[2017-07-20-NJPW-G1 Climax] Tama Tonga vs Michael Elgin

[soup23]

Tonga was given another chance in the G1 this year which felt like filibustering to get to 20 guys to me. I didn’t see what he did in last year’s tournament to warrant a return but I digress. This match was the definition of middling. They did some intro power stuff, went to the outside for a quick exchange and then went back inside for the finishing run. The main positive I had for the match was Elgin’s selling in avoiding the cutter of Tonga. That played into the finish well with Tonga hitting it from the top rope off of a DVD position. **1/2

[William Bologna]

Is Elgin always this bad? He has the overloaded moveset of a CAW, and when he tries to do a sequence he looks he's going through a memorized dance routine.

 

It was not clear to me why the finish hurt Elgin more than Tonga.

[bradhindsight]

I wondered if I was high man at *** after watching and reflecting. I liked a bunch of Tama's comeback, but the beginning half was pretty pedestrian. Pretty slick finish on replay.

[gingears]

I think the camera angle hurt the finish for me. Once I realized what they were going for I thought it was pretty cool but it took a second to figure out what had happened there. I am into the idea of this being Tama's breakout year in New Japan and I hope he can deliver against the higher caliber of opponents he has yet to come.