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[ghostmind]

That was probably the best Gallows match yet in the G1, and it was due in large part to Ishii.

 

[British Monsoon]

Ishii hitting a vertical suplex on Gallows looked crazy, dude's ridiculously awesome.

 

[ghostmind]

What the hell did Kojima just do there?

Was he mocking DBS Jr's terrible job at receiving a DDT on the apron?

 

[British Monsoon]

Yeah, that was weird. Pretty good match though, also, surprised at Tenzan's performances. He's working real hard out there.

 

[ghostmind]

LOL, Karl with the Gangrel name-drop.

LOLOLOL, this is great.

MA-CHINE-GUN

YA-NO-SUCKS

BUL-LET-CLUB

 

[British Monsoon]

Fuck, Suzuki is brutal, love that he's using Saka Otoshi as a finisher now.

Lol, Karl jacking Yano's gimmick is so much fun.

 

[ghostmind]

Oh shit... Karl is going to blow a fuse!


Yeah, Yujiro was trying to be a bad guy, but he's not at Suzuki's level of brutal.

 

[British Monsoon]

I loved that finish so much, definitely the best Yano match of the tournament so far. Good first half, although nothing stood out as 'must watch'.

 

[ghostmind]

This second half is stacked.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Missed most of the first half aside from the end of Karl/Yano

2nd half should be fun though

 

[British Monsoon]

Nice knowing you, Shelton. You're about to get Shibata'd.

 

[ghostmind]

If Shelton pulls this off, it will be a miracle.

 

[British Monsoon]

AJ vs Goto...this is one of those matches I'm super intrigued about, because I have no idea how it's going to play out.

 

[ghostmind]

Wow, these two match up really well.

That was great! AJ is putting out his best work in years, and he's really gelling with the other NJPW talent, and the crowd is starting to react to him.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

AJ/Goto was real good. The end sequence had me legitimately unsure of who would win.

 

[British Monsoon]

That was so, so good. I really enjoyed it and definitely agree about AJ - it's AWESOME to see a company properly showcase his talents, free of all the bullshit that came with TNA.

 

[ghostmind]

They are really building Fale as a monster.


... and just as I was typing that I heard one of the commentators say "monster"

 

[British Monsoon]

I also swear I heard Nogami call Fale's splash "family sizeduuu!!", lol.

That was a pretty good match, Tanahashi put over Fale hella strong. Loved the spot where Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow, but Fale grabbed his throat as he landed and hit the Grenade!

 

[ghostmind]

Both Nakamura and Tanahashi have put Fale over huge. They've got some long-term plans for Fale for sure.


Family sizedu... that's awesome - I'll have to listen for it next time.

 

[ghostmind]

Crowd chanting "kokeshi". Honma is over big.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Christ @ Honma's piledriver.

Don't hurt Swagsuke pls

EDIT: That was fun even with the botch at the end.

 

[British Monsoon]

I can easily see Honma getting the MVP bonus this year (Ishii got it last year), he's putting in a hell of a shift throughout the tournament. Can't wait for him to get his win, the crowd are going to lose their minds.

 

[ghostmind]

Honma better be near the top of the card after G1. The crowds love him, and he's put on great matches with everyone he has faced.

No more throwing him in the early card with Captain New Japan or similar - give him a real push!

 

[British Monsoon]

I don't know if you'll see him near the top of the card, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a NEVER title shot, or challenge for the tag titles at some point. He's got a lot of things working against him, though; his age, his deathmatch background and the whole Yakuza scandal he got fired for a few years back.

 

[ghostmind]

I don't know if you'll see him near the top of the card, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a NEVER title shot, or challenge for the tag titles at some point. He's got a lot of things working against him, though; his age, his deathmatch background and the whole Yakuza scandal he got fired for a few years back.

Ah, I didn't know about the Yakuza thing.

I guess not near the top then, but he's proving himself to be a great worker, so I hope he is rewarded with some sort of elevation after this.

 

[British Monsoon]

Definitely, he really deserves it and the fans love him.

Also, THAT MAIN EVENT! Fuck yes, that was all kinds of great. Naito is getting pushed again, but this time it's WORKING. Everyone complaining about how badly he was being booked this year, I told you; they needed to rebuild him after the disastrous push last year and that's exactly what they've done. Huge Naito chants from the Sendai crowd, great match.

 

[ghostmind]

Something about Naito vs Okada that just doesn't work as well for me. I find Naito's matches against other opponents more interesting.

Also, Naito needs to learn how to sell better than just staring blankly.

He is doing a lot better than last year though - much better connection with the crowd.

If Naito is going to be in the main event at Wrestle Kingdom, I would rather it be against Styles than Okada. Or Okada vs. Styles. Either one works for me. Just not Okada vs. Naito again.

 

[ghostmind]

Karl Anderson ‏@Machinegunka 4m
Sendai, Japan.
If you were in the crowd or you bought the PPV. You just saw the best professional Wrestling on Gods Green Earth.
Hands down.

 

[ghostmind]

Day 5 Top Matches
Styles vs. Goto
Yano vs. Anderson
Nakamura vs. Honma
Okada vs. Naito
Tanahashi vs. Fale


Yeah, that's half the card, but there were so many great matches tonight that were close to each other in quality that I cannot narrow it further.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

I think this year's G1 is more consistent than last so far.

Am I completely wrong in saying that?

 

[British Monsoon]

No, I think you might be right - I'd say it's because of the longer breaks between shows. Last year's schedule was so utterly brutal, at least half the roster was working with injuries by the end.

If Naito is going to be in the main event at Wrestle Kingdom, I would rather it be against Styles than Okada. Or Okada vs. Styles. Either one works for me. Just not Okada vs. Naito again.

I'm still pretty sure the WK main will be Okada vs Shinsuke, with Tanahashi vs Styles and Naito vs Fale (if he still has the IC belt come January). I definitely see an IC title run in his future before he gets hold of the main title, although he did beat AJ, so he will likely get a shot sometime this year.

 

[ghostmind]

Yeah, Okada vs. Nak would probably be the biggest draw, and I know it's something that we've been talking about since last year. But if Okada faces Nak then I don't see CHAOS surviving in its current form... so then does the Bullet Club stay together? I don't see them breaking apart both factions in a span of 5 months.

 

[British Monsoon]

I could actually see CHAOS splitting in two behind Okada & Nakamura. One would presumably turn full heel, Nakamura I'm guessing.

Oh yeah, I'd probably rank the top matches today;

Okada vs Naito
Styles vs Goto
Nakamura vs Honma
Yano vs Anderson
Tanahashi vs Fale

 

[Deleted member 47027]

So Anderson has no way of getting enough points to get in the finals yes? And we'll hopefully get a feud out of Anderson and Yano?

 

[British Monsoon]

Anderson can still get to the finals mathematically, but it'd require a lot of others to lose a lot of their matches. So yeah, he's done.

Also, first injury scare of the tournament - Tanahashi was taken to hospital for scans on his neck. Thankfully, New Japan's in-house doctor says they didn't find anything and Tanahashi should be OK, but he's being kept in for observation.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

I kinda lost track, can someone fill me in on the scores so far?

 

[British Monsoon]

Block A:

1. Shelton Benjamin [8]
2. Katsuyori Shibata [6]
-. Bad Luck Fale [6]
-. Hiroshi Tanahashi [6]
-. Shisuke Nakamura [6]
-. Tomohiro Ishii [6]
7. Davey Boy Smith Jr. [4]
8. Satoshi Kojima [4]
9. Yuji Nagata [2]
-. Doc Gallows [2]
11. Tomoaki Honma [0]

Block B:

1. Tetsuya Naito [8]
2. Kazuchika Okada [6]
-. Hirooki Goto [6]
-. Toru Yano [6]
5. Minoru Suzuki [4]
-. Lance Archer [4]
-. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4]
-. AJ Styles [4]
9. Togi Makabe [2]
10. Yujiro Takahashi [2]
-. Karl Anderson [2]

 

[Browny]

I've managed to miss out on pretty much everything so far, and with a holiday next week, that's not going to improve. Looks as though I'll have some busy lunchtimes when I get back - days 1 and 4 sound superb!

 

[Sibersk Esto]

Thanks boots. My boy Ishii is doing better than I thought. GODDAMN at that Shelton push tho

 

[British Monsoon]

I'm pretty sure Shelton's push is done with. Can't see him winning any of his next 3 matches, but he might pick up one or two more wins.

I'm really, really hoping Honma beats him on the penultimate show - Honma deserves at least one win.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

I expected Yujiro to get a lot more wins. Shelton's will even out now. It's been interesting.

 

[somedevil]

New Japan injury update:

Bad news on the G-1 front. Togi Makabe suffered a fractured jaw during his match with Lance Archer on Saturday while Hiroshi Tanahashi was in the hospital earlier today with neck problems.

Tanahashi is being held together by Glue right now.

 

[ghostmind]

Day 5 post-match interviews:

http://youtu.be/ji8N4QPPvNE

 

[Deleted member 47027]

New Japan injury update:



Tanahashi is being held together by Glue right now.

Not surprised about Makabe. I bet he'll try to finish the show though.

 

[slightconfuse]

Naito / okada

Goto/ stilted

Shelton and Shibata were amazing

Day 5 was solid

 

[MoosiferX]

Day 5 post-match interviews:

http://youtu.be/ji8N4QPPvNE

Good lord Karl is hilarious. Thanks for linking this!

Day 5 was great!

 

[Browny]

Having never seen him before, I'm now a huge fan of Honma - especially his headbutts.

 

[British Monsoon]

Day 6 kicks off in a little over 9 hours;

NJPW, "G1 CLIMAX - DAY 6", 2014/07/31
Act City Hamamatsu

18:00 JST | 11:00 EU | 10:00 UK | 05:00 EDT | 02:00 PDT

01. G1 Climax - Block A: Doc Gallows vs Bad Luck Fale
02. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata vs Davey Boy Smith Jr.
03. G1 Climax - Block B: Togi Makabe vs Yujiro Takahashi
04. G1 Climax - Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs Katsuyori Shibata
05. G1 Climax - Block B: Hirooki Goto vs Karl Anderson
06. G1 Climax - Block B: Minoru Suzuki vs Lance Archer
07. G1 Climax - Block A: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Shelton Benjamin
08. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs AJ Styles
09. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuchika Okada vs Toru Yano
10. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii

No update on Tanahashi or Makabe's condition, but you would think they'd announce it before hand if the main event had to be changed, so I'm presuming Tana's good to go. Others are apparently working through injuries, but no specific details.

As for the event itself, there's some interesting encounters from the get go with Bullet Club members Bad Luck Fale and Doc Gallows facing off. I'm also really looking forward to Kojima vs Shibata, they had a great match last year. Tenzan vs Styles is an interesting one - Tenzan seems to have hit a rare vein of good form, while AJ's tearing it up. CHAOS team-mates Okada & Yano going at it should be fun if the match from last year's New Japan Cup is any indication, while Tanahashi vs Ishii was one of the highlights of last year's G1, so is unsurprisingly pretty anticipated.

 

[Rhaknar]

been super busy lately but am going to try and finish day 2 tonight at work since its slow. Just watched Davey Boy jr vs Nakamura, that was alright, probably the best of day 2 so far. I really like Nakamura

 

[FallingEdge]

The more I watch, the more I really enjoy Davey Jr.