Jordan’s NJPW G1 Climax 2017 Day 5 Review

NJPW G1 Climax 2017 Day 5 Review

Michael Elgin and Katsuya Kitamura vs. TenCozy (Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan)

My Thoughts: This was a decent tag match but was far from anything special which sucks considering every opening match on these shows to this point have been highly entertaining. It wasn’t that this was bad, it just felt like nothing even happened. Kitamura is greena and I accept that, he hasn’t been in the game that long and he’s learning. Elgin, Kojima, and Tenzan were just pretty boring and basic here which led to a boring and basic match.

Rating: **

Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Taichi) vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay, and Hirai Kawato

My Thoughts: This was better than the opener, had some nice interactions between Suzuki and Juice and Juice is showing that he will not back down against Suzuki. That should be a good one, especially if they keep interference out of it. I appreciated the little amount of Taichi involvement here. Also, I can’t help but sympathize with Kawato, especially when Suzuki was beating the shit out of him. I feel like this and the last match should’ve been flip-flopped. This would’ve been a better opener.

Rating: ***

EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Tama Tonga and Chase Owens

My Thoughts: This match was okay, but just like the opener just felt kinda bland and lifeless. Nothing horribly wrong with it, just not a super entertaining match. There was a really awkward point near the end of the match with EVIL and Owens that hurt the closing stretch too. They’re really hyping up this new Banshee Muzzle submission from EVIL too which I like. Hopefully he makes someone tap to it in the tournament soon.

Rating: **1/4

Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Toru Yano and Jado

My Thoughts: This was an insuffereable match for me as I expected. It was very boring for the first half and totally lame the second half. I’ve made it a game with myself to try and telegraph every Yano spot, and I do a pretty damn good job at it. This was in no way good. Yujiro is awkward, Yano is annoying, Jado sucks, and Kenny did nothing of note.

Rating: 3/4*

SANADA and BUSHI vs. Kazuchika Okada and Gedo

My Thoughts: This was a solid tag match. Okada and SANADA had a phenomenal sequence to get things going, Gedo didn’t hurt this match, and the action was pretty decent overall. Nothing to go out of your way for here but it did a pretty good job of making you anticipate Okada/SANADA on the 25th. I’m also glad that LIJ got the win here, but that could potentially mean Okada’s beating SANADA on the 25th. I’d love to see SANADA get the upset win but I don’t see it.

Rating: ***

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. YOSHI-HASHI in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was a pretty good match overall. It never kicked into balls to the wall mode but that’s okay because not every match NEEDS to be balls to the wall in G1, but every match should be worth my time. This was worth my time. They worked a nice, relaxing pace and HASHI had to adapt here as Sabre was working his kind of match. Another good win for Sabre here as well.

Rating: ***1/4

Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was one hell of a war. Both men worked really ahrd to put on a very good match that I really liked. The slap battles were brutal to watch, the counters were solid, the crowd was into it, and I, along with the crowd, really found myself pulling for Nagata. He continues to put on stellar performances and make me wish this wasn’t his last G1. Tana getting booed was interesting but it just goes to show how much the fans adore Yuji. Great performance from both men, but I can’t wait for Yuji to finally start getting some wins in G1, he deserves to get at least a couple under his belt.

Rating: ***3/4

Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was a fine match but I didn’t enjoy it too much. I don’t blame the guys, this is a hard match to work as it is a heel vs. heel match, even if the crowd loves Naito, but it just felt really boring and longer than it actually was and I think that has a lot more to do with Fale here than Naito. Fale just didn’t do much, it felt as though Naito did all the work here. It upsets me that Fale got the win here, but they always love to give him his token big G1 win and I guess this was it since he didn’t beat Tana.

Rating: **

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kota Ibushi in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was an amazing match! I really like this kind of match when it’s done right and I really hate this kind of match when it’s done wrong. This is a very hard match to pull off and make look good and boy oh boy, Ishii and Ibushi had no problem pulling it off. They continued to fight through the pain and there were even times where they tried to fight through the pain but couldn’t. This was absolutely fucking violent and brutal, it was two men trying to kill each other and both of them are refusing to die. In the end, Ibushi survived Ishii which was an awesome moment. Top that, Goto and Makabe.

Rating: ****3/4

Hirooki Goto vs. Togi Makabe in an A Block G1 Climax Tournament Match

My Thoughts: This was a really good match, kind of similar to the match Makabe had with Ishii. It was brutal, both men put in effort and went out there and killed it. The crowd was eating it up and I was on the edge of my seat. There were some great spots, especially in the final stretch like the King Kong Knee Drop to the side of Gogo’s head and the German off the top rope. This didn’t top Ishii/Ibushi but it was still a good match.

Rating: ***3/4

Overall Thoughts: The undercard pretty much sucked on this show outside of two solid matches, but 4/5 of the tournament matches are worth watching even though only one is must-see. I said Day 4 was weakest show thus far, well now it’s Day 5. Not an atrocious show but not a great one. It’s too bad this show was on my birthday. I cursed this show and Battleground!

Overall Rating: 6/10