RADICAN’S 7/30 G1 Climax 27: Night 10 report – Elgin-SANADA, Kojima-Omega, Okada-Robinson

RADICAN’S G1 CLIMAX 27: NIGHT 10 REPORT
JULY 30, 2017
GIFU, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPWWORLD.COM

This show had a multi-camera shoot and Japanese commentary.

I will not be reviewing any of the non-tournament matches this year, but I will provide the daily results. If any undercard match turns out to be extremely noteworthy, I will make an exception in certain cases.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

(1) Bullet Club (Bad Luck & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens beat David Finlay & Katsuya Kitamura & Tetsuhiro Yagi.

(2) Suzuki Gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & El Desperado) beat Togi Makabe & Shota Umino. Sabre and Makabe brawled after the match.

(3) CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) beat Yuji Nagata & Tomoyuki Oka.

(4) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Kota Ibushi & Hirai Kawato.

(5) L.I.J. (Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi) beat CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & Gedo).

B BLOCK RESULTS & ANALYSIS

(6) Toru Yano (2) vs. EVIL (6) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. Yano went for the distraction with the ref and hit a low blow on EVIL, but he fought through the pain and hit the STO for the win.

Winner: EVIL (8 pts)

(7) NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki (w/El Desperado) (4) vs. Tama Tonga (4) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. Tonga jumped Desperado during the entrance and grabbed the flag. He stood behind Suzuki and then ambushed him at ringside. They brawled all over the building and up and down the entrance ramp. They finally got into the ring and went at it. Tonga went for a splash, but Suzuki dragged the ref in the way. Tonga hit the gun stun a short time later and got a visual pin with the ref down. He went for another gun stun, but Suzuki blocked it and went for the choke. They went back and forth and Suzuki got the choke and then hit the Gotch piledriver for the win with the ref back in the ring. This was one heck of a brawl and very different from what we’ve seen out of other matches in the tournament.

Suzuki attacked a Young Lion with a chair on his way to the back.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki (6 pts)

Star rating: (***1/2)

(8) Michael Elgin (4) vs SANADA (4) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. A little boy in the front row held up his drawing of Elgin as he made his entrance. They went back and forth to start the match with neither man being on the advantage for long. They eventually battled up top and Elgin blocked a sunset bomb attempt. SANADA went for a powerbomb out of the corner several times. Finally he connected with a dropkick and powerbomb Elgin out of the corner and both men were down. SANADA missed a moonsault out of the corner. They went back and forth and SANADA went for his signature dropkick sequence, but Elgin caught him when he went for a leap frog and hit a sit out powerbomb for a 2 count. They battled on the apron and Elgin hit a German and the fans fired up. He followed up with a dead lift falcon arrow from the apron back into the ring for a 2 count. Elgin escaped a skull end attempt a short time later. They went back and forth and SANADA flipped over Elgin and got the skull end. He let go of it and hit a moonsault for the win. WOW!

Winner: SANADA (6 pts)

Star rating: (***3/4) – This was getting really good and Elgin seemed to be in control when SANADA mounted a quick comeback and got the win.

(9) Satoshi Kojima (w/Hiroyoshi Tenzan) (0) vs. IWGP U.S. Champion Kenny Omega (6) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. Omega told the camera he was wearing his house show tights because this is a house show. Omega said, “This is light work” in reference to Kojima. Omega slid to the floor and shoved Tenzan for no reason. A short time later, Kojima went for a slingshot splash. Omega got out of the way and laughed at Kojima. Omega was being a total jerk during the match. Kojima mounted a comeback and Omega stopped short near the ropes and hit a slingshot splash on Tenzan for no reason. He went at it with Kojima, who eventually nailed him with a cutter. He then hit the machine gun chops on the corner. Omega fired back with some big chops, but Kojima no sold them and hit the machine gun choos again. Omega cut him off and hit a kick to his back. He then hit a diving chop for a 2 count. Omega mocked Tenzan before going back after Kojima. Kojima fired up and hit some Mongolian chops on Omega. He ripped Omega’s shirt off and hit the machine gun chops again. They went at it up top and Omega hit a cross-legged superplex on Kojima for a 2 count. He followed up with a cross-legged neck breaker over his knee.

Omega went for the one winged angel, but Kojima slipped out and hit a DDT. Both men were down and the fans chanted for Konima. They traded blows and Omega connected with a big V Trigger. He went for the one-winged angel, but Kojima slipped out and hit a brain buster. Kojima caught Omega with s huge lariat off the ropes a short time later and the fans went nuts with both men down. Omega ducked another lariat a short time later and the V Trigger party was on. He hit a snap dragon suplex and V Trigger and got a near fall. He then hit the one winged angel for the win.

Winner: Kenny Omega (8 pts)

Star rating: (***1/2) – Omega didn’t take Kojima seriously and almost paid for it with a loss. Kojima gave him all he could handle down the stretch, but Omega put him away in the end.

(10) IWGP Hvt. Champion Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo) (8) vs. Juice Robinson (2) in a G1 Climax 27 B Block match. Robinson sold his leg during his entrance, but got a lot of love from the fans on his way to the ring coming out first. Okada set up for a dive over the barricade, but he stood on a chair and clapped to fire up the crowd first to Robinson cut him off. Okada quickly regained the advantage on the floor and booted Robinson back over the guardrail. This time he did not bother setting up for a splash over the guardrail and instead he went back into the ring. Robinson ducked a charge from Okada and went on the attack after Okada was in control for several minutes. He set up and hit a big cannonball in the corner for a 2 count. Okada blocked a gut buster attempt and tied up Robinson’s legs in a submission. Robinson struggled, but managed to get to the ropes. Robinson cut Okada off and hit an inverted DDT and the fans fired up. They ended up going at it with Robinson on the apron and Okada inside the ring. They both ended up on the apron a short time later. Robinson set up for piledriver on the apron, but Okada fought out of it and hit a backdrop and both men collapsed to the floor. Okada got into the ring and used his legs to shove Robinson into the guardrail when the ref’s count was at 16. Robinson managed to dive back into the ring right away though at 18. Okada dropped an elbow off the top and did the rainmaker pose. He set up for the rainmaker, but Robinson blocked it and hit a full nelson slam.

Robinson went for a powerbomb and Okada fought out of it only to eat a dropkick off the ropes. Robinson went to go off the ropes, but Okada caught him with the too awesome dropkick. Robinson ducked a rainmaker attempt and eventually hit a clothesline on Okada as he came off the ropes for a 2 count. Robinson connected with a gutbuster, but ended up selling his knee. He set up for pulp friction, but Okada blocked it and hit a tombstone and both men were down. WOW! Okada was up first and he yelled at Robinson. He nailed him with a kick and yelled at him again. Robinson glared at Okada from his knees. He told Okada to bring it and Okada hit a big forearm. Robinson took a series of forearms and punches from Okada, but he simply stood up and glared in Okada’s face. Okada hit a boot to the face and smiled. Robinson ran into another boot to the face and did not go down. Robinson blocked a kick attempt from Okada and hit a spinning kick and the fans fired up. Juice countered a spinebuster attempt and hit a powerbomb on Okada. He then folded over on top of him for a near fall! He set up for pulp friction, but Okada countered it into a rainmaker. Okada was slow to get up, but he held on to Robinson’s wrist. He got up and hit a second rainmaker on Robinson. Okada hit the rainmaker pose and set up for another rainmaker, but Robinson duked it and hit the KO punch. Robinson went for pulp friction, but Okada turned it into a German. He held on and went right into the rainmaker for the pin! WOW!

Winner: Kazuchika Okada (10 pts)

Star rating: (****1/2) – Robinson’s gutsy babyface character is really a blast to watch. He’s been wrestling on one-leg from a storyline standpoint for most of the tournament now and the crowd has gotten behind him as an underdog. He was great in this match and gave Okada all he could handle, but Okada had an answer for pulp friction each time Robinson went to land it. Robinson countered Okada’s third rainmaker and hitting the KO punch was a tremendous exchange. Okada continues to wrestle at an incredible level in 2017.

The fans could be heard chanting for Robinson after the match.

Okada cut yet another show-closing promo. I believe he put Robinson over during the early stages of the promo. The fans fired up for the rest of his promo. He then gave the mic to Gedo and the fans fired up.

Overall thoughts: The B Block continues to exceed my expectations. Suzuki vs. Tonga was an entertaining brawl. Elgin-SANADA was a really good match that seemed to be just getting going when SANADA ended it abruptly with his finishing sequence. Omega-Kojima was another good match with Omega taking Kojima lightly. It nearly cost him, but in the end he managed to put him away.

Once again, Okada showed why he’s the best wrester in the world in 2017. He’s performing on another level and had an amazing main event match with Juice Robinson, who has gotten over with the fans during the tournament as a sympathetic babyface. There were some electric exchanges during the match, especially Okada countering the pulp friction into a German and holding on for a third rainmaker to put Robinson away.

As expected, Okada is on top of the B block with Omega right behind him. EVIL is having one heck of a tournament and is currently tied for second place with Omega. If you have time, SANADA vs. Elgin is worth a watch, but definitely go out of your way to see the Okada-Robinson main event. It was one hell of a match and Okada is in the midst of a special run through G1.

STANDINGS AFTER NIGHT 10

A BLOCK

Hiroshi Tanahashi (4-1, 8 pts)
Togi Makabe (3-2, 6 pts)
Tomohiro Ishii (3-2, 6 pts)
Bad Luck Fale (3-2, 6 pts)
Hirooki Goto (3-2, 6 pts)
Zack Sabre Jr. (3-2, 6 pts)
Tetsuya Naito (3-2, 6 pts)
Kota Ibushi (2-3, 4 pts)
YOSHI-HASHI (1-4, 2 pts)
Yuji Nagata (0-5, 0 pts)

B BLOCK

Kazuchika Okada (5-0, 10 pts)
Kenny Omega (4-1, 8 pts)
EVIL (4-1, 8 pts)
SANADA (3-2, 6 pts)
Minoru Suzuki (3-2, 6 pts)
Michael Elgin (2-3, 4 pts)
Tama Tonga (2-3, 4 pts)
Juice Robinson (1-4, 2 pts)
Toru Yano (1-4, 2 pts)
Satoshi Kojima (0-5, 0 pts)

I will provide a list of matches ranked at **** or higher for people just looking to watch the best matches from the tournament. This guide is also handy for those of you that are short on time and looking to sample the best of each night of G1 Climax 27.

Match recommendations for G1 Climax 27: Night 10

(10) IWGP Hvt. Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Juice Robinson (****1/2)

ATTENTION: Read Radican’s G1 Climax 27: Night 9 report by clicking HERE

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