NJPW G1 Climax 2013 Day 1 Results and Review

NJPW G1 Climax 2013 Day 1 Results and Review

My G1 Climax Preview is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/njpw-g1-climax-2013-preview.html

NJPW, 8/1/13 (Samurai! TV)
Act City Hamamatsu

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano

Kota Ibushi won with the Phoenix Splash. This wasn't bad. They didn't go too long and Yano did some okay heeling before Kota hit the flying moves and put him away.

2. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Lance Archer

Lance Archer won with a Blackout. Good back and forth match here. Archer did his big man stuff and a bit of flying while Ishii was spunky and tried to pull off the upset. Archer did some big suplex bumps and these two worked together really well. Rating:***

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shelton Benjamin

Shelton Benjamin won with a jumping reverse STO/Paydirt. I didn't like this one. Shelton didn't look really good and Tenzan took too much for a man who may not even make it through this tournament. They both mainly worked each other's necks and Tenzan took a rough hiptoss on his neck.

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Katsuyori Shibata won with a Penalty Kick(Running kick to the chest). Good match. They worked a UWFi shoot style match here and it was a lot of fun. Both guys looked good on the mat and this was very technically sound. The finish came when DBSJ was working  the powerbomb and Shibata turned it into a triangle. DB tried to slam him but couldn't and DB ended up taking the PK after Shibata let go for the win. Rating:***1/4

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Yujiro Takahashi

Yujiro Takahashi beat Tetsuya Naito with a Suisha Otoshi. Good match here. They really did some nasty looking moves, with mostly Tetsuya taking them on his head. It took them long enough, but they got a decent one here. Much better than expected. Rating:***

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki

Yuji Nagata beat Minoru Suzuki with a wrist-clutch exploder. This was fun, like every match in their series is. As always, they slapped each other silly and had a nice technical match around it with both guys working each others knees. They also had some great facials and selling, making this a pretty good one. These two are always quality and the finish was nasty. Rating:***1/4

7. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto

Togi Makabe beat Hirooki Goto with a King Kong Knee Drop. The match was decent. They went at it right from the start and they did tons of striking and selling. They both ate some decent shots at the spider german definitely wasn't fun looking.

8. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson

Karl Anderson beat Shinsuke Nakamura with a cutter. Good match here. This got fun in the second half as they kept countering each other and then getting near falls. This is where Karl's cutter specific offense worked really well. I didn't like the beginning at all as it was just cheap heel stuff but once it got going it was fun. Rating:***1/4

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima

Satoshi Kojima beat Hiroshi Tanahashi with a lariat. This was a great match but it's going to be remembered by the ref screwing up the 3 count. He stopped at 2, waiting for a shoulder to go up and it never did. It looked akward and he ended the match anyway. Forget it though. These two worked well together and exceeded expectations. The crowd loved Kojima and hated Tanahashi, so it worked out nicely. Kojima had most of the offense here and lariated the heck out of Tana including a great one sending Tana onto the floor. What made this work though was Tana was really selling well. He had great facials and just made Kojima look really strong. Good stuff here. Rating:***1/2

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Prince Devitt

Prince Devitt beat Kazuchika Okada with a high angle DDT. Listen, if you got grouped with Devitt, you are totally out of luck. He straight dropped Okada on his head twice and may kill someone before the tournament is over. Add in the constant interference and heel crap and it really ruined this one for me. I really wish Devitt would go back to the flying. I'd rather watch 15 footstomps a match then interference and ref bumps.

Rankings:

Overall thoughts: This was a really good show from top to bottom. There were tons of upsets and lots of matches that exceeded expectations. Kojima/Tanahashi was my MOTN and I really liked the UWFi Smith/Shibata match.