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2014 G1 Climax


Ryan

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Crowd on fire for the first half of the show even for Fale/Benjamin which is surprising for an all gaijin match, not as hot after intermission. I'd say there's not a bad match on the show but with it being G1 season there's a few that are skippable. Every match is under 15 minutes

 

Day 2 (no spoilers)

Satoshi Kojima vs.Tomohiro Ishii: Favourite match of the show. Must watch
Shelton Benjamin vs. Bad Luck Fale: i nearly skipped over this but pretty good for these two. they kept it short and pacey.
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi: As good a match as Yujiro's ever had. pretty good actually.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Lance Archer: I'm not a huge fan of Archer but they really clicked. worth watching to see Archers early 90's WCW jobber pants.
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma At times real good, a few problems but a fun sprint
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. decent. noticably slower then the other matches. not essential.
Toru Yano vs. AJ Styles: It's Yano vs Styles nothings going to surprise you, always interesting seeing different styles class. it's fine.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan Probably the best match after intermission: Tenzan's looking healthy and performing well.
Togi Makabe vs. Karl Anderson: didn't do a lot for me, Makabe looks in serious pain.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Doc Gallows: not too hot. it's fine but skippable

 

I'd say watch all the first half of the show up to Nakamura/Smith and then watch Okada/Tenzan if you're pushed for time.

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Getting into Day 3. Enjoyed everything I've watched (I'm cherry picking and haven't watched any Shelty matches so if he wins the tournament on an epic undefeated run  I'll be SOL, and you know what that means). Kojima has been the fucking jam so far. Nagata has been a lot of fun too. I mean the usual suspects are fucking aces but it's fun to see the older guys start off hot (though they won't be able to keep it up, of course.)

 

Hearing great things about Day 4.

 

Also, is there a handy-dandy place to see updated standings? Aside from Shelton being undefeated I'm not as up on the scoreboard as I need to be as we get closer to it.  

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Getting into Day 3. Enjoyed everything I've watched (I'm cherry picking and haven't watched any Shelty matches so if he wins the tournament on an epic undefeated run  I'll be SOL, and you know what that means). Kojima has been the fucking jam so far. Nagata has been a lot of fun too. I mean the usual suspects are fucking aces but it's fun to see the older guys start off hot (though they won't be able to keep it up, of course.)

 

Hearing great things about Day 4.

 

Also, is there a handy-dandy place to see updated standings? Aside from Shelton being undefeated I'm not as up on the scoreboard as I need to be as we get closer to it.  

Here ya go.

Block A:

1. Shelton Benjamin [8]

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi [6]

3. Katsuyori Shibata [4]

- Bad Luck Fale [4]

- Satoshi Kojima [4]

- Shinsuke Nakamura [4]

- Tomohiro Ishii [4]

8. Yuji Nagata [2]

- Doc Gallows [2]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2]

11. Tomoaki Honma [0]

Block B:

1. Hirooki Goto [6]

- Tetsuya Naito [6]

- Kazuchika Okada [6]

4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4]

- Togi Makabe [4]

- Toru Yano [4]

7. AJ Styles [2]

- Yujiro Takahashi [2]

- Minoru Suzuki [2]

- Karl Anderson [2]

- Lance Archer [2]

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Not looking above

 

Day 3 (no spoilers)

 

An ok show you get a feeling most were taking it easy. Short matches, i haven't checked but i'd guess nothing went over 15 minutes.

 

Tomoaki Honma vs. Doc Gallows Nothing much to it, it was fine but skippable.
Lance Archer vs. Karl Anderson: Ok, they did well to get the crowd onside. Enjoyable enough but again skippable
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yujiro Takahashi: Decent but again not crying out for your attention. Probably going to say this every Tenzan match but he's looking good and he's had a good tournament.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shelton Benjamin: Good, both worked well and it's nice to see Benjamin's brought his working boots this year.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano None more Yano really. cheats and cheats and Naito trys to get the better of him. enjoyable enough but nothing you have to see
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. Enjoyed this quite a bit once it got going, shame the finish came out of nowhere.
Yuji Nagata vs. Bad Luck Fale a Fale match, slow, lumbering and in the end you don't give a damn. Worst on the show. Not terrible just meh
Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki: Fine not much more than
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima Match of the night. Not a MOTYC or anything but it's a match you should watch.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe Good end to the show, second best match of the day.

 

Reading that back and it sounds like a bad show but it isn't. i enjoyed most of it just not a show you have to see all of.

 

Day 4 has Ishii/Honma and Tanahashi/Shibata....................:OverExcitedSmiley:

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You guys don't have to spoiler tag stuff, no one should be reading this thread at this point that doesn't want to know the results of the G1 Climax ;)  Just keep it all contained to this thread (and the voting threads up top of course, please use them too).

 

I am about to start Day 4, I am going a bit slower since I am doing full reviews of the shows as I watch them.  Through three shows I've been most impressed with:

 

1.  Hiroyoshi Tenzan - I hadn't seen Tenzan with the chance to be the 'star' in a match in a long time, I didn't watch New Japan in 2013 and the events I have seen so far in 2014 he has just been in tag matches.  But holy shit is he bringing it in the tournament so far.  No signs at all of the physical issues he had for years, he is busting out moonsaults and TTDs like it is 1998 or something.  Been really impressed with him, he is really fired up and seems to be more into it then I've seen in awhile, I am guessing he is happy to be healthy again as well.

2.  Katsuyori Shibata - So glad that he is back in New Japan.  He has had some of the best matches in the tournament, sometimes it is hard for me to get into the strike-based style but Shibata does it so well I can't help but be entertained.  Shibata has just been awesome.

3.  Yuji Nagata - Like Tenzan, I wasn't expecting a lot from the older wrestlers since doing so many singles matches in a row can wear on a wrestler's body.  But so far Nagata has been at the top of his game.  He even got a good match out of Fale, which to me is an incredible feat.  His match with Kojima was a great throwback and a very entertaining match as well.

 

Overall I am impressed with the 'effort' level.  When I saw the match times I was afraid they would be coasting, and who could blame them with 10 singles matches in just a couple weeks.  While there have been a few down matches, which can be expected, generally speaking not only are they not coasting but most seem to be putting in extra effort, acting like every match is a title match or something.  Kojima and Tenzan are going much harder than they were in those NWA Title matches earlier this year.  I guess that says a lot about how important the G1 Climax is to New Japan and the wrestlers, but thus far from what I've seen I can highly recommend at least cherry picking and watching the best matches.

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Kojima and Tenzan are going much harder than they were in those NWA Title matches earlier this year. 

 

I thought Kojima had a great G1 last year but came out of it pretty banged up and has taken it easier ever since. Tenzan's had to take it easy over the last few years, he should be retired. Good to see both having good tournaments.

 

Day 4

 

Apart from Yano/Goto (for obvious reasons) not a bad match on the show. Good good show, a contender for best day of the tournament so far. on an odd note sweaty as all hell, sweat everywhere, crowd with handfans, even the air looks salty.....

 

Satoshi Kojima vs. Bad Luck Fale decent but skippable

Shelton Benjamin vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. as above

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Minoru Suzuki: started very slow like two guys going through the motions but got better as it went on. Tenzanwatch: great effort from him but he looked ready for a rest. not essential but decent.

Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano skippable

Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii: Match of the night and one of the best of the tournament. not quite as good as their match in May but damn good.

Togi Makabe vs. Lance Archer enjoyable effort from both. Archer's growing on me, showed major charisma throughtout. Looked like they went to the finish early

Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: Slow pace, plenty stiff. good match with both looking super tired, every move took a lot out of them. sweat everywhere.

Tetsuya Naito vs. AJ Styles Solid to good. had plenty of good moments but didn't really grab me.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson worked very well together. another good match

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata: Good match with some big moments. Tanahashi's going to have bruises on his face tomorrow. Shibata's corner dropkick and spinning chop looked STIFF AS HELL. one day their going to have a great great match.

 

Nakamura/Honma and Naito/Okada stick out from Day 5.

 

---

 

Incredible to see Benjamin on maximum points but he still has to face Shibata, Nakamura, Kojima and Tanahashi so i don't see him making the finals.

 

With the finals being in such a big venue i'm still seeing the big three making the finals, Tanahashi & Nakamura from group A and Okada from B..One of Naito, Goto or Makabe to make it too. Then i start to think they surely have to have the IWGP champ in a big match.........

 

How things stand, spoilered for size

 

Block A:

Benjamin [8]

Tanahashi [6]

Fale [4]

Kojima [4]

Shibata [4]

Nakamura [4]

Ishii [4]

Smith Jr. [2]

Gallows [2]

Nagata [2]

Honma [0]

Block B:

Okada [6]

Goto [6]

Naito [6]

Tenzan [4]

Yano [4]

Makabe [4]

Archer [2]

Styles [2]

Yujiro [2]

Suzuki [2]

Anderson [2]

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I really love Honma.  Even if you don't like his ring work, it's hard not to get pulled into his matches because the crowd is just waiting for him to get one big upset in the tournament.  It's going to be huge if/when he does.  That Ishii match, as a result, was my favorite thus far.

 

Also, I came into the tournament ready to fastforward through the Shelton Benjamin matches since he really hasn't done much for me so far, but that said, he's been pretty slick.  I'm interested to see him take on some of the bigger names to see if he can deliver a gem.

 

AJ Styles has also been great.  I have not been a fan of Bullet Club, but it seems they've cooled off either in the G1 or post-Devitt on the annoying-level interference.  AJ's really adapted well to the New Japan style; I really liked his match was Naito and the match with Okada from Night 1 was also a lot of fun. 

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Best thing about this G1 is the schedule. We have days off to catch up and digest after each round. Wrestlers have days off to not slowly die as the tournament goes on. Hopefully the extended format means more people go into the final hyped from having seen it unfold up to that point than are burned out from it.

 

I was going to mention that I'd heard good things about AJ and I'm interested in seeing his fresh match ups free of the usual main event obligations.

 

Speculation / Fantasy booking in spoilers.

I noticed he's only on four points at the moment and I'm wondering whether they're going to make the most of the Bullet Club angle by having Anderson and Yujiro lay down for him. Both only have a win each so are unlikely to have individual ambitions getting in the way, play the lackey role better than Gallows or Fale would and the cards line up for it. Bulletgate in Osaka is the attention-retaining angle going in to the final, Yujiro predictably me-tooing next show in a less important match at one of the smaller venues and then the final day is all about AJ versus enraged Block B stalwart Makabe in the main event to see whether it pays off.

 

Truly, an omen.

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I still think Day 1 was overall a better show, but Day 4 was second best.  Day 4 had a few matches I actively didn't like but had a bunch of good matches as well.  Wonder if it wasn't apparently extremely hot if that would have made things better, but I was impressed they fought through it and no one pulled a LeBron.  

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Really? Idk, I liked Day 5. Thought Okada/Naito was pretty good as well as the ones you mentioned. I liked Tanahashi/Fale too, although I hear Tanahashi went to the hospital after the match due to neck problems. It'd suck if he has to miss the rest of the tournament.

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Guest meowput

I wonder if Shibata is really going to get his big title push. Given his history (and recent comments from Tanahashi), you would think the company would never put him in the main event position. Then again, maybe it's the perfect time to give him a title run. A showdown with Tanahashi at WK would be perfect.

 

Oh and if WWE doesn't give him the Go 2 Sleep, KENTA should totally steal the PK (complete with the sleeper set up) as a finish. There aren't many finishers as legit looking as the PK in pro wrestling.

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