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Welcome to Night 4!
The 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 4 was a B-block night, opening as usual with 4 short tag matches featuring the A-Block competitors.
Click through for the results and my commentary, and as always don't forget to give me yours on Sportskeeda's Twitter!
Kota Ibushi, Jushin Thunder Liger & Shota Umino vs. Will Ospreay, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
Liger’s farewell series of matches have shown off the veteran performer’s classic moves, and we were treated to his submission holds as he and the Golden Star opened the show. The pair of young lions, Tsuji and Umino, soaked up damage with grace.
“Shooter” Umino surprised with new violent tendencies, shoving the ref as he made it clear he was Jon Moxley’s protege. Ibushi is skilled at communicating an opponent’s power to the viewer, and while Umino’s changes stood for themselves, the Golden Star took his time to showcase Tsuji’s brutality. Still, Ibushi didn’t waste much time making Tsuji tap out.
Result: Kota Ibushi & Jushin Thunder Liger def. Yota Tsuji & Shota Umino via submission
Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ren Narita vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI)
EVIL locked up with Narita first, feeling out his competition for the night. Honma and Henare are veterans with comedic techniques, but the members of LIJ kept them from laughing with teamwork.
Henare rallied, leaving Narita room to put SANADA into a hold. All three members of LIJ triple-teamed Narita, and BUSHI went high, finishing the young lion.
EVIL and SANADA will be facing off on Day 5, and they took a moment at the end of the match to let each other know they are in the tournament for themselves alone.
Result: Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) def. Tomoaki Honma, Toa Henare & Ren Narita via pinfall
Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks vs. Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Suzuki-gun used their unified front to intimidate their opponents before they even had a chance to see them, and Sabre Jr. took Tanahashi on before the bell. Archer and KENTA traded kicks before KENTA chose not to tag Tanahashi in, choosing the American young lion instead. Suzuki’s stiff strikes took him to his knees.
The members of Suzuki-gun hauled their opponents out of the ring and into the barricades and chairs, but they couldn’t keep their opponents from finding their way back to the ring. Archer joined the announce team for a few minutes before Sabre Jr. let his arrogant style lead into the first of many creative holds.
The action was underscored by the story of respect between Tanahashi and KENTA, who are showing they can be on the same page but they don’t respect the other man’s reputation. Kanemaru pinned Connors against the backdrop of Archer, Sabre Jr., and Suzuki locking the rest of their opponents in brutal holds.
In defeat, KENTA and Tanahashi took their next steps together.
Result: Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks via pinfall.
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale)
Owens and YOSHI-HASHI took each on, leaving Fale to strangle Okada with audio cables. Owens and Fale walked all over YOSHI-HASHI to keep him from tagging out. A sliding kick to Fale’s knee gave YOSHI-HASHI the opening to tag the Rainmaker in.
The CHAOS member’s DDT signaled his enthusiastic offense against Fale, and his work against Owens gave YOSHI-HASHI a chance to get revenge on Fale. Okada treated Owens to his Rainmaker finisher and pinned him for the 3-count.
Result: CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) def. Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale) via pinfall
Toru Yano (2) vs. Shingo Takagi (0)
The costume game is strong with Shingo Takagi. Yano's red Haori and steel chair didn't need any other frills.
The NJPW audience enjoys the antics of Yano, the sneakiest man on the roster, for the same reasons the WWE audience keeps loving R-Truth, but Yano’s limited bag of tricks make the viewing experience markedly different.
He’s the comedic soul of his division but his brutality is the real surprise. Yano’s attempt to win via count-out was thrilling and clever if ill-fated. The men traded elbows, and Takagi foiled Yano’s low blow. No matter how many Yano used diversion tactics to control the referee’s attention, Takagi prevailed. That momentum remained stable at the end of the match as the LIJ member picked up the victory.
BUSHI came down to ringside to stare down his Day 5 competitor.
Result: Shingo Takagi (2) def. Toru Yano (2) via pinfall
Juice Robinson (2) vs. Hirooki Goto (2)
Robinson and Goto were well-matched, and Robinson’s new shade of bold fighting was on strong display here. Goto threw Robinson into the railing to wear him down
Robinson and Goto were well-matched, and Robinson’s new shade of bold fighting was on strong display here. Goto threw Robinson into the railing to wear him down, but Robinson’s continual ring awareness denied Goto dominance.
Last year, Robinson’s broken hand affected his G1 score, and coming into this G1 with a humiliating defeat from Jon Moxley at Dominion has left him hungry and growing. Goto let him shine by putting him through as much pain as Robinson could take. Robinson fought his way out of Goto’s GTR attempt and took a series of chest kicks right after.
Robinson’s high angle jackhammer evened the game, resulting in reversals and competing feats of strength. Juice’s finishers, the Left Hand of God and Pulp Friction put 2 more points in Robinson’s column.
Result: Juice Robinson (4) def. Hirooki Goto (2) via pinfall.
Jeff Cobb (0) vs. Jon Moxley (2)
Moxley entered through the crowd with Shota 'Shooter' Umino at his side. They make a very entertaining pair and Red Shoes Unno’s son is in good, if very strange, hands. Speaking of Unno, he was the referee for the match.
Mox and Cobb felt each other out with slow, methodical grappling that led into rope work. Moxley has been relentless in every NJPW event so far, and it’s a relief to see his sense of humour in subtle, elegant moments. And then Mox tried to bite Cobb’s face open.
No blood was spilled. After that, they were far more evenly matched as they attempted to throw each other around, with Cobb taking the advantage. Moxley’s Regal Knee didn’t change that. Another knee and a draping Death Rider did, however, and Moxley picked up the win.
Result: Jon Moxley (4) def. Jeff Cobb (2) via pinfall
Tomohiro Ishii (2) vs. Jay White (0)
Gedo accompanied White to the ring, all but guaranteeing shenanigans. CHAOS’ Ishii is the good guy here, on a path of revenge against White and Bullet Club. Unno refereed this match.
Ishii thought faster than Gedo and kept ahead of White in a surprisingly strong start. White’s sniveling in the face of pain with Gedo on his side was a joy to watch. Ishii lost the upper hand after a meeting with the barricade and the ring post.
White’s taunting made Ishii more brutal, and Unno had to remind Ishii to play fair. White delivered DDTs, a brainbuster, and a neck-focused offense. Ishii refused to go down, power slamming the Switchblade. Fired up, Ishii seemed able to soak up unlimited damage, but he only needed to soak up more than White.
A German suplex combo from White put him back in control of Ishii’s neck but White’s mind games didn’t back up that promise. Ishii was the stronger man, delivering a top rope superplex and a high angle back-drop suplex to nearly put White away. A uranage put White in position to deliver a Kiwi Crusher, but it didn’t keep Ishii down or away from his suplex arsenal.
Gedo distracted Unno for long enough that White looked to have an advantage, but it was a vertical drop brainbuster that led White to eat the pin.
Result: Tomohiro Ishii (4) def. Jay White (0)
Tetsuya Naito (0) vs. Taichi (0)
Taichi’s masked valet Miho Abe was stunning as always, and Taichi tried to use that to his advantage with the crowd. In the face of Naito’s passionate fans, he failed handily. Unno refereed.
After getting frustrated with Taichi’s evasion, Naito threw himself down to the mat and offered Taichi an open shot. He gleefully took down Taichi and expressed that good Tranquilo! Taichi rallied, but Naito put him through the barricades on several sides of the ring.
Taichi put Abe in Naito’s way, and he took her in hand, gave her eye, and let her go with a warning. Taichi had no respect for Naito’s manners and gave him a low blow before blasting him through the barricade and smashing a steel chair over his head. Taichi kept his dominant momentum until each man’s duelling kicks floored them both.
Naito put Taichi into a rest hold that gave him time to recover and chipped at Taichi’s stamina. Stiff leg strikes from Taichi put Naito in place for a backdrop suplex, which got him down on the mat.
Taichi got his purple bag from Abe, his Iron Finger glove coming out. Naito made sure to dodge it and get it as far from the ring as possible before both men turned up the baseline violence. Naito kicked out of everything Taichi threw at him, and as he tried to complete the Black Mephisto, Naito gave him a low blow.
Taichi kicked out of Naito’s Tranquilo finisher, leaving both men desperate. Naito fought brilliantly, but Taichi pulled Unno in the way. An attempted Kanemaru whiskey spray, an attempted Iron Finger, and a downed ref didn’t dampen Naito’s spirit.
Still, it was a third Iron Finger attempt that connected, leaving Naito open to Taichi’s finisher, the Last Ride. Taichi ended the main event in Abe’s arms, 2 points richer than he started.
Result: Taichi (2) def. Tetsuya Naito (0) via pinfall.
See you Thursday, July 18 for my Night 5 coverage!
