00:30Well, for those who are just tuning in, welcome to Block B competition here tonight for night 14 of G1 Climax 35.
00:53I'm Walker Stewart alongside Chris Charlton.
00:55This was...
00:56And Chris, it is set here.
01:00Yoshihashi walking into tonight, still alive by the skin of his teeth.
01:04Eight points on the board for Big Match Hash, Yoshihashi.
01:08Yeah, you're trying to make Big Match Hash a thing, eh?
01:11But, I mean, it is something that he's been able to live up to.
01:14Certainly, in the end, his tightfaces in this tournament was undefeated for a long time.
01:19For a time was the top point scorer in all of the tournament.
01:23And certainly still has surprises up his sleeve.
01:25Came so close, really.
01:27Put it all on the line against Inosabu, against Konosuke Takeshita.
01:31Didn't quite get it done.
01:33That has put him on the bubble here tonight.
01:35But if he gets past El Phantasma, and he has a very faithful encounter with Zack Sabre Jr.
01:40Coming up on Wednesday, could we see Yoshihashi in the playoffs?
01:44Stranger things have happened.
01:45It just might happen for the Headhunter.
01:478 points on the board for Yoshihashi.
02:178 points on the board for Yoshihashi.
02:47It was the last time we were live for a Block B competition.
02:56Semi-main event action for the NJW World Television Champion, El Phantasma.
03:01Rocking Joel Maloney in a big, big way to put two more points on the board.
03:07El Phantasma walks in tonight at six, but sadly, for the World TV Champion, Chris
03:12Charlton, it is not going to be enough to have hopes of a playoff scenario.
03:15But maybe in this one.
03:17Yeah, I mean, the bright lights, a little bit bright, too bright.
03:22Perhaps El Phantasma here, and maybe a little bit too bright this summer.
03:26He was the first to be mathematically eliminated.
03:29But since then, just seems to be turning up the heat a little bit.
03:33And he put the pedal to the metal in Osaka against Driller Maloney the other night.
03:47A real sprint that saw El Phantasma very, very aggressive.
03:50And still there is the chance, even though Phantasma can't make the playoffs
03:56simply because of his tie breaks, Walker,
03:58he could still have a positive win-loss record by the end here,
04:01looking to improve to 4-4.
04:03And you've got a feeling that once this bell sounds,
04:27you know, Phantasma is going to start to go fast against Yoshi Ashii.
04:32Let's see.
04:34It is one call, 30-minute time limit.
04:45You're in G1 flyback.
04:46The rules are simple.
04:47A victory brings you two points.
04:49A draw will bring you one.
04:51A loss will bring you nothing.
04:52And sadly for Phantasma, more losses have been taken
04:55than victories or even draws have been, well, drawn.
05:00And for the world television champion,
05:02one of the very few singles champions that we have competing in this year's tournament, Chris,
05:07it is not a good look to be, well, the first eliminated,
05:10let alone have a losing record.
05:12Yeah, I mean, you have to take every match as a potential title match.
05:16And this could be a potential title match down the road for Yoshi Ashii,
05:19even if he doesn't win the team on climax.
05:21Yes, Yoshi Ashii right out of the gates here with the back elbow.
05:26And certainly history going to be favoring the man standing atop right now
05:30in Yoshi Ashii 2-0 singles record.
05:33Phantasma has never beaten Yoshi Ashii before.
05:37We've seen several times over the course of this tournament, though, Walker,
05:40those never beaten before.
05:42And history changing was personal records changing
05:47over the course of this tournament.
05:48It's not just singles history that these two men have.
05:53Of course, it was back at the Tokyo Dome, the IWGP Tag Team Championship,
05:56strong opening tag team titles on the line just, what, a few years ago.
06:00And Phantasma, no tag team partner to his name no longer.
06:04It is all Yoshi Ashii.
06:06And L.P. to prove something tonight.
06:09Oh, it's right in the Japanese booth goes Yoshi Ashii.
06:12And L.P. up and over the top.
06:15Placcia is going to flatten down Yoshi Ashii tonight.
06:18Exactly in El Phantasma's playground there.
06:21It surprised me a little bit to see Yoshi Ashii sweep the legs of El Phantasma
06:25and take things to the floor now that it is.
06:28And it's in L.P.'s.
06:30So it's two L.P.'s benefit, in my opinion.
06:33It's a dangerous position to beat.
06:35Phantasma has found a lot of success on the outside
06:38and also found a lot of loss,
06:40especially throughout this tournament.
06:43Don't forget, it was on the outside of the ring back in Ryogoku.
06:45That neck, heavily damaged by Great Okan.
06:49And there is a lot of concussive trauma
06:52that Yoshi Ashii can bring out of that
06:54if he hopes to do so here.
06:55Uh-oh.
06:56Ascending to the top now is El Phantasma.
06:59Oh.
07:03Phantasma!
07:04Oh, and Osi Ashii was non-gone.
07:07You know, I mean, this is the second,
07:08and El Phantasma was slightly distracted
07:10by the lights making his entrance here.
07:12I think they can ascent up to those turnbuckles.
07:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:16I think he had no idea where Yoshi Ashi was, Walker.
07:18Yeah, that was a slight misstep,
07:20and that misstep might have caused Phantasma in a big way.
07:22You saw clutching at that left foot.
07:24He's doing it again now.
07:25Trying to check in right there on...
07:28There's a lot...
07:29There are a lot of small, different parts of the foot,
07:31bones that can crack and crutch that just...
07:33They're going to throw your game off completely
07:35off of any jarring landing.
07:38Whoa.
07:40Whoa.
07:41Whoa.
07:42Whoa.
07:43Whoa.
07:43Whoa.
07:43Whoa.
07:43Whoa.
07:43Whoa.
07:44Whoa.
07:44Whoa.
07:45Whoa.
07:45Whoa.
07:46Whoa.
07:46Whoa.
07:47Whoa.
07:47Whoa.
07:48Whoa.
07:48Whoa.
07:49Whoa.
07:50Whoa.
07:51Whoa.
07:51Whoa.
07:52Whoa.
07:56We've long talked about Yoshi Ashi wrestling,
07:59his greatest singles tournament in professional wrestling,
08:02but he's wrestling as a tag-team wrestler, isn't he?
08:05You know, always with the mind of Yuri Goto.
08:08Whoa.
08:10Whoa.
08:11Whoa.
08:11Whoa.
08:13And allowing that spirit to get him through this,
08:15and making a kick out of that Cabrata.
08:18You know, and that thought walk of potentially facing Zack Sabre, Jr.
08:23in a few days' time, and potentially with a spot on the playoffs at stake,
08:26that has to be what's driving Yoshi Ashi.
08:28I mean that is a definitive driving force for the headhunter certainly, no doubt about it.
08:36Fantasmo certainly gonna be the cooler ahead here between the two of these though.
08:43Calling the shot here and Yoshihashi will be the man to deliver.
08:47Yeah that's always a dangerous game to play to tell the people exactly what you're doing
08:52and what you plan to do. Your opponent has ears as well.
08:58Fantasmo certainly performing better with the pressure off right now
09:26in this tournament as we saw against Joel Maloney.
09:29But right now the pressure to be able to spoil Yoshihashi and Block B might be weighing down on LP a little bit more than his battle with Maloney in the semi main event.
09:39Yeah and I think conversely the pressure when the pressure is on Yoshihashi that's when he's performed better in the past.
09:46Performed at his best even if he doesn't get the wins and losses on the board.
09:50And only Yoshihashi owner of one of the greatest upsets in G1 history when he beat Kenny Omega back in 2016.
10:02This is only Yoshihashi's second singles match here in Yokohama and one record.Fantasmo's first singles match here.
10:09Yoshiashi in the driver's seat cover inbound here we go.
