Clashes between CHAOS and The Bullet Club headline the sixth night of G1 action.
Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii have had a fierce rivalry with one another for years; their battles over the NEVER Openweight title were amazing bouts. Despite both now being members of CHAOS, Goto is looking for redemption after losing to Kenny Omega a few days ago. Taking out Ishii tonight might be his best bet for a much needed momentum boost.
Kenny Omega and Tama Tonga will have their first match against one another tonight as well. Tonga, Tanga Loa and Bad Luck Fale have distanced themselves from Kenny Omega’s Bullet Club, making a huge statement after jumping Kenny Omega a few weeks ago at the G1 Special in San Francisco. Tonga and his crew have been interfering freely in each other’s matches over the course of the tournament; one has to wonder if the rest of the Bullet Club will have Omega’s back.
Other matches for tonight include Juice Robinson battling Tetsuya Naito, SANADA facing Zack Sabre Jr. and Toru Yano taking on Kota Ibushi.
Join us for live coverage starting at 5:30 a.m. EST. There will be English commentary, with Kevin Kelly and Rocky Romero calling the action.
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SHO & YOSHI-HASHI DEFEATED REN NARITA & MICHAEL ELGIN
A basic opener, SHO won with the bridging german.
TANGA LOA & BAD LUCK FALE DEFEATED EVIL & BUSHI
A quick win for the Firing Squad, Loa pinned BUSHI after hitting Apesh*t.
MINORU SUZUKI & EL DESPERADO DEFEATED YOH & SWITCHBLADE JAY WHITE
Another quick match, but a fun one that told a good story.
White played total chickensh*t heel, ducking Suzuki, begging off, and tagging out at every opportunity.
Business picked up once YOH tagged in, and he even got a nearfall on Suzuki, but Suzuki slapped on the rear naked, then hit the Gotch on YOH, while taunting White, and got the pin.
HANGMAN PAGE & CHASE OWENS DEFEATED HIROSHI TANAHASHI & DAVID FINLAY
Page is quickly becoming the standout of this tournament.
Tana and Page started out. They did some comedy, including Page handing Tana his air guitar, after Owens retrieved it from under the ring.
Finlay and Owens tagged in. Finlay hit a dropkick, but Owens quickly cut him off. Page was in briefly and hit a standing shooting star, before Owens came back in. They did a double down, leading to tags to their partners.
Tana and Page again did some comedy, before Tana hit some of his trademark spots, including sling blade, a flying forearm, and a middle rope senton. Tana was able to tag Finlay, who ate a superkick, after hitting a back elbow.
Page went for the rite of passage, but Tana made the save. Owens hit Tana with the jewel heist, leaving Finlay to Page, who hit the rite of passage, and picked up pthe victory, heading into tomorrow’s tournament match with Tana. The two had a staredown after the match.
TOGI MAKABE & TOA HENARE DEFEATED GEDO & KAZUCHIKA OKADA
Not much to this, and Okada didn’t hit most of his trademark stuff. This was to put some steam behind Makabe before his tournament match with Okada tomorrow.
Gedo sold Henare’s opening flurry like a cartoon character, before getting in a bit of offense. Okada tagged in and hit some basic stuff, before Henare hit him with a big shoulder tackle, and tagged in Makabe.
Makabe hit some punches in the corner, but quickly ate a DDT and a scoop slam. Okada went up top for the elbow, but Makabe stood up, and Okada changed direction and jumped off the top.
The match broke down and all four men jumped in. Gedo got a nearfall on Makabe, but Makabe quickly recovered, cut him off, and hit the king kong kneedrop off the top, and pinned Gedo.
Okada teased going after Makabe with Makabe’s chain after the match, but then begged off.
B BLOCK MATCH: TORU YANO DEFEATED KOTA IBUSHI
This was a strange, fun, maddening, hilarious styles clash.
Yano got two quick nearfalls on Ibushi with a fireman’s carry takeover hold, and a cradle, as they teased the upset. Ibushi sent Yano outside and hit a plancha, but Yano sent him into the barricade, and proceeded to untie two of the corner pads from outside.
Ibushi hit an insane twisting moonsault from the post to the floor, and untied a corner pad himself, before Yano cut him off, sent him inside, and right into an exposed buckle. He tried to send Ibushi into another, and after failing once, repeatedly succeeded.
Yano handcuffed Ibushi with a roll of tape, forcing Ibushi to go to a hands-free offense. Ibushi hit a standing moonsault with hs hands tied, which was insane. Yano sent Ibushi into the ref, who took a bump.
With the ref down, Yano hit a low blow and a chop block, then rolled Ibushi up with a schoolboy and got the upset win.
B BLOCK MATCH: SANADA DEFEATED ZACK SABRE JR.
This was a really fun match, and another upset. The story was that SANADA beat Sabre at his own game, Sabre lost his cool, and lost the bout.
SANADA frustrated Sabre in the early going, repeatedly working back to a full nelson hold. Sabre went for a heel hook into a kneebar, but SANADA escaped, furthering the idea that SANADA was holding his own with the technical master. They finished the opening portion of the bout with a really nice sequence, which got a big ovation.
SANADA continued to have an aswer for all of Sabre’s holds, so Sabre decided to try to strike with him, but SANADA quickly established that he had the striking edge. Sabre then went back to tworking holds, and applied a double wristlock. SANADA reversed intoo skull end, but Sabre slipped to an octopus, before they traded pinning combinations for nearfalls.
Sabre went for the Zack driver, but SANADA reversed into skull end. Sabre slid out and tried to bridge for a pin, but SANADA kicked out. SANADA hit the O’Connor roll, then bridged into a pinning combo of his own, and scored the upset pinfall.
B BLOCK MATCH: TETSUYA NAITO DEFEATED JUICE ROBINSON
A superb match. Naito is Naito, and Juice always comes through in big matches. This was no exception.
Naito went after Juice’s bad hand early on, and even got booed for doing so. He hit the slingshot dropkick in the corner right onto the hand, sending Juice reeling to the floor. Naito continued his assault, sending Juice into the barricade, then stomped on the hand on the floor.
Back inside, Naito used a wristlock. Juice fired back with punches, but Naito answered with his own strikes, before raking Juice’s eyes. Juice countered with a hard back forearm shot, then a full nelson bomb, before hitting his jabs.
Naito went for the neckbreaker, but Juice slipped out, and hit a spinebuster, before hitting a series of chops and a corner clothesline. Naito recovered and hit the neckbreaker, then a low dropkick to the hand. Naito applied a wristlock, but Juice reached the ropes.
Naito hit a top rope rana, but Juice rolled through and turned it into a pinfall attempt, scoring a close nearfall. Juice hit a jackhammer, but couldn’t follow up, as he sold his hand. Juice went for a superplex, but Naito cut it off, going after the hand. Juice then went for a fallaway slam from the second rope, and hit it.
Juice hit the cannonball, then got a nearfall with a powerbomb, as the crowd got behind Naito. Naito hit a standing reverse rana, and went for destino, but Juice countered into a pulp friction attempt. Naito countered with a german. He went for destino a second time, but Juice countered with a lariat, as the crowd went nuts.
Juice went for pulp friction, but Naito hit destino. It didn’t matter, as Juice kicked out, which got a huge reaction.
Naito hit a second destino, and this time got the pin.
B BLOCK MATCH: KENNY OMEGA DEFEATED TAMA TONGA
This was more a continuation of the Bullet Club storyline than a match, which is probably why it didn’t go on last.
Fale and Loa accompanied Tonga to the ring, and the Firing Squad all went after Omega before the bell rang. Page and Owens ran out to make the save, and there was a brawl at ringside. Omega hit rise of the terminator, and went for another, but Tonga cut him off in the ring with a spear, and went to work.
Tonga delivered a monologue as the match went on, berating Omega for dividing the Bullet Club. Tonga missed an avalanche, and ate a tornado DDT, as Omega started to find his footing. Omega went for you can’t escape, but Tonga got the knees up on the moonsault. Tonga went for the gun stun, but Omega hit him with a v-trigger. He went for another, but Tonga hit an alabama slam.
Tonga went for the gun stun again, but Omega hit him with another v-trigger. While Tonga took the ref, Loa made his way back to ringside and clipped Omega’s leg with a chair. He went for a powerbomb on Omega on the floor, but Omega escaped, but not before his leg was damaged.
Loa hit Omega with a chair, and Tonga rolled him up, but only got a two count. Tonga went for a gun stun on the chair, but Omega reversed, and Tonga landed on the chair. Tonga teased a Styles clash on the chair, but Red Shoes kicked the chair out of the way.
Enraged, Tonga hit Red Shoes with a gun stun for the DQ.
After the match, Fale, Loa and Tonga teased slamming Omega’s head into the buckle with the chair around his neck, but Owens, Page, and Ibushi made the save.
B BLOCK MATCH: TOMOHIRO ISHII DEFEATED HIROOKI GOTO
This was everything you think of when you hear the term “strong style.” This was a real test of the cardio of both of these bigger guys, as they worked at a pretty crazy clip. A good, different, fun main event.
They opened with an exchange of shoulder blocks and strikes, with neither man gaining a clear advantage. Goto started to distance himself with a spinning back kick in the corner, and a Saito suplex for a nearfall.
Goto dropped Ishii with a series of hard kicks to the heart, but Ishii started to no-sell them, and dropped him with a forearm. Ishii hit a suplex, but Goto stood up out of it, and hit another kick to the chest. Goto applied a sleeper, but Ishii powered out.
They traded a series of stiff lariats. Both briefly got the other down, but both were right back up. They finally hit simultaneous lariats, and both dropped to the mat. Goto applied the sleeper again, but Ishii hammered his way through it, and dropped Goto with a lariat in the corner.
Ishii hit a delayed brainbuster off the second rope for a nearfall. Ishii went for the sliding lariat, but Goto caught him coming in and hit an ushigoroshi. He followed with a lariat, and Ishii took a flip bump. Goto hit the reverse GTR. He went for the standard GTR, but Ishii powered out and hit a Saito suplex, leading to a double down.
Ishii went for an enziguri, but Goto caught him. Ishii escaped and hit a lariat, and made a jacknife cover for a nearfall. Ishii went for the brainbuster, but Goto hit him with shouten kai for a nearfall.
They traded headbutts, and Ishii hit an enziguri, followed with a sliding lariat for a nearfall. Ishii then connected with the vertical drop brainbuster, and got the pin.
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B BLOCK STANDINGS
Kenny Omega 6
Tomohiro Ishii 4
Tetsuya Naito 4
Kota Ibushi 4
SANADA 4
Zack Sabre Jr. 2
Hirooki Goto 2
Tama Tonga 2
Toru Yano 2
Juice Robinson 0
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