RADICAN’S 8/4 NJPW G1 Climax 27: Night 13 report – Nagata-Ibushi, Naito-Sabre, Tanahashi-Makabe

RADICAN’S G1 CLIMAX 27: NIGHT 13 REPORT
AUG. 4, 2017
EHEMI, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPWWORLD.COM

This show had a multi-camera shoot and Japanese commentary with HONMA!

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 Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitamura.

(2) Suzuki Gun (Minoru Suzuki & Taichi & El Desperado) beat Michael Elgin & Tiger Mask IV & Hirai Kawato.Suzuki Gun attacked Elgin after the match and went after his leg.

(3) Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat L.I.J. (SANADA & BUSHI).

(4) Juice Robinson & David Finlay beat Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Chase Owens)

(5) CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano) beat EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi.

A BLOCK RESULTS & ANALYSIS

(6) Kota Ibushi (6) vs. Yuji Nagata (0) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. This was tremendous. Nagata went after Ibushi’s arm during the early going. Things got really physical and they had some great strike exchanges. They built up to one where both men hit each other at the same time with roundhouse kicks and they both went down. Nagata blocked the double arm clutch knee strike and countered it into the white eyes arm bar at one point. Nagata got a bunch of near falls down the stretch. The fans went nuts when he kicked out of the last ride, but Ibushi quickly finished him off with the double arm clutch knee strike.

Ibushi showed respect to Nagata after the match. He bowed and shook his hand.

Winner: Kota Ibushi (8 pts)

Star rating: (****1/4)

(7) Tomohiro Ishii (8) vs. Bad Luck Fale (6) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Fale’s size and power was too much for Ishii during the early going. Ishii sat up and spit at Fale at one point, but Fale continued to put a beating on him in the corner. Ishii ducked a charge in the corner and went for a suplex, but Fale blocked it. Ishii finally hit a big jumping DDT and both men were slow to get up. Ishii kept trying to clothesline Fale down, but he eventually caught him and hit a Samoan drop and both men were down. Ishii tried to mount another comeback. He dropped Fale to a knee with a headbutt to the chest. Ishii then lifted up Fale and hit a suplex and the fans fired up. Ishii got a big running start and hit a huge clothesline on Fale for a 2 count. Ishii went for the sliding lariat, but Fale caught his arm. Fale went for the grenade, but Ishii blocked it and got a cross-arm breaker. Fale struggled, but managed to get to the ropes. Fale fired back and hit a grenade. He couldn’t lift Ishii He went for the bad luck fall. Ishii hit an enzuguri. Fale wouldn’t go down, so he hit another. Ishii hit a running enzuguri in Fale while he was on one kne and both men were down! Ishii hit the sliding lariat and went right to the cross-arm breaker when Fale kicked out at 2. Fale tried to get up and Ishii transitioned to a triangle. Fale finally lifted Ishii up and slammed him to the mat and both men were down. They went back and forth and Fale hit a spear for a 2 count. He set up for the bad luck fall and hit it for the win.

Winner: Bad Luck Fale (8 pts)

Star rating: (***¼) – This started off very slowly, but it got good late as Ishii began to find some chinks in Fale’s armour.

(8) YOSHI-HASHI (4) vs. Hirooki Goto (6) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. We have two members of CHAOS colliding in this match. Goto dominated early, but HASHI fired back and hit a running blockbuster to cut off his momentum. Goto fired back and went on the attack. He countered HASHI and hit a big discus lariat. Goto fired up and went for another lariat, but HASHI ducked it and nailed him with a western lariat. He then hit a powerbomb right into the jackknife cover for a 2 count. HASHI immediately applied the butterfly lock a short time later. Goto tried to escape and HASHI stayed with him. He got a front chancery with Goto on top of him. Goto rolled over back into the butterfly lock. Goto managed to free himself and eventually he dragged the back of HASHI’s head right into his knee. Both men were down after that big sequence. They went back and forth. Goto eventually got the sleeper. Goto let go and nailed HASHI with a big running kick to the chest. He then hit the ushigoroshi. HASHI countered him a short time later and got a pinning combination for a 2 count. He set up for the GTR, but HASHI got a small package for a near fall. HASHI got the upper hand and went for karma, but Goto blocked it and pulled him right into a big headbutt. He hit the final cut and followed up with the GTR for the win.

WInner: Hirooki Goto (8 pts)

Star rating: (***1/4) – This took awhile to get going, but it got good late. There wasn’t a lot of drama leading into the finish. The last five minutes were very good.

(9) Tetsuya Naito (8) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (w/El Desperado) (8) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Naito sent Sabre to the floor early and teased a dive before hitting his signature pose in the middle of the ring. Sabre sold frustration on the floor and slammed the guardrail. Naito went right to work on Sabre when he got back into the ring and began working him over. He went for his signature slingshot dropkick, but Sabre caught him and eventually applied a neck crank with his legs. Sabre then grabbed an ankle lock, but Naito managed to roll into the ropes. Sabre used his legs on the mat to crank on Naito’s neck in a unique manner. They traded strikes, but Sabre simply got Naito back on the mat and applied a modified STF. Naito fired back and hit his signature dropkick in the corner and the fans fired up. Sabre countered him and got a mounted guillotine. He let go and hit a huge kick and both men were slow to recover. Both men began trading big shots in the middle of the ring. Naito hit a flurry and spit at Sabre. Sabre fired back and pie-faced Naito. He told Naito to bring it and they continued to exchange. Naito eventually sent Sabre into the corner and draped him over the middle rope before dragging him down over his knee. Naito placed Sabre up top, but Sabre grabbed an arm submission and began cranking on NAito’s arm. Sabre took Naito back down to the mat and continued to go after his arm. Sabre blocked a swinging DDT and hit a dragon suplex. He then locked in another neck crank using his legs. Sabre really had Naito tied up in knots, but he managed to get a foot on the bottom rope. Naito managed to escape Sabre’s grasp and he hit a release German. He went for a flying forearm off the ropes, but Sabre tied him up in the octopus hold.

Sabre cranked away on Naito’s arm while maintaining the octopus hold. Naito went down to the mat and eventually got to the ropes to break the hold. Naito countered Sabre and hit a swinging DDT off the ropes and both men were down. Sabre got a bridging pinning combination for a near fall a short time later. Sabre got another pinning combination a short time later. Naito tired to hit his crotch dive off the ropes, but Sabre countered it into another pinning combination. Naito then hit the flying forearm and destino for the win.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito (10 pts)

Star rating: (***¾) – This was the best match so far on the show. Sabre worked over Naito’s head and arm throughout the match, but once again he got in trouble when he tried to go to the striking game. Naito caught Sabre with a nice rolling kick when he tried to dive onto him for a submission late in the match. This is a big win for Naito, as he guarantees at least a tie at the top of the A Block.

(10) IWGP IC CHampion Hiroshi Tanahashi (8) vs. Togi Makabe (6) in a G1 Climax 27 A Block match. Makabe got the upper hand on the outside and continued to work over Tanahashi back inside the ring during the early stages of the match. Tanahashi blocked a kick out of the corner and hit a dragon screw. Goto cut off a series of punches from the mount in the corner and hit his signature punches from the mount in the corner and the fans fired up. He hit a northern lights suplex, but Tanahashi kicked out at 2. Tanahashi hit a kick and flipped off Makabe. Mikabe fired back and Tanahashi slapped him. Makabe eventually wiped out Tanahashi with a HUGE clothesline and both men were down. WOW! They were exchanging blows and Tanahashi kicked at Makabe’s knee. Makabe fired back and caught Tanahashi with a western lariat and a kneeling powerbomb for a 2 count. He went up top for the King Kong knee drop, but Tanahashi got out of the way. Tanahashi caught Makabe with the roll of the dice a short time later and both men were down. He hit a sling blade and went up top, but Makabe got out of the way. Both men have gone with their high risk finishers only to miss so far in this encounter.

Both men went at it once they got back to their feet. Tanahashi hit a German with a bridge for a 2 count. HE held on, but Makabe fought out of it and hit a German with a bridge for a near fall. He held on and placed Tanahashi up top for a Spider German. He tried to slam Tanahashi’s head into the ringpost, but he blocked it. Tanahashi slipped out and lifted Makabe off the top into a German with a bridge for a 2 count. He hit another sling blade, but Makabe kicked out at 1! Tanahashi went up top and hit a standing high fly flow. He then hit a traditional high fly flow for the win.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (10 pts)

Star rating: (****) – This was an excellent main event. Tanahashi is on a roll in the tournament and his confidence is growing by the match. It looked like Makabe was going to be able to put him away, but Tanahashi mounted a final comeback and got the win in the end.

Tanahashi did his signature show-closing routine to end the show.

Overall thoughts: Night 13 was really good. This tournament just doesn’t stop. In terms of crowd heat and in-ring action, it didn’t get better than the Ibushi-Nagata match, which was first up for A block action. They tore it up in the ring and I marvel at what Nagata has done in the ring in his final G1. He is truly something to marvel. He hasn’t won a match yet, but he’s been SO good in this tournament.

There were no big surprises on the card. Sabre-Tanahashi was really good in the semi-main event spot, but my expectations were so high that I was expecting more out of the match. The finish came abruptly and they didn’t build up to a fever pitch at the end, but the match was great and I can’t wait to see them go at it again.

Tanahashi carries himself like a star and his ability to use his star power to tell stories in the ring is amazing. At the start of the tournament, he didn’t seem like himself, but as the tournament has gone on, he’s gotten on a roll and piled up several wins in the process. He had a really good main event match against Makabe to send the fans home happy.

It’s definitely worth taking the time to watch Ibushi-Nagata and Tanahashi-Makabe. If you have time, you won’t be disappointed watching Sabre vs. Naito, although it is not a must-see match for those short on time. The A block has played out as I expected it to so far. Naito and Tanahashi are tied on top of the block. Several other wrestlers are in striking distance right below them if NJPW decides to pull a surprise.

STANDINGS AFTER NIGHT 13

A BLOCK

Hiroshi Tanahashi (5-2, 10 pts)
Tetsuya Naito (5-2, 10 pts)
Kota Ibushi (4-3, 8 pts)
Zack Sabre Jr. (4-3, 8 pts)
Tomohiro Ishii (4-3, 8 pts)
Bad Luck Fale (4-3, 8 pts)
Hirooki Goto (4-3, 8 pts)
Togi Makabe (3-4, 6 pts)
YOSHI-HASHI (2-5, 4 pts)
Yuji Nagata (0-7, 0 pts)

B BLOCK

Kazuchika Okada (6-0, 12 pts)
Kenny Omega (5-1, 10 pts)
Minoru Suzuki (4-2, 8 pts)
EVIL (4-2, 8 pts)
SANADA (4-2, 8 pts)
Toru Yano (2-4, 4 pts)
Michael Elgin (2-4, 4 pts)
Tama Tonga (2-4, 4 pts)
Juice Robinson (1-5, 2 pts)
Satoshi Kojima (0-6, 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 13

(6) Kota Ibushi vs. Yuji Nagata (****¼)

(10) IWGP IC Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe (****)

ATTENTION: Read Radican’s G1 Climax 27: Night 12 report by clicking HERE

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