Taiji Ishimori, Drilla Moloney def Daiki Nagai, Shingo Takagi — (7:26, Bone Lock)
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Drilla and Shingo talk a little shit before starting.
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This was fine.
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Post match, Drilla and Shingo talk some more shit.
Hartley Jackson, Zack Sabre Jr. def Shoma Kato, YOSHI-HASHI — (7:30, Death Valley Bomb)
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Hartley’s feeling a little cheeky tonight and flips Kato off during his entrance announcement.
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Pre-bell everyone states each other down. Kato tells Hartley “c’mon motherfucker” and they start.
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The Hartley vs YL = watch rule applies here, there’s been maybe one exception on the tour.
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Post match, Zack and YH get into it on the outside and are separated (twice) by the YL. Zack tauntingly asks YH where his mate Goto is; as in kayfabe Zack is the reason Goto didn’t make the tournament.
Jakob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan
def Katsuya Murashima, Shota Umino — (7:30, O-Khan Style Oozawa Subaru Sheep Killer)
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Shota starts stepping up to O-Khan right after the latter makes his entrance, and then again right before the bell. They’re legal when the bell rings, but then GOK backs up and tags in JAY.
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JAY, who had a nasty scare on the last show, has tape and maybe an extra brace on his left knee. Walker tells us he had a partial patella dislocation.
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Another perfectly fine one.
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Post match, GOK looks down at Shota from within the ring and mimes head-shaving (if you missed it, a loss to GOK earlier this year led to Shota shaving his head). Shota just kind of stews to himself and then leaves.
Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Ren Narita def Rocky Romero, KONOSUKE TAKESHITA — (6:25, Figure-four Kneebar)
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The House wait until both DCF members are posing on the turnbuckle to strike. Ren takes out TAKE on the outside, Nobu and Rocky stay in to start.
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HoT Shenanigans level: mid-high.
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Post match, Ren tosses Rocky out of the ring. When HoT are mostly up the ramp, TAKE goes running after them. But Rocky didn’t follow, so TAKE loses the numbers game and is taken out quickly and easily; just long enough for HoT to make it through the curtain.
G1 A Block: Boltin Oleg (8 pts) def Taichi (elim) (point totals from before today’s results) — (12:14, Kamikaze)
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Oleg’s got a big bandage on his back from the table bump he took in the EVIL match.
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Pretty good one. Kind of wish Taichi had won so they’d re-run it as a NEVER match, but oh well.
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Oleg is still in. Tsuji winning will knock him out, I’ll update other scenarios for him as they happen.
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However unless Chris Samsa’s math was wrong, Oiwa and Callum are now eliminated.
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Post match, Oleg goes over to take Taichi’s hand, help him sit up, hug him, help him stand up, raise his arm, and then hug him again.
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Boltin leaves the ring first, Taichi stays in and bows to all sides of the crowd before leaving. Decent shot this may have been his last G1 match ever.
G1 A Block: SANADA (elim) def Ryohei Oiwa (8 pts) — (10:26, pinfall [after a guitar shot])
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SANADA’s got an underwhelming black leather jacket with a short train.
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As mentioned above, I believe this is just for pride for Oiwa.
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HoT Shenanigans level: mid-high. Marty Asami took a lot of bumps.
G1 A Block: Yota Tsuji[w/Daiki Nagai] (8 pts) def Callum Newman (8 pts) — (11:17, Seventeen Cosses)
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Callum does look like he knows that he’s out of the running. Or he’s just trying to be really focused.
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Bluji tonight. Callum steps up to him after his entrance and takes his hat; puts it on and then threatens to step on it, but instead shoves it agaist Tsuji’s chest.
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Fast start from Callum with a kick.
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Kind of a weird finish but pretty good overall. I like Callum as a little shithead and I hope it continues.
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They have a little staredown as Callum’s leaving.
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Tsuji’s win has eliminated Boltin.
G1 A Block: EVIL (10 pts) def Hiroshi Tanahashi (8 pts) — (12:50, EVIL)
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EVIL, who promised he’d fight fair here and did so in the preview tag, comes out alone.
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Shortly after the 10 minute mark, Dick and Don come down the aisle with a chair. But EVIL gestures no to them. Dick slides the chair in and distracts the ref. EVIL and Tana go to the chair, Tana picks it up. Red shoes sees it and takes the chair away, while he’s distracted Dick powder’s Tana’s eyes. Now the charade is over.
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HoT Shenanigans level: high, but packed into the last ~2 minutes. Dick-to-dick contact was had.
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In case you never saw him pre-Bullet Club, EVIL is actually a pretty dang good brawler, and he spent the first 10 minutes reminding us of that.
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Post match, EVIL gets a mic: “Of course I was lying from the start, moron! HA HA HA!”
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EVIL’s win means he and Tsuji have qualified. Tana is out.
G1 A Block: David Finlay[w/Gedo] (8 pts) def Yuya Uemura (10 pts) — (23:01, Overkill)
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Winner is in. Yuya win makes him 1st in the Block. Finlay win puts him 2nd, with EVIL 1st.
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Yuya briefly steps up to Finlay before doing his entrance pose.
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The pre-lockup crowd poll isn’t particularly loud. It starts Yuya, but then the Finlays seem to take over.
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Pretty dang good, but man Finlay winning is just a bummer. I don’t hate him but now IDK what Yuya is doing at WK.
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Post match, Finlay checks with Gedo to see if he’s in. (Bad prep from Gedo for Finlay to not know that already.)
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When the announcers relay that Finlay is in, he celebrates like he just won the super bowl. The crowd does pop.
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Finlay then goes over to the fallen Yuya, grabs Yuya’s head and put it his lap. “Maybe one day, not this year. Better luck next year.” He stands up and leaves Yuya to cry while he celebrates.
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Finlay promo: “Well what’d I tell you guys?“ Yuya put up a good fight, but as long as Finlay is his roadblock, he’ll never get through. Better luck next year, baby boy. (Yuya rolls out of the ring) Finlay’s body is beaten, broken, and tired, but that’s not enough to keep The Rebel down. He pulled off the greatest comeback in G1 history, just like he said he would. This is the year that Finlay wins it all and makes history, this is the year the Savage King takes his crown. (Decent cheers)
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Gedo cuts a promo generally translating what Finlay said, then doing the English catchphrase.
——Block Standings——
A Block
1st) EVIL — 12 points (6-3)
2nd) David Finlay — 10 points (5-4) — wins: SANADA, Oleg, EVIL, Tsuji, Yuya – losses: Oiwa, Taichi, Tana, Callum
3rd) Yota Tsuji — 10 points (5-4) — wins: SANADA, Yuya, Oiwa, Oleg, Callum – losses: EVIL, Taichi, Tana, Finlay
——Eliminated (in order of Elim)——
Yuya Uemura — 10 points (5-4) — wins: Oleg, Callum, EVIL, Tana, Oiwa – losses: Taichi, Tsuji, SANADA, Finlay
Hiroshi Tanahashi — 8 points (4-5)
Boltin Oleg — 10 points (5-4) — wins: Oiwa, Tana, SANADA, Callum, Taichi – losses: Yuya, Tsuji, Finlay, EVIL
Callum Newman — 8 points (4-5) — wins: Tana, Finlay, SANADA, Taichi – losses: EVIL, Oiwa, Yuya, Oleg, Tsuji
Ryohei Oiwa — 8 points (4-5) — wins: Finlay, Callum, Tana, Taichi – losses: Oleg, Tsuji, EVIL, Yuya
SANADA — 8 points (4-5)
Taichi — 6 points (3-6)
B Block
——Qualified——
Zack Sabre Jr. — 12 points (6-2) — wins: Gabe (ff), ELP, TAKE, GOK, Shingo, Drilla – losses: Ren, Shota
——In Contention——
Ren Narita — 10 points (5-3) — wins: ZSJ, ELP, Gabe (forfeit), Shota, GOK – losses: YH, Drilla, Shingo
Shota Umino — 10 points (5-3) — wins: ELP, ZSJ, Gabe (ff), YH, TAKE – losses: Drilla, Ren, Shingo
TAKESHITA — 10 points (5-3) — wins: Gabe, GOK, Shingo, Drilla, YH – losses: ELP, ZSJ, Shota
YOSHI-HASHI — 8 points (4-4) — wins: Shingo, Ren, Drilla, Gabe (ff) – losses: GOK, Shota, TAKE, ELP
Drilla Moloney — 8 points (4-4) — wins: GOK, Shota, Gabe (ff), Ren – losses: YH, TAKE, ELP, ZSJ
GOK — 8 points (4-4) — wins: Shingo, Gabe (ff), YH, ELP – losses: Drilla, TAKE, ZSJ, Ren
——Eliminated——
Shingo Takagi — 8 points (4-4) — there is one scenario which forces a sudden death three-way match between Shingo, Ren, and GOK. But it’s so slim that let’s just say he’s out.
El Phantasmo — 8 points (4-5)
Gabe Kidd — 0 points (0-1) (matches actually wrestled) — Withdrawn due to injury
———
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by EffingKENTA