NJPW G1 Climax 27, Day 17

Hirai Kawato, Tomoyuki Oka, & Katsuya Kitamura vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, & El Desperado) - 5/10

HA! It took them 17 days to learn, but the Young Lions jumped Suzuki-Gun this time! Obviously the Young Lions got the shit kicked out of them. This was kinda bittersweet, it was the last change in tournament for the Young Lions to get their hands on Suzuki, and while they got beat up, they also got some offense on Suzuki who worked all the match sans the finish, that was Desperado dropping Kawato with the Guitarra del Angel.

Guerrilas of Destiny vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & BUSHI) - 4/10

Dang, poor LIJ are going against a legit tag team this time around. GOD got the heat on SANADA for most of the match, then they all went at it. Tonga and SANADA were doing magic inside the ring when Tonga wasn't cheating. Finish saw Tonga hit the Gun Stun on BUSHI for the win. After the match SANADA teased hitting the Skull End on Tonga, but Roa was there and SANADA let Tonga go. This match was kinda meh, but tomorrow's has potential.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi) vs Juice Robinson & Satoshi Kojima - 4.5/10

Match was good, LIJ got heat on Kojima for a while, mostly building EVIL vs Kojima, which was the good stuff. Juice defetead Hiromu with the Pulp Friction, and he is lucky to be in the G1, otherwise, Hiromu wouldn't kicked his ass. In hindsight, EVIL vs Kojima should had been Kojima's only win, spoiling EVIL who shouldn't have lost against Elgin.

Is it me, or does Juice come off as a perv all the time?

War Machine, Michael Elgin, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Ricochet vs Bullet Club (The Young Bucks, Chase Owens, Hangman Page, & Cody) - 7/10

Bullet Club came out to Cody's song. The Taguchi Japan team all came out with goofy glasses (including War Machine) and face paint. This match builds up Bucks vs Taguchi/Ricochet & War Machine vs Page/Fale? who are all fighting for the titles at the finals.

The match was all about these guys getting their shit in, tons and tons of spots, and some comedy, actually, a lot of comedy, but overall, it was enjoyable. Problem with these matches is that among all the stuff done, not a lot of it is memorable once the match is over. The biggest spot I'd say was when Hanson kept dodging moonsaults and then he hit one himself. Finish was Elgin defeating Chase Owens.

Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Yujiro Takahashi) vs CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano) - 5.5/10

Okada is still taped up on the neck, but it seems that Omega was ok after the botch against SANADA. I'm not sure why they didn't put Yano in the opener against Suzuki and have Gedo here to give it more of a serious tone.

Everything between Okada and Omega was golden, Okada was selling his neck a lot, he couldn't do kick ups, even Omega was surprised by how strong his neck offense turned out to be, so you know that plays into Omega hitting the One Winged Angel tomorrow. Yujiro was good here too, but obviously, he was the one that had to lose to Yano after getting a low blow and the roll up.

G1 Climax 27 Block A
Bad Luck Fale (10) vs Yuji Nagata (2) - 8/10

This is Nagata's final G1 Climax match, Nogami is on commentary, so don't be surprised that Nagata gets the win tonight. Also, the WHOLE crowd has Nagata signs, Cesaro section has nothing on the Nagata section. This was Fale dominating Nagata for the most part thanks to his power, but Nagata never stopped trying to work the legs until he finally got Fale on his knees and Nagata was able to kick higher. At one point in the match, Nagaa went full Sabre Jr and was locking in all types of submissions on Fale, starting with Shirome into the Armbar into the Ankle Lock into an Deathlock. Nagata kept fighting valiantly, but at the end, legends must go out on their backs as Fale hits the Bad Luck Slam for the win. This was a great final story.

Post-match - Nagata is crying, Fale offers a two sweet out of respect. Fale salutes him instead, and Bad Luck Fale vows!! (Nagata was Fale's first trainer when he came to Japan). Nogami and myself are shedding tears. This shit was emotional.

G1 Climax 27 Block A
YOSHI-HASHI (4) vs Togi Makabe (6) - 6.5/10

Man, I'd feel sorry for anyone that has to follow Nagata tonight, but specially these two that have been really irrelevant all tournament. YOSHI worked towards submitting Makabe while Makabe was doing his usual power stuff building forwards the KKK Drop (that's a terrible abbreviation, I know) which he eventually hit for the win. The last few minutes were good.

G1 Climax 27 Block A
Zack Sabre Jr (8) w/El Desperado vs Tomohiro Ishii (8) - 9.5/10

Holy shit, Ishii going hold-by-hold with Sabre, he should do that more often. Sabre worked Ishii's arm while Ishii had to stop the grappling and do what he does best, strike and throw people around. Once in their own environment, this match was fucking awesome, just Sabre dissecting Ishii, and Ishii trying to rip Sabre's head off. The final minutes of the match, these guys were countering everything and stiffing each other. Finish saw Saber lock in some kind of octopus to which Ishii wouldn't submit to for a long while until he verbally had to submit. Fucking Awesome. Huge win for Sabre.

G1 Climax 27 Block A
Hirooki Goto (8) vs Kota Ibushi (10) - 9/10

Back and forward match, I'd actually go out and say this was Goto's best match of the tournament. They both worked each other's necks with their usual moves. Goto pinned Ibushi after blocking the Kamigoye and hitting the GTR.

G1 Climax 27 Block A
Hiroshi Tanahashi (12) vs Tetsuya Naito (12) - 9.5/10

The crowd is heavily on Naito's side tonight, people were booing Tanahashi at the start of the match when he slapped Naito in the ropes. Match was well balanced, back and forward action. Naito worked on Tanahashi's injured arm all match, and on the other side, Tanahashi worked Naito's leg as he usually does. As the match progressed, the crowd was just hot for both guys.

There was a really awesome submission spot with Tanahashi locking in the Liontamer on Naito, who struggled to make it to the ropes. Tanahashi later countered the first Destino attempt into a bunch of suplexes, but Naito managed to hit two more Destinos for the win and pass to the finals.

Post-match - All LIJ comes out to support Naito. Cut a promo that sounded awesome, I just don't know what he said. But you can imagine it was towards wining the whole thing and he said he's coming for either Okada or Omega.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Awesome show, even the undercard was enjoyable. I LOVED the Nagata match and the Ishii match, it's something that you should definitely go out and watch.