Day 14 of G1 Climax gives us the seventh round of B Block Action. Only two more rounds to go. Unlike the A Block, there is only one clear cut leader in the thusfar undefeated Kenny Omega. In fact, Omega would have to lose at least two matches before the risk of losing the B Block Championship. All other contestants have lost at least two matches, with the exception of Tetsuya Naito. And if Omega were to lose, he’d tie with Naito, and thus still be the bracket champion.
Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa of Bullet Club OG b. YOSHI-HASHI & Sho of CHAOS when Loa pinned Sho with an Over The Shoulder Piledriver. Hashi showed some guts by starting out against Fale, and used his speed advantage to counteract Fale’s size and strength. Sho tagged in and helped double team Loa. Off camera, Fale fought with Hashi on the floor. Loa worked over Sho in the ring until Sho made a comeback. Sho was going for a cross armbreaker that Fale broke up. Shortly after that, Loa was able to recover and hit the Over The Shoulder Piledriver for the pin.
Minoru Suzuki & El Desprado of Suzuki-Gun b. Hangman Page & Chase Owens when Suzuki pinned Owens with a Gotch Piledriver. Of course, Suzuki-Gun attacked before the bell and took the battle to the floor. Desperado and Owens took the fight back to the ring where Suzuki helped double team. Page got the tag and fended off both opponents for a while. Suzuki dodged the Buckshot clohesline and went for a Gotch Piledriver. Page escaped and hit a discuss clothesline. Owens tagged in and a brief four way broke out. Suzuki gave Owens the Gotch Piledriver, and glared at Page as he got the pin.
“Switchblade” Jay White & Yoh of CHAOS b. Togi Makabe & Toa Henare when White pinned Henare with a Blade Runner. White and Makabe started out and trarded shoulderblocks. When this didn’t got White’s way, he quickly tagged out to Yoh. Henare quickly overpowered Yoh. White tripped Henare from the outsode and smashed him into the apron and guardrail. White then tagged himself in. Henare hit a Samoan Drop and tagged in Makabe, who ran wild on White. Makabe and Henare double teamed White, before Henare climbed to the top rope. White managed to toss Henare off the top, then hit a Blade Runner for the win.
After the match, White smashed Makabe with a chair repatedly. Presumably to soften him up for their tournament match tomorrow.
Michael Elgin & David Finlay b. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino when Finlay pinned Umino with a Stunner. Another matchup of babyface teams. Tanahashi and Elgin becan with Elgin showing a clear power advantage by perching him on the top rope. Tanahashi escaped, which lead to a double tag. Elgin and Finlay cut off Umino and worked him over. Umino hit a desparate dropkick and tagged in Tanahashi. This time Tanahashi fared much better. Finlay tagged in and went back and forth with Tanahashi beore Umino got tagged in. Umino hit a missile dropkick and applied the Boston Crab. Elgin broke the pin and fought outside with Tanahashi. Umino continued to fire up and got several near falls. Hoever, Finlay was able to kick out and finally hit the Stunner.
EVIL & BUSHI of Los Ingobernables De Japon b. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo of CHAOS when Bushi pinned Gedo with a MX. The two Light Heavyweights faced off with Gedo applying a Rings Of Saturn. Evil helped break the hold, and the two LIJ members worked over Gedo’s beard. Okada got the tag and went back and forth with Evil. Double tag out to Gedo and Bushi. Evil broke up a Gedo Clutch pin. LIJ double teamed Gedo. When Okada ran in for the save, Evil stopped him with a Rainmaker. Yes, Evil used Okada’s own move against him. Bushi then hit Gedo with a MX to score the pin.
Now on to the tournament matches.
SANADA (6) b. Toru Yano (2) via countout. Yano attacked Sanada from behind, and tied his legs together with tape. Sanada almost got counted out in the opening moments. Yano tried to continue the attack inside the ring, but Sanada was a step ahead of him. Sanada used a titl-a-whirl pinning combination, which Yano was able to kick out of. Sanada took the match to the outside, and tied Yano up in the Paradise Lock. Yano, unable to move, called to Rocky Romero for help. Rocky left the announce table and freed Yano. Sanada then fought on the outside, and taped Yano to a guardrail. Rocky again tried to free Yano. This time, Sanada stepped in and put Rocky in the Paradise Lock. With both ment tied up on the floor, Sanada simply got back in the ring and took a countout victory.
After the match, Milano Colletcion AT helped free both men.
NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto (4) b. Tama Tonga (4) via DQ when Bad Luck Fale interfered. Both men are elminated from winning the bracket. Loa did his usual ring introduction for Tonga. Goto outwrestled Tonga in the begining, until the referee got distracted and Loa threw Goto to the floor. The brothers eacj took chap shots again Goto on the floor. Tonga stalked Goto for the next few minutes, then Goto made a comeback. Tonga escaped an Ushi-Garoushi by shoving Goto into the referee. With the ref dow, Loa hit the ring and helped double team. Goto fended off both men and hit a GTR. The referee started the count when Fale yanked him out from behind and ran him into the guardrail. Fale hit a Hand Genade. and rolled Tonga onto Goto. Red Shoes ran out to replace the referee. Rather than count the fall, Red Shoes called for the DQ. IT’s good to see competent officiating on a wrestling program.
Zack Sabre Jr. (6) s. IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson (4). Taka Michinoku did his usual ring introduction, which apparently still starts by asking who will win thr tournament. That is funny because Zack is mathematically eliminated from winning. Back and forth action at the start, with neither man getting a clear cut advantage. As expected, Zack started targeting Juice’s injured hand with submission moves. Each time Juice would escape, Sabre would clamp in a different hold. Juice removed the cast from his left wrist and hit Zack with a left handed punch. Zack reversed a Pulp Friction into a very scary looking submission, which eventually got Juice to submit.
After the match, Sabre stood in the ring with the US Title.
Tomohiro Ishii (4) p. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega (12) with a brainbuster. The announcers brought up the valid point that Ishii has beaten Omega in singles competition. Omega got some two counts early on. It wasn’t until Kenny stomped a seated Ishii that things changed. Ishii started standing up to Omega’s kicks and battled back. Omega hit a suicide dive to the outside. A Kintaro Crusher got a two count for Kenny. At that point, Omega started favoring his ankle. At the ten minute mark, Ishii hit a superplex for a two count. Kenny hit a V-Trigger and a German Suplex. Ishii immediately got up and decked Omega with clotheslines. Then Ishii lifted Omega to an Electric Chair. presumably to go for his own One Winged Agel. Omega escaped and hit a Dr. Wily Bomb. Ishii Started getting to his feet, shrugging off Omega’s offense. Omega laded two V-Triggers, neither of which Ishii appeared to be hurt by. Kenny landed some runnong clotheslines, with Ishii hopping back right afterward. Ishii escaped a One Winged Angel, then reversed Omega’s hurricanrana attempt into a powerbomb, which caused a double dowm. Both men made it to their feet, with Ishii once again seemngly unfazed by Omega’s offense. A double-stop on the apron to the floor finally gace Omega some headway. Back in the ring, Both men started escaping and reversing each other’s moves. Ishii kicked out of a neckbreaker, two V-Triggers, and a Jay Driller. Omega tried the One-Winged Angel, which Ishii reversed into a roll-up. Crowd is going nuts by thos point (as am I). Ishii landed a few headbutts and a lariat for another near fall. Omega hit a brainbust (Ishii’s own finisher) but Ishii kicked out at 1. Ishii finally landed a brainbuster, and Red Shoes counted the fall. I don’t know if it’ll be part a story, but it looked like Omega’s left shoulder was off the mat, though it’s worth mentioning Red Shoes probably couldn’t see that from his standpoint.
This likely means an IWGP Heavyweight Title shot for Ishii next month.
Kota Ibushi (8) p. Tetsuya Naito (10) with a Kamigoye. Fast paced action right out of the gate until Naito slid outside of the ring and stalled for a few minutes. Naito had trouble getting offense, until he hit a chop block on the apron. He then stalked Ibushi on the outside and smashed him into the announcer’s table. Back in the ring, Naito continued his attack by stomping Ishii in the corner. Ibushi made a comeback, but couldn’t score the pin. Naito landed several dropkicks and clamped on a Figure Four. Ibushi repeatdly slapped Naito while still in the hold. Naito landed a flying forearm and went for Destino. Ibushi escaped and hit a German Suplex, resulting in a double down. Both men slowly got to their feet and landed strikes. Naito landed a Tombstone like piledriver, and a back suplex. Elevated Neckbreaker only got a two count. Naito launched Ibushi into a trunbuckle, then climbed it, possibly going for a top rope Destino. Ibushi escaped and met Naito at the top. In a very scary moment, Ibushi looked to be going for a op rope piledriver. Naito reversed into a top rope reverse hurricanrana, but Ibushi landed on his feet and leveled Naito with a clothesline. Ibushi appeared to be bleeding from the mouth. Naito kicked out of a deadlit German Suplex, and a Last Ride Powerbomb. After an exciting echange of reversals, Naito finally hit Destino. Ibushi kicked out and landed the Kamigoye. Naito kicked out of that. So both men kicked out of each other’s finishing moves. But in the end, Ibushi landed a second Kamigoye for a pinfall at approximately the 25 minute mark.
After the match, Ibushi cut a promo, presumably vowing to win the tournament.
STANDINGS
12 Omega
10 Naito
10 Ibushi
8 Sabre
8 SANADA
6 Goto
6 Ishii
4 Tonga
4 Robinson
2 Yano
