G1 Climax B Block Night 6, 8/02 – Full Show with Japanese Commentary
Tomoyuki Oka & Shota Umino b. Katsuya Kitamura & Tetsuhiro Yagi when Oka submitted Yagi with a Boston Crab. Kitamura and Oka have a rivalry, as do Umino and Yagi, so this is a fitting tag match. Umino & Yagi started out with very quick exchanges. Umino came out on top and tagged in Oka, who continued to work over Yagi before tagging back out. Yagi finally countered with a bodyslam and got the hot tag to Kitamura. Oka broke up a pin attempt after Kitamura mowed through Umino. Double tag out to Oka and Yagi. Yagi beat fown Oka in the corner and got a near fall after a hip toss. Oka hit a couple slams on Yagi, and locked in a Boston Crab and got a submission.
Kota Ibushi & Tiger Mask IV b. Yuji Nagata & Hirai Kawato when Tiger pinned Kawato with a Super Butterfly Suplex. Nagata and Ibushi began the match with headlocks. Double tag out to Kawato and Tiger, who exchanged strikes. Ibushi tagged in and grounded Kawato with holds. Kawato battled back with strieks and dropkicks before tagging in Nagata. Nagata ran wild on Ibushi and landed a two count with an Exploder Suplex. The two exchanged several kicks, and Ibushi landed a moonsault for another two count. Another double tag out to Kawato and Tiger. Kawato hit a springboard dropkick for a near fall, and locked in a Boston Crab, which got broken up by Ibushi. Tiger his a Tiger Bomb on Kawato, but the pin was broken by Yuji. Tiger carried Kawato to the top rope, and finished him off with a Super Butterfly Suplex.
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & YOSHI-HASHI) b. The Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens) when Hashi submitted Owens with a Butterfly Lock. Bullet Club came to the ring with a VERY scantily clad escort. Fale roughed up the main announcer again. Ishii started the match by chopping Fale, which ended badly. A suplex early also backfired on Ishii. Yoshi and Goto tried to double team Fale, but Fale powered through both of them. Bullet CLub triple teamed Ishii until he started firing up. Ishii headbutted Fale out of the ring and tagged in Goto. Goto ran wild but eventually fell to teaming. Hashi tagged in, and a multi-man brawl broke out. Owens went for a Package Piledriver but Hashi dodged it and put Owens in the Butterfly Lock, to which Owens submitted.
Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi, & El Desperado) b. Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, & Hiromu Takahashi) when Taichi pinned Bushi with a roll up. A brawl broke out during Suzuki-Gun’s entrance which lead to Desperado and Takahashi starting things out in the ring. Double tag out to ZSJ and Naito, who went back and forth. Sabre did get Naito into an Octopus Hold, to which Naito escaped by making it to the ropes. Taichi tagged in, soon followed by Bushi. Taichi got triple teamed, which lead to another multi man brawl. Desperado distracted the ref by teasing bringing in a chair. Taichi dodged an MX, hit Bushi with his mic stand, and rolled him up for the pin.
After the match, Taichi put on the Bushi mask he stole a few weeks back, and tried to unmask Bushi a second time. The rest of LIJ made the save.
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jyushin Thunder Liger b. Togi Makabe & David Finlay when Tanahashi pinned Finlay with a High Fly Flow. Tanahashi & Makabe briefly started out the match before Finlay and Liger tagged in. Liger put Finlay in the Surfboard, only for Makabe to break it up. When Liger got in Makabe’s face about it, Finlay ambushed Liger from behind. Heels established. Makabe then legally tagged in and clubbed Liger. Tanahashi got the tag and took it to Makabe until getting nailed with a huge lariat. Makabe scored a two count with a Northern Lights Suplex. Finlay tagged back in and landed a European Uppercut for a near fall. Makabe broke up a Cloverleaf on Finlay, but it was to no avail. Tanahashi soon hit the Sling Blade followed by a High Fly Flow to pin Finlay.
After the match, Makabe got in Tanahashi’s face. Liger separated the two.
Tournament Matches
SANADA p. Juice Robinsnon with a moonsault. Exciting exchange between the two that begane with headlocks and ended with double missed dropkicks. Juice dropkicked Sanada to the outside. When Juice followed to the outside, he soon found his bad leg getting wrapped up in the barricade. Back in the ring, Sanada focused on the bad leg. Juicce reversed a Skull End attempt into an inverted DDT. Juice began his comeback, but still heavily favored his knee. Sanada capitalized on this by locking in a Figure Four. The two kept reversing the hold, and eventually both rolled out of the ring with the hold still locked in. Back in the ring Juice reversed another Figure Four attempted with a small package for a near fall. Juice followed up with a powerbomb. Sanada escaped the Pulp Friction and hit a springboard dropkick, followed by a backdrop for a near fall. Several counters between Skull End and Pulp Friction attempts ended with Sanada finally locking in the Skull End. A moonsault later and it was all over for Juice.
After the match, Juice had an emotional walk to the back.
Toru Yano d. Elgin when the ref DQ’d Elgin for a low blow. Yano started out attempting shoulderblocks, which failed. So, of course, Yano resorted to removing the turnbuckle pad. He Slammed Elgin’s head into the exposed buckles, but only landed a two count. Elgin reversed a suplex, and whipped Yano into the buckles. Yano attempted several low blow attempts, before finally landing one behind the ref’s back. As the ref tried to separate the two, Yano acted like he got low blowed, and convinced the ref that Elgin actually low blowed him. This is the first DQ finish in New Japan I can recall. I don’t know a low blow is a DQ when an exposed turnbuckle hit isn’t. But it is what it is.
NEVER Openweight Chamion Minoru Suzuki p. Satoshi Kojima with a Gotch Piledriver. Tenzan of course accompanied Kojima to the ring, while Suzuki was accompanied by Taichi and El Desperado. Suzuki jumped Kojima before the bell and tossed him to the outside. Of course, the heels double teamed Kojima when Suzuki had the ref distracted. This went on for several minutes. Back in the ring, Kojima mounted his comeback and hit three sets of Machine Gun Chops. Kojima caught a Penalty Kick and turned it into a DDT. Kojima went to the top, but Suzuki knocked him off and hit a Penalty Kick. Suzuki put Kojima in an armbar. Kojima made it to the rope, but Suzuki’s minions kocked his foot back to keep him in the hold a few moments longer. Kojima made another comeback, and actually hit the Lariat. However, the ref got pulled out of the ring. Taichi and Desperado then tried to double team Kojima. By this time, Tenzan had enough and hit the ring. He disposed of the minions to make it finally one on one. Kojima hit a brainbuster for a near fall. Suzuki countered with a sleeper and Gotch Piledriver to finally finish off Kojima.
After the match, the heels beat down the babyfaces.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada p. Tama Tonga with a Rainmaker. Tonga ambushed Okada before the bell and again put on his robe. Okada lashed back and basement dropkicked Tonga to the outside. He tried to whip Tonga into the barricade, but got slammed on the apron. Back in the ring Tonga landed aa few near falls, even mimicking Okada’s dropkick and Rainmaker pose. Okada made his comeback after Tonga missed a corner splash. DDT by Okada scored a two count. Tonga countered a Tombstone into a Samoan Drop for a near fall. Back and forth exchanges saw Tonga hit a corner splash and Okada hit a Flapjack. Okada hit his neckbreaker and top rope elbow. Tonga dodged a Rainmaker and hit a spear for a two count. Tonga reversed a Rainmaker into a DDT. Tonga went for the Gun Stun, but Okada whiped him into the ropes and hit the Two Awesome Dropkick. The two kept trying to hit their finishers on each other for the next few minutes. In the end, Okada hit a Rainmaker to get the win. This was a very good match that made Tonga look like a star.
IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega p. EVIL with a One Winged Angel. The match began with Evil kicking Kenny in the gut. The action spilled to the outside where Evil choked Omega with cabling and removed the pads on the floor. However, it was Kenny that landed the slam on the bare floor. Kenny also slammed Evil through the ring announcer’s table. Back in the ring, Kenny controlled the match and landed several near falls. Evil took the fight back to the outside and went for a pair of chairs. Omega beat him to the punch by dropkicking him from the apron. Omega then set up the shait at ringside and tried to suplex Evil on it, but Evil reversed and hit Kenny with his dual chair move. After a brief exchange in the ring, Kenny hurricanrana’d Evil to the outside and hit a dive. Omega followed that up by laying a table over Evil and hitting a double footstomp. He then set Evil up on the table, but before he could hit a move, Evil got out of the way and STO’d him off the apron through the table. Absolutely SICK, since New Japan uses sturdier tables than you see in WWE. Anyway Omega barely made the countout. Evil hit a senton off the top and a powerbomb for a pair of near falls. Omega made it to his feet and decked Evil with a V-Trigger. Dragon Suplex by Omega follwed by a V-Trigger for a two count. Evil locked Omega in the Banshee Muzzle, with Kenny BARELY making it to the ropes. Kenny blocked an STO, and hit a V-Trigger, followed by a reverse hurricanrana. Evil still kicked out. Omega nailed another V-Trigger, and looked like he was goig to go for another move… but stopped. Evil wasn’t moving. Omega tried to pin Evil, but Evil’s arm draped under the bottom rope. Evil looked legitimately knocked for a loop. Kenny finished off Evil with a couple more knees and a One Winged Angel. Evil looked like dead weight on Kenny’s shoulders.
After the match, Omega cut a promo saying he’ll be the first gaijin to win the tournament twice, and that he’s going to bed.
I also noticed in the post match interviews, Evil wasn’t there. So he likely was getting tended to.
STANDINGS
12 Kazuchika Okada
10 Kenny Omega
8 EVIL
8 Minoru Suzuki
8 Sanada
4 Michael Elgin
4 Tama Tonga
4 Toru Yano
2 Juice Robinson
0 Satoshi Kojima
