Day 3 of The G1 Climax brings us back to A Block action. The matches I am looking forward to the most are Togi Makabe vs. Minoru Suzuki (gotta love a Mean Guy Match) and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White.
The Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) b. Toa Henare & Shota Umino when Loa pinned Umino with a Tongan Driver. Kevin Kelly pointed out that Toa Henare is Tongan, like the GOD brothers. Loa & Henare started the match with shoulderblocks. Umino tagged in, and got cut off by the heels. Heat on Umino before Henare got the hot tag. The babyfaces had good teamwork, with Umino tagging in and leveling Loa with a missile dropkick. Umino German Suplexed Tonga out of the ring, but ran right into a clothesline from Loa. A Tongan Driver later, and it was all over.
Toru Yano & Jado of CHAOS b. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku of Suzuki-Gun when Yano pinned Michinoku with a roll-up. Both teams are heels, so we should know what to expect. Taka took the mic and cut the usual promo putting over Zack with his “Just Tap Out” catchphrase. Jado and Taka started the match. The SG members worked over Jado. Double tag out to Yano and Sabre. Yano of course removed the turnbuckle pad, but this time tossed the pad out of the ring. Sabre and Yano traded blows and takedowns until Taka was tagged back in. Sabre tied up Jado and motioned for Taka to do the same to Yano. However, Yano was able to reverse Taka’s hold into a roll-up for the pin.
Juice Robinson & David Finlay b. Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi when Robinson pinned Takahashi with Pulp Friction. Takahashi and Finlay started out, with Ibushi quick to assist in double team moves. Juice tagged in and went back and forth with Ibushi before Ibushi tagged out. Yujiro ran wild for a bit, but Juice rallied and hit the Pulp Friction while Finlay kept Ibushi at bay.
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA of Los Ingobernables De Japon b. Tomohiro Ishii & Sho of CHAOS when Sanada made Sho pass out with a Skull End. Naito knocked around Ishii before a double tag out to Sanada and Sho respectively. LIJ took turns working over Sho until Ishii tagged in and held his own against both opponents. A four way brawl broke out with Sho taking a double basement dropkick. Sho tried to make a comeback, but got caught in a Skull End sleeper.
NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto & Yoh of CHAOS b. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega & Chase Owens of Bullet Club when Goto pinned Owens with a GTR. Kenny teased starting off with Goto, but Owens ambushed from behind. Goto fended off both men and tagged in Yoh. The Bullet Club repeatedly double teamed Yoh to gain the advantage. A miscommunication sent Kenny to the outside and allowed Yoh to make the tag. Yoh kept Kenny out of the ring while Goto hit a Ushi-Garoushi and a GTR on Chase to earn the win.
That concluded the tag match undercard. The rest of the show was devoted to the tournament matches.
Michael Elgin (2) p. Hangman Page (2) with an Elginbomb. After a brief lockup, Elgin dropkicked Page to the outside and connected with a dive. Page returned the favor with a Shooting Star from the apron, and hit a moonsault for a two count. The next few minutes saw Page on the offense before Elgin turned the tide with a powerslam. The two traded near falls with with reversals. In an impressive show of strength, Page hit a tombstone piledriver for a two count. Elgin met Page on the top rope, but Elgin met him and tossed him to the mat. Before Elgin could follow up, Page popped up and hit a hurricanrana. A top rope neckbreaker scored a two count for Page. Elgin rallied with several kicks that knocked Page off his feet. They battled for control using German Suplexes on each other. Page kicked out of a Splash Mountain Bomb and tried for the Rite Of Passage, only for Elgin to reverse and win the match with an Elginbomb.
EVIL (0) p. YOSHI-HASHI (0) with Everything Is Evil. Hashi seemed to have the upper hand until Evil clotheslined him out of the ring and used chairs on him. Back in the ring Hashi got back on the offensive using his speed advantage. Evil resorted to power tactics. Hashi got the Butterfly Lock in for a few minutes before Evil made the rope break. Evil also kicked out of a double knee strike and landed a lariat for a near fall. When Hashi kicked out, Evil simply hit the Everything Is Evil STO to score the win.
Togi Makabe (2) p Minoru Suzuki (0) with a King Kong Knee Drop. A brawl erupted right off the bat. The action spilled outside with both men grabbing chairs. The referee tried to stop them, but got shoved to the floor. Suzuki knocked Makabe around in the crowd and repeatedly used a chair. Why this was not a DQ, I don’t know. Maybe outside the ring is No DQ? Anyway, Suzuki got back in the ring and the referee started the count. Makabe made it back into the ring at 14. Suzuki taunted Makabe, who tried to battle back with punches. This only made Suzuki laugh. Suzuki would deck Makabe, and Makabe would keep getting up. Suzuki put Makabe in a Rear Naked Choke to wear him down. Makabe reversed a Gotch Piledriver into a Death Valley Driver and made his comeback. A Spider German Suplex followed by a pair of King Kong Knee Drops gave Makabe the win in a great hossfight.
After the match, Makabe celebrated his win while Suzuki angrily made his way backstage.
Bad Luck Fale (0) p. Kazuchika Okada with a Bad Luck Fall. Fale came to the ring accompanied by Tanga Loa. Okada slapped Fale to anger him, and lured him to the outside. Okada ran from Fale like he was scared, but instead used Loa to his advantage and shoved Loa into Fale. When the referee was distracted, Loa slammed Okada on the floor. Fale resumed the attack outside the ring. After pummeling Okada, he got back into the ring for the countout to start. Okada broke the count, and tried to battle back. A bodyslam rocked Fale. Okada did a dive over the ropes down onto both Fale and Loa. Back in the ring, Fale reversed out of a Rainmaker into a Samoan Drop. Okada kicked out of a splash and escaped a Bad Luck Fall attempt. Fale landed a massive clothesline for a near fall. Fale climbed to the top rope, presumably for another splash. Okada met him at the turnbuckle and slammed him off the top rope a la everybody that’s wrestled Ric Flair. Again, Okada escaped a Bad Luck Fall and hit a pair of Rainmakers. Loa got on the ring apron, only to be knocked to the floor. Okada hit a dropkick that knocked Fale into referee Red Shoes. While Red Shoes was busy with Fale, Tama Tonga hit the ring and laid out Okada with a Gun Stun. A Bad Luck Fall finished of Okada, and scored two points for Fale.
It’s interesting to not that Fale has beated Okada in tournament matches before. And even more notable that Okada has yet to score any points, and has yet to win a singles match since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Jay White (2) p. Hiroshi Tanahashi (2) with a Blade Runner. Tanahashi was coming off a brutal match with Minoru Suzuki, and White had a controversial win over Kazuchika Okada. The match was even until White started focusing on Tanahashi’s hurt leg. After several minutes of leg submissions, Tanahashi started a comeback. White countered a Slingblade with a German Suplex, and resumed the assault on Tanahshi’s leg. Outside the ring, White used a back suplex on the floor, and repeatedly drove Tanahashi into the guardrail. However, Tanahashi kept kicking out of pin attempts. Perhaps out of frustration, White grabbed a chair. Red Shoes issued a warning, but White woulldn’t relinquish the chair. Tanahashi hit a Slingblade, and grabbed his own chair. Again, Red Shoes tried to warn Tanahashi. This time, it was White who attacked and hit a low blow behind Red Shoes’ back. White tried the chair again, except Tanahashi hit his own low blow. White kicked out of a Slingblade, so Tanahashi climbed to the top and hit a High Fly Flow bodypress. White rolled through and tried to counter with a Blade Runner. Tanahashi reversed that into a German Suplex for a near fall. As Tanahashi climbed to the top, White shoved Red Shoes into the turnbuckle, toppling Tanahashi off the top. White capitalized with a Blade Runner to score the win. This means White has pinfall victories over Okada and Tanahashi. Granted they were both through cheating, but they’re victories nonetheless.
After the match, White cut a promo, again claiming to run CHAOS. He even went to the announcers booth and told Rocky Romero “Your leader was victorious”.
Standings
4 Michael Elgin
4 Togi Makabe
4 Jay White
2 EVIL
2 Bad Luck Fale
2 Hangman Page
2 Hiroshi Tanahashi
0 Kazuchika Okada
0 Minoru Suzuki
0 YOSHI-HASHI
