Sorry for the delays, but we are back with more G1 Grumble action! We are nearing the halfway point of the G1 Climax 26 tournament and the pieces are falling into place. Here’s all the action from night's 7 and 8. Night 7 – A Block The Ace Finally End His Bad Luck. One of the intriguing storylines in this year’s G1 is last years winner Hiroshi Tanahashi and his 0-3 record coming into Night 7. Having just returned from injury and seemingly far from 100%, he fell in his first 3 matches to competitors such as Togi Makabe and SANADA, however this was finally the night that all changed as he took down the Bullet Clubs big man, Bad Luck Fale. Despite taking home the win, it was not an easy night for the Ace, as Bad Luck Fale methodically tried to take apart Tanahashi, working on his recently rehabbed shoulder, and swatting him out of the air like a fly whenever he tried to mount a comeback. However Tanahashi wasn’t prepared to go down again as he kicked out of the Grenade and countered the Bad Luck Fall into a roll up getting the win he desperately needed to stay in the tournament. After the win, Tanahashi spoke with the crowd and vowed to not lose another match in the tournament and win back-to-back tournaments, however the deck is truly stacked against him. Championship Run. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada continued his run in the G1 taking his record to 3-1 at the expense of Bad Boy Tama Tonga. Tonga took control of the contest early, but when attempting the gun stun, Okada countered and took over the match, hitting a big German suplex before ending proceedings with the Rainmaker. Can the Champion keep up his run in the G1 and take control of his own destiny? Don’t Get into a Chop Contest with a Stone Pitbull. In what this writer thought was the match of the night, and I may be a little bias based on my love of the Stone Pitbull, Tomohiro Ishii won an excellently fought contest over Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji. The match started at Marufujis pace before the tide turned and the two traded stiff chops and elbows. Marufuji may not be winning every match, but all his previous opponents have been wearing the scabs and bruises from his whipping chops as a keepsake from their encounters. The match turned to Ishii’s favour as it went on, with the two trading their big moves before Ishii knocked Marufuji silly with a head-butt and Lariat, before securing the win with the brain buster. One thing to note here is how good Ishii has been this tournament, and in general over the past year. Usually the tough-guy persona benefits the one with the reputation more than their opponents, but Ishii bucks that trend using his brilliant selling that elevates his opponent to his level, meaning win or lose, both men come out looking better for having the contest. Skull End After a promising start to the G1 for SANADA, it looked to have been a one hit wonder when he made Tanahashi tap on the opening night, however this is a marathon and he was bound to pick up the pace once again, and this time his victim was Hirooki Goto. SANADA used the Skull End (a dragon sleeper) to wear down Goto who refused to submit to the Los Ingobernables member, however on the final attempt, Cold Skull let go of the submission and hit a picturesque moonsault to take home the win, giving him another 2 points to keep him within reach of the G1 Final. The Raging Bull stopped in his tracks by King Kong. The story of Hiroyoshi Tenzan’s final G1 took another downturn as he fell in the opening tournament match of the night to A Block Leader, Togi Makabe. This was a good stiff opener for the two, however the intense schedule of the G1 has started to take its toll on the vetran, leading to Makabe hitting a Samoan drop and the King Kong Knee for the win, keeping him on top of the A Block. Here is what the A Block looks like after night 7. The one to watch will be Makabe who has yet to be defeated, and Tanahashi will be keeping an eye on this because even if he can match Makabe's final point total, he lost the head-to head against him. IWGP Champ Okada is only trailing by 2 points, but he is the favourite in the group and will likely overtake Makabe. Night 8 - B BlockTranqui....oh crap. Former IWGP Heavyweight champion Tetsuya Naito is used to calling out "Tranquilo" after matches, but it was he who found himself been put to sleep by the NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata in a great main event. Naito was his usual cocky self as he worked over Shibata's injured shoulder and knee, however his confidence got the better of him as the hard hitting NEVER champ refused to kneel and took it to Naito with his signature style of hard elbows and kicks. The finish saw him lock in a rear-naked choke that forced the smile from Naito's face, Naito fought with everything to break it but eventually succummed, leading to Shibata sitting him down for the Penalty kick and, rather than go for the pin, lock in the Rear Naked choke once again, choking the former champion and one of the favourites for the G1 unconsious. While Naito is a favourite to win this years G1, Shibata is many 'ITK' people's dark horse, and this is a big win for him. Omega Can’t Get One Over the Big Man. In a rematch from Dominion back in May, Michael Elgin once again bested the Bullet Clubs Kenny Omega in a riveting contest. The match started much like many of Omegas matches before this tournament did, with interference from Taguchi that distracted Elgin long enough for Omega to hit a big dive. The match continued to go back and forth with Omega working over Elgin’s injured shoulder, and Elgin making big power comebacks. The match finished with both men hitting the others finish on their opponent for near falls before the IWGP intercontinental champion hit two big lariats and the Spin-out power bomb for the win. Blue Justice is no match for KICKS Much like with the story of Tenzan, NJPW legend Yugi Nagata is also starting to feel the toll of this intense G1 tournament, as he fell once again, this time to Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Katsuhiko Nakajima. Nakajima controlled the vetren with his kickboxing skills, but then had to face a barrage as Nagata used the white eyes arm bar and the backdrop driver that has put away most of his opponents in this tournament, only for it to be met with a Penalty Kick and a brain buster, giving Nakajima the big win. Karma YOSHI-HASHI picked up an important 2 points over Los Ingobernables de Japon big man, EVIL in a great back and forth contest. In the closing part of the contest, EVIL forced his way out of the double armlock, only to be caught by a lariat and a senton for a near fall, and then the Karma Half nelson driver that finally put a stop to the King of Darkness. YANO WINS! In the opening contest of night 8, Toru Yano finally picked up a win over Tomoaki Honma in a fun contest. The match was very much Head-butt vs. Shenanigans as Honma tried to use his Kokeshi however Yano used distractions to hit a low blow and get the quick roll up victory. The B Block is still wide open with pretty much everyone in contention. with 5 matches to go, everyone will be looking for the next gear. We at the Royal Grumble will be covering all the G1 action, You can also watch the whole G1 (with English commentary on the final 3 nights courtesy of Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino) on NJPWWorld.com, and the sign up instructions can be found here.
Also, leave a comment on our Facebook/Twitter (links in the bar to your right). and as always, listen to the Royal Grumble every Sunday, straight to your podcast listening app via the links in the bar on the right, and on iTunes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
NEW EPISODES EVERY SUNDAYArchives
March 2017
Categories
All
|