Tenzan (2 pts.)
- IWGP tag champion Doc Gallows (2 pts.)

B Block Standings

- Tomohiro Ishii (8 pts.)
- IWGP IC Champ Hirooki Goto (6 pts.)
- 2014 winner IWGP World Champ Okada (6 pts.)
- IWGP tag champion Karl Anderson (6 pts.)
- ROH's Michael Elgin (6 pts.)
- Shinsuke Nakamura (6 pts.)
- Yujiro Takahashi (4 pts.)
- Satoshi Kojima (4 pts.)
- Yuji Nagata (2 pts.)
- Honma

***

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