BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 18 (awesome!)

[Big Red Machine]

NJPW G1 Climax: Day 18 (8/12/2017)- Tokyo, Japan

JUSHIN “THUNDER” LIGER, TIGER MASK IV, HIRAI KAWATO, & KUSHIDA vs. SUZUKI-GUN (El Desperado, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & TAKA Michinoku)- 5/10
Heels win and beat KUSHIDA up afterwards as well, including El Desperado laying him out with his own title belt, so I guess we know who is getting the next title shot.

BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Tanga Loa & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & YOSHI-HASHI)- 4.5/10

TOGI MAKABE & YUJI NAGATA vs. SUZUKI-GUN (Zack Sabre Jr. & Takashi Iizuka)- 2/10
The stuff between Zack and Nagata was good, but we just saw a much better match between these two a few days ago. Iizuka is terrible and bring down any match he is in. Zack got his win back on Nagata.

RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, WAR MACHINE, KATSUYA KITAMURA, & RICOCHET vs. BULLET CLUB (Adam Page, Bad Luck Fale, Cody, & the Young Bucks)- 6.75/10
This was another fun big giant tag match, but tonight had a lot more of that CHIKARA-esque stuff with everyone going for the same more at the same time, or one babyface hitting all of the heels in a row with the same move for comedy, so I preferred last night’s more straightforward action a lot more.

HIROSHI TANAHASHI, KOTA IBUSHI, & DAVID FINLAY JR. vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, & BUSHI)- 6/10
Great for the time it got.

BLOCK B MATCH: Michael Elgin vs. Juice Robinson- 8.25/10
These guys decided that they were going to have a killer match here so that’s what they did. These were two guys who were really looking to prove themselves- Juice to show he has grown to not be someone who has to be carried by the top level guys, and Elgin for his upcoming contract negotiations, and both of these guys definitely showed their worth here.

BLOCK B MATCH: Tama Tonga vs. Sanada- 6.75/10
They cut away to the announcers literally as Sanada was charging at Tama Tonga and was about a split second away from hitting him in the back of the head. How in G-d’s name is this director or producer or whoever decides which camera to cut to still employed?
So Sanada tied Tonga in the nuto on the outside, just like he did to Yano. Fortunately for Tonga, his stablemates Tanga Loa and Yujiro Takahashi showed up to help him out of the nuto, which they had to do by kicking him, because apparently you can’t just gently roll the guy over for some reason. My question, though, is that these two clearly interfered in this match- they touched one of the competitors in order to give one of the competitors an advantage. If they don’t show up and make contact with Tama Tonga, he’s getting counted out, just like what happened to Yano. They’ve affected the outcome of the match by making contact with one of the competitors. So shouldn’t this be a DQ?
I also think they missed an opportunity here by not having Cody be one of the guys who came out to help Tonga. It would play perfectly into the lecture that Tonga gave Omega on day four about how the leader of Bullet Club needs to have the best interests of Bullet Club in mind, not just those of himself or a subsection of the group.
And speaking of friends and people getting out of the nuto, I can’t help but notice that Tama Tonga’s stablemates came out to help him, even in this match whose result is completely irrelevant to the outcome of the tournament… and yet when Toru Yano was in a similar position- and was even still very much alive in the tournament- no one came out to help him. None of the members of CHAOS, nor anyone from outside the group. What this indicates to me is that Toru Yano has zero friends, and doesn’t even have any colleagues who were willing to help him out even though it would be in the best interests of their own faction. And that thought makes me smile. It’s always nice to see someone suffering actual consequences for constantly being a huge gaping asshole to everyone around him.
The match was quite good. Both guys worked on the other’s head, but they did a good job incorporating a separate story of Bullet Club’s interference into the match as well.

BLOCK B MATCH: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki- DUD!
I don’t give a f*ck how much overbooking there is reason at all for Minoru Suzuki to ever lose to Toru Yano. NONE. And it’s not like there was anything on the line here. Gedo booked a match where Yano beat Suzuki just so he could have Yano beat Suzuki. Vince McMahon, on his dumbest day, would NEVER book Brock Lesnar to lose to Heath Slater. But that’s what Gedo just did.
Guys are running in on Okada or Ishii or Goto and no one in CHAOS helps, but now that f*cking YANO is in trouble Rocky Romero decides to show up to help? CHAOS makes no sense as a faction. They exist so Gedo can stick guys together in tag matches (not sure why they need to be in the same stable to team up together) but when it’s time to actually act like a faction they never do… unless the plot demands it… and the plot only happens to demand it and the dumbest and most pointless of times.


BLOCK B MATCH: EVIL vs. Satoshi Kojima (w/Hiroyoshi Tenzan)- 8/10
Another awesome match from EVIL in this tournament. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t have a bigger role in this company by the end of next year. Now if only someone could teach him to make sure the referee isn’t looking before he hits someone with a chair.

BLOCK B MATCH: Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo) vs. Kenny Omega (w/the Young Bucks)- 9.25/10
Below their usual standards. Let that sink in for a moment: 9.25/10 is “below their usual standards.” What other pairings can you say that about? Flair vs. Steamboat, Tanahashi vs. Okada, Shawn vs. Taker, MAYBE Dragon vs. Nigel or KENTA vs. Nakajima or Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA.
I know that this isn’t news to anyone, but Omega is a world-class wrestler and an awesome personality, and Okada is a world-class wrestler and an awesome seller, so this match rocked. Lots of work on the head and neck from both guys, wonderful selling by Okada, and a couple of really great reversals. Plus, the return of Croyt’s Wrath! Omega finally gets that big win over Okada, proving that if he hits the One-Winged Angel in the middle of the ring it can put Okada down. Now all Kenny has to do is get the chance to hit it when the title is on the line, which, it almost certainly will be at King of Pro Wrestling… unless, of course, Kenny beats Naito tomorrow night to win the G1, in which case we’ll have to wait until WrestleKingdom.

Another AWESOME G1 show, with Omega and Okada delivering yet again, and others putting on awesome matches to help elevate the card. If only that f*cking Yano match hadn’t happened.

[NWK2000]

BLOCK B MATCH: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki- DUD!
I don’t give a f*ck how much overbooking there is reason at all for Minoru Suzuki to ever lose to Toru Yano. NONE. And it’s not like there was anything on the line here. Gedo booked a match where Yano beat Suzuki just so he could have Yano beat Suzuki. Vince McMahon, on his dumbest day, would NEVER book Brock Lesnar to lose to Heath Slater. But that’s what Gedo just did.
Guys are running in on Okada or Ishii or Goto and no one in CHAOS helps, but now that f*cking YANO is in trouble Rocky Romero decides to show up to help? CHAOS makes no sense as a faction. They exist so Gedo can stick guys together in tag matches (not sure why they need to be in the same stable to team up together) but when it’s time to actually act like a faction they never do… unless the plot demands it… and the plot only happens to demand it and the dumbest and most pointless of times.

My friend had this to say about Suzuki vs Yano "Now Suzuki and Batista can form of a "Duct tape? Are you serious?" support group

[Big Red Machine]

BLOCK B MATCH: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki- DUD!
I don’t give a f*ck how much overbooking there is reason at all for Minoru Suzuki to ever lose to Toru Yano. NONE. And it’s not like there was anything on the line here. Gedo booked a match where Yano beat Suzuki just so he could have Yano beat Suzuki. Vince McMahon, on his dumbest day, would NEVER book Brock Lesnar to lose to Heath Slater. But that’s what Gedo just did.
Guys are running in on Okada or Ishii or Goto and no one in CHAOS helps, but now that f*cking YANO is in trouble Rocky Romero decides to show up to help? CHAOS makes no sense as a faction. They exist so Gedo can stick guys together in tag matches (not sure why they need to be in the same stable to team up together) but when it’s time to actually act like a faction they never do… unless the plot demands it… and the plot only happens to demand it and the dumbest and most pointless of times.

My friend had this to say about Suzuki vs Yano "Now Suzuki and Batista can form of a "Duct tape? Are you serious?" support group

The difference, to me, though, is how unnecessary this one was, as compared to Batista or even Nagata losing do Yano's duct tape last year or the year before. Toru Yano had as many points in his block as Michael Elgin, Sanada, or Tama Tonga. That is unacceptable when you're to build those guys as the future. Last year he was two points away from the leader and had as many points as Elgin, Shibata, and Nakajima, and the year before that he had as many as Nakajima, Ibushi, and Makabe. There is no reason for a joke loser comedy guy with completely tired schtik to be doing this well. Even the protestations that Gedo's way of booking a tournament is to try to keep everyone about even aren't n excuse because he almost always books it so that the only two guys alive on the final day of block play are the guys in the main event, and the other four matches are meaningless, so if keeping everyone even doesn't add to the drama, then why do it when all it does is force you to make top stars lose to comedy dorks?