G1 Climax 25

[Jacob Fox]

Day 17 was absolutely fantastic. I liked every tournament match on the card.

Gallows vs Shibata *** I enjoyed this, which is rare for a Gallows match. The man annoys me to no end. But this was a decent little match.

Bad Luck Fale vs Toru Yano. *** I am giving this a three just because of Yano's BRILLIANT tactic that won him this match. That was Ric Flair 101 right there and I have to respect it. Absolutely awesome.

Hiroshi Tenzan vs Tetsuya Naito ***1/2 This was a good match but the best part was Red Shoes finally getting fed up with Naito and getting a shot in at him. I'm a huge Naito fan, but even I have to admit he had that coming for a while.

Makabe vs Ibushi. **** This match was pretty short, but it was phenomenal while it lasted. What a great match with Ibushi coming out on top, like I wanted.

AJ Styles vs Hiroshi Tanahashi. ***** And it all came down to this. What an absolutely awesome match and undoubtedly a match of the year candidate. The final match is going to have to work hard to outdo this one. Absolutely fantastic. Tanahashi is definitely to today's wrestling what Flair was in the 1980s and Shawn Michaels was in the late 90s and 2000s... he can make a good match with anyone... and he can make a FANTASTIC match with a good wrestler. And wow, did AJ deserve that middle finger or what?

I have to admit that one of my new all time favorite moments in wrestling was the double low blow. It was great to see Tanahashi strike back like that. But also what I noticed, even though he didn't see what happened, was when they started to get back up, Red Shoes rolled out of the ring...in my mind he was thinking "There's a trend going on here! Oh shit, that means I'm next, I'm OUTTA here!"

The best wrestler in Block A won block A. It's going to be either Okada or Nakamura, and like you guys, I am closer to believing it will be Nakamura, and Tanahashi is going to put on a fantastic match with either of them.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Day 17 was basically a one-match show and that match, Ace Tana vs Ace AJ delivered in every way possible.

- Doc vs Shibata was a solid show opener. **½
But, I hated Shibata losing here. This was his, what, fourth consecutive loss?
The booking of Shibata has been a bit head-scratching as of late. Way to troll, G&J.
The Wrestler used to lead the block at a halfway stage, but then it all went south.
I thought Shibata (along with Ibushi) would fare better in the tourney, but oh well, what can you do... Moving on.

- YTR vs BLF was entertaining enough. **
The only reason I'm giving this match a non-DUD rating is 'cause YTR is the best troll ever! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What an awesome way to win!
You have my blessing, G&J. You can book YTR to have wins like this only over people I don't give a toss about.
Arigatou for this.
On another note: I gotta say I enjoy Mr. Ozaki doing the 20 count when the wrestlers are outside the ring and him getting increasingly distressed as he's closer to the count of 20 is great stuff.
It gets you fired up for even the lowest of low card matches.

- Tenzan vs Naito was good. ***¼
This was the best heel edition of El Ingobernable Naito, for sure.
There was more spitting, trolling and ref abuse, but this time with added Mongolian Chops.
Tenzan was pissed off by that, so he fired back with Headbutts. Naito gained control soon, but anyways...
The moment when I truly marked out was when Red Shoes stomped Naito much to the crowd's delight.
I get that this may be Tenzan's final G1 and he needs to pick up some wins, but Naito should've won here.
They seem invested in his new gimmick, so he should've won here and would've locked in a stronger G1 performance, standings-wise.

- Ibushi vs Makabe was good for the time given. ***¼
The end result couldn't be more satisfying.
Take the NEVER title off Makabe, pronto, plz! Give it to either Ibushi or Honma.

- Tanahashi vs AJ Styles was an excellent ME and MOTYC! Loved it! *****

- And last, but not least... Shout-out to Matt Jackson at the beginning of the tag match, for looking at the camera and saying 'How about that, Cornette, ha? Pretty freakin' good for a couple of spot monkeys. Suck it.'

 

[Jacob Fox]

I won't review every match for day 18 because I can barely keep my eyes open.

When both Goto and Anderson lost their matches, I knew Nakamura was going to win for sure. If Anderson had won, then Nakamura couldn't win the tournament even if he beat Okada.

As far as the match itself, it was ****. Maybe I was a bit underwhelmed because of the main event the previous night. I am not sure. It was a damn good match but not nearly what Styles and Tanahashi had. There were some VERY good counters and reversals. These two guys work miracles together. But Nakamura deserved to win and I am happy to see him take on Tanahashi. Nakamura vs Tanahashi has the potential to be match of the year and I look very forward to it.

 

[Prince Bálor]

I won't review every match for day 18 because I can barely keep my eyes open.

When both Goto and Anderson lost their matches, I knew Nakamura was going to win for sure. If Anderson had won, then Nakamura couldn't win the tournament even if he beat Okada.

As far as the match itself, it was ****. Maybe I was a bit underwhelmed because of the main event the previous night. I am not sure. It was a damn good match but not nearly what Styles and Tanahashi had. There were some VERY good counters and reversals. These two guys work miracles together. But Nakamura deserved to win and I am happy to see him take on Tanahashi. Nakamura vs Tanahashi has the potential to be match of the year and I look very forward to it.

I've yet to watch Day 18 and I'm glad Nakamura's in the finals. The final show is going to be great!

But, as far as Naka's G1 matches go, them being underwhelming has sorta been Naka's theme for the better part of the tourney, it must be due to elbow injury, which is understandable.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I've yet to watch Day 18 and I'm glad Nakamura's in the finals. The final show is going to be great!

But, as far as Naka's G1 matches go, them being underwhelming has sorta been Naka's theme for the better part of the tourney, it must be due to elbow injury, which is understandable.

I'm sorry if I spoiled it for you.

I think Nakamura was fine in the match. If I'm underwhelmed but still give him four stars, it shows that even when he's not at his best, he's better than almost every wrestler in the world.

 

[Prince Bálor]

I'm sorry if I spoiled it for you.

I think Nakamura was fine in the match. If I'm underwhelmed but still give him four stars, it shows that even when he's not at his best, he's better than almost every wrestler in the world.

You didn't spoil anything for me. Nakamura defeating Okada and advancing to the finals was a no-brainer for me.

Yeah, Naka's cool as hell.
There's no way I can be mad at him for not delivering five star matches every night, because the G1 schedule has been crazy and plus, he is injured.
All's cool with me.

 

[Jacob Fox]

You didn't spoil anything for me. Nakamura defeating Okada and advancing to the finals was a no-brainer for me.

Yeah, Naka's cool as hell.
There's no way I can be mad at him for not delivering five star matches every night, because the G1 schedule has been crazy and plus, he is injured.
All's cool with me.

:woohoo:

 

[Leo C]

NAKA/TANA MOTY 5* DAMN

 

[Jacob Fox]

NAKA/TANA MOTY 5* DAMN

It was definitely a phenomenal match. I am not sure if it's my choice for match of the year, but it's DEFINITELY one of the top candidates. It was an excellent match.. I even felt myself getting exhausted as they kept pushing themselves through the exhaustion. Loved it.

 

[Stopspot]

NAKA/TANA MOTY 5* DAMN

Take away the big match circumstance and Shingo vs Yoshino from today's Dragon Gate show was better, and the DG match was also a big match.
The Dragon Gate show was better over all. And I didn't really think there was anything bad on this NJPW card outside of standard young bucks antics.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Day 18 was spectacular! It might've been the very best G1 show thus far.
There were two MOTYC, a great Nagata/Goto match and the rest of the card was strong, as well.

- Yujiro vs Honma was a solid show opener. **½
Lame ass Yujiro over Honma? :really:
Unacceptable. This should've been Honma's second G1 win, dammit!
Oh, well... Honmania running wild was nice while it lasted.

- Ishii vs Big Mike was fantastic, loved it! ****¾
These two strong ass guys beat the living hell out of each other for 14-15 minutes!
It was extremely enjoyable to watch!
Plus, this was the best Elgin performance in a loooong time. He should stay in Japan.

- Nagata vs Goto was great! ****
My man scored the win! :woohoo:

- Kojima vs Machine Gun was a good semi-main event. ***¼

- Nakamura vs Okada was ace, loved it! ****¾

 

[Stopspot]

Lame ass Yujiro over Honma? :really:

What do you expect? Honma is a lower card guy without a contract, his entire thing is losing but putting on good matches

 

[Prince Bálor]

What do you expect? Honma is a lower card guy without a contract, his entire thing is losing but putting on good matches

I know... :downer:

 

[Leo C]

Take away the big match circumstance and Shingo vs Yoshino from today's Dragon Gate show was better, and the DG match was also a big match.
The Dragon Gate show was better over all. And I didn't really think there was anything bad on this NJPW card outside of standard young bucks antics.

Perhaps. I didn't watch DG, and I didn't even watch this entire show. I only watched from intermission on and was kinda dozed off before the ME, all I know is this was 5* for me no doubt.

What do you expect? Honma is a lower card guy without a contract, his entire thing is losing but putting on good matches

They could have him get a few more wins in somewhat of a "miracle run" so he can challenge someone (probably Makabe) at some PPV and lose. Idk, even if he doesn't have contract I feel he's sticking around so that could be fun.

 

[Stopspot]

They could have him get a few more wins in somewhat of a "miracle run" so he can challenge someone (probably Makabe) at some PPV and lose. Idk, even if he doesn't have contract I feel he's sticking around so that could be fun.

That kind of goes against Honma's character of the lovable loser.