RADICAN’S 7/26 G1 Climax 27: Night 7 report – HASHI-Ishii, Naito-Nagata, Goto-Tanahashi

RADICAN’S G1 CLIMAX 27: NIGHT 7 REPORT
JULY 26, 2017
MIYAGI, 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) Bullet Club (Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) beat Juice Robinson & David Finlay.

(2) CHAOS (Toru Yano & Jado) beat L.IJ. (SANADA & BUSHI).

(3) L.I.J (EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi) beat Suzuki Gun (Minoru Suzuki & Taichi).

(4) Michael Elgin & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Chase Owens).

(5) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat CHAOS (IWGP Hvt. Champion Kazuchika Okada & Gedo)

A BLOCK RESULTS & ANALYSIS

(6) YOSHI-HASHI (2) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (2) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. They had a tremendous match. HASHI tried to beat Ishii at his own game with strikes and went toe to toe with him throughout the match. At one point, HASHI was hitting Kawada kicks and Ishii fired up, but HASHI put him back down and hit another series of Kawada kicks. HASHI hit a swanton for a near fall and a short time later got the butterfly lock, but Ishii got to the ropes. Ishii was able to block Karma multiple times and the fans got into the match late. Ishii went for the sliding clothesline, but HASHI popped up and hit a western lariat to fire up the crowd. Ishii finally got on track and connected with the sliding lariat before he put HASHI away with the vertical brain buster.

Winner: Tomohiro Ishii (4 pts)

Star rating: (****)

(7) Zack Sabre Jr. (w/El Desperado) (4) vs. Bad Luck Fale (4) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Sabre promised on Twitter to tap out Fale in under a minute. Fale shoved the ring announcer again during the introductions. Sabre mounted Fale right away and got a mounted arm submission. He slid down and went for Fale’s leg, but Fale got to the ropes. Fale dominated the action and managed to shake Sabre off when he went for pinning combinations and submissions. Sabre finally caught Fale in a double ankle lock with one of the ankles grapevines. Fale teased tapping, but eventually got to the ropes. Sabre had a standing arm bar and he then got a triangle. Sabre managed to slip around Fale and roll him up for the win when he tried to lift him up out of the triangle.

Winner: Zack Sabre Jr. (6 pts)

Star rating: (**1/2) – This was short but good. Sabre didn’t tape Fale out in a minute, but he did get on track on the mat quickly before getting a roll up win.

(8) Kota Ibushi (4) vs. Togi Makabe (2) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Ibushi sent Makabe to the floor and hit him with a slingshot splash. I guess the high flying is back for Ibushi in this match. Ibushi had the upper hand on the floor, but Makabe countered an Irish whip attempt and sent Ibushi into the guardrail when the ref was closing in on the 20 count. Ibushi barely got back into the ring before the ref counted to 20. Makabe had the upper hand, but Ibushi fired back and went on the attack. He hit a missile dropkick for a 2 count. They had a battle of clotheslines and neither man would go down. Ibushi finally sent Makabe down with a running clothesline for a 2 count. They went at it up top and Ibushi hit a frankensteiner for a 2 count. Honma was shown doing commentary during the match. They went back and forth and Makabe turned Ishii inside out with a short western lariat. Ibushi hit a kick and Makabe fired back with a lariat. Neither man would go down. They continued the exchange until Ibushi ducked a pair of clothesline and hit a combination of strikes and a snap German. They battled up top a short time later. Makabe chopped Ibushi to the mat, but he nailed him with a Pele kick. Makabe no-sold it and glared at Ibushi, who had his back to him. Makabe then connected with a knee strike to the head off the top. Makabe hit the kneeling powerbomb, but Ibushi kicked out at 1! Makabe then came right off the top with the King Kong knee drop for the win.

Honma was shown smiling on commentary after Makabe won.

Winner: Togi Makabe (4 pts)

Star rating: (***1/2) – This was good, but the crowd didn’t seem to get into it until the last quarter of the match. That’s where things picked up and they had some nice exchanges. Ibushi was in big trouble after Makabe hit the kneeling powerbomb and he kicked out at 1. Makabe quickly went up top and connected with the King Kong knee drop for the win.

(9) Yuji Nagata (0) vs. Tetsuya Naito (4) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. The fans fired up for Naito’s entrance, as he came out first. They had a quick exchange of counters and Naito ended it by hitting his pose. Nagata gave Naito a kick and he rolled to the floor. Nagata mocked his eye pose inside the ring before holding the ropes open for him. Naito kept walking away from a lock up, so Nagata put the boots to him. Naito raked his eyes and hit his signature dropkick off the ropes. He then mocked Nagata’s salute. Naito began working over Nagata while focusing on his neck and head area. Naito slapped Nagata on the top of his head a short time later. He then began hitting Nagata with some light kicks, which Nagata took exception to. Nagata finally caught Naito with a running knee to the gut. Nagata hit a running boot in the corner and an exploder for a 2 count. Naito fired back and hit a tornado DDT for a 2 count. Nagata fired up again and hit kicks to Naito’s front and back. Naito stood up and they began slapping each other across the face back and forth. Nagata got the upper hand and sent Naito into the corner with a big kick. He shoved Naito the mat and hit several elbows from the mount. He hit a big release German a short time later. Nagata followed up with a backdrop driver and made a cover, but did not hook the leg and Naito kicked out at 2. Naito fought out of another backdrop driver, but Nagata nailed him with some big knees to the head. Naito fired back with a wheel kick and a German and both men were down!

Both men got up and traded blows. They began trading hard slaps to the face. Nagata fired up and told Naito to bring it. They continued to exchange slaps to the face. Naito staggered and the fans fired up. Nagata whipped him, but Naito hit the flying forearm. Nagata fought off a destino attempt and got the white eyes arm bar a short time later. Naito struggled, but finally got to the ropes. The fans woke up and began chanting for Naito. Nagata went for a backdrop driver, but Naito blocked it. Naito went for a tornado DDT, but Nagata blocked it. They went back and forth and Naito countered Nagata and hit destino for a near fall. Naito went for destino again and seemed to slip, so he had to start over and he connected with the win.

Winner. Tetsuya Naito (6 pts)

Star rating: (***1/2) – This was very good, but it lacked the atmosphere that Nagata’s other matches have had so far on his farewell tour that have turned out to be excellent. The fans actually seemed to get behind Naito late in the match, which was a surprise given how Nagata has been in other cities during the tournament. Nagata has still not won a match in the tournament.

After the match, Naito taunted Honma at ringside.

(10) Hirooki Goto (4) vs. IWGP IC Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi (4) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Tanahashi was in control early. He eventually went up top and Goto clotheslined him all the way to the floor. Goto went on the attack and worked over Tanahashi’s arm. Tanahashi eventually mounted a comeback and hit a dragon screw. Tanahashi went on the attack and hit his signature flipping senton off the second rope. Tanahasi went for a clothesline, but Goto blocked it on his bad arm. Tanahashi fired back with a huge stroke and both men were down. Both men went back and forth no selling big moves until Goto finally planted Tanahashi with a Saito suplex and both men were down. They went back and forth trading blows. Goto went for the neck breaker over his knee, but Tanahashi turned it into a sling blade for a 2 count. He went up top for the high fly flow, but Goto got out of the way! WOW! Goto connected with his signature kick for a near fall. Goto then went for the sleeper and got it. Goto let go and hit a PK. He lifted Tanahashi up and hit a neck breaker over his knee, but Tanahashi kicked out again at the last second! Go set up for the GTR, but Tanahashi fought out of it. Goto hit a headbutt and hit the final cut over his knee. He then went for the GTR, but Tanahashi turned it into a swinging neck breaker and both men were down!

The fans fired up and chanted for Tanahashi. They went back and forth and Tanahashi countered a suplex and hit a pair of neck breakers that he held on for. He then rolled through on an overhead suplex. Tanahashi got on a roll and hit the sling blade for a near fall. He went up top and hit a standing high fly flow. The fans really fired up and Tanahashi connected with the high fly flow for the win! WOW!

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (6 pts)

Star rating: (****) – This was excellent. Tanahashi fought through the work on his arm early. Goto never went back after it and managed to hit all of his signature offense, but he couldn’t hit the GTR. Tanahashi got on a roll late and after missing a high fly flow earlier in the match, he connected at the end and got the win.

Tanahashi closed the show with his signature promo/guitar solo routine.

Overall thoughts: This was a very good night of block action. The crowd seemed flat at times and some of the matches didn’t have a great atmosphere, but everything was either very good or had a purpose. HASHI-Ishii tore it up in the opener. Sabre didn’t get his win in 1 minute as promised on Twitter, but he out classed Fale on the ground to get the win in somewhat short order.

The atmosphere just wasn’t there for the Nagata-Naito match. It was very good, but something was missing and the finish was botched late. It was still a good match, but it wasn’t at the level of some of Nagata’s matches earlier in the tournament.

The show ended on a high note with an excellent Tanahashi vs. Goto match that the crowd got into late. They really did a nice job of building to some good near falls and counter sequences late. Goto just couldn’t hit the GTR on Tanahashi and ended up falling short in the end.

I recommend watching Ishii-HASHI and Tanahashi-Goto. Those matches were both excellent. This tour truly continues to spoil wrestling fans. What seemed like a down night featured two excellent matches and everything else on the card was good as well.

STANDINGS AFTER NIGHT 7

A BLOCK

Hiroshi Tanahashi (3-1, 6 pts)
Zack Sabre Jr. (3-1, 6 pts)
Tetsuya Naito (3-1, 6 pts)
Kota Ibushi (2-2, 4 pts)
Togi Makabe (2-2, 4 pts)
Bad Luck Fale (2-2, 4 pts)
Tomohiro Ishii (1-2, 4 pts)
Hirooki Goto (2-2, 4 pts)
YOSHI-HASHI (1-3, 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 7

(6) YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tomohiro Ishii (****)

(10) IWGP IC Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto (****)

ATTENTION: Read Radican’s G1 Climax 27: Night 6 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