[2017-07-22-NJPW-G1 Climax] Juice Robinson vs EVIL

[bradhindsight]

Talk about it here.

 

Ioan's review at PTBN:

 

 

Juice started hot, immediately scoring with a running dropkick, the cannonball and a plancha! Outside, he hit some clotheslines against the guardrail, but Evil countered a charge into a drop toehold, sending Juice throat-first into the railing, then clotheslined him over into the crowd. Evil stayed on top after Juice rolled back in at 18, stomping him into the mat and hitting the senton before applying a chinlock. Juice powered out and soon after nailed a crescent kick to set off a run of punches, a facelock drop, and a senton of his own for two, but a trip to the top-rope was cut painfully short. A fast-paced back-and-forth led to Juice landing the spinebuster, and he returned to the top where he connected with a Kokeshi! Two-count only. Evil was able to fisherman suplex Juice into the buckle and both men were down. Darkness Falls was blocked, but Evil hit the side kick, only for Juice to nail a left-handed lariat! Falling powerbomb! One, two, no! Pulp Friction was countered into a nasty German suplex, but Juice fired up and strikes were exchanged before a fantastic sequence of counters culminated in a half-and-half suplex from Evil! Lariat! 2.9! The STO connected and Evil picked up the win!

Two hungry young guys out to prove their worth and delivering a breathless, brilliant closing stretch in the final minutes of a very good match. I’m sure I’ll be rating this higher than most, but I’m going: ****

 

[soup23]

There is something real refreshing about two young hungry guys going out in a tournament setting and killing it. Juice is favoring his neck from the prior night and EVIl does all he can to expose that weakened body part. Juice is able to draw such sympathy from the Korakuen crowd and is splendid at timing his comebacks where everything felt believable and impactful. EVIL eventually wins going after that weakened neck but Juice had an excellent showing for himself. ****