It’s time for more G1 Climax action from the A-Block, and things are coming down to the wire now. There’s only so many points left on the table, and if you want to win – losing is no longer an option. Names like Zack Sabre Jr, Kota Ibushi, Shingo Takagi & Tomohiro Ishii are all striving to reach the finals – but a loss tonight could shut their dreams down.
Hiromu Takahashi Proves He’s G1 Quality
Kicking off the night was a match that if you get the result wrong – you’ve never watched NJPW before. El Desperado had Young Lion Oiwa in a match, and these are not winnable. Oiwa has the ability, but lacks the skills to beat a former champion like Desperado. He got some solid blows in – but fell to a standing Leg Lock. Better luck in a few years.
However, tonight’s forfeit special singles match left a lot of guess work for fans. KENTA didn’t have to face Tetsuya Naito – but Hiromu Takahashi saw this as a chance to show he can hang with the heavyweights. Much like KENTA back in Pro Wrestling NOAH, Takahashi wants to win the top prize as a Junior – and this performance tonight was absolutely a step in the right direction. He’d push KENTA extremely hard, perhaps as hard as Naito might have. KENTA was forced to cheat to win, and this match combined with a match with Ishii could get Takahashi into the G1 Climax 32.
First bit of tournament action tonight, with Tanga Loa taking on Kota Ibushi. Despite some mixed reactions from fans when he was announced for the tournament – he’s been proving everyone wrong. While he might have only picked up a single win in the tournament so far and is now looking to just play spoiler – he’s been impressive. Taking Kota Ibushi to the limit and mixing his power with standing moonsaults & poisonaranas? If Loa gets more singles experience in the coming years, he could be a threat to be reckoned with. He’d have the Kamigoye scouted, but Ibushi was able to nail it after a Tombstone Piledriver for the win.
Tomohiro Ishii Gets Pushed Hard By Great-O-Khan
Yujiro Takahashi has already picked up one of the biggest wins of his career in this tournament, taking out Kota Ibushi. However, there’s no way he’d beat both Ibushi & ZSJ, right? He’d certainly try, but with ZSJ looking to get back on track after a tough loss to Tomohiro Ishii, it wouldn’t be easy. He got some big impact moves in, but ZSJ was able to tie him up into an inescapable submission for the win. Back on track to bringing the G1 home.
Shingo Takagi has had a rough go of it in this tournament, dropping matches to both Ibushi & ZSJ recently. This meant he HAD to beat Yano, yet still would play his games. He’d agree to a blindfolded fight, get rolled up, shoved under the ring – the works. However, Yano wouldn’t be able to get one over on the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion on this night – falling to Last Of The Dragon.
Main event time as Great-O-Khan steps into his first ever G1 main event against Tomohiro Ishii. After dropping his first few matches – it was time for him to get serious. He stopped ZSJ from running wild and going undefeated, and tonight would give O-Khan a true test. O-Khan would try to trade strikes with Ishii, and even get some good blows at the Stone Pitbull. He’d use moves from Hiroyoshi Tenzan including the Tombstone & Anaconda Vice, and even use some of Ishii’s own tricks. However, a Vertical Drop Brainbuster was the result – and Ishii has broken out at perhaps just the right time.
Who’s Block Is It Anyways?
After tonight’s matches, the scoreboard in the A-Block looks like this.
Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr. 10 points
KENTA, Tomohiro Ishii, Great O-Khan, Shingo Takagi – 8 points
Toru Yano – 6 points
Yujiro Takahashi, Tanga Loa – 4 points
Tetsuya Naito – 0 Points
Right now, ZSJ beats Kota Ibushi in a tie – so Ibushi needs to rely on ZSJ losing one of his next three – while winning all of his battles. Who will win the A-Block? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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