RADICAN’S 7/25 G1 Climax 27: Night 6 report – Robinson-Suzuki, EVIL-Tonga, Okada-SANADA

RADICAN’S G1 CLIMAX 27: NIGHT 6 REPORT
JULY 25, 2017
FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPWWORLD.COM

This show had a multi-camera shoot and Japanese commentary.

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) Togi Makable & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Kota Ibushi & Shota Umino. Makabe and Ibushi brawled after the match.

(2) CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) beat Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura .

(3) L.I.J. (Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi) beat Yuji Nagata & Hirai Kawato. Naito and Nagata brawled after the match, but were separated rather quickly.

(4) Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) beat Suzuki Gun (Zack Sabre Jr., & Taichi & El Desperado).

(5) Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay beat CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & Jado).

B BLOCK RESULTS & ANALYSIS

(6) Michael Elgin vs. Satoshi Kojima in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. This was excellent. Both guys went back and forth throughout the match. Elgin hit an apron bomb at one point and Kojima barely beat the 20 count. Kojima hit the cutter later in the match, but Elgin rolled away from him. Elgin hit a buckle bomb, which Kojima no-sold and he nailed Elgin with a huge western lariat and both men were down. Elgin finally slipped over Kojima and hit a sunset bomb right into the Elgin bomb for the win.

Winner: Michael Elgin (2 pts)

Star rating (****)

(7) EVIL (2) vs. Tama Tonga (2) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. Tonga wanted to go outside and EVIL agreed. They went at it and EVIL got an eye rake. Tonga opened the gate at ringside and dragged EVIL into the crowd. He whipped EVIL into a loading dock door at one point. The ref tried to stop Tonga from attacking EVIL with a post on the floor. Tonga shoved the ref into the loading dock. He then dragged the ref into the ring and told him to count. Tonga ran into the crowd and nailed EVIL with a punch before heading back into the ring. EVIL began to stumble back towards the ring. He finally rolled into the ring at 19. EVIL ducked a splash in the corner and went to work on Tonga. They ended up back on the outside and EVIL hit the conchairto. Tonga taught EVIL going for a splash and hit a big spinebuster for a 2 count. Tonga tried to slide around EVIL as they went off the ropes, but EVIL caught him with a clothesline and darkness falls for a 2 count. EVIL blocked the gun stun. EVIL went for the STO, but Tonga blocked it. Tonga went for the gun stun again, but EVIL blocked it. He finally hit the STO for the win. The brawling segment at the beginning of the match wasn’t very exciting, but they had a good in-ring segment going home.

Winner: EVIL (4 pts)

Star rating: (***1/4)

(8) Juice Robinson (2) vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki (w/El Desperado) (2) in a G1 Climax 27 B block match. Robinson sold his leg coming down to the ring. Suzuki jumped him during the ring introductions and they quickly went to the floor. Robinson fired back and sent Suzuki into the guardrail. Desperado tried to whip Robinson into the guardrail, but Robinson countered him and sent him flying into it. Robinson took control inside the ring, but Suzuki gained the upper hand. Suzuki dragged Robinson into the crowd. He eventually slammed a guardrail on top of his leg and then stomped on it. Suzuki went back to the ring while Desperado worked over his leg in the crowd with the ref distracted. Robinson got back to the ring at 19 and Suzuki tossed him right back to the floor. He tied his leg up in the guardrail and slammed it with a chair. Robinson fired up on his knees as Suzuki nailed him with several kicks to the chest. Robinson got in Suzuki’s face and nailed him with a big chop while favoring his leg. They began exchanging chops in the middle of the ring. Robinson finally ended the exchange with a spinebuster on Suzuki as he came off the ropes. Suzuki fired back and grabbed a leg submission. Suzuki got up and snapped down on Robinson’s leg as he screamed in pain. Robinson went for the ropes, but Suzuki transitioned into an ankle lock. He got a grapevine on it in the middle of the ring. Robinson struggled, but got to the ropes and the fans applauded. They went back and forth and Robinson caught Suzuki with a lariat as he came off the ropes for a 2 count. Suzuki blocked pulp friction and went for a sleeper. Robinson countered and went for pulp friction again, but Suzuki blocked it. Robinson hit a punch, but Suzuki hit one of his own and applied a sleeper. He let go and set up for the Gotch. He held Robinson up for a long time before finally connecting with it for the win.

Suzuki put the boots to Robinson after the match and then went after the young lions. He nearly attacked Desperado in the entranceway, but stopped himself.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki (4 pts)

Star rating: (***1/4) – The story here was that Robinson’s leg was damaged going in and Suzuki exploited it before putting him away with the Gotch. Robinson had a spirted effort, but in the end he just didn’t have enough in the tank to beat Suzuki because of the damage to his leg.

(9) IWGP U.S. Champion Kenny Omega (w/Chase Owens) (4) vs. Toru Yano (2) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. Omega said he was going to be in big trouble for forgetting his belt. Yano offered Omega his DVD before the match. Yano gave his DVD to the ref. The ref gave it to Kenny. Kenny teased throwing it into the fans. He asked Omega to open the DVD. Yano said, “Please open.” Omega opened it and it was filled with powder. Yano tossed it into his face and rolled him up for a near fall. Omega went for the one winged angel on the ref because he couldn’t see. Yano hit a low blow and rolled Omega up for another near fall. Yano went around the ring and undid several turnbuckle pads. Omega cleaned his eyes out and Yano pointed out that he had undid all the turnbuckle pads. Omega looked upset. Both men tried to whip each other into the exposed turnbuckles. They each came very close to going into the turnbuckles several times. Omega finally missed a splash into the corner and went down. Both men grabbed each other’s hair at the same time. They offered a break when the ref counted to five and then repeated the spot. They began tearing at each other’s hair. They went back and forth tearing away at each other’s hair as the fans fired up. The ref tried to wave them off. Both men grabbed each other’s hair and the ref came off the turnbuckles with a double axe handle to break them apart and the fans popped huge. That was awesome. Omega went for a V Trigger against the ropes, but Yano went to the floor. Omega then chased Yano, who went under the ring. Omega dragged him back out and he nailed him with a bucket. Yano grabbed Omega when he tried to get back into the ring. He tied his legs together with athletic tape. Yano then dragged Omega to the floor. Yano tried to jump back into the ring. Omega dragged him to the floor. He then hopped over and grabbed the tape. Omega then began wrapping up Yano’s feet with the athletic tape. Yano rolled into the ring. Omega then managed to get into the ring with his feet tape. Both men got up and hopped up and down. Both men went at it with their feet taped. They did spots with their feet tape and Omega hit a hopping shoulder tackle off the ropes. Omega managed to catch Yano with a double stomp off the ropes with his feet taped.

Both men went back and forth, as they each wanted a suplex. Omega slid around Yano and hit a snap dragon. Omega undid the tape around his legs. He then had Chase Owens give him a pair of scissors. Yano got up and raked Omega’s eyes. He went to cut his tape, but Omega hit a V Trigger. Omega went for a cover, but Yano suddenly rolled on top of him for a near fall! Yano went to the floor and tried to get back in, but Omega nailed him with a big V Trigger. Yano fell out of the ring with his feet hanging in the ropes. Omega kicked him all the way to the floor. Yano still had his legs taped and Omega won via count out.

Yano hopped to the back after the match. Apparently Chase Owens had the only pair of scissors in the building.

Winner: Kenny Omega via count out (6 pts)

Star rating: (***1/2) – This was hilarious, as both men tried to use dirty tactics. Omega eventually managed to cut the tape off of his feet while preventing Yano from cutting off his tape. Omega then eventually got the count out win.

(10) IWGP Hvt. Champion Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo) (4) vs. SANADA (2) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. Okada offered his signature clean break during the early going and the fans applauded. He went for the rainmaker, but SANADA ducked it. SANADA went for his signature dropkick, but Okada nailed him with a running kick to the head. SANADA blocked a corner dropkick from Okada. He went up top and Okada got out of the way. SANADA landed on his feet and began selling his leg. The ref checked him and Okada turned his back. SANADA popped up and shoved him to the floor before nailing him with a slingshot splash. It was a ruse! SANADA had a cloth and the ref took it. SANADA then grabbed another cloth from his tights and choked Okada with it while the ref was getting rid of the other cloth. Okada ducked a standing moonsault and hit a neck breaker to get back on track after SANADA was in control for a long period of time. Okada ran wild, but SANADA sent him to the floor. SANADA charged at Okada, but he backdropped him over the guardrail. Okada then hit his signature running splash over the guardrail and the fans applauded. SANADA was back into the ring first. Okada then got back into the ring, but SANADA kicked the middle rope into his crotch. SANADA went for the paradise lock, but Okada dropped it. SANADA went for it again, but Okada quickly untied himself. SANADA rolled through on Okada and finally got the paradise lock. The fans applauded with Okada tied up in a ball. SANADA then nailed him with a dropkick for a 2 count.

Okada hit a flap jack and both men were down. Both men got up and began trading blows. Okada got the upper hand and hit an elbow off the top. He signaled for the rainmaker, but SANADA countered it. They went back and forth until SANADA rolled over the top rope right into a missile dropkick! The fans fired up as SANADA hit a belly to back suplex for a 2 count. SANADA hit a moonsault over Okada right into the skull end position, but Okada managed to get to the ropes to break the hold. The fans fired up and chanted for Okada. SANADA duked a dropkick and went for the skull end, but Okada arm dragged his way out of it. SANADA hit his signature dropkick and a TKO for a 2 count. SANADA went up top for a moonsault, but Okada got out of the way. SANADA landed on his feet. Okada ended up getting a dragon sleeper up top. Okada then lifted him off the ropes and hit a tombstone that left both men down! WOW! The fans fired up and chanted for Okada. They got up and Okada hit the too awesome dropkick. He lifted SANADA for the rainmaker, but he ducked it. SANADA went for the skull end. They went back and forth and SANADA got a tombstone. He then got the skull end as the announcers and fans went nuts! Holy s—t! Okada began to move, but SANADA got some leverage on the hold. The fans chanted for Okada, who tried to get his feet on the ropes. SANADA leaned back on the hold again. Okada screamed, but he wouldn’t give up. Okada rolled over and finally managed to get to the ropes. WOW! SANADA went up top and hit his moonsault. He went for the skull end again. Okada tried to fight out of it. SANADA dropped him, but Okada slipped around and hit a rainmaker and both men were down. MY GOD!

The fans chanted for Okada with both men down. He grabbed SANADA’s wrist and dragged him to his feet and hit a second rainmaker. Okada let out a scream and did the rainmaker pose. He lifted SANADA up, but he countered it. They went back and forth and Okada hit a German and held on for another rainmaker for the win. OH MY GOD! What a match!

Winner: Kazuchika Okada (6 pts)

Star rating: (****1/2) – This was an amazing match. They had some great counter exchanges at the beginning when they both went for their signature moves. SANADA managed to fend off the rainmaker while Okada managed to stay away from the skull end and SANADA’s moonsault until the end. SANADA nearly had Okada finished with the skull end and the fans really fired up when he got the ropes. The back and forth exchanges down the stretch were incredible, especially SANADA ducking a rainmaker after taking two of them. It felt like Okada escaped with a win over a much improved SANADA.

Okada got on the mic after the match and cut a promo. The crowd seemed pleased with what he had to say. He then gave the mic to Gedo, who was wearing a Sex Pistols style Okada shirt. Gedo closed by pumping up the crowd and Okada’s music played to close the show.

Overall thoughts: The show started off with a bang as Kojima and Elgin had a fantastic match to kick things off. The show was good from that point on, but not to the level of the other G1 shows so far this year. Omega-Yano was a really well done comedy match if you’re into that sort of thing.

The show closed with an epic back and forth match between Okada and the rising SANADA. They really did a fantastic job of building the crowd to a fever pitch by the end of the match. They told a heck of a story with both guys exchanging counters and having each other well scouted before each man got on track late in the match. The counter sequence to end the match with SANADA ducking a rainmaker and going back and forth before taking a German and a final rainmaker was fantastic.

This turned out to be a really good night of block action with a lull of sorts in the middle. I recommend watching Elgin vs. Kojima and Okada-SANADA if you’re pressed for time. Omega-Yano is a lot of fun if you have time to sneak it in as well. The big story here is Okada and Omega are tied as the leaders of the B block after six nights of action with 6 points each building to their third encounter of 2017 on the final night of B block action in August.

STANDINGS AFTER NIGHT 6

A BLOCK

Kota Ibushi (2-1, 4 pts)
Hiroshi Tanahashi (2-1,4 pts)
Bad Luck Fale (2-1, 4 pts)
Zack Sabre Jr. (2-1, 4 pts)
Hirooki Goto (2-0, 4 pts)
Tetsuya Naito (2-1, 4 pts)
YOSHI-HASHI (1-2, 2 pts)
Tomohiro Ishii (1-2, 2 pts)
Togi Makabe (1-2, 2 pts)
Yuji Nagata (0-3, 0 pts)

B BLOCK

Kenny Omega (3-0, 6 pts)
Kazuchika Okada (3-0, 6 pts)
Minoru Suzuki (2-1, 4 pts)
Toru Yano (1-2, 2 pts)
EVIL (2-1, 4 pts)
Juice Robinson (1-2, 2 pts)
Michael Elgin (1-2, 2 pts)
Tama Tonga (1-2, 2 pts)
SANADA (1-2, 2 pts)
Satoshi Kojima (0-3, 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 6

(6) Satoshi Kojima vs. Michael Elgin (****)

(10) IWGP Hvt. Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA (****1/2)

ATTENTION: Read Radican’s G1 Climax 27: Night 5 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