New Japan Pro Wrestling: G1 Climax 25 Night Seven Review
Location: Fukuoka, Japan inside the Fukuoka International Center
After the good, but not great, all around show on night six, the A block once again returned to G1 match action. Since the A block has been delivering impressive matches so far with Kota Ibushi, Shibata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, AJ Styles, and Tetsuya Naito providing a big five that you always want to watch.
As expected, Shinsuke Nakamura was kept off the tag match on this show and his match became just a regular tag team contest. Since his block doesn’t have to wrestle G1 matches again until Saturday, it made sense to keep him out of this show as well, so that he could receive almost a full week’s rest.
Match 1: Tiger Mask IV & (CMLL World Welterweight Champion) Mascara Dorada vs. David Finlay Jr. & Jay White (Young Lions)
Winners: Tiger Mask IV & Mascara Dorada (After Dorada hit the Dorada Screwdriver on David Finlay Jr.)
Everybody seemed pretty motivated for this, especially since we had a new tag pairing for Tiger Mask IV here. We got to see Jay White hit Dorada with a Military Press Drop and then Dorada would hit his Rope Walk Dropkick as well. Tiger Mask used the Tiger Driver as a way to get out of a predicament and tag in Dorada. The most impressive here though was David Finlay, as he got to do a lot breaking up pins, hitting an Irish Curse Backbreaker and the Finlay Roll of course. Eventually as you would expect, the veterans gain the upperhand with Tiger doing a Suicide Dive to the outside to take out Jay White, which made sense because the story of the match that a lot the Young Lions seemed to break up every near fall pin attempt. Dorada hit the Screwdriver and that was all. Fun way to open the show, everyone got to hit a good spot, and they put in a good effort here. ** ½ *
Match 2: (IWGP Tag Team Champion) Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi, & Cody Hall (All Bullet Club) vs. Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima, & Yohei Komatsu
Winners: Bullet Club (After Tama Tonga hit a Future Shock DDT variation on Komatsu)
This kind of had a little bit of everything, as you got the interaction between Kojima and Yujiro, which was mostly Kojima dominating Yujiro. Why do I have a feeling it will be the other way around when the singles match takes place? Taguchi got in some of his ass offense, the crowd was red hot for Yohei Komatsu to come in at the end and deliver some running elbows and his Senton off the top rope. Karl Anderson was the highlight of this match. He is just so funny and it works so well with the crowds. He yells Taguchi’s name and then gives him an ass attack, he takes off an imaginary elbow pad like Kojima does when he’s about to do his lariat, he did Nagata’s Blue Justice pose as well. Just great stuff from that man. Speaking of, the other highlight of this match was the interactions between Nagata and Anderson. They had a nice stretch in there with each other, including Nagata countering a TKO Gun Stun into the Seated Armbar. I’m now excited to see that match on Saturday. Tonga surprisingly winds up picking up the win. Aside from the stuff I discussed, the match was your basic 8-man with everyone having their set stuff to do. ** ½ *
Match 3: Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) vs. Tomoaki Honma & Michael Elgin
Winners: Tomoaki Honma & Michael Elgin (After Honma Hits Top Rope Kokeshi)
There was so much to enjoy here. Just in case you forgot, Tomohiro Ishii and Tomoaki Honma had a Match of the Year contender for the then, vacant, NEVER Openweight Championship at the New Beginning in Sendai show back in February. The fact that we got to see them renew their rivalry at the opening of this match was wonderful. They had this prolonged chop battle that just got more intense with every hand that hit flesh. Honma eventually won out, but it gave you the sense we were in for some great action here. Michael Elgin looked great in this match as well. He hit a Powerslam and Stalling Suplex on YOSHI-HASHI and later had a great stretch against Ishii were he delivered a lot of punishment, including an over the rope Apron Splash, which the crowd quite enjoyed. These two also had a trading of elbows that was pretty fantastic as well. Everything in this match just absolutely worked. Every pairing put into the ring flowed smoothly and kept getting the crowd more amped to see it. Elgin at one point gave a Double Samoan Drop to both Ishii and YOSHI, holding them up for a bit before bringing them down to the canvas. The finish had the crowd white hot with a few near falls from Honma and YOSHI, but once Honma hit that Rocket Kokeshi it was all over. The crowd just enjoyed Honma hitting that Top Rope Kokeshi for the win. This has to be the best tag match of the entire tournament so far and I’d recommend watching this. There is just too much awesomeness here. Plus, Elgin, Ishii, and Honma all had a short pull apart brawl with each other afterwards that added even more to this. *** ½ *
Match 4: Jushin “Thunder” Liger & (IWGP Intercontinental Champion) Hirooki Goto vs. (IWGP Heavyweight Champion) Kazuchika Okada & Gedo (CHAOS)
This is one of those times where I think the tag match might have hurt the singles match a little. Okada and Goto are creatures of habit, meaning more than a lot of the other New Japan wrestlers, they tend to do a lot of their same spots in matches and usually in the same way too. We almost got like a mini match between Okada and Goto here. It was all good, don’t get me wrong, but we are probably also going to see a lot of that same stuff in their match on Saturday too. The interactions between Gedo and Liger were great because these are just two veterans that know each other. Liger refusing the Gedo handshake and Gedo getting visibly frustrated. The finish was also nice because it is sort of like a reverse of the Gedo Clutch that Liger used to win the match. Good interactions here, but this was a tag match, nothing too special here. ** ½ *
Before we get to the G1 matches, this would be a good time for a reminder of the participants in each block…
A Block Participants: AJ Styles (2nd consecutive appearance), Bad Luck Fale (2nd consecutive appearance), Doc Gallows (IWGP Tag Team Champion, 2nd consecutive appearance) (All Bullet Club) Kota Ibushi (2015 New Japan Cup Winner, 2nd appearance), Toru Yano (CHAOS, 10th appearance), Togi Makabe (G1 Winner in 2009, NEVER Openweight Champion, GBH, 12th consecutive appearance), Hiroyoshi Tenzan (G1 Winner in 2003, 2004, & 2006, NWA World Champion, 20th appearance), Hiroshi Tanahashi (G1 Winner in 2007, 14th consecutive appearance), Katsuyori Shibata (3rd consecutive appearance), Tetsuya Naito (G1 Winner in 2013, 6th consecutive appearance, Los Ingobernables)
B Block Participants: Kazuchika Okada (Defending G1 Champion, also won in 2012, IWGP Heavyweight Champion, CHAOS, 4th consecutive appearance), Shinsuke Nakamura (G1 Winner in 2011, CHAOS, 12th appearance), Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS, 3rd consecutive appearance), Karl Anderson (IWGP Tag Team Champion, Bullet Club, 6th consecutive appearance), Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club, 6th consecutive appearance), Tomoaki Honma (GBH, 2nd consecutive appearance), Michael Elgin (ROH, first appearance), Satoshi Kojima (G1 Winner in 2010, 14th appearance), Yuji Nagata (G1 Winner in 2001, 17th consecutive appearance), Hirooki Goto (G1 Winner in 2008, IWGP Intercontinental Champion, 8th consecutive appearance)
Match 5: Toru Yano (CHAOS) (2 points) vs. (IWGP Tag Team Champion) Doc Gallows (Bullet Club) (2 points)
Winner: Doc Gallows (After double team Magic Killer from Gallows and Anderson with referee distracted)
I laughed quite a lot during this match because Yano did some nice stuff with Gallows and the other three Bullet Club guys that came along. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga, and Karl Anderson all came out with Gallows for this match. Yano and Gallows do a funny hand shake spot, where each guy tries their turn at applying more pressure on the other. Yano obviously fails miserably at doing so. Yano does his yelling for a break, which Gallows goes nuts about. Gallows tosses Yano outside and the entire Bullet Club just beat him up. Gallows works on Yano’s eyes for a bit too. Yano has another fun spot with the taunt where he keeps catching Gallows and grabs his ears because he has no hair. Anderson would get involved in the finish to pull the Magic Killer on Yano and that was all. Gallows picks up his first two points, but it took four men getting involved to do it. ***
Match 6: (NWA World Champion, 3-Time G1 Winner) Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2 points) vs. (NEVER Openweight Champion, 2009 G1 Winner) Togi Makabe (2 points)
Winner: Togi Makabe (After Hitting King Kong Kneedrop)
This was sort of sad to watch as you can tell Tenzan is really hurting here. Both of these men also seem to carry the “I’m not interested unless it is a bigger match syndrome” for this tournament. Makabe would have the advantage early on as he smashed Tenzan into the turnbuckle repeatedly, then they go outside and into the barricade and into the pole goes Tenzan as well. Tenzan got in a lot of his trademark offense and then it was Tenzan’s turn to do the same, including the Anaconda Vice, for a rather long period. The Anaconda Buster gets 2. Tenzan was able to hold on for a bit longer, but the DVD and Knee Drop did him in at the end. This was really just there and certainly the worst match on this show. **
Match 7: Kota Ibushi (4 points) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (4 points)
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata (After Sleeper Hold and Penalty Kick)
Talk about a wake-up call for everyone. These two put on one hell of a hard hitting fight. This was all about Ibushi having to change his style to match Shibata and even though he proved he was up to the task, he just couldn’t quite pull it off in the end. However, I don’t want to diminish at all the journey getting there because it was awesome. After doing some wrestling, things kick off literally with Shibata giving Ibushi a running boot that sends him to the floor and then Shibata lariats him over the barricade. Shibata brings Ibushi back into the ring and we get to see the first sign of Ibushi changing things. He elbows and punches Shibata in the corner and then hits Shibata with his own Basement Dropkick. Shibata and Ibushi trade elbows, Shibata elbows Ibushi down, but Ibushi gets up, so Shibata literally stomps Ibushi down and does a NASTY Face wash, and hits a Basement Dropkick and Necklock Suplex for 2. Ibushi would only get to hit two of his big flying moves in this match. He got the Springboard Moonsault to the outside and he would do the corkscrew splash as well for 2, which leaves Ibushi stunned when Shibata kicks out.
Before that, Ibushi had kicked Shibata a ton of times and Shibata kept asking for more, almost mocking Ibushi. This all culiminated in Shibata blocking Ibushi’s attempt at a Penalty Kick. Again driving that story that Ibushi can’t quite beat the master at his game. There was an awesome spot where Ibushi went for the overhead kick, but Shibata grabs hold of his leg and turns it into an STF. Truly fantastic spot.
These two had a race to the finish with each one doing a Snap German Suplex and kicking out at 1, each man hit one hell of a Lariat on the other, Shibata hit a Fireman’s Carry that had both men down until the count of 7. Both men exchange blows, until Shibata is forced to cover up because Ibushi just goes for straight punches at this point. Shibata with a HUGE Slap, puts in the Sleeper and hits the Penalty Kick for the win. This was absolutely amazing. This is the hard hitting stuff that a lot of people love Japanese wrestling for and they truly delivered that here. Just go watch this match, incredible stuff and the first perfect match of the tournament. *****
Match 8: Hiroshi Tanahashi (4 points) vs. Bad Luck Fale (4 points) (Bullet Club)
Winner: Bad Luck Fale (After hitting High Fly Flow from the top rope)
If there is one person that could probably get something could out of Fale, it would have to be Hiroshi Tanahashi. Early it was Tanahashi showing he had no fear of the big guy as he kept coming at him with blows and running moves, but Fale kept pushing him away. Eventually he tosses out Tana so that Tonga can beat him up. Then in the corner, Hall beats up Tanahashi as well. So, the Bullet Club get involved once again in another match on this show. Tanahashi does get an impressive scoop slam on Fale at one point. Tanahashi gets some nice revenge on the BC guys getting involved earlier when he gives all three a High Fly Flow to the outside. Even though interference is typically frowned upon, the way it was done by the Bullet Club in this match worked. Tanahashi nailed the Sling Blade, a standing HFF, and a regular HFF, only for one of the Bullet Club guys to pull the referee out at 2. I mean you could literally hear the crowd just groan when this happened. The frustration on Tanahashi’s face said it all. Tanahashi would fight on avoiding two Bad Luck Fall’s and kicking out of the Grenade, only to fall to his own move. Bad Luck Fale went to the top rope, almost tripped, and hit a big splash to win. This wasn’t great by any means, but it was still a good match with interference that fits and possibly lends itself to a program between the two later on in the year. ***
Match 9: MAIN EVENT: Tetsuya Naito (4 Points) vs. AJ Styles (4 Points) (Bullet Club)
Winner: Tetsuya Naito (After Hitting Backflip Neckbreaker)
AJ berated Naito for taking forever to take off his clothes and shouted that “I will not wrestle you with that mask on.” There’s even an AJ Styles chant here too, no joke. There would be another one later as well from a few people in the audience. Since we have two heels, the crowd is very confused as to who to go for here. Naito is in full dick mode as he pulls AJ’s hair to get out of a hold. Things heat up as both men are on the apron and Naito hits a Neckbreaker on the apron. The sound when AJ hit the mat was pretty gruesome. Naito even pulls out a Cravate to work on AJ’s neck. AJ would hit his Springboard Forearm and a Reverse Fireman’s Carry for 2, Naito got his corner Dropkick to keep working on the neck. A Tornado DDT for 2 and a Flatliner into a Koji Clutch continues the neck work for Naito.
AJ is able to get out of that, they go to the top turnbuckle and AJ teases a Styles Clash and Naito has to grab the ropes to block, but he gets a Suplex in the corner for his trouble. The finish was pure heel Naito, as he spits in AJ’s face, does his roll-up and gets 2. AJ goes for Bloody Sunday, but it is countered into the Backflip Neckbreaker for the win. In two matches, they really have done wonders for Naito’s new finisher and Naito has suddenly become a master of neck work as well. Even though the crowd was confused, I enjoyed the match. However, this was very similar to the main event from the previous night, it was pretty good, but not great. *** ½ *
Here are the standings after seven nights of action…
A Block: Katsuyori Shibata, Tetsuya Naito & Bad Luck Fale (6 points), Hiroshi Tanahashi, AJ Styles, Kota Ibushi, & Togi Makabe (4 points), Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Doc Gallows (2 points
B Block: Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii (6 points), Karl Anderson and Hirooki Goto (4 points), Shinsuke Nakamura, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Michael Elgin, and Yujiro Takahashi (2 points) and Tomoaki Honma (0 points)
FINAL RATING: 9.0: You have the best undercard of the whole tournament on this show, with Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Elgin & Honma standing out above even some of the G1 matches. Shibata and Ibushi is absolute MOTY contender, Tanahashi carried Fale to something passable, and we continue to see the evolution of Naito’s heel character in the main event too. You must go watch Shibata vs. Ibushi, Naito vs. AJ is a good watch if you’ve been enjoying both guys and again that tag match is just pure fun. There was one bad match on this show, but it is clearly outshined by what happens after it.
The tournament now takes a two day break until Saturday when the B Block will be on display in Osaka.
