NJPW G1 Climax 27 night 11 results: Tanahashi vs. Ibushi

The eleventh night of the G1 Climax 27 tournament took place this morning, featuring more action from the A Block in Kagoshima. The main event pitted Hiroshi Tanahashi against Kota Ibushi in their first singles match in two years.

Prelim matches —

– Michael Elgin & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Katsuya Kitamura & Shota Umino when Elgin pinned Kitamura with the Elgin bomb. The finish was weird as Kitamura clearly kicked out before three but the referee counted it anyway.

– Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado defeated Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hirai Kawato when Desperado pinned Kawato with the Angel’s Wings.

– SANADA & BUSHI defeated Juice Robinson & David Finlay when SANADA submitted Finlay with the Skull End.

– EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Kenny Omega & Chase Owens when EVIL pinned Owens with the STO.

– Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano defeated Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi after Yano low blowed Takahashi and rolled him up.

A Block matches —
YOSHI-HASHI defeated Bad Luck Fale

This was great. YOSHI-HASHI is really good at playing an underdog and Fale knows his role so well as the mean monster heel. The dynamic worked, the crowd was into it, and the match itself was pretty fun.

Fale dominated early, throwing YOSHI-HASHI around, both inside and out of the ring. YH found an opening, dropkicking Fale in the leg and following with the headhunter neckbreaker. He then hit another, this time off the top rope.

He followed that up with the butterfly lock, but Fale escaped and rebounded with a clothesline. He got YH up for the Bad Luck Fall, but YOSHI-HASHI transitioned into a sleeper. YH then hit double knees to the face and applied the butterfly lock again. When Fale tried to get up, YH countered with a small package for the surprise win.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Togi Makabe

They had a good match. There wasn’t much of a styles clash as Sabre took most of the offense, and worked it well enough to where this was good. 

Sabre didn’t waste time honing in on Makabe’s leg, using a barricade to throw in shots as well as some ground work in the ring. When Makabe started to fight back, Sabre continued the assault with a waistlock choke.

Makabe started to fire back with shots as Sabre obliged and gave them right back. Sabre ate a lariat as Makabe went to the top rope and jumped off with a King Kong knee drop, but Sabre rolled out of the way and zoned back in on the leg, sinking in a modified leglock. With no real alternative, Makabe tapped out.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yuji Nagata

I was hoping this would be a great match, and it absolutely was. Ishii is one of the best brawlers out there, and Nagata more than stepped up his game to deliver a fantastic match, full of great near falls. 

The two battled it out early. Nagata got the upper hand with some great kicks. Ishii then got the advantage and took him into the ring, but Nagata began to no sell in the corner. Ishii fired back with shots, but Nagata started to give out some of his own. 

Ishii hit a big time superplex and went for a lariat until Nagata blocked it and took him down with an armbar instead. Ishii fired back with more shots as they got up, but a strike by Nagata sent Ishii reeling to the floor. Nagata mounted him as he started to deliver some punches.

Nagata followed with a superplex of his own and went for a kick, but Ishii roared back as they traded some great offense, ending when Nagata took down Ishii with a kick. Ishii blasted him with lariats, then hit a brainbuster, but Nagata kicked out.

Nagata fired back with more offense, but Ishii was able to eventually land another brainbuster to finally pick up the win.

Tetsuya Naito defeated Hirooki Goto

This was one of those matches that’ll become lost in the ether of all of the other great matches that have taken place. It had good back-and-forth action, but nothing in particular stood out.

Naito jumped Goto and took him to the apron, quickly establishing control with a neckbreaker. Goto gathered his bearings briefly but was quickly taken down by a Naito dropkick.

Goto came back alive with a couple of clotheslines, but Naito quickly took him down with a DDT. Goto fired back and put him in a sleeper. When Naito fought back, Goto retaliated with an inverted GTR. He tried for a normal one, but Naito battled back — only for Goto to completely obliterate him.

Or maybe not, as Naito unleashed a German suplex and a koppo kick. Goto blocked the Destino and countered with the ushigiroshi. He tried for the GTR again, but Naito escaped and hit the Destino for a near fall. He followed with another for the win.

Kota Ibushi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

Great, dramatic match. This had an intensity to it as the action started hot and stayed that way for most of the match. Ibushi’s offense is just brilliant and Tanahashi, bad arm and all, is still one of the best workers in the business.

Tanahashi started to play the heel immediately, clipping a bad leg of Ibushi’s and began to work on it. It ultimately became futile when Ibushi came back with a dropkick, then followed with the golden triangle moonsault to the floor. Tanahashi soon responded with a High Fly Flow to the floor.

After getting back into the ring, Tanahashi continued the assault on Ibushi with a Texas Cloverleaf. Ibushi escaped as they had a hot exchange. Tanahashi took down Ibushi and went for the High Fly Flow, but Ibushi met him up there.

He eventually laid Tanahashi out with a Pele kick, threw him into the turnbuckle like a lawn dart (even though it pretty much missed the mark), and hit the deadlift German suplex.

Ibushi went for the press powerbomb, but Tanahashi landed on his feet and hit the twist and shout neckbreaker. Tanahashi followed with the slingblade and hit the High Fly Flow once, then went for another but Ibushi got his knees up. Ibushi struck him with kicks. Tanahashi attempted a comeback, but Ibushi struck him with a kick that sent him to the floor.

As the announcers were screaming “KNOCKOUT!,” Ibushi went for the press powerbomb and landed it — but Tanahashi kicked out at 2.9999, leaving fans shocked. Ibushi was in disbelief too as he grabbed Tanahashi and hit his new knee strike finish for the win.

Current standings — 

A Block:

Hiroshi Tanahashi — 8
Tetsuya Naito — 8
Zack Sabre Jr. — 8
Tomohiro Ishii — 8
Hirooki Goto — 6
Bad Luck Fale — 6
Togi Makabe — 6
Kota Ibushi — 6
YOSHI-HASHI — 4
Yuji Nagata — 0

B Block:

Kazuchika Okada — 10
Kenny Omega — 8
EVIL — 8
Minoru Suzuki — 6
SANADA — 6
Tama Tonga — 4
Michael Elgin — 4
Juice Robinson — 2
Toru Yano — 2
Satoshi Kojima — 0