By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com
Welcome to tonight’s G1 Climax show (we’re on day 8) in Osaka. This is a full camera show, complete with commentary for the first time in what seems like ages.
It was announced a few hours before showtime that Shinsuke Nakamura has been cleared of his elbow injury, and will compete on tonight’s card.
Jay White & David Finlay vs. Cody Hall & Doc Gallows
Solid tag. White is really improving and is probably going to be a great worker someday, though already he shows a lot of fire. Hall isolated Finlay on the outside as Gallows pinned White with the Gallows poll.
Togi Makabe & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yohei Komatsu vs. Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi & Mascara Dorada
Naito teased at the start of the match like he and Tenzan were gonna go at it, but he immediately bailed. Dorada and Komatsu were in for a few minutes and looked good. Naito tagged himself in and continued the heel tactics. He teased like he was going to do a brainbuster but then just stopped and posed to boos. Tenzan at one point was stomping at him while having Makabe in a figure four. Boiled down to Dorada and Komatsu who had another good exchange before Dorada won with his screwdriver finish.
Katsuyori Shibata & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan vs. A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga
Shibata and Fale had a staredown before the match. AJ worked for a long time on Tiger Mask’s leg until he tagged in Shibata, and that’s when the crowd woke up. Both tagged out rather quickly, leaving Captain New Japan and Tonga alone. They went at it briefly before Tonga pinned him with the waistlock DDT.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo
Another fun tag team match. Of course, a lot of this was Yano avoiding Tanahashi. Gedo and Kushida had some good back and forth as well. Tanahashi and Taguchi did a double crossbody to the floor that left Kushida and Gedo by themselves. Kushida laid out Gedo and submitted him with the hoverboard lock.
Satoshi Kojima vs. Yujiro Takahashi
This was ok, but nothing special. Yujiro just lacks in the in-ring finesse others have in spades here. Crowd was really not into this at all until Kojima started making his comeback. He laid out Yujiro at one point with a DDT on the apron. Yujiro fired back with a buckle bomb. Kojima had the win with the lariat but Hall broke up the count. He took care of Hall then went back to Yujiro. He went for another lariat but Yujiro blocked it, gave him a low blow then pinned him with the Miami Shine. This was fine, and since Yujiro’s on the lower end of the totem pole right now it’s the right finish to do based on where they’re going in this tournament.
Karl Anderson vs. Yuji Nagata
Pretty good, but nothing too special. Anderson worked a lot on Nagata’s ribs. He made a comeback and got the white eyes armbar in but Anderson escaped. Anderson tried for the gun stun but Nagata avoided it. Nagata grabbed him for the backdrop suplex but Anderson dropped him with a gun stun in mid motion and pinned him.
Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin
Crowd was super into this from the start, of course behind Honma. Elgin continued to look good, showing impressive work including a deadlift suplex into a falcon arrow off the top rope and a Oklahoma stampede. He went for the buckle bomb but Honma landed on his feet and surprised him with a kokeshi. He went for the top rope variation but missed. Amazing finish as Elgin hit him with the pop up powerbomb, a buckle bomb then a spinning powerbomb for the pinfall. Really good stuff towards the end.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tomohiro Ishii
Nakamura’s elbow looked very swollen, even in bandages. This was really just a match until towards the later stages of the game, just back and forth stuff that wasn’t at all that interesting. It picked up when Nakamura hit a boma ye and Ishii laid out Nakamura at one point with the sliding D. Nakamura hit another boma ye for a surprise nearfall. Ishii fought back but Nakamura put him in the armbar, then hit a falcon arrow then landed one more boma ye for the win.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto
Okada did a big leap over the guardrail and onto Goto at one point that sent them clear into the audience. They had a really good sequence of back and forth roll ups as well. Okada went for the Rainmaker but Goto countered with his knee neckbreaker. Shouten kai attempt but Okada blocks it and escapes. He deadlifted him with a German suplex but Goto came back and laid him out with a lariat. Another rainmaker attempt but Goto dodged, headbutted him twice then finished him off with the shouten kai to win.
Current Standings
Block A
Katsuyori Shibata- 6
Bad Luck Fale- 6
Tetsuya Natio- 6
AJ Styles- 4
Hiroshi Tanhashi- 4
Kota Ibushi- 4
Togi Makabe- 2
Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2
Toru Yano- 2
Doc Gallows- 2
Block B
Tomohiro Ishii- 6
Kazuchika Okada- 6
Karl Anderson- 6
Hirooki Goto- 6
Shinsuke Nakamura- 4
Michael Elgin- 4
Yujiro Takahashi- 4
Satoshi Kojima- 2
Yuji Nagata- 2
Tomoaki Honma- 0