– NJPW’s G1 Climax is an annual tournament that this year takes place from July 14 to August 12. Wrestlers are split into 2 Blocks of 10 and fight each person in their allocated Block. 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a loss. The two wrestlers at the top of Block A and Block B will face each other in the NJPW G1 Climax 28 Final, August 12 in Tokyo at the Budokan.
Below are the results from the day 13 of the tournament and updated Block A standings:
Toru Yano & Gedo defeated Toa Henare & Ren Narita
Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa defeated Hirooki Goto & Yoh
Juice Robinson & David Finlay defeated Zack Sabre Jr & TAKA Michinoku
Tomohiro Ishii & Sho defeated Kenny Omega & Chase Owens
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA defeated Kota Ibushi & Yujiro Takahashi
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Day 13
Block A
Round 7
Michael Elgin vs Bad Luck Fale
Elgin wasn’t having any of the Tongan shenanigans, after Loa grabbed the big Canadian’s heel he was swiftly met with a suicide dive. Tonga Loa may have been down, but Bad Luck Fale was still swinging. With Elgin distracted taking out the extra man, Fale took advantage and drove him into the guardrail before throwing him back into the ring.
Elgin had heavily taped up his upper right arm and Fale went after it relentlessly. Which meant that when Big Mike did finally break into the match, he wasn’t able to lift the Bullet Club OG because of the damage to the arm. Elgin tried his best with just the one arm, throwing hard lariats and eventually being able to ground Fale. It was just too much of an ask trying to compete with one arm.
Just as Elgin put together some string of offence, Fale ‘accidentally’ knocked over the ref. Tonga Loa interefered but Big Mike made quick work of him, then power slammed Fale! The big man was down and Elgin climbed to the top rope, which was when Tama Tonga came down swinging a steel chair. Elgin fell to the mat and Tama beat the holy hell out of him with the chair as the recovered and rang for the bell.
The beat down continued and the Bad Boy slammed the chair down on Elgin’s injured arm. Yet another DQ for the Tongans.
Winner: Michael Elgin via DQ (3 Wins 4 Losses = 6 Points)
Togi Makabe vs Hangman Page
Hangman tried to play Makabe’s game of strength and fell hard, straight to outside and the big lad happily informed his opponent on the directions to the guardrails. But on the final guardrail whip Hangman reversed and took the wind out of Makabe’s sails. The American then took the match back into the ring and continued to keep his opponent down.
Page was in full control, stopping Makabe every time he tried to mount a comeback. But the heart of the Unchained Gorilla kept driving the man back up, every time the Hangman knocked him down he came right back at him. Eventually Makabe was able to clobber Page with a lariat and was finally back in this match.
Sensing his moment, Makabe launched Page with a Spider German from the top rope and went for the King Kong Knee Drop but his opponent rolled out the way! The two slowly got up and began to exchange strikes, Makabe then rocked Hangman to the ground with one stiff ass lariat that sent him rolling towards the ropes.
He knocked the Bullet Club down again with another stiff arm and signalled his run to rebound and hit another. But Hangman flipped over the top rope with the Buck Shot! Then straight into the Right of Passage for the three!
Winner: Hangman Page (2 Wins 5 Losses = 4 Points)
Jay White vs YOSHI-HASHI
YOSHI-HASHI hat the outside pretty hard early on and White immediately took advantage, launching his fellow Chaos stablemate into the guardrail in front of the English commetators. Before rolling him back into the ring and locking in the Muta Lock. For the first half of the match, YOSHI-HASHI was nothing. Jay White had complete control.
However YH had the Blade Runner scouted every time, even after White pushed his opponent into the ref, followed up with a low blow and then hit the finisher. YOSHI-HASHI reversed or countered every single time. Equally though, Jay White had Karma scouted and halted HASHI in his tracks each time he attempted the move.
YOSHI-HASHI tried to hit Karma one last time in an attempt to end the match, but White countered into the Blade Runner! 1, 2, 3. White wins and A Block remains very interesting towards the top.
Winner: Jay White (5 Wins 2 Losses = 10 Points)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs EVIL
EVIL very quickly targeted Tana’s right arm, and the former IWGP Heavyweight champion was on the back foot for the rest of the match. Tanahashi being Tanahashi, he mounted a strong comeback but EVIL was always there to meet him. Even when Tana was on top, the LIJ man rolled out of the way of the High Fly Flo.
EVIL was on a real role towards the end, Darkness Falls got a damn close fall. Then the stiff as hell running lariat that followed got an even closer fall! EVIL may have been on top, but Tanahashi wasn’t giving up. Eventually the King of Darkness decided enough was enough and went to the Everything Is Evil STO, but Tana reversed and after a few counters between them the Ace hit an Everything Is Evil of his own!
Tana climbed to the top rope, and hit a High Fly Flo with force for the win.
Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (6 Wins 1 Loss = 12 Points)
Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki
Suzuki attacked Okada before the introductions and immediately took the fight into the crowd. Pulling the guardrail on top of the Balloonmaker and launching chairs at him. Suzuki went to grab another chair with red shoes shouting at him, so the ref grabbed a chair himself! So Suzuki instead launched Okada into the bleachers, then more rows of seats and THEN clobbered him over the back with a chair.
Okada only just made it back to the ring to beat the count, to then be met a Suzuki who beat the hell out of him. Things would then get worse for the Rainmaker. Suzuki targeted Okada’s right arm (the one he throws the Rainmaker clothesline with) on top continuously kicking and striking the man down.
Until Okada rocked his opponent with one hell of a shotgun dropkick! The two then traded forearms again and again and again and again. Suzuki rocked Okada with a palm strike, looked like he was capitalising until his opponent nailed a dropkick. Then just when Okada looked on top Suzuki started nailing combination strikes, but Okada rocked him with his own strike. Okada went to run the ropes, but Suzuki charged behind with one beautiful flying dropkick!
Towards the end the earlier work on Okada’s arm came into play, Suzuki was able to counter the Rainmaker with a stiff slap to the face. Then the Suzuki Gun leader locked in the Octopus Stretch, wrenching back on the arm. But Okada lifted him up into a Tombstone!
After the two slowly got back to their feet, Okada won a quick exchange and locked in a choke hold. Then switched into trying to hit a Gotch Style Piledriver! But Suzuki reversed into a Tombostone! Which was countered back by Okada into another Tombstone, that was also blocked so the former champ locked his arms and hit a Gotch Style Tombstone.
Rolling Rainmaker, followed by a proper Rainmaker. 1, 2, 3.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada (5 Wins 2 Losses = 10 Points)
Block A Standings
Hiroshi Tanahashi (12 Points)
Jay White (10 Points)
Kazuchika Okada (10 Points)
EVIL (8 Points)
Minoru Suzuki (8 Points)
Bad Luck Fale (6 Points)
Michael Elgin (6 points)
Hangman Page (4 Points)
Togi Makabe (4 points)
YOSHI-HASHI (2 Points)
G1 is back Saturday August 4 for the Block B round 7 match ups: Toru Yano vs SANADA, Hirooki Goto vs Tama Tonga, Juice Robinson vs Zack Sabre Jr, Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito vs Kota Ibushi.
Full results of the show will be posted here on LOP shortly after.
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Day 11 (July 28 2018) – A Block Kazuchika Okada vs Michael Elgin
NJPW G1 Climax 28 Day 12 (Aug 1 2018) – B Block Goto vs Ibushi
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