Final four set in Budokan
Kazuchika Okada will face Tama Tonga in semifinal G1 Climax 32 action on Wednesday, both men advancing from very difficult final league matches in the Nippon Budokan on August 16.
The main event of the evening saw Kazuchika Okada take on Lance Archer in a highly physical war that left the Rainmaker drained, beaten but victorious. Archer headed into his first ever Budokan main event quiet and determined, before instantly landing a thunderous choke slam to his foe at the bell, and beginning a brutal assault. The fight soon spilling outside, Archer crushed Okada with a cannonball into the ringside guardrails and even slammed Young Lion Kosei Fujita onto the G1 Climax winner. Okada would see little of the match until a short arm lariat finally took Archer off his feet and bought him some time.
Still Archer had Okada on the back foot, and absorbed a drop kick before firing with one of his own. After the incredible athletic feat, Archer landed his very own Rainmaker but only got two, before putting Okada into Blackout for another near fall and a nail biting crucifix counter. The match was almost all Archer’s but Okada had the muscle for a body slam to the Murderhawk Monster and then made use of Archer’s own momentum to hit a Landslide. The Rainmaker followed, and Okada advanced.
In B Block, Tama Tonga would emerge as the other semi finalist, with an emphatic and deeply satisfying victory over Jay White. The two men set a high pace throughout as Tama was itching to fight from the bell, and White was unable to use his usual considered pace, instead bringing harder hits at a higher tempo at the cost of dictating the pace.
Indeed, it was Gedo that had to assist White early as he pulled his own man to the floor where the Switchblade took advantage. When I’m the driver’s seat, White drive home chops to try and force Tama into an error, yet Tonga was true with a lariat, and the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion had to go to the eyes of his opponent to open the door for a Bladebuster and Complete Shot.
Tama would go for some classics of his own to get back into the flow, landing his SRC and the Supreme Flow. Yet Gunstun seemed out of reach. As White countered the move over and over, so Tama denied Bladerunner, landing a Bloody Sunday for two in a call back to BULLET CLUB history. After two more attempts, the Gunstun finally did connect, and Tama moved on.
