Day 6 of The G1 Climax brings us 1/3rd of the way through. B Block, aka The Champions Block, returns to the spotlight. Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero did their usual job of commentary, and introduced Chris Charlton for translation duties. Charlton looked like he stepped out of a Dilbert cartoon.
YOSHI-HASHI & Sho of CHAOS b. Michael Elgin & Ren Narita when Sho pinned Narita with a German Suplex. Narita and Sho began the match trading shoulderblocks. Soon after Elgin and Hashi were in, with Elgin suplexing Hashi all over the ring. Sho tagged in to try a double team, but Elgin thwarted both men and tagged Narita back in. Sho and Narita went back and forth, with Narita showing some fire. In the end, Sho was able to hit a German Suplex for the win.
Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa of Bullet Club OG b. EVIL & BUSHI of Los Ingobernables De Japon when Loa pinned Bushi with the Over The Shoulder Piledriver. The Bullet Club OG name is listed on match-up screens now. Though Loa is most definitely NOT an original Bullet Club member. Bushi started tha match opposite Loa, who mocked his size. The two heel teams took the battle to the outside, with the OG’s brawling through the crowd. Both LIJ members were smacked into the walls of the arena. Back in the ring, Loa taunted Bushi. Evil and Fale continued to brawl on the outside. Loa hit the Over The Shoulder Piledriver on Bushi to get the pin. I don’t think a single tag was made during the entire match.
Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado of Suzuki-Gun b. “Switchblade” Jay White & Yoh of CHAOS when Suzuki pinned Yoh with a Gotch Piledriver. Another battle between two heel teams. White bragged about having 6 points to Suzuki, who promptly kicked White in the calf. White immediately tagged out to the boos of the crowd and stood on the floor. This left Yoh to fend for himself in the ring. Yoh held his own and decked Desperado with a dropkick. Once Desperado was down, White demanded a tag. White ran Desperado into the apron and the guardrail. Yoh and White worked over Desperado, though White left Yoh with most of the work to do. Suzuki tagged in, and White went to the floor again. Suzuki grabbed Yoh and pointed him at White while putting him in the Rear Naked Choke. Suzuki landed the Gotch Piledriver and glared at White to make the save. White of course did not and watched Yoh get pinned. Clearly the story is either White is a coward, or doesn’t want to expel energy in a non-tournament tag match.
Hangman Page Chase Owens b. Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay when Page pinned Finlay with the Rite Of Passage. Page and Tanahashi started off. They are of course facing each other tomorrow in A Block action. There was a funny segment where Tanahashi and Page handed each other an air guitar. Double tag out to Finlay & Owens. Page & Owens made frequent tags to double team Finlay, until Tanahashi tagged in. Page and Tanahasho went back and forth before Finlay tagged in. Tanahashi stopped a Rite Of Passage attempt by Page, and got knocked out of the ring by Owens. With Tanahasho out of the way, Page successfully hit the Rite Of Passage to score the win.
Togi Makabe & Toa Henare b. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo of CHAOS when Makabe pinned Gedo with a King Kong Knee Drop. Gedo taunted Henare and mocked tribal dancing. The CHAOS members worked over Henare until Makabe got the hot tag. I still say Makabe has one of the best hot tag comebacks anywhere. Gedo tagged in, and a four way brawl broke out. Henare and Okada fought on the floor while Makabe hit the King Kong Kneww Drop on Gedo for the pin.
Toru Yano (0) b. Kota Ibushi (4)with a chop block. Both men went for quick pin attempts in the opening minutes. Yano bailed to the outside and began removing the turnbuckle pads from the floor. Ibushi decked Yano, and removed a turnbuckle pad himself. Yano dropped Ibushi on the apron…. and removed another turnbuckle pad. This left all four turnbuckles exposed. Yano whipped Ibushi into the metal buckles. The two then began hitting each other with the turnbuckle pads. Yano went under the ring and grabbed tape to tie Ibushi’s wrists together. This didn’t stop Ibushi from using kicks and moonsaults. The referee was knocked down, allowing Yano to hit a low blow and a chop block to score the win.
SANADA (2) p. Zack Sabre Jr. with a roll-up (2). Taka, as usual, accompanied ZSJ to the ring and cut a promo claiming Sabre would win the tournament. The two heels traded lock-ups, trying to size each other up. Sanada kept countering everything by putting Sabre in a Full Nelson. Several rapid fire pin attempts and counters set the pace. Sanada held his own against Sabre so well that Sabre resorted to striking tactics.That didn’t work well either, as Sanada kept reversing. In a surprising finish, Sabre and Sanada traded several more pinning combinations before Sanada finally did a bridging pin of his own to claim the victory. For the first time in a very long time, Sabre was outwrestled on the mat. Sabre left the ring looking very frustrated in being bested at his own game.
Tetsuya Naito (4) p. IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson (0) with a Destino. Naito went after Juice’s injured hand right off the bat. Naito controlled the majority of the match, with Juice only getting occasional offense in. Juice rolled through a tope rope hurricanrana into a Sunset Flip for a near fall. Juice made his comeback and hit a powerbomb for a two count. Juice tried an Electric Chair drop, which Naito countered with a reverse hurricanrana. Naito kept trying to finish off Juice with a Destino, only to have it thwarted. It wasn’t until the fourth attempt that Naito was finally able to hit a Destino to get the pin and the two points. Robinson remains winless in the G1 so far, but in each loss he still looked good.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega (4) b. Tama Tonga (2) when Tonga attacked Red Shoes. I was really looking forward to this match since it’s the first match Kenny has had against one of his former Bullet Club partners. Tanga Loa and Bad Luck Fale accompanied Tonga to the ring. Loa claimed to the announcers that he was there to make sure nobody interfered. Of course, Loa blindsided Kenny before the bell. Fale joined in the assault until Hangman Page and Chase Owens made the save. The bell officially rang when the ring was cleared, and Kenny did a dive to the outside on everybody. At least it looked like everybody because when Omega got back in the ring he was speared by Tonga. Tonga taunted Omega saying “you divided us” between blows. The two went toe to toe, back and forth and traded near falls. Lots of reversals of signature moves, including V-Trigger and Gun Stun attempts. Omega appeared to go for a Dragon Suplex on the apron, but Tonga grabbed referee Red Shoes. With Red Shoes distracted, Loa returned and clipped Kenny in the leg with a chair. Loa went a powerbomb to Omega on the floor, but it was reversed into a hurricanrana. Back in the ring, Omega hit a neckbreaker and went for another V-Trigger. Loa grabbed Omega’s leg, stopping him. Tonga tried to attack, only for Omega to dodge and cause Tonga to knock Loa to the outside. Tonga tried a gun Stun, which Omega blocked. Unfortunately for Tonga, he landed on a chair. Tonga tried a Styles Clash onto the chair, but Red Shoes kicked the chair out of the way. Tonga responed by Gun Stunning Red Shoes for a DQ. After the match, the BCOGs went after Omega with chairs. Page, Owens, and Kota Ibushi again ran out for the save to send them packing.
Tomohiro Ishii (2) p. NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto (2) with a brainbuster. Both guys are part of the CHAOS faction. I hoped for a hossfight and got one. These two immediately started running into each other like rams. After that they did a lengthy exchange of forearms. Goto got some momentum with whips to the corner and a side suplex. Ishii started firing up and no-selling Goto’s kicks. Then he decked Goto with a lariat. Goto used a sleeper to wear Ishii down. The two then exchanged several running clotheslines until they knocked each other down. Again, Goto went to the sleeper, and again Ishii started no-selling. Ishii erupted with a flurry of strikes, felling Goto to the corner. Goto kicked out of a superplex, and hit an Ushi-Garoushi. Both men tried their finishers, and both men kept countering each other. At the 15 minute mark, they were back to running clotheslines and another double down. Ishii kicked out of a Shouten Kai. Again, both men escaped each other’s finishers. Goto kicked out of a diving clothesline, but couldn’t withstand Ishii finally hitting the brainbuster. Ishii scored the pin in what was indeed a great hossfight. This almost assuredly grants Ishii another NEVER Openweight Title shot
As of Night 6, only Kenny Omega has been undefeated in the B Block.
STANDINGS
6 Omega
4 Ibushi
4 Ishii
4 Naito
4 SANADA
2 Goto
2 Sabre
2 Tonga
2 Yano
0 Robinson
