NJPW G1 Climax 25
July 26, 2015 (Night 5)
Hiroshima Green Arena
Hiroshima, Japan

For those who were unable to watch today’s New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Climax event live on NJPWWorld.com, a significant delay in the ability to view was presented to you. Due to audio issues plaguing the first half of the event’s presentation, NJPW released the G1 matches alone late on Sunday. The undercard, as of this writing, is still unavailable. When it becomes available, we’ll update this article with those matches. The results were as follows:

  • Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger & Hirooki Goto & Yohei Komatsu defeated David Finlay, Mascara Dorada, Rysusuke Taguchi & Tomoaki Honma (8:32)
  • Yuji Nagata & Captain New Japan defeated Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi (8:26)
  • Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga defeated YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii ( 8:51)
  • Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin defeated Gedo & Kazuchika Okada (11:17) *Shinsuke Nakamura suffered an injury to his left arm, and was unable to compete tonight. His next match, scheduled against Michael Elgin, is currently set for Tuesday.

As for the G1 Climax matches, it was the A Block’s turn here on Night 5. These are the third matches for each participant, and the updated standings will be included below.

A Block: Bad Luck Fale (2) vs Doc Gallows

With “apologies” to Yujiro Takahashi, this was a battle between arguably the two worst G1 performers of the last few years. Some people are going to totally trash this, and that’s fine because it wasn’t good, but  as a match reviewer I can’t completely trash a match where neither guy did much of anything wrong. They were going for a plodding brawl, and that’s what they delivered, as this was loaded with mind numbing, never ending crowd brawling, lots of belly bumping, the requisite double clothesline spots, and gratuitous grunting. For some reason they chose to protect Gallows from the Bad Luck Fall, and Fale won it with a “flying” (I use that term as loosely as humanly possible, as Fale possesses the leaping ability of a sack of flour) “clothesline” (I use that term as loosely as humanly possible, as Fale kind of sort of maybe connected with his wrist) instead. The finish looked like shit, and the rest of it was very boring. *1/2

A Block: Toru Yano vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2)

While Yano has been a pleasant surprise on this tour, Tenzan has been moving around like random body parts are going to start falling off at any moment, so this was going to need a liberal amount of shortcuts to save it. I’m hardly someone who marks out for blood, and in fact I can often do without it, but the blood, combined with Yano trolling Tenzan from the start, and the most Yano of Yano finishes (two mule kicks to the balls of Tenzan while in a backslide position, all while grabbing the ref to prevent him from spotting his shenanigans until he was ready for the ref to count his winning pinfall) ended up not only preventing this from being a disaster, but made it entirely watchable and fun. **1/2

A Block: Katsuyori Shibata (2) vs Togi Makabe (2)

This was two tough men in a ten minute fight. There was a forearm exchange that grumps will whine about, and tit-for-tat one count kickouts that will drive some people mad, but that’s the kind of stuff that works great in a match like this. The story was simple. They fought, one man was a little tougher (Shibata), and that man won. No complaints here, especially considering the participants. ***1/4

A Block: Kota Ibushi (2) vs AJ Styles (4) 

I expected nothing less than an excellent match from two of the best wrestlers in the world in 2015, and they did not disappoint. From an execution standpoint, this was utterly flawless. Styles in particular is on as good of a run as you’ll ever see in terms of bell to bell execution and overall performance, from his great bumping & selling, offensive snap (those backbreakers!), and especially in his pacing, which is an underrated facet of his game that has been on full display in all three of his tournament matches so far. Nothing here was rushed, there wasn’t a semblance of “doing too much”, and at no point did the match drag or lose my interest. This has really become the trademark of a big AJ match, whether he gets 12 minutes or 25 to work with. My favorite spots in any AJ New Japan match are when the opponents fight like death to avoid the Styles Clash, and in this match one of those instances was from the TOP TURNBUCKLE, with Ibushi reversing into a hurricanrana. For the finish, Ibushi got the knees up on an AJ springboard 450, and moments later hit the Phoenix Splash for the win. Ibushi was just as crisp as AJ here, and the result was one of the best matches in the tournament so far. A “go out of your way to see it” match. ****1/2

A Block: Tetsuya Naito (2) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (4)

This was a very good match, falling a bit short of the semi, but to me the real story was the symbolic arrival of the reinvented Tetsuya Naito. Naito worked over Tanahashi’s neck the entire way, with an array of dull reverse chin locks that would make Randy Orton blush, and a long Pluma Blanca spot, setting up the use of a modified reverse DDT counter to finish off Tanahashi and cause a six way traffic jam at the top of the block with 4 points. Naito attacked Tanahashi after the bell, which in the context of NJPW where this is not a casual occurrence actually makes you stop and take notice, and then grabbed the mic to tell the Hiroshima crowd that he can not be stopped or controlled, before yelling “Los Ingobernables”, dropping mic, and walking off like a Japanese/Mexican gansta. Tanahashi looked excellent again, which should bury any doubt that he’d be in proper physical shape to perform at a high level in this years tournament. He’s on the short list of the top performers to this point, and you can make a very reasonable argument that he’s been the top worker in the field. ****

The 6th night of this year’s G1, featuring the third matches in the B Block, will be available via NJPW World on Tuesday! We’ll have a review of the event, pending any crazy NJPW World issues, soon after the event ends!

G1 Climax 25 Official Standings

Block ABlock B
A.J. Styles4Kazuchika Okada4
Hiroshi Tanahashi4Karl Anderson4
Bad Luck Fale4Tomohiro Ishii4
Tetsuya Naito4Hirooki Goto2
Kota Ibushi4Yuji Nagata2
Katsuyori Shibata4Shinsuke Nakamura2
Togi Makabe2Satoshi Kojima2
Hiroyoshi Tenzan2Michael Elgin0
Toru Yano2Tomoaki Honma0
Doc Gallows0Yujiro Takahashi0

 

 

*NJPW G1 Recap Video Weekend Edition, for G1 Night 4 & 5, will be available Monday morning (US Eastern). You can subscribe to VOW YouTube at VoicesOfWrestling.com/YouTube!


 

Voices of Wrestling G1 Climax Pick’Em Standings
(Remember to support our sponsor IVPVideos.com and use our exclusive coupon code VOICE)

NameTotalBonusNight 1Night 2Night 3Night 4Night 5Night 6Night 7Night 8Night 9Night 10Night 11Night 12Night 13Night 14Night 15Night 16Night 17Night 18
August Baker7712454454242522444442
Dylan Waco7715435243244444532522
Josh Walther7715335533343424452324
Allen Vick Jr7615444404344514441443
Bastian Sauer7615544433224534442431
Bonski McBonski765435333435555553424
Rob Rodriguez7615434522443535340235
David Dunn7515334432435424323443
Graeme Touchdown7510444442244444353424
Joshua Robinson7515243354344534311542
Ed Burns7413334343145525542431
Alex K.7310444523334435432424
Dan Atwood7310454444144434532512
Ewen MacDonald7313345223324444351524
Siva Punisamy7313344444324444342322
Aaron Bentley7215443323223433442335
Ben Pitchford7210534334134534442433
Chris Maffei725434352344535452434
J. Michael7215334412135455232334
Jake Barry7215344322244425432414
James Starkey7210245443234445432432
Kenny Ortiz726544354234534444422
Marcus Origer7210235441243524445424
Matt Audet7210445434335422443422
Matt Love725434353354543443334
Morten Hansen7213343324234253434433
Skylar Hinnant7211443334253544342431
Barry Meijer7115544441134514432412
Evan Speciner7110444524145333442414
Len Liu7115324233253435424322
Matt Wheal7113345433134534432322
Oliver Court7110543243342434443333
Olivier Tremblay7115345433214422353431
Scott Barker7115533343124434432422
SenorLARIATO7113345433234444332223
Adam Watkinson7013443333244534133422
Cameron Krusemark708443432244544343414
Capu Random7010334323234534344244
Christopher Duarte708335242343544143444
Doug Nunnally708444432325544433422
Kevin George705544442444444252405
Paco Silva Martínez705445554434424232433
Rob Reid705353433354535451423
Robert Palmer7010445423224544253322
Seth Chodosh7010434523132444454431
Taylor Mitchell706434432244534552424
Alejandro Giménez Gómez695345344243444433424
Andrew Chupurdy6910445432224534433313
Bryn Edwards Gunn6913533322343445332421
D Chong6910434332134433542434
Jody Plante6913235312124545433513
John Carroll6910343443422524352414
Mark Shaw695534443325433443433
Matt Trebby695454344244434342424
Paul Volsch698353334322524543244
Richard Jaeger697445353214445242424
Rob McCarron6910543312235544351432
Samuel DiMascio697425524344333442514
Santiago Tomasi6910544523133333442433
Tony Albicocco698544434223544351422
Brian Jackson686344344244344341353
Chad Campbell688433343143545442323
Chris Smith687245252324544333433
Goncalo Monteiro6810143412344545432333
James Baldwin685344424423454442532
John Mulligan688455334244444141332
Joseph Remy685445334334434243433
Keenan Carnegie6810524524414124343523
Mario Morrison688545442234525331332
Nnaemeka Odunze687345353244535322323
Paul Leazar6810444522254335332421
Rich Kraetsch6810433432334424342424
Robert Dougherty688435133334335343433
Ryan Smith685234543235554342423
Ryan Wilson6813134434323354223324
Sean Sedor6810334424224445243323
Tomek Cherek6810434433124424442532
Alexander Panos675444423244435342415
Benson Sam673245542343444443414
Brady Livingston675544343334534242333
Chris Bacon676333344353425432424
Jake Daniel675445353334515452312
Joe Gagne675435314344343443424
Kelly Harrass677344432245534352412
Michael Quealy678544443134534432321
Mike Spears678444333134434432523
Ru Gunn675444424134535352414
Scott675444533233534452422
TJ Hawke6710545523533213222442
Tye Liddell675533433333534342425
Wyatt Eddy675445424444533332422
Ajay Sameer668534322134534432532
Aled M665443432324435442334
Andy Clark668343432134534541540
Azri Firman665324254243535354223
Brandon Howard6610443423234534431313
Brian Ubben665544453144544313412
Daniel Mason665434453215354333243
Dave Taylor665345323144535154423
Dylan Harris668445222343544331423
Ed Mills6610343332244433423432
Edgar Morales665144343344544433431
G Brett Williams663435443155534432431
Gregory Davis668455233234453232233
Heather Christianson665443343245434432423
Izzac Mackenroth667444333234324244325
Jason Bullock665444353224445252431
Jeff Tillery665435543234425542204
Martijn Winkel6610344323115443244333
Matt Kennedy665445314434334443323
Matt Rolder665443333334335343424
Niall Hallinan667442443225444144323
Paul Cooke665445333324544341423
Sean Flynn667244423333542451442
Sean N663445354133433553422
Vic666444334334435432430
Antonio Garza657443433143435433313
Benjamin Good6510344113254444332422
Brian Brennan6510543222234424142434
Chris Burnett655444443134233423534
Christopher Griger658434243124324532434
CRVX655345332233444443522
Darren Lyne657545434124434322413
Dominick Gonzalez655544323234535323522
Erin Hotovy655434432324423432544
Filip Pejic655443332344533443305
Frederick Cholowski655544432243534352502
Jake Glowacki655534542125344332325
Jeremy Sexton657344424044434342423
Joe Estrada6510342432144534432412
Kevin Hare655343433234544443502
Lucas McFadden658455223523443233322
MacLean Craig657245333334524333413
Mitch Cowan658544423144434322413
Monty Rimorin655344334345313242444
Riley Hansen655535352233434432522
scott glover6510544453134335232112
Sean Spencer655444324145525351512
Travis McNeill655443413244344352424
Adam Joyce645345433234435332422
Brandon Gordon645335311234554343343
David Mora645434333234444433422
Dee H645153234344444332424
dillon burgess647433333134535432413
Eddy Collazo6410333314225244143424
Greg P645444342244434241523
Jason Lee6413335323233432443031
Kevin Lyon645344332424544452402
Luuk van Egeraat645344354324453214521
Mark Edward Dowling645324343414234443524
Martin Foster647143543343423442332
Michael Zavala646443312423545343323
Michelle Burkey6415333424114422322225
Parker Holland645344433034335544403
Robert Pannell645244343334534442421
Sherman Lee645233423243435433344
Tanner Teat645444333234333333434
Victor Zoest645444332234534442224
Warren Taylor648533432125524243422
Alessandro Tucci635544433224443350323
Andrew Carpenter6310441422242444342412
Andrew Perkins636244332242533332444
Ayaash M637445242233533232522
Ben Gordon635243433245524443411
Bill Knust633434433333434443422
Darren Lynch638342424334324231353
David Penton635433233425543441323
Ferdinand Meyer635534154224434252233
Gabriel Perez637345433424534321411
Guilherme Jaeger635444323422234442425
James Hagan635234233243434344334
Jamie Mohan635343343314333442533
Jeff Chase635434234244435432322
João Vitor Silveira Passos633444444333333441513
lawrence obrien633042442255435445322
Lou Pickney635344323234433453512
Mark Aasal635343332133355343343
Mark Berlowitz635434543135233442413
Matt Brown635444333233535422413
Matt McEwen635444532233534431413
Matthew Bray633343334344525432314
Mogel635543333235543332412
ntaf635343552334334242314
Phil Williams633433432254434423442
Samuel Cooke637343343344424222522
William Housell Jr.637334442253434241341
William Young635344524245424232323
Zach Smith633544344134344244214
Aaron Lomas6211432313243435342311
Benoit Brunette623544442423343332225
Brady Vincent623234443324534534402
Chris Adams625254224344523333422
Dave Christian625544532334442241412
David Neild623334343244534242522
Edward Miguez625334432144535322423
Garrett Kidney628433233253324332432
Hugh Little625244433324434342413
Jacob K Randlett623235423243534452314
Jamie ODoherty623535543234424053412
Jason Woito625444444342422341314
Jesse Carey625444442342234442412
Jordan Greenhalgh625444342234534342312
Kevin Gombau625444342234534342312
Kevin S627444323034434533321
Lee Thomas625334434243432343242
Mark Smith625433542233424442413
Michael Levy625325544223324242343
Peter Weinstein625433432335424442412
Rob Barry627435453123323242423
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SASira623434332344434432513
Thomas Green625243233254424352432
Andrew Bates615444332423435232323
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Antonio Edwards613343333134544232524
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EddieAlCapone615545332223324252333
Evan Grady-Troia613544323135534352312
joe mills613543432135534433213
Lucas Zamarín615353333223535242224
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Mary Robinson615224452224345233522
Matthew Nielson610533444334435442411
Mike Fuller613334422134333453533
Phil OConnor616233423443433433331
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Thomas Jayroe615435422143224424433
Alfred Arriola605545333343423332212
Brian Stafford605234432234243441415
Bryan Rose605334443232434433222
Chris Boothroyd607244322122434442415
Christian Renoe6010423223234434322421
Collin Miller603434332344534352311
David Woodley603245333234425442322
Derek Drago605434433223244422432
Francis Lane605342432334444432303
Jason Ryan603444324233424342423
Jesse B603344333254434332313
Joel Zewski607443322135434422412
Jonathan Parsons605332422334434432432
Jordan Benterman605224424134434253413
Keith Campbell605443232234434234413
Keith Harris605245322234435340333
Kenneth Butler603244423244523442422
Kevin Held605445422234424231432
Matthew Brown605243323134434443224
Michael McDonald605233342224332552424
Mike Bate605433323333445232422
Rodrigo Garcia605233532324334252423
The Mosayat605444323234433332413
Will True605544432124435252221
Abrasive Obelisk593435423044423341424
Alan Counihan593433343125344253313
Brandon Simms593534232423434434411
Dan Mullooly595544412123424353403
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Rancho King592335422244435243412
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Rogers Hudson595243323124533442414
Tenese Sarwieh595444442222325432412
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Karl Grant585334422224434352402
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Peter Gardner580534342434323242433
Alexander Kaiser575235413134345332312
Dakota Schmidt573435513243334331223
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Mitch Thomas568434322134322333312
The Jonathon Hunt Experience560335222334434252441
Ben Crooty555433313224215432413
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