NJPW G1 Climax Day 4 Review 07/22/2017

Satoshi Kojima vs Toru Yano

This was your standard Yano match which meant a bunch of comedy bullshit and you hope it ends soon so you can get on with the rest of the tournament. Yano actually secures a win here which I mean cool for him. Won’t mean anything but hey give him this moment.

Match Rating: **

Juice Robinson vs EVIL

Juice Robinson continues to impress me a lot during this tournament. His selling mostly here because he bumped like a maniac for EVIL and it helped both really loom good. Juice the underdog and EVIL the beast tearing through the competition. Then we got a nice fire up from Juice really getting this match going and ended up being pretty damn solid. I look forward to Juice’s matches in the G1 now because I think he can deliver quite nicely and i’m excited for when he gets in there with Okada. EVIL gets the victory here in a real solid match

Match Rating: ***1/2

Minoru Suzuki vs SANADA

I wasn’t sure how this was going to go but i’ll say I was pleasantly surprised by this match. Of course Suzuki is top tier talent but SANADA is till trying to find himself and this G1 has showed massive improvements in his game. After this G1 I wouldn’t mind a NEVER or Intercontinental title shot coming his way. This match was real solid but man was the finishing sequence awesome. The counters into the sleeper and SANADA trying to escape then getting flipped into the Gotch Style Pile driver everything flowed well. Suzuki secured his first win of the tournament here.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Kenny Omega vs Tama Tonga

Battle of Bullet Club members and Tama wasn’t feeling the Elite in this one. He questioned Kenny’s loyalty to Bullet Club and if he deserves to be leader. This wasn’t too much in the ring more so just trying to push to what seems like a future split of the Bullet Club into two halves. Omega wins because he’s Kenny Omega really.

Match Rating: ***

Kazuchika Okada vs Michael Elgin

I really liked the story of this match with a sacred but confident Okada against a very determined Elgin who knows if he beats Okada here not only does he get more points in the G1 and closer to winning but he would earn a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This started with Elgin dominating early just turning Okada at every chance he got. But once Okada got going it became an awesome back and forth match between two elite competitors. While I might not like Elgin doesn’t mean he can’t go. This match was so damn good and definitely  must watch. Okada wins here which is cool doesn’t bother me.

Match Rating: ****1/2