The G1 Climax is entering its final stages. And it’s time for the penultimate night of B Block Tournament action. Tonight’s show will be main evented by a battle of Los Ingobernables De Japon members Tetsuya Naito and SANADA. Plus there will be a match that will likely be polarizing to some fans in Kenny Omega vs. Toru Yano.
As usual, the undercard is filled out with tag matches between A Block contestants.
Togi Makabe & Toa Henare b. Michael Elgin & Shota Umino when Henare pinned Umino with a Uranage. Makabe and Henare go the advantage on Umino. Elgin got the tag and took it to Makabe, which ended in a double down and a double tag out. Boston Crab by Umino on Henare was broken by Makabe. Umino continued to get some near falls until he ran into a tackle. Henare then finished off Umino with a Uranage.
Hangman Page & Chase Owens b. YOSHI-HASHI & Sho of CHAOS when Page pinned Sho with a Rite Of Passage. Page and Owens worked over Sho for the heat. Double tag out to Hashi and Page, which had Page land a Buckshot Clothesline for a two count. Hashi escaped a Rite Of Passage and tagged in Sho. A four way broke out and Sho locked in a cross armbreaker on Page. Owens broke it up, and got German Suplexed for his troubles. However, Owens was able to hit the Jewel Heist, and Page followed up with a Rite Of Passage to get the pin.
Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa of Bullet Club OG b. Minoru Suzuki & El Desperado of Suzuki-Gun when Loa pinned Desperado with the Over The Shoulder Piledriver. With all four men involved being heels, it was no surprise that a brawl immediately broke out before ring introductions. Suzuki brawled with Fale on one end of the arena, while Desperado and Loa fought on the other end. Back in the ring, Fale and Suzuki went at it, with Fale getting the better of it. Double tag out to Loa and Desperado. Suzuki and and Fale continued to brawl on the outside while Loa pinned Desperado with the Over The Shoulder Piledriver.
After the match, Fale and Suzuki brawled out of the arena.
EVIL & BUSHI of Los Ingobernables De Japon b. “Switchblade” Jay White & Yoh of CHAOS when Bushi pinned Yoh with a MX. White once again looked like he was going to start the match, but instead tagged Yoh in. Bushi and Yoh went at it until White yanked Bushi to the outside and held him for Yoh to dive. When Yoh ran to make his dive, he was pulled to the outside by Evil. This lead to LIJ working over Yoh. Of course, when Yoh was wanting to make a tag, White was nowhere near the tag corner. Yoh tried to retaliate but fell to Bushi’s MX. I don’t think WHite was ever actually tagged in for the match.
After the match, Evil clobbered Yoh with a chair as White walked off.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & David Finlay b. Kazuchika Okada & Gedo when Finlay pinned Gedo with a Stunner. The crowd was very excited for Tanahashi. In a surprising move, Tanahashi took a cheap shot during a lockup. The two went back and forth with neither man comin out on top. Finlay tagged in and took it to Okada. Gedo tagged in and put Finlay in a submission. Tanahashi broke it, and soon was brawling with Okada. In the melee, Finlay hit a Stunner and pinned Gedo. Very short match considering the superstars that were in it, but it was merely a teaser for the big match on the 10th.
After the match, Okada and Tanahashi stood on oppsite broadcast tables to work the crowd.
This brings us to the tournament matches, and the stipulations each man needs to win.
Naito has the least likely scenario. In order for Naito to win the block he’ll have to win tonight and the final B Block night. Omega will need to lose one match and get not better than a draw in the other. A points tie would favor Omega, since Omega beat Naito in their match.
Kota Ibushi needs to beat Omega in order to win the block. Though if Ibushi loses tonight and Omega wins, Ibushi is still eliminated.
Omega from a points view has the best chance to win the block, as all he has to do is win one out of his next two.
Tomohiro Ishii (6) p. IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson (4) with a brainbuster. Both men charged into each other like bulls, with Juice finally knocking Ishii off his feet. They took turns pummeling each other in the corners. Then they took turns exchanging headbutts, which surprisingly didn’t kill Juice. After that Ishii charged, and Juice caught him with a Spinebuster. Juice removed his cast and exchanged strikes, and landed a canonball. Flying bodypress from Juice for a two count. Several chops traded which started to stagger Ishii. Juice tried to capitalize but got met with a powerslam. Superplex from Ishii. Juicebox followed by a powerbomb, but Ishii kicked out. Juice decked Ishii with a left hand, but clearly hurt himself. Ishii dodged a Pulp Friction and hit his sliding lariat for a two count. Juice tried to battle back, but ultimately failed and was pinned after a brainbuster.
This means Ishii has pinned every champion in this bracket. He’s pinned the NEVER Openweight Champion, the IWGP United States Champion, and the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. This also means Juice now has his sixth potential challenger for his US Title.
Zack Sabre Jr. (8) p. NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto (6). The two went at it right off the bat, and it quickly spilled to the outside. Goto whipped Zack into the guardrail, to which Zack responded with a guillotine choke. Sabre then stalked Goto in the ring with stomps and submissions. Several times Goto had to get a rope break. Finally, Goto was able to counter an octopus hold into an Ushi-Goroushi. Goto kept going for a GTR, but Sabre would escape. The finish was Zack reversing a GTR into a bridging roll-up for a pin.
Tama Tonga (4) p. Kota Ibushi (10) with a Gun Stun. Again, Tonga attacked his opponent from behind while still on the ramp. He dragged Ibushi around ringside, trashtalking him mand throwing him into the barricade. When the match finally got into the ring, Tonga worked over Ibushi. Ibushi started making a comeback, and evenutally erupted with strikes and dropkicks. Tonga cut off Ibushi’s momentum by tossing him to the floor. The two battled through the crowd, with with Ibushi taking off through a door. He re-emerged on the upper deck, and hit a moonsault. Ibushi brought Tonga back into the ring, and looked to finish him off with another move off the ropes when Tanga Loa ran into the ring and stopped him. Neackbreaker by Tonga, followed by a double arm DDT for a near fall. Ibushi dodged a Gun Stun, and sized Tonga up for a Kamigoye. Loa sprang up from the floor and grabbed Ibushi’s leg. Tonga again missed a Gun Stun, this time accidentally on purpose knocking the referee out of the ring. Bad Luck Fale came to the ring and tried to interfere, only for Kenny Omega to run out for the save. However, even with Fale out of the equation, Tonga was able to hit the Gun Stun to steal the victory.
After the match, Loa powerbombed Omega. Hangman Page and Chase Owens made the save. As luck would have it, Omega’s match with Toru Yano is scheduled to go next.
Toru Yano (2) p. Kenny Omega (12) after Tama Tonga interfered. Yano came to the ring and immediately went for a pin. Omega kicked out, so Yano started removing all the turnbuckle pads. He whipped Kenny several times into exposed turnbuckles, until Chase Owens started manually using turnbuckle pads to soften the blows for Omega. Yano set up all four pads in the middle of the ring. Omega tried to suplex Yano, but Yano reversed. Fortunately for OMega, he landed on the pads and felt nothing from the suplex. Both men then started fighting with the turnbuckle pads like swordsmen. Outside the ring, Yano taped Omega’s arm to Ren Hirata’s arm. Omega managed to make it into the ring with Hirata attached to him like a conjoined twin. Yano got clotheslined by both men. Omega managed to separate himeself from Hirata and exchange several exciting near falls with Yano. In a weird spot, Yano low blowed Omega from behind, and hit both Omega and Red Shoes. With Red Shoes down, Tama Tonga rand in and hit Omega with a Gun Stun. He draped Yano over Omega, allowing Red Shoes to count the pin.
This means all three men are still technically not eliminated. If Naito wins tonight, and Omega and Ibushi battle to a time limit draw on the next B Block, the Naito wins the block. If either Omega or Ibushi win their match with each other, then that winner gets the block.
Tetsuya Naito (10) p. SANADA (8) with Destino. This is the long awaited battle between the leader of LIJ against arguably the one with the biggest potential. Naito motioned for a fistbump, and tried a cheapshot when Sanada accepted. However, Sanada reversed and sent Naito the corner. Both men exchanged a lot of reversals, holds, and even spits in the early minutes. A springboard dropkick from Sanada lead to a double down. Tornado DDT by Naito, followed by a top rope hurricanrana. Sanada kicked out of Gloria. Naito repeatedly tried for Destino, only for Sanada to keep escaping and reversing. Tiger Suplex by Sanada for a two count. Sanada tried the Skull Elnd, which Naito reversed into Destino. Sanada kicked out, and hit his own Destino. Naito kicked out. Crowd seemed to back Sanada by this point. Sanada finally locked in a Skull End, and blocked multiple attempts from Naito to escape. Sanada, perhaps sensing victory, went for the moonsault. Naito dodged, cuasing another double down. Naito hit a flying forearm, and again went for Destino. Several back and forth reversals between Skull End and Destino attempts. Sanada then no-sold a German Suplex, but Naito quickly followed up with a final Destino to get the pin and avoid his elimination.
After the match, Naito cut a promo asking the crowd whether that match will stay in their hearts. Naito acknowledged one member of LIJ wasn’t present (Hiromu Takahashi suffered a neck injury in San Francisco), but that he should be back soon.
So there you have it. Going into the last day, all three men who were eligible at the beginning are still eligible at the end. If Omega beats Ibushi on the final night, Omega wins the block. If Ibushi beats Omega, then Ibushi wins the block. If Naito wins his last match, and Omega and Ibushi go to a tie, then Naito wins the block.
STANDINGS
12 Omega
12 Naito
10 Ibushi
10 Sabre
8 SANADA
6 Goto
6 Ishii
4 Tonga
4 Robinson
4 Yano
