NJPW G1 Climax Final 2016: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best
2. Team New Japan Vs. Team NOAH
Result: Nakajima kills Nakanishi with a huge Brainbuster for the pin (10:56).
Rating: Nagata came storming out of the gate here, but Kitamiya matched him well from the get-go, and the crowd were loving the NJPW vs NOAH dialogue from minute one.
Once Shibata got into the ring he was absolute fire, and no moment in this match was more memorable than Shibata giving himself some colour the hard way after headbutting Nakajima (even if you can argue it was pretty stupid and reckless).
The post-match brawl between the NJPW and NOAH guys came close, especially with Shibata basically trying to kill the other team. This was super-visceral exactly as it needed to be, and lays some terrific groundwork for the angle moving forward.
7/10