BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

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BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 27th, '17, 03:07

NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (7/22/2017)- Tokyo, Japan

KOTA IBUSHI, TOGI MAKABE, & DAVID FINLAY JR. vs. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, & Gedo)- 6.5/10
Kind of short, but fast-paced and very fun. An excellent match for the time it got. It also did a decent job of hyping up tomorrow’s matches. And speaking of those matches, we also got a…

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good, then bad.
First Goto and Makabe had a very intense shoving match and had to be separated by referees. Then Ishii and Kota decided that they wanted to have a post-match segment, too so they went face-to-face in the ring, but it came off really lame in comparison to the shoving match we just saw between Goto and Makabe.

CHAOS (Jado & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. SUZUKI-GUN (Zack Sabre Jr. & El Desperado)- 6.25/10
Suzuki-Gun jump CHAOS to start things off. The match was very good for a G1 undercard match that didn’t get too much time.

TOMOYUKI OKA & YUJI NAGATA vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI & KATSUYA KITAMURA- 5.5/10

LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, & BUSHI) vs. BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens)- 6/10
The wrestling was fine, but the important news here is that Bad Luck Fale ripped Darryl to shreds for no reason other than to be a dick. This got MAJOR heat. Hiromu seems to think that Owens did it, but once he learns the truth I expect him to be coming after Fale which should make for some matches that, if not decent, will at least be interesting.

BLOCK B MATCH: Toru Yano vs. Satoshi Kojima (w/Hiroyoshi Tenzan)- 5.75/10
There were fewer Stupid Yano Tricks than usual, which made for a more enjoyable match because matches tend to be more enjoyable when you don’t do the exact same sh*t every time. If only we could get Yano replaced by someone else we’d have an even more enjoyable match. Yano won with a bunch of low blows. If the f*cker isn’t good enough to win a wrestling match without cheating, why is he in the G1 in the first place?

BLOCK B MATCH: Juice Robinson vs. EVIL- 7.75/10
Juice starts by charging right at EVIL, angry at him for keeping a hold locked in after the end of their match last night to try to injure Juice going into this match. These two are both really trying to make their mark this year, and both are making the most of the time they’re being given (in this case it was less than twelve minutes).

BLOCK B MATCH: Sanada vs. Minoru Suzuki (w/El Desperado)- 8/10
A very good finishing sequence, and a good showing for Sanada. Still, he has no one to blame for his loss but himself because he had Suzuki in the nuto and chose to give him a dropkick in the side instead of going nuts and stomping him in the head or something like that.

BLOCK B MATCH: Kenny Omega (w/Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Tama Tonga (w/Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale)- 6.75/10
They came out separately, rather than all coming out as a united group the way Bullet Club has done in past G1s.
Tama Tonga jumps Omega before the bell. Well… at least we’re not getting the f*cking Fingerpoke of Doom tease with Bullet Club for a third straight year. Tonga pressed this advantage, but eventually stopped with the offense to rip off Omega’s Elite shirt. Omega responded by ripping off Tonga’s American flag-colored version of the Bullet Club shirt. One that looks like Cody’s but without the “American Nightmare” text. Hopefully that all winds up being significant six months from now.
Or- even better- it can start being significant right now! After giving Kenny a buster into the apron, Tama Tonga grabbed a mic and said to Kenny “You want to be the leader of the Bullet Club? Then you’ve got to represent the Bullet Club! What the f*ck is The Elite, huh? Huh? Three-man team? The SuperKIiq? If you want to be in Bullet Club, then you be one of us!”
After that point Kenny fired up and dominated most of the match, but they did a good job of not making Tonga look like he would have had no chance if he hadn’t jumped Kenny. Kenny was disrespectful to Tonga after the match but the other three Bullet Club members jumped in quickly. Kenny helped up his hand for a too sweet and Fale, Yujiro, and Owens all joined. Tonga started to walk away before turning back and joining them. Then he and Kenny hugged; they’ve each made their point to other, and now the issue can be put to rest… or can it?
The more I think about it, the more I like the execution of this whole debate. Key to this is the absence of both Cody and the Young Bucks. The Young Bucks aren’t here to immediately take Omega’s side, and Cody not being here means that he doesn’t get to stick his nose in this until later, and I really think that Cody not being involved in the beginning is key to having Omega and the Bucks come out of this as faces because- let’s be honest here- not only does Tonga have a good point, but when you think about it, Kenny and the Bucks making a sub-group within Bullet Club and going around calling themselves “The Elite” is a really douchy thing to do. Having Tama Tonga be the first one to bring this criticism forward- and not having Cody be around for it- takes away any possibility of Cody being seen as having motivations as noble as Tama Tonga’s are here. Now, when Cody returns and tries to seize on this point, it will come across as him just trying to grab power in Bullet Club rather than standing up for the pride and (arguably) the best interests of the faction like Tama Tonga is.

And yet… this would have worked a lot better if these guys hadn’t engaged in last night’s stupid shenanigans. First of all- and perhaps most damning, Tama Tonga comes across a lot less like a guy putting the best interests of the stable above his own best interests when last night’s match saw him betray Kenny Omega by attacking him in a match that was clearly planned to be a farce so as to preserve the bodies of the two men involved for the rest of this grueling tournament. It also kind of kills Tama Tonga’s outrage here if he gets so upset about Kenny wearing “Elite” tights here tonight when he had no problems with Kenny wearing the same f*cking tights in their match last night (which is more of an “attention to detail thing, but maybe if they weren’t so focused on finding ways to be funny someone would have noticed it). The fact of the matter is that the effectiveness of what appears to be a big angle has been damaged by these wrestlers’ desire to put on funny match last night (and the booker letting them do so). And if you’re willing to sacrifice the effectiveness of your story just for the sake of comedy, then what makes you any better than Vince Russo or the goofballs running WWE, or anyone else who has been (rightfully) derided for this throughout the years?

BLOCK B MATCH: Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 8.75/10
Okada works the head and neck to set up for the Rainmaker while Elgin works the back with his power stuff. In addition to this they had a few really great Rainmaker-tease sequences, and Okada is one of the best in the business at waiting until the last split second to get his shoulder up. AWESOME match.


A GREAT show from New Japan, with several extremely interesting developments.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by cero2k » Jul 27th, '17, 09:49

Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 03:07

And yet… this would have worked a lot better if these guys hadn’t engaged in last night’s stupid shenanigans. First of all- and perhaps most damning, Tama Tonga comes across a lot less like a guy putting the best interests of the stable above his own best interests when last night’s match saw him betray Kenny Omega by attacking him in a match that was clearly planned to be a farce so as to preserve the bodies of the two men involved for the rest of this grueling tournament. It also kind of kills Tama Tonga’s outrage here if he gets so upset about Kenny wearing “Elite” tights here tonight when he had no problems with Kenny wearing the same f*cking tights in their match last night (which is more of an “attention to detail thing, but maybe if they weren’t so focused on finding ways to be funny someone would have noticed it). The fact of the matter is that the effectiveness of what appears to be a big angle has been damaged by these wrestlers’ desire to put on funny match last night (and the booker letting them do so). And if you’re willing to sacrifice the effectiveness of your story just for the sake of comedy, then what makes you any better than Vince Russo or the goofballs running WWE, or anyone else who has been (rightfully) derided for this throughout the years?
I really don't see last night's match as a comedy thing, it started like it and that would have totally made sense going by the previous G1 stuff they do, but shit hit the fan really early and as soon as Tonga attacked Kenny all comedy was out the door. it WAS initially Tonga being selfish, but I think by the end the frustrations that we see in this match, were already showing in the tag match. The way Tonga reacts at the very end when Kenny complains said a lot to me.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 27th, '17, 11:08

cero2k wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 09:49
Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 03:07

And yet… this would have worked a lot better if these guys hadn’t engaged in last night’s stupid shenanigans. First of all- and perhaps most damning, Tama Tonga comes across a lot less like a guy putting the best interests of the stable above his own best interests when last night’s match saw him betray Kenny Omega by attacking him in a match that was clearly planned to be a farce so as to preserve the bodies of the two men involved for the rest of this grueling tournament. It also kind of kills Tama Tonga’s outrage here if he gets so upset about Kenny wearing “Elite” tights here tonight when he had no problems with Kenny wearing the same f*cking tights in their match last night (which is more of an “attention to detail thing, but maybe if they weren’t so focused on finding ways to be funny someone would have noticed it). The fact of the matter is that the effectiveness of what appears to be a big angle has been damaged by these wrestlers’ desire to put on funny match last night (and the booker letting them do so). And if you’re willing to sacrifice the effectiveness of your story just for the sake of comedy, then what makes you any better than Vince Russo or the goofballs running WWE, or anyone else who has been (rightfully) derided for this throughout the years?
I really don't see last night's match as a comedy thing, it started like it and that would have totally made sense going by the previous G1 stuff they do, but shit hit the fan really early and as soon as Tonga attacked Kenny all comedy was out the door. it WAS initially Tonga being selfish, but I think by the end the frustrations that we see in this match, were already showing in the tag match. The way Tonga reacts at the very end when Kenny complains said a lot to me.
They were still doing comedy stuff with Chase Owens after the Tama thing started.
I also think that Tonga being selfish sets the wrong tone for all of this. It makes it harder for me to care if Tonga's selifshness is hypocritical. Even if Kenny is supposed to come out of all of this as the babyface, I think he kind of needs to be given that character moment to realize his selfishness- by which in this case I mean him (and the Bucks) being willing to split off from BC because they really do care more about The Elite than they do about BC as a whole, which, while a bit dickish, is in a way, honesty, which will contrast nicely with Cody's disingenuousness when he claims to care about BC. Between that and Kenny and The Bucks being happy to win matches on their own, without BC interference, I think that will solidly position them as babyface. If Tonga is hypocritical, though, Kenny has no reason to come to that realization, and thus he will wind up being a heel who is now treated as a babyface because the other heels turned on him, rather than because of something he himself did to really become a babyface.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by cero2k » Jul 27th, '17, 14:30

I think i'm just seeing the selfishness and the problems with Kenny as separate issues. Tonga to me had always been somewhat selfish and so going about his business against Kenny wasn't because of Kenny, he would have done the same thing with an injured Styles. Maybe not Fale because he's freaking huge tho.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 27th, '17, 15:18

cero2k wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 14:30 I think i'm just seeing the selfishness and the problems with Kenny as separate issues. Tonga to me had always been somewhat selfish and so going about his business against Kenny wasn't because of Kenny, he would have done the same thing with an injured Styles. Maybe not Fale because he's freaking huge tho.
Actually, he did double-cross Fale in the G1 last year when he said he would lie down for him but then tried to roll him up, so he would do it to Fale.
Personally, the proximity of the things and the fact that they involve the same two guys makes it impossible for me to separate them. That's just not how storytelling works. If Tonga is going to be selfish (although this and the aforementioned Fale double cross are the only times he's exhibited selfishness [or really any other character trait] then I have to incorporate that into my view of the character from now on.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by cero2k » Jul 27th, '17, 16:00

Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 15:18
Actually, he did double-cross Fale in the G1 last year when he said he would lie down for him but then tried to roll him up, so he would do it to Fale.
Personally, the proximity of the things and the fact that they involve the same two guys makes it impossible for me to separate them. That's just not how storytelling works. If Tonga is going to be selfish (although this and the aforementioned Fale double cross are the only times he's exhibited selfishness [or really any other character trait] then I have to incorporate that into my view of the character from now on.
exactly, so if we know he's selfish and does this kind of stuff, they [BC] should know so too, and at this point they probably shouldn't overreact over him doing it, but we now have an Omega that clearly gets pissed at this and so provokes Tonga to not take Omega's shit.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 27th, '17, 16:24

cero2k wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 16:00
Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 15:18
Actually, he did double-cross Fale in the G1 last year when he said he would lie down for him but then tried to roll him up, so he would do it to Fale.
Personally, the proximity of the things and the fact that they involve the same two guys makes it impossible for me to separate them. That's just not how storytelling works. If Tonga is going to be selfish (although this and the aforementioned Fale double cross are the only times he's exhibited selfishness [or really any other character trait] then I have to incorporate that into my view of the character from now on.
exactly, so if we know he's selfish and does this kind of stuff, they [BC] should know so too, and at this point they probably shouldn't overreact over him doing it, but we now have an Omega that clearly gets pissed at this and so provokes Tonga to not take Omega's shit.
But in that scenario Tonga comes off worse. How you can you talk about Tonga deciding that he won't takeOmega's sh*t when he just selfishly betrayed him? I mean... I understand how you can, but it just makes Tonga look like a total asshole. He's betraying a guy for his own selfish reasons, then getting upset because that guy gets upset at him so he calls that guy out for being selfish because he's wearing the tights of his own sub-group within the faction rather than wearing the full faction's tights? It's not that Tonga doesn't still theoretically have a point, but he comes off as almost delusional when you look at the big picture. It's like if you gain my trust so give you the key to my house, then, when I'm not home, you use the key to get inside so you can pour gasoline all over everything and then you burn down my house, so I react in a completely normal and logical manner by calling the cops on you, and you then you get angry at me for calling the cops on you because you burned down my house, and you tell everyone that I'm a criminal, too, because I always j-walk.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by cero2k » Jul 27th, '17, 20:13

well, regardless of what WWE has taught us, heels SHOULD be wrong, delusional, and not make sense.

Here's how i see it.

day 1: they all make a plan, Tonga doesn't follow it thinking he can get some upper hand, that Omega will understand, that he would do the same, so the match continues with some jokes, kinda friendly competition, except for Omega who is visibly pissed off. After the match, Tonga is like haha cool, but Omega starts pushing and calling him out. Tonga is just like 'dude, shut the fuck up, chill the fuck out, i was just joking geez"

from this day, all through the night and next day, Tonga is still pissed. his other ideas about Kenny and Elite were probably boiling for a while.

day 2: after being pissed all day, Tonga's feelings are hot and so now as soon as he can, he cuts the Elite promo on Kenny. And now those words are out there and he can't take them back, and thus all his instagram/twitter posts about bullet club
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 28th, '17, 00:48

cero2k wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 20:13 well, regardless of what WWE has taught us, heels SHOULD be wrong, delusional, and not make sense.
I vehemently disagree with this statement.
cero2k wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 20:13 Here's how i see it.

day 1: they all make a plan, Tonga doesn't follow it thinking he can get some upper hand, that Omega will understand, that he would do the same, so the match continues with some jokes, kinda friendly competition, except for Omega who is visibly pissed off. After the match, Tonga is like haha cool, but Omega starts pushing and calling him out. Tonga is just like 'dude, shut the fuck up, chill the fuck out, i was just joking geez"

from this day, all through the night and next day, Tonga is still pissed. his other ideas about Kenny and Elite were probably boiling for a while.

day 2: after being pissed all day, Tonga's feelings are hot and so now as soon as he can, he cuts the Elite promo on Kenny. And now those words are out there and he can't take them back, and thus all his instagram/twitter posts about bullet club
To stab someone in the back and then say "chill out! I was just joking" is completely delusional.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by cero2k » Jul 28th, '17, 10:07

Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 28th, '17, 00:48
I vehemently disagree with this statement.
ok, maybe i exaggerated, but for someone who respects the line between heels and faces, i would expect you agree that heel making sense over the babyfaces' argument is bad booking. we shouldn't hear a heels' promo and say 'yeah, i agree, that babyface IS a dick'
cero2k wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 20:13
To stab someone in the back and then say "chill out! I was just joking" is completely delusional.
indeed, like a bully, a heel, they never think they're doing wrong
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 28th, '17, 10:28

cero2k wrote: Jul 28th, '17, 10:07
Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 28th, '17, 00:48
I vehemently disagree with this statement.
ok, maybe i exaggerated, but for someone who respects the line between heels and faces, i would expect you agree that heel making sense over the babyfaces' argument is bad booking. we shouldn't hear a heels' promo and say 'yeah, i agree, that babyface IS a dick'
Yes. But the issue there is that you shouldn't book your babyface that way, not that the heel is telling the truth.
cero2k wrote: Jul 27th, '17, 20:13
Big Red Machine wrote: Jul 28th, '17, 00:48 To stab someone in the back and then say "chill out! I was just joking" is completely delusional.
indeed, like a bully, a heel, they never think they're doing wrong
But it shows what is, in my mind, a serious disconnect from reality, to the point where they cease to be a compelling character and more come across like a cartoon. I think that if you're going to have a delusional character, you need to go all the way with it. Someone whose view of the world seems totally warped. He can't react that way sometimes but not others. He'd have to be someone who go after someone for any perceived slight. Something to make me think that, in this guy's mind, he is the babyface, and not just in the usual heel sense where they think they are in the right because they think that the only thing that matters is getting the win and any actions taken in pursuit of that W are justified. I'm talking about a heel who sees himself as the babyface because he thinks he's being persecuted- that anything someone does that he doesn't like, even if it is clearly an accident or a coincidence or just someone going about their normal business, is just proof that everyone is against him. Someone who I can really, truly, believe has such a warped view of the world.
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Re: BRM Reviews NJPW G1 Climax 27: Day 4 (GREAT!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Sep 9th, '17, 20:50

Apparently Tama Tonga said in an interview on Wrestling Observer Live that everything he and Kenny did here was totally off the top of their heads and there were no instructions from Gedo to do anything. Gedo really needs to get control of his locker room. You can't have guys going out there and shooting their own angles.
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