We’re back again with more action from G1 Climax 31. We’re up to the 10th day of tournament action, and the big picture is starting to look more and more clear. We have two potential B-Block winners in Jeff Cobb & Kazuchika Okada, with everyone else just trying to stop them and finish strong at this point. Tonight brings lots of interesting fights, and the two front-runners have major troubles ahead.
Chase Owens Beat Who?!
The show would open up with that did look on paper to be a very simple result. Hiroshi Tanahashi taking on Chase Owens. Owens is in his first G1 Climax tournament ever, and Tanahashi is in his 20th in a row. It was a technically sound fight, and Owens had gotten some pointers from Jay White on how to best defeat Tanahashi. Countering the High Fly Flow was a great start, nailing some C-Triggers helped his case, but when he finally hit the Package Piledriver and pinned The Ace of The Universe? Suddenly Owens is looking like someone to fear in singles.
Next up was Tama Tonga & EVIL squaring off. There’s been some tension between The House of Torture and the main unit of BULLET CLUB in this tournament, and Tama Tonga is the stand in leader of BULLET CLUB with Jay White stuck in the United States. With Jado at ringside to keep Dick Togo at bay – EVIL fought a more honest type of match. When EVIL isn’t just cheating, he’s great and we saw that tonight – and it was a great little match. However the finish saw SHO turn out the lights, EVIL hit a low blow and STO for the same old boring finish.
Jeff Cobb was in action after this – and he’s been unstoppable. If anyone has a chance, it was Taichi, who has two wins over Cobb in the past. However, this is not the same Jeff Cobb, as he’s perhaps better than he’s ever been in his career. Taichi gave his all in this one, but a hurt back preventing him from hitting Black Mephisto was a major determinant to his odds. Cobb absorbed all the kicks, lariats and chokes – and nailed Tour of The Islands to keep his win streak alive.
Kazuchika Okada & SANADA Have Another Classic
After the intermission and cleaning of the ring – we’d get the most interesting match on the card. Hirooki Goto is now out of the tournament. He’s lost to Kazuchika Okada & Jeff Cobb, and can only get 10 points max. With no chance to win, he just needs to prove he belongs – and YOSHI-HASHI can always be trusted to bring out the best in Goto. They’re best friends and tag team partners, but that means they push each other hard.
YOSHI-HASHI wrestled his most hard hitting style of match in this one, even stealing some moves from the playbook of Goto & Katsuyori Shibata. Hell, he even hit a headbutt, not a usual move from YOSHI-HASHI. He’d chop at the throat, and do everything to make Goto fire up. Goto responded exactly as expected throughout, staying in the fight to nail the GTR for the win. In the 16 minutes this match went – and it never once slowed.
Main event time, and the rivalry of Kazuchika Okada & SANADA was back in the spotlight. They always go into deep waters, with SANADA’s sole win over Okada being a 29:47 in the 2019 G1 Climax. While they started slow, the last 15 minutes was pure drama and action. They know each other’s skills so well, and have an answer for everything. SANADA pulled out a Destino into a Skull End which nearly caught Okada with a submission, but he let go to hit a moonsault – hurting his knee and causing a slow pinfall. Crowd was as loud as we’ve heard them in COVID times, especially during the final stretch. SANADA went for another Destino, Okada countered into the Landslide and nailed a massive rainmaker for the win.
Okada & Cobb Are Looking Unstoppable
After tonight’s matches, the B-Block scoreboard looks like this:
Jeff Cobb, Kazuchika Okada – 10 Points
EVIL – 8
Taichi, SANADA – 4
Tama Tonga, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Chase Owens – 2
Can anyone stop Okada or Cobb before they meet on final night on B-Block action? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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