Jordan’s NJPW G1 Climax 2017 Day 1 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 2017 Day 1 Review

On days I don’t work a day shift I will be reviewing the entire event. On days I have a day shift at work I may just review the tournament matches if I have other plans, though I’m going to try and review every single match, every single day.  No matter what though, I will be reviewing every single G1 show this year, even if its just a partial review. Lets get it going!

Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson, and David Finlay vs. Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Jushin Thunder Liger

My Thoughts: This was a really fun match! I thought the teams were cohesive, the action was fast paced and everything went smoothly. The crowd was really into this as well which always can make a match more entertaining. I thought everyone did their part here which I love in tag matches of this size because it can be hard to pull off, but I thought everyone had their moments and contributed something to the match. I expected an entertaining match considering its a face vs. face match and it’s something different. Great way to kick off the show for sure.

Rating: ***1/2

Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Tama Tonga, and Chase Owens) vs. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, and El Desperado)

My Thoughts: Before I start, I just wanna say that these kinds of matches are what makes G1 undercards so great. They’re different than the usual norm. This match got off to a hot start with crowd brawling and whatnot. I thought it was really cool seeing Bullet Club work as the faces in this one and I thought Chase Owens looked really solid in this one. Taichi continues to be actively horrible but thankfully his contributions to this match were minimal. This was a solid match overall, a bit clunky at just a few points and I didn’t find it entertaining the whole way through, though I did like it at points.

Rating: ***

EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi vs. SANADA and BUSHI

My Thoughts: I liked this match, it certainly was incredibly interesting considering they’re all a team and I actually had to do a double take when I saw this match was happening. I’m really looking forward to seeing EVIL and SANADA clash in the G1. I really liked how they all clearly knew each others movesets so well and had a counter for nearly everything which made this extremely competitive which I loved. Sometimes the people you want to beat the most are your teammates so you can look like the best member of the team. EVIL introduced a new submission heading into G1 which is interesting. In the end, they came together as a team which was nice to see.

Rating: ***1/4

Toru Yano and Jado vs. Kazuchika Okada and Gedo

My Thoughts: On paper this looks interesting but then you remember that Toru Yano is annoying as fuck and just does the same old lame schtick in every single match, you remember that Jado is garbage, and you remember that Gedo isn’t a desirable wrestler to watch in 2017. This was a lot of comedy and a lot of the IWGP Heavyweight Champion looking shitty compared to FUCKING TORU YANO. In theory Okada should know all of his teammates tricks but nope, he fell for every single one. Why is Okada getting outsmarted by a glorified comedy geek? This was not very good and honestly pretty frustrating to watch.

Rating: 1/2*

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yuji Nagata in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was a great match! It was hard-hitting, competitive, had the crowd invested and you could feel the drama. This is a clear example of why G1 is so great because we get so many matches like that. Nagata is historically a great G1 performer and it’s sad that it’s going to be his last. Last years G1 was HASHI’s coming out party and this year he’s coming in as an underdog but an underdog people love watching now. This was a fantastic way to kick G1 off. The only criticism I have is that the finish felt kind of flat to me.

Rating: ****

Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: I gotta say, I was impressed and pleasantly surprised here. This was a good match with a nice story. Two big guys duking it out with Fale tending to get the advantage and Makabe playing a solid underdog of sorts. I thought both men performed very well which surprised me considering Fale isn’t incredible to watch and Makabe contributes next to nothing in most matches he’s been in in the past year.

Rating: ***

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hirooki Goto in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: These two men absolutely killed each other and put on a fantastic match and a huge step-up from their somewhat disappointing match in last years G1. This was brutal and fun to watch and both men showed their toughness. This was a classic strong style battle and the crowd ate it up, as did I. The fact that these two are going this hard in the first match in G1 sets the tone for the performances these men will continue to have in G1 this year. Goto winning was a huge win too in my opinion.

Rating: ****1/2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was an above average match that was a great watch. It was very good, I liked it a lot and thought the submission work from ZSJ was great and Tana put forth a great effort. Sabre looked so smart in this match and looked like a star taking Tana to the limit. ZSJ gets the HUGE win with a nasty, nasty submission and I liked that after all the hype on ZSJ targeting Tana’s right arm/injured bicep came to fruition because that’s what the finish involved. At the end of the day this was a great effort from both men and Sabre looks incredible.

Rating: ****

Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was an absolutely unbelievable and thrilling match and an amazing way to end this show. There were great near falls, so many genuine jaw dropping moments, some brutal german suplexes, a reverse rana off the top rope from Naito, a deadlift German Suplex from the apron, a FUCKING piledriver off the second rope, among other things. This was crazy, had me totally invested, and was honestly nearly perfect. I do think the first Destino should’ve just ended it though, would’ve been a nice, out of nowhere way to end this. Overall though I have minimal complaints and thought the action was incredible, I thought it went ridiculously well. Kota loses nothing in this loss and this was a win that Naito needed as he hasn’t had a big win in a hot minute. I have high hopes for this years G1 after this match and this entire night in general.

Rating: ****3/4

Overall Thoughts: I thought this show was really great. It had a pretty good undercard as a whole, minus one stinker of a match. All of the tournament matches were anywhere from very good to downright amazing. I would say definitely take the time to watch Ibushi/Naito and Ishii/Goto and if you have time also give Tana/ZSJ and HASHI/Nagata a watch. I think this is going to be a phenomenal tournament and I can’t wait to see it unfold more. What a great way to get the 2017 G1 Climax started!

Overall Rating: 8/10