G1 Climax B Block Night 1 Results – 7/20

B Block Night 1, Korakuen Hall – Full Show with English Commentary by Kevin Kelly and Don Callis

This is the opening night for B Block action. If you are new to the G1 and want to know how the tournament works, check out the A Block Night 1 Results.

Here is the B Block Lineup

Satoshi Kojima
Michael Elgin
Juice Robinson
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada
Toru Yano
IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega
Tama Tonga
NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki
Sanada
EVIL

Zack Sabre Jr. & El Desperado of Suzuki-Gun b. Kota Ibushi & Hirai Kawato when Desperado pinned Kawato with the Pinche Loco. An interesting pairing on the babyface side because Kawato looks like a younger Ibushi. Sabre started out the match with Kawato. Sabre acted like he wasn’t even breaking a sweat as a toyed with Kawato. The heels worked over Kawato until he rallied with a dropkick and tagged in Ibushi. Sabre and Ibushi traded strikes, with Ibushi coming out on top. Sabre grounded Ibushi with armbars. Kawato got the hot tag and ran wild for a bit. Ibushi hit a top rope dropkick on Desperado, enabling Kawato to score a two count witha Suplex. Desperado locked Kawato in a Boston Crab while Sabre had Ibushi in the Octopus Hold. However, Kawato made it to the ropes. Desperado then hit the Pinche Loco to get the pin. Ibushi and Sabre had a staredown after the match

Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata, & Tiger Mask IV b. CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Gedo) when Tiger pinned Gedo with a rollup. Goto and Nagata started the match before double tagging out to Makabe and Ishii. Gedo hit Makabe from behind to distract him, which lead to CHAOS working him over. Makabe made a comeback and tagged in Nagata, who traded blows with Goto. Yuji nailed an Exploder Suplex and tagged in Tiger. Goto tagged out to Gedo. Ishii broke up a pin attempt on Gedo after a Tiger Driver. Gedo tried to pin Tiger with his feet on the ropes, but the referee caught it. The ref knocked Gedo’s feet off the ropes, to which Gedo responded by shoving him. The ref shoved back and Gedo backed into a crucifix by Tiger. Shortly afterward, Tiger pinned Gedo with a rollup.

Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens of Bullet Club b. IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and David Finlay when Fale pinned Finlay with a Hand Grenade. Fale once again roughed up the ring announcer. Tanahashi and Fale started out the match, with Fale clearly overpowering The Ace. Tanahashi went for a sunset flip, to which Fale tried to counter with a vertical splash, but Tanahashi dodged. Double tag out to Owens and Finlay. The faces worked over Owens and hit a double dropkick on Fale. Tanahashi looked to go for the High Fly Flow, but Fale pulled him off the top rope to the outside. Fale then worked over Tanahashi’s injured arm by wrapping it around the ringpost and barrier. This lead to the heels getting heat on Tanahashi. Finlay finally got a hot tag and ran wild on Owens. Chase cut off Finlay with a backbreaker and tagged in Fale. Fale and Owens tried to double team Finlay, but he was too fast. Fale kicked out of a pin attempt so hard that he threw Finlay into the air. Shortly afterward, Fale hit the Hand Grenade while Owens held Tanahashi at bay to earn the win for his team.

Tetusya Naito & BUSHI of Los Ingobernabled De Japon b. YOSHI-HASHI & Jado of CHAOS when Bushi pinned Jado with a roll up. A brawl broke out before the bell. Hashi and Naito began the match and exchanged a few moves before mutually tagging out. BUSHI got the upper hand on Jado while Naito trew Hashi into the ring barriers on the outside. Jado got worked over a bit before making the hot tag to Hashi. Hashi hit several moves, including a flying headscissors, but couldn’t get a pinfall. Naitoh nailed a Tornado DDT and tagged Bushi back in. Jado tagged back in and scored a near fall. Bushi hit a MX on Naito, and went for one on Jado, but Jado dodged and countered with an armlock. However, Bushi reversed it into a pinning combination to score the win.

After the match Naito chased off Callis from the announcing table

Tournament Matches

Juice Robinson p. Satoshi Kojima with Pulp Friction. Kojima controlled the match early on, clotheslining Juice out of the ring and hitting a DDT on the apron. Juice countered by whipping Kojima into the barrier and dropkicking him. Back in the ring, Juice landed several strikes before winding up on the receiving end of the rapid fire chops. Juice landed a high cross body for a near fall. Kojima countered a powerbomb attempt with a Koji Cutter. Juice went for another high cross body, but Kojima hit his leg with a lariat and used a Top Rope Koji Cutter. Juice blocked to lariat attempts and went for Pulp Friction. However, Kojima countered with a lariat from behind. Juice kicked out of a brainbuter. Kojima hit his Western Lariat but Juice KICKED OUT (first time I’ve seen that) and hit Pulp Friction to score a surprising win. That may very well be the biggest win of his career.

After the match, Juice helped Kojima to his feet and shook his hand.

Tama Tonga p. Michael Elgin with a Top Rope Gun Stun. Another Hossfight. Both of these guys have size and athletic ability. Elgin used the delayed suplex. Tonga took things to the outside and suplexed Elgin on the floor. Back in the ring the two traded blows. Elgin landed an impressive cross body, and a slingshot splash. He followed that up with several power moves and German Suplexes. Tonga battled back with a Tongan Twist (Crossroads). The two exchanged blows with Tonga landing a DDT. Tonga also hit an impressive looking Alabama Slam. Elgin made a brief comeback and tried a slingshot spear, but Tonga hit the Gun Stun. However, Elgin fell to the outside. Tonga pulled Elgin back in the ring and went for a cover. Elgin kicked out, and Tonga went to the top. Elgin caught Tonga and went for a top rope Falcon Arrow. However, Tonga reversed it into a Gun Stun to get the pin. Amazing finish to a great hossfight!

SANADA p. EVIL with a moonsault. Both men are in the heel Los Ingobernables De Japon stable. Evil offered a handshake, which Sanada accepted. However chivalry cannot be had between heels and Evil kicked Sanada in the gut. The action soon spilled to the outside where Evil did his spot where he puts a chair around Sanada’s neck and waffled him with another chair. He smaccked Sanada’s face to the apron and landed a side slam for a two count. Evil continued to work over Sanada until Sanada landed his signature dropkick. Sanada scored a two count with a basement dropkick. Evil went to the top rope, but Sanada landed a cutter TO THE OUTSIDE. That’s the first time I’ve seen a top rope cutter to the floor. This lead to a near double countout. Radpid fire exchange of forearms before Evil decked Sanada with a clothesline. Sanada kicked out at one. Sanada went for the Skull End, but Evil countered by suplexing him into the turnbuckles. Darkness Falls by Evil scored a two count. Sanada made a comeback with a springboard dropkick and a TKO. However he missed a Moonsault, and Evil locked in a headlock/sleeper. Sanada made it to the ropes to break the hold. Evil levelled Sanada with a running lariat, and made the cover. Sanada kicked out at two, and reversed a STO attempt into a Tiger Suplex for his own near fall. Several reversals and exchanges ended with Sanada backflipping into the Skull End. Evil barely made it to the ropes. Sanada went for a second moonsault, this time landing it for the clean pinfall win. Great match considering it was two heels. The crowd sided behind Sanada, and they weren’t disapponted.

After the match both men fistbumped, signifying the stable is still together.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada s. Toru Yano with Red Ink. This was without a doubt the most bizarre match on the card. Like the previous match, both men are in the same stable. This time around it’s CHAOS teammates going at it. Okada is arguably in one of the greatest world championship reigns of all time having excellent match after excellent match, whereas Yano is primariy comedy. A lockup went to the ropes. Okada was doing a clean break when Yano said something. This got Okada to go for a clothesline, but Yano ducked it and tried to roll out the other end of the ring. He was met by Gedo, so he had to get back in the ring to face Okada. Yano offered a handshake Okada accepted, then Yano spun him around and slapped the back of his head. When Okada went after him, Yano cowered to the ropes yelling “BREAK!”. Okada turned to leave the ring, like he was done with all this, but Jado met him and started trying to convince him to go through with the match. Yano took this opportunity to hit Okada from behind with a double axhandle, and ran him into the ringpost. Gedo started talking with Yano, and Okada returned the attack from behind favor. Okada starting removing the turnbuckle pad, which is of course one of Tano’s bits. Instead, he whipped Yano into the barrier and choked him on it. Back in the ring, Okada scored a two count with a neckbreaker. Okada continued to control the match with a rolling elbow and a headlock. Yano tried turning the tied by ramming referee Red Shoes into Okada. With Red SHoes down, Yano removed the turnbuckle pad. Okada got whipped into the exposed turnbuckles. Yano got whipped to the ropes, but avoided the Too Awesome Dropkick. Yano rammed Okada’s head into the exposed turnbuckle. Okada countered with his over the shoulder neckbreaker. Shortly thereafter Yano got whipped into the exposed turnbuckles. Outside the ring, Yano low blowed both Okada and Jedo, but Gedo low blowed Yano. Believe it or not, this lead to a near countout. Okada finally hit the Too Awesome Dropkick. Yano tried for another low blow, but Okada blocked it. Yano rolled up Okada for a few convincing near falls. Okada reversed one into the Red Ink submission hold. After struggling for a bit, Yano tapped out. Easily the longest and best Yano match I’ve ever seen.

IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega p. NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki with The One Winged Angel. Suzuki tried to intimidate Omega, and was met with several strikes. Suzuki no-sold the strikes and decked Omega. Suzuki knocked Omega around for muostof the opening minutes. He shrugged off a hurricanrana and locked Omega into his over the ropes armbreaker. Next, Suzuki kicked Omega to the outside and wrapped the leg around the ring barrier. He threw Omega into the seats and landed a chairshot to the knee. Omega mounted a one legged comeback, including a moonsault. Omega went for a V-Trigger, but Suzuki pulled Red Shoes in front of him to take the blow. This is the second bump in as many matches. With Red Shoes down, Desperado, Taichi, and Taka Michinoku hit the ring to triple team Omega. Chase Owens hit the ring but was quickly disposed of. This brought Bad Luck Fale to the ring, and he cleaned house. With all the stablematess at ringside, Omega landed a bodypress from the top rope to the outside onto all of them. Omega went for a top rope V-Trigger, but Suzuki grabbed the leg and turned it into a leglock. Eventually, Omega made it to the ropes. Duelsing strikes did not go well for Kenny, but he did land a back suplex. Suzuki went back to working over Omega’s knee. Kenny spit in Suzuki’s face, which got Suzuki to land several body strikes. Kenny hit a Dragon Suplex, and went for the One Winged Angel. Suzuki reversed it into an anklelock, and followed it up with a sleeper. Omega blocked a Gotch Piledriver and hit another V-Trigger. Suzuki countered with a dropkick. Omega hit a pair of V-Triggers at the 20 minute mark. Omega went for a reverse hurricanrana, but his leg gave out. Before Suzuki could capitalize, Omega landed two more V-Triggers and the One Winged Angel to get the pifall victory. Excellent match!

After the match, Omega cut a promo saying he survived Suzuki, and his work is far from over.

Backstage, Omega cut another promo saying he lost his first G1 match last year because he underestimated his opponent. He said he gave Suzuki everything he had and came out on top. He concluded by saying he needs to get his knee looked at so he can be healthy, and that this tournament is all about him.

STANDINGS

2 Juice Robinson
2 Kazuchika Okada
2 Kenny Omega
2 Sanada
2 Tama Tonga
0 EVIL
0 Michael Elgin
0 Minoru Suzuki
0 Satoshi Kojima
0 Toru Yano

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