New Japan Pro Wrestling continued their G1 Climax tournament on Friday. Since the show began at 5:30am EDT, here’s a spoiler-free match listing for the non-nite-owl New Japan fans. Each match has been given a Need To Watch Rating of 0.0-10.0. The show is available at NJPWWorld.com
FIRST MATCH: CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & SHO) vs. Shota Umino & Toa Henare
Solid opening match.
Need To Watch Rating: (1.0)
SECOND MATCH: Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) vs. CHAOS (Toru Yano & Gedo)
Fun comedy tag match. Yano & Gedo do a good job of curbing the nuclear hatred of The Tongans.
Need To Watch Rating: (1.5)
THIRD MATCH: CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & YOH) vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
Goto & YOH remain a fun team. Finlay has started to cool off as C Block is no more. Juice’s hand seems fine.
Need To Watch Rating: (1.0)
FOURTH MATCH: Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & Tetsuya Naito) vs. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku)
Solid tag match, but nothing of substance.
Need To Watch Rating: (1.0)
FIFTH MATCH: The Elite (Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) vs. Kota Ibushi, Marty Scurll & Chase Owens
The opening five minutes of this match are sublime.
Need To Watch Rating: (4.9)
SIXTH MATCH: A Block Match: Togi Makabe (4 pts) vs. Michael Elgin (6 pts)
Solid effort by two hosses that have no shot at winning the tournament.
Need To Watch Rating: (6.0)
SEVENTH MATCH: A Block Match: YOSHI-HASHI (4 pts) vs. Hangman Page (6 pts)
A very solid match from two of A Block’s workhorses.
Need To Watch Rating: (6.5)
EIGHTH MATCH: A Block Match: Bad Luck Fale (6 pts) vs. Minoru Suzuki (8 pts)
Suzuki-gun and The Bullet Club OGs have ridiculously good chemistry.
Need To Watch Rating: (7.9)
NINTH MATCH: A Block Match: EVIL (8 pts) vs. Jay White (12 pts)
A solid match with a blistering finish. Definitely a standout performance for both men.
Need To Watch Rating: (9.0)
MAIN EVENT: A Block Match: Kazuchika Okada (12 pts) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (14 pts)
Far superior to their Wrestling Dontaku match, this might be a runner-up for Match Of The Year. These two wrestled easily the best match of Block competition this year. We are truly spoiled as wrestling fans to get the match quality we’ve been getting this year. Seek. Out. This. Match.
Need To Watch Rating: (12.0)
