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Tonight, the lines between people who could possibly win the G1 Climax tournament and people who no longer had a chance to overtake the leader of each block were drawn. B-Block's leading score is from Jon Moxley, fka Dean Ambrose, who hasn't lost a match yet.
Tonight's main event was with Tetsuya Naito of Los Ingobernables de Japon and it was super fun! The opening tag matches won't be as detailed in these results articles now, because you came here for the main events!
G1 Climax is a yearly 19-night tournament held by NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) to determine the most tenacious member of the roster. For the first time, all of the events will be available legally outside of Japan without a time delay via the NJPWWorld streaming service and with a delay on AXS TV.
There are two blocks with 10 fighters per block. Each fighter will have a match with every other fighter in their block, and they are awarded 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and none for a loss.
The highest scoring fighter from each block will face off at the Finale. Night 10 was a B-block night, opening as usual with the featured 4 short tag matches featuring the A-Block competitors.
Ren Narita vs. Yuya Uemura
When young lions (the dojo trainees in NJPW) go head to head, unhinged action is always involved. Their match was electric and the crowd loved them. I can't wait to see where these young men end up! Narita's strong showing during the G1's exhibition matches has set him above the rest.
Results: Ren Narita def. Yuya Uemura via pinfall
Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)
Bullet Club never fails to impress with their slimy wins. They keep rolling in, and Honma felt Takahashi's wrath tonight when he took the pinfall.
Results: Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) def Kota Ibushi, Tomoaki Honma & Toa Henare via pinfall
Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Shota Umino vs. Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Suzuki-gun stood tall during this bout, helped along to victory by their extensive tag team experience. Young lion Shooter Umino ate the pinfall before the 10-minute mark. He's been the losing member of a G1 tag match twice now, but his style is becoming more brutal, a testament to his current mentor Jon Moxley's hardcore style wrestling.
Results: Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Shota Umino via pinfall
Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA & Karl Fredericks vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI)
As with the earlier match, the young lion Fredericks was the weak link. LIJ was stunning as always. BUSHI pinned Fredericks after completing his MX finisher.
Results: EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA & Karl Fredericks via pinfall
The G1 B-Block matches followed.
Toru Yano (4) vs. Hirooki Goto (2)
Fierce Warrior Goto was skeptical as Yano opened the ropes for him, but he wasn't attacked. Yano spent time involving Goto in his real tactic, making Goto pay attention to the crowd instead of him.
The crowd adored Goto's ferocity, but Yano is a fun, humourous heel and always delivers something entertaining. Yano used his T-shirt attack as the crowd attempted to warn Goto, and he attempted a roll up pinfall but was foiled by the freshness of Goto.
Yano took the opportunity to head towards the turnbuckle to untie the ring pads, one of his signature moves, but he didn't have time to accomplish anything by his efforts. It took only a minute more, and Goto had turned the tide to pin Yano. This was the fastest Block match I've seen all tournament.
Results: Hirooki Goto (4) def Toru Yano (4) via pinfall
Juice Robinson (6) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (4)
Ishii and Robinson went chest to chest in their attempts to intimidate each other early on. They traded chest chops and Robinson gained the upper hand, cornering Ishii into a ring post.
Ishii stood up to Robinson, standing chest to chest with him once more before turning Robinson's early lead into a painful series of chops. They absorbed hard shots, defying each others' attempts to take a decisive lead until Robinson put Ishii into the mat with a suplex. Ishii and Robinson traded elbows once more.
Robinson targeted Ishii's braced elbow and tender neck. That said, Ishii's combination experience as both a tank and a high-flier took the wind out of Robinson time and again. A German suplex from Ishii's arsenal ended a long exchange of unfinished finishers, leaving both men on the mat.
Ishii was up first, but Robinson hit harder. Robinson's right fist and Ishii's suplexes and lariats wore both men down. Ishii completed one last standing suplex and took the victory.
Results: Tomihiro Ishii (6) def Juice Robinson (6) via pinfall
Taichi (4) vs. Jeff Cobb (2)
The return of Taichi's valet, Miho Abe, was a delightful match opener for me! I think she's just adorable. Red Shoes Unno refereed. Shenanigans were guaranteed when Taichi took off his coat and revealed an arm sling that Unno didn't let him keep.
He handed it off (and I expected that he had smuggled the Iron Finger inside of it) to Abe, and the men shared an honourable handshake after the bell. Cobb is a brick of a man and Taichi was a delightful snake, relying on Abe to distract the former NEVER champion. Cobb's dropkick took the match outside of the ring, and Taichi happily enlisted Abe to stop Cobb's momentum.
Taichi proceeded to smack Cobb's face into the English announce table and their announcer chairs for his trouble. Once the action moved back to the ring and the announcers were back in place, Taichi continued his dominance over Cobb until Cobb delivered a flurry of elbows and cornered Taichi.
A Samoan drop from the suplex specialist nearly put Taichi away. They countered each other before kicking each other in the face, Taichi in the corner and Cobb in the middle of the ring. More kicks from Taichi chipped away at Cobb and kept him motivated but when the kicks stopped connecting reliably, Cobb attempted his Tour of the Islands finishing move.
The shenanigans I thought would happen during the match didn't, and Cobb performed suplex after suplex, punctuating his progress with a piledriver and pinfall attempt. Abe fired the audience up to encourage Taichi's return, and he threw Unno into Cobb's way. It wasn't enough to distract Cobb, who finally completed his Tour of the Islands to pin Taichi.
Results: Jeff Cobb (4) def. Taichi (4) via pinfall
Shingo Takagi (4) vs. Jay White (2)
White was accompanied by his Bullet Club brother Goto, which, like the possible appearance of the Iron Finger earlier, often signals brutal and legal outside interference. White escaped straightaway outside the ring, and Takagi's speed meant he could bring White back and deliver serious pain.
He threw White back-first into the ring apron, and Gedo pulled on Takagi's feet, leading ultimately to White's ringside DDT which introduced Takagi to the arena floor. White then introduced Takagi to the blue barricade and hauled Takagi back into the ring. A neck breaker couldn't keep Takagi down for the count.
White often relies on a neck-based strategy, and he did that here, leaving Takagi open to a nasty hair-pulling session from the leader of Bullet Club. Traded chest chops continued White's dominance, and Takagi took White by his dark turquoise mane to punish him. By the by, White's hair is pretty cool in person, and the colour is more rich than it looks on camera.
Takagi's Noshigami wasn't completed, but he delivered a DDT that kept White down but not for long. White suplexed Cobb into the ringpost and attempted a pinfall. It wasn't enough yet, and White dedicated himself to dominating the stronger man's fate in the G1. \
Even Takagi's suplexes didn't keep the smug smile from White's face, who was pretty thrilled that his stamina held out. White performed an uranage on Takagi and stood tall over him. A Kiwi Crusher finisher wasn't enough yet, and a combination of body blows reversed their positions.
Takagi continued with barrages of elbows and a suplex as well as a noragami. Gedo grabbed Takagi's foot again, keeping him from his finisher, but Takagi kept on, powerbombing White into the ring post. Takagi smacked Gedo to keep his brass knuckles out of White's hands, and White began setting up for a Blade Runner finisher.
Takagi's Made in Japan move didn't take White out, and he ate two suplexes and a modified brain buster. White completed the Blade Runner and pinned Takagi for the three-count and victory.
Results: Jay White (4) def Shingo Takagi (4) via pinfall
Jon Moxley (8) vs. Tetsuya Naito (4)
Mox was accompanied by Shooter Umino who earlier in the night was pinned during his tag match. The crowd really likes Moxley, but they love Naito. Red Shoes Unno refereed. The Tranquilo master was in his best white suit and black cape, and Mox offered to open the ropes for Naito.
Naito made Mox wait, which drove the hardcore wrestler to impatience. Naito had promised the night before to teach Mox the true meaning of Tranquilo, and that lesson began before the opening bell had rung. As Naito finished stripping down, he threw his pants at Mox. The bell rang and Naito quickly slid into action, leading Mox outside of the ring and Naito into his Tranquilo taunt pose.
And yes, before you ask, it's the same as WWE wrestler Andrade's Tranquilo taunt. Moxley's patience was truly at an end and outside the ring they involved the blue barricades and went right into the audience. Moxley threw Naito through the outer barricade to the inner one, dragging him into place for a clothesline into audience chairs. He put Naito into a headlock and walked him back to the ring.
Moxley threatened to bite Naito's face off. It didn't occur, but they spat in each others' faces several times.
Mox attempted an armbar but Naito got his boots into Moxley's face before he could lock it in. Elbows in the corner and when Naito went at Moxley with the intention of delivering a clothesline, Mox caught and choke slammed his opponent. Once Naito was down for enough time, Mox opened up the furniture store outside the ring and involved two steel chairs. Moxley set one around Naito's ankle along the ring apron, ready for another chair to slam down and take out that right leg entirely.
Unno stepped between the men and refused Mox the chance to complete the brutal act by taking the chair in Moxley's hands into his own. Mox respected his protege Shooter's father's wishes but he wasn't happy about it. The opening left Moxley vulnerable to Naito's running jumpkick that drove the first chair into Moxley's face.
Naito stole the other referee's chair and completed a stalling DDT, introducing the crown of Mox's head into the seat of the chair. Naito sat a dazed Moxley in the chair and ran up the ramp to deliver a running dropkick that put them both on the floor outside the ring. Mox recovered first to bring them back to the ring but Naito's top rope dropkick took him down against the ringpost.
He attempted a pinfall and failed, getting driven back against a ringpost to take an elbow beating from Moxley. Moxley got them to the top rope and performed a modified suplex from the second rope. Naito kicked out of Moxley's pinfall attempt and dodged the Regal Knee, only to eat a stepping spinning DDT from Naito. The crowd was hot for both men, and their energy drew the fighters back to their feet.
Moxley tried to bite Naito's face off once more and got his teeth on the man's flesh.
Naito rallied and attempted his Destino finisher but was foiled but Moxley's spinning lariat. A DDT from Moxley only took Naito down for a 2-count. Moxley completed the Regal Knee for another 2-count on Naito.
The two men decided it was time to bite each other's faces off, and both got a chance.
Naito landed an inseguri and his Destino finisher but Moxley reversed and landed the Death Death Rider finisher. It took a second Death Rider move, and Moxley finally pinned Naito to take a decisive lead over the rest of the B-block and tying the A-block leader, Kazuchika Okada at 10 points.
Results: Jon Moxley (10) def Tetsuya Naito (4) via pinfall
See you in two days for Night 11 featuring the A-Block competitors.
