[2012-08-03-NJPW-G1 Climax] Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[bradhindsight]

This is, somewhat expected given the G-1, an abridged version of their first match, although nowhere near the limb focus they built before. Okada does the same neck spot with kicking the rail, although Naito does have some big knee spots - like a charging dropkick outside to Okada's draped over the rail. Okada sells this great, even feigning being able to pull himself up with the ropes during the 20 count. I couldn't even recall what else Okada did, but the finishing stretch felt better here than their previous matchup (Marty used a good phrase for Naito's in the prior - "tacked on"), with Naito coming up with different counters to the Rainmaker and building off the previous match by hitting Destino a second time and connecting with Stardust. Crowd is pretty hot for both guys, even with Okada as a heel. ***1/2

[soup23]

This was like sitting down to a movie sequel and your favorite actors and the hot action are still there but the organic feeling that formed from the first iteration is gone. That was a HUGE factor in my investment in the first match. Okada did such a great job selling the leg in the first match and with the slightly reduced time here, that was the key pivotal moment that went by the wayside. Okada's selling here was suspect and not very strong even though a fair point is that the damage that Naito did was not near as extreme as in the first match. The Rainmaker again is protected which is appreciative but we also got things like the flap jack, springy dropkick, etc that I am waning of for being transition spots in almost all of the big Okada matches. Stardust press for Naito to win got a great reaction and felt like a nice moment for him but this was missing that extra ingredient for it to be a great match in my eyes. ***1/2

[Childs]

Okada's opponent worked over his leg. Okada responded with a second-turnbuckle dropkick and some weak-looking neck stretches against the guardrail. Knock me over with shock, why don't you. This was a lesser rehash of their March match, which was no better than pretty good in the first place. I had hope when Naito started throwing his body around ringside and Okada momentarily responded with some top-notch leg selling. But they quickly tossed that away for a my-turn, your-turn stretch run. I guess Okada became the GOAT sometime after 2012.