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Welcome back to the G1 Climax Tournament's Night 6! Tonight's event was driven by a enthusiastic crowd who remained heard throughout the night. Notice that I’ve slipped into a more conversational tone?
It’s because we’re going on this Tournament journey together, and I want to share my personal excitement over the matches with you. Click through for the results and my commentary, and as always don't forget to give me yours on Sportskeeda's Twitter!
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 6 was a B-block night, opening as usual with the featured 4 short tag matches featuring the A-Block competitors.
Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens)
ZSJ has been throwing temper tantrums after his matches because he couldn’t seem to pick up any points in the tournament so far, so seeing him fight Fale and Owens felt natural.
He fought back against the massive Fale and crafty Owens, tagging Kanemaru in. Fale and Owens continued to run roughshod through Suzuki-gun, causing Kanemaru’s Suntory finisher to hit ZSJ.
Whiskey to the eyes is never a fun time, and the mistake cost Suzuki-gun the match. Fale pinned Kanemaru without fanfare.
Results: Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens) def. Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) via pinfall
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomoaki Honma vs. Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki)
Being an NJPW ring attendant must be rough, everyone wants to kick one in the chest and show their dominance. Such is the life of a young lion in training!
The match began after Archer went for Tanahashi, and Suzuki took on Honma in the ring. Honma was fighting to win, but Suzuki trapped him in the ring ropes until the referee separated the two.
Archer didn’t stop kicking Tanahashi until it was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere on his own. But during that exchange, Suzuki choked Honma with a steel chair in the audience, and both men were left to beat the 20-count.
The Suzuki-gun faction members singled Honma out as he tried to tag Tanahashi into the match. However, Honma had just enough stamina to finally get Tanahashi into the ring, but Suzuki had the stamina to bring Archer in as well.
A dragon screw took some of Archer’s momentum, but Archer refused to give up. It was Honma’s turn to take Archer, and Tanahashi joined him to suplex Archer. Archer was happy to give both men a chokeslam and then deliver his Everybody Dies face claw finisher to Honma.
And those ring attendants? All of them, and the referee, took the victory beatings as Suzuki-gun faction left the ring.
Results: Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomoaki Honma via pinfall
Kota Ibushi, KENTA and Clark Connors vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL and BUSHI)
The LIJ entrances are really great, for no other reason than their excellent costumes. Still, KENTA, Ibushi, and young lion Connors were more intimidating for their lack of pomp. Ibushi went first, sizing up SANADA the day after they both survived their Day 5 fights.
Reversals and locks kept Ibushi fresh, but SANADA was dominant. SANADA tagged his teammate EVIL in, immediately body slamming Ibushi and attempting three rapid pinfalls. BUSHI tagged in for a moment, softening up Ibushi for more punishment from SANADA and EVIL.
Ibushi’s dropkick to EVIL gave him time to tag KENTA in, fresh for the fight. KENTA’s strong kicks kept EVIL occupied until hewiggled away to bring BUSHI in. KENTA tagged young lion Connors in, and he immediately dominated BUSHI with a Boston crab hold, during which SANADA tried to break up and failed.
Connors was punished by all present members of LIJ and BUSHI’s X finisher took him out for the three-count. SANADA and Ibushi faced each other down in the ring, deciding good-naturedly to hype their match during Night 7 instead of beating each other down. After Suzuki-gun faction’s disrespect, this was a breath of fresh air.
Results: Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL and BUSHI) def. Kota Ibushi, KENTA and Clark Connors via pinfall
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Will Ospreay and Toa Henare
Ospreay and Okada are fan favourites holding the top titles in the company, so the crowd wanted this match desperately. YOSHI-HASHI and Henare locked up first, and YOSHI-HASHI gained the upper hand by working on Henare outside of the ring before tagging Okada in.
A slingshot senton put Henare into the mat, and he traded spots with YOSHI-HASHI, who used the ropes to dominate Henare. The taunting between Okada and Ospreay teased the crowd into a frenzy every time there was a chance the two would fight. Once they did, Ospreay opened his aerial bag of tricks.
Okada attempted multiple Rainmaker finishers, but both men tagged their partners instead of continuing their brawl. Henare’s vertical suplex took the fight out of YOSHI-HASHI and the two champions went down.
The legal men fought to a standstill until YOSHI-HASHI completed a Fisherman Buster and put Henare down.
Results: CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI) def. Will Ospreay and Toa Henare via pinfall
The G1 B-Block fights came next! Click through for the results.
Shingo Takagi (2) vs. Taichi (2)
I know I’ve repeatedly said that Miho Abe is super cute, but now I’ll stand by the statement that she’s Taichi’s best asset by far as well. Takagi’s masked entrance did it’s best to match Taichi’s, and the match began as Takagi tossed his coat off more quickly than usual and took the fight to Taichi before the bell.
Dark Emperor Taichi can take a lot of damage, especially when Abe’s very presence can keep his enemies at bay. Taichi used that recovery time to prepare, and he took a steel chair to Takagi’s chest in the audience. Once the men were back inside the ropes, Taichi continued to dominate with clever ring awareness.
Takage fought back valiantly with a beautiful suplex, and Taichi met his strong hits with kicks meant to end the match. Takagi used those kicks to turn the tide and deliver a Made in Japan throw.
That didn’t keep Taichi down, who delivered his Last Ride finisher, though it was to no avail. Two finishing attempts from Takagi wore Taichi down. A third won him the 2 points.
Results: Shingo Takagi (4) def. Taichi (2) via pinfall
Juice Robinson (4) vs. Jeff Cobb (0)
Robinson, the hardcore wrestler, and Cobb, the tank, came in ready to go in an honourable manner with a handshake. A note: Robinson’s paint splatter pimp entrance outfit looks stranger to me every time I see it.
Robinson started and kept the momentum of the match strong, taking the fight outside of the ring after softening Cobb up with chest strikes. Back inside, a top rope crossbody took Cobb to a two-count of which he barely kicked out.
Robinson threw his body into Cobb, desperate for the two tournament points. Cobb took advantage of that energy to suplex Robinson over and over. Chest strikes and hard elbows followed once Robinson peeled himself from the mat, and he delivered a spinebuster to give himself some space.
Robinson landed a cannonball to keep Cobb in the corner so he could give Cobb a top rope Frankensteiner. Cobb tried to turn the tables but his efforts put him in line for a powerbomb from Robinson. Neither man could complete his finishing move, and their attempts left them tired but vicious.
German suplexes from Cobb almost put Robinson down for the two-count. Cobb’s Tour of the Islands finisher landed Robinson into taking the pin.
Results: Jeff Cobb (4) def. Juice Robinson (2) via pinfall
Jay White (0) vs. Toru Yano (2)
Red Shoes Unno refereed this match between the vivacious Yano and the desperate and villainous White.
White's been as upset as ZSJ about his losses inthe Trounament, but instead of throwing tantrums, Bullet Club decided to continue cheating. Gedo came to ringside and was happy to intervene on behalf of his Bullet Club brother White, brass knuckles in his pocket as always.
Yano unwound his favourite turnbuckle pad, exposing the metal hooks to endanger White. Still, White was faster than Yano and avoided the metal. White was able to deliver a low blow, but Yano sprayed a mouthful of something into White’s face before stealing Gedo’s brass knuckles.
He used them only once on White’s tender privates, but it was enough to win him the points and leave White with none. Bullet Club swore revenge.
Results: Toru Yano (4) def. Jay White (0)
Tetsuya Naito (0) vs. Hirooki Goto (2)
Naito’s inability to grab early points in the tournament has surprised the audience, who were behind him tonight. Goto still got the early upper hand over Naito by attacking him before the bell.
The men traded strikes in the corner until Naito gained a small strength advantage. He attacked Goto’s possibly injured knee relentlessly, relying on painful rest holds and sliding dropkicks. Goto rallied after a series of kicks to the head by Naito.
A suplex put Naito down for a 2-count only, and he fought back with a neck breaker and a dropkick to the back of Goto’s head. They traded finisher attempts, and Naito reversed Goto’s most successful ones with DDTs.
Naito attempted to pin Goto and failed, but it gave him room to complete his Destino finisher and win his first two Tournament points.
Results: Tetsuya Naito (2) def. Hirooki Goto (2)
Jon Moxley (4) vs. Tomohiro Ishii (4)
Moxley and Umino (Shooter? Sure, Mox, calling him Shooter is almost as good as calling him by his real name, Shota) fired up the audience with their entrance among them.
CHAOS faction’s veteran member Ishii looked ready to trade blows with Moxley to the very end of the 30-minute time limit. Forehead to forehead they met, and Unno separated them until the bell.
Their strikes were more exploratory, as were their unsuccessful spin kicks. But once the men had a feel for each other, Moxley’s body slam started the real action. He hauled Ishii into the audience before slamming his head into the venue’s East entrance sign multiple times.
Headbutts and chest chops kept Mox one step ahead, and when Unno tried to separate them again, Mox gave his young lion’s father a big hug. If the audience had any doubt that Moxley fights on the side of chaotic good, that doubt was gone as Mox respected Unno and brutalized Ishii.
The count hadn’t started until Unno finally got back into the ring (sweaty and rumpled from the Mox hug), and both men beat it but only because Mox tossed Ishii into the mat. After a failed pin, he locked Ishii into a stranglehold, encouraging him to quit.
Ishii refused, kicking out of a pin attempt and getting his leg into the ropes to break the stranglehold. That resilience landed Moxley in the mat from Ishii’s vertical suplex. Ishii absorbed a lot of damage, and he used the energy from that beating to turn the tables on Mox for a while, putting him into the barricade.
That was a mistake, as the chairs came out, and they dueled with the steel seats. Moxley took the upper hand and the extra time to set up one of his favourite weapons, the table. The men both tried to introduce their opponent to the table with suplex attempts, but it only resulted in more action outside the ring with another chair.
That chair had one more use on Moxley, and that was enough to stun him. Ishii set Moxley on the table and put him through it from the top rope. Back in the ring, Ishii delivered a surprising superplex and a German suplex, which was returned with interest in the form of a lariat from Mox.
Mox decided it was time to bite his way to victory, and headbutts from both men stunned, but Mox wasn’t at Ishii’s mercy at any point. A textbook Yuranagi and Regal Knee nearly put Ishii away, but as he kicked out, Moxley was setting up his finisher. He failed two attempts and Ishii took him down with a pair of lariats but not for long.
Another round of headbutts fired both men up but Moxley hit the Death Rider finisher twice to pin Ishii and remain at the top of the B-Block.
Results: Jon Moxley (6) def. Tomohiro Ishii (4) via pinfall
See you tomorrow for Night 7 of the G1 Climax Tournament!
