Jump to content

NJPW G1 Climax 23 - 1-11 август 2013


nWoHulkster

Recommended Posts

nWoHulkster

AMKvhgK.jpg

fJOFDXF.jpg

Отново е време за турнир [tournament] номер 1 в света на кеча.

Участниците:

Block A:

7hR4vt9.jpg

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Togi Makabe

Hirooki Goto

Satoshi Kojima

Kazuchika Okada

Tomohiro Ishii

Lance Archer

Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Prince Devitt

Katsuyori Shibata

Block B:

ruKSmsg.jpg

Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Yuji Nagata

Tetsuya Naito

Shinsuke Nakamura

Toru Yano

Yujiro Takahashi

Minoru Suzuki

Shelton Benjamin

Karl Anderson

Kota Ibushi

Шоутата:

NJPW, 8/1/13 (Samurai! TV)

Act City Hamamatsu

NJPW, 8/2/13 (TV Asahi ch1 & ch2)

Tokyo Korakuen Hall

NJPW, 8/3/13 (Samurai! TV)

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

NJPW, 8/4/13 (WPW)

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

NJPW, 8/6/13 (Samurai! TV)

Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall #3

NJPW, 8/7/13 (Samurai! TV)

Sendai Sun Plaza Hall

NJPW, 8/8/13 (Samurai! TV)

Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium

NJPW, 8/10/13 (TV Asahi ch1 & ch2)

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

NJPW, 8/11/13 (WPW)

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Предишните победители:

1991 - Masahiro Chono

1992 - Masahiro Chono (2)

1993 - Tatsumi Fujinami

1994 - Masahiro Chono (3)

1995 - Keiji Muto

1996 - Riki Choshu

1997 - Kensuke Sasaki

1998 - Shinya Hashimoto

1999 - Manabu Nakanishi

2000 - Kensuke Sasaki (2)

2001 - Yuji Nagata

2002 - Masahiro Chono (4)

2003 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan

2004 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2)

2005 - Masahiro Chono (5)

2006 - Hiroyoshi Tenzan (3)

2007 - Hiroshi Tanahashi

2008 - Hirooki Goto

2009 - Togi Makabe

2010 - Satoshi Kojima

2011 - Shinsuke Nakamura

2012 - Kazuchika Okada

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

38bs3vs.jpg

NJPW, 8/1/13 (Samurai! TV)

Act City Hamamatsu

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano

2. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Lance Archer

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shelton Benjamin

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Yujiro Takahashi

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki

7. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto

8. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Prince Devitt

 

 

NJPW, 8/2/13 (TV Asahi ch1 & ch2)

Tokyo Korakuen Hall

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Shelton Benjamin

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yujiro Takahashi

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Toru Yano

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Prince Devitt vs. Lance Archer

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi

8. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Minoru Suzuki

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Kazuchika Okada

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

 

 

NJPW, 8/3/13 (Samurai! TV)

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Karl Anderson

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Shelton Benjamin

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Prince Devitt

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Minoru Suzuki

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Toru Yano

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Satoshi Kojima

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

 

 

NJPW, 8/4/13 (WPW)

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano vs. Yujiro Takahashi

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Karl Anderson

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Shelton Benjamin

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Lance Archer

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Minoru Suzuki

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Prince Devitt

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Kazuchika Okada

10. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi

 

 

NJPW, 8/6/13 (Samurai! TV)

Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall #3

 

1. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Toru Yano

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Lance Archer

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Shelton Benjamin

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Minoru Suzuki

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Kota Ibushi

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Prince Devitt

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe

 

 

NJPW, 8/7/13 (Samurai! TV)

Sendai Sun Plaza Hall

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Shelton Benjamin

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano vs. Karl Anderson

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Yujiro Takahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Lance Archer

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tetsuya Naito

7. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Prince Devitt

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata

9. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto

 

 

NJPW, 8/8/13 (Samurai! TV)

Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Yujiro Takahashi

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Karl Anderson

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Prince Devitt

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

9. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki vs. Shelton Benjamin

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Satoshi Kojima

 

 

NJPW, 8/10/13 (TV Asahi ch1 & ch2)

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

 

1. G1 Climax – Block A: Prince Devitt vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson vs. Yujiro Takahashi

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Lance Archer

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano vs. Shelton Benjamin

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi vs. Minoru Suzuki

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata

9. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

 

 

NJPW, 8/11/13 (WPW)

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

 

1. Special Tag Match: Kazushi Sakuraba & Akebono vs. Takashi Iizuka & YOSHI-HASHI

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Shelton Benjamin

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Karl Anderson

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata vs. Yujiro Takahashi

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Kota Ibushi

7. G1 Climax – Block A: Lance Archer vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Kazuchika Okada

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe vs. Prince Devitt

11. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

12. G1 Climax – Final: Block A 1st place vs. Block B 1st place

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...
nWoHulkster

New Japan обявиха, че всичките G1 Climax шоута ще бъдат излъчени като iPPV, тоест девет iPPV-та в рамките на 11 дена. Общата цена е $150.

Освен това беше обявено, че финалното шоу ще бъде излъчено по TV Asahi с няколко часа закъснение. TV Asahi e най-мainstream телевизията, която излъчва японски кеч в момента и телевизията, където се излъчва главното тв шоу на NJPW (30-минутното World Pro-Wrestling). Шоуто също така ще бъде излъчено на живо в определен брой кина.

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

Официална видео реклама (с английски субтитри):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lyB3KH4b9Q

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

 

ihoT046.jpg

The G1 CLIMAX is set to begin in less than a day and New Japan Pro Wrestling held a conference to kick off the 9 day tournament.

A BLOCK

= Hiroshi Tanahashi stated that he will certainly win this year's G1 CLIMAX and go on to a rematch with Kazuchika Okada.

= Togi Makabe seems to be pointing an early target on “Prince “Fucking" Devitt" (Makabe’s own words) and looks to be finally grabbing his time with a G1 win. Prince Devitt and Makabe exchanged words back and forth with Makabe laughing and calling Devitt in an idiot.

= Hirooki Goto feels honored to be in the same block with the current and previous champions and aims to survive until the end and win.

= Satoshi Kojima won the G1 3 years ago and is looking to show that he has not lost a step in his going on 22 year career. Kojima, who is now 42 years old, is looking to show that his momentum is as strong as ever. Kojima then stated that he would be looking forward to either facing Nagata or his fellow tag partner in Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the finals.

= Prince Devitt stated that he wants to cause as much trouble as he can, and to be the “Real Rock N’ Roller".

= Kazuchika Okada will be coming in as the 2012 G1 Winner and the current reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Okada wants all of his seniors to work hard this year and he is coming to crush them all and win.

= Tomohiro Ishii stated that he will be bringing his best and he will fight to show that he should have been in the G1 CLIMAX years ago.

= Lance Archer stated that he will bring pain to everyone of his opponents. He will do this to Ishii, who he faces in the first round of the tournament, and everyone else following. Archer said that he has to win.

= Davey Boy Smith Jr stated that he has been training for the G1 CLIMAX and that K.E.S., either him or Archer, will win this year's tournament.

= Katsuyori Shibata said that he is looking forward to competing in this years tournament and that he will do his best to win.

B BLOCK

= Hiroyoshi Tenzan stated that he is excited for this year's tournament and that he will be especially fighting with all his heart and soul. Tenzan being a multi-winner of the G1 looks to claim another big win. He also agreed with Kojima and stated that he would like nothing more than a TenCozy showdown in the finals.

= Yuji Nagata in his third year of “anti-aging" is looking to win the G1 CLIMAX this year and show what his new nickname really means. He is looking forward to seeing everyone’s best as he will be doing the same.

= Tetsuya Naito injured his right knee at last year's G1 CLIMAX, but it glad to be back and standing upright for this year's tournament. Naito aims to be the leading man in the B BLOCK this year and hopes to have fun at the same time (something he was deprived of last year with the injury).

= Kota Ibushi stated that the tension as at its max now, but he aims to becomes the first junior class wrestler to win the G1 CLIMAX, not only win for himself, but for DDT as well.

= “The Machine Gun" Karl Anderson came in and verbally attacked Makabe and Tanahashi specifically first thing. No one else matters in this year's G1, the only thing that matters is the Machine Gun. Anderson stated that he will win this year and go on to face Okada in a rematch, now for the IWGP.

= Shinsuke Nakamura stated that he is looking forward to this year's G1 and more specifically his first 4 days of matches. Nakamura seems fired up in excitement this year could very well be looking to claim yet another G1 victory.

= Toru Yano seemed to be more interested in the upcoming release of his DVD than the upcoming tournament, which will be released on August 27th.

= Yujiro Takahashi has a new piece of eye candy with in porn star Claire Hasumi, who looks to also be in his corner in this year's G1. Yujiro seems poised with confidence and even made out with his own “G Cup" in front of the cameras.

= Minoru Suzuki stated that he will be coming for the win in this year's G1 and more specifically has some beef with Yujiro Takahashi and his recent character developments.

= Yujiro and Suzuki had be a stare-down, Suzuki would throw a chair before heading out of the hall.

= Shelton “X" Benjamin stated that he is going to go out and beat the hell out of anyone and everyone put out before him. …and when he is done with that he will have 10 women like what Yujiro has in his room that night. Benjamin then stated that he is looking forward to the final day when he gets his hands on Shinsuke Nakamura, because they are not done yet.

 

Цялата пресконференция (с английски субтитри):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCYSA0uRQpc

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW, 8/1/13 (Samurai! TV/iPPV)

Act City Hamamatsu

3,200 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi [2] beat Toru Yano [0] (7:32) with a Phoenix splash.

2. G1 Climax – Block A: Lance Archer [2] beat Tomohiro Ishii [0] (10:43) with the Blackout.

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Shelton Benjamin [2] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0] (8:20) with the Paydirt.

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [2] beat Davey Boy Smith Jr. [0] (9:06) with a PK.

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Yujiro Takahashi [2] beat Tetsuya Naito [0] (9:30) with the Tokyo Pimps.

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [2] beat Minoru Suzuki [0] (14:34) with the Exploder of Justice.

7. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe [2] beat Hirooki Goto [0] (11:20) with a King Kong kneedrop.

8. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson [2] beat Shinsuke Nakamura [0] (12:54) with the Gun Stun.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [2] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] (16:07) with a lariat.

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Prince Devitt [2] beat Kazuchika Okada [0] (12:56) with the Bloody Sunday.

The 2013 G1 Climax started with a good show in Hamamatsu today, also the first of nine to be shown on New Japan’s USTREAM iPPV channel. It wasn’t the strongest looking card of the nine match tournament but was mostly entertaining with a couple of a stand out matches.

The G1 began with a big upset as DDT’s Kota Ibushi defeated Toru Yano (accompanied by his DVD) in a fun opening match that pitted Ibushi’s speed and skill against Yano’s strength and heel tricks. Ibushi, like Devitt a junior heavyweight trying his luck against New Japan’s heavyweight roster, won cleanly with his Phoenix splash in what was perhaps one of his most winnable matches.

Fan favourite Tomohiro Ishii has had a big year with some high profile matches, a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Title, and now a place in the G1 Climax for the first time. Modest accomplishments for some but Ishii is a hard working perennial midcarder who can often go a full year without any big opportunities. He faced NWA World Tag Team Title co-holder Lance Archer in a really good match where Ishii played the underdog role so well. Archer was quite dominant but Ishii had some hot near falls before succumbing to the Blackout.

It is the tenth anniversary of one of the best G1 Climax finals ever when Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat then-NOAH star Jun Akiyama. That was supposed to be the start of Tenzan’s superstardom and he went on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Takayama shortly after, only for it to be cut short at the end of the year when in one of the biggest shocks ever rookie Shinsuke Nakamura won the belt from him. Tenzan had more reigns and G1 wins but never really reached the heights expected of him. A decade later he is enjoying a renaissance of sorts with Kojima as IWGP Tag Team Champions, but his G1 campaign started on a bad note with a loss to Shelton Benjamin in an OK but forgettable match.

Katsuyori Shibata’s first G1 Climax since 2004 began with him against the other co-holder of the NWA World Tag Team Title, Davey Boy Smith Jr. This was a fantastic match with lots of shoot-style matwork as Davey Jr. showed off his training from the legendary Billy Robinson against “shooter” Shibata. Smith looks more and more at home in the Japanese ring and is very impressive as a mix of the typical foreign power fighter and also a technically proficient wrestler. After a mix of good submission work and striking, Shibata levelled Smith with his PK for the big opening day win.

The long-running feud between former NO LIMIT tag partners Naito and Yujiro continued in a decent match that was a little disjointed for some time before picking up later on. Naito as always showed off a good moveset but as yet doesn’t look to be back to his very best after a nasty long-term injury. Yujiro avenged his recent loss to Naito by winning with the Tokyo Pimps.

They have had what seems like 1000 matches, but Yuji Nagata and Minoru Suzuki never fail to put on a show. And today was an example of that as the two veterans put on arguably the match of the night with their usual mix of strikes, suplexes, and submissions. You would think these matches would get boring but they never do, much like the endless Tajiri vs. Super Crazy feud back in ECW. Nagata won this one with his wrist-clutch Exploder which he calls the Exploder of Justice.

2008 G1 Climax winner Hirooki Goto faced 2009 G1 Climax winner Togi Makabe in a battle of two men who could really use a G1 Climax win to fuel their careers. Goto has won one G1 Climax and three New Japan Cups but has failed over and over again to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title, unlike Makabe who had a very solid reign in 2010. They put on a physical and good if slightly formulaic match with a strong closing sequence that ended with Makabe’s King Kong kneedrop.

Bullet Club member Karl Anderson defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in the eighth match, a very good match. Anderson, like Devitt, has morphed into full on heel mode with disdain for the fans (he even stole someone’s phone on the way to the ring!) and lots of dirty antics in the ring. This match had some good moments and clever counters, the best of which saw Anderson turn a Boma Ye attempt into a Bernard Driver for a great near fall before he finished off Shinsuke with the Gun Stun.

The semi final saw charismatic babyfaces Tanahashi and Kojima square off in a good match with an excellent final quarter… but one with a very awkward finish. Kojima was very physical in this match, hitting some brutal DDTs and lariats, including one when Tanahashi was on the top rope that sent him crashing to the floor in a hellish spot. This led to a 19 count from the referee that strongly teased a count out finish. Kojima won with a big lariat but the finish was soured when referee Unno’s hand just stopped at the 2 count for what seemed like an eternity before he counted 3. This was a bad finish to what had become a very good match and a big win for Kojima against a weary looking Tanahashi who might be in need of a break.

The main event was a rematch of the most recent IWGP Heavyweight Title bout in which “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada defeated Bullet Club leader Prince Devitt. Devitt’s character transformation has taken him from the popular ace of the junior division to an arrogant and spiteful heel always shadowed by the huge Bad Luck Fale. As such, Okada was a total babyface in this match that was good but suffered from a lack of heat, maybe a result of the botched finish in the semi. At one point in the match, Devitt went over to “Mr. G1″ Masahiro Chono, who was on commentary for the show, and shouted “I AM REAL!”. Chono wasn’t impressed. To the surprise of no one, Devitt relied on interfence from Fale during the match, although Anderson and Tonga were absent so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was Fale’s interference that led to Devitt scoring the massive win with his Bloody Sunday, a statement of intent on day one of the G1. Devitt grabbed the microphone and ranted after the match, telling the fans he didn’t like them and saying he didn’t care about titles or tournaments. Interference in a Japanese main event is always risky but I didn’t think this was too offensive and the fans probably went home satisfied with a good show.

th_426487970_01_122_231lo.jpgth_542649046_02_122_446lo.jpgth_426492836_03_122_447lo.jpgth_426494994_04_122_14lo.jpgth_426497107_05_122_498lo.JPGth_426499122_06_122_853lo.jpgth_426502103_07_122_228lo.jpgth_426505965_08_122_524lo.jpgth_426507828_09_122_240lo.jpgth_426509445_10_122_563lo.jpgth_426512384_11_122_254lo.jpgth_426514130_12_122_736lo.jpgth_426517421_13_122_672lo.jpgth_426519521_14_122_46lo.jpgth_426522573_15_122_582lo.jpgth_426525302_16_122_460lo.jpgth_426527830_17_122_124lo.jpgth_426530504_18_122_436lo.jpgth_426532120_19_122_430lo.jpgth_426535781_20_122_350lo.jpgth_426537643_21_122_112lo.jpgth_426540448_22_122_215lo.jpgth_426543850_23_122_349lo.JPGth_542654781_24_122_556lo.jpg

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW, 8/2/13 (TV Asahi ch1 & ch2/iPPV)

Tokyo Korakuen Hall

2,015 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson [4] beat Shelton Benjamin [2] (6:28) with the Gun Stun.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Yujiro Takahashi [4] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0] (9:07) with a moonsault press.

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [4] beat Toru Yano [0] (6:46) with a backdrop hold.

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Lance Archer [4] beat Prince Devitt [2] (8:14) with the Blackout.

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [4] beat Katsuyori Shibata [2] (9:40) with a lariat.

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2] beat Togi Makabe [2] (10:13) with a jumping powerbomb.

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi  [4] beat Tetsuya Naito [0] (13:16) with a Phoenix splash.

8. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [2] beat Shinsuke Nakamura [0] (13:44) with a Gotch-style piledriver.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto [2] beat Kazuchika Okada [0] (12:43) with the Shouten Kai.

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [2] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] (17:42) with a Steiner Screwdriver.

 

Day two of the G1 Climax was a fantastic show with a couple of big upsets and plenty of quality. In one of the best matches of 2013, Tomohiro Ishii pulled off one of the biggest upsets in G1 Climax history, beating ace Hiroshi Tanahashi. Ishii, the perennial underdog midcarder, has had a good year but this took it to another level and will probably be remembered as his career defining match. Korakuen was red hot for what was an outstanding match with an incredible finishing stretch. Tanahashi kicked out of pretty much all of Ishii’s move, giving you a sense that it was a matter of time before he got the inevitable win… only for Ishii to bust out a truly brutal Steiner Screwdriver, dropping Tanahashi vertically for the win at a red hot Korakuen Hall. Tanahashi has now lost his opening two matches…

 

… but he isn’t the only one. Tanahashi, for now, shares the bottom spot of Block A with another superstar of New Japan, Kazuchika Okada, who lost to Hirooki Goto in another fantastic match with great heat. There are few better wrestlers in the world at action sequences than Goto and Okada is no slouch in that department either, so unsurprisingly this match had some awesome moments. Goto picked up the huge win with his Shouten Kai and like Tanahashi, the IWGP Heavyweight Champion is off to a bad start. Goto has won plenty of tournaments but never the main title, yet I do believe he has the ability for a reign at some point.

 

In their first match since the 2011 G1 Climax semi finals, Strong Style practitioners Shinsuke Nakamura and Minoru Suzuki put on yet another quality match. This one was built heavily around strikes and submissions as you would expect, with Suzuki looking for his first singles win over Nakamura. Both are such engrossing wrestlers to watch, with Suzuki freakishly good for a 45-year-old. And Suzuki got the elusive win, finding his way out of a cross armbreaker and drilling Shinsuke with a Gotch-style piledriver for the win. And yes, like Okada and Tanahashi, Nakamura is off to a 0-2 start, meaning all three of New Japan’s biggest names are in trouble early on.

 

DDT junior Kota Ibushi is off to a flyer, today defeating Naito to follow up on his impressive opening day win over Yano. Naito is not long back from an injury and has now lost three high profile matches in succession, perhaps linked to said injury. Ibushi is hugely popular with fans everywhere and New Japan crowds love him with his arsenal of spectacular moves. This was a very exciting match fought at a fast pace, ending when Ibushi hit a Last Ride and Phoenix splash. Naito showed his petulant side after losing, refusing a handshake from the winner.

 

Davey Boy Smith Jr. continued to impress me with a big win over Makabe. After a very technical match against Shibata on day one, he took part in a more standard power fight against brawler Makabe today. Smith has adapted to Japanese wrestling very well and strikes me as someone who could probably move up a few rungs on the New Japan ladder if he sticks around for a while. He downed Makabe after a big lariat and jumping powerbomb to go 2-0 in the tournament.

 

Satoshi Kojima beat Katsuyori Shibata in one of the best matches of the show. Kojima is looking good in the tournament, much moreso than his tag partner Tenzan who seems to be struggling physically these days. After defeating Tanahashi on day one, Kojima picked up another huge win today against Shibata. Before he walked out on New Japan years ago, Shibata was one of my favourites to watch. After wasting much of his youth in MMA, he has come back and is still a joy to watch in the ring. He was awesome today, wrestling at a great tempo with brutal strikes in what was a very stiff match. Kojima won with a big lariat that would have made Stan Hansen proud.

 

The chain of really good to great matches began with Devitt vs. Archer in what looked to be a total mismatch but as usual Devitt used trickery, cunning, and Bad Luck Fale to ensure he stood a chance. Cool moment in this match saw Devitt swing a chair at Archer and Archer put his fist through it. The match finished strongly with some heated false finishes before Archer dropped Devitt with his Blackout for a second win of the tournament.

 

The show started with three OK to decent matches. Nagata beat Yano in what at times was something of a comedy match with funny facial expressions from both. Yujiro continued his fine start to the tournament, beating Tenzan after messing up the Tokyo Pimps (because Tenzan was too heavy) and using Tenzan’s own speciality, the moonsault press. Tenzan looks like a man best used in tags these days, much like his generation rival Nakanishi, who was left out of this tournament. Both look to be in physical decline unfortunately, whereas Nagata and Kojima are holding up well in their 40s. The show opened with a solid match between Karl Anderson and Shelton Benjamin that ended with a sudden Gun Stun.

 

-

 

Block A:

1. Satoshi Kojima [4]

- Lance Archer [4]

3. Togi Makabe [2]

- Hirooki Goto [2]

- Tomohiro Ishii [2]

- Prince Devitt [2]

- Katsuyori Shibata [2]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2]

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi [0]

- Kazuchika Okada [0]

 

Block B:

1. Yuji Nagata [4]

- Yujiro Takahashi [4]

- Karl Anderson [4]

- Kota Ibushi [4]

5. Minoru Suzuki [2]

-. Shelton Benjamin [2]

7. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0]

- Tetsuya Naito [0]

- Shinsuke Nakamura [0]

- Toru Yano [0]

 

th_546447825_01_122_169lo.jpgth_464481640_02_122_356lo.jpgth_464483113_03_122_395lo.jpgth_464485354_04_122_175lo.jpgth_464487757_05_122_455lo.jpgth_464490152_06_122_540lo.jpgth_464492358_07_122_207lo.jpgth_464495742_08_122_695lo.jpgth_464498418_09_122_477lo.jpgth_464500654_10_122_96lo.jpgth_464503588_11_122_385lo.jpgth_464505667_12_122_446lo.jpgth_464507870_13_122_507lo.jpgth_464509659_14_122_254lo.jpgth_464512254_15_122_186lo.jpgth_464515124_16_122_82lo.jpgth_464517330_17_122_511lo.jpgth_464520709_18_122_1036lo.jpgth_464522658_19_122_104lo.jpgth_464525358_20_122_37lo.jpgth_464527988_21_122_544lo.jpgth_464530610_22_122_503lo.jpg

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW, 8/3/13 (Samurai! TV/iPPV)

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium

7,500 Fans – Super No Vacancy

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi  [6] beat Karl Anderson [4] (9:52) with a Phoenix splash.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Yujiro Takahashi [6] beat Shelton Benjamin [2] (7:58) with the Tokyo Pimps.

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Prince Devitt [4] beat Tomohiro Ishii [2] (10:28) with the Bloody Sunday.

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] beat Minoru Suzuki [2] (11:46) with a moonsault press.

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [2] beat Yuji Nagata [4] (11:40) with a Stardust press.

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [2] beat Lance Archer [4] (11:26) with the Rainmaker.

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [2] beat Toru Yano [0] (11:36) with the Boma Ye.

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto [4] beat Satoshi Kojima [4] (13:07) with the Shouten Kai.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [4] beat Togi Makabe [2] (7:23) with a PK.

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] beat Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2] (14:35) with the High Fly Flow.

 

Day 3 of the G1 was another really good show, not as good as yesterday’s outstanding show but probably better than the opening day. Davey Boy Jr. was put in a big position of importance against Tanahashi in the main event and didn’t disappoint in what was a very strong finish to the show that saw Tanahashi get his first win and get to give his famous air guitar performance for the first time in a while. Smith has impressed me a lot on the first three shows and seems to “get” Japanese wrestling.

Shibata got revenge from his 1/4 semi-squash defeat to Makabe by beating him in a good match, a total slugfest with strikes galore. Shibata used the finishing move of his friend KENTA, the Go 2 Sleep, before hitting the PK for the win. He continues to impress.

 

Goto defeated Kojima in one of the best matches of the show that featured a very hot finish. These two are good at exciting action sequences so the hot finish to this was no surprise. Goto is looking very good so far in the G1.

 

Like Tanahashi, Okada and Nakamura got off the mark with wins over Archer and Yano respectively. Okada vs. Archer was a good match while Nakamura vs. Yano was fun. Strangely there was no acknowledgement of the fact these two are friends and CHAOS comrades… not even a handshake or pat on the back after Nakamura won with his Boma Ye.

 

Naito’s first win of the tournament came against Nagata in, as you would expect, a very entertaining match. Naito played the petulant young gun, slapping Nagata a lot and drawing some of Nagata’s hilarious facial expressions. This could be the start of a win streak for Naito.

 

In the worst match of the G1 so far by a stretch, Tenzan defeated Suzuki with a moonsault press that ended up looking more like a backflip headbutt. This a really sloppy match where Tenzan couldn’t seem to execute anything right. If he can’t improve his condition I could see this being Tenzan’s last G1 as with his moveset it can put the opponent in danger when he isn’t hitting his moves cleanly. Suzuki seemed angry after the match.

 

After the biggest win of his career yesterday, Ishii lost to Devitt after mucho interference from Fale again. Devitt is taking “cheat to win” to a whole new level at the moment! Match had a great moment where Ishii did a diving senton from the top to the outside on Devitt and Fale.

 

Yujiro (with two scantily clad girls, possibly porn stars) beat Shelton Benjamin in an average match with a couple of decent moments. Unlike Tenzan yesterday, Yujiro was able to lift Shelton and hit his Tokyo Pimps for the win.

Kota Ibushi went 3-0 in the opener with a big win over Karl Anderson. Ibushi is getting a major push to start the tournament and is exciting to watch, although it is strange to watch a junior who wrestles totally like one beat heavyweights so cleanly and decisively without cradles or cheating.

 

-

 

Block A:

1. Satoshi Kojima [4]

- Hirooki Goto [4]

- Prince Devitt [4]

- Katsuyori Shibata [4]

- Lance Archer [4]

6. Hiroshi Tanahashi [2]

- Kazuchika Okada [2]

- Togi Makabe [2]

- Tomohiro Ishii [2]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2]

 

Block B:

1. Yujiro Takahashi [6]

- Kota Ibushi [6]

3. Yuji Nagata [4]

- Karl Anderson [4]

5. Tetsuya Naito [2]

- Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2]

- Shinsuke Nakamura [2]

- Minoru Suzuki [2]

- Shelton Benjamin [2]

10. Toru Yano [0]

 

th_545115400_01_122_217lo.jpgth_545117280_02_122_491lo.jpgth_545119500_03_122_411lo.jpgth_545122609_04_122_243lo.jpgth_554512427_05_122_544lo.jpgth_545126299_06_122_526lo.jpgth_545129911_07_122_101lo.jpgth_554513165_08_122_527lo.jpgth_545133208_09_122_409lo.jpgth_545136106_10_122_170lo.jpgth_545138576_11_122_461lo.jpgth_545140385_12_122_389lo.jpgth_545142999_13_122_145lo.jpgth_545144697_14_122_254lo.jpgth_545147253_15_122_221lo.jpgth_545150973_16_122_209lo.jpgth_545152153_17_122_372lo.jpgth_545154725_18_122_36lo.jpgth_545156860_19_122_441lo.jpgth_545159917_20_122_79lo.jpgth_545161477_21_122_450lo.jpgth_545163390_22_122_536lo.jpgth_545166709_23_122_592lo.jpgth_545168700_24_122_157lo.jpg

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW, 8/4/13 (WPW/PPV/iPPV)

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

6,700 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano [2] beat Yujiro Takahashi [6] (7:04) with the Akakiri.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson [6] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] (9:55) with the Gun Stun.

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Shelton Benjamin [4] beat Yuji Nagata [4] (8:17) with an ankle hold.

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. [4] beat Satoshi Kojima [4] (11:43) with a jumping powerbomb.

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [4] beat Katsuyori Shibata [4] (12:17) with a brainbuster.

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto [6] beat Lance Archer [4] (8:35) with the Goto Shiki.

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [4] beat Minoru Suzuki [2] (16:19) with a Stardust press.

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Prince Devitt [6] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] (11:07) with the Bloody Sunday.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe [4] beat Kazuchika Okada [2] (13:55) with a King Kong kneedrop.

10. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [4] beat Kota Ibushi [6] (19:18) with the Boma Ye.

It’s hard to measure a wrestling show’s greatness after watching so many, but today’s G1 Climax show in Osaka has to be up there with some of the all-time best. In front of a typically wild Osaka crowd at a packed house, New Japan put on an incredible show that featured two possible match of the year contenders and some others that on another day would each qualify as a good main event.

Like most of the G1 shows, it started with a series of solid matches with the pick of the opening few probably Yano vs. Yujiro in another all-CHAOS match where there was no acknowledgement that these guys are in the same stable as they used dirty tricks to try and beat each other. Tenzan vs. Anderson was pretty decent too with Tenzan looking much better than yesterday when he had a mess of a match against Suzuki. Nagata vs. Benjamin was probably Shelton’s best of the tournament so far, but he isn’t making the same sort of impression as the rest of the foreign crew.

The show really started picking up with Kojima vs. Davey Boy Jr., a match between two men who have been very good so far in the tournament. They continued that with another good match that saw Smith win with his jumping powerbomb after avoiding a couple of Kojima lariats.

It’s hard to put the next match into words. Just go out of your way to see Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii, which from the very start was just incredible. Osaka was rabid for this as Ishii moved one step closer to being the MVP of the tournament with another unforgettable performance after his epic win over Tanahashi at Korakuen. Shibata is an absolute beast and these two didn’t hold back, beating each other senseless in one of the most brutally stiff, dramatic and awesome matches in a long time. When Ishii pulled off a second massive win of the tournament with a brainbuster, Osaka exploded. This was ridiculously good.

Luckily, intermission followed Shibata vs. Ishii or Goto vs. Archer would have been in an unfair position. By the time they squared off the fans had recovered and were pretty responsive. It’s five years already since Goto returned with his new image, winning the 2008 G1 Climax instantly and looking like the next big thing. He has always loitered close to the top since then, winning tournaments and the IWGP Intercontinental Title, but has never reached the highest rung of the ladder yet. This tournament has shown me he is as motivated as ever and deserving of a reign, and he is great at the modern day New Japan style with exciting action sequences and has one of the best movesets in the company. After winning with his Shouten Kai in his previous matches, he used his unique cradle finisher, the Goto Shiki, to beat Archer in another good match.

Despite being top up-and-coming babyface in New Japan, Naito isn’t afraid to act like a petulant punk as he did against Minoru Suzuki today. This was more of a technical match than the others before it, with Suzuki going after Naito’s repaired leg. Suzuki became almost bored of dominating and asked Naito to slap him, which Naito did… big mistake as Suzuki became even more nasty after that, as if using the slap to motivate himself. Naito did win the match but it was very abrupt after being manhandled for the duration, and that is probably one thing Naito can still improve on (putting together a finish).

Logic dictated that ace Hiroshi Tanahashi would avenge his 6/22 loss to Devitt in the very same building today, but curveballs aren’t uncommon in New Japan and we saw one today. Devitt’s new heel entrance, which is really good, was even better today as he brought out a Bullet Club branded guitar while being carried to the ring on Fale’s shoulders (before doing his Jericho style glow-in-the-dark jacket thing that never fails to get a big “OOH!” from the Japanese fans). Tanahashi then entered on Captain New Japan’s shoulders to mock Devitt’s entrance! An angry Devitt attacked Tanahashi with the guitar before the bell and got the biggest heel reaction of the G1 so far as Osaka mercilessly booed him. This was a super-fun match with a typical screwy Devitt win that was perfectly executed. Captain New Japan managed to prevent Fale from interfering even more than he had, but Karl Anderson appeared out of nowhere with a Gun Stun to Tanahashi. Devitt then picked up Tanahashi and drilled him with the Bloody Sunday for the win, meaning he has beaten Okada and Tanahashi already in this tournament! A huge accomplishment for a man who is still technically a junior (and holds the title as proof) but who is making a big splash in the heavyweight division (with some… a lot of help from his friends).

Okada continued to mirror Tanahashi’s G1 campaign and stayed joint bottom with him after today’s show, following a defeat to Togi Makabe. Okada retained his IWGP Heavyweight Title over Makabe in the main event of New Japan’s 6/22 show in the same building so Makabe wanted revenge. This wasn’t on the same level as that match and only half as long, but was still good. Okada spent a chunk of the match working over Makabe’s taped up back. The match became exciting towards the end with Makabe hitting his Spider German but missing the King Kong kneedrop. An awesome sequence saw Makabe duck the Rainmaker and hit a perfect Dragon suplex hold for a near fall. Makabe finally won after a stiff lariat and King Kong kneedrop, damning Okada to a 1-3 record just like Tanahashi.

“King of Strong Style” Shinsuke Nakamura lit up Osaka in a match of the year contender against the spectacular Kota Ibushi, who came into this match with a perfect 3-0 record. This was the longest match of the show at near 20 minutes but didn’t feel like it and was great fun. Nakamura was dominating Ibushi for a while and Ibushi seemed unable to respond to that, but did and then took it to Shinsuke with his arsenal of flashy moves. There were some incredible sequences in this match including one that is hard to describe because it was so elaborate but ended up with Kota hitting a standing twisting moonsault for a near fall. The match was smoking hot towards the end when it looked like either guy could win it, and the “HOLY SH*T!” moment saw Ibushi kick out of a Boma Ye at 1 in a fit of fighting spirit. Right after that he fell to a second Boma Ye that saw Nakamura hand the DDT star his first defeat of the tournament. Nakamura wheeled out his “YEAOH!” catchphrase (the fans shouted this every time he landed a strike in the match) to end a truly amazing show.

-

Block A:

1. Hirooki Goto [6]

- Prince Devitt [6]

3. Satoshi Kojima [4]

- Togi Makabe [4]

- Katsuyori Shibata [4]

- Tomohiro Ishii [4]

- Lance Archer [4]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [4]

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi [2]

- Kazuchika Okada [2]

Block B:

1. Yujiro Takahashi [6]

- Karl Anderson [6]

- Kota Ibushi [6]

4. Yuji Nagata [4]

- Tetsuya Naito [4]

- Shinsuke Nakamura [4]

- Shelton Benjamin [4]

8. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2]

- Toru Yano [2]

- Minoru Suzuki [2]

th_627869200_00_122_492lo.jpgth_627871762_00a_122_17lo.JPGth_627873326_00b_122_3lo.JPGth_627875940_02_122_62lo.jpgth_627877559_03_122_566lo.jpgth_627880785_05_122_568lo.jpgth_627883862_06_122_458lo.jpgth_627886306_07_122_221lo.jpgth_627890110_08_122_25lo.jpgth_562789345_09_122_549lo.jpgth_627896614_10_122_391lo.jpgth_627898229_11_122_127lo.jpgth_627900564_12_122_585lo.jpgth_627903601_13_122_782lo.jpgth_627905416_14_122_172lo.jpgth_627907585_15_122_63lo.jpgth_627909253_16_122_245lo.jpgth_627912340_17_122_560lo.jpgth_627914754_18_122_477lo.jpgth_627916339_19_122_902lo.jpgth_627918716_20_122_842lo.jpgth_627921460_21_122_216lo.jpg

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW, 8/6/13 (Samurai! TV/iPPV)

Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall #3

2,000 Fans

1. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [6] beat Tomohiro Ishii [4] (11:20) with a lariat.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] beat Toru Yano [2] (8:39) with a moonsault press.

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [6] beat Lance Archer [4] (6:41) with a PK.

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [6] beat Shelton Benjamin [4] (8:36) with a Stardust press.

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [4] beat Karl Anderson [6] (10:40) with a Gotch-style piledriver.

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [6] beat Kota Ibushi [6] (13:49) with a backdrop hold.

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [6] beat Yujiro Takahashi [6] (10:47) with the Boma Ye.

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [4] beat Davey Boy Smith Jr. [4] (13:33) with the Rainmaker.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hirooki Goto [8] beat Prince Devitt [6] (8:04) with the Shouten Kai.

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] beat Togi Makabe [4] (13:37) with the High Fly Flow.

The G1 Climax reached its mid-way point today with a decent but unspectacular show that had a “mid-tour” feel to it, especially after the brilliance of the Osaka show a couple of days ago. The crowd was also very quiet for much of this which didn’t help most of the matches. Most of the matches were solid to decent with a few that stood out.

The opening match was between two of the best performers of the G1 so far, Kojima and Ishii. Ishii has had two of the best performances probably in the entire world this year already in the G1 against Tanahashi and Shibata, but being an opening match this didn’t quite live up to the standards these two have been setting so far in the tournament and probably would have been better in a different situation and setting. It was still one of the better matches of the show and saw Kojima win with a lariat.

My pick of the show was Okada vs. Davey Boy Jr. which saw two very strong performances and some great spots. Okada is an even more impressive lead figure when you watch him against gaijin as he can go toe-to-toe with them and also compete physically because he is so tall by Japanese standards at 6’3″. This match had one of the most brutal powerbombs I have ever seen from Smith, and told a good story with Smith weakening Okada’s arm. Okada did finally win with the Rainmaker after a tombstone, meaning he has now beaten both members of KES and is on the road to recovery after a bad start.

Nagata vs. Ibushi was another good match. Ibushi started the tournament incredibly well with clean wins over Yano, Naito and Anderson before Nakamura finally brought him back down to earth in an outstanding match a couple of days ago. Ibushi was beaten again today in what was a pretty one-sided match for a while with Nagata dominating just like Nakamura did for a big chunk of their match. Ibushi got back into it with his awesome array of highspots and flashy moves, but Nagata destroyed him with three backdrops at the end, the third with a bridge for the win.

Tanahashi was by a margin the most popular guy on the show and subsequently his main event with Makabe probably had the most heat of any match from the tough Ishikawa crowd. This was a good main event though somewhat ‘formula’ and never really reaching the heights you’d probably see if this was a title match on a big show. The finish saw Tanahashi pull a Styles Clash out of nowhere, though it wasn’t easy on the eyes, before landing his High Fly Flow for the win. Strangely and almost absurdly, Tanahashi’s post-match air guitar routine got twice the amount of heat of anything else on the show.

-

Block A:

1. Hirooki Goto [8]

2. Satoshi Kojima [6]

- Prince Devitt [6]

- Katsuyori Shibata [6]

5. Hiroshi Tanahashi [4]

- Togi Makabe [4]

- Kazuchika Okada [4]

- Tomohiro Ishii [4]

- Lance Archer [4]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [4]

Block B:

1. Yuji Nagata [6]

- Tetsuya Naito [6]

- Shinsuke Nakamura [6]

- Yujiro Takahashi [6]

- Karl Anderson [6]

- Kota Ibushi [6]

7. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4]

- Minoru Suzuki [4]

- Shelton Benjamin [4]

10. Toru Yano [2]

 

th_799296546_01_122_534lo.JPGth_799298282_02_122_1lo.JPGth_799300980_03_122_201lo.JPG

th_799302372_04_122_509lo.JPGth_799304272_05_122_560lo.JPGth_799306292_06_122_109lo.JPG

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW, 8/7/13 (Samurai! TV/iPPV)

Sendai Sun Plaza Hall

2,950 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

 

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Shelton Benjamin [6] beat Kota Ibushi [6] (10:20) with the Paydirt.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano [4] beat Karl Anderson [6] (7:24) with the Akakiri.

3. G1 Climax – Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. [6] beat Tomohiro Ishii [4] (11:17) with a jumping powerbomb.

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [6] beat Yujiro Takahashi [6] (10:31) with a Gotch-style piledriver.

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe [6] beat Lance Archer [4] (9:07) with a King Kong kneedrop.

6. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] beat Tetsuya Naito [6] (12:20) with a moonsault press.

7. G1 Climax – Block A: Prince Devitt [8] beat Satoshi Kojima [6] (9:02) with the Bloody Sunday.

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [6] beat Katsuyori Shibata [6] (9:13) with the Rainmaker.

9. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [8] beat Yuji Nagata [6] (13:55) with the Boma Ye.

10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] beat Hirooki Goto [8] (15:30) with the High Fly Flow.

 

After a pretty underwhelming show in heatless Ishikawa yesterday, the G1 stepped up a level again today with a very good show in Sendai. The G1 is nearing its final stages now but everything is so tight that it remains anyone’s guess who will be in the final. Today’s results didn’t really do anything to change that and I think we’ll be guessing until the last match before the final.

 

The shows have often started slowly but today’s didn’t. Benjamin vs. Ibushi was a really fun opener and better than I expected, with the two showing good chemistry and putting together a neat finish where Shelton countered a springboard attack with his Paydirt for the win.

 

Yano vs. Anderson was also fun, a battle of two heels except Yano was actually the babyface for once as the Bullet Club as the new dastardly heels on the block. Yano out-heeled the Machine Gun today by grabbing the referee, blocking his view, hitting Anderson with a low blow, and finally rolling him up for the win.

 

Davey Boy Jr. vs Ishii saw two of the G1′s most impressive wrestlers so far collide and unsurprisingly they put on a good, stiff match. Ishii has big wins over Tanahashi and Shibata, but has struggled against the power fighters, today’s loss to Smith following defeats to Archer and Kojima.

 

Suzuki beat Yujiro in a decent match that started with Yujiro badmouthing Suzuki on the mic and getting attacked while doing so. Best moment of the match saw Suzuki cleverly counter Yujiro’s Tokyo Pimps finisher with a sleeper hold, before going on to win with his Gotch-style piledriver.

 

Makabe beat Archer in an OK but forgettable match, winning with his Spider German to King Kong kneedrop combo.

 

Tenzan vs. Naito followed intermission and wasn’t bad but Tenzan was sluggish and dull on offense. He did manage to hit his moves cleanly though, and the match picked up a lot when Naito got back into it. Tenzan seems to be grinding his way through this G1 and looks like he could use the 3+ week rest that follows.

 

Devitt took another big scalp today as he added Kojima’s name to his list of G1 wins that features Tanahashi and Okada. Of course he wasn’t able to do it without help from Bullet Club enforcer Fale, but Devitt had plenty of offense in the match, attacking Kojima’s arm. Interference galore from Fale again led to Devitt hitting his Bloody Sunday to move up to 8pts with Goto but below him in 2nd place as Devitt lost the direct confrontation yesterday.

 

In one of my most anticipated matches of the G1, Okada pinned Shibata. Shibata charged at Okada and the match had a really hot start, never really slowing down too much. The crowd was well into this but that extra heat of an Osaka style crowd might have made it feel more special. This was really, really good while it lasted with Shibata brutally stiff and Okada responding angrily. Indeed, when Okada hit Shibata with the tombstone he made sure to drop him directly on his head, and followed that with the Rainmaker for the win. My impression from this match is that these two could have an unforgettable longer match in future, maybe for the title. Best match of the show… up until this point.

 

Nagata vs. Nakamura instantly surpassed Okada vs. Shibata, though. This was awesome and probably the match of the show, although another quality match was to follow. As you would expect, lots of hard strikes but the way they put the match together from the very start was excellent. Shinsuke Nakamura may well be the best wrestler in the world and has come a long way since he was the awkward but eye-catching “Super Rookie”. It took a trio of Boma Ye knee attacks from Nakamura to finish off Nagata, with Nagata kicking out of the second in a great near fall. There was no kicking out of the third though as Shinsuke stormed his way to the top of Block B. YEAOH~!

 

Tanahashi continued to mirror Okada’s G1 exactly by beating Goto in an excellent main event between two of the company’s best “big match” wrestlers. Some would call this a “Tanahashi formula” match but the reality is Tanahashi is an outstanding main event wrestler who knows how to send the fans home happy and never lets the company down. The two traded exciting offense and towards the end hit their signature moves, keeping the fans guessing who would get the win. Goto never managed to land his Shouten Kai though and Tanahashi did manage to hit the Styles Clash that he has adopted as a pre-finishing move (much better than the one on Tenzan the other day) before connecting with the High Fly Flow for the win. His usual microphone and air guitar performance finished off a very entertaining show (that and spending 5-10 minutes slapping hands/taking photos/hugging his adoring fans).

 

-

 

Block A:

1. Hirooki Goto [8]

2. Prince Devitt [8]

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi [6]

- Togi Makabe [6]

- Satoshi Kojima [6]

- Kazuchika Okada [6]

- Katsuyori Shibata [6]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [6]

9. Lance Archer [4]

10. Tomohiro Ishii [4]

 

Block B:

1. Shinsuke Nakamura [8]

2. Yuji Nagata [6]

- Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6]

- Tetsuya Naito [6]

- Yujiro Takahashi [6]

- Minoru Suzuki [6]

- Karl Anderson [6]

- Shelton Benjamin [6]

- Kota Ibushi [6]

10. Toru Yano [4]

th_899506134_01_122_827lo.JPGth_899508351_02_122_1162lo.JPGth_899510535_03_122_743lo.JPGth_899512580_04_122_241lo.JPGth_899514503_05_122_486lo.JPG

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW has announced that Hirooki Goto and Hiroyoshi Tenzan will miss the rest of the G1 Climax due to both suffering an injury. Goto has a fractured jaw while Tenzan has a fractured rib.

With Gogo and Tenzan injured the wrestles who were scheduled to face them on last three G1 Climax shows will win the match by default. So Ishii, Smith and Shibata from A Block and Nagata, Nakamura and Ibushi from B Block will all gain 2 points by default.

Link to comment
nWoHulkster

NJPW, 8/8/13 (Samurai! TV/iPPV)

Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium

5,500 Fans – Super No Vacancy

 

- G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [10] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] by forfeit.

- G1 Climax – Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. [8] beat Hirooki Goto [8] by forfeit.

1. Takashi Iizuka & YOSHI-HASHI beat Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan (8:41) when YOSHI-HASHI used a Swanton bomb on Captain.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Yujiro Takahashi [8] beat Kota Ibushi [6] (8:45) with the Tokyo Pimps.

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson [8] beat Yuji Nagata [6] (10:09) with the Gun Stun.

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [8] beat Prince Devitt [8] (6:56) with a Go 2 Sleep.

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Kazuchika Okada [8] beat Tomohiro Ishii [4] (11:21) with the Rainmaker.

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] beat Lance Archer [4] (10:56) with the High Fly Flow.

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano [6] beat Tetsuya Naito [6] (9:26) with the Akakiri.

8. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [8] beat Shelton Benjamin [6] (8:42) with a Gotch-style piledriver.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe [8] beat Satoshi Kojima [6] (15:40) with a King Kong kneedrop.

 

Today’s G1 show in Yokohama was hit hard even before bell time with the news that both Tenzan (broken ribs) and Goto (broken jaw) have withdrawn from the G1 Climax through injury. This is really bad as it means Goto vs. Shibata and Goto vs. Ishii at Sumo Hall, both of which could have been awesome, are now off. This also meant two matches off today’s show including the promising looking Goto vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr., so it started with an unplanned tag match. Today’s show was pretty underwhelming with a quiet crowd (not Ishikawa level quiet) and a lot of decent but largely forgettable matches. It never did look like one of the stronger cards of the tour but two matches being cancelled didn’t help. All Japan and NOAH legend Kenta Kobashi was on commentary, which was quite interesting to see.

 

Yujiro beat Kota Ibushi in the first tournament match of the show and decent one. Nice back and forth action with Yujiro hitting his Tokyo Pimps for the victory, handing Ibushi his fourth defeat in a row after such a strong start to the tournament.

 

Nagata vs. Anderson was also a solid match strengthened by a great finishing counter that saw Anderson turn Nagata’s Exploder into a Gun Stun for the win.

 

Shibata beat Devitt in the shortest match of the show but for me the most fun. Shibata was in the babyface role for the first time as anyone who faces the Bullet Club right now is, and surprised fans by not covering after PK’ing Devitt and instead finishing him off with the Go 2 Sleep.

 

Okada beat Ishii in a good match. The size difference between these two stood out, with Okada much taller. Ishii played the underdog again and did so well, but with a lack of heat it didn’t feel as special as the Tanahashi or Ishii matches. Okada gave Ishii plenty of offense and some good near falls before winning with the Rainmaker.

 

Tanahashi beat Archer in a solid match, but not one of Tanahashi’s finest of the tournament. But after two tough main event wins in a row and matches against Okada and Shibata to come at Sumo Hall, you can understand why he didn’t go all out today.

 

Yano scored a big win over Naito in a reasonably entertaining but forgettable match with a nice finish that saw Yano outsmart Naito and use his Akakiri cradle.

 

Seeing Suzuki vs. Benjamin in the semi final spot made me uneasy as I thought Shibata vs. Devitt should be up there. This was worse than I expected though, a total snoozer between the Suzuki-gun members that the fans rarely got into. New Japan has a good and hard working crew of gaijin right now but Shelton has done nothing for me, besides one or two decent matches. I don’t think they intended this being so short but Suzuki seemed to get fed up and won out of nowhere with a Gotch-style piledriver.

 

The main event finished the show pretty well as Makabe once again won in front of his local fans, beating Kojima. This was the only match that hit 15 minutes on what was a shorter show than the others. Typically stiff brawl between two heavy hitters complete with good false finishes late on. I do think they could have done better and Kojima lacked the same vigor he has shown on other shows. Makabe won with his Spider German to King Kong kneedrop combination and sent the sold out crowd home happy.

 

-

 

Block A:

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi [8]

- Togi Makabe [8]

- Hirooki Goto [8]

- Kazuchika Okada [8]

- Katsuyori Shibata [8]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [8]

- Prince Devitt [8]

8. Satoshi Kojima [6]

9. Lance Archer [4]

10. Tomohiro Ishii [4]

 

Block B:

1. Shinsuke Nakamura [10]

2. Yujiro Takahashi [8]

- Minoru Suzuki [8]

- Karl Anderson [8]

5. Yuji Nagata [6]

- Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6]

- Tetsuya Naito [6]

- Toru Yano [6]

- Shelton Benjamin [6]

- Kota Ibushi [6]

th_987889697_01_122_756lo.jpgth_987892776_02_122_770lo.jpgth_987895121_03_122_220lo.jpgth_987897606_04_122_248lo.jpgth_598790071_05_122_168lo.jpgth_987903697_06_122_510lo.jpgth_987905514_07_122_41lo.jpgth_987908392_08_122_375lo.jpgth_987911295_09_122_560lo.jpgth_987914419_10_122_764lo.jpgth_987916583_11_122_89lo.jpgth_987918697_12_122_229lo.jpgth_987921308_13_122_360lo.jpgth_987923630_14_122_212lo.jpgth_987926777_15_122_247lo.jpgth_987928954_16_122_104lo.jpgth_987931351_17_122_1164lo.jpgth_987934152_18_122_584lo.jpgth_987937944_19_122_373lo.jpgth_598793917_20_122_474lo.jpgth_987943277_21_122_1137lo.jpgth_987946844_22_122_250lo.jpg

Link to comment

NJPW, 8/10/13 (TV Asahi ch1 & ch2/iPPV)

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

8,200 Fans – No Vacancy

- G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [8] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] by forfeit.

- G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [10] beat Hirooki Goto [8] by forfeit.

1. Takashi Iizuka & YOSHI-HASHI beat Captain New Japan & KUSHIDA (8:04) when YOSHI-HASHI pinned Captain.

2. G1 Climax – Block A: Davey Boy Smith Jr. [10] beat Prince Devitt [8] (7:26) with the Bulldog bomb.

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson [10] beat Yujiro Takahashi [8] (7:00) with the Gun Stun.

4. G1 Climax – Block A: Lance Archer [6] beat Satoshi Kojima [6] (12:38) with the Blackout.

5. G1 Climax – Block B: Shelton Benjamin [8] beat Toru Yano [6] (7:35) with an ankle hold.

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Togi Makabe [10] beat Tomohiro Ishii [4] (14:00) with a King Kong kneedrop.

7. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [10] beat Kota Ibushi [6] (13:37) with a Gotch-style piledriver.

8. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [8] beat Shinsuke Nakamura [10] (14:50) with a Stardust press.

9. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [9] vs. Kazuchika Okada [9] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired.

The beginning of the Sumo Hall double header signalled the beginning of the end of the 23rd G1 Climax. Because of Goto’s injury, we were deprived of the latest Goto vs. Shibata match today but despite that this was a truly fantastic show. The memorable matches all followed intermission (#6-#9), but they were supported by more solid matches underneath.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. beat Prince Devitt in a fun tournament opener (after a tag match added because of the injuries – featuring a cameo by Sakuraba ahead of his and Akebono’s match against Iizuka & YOSHI-HASHI tomorrow). Against such a big opponent, Devitt again resorted to every dirty trick he could think of, relying on Bad Luck Fale to help him out as he has throughout the G1. Fale’s interference wasn’t enough today though as the impressive Davey Boy Smith Jr. won with his Bulldog bomb (jumping powerbomb).

The fun continued with Karl Anderson pinning Yujiro after an out-of-nowhere Gun Stun.

Things moved up a level with Kojima vs. Archer which was really good and more than just a short undercard filler match. Kojima was back to his best today and like his tag partner, Archer has improved and impressed a lot in Japan. This had a lot of exciting false finishes with the Sumo Hall crowd well into it. Archer picked up a much needed win with his Blackout ahead of his final day confrontation with KES partner Smith.

Shelton Benjamin survived Yano’s heel tricks and made him tap out to an ankle hold. I enjoyed this far more than I expected having been less than impressed with Shelton in the G1. Yano was really on fire today in his entertaining heel role.

After intermission the show became really great, though. Makabe vs. Ishii was the latest Ishii underdog special match in front of a red hot crowd. I wouldn’t say this was as good as his wars with Tanahashi and Shibata, but was still great fun with Ishii giving it his all to try and beat Makabe… almost doing so, but not quite. At the age of 37, Ishii has had his break-out tour in the G1.

Minoru Suzuki beat Kota Ibushi in another excellent match. You know how this one goes… fiery underdog Ibushi against grumpy veteran Suzuki who seemed intent on making Ibushi suffer as much as possible. But they did it so well. Some wicked slap exchanges in this one. Having lost four in a row coming into this match, I thought Ibushi might pull off the upset but his strong start has been more than balanced out by what is now five defeats in a row (he’ll get his fourth win tomorrow, but only via forfeit over Tenzan).

If the main event was #1 vs. #2 in the company, it could be argued that Nakamura vs. Naito was #3 vs. #4, although it might be slightly presumptious to give Naito that high a ranking (but the intent is there). Naito has been somewhat underwhelming since returning from injury as he was dynamite before it, but today looked closer to his best in a terrific match against Shinsuke. This had Sumo Hall rocking with some incredible reversals and false finishes, especially when Naito hit a German suplex hold for two then immediately followed it with a Dragon suplex hold for two. He finished the match with his Gloria slam and the Stardust press, handing Nakamura his first loss since day two of the tournament.

The two leading men not only in New Japan but the entire Japanese pro wrestling industry met for the fifth time in one and a half years in the main event, four months after Okada took the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Tanahashi in the same building. Their record was 2-2 coming into this so the result of this would determine who was superior… or would it? Many of us in the USTREAM chat had a strong feeling this would be a time limit draw from the beginning as their G1s have mirrored each other perfectly. And it was a 30 minute draw, but boy these two know how to put on a main event. As far as individual performances go, this has to be one of Okada’s very best as he was just outstanding today. Tanahashi targetted Okada’s knee and sometimes knee/arm work just fades away as the action increases, but the knee work would actually play into the last moment of the match. This turned into the expected blockbuster and perfect example of the modern day New Japan main event with red hot action. Okada never managed to land the Rainmaker and Tanahashi never managed to land the High Fly Flow, but Tanahashi did hit Okada’s own Rainmaker on him after avoiding Okada’s version. They fought crazily for a win but the clock defeated them both… the very last action of the match saw Okada go for the Rainmaker but the knee Tanahashi had earlier worked on gave out and he collapsed to the mat and the bell followed. And so these two superstars remain absolutely equal with a 2-1-2 record. A decade ago, New Japan struggled for in-house main eventers who could convince the fans but now they’re spoiled for choice, and these two are at the top of the ladder for a reason. Another astonishing match of the year candidate.

-

Block A:

1. Togi Makabe [10]

- Katsuyori Shibata [10]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [10]

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [9]

- Kazuchika Okada [9]

6. Hirooki Goto [8]

7. Prince Devitt [8]

8. Lance Archer [6]

9. Satoshi Kojima [6]

10. Tomohiro Ishii [4]

Block B:

1. Shinsuke Nakamura [10]

- Minoru Suzuki [10]

- Karl Anderson [10]

4. Yuji Nagata [8]

- Tetsuya Naito [8]

- Yujiro Takahashi [8]

- Shelton Benjamin [8]

8. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6]

- Toru Yano [6]

- Kota Ibushi [6]

th_140301401_01_122_383lo.jpgth_140303284_02_122_501lo.jpgth_140305634_03_122_144lo.jpgth_140307942_04_122_942lo.jpgth_140309102_05_122_93lo.jpgth_140312471_06_122_156lo.jpgth_140314437_07_122_1173lo.jpgth_140316692_08_122_139lo.jpgth_140319487_09_122_168lo.jpgth_140322168_10_122_374lo.jpgth_140324169_11_122_338lo.jpgth_140326971_12_122_208lo.jpgth_140328452_13_122_164lo.jpgth_140330463_14_122_353lo.jpgth_140332828_15_122_407lo.jpgth_140335777_16_122_564lo.jpgth_140338311_17_122_1096lo.jpgth_140340734_18_122_119lo.jpgth_140342182_19_122_187lo.jpgth_140345411_20_122_460lo.jpgth_140347839_21_122_418lo.jpgth_140349711_22_122_47lo.jpgth_140351220_23_122_498lo.jpgth_140354951_24_122_211lo.jpgth_614035648_25_122_48lo.jpgth_140358515_26_122_1012lo.jpgth_140360397_27_122_384lo.jpgth_140362484_28_122_67lo.jpgth_140364287_29_122_344lo.jpgth_614036671_30_122_503lo.jpg

Link to comment

NJPW, 8/11/13 (WPW/PPV/iPPV)

Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

11,500 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

 

- G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [6] beat Hirooki Goto [8] by forfeit.

- G1 Climax – Block B: Kota Ibushi [8] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] by forfeit.

1. G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata [10] beat Yujiro Takahashi [8] (9:06) with the Exploder of Justice.

2. G1 Climax – Block B: Toru Yano [8] beat Minoru Suzuki [10] (9:26) by pinfall.

3. G1 Climax – Block B: Shelton Benjamin [10] beat Shinsuke Nakamura [10] (10:34) with the Paydirt.

4. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [10] beat Karl Anderson [10] (13:11) with the Brahma Blanca.

5. G1 Climax – Block A: Lance Archer [8] beat Davey Boy Smith Jr. [10] (14:37) with the Blackout.

6. G1 Climax – Block A: Prince Devitt [10] beat Togi Makabe [10] (8:43) with the Bloody Sunday.

7. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [8] beat Kazuchika Okada [9] (11:56) with a lariat.

8. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [11] beat Katsuyori Shibata [10] (10:56) with a small package hold.

9. Special 6 Man Tag Match: Kazushi Sakuraba, Akebono & Kota Ibushi beat Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI (13:25) when Sakuraba used the Sakuraba Lock on YOSHI-HASHI.

10. G1 Climax – Final: Tetsuya Naito beat Hiroshi Tanahashi (26:44) with a Stardust press.

 

A new star was born at Sumo Hall today as the 23rd G1 Climax came to an end with another exciting show in front of a packed house. Business-wise, this has been a hugely successful G1 drawing almost 50,000 fans turning up altogether with most of the shows being sell outs or near enough.

 

Today’s show began with the resolution of Block B. Nagata beat Yujiro in a good opener besides Yujiro completely overshooting a moonsault press to the amusement of the fans. Nagata’s mouth got busted open pretty badly (quite a lot of bloody mouths in this tournament) but he won with his Exploder of Justice (wrist-clutch Exploder). Despite a fairly inconspicuous G1, Nagata actually finished with as many points as the group winner but the direct confrontation rule meant he couldn’t reach the final.

Yano outwitted Suzuki just like he did in the New Japan Cup earlier this year, using a very cool pinfall to counter Suzuki’s sleeper hold. Typical Yano match, if you find him and his DVD shilling antics entertaining (I do) he is a lot of fun to watch in his role.

 

Shelton Benjamin upset Nakamura in what was Shelton’s best match of the G1 I think, largely in part to the excellence of Nakamura. Nakamura needed the win to be able to go through but wasn’t able to despite surviving Benjamin’s ankle hold, going down instead to the Paydirt.

 

Naito vs. Anderson became a decision match to see who would win Block B and qualify. Good match with Anderson less heelish in this than others and more the wrestler we’ve become familiar with. Naito was invincible though and kicked out of not only a spectacular Gun Stun from the top, but the Bernard Driver. It seemed then that this could be his night and he went one step towards achieving that by debuting an elaborate new submission finisher, becoming the only guy besides Benjamin (ankle hold) to win via submission in the G1 – remember, New Japan was once a very submission heavy promotion but the style has shifted in recent years.

 

Block A’s final matches began with the battle of the Killer Elite Squad as Lance Archer faced Davey Boy Smith Jr. Both of these have been good in the G1, particularly Smith who has had a break-out tournament that must have impressed New Japan. This was the typical partner vs. partner storyline, with matching strikes and stand-offs early on. They put together a good match but it started to drag and might have been better a few minutes shorter. Still, they did a good job and the older member of the team, Archer, won with the Blackout.

 

Prince Devitt beat Makabe in a funny match. Funny not because it was comedy but because it had so much interference and weirdness, probably more than I have ever seen before in a New Japan match. Devitt has been a real life troll in this tournament and came out with a gorilla mask to mock Makabe. The match had two or three ref bumps, Devitt actually spearing the referee by accident (… or not), leading to that referee hobbling out and having to be replaced. Fale must have interfered at least three times. Devitt finally won with the Bloody Sunday to add Makabe to an impressive list of scalps. Devitt will need to tone down the cheating to be taken more seriously as a heavyweight I think, but this is a period of establishing the Bullet Club so everything may be exaggerated.

 

Kojima ended the hopes of last year’s winner and reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada, by beating him in an outstanding match. This was arguably as good as the final as these two put on a super high quality match with Kojima showing that unlike Tenzan, he can still go at a high level in singles matches. At one point Kojima ducked the Rainmaker twice in a matter of seconds and mauled Okada with a lariat. Kojima came out of this match looking very strong and still someone who could still compete at main event level, winning with a big lariat.

 

The biggest match on the show, besides the final of course, saw the reunion of 2/3 of the former New 3 Musketeers, Tanahashi and Shibata. This was fantastic and the crowd was hugely into it. Shibata has been amazing in the G1 and is quickly making people forget his failed MMA career by returning to his roots and being great. Shibata set the tempo of the match with a shotei attack at the start and some nice matwork followed. Slick matwork isn’t as common in New Japan as it once was, much like submissions, so is something of a novelty these days! Of course it was never going to last given the old grudge between these two and they returned to hitting and throwing each other around. Shibata hit the PK but didn’t cover, instead taking too long to go for the Go 2 Sleep, which turned out to be a mistake. Tanahashi countered it in mid-flight and rolled Shibata up for the flash win, shades of the old Tanahashi who used to win many matches that way. Shibata slapped the mat in anger, having lost when he really shouldn’t have and costing himself a place in the final. Tanahashi advanced and the final was set…

 

Naito has often been dubbed a future successor to Tanahashi. They share a lot of features and Naito has been much like Tanahashi was in his rise to fame with his spunky charisma and eye-catching techniques. The ACL injury that kept him out for months was a setback and Naito has looked underpar at times since his return. I think he is getting back to his peak and looked good against Nakamura yesterday and was also in the final. But Tanahashi was even better with another brilliant performance as he did his part in the creation of a new star. There have been many great performers in the G1 but it’s reliable old Tanahashi who has had the most great matches. President Sugabayashi credited him as the man single-handedly responsible for the revival of New Japan, which is probably over the top (good booking and others like Nakamura have helped) but he has been the main man and in my opinion is now one of the best wrestlers in New Japan history. This was the longest match of the G1 by a long way with Tanahashi relentlessly attacking Naito’s knee for a chunk of it. But as usual with G1 finals it came down to the signature moves and battle of wills. It was hugely exciting although some people in the USTREAM chat who have made their mind up already about Naito spent most of the match complaining bitterly, while the rest of us enjoyed the match. The biggest win of Naito’s career eventually came after he hit the Gloria and Stardust press to a huge pop. A fantastic final, not the greatest in history but one that will help make Naito. Naito accepted the trophy and gave an unexpected interview where he didn’t challenge Okada, but rather Masato Tanaka. “MASATO TANAKA!?”, you ask. Naito wants to capture the NEVER Openweight Title first, the belt it is thought was designed with him in mind before his injury, and in doing so avenge his recent loss to Tanaka during his comeback trail. Now that Naito has ended his streak of losses, he wants to fight Tanaka again, win the NEVER belt, and only then challenge Okada. Perhaps this means we can see Kojima challenge Okada for the title beforehand after Kojima’s win today. Naito promoted himself as the future of the company but acknowledged one win over Tanahashi doesn’t mean much as Tanahashi is still the main man (on the babyface side). But Naito’s win today elevates him into the “top four” with Tanahashi, Okada and Nakamura. There has been a lot of criticism of Naito and having been around a long time, it gives me deja vu as people were exactly the same with Tanahashi some years ago. Actually, I think Naito is more impressive in his “rise to fame” than Tanahashi was and I’m confident Naito will soon enough be a money-making main eventer putting on great matches regularly. Tanahashi only really started to excel once he became the main man while Naito has put on some incredible matches in his rise, especially last year’s title shot against Okada at Korakuen Hall.

 

-

 

Block A:

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi [11]

2. Togi Makabe [10]

- Katsuyori Shibata [10]

- Prince Devitt [10]

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. [10]

6. Kazuchika Okada [9]

7. Hirooki Goto [8]

8. Lance Archer [8]

9. Satoshi Kojima [8]

10. Tomohiro Ishii [6]

 

Block B:

1. Tetsuya Naito [10]

2. Yuji Nagata [10]

- Shinsuke Nakamura [10]

- Minoru Suzuki [10]

- Karl Anderson [10]

- Shelton Benjamin [10]

7. Toru Yano [8]

- Yujiro Takahashi [8]

- Kota Ibushi [8]

10. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6]

 

th_623983236_01_122_369lo.jpgth_247883302_1_122_231lo.jpgth_239834767_02_122_1016lo.jpgth_239836687_03_122_452lo.jpgth_239839848_04_122_424lo.jpgth_239841813_05_122_430lo.jpgth_239843186_06_122_222lo.jpgth_239845207_07_122_450lo.jpgth_239847573_08_122_523lo.jpgth_623984910_09_122_210lo.jpgth_239851873_10_122_454lo.jpgth_239853284_11_122_493lo.jpgth_239855778_12_122_488lo.jpgth_239857708_13_122_198lo.jpgth_239860603_14_122_27lo.jpgth_239862920_15_122_841lo.jpgth_239864399_16_122_232lo.jpgth_239866767_17_122_547lo.jpgth_239868546_18_122_186lo.jpgth_239870651_19_122_471lo.jpgth_239872878_20_122_133lo.jpgth_239874655_21_122_353lo.jpgth_239876128_22_122_505lo.jpgth_239879189_23_122_361lo.jpgth_239881455_24_122_392lo.jpgth_239883275_25_122_69lo.jpgth_239885858_26_122_182lo.jpgth_239887556_27_122_81lo.jpgth_239889575_28_122_220lo.jpgth_762398913_29_122_564lo.jpgth_239893247_30_122_80lo.jpgth_239895163_31_122_529lo.jpgth_239898548_32_122_399lo.jpgth_239900937_33_122_178lo.jpgth_239903317_34_122_85lo.jpgth_239905968_35_122_96lo.jpgth_239907896_36_122_375lo.jpgth_239910135_37_122_368lo.jpgth_239912519_38_122_1017lo.jpgth_239914462_39_122_462lo.jpgth_239916198_40_122_522lo.jpgth_239918710_41_122_529lo.jpgth_239920958_42_122_452lo.jpgth_623992363_43_122_426lo.jpgth_239925368_44_122_491lo.jpgth_239928753_45_122_498lo.jpgth_239930884_46_122_458lo.jpg

Превод на казаното от Naito след победата:

 

Naito in-ring promo after G1 Climax 23 win"

"While I was away from the ring, I thought the fans would have forgotten about me. I thought they wouldn't care and keep watching NJPW. I didn't trust the fans. But when I got back, the fans cheered me despite the quality of my matches. Thank you. I was ready to sacrifice my knee for the fans. Someone once said the same thing. And I got up on the ring with that in my mind. I was skeptical about the 'Fans cheers will give me power' thing, but I was able to go on to the very end because of you guys. First thing first. I would go for the NEVER belt Tanaka has. And then, I will take the IWGP belt. Thank you everyone. Whether you're in front of the TV, on the Internet, or in the crowd today. Thank you for watching. Any dreams can come true, as long as you never give up. The path will open in front of you on its own. My dream is to become the Star of the NJPW. It's a winding road. That makes me want to achieve it even more. So, no matter what people tell me, that won't change. I am the star of NJPW."

Naito backstage:

"I'm speechless. It was hard, for me not having to wrestle the way I wanted. This may sound cheap, but the fans really helped. The cheering of the fans in the Ryogoku today and fans all over the world reached me. And don't forget Tanahashi. I'm glad you were the one to fight with in the final. I'm proud of that. Let's do this on a bigger stage. And I will win."

Reporter question: How was your 8 month of injury?

Naito: "Will I really make it back? Is there space for me? Will everyone welcome me? The days of anxiety. As I said earlier in the ring, I thought there was no spot for me in NJPW with so much momentum. But the fans kept on cheering me 'Go Naito!' despite my matches. I have to thank the fans for that. I can only repay the fans slowly, one by one. But sill, I want to do my best. And win the trust of the fans."

Reporter question: Has your attitude toward fan changed?

Naito: "I was always a NJPW fan. So I don't want to forget the feeling I had as a fan. I want to cherish the fans even more. And at the same time, I want to let puroresu be even more popular, by making great matches."

Reporter question: How was Ryogoku today?

Naito: "It has the best atmosphere. It's not only because of me. It's the staff, security, ring builder, fans...

Reporter question: Why do you want to challenge for the NEVER Openweight title before the IWGP Heavyweight Title?

Naito: "You may say 'Why NEVER?' I would say the same thing if I was a fan. But I have to pay my debts. That's the only way I can move on. So, just like I said before 7.20 in Akita. 'First thing first', I'm going for Tanaka's NEVER title. I want the fans to see that I can do it. I came to NJPW because of Tanahashi, and that's same reason I turned heavyweight. I've been following him all the time. It's just one win over Tanahashi. I haven't overcome him yet. Overcoming him will be worth it. I'll see a new landscape, a new NJPW. It's not Nakamura, or is it Okada. I'm the only one who can do it. I will do it the way fans will accept that fact I am the star. No matter what people tell me, that's not going to change. I am the star of New Japan Pro-Wrestling."

Превод на промото на Yujiro и двете му порнопридружителки (Shiori Mizuki and Saki Hatsumi):

 

Yujiro: A question for Shiori. Who's your least want-to-get-laid wrestler in NJPW?

Shiori: Um... I would say Yuji Nagata. Those white eyes are lame!

Yujiro: Then Saki, who do you think is the worst in bed?

Saki: I would say Yuji Nagata. He may be good in the ring, but not in bed.

Yujiro: Is that for real?

Shiori & Saki: For Real!

Link to comment

Пускам го не заради друго, а защото (за добро или лошо) мнението му за подобни мачове винаги поражда дебати в интернет и от тази гледна точка е интересно да се отбележи. Кеч журналистът Dave Meltzer оцени Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii от G1 Climax 23 ден 4 с пет звезди и го нарече "the pro wrestling equivalent to Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama from PRIDE" (т.е. двама пича, които се спукват от пердах). Това е петият японски мач за последните 13 години, който получава 5 звезди от Meltzer, като последните три са NJPW мачове от последните 10 месеца.

И между другото: Nakamura/Ibushi (ден 4) и Tanahashi/Ishii (ден 2) са били оценени с ****3/4. Последните 5 дена от G1 Climax все още не са оценени.

Link to comment

Пресконференция с G1 Climax 23 победителя Tetsuya Naito (с английски субтитри):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz0VdeDT_jo

Link to comment

Пускам го не заради друго, а защото (за добро или лошо) мнението му за подобни мачове винаги поражда дебати в интернет и от тази гледна точка е интересно да се отбележи. Кеч журналистът Dave Meltzer оцени Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii от G1 Climax 23 ден 4 с пет звезди и го нарече "the pro wrestling equivalent to Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama from PRIDE" (т.е. двама пича, които се спукват от пердах). Това е петият японски мач за последните 13 години, който получава 5 звезди от Meltzer, като последните три са NJPW мачове от последните 10 месеца.

И между другото: Nakamura/Ibushi (ден 4) и Tanahashi/Ishii (ден 2) са били оценени с ****3/4. Последните 5 дена от G1 Climax все още не са оценени.

 

Целите дни не мога да гледам..гледам избрани мачове на база оценки и фийдбек...този специално наистина беше зловещо stiff, със силен crowd reaction и яка динамика, ама 5 звезди за турнирен мач от 14 минути ми се струва мега пресилено. Не знам дали някой прави класация, но като дължина се съмнявам да са много кратките мачове под 20 мин., които Мелцър е оценявал с пет звезди. 

[b] tvoite rimi na bokluka, toten kato pika kliuka
Borko e paraliq, she si namaja s med i maslo az filiq
ViChiX za pari ubiva, Phil e sliva mirizliva[/b]

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...