Yuji Nagata has been busting his ass for his final G1 Climax appearance and this was easily his best match and performance of the tournament (and a personal favorite of mine). These two have great chemistry together. You had Tanahashi heeling it up with his limbwork, tossing the proverbial ace guitar out of the ring to focus on attacking the veteran's leg. Nagata was as spirited as ever, with the crowd firmly behind him. Tanahashi starts in on the leg, kicking the knee when he can and embracing the boos. Nagata fights through the pain to land some stiff kicks and slaps, his facials always so terrific. Tanahashi tries going after the leg again with the cloverleaf hold but Nagata fights him off, going after the arm and building to a big top rope Exploder. He tries to finish Tanahashi off with the backdrop but Tanahashi counters with a crossbody and once more cuts off Nagata at the knee. That final slap exchange is awesome, with Nagata getting busted open and his exhausted swings and misses before collapsing face-first on the mat. Tanahashi's able to put Nagata away with the High Fly but Nagata wasn't going down without a fight. Loved this match.
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