NJPW G1 Climax 2013 Day 3 Results and Review

NJPW G1 Climax 2013 Day 3 Results and Review

Day 1 is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/njpw-g1-climax-2013-day-1-results-and.html

Day 2 is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/njpw-g1-climax-2013-day-2-results-and.html

NJPW, 8/3/13 (Samurai! TV)
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Karl Anderson

Kota Ibushi won with the Phoenix Splash. The match was okay and atleast they kept it moving along. Kota did tons of flying while Anderson did his usual stepkicks. Ibushi took a nice bump on one where he ended up on his head as you can see above and his finisher was cool.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Shelton Benjamin

Yujrio Takahashi beat Shelton Benjamin with his Suisha Otoshi. You put two bad workers together and you get a bad a match. Surprise, surprise!

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Prince Devitt

Prince Devitt beat Tomohiro Ishii with a brainbuster. The wrestling portions were good but all of the interference and cheating killed it. I love how the ref is laying in the ring but can't bother to turn around and wonder "what was that chair sound I heard?". Add in him getting pushed and stuff and I wasn't feeling this. This would have been a good one without all the lame heel stuff.

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Minoru Suzuki

Tenzan got the win with a moonsault. The early portion stunk and this just never got real good. Tenzan has really awful strikes and Suzuki didn't get enough in to make this worthwhile.

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito

Tetsuya Naito beat Yuji Nagata with the Stardust Press. Good match here. Nagata slapped the crap out of Naito and Naito returned fire. Nagata hit the Nagata lock and Naito survived to take a nasty backdrop. After that, Naito hit a dragon suplex and his stardust press. Great slaps here and I really loved Nagata's facials where you can just tell he couldn't wait to smack Naito around. Rating:***1/2

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer

Kazuchika Okada got the win with a Rainmaker. This was good and they kept the action going. Archer looked good here and I was disappointed this wasn't longer and that Archer didn't win. I really liked his offense and he took the Rainmaker bump like a champ. Rating:***

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Toru Yano

Shinsuke Nakamura won with the Boma-Ye. The match wasn't that good. Yano's offense pretty much sucks and he didn't do much besides cheat. It went too long and it was just a waste of Nakamura's talents.

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Satoshi Kojima

Hirooki Goto beat Satoshi Kojima with a Shouten. Good match. They beat each other up hard with slaps and chops and Kojima hit some nice lariats. Goto nailed a nice headbutt and I liked his Victory Star Drop. They really brought the goods here and this was hard fought action. I used to not like Kojima but he is looking like one of the best in this tournament. Rating:***1/2

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Katsuyori Shibata won with the PK. I thought this was disappointing. All of their previous hate for each other wasn't on display here and the no-selling of german suplexes stunk. They also didn't really lay into each other like they had in the past and the finish was just kind of random and sudden. I went in expecting a war and all I got was a small battle.

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Davey Boy Smith Jr. with a High Fly Flow. This was a very good match, pretty much all due to Smith. This was one of his best matches ever and he worked great here. He was really good mixing up the submissions with the power moves and truly has figured out how to be a good wrestler but also wrestle like a big man. I liked watching him throw Tanahashi around and his powerbomb was pretty sick. Tana got very little in here but somehow pulled out the win, which I thought Smith probably should have gotten instead.  Good stuff here and this one is worth a look. Rating:***1/2

Rankings:

Overall thoughts: The good and bad stuff here was about equal. Goto/Kojima, Smith/Tana, Naito/Nagata were all good but the Benjamin, Tenzan and Shibata matches were disappointing. I do recommend checking out the three I mentioned though as they were good and were worth the time. Stay away from the first two or three though.