6 Man Tag Team Match
Chaos vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi,David Finlay & Yuto Nakashima
Yuto Nakashima would go right after Toru Yano but Yano would throw him around the ring. Yoshi Hashi would grab a rear chinlock, and kept pressure on Nakashima.
Hirooki Goto would hit some heavy strikes, before taking a running elbow to the face. Hiroshi Tanahashi got the tag, and would hit Goto with the Somersault Senton. Goto got the spinning wheel kick and the running bulldog, before tagging Yoshi Hashi in. David Finlay would meet him in the middle of the ring, with Finlay getting the slam for a near fall.
Nakashima wanted in, and Finlay would allow the tag. Young Lions need their ring time, and he’d almost get the win off a Boston Crab. Yoshi Hashi would kick his way free, before hitting the neckbreaker in the middle of the ring for a near fall. Butterfly Lock was applied, and this one was over.
Winners By Submission: Chaos (8:28)
Rate: 5
Tag Team Match
Guerrillas Of Density vs. House Of Torture
Tama Tonga would snuff out the early attack of Bullet Club before Sho was run down with a double shoulder tackle. Sho would get Jado alone in the ring and stomped him out, before sending him to the floor for Takahashi to throw Jado around. Yujiro Takahashi would hit the sliding dropkick in the ring before applying a surfboard stretch.
Sho would hit the kick to the head, but this just fired Jado up. Tama got into the fight, and helped Jado drop Takahashi. Crossface was applied, but Sho made the save. Referee was distracted, and Takahashi hit Tama with the cane before Jado punched him in the ribs. He’d hand the cane to the referee, take a low blow and the Pimp Juice puts Jado away.
Winners: House Of Torture (7:04)
Rate: 4
8 Man Tag Team Match
Los Ingobnrables De Japon vs. Suzuki Gun
Tetsuya Naito & Zack Sabre Jr start the match, and trade quick pinfall attempts down on the mat. Sanada would get the tag and looked for the Paradise Lock on ZSJ, but would get popped up into an armbar instead.
A 3 way choke in the corner would be followed by a Greco Roman Throat Hold in the middle of the ring. The referee called it a choke, so Taichi showed him what a choke looked like choking out Naito & Shingo Takagi.Lance Archer would hit some rushing back elbows, before looking for the Blackout on Shingo.
Shingo would slip free, before Bushu & Taka Michinoku would clash in the ring. A short rang dropkick and codebreaker from Bushi set up the MX for the win.
Winners: Los Ingobnrables De Japon (8:03)
Rate: 5
6 Man Tag Team Match
United Empire vs. Bullet Club
Jay White & Will Ospreay faced off, but White wanted none of him and Kenta got the tag. Hard strikes would follow, but White attacked Ospreay from behind. Great O Khan got the tag, before he’d be stomped into the ground. White would drive Great O Khan into the barricade, before some mocking mongolian chops in the ring.
Blade Buster was blocked with a snap suplex, before Gedo & Kenta removed the tag options. Ospreay would take out White with a plancha, as Gedo was left alone with Great O Khan who would play catch with Jeff Cobb, before Cobb forgot to catch Gedo and hit the moonsault. Sheep Killer was applied & Gedo taps out.
Winners By Submission: United Empire (7:02)
Rate: 5
Block C Match Of The 2022 G1 Climax
Evil (2) vs. Aaron Henare (2)
Aaron Henare must win or hes mathematically eliminated.
Evil jumped Aaron Henare to start, taking him outside before Henare found his way back in for a springboard enzuigiri out of the corner. Henare chucks Evil outside for some kicks, before he chased Dick Togo through the ring allowing Evil to sneak in a clothesline. A t shirt’s used to choke Henare, who’s then chopped into one corner, had his eyes raked, then whipped into a suddenly exposed one.
Henare avoids a suplex from the apron to the ring, but gets shoved off the apron and into the railings by the time keeper’s table. As everyone tended to that, Evil & Dick Togo stretched Henare with a cheating abdominal stretch, but Henare overpowered the hold and hip tossed the pair away.
Returning the favour, Henare whips Evil into the railings, as he took it like Bret Hart doing a turnbuckle before flipping over into the other side. Back in the ring, a step up knee cracks Evil in the corner, before a Blue Thunder Bomb drew a near fall. An elbow keeps Evil down as a back senton off the middle rope added another two count, before Dick Togo held Henare’s leg in the corner, allowing Evil to charge in with a Fisherman Buster.
Darkness Falls lands for a near fall after that, before Henare blocked Everything Is Evil and had his eyes raked. Another whip took Henare into the exposed corner, but he charges back out with a Rampage. Dick Togo’s back up to distract as Evil was up for a Streets Of Rage but Henare knocked him down before tying Evil up in the Ultima.
Evil grabs the referee to try and get a break but the ref instead went to slap Evil. Who moved. So Henare gets the slap, and Marty Asami’s service will be next week. He’s squashed into the corner by Henare via Evil, as shenanigans backfire with Dick Togo running in for an Ultima to throw him outside, only for Evil to grab a chair and BOUNCE it off of Henare’s head.
Evil nails Henare with Everything Is Evil for the win.
Winner: Evil (4) (10:28) (Since Henare lost he’s mathematically eliminated)
Rate: 4
Block A Match Of The 2022 G1 Climax
Tom Lawlor (2) vs. Bad Luck Fale (4)
Tom Lawlor’s clotheslined as he was showboating around his double denim, before an attempted tornado DDT on Bad Luck Fale saw him shoved to the floor. Body blows from Fale led to him chucking Lawlor into the rails, before he threw two sets of railings onto Lawlor.
Lawlor manages to get free of those makeshift renovations and beat the 20-count, but he’s still having to defend against the big man. Fale misses a stomp, allowing Lawlor in with some kicks from the bottom before he began to target the quads. A leaping shoulder tackle from Fale ends that comeback though.
Lawlor grabbed an ankle hold, but it ends in the ropes before he slid outside then crawled under the ring so he could appear on the other side and grab the hold again from the floor. Taking off his outer shorts, Lawlor uses them to choke Fale, looking for a count out in the process.
Fale rolls back in but couldn’t avoid Lawlor’s kicks, nor a spinning heel kick to the back of the head for a two count. A mounted rear naked choke looked to keep Fale down, switching it into a Japanese stranglehold, only for Fale to counter out into a Samoan Drop. Lawlor’s right back up, but has to kick away from a Grenade attempt before he ate a lariat.
An elbow drop followed from Fale for a near fall, then a Grenade, but again Lawlor kicks out at two. The Bad Luck Fall is next, but Lawlor slips out and into a rear naked choke again, which is broken up in the corner. Lawlor repositioned into a DDT out of the corner for another two count, before he went back to the choke then kicked Fale’s leg out of his leg.
From there, a Bomaye like knee lands for a near fall, before Lawlor sized up the big man for the NKOTB to score the win.
Winner: Tom Lawlor (4) (11:05)
Rate: 6
Block D Match Of The 2022 G1 Climax
Juice Robinson (2) vs. El Phantasmo (2)
Juice Robinson must win or he’s mathematically eliminated.
Juice Robinson blows a raspberry as they went for a knuckle lock, then claimed the referee had farted. Arm wringers from Juice led to El Phantasmo trying to roll free as they worked this akin to an exhibition, poking fun as they chain wrestled.
ELP drops down to trip Juice as they’re doing slow mo stuff ahead of a stand off. That quickly breaks down as ELP rolled up Juice while propping his feet on the ropes. The ref stops it, then stopped a count as Juice decided to have ELP moon the crowd on his roll up. Cue the three stooges of what the swear word, as referee Kenta Sato dropped down and let Juice and ELP crash into each other.
ELP went outside for a chair and a table. We get double entendres as Juice offered up an arm wrestle, but Juice tries to cheat so ELP uses two hands to win. Then had a chair bounced off of his head.
Juice takes Phantasmo into the aisle for some headbutts and a piledriver, folding ELP in half before he rolled him off the walkway. Frogmarching the ref back to the ring, Juice demanded a count out, but ELP got back up and eventually got back into the ring.
Back inside, Juice went for a powerbomb before a high angle Boston Crab looked to lead to a stoppage. Phantasmo got to the ropes, then clotheslined Juice to the outside ahead of a tope that nearly overshot. Staying on the outside, Phantasmo picks up the table and sets it up bouncing Juice’s head off of it to the point where Juice’s head went through the wood.
Juice juices from that, then got put onto the table as ELP scaled the ropes Juice rolls off the table, only to get cracked with a flip senton as ELP teed up for a rope walk moonsault. Back inside, a springboard Thunder Kiss 86 gets a near-fall, before ELP countered a counter from CRII into a Styles Clash for a near fall. A V Trigger followed, before Juice slipped out of a One Winged Angel and returned with a Left Hand Of God.
ELP’s Sudden Death quickly returns things for a near fall, before CRII was blocked as Juice hit a rising headbutt that somehow didn’t count as a low blow. A Left Hand of God and a Pulp Friction has Phantasmo down for a near fall, before an enraged Juice headed outside for another chair.
Juice teases a piledriver onto the chair, but ELP hits a rising headbutt of his own Juice tries to claim a foul from that, before ELP just threw the chair at Juice, and that’s enough for the DQ.
Winner By DQ: Juice Robinson (4) (16:09)
Rate: 4
Block B Match Of The 2022 G1 Climax
Tomohiro Ishii (2) vs. Chase Owens (2)
Opening with lockups Chase Owens took Tomohiro Ishii into the ropes, only to get knocked back. He’s right in with clubbing forearms before he tried to charge down Ishii only to get charged down instead. Owens got into it with the ref, but Ishii forearms him to the outside then chopped Chase as he got back inside.
After getting tripped, Owens jacked out Ishii’s knee, then began to kick at it as he gained a laser-like focus on that left leg. The ring post’s used as Owens wrapped the leg around it, before Ishii tried to shrug off a knee breaker. He invited more kicks to the leg from Owens, before dropping him with a suplex following with a back suplex moments later.
Owens snapped back in with a neckbreaker, before a C Trigger misses Ishii’s taken outside and dropkicked into the guard rails. Chase follows outside for a stinging chop, but a second one hits the ring post as Owens perhaps took his eye off the ball then regained sight as he hit a sunset bomb to bounce Ishii’s head into the barriers.
Back inside, a C Trigger lands for a near-fall, before Ishii fought out of a Jewel Heist and hit a German suplex for good measure. Owens gets taken to the top rope for a stalling superplex, with those beh-beh Ishii elbows softening up Owens some more only for a leaping knee and a Jewel Heist to take Ishii down.
A half & half suplex has Owens on the back foot briefly, as he then superkicked the spit out of Ishii for a near fall. The Package Piledriver looks to follow, but Ishii back body drops free, only to get booted down as he ended up cracking Owens with a headbutt. They continue to swing for the fences, with Ishii’s clothesline getting just a one count, while another gets a two count, before Owens hit a crucifix to counter a sliding lariat.
Owens takes that sliding lariat seconds later for a near fall, before he countered out of the brainbuster and backslid Ishii for a near fall. A C Trigger lands after that, before the Package Piledriver was wriggled out of another C Trigger dumps Ishii, and from there Owens goes right back to the Package Piledriver puts away Ishii.
Winner: Chase Owens (4) (16:50)
Rate: 7
Block A Match Of The 2022 G1 Climax
Kazuchika Okada (6) vs. Jonah (4)
Kazuchika Okada struggled with a collar & elbow tie up to start, as Jonah backed him into the ropes, before a side headlock restrained Okada. That side headlock’s almost powered out of, but Jonah cranks down on it before Okada stomped on his foot to break free only to get charged down seconds later.
Jonah teases a dive off the apron, but Okada sidestepped as the Aussie hit the railings, then wrapped the big man’s leg around the bars. Okada heads up the aisle as he teased a DDT, then a suplex but Jonah lifts Okada up first before a body attack splatted Okada.
Jonah brings Okada back to ringside, but then rolled into and out of the ring to break the count so he could whip Okada into the rails so hard, it knocked the legs out of the timekeeper’s table. Rinse, wash and repeat, as Jonah then charged Okada into the ring post, before making it back into the ring where Jonah just stood on him.
A grounded waistlock keeps Okada grounded as Jonah was simply dominating proceedings. At least until Okada sidestepped a charge and scored a roll up then a diving uppercut as it had taken him to the 10 minute mark to really put the brakes on the big man. Boots and a back elbow have Jonah down, while a low dropkick took Jonah to the outside where Bad Dude Tito tries to distract Okada, only to get charged into.
Okada’s DDT has Jonah down on the outside, as Okada then returned to the ring to hit a tope con giro to take out both Jonah & Tito. Back inside, Okada threatened a bodyslam as he’d been eyeing that up since before the match but Jonah blocked it before he hit a spear in return. A back senton squashes Okada next for a near fall, but Okada countered a powerbomb as he back body drops Jonah away.
Okada slips in with a Money Clip as he took Jonah down to a knee, before a shotgun dropkick took Jonah into the corner. Somehow, Okada’s able to lift JONAH up top, only for a flying body attack to squash Okada as a short range lariat almost put him away. A powerbomb’s ‘rana’d out of as Okada came back with a dropkick, before he finally bodyslammed the big guy.
The top rope elbow drop followed from Okada as we got the zoom out right as Jonah started stirring. Another dropkick from Okada cuts off Jonah, as did a German suplex, but Jonah finds a way in with headbutts before he hit the ropes and swatted Okada down with a clothesline. Somehow, Okada kicks out at two, then fought out of a superplex as Jonah took up top but then it all goes awry.
Okada’s missile dropkick is deftly countered into a Black Forest Powerbomb. A second one followed as Osaka sensed something which was Jonah heading up top. A Torpedo connects to get the shocking win.
Winner: Jonah (6) (21:53)
Rate: 9 (Recommended)
