RADICAN’S 7/21 G1 Climax 27: Night 3 coverage – Tanahashi-Fale, Ishii-Makabe, Sabre-Ibushi

RADICAN’S G1 CLIMAX 27: NIGHT 3 REPORT
JULY 21, 2017
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPWWORLD.COM

Announcers: Don Callis and Kevin Kelly

I will not be reviewing any of the non-tournament matches this year, but I will provide the daily results. If any undercard match turns out to be extremely noteworthy, I will make an exception in certain cases.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

(1) L.I.J. (EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi) beat David Finlay & Juice Robinson.

(2) Suzuki Gun (NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki & Taichi) beat L.I.J. (SANADA & BUSHI). After the match, Taichi stole BUSHI’s mask.

(3) Bullet Club (IWGP U.S Champion Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi) beat Bullet Club (Tama Tonga & Chase Owens).

(4) Michael Elgin & Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat CHAOS (IWGP Hvt Champion Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano & Gedo).

A BLOCK RESULTS & ANALYSIS

(5) Yuji Nagata (0) vs. Hirooki Goto (2) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. What a performance by Nagata. The fans badly wanted to see him win. He went after Goto’s arm throughout the match. Goto eventually got the upper hand, but Nagata kept making comebacks. Nagata hit a backdrop driver at one point for a near fall. Later in the match he countered Goto and hit a heel kick to the head. He went for the backdrop driver again, but Goto slipped out and got the choke. The fans went nuts when Nagata escaped, but Goto hit a huge headbutt and a GTR for the win. Wow!

Nagata got a big ovation after the match and he bowed to the fans on his way to the back.

Winner: Hirooki Goto (4 pts)

Star rating: (****) – Nagata appears to be the feel good story of this G1, as it is his last. The fans were going nuts for his comebacks and if he goes on a winning streak or picks up some wins the atmosphere will be electric.

(6) Togi Makabe (0) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (0) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Both men ran into each other like a pair of bulls going at it and they came to a stalemate. They went to the floor and Ishii whipped Makabe chest first into the guardrail multiple times. Makabe mounted a comeback, but his strikes looked very weak. Ishii hit his signature suplex off the top. They went to a big exchange and Makabe finally dropped Ishii with a western lariat. Ishii no-sold a lariat a short time later. Makabe hit another lariat and he got up again. Makabe hit a lariat to Ishii’s back and then another to take him down for a 2 count. They battled up top and Makabe hit a spider belly-to-belly, but Ishii avoided the King Kong knee drop. Both men ran at each other and hit simultaneous clotheslines multiple times, but neither man would go down. Ishii finally went to a knee, but he popped up and surprised Makabe with a clothesline for a 1 count! Makabe fired back with some big chops and hit a German with a bridge for a 2 count. Ishii fired back and clotheslined Makbe’s face. He followed up with a huge running lariat for a near fall. Ishii finally hit the vertical brain buster for the win. Makabe’s strikes look so light sometimes and at other times his offense looks devastating. This was really good down the stretch.

Winner: Tomohiro Ishii (2 pts)

Star rating: (***1/2)

(7) Zack Sabre Jr. (w/El Desperado) (2) vs. Kota Ibushi (0) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. The story of this match was that Sabre went in with a damaged leg from Tanahashi and Ibushi went in with a damaged neck courtesy of Naito on night 1. Ibushi just could not get on track with his high-flying during this match. Sabre tied him up in a combination submission every time he went to the air. Sabre made Ibushi wrestle his technical style of match for the most part. The match really got going when Ibushi and Sabre built up to a spot where they started kicking each other from the sitting position. Ibushi went for the last ride powerbomb at one point, but Sabre escaped. Later in the match Ibushi was on a roll hitting hard strikes, but Sabre caught him with a flying triangle. Ibushi then deadlifted him into the last rights powerbomb for the win. This was amazing.

Winner: Kota Ibushi (2 pts)

Star rating: (****1/2)

(8) Bad Luck Fale (2) vs. IWGP IC Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi (0) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Tanahashi tried to end things quickly with a pinning combination right off the bat, but Fale managed to kick out. Fale went after Tanahashi’s injured arm and snapped it over the top rope. He then whipped him shoulder first into the guardrail on the outside. Tanahashi went for a German, but failed. He ducked a punch and went for it a short time later and connected! Fale fell on top of Tanahashi when he went for a slam. Fale connected with a big splash off the ropes a short time later. He went for the grenade, but Tanahashi turned it into a swinging neck breaker. Tanahashi got tossed over the ropes and he attempted a one-arm skin the cat, but ended up powering up by grabbing his arm with his injured arm. He eventually ate a spear from Fale as he came off the ropes. Fale nearly had the bad luck fall, but Tanahashi turned it into an inverted bulldog. Fale rolled to the floor and Tanahashi connected with high fly flow! Tanahashi sold his arm after connecting with the move. The ref’s count reached 16 and they climbed up to the apron at the same time. Tanahashi then connected with the sling bland on the apron and both men spilled to the floor! Tanahashi managed to get back into the ring and the ref counted to 20 and Fale could only managed to get to his knees and grab the bottom rope, so Tanahashi won via count out. This started slow at the beginning, but got really good late. I like the story being told with Tanahashi having to try to find a way to win every night, despite the damage to his arm.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (2 pts.)

Star rating: (***1/2)

(9) Tetsuya Naito (2) vs. YOSHI-HASHI (2) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Naito had the upper hand early after hitting his signature basement dropkick on a seated HASHI. HASHI finally fired back and hit a neck breaker. Naito went after HASHI’s neck. HASHI countered him and eventually hit a double stomp to the back. HASHI eventually went for karma, but Naito managed to block it and wiped out HASHI to leave both men down. They battled up top a short time later. HASHI hit an avalanche hurricanrana. Naito went for destino, but HASHI blocked it and hit a spinning slam on Naito that left both men down. They went to a big strike exchange. HASHI got the upper hand and Naito went for a flying forearm, but HASHI countered him in mid-air. HASHI got the butterfly lock. Naito struggled to the ropes, but HASHI rolled through and applied the hold again in the middle of the ring. Naito got to his feet a short time later, but HASHI hit a lung blower. He hit a swanton off the top for a near fall. The fans fired up and chanted for Naito. HASHI got the butterfly lock once again in the middle of the ring. Naito struggled towards the ropes, but he couldn’t get there. HASHI maintained the hold in the middle of the ring and the fans started a huge chant for Tanahashi. Naito crawled to the ropes, but HASHI dragged him back to the middle of the ring and applied the hold again! Naito once again tried to get to the ropes. Naito appeared to be on the verge of passing out, but he got a sudden burst of energy and managed to get his feet on the bottom rope. The fans fired up once again and chanted for Naito.

HASHI went for karma, but Naito blocked it! HASHI went for karma again, but Naito fought him off and hit a rolling kick to the head. HASHI got right up and turned Naito inside out with a western lariat! WOW! HASHI signaled for the finish. He went for karma, but Naito turned it into destino for a near fall. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Naito set HASHI up and hit a traditional destino for the win. WHAT A MATCH.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito (4 pts)

Star rating: (****1/2) – This was such a great war. HASHI stepped up another level in my eyes with his performance here. He seemed to have Naito’s number and had an answer for just about everything Naito threw at him. He had Naito on the ropes late with the butterfly lock. Naito blocked karma several times before hitting an incredible destino to counter karma. That was an insane near fall. Naito then hit a second destino for the win. WOW!

After the win, Naito kicked HASHI lightly as he was taken out by the Young Lions. Naito then spoke in Spanish to the Japanese fans. Naito for the second straight A block main event got to hold center stage to talk about a big spotlight win. The fans cheered Naito’s promo. The rest of L.I.J. joined him in the ring. Naito hit his L.I.J. catch phrase as he named each member. The fans said the close to the promo with him and then chanted his name. L.I.J. then bumped fists in the middle of the ring.

Kelly said Naito now had two matches under his belt with wins, but there’s damage to his neck. EVIL stared at Naito before he left the ring. Are they teasing something there? Naito then raised his fist in the air once he was alone in the ring and the fans applauded.

Overall thoughts: This was one heck of a night of block action. Goto and Nagata kicked it off with a fantastic match. Nagata looked tremendous on this night and the crowd was behind him, although he eventually fell short. This was a heck of an effort for Nagata. Elsewhere on the card, Sabre and Ibushi had an incredible first time encounter. Sabre forced Ibushi to wrestle his match and they told a brilliant story with Ibushi only being able to get on track using his strikes, as Sabre countered every one of his flying attempts into a submission. The match had great intensity, the striking was unbelievable, and the finish left my jaw on the floor.

The main event delivered in spades. HASHI really stepped up and had a tremendous match with Naito. He went after Naito’s neck and was on the verge of beating him down the stretch, as Naito had to escape the butterfly lock multiple times. HASHI simply couldn’t hit his karma finish and Naito countering it into destino for a near fall was nuts.

I highly recommend watching all of the block action on this card. There was something good in every match. If you’re stuck for time, Nagata-Goto, Sabre-Ibushi, and Naito-HASHI are must-watch. This was a sick night A block action. The announcers, Kevin Kelly and Don Callis, deserve a lot of praise. Their call of the action was fantastic and Kelly has been extremely well prepared with great facts and statistics to back up the storylines for each wrestler in the tournament. WOW! Get on NJPW World and watch these block matches as soon as possible.

STANDINGS AFTER NIGHT 3

A BLOCK

Hirooki Goto (2-0, 4 pts)
Tetsuya Naito (2-0, 4 pts)
YOSHI-HASHI (1-1, 2 pts)
Bad Luck Fale (1-1, 2 pts)
Zack Sabre Jr. (1-1, 2 pts)
Hiroshi Tanahashi (1-1,2 pts)
Kota Ibushi (1-1, 2 pts)
Tomohiro Ishii (1-1, 2 pts)
Yuji Nagata (0-2, 0 pts)
Togi Makabe (0-2, 0 pts)

B BLOCK

Kazuchika Okada (1-0, 2 pts)
Juice Robinson (1-0, 2 pts)
Tama Tonga (1-0, 2 pts)
SANADA (1-0, 2 pts)
Kenny Omega (1-0, 2 pts)
Toru Yano (0-1, 0 pts)
Satoshi Kojima (0-1, 0 pts)
Michael Elgin (0-1, 0 pts)
EVIL (0-1, 0 pts)
Minoru Suzuki (0-1, 0 pts)

I will provide a list of matches ranked at **** or higher for people just looking to watch the best matches from the tournament. This guide is also handy for those of you that are short on time and looking to sample the best of each night of G1 Climax 27.

Match recommendations for G1 Climax 27: Night 3

(5) Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto (****)

(7) Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kota Ibushi (****1/2)

(9) Tetsuya Naito vs. YOSHI-HASHI (****1/2)

ATTENTION: Read Radican’s G1 Climax 27: Night 2 report HERE

Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow Sean on twitter at twitter.com/sr_torch. Follow and like Radican’s Wrestling Community Facebook.com at Facebook.com/seanradicanrwc