G1 Climax 24
(2014/8/10)
1. Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado) vs. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima), Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi
Fun opener, I missed those. Oh, and Taichi’s back!
**1/2
2. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, BUSHI
By far the worst Bullet Club match so far, there were severe timing issues every time Yujiro and Nakanishi were in there. I can understand Nakanishi, he’s a broken veteran, but Yujiro has no excuses, he is simply a weak pro-wrestler. Everything feels off with him on offense.
bad
3. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Shelton Benjamin) vs. Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba, YOSHI-HASHI
This was a cold, ruthless reminder of how chronically misused Suzuki actually is. He’s stuck in all these endless Yano tags, but thankfully, there’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel, and that’s the feud with Sakuraba that started a while ago, which will lead to a highly anticipated 1-on-1 match. Well, for me at least. This 6-man tag was horrible, though. Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I rated a New Japan match DUD until now. Hopefully this marks the final and definitive end of the Suzuki/Yano feud that should’ve ended a year ago.
DUD
4. Adam Cole & Michael Bennett vs. Jushin Liger & Cpt. New Japan
Maria has such a nice ass, but I can find it anywhere, I don’t need to see her, her crappy boyfriend (whom she probably fucks with a strap-on) and the overrated Adam Cole in New Japan. How did the card could benefit from them, honestly? You could put literally anyone else in their position, and the ultimate result would be at least the same. I was the big Bennett fan back in 2011/12, when everyone else hated his guts, but not anymore, he’s just lost in translation, with no redeeming pro-wrestling qualities whatsoever. So yeah, this was another weak match.
bad
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley) ©
Didn’t like this on the first watch, now I’m kind of okay with it, it’s not a special match by any means, but it’s not bad either, just a good Junior tag. Kyle is awful, though.
***
6. G1 Climax 24 Special Singles Match: Tomoaki Honma vs. Tetsuya Naito
Eh, decent, I guess. I don’t even know why this match happened. Anyway, the same old story continuation on Honma’s part, with the big difference being Naito, he just wasn’t a very compelling aggressor here, unlike Honma’s Block A opponents.
**3/4
7. G1 Climax 24 Special Singles Match: Karl Anderson vs. Tomohiro Ishii
At some points, this was a difficult watch due to Ishii’s shoulder injury, but overall – it added to the match tremendously. Ishii’s got to be the toughest wrestler on the planet, dude’s unreal. I have no doubts in my mind it was his idea to work this completely unnecessary match, he’s that crazy.
***3/4
8. G1 Climax 24 Special Singles Match: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto
Decent, but we’ve seen much better from these two. Not to mention this was a totally unnecessary match, and quite honestly, it looked like both Shibata and Goto were sick of wrestling each other as well. Shibata’s G2S was particularly brutal here, totally bonecrashing.
**3/4
9. G1 Climax 24 Special Singles Match: AJ Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Not the MOTYC everyone wanted, but good enough. Big struggle and sense of tiredness, they definitely held back, not to mention Tanahashi went over AJ here, so it means we’re getting a title match in the near future, probably in Sumo Hall. Now, THAT’S gonna rock, because they got so many things to build on.
***3/4
10. G1 Climax 24 – FINALS: Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
They were going for an epic, and they got it. Surreal feel to see them wrestling each other, the sense of importance was majestic, a true dome match. The first half was them going through their respective signature moves, with the difference being that Okada’s offense is just much more focused than Shinsuke, because Okada’s a neck guy after all, while Shinsuke just hits all over the place. While the first half might look like filler before big spots, it was very important for this match, because the competitive hate they developed for each other meant much more that way. The finishing run was off the charts, Shinsuke’s cross armbreaker counter to the Rainmaker might be the coolest spot of the year, Okada’s dropkicks never felt THIS important, and the ending with two lariats plus the Rainmaker to finish him off was fucking nuts. Great match, and I hope this served as the beginning of a very fruitful rivalry.
****1/4
A one match show, obviously, although Karl/Ishii and AJ/Tana was swell stuff. The opener was fun, but then we got the three-match black hole of shit. Honma/Naito and Shibata/Goto were decent, but disappointing matches. All in all, not the best way to end this epic tournament, but Shinsuke/Okada was the only thing designed for people to remember anyway. I hope they keep booking Seibu Dome for the future G1 finals.
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