New Japan 2015 G1 Climax July 28 results: Okada vs. Kojima; Ishii vs. Anderson

by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Today is day 6 of the G1 Climax tournament, and tonight we’re in Beppu as the main event is set to be Kazuchika Okada taking on Satoshi Kojima.

An hour before the show started news broke out that Shinsuke Nakamura would not be competing in tonight’s undercard as the doctors have not cleared him, however he looks to make a return as soon as possible in the tournament. In the meantime, Nakamura has forfieited his match tonight, giving Elgin two points as a result.

Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger and Captain New Japan vs. Jay White, David Finlay and Ryusuke Taguchi

Short, basic tag match. When Captain New Japan was tagged he and Taguchi did a lot of comedy. Tiger Mask pinned White after a tiger driver. Nothing worth noting.

Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano vs. Doc Gallows and Cody Hall

Another decent tag match. Some brawling around the ring early. Yano’s eye was completely swollen shut due to the headbutt from Tenzan on the last show. Heels worked over Yoshi Hashi some, then he made a comeback and pinned Hall after a swanton bomb.

Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe and Mascara Dorada vs. Yohei Komatsu, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Tenzan’s eye was completely swollen shut as well. That must have been one hell of a headbutt. Another fine tag match. Ibushi mostly squared off with Shibata and Tenzan and Makabe went at it as well. Crowd was very into Ibushi’s offense. He nailed Shibata with a pele kick as Dorada pinned Komatsu with the Dorada Screwdriver.

Michael Elgin, Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale and AJ Styles 

Another solid tag team match. Crowd seems pretty dead tonight, so while these guys had a perfectly fine tag team match, it just lacked something overall, though they did pop when Tanahashi came out and Elgin did his delayed vertical suplex spot. Naito pinned Tonga after his new finisher, which looked more like a standing sliced bread #2 into a inverted DDT.

Yujiro Takahashi vs. Yuji Nagata

This started out really slow. Back and forth offense mostly, though some of the time was spent on Yujiro cheating to get heat. Crowd was also really dead for this until the ending where Nagata kept kicking out of Yujiro’s nearfalls. He blocked a Miami Shine attempt and went to do something, but Yujiro dropkicked him then gave him the Miami Shine to pin him. Overall, just a match.

Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto

Great match with the final few minutes of the match being really awesome. They wailed on each other for a super long time at the start of the match that got the crowd into the match. Honma at one point hit two kokeshis and a rolling neckbreaker for a pinfall. Goto mounted a comeback but Honma started no selling and kicking out at one. Goto however came back with a huge lariat then pinned him with the shouten kai. Crowd chanted Honma’s name after the match. 

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson 

Good match. Again this was a situation where the crowd was just kind of dead. They picked up towards the end but Ishii and Anderson had to work hard to do it. Anderson got the heat on Ishii after hitting a backbreaker that supposedly injured Ishii’s bad shoulder. They traded a lot of near falls, including Ishii kicking out of a Gun Stun and Anderson kicking out of the sliding D. Ishii finally laid him out with a big time brainbuster for the win. 

Satoshi Kojima vs. Kazuchika Okada 

Good match. Both guys did a great job of selling, which was one of the key points in the match. Crowd felt dead for this as well at the start. The environment tonight makes this feel like a flat show even though most of the action has been solid to great.  Okada was doing his comeback when Kojima stopped him and hit a lariat. He was set to do another when Okada back with a dropkick and went for the rainmaker. Kojima dodged the first time, but Okada immediately transitioned and hit it with his other arm for the win. Overall a very good, but not great match.

Current Standings

Block A

AJ Styles- 4

Hiroshi Tanhashi- 4

Tetsuya Natio- 4

Katsuyori Shibata- 4

Kota Ibushi- 4

Bad Luck Fale- 4

Togi Makabe- 2

Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

Toru Yano- 2

Doc Gallows- 0

Block B

Tomohiro Ishii- 6

Kazuchika Okada- 6 

Karl Anderson- 4

Hirooki Goto- 4

Yuji Nagata- 2

Shinsuke Nakamura- 2

Satoshi Kojima- 2

Michael Elgin- 2

Yujiro Takahashi- 2

Tomoaki Honma- 0