We are almost halfway through the G1 Climax tournament, as Night 9 marks the fifth round of A Block matchups.
As usual, the undercard is filled with tag matches involving contestants from B Block tournaments as a preview for their respective tournament matches.
NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto & Yoh of CHAOS b. Toa Henare & Shota Umino when Yoh submitted Umino with a Boston Crab. Henare began with Goto, and traded shoulderblocks. CHAOS used frequent tags to work over Henare, until Henare hit a Samoan Drop and tagged Umino. Yoh then found himself on the receiving end of teamwork. Goto broke up a pin attempt, allowing Yoh to rally. Shortly afterward, Umino was forced to submit to Yoh’s Boston Crab.
The Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) of Bullet Club OG b. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taka Michinoku of Suzuki-Gun when Loa pinned Michinoku with am Over The Shoulder Piledriver. Taka, wearing a Kaentai shirt around his waist, welcomed to audience to “Zack Sabre Time”. After being introduced, Loa took the mic and cut a promo of his own. This seemed to rile Taka up, since somebody else was being a hype man. Taka tried a running shoulderblock on Loa to start the match, which didn’t even faze Loa. The Guerrillas manhandled Taka and used frequent double team moves. Sabre got into a battle of Holds vs. Power with Tonga. Double tag out to Loa and Taka. Sabre and Tonga battled outside the ring, while Taka and Loa went at it in the ring. That didn’t last long, as Loa was able to hit his Over The Shoulder Piledriver for an easy pin on Taka.
IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson & David Finlay b. Toru Yano & Gedo of CHAOS when Finlay pinned Gedo with a Stunner. Juice is close to being mathematically eliminated from the tournament, as he has four straight losses. Yano teased that he was going to remove a turnbuckle pad, but then backed off. He also teased like he was going for a low blow, then backed off of that. Juice responded by using Yano’s mannerisms against him. Gedo took a cheap shot at Juice while Yano finally removed the turnbuckle. Both Juice and Yano got thrown into the exposed buckle before Finlay got tagged in. Gedo tried a Gedo Clutch pin attempt, which got broken by Juice. Gedo and Yano both received right hands from Juice before Gedo tossed Juice out of the ring. Finlay came to and hit a Stunner on Gedo to win the match.
Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi b. Tomohiro Ishii & Sho of CHAOS when Takahashi pinned Sho with a Pimp Juice DDT. Fortunately for Sho, Jay White was in the A Block tournament tonight. So he wouldn’t be left to fend for himself in a tag match. The two B Blockers began the match, with neither gaining an upper hand. Double tagout to Sho and Takahashi. Again, neither side gained a clear advantage. Another double tagout, with Ishii and Ibushi going at it much more fiercely. Ibushi decked Ishii with a Pele kick, before another double tagout. Sho nearly got a submission with an armbar on Takahashi. Ibushi broke the pin and hit a missile dropkick on Sho. Takahashi then pinned Sho with a Pimp Juice DDT while Ibushi kept Ishii at bay.
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA of Los Ingobernables De Japon b. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega & Chase Owens when Naito pinned Owens with Destino. Omega and Sanada began the match, with Sanada coming out on top before tagging in Naito. Before Naito could keep the momentum going, Owens tripped Naito and shoved him into the guardrail. Omega and Owens continued to work over Naito until Sanada got a tag. Owens tried to interfere, but got put in the Paradise Lock for his troubles, and dropkicked to the floor. Naito and Sanada made some frequent tags working over Owens and keeping Omega out of the ring. Owens failed to escape a Destino, and got pinned.
After the match, Omega and Sanada had a staredown, since they’re facing each other tomorrow. Naito motioned to fistbump Sanada, but surprisingly Sanada did not answer.
Minoru Suzuki (4) p. Michael Elgin (4) with a Gotch Piledriver. El Desperado accompanied Suzuki to the ring, as usual. Suzuki chopped Elgin, which Elgin returned by chopping Suzuki into the ropes. Suzuki tried to armbar Elgin over the rope, but Elgin used his power to lift his way out of the hold. Outside the ring, Suzuki resorted to chair shots and brawling through the crowd to gain an advantage. Elgin clearly started favoring his right arm. Once the match got back in the ring, Elgin’s strength advantage helped him make a comeback, including a one-armed Falcon Arrow. Suzuki, in a true show of deviousness, put Elgin in a cross arm breaker on the left arm. As in Elgin’s good arm. Elgin tried valiantly to power out, but Suzuki kept catching Elgin in armlocks. However, Elgin did manage to hit a Buckle Bomb. Suzuki evaded an Elgin Bomb, and tried for the Rear Naked Choke. Elgin dodged, and hit a Tiger Suplex for a near fall. Suzuki landed a dropkick (always impressive for a guy 50 years old) and landed several strikes before locking in a Rear Naked Choke and hitting the Gotch Piledriver for the pinfall victory.
EVIL (6) p. Hangman Page (2) with Everything Is Evil. Evil gained the advantage early on with shoulderblocks, and knocked Page out of the ring. While on the floor, Page grabbed a chair from under the ring, and used it behind the referee’s back. This gave Page control of the match. Evil slowly battled back, and clotheslined Page out of the ring. This time, Page was the one in control with the chairs. Page hit a German Suplex for a two count, and followed that up with a moonsault to the outside. He tried another moonsault in the ring and missed. The two battled atop the turnbuckle, with a release suplex tossing Page to the mat. Page kicked out of Darkness Falls and battled his way out of an Everything Is Evil attempt. A Buckshot Clothesline took down Evil, but not enough for a pin. Evil landed a short arm lariat, with Page kicking out. Before Page could retaliate, Evil hit the Everything Is Evil STO, and pinned him.
Bad Luck Fale (2) p. “Switchblae” Jay White (6) with the Bad Luck Fall. Of course Tanga Loa accompanied Fale to the ring. Why woul you think otherwise? Before the bell, White showed some cunning by attacking Loa at ringside. This temporarily took care of the numbers advantage for Fale. It didn’t last long though, as Loa was able to attack White while Fale had the referee distracted. When Fale then approached White, presumably to continue the attack, White whipped Fale into the guardrail. The two then brawled into the crowd, and White tossed Fale into the chairs. Not to be outdone by Fale, White grabbed two young lion wrestlers, who were acting as ring crew, and tossed them onto Fale. Before lone, Fale had recovered and returned the favor by tossing White onto fans seats. White made it back into the ring to avoid a countout. By this point, White was almost completely at Fale’s disposal. Somehow, White managed to battle back and his several chops and kicks. Fale kicked out of an Elevated DDT. White kicked out of a Big Splash and dodged a corner splash. Fale escaped a Blade Runner, but was shoved into referee Red Shoes. With Red Shoes down, Tama Tonga made his way to the ring and unsuccessfully tried a Gun Stun. White blocked, and decked Loa with a chair. Alas, that was just the time Tonga needed to land a Gun Stun. Fale then struck with the Bad Luck Fall. By this time, Red Shoes had come to. Unlike the last Fale match, however, there were no piled of unconscious bodies in the ring. Thus Red Shoes didn’t call for a DQ, and instead counted the fall.
Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) p. Togi Makabe (4) with a High Fly Flow. Makabe gained the early advantage by grounding Tanahashi. After several minutes of being grounded, Tanahashi tried a comeback. The two went back and forth, with Makabe using brawling and Tanahashi using his speed and agility. Makabe hit a powerbomb and a few lariats before trying to finish off Tanahashi with the Spider German Suplex. While he didn’t land the Spider German, Makabe still managed a suplex of the top. Tanahasho dodged the King Kong Knee Drop and managed to land a pair of High Fly Flows to pick up the win.
Kazuchika Okada (4) p. YOSHI-HASHI (2) with a pair of Rainmakers. Another battle between stablemates. This time CHAOS members. Okada threw his shirt at Hashi, which riled Hashi up. The match immediately went to the floor. Remember, CHAOS is still a heel stable. Okada tossed Hashi into a few rows of chairs, which almost gave him a countout victory. Back in the ring, Hashi landed a few punches that Okada shook off. Hashi started fighting back, and scored a few near falls. Okada leveled Hashi with a missile dropkick, and hit a neckbreaker. Okada hit a Rainmaker, which Hashi actually kicked out of. Hashi countered a Tombstone with a rollup for a two count. Okada tried another Rainmaker, only for Hashi to duck and hit a Rainmaker of his own. Hashi then got several more near falls as he stayed on the attack. Okada dodged a Swanton and hit a pair of dropkicks. Hashi dodged another Rainmaker and used the Butterfly Lock. Okada tried to escape several times, but kept getting put back into the hold. Finally, after about the third escape attempt, Okada managed to make the rope break. Yoshi started showing frustration, and Okada started getting his second wind. Hashi got another two count with a lariat. Hashi slapped, then superkicked Okada before hitting a fishermans buster for another two count. Okada reversed Karma into a Tombstone, and hit two more Rainmakers to cinch the win.
Okada has now won three straight after losing his first two matches. Tanahashi and Evil stay tied for first place.
After the match, Okada made his usual three-point promo.
STANDINGS
8 EVIL
8 Tanahashi
6 Okada
6 Suzuki
6 White
4 Elgin
4 Makabe
4 Fale
2 Page
2 YOSHI-HASHI
