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G1 Climax 28- A Block- Night 7- An Average Night In The Worst Way

The conclusion of the shows I missed while on vacation. I'm writing this after having watched 4 other shows prior to this. So, I might be a little jaded on my expectations. I apologize in advance. But the G1 has been amazing this year. I'm looking forward to Tanahashi vs. Page and Suzuki vs. White tonight.

Again, I'm covering only the main block matches. If anything happens in the undercard, I'll make a comment about it below. (Editor's Note: I'm thinking of doing the same thing going forward as well. After having done this all day, I think there's more advantage to only providing thoughts on the random undercard matches which mean nothing than trying to do meaningful commentary on those throwaway matches.)
HERE WE GO!!!

A Block Matches- Night 7

1) YOSHI-HASHI vs. Michael Elgin- Elgin knocks down HASHI easily with a shoulder block. HASHI goes for a flying crossbody off the apron but gets blocked. HASHI connects a second later with a suplex on Elgin on the outside. HASHI gets clotheslined off the top rope by Elgin, crashing down on the mat. Elgin chops HASHI hard. Slam by Elgin followed by an elbow. The announcers are really putting over HASHI's losing streak. (Harbinger for an upset, perhaps?) HASHI goes after both of Elgin's knees and hits a DDT. HASHI hits a Rana after Elgin initially blocks it. SENTON DIVE by HASHI to Elgin on the outside. HASHI charges Elgin in the ring, chopping him. He hit the Head Hunter/Blockbuster off the top rope for a 2 count. German Suplex by Elgin on the injured shoulder of HASHI. Enziguri to HASHI's head. FISHERMAN POWERBOMB(?) to HASHI for a 2 count.

Elgin puts HASHI on the top rope, going for a superplex. HASHi knocks Elgin down, who responds with another kick. Elgin gets HASHI in position for a Splash Mountain off the ropes. But HASHI turns it into a hurricanrana again for a 2 count. They are trading chops, and Elgin is giving more than his fair share in the exchange. German Suplex by HASHI. Thrust kick by Elgin. Elgin climbs the ropes and gets caught in a powerbomb. Suplex by HASHI followed by a Swanton from the ropes for a close 2. Ten minutes have passed.

Elgin spins HASHI into a Suplex Bomb type maneuver. Elgin clotheslines HASHI in the corner. Elgin climbs the ropes and delivers a SUPERPLEX to HASHI. 2 count only. Buckle Bomb by Elgin. Jackknife pin by HASHI gets a 2 count. A board is sticking out in the center of the ring now. FOREARM by Elgin to HASHI. WESTERN LARIAT by HASHI. Half and Half Suplex by Elgin. Massive lariat by Elgin. HASHI kicks out. SPLASH MOUNTAIN Bomb by Elgin for ONLY A 2. Superkick to Elgin. FISHERMAN BUSTER by HASHI only gets a 2. BACKSTABBER by HASHI. HE HITS KARMA!!!! 1-2-3!!! YOSHI-HASHI FINALLY GETS A WIN!!!!

Winner: YOSHI-HASHI (2 points)
Match Grade: C+. I liked the match for what it was. I'm not a huge YOSHI-HASHI fan, but this thankfully puts him on the board and provides some credibility to him even if he loses most the rest of his matches.

2) Bad Luck Fale (w/ Tanga Loa) vs. EVIL- Again, the question is "Does Fale even care about the match? Or does he just care about hurting people?" EVIL attacks Fale while he's going through discussions with Loa. EVIL goes after the eyes of Fale. Evil goes after Loa after some trash talking. EVIL sends Fale into the guard rail. Fale grabs a chair to distract the ref while Loa proceeds to attack EVIL. More of the same for Fale matches. Fale and EVIL go into the crowd with EVIL being thrown into chairs. Barricade thrown down on EVIL by Fale.

EVIL gets in the ring after a long count by the referee. Fale proceeds to attack EVIL wtih stomps and standing on the forearm. Splash on the arm only gets a 2 for Fale. Arm twist and pull by Fale. 5 minutes have passed. Fale continues to work on the right arm of EVIL. Slam by Fale, but the splash misses. EVIL clotheslines Fale over the top rope to the outside. EVIL rams Fale into the barricade. The chairs are out. But Loa grabs one of them. EVIL gets the referee distracted enough by Loa having the chair to use another chair to smash Fale against the ring post. Seated Senton in the corner by EVIL. Shoulder Block runs through EVIL. Big splash by Fale to EVIL for a 2. Grenade blocked by EVIL followed by clotheslines trying to knock the big man down. Blocked suplex turns into a DDT for EVIL. Huge lariat by Fale to EVIL only gets a close 2. EVIL knocks Fale down with a clothesline for a 2 count. 10 minutes have passed.

EVIL goes for his finisher, but Fale pushes him into the referee. But here comes Loa into the match while the referee is down. BUSHI blinds Loa with the mist. Tonga comes in and knocks down BUSHI. Naito comes in to stop Tonga. Fale goes for his finisher. EVERYTHING IS EVIL by EVIL. But there's no referee. The referee comes to and decides NOT to make the count. Gun Stun to EVIL!!!! The referee DQ's Fale!!!! They gave up another match! GUN STUN TO NAITO!!!!

Winner: EVIL (6 points)
Match Rating: D-. This wasn't really a good match all things considered. Again, it advances the Tongans bringing havoc to NJPW. But other than that, the match just didn't click for me. This also ironically advances the Tonga/Naito match in B Block on Thursday. Fale has been DQed 3 times already by the way. After they made a big point earlier in mentioning DQs were rare in the G1, this year is completely changing that narrative as the Tongans are DQed almost every match so far.

3) Jay White vs. Minoru Suzuki- I can't wait to see how this match progresses. Suzuki is 50, White is 25 for the record. Suzuki goes for the hamstring with a kick. White stays at the ropes to cause the referee to back up Suzuki. White goes outside, to which Suzuki says "Ok. That's my house." Suzuki goes to attack White, but White turns it around. He throws Suzuki into multiple rails, and he nails Suzuki with throws against the edge of the ring and guard rails. Suzuki catches White with a arm bar on the ropes. Overhand chop to White. White says "Bring it." But he kicks Suzuki in the knee and hits a DDT. White takes Suzuki to the apron and smacks his head on the edge of the ring. He rips the fabric and proceeds to choke out Suzuki. Red Shoes (the ref) refuses to count the pin.

White executes a chin lock on Suzuki. Neckbreaker by White only gets a 1. White is going for the Float Over STF, which he executes. Suzuki grabs White's fingers and begins pulling at them. Suzuki gets a flurry of offense in, including 3 PK Kicks. 2 count. Suzuki with a Hammerlock now, working on the fingers and wrist of White. Suzuki with a headlock choke on White using the top rope for leverage, which causes a break from the referee. Head and Arm Suplex by White to Suzuki into the corner buckles! White gets a spinning suplex for a 2 count. Suzuki is on his knees. White chops him. Suzuki: "COME ON!" White brings it. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. SUZUKI with multiple strikes on White. White executes the Flatliner/delayed German Suplex on Suzuki. Counter to counter. Rear Naked Choke on White. 10 Minutes have passed.

White trying to get to the ropes. He gets the referee distracted. Low Blow blocked by Suzuki. Straight Forearm Shot to White. Gotch Style Piledriver!!!! 1-2-3.

Winner: Minoru Suzuki (4 points)
Match Rating: C+. Good contrast of heel vs. heel here. Suzuki played the learned veteran who knew all of White's tricks and had the Ace the entire time. White looked really good in defeat still and loses nothing by losing the match. He's still the talk of the tournament.

4) Hangman Page vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi- They had a decent match during the recent ROH UK tour. So, this should be interesting to watch. Page has spent less minutes wrestling than Tanahashi in the tournament, and Tanahashi has a bad track record against wrestlers he's facing for the first time in G1 competition.

Trading headlocks and counters by both men. Tanahashi offers Page a chance to play air guitar, which Page smashes over his knee. Page dives for Tanahashi's knee and wrenches it over the side of the ring. Page deadlifts Tanahashi into a Fallaway Slam with a bridge for a 2 count. Continued work on the knee by Page. Page with a Brock Lock (knee over the head while standing) on Tanahashi, but The Ace gets to the ropes. Tanahashi fights off Page from working more on the legs. Page and Tanahashi block kicks from each other. They each ask the other to put the other down. After faking each other out, Tanahashi fakes out Page into releasing his leg. This allows the Ace to hit the Dragon Screw. Tanahashi mounts his comeback with a Flying Forearm. Slam by The Ace followed by a Senton Splash. Tanahashi motions for Sling Blade, but Page kicks him in the knee and dumps him over the ropes. SHOOTING STAR PRESS off the apron to a standing Tanahashi on the outside. 

Page with a running dropkick to the Ace's face in the corner. Top Rope Neckbreaker!!! 1-2-Kickout. Figure 4 to Tanahashi's bad knee. Tanahashi rolls over, but Page gets into the ropes. Page goes for the Buckshot Lariat, but Tanahashi hits the Dragon Screw Leg Whip to Page. 10 minutes have passed. Buckshot Lariat connects to Tanahashi. Rite of Passage is blocked. Dragon Screw to the leg of Page. They are trading blows and strikes to each other, but Tanahashi whips Page into a Sling Blade. Tanahashi climbs the ropes. HIGH FLY FLOW!!!! He climbs up again! HIGH FLY FLOW!!!! 1-2-3!!!!

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi (6 points)
Match Rating: C+. Another average match on the show that doesn't really stand out, but the effort was there by both men. Page was the guy I was expecting to be doing better in the tournament at this point, but he's still got another 5 matches to go in the tournament.

5) Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe- Okada takes it right to Makabe to start off the match. Makabe throws Okada off of him when he tries to do the ten punches in the corner. We're outside of the ring now. Barricades are about to be hit here in a moment. Makabe grabs the chain, but Okada drops Makabe with a DDT on the outside. Makabe slow to get back up. Makabe thrown into the barricade in front of the English announce position. J.R. just hurt a rib somewhere. Makabe rolls back into the ring at 16. Slingshot Senton on Makabe by Okada.

Makabe tells Okada to bring it. Okade obliges with a shot to the head. Rinse and repeat. Okada pulls Makabe up and tells him to start hitting him. Okada takes a couple shots before nailing a neckbreaker on Makabe. 5 minutes have passed. Makabe runs into a dropkick in a corner by Okada, but he answers with a powerslam a second later for a 2 count. Makabe is coming back with punches to Okada's head. Here comes a ten count punch by Makabe in the corner. Big lariat. 2 count. DDT in the ring by Okada. Okada dives off the top at Makabe for a 2 count. RUNNING DROPKICK to Makabe, propelling him back into the corner. Neckbreaker over the knee by Okada. 2 count.

Makabe tells Okada to bring it. Okada obliges with a forearm. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Ten minutes have passed now. Rinse and repeat the demanded the forearms. Rinse and Repeat. Rinse and Repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and Repeat. Now Makabe is trading forearms with Okada. Lariat by Makabe to Okada, but it takes 2 to get Okada to his knees. Tombstone by Okada!!!  Death Valley Driver by Makabe out of an attempted Rainmaker. Makabe strikes at Okada with forearms and is feeling it right now. Powerbomb for a 2 count. He's going for the Spider German, but Okada blocks it. Makabe nails a belly to belly off the top turnbuckle instead. Makabe dives at Okada, but he eats a dropkick. Makabe bounced off the ropes, but he eats another dropkick. Makabe blocks a Rainmaker with a forearm and a lariat of his own. Okada hits a spinning lariat. 15 minutes have passed. RAINMAKER. 1-2-3.

Winner: Okada (4 points)
Match Rating: C-. I never felt any drama in this match. Makabe was never a real threat to pin Okada, and Okada seemed to be going through the motions rather than having a competitive match. In fact, that's a general complaint I have about the show in general: This was a house show rather than a supposedly important tournament show.

Show Rating: C-. This seemed to be a show just about getting matches done and out of the way. It was a house show in the middle of the tournament. The only notable thing that happened was that YOSHI-HASHI got on the board. Otherwise, this was a skippable show.

A Block Standings After Night 7
Jay White (6 points)
EVIL (6 Points)
Hiroshi Tanahashi (6 Points)
Michael Elgin (4 points)
Togi Makabe (4 points)
Minoru Suzuki (4 points)
Kazuchika Okada (4 points)
Hangman Page (2 points)
Bad Luck Fale (2 points)
YOSHI-HASHI (2 points)

Well, I am officially caught up with the G1 shows now. Live daily coverage begins tomor... later today apparently. Until later on, take care of yourselves and spread some awesomeness.

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