ICYMI Gabe is again not cleared for tonight. His match with Shingo is canceled, and Shingo gets his first two points by forfeit.
Gabe’s status for the rest of the tournament is still TBD. The next show is the 25th, but it’s A Block tournament matches so not a big deal for Gabe to potentially miss. His next scheduled tournament match is the 26th against Drilla.
Toru Yano, Boltin Oleg def Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SANADA — (6:01, side flash pin)
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Disco ball SANADA again, which gets a pop. Nobu gets a pop as well. I’ve been noticing more positive reactions to HoT entrances lately.
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The House wait until the final seconds of Boltin’s entrance announcement to pounce. After a brief outside brawl Yano and Nobu get in the ring to start.
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HoT Shenanigans level: mild, ineffective. Basically just the opening and a whiskey spot at the end; which Yano dodged and countered with one of his own.
Jakob Austin Young, Callum Newman def Shoma Kato, Yuya Uemura — (6:42, Jakob’s Ladder)
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Kato has a perm, and some beef with JAY from past matches. But it’s Yuya and Callum who start us off.
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Pretty fun little match. I’ve probably typed the name of JAY’s finisher before, but even with a gun to my head I wouldn’t have been able to recall it until Walker said it.
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Post match, Yuya and Callum have a brief standoff/shoving match.
Dick Togo, EVIL[w/Don Fale] def Masatora Yasuda, Taichi — (6:30, Scorpion Deathlock)
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HoT jump Taichi as he’s making his entrance, with Yasuda already in the ring. Yasuda tries to help him but ends up getting beaten down and starting the match against Dick.
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HoT Shenanigans level: mild.
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Post match, they briefly continue beating down Taichi and Yasuda. Pause to celebrate their win, then continuing to beat Yasuda as they’re leaving; until Taichi gets a chair and HoT scamper off.
Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa def Daiki Nagai, Yota Tsuji — (6:25, Death Valley Bomb)
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This was originally meant to be Nagai’s second match since affiliating himself with the Unaffiliated, but since yesterday’s was canceled this is his debut.
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No new gear for Nagai, though he’s wearing the Unaffiliated shirt. Red gear for Tsuji.
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Tsuji and Oiwa start. Very early on Nagai comes in for a double team.
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Whatever they’re paying Big Jag, it is not enough. He knows exactly how to structure his sections of matches, and someday a YL is going to pin him and whatever building they’re in will explode.
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Post match there’s a brief staredown between Oiwa and Tsuji.
Katsuya Murashima, Hiroshi Tanahashi def Gedo, David Finlay — (7:56, Texas Clover Hold)
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Tana calls out Finlay to start, and gets it.
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This was good but IMO kind of unremarkable compared to the other tags.
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Post pin, Finlay and Tana immediately have a standoff. Finlay taunts Tana by asking if he’s tired.
G1 B Block: YOSHI-HASHI (4 pts) def Drilla Moloney (4 pts) (point totals from before today’s results) — (11:32, Karma)
- Pretty good. I thought Drilla got his neck broken like 2-3 times, but he was fine.
G1 B Block: Ren Narita (2 pts) def El Phantasmo[w/Jado] (2 pts) — (9:50, Hell’s Guillotine)
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After his entrance announcement Ren rolls right out of the ring and runs up a side aisle. He appears to jump Jado and ELP from behind while they’re walking down the ramp.
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ELP gets the advantage during the outside brawl and after a dive off the stage into the crowd area, brings it back to the ring to finally officially start.
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HoT Shenanigans level: moderate, for a Ren singles. Towards the end ELP hit Thunderkiss 86, but Nobu showed up and pulled the ref out. Tried for whiskey mist but got a Sudden Death instead. Some push-up bar shot attempts/counters and Ren eventually hits a nut shot, Double Cross, and Hell’s Guillotine (best of the tournament so far, on the others he’s had little slips and looked a bit uncomfortable while on the top rope).
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Like SANADA and Nobu earlier, Narita was also notably over with the crowd and stayed that way throughout the match.
G1 B Block: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (2 pts) def Great-O-Khan (2 pts) — (17:05, Raging Fire)
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Pre-lockup crowd poll is 70/30 O-Khan in volume, but probably closer to 50/50 in number of cheerers.
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Great match. Did wonders for GOK; who IMO has kind of been underpushed as a serious competitor (aka outside KOPW).
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Post match, TAKE does GOK’s pose to mock him before leaving.
G1 B Block: Shota Umino (2 pts) def
Zack Sabre Jr. (2 pts) — (22:10, Second Chapter)
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During his entrance Shota is focused, but not so much so to neglect to give a young fan his bracelet.
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Right after his entrance announcement, Zack gets right in Shota’s personal space and starts taunting him. Fast start from Shota.
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Pretty fucking good. Zack was a complete asshole and they played into Red Shoes (Shota’s actual Dad) being the ref.
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Post match Zack has a minor tantrum, chucking his ice pack at Shota before leaving the ring and being helped out of the arena by a YL.
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Shota promo: “Zack,” (Zack calls Shota a dickhead and doesn’t stop to listen.) “this doesn't make us even from the Tokyo Dome. We need to go one on one again.” “NJPW has returned to Nagaoka. Thank you for your hot support. The start of this year was tough. But now I can be proud of the fact that I just beat the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.” (A Shota chant breaks out) “I won't say I'll be back here undefeated, but I will say I'll do all I can to bust my ass and fill this place to bursting. A hot G1 has just begun. A new golden age for Hontai is on the way.”
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Shota goes around ringside to do fanservice before leaving.
——Block Standings——
A Block
Taichi — 4 points (2-1) — wins: Yuya, Finlay – losses: Tana
Yota Tsuji — 4 points (2-1) — wins: SANADA, Yuya – losses: EVIL
EVIL — 4 points (2-1) — wins: Callum, Tsuji – losses: SANADA
Ryohei Oiwa — 4 points (2-1) — wins: Finlay, Callum – losses: Oleg
Boltin Oleg — 4 points (2-1) — wins: Oiwa, Tana – losses: Yuya
Hiroshi Tanahashi — 2 points (1-2) — wins: Taichi – losses: Callum, Oleg
David Finlay — 2 points (1-2) — wins: SANADA – losses: Oiwa, Taichi
SANADA — 2 points (1-2) — wins: EVIL – losses: Tsuji, Finlay
Callum Newman — 2 points (1-2) — wins: Tana – losses: EVIL, Oiwa
Yuya Uemura — 2 points (1-2) — wins: Oleg – losses: Taichi, Tsuji
B Block
YOSHI-HASHI — 6 points (3-0) — wins: Shingo, Ren, Drilla – losses:
Shota Umino — 4 points (2-1) — wins: ELP, ZSJ – losses: Drilla
Ren Narita — 4 points (2-1) — wins: ZSJ, ELP – losses: YH
Drilla Moloney — 4 points (2-1) — wins: GOK, Shota – losses: YH
TAKESHITA — 4 points (2-1) — wins: Gabe, GOK – losses: ELP
Zack Sabre Jr. — 2 points (1-2) — wins: Gabe – losses: Narita, Shota
El Phantasmo — 2 points (1-2) — wins: TAKE – losses: Shota, Narita
GOK — 2 points (1-2) — wins: Shingo – losses: Drilla, TAKE
Shingo Takagi — 2 points (1-2) — wins: Gabe (forfeit) – losses: YH, GOK
Gabe Kidd — 0 points (0-3) — wins: – losses: TAKE, ZSJ (forfeit), Shingo (forfeit)
———
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by EffingKENTA