# Official New Japan G1 Tournament 2015 Thread [Keep all discussion in here]



## eldoon

Im getting NJPW-world for the next month


----------



## LateTrain27

Since I live in Australia where time difference isn't anywhere near the issue as most other countries, I will try to catch a decent amount of them live, some of them I'll just watch the G1 matches I'm interested in on demand later.


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## NastyYaffa

Definitely will watch the whole tournament. Not sure if I will all the days live, though. 

Can't wait for it to start. Styles/Shibata + Tanahashi/Ibushi on the first day :banderas


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

NastyYaffa said:


> Definitely will watch the whole tournament. Not sure if I will all the days live, though.
> 
> Can't wait for it to start. Styles/Shibata + Tanahashi/Ibushi on the first day :banderas


As for myself I'll watch what I can live and the rest as soon as I get the time, I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready for the G1. Naito v Shibata is scheduled for day 2 but I hear Shibata might be injured 

I think Naito is criminally under used, I think once he finds his character a little more he'll come into his own. He has the potential to be very good in the furture imo.


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## NastyYaffa

Sick Graps-V2 said:


> As for myself I'll watch what I can live and the rest as soon as I get the time, I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready for the G1. Naito v Shibata is scheduled for day 2 but I hear Shibata might be injured
> 
> I think Naito is criminally under used, I think once he finds his character a little more he'll come into his own. He has the potential to be very good in the furture imo.


Shibata was at the press conference for G1 earlier today, so he will compete. Which is great, because him vs. Styles is gonna ROCK. :mark:

And Naito is great. Enjoyed his heel antics @ Dominion.


----------



## ErickRowan_Fan

Definitely watching. Last year's tournament was probably the best wrestling tournament I've seen.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

NastyYaffa said:


> Shibata was at the press conference for G1 earlier today, so he will compete. Which is great, because him vs. Styles is gonna ROCK. :mark:
> 
> And Naito is great. Enjoyed his heel antics @ Dominion.


Happy to hear that man, Shibattas brutally stiff offense is awesome; if I had to bet though I'd put my money on Nakamura this year.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

ErickRowan_Fan said:


> Definitely watching. Last year's tournament was probably the best wrestling tournament I've seen.


It was an amazing tournament; Okada v Styles from the last G1 was unreal.


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## TJQ

Watching every single show live on NJPW world BAYBAYYYYYYYYYYY :saul


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## El Dandy

Gonna try and watch as much of it live as I can. Some of the less intriguing shows I'll skip if I'm that tired, but others are must have must need.

Will I be dragging while working? Ya, but fuck it!


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## FITZ

I'm going to do my best to watch the whole thing. I don't know if it will happen but I'm going to give it a shot.


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## Sick Graps-V2

TJQ said:


> Watching every single show live on NJPW world BAYBAYYYYYYYYYYY :saul


FUCK-YEAH!:clap


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## Sick Graps-V2

Ibushi V Styles on the 26th should be a killer match too.


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## Jbardo

I'm currently going through last years to give me a taster and I'm loving it. Just superb stuff all round. Can't wait for this to start.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*This will be my first G1 Climax since I've started watching NJPW, and I am so fucking pumped! :mark:

Sadly, I'm probably going to be a day behind on shows, but I'm still looking forward to this years G1, and I personally hope Nakamura wins it.*


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## RKing85

Will be able to keep up for about the first week.. Wife and kids are out of town for a few days. But then real life will take over, and heading out of town on vacation for a week, so won't be able to catch most of the second half of the tournament.


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## Sick Graps-V2

Deadman's Hand said:


> *This will be my first G1 Climax since I've started watching NJPW, and I am so fucking pumped! :mark:
> 
> Sadly, I'm probably going to be a day behind on shows, but I'm still looking forward to this years G1, and I personally hope Nakamura wins it.*


That's awesome man, you'll have a blast.


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## Miguel De Juan

Be warned there will be more multi man matches in this years tournament as opposed to previous years because it is longer and it gives more guys time off!

Previously all these events were singles matches so don't get too mad. They want to reduce injuries this year.

Should still be great though.


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## Lariatoh!

I want Shinskay to win, but I think due to the outcome of this year's WK main event it could be Tanahashiwinslol. Tana to face Okada at the dome for the belt and this time Tana passes the torch to Okada... However, when is it Swag's turn? he is the most over guy in the company, certainly Jado and Gedo need this guy to main event WK10...

Edit: also new japan are keeping Styles and Swag a part big time... Will they face off at the dome instead of the G1 finals? There is def a few possibilities...


----------



## El Dandy

Lariatoh! said:


> I want Shinskay to win, but I think due to the outcome of this year's WK main event it could be Tanahashiwinslol. Tana to face Okada at the dome for the belt and this time Tana passes the torch to Okada... However, when is it Swag's turn? he is the most over guy in the company, certainly Jado and Gedo need this guy to main event WK10...
> 
> Edit: also new japan are keeping Styles and Swag a part big time... Will they face off at the dome instead of the G1 finals? There is def a few possibilities...


Agreed. It became crystal clear when Okada beat AJ that the end game here is Okada/Tanahashi. However, I will still hold out a lil bit of hope that Based Jado/Gedo will let it be Nakamura's time! Okada/Nakamura is a match that is beyond worthy of closing Tokyo Dome. 

I'm thinking they're saving Styles/Nakamura for Tokyo Dome in the Semi-Main. Okada/Tana & Nakamura/Styles would be a great 1,2 punch for WK10.

Also, this will be my first G1 where I'm not all in on hoping Shibata will win it.

God damn him for not being loyal back in the day and straying away from the pack. I don't even think he'll ever get a pity Manabu Nakanishi title run in 5 years.

:mj2


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## Lariatoh!

Re: Shibata, if he is still going strong when Tana hangs up the boots, then maybe he has a chance at the main event. He is def paying his dues right now. Due to his plain look I'm not sure he sells much merch at the moment either. You see all this other stuff online for heaps of their guys but I haven't seen really anything for him. 

No matter what though, he'll produce some amazing matches at G1 25 this year.


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## El Dandy

I don't think it's so much a merch thing as it is he abandoned NJPW during tough times in the early/mid-2000's.

Tanahashi/Nakamura/Shibata were like New Japan's Cena/Orton/Batista in regards to 3 blue-chip players coming up to lead the next gen. Shibata bailed and pursued MMA while New Japan was at a low point.

I know he still has heat with Tanahashi for not being loyal.

Still hyped for Shibata/Styles :mark:


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## RyanPelley

I'm new to NJPW, so really trying to sink in all I can over the past two weeks. Fingers crossed for Nakamura!


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## Sick Graps-V2

RyanPelley said:


> I'm new to NJPW, so really trying to sink in all I can over the past two weeks. Fingers crossed for Nakamura!


Welcome to the best professional wrestling on the planet my man, I remember when I first got into it; it was a fucking revelation.


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## RyanPelley

Sick Graps-V2 said:


> Welcome to the best professional wrestling on the planet my man, I remember when I first got into it; it was a fucking revelation.


Thanks brother! I'm still pretty clueless as to what is all going on, but I've been trying to familiarize myself with a lot of the talent.


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## Sick Graps-V2

RyanPelley said:


> Thanks brother! I'm still pretty clueless as to what is all going on, but I've been trying to familiarize myself with a lot of the talent.


Check your messages man. I sent something that might interest you.


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## TJQ

RyanPelley said:


> Thanks brother! I'm still pretty clueless as to what is all going on, but I've been trying to familiarize myself with a lot of the talent.


Assuming you have NJPWWorld, if you ever find yourself with some time to kill, here's a big ass list of recommended NJPW matches. Might be a good idea to start at the most recent end of the list and watch all the highly recommended matches (Y)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsZCBTpKjHzdbCpKZ1No1KAdpmOd2OcgSMfC1-oa7pI/edit#gid=0


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## Sick Graps-V2

TJQ said:


> Assuming you have NJPWWorld, if you ever find yourself with some time to kill, here's a big ass list of recommended NJPW matches. Might be a good idea to start at the most recent end of the list and watch all the highly recommended matches (Y)
> 
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsZCBTpKjHzdbCpKZ1No1KAdpmOd2OcgSMfC1-oa7pI/edit#gid=0




Awesome list man.

For anyone who wants it:

Here's a link to a pwinsider list of all the scheduled matches over all of the 19 events throughout the course of the tournament:

http://pwinsider.com/article.php?id=94902&p=1

Here's a link to a pwinsider guide detailing every one of this years competitors:

http://www.pwinsider.com/article/95...n-pro-wrestling-g1-climax-tournament.html?p=1

and finally, here's a link to the NJPW page on cagematch.net, fully detailing the entire roster, championship history, events schedule and much more:

http://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=7&page=15


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## RyanPelley

You guys are the best, thanks a lot! But NJPW World, I do not have it. Yet. Hopefully soon!


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## Sick Graps-V2

8*DWe get Styles v Shibata and Tanahashi v Ibushi tomorrow night/morning!8*D


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## El Dandy

I'm very interested in seeing how many YTR facial gems we get during the next month


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## Jonasolsson96

NastyYaffa said:


> Definitely will watch the whole tournament. Not sure if I will all the days live, though.
> 
> Can't wait for it to start. Styles/Shibata + Tanahashi/Ibushi on the first day :banderas


Thank god im in the middle of vacation and dont have to work. With those two matches I will def watch the first day. I expect Ibushi/Tanahashi to be a 5-star classic. Ibushi is the mvp of wrestling this year so far. Wk against nakamura and invasion attack against styles are two of my top 3 matches this year.


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## Lazyking

all g1 matches live hopefully, considering most shows will start 530am my time I should be okay if I sleep correct. However the few times its like 2am on Monday, I'm gonna struggle. Sunday will be a long day for me anyway tho.


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## amhlilhaus

My two biggest questions for g1: who wins, but more importantly: who does tour yang upset? 

And I'm calling okada and Nakamura goes to a draw, eliminating okada from contention and sealing it for shinksay. That way they rematch at wk with the added storylines of shinksay eliminating okada from g1 but not beating him.


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## Jonasolsson96

amhlilhaus said:


> My two biggest questions for g1: who wins, but more importantly: who does tour yang upset?
> 
> And I'm calling okada and Nakamura goes to a draw, eliminating okada from contention and sealing it for shinksay. That way they rematch at wk with the added storylines of shinksay eliminating okada from g1 but not beating him.


Id love for ibushi to win. They need that next maineventer and he,s the guy. Gets tiresome seing the same people in the mainevent I mean you can only watch so much of nakamura/okada or okada/tanahashi. Id love for Ibushi to win he,s been the mvp of njpw this year having two alltime classics with naka at wk and styles at invasion attack. Ibushi wins and defeats Okada at wrestlekingdom to become champion. Then they could build some new guys up to mainevent for 2016. Maybe get a few signings who leave wwe or whatever. Id love for Cesaro to get there would be so epic


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## Sick Graps-V2

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Id love for ibushi to win. They need that next maineventer and he,s the guy. Gets tiresome seing the same people in the mainevent I mean you can only watch so much of nakamura/okada or okada/tanahashi. Id love for Ibushi to win he,s been the mvp of njpw this year having two alltime classics with naka at wk and styles at invasion attack. Ibushi wins and defeats Okada at wrestlekingdom to become champion. Then they could build some new guys up to mainevent for 2016. Maybe get a few signings who leave wwe or whatever. Id love for Cesaro to get there would be so epic


I'd like Ibushi to win too man, but I feel like Nakamura has to win the tournament first. I feel like Nakamura losing the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Hirooki Goto in May, then failing to recapture the title in his rematch at Dominion 7.5 is a sure-fire sign that they are giving him another shot at the main event; all the signs are there. 

I think Nakamura will win this years G1: then at some point after that Hiroshi Tanahashi will defeat Kazuchika Okada again for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and he then will be defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in January next year. 

In short I think next years G1 winner will be Kota Ibushi and this years winner will be Shinsuke Nakamura.


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## SuzukiGUN

I've got 7 weeks off so I know what il be doing !


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## DOPA

oh sweet, it starts tomorrow. I really need to sign up to New Japan World


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## TripleG

I was skimming over the cards and saw Makabe Vs. AJ Styles and Okada Vs. Nakamura. 

Yeah, gonna go ahead and set notices on the calendar for those.


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## FITZ

Okada/Nakamura is on the last day before the finals I think. I don't see how that doesn't end up being the match to decide who goes to the finals.


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## LilOlMe

Shibata should have an "anti-fun" t-shirt. Fully embrace the image, and it's fitting but also ironic, because seeing him beat ass _is_ fun.

This is an article critiquing the fashion of the wrestlers at the G1 press conference, lol:
http://wrestlingonearth.com/all-aboard-the-s-s-strong-style-the-g1-is-coming-fashion-show/


Makabe told AJ Styles to "fuck off" and Nakamura's genuine reaction was so precious:

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/622279367771729920

Here is the press conference for those who want to watch. It's free:
http://njpwworld.com/p/o_original_0008_25



__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/622299272378122240
"Courtyard of ass kickers" as someone said.


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## Sick Graps-V2

You can't say the word 'wrestling' on WWE TV, yet meanwhile in New Japan Makabe told AJ Styles to fuck off. LOL. This made me  hard.

Nakamuras reaction is like:- "Oh shit, he tell me he didn't just say that".


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## RuthlessAggrEvan

The Makabe/AJ thing is actually from last year's press conference, actually.


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## Lord Wolfe

I'm starting to like Shibata more, his match with Sakuraba at Dominion was fucking intense. However my allegiance lies with Ibush; his match against Low-Ki at King of Pro-Wrestling is what got me into Puroesu in the first place. And after his match at WK9 with Nakamura which is my all-time favorite match ever..I want him to get a big push. 

Nakamura is my favorite wrestler and all but I truly want Ibushi to go over. Hopefully the two are in the finals and have a rematch in which Ibushi wins..that would be something special.


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## LilOlMe

RuthlessAggrEvan said:


> The Makabe/AJ thing is actually from last year's press conference, actually.


Ah, thanks. I was wondering why I didn't see that moment in the press conference. I assumed that maybe they had edited it out (though what the Bullet Club was saying was far worse, lol).


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## TJQ

HERE WE GO, BOYS.


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## El Dandy

Honma is so over. I really hope they let him have a reversal of fortune and keep in contention until the last day


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## Insomnia




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## TJQ

elG1n time.


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## WBS

LOL Yujiro almost made Goto laughing during the press conference!!


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## WBS

Shibata vs AJ Styles is next ! Looking forward to this and Tanahasho vs. Ibushi !!


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## TJQ

WBS said:


> Shibata vs AJ Styles is next ! Looking forward to this and Tanahasho vs. Ibushi !!


SHIT I GOTTA START MAKING MY FOOD THEN. I'm respectably drunk and need my jalapeno macaroni and cheese for this ez MOTYC.


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## RyanPelley

No means of watching at the moment. What have I missed thus far? Gonna keep up via Twitter now.


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## El Dandy

RyanPelley said:


> No means of watching at the moment. What have I missed thus far? Gonna keep up via Twitter now.


Just tag matches so far featuring all the B Block guys.

The real show is about to start :mark:


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## RyanPelley

el dandy said:


> Just tag matches so far featuring all the B Block guys.
> 
> The real show is about to start :mark:


Ahh damn!


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## El Dandy

TJQ said:


> SHIT I GOTTA START MAKING MY FOOD THEN. I'm respectably drunk and need my jalapeno macaroni and cheese for this ez MOTYC.


FALSE ALARM

It's Tenzan/Gallows :mj2


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## WBS

Yeah i got swerved by the graphics lol. I think those will be the last two matches..


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## WBS

Gallows tapped out, Tenzan wins and let all of us remember he's the nwa champion! 

Now Makabe vs. Yano


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## TJQ

el dandy said:


> FALSE ALARM
> 
> It's Tenzan/Gallows :mj2


its ok, though, because i'm really drunk and now i have jalapeno mac and cheese with spicy sausage in it.


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## RyanPelley

TJQ said:


> its ok, though, because i'm really drunk and now i have jalapeno mac and cheese with spicy sausage in it.


Did you make that yourself? Sounds great.


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## TJQ

RyanPelley said:


> Did you make that yourself? Sounds great.


Y es, drunk cooking is so fun. A while back I got drunk beyond recognition and made burritos LOL

niow i have spicy mac and cheese and a match i've been dreaming of since AJ went to njpw


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## El Dandy

Bah. Makabe over YTR. This shit is fucking rigged.


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## RyanPelley

TJQ said:


> Y es, drunk cooking is so fun. A while back I got drunk beyond recognition and made burritos LOL
> 
> niow i have spicy mac and cheese and a match i've been dreaming of since AJ went to njpw


Lol wow, that sounds dangerous...But enjoy mate!


----------



## WBS

Togi Makabe wins.


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## TJQ

el dandy said:


> Bah. Makabe over YTR. This shit is fucking rigged.


you hating on makabe u buster


----------



## Vårmakos

:lmao @ fale's fedora


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## El Dandy

TJQ said:


> you hating on makabe u buster


Not hating Makabe, I'm just love YTR and his noble brain lol

I am loving this zero fucks given Naito LMFAO

EDIT: Boo he should've kept the suit on!


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## TJQ

NAITO IS BALLIN SO HARD RIGHT NOW


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## WBS

Naito just got a bit more heelish, getting in the ring with a skull mask...


----------



## Saber Rider ^-^

Naito looking cool as fuck.


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## El Dandy

For fuck's sake, Fale :ti


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## TJQ

THIS IS IT. THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR FOR LIKE A YEAR-A YEAR AND A HALF. HOLY FUCKING FUCK YES :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark:


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## Vårmakos

FINALLY


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## WBS

Naito over Fale in a not so good finish..

Now AJ vs. Shibata !!


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## Insomnia

Styles vs. Shibata! :mark:


----------



## Saber Rider ^-^

It's about to go down fellas :mark:


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## TJQ

Shibata is legitimately my favorite guy in NJPW. I know that's an unpopular opinion but fuck me I love this motherfucker.


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## El Dandy

Based Shibata :sundin


----------



## Saber Rider ^-^

Limb work :mark:


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## El Dandy

"YOU'RE CRAZY, MAN"

I love AJ


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## TJQ

ok i don't know how much of a contriubitn gfactor it is that i'm incredibly drunk, but that was easily one of the best matches that i've watched all year;.


----------



## Vårmakos

I would have liked to see Shibata mount some more offense in the finishing stretch, he basically got owned there.


----------



## boxing1836

aj styles is so fucking good man


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## TJQ

tana/ibushi :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark:


----------



## Saber Rider ^-^

Awesome stuff, my damn connection kept fucking with me though, I'll need a proper rewatch on that one.

Come on Ibushi :fingerscrossed


----------



## El Dandy

Greta match considering Shibata's injury. Could've used a more back and forth finishing sequence to put it over the top, though.

I fully expect Ibushi/Tana to tear the house down right now.


----------



## El Dandy

I'll never get sick of seeing Tana's Tina Turner hairdo


----------



## Vårmakos

how is tanahashi still alive


----------



## Saber Rider ^-^

That German suplex :sodone


----------



## Vårmakos

Fucking incredible match. Wish Ibushi had won though.


----------



## El Dandy

Amazing match. Just incredible stuff.

Totally willing to believe that the top rope arm-Frankensteiner is a thing :grin2:


----------



## WBS

Ok THIS was the MOTN !! Almost believed in Ibushi victory here...


----------



## Saber Rider ^-^

Top notch match, I really wanted Ibushi to win :jose but you can't complain with that kind of quality. How Tana didn't die after that German I'll never know. On the first night too, so much respect.


----------



## El Dandy

Whomever it was on here that wrote that Ibushi is New Japan's MVP this year is so fucking right.

He just keeps hitting homeruns in every situation they put him in.


----------



## LilOlMe

Didn't mind or even notice a lack of back and forth from Shibata down the stretch. He was selling the fact that his arm was too messed up. 

Him biting his own hand to keep the sleeper in lock after his other arm gave out was genius, and leaves a lasting image. It's things like that turn wrestling into an art. 

I'll never tire of seeing guys frantically trying to get out of the Styles Clash.

Great match.

Ibushi/Tanahashi was just incredible. When Tanahashi caught Ibushi's leg out of that flip and went for the submission, that was a mark out moment. I had so many "ooohhh" moments in this match. Good stuff.

Never seen Elgin before, but he impressed both me & the Japanese audience in that Okada tag match. Seemed to have a problem with working with Ishii, though. Twice there were botchy moments with him, but it was smooth with everyone else.


----------



## eldoon

The last 2 matches were epic

Naitos mask and suit = double epic


----------



## NastyYaffa

Just woke up to see Tanahashi pin Ibushi. So I basically missed the whole thing. :mj2 Hopefully it gets uploaded soon.


----------



## Lazyking

NastyYaffa said:


> Just woke up to see Tanahashi pin Ibushi. So I basically missed the whole thing. :mj2 Hopefully it gets uploaded soon.


it was a decent show and you could watch pretty much everything but last two matches were awesome as expected.

I loved. AJ/Shibata that gets the nod as motn for me,


----------



## LilOlMe

Forgot to say that I loved the way that Tanahashi sold Ibushi's series of kicks. I think it was toward the end. His head whipped back and his body was crumpling, but it was so realistic, rather than OTT. Looked exactly how you'd think someone would really react to that.

I think Tanahashi might be the best seller in the business. I especially love his facial expressions when he's in submissions. Always looks so haggard and exhausted and just spent, but it's always done realistically.


----------



## DOPA

NastyYaffa said:


> Just woke up to see Tanahashi pin Ibushi. So I basically missed the whole thing. :mj2 Hopefully it gets uploaded soon.


It's already on NJ World . I'm starting it now. Super exciting to have NJ World and to watch all the tournament for once. Should be amazing.


----------



## RuthlessAggrEvan

LilOlMe said:


> Forgot to say that I loved the way that Tanahashi sold Ibushi's series of kicks. I think it was toward the end. His head whipped back and his body was crumpling, but it was so realistic, rather than OTT. Looked exactly how you'd think someone would really react to that.
> 
> I think Tanahashi might be the best seller in the business. I especially love his facial expressions when he's in submissions. Always looks so haggard and exhausted and just spent, but it's always done realistically.


His hair sells too by how it frizzes up towards the end.


----------



## LateTrain27

Watched the five G1 matches, AJ/Shibata & Tanahashi/Ibushi were both top notch. That damn German Suplex from Ibushi. :mark:


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: G1 Climax Day One Tournament Matches



Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Doc Gallows: **1/2*

Toru Yano vs Tobi Makabe: *****

Bad Luck Fale vs Tetsuya Naito: **3/4*

AJ Styles vs Katsuyori Shibata: ****3/4*

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi: *****1/4*


- Tenzan/Gallows was a slow plodding awkward match. I don't particularly rate either man as good workers though I've seen Anderson pull out some very good performances out of Tenzan. This wasn't the case though. Really boring to sit through and was awkward whenever both tried to pick up the pace. Just wasn't very fluid or entertaining.

- Yano/Makabe however was indeed entertaining. I may be overrating this sightly but it's a testament to how much I enjoyed this. And to think I once hated Toru Yano...what I was thinking I do not know. His comedic antics are very amusing and are worked well into the story and psychology behind this match indeed. The hard nosed serious bulldozer Makabe almost getting outwitted and foxed by the cunning and devious Yano. In the end brute force won over wit in a short and fun bout.

- Whilst Naito/Fale at times failed to keep my attention it wasn't too bad of a match until the finish. I felt Fale's size contrasted well with the speed and quickness of Naito and they worked about as well they could with each other considering Fale's limitations. However the finish was executed so god awfully and really took away the impact of Naito's win. Bad match but not as painful as the opening one. Naito's new found villainous streak is something I will definitely keep an eye on. I've been wanting Naito to turn heel for over a year.

- And now this where predictably the show picked up. Styles/Shibata was a really good match with great limb work, intensity and some really unique sequences. I think if given more time and had Shibata been at 100% then this could have been something special. I also agree with the user who said Shibata didn't get enough offense in at the end and AJ was too dominant. But it didn't take much away from what I thought was a really good semi main event. I think both men will go on to have several great matches in the tournament.

- The main event between Tanahashi and Naito was spectacular. On paper this looks like something special and it really delivered. Ibushi's new found aggression over the last year has been a joy to watch and Tanahashi when it comes to the big matches is damn near better than anyone. These guys have great chemistry and there was a lot of great psychology surrounding Ibushi's leg. I would have liked Ibushi to have sold the leg a little better but that's a minor gripe. I will say though that I fucking love his brutal kicks and Tanahashi sold particularly well for them. The final few minutes of the match were unbelievable and had me on the edge of my seat. Several times I thought Ibushi could have won and I was really pulling for him. A lot of people are saying he is the MVP for NJPW thus far this year and whilst I haven't watched enough this year to comment on that, I will say he has from what I've watched been one of the best workers for the company this year.

Overall good first day mainly due to the last two matches but the best is surely yet to come .


----------



## Joshi Judas

Hiroshi Tanahashi continues proving why he's the BITW and probably has been for the last 3-4 years. What a wrestler.

And I don't mind Tanawinslol by the way.


----------



## Morrison17

Great main event. Loved it despite Tanahashi winning (especially after THAT german).

Other matches were meh. Not impressed by AJ vs. SHibata


----------



## funnyfaces1

Am I wrong for not liking the main event because of Ibushi going back to his old ways? Ibushi needs to learn from Neville on how to sell a leg injury as a high flyer.


----------



## Lazyking

With this format, we're not gonna get great shows but if the top matches deliver, that's what its about. This way, you're not shortchanging matches for the sake of the format.

it also means I can get up later


----------



## TripleG

I am hearing rave reviews for AJ/Shibata and Tanahashi/Ibushi. 

Can't wait to see them!


----------



## Mr. Socko

Only caught the last 3 matches but all were very enjoyable, the final 2 moreso obviously.

Hard to call MOTN as Tana/Ibushi definitely was the more exciting match imo but at this stage I dread seeing Ibushi's leg get worked over so early in a match. He always does an excellent job on the initial sell of the injury which makes it even more jarring when he starts jumping to his feet and to the top rope with no illeffects. I really wish he'd work on utilising some more grounded offense for situations like this or including a few more moves that 'fail' to work because of the leg being injured. If Ibushi tightened up that aspect of his game :banderas Such a talented performer.

Thought Styles/Shibata was excellent as well. Really whet the appetite for another match between these two as I feel like they could have an even better match if given a bit longer to work. Styles in ring heel work has gotten so good over the past few years. He really plays the role well and Shibata was brilliant as the badass MFer as usual. I normally can't stand no-selling but Shibata no selling the forearms in the corner was a legit chills moment for me :lol

Thought Naito/Fale was pretty solid if not spectacular. The pin at the end looked atrocious though, can't remember exactly but it seemed like a fuckup on both their parts. Really liking Naito's more heelish persona these days.

Overall an excellent show and hopefully just the first of many this tournament :woo


----------



## Miguel De Juan

Hiroyoshi Tenzan should have sat this one out. He was once a great worker but injuries piled up on the old bull so now he is not as good as he once was.

Watch his old shit from the early 2000s. Dude was killing it.

Yoshi-Hashi would have been a better choice.

You won't get as many classics in one night as before since they spread this thing out over 19 shows.


----------



## El Dandy

Eventhough I am usually partial to anything Shibata, I would say Ibushi/Tanahashi was MOTN for Night 1.

It wasn't perfect, but it had a certain je ne sais quoi to it. The last 10 minutes were fantastic.

Looking forward to Thursday! Honma/Nagata, Nakamura/Gun, and am very curious about Elgin/Okada.

Elgin has gotten a lot of shit from fans over the past year or so, but he can redeem himself with a good showing at the G1. He was alright yesterday in the tag (that fallaway slam/Samoan drop spot was skecthy as fuck, but the suplex spot with Gedo got over big).


----------



## RKing85

will only have time to pick and choose which G1 matches to watch. Sounds like I really only need to catch the last two single matches from day 1.


----------



## Lazyking

RKing85 said:


> will only have time to pick and choose which G1 matches to watch. Sounds like I really only need to catch the last two single matches from day 1.


correct. Fale/Naito was fine but not must see.


----------



## Fighter Daron

For me, AJ/Shibata was MOTN and it lacked five minutes or so to be a MOTYC, the main event was good but oh god, fucking Ibushi, he should have sold ANYTHING, Tanahashi was destroying his fucking right leg and the idiot didn't stop kicking with that same leg, well, it was a shame.

In related news, I LOVE the new Naito persona.


----------



## Eliko

from the way i see it Tanahashi is Winning the G-1, there is no way Okada is not avenging his losses to Tanahashi at the dome .

for me i think the Card for WK10 will look like that :

Kazuchika Okada (C) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Title .

AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura .

Hirooki Goto (C) vs. Katsuyori Shibata - IC Title .

Tomohiro Ishii (C) vs Kota Ibushi - NEVER Openweight Title .


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

I've thought about a more interesting way to get to Okada/Tanahashi would be if Okada wins this G1 and demands Tanahashi at the dome. In my eyes he would be cemented as the number 1 guy if he did that AND knocked off Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome. Going in there would be that bit of uncertainty you would need to sell people on it. 

Expect all of Naito's matches to be stinkers. He is playing up his mexican gimmick. Shibata/Styles was great. The chain wrestling start was excellent. Shibata's execution was masterful. Reminded me of Solar how flawlessly he could transition in-out of holds. Really looked like an artform.

Ibushi/Tana could have benefited from having the clock on screen. Weren't they close to time? Really exciting down the final stretch.


----------



## Fighter Daron

Eliko said:


> Tomohiro Ishii (C) vs Kota Ibushi - NEVER Openweight Title .


Don't think so. Ibushi will have a featured match at the Dome, Suzuki, Mutoh...I don't know.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Fighter Daron said:


> Eliko said:
> 
> 
> 
> Tomohiro Ishii (C) vs Kota Ibushi - NEVER Openweight Title .
> 
> 
> 
> Don't think so. Ibushi will have a featured match at the Dome, Suzuki, Mutoh...I don't know.
Click to expand...

Ibushi's almost certain to work Omega at WK10


----------



## Lariatoh!

I'll ask it every year, even though Japan doesn't really do triple threats... I want Okada v Tana v Swag at the dome!


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

If anyone has a PM to last nights event please send me a pm and I'd appreciate it very much.


----------



## TJQ

Japanese Puroresu said:


> If anyone has a PM to last nights event please send me a pm and I'd appreciate it very much.


If you mean a place to watch it, I'm pretty sure Even Flow uploaded the entire first night in the Puro media section.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Lariatoh! said:


> I'll ask it every year, even though Japan doesn't really do triple threats... I want Okada v Tana v Swag at the dome!


I expect this. With Okada pinning them both and cementing himself as The Man.


----------



## Mvpscrewdriver305

A triple threat? Nope.

Fatal fourway? With aj? Hell yeah

Elimination style too


----------



## Morrison17

Do NJPW even doing 4ways? I do remember 3 way with Devitt, Low Ki and Ibushi, but 4 ways? Not in tag or junior divisions?


----------



## Lariatoh!

Ibushi/Tana was a great match but I see what everyone says about Ibushi not selling the leg. Tana put a tonne of work into the leg and Ibushi was pulling off this crazy stuff, that wasn't even fighting spirit type stuff.... Guys in this thread talk about the German suplex, but I thought the dart like throw into the corner was vicious! 

I also see how dominant AJ was against Shibata. He really came off as a top dog, and although not a squash or anything (far from it), AJ was shown in a very strong light.

Really interested in heel Naito. His zero fucks character is something great for him as to me he always came off as a second rate Tanahashi. Now he has a chance to make a new path for himself and move into the top villain of the company in the coming months to a year.

Man I really want Fale to succeed, but he botched a damn pin cover... Big guy, the shoulders stay on the mat... Facepalm.

A nice start to the tournament can't wait for more.


----------



## RyanPelley

Hoping to sign up for NJPW World this weekend! Really haven't been this excited for wrestling in years. And haven't been so into a new (new to me) wrestler in years like I am for Shinsuke. Just can't get enough of this guy.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Watched the 1st day, here are some ratings:

*Doc Gallows vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - *3/4
Toru Yano vs. Togi Makabe - **3/4
Bad Luck Fale vs. Tetsuya Naito - *1/4
AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata - ****
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi - ****1/2*

Gallows/Tenzan wasn't horrible. Gallows throws some good looking punches.
Yano/Makabe was FUN. Yano is very fun in general, and I really like watching him.
Fale/Naito was pretty shitty. It just doesn't work when both of them are heels IMO.
Shibata/Styles was probably not as good as I hoped it would be, but it was still GREAT. First GREAT G1 match this year. 
I thought Tana/Ibushi was amazing. And even though Ibushi's selling was kinda shitty, I thought that Tana kinda saved the day by working Ibushi's shitty selling into the story they were telling, if that makes sense. Loved the match, and it's definitely a MOTYC for me.

Overall this was a good way to kick off this year's G1. Can't wait for Day 2!

Also this was announced for the final day:








Damn that final day is gonna be INSANE. You have this, Bucks/reDRagon + the G1 Finals. :banderas


----------



## El Dandy

Yeah, the last Heavyweight triple threat I can remember is Lesnar/Chono/Fujita.

Also, can't wait to enjoy a Karl Anderson match again on Thursday :mark:

I'm p bummed they changed his music, though. RIP big mac song love ya miss ya


----------



## WBS

NastyYaffa said:


> Watched the 1st day, here are some ratings:
> 
> *Doc Gallows vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - *3/4
> Toru Yano vs. Togi Makabe - **3/4
> Bad Luck Fale vs. Tetsuya Naito - *1/4
> AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata - ****
> Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi - ****1/2*
> 
> Gallows/Tenzan wasn't horrible. Gallows throws some good looking punches.
> Yano/Makabe was FUN. Yano is very fun in general, and I really like watching him.
> Fale/Naito was pretty shitty. It just doesn't work when both of them are heels IMO.
> Shibata/Styles was probably not as good as I hoped it would be, but it was still GREAT. First GREAT G1 match this year.
> I thought Tana/Ibushi was amazing. And even though Ibushi's selling was kinda shitty, I thought that Tana kinda saved the day by working Ibushi's shitty selling into the story they were telling, if that makes sense. Loved the match, and it's definitely a MOTYC for me.
> 
> Overall this was a good way to kick off this year's G1. Can't wait for Day 2!
> 
> Also this was announced for the final day:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Damn that final day is gonna be INSANE. You have this, Bucks/reDRagon + the G1 Finals. :banderas


Fn awesome!!!


----------



## LilOlMe

Saw people posted this elsewhere about the AJ/Shibata match:


> I particularly loved how Shibata used his left arm for strikes in the beginning of the Styles match, and once he used the bad right arm the crowd was right on it and responded accordingly. That match was a clinic in wrestling efficiency, I doubt either of them even took a false step during the match.





> Styles/Shibata was the better match, but I enjoyed Ibushi/Tanahashi more, if that makes sense? *I don't think AJ or Shibata put a foot wrong in their match, it was compact, precise and achieved everything it set out to do with zero fuss, but it also felt like a taster for what could be an even bigger match in the future.* Ibushi/Tanahashi was just nuts and, I agree, it's the KUSHIDA thing all over again - the idea that once a leg has been worked over for 5 minutes it should then be unusable, giving out at every hint of weight applied and causing the guy to hobble about for the rest of the match. People who adhere to that were never going to enjoy this, but I was a fan of all the little things Kota did do to sell the injury, even if it had no bearing on his comeback and the overall match was one that built well and had a super exciting finishing stretch. Very enjoyable match.


The bolded nailed it. I was thinking about it after the match, and they literally didn't do anything wrong. It's just that when AJ started going after Shibata's arm, that's what could have made such an interesting second half of a longer match.

Still, Shibata's reactions were perfect, and the words "compact" and "efficient" are so correct. They both made good use of their time, and everything was coherent. Reminds me of the Shibata/Sakuraba match in that way, thought the latter was on a higher level. "No wasted motion" pretty much defines these two matches.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

RyanPelley said:


> Hoping to sign up for NJPW World this weekend! Really haven't been this excited for wrestling in years. And haven't been so into a new (new to me) wrestler in years like I am for Shinsuke. Just can't get enough of this guy.


That's awesome man, glad you're enjoying it. It is refreshing for me as I too seem to be into wrestling quite a lot at the moment, there is so much going on right now; I can relate to what you're saying. :smile2:


----------



## ExGrodzki

Hey all, I know you must hear this every damn day, but how can I get into NJPW? I hear nothing but AMAZING things, and I've caught a few matches on dailymotion, Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi at WK9, some of Nakamura and I've heard of Katsuyori Shibata being a beast. Is their streaming service, NJPW in Japanese only? I really, really, really want to get into NJPW. And do they sell DVDs online so I can watch past phenomenal shows?


----------



## TJQ

ExGrodzki said:


> Hey all, I know you must hear this every damn day, but how can I get into NJPW? I hear nothing but AMAZING things, and I've caught a few matches on dailymotion, Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi at WK9, some of Nakamura and I've heard of Katsuyori Shibata being a beast. Is their streaming service, NJPW in Japanese only? I really, really, really want to get into NJPW. And do they sell DVDs online so I can watch past phenomenal shows?


NJPWworld recently got an english registration screen, and the basic browser translations make it more than easy enough to navigate the site. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend paying for it. If you do buy it, here's a big ass list of recommended matches

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsZCBTpKjHzdbCpKZ1No1KAdpmOd2OcgSMfC1-oa7pI/edit#gid=0


----------



## ExGrodzki

TJQ said:


> NJPWworld recently got an english registration screen, and the basic browser translations make it more than easy enough to navigate the site. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend paying for it. If you do buy it, here's a big ass list of recommended matches
> 
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsZCBTpKjHzdbCpKZ1No1KAdpmOd2OcgSMfC1-oa7pI/edit#gid=0



repped :mark:


----------



## Lariatoh!

ExGrodzki said:


> Hey all, I know you must hear this every damn day, but how can I get into NJPW? I hear nothing but AMAZING things, and I've caught a few matches on dailymotion, Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi at WK9, some of Nakamura and I've heard of Katsuyori Shibata being a beast. Is their streaming service, NJPW in Japanese only? I really, really, really want to get into NJPW. And do they sell DVDs online so I can watch past phenomenal shows?


Best thing to do is also watch all of the NJPW on AXS tv shows from start to finish. They have the best commentary team in the business right now and they'll get you up to speed real quick with some of the greatest wrestling action seen in the last few years. 

This will be great for you, if you haven'
t already seen the matches because you wont know the results and you'll have a blast... don't walk, RUN to find these episodes and start watching them!!!!


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

ExGrodzki said:


> Hey all, I know you must hear this every damn day, but how can I get into NJPW? I hear nothing but AMAZING things, and I've caught a few matches on dailymotion, Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi at WK9, some of Nakamura and I've heard of Katsuyori Shibata being a beast. Is their streaming service, NJPW in Japanese only? I really, really, really want to get into NJPW. And do they sell DVDs online so I can watch past phenomenal shows?


Awesome list man. Whoa, deja vu. 

For anyone who wants it:

You can sign up for NJPW World here:

http://njpwworld.com/

There is a language selection box at the bottom of the page to turn the website to English.

Here's a link to the NJPW page on cagematch.net, a website which is great for learning about the many different wrestling promotions of the world; as well as almost every known working wrestler in the world today. This website fully details the roster, championship history, events schedule and other information of NJPW as well as many other promotions:

http://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=7&page=15

Here's a link to a pwinsider list of all the scheduled matches over all of the 19 events throughout the course of this years G1 Climax tournament:

http://pwinsider.com/article.php?id=94902&p=1

and finally here's a link to a pwinsider guide detailing every one of this years competitors:

http://www.pwinsider.com/article/950...ament.html?p=1

Any more questions just ask.


----------



## lolomanolo

I actually looked away from that German thinking Tanahashi had snapped his neck, fucking brutal. Hope to see a AJ/Shibata go again soon.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

chosequin said:


>





el dandy said:


> Whomever it was on here that wrote that Ibushi is New Japan's MVP this year is so fucking right.
> 
> He just keeps hitting homeruns in every situation they put him in.


Yup that was me. I dont know anyone in the past 2 years in wrestling period that have had this many incredible matches. Havent seen someone this consistent since Kurt Angle in 2003. Ibushi is the future of pro wrestling!


----------



## criipsii

If anyone is interested in english commentary I found this.






They tell you where to cue up the video so it matches.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Yup that was me. I dont know anyone in the past 2 years in wrestling period that have had this many incredible matches. Havent seen someone this consistent since Kurt Angle in 2003. Ibushi is the future of pro wrestling!


Tanahashi and AJ Styles immediately come to mind, and Roderick Strong is having a better year and Ricochet had a better year last year than Ibushi. I think Ibushi is a top guy but when we're talking great matches the guys I listed have been amazing.

The Ibushi vs Tanahashi match was good, it wasn't as great as people made it out to be, I did think Ibushi lawn darting Tanahashi into the turnbuckle was ridiculous. It was fun, of them left a lot in there because they're going to have a feud of some sort sometime in the future. Good play on the match.


----------



## Lariatoh!

NJPW is full of amazing workers. Last year belonged to Ishii that's for sure, but not far behind was Styles, Okada, Swag, Tana, Honma and a lot more. NJ is just an amazing promotin with an amazingly talented roster, wth bookers who are dedicated to them. 

Other promotions just fire someone because creative have nothing for them. Well jado and Gedo just keep allowing these guys have their wrestling do the talking and book strong scenarios. Last year's G1 was the best I've seen, let's see if this years can come close. It's off to a great start.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Yup that was me. I dont know anyone in the past 2 years in wrestling period that have had this many incredible matches. *Havent seen someone this consistent since Kurt Angle in 2003*. Ibushi is the future of pro wrestling!


When it comes to having constantly great matches, I'd say that Ibushi is nowhere near that level, even though I did not think much of Angle's 2003 either. There are guys like Daniel Bryan, Nigel McGuinness, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Sami Zayn, CM Punk, Tomohiro Ishii etc who all put on great matches more constantly than Ibushi is doing now IMO.

I don't even think that Ibushi is WOTY right now, that belongs to either Roderick Strong or AJ Styles. :shrug Those 2 are killing it right now. But Ibushi is still good.


----------



## SuzukiGUN

Ibushi let's himself down by working for ddt he needs to make the jump like Kenny did and get a huge push. Also ibushi is a shy character, he would need a talker like gedo for okada


----------



## Jonasolsson96

NastyYaffa said:


> When it comes to having constantly great matches, I'd say that Ibushi is nowhere near that level, even though I did not think much of Angle's 2003 either. There are guys like Daniel Bryan, Nigel McGuinness, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Sami Zayn, CM Punk, Tomohiro Ishii etc who all put on great matches more constantly than Ibushi is doing now IMO.
> 
> I don't even think that Ibushi is WOTY right now, that belongs to either Roderick Strong or AJ Styles. :shrug Those 2 are killing it right now. But Ibushi is still good.


Not that Meltzers ratings are the holy grail or anything but 

Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura Wk 9 - *****
Kota Ibushi vs Aj Styles Invasion attack - **** 3/4 
Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito Njpw cup - **** 1/2 
Kota Ibushi vs Hiroko Goto Njpw cup - **** 1/4 

And last night at the g1 climax he had an amazing match with Tanahashi that I had **** 1/2 and im sure he will have several others this tournament alone. I will take one spectacular once in a generation type of match over a bunch of great matches and thats the difference to me. Wk 9 and Invasion attack are my two favorite matches this year and ibushi is in both. I dont think Roderick strong has had one match this year thats as good as those two. Saying he,s the best since angle in 03 might be pushing it but I def think he,s the best this year.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

Japanese Puroresu said:


> Tanahashi and AJ Styles immediately come to mind, and Roderick Strong is having a better year and Ricochet had a better year last year than Ibushi. I think Ibushi is a top guy but when we're talking great matches the guys I listed have been amazing.
> 
> The Ibushi vs Tanahashi match was good, it wasn't as great as people made it out to be, I did think Ibushi lawn darting Tanahashi into the turnbuckle was ridiculous. It was fun, of them left a lot in there because they're going to have a feud of some sort sometime in the future. Good play on the match.



All taste I guess but I dont think Tanahashi or Roderick Strong has had one match this year better then Kota Ibushi vs Nakamura from wk or Kota Ibushi vs Aj Styles from invasion attack. Aj Styles has not had one match that comes close to Nakamura vs Ibushi from wk. I dont care if you put on 4 star matches consistently because they are forgetable. If its not amazing on the edge of your seat type of match nakamura vs ibushi was I forget about it kinda quickly while Nakamura vs Ibushi I remember every little detail.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Not that Meltzers ratings are the holy grail or anything but
> 
> Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura Wk 9 - *****
> Kota Ibushi vs Aj Styles Invasion attack - **** 3/4
> Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito Njpw cup - **** 1/2
> Kota Ibushi vs Hiroko Goto Njpw cup - **** 1/4
> 
> And last night at the g1 climax he had an amazing match with Tanahashi that I had **** 1/2 and im sure he will have several others this tournament alone. I will take one spectacular once in a generation type of match over a bunch of great matches and thats the difference to me. Wk 9 and Invasion attack are my two favorite matches this year and ibushi is in both. I dont think Roderick strong has had one match this year thats as good as those two. Saying he,s the best since angle in 03 might be pushing it but I def think he,s the best this year.


Have you seen Roddy's match vs. Zack Sabre Jr from PWG Don't Sweat The Technique? It wasn't better than Nakamura/Ibushi, but I think it's better than all of those other matches you mentioned. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you to change that. Phenomenal match.

And I can definitely see why you would say that Ibushi is the best wrestler in 2015 so far. All of those matches you mentioned were GREAT.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

I feel like the block B matches for tomorrow are kind of predictable, not that that's a bad thing; it should be awesome. The card looks good though overall. What do you all think? 

July 23 (Thursday) 18:30 JST: Shizuoka Twin Messe Shizuoka.

Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. Jay White & Yohei Komatsu
Togi Makabe, Kota Ibushi & Captain New Japan vs. Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Cody Hall
Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs. AJ Styles & Tama Tonga
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Mascara Dorada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Katsuyori Shibata & Ryusuke Taguchi

Block B.

Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma
Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson


----------



## Lazyking

Show starts 530 am here tomorrow for me.. I want to just watch the G1 matches tomorrow.. wonder if waking up at 7am would cover me.

And B block is pretty weak imo.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

NastyYaffa said:


> Have you seen Roddy's match vs. Zack Sabre Jr from PWG Don't Sweat The Technique? It wasn't better than Nakamura/Ibushi, but I think it's better than all of those other matches you mentioned. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you to change that. Phenomenal match.
> 
> And I can definitely see why you would say that Ibushi is the best wrestler in 2015 so far. All of those matches you mentioned were GREAT.


I have and it was great but any of his other matches this year dont come close to Ibushis resume imo.


----------



## El Dandy

Jonasolsson96 said:


> I have and it was great but any of his other matches this year dont come close to Ibushis resume imo.


I personally like Roddy more as a wrestler, but you're right that Ibushi has been p untouchable this year in regards to big match performances.

A case can be made for Styles, but his Tokyo Dome match was not even close to the same level as Nakamura/Ibushi.

Having 5 great high-end matches is a good year for some, but Ibushi has done that in only 7 months.

He's probably gonna add a few more cause he still works Styles, Shibata, Naito in this G1.

It's really a shame Roddy didn't get the G1 spot over Elgin. It would've really showcased his talents.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Not that Meltzers ratings are the holy grail or anything but
> 
> Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura Wk 9 - *****
> Kota Ibushi vs Aj Styles Invasion attack - **** 3/4
> Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito Njpw cup - **** 1/2
> Kota Ibushi vs Hiroko Goto Njpw cup - **** 1/4
> 
> And last night at the g1 climax he had an amazing match with Tanahashi that I had **** 1/2 and im sure he will have several others this tournament alone. I will take one spectacular once in a generation type of match over a bunch of great matches and thats the difference to me. Wk 9 and Invasion attack are my two favorite matches this year and ibushi is in both. I dont think Roderick strong has had one match this year thats as good as those two. Saying he,s the best since angle in 03 might be pushing it but I def think he,s the best this year.





Jonasolsson96 said:


> All taste I guess but I dont think Tanahashi or Roderick Strong has had one match this year better then Kota Ibushi vs Nakamura from wk or Kota Ibushi vs Aj Styles from invasion attack. Aj Styles has not had one match that comes close to Nakamura vs Ibushi from wk. I dont care if you put on 4 star matches consistently because they are forgetable. If its not amazing on the edge of your seat type of match nakamura vs ibushi was I forget about it kinda quickly while Nakamura vs Ibushi I remember every little detail.


You just rated Ibushi's matches as 4 star matches and then say that 4 star matches are forgettable yet they're literally your reasoning for rating Ibushi so high.


----------



## El Dandy

Sick Graps-V2 said:


> I feel like the block B matches for tomorrow are kind of predictable, not that that's a bad thing; it should be awesome. The card looks good though overall. What do you all think?
> 
> July 23 (Thursday) 18:30 JST: Shizuoka Twin Messe Shizuoka.
> 
> Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. Jay White & Yohei Komatsu
> Togi Makabe, Kota Ibushi & Captain New Japan vs. Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Cody Hall
> Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs. AJ Styles & Tama Tonga
> Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Mascara Dorada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Katsuyori Shibata & Ryusuke Taguchi
> 
> Block B.
> 
> Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii
> Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
> Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma
> Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin
> Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson


I'm thinking you're right.

Ishii over Kojima
Goto over Yujiro
Nagata over Honma
Okada over Elgin
Nakamura over Anderson

I'm really looking forward to the wild card match of Okada/Elgin.

Nagata always kicks it up a notch in the G1, but would be cool to see Honma win right off the bat and stay in the mix down to the final day as the Cinderella story of the G1.


----------



## RyanPelley

Do you guys watch live through NJPW World or do you have other means of viewing?


----------



## Jonasolsson96

Japanese Puroresu said:


> You just rated Ibushi's matches as 4 star matches and then say that 4 star matches are forgettable yet they're literally your reasoning for rating Ibushi so high.


Those were the meltzer ratings. Like I said my two favorite matches of this year not just in japan but any promotion is ibushi/naka from wk and ibushi/styles from invasion attack and both were far from forgetable.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

el dandy said:


> I'm thinking you're right.
> 
> Ishii over Kojima
> Goto over Yujiro
> Nagata over Honma
> Okada over Elgin
> Nakamura over Anderson
> 
> I'm really looking forward to the wild card match of Okada/Elgin.
> 
> Nagata always kicks it up a notch in the G1, but would be cool to see Honma win right off the bat and stay in the mix down to the final day as the Cinderella story of the G1.


This is pretty much what I was thinking. Honma had his losing streak run last year when he replaced Ibushi and seemed to get mad over because of it, it would be cool to see him win a few this year if only to see whether or not the people get behind him. I'm particularly looking forward to Nakamuras' match as well as Ishiis'; love that guys intensity.


----------



## Hibachi

While I do enjoy Toru Yano's work occasionally I really wish his spot had of gone to Roddy


----------



## Jbardo

Getting new Japan world is one of the best things I have ever done. I'll always remember Wrestle Kingdom 9 as the show that made me an instant fan and made me sign up for it.

Isbuhi v Tanakashi - ****1/2
Styles v Shabata - ***3/4


Roll on day 2!


----------



## Fighter Daron

Hibachi said:


> While I do enjoy Toru Yano's work occasionally I really wish his spot had of gone to Roddy


Roddy is challenging Jay Lethal for the Ring of Honor belt at Death Before Dishonor the day after tomorrow, so I think it was a schedule issue.


----------



## El Dandy

Hibachi said:


> While I do enjoy Toru Yano's work occasionally I really wish his spot had of gone to Roddy


You would take out YTR?

There's a place for his shenanigans IMO.

Tenzan is the easy ut

I respect all he has done in the past, but god damn enough is enough. It's not like he's Nagata who can still go at a high level. That being said, they're running, what, 19 shows and Tenzan's name on the card brings exponentially more value than Strong's over there, so I digress.


----------



## Lazyking

Yujro is the clear pick to take out. He's never done anything impressive.. of course Tenzan but he's got that champion respect and I think last year G1 he was able to have some decent matches.

Yano should always be in to break up the G1 seriousness.. plus some of these guys have to be jobbers in the tourny. its how the story is told.

Roddy wouldn't go far in the tourny, I would like to have him brought in for a tour tho...


----------



## Fighter Daron

I've made a G1 mock match by match and here are the results:

*Block A:
*- AJ Styles 16
- Kota Ibushi 14
- Hiroshi Tanahashi 12
- Katsuyori Shibata 12
- Tetsuya Naito 12
- Togi Makabe 8
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan 4
- Toru Yano 4
- Doc Gallows 4
- Bad Luck Fale 4

*Block B:
*- Kazuchika Okada 15
- Hirooki Goto 13
- Tomohiro Ishii 10
- Satoshi Kojima 10
- Shinsuke Nakamura 10
- Karl Anderson 10
- Yuji Nagata 8
- Tomoaki Honma 6
- Michael Elgin 4
- Yujiro Takahashi 4

The finals would be AJ Styles vs. Okada, AJ gets the tournament and challenges Kazuchika at the Dome, where Okada finally gets his big Dome win and destroys the Bullet Club. The story writes itself.


----------



## Lazyking

Okada getting the win over tanahashi is better redemption.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Meltzer's ratings for the 2 big matches from Day 1:


> *Shibata/Styles - ***3/4
> Tanahashi/Ibushi - ****3/4*


----------



## El Dandy

Not even 4 stars for Shibata/Styles :mj2

Sell an arm to the point that you're biting your own hand in order to put on a sleeper? ***3/4

Sell a leg to the point that you're running, jumping, kicking as if nothing happened? ****3/4

Tana/Ibushi was a better match, but not a full star better.


----------



## amhlilhaus

Toru yano is the spoiler, he has to be in it. Take out tenzan instead


----------



## TJQ

IF HONMA LOSES TOMORROW WE RIOT


----------



## Vårmakos

Fighter Daron said:


> The finals would be AJ Styles vs. Okada, AJ gets the tournament and challenges Kazuchika at the Dome, where Okada finally gets his big Dome win and destroys the Bullet Club. The story writes itself.


Honma has a better chance of main eventing the Dome Show than a gaijin.


----------



## LilOlMe

el dandy said:


> Not even 4 stars for Shibata/Styles :mj2
> 
> Sell an arm to the point that you're biting your own hand in order to put on a sleeper? ***3/4
> 
> Sell a leg to the point that you're running, jumping, kicking as if nothing happened? ****3/4
> 
> Tana/Ibushi was a better match, but not a full star better.


I wonder how much timing has to do with ratings. People get so upset about these things (not you, but the way people go after Meltzer for his ratings), but they forget to take into consideration that it's a snapshot at a moment in time.

If he was tired, considering that this aired early in the AM in America, it could be as simple as him not being able to appreciate all of the subtleties at that hour. A flashier match is definitely going to get your attention more.

I read his recap & rating, and he didn't even mention the "Shibata biting his hand" moment, so I think that he didn't even notice it.

Also expectations play a big part. If you expect a long match, and them going for a huge back and forth, epic type of feel, you're not gonna appreciate something like this as much.

I bet if he watched again he'd have a different rating. 

IMO, something like Shibata/Styles at **** and Tanahashi/Ibushi at **** 1/2 seems more accurate for most people upon initial viewing, and was something I was hoping for from him.

I knew it wouldn't be, though, because initially he called Tanahashi/Ibushi a classic, and Shibata/Styles just a "very good match."

It's sad that an artful match isn't more appreciated, but that's often a reflection of the times we're in. If this were a 1990 PPV, this would have stood out SO much.


----------



## TJQ

I'm actually becoming such a fan of Yohei Komatsu, dude has been pretty damn fun to watch these last few months.


----------



## El Dandy

Imma go blind with these entrance lights!

MY EYES!!!!!!


----------



## RyanPelley

Yo guys, just got home from work! Have I missed anything?


----------



## El Dandy

RyanPelley said:


> Yo guys, just got home from work! Have I missed anything?


You've missed temporary blindness and a Japanese girl yelling "YOSHIHASHI" every 20 seconds for the last 10 mins.

You're getting home right in time for the good stuff


----------



## RyanPelley

el dandy said:


> You've missed temporary blindness and a Japanese girl yelling "YOSHIHASHI" every 20 seconds for the last 10 mins.
> 
> You're getting home right in time for the good stuff


:lmao Jesus, I see what you mean with the blindness...


----------



## 3MB4Life

I feel like I need to wear sunglasses to watch this.


----------



## TJQ

el dandy said:


> You've missed temporary blindness and a Japanese girl yelling "YOSHIHASHI" every 20 seconds for the last 10 mins.
> 
> You're getting home right in time for the good stuff


Jesus she was doing that at the beginning of the previous tag as well, she yelled IBUSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII like 30 times. If she keeps it up and continues to raise the bar she might rival that Super Dragon fan :lol


----------



## El Dandy

With the hat and shirt, Naito looks like he's doing an excellent Wayne's World cosplay. Just another reason to love heel Naito


----------



## TJQ

Shibata is about to eat Naito's soul.


----------



## Stall_19

Is Naito's new character is he's as lazy as fuck.


----------



## 3MB4Life

Time for the tourney matches! Hope we get at least two awesome matches like we did on day one.

I'm hoping Ishii, Goto, Honma, Okada and Nakamura get wins today.


----------



## LateTrain27

I expect the G1 winners for tonight to be Ishii, Goto, Nagata, Okada & Nakamura. Hoping I'm wrong about Nagata though, it'd be good to see Honma gets some wins.


----------



## WBS

Can't watch today's show, what are the tournament matches??


----------



## RyanPelley

Here we go!


----------



## El Dandy

WBS said:


> Can't watch today's show, what are the tournament matches??


Ishii/Kojima
Goto/Yujiro
Nagata/Honma
Okada/Elgin
Nakamura/Anderson


----------



## El Dandy

90 seconds in, and the girl has already said ISHIIIIIIII 11 times


----------



## TJQ

el dandy said:


> 90 seconds in, and the girl has already said ISHIIIIIIII 11 times


We're at about 75 by now. She yelled it twice just in the time it took me to hit quote and type that.


----------



## El Dandy

Honma PLZ based Jado/Gedo

:tucky


----------



## TJQ

HONMANIA'S RUNNIN WILD, BROTHER.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

WBS said:


> Can't watch today's show, what are the tournament matches??


July 23 (Thursday) (10:30AM BST) 18:30 JST: Shizuoka Twin Messe Shizuoka.

Block B.
Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma
Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson


----------



## TJQ

Honma :mj2


----------



## El Dandy

:gameover


----------



## LateTrain27

I guess it's ain't Honmania time... yet.


----------



## TJQ

time for elG1n


----------



## El Dandy

Well, Elgin didn't choke. He can hang and is def in his element.


----------



## TJQ

Damn good showing by ElG1n, which just got me even more hyped for his eventual match with Ishii kada


----------



## El Dandy




----------



## BuzzKillington

So Elgin had a good showing? I fully expected that. When the G1 is over maybe ROH fans will stop being pricks and trying to sabotage his career... Nah that will never happen.


----------



## Insomnia

TJQ said:


> Honma :mj2


He's facing Okada next. :mj2 

Hope he gets one win at least and doesn't job the whole G1 like last year.


----------



## El Dandy

OH WOOOOOW

BIG MACS WON!

Another very good match!

EDIT: was half expecting him to just start the promo by yelling OSSSAAAAAKAAAAA


----------



## LateTrain27

Well, that was a rrrrREAL surprise victory I don't think many (including myself) were expecting.


----------



## Insomnia

LateTrain27 said:


> Well, that was a rrrrREAL surprise victory I don't think many (including myself) were expecting.


Said the same thing on when he beated Okada at last year's G1.


----------



## El Dandy

Not sure about MOTN. The last 3 matches were great. 

Leaning towards Okada/Elgin for MOTN, but Shinskay/Anderson and Honma/Nagata, tho.


----------



## eldoon

That one woman saying the wrestlers first names every 30 seconds Shinuske , Ishii and Okada non stop grated on your nerves


----------



## Jbardo

Just gone to watch this on new japan world and its a side camera with no commentary. What the hell?


----------



## WBS

Every show that's just on njpw world and not on TV is like today's show.


----------



## El Dandy

Yeah, what @WBS wrote. Going solo hardcam is dependent on if it is being broadcast on TV over there.

Tomorrow's show will be multi-cam, but I read that Saturday will be hardcam again.

Day3 is a 1 match show, but ya'll better get HYPED for Shibata/Naito :mark:

Ibushi over Gallows
Fale over Makabe
Styles over YTR
Shibata over Naito
Tanahashi over Tenzan


----------



## Jbardo

Ahhh ok. No way can I watch it like that. Oh well roll on day 3.


----------



## DOPA

I'm watching it on NJworld.

When watching it live, did u guys have no commentary and only a single camera angle like its shown on the replay?


----------



## NastyYaffa

My ratings for the 2nd day:

*Tomohiro Ishii vs. Satoshi Kojima - **3/4
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *3/4
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma - ***
Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin - ***1/2
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson - ****

Ishii/Kojima was a pretty good match, but not as good as the match they had last year.
Goto/Yujiro was pretty meh. Yujiro dominated for most of the match, and that was pretty boring, but I enjoyed some of the match. It wasn't completely awful.
Nagata/Honma was good.
Okada/Elgin was surprisingly the best match of the night. The match was designed to make Elgin look good & strong, and it did exactly that. Really good match. Okada was as awesome as he usually is here, but Elgin really surprised me. He put on a good performance & had a very good match vs. Okada. Gotta give him some props for that. #elG1n 
Nakamura/Anderson was good, but honestly, kinda disappointing. I just watched their match from New Japan Cup 2012 and it was sooo much better. This was still a good match, though.

Overall this was a pretty good show. Not as good as Day 1, and I definitely feel like only using one camera angle kinda hurt the show.

SHIBATA vs. NAITO tomorrow! :mark:


----------



## Miguel De Juan

L-DOPA said:


> I'm watching it on NJworld.
> 
> When watching it live, did u guys have no commentary and only a single camera angle like its shown on the replay?


Yeah, this quite unusual since I saw all of 2013 and 2014 G1s and they didn't have the camera like this. Don't what is up with it.


----------



## Insomnia

L-DOPA said:


> I'm watching it on NJworld.
> 
> When watching it live, did u guys have no commentary and only a single camera angle like its shown on the replay?


Yeah, it was like that when it was showing live. There's going to be a fan chanting some of the wrestlers names over and over, just so you know. :lol


----------



## Vårmakos

Stardust Asshole testing Shibata's pantience and then getting booted the fuck out of .. :rusevyes 

I can't wait for their match.


----------



## Jbardo

Dunno how anyone could watch it with the camera like that. Ruins it tbh.


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: Day 2 Tournament match ratings



Tomohiro Ishii vs. Satoshi Kojima: ****1/2*
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi: ***1/2*
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma: ***1/4*
Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin: ****1/2*
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson: ***** 

Overall more consistent than the first night but no outstanding matches. Okada/Elgin was the MOTN for me, very good showing for Elgin and a very good match. Felt Ishii/Kojima was a really good opening and an underrated/slept on match as far as this night goes. Won't be near the top matches of the tournament by the end of course. On the contrary I really couldn't get into Nagata/Honma to be honest. Felt flat to the finish in my opinion.

Having the set up the way it was with the camera was a little off putting but not completely unwatchable. I just hope they don't have this type of set up again. At least have some good camera angles etc. which is close up to the match. I can live without commentary but it really put a downer on me watching just having the far camera pointing to the ring. Fix that shit NJPW!


----------



## El Dandy

I'll leave the stars to Big Dave.

For me, the matches so far rank like this:

1. D1: Tanahashi/Ibushi
2. D1: Styles/Shibata
3. D2: Okada/Elgin
4. D2: Nagata/Honma
5. D2: Nakamura/Anderson
6. D2: Ishii/Kojima
7. D1: Naito/Fale
8. D2: Goto/Yujiro
9. D1: Makabe/Yano
10. D1: Tenzan/Gallows


----------



## LilOlMe

Jbardo said:


> Dunno how anyone could watch it with the camera like that. Ruins it tbh.


It's like being at the show. 

If a match is good it will keep your attention. I forgot about the way it was shot while watching Okada/Elgin.

Having said that, I understand your view. It's why I have a hard time watching house show videos. This was much more professionally shot, though, so I was ok with it. Would prefer close ups, though.


----------



## TJQ

Card for tomorrow morning is

(1) Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Yohei Komatsu vs. Michael Elgin, Mascara Dorada, David Finlay Jr. & Jay White
(2) Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall
(3) Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga
(4) Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Gedo

(5) A BLOCK: Kota Ibushi vs. Doc Gallows
(6) A BLOCK: Togi Makabe vs. Bad Luck Fale
(7) A BLOCK: Toru Yano vs. AJ Styles
(8) A BLOCK: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito
(9) A BLOCK: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Honestly I'm worried for most of the card, specifically the first 3 block matches. But I'll have to wait and see, going to sleep now so I can wake up for the show.


----------



## LateTrain27

G1 predictions for tonight: Gallows, Makabe, Styles, Naito & Tanahashi.


----------



## Insomnia




----------



## El Dandy

Captain FUKIN New Japan not wearing his New Jack camo :mj2


----------



## El Dandy

Incoming daily SHINSKAY gif:


----------



## Insomnia

Styles/Yano was entertaining and much better than their match last year.


----------



## LateTrain27

Watching Yano tap out was quite satisfying.


----------



## El Dandy

Yeah, that was one of my favorite matches of the tournament thus far.

SKELETOR NAITO TIME

SHIBATA TIME


----------



## El Dandy

Great match. The sound of the PK


----------



## SuzukiGUN

Love dick naito but I'm happy that shibata won!

Not sure if I should stick around for tenzan.


----------



## El Dandy

Another good match!

Easily the best Day so far and it really feels like the G1 has started!

MOTN - Shibata/Naito (It's early, but my favorite match of this G1 so far)

Would recommend:

Shibata/Naito
Styles/YTR
Tanahashi/Tenzan
CHAOS v Nagata/Taguchi/Honma


----------



## Insomnia




----------



## TJQ

Naito/Shibata was awesome, about to hop into AJ/Yano now.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

I couldn't bother to stay up for last night. Only one match seemed plausible to be good so checked out.


----------



## Corey

Well damn, didn't know this thread even existed. Was really impressed with Elgin's performance yesterday against Okada. Actually makes me interested in his match with Kojima tomorrow. 

AJ/Shibata is *** 1/2 and the best match of the tournament thus far for me.


----------



## Vårmakos

Okada/Honma being the main event gives me hope that we may see an upset.


----------



## El Dandy

Second straight B Block show with single cam :mj2

Ishii over Yujiro
Elgin over Kojima
Goto over Anderson
Shinskay over Nagata
Honma over Okada 

What a story it would be if the G1 underdog and guy who's never won a G1 match to get his first win over the IWGP HW Champ? What a moment in time it would be!

Let me dream!

The near falls in Honma/Okada are going to be intense to say the least.


----------



## TJQ

Vårmakos said:


> Okada/Honma being the main event gives me hope that we may see an upset.


I WILL scream if that happens. HONMANIA IS ABOUT TO RUN WILD, BROTHER. OKADA MAKES IT RAIN, BUT HONMA BROUGHT AN UMBRELLA, DUDE.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 3 stuff:

*Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi - ***
Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe - **
AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano - ***1/2
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito - ***3/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - ***3/4*

Gallows/Ibushi was definitely better than expected. Ibushi was bumping his ass off for Gallows, and it was fun. Good match.
Fale/Makabe was exactly as "good" as you would expect from those 2. OK match.
Styles/Yano was A LOT of FUN. Absolutely loved it. I am becoming a total mark for Yano, guy is just so much fun.
Shibata/Naito was AWESOME. Definitely one of the best G1 matches of the year so far.
And talking about awesome matches, the main event was also AWESOME. The crowd was hot & really behind Tenzan, so Tanahashi heel'd it up a little bit (just a little bit) here. And it was great. Awesome match.

Overall Day 3 was much better than Day 2 imo. Great show.



Spoiler: G1 Climax 25 Match Ratings & Ranking



1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 1) - ****1/2
2. AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Day 1) - ****
3. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 3) - ***3/4
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Day 3) - ***3/4
5. AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano (Day 3) - ***1/2
6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin (Day 2) - ***1/2
7. Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 3) - ***
8. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson (Day 2) - ***
9. Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 2) - ***
10. Toru Yano vs. Togi Makabe (Day 1) - **3/4
11. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Satoshi Kojima (Day 2) - **3/4
12. Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe (Day 3) - **
13. Doc Gallows vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Day 1) - *3/4
14. Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi (Day 2) - *3/4
15. Bad Luck Fale vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 1) - *1/4



OKADA vs. HONMA tomorrow! :mark:


----------



## DOPA

Shout out to NJPW for fixing the cameras for Day 3, a lot easier to watch this time around. I'm assuming Day 4 will be a TV show as its on the Saturday so should be no issues there.



Spoiler: Day 3 Tournament Match Ratings



Doc Gallows vs Kota Ibushi: *****
Togi Makabe vs Bad Luck Fale: **3/4*
Toru Yano vs AJ Styles: ****1/2*
Katsuyori Shibata vs Tetsuya Naito: *****
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan: *****

Most consistent day, better than day 2 overall for me. MOTN for me was AJ/Yano. Really good match, entertaining, very good psychology/storytelling, good selling from Yano. Just overall really enjoyable. Several good matches on this card, only below average match being the second. Didn't enjoy Shibata/Naito as much as everyone else it seems. Still was a good match but I would not put it among the better matches of the tournament thus far.

Roll on Day 4!



You have no idea how PSYCHED I am for Okada/Honma :mark: :mark: :mark:

Legit contender on paper for match of the tournament in my opinion. Honestly believe that. I hope it delivers!


----------



## El Dandy

L-DOPA said:


> Shout out to NJPW for fixing the cameras for Day 3, a lot easier to watch this time around. I'm assuming Day 4 will be a TV show as its on the Saturday so should be no issues there.


Doesn't seem to be the case.

Everything I've read indicates that it's another single cam show

Hopefully the entrance is set up differently than Day 2, other wise we're gonna need to wear some sunglasses :squirtle

Honma/Okada deserves TV quality presentation


----------



## DOPA

el dandy said:


> Doesn't seem to be the case.
> 
> Everything I've read indicates that it's another single cam show
> 
> Hopefully the entrance is set up differently than Day 2, other wise we're gonna need to wear some sunglasses :squirtle


Ahhh crap


----------



## amhlilhaus

Fucking can't sign up for njworld. Says I can't get an email from them and my password isn't good, both of which sucks balls. Throw in their crackdown on daily motion and I'm missing everything! !!!!!


----------



## LateTrain27

I predict the winners tonight will be Ishii, Elgin, Goto, Nakamura & Okada. What an amazing swerve it would be if Honma somehow pinned the Rainmaker... but that sure as hell won't happen.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Finished watching Day 1 the other day, and here are some thoughts:

1) Why the fuck did Bad Luck Fale come out wearing a fedora hat? :lol

2) I never got the hate for Michael Elgin. IMO he's a pretty good wrestler, and I enjoyed seeing him in the tag match.

3) After the match with Sakuraba at Dominion, and seeing his match with AJ Styles, I have to say that Katsuyori Shibata made a fan out of me.

4) Kota Ibushi is fucking awesome. He has impressed me every time I've seen him, and if Shinsuke Nakamura doesn't win this year, then I am pulling for Ibushi to win.*


----------



## LilOlMe

Liger & the other guys were there commentating. You could see them. How come we got no commentary?

You can tell that Shibata's limited by his arm injury, but it's causing him to get more creative and put a lot more thought into what he's doing. His matches are now less electric, but there seems to be more maturity and every match feels like it's evolving. 

The dude is just so smart with his structuring and the way he uses his time lately. Even in that random tag match before, the way he times his high moments & the times he makes Naito pay are just great. 

Naito is great in his new role. Annoying as fuck.

Tanahashi/Tenzan wasn't as good as I hoped. Could have been far more emotional. Tanahashi is great, though, and great at slyly heeling it up. He also just has a ton of charisma without having to do much.

This Makabe/Fale match is painfully dull. I'm writing this as it's going on because I'm so over it.

Ibushi/Gallows was really good. Ibushi's selling was perfect here, and Gallows worked with him quite well (we'll ignore that ending botch).

Glad to hear that Styles/Yano was good. I had a feeling it would be. I like Yano's inclusion in this, because you need that levity. Then again, if I had been watching him for years, maybe I wouldn't feel that way.

Wish I watched the match before I read how the result happened here, but oh well.

Was the Okada tag any good? 

@Jack Evans 187, I could swear you've posted in here before.


ETA: Actually, the qualities I mentioned were evident in the Shibata/Sakuraba Dominion match too, so maybe Shibata is just adding a ton more depth, and the arm injury happened at a time that coincided with that, and thus made him go even further down that route. 

What just has struck me lately is how _smart_ his last three matches have been, and even his performance in the tag match.

I do have to say that this match didn't quite have that continuous, one-piece, rhythm that I was looking for. I think that I'm unfairly comparing it against the Shibata/Styles match in that regard, though. This was good in its own right, and had some memorable moments. It was both good and fun.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

OK guys day 4 is upon us, here are the tournament matches for tonight:

Block B.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Satoshi Kojima vs. Michael Elgin
Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yuji Nagata
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomoaki Honma

I have to say that every one of these matches has someone I like in them, it should be good.


----------



## Insomnia

Yujiro's girl went all out! :lol


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Kojima vs Elgin was pretty good.


----------



## El Dandy

Yeah, another p good showing from Elgin.

Maybe they won't give him any points until he gets new gear. His PAWG thighs :jaydamn


----------



## LateTrain27

HOLY CRAP!

Karl Anderson did it again. I may have to reconsider some of my predictions on later nights.


----------



## El Dandy

LateTrain27 said:


> HOLY CRAP!
> 
> Karl Anderson did it again. I may have to reconsider some of my predictions on later nights.


True, they're building an early cushion for him and he's gonna be losing later on. He could be like Shelton last year. Shelton started 4-0, finished with 10 points.


----------



## El Dandy

It's time from dreams to come true.

Match of the G1 coming up NEXT


----------



## Insomnia




----------



## El Dandy

Honma you still the real MVP :kd

No lies, that Rainmaker/headbutt counter and 2.9999 had me jump out of my chair.

MOTN to Okada/Honma for Honmaniac reasons. Elgin/Kojima was also good.

EDIT: Tomorrow is gonna be a real doozy. Tanahashi/Naito, Styles/Ibushi, and Makabe/Shibata (until Makabe wins). And it's gonna be multicam!


----------



## LateTrain27

I half-marked because I actually thought Honma got the 3-count at one point.

Overall really I enjoyed all G1 matches tonight especially Kojima vs Elgin and Okada vs Honma and I'm still surprised that Karl Anderson in a row has won 2 of the 3 matches in his block I considered he would have zero chance in winning.


----------



## SHIRLEY




----------



## Corey

Definitely think Styles/Yano stole the show on day 3 with the entertainment alone. I thought Yano was seriously gonna win a couple times. Ibushi/Gallows and Tanahashi/Tenzan were solid as well. Shibata/Naito didn't do much for me at all though. Whole match just sort of blended together into the same thing. Ended abruptly too.

Styles/Yano - *** 1/4
Tanahashi/Tenzan - ***


----------



## El Dandy

After 4 days, I would say that the MVP so far of the G1 is ROH fan favorite Michael Elgin.

Arguably has both MOTN on both of his block's days and could be 3/3 after Day 6 cause he works Shinskay next. At the very least he is MVP of his block (with Tanahashi, Styles, Ibushi, and Shibata battling it out in A Block. All 4 have had strong performances).

I wish Ishii/Elgin was not on the last day. Ishii may be dead by the time the match rolls around. Love to see them both go at it while relatively fresh.

Predictions for Day 5:

Underboss over Gallows
YTR over Tenzan
Makabe over Shibata (sigh)
Styles over Ibushi
Tanahashi over Naito


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: Day 4 Tournament Match Ratings



Yujiro Takahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii: ***3/4*
Michael Elgin vs Satoshi Kojima: ****1/2*
Karl Anderson vs Hirooki Goto: *****
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Yuji Nagata: *****
Kazuchika Okada vs Tomoaki Honma: ******

Growing pattern of the shows getting more consistent with each day but no outstanding days yet. Having said that Okada/Honma was a great match and the 2nd best match of the tournament so far. Not as amazing as I hoped it might be but still really delivered IMO. Elgin also had another very good showing this time against Kojima so I'm real happy he's performing well. The rest of the card was solid overall.

Definitely a recommendable day due to consistency and two stand out matches.

But holy shit does day 5 look fantastic on paper. Could be in for the first outstanding day of the tournament tomorrow :mark:


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 4:

*Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *1/2
Michael Elgin vs. Satoshi Kojima - **3/4
Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson - **
Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - **1/4
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomoaki Honma - ****

Ishii/Yujiro was really disappointing. And that is something I don't usually say about Yujiro matches, because I really don't ever have high expectations for them. BUT I thought this one would be good, because they had a GREAT match last year. This one was NOT a good match.
Elgin/Kojima was pretty good. Elgin looked impressive, just like in his match vs. Okada. (Y)
Goto/Anderson wasn't bad, but not really good either. 
Nagata/Nakamura was another really disappointing match.
Okada/Honma was a good main event, and definitely the best match of the night.

Overall this was honestly a pretty meh show. I had some fun watching it, but it's the weakest G1 show this year so far IMO.



Spoiler: G1 Climax 25 Match Ratings & Ranking



1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 1) - ****1/2
2. AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Day 1) - ****
3. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 3) - ***3/4
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Day 3) - ***3/4
5. AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano (Day 3) - ***1/2
6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin (Day 2) - ***1/2
7. Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 3) - ***
8. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 4) - ***
9. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson (Day 2) - ***
10. Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 2) - ***
11. Toru Yano vs. Togi Makabe (Day 1) - **3/4
12. Michael Elgin vs. Satoshi Kojima (Day 4) - **3/4
13. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Satoshi Kojima (Day 2) - **3/4
14. Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Day 4) - **1/4
15. Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe (Day 3) - **
16. Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderon (Day 4) - **
17. Doc Gallows vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Day 1) - *3/4
18. Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi (Day 2) - *3/4
19. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi (Day 4) - *1/2
20. Bad Luck Fale vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 1) - *1/4



Tomorrow's show looks great. Styles/Ibushi + Tana/Naito :banderas


----------



## Corey

Looks like I was the biggest fan of Anderson/Goto. LOVED how aggressive Anderson was and the constant attack on the head and neck to soften him up for the stun gun. Goto had to really fight for his offense and then BOOM, outta nowhere it's over. I liked it. Elgin vs. Kojima was really good as well. Elgin is seriously bringing the goods here and I'm pleasantly surprised. Hope he can win something here or there.  Nakamura/Nagata didn't do much for me, but I already knew that. Okada/Honma wasn't bad but it was all about that epic headbutt counter and the nearfall Honma got. That was awesome. Day 4 was a success imo.

Elgin/Kojima - *** 1/4
Anderson/Goto - *** 1/4 (OUTTA NOWHERE!)


----------



## Vårmakos

SHIRLEY said:


>


Okada with a fan.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

Here we go again guys. I'm really looking forward to Styles vs Ibushi and Tanahashi vs Naito; should be awesome.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

Nakamura has injured his elbow and will be out today, hope it's not serious.


----------



## El Dandy

Hopefully he'll be fine for the rest of the way.


----------



## Jbardo

Really looking forward to this show. First one I'm managing to catch live aswell.


----------



## RyanPelley

SHIRLEY said:


>


Nice, Okada meeting Grumpy Cat.


----------



## El Dandy

Finally get multi-cam with commentary; audio levels for the dubbing are all fucked up :floyd1


----------



## Insomnia

el dandy said:


> Finally get multi-cam with commentary; audio levels for the dubbing are all fucked up :floyd1


Yups. :ti


----------



## El Dandy

Jeff Hardy singing Anderson's new theme :mj2


----------



## El Dandy

I'm gonna jab a pencil in my ear


----------



## TJQ

BASED elG1n


----------



## El Dandy

Fale/Gallows is New Japan's answer to Kane/Big Show


----------



## TJQ

This match is going to suck so much dick it's not even funny.


----------



## RyanPelley

I miss that girl screaming names every 10 seconds.


----------



## TJQ

RyanPelley said:


> I miss that girl screaming names every 10 seconds.


FALE.
FALE.
FALE.
FALE.
FALE.
FALE.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

TJQ said:


> This match is going to suck so much dick it's not even funny.


5 star match IMO

MATCH OF THE NIGHT


----------



## El Dandy

Praise to YTR and his traveling gimmick table :sundin


----------



## Insomnia

Fale/Gallow's match was alright. It was way better than last years G1.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Can we just forget the rest of A Block and move to the main event. Thanks. I hate both of these men.


----------



## El Dandy

God damn they both got gashed.

For fucks sake, Tenzan


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Good match between Makabe and Shibata.


----------



## El Dandy

Good match with a great pace.


----------



## El Dandy

This match is fucking outstanding


----------



## Insomnia

Hollow Point! :mark:


----------



## RyanPelley

This is incredible.


----------



## Insomnia

Amazing match! :clap


----------



## TJQ

FUCK MY WHOLE EXISTENCE, THAT WAS FUCKING INCREDIBLE.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

WOW! Styles vs Ibushi 4 1/2 stars. I might give it a 5 because Ibushi almost killed himself.


----------



## El Dandy

The bar has been raised and set.

There was some debate between Shibata/Styles or Tana/Ibushi, there is no debate about Styles/Ibushi. What a fucking performance.


----------



## TJQ

Japanese Puroresu said:


> WOW! Styles vs Ibushi 4 1/2 stars. I might give it a 5 because Ibushi almost killed himself.


All I know is that I enjoyed that more, and thought it was a better match than Tana/Ibushi from day 1. AJ/Ibushi is now definitely my top G1 match thus far.


----------



## Stall_19

I'm so glad I wasn't working graveyard tonight so I could watch that match.


----------



## eldoon

The aj near botch of the top rope styles clash was perfectly done - grade a working that angle

Cant wait for Yoshi Tatsu to return the beat down will be horrific and Yoshi Tatsu will be a mega star


----------



## eldoon

Naito is my new fave with his skull mask and slow suit removal gimmick


----------



## amhlilhaus

I'm so bent! When I tried to sign up it tells me to make sure my email can get email from them and my password needs letters and numbers, which it does! Anyone have/heard about those kind of sign up issues, and any idea how to fix them??


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Naito wearing black and a skeleton mask makes sense. He's a charisma black hole and his emotions are dead. Someone please help him, I'll do the work just pay my way to Japan.


----------



## Insomnia

Naito! :ti


----------



## Insomnia

Naito beat Tana!!!! :heyman6


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

That match was better than Ibushi vs Styles in a traditional sense. That was a great watch, I can't rate it higher though because Naito's expressions left me dead at times. That Tanahashi fixing the botch at the end was great too. What a hero.


----------



## El Dandy

Love how he beats Tana and doesn't give a single fuck.


----------



## Insomnia

Day 5 was really good.


----------



## DoubtGin

Where can I read the results?

I missed all five days because I keep forgetting it's in the morning/can't find a decent stream.


----------



## El Dandy

Cardo said:


> Day 5 was really good.


For sure. Best day so far.

3 good matches and frontrunner for match of the tournament with Ibushi/Styles.

Most importantly:

Fale is now atop A Block with 4 points 
:brees


----------



## TJQ

DoubtGin said:


> Where can I read the results?
> 
> I missed all five days because I keep forgetting it's in the morning/*can't find a decent stream.*


/wooo/ has you covered


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

Japanese Puroresu said:


> That match was better than Ibushi vs Styles in a traditional sense. That was a great watch, I can't rate it higher though because Naito's expressions left me dead at times. That Tanahashi fixing the botch at the end was great too. What a hero.


I never noticed the thing about Naitos expression, but it's so true.

Ibushi vs Styles was :clap:dance2


----------



## Jbardo

So happy I was able to watch that live.

First 2 matches were pretty bad as expected. Can someone explain how they got busted open? Surely it was an accident and not a blade job?

Shibata v Mabake was fun, nothing great about it, but a decent watch - ***

Styles v Ibushi might top Tanakashi v Ibushi for me. Loved it all, some awesome counters - ****1/2

Tanakashi v Naito - Really good match. Solid storytelling throughout and holy shit at that neck breaker on the table! Lol at Naito giving zero fucks at getting such a big win. - ****

Best night so far.


----------



## Insomnia

Jbardo said:


> Can someone explain how they got busted open? Surely it was an accident and not a blade job?


Tenzan's diving headbutt pretty much cause it.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

Transtlation for the Naito promo at the end of the match:-

"I'm not part of NJPW anymore, I'm never coming back! Now? I'm Los Ingobernables. Naito!"


----------



## Jbardo

Thanks Cardo, will have to rewatch that spot.


----------



## SuzukiGUN

NAITO is fucking awesome, I Truely believe he has the 4th top spot now above ibushi


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

...... Nothing more to add to this.


----------



## Nakamura

Have to keep reminding myself that Styles is 38 with the way he's been performing this year. 


Goddamn, man.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Shinsuke injured according to F4W.

This thing's opening up for BASED Fale.


----------



## LilOlMe

Yano/Styles was such a well laid-out match. Styles countering all of Yano's shenanigans was great.

Seems like I'm a much bigger fan of the Nagata/Nakamura match than people her. Was debating if it was the MOTN or Okada/Honma.

The Nagata match started slowly, but got super hot, to the point where I wondered if they'd really go to a draw, even though that was nonsensical from a booking standpoint. That's how much they sucked me in.

How come you guys aren't as high on it?

The Honma headbutt counters were so great in the Okada match.

Anderson/Goto got good toward the end, and there were a couple of really sick moves. Dragged some, though.

Kojima/Elgin was rock solid. 

Haven't watched today's show yet.


----------



## Vårmakos

The great thing about hardcam is that you can see where Kojima's elbow pad goes.


----------



## El Dandy

It's been 5 days, so how does everyone feel about the new format?

I like it. Much easier to follow having days dedicated to each block. Plus, not as demanding time wise to watch. I may change my tune come Day 15, but so far I dig it.


----------



## Yeezus

JESUS MARIE JOSEPH DAT STYLES VS IBUSHI MATCH

Match of the tournament so far, just pure insanity. Naito vs Tanahashi was also really good, I really dig Naito's new persona.

Otherwise, Makabe vs Shibata was fun, marked out when Shibata won, didn't expect it. And I liked Gallows and Fale beating the shit out of each other more than I should have, so yeah there's that.


----------



## LegendAS

is there any way to watch this without having NJPWworld? Found only day 1 and 2 on dailymotion


----------



## RyanPelley

Any update on Shinsuke's injury?


----------



## Corey

In response to the question, yeah this new format is much easier to keep up with. 



LegendAS said:


> is there any way to watch this without having NJPWworld? Found only day 1 and 2 on dailymotion


I download all the shows off of XWT. If Day 1 and 2 are on Dailymotion though, I expect the rest will slowly be uploaded as time goes on.


----------



## El Dandy

YTR's stitches:



Spoiler: gawd damn















Poor noble brain 

but you know he's gonna be hocking that DVD with a smile on his face the rest of the way!


----------



## Corey

Unpopular opinion time. Styles/Ibushi II was fun no doubt, but it did nothing to stand above their IWGP Title match and was COMPLETELY overshadowed by the main event. It felt so much like Ibushi/Naito from the New Japan Cup. Good back and forth exhibition match where in the end they just started hitting big moves for nearfalls until someone won. I was actually kind of insulted by how easily it looked like Ibushi won the match. He just weathered the storm, hit the top rope hurracanrana for a nearfall, then a phoenix splash for the win. Definitely feel like the win could've felt bigger, but oh well. Don't get that mistaken though because I still liked the match, just didn't love it as much as everyone else.

Tanahashi/Naito on the other hand was super compelling and the type of match I've been looking for all tournament. Something you could really sink your teeth into. You could actually get a sense of character and a real story to indulge in. Wrote more about it in the MOTYC thread, but I loved everything about it except the finish. Weak as hell and felt like it meant nothing when it was actually a pretty big deal.

Either way, after 5 days, here's my top matches that will look like no one else's:

1. Tanahashi vs. Naito - ****
2. Styles vs. Shibata - *** 1/2
3. Styles vs. Ibushi - *** 1/2
4. Okada vs. Elgin - *** 1/4
5. Styles vs. Yano - *** 1/4
6. Elgin vs. Kojima - *** 1/4

Honorable mention going to Anderson/Goto for again having a good story.


----------



## LilOlMe

Ibushi/Styles was really good, but I didn't think it was MOTN, let alone MOTT (lol). 

It felt more like an exchanging of moves for much of it, rather than a match that had a ton of thought put into it. Not necessarily a bad thing, because it's not like it didn't make sense or anything. I just felt that Tanahashi/Ibushi had a lot more depth.

I do understand why some may have had a selling issue with Tanahashi/Ibushi. The way Tanahashi kept making it come across as punishment made up for it totally, IMO, and I've seen much more egregious no-selling than what Ibushi was doing. He didn't ignore it completely...maybe because Tanahashi forced that issue, lol. 

The back and forth exchange toward the end of Styles/Ibushi was good, but I just didn't feel invested in the match. Felt a bit more like a theatrical performance, rather than really wanting to win. Again, I don't think it was a bad match by any means, just explaining why others felt superior.

My mind was also on real-life stuff, so maybe that lessened my enjoyment. The next match, however, was totally able to keep my attention, so I don't know. 


I enjoyed the hell out of Tanahashi/Naito. That was one of the most "committed to a character" performances I've seen in quite some time. Naito was just brilliant here, and Tanahashi worked it perfectly, almost punishing the young, disrespectful, buck in a very realistic, but still very together way.




Japanese Puroresu said:


> That match was better than Ibushi vs Styles in a traditional sense. That was a great watch, I can't rate it higher though because Naito's expressions left me dead at times.





Sick Graps-V2 said:


> I never noticed the thing about Naitos expression, but it's so true.


That "dead" expression is entirely intentional, though. That's part of what helps make it all so great to me. I guess that could make it hard to connect for some, but knowing it's part of the act, it leaves you feeling cold anyway?

To me it just comes across as annoying as fuck, which is so great. Him smiling while in the Figure Four or after a loss makes me lol. I know a lot of purists would probably hate that along with his dead expression, but the fact that he's committed to the "don't give a fuck" fuckery character to that extent, and on every level, is amazing and kind of brilliant to me.

He's probably my favorite character going on in wrestling right now, and I've only seen him in this character during the G1 tournament.

@Japanese Puroresu, does Shibata leave you cold in the same way, since he's genuinely generally distant like that? I like it in him too, but with Naito it's amusing.



amhlilhaus said:


> I'm so bent! When I tried to sign up it tells me to make sure my email can get email from them and my password needs letters and numbers, which it does! Anyone have/heard about those kind of sign up issues, and any idea how to fix them??


Can you try using a different email address? Also, delete your cookies and history. Use a different browser (use IE instead of Firefox, for example). Last but not least, tweet NJPW on Twitter. They'll probably respond if they understand English.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Tanahashi/Naito on the other hand was super compelling and the type of match I've been looking for all tournament. Something you could really sink your teeth into. You could actually get a sense of character and a real story to indulge in.


We wrote our posts at about the same time, so I didn't see your post. Agree with this totally, though.


For me it's:
1)Tanahashi vs. Ibushi **** 1/2
2)Tanahashi vs. Naito **** 1/4 
2.5)AJ Styles vs. Shibata **** 1/4 
4)Okada vs. Elgin ****
5)Nagata vs. Nakamura *** 1/2 - ***3/4ish


----------



## El Dandy

See, I think Styles/Ibushi II is way better than their Invasion Attack match. Their first match was a GIF.

Either way, for my money the top 2 matches so far came from Day 5:

1. Ibushi/Styles
2. Tanahashi/Naito
3. Shibata/Styles
4. Tanahashi/Ibushi
5. Shibata/Naito

HM Elgin/Okada

The Tanahashi/Ibushi match keeps sliding for me. Went back and re-watched yesterday and Ibushi's borderline refusal to sell his leg really brings it down like many of you were saying. In the heat of watching it as a mark with the excitement and all that, I'm not paying attention to the details as much, but I made sure during Styles/Ibushi to see what Kota was doing. Luckily there was no limb work and that's why it stands up as a MOTT contender IMO. They hit all their spots, were laying it in during the first half, and had great pace during the second half.

Some people didn't like Shibata/Naito; I loved it :draper2


----------



## Corey

So with the curveballs thrown to us today, do we think the final four will be any different? Does Naito _really_ have a chance with this new attitude to make it to the finals up against Tana & AJ in the same block? Is this the year Shibata finally breaks through?

Looking at Block B, no fucking way anyone gets past Okada & Nakamura, right? Anderson started off hot but could he really end up in the 3rd place match ahead of Nakamura? This is gonna be interesting. Surely Anderson has at least garnered an Intercontinental Title shot against Goto with his clean victory.

Styles/Naito and Shibata/Ibushi coming up in the next couple days. I have no idea what to expect from those. 

Here's a noobish question because I've rarely ever followed New Japan for long periods of time. What do they do if Okada wins the whole thing? How do they determine his challenger at the Tokyo Dome?


----------



## LilOlMe

@amhlilhaus, I forgot to ask if you're using the English registration page or the Japanese one? Try using the English one if you're not:
https://njpwworld.com/auth?lang=en





el dandy said:


> The Tanahashi/Ibushi match keeps sliding for me. Went back and re-watched yesterday and Ibushi's borderline refusal to sell his leg really brings it down like many of you were saying.


I think that the reason why it bothered me less than some people was that there wasn't such an extended vicious period, where I couldn't buy that someone might be able to shake it off.

Kushida/Omega was unavoidable, because the shit Omega was doing to him was REALLY rough.

I think that the problem with Ibushi for some people is due to the fact that he does use his legs so much. That's going to make it more noticeable for people, when he doesn't sell exactly the way they want him to.

He would stop and sell at times, though (again, I do think that Tanahashi literally forced this). So to me it's more like I won't give him extra credit, but I won't take away a shit ton either.

I actually watched Shibata/Naito again because you were high on it. What I noticed was that Naito goes after one of Shibata's legs. Shibata sells it to the point of falling, and then when he runs & kicks in the corner, he only uses the opposite leg. Found it interesting, because I think he usually has both legs out when he does this.

I think that if Ibushi did stuff like that constantly (selling _while_ doing a move, via doing the move differently from how he normally does it), people would have reacted better. Ibushi would do his typical stuff, but then would favor his leg at times. 



> Some people didn't like Shibata/Naito; I loved it


I did like it even more on re-watch, but I think the problem I had with it was what some had with the Shibata/Styles match (which truly was terrific, and I struggle to decide if it's actually my #2 match). I feel like Shibata/Naito could really blow me away.

Just Naito being as slow and annoying as he is, and Shibata being as "take no shit/annoyed by even the audience touching me" as he is.....that combination could really do wonders. Shibata finally being the one to just stomp the ever living shit out of Naito, could and probably will be glorious. I feel like they're saving it. Or at least, Shibata is. He gave glimpses of that, and every sequence they did in the match worked and was well put together, but I just feel there's a lot more.

In this match, Naito kept cutting him off, which was purposeful, but I was dying for those big explosions.


@Jack Evans 187, I felt pretty sure that Ibushi & Naito were gonna win yesterday. Just felt pretty positive they were gonna want all the big ones to be at 2-1. When I saw that the Tanahashi/Naito video was 42 minutes long, though, I doubted myself, 'cause I felt that meant Tanahashi would be playing air guitar at the end of it, lol.

That's why the ending didn't really bother me (though it did feel lackluster), because it surprised me in that moment. We could say that it fits Naito's lazy/non-flashy persona right now too, lol.

The only thing that has genuinely surprised me is Anderson beating Goto. Didn't see that coming at all. They may be building Anderson up to eventually tease dissension between AJ & Anderson. You know, AJ feeling threatened, or Anderson getting a bigger ego.

Or maybe they just want genuine suspense.

Also thought that Honma might beat Okada, to maintain that "non-frontrunner" status right now, and Honma would be the perfect candidate to overthrow things.


_ETA_: Added a little more to my thoughts about Ibushi's selling.


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> So with the curveballs thrown to us today, do we think the final four will be any different? Does Naito _really_ have a chance with this new attitude to make it to the finals up against Tana & AJ in the same block? Is this the year Shibata finally breaks through?
> 
> Looking at Block B, no fucking way anyone gets past Okada & Nakamura, right? Anderson started off hot but could he really end up in the 3rd place match ahead of Nakamura? This is gonna be interesting. Surely Anderson has at least garnered an Intercontinental Title shot against Goto with his clean victory.
> 
> Styles/Naito and Shibata/Ibushi coming up in the next couple days. I have no idea what to expect from those.
> 
> Here's a noobish question because I've rarely ever followed New Japan for long periods of time. What do they do if Okada wins the whole thing? How do they determine his challenger at the Tokyo Dome?


Okada would most likely flat out make his own challenge.

Him winning would make a lot of sense because then he can hand pick Tana for Tokyo Dome to finally try and defeat him once and for all.

Or you could have Nakamura beat Okada, but Okada wins B Block. Tana wins A Block, and Okada then beats Tana to win the G1. Nakamura could then have a claim to face Okada at Tokyo Dome and they could wait until WK11 to do the big Tana/Okada showdown.

If I had my way, Shibata or Nakamura would win, but it's gonna be Tana or Okada. It's been clear since Jan 4 when Okada was crying that there was still one more Tana/Okada chapter left to write. I just have my fingers crossed that they'll wait another year. 

Would love it if Naito got it and got a proper chance unlike 2013 (he himself was very meh, but Jado/Gedo didn't do him any favors by programing him with Tanaka and Yujiro fresh off of his big G1 win while he should've been being built up for the Dome ME). However, the writings been on the wall for Tana/Okada.

Anderson is a red herring and most likely getting the Shelton Benjamin treatment. Wouldn't be surprised if he started out 4-0, but it'll even out in the end.


----------



## Corey

Oh jesus. A Tanahashi vs. Okada G1 Final followed up by a Tanahashi vs. Okada Wrestle Kingdom main event again. How wonderful that sounds. :lol

Hopefully in some capacity we can get Styles/Nakamura outta this. I'm sure as hell rooting for Naito now though after that performance today.


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

I don't like Naito winning clean. I don't notice a huge difference than the way he was before. and then you have Ibushi crying.


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Oh jesus. A Tanahashi vs. Okada G1 Final followed up by a Tanahashi vs. Okada Wrestle Kingdom main event again. How wonderful that sounds. :lol
> 
> Hopefully in some capacity we can get Styles/Nakamura outta this. I'm sure as hell rooting for Naito now though after that performance today.


The positive of IF they do Tana/Okada in this G1 Final, then they won't go back to it immediately for WK10 (or at least I think they won't. I know the Dome show isn't about fresh matches per se and is 100% about star power, but it would be overkill).

Thinking we're more likely to see Okada v Styles/Ibushi -OR- Nakamura v Tanahashi in the Final.

I'm holding out huge hope that if Nakamura isn't in the Tokyo Dome main event that he's facing Styles in the semi-main. 

They've kept Nakamura/Styles separated for a reason. They have not so much as even touched.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

LilOlMe said:


> Ibushi/Styles was really good, but I didn't think it was MOTN, let alone MOTT (lol).
> 
> It felt more like an exchanging of moves for much of it, rather than a match that had a ton of thought put into it. Not necessarily a bad thing, because it's not like it didn't make sense or anything. I just felt that Tanahashi/Ibushi had a lot more depth.
> 
> I do understand why some may have had a selling issue with Tanahashi/Ibushi. The way Tanahashi kept making it come across as punishment made up for it totally, IMO, and I've seen much more egregious no-selling than what Ibushi was doing. He didn't ignore it completely...maybe because Tanahashi forced that issue, lol.
> 
> The back and forth exchange toward the end of Styles/Ibushi was good, but I just didn't feel invested in the match. Felt a bit more like a theatrical performance, rather than really wanting to win. Again, I don't think it was a bad match by any means, just explaining why others felt superior.
> 
> My mind was also on real-life stuff, so maybe that lessened my enjoyment. The next match, however, was totally able to keep my attention, so I don't know.
> 
> 
> I enjoyed the hell out of Tanahashi/Naito. That was one of the most "committed to a character" performances I've seen in quite some time. Naito was just brilliant here, and Tanahashi worked it perfectly, almost punishing the young, disrespectful, buck in a very realistic, but still very together way.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That "dead" expression is entirely intentional, though. That's part of what helps make it all so great to me. I guess that could make it hard to connect for some, but knowing it's part of the act, it leaves you feeling cold anyway?
> 
> To me it just comes across as annoying as fuck, which is so great. Him smiling while in the Figure Four or after a loss makes me lol. I know a lot of purists would probably hate that along with his dead expression, but the fact that he's committed to the "don't give a fuck" fuckery character to that extent, and on every level, is amazing and kind of brilliant to me.
> 
> He's probably my favorite character going on in wrestling right now, and I've only seen him in this character during the G1 tournament.
> 
> @Japanese Puroresu, does Shibata leave you cold in the same way, since he's genuinely generally distant like that? I like it in him too, but with Naito it's amusing.
> 
> 
> Can you try using a different email address? Also, delete your cookies and history. Use a different browser (use IE instead of Firefox, for example). Last but not least, tweet NJPW on Twitter. They'll probably respond if they understand English.


I don't mean dead in a positive way. He's got a look of happy to be here and that's it. It doesn't come across as heel at all.

Shibata just looks angry the entire time. He shows emotions. He isn't just there like Naito. When Shibata works you can tell through his facials what he's trying to accomplish. Naito is just Naito.


----------



## TJQ

Japanese Puroresu said:


> Naito is just Naito.


Really the best way to put it LOL. It's something I personally can look past but i definitely know what you mean. Though apart from sarcastically saying LOS INGOBERNABLES at shit, I'm not too heavy on his new gimmick :shaq


----------



## Japanese Puroresu




----------



## TripleG

I've started catching up on G1. I've watched matches from Nights 1, 2, & 3. I'm enjoying it. The only real downer so far was how Night 2 was shot with the fixed camera on the ring, which really took the air out of watching it. 

So far I've watched: 

From Night 1: 
- AJ Styles Vs. Shibata = Great, hard hitting match. 
- Tanhashi Vs. Ibushi = Great match and real jump start to the tournament. 

From Night 2: 
- Okada Vs. Elgin = Fine match. Again, the way Night 2 was shot kind of took the fun out of it (look at how they handled the rainmaker pose...yikes), but it was still a solid match. 
- Nakamura Vs. Machine Gun = Shocked by who went over. OK match otherwise. 

From Night 3: 
- Makabe Vs. Bad Luck Fale = Fun big man powerhouse brawl. Not much else to say. 
- Naito Vs. Shibata = Very good match. I am digging Naito as a heel. 
- Tanahashi Vs. Tenzan = Another great match. Tanahashi's on fire! 

Can't wait to watch more of the tournament!


----------



## Lazyking

What I love about the G1 this year is you five matches per block and the last two matches are usually going to get the most time, making it feel like a big deal. Plus, the variety in the matches makes it so you're not seeing the same type of match back to back. That's where NJPW excels as a whole. You have guys that will speed things up, others slow the pace. Big guys, small guys.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

LilOlMe said:


> Ibushi/Styles was really good, but I didn't think it was MOTN, let alone MOTT (lol).
> 
> It felt more like an exchanging of moves for much of it, rather than a match that had a ton of thought put into it. Not necessarily a bad thing, because it's not like it didn't make sense or anything. I just felt that Tanahashi/Ibushi had a lot more depth.
> 
> I do understand why some may have had a selling issue with Tanahashi/Ibushi. The way Tanahashi kept making it come across as punishment made up for it totally, IMO, and I've seen much more egregious no-selling than what Ibushi was doing. He didn't ignore it completely...maybe because Tanahashi forced that issue, lol.
> 
> The back and forth exchange toward the end of Styles/Ibushi was good, but I just didn't feel invested in the match. Felt a bit more like a theatrical performance, rather than really wanting to win. Again, I don't think it was a bad match by any means, just explaining why others felt superior.
> 
> My mind was also on real-life stuff, so maybe that lessened my enjoyment. The next match, however, was totally able to keep my attention, so I don't know.
> 
> 
> I enjoyed the hell out of Tanahashi/Naito. That was one of the most "committed to a character" performances I've seen in quite some time. Naito was just brilliant here, and Tanahashi worked it perfectly, almost punishing the young, disrespectful, buck in a very realistic, but still very together way.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That "dead" expression is entirely intentional, though. That's part of what helps make it all so great to me. I guess that could make it hard to connect for some, but knowing it's part of the act, it leaves you feeling cold anyway?
> 
> To me it just comes across as annoying as fuck, which is so great. Him smiling while in the Figure Four or after a loss makes me lol. I know a lot of purists would probably hate that along with his dead expression, but the fact that he's committed to the "don't give a fuck" fuckery character to that extent, and on every level, is amazing and kind of brilliant to me.
> 
> He's probably my favorite character going on in wrestling right now, and I've only seen him in this character during the G1 tournament.
> 
> @Japanese Puroresu, does Shibata leave you cold in the same way, since he's genuinely generally distant like that? I like it in him too, but with Naito it's amusing.
> 
> 
> Can you try using a different email address? Also, delete your cookies and history. Use a different browser (use IE instead of Firefox, for example). Last but not least, tweet NJPW on Twitter. They'll probably respond if they understand English.


Don't get me wrong I'm really enjoying Naitos' work in the ring and I like where he is going with his character, I just find the distant look in his eyes to be somewhat of a disconnect even if it is a part of his gimmick; as I remember a similar vacant stare from his face run. I feel like I could enjoy him more if he found a way to maintain his character while exuding emotion a little better; that being said I've enjoyed his matches with both Tanahashi and Shibata. I probably enjoyed the Tanahashi match from day five more but both were solid matches in my opinion; I'm watching both those matches back now though to gain a little more perspective.

I'm happy with Elgins' work so far; I really enjoyed his match with Okada and feel the two have a good dynamic. I'd really like to see Elgin face Ishii, two powerful offensive styles; and since they're both in block B fortunately we have that to look forward to. I love that Ishii can be incredibly agile for his size and look forward to seeing the two clash soon.

Although I am surprised they put Ibushi over Styles that match is in my top few of the tournament so far, as is the main event of the same day with the former edging out the latter in my mind. 

I'd like to see Nakamura compete in the final this year and go on to win it, but I also think that the story of Okadas' road to redemption; a year of doubt sprouting from his tearful loss to Tanahashi at this years dome show logically ends with him beating Tanahashi for the title at Wrestle Kingdom 10, in a true passing of the torch moment. Though if that is going to happen it would make sense for Tanahashi to be the one to defeat Okada once more for the title before the dome show. 

Time will tell how they work it out, but I'd love to see Nakamura somehow logically in that Wrestle Kingdom 10 main event too.

Roll on to day 6 tomorrow and we have Nakamura vs Elgin, Kojima vs Okada and Iishi vs Anderson: (someone who has also surprisingly impressed me so far). It should be a good show.


----------



## El Dandy

Another thing I like about Naito's recent re-package is how he evolves each time we see him.

- Dominion: Started with just the hat and the shirt; acts aloof
- Starts growing in facial hair
- G1 Day 1 new entrance gear; new trunks, but with white boots and still wrestles a bit like old Naito
- G1 Day 3 he's wearing black boots; enters full heel mode and works differently
- G1 Day 5 he debuts his new finish to replace Stardust Press; cuts main event heel promo explaining motives

Only things left to change are his hair and his theme. I'm torn on his theme... it doesn't fit his new character, but it's one of the best themes in wrestling.

What they've done with Naito has been awesome. How they've used his negatives as his new positives is a page right out of Paul Heyman's book. Has go away heat in some cities and doesn't connect on a top level with the fans? Fans reject his G1 win and get him kicked out of the Tokyo Dome main event? Fine, fuck the fans and fuck New Japan. See how many fucks he gives now as he's turned his back on NJPW and lives for LOS INGOBERNABLES

Naito is the only guy to get actual heel heat in each of the 5 G1 shows. He's over and I'm now kind of expecting him to be a top challenger for the Heavyweight title after January 4. I'm very interested to see who he's paired with for the Dome show.


----------



## Miguel De Juan

Naito is becoming an awesome heel. I hope La Sombra, Rush, La Mascara, and Marco Corleone join him.

They are turning him around from getting booed against guys like Ishii.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 5!

*Bad Luck Fale vs. Doc Gallows - **
Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - **1/2
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Togi Makabe - ***1/2
AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi - ****1/2
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito - ****1/4*

Seems like I liked Fale/Gallows more than many others did. I thought it was an OK match.
Yano/Tenzan was fun, and the headbutt looked NASTY.
Shibata/Makabe was exactly what you would expect from those 2. Very good match.
Styles/Ibushi, well what can I say that hasn't been said? This was just AMAZING. This match actually kinda reminds me of Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio from WCW Halloween Havoc '97. Just amazing stuff. One of the best matches of 2015 so far. Styles is having one hell of a year.
Tana/Naito was a GREAT main event. Some nice psychology there, and I am LOVING Naito's new character. LOS INGOBERNABLES.

Overall this show was GREAT. Probably the best G1 day so far!



Spoiler: G1 Climax 25 Match Ratings & Ranking



1. AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 5) - ****1/2
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 1) - ****1/2
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 5) - ****1/4
4. AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Day 1) - ****
5. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 3) - ***3/4
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Day 3) - ***3/4
7. AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano (Day 3) - ***1/2
8. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Togi Makabe (Day 5) - ***1/2
9. Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin (Day 2) - ***1/2
10. Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 3) - ***
11. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 4) - ***
12. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson (Day 2) - ***
13. Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 2) - ***
14. Toru Yano vs. Togi Makabe (Day 1) - **3/4
15. Michael Elgin vs. Satoshi Kojima (Day 4) - **3/4
16. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Satoshi Kojima (Day 2) - **3/4
17. Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Day 5) - **1/2
18. Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Day 4) - **1/4
19. Bad Luck Fale vs. Doc Gallows (Day 5) - **
20. Bad Luck Fale vs. Togi Makabe (Day 3) - **
21. Hirooki Goto vs. Karl Anderson (Day 4) - **
22. Doc Gallows vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Day 1) - *3/4
23. Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi (Day 2) - *3/4
24. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi (Day 4) - *1/2
25. Bad Luck Fale vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 1) - *1/4


----------



## ErickRowan_Fan

Naito is doing an excellent job as a heel in my opinion. 

He manages to make you want to see him get his ass kicked due to the annoying facial expressions and slow movements that he makes, without actually turning the match into a borefest (Randy Orton style). 

If he was as involving with his facial expressions as the likes of Nakamura or Shibata, I suppose he would be getting cheered, which isn't a part of his current job.

He's much better off as a heel because I always felt the guy just comes off as naturally annoying, even without trying. There's just something about the guy which makes you want to see him get beat up. The crowd was just stunned when he beat Tanahashi and stood over him, didn't expect to see that.


----------



## Corey

el dandy said:


> Naito is the only guy to get actual heel heat in each of the 5 G1 shows.


Bingo. That's what makes this even better. AJ is technically still the "top" heel but Naito is really the only guy getting the heat right now because of character. Definitely pulling for the guy.

Still no update on Nakamura, huh? Wonder if he'll be able to go against Elgin tomorrow. If not I guess he forfeits the loss, but he wouldn't have to wrestle again until August 1st against Ishii. May give him more time to heal up.


----------



## LilOlMe

ErickRowan_Fan said:


> He's much better off as a heel because I always felt the guy just comes off as naturally annoying, even without trying. There's just something about the guy which makes you want to see him get beat up.


Exactly. I was coming here to write exactly this....:




Japanese Puroresu said:


> I don't mean dead in a positive way. He's got a look of happy to be here and that's it. It doesn't come across as heel at all.
> 
> Shibata just looks angry the entire time. He shows emotions. He isn't just there like Naito. When Shibata works you can tell through his facials what he's trying to accomplish. Naito is just Naito.


Well, I mean you called him a charisma blackhole, so I take it you were already very negative on him. Can't imagine someone just seeing him in this character and saying that, but everyone has their preferences. The "happy to be here" look is supposed to read that way...it's smart-assy.

What I think is in real life he's probably got this quality to him, and audiences could see through that. That's why it was hard to root for him before. He wasn't really a natural face, and didn't have that real underdog, rootable, quality. Mainly because I think he really is a smart-ass.

This is perfect.



Sick Graps-V2 said:


> I just find the distant look in his eyes to be somewhat of a disconnect even if it is a part of his gimmick
> 
> I'm watching both those matches back now though to gain a little more perspective.


I can understand that.

Curious if you have any additional thoughts on the matches now.




el dandy said:


> Only things left to change are his hair and his theme. I'm torn on his theme... it doesn't fit his new character, but it's one of the best themes in wrestling.


I like that the theme doesn't fit the character. The fact that he walks out so damn slowly to a really peppy theme, makes him even more irritating. He will soon be rivaling the Undertaker in entrance length, lol.

I like the hair too. I like that he doesn't bother to change it, lol.


----------



## LateTrain27

Out of Sunday's show, Fale over Gallows was the only result I predicted correctly. G1 seems to be really swerving me all the sudden. Fale vs Gallows surprisingly didn't suck (felt disappointed that the Bad Luck Fall on Gallows didn't happen though.), find it almost weird that of all matches to have people bleeding it was Tenzan vs Yano (poor Yano though, that cut was really nasty) and I really enjoyed both the Ibushi/Styles & Tanahashi/Naito bouts, two of the best in the tournament so far.

Welp, my predictions for tonight are Nagata, Goto, Anderson, Nakamura (if competing, don't know how serious the injury is) & Okada. First with Karl Anderson, now with all the curveballs on Sunday, how could the G1 possibly swerve me this time?


----------



## El Dandy

Nakamura is now confirmed out for tonight.

Next B Block show isn't until 8/1, so there is time for him to get better. I imagine something would have to be flat out broken in order for him to miss the rest of G1. Without him, Block B shows are in trouble.


----------



## LateTrain27

No Nakamura/Elgin then? Damn. 

Hope injury isn't too serious. As already said, the B block would be a bit lacking without him.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Is there any precedent for people being replaced mid-way through the tournament?


----------



## RyanPelley

Man, that really sucks. Hoping Shinsuke returns to win the tourney.


----------



## Insomnia

Yujiro/Nagata's match was good.


----------



## RyanPelley

Yeeeeh, glad to see Yujiro finally get a win.


----------



## Insomnia

Good match!

Poor Honma...


----------



## LateTrain27

I must say I REALLY enjoyed Tomohiro Ishii vs Karl Anderson.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Currently watching Day 5.

So far, I've been enjoying the G1 Climax.*


----------



## El Dandy

Another solid day from B Block. Nothing spectacular, but nothing bad. 




SHIRLEY said:


> Is there any precedent for people being replaced mid-way through the tournament?


Not that I can find.

Every other time it has happened (like in 2013 with Tenzan & Goto), they were just flat out pulled.

In shows that are already 5 match cards, they really can't afford to lose Nakamura. It kind of makes you wonder why they didn't do 22 (22?! oh man) participants like last year or up it to 24. 6 match cards would soften the blow of losing this big of a name and give flexibility, but I guess NJPW roster is kind of thin ATM with all of Suzuki-gun in Noah. They are rally missing a guy like Suzuki right about now.

Hopefully he can get by working just tourny matches and they pull him from the pointless filler tag matches. If Nakamura can't go, maybe they consider replacing him with YOSHI-HASHI (ugh) just to fill out the cards the rest of the way and keep B Block shows at 5 matches, but more than likely they'd just remove Nakamura and he forfeits.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Yeah aside from Suzuki and YOSHI-HASHI the only other possibilities would be Sakuraba and Tama Tonga.


----------



## RyanPelley

This guy is so cool.


----------



## Mr. Socko

I absolutely LOVE Naito as a heel.

Never gave a fuck about him as a face but his IDGAF attitude as a heel is working for me.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 6!

*Yuji Nagata vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *3/4
Hirooki Goto vs. Tomoaki Honma - ****
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson - ***3/4
Kazuchika Okada vs. Satoshi Kojima - ****

Nagata/Yujiro was not horrible. Probably Yujiro's best G1 match so far.
Goto/Honma was GREAT. Basically just them beating the shit out of each other, and it was GREAT.
Ishii/Anderson was very good match. Ishii's selling here was awesome. He is so great.
Okada/Kojima was a good main event.

Overall this was a very good show. Goto/Honma & Anderson/Ishii are definitely worth watching.

SHIBATA vs. IBUSHI tomorrow :mark:


----------



## El Dandy

This finish was practically made to counter the Rainmaker. 

Remember this counter. Maybe in this G1 Final, maybe in a title match down the road. But one day he will beat Okada with this exact sequence in a big match IMO

:sundin


----------



## LilOlMe

I thought Goto/Honma was tremendous, and definitely one of the top 5 matches of the tournament thus far.

They pretty much defined "having the crowd in the palm of one's hands." Good shit.


----------



## kimino

NAITO with the swag "a la " INGOBERNABLES style, hope that one day Rush and Sombra make a surprise entry in a NJPW show


----------



## Corey

Thought Day 6 was a total snoozefest. Nothing I'd ever watch again outta that bunch. I think it might be the structure of some of these matches but some of them really don't do anything for me. They never have a defined story or structure, it's just a bunch of random back and forth shit, much like Goto/Honma was. Some forearms and headbutt attempts with a lot of yelling from Goto. Actually there seems to be a forearm exchange in like every match. Ishii/Anderson was probably best of the night but even that ended up going too long to keep my attention. Okada vs. Kojima was nothing. Okada selling the one lariat he took like he was shot by a fucking cannon and then popping up for a dropkick was really weird.

Oh well, onto Day 7 tomorrow. STYLES VS. NAITO! :mark:


----------



## 3MB4Life

Loving this White/Finlay team, I feel a Junior Tag Championship in their future. White is progressing really well and Finlay is a really solid wrestler. And their both only 22, they have really bright futures.


----------



## El Dandy

Just hit me that, if Nakamura gets pulled from the tournament and forfeits, then Honma will officially get his first 2 G1 points.

NOT THIS WAY DAMN IT :bahgawd


----------



## TJQ

el dandy said:


> NOT THIS WAY DAMN IT :bahgawd


NO, WE NEED THE BIG UPSET. UNACCEPTABLE.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*I'm about to watch Day 6, and I just wanted to say that I enjoyed the hell out of Naito/Tanahashi.

I've been enjoying heel Naito, and Tanahashi's one of my favorite wrestlers in the world right now.

Regarding Nakamura's injury, I hope he'll be back, and he won't get pulled out of the G1.*


----------



## LateTrain27

I predict Yano, Makabe, Ibushi, Tanahashi & Styles as tonight's G1 winners.


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: Day 5 Tournament Ratings



Bad Luck Fale vs Doc Gallows: ***
Toru Yano vs Hiryoshi Tenzan: *1/2**
Katsoyuri Shibata vs Togi Makabe: ***1/2*
AJ Styles vs Kota Ibushi: *****1/2*
Tetsuya Naito vs Hiroshi Tanahashi: ******

Let's get the first two matches out of the way because they were bad. Fale/Gallows was expected to be bad and it pretty much was how I expected it to be and could have been a lot worse. So in that sense, there was no loss here. They did pretty much as best as I expected. Yano/Tenzan however....horrible. Absolutey horrific. This might anger some people but fuck it I'm coming out and saying it: Tenzan is god awful. I have never seen this guy pull out a great match ever since I started watching in 2012. He is horrendously slow. It's not that he is working a deliberate pace like some big men do and have in the past, I would understand if that were the case but that is not Tenzan's style. it's that he is horribly sluggish when he is working. And this match not only was he sluggish but unbelievably sloppy. That headbutt was just the icing on the cake, he was completely off the entire match. It's a shame for Yano as the rest of his matches have been super fun. But yeah, fuck Tenzan.

Shibata/Makabe was a decent hard hitting match. Could have gotten a little more out of them but with Shibata's injury and him working through it simply for this tournament I cannot complain. The final two matches are what make this day. Styles/Ibushi is the match of the tournament so far without a doubt. Fucking unreal match. These two have superb chemistry. I did not see the Invasion Attack match which got mixed reviews here but this match was outstanding.

Naito/Tanahashi was a great main event and another top tournament match so far. I'm loving Naito as a heel at the moment, so much better than his face work and suits him to a tee. Tanahashi was Tanahashi, you know the deal.

Overall probably the best day so far simply because of the quality of the final two matches.



Time to catch up with Day 6!


----------



## RiC David

Nine..._teen_ days?!


I just legally aquired the first three days thinking "I guess they'll be about an hour long each, so that's 5...maybe 7 hours total"

No, they're over three hours each and there's *19* of them?!


Surely I'm missing something...hang on, let me check if the first one's really long and the rest are shorter tournament shows.

...

..No they're all three hours. Even if I watched no wrestling over than New Japan and hadn't seen any for months, I couldn't possibly watch a PPV length show 17 flippin' nights running. And I thought SummerSlam being 4 hours was a stretch! Good grief.


----------



## DOPA

RiC David said:


> Nine..._teen_ days?!
> 
> 
> I just legally aquired the first three days thinking "I guess they'll be about an hour long each, so that's 5...maybe 7 hours total"
> 
> No, they're over three hours each and there's *19* of them?!
> 
> 
> Surely I'm missing something...hang on, let me check if the first one's really long and the rest are shorter tournament shows.
> 
> ...
> 
> ..No they're all three hours. Even if I watched no wrestling over than New Japan and hadn't seen any for months, I couldn't possibly watch a PPV length show 17 flippin' nights running. And I thought SummerSlam being 4 hours was a stretch! Good grief.


Honestly dude, you can skip the first half of each show and just watch the 2nd half of them which is the G1 tournament matches. Those are the matches that matter anyway. Both in terms of match quality and significance.

That's what I've been doing, I haven't watched a single first half of any of these shows yet. And I'll only watch a match from them if a few people rave about a certain match.

Only the final day will be a show you'll have to watch all of it because there will be Junior Heavyweight title defenses as well.


----------



## TJQ

RiC David said:


> Nine..._teen_ days?!
> 
> 
> I just legally aquired the first three days thinking "I guess they'll be about an hour long each, so that's 5...maybe 7 hours total"
> 
> No, they're over three hours each and there's *19* of them?!
> 
> 
> Surely I'm missing something...hang on, let me check if the first one's really long and the rest are shorter tournament shows.
> 
> ...
> 
> ..No they're all three hours. Even if I watched no wrestling over than New Japan and hadn't seen any for months, I couldn't possibly watch a PPV length show 17 flippin' nights running. And I thought SummerSlam being 4 hours was a stretch! Good grief.


It's well worth it, I'm getting like 3 hours of sleep each A Block night because I want to watch them live LOL. GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO FOR THE BEST WRESTLING IN THE WORLD, BAYBAY.


----------



## El Dandy

Hold onto to your butts.

Gonna be kicks and kicks and kicks and kicks


----------



## 3MB4Life

TJQ said:


> It's well worth it, I'm getting like 3 hours of sleep each A Block night because I want to watch them live LOL. GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO FOR THE BEST WRESTLING IN THE WORLD, BAYBAY.


When does G1 Climax broadcast in the US?


----------



## El Dandy

This fighting spirit!
This match!


----------



## TJQ

FUCKING FUCK YES, SHIBATA TAKING THAT W :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark:



3MB4Life said:


> When does G1 Climax broadcast in the US?


Most days start at 5:30am, which today was.


----------



## Insomnia

Shibata/Ibushi's match! :banderas :clap


----------



## LilOlMe

OH FUCK YEAH AT THAT SHIBATA/IBUSHI MATCH.


----------



## El Dandy

:rusevyes

IS THIS THE YEAR FOR SHIBATA!?

Ibushi looks like the softest guy on the roster, but he fucking dishes it out and takes it.

What an outstanding match.

I know it's like 5 minutes fresh, but new MOTT :draper2. That match is why I love this. It's why us East coasters get up at 5:30 AM. It's why all of us go out of our way and seek the best wrestling in the world.


----------



## LilOlMe

Ultra-aggressive Shibata is probably my favorite thing in wrestling.

That last kick from Ibushi looked stiff as fuck.

Brilliant match. My favorite of the tournament.

From what I'm seeing on Twitter, people are saying the same thing.

Yeah, Ibushi is actually one of the most vicious looking workers. I thought that he was gonna win, with the way that they set up Shibata dominating in the beginning.

Also, I love that the sleeper was shorter than usual. That made the kick for the win even more impactful (and probably more surprising for some).


----------



## NastyYaffa

Shibata vs. Ibushi was INSANE.


----------



## LilOlMe

Give star ratings, ya'll! Curious.

Been dying for that type of explosive Shibata performance all tourney long.


----------



## NastyYaffa

LilOlMe said:


> Give star ratings, ya'll! Curious.
> 
> Been dying for that type of explosive Shibata performance all tourney long.


Gotta re-watch to give it some starz, but it's definitely up there w/ Styles/Ibushi + Tana/Ibushi for me as one of the best matches of the tournament so far.


----------



## DOPA

I'm catching up with Day 6 and now I can't wait for Ibushi/Shibata you motherfuckers .

IBUSHI with these big match performances :mark: :mark: :mark:

Aggressive SHIBATA :mark: :mark: :mark:

I'm hyped and I haven't even watched it :lol.


----------



## LilOlMe

Someone tweeted this:


> Amazing story of Ibushi having to man up, and drop all the high flying stuff to defeat Shibata. In the end, he just failed #njpwworld #g125


Now that I think of it, he didn't even _tease_ anything high-flying toward the end.

I loved Shibata's aggressive yell as he was walking back up the aisle after the match was over. He never does that. It really is how people react after they've just been in a vicious fight.

This shit will need dissecting later, lol.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> Give star ratings, ya'll! Curious.
> 
> Been dying for that type of explosive Shibata performance all tourney long.


I, myself, am terrible with ratings lol. I rated Styles/Ibushi full 5 literally minutes after it. When I watched it later it was still a great match, but not a perfect match on that level.

I just know I haven't even been paying attention to Tana/Fale cause I'm still riding the high.

It's also made me forget that we get LOS INGOBERNABLES in, like, 10 minutes.

Take it for what's it's worth, but it's def my favorite Shibata match of the tourny. Considering 2 of my 3 favorite matches this entire G1 were Shibata/Naito & Shibata/Styles, that says something.

It had great storytelling (like you wrote above), great pace, and a hot crowd. Loved that Shibata was shaking his head "no, that's not good enough kid" when Ibushi wasn't hitting him hard enough. Loved that Shibata just got angrier each time Ibushi hit him and that Ibushi eventually got backed into the corner by Shibata just being the alpha male. Loved that Ibushi stole his corner kick and tried to even do a PK.

EDIT: I hear Fale's music. I guess that means he won lol


----------



## TJQ

AIR FALE


----------



## Insomnia

Fale beat Tana!


----------



## El Dandy

Fuck, with Fale winning that means EL INGOBERNABLE isn't gonna pull off the upset :jose


----------



## MTheBehemoth

Slightly botched High Fly Fale. W/e match. NJPW are very slow on giving up on Fale, unfortunately.


----------



## TJQ

MTheBehemoth said:


> Slightly botched High Fly Fale. W/e match. NJPW are very slow on giving up on Fale, unfortunately.


Generally speaking, the only person I find less entertaining than Fale and Gallows is Yujiro. Very rarely do they impress or entertain me.


----------



## LilOlMe

el dandy said:


> I just know I haven't even been paying attention to Tana/Fale cause I'm still riding the high.


lmao, you are exactly me. 



el dandy said:


> It's also made me forget that we get LOS INGOBERNABLES in, like, 10 minutes.


Never forget. This show might give us two dandys...I've always wanted to use that word, lol.




el dandy said:


> It had great storytelling (like you wrote above), great pace, and a hot crowd. *Loved that Shibata was shaking his head "no, that's not good enough kid" when Ibushi wasn't hitting him hard enough. Loved that Shibata just got angrier each time Ibushi hit him and that Ibushi eventually got backed into the corner by Shibata just being the alpha male.* Loved that Ibushi stole his corner kick and tried to even do a PK.
> 
> EDIT: I hear Fale's music. I guess that means he won lol


Great post. Especially the bolded. Did you ever see Shibata vs. Kojima 8/2/13? I wrote this about that, and it reminded me of what you wrote:


> There's a moment in the match against Kojima that I mentioned, where Kojima is chopping Shibata in a fury. Shibata is trying his best not to grimace, but grimaces creep out. His jaw is tightening, and he's holding his body position in an uptight way, conveying that it's hurting like hell, but he has too much pride to show it. His face and his body are betraying him, though (it's subtle, but little subtleties like that I love).
> 
> He then bucks up, grabs & drags Kojima by the hair while screaming in his face, and then starts beating the shit out of him.
> 
> Like "fuck you, you can't outgun me, asshole."


FUCK. I figured there was no harm in coming here, because I was like "of course Tanahashi will win anyway."

King Naito is here!!!

I wonder if he understands the shit AJ is talking right now? lol. "You've got to be real sexy to take your clothes off like that!"


----------



## BuzzKillington

TJQ said:


> Generally speaking, the only person I find less entertaining than Fale and Gallows is Yujiro. Very rarely do they impress or entertain me.


The only redeeming quality about Yujiro is the chance to get a good look at Mao. :banderas


----------



## El Dandy

LOS INGOBERNABLES!!!!!!!!


----------



## El Dandy

*MOTN* - Shibata/Ibushi
*I say this after every A Block show, but new MOTT* - Shibata/Ibushi 
:draper2

Styles/Naito was very good, too. Nobody is kicking out of that finish this G1 or for the foreseeable future. He pinned Tana and AJ with it clean and they both sold for it like it is devastating. Naito just beat the 2 killers in the group in consecutive main events. He is a legit player going forward. Move over Bullet Club, there is a new #1 heel in New Japan.

VIVA LOS INGOBERNABLES!

VIVA LOS ESSA RIOS!


----------



## NastyYaffa

el dandy said:


> *MOTN* - Shibata/Ibushi
> *I say this after every A Block show, but new MOTT* - Shibata/Ibushi
> :draper2!


I am not sure would I say that it's the best match of the whole tournament so far, but it's definitely in top-3. My top-3 is actually all Ibushi matches. Ibushi/Tana, Ibushi/Styles and now Ibushi/Shibata.

BIG MATCH KOTA! :jbl


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: Day 6 Match Tournament Ratings



Yujiro Takahashi vs Yuji Nagata: *****
Tomoaki Honma vs Hirooki Goto: ****3/4*
Karl Anderson vs Tomohori Ishii: ****1/2*
Satoshi Kojima vs Kazuchika Okada: *****

Really solid day. Good opener and main event with two very good matches in the middle. Honma/Goto was a war. Really enjoyed this show all the way through.



Gonna watch Day 7 later .


----------



## Corey

Good lord, Fale beat Tanahashi!? They're throwing curveballs for fun now!  Can't wait to watch this day when I get off tonight. @LilOlMe losing his mind after that Shibata match. Never seen you like that. :lol

Naito to win the whole damn thing!


----------



## SuzukiGUN

Just watched day7 oh my naito 

kada


----------



## SHIRLEY

FALEWINSLOL


----------



## Morrison17

Curently on day 5.

AJ vs. Ibushi, AJ vs. Toru and 1st night main event are my fav by far. Still hating on Cody losing, still do not understand some of the matches's outcomes.


----------



## KO Bossy

Hey all, I haven't been watching the G1 unfortunately, not enough time as of late. I've been keeping up with the results, though. I'll hopefully have time on the weekend and just binge watch a bunch of the good stuff. I've been keeping a list of everything I want to check out. I swear, I dunno how all of you find the time to watch this live or the next day.

Anyway, can somebody do me a favor and send me a pm with all of Dave Meltzer's star ratings for the tournament thus far? I'm curious what they are but haven't been able to find them on pro fight db or anywhere else.


----------



## Lazyking

The thing with the G1 is, some guys have to lose matches to people they normally wont lose to just to keep to the math. plus its a built in rematch over the fall and winter. I personally thought Fale vs Tana was good cause Tana is such a great worker. The crowd got into it and fale did just enough. Shibata/Ibushi was amazing and stiff.


With Nakamura out that changes the whole B block.. gotta figure okada wins the block if Nakamura can't go.


----------



## TJQ

KO Bossy said:


> Hey all, I haven't been watching the G1 unfortunately, not enough time as of late. I've been keeping up with the results, though. I'll hopefully have time on the weekend and just binge watch a bunch of the good stuff. I've been keeping a list of everything I want to check out. I swear, I dunno how all of you find the time to watch this live or the next day.
> 
> Anyway, can somebody do me a favor and send me a pm with all of Dave Meltzer's star ratings for the tournament thus far? I'm curious what they are but haven't been able to find them on pro fight db or anywhere else.


He puts out his ratings every thursday, so all his ratings for the 7 G1 days will be out tomorrow.


----------



## El Dandy

So far my Top matches:

1. Shibata/Ibushi
2. Styles/Ibushi
3. Shibata/Styles
4. Tanahashi/Naito
5. Tanahashi/Ibushi

I REALLY hope Jado/Gedo pull the trigger on one of Shibata or Naito. I know the story all year blatantly calls for Okada/Tana in the Dome for the title, but they have a chance here to make a new top guy. 

Putting on my fantasy booker hat, I think something I could see is this:

The last day of A Block is main evented by Styles/Tanahashi. It stands to reason that that match is more/less going to be a defacto semi-final with the winner advancing. Unless.....

Say we enter Day 17 with Styles & Tana tied at the top of A Block and Naito trailing by 1 point. Naito beats Tenzan and goes up by 1 point over Tana & Styles. However, Tana/Styles are the last match and it seems like one of them will obviously advance with a win. What if a 30 minute draw happens with Tana/Styles? That means there is a 3-way tie for 1st, and Naito would advance because of owning the tie-breaker.

I have to think there will be some kind of swerve on the last days of the Block shows. No matter how obvious it seems, it won't be as simple as Styles/Tana in essentially the A Block semi-final, and Nakamura/Okada in essentially the B Block semi-final. Something is gonna happen in one of the matches, and you gotta think that Naito beating both Tana & Styles will come into play later on.


----------



## Lazyking

Would they dare try to sell Naito/Okada at the dome again? Sure, different setup now but I think that's taking a big risk. New Japan likes playing it safe.

If Goto didn't have the IC belt, I'd put that on Shibata.. give him a massive run then win G1 next year.


----------



## El Dandy

Lazyking said:


> Would they dare try to sell Naito/Okada at the dome again? Sure, different setup now but I think that's taking a big risk. New Japan likes playing it safe.
> 
> If Goto didn't have the IC belt, I'd put that on Shibata.. give him a massive run then win G1 next year.


I think they could because the fans are reacting strongly towards him.

Naito was more/less sabotaged for WK8. The crowds were lukewarm for him to begin with and for good reason. Instead of his follow up booking beating credible opponents to get him ready for that spot, they had him working Masato Tanaka and Yujiro. Plus, that Naito sucked TBH.

The story all year has been Okada's redemption against Tanahashi, but would love an unexpected turn if it ending up being Naito's redemption against Okada & NJPW fans instead.

Either way, I'm now thinking Naito is winning A Block. He more than likely ends up losing to Nakamura or Okada in the Final, so I digress.

Naito even making it to the Final would be a big success. Hopefully he is paired at the Dome with someone like Nakamura, Goto, Shibata, Ibushi, wins said match, and then makes his Heavyweight title challenge for New Beginning.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

Shibata vs Ibushi was a fun little match. Had high hopes coming in with those two styles I was expecting some sick striking. What I hate about wrestling are the worked punches. I get that you cant go all out since you can end up knocking someone out but there has to be a way to throw quick explosive punches and then stopping right before you make contact. I dunno Ibushis punches looked pretty bad and his elbow strikes werent all that either. My favorite "spot" in the match was Shibatas slap towards the end. Goddamn itt looked like he killed him channeling his inner bruce lee and from the angle they shot it looked like an actual punch. Then the sleeper and penalty kick to finnish the match. Like I said a couple weeks ago Ibushi is the mvp of wrestling this year and he has had what 3 motyc this tournament alone. 

**** 1/3 for me. Probably mott aswell or up there with ibushi/styles.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

el dandy said:


> I think they could because the fans are reacting strongly towards him.
> 
> Naito was more/less sabotaged for WK8. The crowds were lukewarm for him to begin with and for good reason. Instead of his follow up booking beating credible opponents to get him ready for that spot, they had him working Masato Tanaka and Yujiro. Plus, that Naito sucked TBH.
> 
> The story all year has been Okada's redemption against Tanahashi, but would love an unexpected turn if it ending up being Naito's redemption against Okada & NJPW fans instead.
> 
> Either way, I'm now thinking Naito is winning A Block. He more than likely ends up losing to Nakamura or Okada in the Final, so I digress.
> 
> Naito even making it to the Final would be a big success. Hopefully he is paired at the Dome with someone like Nakamura, Goto, Shibata, Ibushi, wins said match, and then makes his Heavyweight title challenge for New Beginning.


Dude I just have to know what match is that profile pic of yours with Shibata killing Tanahashi? Dang that looks sick.


----------



## El Dandy

^^^
From last years G1

LINK


----------



## TJQ

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Dude I just have to know what match is that profile pic of yours with Shibata killing Tanahashi? Dang that looks sick.


Pretty sure it's their G1 match from last year.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 7:

*Doc Gallows vs. Toru Yano - ***
Togi Makabe vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - *1/2
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi - ****1/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale - ***3/4
AJ Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito - ***1/2*

Gallows/Yano was FUN. Yano has been so good during this G1.
Makabe/Tenzan was meh.
Shibata/Ibushi was GREAT and the best match of the night. Not as good as Ibushi/Styles or Ibushi/Tana, but it's up there as one of the best matches of the tournament so far. That SLAP by Shibata. :banderas
I really liked Tana/Fale. Probably the 2nd best Fale match I have ever seen.
Styles/Naito was a very good main event, but not as good as their first 2 matches against each other. Styles was hilarious when Naito was taking his clothes off. :lol

Overall day 7 was good. G1 is really starting to pick up.


----------



## ExGrodzki

Shibata is a fucking animal


----------



## Farnellpem

*Suitable cheaply ed-pills no remedy*

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----------



## RyanPelley

Lariatoh! said:


> Edit: also new japan are keeping Styles and Swag a part big time... Will they face off at the dome instead of the G1 finals? There is def a few possibilities...


Would be outstanding.


----------



## Lariatoh!

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Shibata vs Ibushi was a fun little match. Had high hopes coming in with those two styles I was expecting some sick striking. What I hate about wrestling are the worked punches. I get that you cant go all out since you can end up knocking someone out but there has to be a way to throw quick explosive punches and then stopping right before you make contact. I dunno Ibushis punches looked pretty bad and his elbow strikes werent all that either. My favorite "spot" in the match was Shibatas slap towards the end. Goddamn itt looked like he killed him channeling his inner bruce lee and from the angle they shot it looked like an actual punch. Then the sleeper and penalty kick to finnish the match. Like I said a couple weeks ago Ibushi is the mvp of wrestling this year and he has had what 3 motyc this tournament alone.
> 
> **** 1/3 for me. Probably mott aswell or up there with ibushi/styles.


NJPW performers I think usually stay away from the American style punching game... as it's "wrestling" not "fighting"... and what I mean by this is when they do punch someone it's a big deal... if you watch a Swag match there's a spot he does near the end of a match where he balls up his fist and lets someone have it. It's a bit of his inring storytelling that shows, his opponent has gotten a little better of him, and so he pulls out a punch to the face. Tana does it with good effect too, but he usually hits body shots. 

That's why palm strikes, kicks and forearm/elbow strikes are mostly used in NJ. Punches are used as a big deal... if Ibushi is using them all the time, it maybe from his DDT days and bringing it in perhaps...


----------



## LilOlMe

KO Bossy said:


> Hey all, I haven't been watching the G1 unfortunately, not enough time as of late. I've been keeping up with the results, though. I'll hopefully have time on the weekend and just binge watch a bunch of the good stuff. I've been keeping a list of everything I want to check out. I swear, I dunno how all of you find the time to watch this live or the next day.
> 
> Anyway, can somebody do me a favor and send me a pm with all of Dave Meltzer's star ratings for the tournament thus far? I'm curious what they are but haven't been able to find them on pro fight db or anywhere else.


He has said that he only watched the first show , and then just the AJ/Ibushi match since then. Says he's way behind. He said this on Monday.

So these are his only ratings:


Spoiler: Meltzer' ratings



Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask & Yohei Komatsu vs. Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay & Jay White - ***1/4

Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall **

Shinsuke Nakamura & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga ** 3/4

Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi & Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo ***

Tenzan vs. Gallows *1/4

Yano vs. Makabe *1/2

Bad Luke Fale vs. Naito *1/4

AJ Styles vs. Shibata ***3/4

Tanahashi vs. Ibushi ****3/4



However, his newsletter comes out later tonight, so maybe he has caught up since Monday, in order to cover it and give ratings. If he does, I'll let you know.


I can just tell you right now the matches to go out of your way to see, IMO:

1)Shibata vs. Ibushi ****1/2 [7/29/15]
2)Tanahashi vs. Ibushi ****1/2 [7/20/15]
3)Tanahashi vs. Naito ****1/4 [7/26/15]
4)AJ Styles vs. Shibata ****1/4 [7/20/15]
t-5)AJ Styles vs. Naito **** [7/29/15]
t-5)Goto vs. Honma **** [7/28/15]
7)Okada vs. Elgin **** [7/23/15]
8)Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale ***3/4 [7/28/15]
9)Nagata vs. Nakamura ***1/2 - ***3/4ish [7/25/15]
10)Shibata vs. Naito ***1/2 [7/24/15]
11)Okada, Ishii, & Gedo vs. Elgin, Kojima, & Taguchi ***1/2 [7/20/15]
12)Ibushi vs. Gallows ***1/2 [7/24/15]
13)AJ Styles vs. Yano ***1/2 [7/24/15]
?)AJ Styles vs. Ibushi ? [7/26/15]

Most everyone thinks AJ/Ibushi was one of the best ones, so I included that. Need to watch it again to see how I feel about it. 

Tenzan/Shibata/Taguchi vs. Tanahashi/Naito/ Dorada [7/23/15] is worth a watch due to the Shibata vs. Naito dynamic, and Naito's interplay with Tanahashi. Fun match.


Gonna respond to other posts in a seperate post, so KO Bossy doesn't get spoiled about anything.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

Lariatoh! said:


> NJPW performers I think usually stay away from the American style punching game... as it's "wrestling" not "fighting"... and what I mean by this is when they do punch someone it's a big deal... if you watch a Swag match there's a spot he does near the end of a match where he balls up his fist and lets someone have it. It's a bit of his inring storytelling that shows, his opponent has gotten a little better of him, and so he pulls out a punch to the face. Tana does it with good effect too, but he usually hits body shots.
> 
> That's why palm strikes, kicks and forearm/elbow strikes are mostly used in NJ. Punches are used as a big deal... if Ibushi is using them all the time, it maybe from his DDT days and bringing it in perhaps...



Yeah I know but what I mean is punches and strikes in general when it comes to wrestling look super fake. Compare the strikes in mma and boxing. The quickness and accuracy. I know its a work and all maybe they are afraid of hurting eachother but there has to be a way of throwing a quick explosive punch and look like your actually trying to hit the guy and doing it without connecting. Shibata pulls it off sometimes like he did with that sick sick slap on ibushi or the spinning elbow he did on tanahashi at last years g1. Not all of them are trained mma fighters like shibata but those that do have that background should find a way to make it look legit.

Just look at this sequence from 05:48 - 05:56 www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44oPY_5HFQ

Its from one of shibatas mma fights. Look at the footwork,headmovement, the kick the punches. Imagine if that was Nakamura and Shibata in a njpw title match mainevent. The crowd would go nuts for something like that but instead the strikes are slow and fake I dunno I just think it could be done so much better. Mixing up the realism and atlethism of mma with some of the dramatics and highspots of pro wrestling = gold and I dont really see anyone doing it.


----------



## LilOlMe

Shocked by how good Fale vs. Tanahashi was. I thought it was a tremendous yet accessible little man vs. big man match. Made all the more amazing by the fact that I watched Fale/Naito & Fale/Makabe and thought that Fale was complete and utter shit.

I think this shows you how good Tanahashi is, because there's no doubt he laid this match out.

Love how Tanahashi had to fire himself up to work up the gutso to go after Fale each time.

Not a super flashy match, but the storytelling in this was insane. So glad I took the time to watch.



Jack Evans 187 said:


> Good lord, Fale beat Tanahashi!? They're throwing curveballs for fun now!  Can't wait to watch this day when I get off tonight. @LilOlMe losing his mind after that Shibata match. Never seen you like that. :lol
> 
> Naito to win the whole damn thing!


her^  As for Tanahashi, I was wondering if the plan for the finals was Nakamura vs. Tanahashi? If so, that might explain why they had Tanahashi seemingly randomly lose here. I know points don't matter in the finals, but maybe they wanted the two to have the same amount of points for storyline reasons.

If Nakamura had to lose two points due to unforseen circumstances, maybe they wanted his opponent to do the same.

Maybe I'm way overthinking it, though, and this was always the plan. That's probably the case.

This was the most surprising result by far, though, IMO.


Regarding Naito, I loved in the AJ match when Naito did some super high energy thing from the apron into the ring, and then just lazily sat up. The change within a split second was incredible. I love the aggression into lazy thing (and vice versa). 

It's a hard line to walk, and this person on another board summed it up so perfectly:


> Think of it like this: Naito is showing that he doesn't care about anyone or anything. Naito didn't take Shibata seriously enough. Shibata wasn't going to put up with Naito disrespecting him like that. You also have the added in drama about how in some ways Naito's new persona is how Shibata was when he came back to New Japan. This match is a reversal of roles. Naito's the disrespectful heel and now Shibata's the babyface who won't put up with him. The crowd was literally chanting for Shibata to choke the life out of Naito. That's a pretty massive difference in opinion of a guy who came back to pick a fight at the 2012 G1.
> 
> If Naito was really on his game he could have beaten a hurt Shibata but he wasn't. He was too lackadaisical and despite his arm and leg Shibata beat him. That's why this match was so great. It presented the new roles of Naito and Shibata fantastically.
> 
> *I know some people don't like Naito still using his old moves but I think it's amazing. He'll go from slouching around the ring to zooming and hitting dropckicks and stuff in seconds. Just think that's a really cool touch and that shows that while Naito don't give a fuck he's still more than capable of out wrestling guys.*


----------



## El Dandy

I don't think they'll change A Block's booking because of Nakamura's injury.

The only person it really has an affect on is Okada. 

If the plan was for Shinskay to win the Block and they are still on that course, that means they have beat their Heavyweight Champion more times than they would like so Okada doesn't pull away. I was fully expecting Okada to be 8-0 facing a 7-1 Nakamura on the final day.

If Shinskay misses another match, then it will be tough for them to book around it.

*this is assuming they wanted Nakamura to win B Block. If the plan calls for Okada to win it, then they aren't really in any kind of a booking jam.


----------



## LilOlMe

I liked Ibushi's punching sequence, because he progressively worked it into harder and faster punches. At first I too thought the first couple looked awkward, but then I realized it was intentional. The later ones were a lot more vicious and some of _those_ actually connected. 

You also have to remember that it was toward the very end of the match, so one would stand to reason that Ibushi would deliver them in a more tired manner.

Also remember that at first, Shibata was blocking his head, so Ibushi was missing. When he connected, they looked real, IMO. Shibata was still blocking, so he got Shibata's arm sometimes, so maybe that's why it didn't look real for some? He got him at certain points, though.

I also liked the placement of it, because it came at a point where Ibushi could do nothing more than try to punch. None of his other hard shots could put Shibata away.

The whole match had very smart timing, which is one of the reasons I loved it.


ETA: It wasn't a rapid fire delivery, so I can understand why it would be less appealing to some than a delivery like that. I don't think that it's necessarily "wrong" though, but I do see what you're saying. The answer may be:



Jonasolsson96 said:


> The quickness and accuracy. I know its a work and all maybe they are afraid of hurting eachother but there has to be a way of throwing a quick explosive punch and look like your actually trying to hit the guy and doing it without connecting.


I mean if no one's doing that with punches, considering the large MMA background that many of the Japanese wrestlers have, it stands to reason that maybe no, there isn't a way. If they could, I'm sure they would, but the risk of injury and really connecting is probably too great. 

They already do crazy and very dangerous stuff as it is.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

LilOlMe said:


> I liked Ibushi's punching sequence, because he progressively worked it into harder and faster punches. At first I too thought the first couple looked awkward, but then I realized it was intentional. The later ones were a lot more vicious and some of _those_ actually connected.
> 
> You also have to remember that it was toward the very end of the match, so one would stand to reason that Ibushi would deliver them in a more tired manner.
> 
> Also remember that at first, Shibata was blocking his head, so Ibushi was missing. When he connected, they looked real, IMO. Shibata was still blocking, so he got Shibata's arm sometimes, so maybe that's why it didn't look real for some? He got him at certain points, though.
> 
> I also liked the placement of it, because it came at a point where Ibushi could do nothing more than try to punch. None of his other hard shots could put Shibata away.
> 
> The whole match had very smart timing, which is one of the reasons I loved it.
> 
> 
> ETA: It wasn't a rapid fire delivery, so I can understand why it would be less appealing to some than a delivery like that. I don't think that it's necessarily "wrong" though, but I do see what you're saying. The answer may be:
> 
> 
> I mean if no one's doing that with punches, considering the large MMA background that many of the Japanese wrestlers have, it stands to reason that maybe no, there isn't a way. If they could, I'm sure they would, but the risk of injury and really connecting is probably too great.
> 
> They already do crazy and very dangerous stuff as it is.


I train in mma aswell and have done boxing since I was a kid and sometimes for fun I try what I was describing on my heavybag and I can throw a full on 100% force roundhouse kick and stop right before I tough the bag so it looks like im connecting but im really not im sure there is a way like I said. Why nobody is doing it I think more has to do with the reason of njpw wanting slow paced wrestling. Grab a leg tell a story y know. Or maybe they are afraid of hurting eachother like you said but I know it works. Bruce Lee was the master of this. He would demonstrate his one inch punch or do a chop, head kick or whatever and stop right before he connected and then freeze so it looked like he actually hit the guy without even touching him. Maybe its hard in the middle of matches and whatever I dont know since ive never been in a pro wrestling match but yeah I do wish they did more of that. Shibata does it sometimes. The spinning chop he did to tanahashi at last years g1 and the slap to ibushi at this years g1. Its alot more dangerous longterm bumping on your back and neck, doing highflying moves and all that then risking getting socked.


----------



## boxing1836

wait aj styles and nakamura never had a 1 on 1 match together? ...how?


tanahashi vs ibushi was great, they work well with each other


----------



## El Dandy

boxing1836 said:


> wait aj styles and nakamura never had a 1 on 1 match together? ...how?
> 
> 
> tanahashi vs ibushi was great, they work well with each other


Not only that, but in all of the multi-man tags New Japan loves to do.... they've never even had an encounter (to the best of my knowledge, at least).

Their worlds have yet to collide. And when they do.... we will watch. And we will love it.


----------



## KO Bossy

Just reading a bit about how people are suddenly fans of Naito. I've always liked him. His character was a bit generic, but he was a terrific worker. Just glad that he's embracing this new heel persona and getting others on board, as well, because he's definitely got the talent.


----------



## LilOlMe

KO Bossy said:


> Just reading a bit about how people are suddenly fans of Naito. I've always liked him. His character was a bit generic, but he was a terrific worker. Just glad that he's embracing this new heel persona and getting others on board, as well, because he's definitely got the talent.


I hadn't seen a whole ton of him, but I saw him in a match with the Big 3 (Nakamura, Tanahashi, Okada) along with Goto and Ishii, I think, and I remember saying to someone that I thought that Naito was the best one in that match.

So he impressed me a lot with his wrestling when I did see him. Didn't care about lack of character or anything like that, because I like wrestlers who people typically consider boring anyway.

The fact that he now has added an awesome character on top of all of that, makes it awesome.

But yeah, he was good to me before in what I did see of him. His reaction to getting caught in the Styles Clash at WK9 is still seared into my memory. Very few people encapsulate the severity of a moment as good as he did there. Loved it.

He is a lot more fun to watch now that he has this character, even for those who enjoyed him before, IMO.


----------



## almostfamous

Naito has really done a 180 for me. An no not because he's a heel now. He's really making the most of his new character and this tournament is giving him a great stage to showcase.


----------



## El Dandy

I love it in the actual video you literally hear a woman shriek.


----------



## Lariatoh!

The problem with Naito is he was a B grade version of Tanahashi and well, out of the big three I htink many people prefer Swag and Okada over him so Naito wasn't really doing much for anyone. Especially when he (much like Goto) can't win the big one. 

However, now that Okada and Swag have turned tweener/face... there's an opening for a top tier heel and Naito fits the bill nicely.


----------



## Corey

Mixed feelings on Shibata/Ibushi, which I pretty much knew was already going to happen. I'm not a big fan of the strike battles in wrestling. When the whole match is based off of hard kicks and shit, I'm just not invested. This however had some pretty cool shit in it. Shibata's facial expressions were great like he was simply saying your kicks weren't good enough. I hated the sequence where they dumped each other on their heads and jumped up to clothesline each other a bunch of times, but that fucking ending sequence was AWESOME. Ibushi pulling out the straight punches just for Shibata to smack the holy SHIT out of him was insane. I literally yelled out loud when it happened. Crazy. So yeah, I enjoyed the match to an extent but it's impossible for me to rate. It won't make my top matches list because the style isn't my cup of tea, but it was a pretty nifty watch for sure.

Tanahashi vs. Fale had way too much fuckery. I was hoping Fale would've used his size to his advantage, but he basically just cheated the whole match. That was a disappointment. The constant shenanigans bothered me, but I'd be lying if I said the pulling of the ref after the High Fly Flow wasn't a great touch. That got a great reaction. Fale beating Tana with his own move was hilarious too. Overall I guess I can say I was entertained, but this wasn't exactly a good match by any means. Should've been a DQ. 

Was that an AJ Styles chant before match? Did the Japanese fans yell "AJ Styles! *clap clap, clap clap clap*?" If so then that's fucking awesome. :lol I don't think I've ever heard that before. I really wanted to like Naito/AJ more then I did, but it just felt like it was missing something. Obviously being heel vs. heel hurts the crowd reactions so maybe that was it. It just didn't have that main event feel. Solid affair I guess. Another good performance from Naito. They're REALLY putting over his new finisher big time too. Some woman shreaked in the crowd when he was hitting it.  *** for this one I guess. Decent enough Day 7. 

------------------------
@LilOlMe, don't take this the wrong way, but you being a female kinda blows my mind. Not in a bad way, but it always surprises me to know that a woman is this big a fan of pro wrestling. Not just a casual WWE fan, but legit pro wrestling. You just don't see that very often. Pretty cool, honestly. (Y)


----------



## kimino

Just checked La Sombra twitter and the latest tweet is him in the airport?
I hope that airplane lands in Japan


----------



## Zatiel

On the one hand, I'm glad Naito is trying something different. He didn't work as a spotty babyface in the same company as Ibushi and Tanahashi. He's not athletic enough to hang with the best in the world. So shake things up with some personality. That's good. NJPW is great at diversity.

Unfortunately for me, this new character is a chore to watch on offense and hurts the believability of his matches almost as much as Bullet Club run-ins. He's never been a dominant enough wrestler for me to believe he suddenly can hit one move and plod around the ring for half a minute, or spend the opening slowly prowling around. He's definitely not doing anything that looks more debilitating than his opponents' offense. Styles mocking him was the highlight of their match, because at least someone was acknowledging how silly his presentation is.

But I didn't care for the initial version of Swagskay Nakamura either, and that developed into one of the best things in wrestling. So I'll hope Naito hones this character into something that fits competitive matches. Right now, him beating Tanahashi and Styles back-to-back was too much for believability. My hope is that there's a story for how people react to him across the tournament, taking him more seriously and chasing him when he tries to drag ass.


----------



## kimino

Zatiel said:


> On the one hand, I'm glad Naito is trying something different. He didn't work as a spotty babyface in the same company as Ibushi and Tanahashi. He's not athletic enough to hang with the best in the world. So shake things up with some personality. That's good. NJPW is great at diversity.
> 
> Unfortunately for me, this new character is a chore to watch on offense and hurts the believability of his matches almost as much as Bullet Club run-ins. He's never been a dominant enough wrestler for me to believe he suddenly can hit one move and plod around the ring for half a minute, or spend the opening slowly prowling around. He's definitely not doing anything that looks more debilitating than his opponents' offense. Styles mocking him was the highlight of their match, because at least someone was acknowledging how silly his presentation is.
> 
> But I didn't care for the initial version of Swagskay Nakamura either, and that developed into one of the best things in wrestling. So I'll hope Naito hones this character into something that fits competitive matches. Right now, him beating Tanahashi and Styles back-to-back was too much for believability. My hope is that there's a story for how people react to him across the tournament, taking him more seriously and chasing him when he tries to drag ass.


No no no you're way of thinking is wrong, Naito now is an INGOBERNABLE and its Sombra's and Rush friend who now has plot armor too!


----------



## NastyYaffa

Meltzer's ratings for 3 big matches:

*



AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi - ****1/2
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito - ****
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi - ****1/2

Click to expand...

*


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*I wasn't really paying that much attention to Nagata/Takahashi, but what I did see of it was pretty decent.

Goto/Honma was really good. I like both wrestlers, so I was fine with Goto winning.

Anderson/Ishii was a great match, in my opinion. Disappointed that Ishii didn't win, but other than that, I think they had the best match on the show.

Kojima/Okada was a really good main event, in my opinion. Ibushi/Tanahashi, Naito/Tanahashi, Nakamura/Anderson, and Okada/Honma were better main events, but this was still a solid match.

Later today, I'm gonna watch Day 7. Shibata/Ibushi, and Naito/Styles. :mark:*


----------



## Corey

So we've got a much needed couple days off before they resume with Block B on August 1st. Predictions?

Okada vs.* Goto*
*Nakamura* vs. Ishii
*Elgin* vs. Honma
*Nagata* vs. Anderson
*Kojima* vs. Yujiro

Goto has already lost to Anderson and you have to think he'll lose to Nakamura since he's behind, so I'm gonna go with the upset of having him beat the IWGP Champ. Should be an interesting match. I think Ishii takes his first loss as well. Honma may get his first victory, but I'm just gonna say what the hell and maybe Elgin will get his first pinfall victory. Nagata gets a win to stay even and Anderson falls into the middle of the pack.


----------



## Scorpion_Deathlock

Has Nakamura been cleared to return?


----------



## VanHammerFan

NastyYaffa said:


> Meltzer's ratings for 3 big matches:


Not a bad week for kota has had three ****½ matches. and he still has naito to work (may also get **** with makabe as well).

Going into the G1, it seemed like the 3 top contenders for wrestler of the year were styles, cena, and ibushi.

workrate wise, kota is easily pulling away from everybody else in the world for 2015.

***** against Nakamura
****¾ against Styles
****¾ against Tanahashi
****½ against Shibata
****½ against Styles
****½ against Naito
****¼ against Goto

7 great matches nobody else can match that this year so far. not even close. Styles is the next closest with like 4, then cena


----------



## NastyYaffa

VanHammerFan said:


> Not a bad week for kota has had three ****½ matches. and he still has naito to work (may also get **** with makabe as well).
> 
> Going into the G1, it seemed like the 3 top contenders for wrestler of the year were styles, cena, and ibushi.
> 
> workrate wise, kota is easily pulling away from everybody else in the world for 2015.
> 
> ***** against Nakamura
> ****¾ against Styles
> ****¾ against Tanahashi
> ****½ against Shibata
> ****½ against Styles
> ****½ against Naito
> ****¼ against Goto
> 
> 7 great matches nobody else can match that this year so far. not even close. Styles is the next closest with like 4, then cena


After the Shibata match Ibushi has taken the lead for me in the WOTY picture, but AJ Styles & Roderick Strong are not far behind.


----------



## VanHammerFan

eh tbh i don't think strong is even in the discussion.

not a knock against him, but just there are other wrestlers who are killing it at such a high level in big time matches.

i liked his match with sabre jr, but was not impressed with his lethal match(40 mins too long) or nakamura. maybe i am missing something, but his resume that ive seen doesn' measure up to guys like kota, aj, cena, okada, tanahasi etc this year


----------



## NastyYaffa

VanHammerFan said:


> eh tbh i don't think strong is even in the discussion.
> 
> not a knock against him, but just there are other wrestlers who are killing it at such a high level in big time matches.
> 
> i liked his match with sabre jr, but was not impressed with his lethal match(40 mins too long) or nakamura. maybe i am missing something, but his resume that ive seen doesn' measure up to guys like kota, aj, cena, okada, tanahasi etc this year


Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (PWG Don't Sweat The Technique)
Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (EVOLVE 45)
Roderick Strong vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (ROH War of the Worlds)
Roderick Strong vs. Alberto El Paton (ROH Winter Warriors Tour: Dayton)
Roderick Strong vs. KUSHIDA (ROH War of the Worlds)
Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O'Reilly (ROH Winter Warriors Tour: Atlanta)
Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Revolution Pro: Summer Sizzler)

^ All great matches IMO. Both matches vs. Sabre are probably in my top-10 matches of the year so far. I think Roddy is definitely up there w/ Ibushi & Styles, but in the end, it all comes down to personal preferences.  For an example, I don't think that Cena is a wrestler of the year candidate at this point.

My top-5 wrestlers of the year so far would be Ibushi/Styles/Roddy/Tanahashi/Okada.


----------



## VanHammerFan

don't get me wrong, he's had a good year and is probably the best indy wrestler in the world this year

I just don't think strong's best match is as good as kota's 5th best match. 

I would take kota and aj's month of July over everything anybody else has done in wrestling all year. then you factor in kota's work from january-june, and it's a no brainer. it's easy to forget that he had a 5 star match and most likely 2015's MOTY just 4 days into the year. just my opinion


----------



## Joshi Judas

What this proves is how year after year Tanahashi proves how incredible he is ^^^^ 

What an insane run the man's been on the last 4 years.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

VanHammerFan said:


> Not a bad week for kota has had three ****½ matches. and he still has naito to work (may also get **** with makabe as well).
> 
> Going into the G1, it seemed like the 3 top contenders for wrestler of the year were styles, cena, and ibushi.
> 
> workrate wise, kota is easily pulling away from everybody else in the world for 2015.
> 
> ***** against Nakamura
> ****¾ against Styles
> ****¾ against Tanahashi
> ****½ against Shibata
> ****½ against Styles
> ****½ against Naito
> ****¼ against Goto
> 
> 7 great matches nobody else can match that this year so far. not even close. Styles is the next closest with like 4, then cena




I thought Ibushi was woty even before the g1 but now? Its not even a discussion for me. He blows away everyone by a mile. Like you said Styles would be #2 but even he doesnt touch him.


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

Ibushi/Shibata did not dissapoint. It was war. Between the fearless daredevil and the no-nonsense badass. It will be interesting to see how Ibushi does against "lesser" opponents. Tana/Fale was the perfect match to go on after that. I thought it was excellent. Tanahashi really made Fale look important. In the first minutes watch how he puts him over. After that, the match just flows, Great match. This match is another example of how great Tanahashi is. Taking a lump and making him a somebody.

Los Ingobernables have been around for over a year. Like everything its really good at first but then if it just flatlines or doesn't evolve it becomes very unlikeable. I would perfer Rush or Sombra doing this act in NJ. Its new there so its getting over. But I see it and just think "how cute". Now with this character it is pretty alarming that he may win this g1. I rather see somebody else win it than try to force Naito again.


----------



## El Dandy




----------



## malek

Love Naito's new character. Japanese version of Skeletor's and David Spade's love child 

Makes him much more interesting to follow for me.

Btw. That slow change to his wrestling gear worked well against Shibata


----------



## LilOlMe

I expect Goto to beat Okada. That's one I assumed from the beginning.


I can see why Naito's character could negatively effect matches for some. It does have an impact on the pacing of matches, with him lollygagging around.

All I know is that whoever is the first to just drag him by the hair and stomp the shit out of him after repeated incidents of Naito's lazy meandering about, will create a moment that will be over as fuck. Will probably be Ibushi since he's the only other big name who hasn't faced him yet. Or maybe the B block winner, if Naito makes it to the finals. 


@KO Bossy, Meltzer did end up watching a lot more of the tournament, but he didn't give specific ratings to most matches, probably because he was under time pressure due to covering the Hogan story so extensively. So he watched, but probably didn't feel confident enough to rate matches.

However, he did give an indication of what his ratings would be based on matches he called good, very good, or excellent.

Here's what he said (this does contain match results & rundowns, so don't read it if you don't want spoilers):



Spoiler: Meltzer



The tournament star so far is Ibushi. Ibushi, working with broken fingers in both hands, opened with the loss to Tanahashi which was a genuine match of the year contender at ****3/4. He did not have a match of the year contender with Doc Gallows on 7/24 in Kyoto. But he had a ****½ match on 7/26 in Hiroshima with Styles, that wasn’t quite as good as their IWGP title match classic, but was easily the second best tournament match up to that point. He had a completely different ****½ match with Katsuyori Shibata on 7/29 from Fukuoka, so at this point he’s had the three best matches I’ve seen of the tournament. 

*July 24 - Kyoto Budo Center - 1,700 sellout (A block night)*

*Kota Ibushi pinned Doc Gallows with a cradle in 8:35 in a good match.

*Bad Luck Fale pinned Togi Makabe in 8:06 after a Bad Luck Fall in a match better than expected. Okay overall.

*A.J. Styles beat Toru Yano via submission in 10:13 with the calf killer after escaping from Yano’s second attempt at a low blow. Match was said to be entertaining with Styles showing his working ability since Yano works a completely different style from everyone else.

*Katsuyori Shibata pinned Tetsuya Naito in 12:11 after a penalty kick. Said to be an excellent match, best of the night.

*Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 15:11 after a high fly flow. Another strong performance by Tanahashi, as aside from this match, Tenzan hasn’t had a good tournament and this turned into a very good heated match, with the crowd behind Tenzan as the nostalgia figure trying to get the upset.

*July 25 - Takamatsu City Central Gymnasium - 2,070 (B Block night)*

*Tomohiro Ishii pinned Yujiro Takahashi after a sliding D and brainbuster in 12:17. Match was so-so.

*Satoshi Kojima pinned Michael Elgin in 12:49 when Elgin came off the ropes into a lariat. Very good match.

*Karl Anderson pinned Hirooki Goto in 11:34 in his second big upset win, reversing Goto’s shoten kai into a gunstun. Good match, but they’ve had better matches.

*Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Yuji Nagata in 16:26 after a kick to the head. Very good match.

*Kazuchika Okada pinned Tomoaki Honma in 17:51 after a German suplex and rainmaker. Also very good, with the crowd particularly hot. 


*July 26 - Hiroshima Green Arena - 3,360 (A block night)*

1. Hirooki Goto & Yohei Komatsu & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask beat Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi in 8:32. Usual opener with mostly crisp action. Dorada hit a tope on Liger right away. Very good work with Komatsu and Finlay, and Goto and Honma hit stiff stuff, but it lost a little momentum. Tiger Mask pinned Finlay with a double-arm superplex while standing on the top rope. **3/4

2. Yuji Nagata & Captain New Japan beat Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall in 8:26. Hall looked more green here than in other matches I’ve seen with him. Nagata, who is 47 and has had decades of hard matches, is starting to show his age on this tour really for the first time. I hate to think of how he’ll be feeling in a few weeks. Nagata escaped from the Razor’s edge and got the submission with the eye rolling Nagata armbar. *1/2

3. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga beat Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi in 8:51. Not much heat here. Tonga used a sliding elbow and a spear to take out Ishii, and Anderson pinned Yoshi-Hashi after a gunstun. *3/4

4. Satoshi Kojima & Michael Elgin beat Kazuchika Okada & Gedo in 11:27. Crowd was really into Gedo here. Elgin slammed both of his opponents at the same time which got a reaction. Okada set up Kojima for the rainmaker, but Kojima beat him to the punch taking out Okada with a rainmaker style lariat, and then hit his usual style lariat on Gedo for the pin. ***

5. Bad Luck Fale pinned Doc Gallows in 8:43. This was pushed as a battle of Bullet Club monsters, which was funny because Gallows came out with Hall, and Hall is significantly bigger than Gallows or Fale. Mostly power spots. Match was okay. Gallows came off the ropes into the grenade (thumb to the side of the throat) for the pin. The two hugged after the match. *3/4

6. Toru Yano pinned Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 6:38. There wasn’t much to the match nor did the crowd (this was a tough crowd) seem to care much about it. Even Yano using Mongolian chops on Tenzan didn’t get much heat. The finish was a big mistake as Tenzan came off the top rope with a diving head-butt, and hit it far too solid. Both guys got their heads split open and were bleeding like crazy, all over the mat. They went right to the finish with Yano using a low blow and backslide. *1/2

7. Katsuyori Shibata pinned Togi Makabe in 9:06. Very physical match but it was hurt by the cold crowd. They did a series of one count kick outs which started to get the crowd, but it was tough. Shibata won with a choke, then let it go and hit the penalty kick for the pin. ***

8. Kota Ibushi pinned A.J. Styles in 19:10. They did cross-up spots early. Styles worked on Ibushi’s back with a uranage on the guard rail and a Billy Robinson style backbreaker. Ibushi teased his power German suplex from outside in, but Styles reversed, and teased a tombstone piledriver on the ring apron, but at the last second Ibushi turned that into a huracanrana, flipping Styles to the floor. Ibushi did his moonsault off the middle rope to the floor. They went back-and-forth with near falls for the next several minutes. Ibushi went for a Super Frankensteiner but Styles blocked it and Styles instead came off the top rope with a huracanrana. Styles used a piledriver for a near fall, went for a springboard 450, but Ibushi got his knees up. Ibushi did a Pele kick, and then Styles did one right after. After a Bloody Sunday DDT, Styles teased a Styles clash off the top rope, but Ibushi turned that into a huracanrana and then hit the Phoenix splash for the pin. ****½

9. Tetsuya Naito pinned Hiroshi Tanahashi in 24:14. Naito came out in a business suit and silver mask in his new character. They opened fast with elbows but Naito did a lot of stalling. Naito used a neckbreaker on a hard table outside the ring, which bent but didn’t break. Tanahashi dove in to beat the 20 count. Naito worked on the neck for a while. Tanahashi hit his high fly flow to the floor. Naito used the pluma blanca submission, a Frankensteiner off the top and a springboard dropkick to the back as well as a German suplex for a near fall. Finally Tanahashi hit the sling blade and high fly flow, but Naito got his knees up. Naito missed a flying forearm and Tanahashi turned it into a German suplex. After a few more near falls, Tanahashi went for a sling blade, but Naito did a sliced bread type move that he’s calling destino, his new finisher. People didn’t really understand the move and weren’t expecting it to be the finish, but it’s smart to debut the new move and beat Tanahashi with it, so it’s something that will pay dividends as the tournament goes on. Great match but the cold crowd did hurt it. **** 


*July 28 - Beppu B-Con Plaza - 1,580 (B block night)*

*Michael Elgin got a win via forfeit due to Shinsuke Nakamura not wrestling.

*Yujiro Takahashi pinned Yuji Nagata in 12:03 after the Miami Shine in a so-so match.

*Hirooki Goto pinned Tomoaki Honma in 12:20 with the Shoten kai in a great match.

*Tomohiro Ishii pinned Karl Anderson in 16:31 after a brainbuster. It started slow and they didn’t get much heat, but did pick up and very good by the end.

*Kazuchika Okada pinned Satoshi Kojima in 18:22 after a rainmaker with the other arm after Kojima ducked the original rainmaker attempt. Very good match.

*July 29 - Fukuoka International Center Arena - 2,460 (A block night)*

*Doc Gallows pinned Toru Yano in 6:58. The Bullet Club was interfering. Yano took out Cody Hall and Tama Tonga. The ref was distracted and Karl Anderson interfered, and they used the magic killer on Yano and Gallows got the pin. Short and okay.

*Togi Makabe pinned Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 8:41 after the King Kong kneedrop. Match was fine.

*Katsuyori Shibata pinned Kota Ibushi in 14:24 after a choke and penalty kick. This was excellent. Very different than any Ibushi match you’ll see, but he switched to working Shibata’s style and did a great job. Great crowd heat for a series of one count kick outs in particular.

*Bad Luck Fale pinned Hiroshi Tanahashi in 13:07 after the grenade and a splash off the top rope. This ended up being a good match, which is quite the tribute to Tanahashi. He worked it big match style, with a high fly flow to the floor again. He did two high fly flows but The Bullet Club pulled the ref out from counting the pin.

*Tetsuya Naito pinned A.J. Styles in 17:13. Crowd wasn’t much into this as they had no favorite. Eventually they got behind Naito. After a Pele kick, Styles went for the Bloody Sunday DDT, but Naito reversed into Destino for the pin. So now he’s used his new move to pin both Tanahashi and Styles. If nothing else, this is giving a heel turn and a new move some booking credibility. After the match, Naito attacked ref Red Shoes and spoke in Spanish instead of Japanese.


----------



## TripleG

Hey guys. I am catching up on G! and I'm watching Night 4. 

Question: Why are the Block B shows shot with a fixed camera angle? That is an off putting way to present the matches and the Block A shows aren't doing that at all, so what gives?


----------



## Hibachi

TripleG said:


> Hey guys. I am catching up on G! and I'm watching Night 4.
> 
> Question: Why are the Block B shows shot with a fixed camera angle? That is an off putting way to present the matches and the Block A shows aren't doing that at all, so what gives?


They have spread the tournament out so far this time around and its a cost cutting measure, (plus the price of NJPW monthly pament) I'm sure it won't always be Block B getting the lousy camera set-up.


----------



## El Dandy

TripleG said:


> Hey guys. I am catching up on G! and I'm watching Night 4.
> 
> Question: Why are the Block B shows shot with a fixed camera angle? That is an off putting way to present the matches and the Block A shows aren't doing that at all, so what gives?





Hibachi said:


> They have spread the tournament out so far this time around and its a cost cutting measure, (plus the price of NJPW monthly pament) I'm sure it won't always be Block B getting the lousy camera set-up.


Everything I've read indicated was that certain shows (4 in total) were not being broadcast live over in Japan on Samurai TV, hence the house show camera set up.

For those wondering, the other 2 single cam shows left on the schedule:

Day 11
Day 12

The bad news: Day 11 has Naito/Ibushi; Day 12 has Okada/Ishii

:mj2


----------



## LilOlMe

@Jack Evans 187, it's 'cause I analyze literally everything in life. That makes it seem more serious, lol.

Honma/Elgin vs. Ishii/Goto from yesterday was great. Fun times all around, and they are really displaying Elgin well.

A moment that I loved during the Shibata vs. Ibushi match was when Ibushi was in the Figure Four. At a certain point, Ibushi looks up defiantly at Shibata, and stares at him directly in the face. He then goes back to writhing and screaming in pain.

It was a small moment that they didn't make a big show of (usually people will slap each other or extend that moment out), but I liked that little display. The quickness of it all was what I loved about it. Like Ibushi couldn't keep that up for more than a second, but dammit, he was gonna have that "say" anyway.

Shibata's STF was beautiful, and I especially loved how he cranked Ibushi's neck toward an upward angle, when he knew Ibushi was getting close to the rope.

_Everything_ in that match was stiff. In the beginning you could really hear Ibushi's legit muffled breathing, because Shibata had him in that face lock so tight.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Alright, I finished Day 7.

Yano/Gallows was pretty fun, but that was mostly due to Toru Yano's antics during the match. Shame that he lost.

Tenzan/Makabe was nothing special. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about.

Shibata/Ibushi was fucking awesome! Without question, one of my favorite matches in the G1 so far.

IMO, Kota Ibushi has been phenomenal this year. His matches with Nakamura, Tanahashi, Styles, and now Shibata has been some of my favorite matches this year. If Nakamura misses the rest of this tournament, then Ibushi better win. Also, I'd like to add that Shibata was fantastic in this match. I didn't think much of him the first time I saw him, but every time I see him wrestle, I become a bigger and bigger fan of him. This match was just great.

Tanahashi/Fale was a very good match. Did not expect Bad Luck Fale to beat Tanahashi, much less beat him with the High Fly Flow.

Styles/Naito was a good main event. I didn't love it as much as Shibata/Ibushi, but it was an enjoyable match.

All in all, I enjoyed Day 7.*


----------



## Lariatoh!

Not playing devil's advocate, but how can Ibushi NOT have top matches against those wrestlers. Those guys are basically the best in the world right now. Tana, Swag, Shibata, Styles.... Pretty hard not to have an amazing match against the elite in the business right now. Don't get me wrong I'm on the Ibushi bandwagon, it's just kinda obvious he'd have amazing matches against those guys.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Lariatoh! said:


> Not playing devil's advocate, but how can Ibushi NOT have top matches against those wrestlers. Those guys are basically the best in the world right now. Tana, Swag, Shibata, Styles.... Pretty hard not to have an amazing match against the elite in the business right now. Don't get me wrong I'm on the Ibushi bandwagon, it's just kinda obvious he'd have amazing matches against those guys.


This is 100% dead on though. If you make the argument why haven't they had incredible matches with others, the answer is they have. The difference is Ibushi is actually getting his G1 run this year because he isn't injured. It's new, it's booked for him to look good because it's teasing flashes of these potential match ups.


----------



## Zatiel

While I agree that Ibushi should be having his best matches against that crowd, because they are some of the best wrestlers in the world, not everyone has the best matches of the year against them. Bad Luck Fale, Karl Anderson, and Tetsuya Naito are not having matches on the same level against the same crop of opponents. So yes, Ibushi's having his best matches because he's getting the best opponents, but the matches stand out because he's also significantly above average.

This year has been Ibushi's big chance. I'm overjoyed he's making so much of it.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

The weekend is almost here and so is the time to watch some wrestling; I have so much G1 to catch up on right now it's crazy. I might just have to buy a selection of quality IPA's & a few steaks and have a little G1 gathering. Should be fun.


----------



## El Dandy

Lariatoh! said:


> Not playing devil's advocate, but how can Ibushi NOT have top matches against those wrestlers. Those guys are basically the best in the world right now. Tana, Swag, Shibata, Styles.... Pretty hard not to have an amazing match against the elite in the business right now. Don't get me wrong I'm on the Ibushi bandwagon, it's just kinda obvious he'd have amazing matches against those guys.


True, but we also can't ignore that he pulled a surprisingly good match out of Doc Gallows, either. It was just another day of work for Ibushi, but it was easily the best match Doc Gallows has ever had in his life.

It's also a testament that he's able to rise to the occasion against all the top guys, too.

Look at the 3 G1 matches that get talked about as MOTT so far: Shibata/Ibushi, Styles/Ibushi, and Tana/Ibushi. What's the common denominator?


----------



## Corey

I don't wanna be _that_ guy and I won't argue with anyone who thinks Ibushi has been the top worker of the year because I know folks have liked some of his matches more than myself, but for me he's just been a tad inconsistent. Between the match with AJ at Invasion Attack and the start of the G1, he was a ghost. That's a 3 month span where he virtually did nothing. I didn't care much for either one of his matches with HARASHIMA. The first few months of the year though, he owned it. Had great matches left and right (Honma, Naito, Nakamura) and I think the New Japan Cup Final with Goto is one of the most underrated and forgotten New Japan matches this year. BUT, I thought his no-selling performance against Tanahashi was awful and the 2nd match with AJ wasn't quite as good as the first. Definitely had a great year so far, but I don't think his catalog comes ANYWHERE close to matching Roderick Strong or AJ Styles. He's in my top 5 for right now. We'll see what else he can do in the G1 and the rest of the year.

And for anyone curious, my top 5 workers for the year is Roddy, AJ, Cena, Ibushi, and Will Ospreay. With an honorable mention going to Rollins who's been consistently good but hasn't had as many GREAT matches as the others. Several others have had quality in-ring years as well that miss the cut. Owens, Neville, Cesaro, Lethal, O'Reilly, Prince Puma/Ricochet, Ambrose, etc.


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> I don't wanna be _that_ guy and I won't argue with anyone who thinks Ibushi has been the top worker of the year because I know folks have liked some of his matches more than myself, but for me he's just been a tad inconsistent. Between the match with AJ at Invasion Attack and the start of the G1, he was a ghost. That's a 3 month span where he virtually did nothing. I didn't care much for either one of his matches with HARASHIMA. The first few months of the year though, he owned it. Had great matches left and right (Honma, Naito, Nakamura) and I think the New Japan Cup Final with Goto is one of the most underrated and forgotten New Japan matches this year. BUT, I thought his no-selling performance against Tanahashi was awful and the 2nd match with AJ wasn't quite as good as the first. Definitely had a great year so far, but I don't think his catalog comes ANYWHERE close to matching Roderick Strong or AJ Styles. He's in my top 5 for right now. We'll see what else he can do in the G1 and the rest of the year.
> 
> And for anyone curious, my top 5 workers for the year is Roddy, AJ, Cena, Ibushi, and Will Ospreay. With an honorable mention going to Rollins who's been consistently good but hasn't had as many GREAT matches as the others. Several others have had quality in-ring years as well that miss the cut. Owens, Neville, Cesaro, Lethal, O'Reilly, Prince Puma/Ricochet, Ambrose, etc.


You don't think this has anything to do with Roddy bias? :draper2

I can't speak for Cena (haven't watched WWE this year) or Will Ospreay (haven't seen him, so I can't judge his work), but even sight unseen I would be gobsmacked if they were near Ibushi (I wouldn't be that surprised with Cena. I did see his Rumble triple threat and it was fantastic).

I've seen most of the Roddy matches that get championed on here, and while there good, they're not even near the same level as most Ibushi, Styles, or even Tanahashi matches this year. A part of that is my New Japan bias, but a part of it is also that those 3 have been killing it all year in big matches when the spotlight is on.

Just different tastes I suppose. You wrote earlier you don't like strong style, so Ibushi/Shibata fell flat with you, but for me and others that's a MOTY candidate. I don't like Tana/Ibushi as much as the consensus does, but it's not like it was a trash match. I'm not gonna totally dismiss it because of his lack of limb selling. It's still a 4+ star match and better than any match Styles has had with Tana. Even though I actually prefer Roddy over Ibushi (not a mark for either TBH), I'm not gonna try and convince myself that Ibushi hasn't had the best 2015 in wrestling so far. 

Also, how can Ibushi's catalog not be "anywhere near" Styles? Styles has had 4 great matches this year: Okada, Ibushi, Ibushi, 10 man tag. 2 of those are with the guy that doesn't measure up? That doesn't even make sense.


----------



## Corey

el dandy said:


> You don't think this has anything to do with Roddy bias? :draper2
> 
> I can't speak for Cena (haven't watched WWE this year) or Will Ospreay (haven't seen him, so I can't judge his work), but vene sight unseen I would put Ibushi over them. I've seen most of the Roddy matches that get championed on here, and while there good, they're not even near the same level as most Ibushi, Styles, or even Tanahashi matches this year. A part of that is my New Japan bias, but a part of it is also that those 3 have been killing it all year in big matches when the spotlight is on.
> 
> Just different tastes I suppose. You wrote earlier you don't like strong style, so Ibushi/Shibata fell flat with you, but for me and others that's a MOTY candidate. Even though I actually prefer Roddy over Ibushi (not a mark for either TBH), I'm not gonna try and convince myself that Ibushi hasn't had the best 2015 in wrestling so far.
> 
> I don't like Tana/Ibushi as much as the consensus does, but it's not like it was a trash match. I'm not gonna totally dismiss it because of his lack of limb selling. It's still a 4+ star match and better than any match Styles has had with Tana.


No Roddy bias, honestly. Always been a fan of the guy but his work has been so energized this year. Really feel like his workrate has outdone everyone else's this year. Tanahashi I can't say is in the same conversation as the others though. Liked the Wrestle Kingdom match with Okada but felt it went too long and also liked his IWGP Title loss to AJ, but REALLY like their matches from last year more. Actually I think AJ/Tanahashi from King of Pro last year was phenomenal and much better than Tanahashi/Ibushi. The lack of any interest in selling really, really bothered me (if you can't tell already ). Other than that, I can't really think of much else Tanahashi has done this year other than the excellent match with Naito. I'm probably drawing a blank though.

You got me on the Shibata/Ibushi argument. That style just isn't up my alley. It was enjoyable to an extent though.

You should really check out Will Ospreay, btw. Had an absolutely phenomenal (pun intended) match with AJ Styles in February. It's my 2nd favorite match of the year.

EDIT: Styles has wrestled everywhere else. Excellent matches in ROH with ACH, Bobby Fish, and a strong MOTYC against Adam Cole. Several really fun tags with the Young Bucks and Bullet Club as well. Also a handful a smaller indy matches that were really good with Jason Blade and Jimmy Rave plus his work in the UK. I've got an entire word document for my favorite workers of the year with all the matches listed. 

Even if we're just talking New Japan, I think it's still close between Styles and Ibushi. AJ has been excellent this year.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Doc Gallows pulled a good match out of Ibushi* 

Doc Gallows is going to win this G1 Climax and rule the world after Wrestle Kingdom 8)


----------



## Fighter Daron

Zatiel said:


> Bad Luck Fale, Karl Anderson, and Tetsuya Naito are not having matches on the same level against the same crop of opponents.


But that's just like, you know, your opinion.

IN MY opinion, Naito is having a MUCH better tournament than Ibushi, he's finally showing some kind of character, Ibushi has all the tools to have great matches with everyone if he just laid back and acted like a face in peril and did all his flashy shit for his comebacks, but no, he has to NO-SELL EVERYTHING and try to make us believe that he is as dangerous as Shibata. FUCKING LOL.


----------



## El Dandy

No doubt about it LOS INGOBERNABLES has been the talk of the G1.

Naito's gone from just another guy in A Block (at least for me, I never thought he would be a player) to legit threat in taking the whole thing.

Oddly enough, to most of us, Ibushi has had the best in ring performances but I don't think he has a chance of winning A Block anymore. I get the impression he's still in the "you're not quite their yet, kid" phase in Jado/Gedo's mind even though he rises to the occasion. He beat Styles, but it's interesting he has yet to beat one of their home grown top guys yet. Next year is the year for him to win a Block or maybe even the whole thing.

I flip flop between Tanahashi and Naito as A Block winner, with Styles and Shibata in the mix. It's really only 3 contenders because I know Shibata will ultimately fall short AGAIN but god dammit I can dream!

EDIT: and add Fale. How could I forget FALE DA GAWD?


----------



## SHIRLEY

Japanese Puroresu said:


> Doc Gallows pulled a good match out of Ibushi*
> 
> Doc Gallows is going to win this G1 Climax and rule the world after Wrestle Kingdom 8)


Not on Fale's time he ain't.


----------



## TJQ

Japanese Puroresu said:


> Doc Gallows pulled a good match out of Ibushi*
> 
> Doc Gallows is going to win this G1 Climax and rule the world after Wrestle Kingdom 8)


Sex Ferguson 4 iwgp champ :^]


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

TJQ said:


> Sex Ferguson 4 iwgp champ :^]


----------



## Zatiel

Fighter Daron said:


> But that's just like, you know, your opinion.
> 
> IN MY opinion, Naito is having a MUCH better tournament than Ibushi, he's finally showing some kind of character, Ibushi has all the tools to have great matches with everyone if he just laid back and acted like a face in peril and did all his flashy shit for his comebacks, but no, he has to NO-SELL EVERYTHING and try to make us believe that he is as dangerous as Shibata. FUCKING LOL.


Insisting Ibushi wrestle a formula that was dated thirty years ago? I can live with that.

Messing up Big Lebowski quotes? Now come on!


----------



## El Dandy

According to Google Translate, it looks like SHINSKAY is ready to go for tonight:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/627299829698277382
PLZ be safe, Swag.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

el dandy said:


> According to Google Translate, it looks like SHINSKAY is ready to go for tonight:
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/627299829698277382
> PLZ be safe, Swag.


Not gonna lie that's fucking good to know.


----------



## LaMelo

At least I know how to write his name now.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

el dandy said:


> According to Google Translate, it looks like SHINSKAY is ready to go for tonight:
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/627299829698277382
> PLZ be safe, Swag.


:rusevyes


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

Ted said:


> At least I know how to write his name now.


Shinsuke Nakamura; but Swagsuke will suffice.


----------



## El Dandy

Don't know what I am more excited for:

- Nakamura returning
- Honma v Elgin
- Okada v Goto
- Naito getting boo'd out of the arena. Osaka has always hated Naito. Now they have a reason to hate him!


----------



## almostfamous

Is the show live tonight? If so, what time??


----------



## El Dandy

almostfamous said:


> Is the show live tonight? If so, what time??


depends where you're located.

- 17:00 JST
- 4 am EST
- 1 am PST
- 10 pm Hawaiian
- 8 am GMT


----------



## DoubtGin

Nice, only missed the first two matches today and those aren't tournament matches anyways. First G1 day I'll watch live.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Naito still boring me.

Doc Gallows whipped some young boys pretty good. Shibata cant carry jobbers on his own. No matter how tough he is. The Mad Dog Pro Wrestler needs a push IMO. He should have won the year Naito did. Unfortunately he's never going to get a push because he left NJPW.


----------



## El Dandy

Japanese Puroresu said:


> Naito still boring me.
> 
> Doc Gallows whipped some young boys pretty good. Shibata cant carry jobbers on his own. No matter how tough he is. The Mad Dog Pro Wrestler needs a push IMO. *He should have won the year Naito did.* Unfortunately he's never going to get a push because he left NJPW.


PREACH

It was bullshit when he lost to Tana on the final day. Shibata/Nakamura seemed like a no-brainer... but they went with Naito/Tana instead :mj2

EDIT: Yujiro 
:ti


----------



## El Dandy

Nagata's rib selling is next level


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Yujiro always bringing in top talent to the Bullet Club hehehehehe


----------



## El Dandy

Elgin/Honma:

THAT.
FUCKING.
RULED.


----------



## DoubtGin

Elgin doesn't seem to be liked that much, but Elgin/Honma was awesome.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

elG1n vs Honma was pretty dang good. wow.


----------



## Insomnia

Elgin/Honma's match was good.


----------



## DoubtGin

Nakamura vs Ishii OH MY GOD YES


----------



## Insomnia




----------



## El Dandy

HE'S BACK










Plz take care of yourself, Shinskay


----------



## Insomnia

Dat Counter! :banderas


----------



## DoubtGin

that finish :mark:

awesome match


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Good match, not as good as others but still solid.


----------



## El Dandy

Can't believe they had that caliber of match when Nakamura only had 1 arm.


----------



## DoubtGin

Very good main event. 

Overall strong day, missed the first three tags, but the G1 matches, except Yujiro/Kojima, were great.


----------



## Insomnia

Good match!


----------



## DoubtGin

**** Elgin Honma 
****1/4 Ishii Nakamura
***3/4 Goto Okada 

for me


----------



## El Dandy

Great Day all together. 

- *Okada/Goto* was very good and picked up nicely. I'm not the biggest Goto fan, but he did grab my attention towards the end. Now we know a main event for the Fall: Goto v Okada for the IWGP HW.
- *Nakamura/Ishii* was very good. Imagine what it could've been with 2 armed Shinskay.
- *Elgin/Honma* was excellent. One of my favorites of the G1 so far. The ending sequnce was great and the dead lift superplex was awesome.
- *Anderson/Nagata* was good. Nagata's rib selling was top tier.
- *Yujiro/Kojima* was a match.
- Naito with that nuclear heat in Osaka

MOTN to Elgin/Honma.


----------



## Jbardo

Well what a great show that was.

Anderson v Nagata - really enjoyed this. Great selling from Nagata - ***1/2

Honma v Elgin - first time seeing Elgin and I was very impressed. The near falls with the crowd begging for Honma to get the was great to see. This was an excellent match and my motn - ****1/4

Nakamura v Ishi - very good match as expected between these two warriors - ****

Okada v Goto - Very good match - ***3/4

Great show!


----------



## true rebel

Can anyone tell me who won tonight's matches? I'm keeping a tally for myself.


----------



## Corey

true rebel said:


> Can anyone tell me who won tonight's matches? I'm keeping a tally for myself.


http://newjapankingdom.tumblr.com/


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*I'm about to watch the replay of Day 8.

Shinsuke's ready to go, and he's facing Ishii, Elgin/Honma, and Okada/Goto?

This is gonna be good! :mark:*


----------



## TJQ

ok what the fuck, Honma/elG1n was fucking amazing. That finishing stretch was actually insane.


----------



## Corey

TJQ said:


> ok what the fuck, Honma/elG1n was fucking amazing. That finishing stretch was actually insane.


Literally just finished watching it and ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY. That was so much fun.


----------



## Corey

Day 8 was the biggest and most pleasant surprise I could've asked for. I liked everything (except I didn't watch the Yujiro match ). Far and away my favorite day so far.

*Anderson vs. Nagata* was really good. As everyone pointed out already, Nagata's selling of the ribs was great. I really got the feeling when he locked in the armbar late in the match that he couldn't apply the full pressure because of it. Once Nagata hit the t-bone from the middle rope, they kicked the match into high gear. Finish made me mark too. Karl Anderson will not be forgotten in this block! **** 1/2*

I'll copy and paste my thoughts for the next two matches from the MOTYC thread:

*Michael Elgin vs. Tomoaki Honma - *****
This was totally fucking AWESOME. I'm really liking how they're booking Elgin as a big strong guy who isn't taken off his feet easily. It's the exact opposite of how he's been booked in ROH. His performance here was off the charts. Busted out an Oklahoma Stampede, deadlift falcon arrow, and a fucking pop-up powerbomb! The crowd obviously loves Honma to death and that makes for one absolutely exciting finishing stretch. FUN!

*Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii - *****
Nakamura is a one armed man with a legit elbow injury that kept him out of his last G1 match with Elgin. He may not be 100%, but he sure as hell looked great here. Really refreshing change of pace to see him have to play the underdog and Ishii was excellent on offense. There was a bunch of elbows and knees, but also some beautiful suplexes and throws throughout. There was a nearfall late in the match that was really surprising, and once you hit that they kick the match into a crazy gear where both guys refuse to give up. Really strong stuff here.

*Okada vs. Goto* was great too! Loved the pacing the whole way through and the constant counters and reversals in the late minutes were beautiful. Felt like it was the perfect length when nothing too major was at stake. What a win for Goto, huh? **** 3/4*


----------



## Sarcasm1

No interest in watching Yujiro unless Mao is there. Props to one arm Nakamura, not many can put 4 star matches with one arm.


----------



## cablegeddon

Okada - Honma was god damned awful. Worst NJPW match I've seen. Horrible timing, they didn't "dance", nothing looked good.


----------



## Miguel De Juan

cablegeddon said:


> Okada - Honma was god damned awful. Worst NJPW match I've seen. Horrible timing, they didn't "dance", nothing looked good.


This guy has never seen a Big Daddy Yum Yum match.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Miguel De Juan said:


> This guy has never seen a Big Daddy Yum Yum match.


:lmao


----------



## VanHammerFan

Don't think you're gonna find a better match under 10 minutes than ElG1n/Honma


----------



## BuzzKillington

Miguel De Juan said:


> This guy has never seen a Big Daddy Yum Yum match.


But Big Daddy Yum Yum has the distinct honor of being so bad that he's entertaining. I would rather watch him oversell chops than watch a Gallows or Yujiro match. Just sayin.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

BuzzKillington said:


> But Big Daddy Yum Yum has the distinct honor of being so bad that he's entertaining. I would rather watch him oversell chops than watch a Gallows or Yujiro match. Just sayin.


Gallows and Yujiro are both irreplaceable in this G1. Doc Gallows is actually having good matches and Yujiro is supplying us with some real talent in that ring. I'm going to have to ask you to please rewatch and appreciate all that those two have given us.


----------



## TJQ

Japanese Puroresu said:


> Gallows and Yujiro are both irreplaceable in this G1. Doc Gallows is actually having good matches and Yujiro is supplying us with some real talent in that ring. I'm going to have to ask you to please rewatch and appreciate all that those two have given us.


Unfortunately I can't even sarcastically go along with the idea of Yujiro doing anything on an acceptable level.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

TJQ said:


> Unfortunately I can't even sarcastically go along with the idea of Yujiro doing anything on an acceptable level.


He's 5 stars at bringing in Japanese Pole Dancers for our entertainment. He's a hero.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 8:

*Satoshi Kojima vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *1/4
Karl Anderson vs. Yuji Nagata - **3/4
Michael Elgin vs. Tomoaki Honma - ***3/4
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii - ***3/4
Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto - ****

Kojima/Yujiro was not good.
Anderson/Nagata was pretty good. Nagata was really good here.
Elgin/Honma was VERY good. Match of the night.
Naka/Ishii was also VERY good. Not as good as their match from last year's G1 (have that at ****1/2), but still a VERY good match.
Okada/Goto was a good main event.

Overall night 8 was a pretty good show. (Y) Tomorrow's show has Tana/Yano, so that should be fun.


----------



## DOPA

Gonna catch up with all the shows tomorrow (Y).


----------



## Corey

VanHammerFan said:


> Don't think you're gonna find a better match under 10 minutes than ElG1n/Honma


Just looked it up and it went 9 minutes, 55 seconds. :lol That's pretty great though. So much good shit in that 10 minutes.

Nagata/Anderson only going 11 minutes is surprising too. Shows you how much the length of a match doesn't necessarily matter, just what you do during the time span.

------------------------

Not really looking forward to tomorrow's card too much. There's some... interesting matches I guess.  Can't say I expect anything to be great. It'll be fun to see how Styles vs. Gallows pans out. Shibata/Fale could be something. Hopefully Naito doesn't job to Makabe.


----------



## Zatiel

Give me thirty seconds of Shibata kicking Fale in the legs, and I'll give you ten minutes of me screaming at my TV for him to win. Will the match be technically sound? Probably not. But I am so afraid that Fale will beat Shibata that I will mark like hell for everything.


----------



## El Dandy

Zatiel said:


> Give me thirty seconds of Shibata kicking Fale in the legs, and I'll give you ten minutes of me screaming at my TV for him to win. Will the match be technically sound? Probably not. But I am so afraid that Fale will beat Shibata that I will mark like hell for everything.


Yeah I'm with you. I fully anticipate him to lose to Fale tonight, as well.

On one hand, I want Shibata to win as many as possible.

On the other, him leading the group at the halfway point just gives me flashbacks to 2013. I would be fine if he just was hiding in the weeds until he faces Tanahashi.

Either way, Shibata is gonna have to start dropping points at some stage (Fale and Tana seem like his most likely loses). 

Even if he goes 3-2 the rest of the way, that puts him at 12 points which def is enough for him to stay in the mix and may be enough to win the Block. Jado/Gedo are probably just gonna fuck him, though. He'll end up going 2-3 in the final 5 matches with L's to Fale, Yano, and Gallows.


----------



## Corey

UGH, if fucking Shibata lost to Yano...


----------



## RyanPelley

Hey guys. How did Shinsuke's arm look last night? Probably won't get around to watching last night's and today's shows until tonight.

Also, since AXS TV's coverage of NJPW is one year behind, I've been able to catch last year's G1. I only bring this up because of the Suzuki / Okada match, or more so, an interview after. Suzuki called Okada a little puke, other people bastards and even threw out the possibility of everyone getting food poisoning! Is he always that awesome?


----------



## Corey

RyanPelley said:


> Hey guys. How did Shinsuke's arm look last night? Probably won't get around to watching last night's and today's shows until tonight.
> 
> Also, since AXS TV's coverage of NJPW is one year behind, I've been able to catch last year's G1. I only bring this up because of the Suzuki / Okada match, or more so, an interview after. Suzuki called Okada a little puke, other people bastards and even threw out the possibility of everyone getting food poisoning! Is he always that awesome?


He really didn't use the arm a whole lot (whether that was intentional or not). The only time I can recall it even being a factor in the match was when Ishii hit a shoulder block and Nakamura grabbed at it. Seemed to have no problems locking in an armbar and hitting suplexes, so my guess is he's gonna be alright. Regardless of the inury, the match was excellent.

And on the topic of Suzuki, yes. Yes he is that awesome all the time. :lol


----------



## RyanPelley

Jack Evans 187 said:


> He really didn't use the arm a whole lot (whether that was intentional or not). The only time I can recall it even being a factor in the match was when Ishii hit a shoulder block and Nakamura grabbed at it. Seemed to have no problems locking in an armbar and hitting suplexes, so my guess is he's gonna be alright. Regardless of the inury, the match was excellent.
> 
> And on the topic of Suzuki, yes. Yes he is that awesome all the time. :lol


Awesome, great to hear. Thanks a lot man.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*I'm actually going to be able to watch Day 9 live.

Let's get this show started! :mark:*


----------



## El Dandy

RyanPelley said:


> Also, since AXS TV's coverage of NJPW is one year behind, I've been able to catch last year's G1. I only bring this up because of the Suzuki / Okada match, or more so, an interview after. Suzuki called Okada a little puke, other people bastards and even threw out the possibility of everyone getting food poisoning! Is he always that awesome?












Here are some gifs of Suzuki being awesome:



Spoiler: Suzuki


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Tenzan has those bulb marks on his back from Chinese acupuncture or whatever. Dude should be doing DDP Yoga. There is nothing likable about Tenzan.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Well, that was Ibushi's worst G1 match, so far.

At least he won.*


----------



## El Dandy

Tremendous finish.

BASED SHIBATA!

8 points!

:sundin

I know it's too good to be true and he's not winning the Block, so fuck you Jado/Gedo for toying with our emotions again. :mj2


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Shibata wins! :rusevyes

Now Styles/Gallows. This should be interesting.*


----------



## El Dandy

AJ calling spots louder than Cena lol


----------



## DoubtGin

Fuck, missed the first two tournament matches.

At least fucking Shibata won.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*AJ Styles wins! :yes*


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Docs spot calls were louder than AJ's lol, Gallows called most of the important parts of the match. Great match IMO. Doc Gallows for G1 Champion!

Naito needs new music. This upbeat bull crap can't cut it if you're going to be a heel.


----------



## El Dandy

DoubtGin said:


> Fuck, missed the first two tournament matches.
> 
> At least fucking Shibata won.


You haven't missed much TBH

Ibushi over Tenzan in an ok match

Shibata over Fale in a decent match

Styles over Doc in a decent match


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Now it's Naito/Makabe.

Should be good.*


----------



## DoubtGin

el dandy said:


> You haven't missed much TBH
> 
> Ibushi over Tenzan in an ok match
> 
> Shibata over Fale in a decent match
> 
> Styles over Doc in a decent match


Thanks, Styles/Doc (at least the stuff I watched) was pretty good, I agree.

Naito/Makabe should be good, Tanahashi/Yano will hopefully be fun.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Makabe wanting to fight is making a better heel than Naito's entire run. Mind you Makabe's the face, but his expressions are much more heel. Wow.

Okay so Makabe decides to use face expressions after lmao

This crowd is full of casual marks.


----------



## DoubtGin

That Naito heat. "GO HOME" :ti:


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Lol Naito would be a better heel cosplaying as corporate Kane.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Naito doing perfect heel work but his expressions are still of a lost child. What the hell.


----------



## El Dandy

He spit on Red Shoes.

What a scum bag

:lmao


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

LOL Makabe calling spots when Naito is the heel.... lolz


----------



## DoubtGin

holy fuck Makabe beat Naito


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

I actually cheered for Makabe....


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Wow. Naito lost. Decent match, but I can't believe Makabe beat Naito.

Holy shit, Naito got cut open.*


----------



## DoubtGin

Day 10 is in two days right? What matches will happen then?


----------



## Morrison17

Just finished day 8 and holy shit at Takahashi's new girl. That chick is wild and I need gifs.


----------



## El Dandy

DoubtGin said:


> Day 10 is in two days right? What matches will happen then?


* Block B Match: Michael Elgin vs. Yujiro Takahashi
* Block B Match: Satoshi Kojima vs.Tomoaki Honma
* Block B Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii
* Block B Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson
* Block B Match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto


----------



## DoubtGin

Fun main event.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Yano's stitches ripped out, ouch.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Fun main event. I've always enjoyed seeing Tanahashi/Yano.

Also, Yano's stitches getting ripped out must've hurt like a bitch.*


----------



## DoubtGin

Only could watch three matches but yesterday was muuuuuch better, imo. Matches were all around three stars, for me.


----------



## El Dandy

Free 30 minute air-guitar concert!

Day 9 was very good!

Nothing great, but all 5 had something.

MOTN - Makabe/Naito for me, but could've gone to any of the other matches save for Ibushi/Tenzan TBH


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Makabe vs Naito MOTN and better than their match last year IMO.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Fun show.

Not my favorite day of the G1, but it was still pretty good.

My MOTN would have to be Yano/Tanahashi, but Makabe/Naito is a close second.*


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

There is nobody on this planet more over than Tanahashi. That little girl he hugged and talked to for like 10 seconds, she was awe struck and he knew it. So he just talked to her and then let her wipe his sweat off. That was seriously one of the most over moments I've ever seen. I mean there are people who are fanboys/fangirls but she was legitimately awestruck and he took time out just for her. 1/100 Great wrestler of all times. What a hero.


----------



## Insomnia

el dandy said:


> * Block B Match: Michael Elgin vs. Yujiro Takahashi
> * Block B Match: Satoshi Kojima vs.Tomoaki Honma
> * Block B Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii
> * Block B Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson
> * Block B Match: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto


Solid looking card!


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: Day 7 Tournament Ratings



Doc Gallows vs Toru Yano: ****
Togi Makabe vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan: **1/2*
Kota Ibushi vs Katsoyuri Shibata: *****1/2*
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Bad Luck Fale: ****1/2*
AJ Styles vs Tetsuya Naito: ****3/4* 

Catch up time!

Yano/Gallows was such a funny match. More of a comedy affair than anything so I can't rate it too high but Yano has been so entertaining to watch this tournament.

Tenzan/Makabe was boring as fuck, by far the worst match of the day.

Shibata/Ibushi was absolutely amazing. I don't know if it's better than Ibushi/Styles but it certainly is in the top three matches of the tournament so far. Either one or two for me. Incredible match.

Fale/Tanahashi was surprisingly very good and is yet another testament to how great of a worker Tanahashi is to get a very good match out of someone like Fale.

Naito/Styles was a very good main event and a good way to end a very good show. I expected a little bit more if I'm honest but it was still worthwhile.

Overall one of the better days of the tournament so far without a doubt.



Time to catch up with Day 8 after lunch!


----------



## Corey

Makabe neat Naito??? :sasha2


----------



## amhlilhaus

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Makabe neat Naito???


This ain't wwe. Anderson, ibushi, okada, nakamura, goto, fale, naito, makabe, kojima, ishii, styles and yes, even toru 'I cheat my fucking ass off' yano can beat anyone else on any given night


----------



## Corey

amhlilhaus said:


> This ain't wwe. Anderson, ibushi, okada, nakamura, goto, fale, naito, makabe, kojima, ishii, styles and yes, even toru 'I cheat my fucking ass off' yano can beat anyone else on any given night


Oh I know, I just didn't want it to happen. :lol


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: Day 8 Tournament Ratings



Yujiro Takahashi vs Satoshi Kojima: ***1/2*
Karl Anderson vs Yuji Nagata: *****
Michael Elgin vs Tomoaki Honma: ****1/2*
Tomohiro Ishii vs Shinsuke Nakamura: ****3/4*
Kazuchika Okada vs Hirooki Goto: ****1/2* 

Overall has to be the most consistent day of the tournament thus far. No outstanding matches but the final three matches were all very good!



Think I'll watch day 9 tomorrow.


----------



## Lariatoh!

I'm a little behind, so excuse the comments but, man- Goto is being shown as a major player beating Okada, they really are making him out to be a world beater. Having the IC champ go over the IWGP champ! Woah! Now after he beat Swag twice, it wasn't a huge surprise and the ending stretch had the story that the match could have gone either way, but just awesome to see booking is staying with him.


----------



## DoubtGin

How awesome it is when you have 5-8 guys who can convincingly beat each other without the result being surprising.


----------



## amhlilhaus

DoubtGin said:


> How awesome it is when you have 5-8 guys who can convincingly beat each other without the result being surprising.


It's one of the reasons why new japan is so good. Each singles match midcard and above can go either way and gives the match an air of suspense.

In wwe theoretically there is parity, except cena and reigns. Cena's lost to people but still wins 99 percent of his matches and reigns is following the same path.


----------



## Eliko

the way i see it, Okada will be leading the Block B until his match with Nakamura in the last day, with Nakamura beating Okada - a win that will have both in a tie and because Nakamura won the match between them he will qualify to the finals .

in Block A, i think it's either Tanahashi or AJ that will qualify to the finals.
something telling me that Gedo wants that perfect storyline for his champion Okada - after avenging his win over AJ he must avenge his losses to Tanahashi at the dome in another main event match at WK 10 .

another side of me telling me that maybe gedo will do a Americans Popular main event match with Okada vs Nakamura, gedo saw how popular they were with the ROH crowd and Okada always talking about how much he wants to take NJPW Worldwide.

either way we are going to have a great main event at WK 10 for sure .


----------



## SHIRLEY

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Makabe neat Naito??? :sasha2


He's a much bigger draw, and a better worker, so all is right in the world.

Naito's gotten his money's worth out of this tournament just by acquiring the cool skeleton mask.



Lariatoh! said:


> I'm a little behind, so excuse the comments but, man- Goto is being shown as a major player beating Okada, they really are making him out to be a world beater. *Having the IC champ go over the IWGP champ! Woah!* Now after he beat Swag twice, it wasn't a huge surprise and the ending stretch had the story that the match could have gone either way, but just awesome to see booking is staying with him.


SuperGoto



Eliko said:


> the way i see it, Okada will be leading the Block B until his match with Nakamura in the last day, with Nakamura beating Okada - a win that will have both in a tie and because Nakamura won the match between them he will qualify to the finals .
> 
> in Block A, i think it's either Tanahashi or AJ that will qualify to the finals.
> something telling me that Gedo wants that perfect storyline for his champion Okada - after avenging his win over AJ he must avenge his losses to Tanahashi at the dome in another main event match at WK 10 .
> 
> another side of me telling me that maybe gedo will do *a Americans Popular main event match with Okada vs Nakamura*, gedo saw how popular they were with the ROH crowd and Okada always talking about how much he wants to take NJPW Worldwide.
> 
> either way we are going to have a great main event at WK 10 for sure .


The biggest possible match for Americans would actually be something like Barnett vs. AJ or Maria vs. Sakuraba.


----------



## El Dandy

Not for nothing, but Saku putting Maria in a kneebar would get a Road Warrior pop from me.

Unfortunalty for Saku, Maria's fighting spirit bar would be maxed... so she somehow turns it into a kimura and Saku taps.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 9:

*Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - **3/4
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Bad Luck Fale - **3/4
AJ Styles vs. Doc Gallows - *1/2
Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito - *1/2
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano - **1/2*

Ibushi/Tenzan + Shibata/Fale were both pretty good matches.
Styles/Gallows was pretty bad. Really the worst Styles match in a while.
Makabe/Naito was also pretty bad.
Tana/Yano was a pretty good main event.

This was honestly not a very good show IMO. Probably the worst show of the tournament so far, tbh.


----------



## Lariatoh!

SHIRLEY said:


> The biggest possible match for Americans would actually be something like Barnett vs. AJ or Maria vs. Sakuraba.





el dandy said:


> Not for nothing, but Saku putting Maria in a kneebar would get a Road Warrior pop from me.
> 
> Unfortunalty for Saku, Maria's fighting spirit bar would be maxed... so she somehow turns it into a kimura and Saku taps.


Maria's "fighting spirit bars" did win the IWGP Tag team championships. (She hired some valets to hold the titles for her every time she came down the ramp) so surely she could take Saka....


----------



## Zatiel

Shibata turning the Border Toss into a sleeper and punting Fale goodnight was all I needed. I expected this to be one of the weaker shows so far, and it was. But that win was darned cathartic.

Also, I'm not usually supportive of Naito, but the guy's a maniac for taking the post shots like that. That he could even half-ass dicking around ringside afterward is impressive. I hope he's not terribly concussed.


----------



## Corey

Day 9 was average as a whole, but I enjoyed it more than I expected, so it's a win. Ibushi/Tenzan was ok and Shibata/Fale was average at best (although that counter that Zatiel referred to was quite nifty). Styles vs. Gallows was actually solid for the most part. Distinct size advantage dictated the pace for Gallows. AJ constantly going at the leg was a good touch, but the finishing stretch was a disappointment. AJ never wins with bloody sunday, c'mon now. Was pretty hilarious to hear them talking. :lol

Makabe vs. Naito was slightly MOTN, but I have to use this time to praise Naito some more for his new character. The demeanor and cynical behavior is fantastic right now. Taking his sweet ass time to remove his attire while Makabe yells at him was hilarious. Then he beats the hell out of him, spits on everyone, and lays on the mat posing like he doesn't give a fuck. :mark: The finish really made this one memorable though. That ringpost shot was NASTY and Naito sold it like a complete fucking champion postmatch. GOD DAMMIT I love this character. I wasn't happy with Makabe winning beforehand, but the way he did it made me totally ok with it after watching. *** 

I dearly hope he winds up in the top two of the block because he holds the tiebreaker over AJ and Tanahashi. Even if he doesn't, he can play it off like the G1 didn't mean shit to him because he's the UNGOVERNABLE and he can go on his own path of destruction. Maybe he can take the belt off of Goto later in the year? That would be perfect because asking him to dethrone Okada is too much right now. The guy is getting SO MUCH heat though. Jesus. How I'm feeling right now with Naito is how @el dandy is with Shibata. :lol Hopefully one of us will get our wish. Shibata's on his own atop A Block!

Tanahashi vs. Yano was a bunch of fun because of Yano's antics. It was about as entertaining as you could get, although I wish Tanahashi would've sold all the punishment he took a little more. Minor quibble, cause this was fun. Poor Red Shoes, getting spat on and thrown around all night.  ***

Still think Day 6 has been the weakest of the tournament thus far.


----------



## TJQ

Day 9 kinda sucked :Hutz


----------



## LilOlMe

I thought Shibata and Styles were tied at the top, no? Styles only lost to Ibushi, and Shibata lost to Styles.

Going back to the episode before today's:

Honma/Elgin was great stuff, and probably the most alive the crowd's been all tournament. I love how the audience was laughing when Honma missed the top rope headbutt. Those flying headbutt counters were great, though, and the match was so perfectly booked. It breathed, it moved, despite being only 10 minutes. So perfectly constructed.

Also thought that Goto/Okada was great, and am surprised by how undersold it's been on here. Okada's one of the best guys at those great finishing stretches, and Goto seemed to be in the zone more than usual here. Loved the intensity and groundedness with which he delivers headbutts.

Nakamura/Ishii was good, but I didn't feel taken with it. Kind of a disappointment, though still a good match.

Nagata/Anderson was surprisingly great. This was the single most charismatic Anderson performance I've seen. He had good star quality. After watching this a second time, Nagata was a standout here. Consistent selling, & he brought good intensity, especially on that top rope spot.

Very solid night. 4 of the tournament matches were quite good, and I also enjoyed a few of the tags.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for tonight, I found it enjoyable. On paper, it didn't seem like a great night, so I wasn't expecting much. However, I felt every match had something likable about it, though nothing was blow away.

Are we sure that Naito got opened up on the ring post? I thought it was Makabe's headbutt, which would be the second headbutt this tournament to cause injury.

Highlights of the night: 
*Shibata turning Fale's move into a sleeper

*Naito acting like he was going to do flippy stuff & running at full force...just to slide into laying down & posing, lol

*Tanahashi playing off of Yano. Those two have surprisingly good chemistry in the two matches I've seen of them together.

*Ibushi doing the propellers faster than Tenzan's ever done it in his life.

LOL at AJ's "come here." I wonder if they're aware that this stuf is on NJPW without commentators? Because the commentators were sitting there.


----------



## Zatiel

LilOlMe said:


> I thought Shibata and Styles were tied at the top, no? Styles only lost to Ibushi, and Shibata lost to Styles.


Styles also fell to Naito in The Battle of Banter. That put him two points behind.


----------



## Corey

Shibata is alone at the top with only one loss to AJ. Styles has lost to both Ibushi and Naito. There's literally a SIX way tie for 2nd place in that block now. Crazy! Naito vs. Ibushi coming up and I'm SO looking forward to seeing that one. Main event that night.

Agreed on Goto/Okada. It seemed to be overshadowed by how surprisingly great Honma/Elgin was, but I still really liked it as a main event. Terrific sprint in the late stages. Nakamura/Ishii was even better though imo.

I'm pretty sure Naito got busted on the ring post, or it at least looked that way to me. After he smacked the top is when I noticed the blood. Looked pretty nasty.


----------



## LilOlMe

Zatiel said:


> Styles also fell to Naito in The Battle of Banter. That put him two points behind.


Ah, how could I forget. "Battle of Banter" is a good one, lol.


----------



## Corey

We're technically halfway through the tourney, so here's my top matches of the first 9 days:

1. Tanahashi vs. Naito - Day 5 - ****
2. Honma vs. Elgin - Day 8 - ****
3. Nakamura vs. Ishii - Day 8- ****
4. Okada vs. Goto - Day 8 - *** 3/4
5. Styles vs. Shibata - Day 1 - *** 1/2
6. Styles vs. Ibushi - Day 5 - *** 1/2
7. Nagata vs. Anderson - Day 8 - *** 1/2
8. Okada vs. Elgin - Day 2 - *** 1/4
9. Styles vs. Yano - Day 3 - *** 1/4
10. Elgin vs. Kojima - Day 4 - *** 1/4

Day 8 and 5 have been my personal favorites. Difficult to pick an MVP to this point. Naito has been incredible character wise and had my favorite match of the whole thing so far, Elgin has been overachieving and impressing in every match, Styles has been Mr. Consistent the whole way through, and then you have a handful of others who have been good. Halfway there, guys!


----------



## TJQ

Jack Evans 187 said:


> We're technically halfway through the tourney, so here's my top matches of the first 9 days:
> 
> 1. Tanahashi vs. Naito - Day 5 - ****
> *2. Honma vs. Elgin - Day 8 - *****
> 3. Nakamura vs. Ishii - Day 8- ****
> 4. Okada vs. Goto - Day 8 - *** 3/4
> 5. Styles vs. Shibata - Day 1 - *** 1/2
> 6. Styles vs. Ibushi - Day 5 - *** 1/2
> 7. Nagata vs. Anderson - Day 8 - *** 1/2
> 8. Okada vs. Elgin - Day 2 - *** 1/4
> 9. Styles vs. Yano - Day 3 - *** 1/4
> 10. Elgin vs. Kojima - Day 4 - *** 1/4
> 
> Day 8 and 5 have been my personal favorites. Difficult to pick an MVP to this point. Naito has been incredible character wise and had my favorite match of the whole thing so far, Elgin has been overachieving and impressing in every match, Styles has been Mr. Consistent the whole way through, and then you have a handful of others who have been good. Halfway there, guys!


elG1n making us proud :kd

His style is so much better suited for Japan, I hope he sticks around after G1 tbh.


----------



## El Dandy

I'm with you on Naito, too, @Jack Evans 187 .

I'd love Shibata to win, but I won't be disappointed in the least in any one of Nakamura, Shibata, Styles or Naito wins.

I really don't like that the Tokyo Dome spot goes to the G1 winner because it makes the result more predictable. With no Dome main event at stake, it could go to anybody and the intrigue is endless with guys like Shibata, Naito, Ibushi etc could really use a G1 win rub. I know the winner could still drop the title match privilege, but that causes more harm than the good of even winning it.

So far my Top 10 matches:

1. Day 7: Shibata v Ibushi
2. Day 5: Styles v Ibushi
3. Day 5: Tanahashi v Naito
4. Day 1: Shibata v Styles
5. Day 1: Tanahashi v Ibushi
6. Day 3: Shibata v Naito
7. Day 8: Honma v Elgin
8. Day 3: Styles v YTR
9. Day 8: Okada v Goto
10. Day 3: Tanahashi/Tenzan


Potential MOTT caliber matches still yet to happen (bolded means get HYPED potential MOTY quality):

*Tanahashi/Shibata*
Tanahashi/Styles
Naito/Ibushi
Okada/Ishii
*Goto/Ishii*
*Honma/Ishii*
*Elgin/Ishii*
*Nakamura/Honma*
*Nakamura/Okada*

Just realized why B Block has pretty much sucked so far... they fucking front loaded A Block and there is not much left. B Block has many top tier matches yet to come it's not even funny.


----------



## Zatiel

Interesting to take a poll of our ten favorites so far. From my list, it's pretty obvious who's been tournament MVP so far for me:

1. Katsuyori Shibata Vs. Kota Ibushi (July 29) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 7
2. AJ Styles Vs. Kota Ibushi (July 26) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 5
3. Kazuchika Okada Vs. Hirooki Gotoh (August 1) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 8
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Kota Ibushi (July 20) - NJPW: G1 Climax Night 1
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (July 24) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 3
6. Katsuyori Shibata Vs. Tetsuya Naito (July 24) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 3
7. Tomoaki Honma Vs. Michael Elgin (August 1) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 8
8. AJ Styles Vs. Toru Yano (July 24) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 3
9. Kazuchika Okada Vs. Michael Elgin (July 23) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 2
10. Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 1) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 8

Ibushi has been given elite opponents and the time necessary to shine against them. He's getting the big chance that maybe he was supposed to get last year, and he's making the most of it. After three viewings, Ibushi/Shibata is my favorite match of the year. It's compact and tells a story I never get tired of: Ibushi trying to outdo a guy at his own game and ultimately getting his teeth kicked in for it.

Shibata has been giving my favorite performances of the tournament, though. While Naito is running hot-and-cold for me, with his new gimmick destroying my disbelief in a lot of his matches with his non-competitive pacing, Shibata's performance in their match was just solid gold. He's hungry, aggressive, and knows the things that work. My only surprise is he's mostly given up selling the arm, which was a big factor in the early tournament matches. I thought it was amazing to carry that over from his brutal match against Sakuraba.

If Elgin keeps up this level of performance, they would be foolish not to keep him around. I suspect he's got some friends there, though, as Okada went out of his way to let him shine on Day 2. At the very worst NJPW could give him a dynamic partner and inject some good spots into the always-flagging tag division. 

Overall, I am loving this year's G1. Not quite as insane as the last two years, but with plenty of good and great performances, and good stories. Anderson rolling Nakamura and Gotoh in two straight matches, and Naito rolling Styles and Tanahashi in two straight, easily set them apart. But it's not WWE, so they're not invincible, and I loved Ishii stopping Anderson's streak just as much as I liked Anderson having the streak in the first place. I'm still legitimately curious as to who will win. My likely suspects are Nakamura, Naito, Styles, or Tanahashi.


----------



## VanHammerFan

I thought day 9 was ok. ELG1N has been great every single day including the tags except for day 9 (cody hall lel).

I'm a big kota fan, but his work is pretty much done for this g1. I don't think his match vs naito is gonna be anything to write home about because of the pace conflicts due to nato's character. 

MVP so far really could be any one of kota, aj, shibata, naito, tana. I vote kota.

my fave 5:

1. shibata v ibushi
2. tanahashi v ibushi
3. styles v ibushi
4. tanahashi v naito
5. elgin v honma



el dandy said:


> Potential MOTT caliber matches still yet to happen (bolded means get HYPED potential MOTY quality):
> 
> *Tanahashi/Shibata*
> Tanahashi/Styles
> Naito/Ibushi
> Okada/Ishii
> *Goto/Ishii*
> *Honma/Ishii*
> *Elgin/Ishii*
> *Nakamura/Honma*
> *Nakamura/Okada*











the best has yet to come. not name value wise, but the 2nd half is full of nothing but hard hitting strong style. ishii/honma and goto/ishii and tanahahi/shibata OMG

place your bets: does ishii live long enough to even face elgin?


----------



## Corey

It's really interesting when it comes to our top matches. I think just about everyone in here would have a completely different list.  Shibata & Ibushi don't quite connect with me as much as others while some aren't completely sold on Naito yet. I seem to prefer a more American style of wrestling (I guess if that exists) which is why I prefer the gaijins (Styles, Elgin, & Anderson) in most cases.

Will Honma ever get a win? :lol

Elgin has indeed been killing it and it's such a pleasant surprise. TJQ nailed it with the style being better suited for Japan. They've been booking his matches perfectly so far and it's a shame he wasn't able to face Nakamura. I'm willing to bet his match with Ishii will be awesome.

Don't ask me why but I feel like Elgin & Honma would be an epic tag team that the crowd would get behind so much to dethrone the Bullet Club. Anyone would really be welcome though because that non-existent division really sucks.

Imagine if they brought over Elgin AND Roddy for this G1. kada


----------



## El Dandy

It's a shame you're not the biggest fan of strong style @Jack Evans 187

That Ibushi/Shibata match was special and there are a ton of great matches remaining you may find tough to enjoy... or maybe Ishii can sway you! :sundin

Probably unlikely. If you don't care for Shibata's bachi-bachi, Ishii takes it to another danger level with headbutts. Bless that no neck having Ishii.


----------



## Corey

It's not necessarily that I don't _like_ the style, I think it's just moreso how it's portrayed. I hate it when people just come out at the start of a match and start trading kicks and strikes for no reason. That whole fighting spirit thing. Davey Richards made me hate shit like that. :lol I'd much rather see a match that starts off in a lock up and evolves into one guy gaining advantage (whether it be legally or illegally) leading into a control segment before an eventual comeback and a hot finishing stretch. Throw in limbwork with proper selling and I'm hooked. Traditional formula is what gets me excited I guess. You look at Tanahashi/Naito which has been my favorite match so far and you can understand where I'm going here.

I never got off to a good start with Shibata. His intensity is awesome at times but the first match I ever saw from him I fucking HATED. It was a Tokyo Dome mach with Tanahashi from like 10 years ago and all he did was throw kick after kick and it was terrible. Since then I've never been able to view him too well until recently. The whole tough guy shtick who can kick really hard just doesn't do it for me in certain situations. Always loved Minoru Suzuki and Yoshihiro Takayama, who I guess you can say have a similar style.

Haven't honestly seen very much Ishii to have a true opinion on him. I know he always seems to have a shoulder injury, does a lot of headbutts and suplexes. That's really all I got for him. Makabe, Ishii, Kojima, and even Tenzan all sort of blend into the same type of wrestler and they don't necessarily excite me to think about them. Although I've enjoyed plenty of matches from them.

Ibushi is an electric wrestler with incredible upside, but far too many times he doesn't sell well enough for me and his facial expressions are goofy. When he's the underdog and you don't work over his leg is when he does well (vs. Nakamura, Goto, AJ). I get so annoyed when guys work over a high flying wrestler's leg because I know 90% of the time they're not gonna sell it. I didn't even bother to finish Omega vs. KUSHIDA because of that.


----------



## Zatiel

I'll be interested to see what you think of Ishii over to time, Jack. To me, Ishii is the best at selling in the entire world, outstripping my beloved favorites Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn. Often he sells so profoundly that I think he's really hurt, and it's developed to a point where even dirtsheet writers are uncertain of when he's healed from injuries. 

But he applies that ability to very physical, brawling matches where he Fighting Spirits his way through pain. I buy it as believably athletic; a sprinter or running back won't hobble along, they'll tough through the next piece of their journey and then collapse. But wrestlers can screw it up (Charlie Haas in ROH used to do the worst Fighting Spirit ever). So as you see more of Ishii, I wonder if that formula will define him, or if the ability to sell will make him work will for you.


----------



## Corey

Well I loved Ishii's performance against Nakamura the other day, so I can definitely see where the fandom is. His refusal to quit in the late moments and _really_ make the injured Shinskay work for it were excellent. Based on that match lone, it makes me look forward to his higher profile matches against the rest of the block (Elgin specifically because there's so much power and manliness there).

Following the G1 this closely is brand new to me, btw. I've watched New Japan here and there for years now, but never this closely. I'm sure I missed out on lots of great tournaments. In fact from last year's edition the only matches I can recall watching were AJ/Suzuki, Tanahashi/Shibata (which was pretty fucking awesome I believe) and AJ/Tanahashi. I never even got around to seeing Okada/Nakamura in the final. You can mainly say I watched for Styles through most of last year and the rest came along with it.

I'm not what you would call your typical New Japan fan. Most people I notice on this forum tend to think New Japan puts on the best matches in the world and has the best talent and rates everything they do highly with virtually nothing negative to say, but I always seem to be less enthused with almost everything they do. I haven't rated a single NJPW match higher than **** this year. Which isn't knocking on them, I just don't view it the same as most others. Maybe it's the style, maybe it's the wrestlers, maybe it's the language barrier that separates that distinct connection to the character and person, idk. I just have to take everyone else's opinion on it with a grain of salt. Rarely do I feel the same.

I'm typing a fuck ton tonight. :lol WRESTLING!


----------



## El Dandy

What are your thoughts of Shibata/Ishii and Honma/Ishii?

Links for those who haven't seen either:

Shibata v Ishii

Honma v Ishii


----------



## Corey

^^^ Haven't seen either one of those, dandy. I would tell you that I'll bookmark them and watch them soon, but I'd be lying. :lol Between the PWG, ROH, and PROGRESS that I need to catch up on, RAW tomorrow night, LU season finale on Wednesday, and virtually every night being a new G1 show, I can't find the time to watch anything not taking place this year.

Hardly even knew who Ishii and Honma were prior to maybe a year ago. I saw some old Honma deathmatches from years back and then I came across him one day looking like Hulkamania and it gave me a good laugh.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Well I loved Ishii's performance against Nakamura the other day, so I can definitely see where the fandom is. His refusal to quit in the late moments and _really_ make the injured Shinskay work for it were excellent. Based on that match lone, it makes me look forward to his higher profile matches against the rest of the block (Elgin specifically because there's so much power and manliness there).
> 
> Following the G1 this closely is brand new to me, btw. I've watched New Japan here and there for years now, but never this closely. I'm sure I missed out on lots of great tournaments. In fact from last year's edition the only matches I can recall watching were AJ/Suzuki, Tanahashi/Shibata (which was pretty fucking awesome I believe) and AJ/Tanahashi. I never even got around to seeing Okada/Nakamura in the final. You can mainly say I watched for Styles through most of last year and the rest came along with it.
> 
> I'm not what you would call your typical New Japan fan. Most people I notice on this forum tend to think New Japan puts on the best matches in the world and has the best talent and rates everything they do highly with virtually nothing negative to say, but I always seem to be less enthused with almost everything they do. I haven't rated a single NJPW match higher than **** this year. Which isn't knocking on them, I just don't view it the same as most others. Maybe it's the style, maybe it's the wrestlers, maybe it's the language barrier that separates that distinct connection to the character and person, idk. I just have to take everyone else's opinion on it with a grain of salt. Rarely do I feel the same.
> 
> I'm typing a fuck ton tonight. :lol WRESTLING!


It's not for everyone and everyone has different tastes. However NJPW has a bunch of styles to watch and different characters that are unique. I love Tanahashi as much as a man can love another man without it being homosexual. He's one of 3 wrestlers that transcends wrestling in my eyes (That are currently active). However I really dislike Makabe, Tenzan, Naito, and Yano. I really dislike Captain New Japan, Tigermask 534534643, Cody Hall, Taguchi, and Yoshi Hashi.



el dandy said:


> What are your thoughts of Shibata/Ishii and Honma/Ishii?
> 
> Links for those who haven't seen either:
> 
> Shibata v Ishii
> 
> Honma v Ishii


Ishii vs Shibata was so real. One of the best matches ever.


----------



## NastyYaffa

My top-10 G1 matches so far:

1. AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 5)
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 1)
3. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 7)
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 5)
5. AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Day 1)
6. Hirooki Goto vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 6)
7. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson (Day 6)
8. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale (Day 7)
9. Michael Elgin vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 8)
10. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Day 8)

Also, top performers of G1 so far:

*1. Kota Ibushi*
vs. Tanahashi - ****1/2
vs. Gallows - ***
vs. Styles - ****1/2
vs. Shibata - ****1/4
vs. Tenzan - **3/4

*2. Hiroshi Tanahashi*
vs. Ibushi - ****1/2
vs. Tenzan - ***3/4
vs. Naito - ****1/4
vs. Fale - ***3/4
vs. Yano - **1/2

*3. Katsuyori Shibata*
vs. Styles - ****
vs. Naito - ***3/4
vs. Makabe - ***1/2
vs. Ibushi - ****1/4
vs. Fale - **3/4

Styles is up there behind them too, but didn't make the top-3.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Fale vs. Shibata - ******3/4


----------



## Ham and Egger

I need to get my hands on a LOS INGOBERNABLES t-shirt. Coolest shirt right next to Bullet Clubs.


----------



## Corey

Day 10 tomorrow in Sendai. Looks like quite a strong card on paper. Some high profile matches from recent years. Predictions?

*Nakamura* vs. Goto
*Okada* vs. Anderson
*Nagata* vs. Ishii
Honma vs. *Kojima*
*Elgin* vs. Yujiro

Think it's a guarantee that Nakamura gets his win back in the main event. Okada/Anderson should hopefully be great and I wouldn't be too surprised if Anderson pulled another upset to keep things interesting, but I'll go with the champ since he's already coming off that big loss to Goto. I think Nagata/Ishii could really go either way. That should be good match too with both guys having possible lingering injuries. I'd love to see Honma get his first win, but he probably won't.  Hoping Elgin destroys Yujiro in 5 minutes.

Have to work a 12 hour shift tomorrow, then likely going to a small get together after work, THEN I have to take my car into the shop Wednesday morning. Fuuuuck, man. Who knows when I'll get to watch this one. unk3


----------



## Lariatoh!

NFN vs. Makabe was pretty good. He just gets better at playing this character. The loss is fine because that's how G1 works, it's all about getting tired, getting beat up, and guys lose matches. No Fucks Naito will be back strong in his next round. 

It's a toss up for me right now who's going to win. I think Tanahashi because he hasn't won in years and of the whole he and Okada storyline or Okada wins again and challenges Tana to face him at the dome. I think this is because Okada and Swag are in the same block so will face each very soon, and therefore leans me towards Styles/Swag at the Dome


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

Finally all caught up. I have to say that Tanahashi has gotten the best out of everyone of his opponents. Easilly the most outstanding of the bunch so far.


----------



## El Dandy

Random thought:

I'm half expecting Naito to lose to YTR on Saturday, if only because I have a vision in my head of Naito doing his lazy cover on a guy and then gets caught off guard with a roll-up counter.

That is such a classic spot and it is totally something right up YTR's alley.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Well I loved Ishii's performance against Nakamura the other day, so I can definitely see where the fandom is. His refusal to quit in the late moments and _really_ make the injured Shinskay work for it were excellent. Based on that match lone, it makes me look forward to his higher profile matches against the rest of the block (Elgin specifically because there's so much power and manliness there).
> 
> Following the G1 this closely is brand new to me, btw. I've watched New Japan here and there for years now, but never this closely. I'm sure I missed out on lots of great tournaments. In fact from last year's edition the only matches I can recall watching were AJ/Suzuki, Tanahashi/Shibata (which was pretty fucking awesome I believe) and AJ/Tanahashi. I never even got around to seeing Okada/Nakamura in the final. You can mainly say I watched for Styles through most of last year and the rest came along with it.
> 
> *I'm not what you would call your typical New Japan fan. Most people I notice on this forum tend to think New Japan puts on the best matches in the world and has the best talent and rates everything they do highly with virtually nothing negative to say, but I always seem to be less enthused with almost everything they do. I haven't rated a single NJPW match higher than **** this year. Which isn't knocking on them, I just don't view it the same as most others. Maybe it's the style, maybe it's the wrestlers, maybe it's the language barrier that separates that distinct connection to the character and person, idk. I just have to take everyone else's opinion on it with a grain of salt. Rarely do I feel the same.*
> 
> I'm typing a fuck ton tonight. :lol WRESTLING!



I think most people that only have positive stuff to say havent been watching that long and its all new and exciting. When I was a kid and started watching wwe I never had a bad thing to say about it but the more I watched and going into my mid-late teens I started finding things that annoyed me and it wasnt all great like you say. Its the same with Japan. When I first started watching njpw fulltime back in 2012 I marked for everything and thought everybody were great. The guys I gravitated towards were Okada,Bulletclub and Nakamura but now that I have watched it for 3 years I gravitate more towards guys I didnt care for much when I got in like Shibata,Ishii etc. I def feel alot of the stuff that happends in njpw gets overrated. Maybe its meltzer rating every match that is good like 4 1/2 stars minimum while he rates most of the stuff in wwe lower. And alot of people read his reviews and then state them as facts. For example Meltzer rated Cesaro/Zayn from arrival 4,25 stars and Sasha/Becky from unstoppable 4 stars while he,s rated like 8-15 matches this tournament alone higher then both of them. Maybe its just me but I dont think any match thus far from this years g1 was as good as Zayn/Cesaro from arrival and most of them with the exception of Ibushi/Shibata, Ibushi/Styles and Ibushi/Tanahashi were not as good as Becky/Sasha. The same goes for alot of matches. He,s rated tons of g1 matches that I thought were great 5 stars but then when it comes to wwe matches that are better then that like Michaels/Taker wm or Angle/Benoit rr 03 etc they dont get 5 stars.


----------



## Corey

Oh god, don't get me started With Meltzer. Going by his ratings, every other New Japan show would be literally the greatest of all time. :lol



el dandy said:


> Random thought:
> 
> I'm half expecting Naito to lose to YTR on Saturday, if only because I have a vision in my head of Naito doing his lazy cover on a guy and then gets caught off guard with a roll-up counter.
> 
> That is such a classic spot and it is totally something right up YTR's alley.


And then Naito beats the holy fuck out of him postmatch and spits on everyone? I could dig that.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Meltzer just likes New Japan matches more than he likes WWE matches, at most of the times. I honestly don't see anything wrong with that. It's just one man's opinions. :shrug

And tomorrow's show looks pretty good overall, but Elgin/Yujiro has the "potential" to be the worst match of the tournament. Ugh. :tripsscust


----------



## TJQ

(2)* Katsuyori Shibata & Yohei Komatsu* vs. Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI

MY DREAM TEAM CONFIRMED :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark:


----------



## Corey

Is it ok that I don't watch ANY of the tag matches from these G1 shows? Like I don't even look to see what the matches are, I just skip all of them because they run so many. :lol Am I missing anything?


----------



## NastyYaffa

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Is it ok that I don't watch ANY of the tag matches from these G1 shows? Like I don't even look to see what the matches are, I just skip all of them because they run so many. :lol Am I missing anything?


I think it's OK lol. I've been doing pretty much the exact same thing.  I did watch one tag match w/ Tanahashi, Elgin & Naito vs. Bullet Club though, and that was pretty good. Styles & Naito were great there.


----------



## Lariatoh!

It's fine Jack.. it's all part of the process of resting guys for their tournament matches, kayfabe as well...


----------



## Vårmakos

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Is it ok that I don't watch ANY of the tag matches from these G1 shows? Like I don't even look to see what the matches are, I just skip all of them because they run so many. :lol Am I missing anything?



YOSHI-HASHI and Taguchi shoving his Funky Weapon into people's faces.


----------



## Corey

Vårmakos said:


> YOSHI-HASHI and Taguchi shoving his Funky Weapon into people's faces.


Ok, so nothing then. Cool. 

:lol

Most of the time when I look at the tag matches, most of it looks decent and then there's always some shitty jobbers in there to bring it down like Yujiro or Captain New Japan or something.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

NastyYaffa said:


> Meltzer just likes New Japan matches more than he likes WWE matches, at most of the times. I honestly don't see anything wrong with that. It's just one man's opinions. :shrug
> 
> And tomorrow's show looks pretty good overall, but Elgin/Yujiro has the "potential" to be the worst match of the tournament. Ugh. :tripsscust



So do I nothing wrong with it. Nakamura,Shibata and Ibushi are literally my favorite current inringworkers. I just think as a "journalist" you should try to be a little unbiased.


----------



## NastyYaffa

Jonasolsson96 said:


> So do I nothing wrong with it. Nakamura,Shibata and Ibushi are literally my favorite current inringworkers. I just think as a "journalist" you should try to be a little unbiased.


I don't think he is THAT biased, he just legit enjoys many New Japan matches more than many WWE matches.


----------



## Miguel De Juan

Meltzer is not biased. He wasn't rating those shitty matches with low rent nwa guys very highly.


----------



## LilOlMe

Zatiel said:


> Often [Ishii] sells so profoundly that I think he's really hurt, and it's developed to a point where even dirtsheet writers are uncertain of when he's healed from injuries.


I was wondering that during the match against Anderson. They kind of had me fooled, with Anderson being like "check on him!" lol.




NastyYaffa said:


> Meltzer just likes New Japan matches more than he likes WWE matches, at most of the times. I honestly don't see anything wrong with that. It's just one man's opinions. :shrug


On the Meltzer topic, he has addressed this on his board:


> Actually when there was a New Japan and WWE show the same day last year, NJ first, I gave an NJ match **** and a WWE match ****. Then watched the NJ match and realized I rated WWE on a curve because the NJ match was so far superior. I had a group over and they really lost it (it was a Styles vs. Ibushi tag match last year) at the idea I could even rate the two in the same ballpark.
> 
> Same thing when we watched one of the Ishii vs. Naito matches right after a WWE PPV show where I'd given a WWE match a big number.
> 
> But if there's a bias, it's skewed by the standard of the show itself in that a great match on an average show looks so much better than a great match on a show where everything is great.


He's right. He actually rates WWE too highly, IMO. They definitely benefit from lesser expectations.

That last line is also what I've always said about him. People get upset about his ratings, but they have to remember that it's a snapshot at a moment in time. That's why comparing what he gives to one match to a match on an entirely different show years later, is faulty. 

I'm sure if he sat and watched matches with the same rating back to back, he wouldn't always keep the rating the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can see why he rates NJPW higher, because it just is, IMO. It's not that from top to bottom it's great. It has its problems, and it's definitely going to start having more problems if they don't start cultivating young talent soon.

However, the best of the best of NJPW is at such higher level than WWE. It's really embarrassing, actually. That's really what it comes down to for me. Many of the lauded WWE matches can't compare at all to Suzuki vs. Tanahashi, for example. There's an authenticity to that match and the way they wrestled it, that I haven't seen in the WWE in decades. And even then, it was very rare.

The way Japan lets its wrestlers take their time, and the way they try to make people who aren't as important shine, and most importantly, their attention to detail is so far and above most WWE wrestlers. It's not even a comparison.

Most of the WWE wrestlers who have so-called "innovative" movesets took their moves from Japan. So there's that too.

But the main thing is the effort Japanese wrestlers put in. Would it kill our wrestlers to make it look like there's a real effort and struggle to get to the ropes on a submission? That's a small example.

Plus, NJPW's style just appeals to me more. Right down to the simplicity of the wrestlers going by their real names. Just a totally different presentation and approach.

I could make some controversial statements, but I'll just leave it at the best of WWE doesn't even come close to holding a candle to the best of NJPW, imo. Not only do they come off as cheap knockoffs, to me they just lack the genuine electricity, smarts, and detail-oriented approach that many in Japan have.

They are also way too tightly controlled in the WWE. Everything is starting to look the same. That really is the main problem. WWE is too uniform in its "big show" approach.

It's not some hate on the WWE thing, btw, because I was never like that.

Basically, I totally understand where Meltzer's coming from. Even then, he's very generous with the WWE. He's constantly rating those kickout finisher-fest Cena matches of late very highly.


ETA: I've been getting a more casual fan into some Japanese wrestling. After watching a few, unprompted, they were like "they make us look like amateurs." They know nothing about Meltzer or anything like that. So it does seem to be the genuine view that people start to take when they watch Japanese wrestling. In fairness, we were watching some of the best stuff from Dominion, so it was of a higher quality, but they've seen high quality WWE stuff.


----------



## Corey

Yeah I don't discount or discourage Meltzer's ratings and opinion by any means, I just know as soon as a New Japan show occurs he's likely gonna have through the roof ratings that I won't agree with.  I just gauge his scale down, much like if those two guys on this forum named ZEROVampire and darkclaudio rate a match highly then you know they _really_ enjoyed it because they go pretty low on everything.

@LilOlMe, let's hear those controversial statements! :lol Jk, I completely understand where you're coming from with New Japan. It's always felt like a more REAL wrestling company with a much more serious and natural tone than WWE has. 

I'm not sure if you're watching right now, but RAW has been phenomenal thus far tonight. Just ironic that you're bringing up how tightly secured it is and tonight they're really letting the shit loose. Really enjoyed it.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jonasolsson96 said:


> For example Meltzer rated Cesaro/Zayn from arrival 4,25 stars and Sasha/Becky from unstoppable 4 stars while he,s rated like 8-15 matches this tournament alone higher then both of them.


He only rated three matches higher than those, and one match the same as the Sasha/Becky match:

Tanahashi/Ibushi **** 3/4
Shibata/Ibushi **** 1/2
AJ Styles/Ibushi **** /12
Tanahashi/Naito ****

Although there are a couple of matches he called very good or excellent, but didn't rate, so who knows what those would be.

Maybe you're getting confused, because his front page contains ratings sent in by fans? I mistook those for his ratings when I first saw those at first too.




Jack Evans 187 said:


> Yeah I don't discount or discourage Meltzer's ratings and opinion by any means, I just know as soon as a New Japan show occurs he's likely gonna have through the roof ratings that I won't agree with.  I just gauge his scale down, much like if those two guys on this forum named ZEROVampire and darkclaudio rate a match highly then you know they _really_ enjoyed it because they go pretty low on everything.
> 
> @LilOlMe, let's hear those controversial statements! :lol Jk, I completely understand where you're coming from with New Japan. It's always felt like a more REAL wrestling company with a much more serious and natural tone than WWE has.
> 
> I'm not sure if you're watching right now, but RAW has been phenomenal thus far tonight. Just ironic that you're bringing up how tightly secured it is and tonight they're really letting the shit loose. Really enjoyed it.


Understood.

I wasn't, but I did afterward. I thought RAW started off really strongly, and Seth's troll promo was great. Finally they've shifted from having him say the same thing over and over again. See what happens when reality comes along? It was a gift.

Also helps the cause that Neville was there performing like Neville of old. I've waxed poetic about how good I think Neville was in NXT, and have said that I believe that hes easily one of the best in the world when he's allowed to wrestle the way he did in NXT. One of the few I _would_ put on the level of the Japanese wrestlers.

Not for nothing, but I think Rusev vs. Goto would make for a great matchup.

I noticed that you said you didn't rate a single NJPW match at more than **** this year. Did you see Nakamura vs. Ibushi from WK9 this year (or even from the G1 Climax in 2013)? Most people consider the WK9 match one of the frontrunners for MOTY. 

I'd be really surprised if you didn't have that at more than 4. If that's the case, curious what you didn't like about it?

The G1 match is also very well regarded. In some ways I felt it was more dramatic, but WK9 was bigger and probably ultimately better. I always like when Ibushi trolls his opponents.


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

NastyYaffa said:


> Meltzer just likes New Japan matches more than he likes WWE matches, at most of the times. I honestly don't see anything wrong with that. It's just one man's opinions. :shrug
> 
> And tomorrow's show looks pretty good overall, but Elgin/Yujiro has the "potential" to be the worst match of the tournament. Ugh. :tripsscust


I won't hate on someone just for the sake of it man, to be honest; I find the perspective Meltzer has on matches to be very agreeable some of the time. 

His passion for New Japan is infectious; the guy loves his wrestling, and plus he's an encyclopedia of wrestling knowledge so he can be interesting to listen to. To be honest I enjoy the work of Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer. :shrug


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> Understood.
> 
> I wasn't, but I did afterward. I thought RAW started off really strongly, and Seth's troll promo was great. Finally they've shifted from having him say the same thing over and over again. See what happens when reality comes along? It was a gift.
> 
> Also helps the cause that Neville was there performing like Neville of old. I've waxed poetic about how good I think Neville was in NXT, and have said that I believe that hes easily one of the best in the world when he's allowed to wrestle the way he did in NXT. One of the few I _would_ put on the level of the Japanese wrestlers.
> 
> Not for nothing, but I think Rusev vs. Goto would make for a great matchup.
> 
> I noticed that you said you didn't rate a single NJPW match at more than **** this year. Did you see Nakamura vs. Ibushi from WK9 this year (or even from the G1 Climax in 2013)? Most people consider the WK9 match one of the frontrunners for MOTY.
> 
> I'd be really surprised if you didn't have that at more than 4. If that's the case, curious what you didn't like about it?
> 
> The G1 match is also very well regarded. In some ways I felt it was more dramatic, but WK9 was bigger and probably ultimately better. I always like when Ibushi trolls his opponents.


Absolutely agreed on Neville. The shit he busted out against Rollins tonight was incredible because we hadn't seen most of it since he came to the main roster and he did it with such ease. The urgency was there and he wanted that belt.

I think Rusev vs. just about any top guy on the New Japan roster would make for an epic match.  Goto specifically does sound good though. Styles & Ibushi as well. Oh my...

I have indeed seen both outings from Nakamura & Ibushi. Thought their 2013 G1 match was damn near flawless and went **** 3/4 on it. That was exhilarating. This year's Wrestle Kingdom match is one of the handful I have at ****. This is what I wrote about it earlier this year:



Spoiler: Nakamura vs. Ibushi review



*IWGP Intercontinental Championship
*Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Kota Ibushi (_NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IX_)

Interestingly enough, I watched this match on its own and liked it a good margin, but then decided to heed everyone's advice and go back & watch their first encounter at the 2013 G1 (thanks Bruce L ). Their 2013 match was fucking INCREDIBLE and made this almost impossible to top imo. They certainly tried though. Idk what the difference in match times was but this one felt like it was way longer. Everything they did was good and I enjoyed it but I just felt like it was missing something. Their 2013 match hit a hot streak and ran away with it. Shit was nearly flawless. They went all out with the near falls and the crazy shit and it was glorious. I felt like here they never followed through with their momentum and it may have been because I was watching with the JR & Striker commentary but the nearfalls here didn't feel very special at all. I did however love the brutal strike exchanges and the anger both guys showed. That was different. Ultimately, this is a great match but won't be anywhere near the top of my list due to me being weird and not really knowing what was missing from it. The ending felt kinda flat, but the rest of the match was really good. I did watch this twice, by the way. ***** (YES)*



This is everything else I've rated **** from New Japan this year. It's a relatively shorter list than most:

New Japan Cup Final: Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto (NJPW 3/15) ****
BOTSJ Final: KUSHIDA vs. Kyle O'Reilly (NJPW 6/7) ****
IWGP Title: AJ Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Dominion) ****
Michael Elgin vs. Tomoaki Honma (NJPW G1 Climax Day 8 8/1) ****
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW G1 Climax Day 8 8/1) ****

I've rated a handful of others at *** 3/4. Leaving out G1 matches: Tanahashi vs. Okada at the Dome, Anderson vs. Naito in the New Japan Cup (really underrated match right there), Styles vs. Ibushi at Invasion Attack, and whenever the Young Bucks faced Roppongi Vice in a straight up tag match I really enjoyed that one. That's all I can think of atm.

EDIT: Ishii vs. Honma from Sendai is another one I rated *** 3/4. A lot of fun, then went too long and had some overkill after a while.


----------



## MTheBehemoth

Man, Big Mike is so fun to watch in NJPW and so shite in ROH. Unreal.

Tonight's the night for a true test though. Vs. Yujiro. Good luck.


----------



## El Dandy

TJQ said:


> (2)* Katsuyori Shibata & Yohei Komatsu* vs. Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI
> 
> MY DREAM TEAM CONFIRMED :mark: :mark: :mark: :mark:


Lost in this Big Daddy Meltz debate is the REAL truth.

:mark: :mark: :mark:


----------



## El Dandy

Shibata & Yohei are even better then the world's greatest tag team IMO


----------



## El Dandy

Naito dyed his hair!

The evolution is almost complete.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Naito finally getting some good expressions on his face.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Tanahashi just legit shoot dragon screwed Doc Gallows... I really hope it was an accident and I really hope Gallows is okay. He's walking but adrenaline is crazy.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*What the fuck?*


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Well, that was....interesting.*


----------



## DoubtGin

Elgin vs Yujiro was really decent, imo.


----------



## El Dandy

Yeah def not a WOTT like some here were speculating it could be.

Nothing special, but not bad. Popped for the biting spot.


----------



## DoubtGin

Honma losing streak continues


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Takahashi/Elgin was okay.

Kojima/Honma was pretty good. Damn shame that Honma lost again.*


----------



## Insomnia

DoubtGin said:


> Honma losing streak continues


He's going to job the whole thing like last year.


----------



## El Dandy

I think they're saving the moment for his match with Ishii.

It main events the day, is at Korakuen Hall, and should be an instant classic. It's the perfect time to pull the trigger and end this gag.

If they don't do it there, then they won't ever do it.


----------



## DoubtGin

Ishii/Nagata was great. MOTN so far.


----------



## El Dandy

Very good match. Amazing the level Nagata can still go at.

Time for reversal party 2015 with Anderson/Okada.


----------



## DoubtGin

Hmm, very disappointing match imo. Not bad, but I expected more (especially the finish).


----------



## Insomnia




----------



## El Dandy

SWAG time


----------



## RyanPelley

YESSSS!


----------



## DoubtGin

Main event was awesome.


----------



## El Dandy

Noice sub finish. Never get sick of that armbar transition.


----------



## Insomnia

Great match.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Great main event.

This show was pretty good, especially the last three matches.*


----------



## DoubtGin

Elgin - Takahashi **3/4
Kojima - Honma ***
Ishii - Nagata ***3/4
Anderson - Okada **3/4
Nakamura - Goto ****1/4


----------



## El Dandy

MOTN - Shibata & Lil Shibata over CHAOS 

HM MOTN - Nakamura/Goto

*- Nakamura/Goto:* Great match. Great near falls and good finish.
*- Okada/Anderson:* Not their best and just another match
*- Ishii/Nagata:* Very good. Nagata is the last of a dying breed and Ishii is the fucking man.
*- Kojima/Honma:* Alright match. Have not been overly impressed with Kojima in this G1. Doesn't help when you have Nagata in the same block still bringing it.
*- Elgin/Yujiro:* Alright match. Over delivered and enjoyed the biting spot. Elgin just keeps on doing his thing.

First night without any real upset.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

LilOlMe said:


> He only rated three matches higher than those, and one match the same as the Sasha/Becky match:
> 
> Tanahashi/Ibushi **** 3/4
> Shibata/Ibushi **** 1/2
> AJ Styles/Ibushi **** /12
> Tanahashi/Naito ****
> 
> Although there are a couple of matches he called very good or excellent, but didn't rate, so who knows what those would be.
> 
> Maybe you're getting confused, because his front page contains ratings sent in by fans? I mistook those for his ratings when I first saw those at first too.
> 
> 
> 
> Understood.
> 
> I wasn't, but I did afterward. I thought RAW started off really strongly, and Seth's troll promo was great. Finally they've shifted from having him say the same thing over and over again. See what happens when reality comes along? It was a gift.
> 
> Also helps the cause that Neville was there performing like Neville of old. I've waxed poetic about how good I think Neville was in NXT, and have said that I believe that hes easily one of the best in the world when he's allowed to wrestle the way he did in NXT. One of the few I _would_ put on the level of the Japanese wrestlers.
> 
> Not for nothing, but I think Rusev vs. Goto would make for a great matchup.
> 
> I noticed that you said you didn't rate a single NJPW match at more than **** this year. Did you see Nakamura vs. Ibushi from WK9 this year (or even from the G1 Climax in 2013)? Most people consider the WK9 match one of the frontrunners for MOTY.
> 
> I'd be really surprised if you didn't have that at more than 4. If that's the case, curious what you didn't like about it?
> 
> The G1 match is also very well regarded. In some ways I felt it was more dramatic, but WK9 was bigger and probably ultimately better. I always like when Ibushi trolls his opponents.



I usually just check profightdb where all rankings are from the observer. There was one day cant remember which of the g1 I checked that had like four **** 1/2 + ratings anyways fuck him lol


----------



## NastyYaffa

Jonasolsson96 said:


> I usually just check profightdb where all rankings are from the observer. There was one day cant remember which of the g1 I checked that had like four **** 1/2 + ratings anyways fuck him lol


I honestly will never understand the Meltzer hate. Hating somebody just because they enjoy some wrestling match more or less than you do. :hmm:

And you are probably thinking G1 Climax 24 Day 7, here are his ratings for some of that show's matches:


> Tenzan vs. Goto - ****1/2
> Styles vs. Suzuki - ****3/4
> Nagata vs. Shibata - ****1/2
> Nakamura vs. Ishii - ****3/4


I personally think that only Suzuki vs. Styles from that show was better than Cesaro/Zayn, but I definitely can understand why Meltzer liked every single one of those matches more than Cesaro/Zayn.


----------



## Zatiel

Meltzer's ratings get too much attention, and his reviews get too little. The dude loves wrestling, has an obsessive knowledge, and even when I disagree with him, can have really interesting takes on matches. I remember last year he gushed over a Shibata Vs. Tanahashi match for how much of their history it played up. Since I didn't watch along for their entire history, the match didn't affect me, but his thoughts illuminated why the match worked for others.

Ratings-wise, the guy loves what NJPW is doing. It's not even a fetish for Japanese wrestling, as you don't see the Observer full of ***** Osaka Pro or Zero-1 matches. I really can't blame him for digging this company. The booking has a lot less bullcrap than WWE, while the top workers are just as good if not better at their own style. Okada, Tanahashi, Nakamura, Ishii, Ibushi, Gotoh, Shibata, Honma, and Styles are incredible. 

Clear goals, wins and losses mattering, no one being invincible, and lots of guys getting lots of chances to have big performances and then those performances are remembered as mattering? Can't blame anyone for digging it. It's my favorite time of the wrestling year.


----------



## El Dandy

Has everyone been enjoying the run of non-single cam shows?










IF the fine hombres at /wooo (sup wooo) are correct, then the next 2 shows are single cam productions.

I hope it isn't true for Naito/Ibushi reasons.


----------



## DoubtGin

http://i.imgur.com/V4ZWIor.gifv

this guy has to win

:mark: :mark:


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Single cam is fine as long as it isn't sitting low like day 3 or whatever.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

NastyYaffa said:


> I honestly will never understand the Meltzer hate. Hating somebody just because they enjoy some wrestling match more or less than you do. :hmm:
> 
> And you are probably thinking G1 Climax 24 Day 7, here are his ratings for some of that show's matches:
> 
> I personally think that only Suzuki vs. Styles from that show was better than Cesaro/Zayn, but I definitely can understand why Meltzer liked every single one of those matches more than Cesaro/Zayn.


Im not hating on the guy at all like I said we enjoy the same style of wrestling. I just think his ratings are abit biased and people state them as facts all the time when it only is one mans opinion. I dont think his ratings should be any more important then anybody elses.


----------



## El Dandy

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Im not hating on the guy at all like I said we enjoy the same style of wrestling. I just think his ratings are abit biased and people state them as facts all the time when it only is one mans opinion. I dont think his ratings should be any more important then anybody elses.


It's all in the eye of the beholder.

He's p much one of the only respectable publications attached to wrestling and has made a living off of it for 25+ years. His opinion is an opinion, but it has credence considering people pay him for his opinion and his experience covering it for so long.

It's like Siskel and Ebert were back in the day to movies or Michelin star ratings for restaurants.

Movie critics may not like comedies/horror and said movies will never be nominated for any Oscars*, but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy them or that they can't be top tier.

There's gonna be bias in everything, but I don't think Big Dave's bias against WWE is nearly as bad as it was from 99-06. There were quite a few 5-star level matches in WWE that happened, but he was not giving out 5 stars to anything in WWE. There were wrestling classics (Benoit/Angle), 6 men killing each other in revolutionary gimmick matches (Edge & Christian/Hardys/Dudleys), and mega matches that lived up to the hype (Rock/Austin II). And that is just 2000/2001.

I respect his opinion and if I see something rated 4.5 or better I'll check it out, but it doesn't mean everyone is gonna like it. Different people like different things. Like in this G1 for example I like Yano's matches more than any Nakamura match or Okada match. That doesn't mean Yano is better and I don't like Nakamura/Okada, it's just different tastes at different times.

*I know the Oscar's are voted on by a large group of Press, but those movie genres seldom get the call for Academy Awards. It's essentially a group of 90 Dave Meltzer's.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

el dandy said:


> It's all in the eye of the beholder.
> 
> He's p much one of the only respectable publications attached to wrestling and has made a living off of it for 25+ years. His opinion is an opinion, but it has credence considering people pay him for his opinion and he
> 
> It's like Siskel and Ebert were back in the day to movies or Michelin star ratings for restaurants.
> 
> Movie critics may not like comedies/horror and said movies will never be nominated for any Oscars*, but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy them.
> 
> *I know that is voted on by a large group of Press, but those movie genres seldom get the call for Academy Awards. It's essentially 90 Dave Meltzer's.



Yeah your right and I get that but like you said its in the eye of the beholder and at the end of the day Meltzer is only one fan out of milions so I just think its weird his ratings are held to such high regard like its a fact. People say Aj Styles vs Minoru Suzuki IS a 5-star match not Meltzer rated that match 5-stars and I just find that abit weird. He is a wellrespected journalist and all but still he,s just one fan.


----------



## El Dandy

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Yeah your right and I get that but like you said its in the eye of the beholder and at the end of the day Meltzer is only one fan out of milions so *I just think its weird his ratings are held to such high regard like its a fact. People say Aj Styles vs Minoru Suzuki IS a 5-star match not Meltzer rated that match 5-stars and I just find that abit weird.* He is a wellrespected journalist and all but still he,s just one fan.


I just think it has to do with 5-star is a common/easy rating scale, but it gets confusing because in wrestling it's totally associated with Dave for the obvious reason.

Within reason, whenever people appraise a match as 4.5 to 5 stars then that generally means it is within the ballpark and worth a watch.

For what it's worth, I don't even think Meltz rated Suzuki/Styles 5 stars. 

To boot, the WON MOTY was Suzuki/Styles and not the 5 star Meltzer rated Tanahashi/Shibata. Just goes to show how much his own rating scale means in regards to the general consensus who votes on his publication's awards.


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

I was looking forward to watching the first half of the 8/4 show but its not up yet. Saw the G1 matches and Nagata/Ishii and Nakamura/Goto delivered. They might make you reshuffle your top 5.


----------



## Corey

I get so much more enjoyment out of watching the multi-can no commentary shows than I do with the hard cam ones. Single hard cam doesn't bother me if there's a match or two I _really_ wanna see, but for an entire show I just can't do it. Gotta have some different angles. 

Gonna start Day 10 soon. 2.7 gb on XWT. Putting another dent in my ratio. :lol

----------------------------------

This doesn't apply to the G1, but ROH announced this match today and I think it looks so fucking good. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this Goto's first ever trip to the U.S.? I know he's never worked for ROH before.










Would really like to see the Briscoes make a New Japan appearance at some point. Only problem is that they've faced all their tag teams here in the states. Some of them multiple times.


----------



## TJQ

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this Goto's first ever trip to the U.S.? I know he's never worked for ROH before.


I'm pretty sure he worked in TNA briefly as a part of some tourny.


----------



## Corey

TJQ said:


> I'm pretty sure he worked in TNA briefly as a part of some tourny.


Yeah just looked it up and saw he worked a few TNA shows in '06. He was actually on the Lockdown card that year, believe it or not.

We'll just say that doesn't count though. :lol


----------



## Corey

Sitting here watching Okada/Anderson and literally falling asleep during it. :lol Had nothing to do with the match, although it _was_ pretty average. Will have to save Nakamura/Goto for tomorrow. Didn't think anything else from the show was all that great though. :shrug 

- Honma's sunset flip powerbomb on Kojima was butt ugly. 

- Glad to see Yuji Nagata still selling his ribs.

- Ishii's headbutt looked nasty and awesome.


----------



## MTheBehemoth

Nagata/Ishii was wonderful.
No miracle-working from Big Mike - Yujiro/Elgin was average as fuck.



Jack Evans 187 said:


> Yeah just looked it up and saw he worked a few TNA shows in '06. He was actually on the Lockdown card that year, believe it or not.


Yeah, he worked w/ Minoru Tanaka and Romero vs. Shelley/Lethal/Dutt. He was in the young lion mode (and gear) so he barely did any spots. The match was good though.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*So, Tenzan is going to face Bad Luck Fale?

Yeesh, this match is probably going to fucking suck.*


----------



## El Dandy

The question is HOW does YTR win?

- Fluke roll-up?
- Noble brain underhanded cheats?
- Countout via shenanigans?


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Holy shit, Yano won!*


----------



## Insomnia

Shibata lost to Yano. :lol


----------



## El Dandy

100% expected. Shibby had to start losing points and better YTR than Gallows or Tenzan.

No shame in losing to the most noble of brains when you consider the 2 alternatives!


----------



## El Dandy

These next 2 matches are totally gonna rule the school.


----------



## DoubtGin

ugh missed all four matches

main event should be nice


----------



## El Dandy

Good match, but was expecting more IDK.

Please Ibushi/Naito deliver so this wasn't a complete waste of time to watch.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Good match. Now it's time for Naito/Ibushi.

This is going to be fucking awesome.*


----------



## DoubtGin

http://postimg.org/image/oeistkd0f/

:ti:


----------



## El Dandy

LOS INGOBERNABLES :mark:

He's winning A Block!


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*This show wasn't terrible, I enjoyed Shibata/YTR, Makabe/Styles was good, and Naito/Ibushi was great.*


----------



## El Dandy

Overall I would say Day 11 was alright. 

Last 2 matches saved it, but I wouldn't call either blow away encounters. Tremendous crowd, though. They were super hot for Tana.

Naito/Ibushi was great, but would've benefited from multi-cam IMO. It had 2 very bad botches at intense moments of the match(one may not have looked as bad if it had benefit of multi-cams).

A Block is so tight. For all intents and purposes, Ibushi is ut but the 4 other killers remain. Gotta believe the odds are on Naito to win with Tana/Styles close behind and Shibata a distant 4th. 

The confidence they have in this new Naito character to have him go 3-1 against the other 4 contenders in the block speaks volumes. He'll lose 1 more to either Yano or Tenzan(maybe for the sake of last day drama; maybe Red Shoes finally has enough of his abuse and hands out a rare DQ?) but you have to think these tie breakers he holds are gonna mean something.


----------



## Corey

I really liked Nakamura/Goto, which surprised me. Goto attacking the injured left arm was what I was hoping someone would eventually do. I wish it would've led to more down the stretch, but at least he did go after it. Just really dug the hard fought nature of it and the nearfalls were well done. Finish was excellent. Somewhere in the *** 1/2 - *** 3/4 range which likely puts it into the 5th spot on my list so far. Didn't think too highly from anything else on Day 10.

Did anyone else think the crowd in Sendai was a bit quiet? Maybe it was the way the audio was setup, but they really didn't seem as responsive as you'd think.

----------------------

Just read that Shibata/Yano went 4 minutes. :lol That's gonna be great.

Oh and INGOBERNABLES. :mark:


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 10:

*Michael Elgin vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *3/4
Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomoaki Honma - **3/4
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii - ***1/2
Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson - *3/4
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto - *3/4*

As you can probably see from my STARZ, I really didn't like this show. Only match worth watching is Nagata/Ishii.


----------



## LilOlMe

Two things I forgot to say after watching the Okada/Goto match:

1)I don't like Okada's gate DDT's. They never look vicious at all, and it looks like he and his opponent are just flatly and relatively softly laying down. I don't know what it is that makes Orton's rope DDT's look more powerful, but Okada needs to study it. I think Orton does it with a lot more snap & he does it a lot speedier, and I also think that Orton wraps his arm around his opponent's head more, so you can't really tell as much that their head isn't taking much impact.

2)Okada's low uppercuts while his opponents are sitting on the ground, on the other hand, are just incredible. Always looks impactful as hell, and the one he nailed Goto with was so right on target and vicious sounding. Was like "oh shit!" when that happened.

Funny thing I've noticed about Okada is that I don't think I've ever seen him throw a chop in my life. Must not be good at it? Not a complaint, just weird because it's so obvious when in moments where everyone else is or would be throwing chops. Doesn't matter, because it's not necessary, and he does really good uppercuts.




Jack Evans 187 said:


> I have indeed seen both outings from Nakamura & Ibushi. Thought their 2013 G1 match was damn near flawless and went **** 3/4 on it. That was exhilarating. This year's Wrestle Kingdom match is one of the handful I have at ****. This is what I wrote about it earlier this year


Yeah, I was like you on the 2013 G1 match. I was also kind of like you on the WK9 match the first time I saw it. The second time, I saw what everyone was saying. I also had become more familiar with both Nakamura & Ibushi's styles, so I noticed a lot more the way that they were playing off of each other.

I still think that the 2013 match might be the better actual wrestling match, but I haven't seen either in awhile. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have to catch up on the last two shows (though did see the 8/4/15 Naito/Kushida vs. Ibushi/Mascara tag, and I liked the way Ibushi & Naito went at each other at the end, especially with Naito's on and off halfhearted attempts. Something about the whole scene seemed like a movie to me, especially with Kushida's music playing in the background, lol). 


So favorites up to that point:

1)Shibata vs. Ibushi ****1/2 [7/29/15]
2)Tanahashi vs. Ibushi ****1/2 [7/20/15]
3)Tanahashi vs. Naito ****1/4 [7/26/15]
4)AJ Styles vs. Shibata ****1/4 [7/20/15]
5)Goto vs. Okada ****
t-6)Goto vs. Honma **** [7/28/15]
t-6)AJ Styles vs. Naito **** [7/29/15]
8)Honma vs. Elgin **** [8/1/15]
9)Okada vs. Elgin **** [7/23/15]
10)Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale ***3/4 [7/28/15]
11)Nagata vs. Nakamura ***1/2 - ***3/4ish [7/25/15]
12)Shibata vs. Naito ***1/2 [7/24/15]
13)Anderson vs. Nagata ***1/2 [8/1/15]
14)Nakamura vs. Ishii ***1/2 [8/1/15]
15)Okada, Ishii, & Gedo vs. Elgin, Kojima, & Taguchi ***1/2 [7/20/15]
16)Ibushi vs. Gallows ***1/2 [7/24/15]
17)AJ Styles vs. Yano ***1/2 [7/24/15]
18)Naito vs. Makabe ***1/2 [8/2/15]
t-19)Nagata vs. Anderson ***1/2 [8/1/15]
t-19)Nakamura vs. Ishii ***1/2 [8/1/15]
21)Naito & Kushida vs. Ibushi & Mascara ***1/4 - ***1/2 (shenanigans) [8/4/15]
22)Shibata vs. Bad Luck Fale *** (for sleeper moment, really) [8/2/15]
?)AJ Styles vs. Ibushi ? [7/26/15]

ETA: Watched Naito & Kushida tag again, and bumped up the rating. Naito smirking on the ground at the end was glorious.

ETTA: Forgot Nagata vs. Anderson.


----------



## Corey

NastyYaffa said:


> Day 10:
> 
> *
> Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto - *3/4*


My quote from the _Last Wrestling Match Watched_ thread continues. :lol

I'm jk of course, but it's still amazing to me that there's so few matches in this tournament we can ALL have a general sense of positivity towards. 



LilOlMe said:


> Two things I forgot to say after watching the Okada/Goto match:
> 
> 1)I don't like Okada's gate DDT's. They never look vicious at all, and it looks like he and his opponent are just flatly and relatively softly laying down. I don't know what it is that makes Orton's rope DDT's look more powerful, but Okada needs to study it. I think Orton does it with a lot more snap & he does it a lot speedier, and I also think that Orton wraps his arm around his opponent's head more, so you can't really tell as much that their head isn't taking much impact.


I actually like Okada's DDTs on the outside because I feel like hanging them over the guardrail adds a certain bit of viciousness. However, I do completely agree that Orton's version is better as a whole and it feels like a much more important move. His grip is tighter, the snap is more forceful, and he can get literally an entire crowd on their feet while setting up for it.

Orton vs. Okada would be a pretty neat match to dream about.


----------



## Corey

I love how this works. You guys undersell Day 11, so I go in with low expectations and wind up being pleasantly surprised yet again. :lol

Skipped Fale/Tenzan because there's no way that was gonna be good. Thought Shibata/Yano was genuinely clever. No problem with it on any level.

Tanahashi/Gallows was totally good. Have a feeling it's gonna be a real sleeper because of people's tendency to look past Gallows as a competitor. Match was structured so simply and the formula works every time. Big guy dominates, nothing comes easy for smaller guy, crowd eats up pinfall attempts and hope spots for smaller guy. Gallows slip off the middle rope looked really scary. That could've been a disaster. Pretty much enjoyed everything here aside from a small moment where Gallows got up way too quickly from a move and stood there waiting for another. REALLY loved hearing the women shriek in the crowd when Tanahashi was about to get pinned. Wonderful touch. Definitely wanna hear some more thoughts on this when more people get to see it. (Y)

Styles/Makabe was pretty good. Nothing special but a solid match. Easy to watch due to the back and forth nature with neither guy gaining a real advantage for a long period of time. Surprised AJ won with the flurry and no counter ever happened though. You'd think he might have to win with a middle rope Styles Clash or even the the springboard 450 to beat a guy Togi's size. 

Naitoooooo. I get rock hard when that guy makes his entrance, so there's that. RED HAIR! More evolution to this character. So yeah this match with Ibushi was excellent. The facial expressions that you were able to see from Naito were phenomenal. Ibushi backs him into the ropes at the bell and he doesn't give a flying fuck. He'll string together a flurry of offense and then sits there like nothing happened. A much more restrained performance from Ibushi here and that was a real joy for me. He had to fight for the offense he got and didn't go at 120 mph the whole match. Him scouting some of those signature moves from Naito was wonderful. Countered the sliding kick into a double stomp and saw the patented victory roll coming and caught him. Reverse rana from the top looked brutal (in a good way). Finishing stretch was a bit disappointing because Ibushi didn't put up a fight, but hot damn he took that Destino better than anyone else has so far. Looked great and they're putting that finish over big time. Will it be enough to get INGOBERNABLE into the final??? I think it's a strong possibility.

Really solid night of action, if you ask me. 

*Tanahashi vs. Gallows - *** 1/2* (gonna be a gem)
*Styles vs. Makabe - ****
*Naito vs. Ibushi - *** 3/4* (5th best match of the tourney for me)


----------



## El Dandy

^^^
Everything looks better when you skip easily the worst New Japan match this year 

My updated Top 10:

1. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
2. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
3. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
4. Day 1: Styles/Shibata
5. Day 1: Tanahashi/Ibushi
6. Day 3: Shibata/Naito
7. Day 8: Elgin/Honma
*8. Day 11: Naito/Ibushi*
9. Day 3: Styles/YTR
10. Day 8: Okada/Goto
Bumped Out - Day 3: Tanahashi/Tenzan

I really love the top 5 matches and they are well above anything I've seen in this G1.

The lack of Nakamura & Okada is surprising for me. Like, there are some of their matches that could be on anybodies list for #6- #15 , but neither have had that outstanding match. Swag has a reason, but Okada man. I mean, I liked his Elgin match and the final sequence with Goto, but his matches have been p underwhelming considering he's the top guy and how good he can be IMO. Ishii & Elgin have been carrying B Block on their backs.

Still say Day 3, Day 5, & Day 8 are best days.


----------



## LilOlMe

Zatiel said:


> The booking has a lot less bullcrap than WWE, while the top workers are just as good if not better at their own style. Okada, Tanahashi, Nakamura, Ishii, Ibushi, Gotoh, Shibata, Honma, and Styles are incredible.


Great post overall. 

To add to your specific part about NJPW that I just quoted, I was just thinking about how Vince would make a guy like Nakamura a total joke, regardless of his skills. I'm talking about if Nakamura came up through the WWE system.

Vince can't wrap his head around anything different.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*There was a moment in the Honma/Kojima match that was worthwhile that I loved. It was after the chops, I think, when Honma was in the corner. The look he had on his face while cutting his eyes toward Kojima was just great, as was the way Kojima looked back at him.

It's once again a little detail like that that we don't see too often in the WWE. Mainly, because the wrestlers don't care to add little touches. I remember marking at a similar moment in a Charlotte/Bayley match. The intensity on Charlotte's face was so great. It was so rare, which made it stand out.

*Nagata/Ishii was a weird match in that there were parts that I thought were tremendous, and I was like "I could see everyone loving this", but then there were also parts that felt very uneven. Had a weird flow to it, like they were just doing stuff for the sake of doing it at times, and just throwing everything in. Then it would hit a very smooth run that was just great and tremendously paced. I don't know how to overall rate it.

I did really like Nagata's continued selling.

*Okada/Anderson I thought was really good, and was the first match that I've felt suffered from the lack of commentary. I think everything would have seemed more epic if someone was going nuts.

However, it felt like a very competitive match, which is a quality that I love. You could tell both men were working their asses off. I also thought that Anderson came off as more electric than he usually does.

*Didn't read the thread due to not wanting to be spoiled, but I saw someone above me give Goto/Nakamura *3/4. So I was expecting a disaster or a borefest, but got neither, and thought it was a really, really, good match. Could have done without the relative quickness between the kickouts so that takes it down a notch, but I still thought it was quality. 

I thought their Dominion match was extraordinary, and easily one of the standout matches of the year (****1/2+). So while it didn't live up to that, I thought it was a good showing in this tournament. It never dragged, which is a problem some matches have had this tournament. 

Might regret rating Ishii/Nakamura so well, since I realize that the main reason I liked it was for that Nakamura spin into the submission, lol. Now that it was here in what I felt was a better match, that negates it some.

Liked Nakamura letting his bad arm hang down after the match. 

You could tell that Goto was concerned and being more cautious with Nakamura at times. At one point he literally looks back to make sure that Nakamura's in the right position, before going for a neckbreaker.


Basically, there was a really fun tag match (character & feud advancing wise), the two main events delivered, Nagata/Ishii had some greatness to it, and I did think that was the best Takahashi match I've seen of the tournament. Still not great, but was the one that was the easiest to latch on to.


----------



## Corey

One thing that I forgot to mention was that I loved the finish to Tanahashi/Gallows. Very unexpected and looked great.

----------------------------

I think I've finally come up with a legit finals prediction after 11 Days. :lol Of course, this could completely change after another tricky day of upsets.

*Final - Okada vs. Naito
3rd Place Match - Tanahashi vs. Nakamura*

Hard to bet against Naito in A Block at this point considering he owns the tiebreaker against Tanahashi AND Styles. He does have Yano coming up though.  Styles I left out because I just don't feel like he's being treated as a big deal lately. I think Tanahashi will beat him on the last day. Shibata will likely lose to Tanahashi and has already lost to Styles, so there's that.

In B Block I can't see anyone else coming out other than Okada & Shinskay. Either one of them could win their match against each other and I think the end result stays the same. Nakamura could win and Okada likely still holds first. I'm not sure who else the champ could lose to. Nagata won't beat him and Ishii would be another big upset. Ishii and Goto both make things interesting, but I just don't see it. 

They haven't done Tanahashi/Nakamura since last year's G1 so that could feel somewhat fresh. Okada wins in my prediction. Match with Naito could be fantastic. I'd still really like to see Styles vs. Nakamura here, but that would likely mean leaving Tanahashi out and I can't see that happening this year. Bet your sweet ass INGOBERNABLE is gonna be there and the end!

Thoughts?


----------



## SHIRLEY

Anyone got links to any Day 10 and 11 matches on Dailymotion?


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 11:

*Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - *1/4
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Toru Yano - *3/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Doc Gallows - **
AJ Styles vs. Togi Makabe - **
Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito - **1/4*

This was another weak show. None of the matches were good IMO. Definitely the worst G1 show this year so far.

Tomorrow's show looks pretty good. OKADA vs. ISHII. :mark:



Jack Evans 187 said:


> One thing that I forgot to mention was that I loved the finish to Tanahashi/Gallows. Very unexpected and looked great.
> 
> ----------------------------
> 
> I think I've finally come up with a legit finals prediction after 11 Days. :lol Of course, this could completely change after another tricky day of upsets.
> 
> *Final - Okada vs. Naito
> 3rd Place Match - Tanahashi vs. Nakamura*
> 
> Hard to bet against Naito in A Block at this point considering he owns the tiebreaker against Tanahashi AND Styles. He does have Yano coming up though.  Styles I left out because I just don't feel like he's being treated as a big deal lately. I think Tanahashi will beat him on the last day. Shibata will likely lose to Tanahashi and has already lost to Styles, so there's that.
> 
> In B Block I can't see anyone else coming out other than Okada & Shinskay. Either one of them could win their match against each other and I think the end result stays the same. Nakamura could win and Okada likely still holds first. I'm not sure who else the champ could lose to. Nagata won't beat him and Ishii would be another big upset. Ishii and Goto both make things interesting, but I just don't see it.
> 
> They haven't done Tanahashi/Nakamura since last year's G1 so that could feel somewhat fresh. Okada wins in my prediction. Match with Naito could be fantastic. I'd still really like to see Styles vs. Nakamura here, but that would likely mean leaving Tanahashi out and I can't see that happening this year. Bet your sweet ass INGOBERNABLE is gonna be there and the end!
> 
> Thoughts?


Could definitely see your prediction(s) happening. Damn the final day will be so stacked. You have the G1 final, the 3rd place match, Ricochet/KUSHIDA + reDRagon/Bucks. :banderas


----------



## El Dandy

This weekend has 4 potential amazing matches :dance

- Okada/Ishii on Friday
- Tanahashi/Shibata on Saturday
- Nakamura/Honma & Goto/Ishii on Sunday

I am so ready for Tana/Shibata. They are gonna pull out all the stops

Get HYPED ya'll

:dance

EDIT: Predicitons:

I think we get either 

*Nakamura v Naito (w/ Okada v Shibata in the 3rd place match if they do it) *
-or- 
*Nakamura v Styles (w/ Okada v Naito in the 3rd place match if they do it)*

I have Nakamura winning in either scenario. The fact that they didn't just straight pull him out of the G1 was a red flag that they have big plans for him.

I've been trying to ingrain it in to my mind for the last few months that the end game is Tana/Okada at Tokyo Dome... but I'm softening on that stance. Hopefully I am dead wrong and they go Nakamura v Okada instead (Maybe the plan is for Okada to beat Swag at WK10 and then beat Tana at WK11 to fully cement himself as the new ace).


----------



## NastyYaffa

el dandy said:


> This weekend has 4 potential amazing matches :dance
> 
> - Okada/Ishii on Friday
> - Tanahashi/Shibata on Saturday
> - Nakamura/Honma & Goto/Ishii on Sunday
> 
> I am so ready for Tana/Shibata. They are gonna pull out all the stops
> 
> Get HYPED ya'll
> 
> :dance


Tana/Shibata is the match that I have been most looking forward to in this tournament. Can't wait. :mark:


----------



## Jonasolsson96

I love this thread because I can just see what matches people rate as great. I have no time to sit through a bunch of average matches and honestly the shows are long and I just dont have the time to sit through all of it. Ive probably only watched like 7-8 matches this entire tournament. 

My top 3

1. Shibata/Ibushi - **** 1/2. Absolutly loved this match. Shibatas spinning slap to Ibushi was markout moment of the year for me. That was SICK. 

2. Ibushi/Tanahashi - **** 1/4


3. Ibushi/Styles - **** 1/4 - Not as good as the invasion attack match but great nontheless.


None of the other matches ive seen come close imo. Havent enjoyed any of the nakamura and okada matches like I thought I would. Elgin/Honma I thought was going to be great since everybody seemed to love it but wasnt for me. 


Looking forward to Tanahashi/Shibata. Probably the only match except the final I will watch unless people rate any of the other matches extremly high. No classics in this tourney yet imo but the 3 matches I listed would all be in my top 15 matches of the year and they were all great. Thanks to everybody giving indepth reviews and rating the matches! Saves me alot of time.




I know its not gonna happend but I would mark like a lil bitch if Shibata won the entire thing by facing Nakamura in the finals.


----------



## TJQ

el dandy said:


> - Tanahashi/Shibata on Saturday


More than ready for the MOTT to take place, I need this in my life.


----------



## LilOlMe

LOL:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/627768064579235840

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/627768397569196032

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/627768974311165952
It's funny because Ibushi's documentary on NJPW World is just, like, 15 straight minutes of him working out shirtless. They're definitely going for a target audience. 

Someone said that Okada said that the higher ups told him not to get married. Also read that he said that his contract doesn't allow for that, but who knows if that got lost in translation. If that's true, that's crazy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



el dandy said:


> Overall I would say Day 11 was alright.
> 
> Last 2 matches saved it, but I wouldn't call either blow away encounters. Tremendous crowd, though. They were super hot for Tana.
> 
> Naito/Ibushi was great, but would've benefited from multi-cam IMO. It had 2 very bad botches at intense moments of the match(one may not have looked as bad if it had benefit of multi-cams)


What was the 2nd botch?

The Hurricana mess up was dangerous as hell! I think that there was a miscommunication, and Ibushi thought that he was supposed to hold Naito and turn it into something, whereas Naito thought he was supposed to just pull it off. 

They're lucky no one got hurt.

Thought it was a great match and highly enjoyable. Liked Naito's spurts of aggression, and Ibushi going after him when he was being annoying in the beginning. Mostly, just enjoyed the back and forth nature of the match. It was refreshing.

Felt that Naito had the exact right balance in this match, as far as the pacing was concerned. I think that was largely helped by Ibushi filling in the gaps. He knew exactly when to attack him and go on offense.

Could have benefited from more cameras, due to the fact that Naito's blase facial expressions make me laugh. 


*@Jack Evans 187, as for Gallows/Tanahashi, I thought it was solid, but I guess I just don't enjoy a big beatdown like that unless the person giving it is compelling. When the brute is able to fill it with personality, it's spectacular, but this was just typical to me. You're right that it all made sense, I just didn't find Gallows' performance particularly compelling.

I did love the ending, and the match was fine.

Much prefer Tanahashi/Fale, and that's mainly because Tanahashi was so smart with timing his offense and comebacks. It wasn't just a sluggish beatdown.

I wish you liked that match as much as I did. 


*I agree with you about Goto going after the arm in the Nakamura match, btw. Liked that, and I really loved Nakamura's selling of his neck. Watched it again, and I liked the match even better on re-watch. 

*Shibata/Yano was perfectly booked for what it was. My jaw dropped, which tells you how well executed it was, because I didn't go into it feeling that Shibata losing would be a huge surprise. Yet still it was.

I like how they kept it short, and Shibata not putting up with Yano's antics was fitting.

Enjoyable watch.


*More Meltzer ratings & comments. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled:



Spoiler: spoiler



*August 1 - Osaka Bodymaker Colosseum (A block night) - 4,523*

1. Doc Gallows & Cody Hall beat David Finlay & Jay White in 7:22. Hall looked real green here but clearly has potential. White & Finlay are both good for their experience level. Gallows pinned White after a tree bomb. *3/4

2. Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi & Mascara Dorada beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yohei Komatsu & Togi Makabe in 12:12. Naito was wanting to stall in his new heel role. Dorada did some cool stuff. Ibushi vs. Komatsu looked the best. Naito walked off during the match. But after several good near falls by Komatsu on Dorada, Dorada came back and pinned him after the Dorada screwdriver. Real good ending. Tenzan and Ibushi squared off after the match. ***

3. A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga beat Katsuyori Shibata & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan in 9:50. Some good stuff. Tiger Mask got hurt here as he missed the next two days. Styles gave him a piledriver late and he sold it like he was hurt. Fale used the grenade on Shibata and Tonga pinned Captain after a jumping DDT. Tonga then attacked ref Red Shoes and threw him out of the ring. They are throwing him out of the ring too much. **3/4

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo in 10:21. Kushida went for a moonsault on Gedo, who got his knees up. Gedo went for the Gedo clutch, but Kushida turned it into the Kimura for a submission. Good all the way through, particularly Kushida. ***1/4

5. Yujiro Takahashi pinned Satoshi Kojima in 13:01. Takahashi must have considered this a big show since he brought a stripper out with him. Takahashi distracted the ref and Hall attacked Kojima. Takahashi gave him a German suplex onto his right shoulder. Kojima came back with a brainbuster and lariat, but Hall pulled the ref out of the ring. It comes across so stupid when that happens and it's not a DQ. Hall attacked Kojima. In G-1, that may be the wrong kind of heat. This allowed Takahashi to win with the Miami Shine. ***

6. Karl Anderson pinned Yuji Nagata in 11:15. Very hard hitting match. Nagata hit the enzuigiri and went for the back suplex, but Anderson reversed into a gunstun for the pin. ***½

7. Michael Elgin pinned Tomoaki Honma in 9:55. Excellent match. Honma is relying on missing his falling head-butt so much it becomes comedy. Crowd was really into Honma, which made things easier for Elgin, but he also looked great here. Elgin won after a power bomb into the turnbuckles and a spinning power bomb. ****1/4

8. Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Tomohiro Ishii in 14:44. This was one of the best matches in the tournament. Nakamura looked great considering he has a messed up left elbow and probably shouldn't be wrestling. Ishii used Nakamura's reverse powerslam on Nakamura and nearly dropped him on his head. Nakamura won after a falcon arrow and bom a ye. ****½

9. Hirooki Goto pinned Kazuchika Okada in 16:45. This was the battle of champions as the IC champion pinned the IWGP champion. It started slow. Goto missed a charge outside the ring and flew over the guard rail. Okada then ran on the floor and did a crossbody over the guard rails. Lots of near falls. Okada hit a German suplex and went for the rainmaker, but Goto used a head-butt to the jaw. After ducking Okada's finishes, Goto hit two more head-butts and pinned Okada with the shoten kai. ****1/4

*August 2 - Nagoya Aiichi Ken Gym (B block night) - 6,500 sellout*

1. Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kushida beat Tomoaki Honma & David Finlay & Mascara Dorada in 9:39. Lots of Honma signs in the crowd. Dorada did some nice rope walking and an Asai moonsault. Taguchi did a lot of comedy. Kojima and Honma had communication issues a couple of times in the match. At one point they both just stood there in a weird pause. Something seemed to be wrong with Kojima as he tagged out and got off the apron. They had issues later in the match as well. Kushida used a moonsault and then made Finlay submit to the Kimura. **3/4

2. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall beat Michael Elgin & Jay White in 11:52. This was a bad match and the crowd was dead. The crowd was really dead for a lot of the show which hurt every match. Elgin got a pop for having both guys on his shoulder and doing a Samoan drop. Elgin had problems lifting Hall up for a power bomb. White looked the best of the four but nobody could save the heel team here. Hall clotheslined White and then Takahashi pinned him after Tokyo pimps (a dominator). 3/4*

3. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi beat Yuji Nagata & Captain New Japan & Hirooki Goto in 9:37. First part of the match was Nagata working on Nakamura's bad elbow and he sold great. Nagata and Ishii had a good slapping sequence. But it turned into comedy at the end when they tagged in Captain and everyone knew he was doing the job. Yoshi-Hashi pinned Captain after a swanton. **1/4

4. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga beat Kazuchika Okada & Gedo in 10:20. Work was good overall here but the crowd hurt the match. The one thing with Okada is that in a big match situation, there's nobody in the world better, but put him in this kind of a position and he seems almost disinterested. After several near falls, Anderson used a gunstun on Gedo and a side effect on Okada. Tonga then pinned Gedo after a guillotine DDT. **1/4

5. Kota Ibushi pinned Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 11:14. Ibushi did a very good job here but Tenzan doesn't appear to have any miracles up his sleeve this year. Ibushi missed his middle rope moonsault to the floor and started selling his right knee. Tenzan did his usual stuff but the crowd wasn't really behind it. The coolest spot was Ibushi flipping out of an Anaconda buster and then used a twisting standing moonsault for a near fall. He got the pin after a high kick and Phoenix splash. ***1/4

6. Katsuyori Shibata pinned Bad Luck Fale in 7:51. This worked well because both played to the others' strengths. Fale sold Shibata's offense well and Shibata sold Fale's power. Fale tackled him off the apron and dropped him chest first on the guard rail, teasing a count out spot and Shibata just dove in to beat it. The finish saw Fale go for the Bad Luck Fall (border toss), but Shibata escaped and got behind Fale and choked him almost all the way out. Shibata let go of the choke and hit the penalty kick for the pin. ***

7. A.J. Styles pinned Doc Gallows in 10:14. A decent match but hurt by the lack of heat, although the fans treated Styles like a star as he came to the ring. Styles did a springboard off the guard rail but was caught with a choke slam on the apron and also whipped hard into the guard rail twice. Styles won clean with the Bloody Sunday DDT. **3/4

8. Togi Makabe pinned Tetsuya Naito in 15:44. This was really good but the finish was scary. Naito stalled a lot early playing his new heel role and even spit at ref Red Shoes. It picked up and was the best thing on the show. Makabe used a German suplex and a lariat to the back of the head. He set up his German superplex. Naito fought it, but Makabe rammed his head into the post twice and then hit the German superplex and finished with a kneedrop off the top rope. Naito had this sick indentation on his forehead. I'm not sure if it came from one of the post shots or if the kneedrop actually hit, but he was bleeding badly and from his forehead, the indentation looked like the imprint of either a post or Makabe's knee. David Finlay was helping Naito after, and Naito attacked Finlay. ***½

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Toru Yano in 15:39. Yano still had a black eye and tape over his forehead from when Tenzan nailed him with the diving head-butt last week. Some comedy early including a spot where Yano couldn't skin the cat, which is a move Tanahashi always does. Tanahashi went for a cross bodyblock on the floor, but Yano moved, and Tanahashi went right into the post. Yano took over slamming Tanahashi into the exposed metal of a turnbuckle he undid and ripping on his nose. At another point, Tanahashi was on the top rope for his high fly flow on the floor, but Yano crawled under the ring. He came out the other side and pointed to his head like he outsmarted Tanahashi, but Tanahashi hit him with a plancha. Both were on the floor and they teased a double count out and it was as close as it comes as Tanahashi just beat the count and the ref probably had to hold up for a split second for Yano to get in. Tanahashi kicked out of the low blow and backslide combination. There was another ref bump. Yano's cut was opened up and he was bleeding. Tanahashi used a sling blade on a chair and the high fly flow and the ref recovered and counted the fall. ***1/4

*August 4 - Sendai Sun Plaza Hall (B Block night) - 2,525 sellout*

*Michael Elgin pinned Yujiro Takahashi with the Elgin bomb in 11:58 in a good match.

*Satoshi Kojima pinned Tomoaki Honma in 10:15 after a lariat. This was very good.

*Tomohiro Ishii pinned Yuji Nagata in 16:19 after a brainbuster. Said to be great, best thing on the show.

*Kazuchika Okada pinned Karl Anderson in 14:34 after the rainmaker. Good but lacked heat at certain points.

*Shinsuke Nakamura beat Hirooki Goto in 16:32 with a flying armbar submission. One would have figured on a Nakamura win here given he'd go to 2-3 if he had lost, plus Goto beat him in singles matches on the last two major shows in IC title matches. Also said to be very good.

*August 5 - Iwate Industry Cultural Center (A block night) - 2,396 sellout*

*Bad Luck Fale pinned Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 9:51 after a splash off the top rope. Match was okay.

*Toru Yano pinned Katsuyori Shibata in 4:01. Shibata came out and pretty much destroyed Yano, including hitting the penalty kick. Shibata then went for an armbar and Yano rolled him up. Place went nuts between the upset, and the fact Shibata was killing him. Real well booked also to do a short match so people don't get numb for stuff that happens early in the match.

*Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Doc Gallows in 11:37. Okay early but picked up when Gallows hit a brainbuster and Tanahashi barely kicked out. They were with it from there. Finish saw Gallows go for a power bomb but Tanahashi turned it into the Toyota roll for the pin.

*A.J. Styles pinned Togi Makabe in 11:17. Really good and crowd was into it. Makabe blocked the Bloody Sunday DDT, but Styles then hit a Pele kick and pinned him after a Styles clash.

*Tetsuya Naito pinned Kota Ibushi in 17:18. Great main event as Ibushi remains the tournament MVP. Naito did a reverse huracanrana off the top rope which was a dangerous spot and Ibushi's landing was scary. Ibushi did a sick power bomb like Kawada used to do. Naito won after a Dragon suplex, and his new Destino finish, the sliced bread into a scorpion death drop.


----------



## Corey

Tanahashi/Fale just had too many shenanigans in the end for me, @LilOlMe. I thought it was relatively enjoyable in the late stages though. I just hate it when Bullet Club members interfere SO much to the point where they need to be thrown out and it doesn't happen. And of course DQs never occur. Much prefer the match with Gallows simply because I like it better when a big guy uses his strength and size to gain the advantage instead of cheating in shitty ways. Shmell me?

Huh, Okada vs. Shibata sounds pretty interesting to me, @el dandy. Not quite sure if Shibata has a chance to get there, but looks like a super fresh matchup. Only happened one time I think? How was that?


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> What was the 2nd botch?
> 
> The Hurricana mess up was dangerous as hell! I think that there was a miscommunication, and Ibushi thought that he was supposed to hold Naito and turn it into something, whereas Naito thought he was supposed to just pull it off.
> 
> They're lucky no one got hurt.
> 
> Thought it was a great match and highly enjoyable. Liked Naito's spurts of aggression, and Ibushi going after him when he was being annoying in the beginning. Mostly, just enjoyed the back and forth nature of the match. It was refreshing.
> 
> Felt that Naito had the exact right balance in this match, as far as the pacing was concerned. I think that was largely helped by Ibushi filling in the gaps. He knew exactly when to attack him and go on offense.
> 
> Could have benefited from more cameras, due to the fact that Naito's blase facial expressions make me laugh.


It was towards the end after the botched hurricanrana.

Naito did a rolling kick and it missed by quite margin. With multi-cam, it probably doesn't look like much if they shot it tight or from Ibushi's back. 

Haven't gotten a chance to watch it again, so maybe it wasn't that bad upon review, but when it happened it def stood out in a bad way. The stream chat jumped all over it.



Jack Evans 187 said:


> Huh, Okada vs. Shibata sounds pretty interesting to me, @el dandy. Not quite sure if Shibata has a chance to get there, but looks like a super fresh matchup. Only happened one time I think? How was that?


It was just alright TBH. From what I remember, there wasn't much back/forth and it was p much all Shibata aside from the finish. 

It was fairly short as well.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Elgin's just doing spots this entire tournament. I get it, he's strong. This is terrible for me the viewer and I'm sure if he ever comes back he'll need to change these spots.


----------



## El Dandy

Japanese Puroresu said:


> Elgin's just doing spots this entire tournament. I get it, he's strong. This is terrible for me the viewer and I'm sure if he ever comes back he'll need to change these spots.


I love what Elgin has done, but you're right. His last few matches have felt the exact same and it leaves less and less of an impact after each day. 

I don't know if it would behoove him at this point to mix it up because it's still popping the crowd, but if/when he comes back he'll def need to mix it up a bit.

Why do they have to keep killing Nagata? No respect for the last of a dying breed.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Lol Nagata is awesome and he's a good brother. I'm sure he's happy to lay on his back since he isn't winning the tournament anyways. Nagata seems to have the easiest work rate of everyone in the tournament thus far. He's making money and having fun. I think he's having the best tournament from a work to pay ratio.


----------



## El Dandy




----------



## El Dandy

Loved Okada/Ishii! Started slow, but was hot down the stretch with many believable near falls and good reversals! I think it honestly would've been one of the tip top matches of the tournament if it had full presentation. Easily my favorite match from B Block.

Another solid day from B Block. Nothing offensive aside from Nakamura/Yujiro (not good + went too long + no whore) and Kojima/Goto was also p good. Goto killed Kojima with the Shouten Kai.

*My G1 Top 10:*
1. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
2. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
3. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
4. Day 1: Styles/Shibata
5. Day 1: Tanahashi/Ibushi
*6. Day 12: Okada/Ishii*
7. Day 3: Shibata/Naito
8. Day 8: Elgin/Honma
9. Day 11: Naito/Ibushi
10. Day 3: Styles/YTR

Thank Christ the single cam shows are now ut


----------



## Morrison17

noticed Kushida doing UCME taunt on day 11, dont recall seeing it before from him


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

Hey guys, gonna sign up to NJPW World for the end of the G1 (and go back and watch some of the matches people have been going on about).

Just wanted to ask if NJPW World works the same way as the WWE Network in the sense that there's no commitment. So say if I just wanted to watch G1 and then cancel after the first month? Couldn't find anything about commitment anywhere else online so thought I'd come here for some clarity.


----------



## Sephiroth

So who's winning Block A? Last I saw they had a few guys tied with 4 wins.


----------



## Vårmakos

Sephiroth said:


> So who's winning Block A? Last I saw they had a few guys tied with 4 wins.


Naito is leading at the moment because he has wins over AJ, Tanahashi and Fale. 

The winner of Block A I believe will be Tanahashi, who will then go on to win the tournament.


----------



## Sephiroth

I want a Shibata G1 win 

When was the last time Honma faced Nakamura? They're in the same block but never fought right? I wouldn't mind seeing that on the finals show.


----------



## Corey

Sephiroth said:


> So who's winning Block A? Last I saw they had a few guys tied with 4 wins.


I'm still predicting Naito to win Block A and lose to Okada in the final. Tanahashi I have in the 3rd place match most likely against Nakamura, but I think you could easily switch all 4 of those guys around. I'm just not sure in what scenario that Okada DOESN'T win B Block. Even if Nakamura beats him, still don't see it. 

Styles vs. Nakamura is another possibility. Too many top guys! :lol


----------



## NastyYaffa

Vårmakos said:


> The winner of Block A I believe will be Tanahashi, who will then go on to win the tournament.


This is what I am going with too. WK10 main event is gonna be Tana vs. Okada, no doubt.


----------



## Sephiroth

Naw, Okada wins and chooses John Cena for his opponent.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

I predict Shibata/Tanahashi will be the best match since nakamura/ibushi from wk. Cant wait:mark: havent been this excited for a match in a long ass time.


----------



## Corey

Last year's G1 Finals are airing on the AXS TV show tonight. Excellent timing and I've yet to see Okada/Nakamura, so that's a must watch for me.

------------------

And then there's THIS! Prior to the G1 if they had made this match I would've shrugged it off. NOW though, pretty damn excited for it and it could be an awesome hoss-fest.










------------------

And I guess to keep this relevant to the current G1, if they don't pull the trigger on Styles/Nakamura this year, do we think it'll _ever_ happen? Maybe if one of them beats Goto for the IC Title and has to defend it against the other at Wrestle Kingdom? Idk. They've gotta be saving it for something special.


----------



## El Dandy

I think we def see it this year.

Nakamura/Styles in the Tokyo Dome semi-main (with Tanahashi/Okada as the main)
-or-
Nakamura/Styles in the G1 Final (big enough stage/circumstance to have a first encounter)

I want so bad for Styles/Nakamura to main event for the Heavyweight title, but it'll understandably never close Tokyo Dome for gaijin reasons.



Jack Evans 187 said:


> I'm still predicting Naito to win Block A and lose to Okada in the final. Tanahashi I have in the 3rd place match most likely against Nakamura, but I think you could easily switch all 4 of those guys around. *I'm just not sure in what scenario that Okada DOESN'T win B Block. Even if Nakamura beats him, still don't see it. *


It's a simple scenario: Okada and Nakamura simply win the rest of their matches heading into the last day. Nakamura beats Okada, they then tie in points, but Nakamura holds the tiebreaker because of the head-to-head win. Nakamura advances.

It makes too much sense, so Jado/Gedo will probably have Okada win the G1 and just challenge Tanahashi outright to try and avenge his L.


----------



## SHIRLEY

>


:done


----------



## Corey

el dandy said:


> It's simple: Okada and Nakamura simply win the rest of their matches heading into the last day. Nakamura beats Okada, they then tie in points, but Nakamura holds the tiebreaker because of the head-to-head win. Nakamiura advances.
> 
> It makes too much sense, so Jado/Gedo will probably have Okada win the G1 and just challenge Tanahashi outright to try and avenge his L.


Ohhhh ok. For some reason I felt like Nakamura was down even more than what he is right now. You're definitely right then. Neither one of them are losing up until they face each other and Shinskay will win that battle to advance to the final. Fuck knows what's gonna happen in A Block though. 

PREDICTION CHANGE!~

Tanahashi vs. Nakamura in the final with Tanahashi winning
Naito (???) vs. Okada in the 3rd place with Okada winning

Ask me again tomorrow and it will change again. :lol


----------



## Sephiroth

You seriously haven't seen Okada/Nakamura from last year's finals? Have you at least seen 2014 MOTY MiSu/Styles from G1?


----------



## Corey

Sephiroth said:


> You seriously haven't seen Okada/Nakamura from last year's finals? Have you at least seen 2014 MOTY MiSu/Styles from G1?


Just finished Okada/Nakamura and it was pretty incredible. The drama down the stretch was ridiculous. Match could've ended at any point. 

Yeah I saw Styles/Suzuki last year. Didn't think it was the clear cut MOTY or anything, but I liked it. I just felt like the face/heel dynamic was backwards and I remember there was a run in somewhere that felt completely unnecessary. Only other match I saw from last year's G1 was Styles/Tanahashi in the 3rd place match (which was great too). Surprised I never saw more of AJ's matches from the tourney. Will have to check out the ones with Goto & Okada at some point. That's the only Styles/Okada match and I haven't seen and I've greatly enjoyed the other three.


----------



## LocoI

im enjoying Day 1 so far. i love the tournament concept. i felt overwhelmed last year but im gonna attempt to watch the whole tourney. i still gotta finish WK9. looking forward to seeing Shinsuke. I love that guy.


----------



## TripleG

Getting caught up. I just watched Night 8. 

HOLY FUCK! Elgin Vs. Honma, Nakamura Vs. Iishi, and Okada Vs. Goto....very nice string of matches there.


----------



## Corey

Was watching the AXS TV show with my girlfriend tonight and I was trying to give her comparisons for the top New Japan guys to WWE wrestlers. This is what I came up with:

Hiroshi Tanahashi = John Cena (This one's obvious. I don't think I need to explain)

Kazuchika Okada = Randy Orton (This one's still relatively obvious to me. The golden child. Won things at a young age and had all the opportunities. Tall, young, in great shape, popular with the ladies, etc. Some similar moves as well. A main event staple for many years to come)

Shinsuke Nakamura = Shawn Michaels (This one took some time but this was the best I could come up with. Very confident on the verge of being cocky at times, but can certainly back it up. Multi-time champion in both the Heavyweight and Intercontinental stages. Has a strike finisher that can end a match at any time. Again, popular with the ladies)

What do you guys think? When my gf saw Nakamura she was thinking Dolph Ziggler, but I said no because Shinskay actually wins most of his matches. :lol


----------



## TripleG

Comparing Tanhashi to Cena is appropriate for obvious reasons, though I like to call Tanahashi "Cena if Cena was likeable" haha. 

I like the comparison of Okada to Orton. Okada is flashier and more charismatic, but there are definite similarities there that I didn't realize until you brought it up. 

Nakamuro is Shawn Michaels? Yeah, that's about right. lol


----------



## Corey

Just finished Day 12. Several times throughout the night I said to myself, "man that really could've benefited from multi-cam." Lots of spots and moments could've looked even better than what they did already. Notes:

- Elgin's offense and spots are indeed losing some luster for me, but the crowd is still popping for it so I doubt it'll change. Nagata didn't do much at all here.

- How cool was the finish to Anderson/Honma? I mark hard for shit like that. Fun match where Honma was juuuust on the verge of getting a win. :lol

- I really really liked Goto/Kojima. Kojima coming out of the gate like the strong, savvy veteran who wouldn't take Goto's shit was fantastic. He was really on top of his game here. Goto using that top rope code red (idk what the fuck it's called) was pretty sweet. Lovely touch late in the match where Kojima actually got his arm knocked away from a lariat attempt when he had actually been doing that to Goto all match so he responded by throwing a WILD one with the left arm instead. This was MOTN for me. Another sleeper. Goto has quietly been having a great tournament so far.

- I haven't watched a single one of Yujiro's matches. That trend will continue on.

- Okada vs. Ishii did indeed have a slow start and it took me quite a while to get into it. I didn't really feel like there was much to see throughout the match, but the last several minutes were really good. Super hot finishing stretch where Ishii got some damn close nearfalls. Good in the end but not enough for me to really put it over. Possibly could've felt different with multi-cam or commentary, who knows.

*Anderson vs. Honma - ***
Goto vs. Kojima - *** 1/2
Okada vs. Ishii - ***+*


----------



## Sephiroth

Shibata = Orton? He could be a good comparison to Lesnar with the MMA departure.


----------



## El Dandy

Shibata is a unique one. 

Lesnar seems like an easy comparison considering they both were earmarked for huge things, both left their companies, both pursued MMA, and both returned.

That being said, Shibata was an MMA failure. Also tough to compare him with Lesnar because Shibata will never reach a level within NJPW that Lesnar reached in WWE because he will forever be black marked for leaving. Shibata has been presented as an upper midcard guy since returning, and at no point has Lesnar ever been an upper midcard guy. However, if Shibata had stayed, he would've already won multiple G1's and IWGP HW titles. Work wise and being perceived as a killer, Lesnar is the closest thing Shibby can be compared to in WWE. 

I'll go off the board with my comparison:

*Goto & Shibata = Edge & Christian*. Obviously not ring wise, but more so path wise.

- Best friends since childhood
- Won Tag titles & Tag League together
- Goto stayed in NJPW and has been rewarded with multiple HW title shots, NJC wins, IC title wins & a G1 win (IE: Edge)
- Shibata left NJPW and is a "what could've been" story had he stayed (IE: Christian leaving WWE in late 05-08)

Goto not having won the HW title multiple times makes it hard to compare him to Edge, though. Who knows? The book has not been fully written for either guy so things can change.


----------



## El Dandy

Oh fuck, I totally forgot we get YTR v Naito :mark:


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Damn, Ibushi lost.*


----------



## DoubtGin

o fuck Fale won


----------



## Insomnia

Fale beat Ibushi!


----------



## DoubtGin

greatest match ever now


----------



## El Dandy

BASED YANO


----------



## DoubtGin

This match was hilarious in the best way possible.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Toru Yano is so awesome. :lol

But, it makes sense that Naito won.*


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*AJ better fucking win this.*


----------



## El Dandy

FALE gonna have more points than Shibata after tonight.

WHY GEDO/JADO :mj2


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*AJ wins! :rusevyes*


----------



## DoubtGin

Match was ok. Good that AJ won.


----------



## eldoon

“See this? This is Bullet Club Phil Brooks. Hello.”


----------



## Insomnia

Fuck!:lol


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*That was a good match between the two.

Also, I liked that shout out Doc gave to CM Punk.

Here we go, Tanahashi/Shibata! :mark:*


----------



## DoubtGin

That was my MOTN so far.

Main event will definitely change that though :mark:


----------



## Insomnia

Shibata/Tanahashi! :mark:


----------



## El Dandy

Gawd damn that slap from Tana


----------



## DoubtGin

Fucking awesome match.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*This match has been awesome so far.*


----------



## DoubtGin

rip Shibata


----------



## El Dandy

:mj2 :mj2 :mj2 :mj2 :mj2 :mj2 :mj2

RIP sweet prince


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*What a match! :clap

I like both Tanahashi and Shibata, so I'm not upset that Shibata lost.*


----------



## Insomnia

Good match.


----------



## DoubtGin

Yano Taro vs Tetsuya Natio ***
AJ Styles vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan **3/4
Doc Gallows vs. Togi Makabe ***1/4
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****1/2

pretty good Day imo


----------



## SHIRLEY

Has FALE achieved an unassailable lead yet?


----------



## El Dandy

Probably my favorite day so far. Just a fucking fun time. Every match had something with Tenzan/Styles & Makabe/Gallows over delivering big time. I was groaning looking at the card before hand, but they were good matches. YTR/Naito was awesome. I will never not love Yano.

Shibata/Tana was amazing and different. Don't like the result, but we already knew he was winning. Love that it wasn't a finisher spam fest with twenty 2.999999 counts considering that is the recent standard of matches with this kind of hype. Just absolute top tier quality wrestling. Shibata lost his last 2 matches via counter roll-up and basically eliminated himself from the G1 on mental error, so maybe something is gonna happen there for him character wise. He looked really distraught and incredulous after the match.

MOTN - you already know

*My G1 Top 10*

*1. Day 13: Shibata/Tanahashi*
2. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
3. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
4. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
5. Day 1: Styles/Shibata
6. Day 1: Tanahashi/Ibushi
7. Day 12: Okada/Ishii
8. Day 3: Shibata/Naito
9. Day 8: Elgin/Honma
10.Day 11: Naito/Ibushi


----------



## eldoon

Naito Fale AJ and Tana all sitting on Ten points with naito having beat them all....


AKA Naito is leading A Block!!!!


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Very good day. I actually enjoyed it more than Day 12.

I'm gutted that Ibushi lost, but other than that, I enjoyed his match with Fale.

Naito/Yano was fun. Not surprised that Naito won.

Styles/Tenzan was actually an enjoyable match.

Makabe/Gallows was Doc's best match in the tournament, by far. This match was hard hitting, and I liked it.

Shibata/Tanahashi was as good as I thought it would be. Great main event.*


----------



## El Dandy

eldoon said:


> Naito Fale AJ and Tana all sitting on Ten points with naito having beat them all....
> 
> 
> AKA Naito is leading A Block!!!!


This worries me tremendously for Naito.

The math doesn't work anymore for Naito to win A Block on a Styles/Tana last day draw like some of us were thinking. 

They're not gonna have Naito win both of his next 2 matches, because that removes 100% drama for Styles/Tana. No way they sabotage the last days main event by removing all jeopardy because Naito clinched halfway through the show by beating Tenzan..


----------



## DoubtGin

Who's left for Naito?


----------



## El Dandy

DoubtGin said:


> Who's left for Naito?


That's the kick in the nuts:

Gallows and Tenzan.

He'll beat Gallows I am certain. Heading into the last day, Naito/Styles/Tana will most likely be tied with 12 points. Naito holds the tie breaker, so if he beats Tenzan he auto clinches A Block.

They won't/can't ruin Styles/Tanahashi by having Naito win A Block in the 3rd match of the show. 

I'm thinking on the last day v Tenzan that, since the story all G1 has been Naito abusing the refs, Naito will push Red Shoes to the limit and Red Shoes will hand out an ultra rare DQ. it protects Naito and accomplishes the goal of Styles/Tana being the de-facto semi-final.

I really wish they would do a semi final round after the Blocks are done with top 2 in each block advancing. It's fucked that Naito stands at the top of the mountain, owns all tie breaking scenarios, and has 2 easy opponents left.... but he's 90% fucked because they've projected Styles/Tana as the winner take all, big final match for the Block.


----------



## Lazyking

^^ agreed. However, Naito losing out this way while still having wins over Tana, AJ will give him matches for the fall. 

I missed Tana/Shibata and I'm so mad at myself.


----------



## CornNthemorN

Any chance at all for a naito win??? I'm creaming over the idea of them handing naito the trophy and him giving zero fucks. Breaks it, slaps a couple officials/young boys maybe and walks off like a g. That would make my year!


----------



## Corey

That Goto & Shibata comparison to Edge & Christian is pretty neat. Goto has achieved much more on the singles level than Shibata has despite having his fair share of fans who wanna see it. Good call. (Y) Not sure if we can have a Lesnar comparison to anyone. He's so unique.



CornNthemorN said:


> Any chance at all for a naito win??? I'm creaming over the idea of them handing naito the trophy and him giving zero fucks. Breaks it, slaps a couple officials/young boys maybe and walks off like a g. That would make my year!


At this point I don't think he has virtually any chance of winning the whole thing, but I'm still keen on him getting to the final or 3rd place match.

My guess is that he somehow loses to Tenzan (even though I really hope he doesn't) and Styles/Tanahashi is for the top of A Block on their last day so Naito goes on to the 3rd place match no matter who wins. 

What if Naito came out during that match and attacked both of them? :lol

Dream scenario is that Naito wins A Block outright and the Styles/Tanahashi winner goes on to the 3rd place match. That way Okada/Nakamura on the last day has the ultimate drama because the winner and loser goes to both matches with opponents already lined up.


----------



## Stinger Fan

I'm still behind, still need to start the 1st of August show but pretty good stuff so far. I swear every time I see Shibata in a match , it looks like he legit is pissed off and is going to kick the shit out of everyone lol


----------



## DoubtGin

La Parka said:


> That's the kick in the nuts:
> 
> Gallows and Tenzan.
> 
> He'll beat Gallows I am certain. Heading into the last day, Naito/Styles/Tana will most likely be tied with 12 points. Naito holds the tie breaker, so if he beats Tenzan he auto clinches A Block.
> 
> They won't/can't ruin Styles/Tanahashi by having Naito win A Block in the 3rd match of the show.
> 
> I'm thinking on the last day v Tenzan that, since the story all G1 has been Naito abusing the refs, Naito will push Red Shoes to the limit and Red Shoes will hand out an ultra rare DQ. it protects Naito and accomplishes the goal of Styles/Tana being the de-facto semi-final.
> 
> I really wish they would do a semi final round after the Blocks are done with top 2 in each block advancing. It's fucked that Naito stands at the top of the mountain, owns all tie breaking scenarios, and has 2 easy opponents left.... but he's 90% fucked because they've projected Styles/Tana as the winner take all, big final match for the Block.


Hmm yea, you are right. I can't see Naito losing to either, to be honest. At least not clean.


----------



## DoubtGin

edit: nvm found it


----------



## BuzzKillington

I think I'm just going to skip day 11 and 12. I just cannot find any enjoyment in the single cam shows. Plus the whole thing has been kind of a drag. There have been some great matches no doubt, but overall I'm ready to be done with this.


----------



## El Dandy

BuzzKillington said:


> I think I'm just going to skip day 11 and 12. I just cannot find any enjoyment in the single cam shows. Plus the whole thing has been kind of a drag. There have been some great matches no doubt, but overall I'm ready to be done with this.


I'm with you.

I enjoyed the new format at first and I do like that it's way easier to keep track of Blocks, but I'm kind of reaching my burnout point with it and we still have 6 shows to go.

I really miss the old format and I hope they revert back to it. Maybe they will seeing as they haven't been selling out all of the shows and the injuries are still piling up. Match quality has dipped down big time because the sense is that the wrestlers are approaching this as a month marathon instead of a 2 week sprint.


----------



## flag sabbath

Yeah, I've reached the point of major G1 fatigue. I just kinda stared at Day 12 like it was a screensaver. Praying the Tokyo shows raise the bar, but not holding out too much hope.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

Link to Tanahashi vs Shibata from last night please. I fell asleep right before it started.


----------



## Miguel De Juan

The G1 shows were easier when there were fewer of them. I think they will go back to the old way.

This 19 show thing would have work if it were all G1 matches for four blocks with more guys from NOAH, ROH, and elsewhere. Buy hey they still produce some great matches.

I still think 2012-2014 were better so far.


----------



## LilOlMe

*lmao @ Naito in the Naito/White vs. Hashi/Yano 8/7/15 match. The fact that he was too lazy to cheat at the end of the match, made me really lol. It's brilliant, and he keeps coming up with new ways to play into his persona.

I also timed it, and his entrance & disrobing in the Yano match took literally five minutes, lol.

*Totally agree with the sentiment that Styles/Tenzan overdelivered. Best Tenzan match in the tournament, and AJ's sell of getting kneed in the balls was incredible. It was so genuine seeming.

*Does anyone have a theory on why they had Ibushi lose to Fale? 

*I keep trying to figure out ways Naito could get into the finals, but you all are right. I like the ref idea, but I've thought of him attacking both Tanahashi/Styles to make it a draw (maybe doing it when there's not much time left). The math just wouldn't work out for that, right?

*Tanahashi/Shibata was even better than I expected. Shibata pulled out stuff I've never see him do, and the match had such a good flow to it, like the transitions into the sleepers. They were great at the little details (love Tanahashi's selling when he's in the air about to be taken down), and I loved the stuff like Shibata knowing that Tanahashi would run out of the corner and counter him, so _he_ countered Tanahashi with an uppercut before he could. ****1/2

I liked @La Parka's comments about Shibata having mental lapses and getting beaten in his last two matches. True, and I like the way Shibata sold his anguish after this match.

Figured Tanahashi would win, but I was hoping for a draw. That would have made it all more interesting, especially involving Naito.

*Last two shows I thought were good. Honma/Anderson was pretty fun. Ishii/Okada delivered for me, and I'm usually less enamored with big Ishii matches than most people. 

*I like the longer tournament, btw, because when you have all of the G1 matches on one show, aren't the matches usually shorter? I like that they have more time. 

* @Jack Evans 187, your rep makes me happy. I was afraid they were sending Goto to ROH because I thought that they might be using him to pull Nakamura out (due to the elbow injury). Glad that's not the case, though I still feel that that could happen. Maybe it's a precautionary move?


----------



## LilOlMe

What_A_Maneuver! said:


> Hey guys, gonna sign up to NJPW World for the end of the G1 (and go back and watch some of the matches people have been going on about).
> 
> Just wanted to ask if NJPW World works the same way as the WWE Network in the sense that there's no commitment. So say if I just wanted to watch G1 and then cancel after the first month? Couldn't find anything about commitment anywhere else online so thought I'd come here for some clarity.


It automatically bills you on the 1st of each month. There's no commitment, though, and you can cancel at any time. I believe that people have said that when you cancel, you lose access (it's not like it lets you stay until the 1st of the month). Be aware of that. Also, remember that Japan is a half day to a day ahead of American time, so if you want to cancel, you should probably do it the day before the last of the month.




Jack Evans 187 said:


> Tanahashi/Fale just had too many shenanigans in the end for me, @LilOlMe. I thought it was relatively enjoyable in the late stages though. I just hate it when Bullet Club members interfere SO much to the point where they need to be thrown out and it doesn't happen. And of course DQs never occur. Much prefer the match with Gallows simply because I like it better when a big guy uses his strength and size to gain the advantage instead of cheating in shitty ways. Shmell me?
> 
> @el dandy. Not quite sure if Shibata has a chance to get there, but looks like a super fresh matchup. Only happened one time I think? How was that?


I understand. Interference can be annoying. I guess the lack of DQ's doesn't bother me, because I've literally never seen a DQ in Japan in my life. So I take it like it doesn't matter.

Okada/Yoshi Hashi vs. Shibata/Goto - February 9, 2014 is the best Shibata vs. Okada interaction. Wrote this before:


> The tag against Okada was just soooo damn smart. I was dying for Okada and Shibata to face off against each other, and the whole audience was too. So the way they built up to that, and Okada's motivation for doing so was just great.
> 
> Also thought the way they blocked his clothesline was clever.





Sephiroth said:


> Shibata = Orton? He could be a good comparison to Lesnar with the MMA departure.


Shibata reminds me of Lesnar in their "take no shit" style, and the fact that they are usually physically dominant. Plus, they seem similar in that they don't seem to care much about anything else but the wrestling (not caring or wanting the fame as much).

It's interesting you brought up Orton, because Shibata is who I'd most want to see Orton against (though Okada is the more obvious answer), though I can't really articulate why. I just think that Shibata might be the one to most motivate Orton, and certain times Orton's style seems like it could fit Shibata's (I'm thinking when he's more vicious, like in the Bryan RAW matches).

I wish the G1 results didn't seem so obvious on the A side.


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> * @Jack Evans 187, your rep makes me happy. I was afraid they were sending Goto to ROH because I thought that they might be using him to pull Nakamura out (due to the elbow injury). Glad that's not the case, though I still feel that that could happen. Maybe it's a precautionary move?


I certainly hope not. Nakamura vs. Cole in Philly would be a huge loss if it didn't happen. I think they're just bringing in Goto stack the card against NXT Takeover. I've read the NXT show only has a few hundred tickets left. Almost sold out.

I'm honestly more excited for Elgin/Goto at Field of Honor than I am for the random tag match with Lethal & Shinskay teaming up. And if ROH brought back Naito sometime soon with the INGOBERNABLE gimmick? Jeeeeezus.



LilOlMe said:


> It's interesting you brought up Orton, because Shibata is who I'd most want to see Orton against (though Okada is the more obvious answer), though I can't really articulate why. I just think that Shibata might be the one to most motivate Orton, and certain times Orton's style seems like it could fit Shibata's (I'm thinking when he's more vicious, like in the Bryan RAW matches).
> 
> I wish the G1 results didn't seem so obvious on the A side.


I too feel like Orton vs. Shibata would be a great matchup and I can't really explain why. Feel like it could be even better if Orton were heel. He could just stiff the fuck out of Shibata with European uppercuts, overhead forearms to the chest, and standing dropkicks. Why does this match sound so great? :lol

You say that now about A Block but watch Naito win it all outright when he beats Gallows & Tenzan. I think that would be pretty surprising, honestly. No one predicted that in the beginning. B Block seems far more predictable to me.

Were you able to watch Goto/Kojima? I don't recall reading your thoughts if so.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> I certainly hope not. Nakamura vs. Cole in Philly would be a huge loss if it didn't happen. I think they're just bringing in Goto stack the card against NXT Takeover. I've read the NXT show only has a few hundred tickets left. Almost sold out.
> 
> I'm honestly more excited for Elgin/Goto at Field of Honor than I am for the random tag match with Lethal & Shinskay teaming up. And if ROH brought back Naito sometime soon with the INGOBERNABLE gimmick? Jeeeeezus.
> 
> 
> I too feel like Orton vs. Shibata would be a great matchup and I can't really explain why. Feel like it could be even better if Orton were heel. He could just stiff the fuck out of Shibata with European uppercuts, overhead forearms to the chest, and standing dropkicks. Why does this match sound so great?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You say that now about A Block but watch Naito win it all outright when he beats Gallows & Tenzan. I think that would be pretty surprising, honestly. No one predicted that in the beginning. B Block seems far more predictable to me.
> 
> Were you able to watch Goto/Kojima? I don't recall reading your thoughts if so.


Yeah, I read someone say that it was NJPW's way of "making nice" with ROH after the whole Liger thing. That was a pretty traitorous double cross.

Yeah, the Nakamura tag will probably be worthless, but I'm sure it'll be fun watching him in person.

Yes, and the intensity level would be off the charts (motivated Orton is a totally different animal than weekly, blase, Orton). If for some reason there was an interpromotional card, Vince would never do that one, though, because it's less obvious. 

That would be awesome. I keep thinking that they would be dumb to go with Tanahashi vs. Okada at the Dome. The reason why is because I feel they can drag the "passing of the torch" moment out a little more. Tanahashi is still over as hell, still a major draw, and still performing at top level. Why lessen his drawing power? "A passing of the torch" moment would signify exactly that, and could make Tanahashi's star dwindle a little (the aftermath of it, I mean, if they really do diminish Tanahashi some).

Okada being in the position he is, and being pushed as the defacto co-top star, doesn't hurt Okada in any way. 

I feel they're smart enough to know this, but maybe I'm wrong. I feel that Nakamura in the main event makes more sense right now. Why not get the most out of him while he's still relatively young?

They've made Naito look like such a stud, especially by beating every major contender, that I've got to think there's a reason for that too.

The only thing is that they couldn't have imagined how well this character was gonna work beforehand, right? I find it hard to believe they'd have him winning the whole thing (or maybe even just being in the finals) based on how they'd _think_ his character would come off. That's a lot of faith.

If they were deciding on the winner mid-tournament (as Vince has been known to do....like not deciding on the MITB winner until the day before), I could totally see them going with Naito. That's not the case, though, I'm sure.

Styles is interesting. I don't think they have as many hangups about a foreigner being in the Tokyo main event as some thing. Especially since they clearly want to expand around the world. However, I don't think they think AJ is on the level of their big three. I also agree that somehow he's not being made to seem like a huge deal right now. 

OTOH, they've had him beat people with multiple finishers, which seems to indicate that they do care about him coming across as a huge threat. I dunno. I still think that he's a red herring, though.



ETA: Yeah, I liked Kojima/Goto, and I think I liked most things from that night. I've mentioned this before, but I really like Goto's groundedness in his attack. It sets him apart. He's really grown on me a lot recently.

ETAA: Can't remember if I've mentioned this, but it's so funny to me to notice that Okada is the only one who seems completely aware of where the camera is during the single cam shows. He is always making sure to perform his moves to that side, and is the only one who plays to it. I remember Tanahashi saying that Okada has a "red light" awareness that many long-term vets don't have, and it's so true. He seems very aware of angles too, with the way he carries himself.

ETAAA: They could do Tanahashi/Okada at the Dome and still have Tanahashi beat him again. This could bring out an aggressive side from Okada.

ETAx4: Good call about Orton's uppercuts. I think that's one of the reasons I could see an Orton/Shibata match coming off well in terms of aggressiveness.


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

Shibata vs Tanahashi was incredible. Best match of the G1 for me. I did not expect to see Tanahashi go blow for blow like he did. It wasn't a headless war like the Ibushi match. This one had so many great things within it that really sets it apart from everything you can expect to see in this G1. The slap to stun Shibata? and THAT FINISH. Simply incredible. The only one that can possibly exceed this would be Okada/Nakamura. ****3/4

Another match that should be praised is the Tenzan vs Styles. Great match. Tenzan getting in all his trademark moves but reshuffled by the sporadic opposition that AJ would offer. Both guys worked really hard. AJ really brought some life back into Tenzan in this one, you can see has great respect for him. ****

All the love for Naito is ridiculous, but whatever. Fans were going to boo him, and now they get a reason to.


----------



## Corey

I ♥ KEMONITO;51237682 said:


> All the love for Naito is ridiculous, but whatever. Fans were going to boo him, and now they get a reason to.












:lol

About to start Day 13. Let's see if I can stay awake to finish it tonight.


----------



## Corey

Day 13. Pretty average show.

- Fale/Ibushi was honestly the match I got the most enjoyment out of the entire night. Thought Ibushi's performance was great and Fale killing him with the guardrail was even better. Finish was pretty darn cool. Thumbs up for a good 8 minute contest.

- Fucking Yano, man. :lol He made that match because I'm pretty sure Naito decided to take the day off.

- Tenzan is so severely limited in the ring that it's s hard for me rate anything he's involved in highly. Styles was great with his vocals and constant shouting & persistent with the calf killer, but Tenzan was just there as the guy he was wrestling who can throw a mean mongolian chop. Still solid and nice to see AJ winning with a variety of moves in this G1 though.

- Skipped Makabe/Gallows and just watched the ending.

- Here's my regularly scheduled unpopular opinion on a Shibata match. The first few minutes of the match actually felt really major and every transition and move felt special and important. I wanted to really get into it, but then they started doing some leg stuff. And then they started throwing forearms. Kinda went back to some rotating leg stuff and then it went nothing all that great happening. Then they hit each other some more. I just don't understand what was so exciting about it. Yeah there was some nifty sequences like when Shibata double stomped him in the face or when Tanahashi countered something into the sling blade, but that's all I got out of it. OH WAIT, the the angle Tanahashi put on the cloverleaf was really fucking great. Can't forget that. None of the strikes looked like more than what they usually do though. And was there ever a point in the match where Shibata sold his leg? While I commend them for having a creative finish, even though the match went 20 minutes I still felt like it was cut short. And did Tanahashi hurt his own back on that bridge attempt? :lol Not a bad watch by any means but I'm about 100% certain those two have had much better matches against each other. Disappointing considering what everyone else has said about it.

*Fale vs. Ibushi - ***
Styles vs. Tenzan - *** (upped my rating after remembering liking a certain portion of the match)
Tanahashi vs. Shibata - ****


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Disappointing considering what everyone else has said about it.


How could you be disappointed?

Rule of thumb should be that if people enjoyed a New Japan match, you'll think it was just alright. That's p much how it's been all G1, so why would you think that would change Day 13?

:kobe7


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Day 13. Pretty average show.
> 
> - Fale/Ibushi was honestly the match I got the most enjoyment out of the entire night. Thought Ibushi's performance was great and Fale killing him with the guardrail was even better. Finish was pretty darn cool. Thumbs up for a good 8 minute contest.
> 
> [/B]


I agree. I thought this match was really good. Simple little guy trying to take down the big guy story, but executed to perfection.

I've only watched day 12 & 13 as I've come into it late but so far my favourite matches have been Honma/Anderson & Fale/Ibushi. I was enjoying Tanahashi/Shibata but I fell asleep in the end (not due to the match being bad though). Will have to give it another watch.


----------



## DoubtGin

Seems like Elgin getting liked more and more. Or probably it's because he's facing Anderson.

edit: he's definitely quite over


----------



## El Dandy

Elgin is legit getting over.

Another p good showing from him. No matter what happens the remainder of the way, he's def MPV of B Block. His enthusiasm of being in the G1 was present every single night including the tags.


----------



## El Dandy

NAGATA :denzel


----------



## DoubtGin

Nagata/Kojima was pretty good. Glad Nagata won.


----------



## DoubtGin

that fuckery at the end :lol


----------



## DoubtGin

Ishii/Goto should be great. Honma/Nakamura was fun.


----------



## El Dandy

This fucking RULES


----------



## DoubtGin

This was my favorite G1 match so far. Incredible stuff.


----------



## El Dandy

Ishii/Goto was outstanding! 

Most will enjoy it. Thought the ending was borderline a little overdone, but fuck, man, what a battle. Loved it loved it loved it.

*Updated G1 Top 10:*
*
1. Day 14: Goto/Ishii*
2. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
3. Day 13: Shibata/Tanahashi
4. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
5. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
6. Day 1: Styles/Shibata
7. Day 1: Tanahashi/Ibushi
8. Day 12: Okada/Ishii
9. Day 3: Shibata/Naito
10. Day 8: Elgin/Honma

- Bumped Out: Naito/Ibushi


----------



## DoubtGin

Anderson vs Elgin ***1/2
Nagata vs Kojima ***
Takahashi vs Okada **1/2
Nakamura vs Honma **3/4
Ishii vs Goto ****3/4


----------



## Corey

La Parka said:


> How could you be disappointed?
> 
> Rule of thumb should be that if people enjoyed a New Japan match, you'll think it was just alright. That's p much how it's been all G1, so why would you think that would change Day 13?
> 
> :kobe7


Because I knew Tanahashi & Shibata were both capable of putting on that caliber of a match and once I saw it got 20 minutes I thought the hype might well be warranted. I was wrong  Plus I saw the last half of their match from the G1 last year and thought it was pretty fuckin awesome.



La Parka said:


> Ishii/Goto was outstanding!
> 
> Most will enjoy it. Thought the ending was borderline a little overdone, but fuck, man, what a battle. Loved it loved it loved it.
> 
> *Updated G1 Top 10:*
> *
> 1. Day 14: Goto/Ishii*
> 2. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
> 3. Day 13: Shibata/Tanahashi
> 4. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
> 5. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
> 6. Day 1: Styles/Shibata
> 7. Day 1: Tanahashi/Ibushi
> 8. Day 12: Okada/Ishii
> 9. Day 3: Shibata/Naito
> 10. Day 8: Elgin/Honma
> 
> - Bumped Out: Naito/Ibushi


You have a new favorite every day. :lol

Goto's been doing very well thus far, so I'm looking forward to seeing this one.


----------



## Sephiroth

Too bad Nakamura isn't 100%. I wonder if they had to change any plans.


----------



## kimino

Really liked Tana vs Shibata and of course im not getting bored of this Naito!!!! Los Ingobernables!!!


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> You have a new favorite every day. :lol
> 
> Goto's been doing very well thus far, so I'm looking forward to seeing this one.


That's what happens when good matches take place

There is a chance it changes again cause we still have:

Tanahahsi/Makabe
Goto/Elgin
Ishii/Honma
Ibushi/Makabe
Tanahashi/Styles
Elgin/Ishii
Nakamura/Okada

Hope it keeps changing TBH, because that means more quality puro.

I would probably skip Goto/Ishii if I were you. It's very hard hitting and not enough Roderick Strong


----------



## Corey

Hey @La Parka , you were right and wrong at the same time!

Wrong because I did watch *Goto/Ishii* and also because Roderick Strong and hard hitting go hand-in-hand, but right because it WAS in fact the best match of the tournament and completely awesome. Fuckin loved it! See how when this strong style and fighting spirit shtick is applied well and it makes sense that I can enjoy a match like this? That opening forearm exchange was fantastic and it never let up from there. Incredibly enjoyable sprint with two big brutes who refused to be out-muscled. I went nuts when they headbutted each other at full speed. Amazing that we didn't see blood. ******

As for the rest of Day 14, no complaints from me. Elgin/Anderson was enjoyable (with another cool finish from Karl), Nagata/Kojima was a totally solid sprint with continuity on Nagata's rib injury, and Nakamura/Honma was fun with a good finishing stretch. Looked like Nakamura stiffed him on the guardrail though. What's up with that? Probably *** range for all of them. Didn't watch Okada/Yujiro of course.

Goto is REALLY starting to grow on me. Like he might just be my MVP of this tournament so far. He's got 4 matches in my top 10 to this point and I'm SO looking forward to his showdown with Elgin. That should be awesome. (Y)


----------



## LilOlMe

I ♥ KEMONITO;51237682 said:


> Shibata vs Tanahashi was incredible. Best match of the G1 for me. I did not expect to see Tanahashi go blow for blow like he did. It wasn't a headless war like the Ibushi match. This one had so many great things within it that really sets it apart from everything you can expect to see in this G1. The slap to stun Shibata? and THAT FINISH. Simply incredible. The only one that can possibly exceed this would be Okada/Nakamura. ****3/4





Jack Evans 187 said:


> - Here's my regularly scheduled unpopular opinion on a Shibata match. The first few minutes of the match actually felt really major and every transition and move felt special and important. I wanted to really get into it, but then they started doing some leg stuff. And then they started throwing forearms. Kinda went back to some rotating leg stuff and then it went nothing all that great happening. Then they hit each other some more. I just don't understand what was so exciting about it. Yeah there was some nifty sequences like when Shibata double stomped him in the face or when Tanahashi countered something into the sling blade, but that's all I got out of it. OH WAIT, the the angle Tanahashi put on the cloverleaf was really fucking great. Can't forget that. None of the strikes looked like more than what they usually do though. And was there ever a point in the match where Shibata sold his leg? While I commend them for having a creative finish, even though the match went 20 minutes I still felt like it was cut short. And did Tanahashi hurt his own back on that bridge attempt? :lol Not a bad watch by any means but I'm about 100% certain those two have had much better matches against each other. Disappointing considering what everyone else has said about it.


Re-watched Shibata/Tanahashi and let me explained what I loved about it.

It was a very, very, technical match, right down to the timing of the submissions and the transitions into them. I always appreciate good technical matches.

More than that, though, it had the drama, as well as the attention to little details, including countering. Shibata must have went for that Penalty Kick about five or six times, but it never, ever, seemed like overkill (I was shocked to note that he went for it that much when I re-watched). They had a way of doing things where it never seemed grotesque, which is actually a rare find. Every time Tanahashi either countered it or blocked it, it perfectly fit, and it was so spread out throughout the match.

The fact that Tanahashi won by once again countering one of Shibata's signature moves so quickly, was fitting.

It felt like a match where you could tell they both put thought into everything they were doing, and every little detail, as if they had game-planned for each other all tournament long.

There was a point where Tanahashi had Shibata in a leg submission move, and was sitting up over him. He wasn't conveying that he was gonna do anything. He was actually just looking at the ref. Shibata, however, covers his face anticipating a hit. You rarely see that when there's _not_ a hit coming. Just great.

Tanahashi sold that second to last sleeper hold like impending death. Like he better get to that fucking rope right. fucking. now.

That whole finishing sequence from the time Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow on, was sublime. It all came together in a perfect rhythm, and everything was unexpected. 

It wasn't your typical hold/counter exchange. You wouldn't expect Shibata to go for the sleeper out of the High Fly Flow.

Even stuff like Shibata busting out into that Black Widow move after it looked like he was going for an ankle roll, or doing that high flying kick that I don't recall seeing him do.

I did notice that he stopped his forearms at four or five, so I did expect him to blast Tanahashi later with a full ten. Since he stopped it twice, I thought his arm must have been hurting him. 

However, that may also be why the ending seemed like such a surprise, since he never got stuff like that in, which may be exactly why he chose not to do it more.

So perhaps that's why Shibata didn't beat the shit out of him, because the point was to make it seem like Shibata was strategizing the whole time (likewise with Tanahashi), and much more focused on beating him based on anticipating his movement. Beating him at his own game. It was much more technical, and also a bit mat-based in the beginning.

They did have an exchange in the middle of the ring where he was hitting him with some very loud forearms, and then they got into an uppercut exchange.

Good call about Tanahashi's Cloverleaf. I've always loved the way that he does that. 

Something I loved in the beginning was that Shibata had Tanahashi so tight in that face lock, that you couldn't even see a bit of Tanahashi's face. Intense.

Feel that I could watch the match again and again, and get something more out of it each time.

Loved that match, and I'm upgrading to I ♥ KEMONITO's score of ****3/4.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ishii/Goto seemed really good, but I think I preferred Honma/Goto because it had some of the same vibe, but was much shorter. Then again, I was getting really tired while watching the former, so maybe I'd like it more if that weren't the case.


Naito/Taguchi/Captain NJ vs. Styles/Gallows/Hall - 8/9/15 - lol at Naito starting to put one of them into a submission, but then walking off like "eh, can't be bothered putting effort into this." So good. He is totally committed to his character on every level, and that's great to see. The continuity in the tag matches makes them worth watching.

So Gallows was pretending to dig his open hand into Taguchi's ass? Several times? That's weird.


Goto/Honma/Captain NJ vs. Nakamura/Ishii/Yoshi-Hashi - 8/8/15 - Loved Nakamura acting like he was gonna go for Honma's headbutt and doing all of the antics, and then pausing and dropping the knee. Legit lol'ed at that. 


Tanahashi/Tenzan/Kushida vs. Makabe/Shibata/Liger - 8/9/15 - This had good interplay between Tanahashi and Shibata in the aftermath of their match the night before. The one upmanship of the chain wrestling & neither one able to dominate in that regard, yet Shibata expressing dominance by demanding that Tanahashi stay in the ring with him. He's still smarting and wants a piece. I liked that.

Also liked Tanahashi trolling Makabe with the constant air guitar, lmao. Tanahashi seemed especially peppy today personality-wise, though his eyes always look glazed over (pain-pilled up) as fuck.


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> They're not gonna have Naito win both of his next 2 matches, because that removes 100% drama for Styles/Tana. No way they sabotage the last days main event by removing all jeopardy because Naito clinched halfway through the show by beating Tenzan..





Jack Evans 187 said:


> You say that now about A Block but watch Naito win it all outright when he beats Gallows & Tenzan. I think that would be pretty surprising, honestly. No one predicted that in the beginning. B Block seems far more predictable to me.


I thought about it, and they said that the schedules for the last A & B block nights are "to be determined." Meaning, the main event isn't necessarily what we think it is yet.

Odds are, of course, that it'll be Styles vs. Tanahashi. However, this allows an opening for Naito to win the block. If his match is last, that takes away the "no drama" problem.

While Naito vs. Tenzan doesn't exactly scream "main event", the fact that Naito could win the block by winning that match makes it so. I doubt they'll go with this way of thinking, because Tanahashi vs. Styles is a big match, but the place is already sold out, so so what? 

Naito could also win earlier, and come out and troll both Styles and Tanahashi, which would be funny. That does take away the drama, though.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> I thought about it, and they said that the schedules for the last A & B block nights are "to be determined." Meaning, the main event isn't necessarily what we think it is yet.
> 
> Odds are, of course, that it'll be Styles vs. Tanahashi. However, this allows an opening for Naito to win the block. If his match is last, that takes away the "no drama" problem.
> 
> While Naito vs. Tenzan doesn't exactly scream "main event", the fact that Naito could win the block by winning that match makes it so. I doubt they'll go with this way of thinking, because Tanahashi vs. Styles is a big match, but the place is already sold out, so so what?
> 
> Naito could also win earlier, and come out and troll both Styles and Tanahashi, which would be funny. That does take away the drama, though.


Hopefully you're right.

I would still bet the farm that Styles/Tanahashi closes like they originally had it listed and Naito will lose to Tenzan. That, or they may even do the unthinkable and have Naito lose to Gallows on Day 15 so it removes any Tana/Styles projection on their part.

If there is anything we should know about Jado/Gedo it's that Tanahashi is closing, dude brother jack brother. Even when it makes no sense, they do it so he can play air guitar for 30 minutes and wipe his sweat on fans (and the fans LOVE it, so fair balls to them)

Really, though, Naito may stand to gain more by being in a potential 3rd place match with either Nakamura/Okada. 

Say it is Okada: Naito could feasibly beat him. That won't mean much right away because Okada is gonna be tied with Goto until Sept/Oct and then move onto either Nakamura/Tanahashi to build to Jan 4. However, come the main event at Tokyo Dome when Okada is celebrating his win over either Nakamura/Tanahashi... Naito could come to the ring and challenge like Okada did to Tana 4 years ago. He would have a legit claim to a shot citing his victory over Okada.


----------



## Lazyking

See here's the thing, I think Okada is a lock to retain at Wrestle Kingdom no matter who he faces which is why Tana is my pick. I love Tana but after he loses, he's not gonna get a shot soon after, neither is anyone else... If you were to put Naito in that spot and he failed to draw again, he likely would get goto'd. Nakamura is the Wild card, best chance to beat Okada but I feel like Okada must win at Wrestle kingdom next year. 

That's how I'm thinking of the G1. What it means for Wrestle Kingdom and beyond.


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

So how fucking good is Anderson as a singles? I love his matches!


----------



## SHIRLEY

Elgin's so over :banderas

Goto and Ishii are hurting each other :mj2


----------



## RyanPelley

So, what happens if there's a tie in points in one block?


----------



## El Dandy

RyanPelley said:


> So, what happens if there's a tie in points in one block?


In the event of a tie, the winner of the Block is decided by who won the head-to-head match against the other.

Sometimes, it gets very messy like in 2013 where there was a 6-way tie for 1st in B Block :jaydamn


----------



## RyanPelley

La Parka said:


> When there is a tie, then who advances is decided by who won the head-to-head match against the other.
> 
> Sometimes, it gets very messy like in 2013 where there was a 6-way tie for 1st in B Block :jaydamn


Oh wow, lol. That sounds crazy.

So, Okada vs. Shinskay will (pending a strange twist) decide who wins the B Block then. Just saw their match from last year's G1. Hell of a match! This should be great.


----------



## GothicBohemian

I am soo far behind on G1 this year…but I have the next four days off and the weather’s iffy, so time to catch up! 
*off to watch whatever I can find of the most discussed matches*


----------



## LilOlMe

If Naito & Tenzan go to a draw, and AJ & Tanahashi go to a draw, Naito could win Block A, since he holds tiebreakers over both AJ and Tanahashi.

That would be funny, and the perfect way for the blase, "give no shit", asshole to make the finals.



> A Block Standings
> 
> - Naito (10 pts.)
> - Bad Luck Fale (10 pts.)
> - A.J. Styles (10 pts.)
> - Tanahashi (10 pts.)


Naito, AJ, and Tanahashi would all have 13 points.

Sadly, it seems that NJPW thinks very narrowly, and always keeps the same people in the main event scene. I doubt that they thought much deeply beyond Okada/Nakamura/Tanahashi/Styles winning.


----------



## El Dandy

@LilOlMe

You may be onto something.

What if Gallows/Naito ended in double countout with Bullet Club bull shit etc? He'd enter the last day trailing Tana/Styles by 1 pt and not in an auto clinch scenario (therefore justifying Tana/Styles main eventing) and keeps the Naito backdooring into the G1 Final alive.

Would they do 2 draws this late, though? I hope so. I hope this scenario happens :mark:


----------



## LilOlMe

The problem is that I doubt that they would give Naito Tenzan as his final opponent if this were the plan. I know they have a history, but one would think they'd intentionally make his last opponent more exciting. 

It'd look kind of bad if Naito has a lackluster final match, while AJ & Tanahashi tear the house down and don't advance. I mean, I guess it'd be good in the "heel heat, he doesn't deserve it!" kind of way, but I doubt they think that way.

Perhaps they gave Naito/Tenzan that G1 Press Conference build for this reason...because they do have big plans for this match. Perhaps Tenzan will step up, or maybe Naito will show a much more aggressive side in this match, and they've been purposely dialing down his full aggression for this specific reason.

It's probably just wishful thinking, but the more I think about it, the more your scenario sounds like it could be right. He beats Tenzan decisively, and shows that he can back up his pre-tournament words. Takes out the old guard, looks great doing so, and that enables the A block win.

Having a double countout (or, I think more likely, a double DQ) scenario with Gallows makes this all possible, with the lack of certainty & heightened drama.

I like it. I hope Gedo likes it. 

Has anyone heard if they ever change the booking around suddenly like Vince does? Because I think this has a higher chance of happening if they are like that. I could see them wanting Naito as the winner after watching his tournament character progression, but maybe not before.


Btw, AJ & Tanahashi would have the same number of points & neither will have defeated each other. So they both would go to the 3rd place match? That would be kind of cool. However, NJPW rarely does Triple Threats, though, so that contributes to why this whole scenario isn't likely.

I do agree that by having Naito beat almost all the top names...that does seem to have been purposeful. Something in me says that's not just a red herring.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

I've heard a ton of good things from a lot of sources about NJPW, the G1 tournament in particular. Two things I'm wondering- how does a new fan go about learning the storylines/wrestlers and such, and are there sites with English translations or transcripts after the matches are broadcast? I've read about the streaming service, which is how I'd go about watching G1, but was curious about these two things before I did. Thanks to anyone who could help with these two questions.


----------



## LilOlMe

Stefan Meneses said:


> I've heard a ton of good things from a lot of sources about NJPW, the G1 tournament in particular. Two things I'm wondering- how does a new fan go about learning the storylines/wrestlers and such, and are there sites with English translations or transcripts after the matches are broadcast? I've read about the streaming service, which is how I'd go about watching G1, but was curious about these two things before I did. Thanks to anyone who could help with these two questions.


Usually just by reading messageboards you can find out about backstory & important translations. If you ask a question, most people are quick to explain.

When I want to learn about the history going into a match, I'll usually just google the participants and find everything I need to know pretty quickly. There are rundowns all over the internet in various places. It's not compiled. You'll just find people on sites who have written about things at different times.

With all that, you don't really need much translation. I used to think it was weird that people watched without knowing much, and I always wondered how they followed it all. Now I understand.

It's very easy to get caught up once you just start watching & googling and reading messageboards.

If you have any specific questions, just ask here. I would be happy to explain, and I'm sure others would too. 


If you do sign up, here is the English registration page to the streaming service, btw (you don't need to look up the instructions about how to sign up in Japanese...it's obviously easier in English):
https://njpwworld.com/auth?lang=en

There is also an "English" translation drop down on the bottom right of the page. That will make all of the pages English, and it's very easy to navigate.


----------



## Corey

With all this talk on A Block and the whole situation with Naito, why don't we talk about B Block?

*August 12th*
Okada vs. Nagata
Goto vs. Elgin
Anderson vs. Yujiro

*August 15th*
Anderson vs. Kojima
Goto vs. Nagata
Nakamura vs. Okada

I find these last two days to be EXTREMELY interesting. Okada holds the top spot on his own with 12 points and his only loss being to Goto. Then Anderson, Nakamura, and Goto all have 10 points. If Goto wins out and then Nakamura ends up beating Okada, we could be seeing a scenario where Okada is left out of the finals completely because of tiebreakers. Can Goto beat both Elgin and Nagata? I certainly think so, but that would be a huge win for Elgin if he pulled the upset.

Then you have Karl Anderson. He holds both tiebreakers over Goto AND Nakamura. What if he wins out against Yujiro and Kojima? I could definitely see him losing to Kojima because he gets overconfident and thinks he'll walk into the finals, but who knows? If he wins out then things get even more confusing.

What do you guys think will likely happen there? You have to think Nakamura beats Okada, but for Okada to be able to make it to the 3rd place match then Goto and Anderson would have to lose one match each... right?

EDIT: And I'm gonna laugh my ass off if Fale beats AJ tomorrow. :lol

EDIT x2: What if Naito goes 1-for-2 on his last matches and then Tanahashi and AJ go to a 30 minute draw? Assuming they win their previous matches then both of them would go to the finals with 13 points each? a 3-way in the finals? Or would they go to a sudden death overtime? So many scenarios!


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses

Found this rundown of the wrestlers competing in the tournament with descriptions:
Part 1: https://ringpsych.wordpress.com/201...ide-to-new-japan-pro-wrestlings-g1-climax-25/
Part 2: https://ringpsych.wordpress.com/201...ew-japan-pro-wrestlings-g1-climax-25-part-ii/

Those links finally explained what the 1/100 thing is for for Tanahashi. I was like "ohhhh" :lol. I don't know why I never bothered to look that up before when I always wondered about it. I was like "1 in 100 doesn't sound _that_ braggadocious", lol. 


OH, OH, OH!:
"A Beginner's Guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling":
http://www.listentothisshow.com/blog/2015/2/4/wrestling-a-beginners-guide-to-new-japan-pro-wrestling

I remember reading that and laughing. It does have great descriptions of many of the Japanese wrestlers, along with everything else. Definitely read that, as well as the other links.

lol at the picture they used for Captain New Japan.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Jack Evans 187, I don't see any scenario where either Okada or Nakamura doesn't win their block. True Okada would lose to Nakamura due to a tie-breaker, but the fact that Nakamura would be the one to beat him makes that seem like less of a bad break.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

GothicBohemian said:


> I am soo far behind on G1 this year…but I have the next four days off and the weather’s iffy, so time to catch up!
> *off to watch whatever I can find of the most discussed matches*



Shibata/Ibushi 

Shibata/tanahashi

Tanahashi/ibushi 

Ibushi/Styles 


All **** 1/3 + matches imo. They are all up on dailymotion.


----------



## Corey

My current top 10 with 4 days left and then the final:

1. Goto vs. Ishii - Day 14 - ****
2. Tanahashi vs. Naito - Day 5 - ****
3. Honma vs. Elgin - Day 8 - ****
4. Nakamura vs. Ishii - Day 8- ****
5. Okada vs. Goto - Day 8 - *** 3/4
6. Naito vs. Ibushi - Day 11 - *** 3/4
7. Nakamura vs. Goto - Day 10 - *** 1/2+
8. Goto vs. Kojima - Day 12 - *** 1/2
9. Styles vs. Shibata - Day 1 - *** 1/2
10. Styles vs. Ibushi - Day 5 - *** 1/2

Hard to argue against myself that Goto has been the MVP, although I know everyone has a different guy.


----------



## Hibachi

Just watched the last four nights of the tourney today, man the final stretch is going to be excellent. Really hoping for a Nakamura/Styles final.


----------



## BuzzKillington

With all the pin falls Tonga is getting in the undercard tag matches, could NJPW be planning something for him? You have to figure they have something in mind, after all pin falls don't count for nothing in NJPW. I wouldn't be opposed to it, as I think he is a better worker than a handful of the guys currently in the G1. And lets face it, the hw division could use some fresh faces.


----------



## NastyYaffa

FINALLY watched the last 3 days. Here are my ratings:

*DAY 12:*
*Michael Elgin vs. Yuji Nagata - *1/4
Karl Anderson vs. Tomoaki Honma - *1/2
Satoshi Kojima vs. Hirooki Goto - *1/2
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - **1/4*

*DAY 13:*
*Bad Luck Fale vs. Kota Ibushi - *1/2
Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano - *1/2
AJ Styles vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - ***
Togi Makabe vs. Doc Gallows - *1/4
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata - ***1/2*

*DAY 14:*
*Karl Anderson vs. Michael Elgin - ***
Satoshi Kojima vs. Yuji Nagata - **1/2
Kazuchika Okada vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *1/2
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomoaki Honma - ***1/2
Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii - ****

Overall none of the 3 days had any must see matches, but I'd definitely recommend Tana/Shibata + Naka/Honma.


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

Stefan Meneses said:


> I've heard a ton of good things from a lot of sources about NJPW, the G1 tournament in particular. Two things I'm wondering- how does a new fan go about learning the storylines/wrestlers and such, and are there sites with English translations or transcripts after the matches are broadcast? I've read about the streaming service, which is how I'd go about watching G1, but was curious about these two things before I did. Thanks to anyone who could help with these two questions.





LilOlMe said:


> Usually just by reading messageboards you can find out about backstory & important translations. If you ask a question, most people are quick to explain.
> 
> When I want to learn about the history going into a match, I'll usually just google the participants and find everything I need to know pretty quickly. There are rundowns all over the internet in various places. It's not compiled. You'll just find people on sites who have written about things at different times.
> 
> With all that, you don't really need much translation. I used to think it was weird that people watched without knowing much, and I always wondered how they followed it all. Now I understand.
> 
> It's very easy to get caught up once you just start watching & googling and reading messageboards.
> 
> If you have any specific questions, just ask here. I would be happy to explain, and I'm sure others would too.
> 
> 
> If you do sign up, here is the English registration page to the streaming service, btw (you don't need to look up the instructions about how to sign up in Japanese...it's obviously easier in English):
> https://njpwworld.com/auth?lang=en
> 
> There is also an "English" translation drop down on the bottom right of the page. That will make all of the pages English, and it's very easy to navigate.


On top of this, NJPW is a lot less story-based and is presented much more like a sport than something like WWE. If Lucha Underground is the most storyline, whacky character crazy wrestling promotion out there, then I'd say NJPW is probably right on the other end of the spectrum. So for that reason alone it's pretty easy to follow, as there's not as much to get clued in on.

But yeah, if you keep an attentive enough eye, then you'll read about upcoming events, who's booked, what the event means etc.


----------



## El Dandy

Would have to say my Top 5 performers from this G1 are:

*1. Naito* - Naito hasn't at all had the best matches, but the transformation and character work has been outstanding. G1 MVP.
*2-3.Shibata/Styles* - They both have had P4P the best matches. Take your pick.
*4. Tanahashi* - He's been absolutely wonderful all month long. I keep waiting to see him lose a step, but he just keeps working at the highest of levels.
*5. Ibushi* - Outstanding start to this G1.

*HM - Elgin* - He entered this G1 as a nobody and has won the fans over rather easily. That's a lot of pressure to have, and he delivered. Easily the best guy from B Block IMO.
*HM - Ishii* - Slowish start, but has picked it up. He's arguably had 3 B Block MOTN's. He could make the jump into the top 5 cause he has 2 good match-ups left. Really excited for both Ishii/Honma & Ishii/Elgin.

After his performance with Tenzan, for my money Styles has passed Ibushi for 2015 Wrestler of the Year. Historic carry job and just really a testament of how great of a worker he is. I would have my clear top 3 as 1) Styles 2) Ibushi 3) Cena (don't follow WWE, but it was hard to ignore the Cena praise over the last 8 months. Caught up this weekend and the praise is well deserved).


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

LilOlMe said:


> @Stefan Meneses
> 
> Found this rundown of the wrestlers competing in the tournament with descriptions:
> Part 1: https://ringpsych.wordpress.com/201...ide-to-new-japan-pro-wrestlings-g1-climax-25/
> Part 2: https://ringpsych.wordpress.com/201...ew-japan-pro-wrestlings-g1-climax-25-part-ii/
> 
> Those links finally explained what the 1/100 thing is for for Tanahashi. I was like "ohhhh" :lol. I don't know why I never bothered to look that up before when I always wondered about it. I was like "1 in 100 doesn't sound _that_ braggadocious", lol.
> 
> 
> OH, OH, OH!:
> "A Beginner's Guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling":
> http://www.listentothisshow.com/blog/2015/2/4/wrestling-a-beginners-guide-to-new-japan-pro-wrestling
> 
> I remember reading that and laughing. It does have great descriptions of many of the Japanese wrestlers, along with everything else. Definitely read that, as well as the other links.
> 
> lol at the picture they used for Captain New Japan.
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> @Jack Evans 187, I don't see any scenario where either Okada or Nakamura doesn't win their block. True Okada would lose to Nakamura due to a tie-breaker, but the fact that Nakamura would be the one to beat him makes that seem like less of a bad break.



Thank you SO much for taking the time to compile all this and write it. I read all of the info and links you posted, and really fell in love even more with what I read. Have to admit, Nakamure looks like my favorite already, and I havent seen a match yet. I went ahead and got NJPWorld suscribed, with the english on it makes it a bit easier but its still hard for me to navigate, trying to find events like Wrestle Kingdom 9, I havent been able to at all. I decided to go ahead and watch all of this years G1 Climax from beginning to end, and was looking for some english commentary but have been trouble finding it. I googled it and found a youtube channel that looked like it had all the matches from this year english commentary, but when I tried watching the first one they were describing things at the beginning I wasnt seeing. 

Now its possible I was somehow watching the wrong match or something, but to be safe, Ill start with this. Does anyone know where I can find an english commentary audio file for G1 Climax 2015 Day 1 for Togi Makabe vs Yano? Im pretty sure its the first match. Thanks so much, really excited to get into this!!


----------



## LilOlMe

Stefan Meneses said:


> Thank you SO much for taking the time to compile all this and write it. I read all of the info and links you posted, and really fell in love even more with what I read. Have to admit, Nakamure looks like my favorite already, and I havent seen a match yet. I went ahead and got NJPWorld suscribed, with the english on it makes it a bit easier but its still hard for me to navigate, trying to find events like Wrestle Kingdom 9, I havent been able to at all. I decided to go ahead and watch all of this years G1 Climax from beginning to end, and was looking for some english commentary but have been trouble finding it. I googled it and found a youtube channel that looked like it had all the matches from this year english commentary, but when I tried watching the first one they were describing things at the beginning I wasnt seeing.
> 
> Now its possible I was somehow watching the wrong match or something, but to be safe, Ill start with this. Does anyone know where I can find an english commentary audio file for G1 Climax 2015 Day 1 for Togi Makabe vs Yano? Im pretty sure its the first match. Thanks so much, really excited to get into this!!


No problem. I love that you went ahead and subscribed!

I had trouble with the navigation at first, but I realized that I wasn't letting the English load all the way. Once you switch the bottom right drop down to English or switch a page, wait a little for the English to fully load.

Use these drop downs on the top right for easy navigation:

*Player name = Wrestler's name. 

You can find their matches this way. However, note that they've been slow to put some matches up individually, so you won't find everything that way, including some of the recent G1 matches. Also, sometimes names get lost in translation, so for instance, I may find an Okada vs. Kanemoto match under Kanemoto's tag, but not Okada's. It's not perfect, but you can find most matches by clicking on a wrestler's name. That's what I use most often.

*Age = Year. So if you want to find WK9, click on 2015 and you'll see it. It starts with the most recent upload and goes backwards. 

Notice that there's individual years, and then also 10s (2010 and on), 00s (2000 and on), etc. So if you don't find something under 2015, for example, click on 10s. I literally just noticed this, lol. That's probably where some of this G1 stuff has been hidden!

*That camcorder looking symbol (the third symbol from the left) above the sections I was just talking about. This section means "latest." That includes all of the latest uploads. It starts from the most recent upload and goes backwards. THIS IS THE EASIEST, QUICKEST, WAY TO FIND THE G1 TOURNAMENT SHOWS:
http://njpwworld.com/search/latest

At this moment, the G1 tournament shows start on page 7 (July 20, 2015). When it says "first game to the ninth game" that means it's a video of the entire show (rather than just an individual match). "Game" obviously means "match." 
(Here is a direct link to the first show: http://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00333_1_1)


Here is the tournament schedule, so you know which dates to look for. Scroll down to G1 CLIMAX 25 – Day 1″ 7/20 for the start of the G1 schedule:
https://puroresuspirit.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/njpw-event-cards-for-july-august-2015-g1-climax-25/

If you'd like to skip to just the G1 matches, ff to about 1 hr 30 min or 1 hr 40 min into each show. However, the tags can be fun, and they've perfectly displayed Naito's evolution & commitment to his new heel character (which is one of the best things happening right now in the tournament in a lot of peoples' opinions), so you should at least try to watch the Naito tag matches if you can. 

Before starting to watch the tournament, you should watch this little clip. It was NJPW making the announcement of the A & B block G1 Climax participants, as well as announcing the two main events of each tournament night:
http://njpwworld.com/p/o_original_0022_02

This happened during the Dominion PPV (incredible matches on that PPV, btw), so it was cool hearing the audience react with gasps and cheers for the matches they were most looking forward to. It also gives you an idea of which wrestlers are really over with the audience.



There is no English commentary. I know this is a big barrier to overcome for some, and I thought I'd be the same way, but once you start watching, you realize it's not much of an issue, IMO. 

The inflection and excitement in the commentators voices perfectly convey the action happening, and they also use a lot of English words to describe moves ("Brainbuster", "Dropkickuuuuh", etc. "Laritooooo" is Lariat aka the official word for Clothesline).

The wrestlers themselves also tend to convey everything. I find that the Japanese wrestlers are really good at storytelling, and you will understand what's going on with the way they challenge each other and their facial expressions.

Note that on some shows of this year's G1, there is no commentary because of some kind of agreement with the station that owns them. I guess they won't allow their commentary on shows they have on their own network.

Still, I've found this to be not much of an issue. Once you start watching Japanese wrestling with the commentary, you will get a sense of everything in general, and not need it as much.

If you would like to first watch along with English commentary, they did do WK9 in English for PPV. The English version is not on their network, though.

Here's Nakamura vs. Ibushi WK9 (***** Meltzer rated match) with English commentary from Jim Ross and Matt Striker:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qnx33

Ditto with Okada vs. Tanahashi WK9 (**** 3/4 Meltzer rated match):
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qudhf

This is a good way for you to be introduced, because they obviously include backstory, since part of the target audience are newer viewers.

The Nakamura/Ibushi match would be helped by familiarizing yourself with both of their styles before watching, though, because a totally new viewer would not notice that Ibushi was trying to prove his cajones by mocking Nakamura and stealing his moves, as much as someone who is used to the way that Nakamura works. I appreciated the match much more when I watched it again after watching a lot more of both wrestlers. 

But it doesn't really matter, because you've got to start somewhere, and I find looking up why people like matches so much, helped explain the little things that I might not have noticed as a new viewer.


Just to let you know how used to Japanese commentary you'll probably get...I was actually annoyed that I could only find these English commentary links when I was looking for the matches before I signed up for NJPW World. I actually felt that English commentary took me out of it, because I got so used to the Japanese commentators. I never would have thought that would happen when I first started watching Japanese wrestling.

I can recommend some great matches to watch, along with the backstory for a few things. @What_A_Maneuver! is right that Japanese wrestling is much more straight-forward, though, and doesn't have the convoluted storylines that we have. 

Here are some of Dave Meltzer's NJPW ratings. Obviously his ratings aren't the Bible, but it's an easy way to find what are generally great matches. Definitely helps with the viewing:
http://meltzerstarratingsv2.blogspot.com/2014/12/dave-meltzers-njpw-star-ratings.html


ETA: 
http://puroratings.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-japan-pro-wrestling-4.html (Contains some more older Meltzer ratings, but I doubt a lot of this stuff is on the network, though some are probably on DM).


ETAA: On the technical side, when watching the network, I would recommend rebooting and then opening it in a browser you're not using (I usually use Firefox, so I open the network in IE). It runs smoother that way, IMO. I also found that it works even smoother in non-HD, and the quality is great anyway, but it's generally smooth in HD too, as long as I'm not doing much on the net.


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses

A few of the stories to note going into the first G1 show:

Ibushi has recently moved into the Heavyweight division, has the crowd solidly behind him, and is someone whom many think/want to be one of the frontrunners in the company. He has people excited about him, and he's a good enough wrestler to knock off the face of the company, Tanahashi. Can he? Any time Ibushi goes against NJPW's Big 3 (three biggest stars...Tanahashi, Nakamura, and Okada) it's a big deal. He's on a mission to prove that he's just as good as them.

Shibata legitimately injured his right arm right before the G1 tournament. To the point where they pulled him out of shows before the tournament, and everyone was wondering if he'd even be able to compete. In his match against AJ Styles, he has to find ways to compete around the injured arm. He's usually ultra aggressive (probably the stiffest looking wrestler you'll see..Tanahashi has even complained that Shibata's style is too vicious. It's fucking amazing, though), but that has to take a backseat in his first few matches. There's some clever stuff in this match. 


lol, I just read what someone posted elsewhere:


> I've become a huge Shibata fan over the last few weeks after never even hearing of dude.
> 
> He's straight :demonic: status. A fukking goon.
> 
> He actually reminds me of heel Chris Benoit.
> 
> :heh: I've been imagining what a stable would look like with Naito as leader and Shibata as enforcer.



Naito is someone whom the office loved, but he was getting booed at times. Some people resented his push, and felt that they never really connected with him, even though he's a great wrestler. From what I'm reading, some people felt that they were trying to package him as a Tanahashi knock-off.

He went to Mexico, and came back sort of heelish. He's been slowly evolving his heel character during this tournament. It's one where he basically gives no fucks, is apathetic and annoying as hell, but also can beat you at any given time. He's also starting to attack referees and everything, and just gives no shits in general. He spent the G1 tournament press conference talking about his new hats, lol.

He also gave one of his promos after a match in Spanish, rather than in Japanese.


----------



## Corey

Couple questions here. 

1. What's the deal with the NEVER Openweight Championship? I often times forget it even exists and I know it's not regarded on the same level as the IC Title, but what tier do they put that at? Above the Junior Title I guess? Looking at the list of past champions and seems like it's been Makabe and Ishii for damn near the whole time the belt's been around. Could we see someone like Ibushi go after it? Would we say Shibata is above it?

2. Looking at the list of major shows left in the year, we have both Destruction shows, King of Pro Wrestling, and Power Struggle. What's the title defense ratio looking like there? One IWGP Title match (at King of Pro) and two IC Title matches? Two defenses of the Tokyo Dome main event? Looking at past history you would think there's a high chance we see one of the top two belts change hands to help shape the Wrestle Kingdom card, right?


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

LilOlMe said:


> No problem. I love that you went ahead and subscribed!
> 
> I had trouble with the navigation at first, but I realized that I wasn't letting the English load all the way. Once you switch the bottom right drop down to English or switch a page, wait a little for the English to fully load.
> 
> Use these drop downs on the top right for easy navigation:
> 
> *Player name = Wrestler's name.
> 
> You can find their matches this way. However, note that they've been slow to put some matches up individually, so you won't find everything that way, including some of the recent G1 matches. Also, sometimes names get lost in translation, so for instance, I may find an Okada vs. Kanemoto match under Kanemoto's tag, but not Okada's. It's not perfect, but you can find most matches by clicking on a wrestler's name. That's what I use most often.
> 
> *Age = Year. So if you want to find WK9, click on 2015 and you'll see it. It starts with the most recent upload and goes backwards.
> 
> Notice that there's individual years, and then also 10s (2010 and on), 00s (2000 and on), etc. So if you don't find something under 2015, for example, click on 10s. I literally just noticed this, lol. That's probably where some of this G1 stuff has been hidden!
> 
> *That camcorder looking symbol (the third symbol from the left) above the sections I was just talking about. This section means "latest." That includes all of the latest uploads. It starts from the most recent upload and goes backwards. THIS IS THE EASIEST, QUICKEST, WAY TO FIND THE G1 TOURNAMENT SHOWS:
> http://njpwworld.com/search/latest
> 
> At this moment, the G1 tournament shows start on page 7 (July 20, 2015). When it says "first game to the ninth game" that means it's a video of the entire show (rather than just an individual match). "Game" obviously means "match."
> (Here is a direct link to the first show: http://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00333_1_1)
> 
> 
> Here is the tournament schedule, so you know which dates to look for. Scroll down to G1 CLIMAX 25 – Day 1″ 7/20 for the start of the G1 schedule:
> https://puroresuspirit.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/njpw-event-cards-for-july-august-2015-g1-climax-25/
> 
> If you'd like to skip to just the G1 matches, ff to about 1 hr 30 min or 1 hr 40 min into each show. However, the tags can be fun, and they've perfectly displayed Naito's evolution & commitment to his new heel character (which is one of the best things happening right now in the tournament in a lot of peoples' opinions), so you should at least try to watch the Naito tag matches if you can.
> 
> Before starting to watch the tournament, you should watch this little clip. It was NJPW making the announcement of the A & B block G1 Climax participants, as well as announcing the two main events of each tournament night:
> http://njpwworld.com/p/o_original_0022_02
> 
> This happened during the Dominion PPV (incredible matches on that PPV, btw), so it was cool hearing the audience react with gasps and cheers for the matches they were most looking forward to. It also gives you an idea of which wrestlers are really over with the audience.
> 
> 
> 
> There is no English commentary. I know this is a big barrier to overcome for some, and I thought I'd be the same way, but once you start watching, you realize it's not much of an issue, IMO.
> 
> The inflection and excitement in the commentators voices perfectly convey the action happening, and they also use a lot of English words to describe moves ("Brainbuster", "Dropkickuuuuh", etc. "Laritooooo" is Lariat aka the official word for Clothesline).
> 
> The wrestlers themselves also tend to convey everything. I find that the Japanese wrestlers are really good at storytelling, and you will understand what's going on with the way they challenge each other and their facial expressions.
> 
> Note that on some shows of this year's G1, there is no commentary because of some kind of agreement with the station that owns them. I guess they won't allow their commentary on shows they have on their own network.
> 
> Still, I've found this to be not much of an issue. Once you start watching Japanese wrestling with the commentary, you will get a sense of everything in general, and not need it as much.
> 
> If you would like to first watch along with English commentary, they did do WK9 in English for PPV. The English version is not on their network, though.
> 
> Here's Nakamura vs. Ibushi WK9 (***** Meltzer rated match) with English commentary from Jim Ross and Matt Striker:
> http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qnx33
> 
> Ditto with Okada vs. Tanahashi WK9 (**** 3/4 Meltzer rated match):
> http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qudhf
> 
> This is a good way for you to be introduced, because they obviously include backstory, since part of the target audience are newer viewers.
> 
> The Nakamura/Ibushi match would be helped by familiarizing yourself with both of their styles before watching, though, because a totally new viewer would not notice that Ibushi was trying to prove his cajones by mocking Nakamura and stealing his moves, as much as someone who is used to the way that Nakamura works. I appreciated the match much more when I watched it again after watching a lot more of both wrestlers.
> 
> But it doesn't really matter, because you've got to start somewhere, and I find looking up why people like matches so much, helped explain the little things that I might not have noticed as a new viewer.
> 
> 
> Just to let you know how used to Japanese commentary you'll probably get...I was actually annoyed that I could only find these English commentary links when I was looking for the matches before I signed up for NJPW World. I actually felt that English commentary took me out of it, because I got so used to the Japanese commentators. I never would have thought that would happen when I first started watching Japanese wrestling.
> 
> I can recommend some great matches to watch, along with the backstory for a few things. @What_A_Maneuver! is right that Japanese wrestling is much more straight-forward, though, and doesn't have the convoluted storylines that we have.
> 
> Here are some Dave Meltzer's NJPW ratings. Obviously his ratings aren't the Bible, but it's an easy way to find what are generally great matches. Definitely helps with the viewing:
> http://meltzerstarratingsv2.blogspot.com/2014/12/dave-meltzers-njpw-star-ratings.html
> 
> 
> ETA:
> http://puroratings.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-japan-pro-wrestling-4.html (Contains some more older Meltzer ratings, but I doubt a lot of this stuff is on the network, though some are probably are on DM).
> 
> 
> ETAA: On the technical side, when watching the network, I would recommend rebooting and then opening it in a browser you're not using (I usually use Firefox, so I open the network in IE). It runs smoother that way, IMO. I also found that it works even smoother in non-HD, and the quality is great anyway, but it's generally smooth in HD too, as long as I'm not doing much on the net.


Man you are awesome for taking even more time to write this and your follow up post for me. This is really something else. The tips you provided about the website helped a lot, I'm navigating the matches pretty easy now, and it makes a lot more sense than it was when I had just clicked G1 climax before and got a slew of things out of order and didn't know what the hell I was looking for.

I'll try it out with the Japanese commentary, especially with the benefits you've pointed out here. While I won't understand it like I would english, I do like like an english commentary not done by professionals would lose the natural intended essence of the matches. I'm an anime fan, and I find the same thing happens when fans attempt to dub episodes on their own compared to watching them with Japanese subtitles. I'm about to start out with that press conference right now, and then dive into the matches in order. I'm pretty hyped for this now, and will post my thoughts later tonight after I finish the first day of matches. Thanks so much again!


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

Wow, just watched that press conference where the matches were announced, you were definitely right about the impact of the crowd reaction. I paused at it went along and checked with the beginner's guide site with info on all the main wrestlers, have to say I'm really hyped for that Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles match and REALLY hyped for the Nakamura vs Okada match. 

If I undestand right, Nakamura and Okada are part of the same stable, CHAOS right? Could you give me some info on the big stables like CHAOS and Bullet Club? Are they rivals, any major storyline events that have happened between them, etc.? Thanks.


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses to give you some more backstory on Shibata, he is pretty much the polar opposite of Tanahashi. 

You will never find him slapping hands with the fans. If he cracks a smile, it's probably the most rare occurrence ever. He barely even acknowledges his opponents. Very serious, straight to business, and insular. Just a straight ass kicker (but also a very great technical wrestler) who's here for the wrestling and the wrestling alone. 

He & Tanahashi have legitimate real-life beef, which always makes their matches even more interesting.

Here are some posts on another board that explain Shibata & the history between he and Tanahashi. One of the links also contain Shibata match recs:



Spoiler: Here



http://www.thecoli.com/posts/14566947/
http://www.thecoli.com/posts/14567788/ (this link also contains recommendations for great Shibata matches)
http://www.thecoli.com/posts/14567884/
http://www.thecoli.com/posts/14578565/



They face off in this tournament, and it's one of the best matches of the tournament in most peoples' opinions. I gave it ****1/2 - ****3/4.





Stefan Meneses said:


> Have to admit, Nakamure looks like my favorite already, and I havent seen a match yet.


lol, I loved that line "you will like Nakamura, because _everyone_ likes Nakamura." It's so true. I don't think I've come across a single person disliking him. He might be the most universally agreed upon wrestler ever.

He's just so full of personality. I actually sat there and watched the whole 2014 G1 Press conference because of him. He was right there in camera view when everyone was talking, and it was just so fucking funny watching his facial expressions and reactions to everything:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHN_CDapYOI

I found it amusing that Okada kept looking over at him, just as curious as I was about his reactions, lmao. 

This is what I mean about you not even needing to know Japanese, because Nakamura is so expressive. I like how you could tell that he even knew what "poop" meant, judging by the face he made, lol.

Despite the theatrics (and I did find him weird at first), he's actually a tremendous wrestler. 



Stefan Meneses said:


> Man you are awesome for taking even more time to write this and your follow up post for me. This is really something else. The tips you provided about the website helped a lot, I'm navigating the matches pretty easy now, and it makes a lot more sense than it was when I had just clicked G1 climax before and got a slew of things out of order and didn't know what the hell I was looking for.


No problem. Glad to have another convert, lol.

Yeah, that G1 tag is a mess.



> I'm pretty hyped for this now, and will post my thoughts later tonight after I finish the first day of matches. Thanks so much again!


I agree with you regarding the English commentary. Awesome! Will be curious to know who your favorites end up being, once you watch NJPW.



Stefan Meneses said:


> Wow, just watched that press conference where the matches were announced, you were definitely right about the impact of the crowd reaction.
> 
> If I undestand right, Nakamura and Okada are part of the same stable, CHAOS right? Could you give me some info on the big stables like CHAOS and Bullet Club? Are they rivals, any major storyline events that have happened between them, etc.? Thanks.


Glad you agree!

I wish I knew more, but since I've started watching, stables aside from Bullet Club haven't been much of a factor, so I never really looked it up. I do know that Takahashi (the blonde guy with the sunglasses who has the pimp persona and often brings out women) used to be part of Chaos, and then turned on them and joined the Bullet Club.

Bullet Club tends to help out their brethren and cheat during matches, so lots of people have been screwed over by them. 

Bullet Club used to be run by Prince Devitt (aka Finn Balor in NXT) before AJ Styles came over, and back then it had a darker vibe. Devitt was more intense and they would put bags over peoples' heads and feign shooting them and stuff. Bullet Club under AJ Styles is more breezy and humorous, and it's also expanded a lot more (back when Devitt ran it it was only 4 or so wrestlers. Now there's probably around 10).

People here could probably tell you much more about the Chaos stable. 




BuzzKillington said:


> With all the pin falls Tonga is getting in the undercard tag matches, could NJPW be planning something for him? You have to figure they have something in mind, after all pin falls don't count for nothing in NJPW. I wouldn't be opposed to it, as I think he is a better worker than a handful of the guys currently in the G1. And lets face it, the hw division could use some fresh faces.


Tonga is very intriguing. He's not a bad wrestler at all, but also not a standout either, from what I've seen. However, he plays his character perfectly, and his mannerisms are top-notch. 

I love the hand motions, the sliding, the "just out of the forest intrigue" thing he does with his hands and everything. I actually stop and watch him in tags.

They absolutely seem to be showing him off, so I do think that the have plans for him.

I would love to see him vs. Bray Wyatt.


----------



## flag sabbath

How refreshing would a Naito vs. Goto final be? Yeah, I know - not gonna happen. But the product has to come out of this stuck groove at some point. That said, the sooner Fale's out of the running, the better.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe So I watched my first G1 match, Hiroyoshi Tenzen vs Doc Gallows, and damn, I was impressed. I've been a huge wrestling fan since I was 4 (26 now), stopped watching for almost 11 years because of the departure of some of my favorite WWE stars back in the mid 2000s, and just returned to following wrestling again maybe a month or two ago with WWE Network. Even though I've only seen one NJPW match so far, I was simply blown away.

First, props to you about the commentary. You were right about still picking up on English words without a Japanese equivalent, I was catching those quite frequently and it helped me start learning about their movesets very easily. More so though, while I only knew the aforementioned words meanings, it was really surreal that because of how talented the commentators are, they were able to very passionately convey their feelings about the match in a way where I was able to get a pretty good idea of the essence of their feelings during the match even without English commentary. Yeah, professional English commentary like what you mentioned WK9 had would be my dream, but until that becomes the norm for NJPW PPVs, I was very comfortable watching the match and getting a sense every time something serious/important was going on, when a major move was about to be performed, when unexpected stuff was happening, Really didnt expect the Japanese commentary would go over nearly as well for me as you told me it would.

I also was shocked and fell in love with the quality of the actual wrestling. It was the closest to competitive combat sports you can get without hurting someone and while keeping it wrestling and not MMA IMO. The two guys I saw, Doc Gallows and Tenzen both were very impressively built and strong guys, who had fantastic ring synergy and were bringing the best out of each other. Unlike WWE at times, they were doing a very good job making sure all the punches, kicks and strikes actually connected in a VERY convincing fashion. You could feel and hear the impact of every atttack and see the effect it was having on the victim. I was REALLY impressed by how diverse and challenging both wrestlers (but Tenzen especially). They didn't have that John Cena effect of five moves of doom- they were switching their moves up left and right and dropping some serious hammers, which are two things I really missed from older wrestling and makes me adore that match I saw. 

Both of those guys fought with everything they had, leaving it all on the table. While I know the matches are naturally scripted, these wrestlers have some unique talent in making that match feel like an absolute brutal war to the death before one finally lost. Between them performing moves in a manner that actually made pain believable, not overacting and hamming it up like so many American wrestlers in American leagues do, kicking out in believable situations and making the kickouts closer and closer as the damage piled up, I was just let in awe. 

In short, this one match alone has begun to make me fall in love with NJPW. I still have SO much to watch and learn (including the rest of Day 1), but if the rest of G1 Climax is anything like that first match I saw, I seriously think this league will surpass WWE for me as my favorite league. Nows just a matter of doing a lot of reading as I watch matches and learning more about all the storylines, feuds and characters currently going on.


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*"Take that shit off!"

"He looks like a dick!" :lol*


----------



## DoubtGin

LOL Gallows beat Naito


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Gallows won?

You gotta be fucking kidding me!*


----------



## DoubtGin

Tenzan now beats Shibata

wtf is with the booking today

at least it shows no wrestler is booked above another I guess? :/


----------



## Insomnia

Ibushi/Yano's match! :ti


----------



## DoubtGin

now Ibushi loses to Yano in under a minute :ti:

today is as unpredictable as it gets


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*YTR won!







*


----------



## DoubtGin

Fale face turn :ti


----------



## DoubtGin

this is the most "out there" G1 day I've watched I think


----------



## Insomnia

DoubtGin said:


> this is the most "out there" G1 day I've watched I think


----------



## DoubtGin

Weak day imo in terms of match quality, but some interesting stuff.


----------



## Lazyking

fale vs. AJ was fantastic.


----------



## eldoon

fale vs. AJ match of the night


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses 

Couple of notes:
1)Yes, Okada and Nakamura are both in the Chaos stable.

2)When I said that Devitt & the Bullet Club would put bags on peoples heads & feign shooting them in the head, I meant Devitt's opponents, usually after matches. Was cool. 

3)On one of the links, they mentioned that they didn't know why Naito does that eye taunt. It's due to the fact that some fans in Mexico were making fun of the Japanese wrestlers for having "slanted" eyes. So Naito opened his eye wide to taunt them back. He's made that his signature little symbol now.

4)You may read references to "Red Shoes" online. That's the main ref who tends to referee all of the big matches. You'll notice him immediately due to his shiny red shoes and belt.

5)I disagree with that blog saying that Sakuraba isn't good anymore (the older former MMA fighter who wears a t-shirt). Maybe I've just been lucky enough to see everything good, but he was in one of my absolute favorite matches of the year vs. Shibata at Dominion 2015. It's actually what made me be like "wow, I'm so glad I bought NJPW World!" Got me all excited about the purchase, lol.

6)On a few random notes, Tanahashi was stabbed by his then girlfriend in 2002. It was a big deal, because she was also a huge news reporter in Japan at the time. It was pretty serious, as he missed many months of wrestling because of it. 

For the past couple of years he's been having bad back problems, to the point where it's been said that he walks around like an old man backstage. Somehow he's able to turn it on every time he gets in front of the camera. He's really quite amazing. Always wondered if the stabbing contributed to the problems he's having now, since she stabbed him in the back.

You will want to watch him after he wins a big main event, because there's always a whole show after the scene when he does. The crowds just adore him.

7)Goto and Shibata are close friends, from their teenage years on. Goto is one of the few people (only?) you'll ever see Shibata remotely share some light moments around. Not when beating the shit out of each other of course, lol.

8)Don't know if you know this, but WK9 is called "Tokyo Dome" (January 4) on NJPW World, just in case you're looking for it and confused.

Loved your post. So well thought-out, and I totally agree with you about their ability to make things look real. That's what draws me to them, and also why some of my favorites are my favorites. You've probably just started reading, but I've mentioned before that how detail-oriented the wrestlers are (like the struggle to the ropes during a submission, or the way that Tanahashi's face looks just flushed in exhaustion and stress and trauma while in submisisons), is so far and above most in the WWE & elsewhere that I've seen.

Tenzan/Gallows isn't one of the heralded matches in the tournament, so the fact that you reacted so greatly to that, is a fantastic sign for the rest of the tournament.

I do think that that Tenzan had a good showing there, and I liked your points. 

So glad that you discovered that the Japanese commentary is not a huge issue for you, and yes, those commentators are indeed awesome.


Crap, I just saw the result of Naito/Fallows. My fault for coming here, lol. Scroll didn't work fast enough. 

@flag sabbath, I do think that it's interesting that Goto is in the second to last main event of the night before the finals. Hmmm.


----------



## Corey

Gallows beat Naito!? :fuckthis

Tenzan beats Shibata by making him "pass out" to the Anaconda Vice? Are you fucking serious? :lmao

Yano beats Ibushi in 50 seconds? :lmao

This now means that Naito absolutely HAS to win against Tenzan to advance to a 3rd place match because he holds the tiebreaker against the loser of Styles/Tanahashi. 

I haven't seen the match yet, but this is what the guy wrote from newjapankingdom: 

_[Bushido Notes: I sort of can now see this leading into a future match for the IWGP Tag titles. There has been talks of Sombra or someone joining Naito for the tag league later this year.]_

Interesting.


----------



## seabs

*Caught up on everything I wanted to see that got praised. Really nothing I'd call great this year. Best match was probably Okada/Ishii. I guess. Honma/Nakamura was up there too. Ibushi/Shibata definitely had some great moments too. Most of the other stuff I can totally pass on. I guess I'm officially done on the New Japan formulas now. That said though HONMA VS ISHII MAIN EVENTING IN KORAKUEN WITH A VERY STRONG CHANCE HONMA FINALLY WINS. Beyond hyped for that and avoiding results so I can watch it because I actually care about the result of a wrestling match. For all the New Japan stuff I'm done on/burned out on Honma and Ishii still produce awesome stuff together. If Honma/Ishii in Korakuen doesn't do it for me then I give up completely.

One thing that I noticed that really sucked is the 2 shot camera with no commentary shows in cold arenas. I'm sure they're making more money off this tour than before but it's hurting the quality of the smaller shows because they look like minor matches and certain matches really deserve hotter crowds than they're being given. 

Lel at anyone being surprised by Jado/Gedo booking for this. There's no choice but to not have Tanahashi/AJ and Okada/Nakamura be block deciders. It's the same every year but before you could get away with it for one block. It was a lot better when you had Semi's on the final show too. Frankly it doesn't matter what happens with them 4. I guess it's possible Naito does the 2nd place match as he has the decider over both Tanahashi and AJ. I'm assuming it's a Tanahashi/Okada Final and Tanahashi wins to set up the Tokyo Dome main event. *


----------



## El Dandy

Days like today are the reason why I hate Jado/Gedo parity booking.

Gallows over Naito? 

What. The. Fucking. Fuck. 

Could they have not at least had it be a double DQ or double countout? As previously discussed, that would still have made A Block in question IF Styles/Tanahashi went to a 30 minute draw.

No? Alright, just eliminate him all together. Coo.


----------



## boxing1836

aj styles has a huge chance to get the top stop and get in the finals, exciting stuff


----------



## El Dandy

I don't even know why I ever thought it could possibly be Nakamura winning the G1 and Nakamura/Okada at Tokyo Dome.

It's Tanahashi/Okada. It's always been Tanahashi/Okada. It always will be Tanahashi/Okada.


----------



## Eliko

what happens if AJ-Tana ends in a draw and both have 13 points?


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe So I just finished Day 1, was hugely impressed by all five matches. It was pretty great how at least for me, the quality of the matches kept improving each match, that building momentum leading to an amazing finish with what I thought was the battle of the day and one of the best matches I've ever seen in Tanahashi-Ibushi.

I was a bit suprised at Tanahashi winning. It makes sense in him being the most popular face in the company, but in that match at least, Ibushi put on one hell of a show, dropping some of the craziest reversals, suplexes, superkicks and jumps I've ever seen. Tanahashi was very impressive as well, but at one point in the match, when Ibushi landed about three suplexes and then got Tanahashi off the top of the ropes with his feet and backflipped him down, I was certain that was over. Compared to what Tanahashi did to win, I definitely think they could have worked that a bit better to make his pin more convincing, but it was such an action packed and athletically astounding match overall, I was just in awe. I can see why Tanahashi is who he is though, he can sell a match like none other.

Of the guys I've seen so far, I definitely find myself most impressed with Ibushi, Tanahashi and Naito so far. Those three stood out tremendously to me, and I'm eager to see their next matches in the tournament. So yeah, I'm hooked, going to watch Day 2 later today, keep learning about the wrestlers and see what the Group B is like compared to the Group A in the ring. Hoping for good things from Nakamura and Okada.


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

THE BIG LG AKA DORIAN DEVILLE AKA SEX FERGUSON IS WINNING G1 BOYZ!


----------



## Japanese Puroresu

La Parka said:


> Days like today are the reason why I hate Jado/Gedo parity booking.
> 
> Gallows over Naito?
> 
> What. The. Fucking. Fuck.
> 
> Could they have not at least had it be a double DQ or double countout? As previously discussed, that would still have made A Block in question IF Styles/Tanahashi went to a 30 minute draw.
> 
> No? Alright, just eliminate him all together. Coo.


You hate unpredictable booking? Not only did the right guy go over, but we all thought Naito would win. It shakes things up. Good booking IMO.


----------



## El Dandy

Japanese Puroresu said:


> You hate unpredictable booking? Not only did the right guy go over, but we all thought Naito would win. It shakes things up. Good booking IMO.


Yeah, I do. Especially when they just took out the hottest act in the G1. At the very least, if Gallows had to beat Naito, why not have it be by DQ? At least that can benefit Naito's character.

I'm not saying Naito should've won A Block. Not saying that at all. We all knew from the second they released the schedule that it was gonna be Tanahashi/Styles as the de facto semi-final.

I am saying that doing a double DQ/count out (and assuming Naito over Tenzan on day 15..er 17) would've been better because it could've added an extra layer of drama/jeopardy to Styles/Tana. Then it answers the question "WHAT IF Styles/Tana goes to a time-limit draw? Oh, scumfuck Naito backdoors into the Final."

How is adding an extra layer of suspense/drama bad?

and you're gonna talk about unpredictable booking when they are about to pull the trigger on Tanahashi/Okada Part 7? 

Or maybe we'll see some classic Jado/Gedo unpredictability and WORLD FAMOUS YOSHITATSU will hit the ring during Tana/Okada @ Tokyo Dome and just pin everybody. Nobody will see that coming! Think of the unpredictability!


----------



## LilOlMe

Stefan Meneses said:


> @LilOlMe So I just finished Day 1, was hugely impressed by all five matches. It was pretty great how at least for me, the quality of the matches kept improving each match, that building momentum leading to an amazing finish with what I thought was the battle of the day and one of the best matches I've ever seen in Tanahashi-Ibushi.
> 
> I was a bit suprised at Tanahashi winning. It makes sense in him being the most popular face in the company, but in that match at least, Ibushi put on one hell of a show, dropping some of the craziest reversals, suplexes, superkicks and jumps I've ever seen. Tanahashi was very impressive as well, but at one point in the match, when Ibushi landed about three suplexes and then got Tanahashi off the top of the ropes with his feet and backflipped him down, I was certain that was over. Compared to what Tanahashi did to win, I definitely think they could have worked that a bit better to make his pin more convincing, but it was such an action packed and athletically astounding match overall, I was just in awe. I can see why Tanahashi is who he is though, he can sell a match like none other.
> 
> Of the guys I've seen so far, I definitely find myself most impressed with Ibushi, Tanahashi and Naito so far. Those three stood out tremendously to me, and I'm eager to see their next matches in the tournament. So yeah, I'm hooked, going to watch Day 2 later today, keep learning about the wrestlers and see what the Group B is like compared to the Group A in the ring. Hoping for good things from Nakamura and Okada.


Tanahashi/Ibushi was one of the best matches of the tournament in the opinion of most (there are some hard asses here, though :x). I have it at ****1/2. 

I understand where you're coming from, but I think that was part of the point. Let Ibushi shine like hell and look like he has it, but just come up short despite looking like the man. He just couldn't maintain the extreme energy quite enough to put Tanahashi away at the end.

Tanahashi's style is less flashy in general, but I feel that he does the little, more unnoticed, things that hold a match together. The meat of the match. Notice how he kept going back to the leg aggressively, every time Ibushi would try to rally?

Here is Tanahashi talking about his philosophy on wrestling, and why he believes that using less moves is important. He also explains the reasoning behind his finisher, High Fly Flow:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...alks-about-his.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

So when you read that, hopefully you will gain more insight into why Tanahashi worked the match the way that he did.

I remember seeing Tanahashi in what I consider one of the best matches I've ever seen, and I too felt that Tanahashi's High Fly Flow ending made the match ending seem rather abrupt and maybe anti-climatic, considering how competitive the match had been. Then I thought about it (this was before I even knew Tanahashi's perspective), and really loved it. The finality of it is just terrific, and there's a purity to it.

Once you get used to the wrestlers' finishing moves, you will find this to be less of an issue, I think, because the move will seem more over and deadly, the more you see them put away wrestlers with it. In Japan, the top guys' moves tend to be much more protected than in the WWE.

IIRC, when Tanahashi won, he did just put together a string of impactful stuff, and there was a frenzied state of urgency (this is one of the reasons why the High Fly Flow works so well). From what I remember, it built up and up with Tanahashi going for that beautiful bridge suplex, and it was one move after another. This was after Ibushi had already emptied his arsenal.

You are right about Tanahashi's selling. To me he is the best -- and also the most consistent -- seller in the world. The way he sold those series of kicks by Ibushi toward the end was SO GOOD. Head flailed back, body flailed back like totally taken by surprise and jolted...but it was so genuine looking. Nothing over the top about it. That's what sets him apart.

I've also seen him sell a Yano low blow after a match better than anyone's ever sold a low blow. He sold it the way you'd think someone would really be feeling after a low blow. Here's a guy who put over a low blow in a way that obviously had some thought on his part, whereas most people would just think of it as a moment and that's it.


As for Nakamura, here is his insight into why he's constantly in motion during matches. Sounds good, lol, even if it just seems like surfacey fun, I like that he put deeper thought into it:


> His unique style is somewhat weird, yet mesmerizing. He explained his KuneKune (twist) or gyration moves in an interview saying “It's like a mechanics of a top. When it's still, it's unstable. But when it's moving, the axis is stable. So, by vibrating at all times, my body balance improves, allowing me to react to opponent's moves quicker. And the gyration pisses the opponent off, so there's that too." He also says he's influenced by Kung-fu, jiu-jitsu, ai-ki-do, kick-boxing, ancient martial arts and etc.



Back to Ibushi. Despite his looks and high flying style, he is actually a legitimate hard-hitter, and people have pointed out how he's secretly a sociopath (will smile after almost killing dudes). It's what makes him so interesting to watch, because it's a rare hybrid when he pulls all of that out. He has an MMA background, so he can get into strikefests with all of those heavy hitters, and is tougher than his looks would indicate. I remember Meltzer saying that he is actually one of the most legitimate ones. 

Keep posting your thoughts on the matches and wrestlers as you watch. Really interesting hearing from someone totally new to all of this!


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

So, I'm interested, with Tanahashi winning so much. Do NJPW fans give the loltanahashiwins treatment?


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 15:

*Doc Gallows vs. Tetsuya Naito - *1/4
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - **1/2
Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano - No Rating
AJ Styles vs. Bad Luck Fale - ***1/2
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe - ***3/4*

Gallows/Naito was not good.
Shibata/Tenzan was pretty good. Crowd was hot for it.
Really don't have any comments on Yano/Ibushi. Could've been a legit good match if it would've got some time.
Styles/Fale was a lot of FUN. Awesome match.
Tana/Makabe was an awesome main event. BIG MATCH TANA :jbl once again proves why he is the fucking man.

Overall Day 15 was pretty good. The last 2 matches were very good!


----------



## El Dandy

What_A_Maneuver! said:


> So, I'm interested, with Tanahashi winning so much. Do NJPW fans give the loltanahashiwins treatment?


On message boards you'll see it from time to time, but NJPW fans love the man.

For me, I'd sooner write "LolOkadaWins" before I'd have a go at Tanahashi. Mucho respect for Tana.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe First, I gotta say that article by Tanahashi you linked is simply brilliant and hands down the best document on wrestling I've ever read. Back in college, I used to read a lot of books on aesthetics, and reading Tanahashi's critique of modern wrestling and the composition of movesets in matches instantly brought those studies back to mind. I'm quite impressed by how intelligent Tanahashi is having written this piece, and agree with him whole-heartedly. As I also watch WWE regularly, I see exactly what he writes about- guys like Randy Orton dropping RKO after RKO over and over to the point where it's not a finisher any longer that hypes the audience up and gets them ready for the end of the match, but just another regular tool in the arsenal. With that in mind, I definitely understand how he approached that match against Ibushi much better. I don't know if both of them adhere to his philosophy about wrestling, but the exchange of solid punches, repeated work to the knees by Tanahashi as you mentioned, Ibushis repeated superkicks, they definitely built up the tension of the match to a point where you felt like the two were actually wearing each other down to a pulp (which as we noted, both sold phenomenally). 

I think what threw me off the most was that I'm unfamiliar with the signature moves of the NJPW wrestlers, so when Tanahashi did his High Fly Flow, I didn't know it as that, but thought it was intended to have the impact of a high rope jump, something that especially with a high flyer like Ibushi in the match, seemed impactful, but not knowing what it signified took away the meta-impact of it. Sounds weird, but I guess its similar to The Rock and the People's Elbow in a way- elbow drops happen all the time, but when the Rock used that move, it was so sparsely used you knew there was a very good chance it signified the end of a match and it dealt a lot of damage to the opponent.

Of the major guys competing in G1, would you mind telling me about their signature moves, so Ill be able to recognize them in matches? I think that would definitely make a lot of difference in how I understand the finishes from now on. Thanks a bunch.


----------



## Lariatoh!

Thanks for your insights on Tanahashi guys. I was wondering what everyone thought of the man.

What is everyone's take on his subtle heel in ring stuff lately? Where Okada or Nakamura who have traditionally been more heel aligned they would (although it's a show of arrogance) allow their opponent out off the ropes.. But Tana lately has not and drilled his opponent almost heel like, trying constantly to get the upper hand. Is this an underlining story of the main event veteran clinging to his top spot, in the twilight of his career and therefore doing underhanded stuff that he when his body could cope, would not normally have to resort to?

Edit: and does it tie in with what he said to Okada after the WK9 match?


----------



## NastyYaffa

Lariatoh! said:


> Thanks for your insights on Tanahashi guys. I was wondering what everyone thought of the man.
> 
> What is everyone's take on his subtle heel in ring stuff lately? Where Okada or Nakamura who have traditionally been more heel aligned they would (although it's a show of arrogance) allow their opponent out off the ropes.. But Tana lately has not and drilled his opponent almost heel like, trying constantly to get the upper hand. Is this an underlining story of the main event veteran clinging to his top spot, in the twilight of his career and therefore doing underhanded stuff that he when his body could cope, would not normally have to resort to?
> 
> Edit: and does it tie in with what he said to Okada after the WK9 match?


Tana usually heels it up a little bit in the ring when his opponent is getting more cheers than him from the crowd. I think it's glorious. He is so great.


----------



## El Dandy

Stefan Meneses said:


> Of the major guys competing in G1, would you mind telling me about their signature moves, so Ill be able to recognize them in matches? I think that would definitely make a lot of difference in how I understand the finishes from now on. Thanks a bunch.


In GIF/Video form where I can find one, here are some of the bigger guys finishes & sigs:

*Hiroshi Tanahashi*
- Finish: High Fly Flow
- Sig: Sling-Blade
- Submission: Texas Cloverleaf

*Shinsuke Nakamura*
- Finish: Boma Ye
- Submission: Rolling Armbar
*
Kazuchika Okada*
- Finish: Rainmaker (usually setup by a Tombstone Piledriver)
- Sig: Heavy Rain
- Submission: Red-Ink

*AJ Styles*
- Finish: Styles Clash
- Sig: Bloody Sunday
- Submission: Calf-Slicer

*Tetsuya Naito*
- Finish: Destino
- Former Top Rope Finish: Stardust Press
- Submission: Puma Blanca (Koji Clutch)

*Hirooki Goto*
- Finish: Shouten Kai
- Sig: Ushigoroshi

*Katsuyori Shibata*
- Finish: PK (usually setup by a GTS or sleeper)
- Sig: Seated corner dropkick

*Kota Ibushi*
- Finish: Phoenix Splash
- Sig: Combination kicks/punches followed by standing corkscrew moonsault

*Togi Makabe*
- Finish: King Kong Knee Drop
- Sig: King Kong Lariat

*Tomohiro Ishii*
- Finish: Brainbuster
- Sig: Seated sliding lariat
- Sig: Ishii Driller

*Toru Yano
*- Finish: Small Package
- Sig: Inside cradle
- Sig: School boy 
- Sig: Working the marks trying to sell his DVD

*Karl Anderson*
- Finish: Gun Stun

*Bad Luck Flae*
- Finish: Bad Luck Fall
- Sig: Grenade

*Tomoaki Honma*
- Finish: Missing a top rope Kokeshi Headbutt
- Sig: Kokeshi Headbutt


----------



## LilOlMe

The booking was stupid because they lessened the drama. There were so many options they could have went with to make the Final A night more suspenseful. 

Loved the way Shibata sold that Anaconda Vice with his eyes rolling back. He's really good at that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




What_A_Maneuver! said:


> So, I'm interested, with Tanahashi winning so much. Do NJPW fans give the loltanahashiwins treatment?


Some, but Tanahashi is liked and respected, so he gets less of that than many would. 

Usually the booking is targeted, more than him specifically.




Stefan Meneses said:


> @LilOlMe First, I gotta say that article by Tanahashi you linked is simply brilliant and hands down the best document on wrestling I've ever read. Back in college, I used to read a lot of books on aesthetics, and reading Tanahashi's critique of modern wrestling and the composition of movesets in matches instantly brought those studies back to mind. I'm quite impressed by how intelligent Tanahashi is having written this piece, and agree with him whole-heartedly. As I also watch WWE regularly, I see exactly what he writes about- guys like Randy Orton dropping RKO after RKO over and over to the point where it's not a finisher any longer that hypes the audience up and gets them ready for the end of the match, but just another regular tool in the arsenal. With that in mind, I definitely understand how he approached that match against Ibushi much better. I don't know if both of them adhere to his philosophy about wrestling, but the exchange of solid punches, repeated work to the knees by Tanahashi as you mentioned, Ibushis repeated superkicks, they definitely built up the tension of the match to a point where you felt like the two were actually wearing each other down to a pulp (which as we noted, both sold phenomenally).
> 
> I think what threw me off the most was that I'm unfamiliar with the signature moves of the NJPW wrestlers, so when Tanahashi did his High Fly Flow, I didn't know it as that, but thought it was intended to have the impact of a high rope jump, something that especially with a high flyer like Ibushi in the match, seemed impactful, but not knowing what it signified took away the meta-impact of it. Sounds weird, but I guess its similar to The Rock and the People's Elbow in a way- elbow drops happen all the time, but when the Rock used that move, it was so sparsely used you knew there was a very good chance it signified the end of a match and it dealt a lot of damage to the opponent.
> 
> Of the major guys competing in G1, would you mind telling me about their signature moves, so Ill be able to recognize them in matches? I think that would definitely make a lot of difference in how I understand the finishes from now on. Thanks a bunch.


Tanahashi puts a lot of thought into wrestling. He wrote some interesting thoughts on the problem with Naito's promos when Naito was a face. It's in the 4th link about Shibata/Tanhashi in this post.

You are 100% right about how moves like the elbow are seen as more important when it's the People's Elbow.

I may forget some stuff and be not so good at explaining but:


*AJ Styles* - Styles Clash. It's the move where he holds his opponent upside down, gets their arms behind his legs, and face plants them forward. You saw him do that in the Shibata match.

It might be the deadliest move in wrestling, in terms of the way it has been built up and sold. Someone legitimately got their neck broken (it was their fault, though, because they dove into it head first), and they've played that up in NJPW to make it seem even more scary.

It's one of my favorite moves, due to the way his opponents immediately sell the panic and urgently try to get out of the move as soon as they see it coming. You saw Shibata do this.

He also uses the Calf Lock submission as a finisher. You also saw this in the Shibata match. It kind of looks like an ankle lock, but he's bending their whole calf back.

There's another move he's used as a finisher as well, but I'm drawing a blank right now.


*Ibushi* - That huge flip/spin (more than 360 degrees) off the top rope that Tanahashi moved from (or got his knees up...don't remember) in their match together. He also does some kind of scary-ass looking neck forward drop that really looks like it ought to be banned for real.

*Shibata* - Sleeper into a penalty kick. The penalty kick is where he kicks you hard as shit in the chest.

He also likes to beat the shit out of someone in the corner, and then go to the other corner for a running rocket dropkick right into their faces. Pointing this out, because sometimes his opponents like to try to counter that.

He's agile as hell too when he does that.


*Nakamura* - Boma Ye. It's a running knee to the face (or sometimes off the top rope), which looks like one of the most vicious moves in wrestling with the way that he delivers it. Really looks like he's connecting at high impact.

The best I've seen it look is in the Ibushi/Nakamura G1 2013 match. Really looked like he took Ibushi's head off with it.

Also does an armbar submission, where he will sometimes spin over his opponents and take them down with it. It's really fucking cool.

He also has some other signature moves. One of which is that he dangles his arms in front of his opponent while the ref is calling for a clean break. It's his way of being a smart-ass and toying with the opponent, like "look I'm not hitting him/don't need to hit him."

He also does this thing in the corner, where he essentially stomps on his opponent's face while doing some weird dance like he's having an electrocution, lol. I never get sick of it.


*Okada* - Rainmaker clothesline. He will typically do his pose, and then go for the clothesline (lariat). Usually he'll start with his opponent in front of him with their back to him, and then spin them to the front and clothesline them hard.

There have been some sick, sick, counter sequences to this, and watching him try to hit it can be a ton of fun in a long sequence.

Also does piledrivers, which his opponents will often greatly try to get out of or reverse. 

He also has one of the best, if not _the_ best, dropkicks in the business. So pretty and gets great height for such a tall dude. 

I also love his uppercuts, especially when he delivers them while his opponent is on the ground. They Usually sound and look hard as hell.


*Ishii* - Clothesline on the ground & brainbuster. Sometimes in combination.


*Goto* - Don't know how to describe it, but it's sick as hell. It looks like some kind of weird slingshot or rocket, almost like an amusement park ride, lol. He does it full force & goes down with his opponent.

He also does this thing where he spins them and drops them on to his knee.


*"Machine Gun" Anderson* - Gun Stun, which is an RKO.


*Doc Gallows* - A two handed chokeslam.


*Bad Luck Fale* - Move that looks like Razor Ramon's old move. He holds them behind him in kind of a cross-like position with their arms spread out and then drops them forward.

Also, a chokeslam while he uses his thumb on his other hand to spike them at the same time.


*Naito* - Don't know how to describe it, but he debuted his new move during the tournament. He kind of spins over them and brings them down while falling down with them on his ass. Just watch a gif, lol. It's very abrupt and final.

Don't remember what his old move was when he was a face. Someone help me out. 

Also does the Koji Clutch submission which was named after another one of my favorite wrestlers, Koji Kanemoto. It's where he puts one of his legs over his opponent's neck and has their neck in between his legs and arms.


*Tenzan* - Anaconda Vice submission, which you saw in the match with Gallows. CM Punk took the move in WWE.

He also does this thing that I call "propellers." He brings his arms down on his opponents shoulders like plane propellers. I think the official name is Mongolian Chops or something like that.


*Takahashi* - Don't even know. Saw it once, and it looked cool, I think.


*Honma* - Diving headbutt off the top rope. He also does this really fucking cool flying headbutt after he runs the ropes, coming off like a rocket. I love it.


*Makabe* - I don't know?


*Yano* - Whichever cheating method works.


*Nagata* - Armbar submission. He rolls his eyes back into his head like the Undertaker when he does it.

He also flips his opponents on to their heads.


*Kojima* - An elbow type clothesline, I think. He usually takes his arm pad off like the Rock, though less theatrics, lol.

He also chops the hell out of his opponents in a growing, rapid, speed in the corner, which I love.


*Tanahashi* - High Fly Flow. Sometimes does it twice in a row for extra impact. Occasionally will do it on the outside too, which indicates just how all out he's going for a match (considering his bad back).

He also uses the Texas Cloverleaf submission, but does it cooler than most wrestlers, because he holds his opponents up at an angle at times.

Also does Sling Blade, which is when he runs and jumps and grabs his opponent's neck from behind, bringing them down. Seth Rollins used this move in The Shield sometimes.


Who am I forgetting?

Oh, *Elgin* - Buckle Bomb (a powerbomb into the turnbuckles) into a spinning powerbomb.

He also does this cool as hell move where he suplexes his opponent from the apron, while he's on the turnbuckles, then turns them into an angle as if they were on the top rope and lifts them high up into the air for a vertical suplex. He then spins them while in the air, and turns it into a slam on the mat.

Cesaro does the suplex from the apron thing, but Elgin makes it even more difficult with more steps & power involved.


I wrote most of this post, and then left. In the mean time, I see that La Parka made it really easy for me by posting gifs. I was gonna do that, but now don't have to. Thanks for the work, lol!


----------



## Hibachi

How could you not post a gif of Okada's dropkick in that massive list of gifs, I could watch it all day.


----------



## El Dandy

Hibachi said:


> How could you not post a gif of Okada's dropkick in that massive list of gifs, I could watch it all day.


It was between his dropkick and the always devastating Red-Ink, and Red-Ink won out 

I was gonna do more than just finishers/sigs (Okada's dropkick, Shibata's face wash & forearm smashes, Goto & Ishii's headbutts, Yano yelling BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK, Yano removing the turnbuckle pad, Yano having a noble brain, Yano being awesome in general etc) but figured it would be too much info at once.

Plus, just figured as he watches he'll learn things that makes each guy different. All it takes is seeing Okada's dropkick once to know that it's the GOAT.


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> It was between his dropkick and the always devastating Red-Ink, and *Red-Ink won out *
> 
> I was gonna do more than just finishers/sigs (Okada's dropkick, Shibata's face wash & forearm smashes, Goto & Ishii's headbutts, Yano yelling BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK, Yano removing the turnbuckle pad, Yano being awesome in general etc) but figured it would be too much info at once.


I've always loved that submission of Okada's. When he cranks their heads back it's glorious. It's one of the times when he comes off the most intense, which is not usually his thing ("unbothered" is more his thing).

"Bloody Sunday" was the other AJ move/sometimes finisher that I was trying to remember. Thanks. Prince Devitt (aka Finn Balor) also uses that.

lol at a gif of Yano yelling "BREAK!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AJ Styles vs. Bad Luck Fale was great and fun as hell. Loved the worried look in AJ's eyes as he was kneeling in the corner after the match. He played that _so_ well.

That throw with AJ clearing the rope totally was so cool, especially because it was unexpected. LOL'ed at Anderson's "STOP!!!!" interception.

Wonder if this is gonna lead to trouble in the Bullet Club crew in the future. What do you all think?


Due to the "N/A" rating I saw for Ibushi/Yano, I knew it'd be super short. Wish I didn't, because I wonder how I would have reacted. I actually thought Ibushi was gonna get him on that very first roll-up, due to the "N/A", lol.


----------



## Corey

Eliko said:


> what happens if AJ-Tana ends in a draw and both have 13 points?


EDIT: Fuck me, I forgot Naito only has 10 points. I'd assume they'd have to go to a sudden death overtime to figure out a winner and who would advance to which match.

----------------------------

Rooting for Goto on these last few days! Just give us something different and not as expected.


----------



## LilOlMe

^Naito's mathmatically out of it. He can only get to 12 points if he wins against Tenzan.

AJ & Tanahashi are already at 12 points. If they draw, they'll each be at 13. If one wins, that person will be at 14. Either way, Naito loses.

I assumed they had Shibata lose to clear the way for Naito to be in the 3rd place match (though he still might have been anyway...didn't bother to do the math on that).


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> ^Naito's mathmatically out of it. He can only get to 12 points if he wins against Tenzan.
> 
> AJ & Tanahashi are already at 12 points. If they draw, they'll each be at 13. If one wins, that person will be at 14. Either way, Naito loses.
> 
> I assumed they had Shibata lose to clear the way for Naito to be in the 3rd place match (though he still might have been anyway...didn't bother to do the math on that).


BUT

If Naito wins against Tenzan, he gets the 3rd place match against whomever loses in AJ/Tanahashi due to tiebreakers... correct? I'm starting to get myself confused here.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> I've always loved that submission of Okada's. When he cranks their heads back it's glorious. It's one of the times when he comes off the most intense, which is not usually his thing ("unbothered" is more his thing).
> 
> "Bloody Sunday" was the other AJ move/sometimes finisher that I was trying to remember. Thanks. Prince Devitt (aka Finn Balor) also uses that.
> 
> lol at a gif of Yano yelling "BREAK!"
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> AJ Styles vs. Bad Luck Fale was great and fun as hell. Loved the worried look in AJ's eyes as he was kneeling in the corner after the match. He played that _so_ well.
> 
> That throw with AJ clearing the rope totally was so cool, especially because it was unexpected. LOL'ed at Anderson's "STOP!!!!" interception.
> 
> *Wonder if this is gonna lead to trouble in the Bullet Club crew in the future. What do you all think?*
> 
> 
> Due to the "N/A" rating I saw for Ibushi/Yano, I knew it'd be super short. Wish I didn't, because I wonder how I would have reacted. I actually thought Ibushi was gonna get him on that very first roll-up, due to the "N/A", lol.


I sure hope so.

Bullet Club has worn out its welcome. People were calling for them to be over with this time last year, can't imagine what they think about BC a year later.

With Suzuki-gun coming back at some point and LOS INGOBERNABLES potentially being a thing, I hope they dissolve or at least take a step down on the card.

Plus, they need to turn Styles babyface. The fans want to cheer him desperately.



Jack Evans 187 said:


> BUT
> 
> If Naito wins against Tenzan, he gets the 3rd place match against whomever loses in AJ/Tanahashi due to tiebreakers... correct? I'm starting to get myself confused here.


Yes, assuming they do a 3rd place match (they probably will since the final is a stand alone card).

I now half expect Naito to not beat Tenzan, with the loser of Styles/Tanahashi to get the 3rd place match against either Nakamura/Okada.

EDIT: I'm assuming you mean Nakamura/Okada instead of Styles/Tanahashi. Like lilolme wrote below: 3rd place is 2nd in A Block v 2nd in B Block.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> BUT
> 
> If Naito wins against Tenzan, he gets the 3rd place match against whomever loses in AJ/Tanahashi due to tiebreakers... correct? I'm starting to get myself confused here.


Oh, is that how they do it? I assumed 3rd place meant the second highest scorer advances to face the second highest scorer from B block. No?

If it's what I'm saying, then Naito would advance to the 3rd place match if he beats Tenzan, because Naito will have 12 points, and the loser of Tanahashi/Styles will also have 12 points, and Naito holds the tiebreaker over each of them.

If Tanahashi/Styles draw, they'd each have 13 so they'd both be higher than Naito, but I don't know what would happen in that scenario as far as what they'd do to break it between Tanahashi/Styles, and if that means that the loser can go on to the 3rd place match.

They could do a triple threat match between Tanahashi/Styles and the B block winner, but I think that sudden death is the more likely scenario.

It is interesting that we have not yet had a draw. With the Ibushi/Yano match so short, & Styles/Fale turning into an outside brawl, I figured they were heading in the direction of maybe Styles/Fale being a double count out or DQ, and Tanahashi/Makabe being a draw. Would have made things more interesting as far as Naito is concerned. 

Naito would have been at 12 points if he beat Tenzan, while AJ & Tanahashi would have been at 11. Would have led to high suspense going into the AJ/Tanahashi main event, because if it were a draw between the two of them, Naito would advance.

So now you have genuine suspense as to what will happen with Naito, in addition to AJ & Tanahashi, rather than just AJ & Tanahashi.

It's actually baffling that they _didn't_ do that. I guess it's too much thought to put into it, when it's easier for them to just take an easier path.

Plus, the old WWE problem of only thinking about the top stars, and not thinking about how you can make even more people top stars at the same time.


----------



## Corey

I assumed a 3rd place match was the route they were gonna go this year since they did it last year. The 2nd place finishers in each block will face each other (like Styles/Tanahashi last year). So there's a very high chance that AJ or Tana won't be in one of those if Naito wins.

Of course, they could just say fuck it and have Naito lose again for the hell of it.

That's why I was so intrigued by B Block. If Nakamura beats Okada and someone like Goto or Anderson wins out, then we have an interesting scenario for the 3rd place match. My guess it that it won't be that interesting though.


----------



## El Dandy

As for B Block:

Anderson doesn't have any chance. Mathematically still in it for 3rd, but I don't think it happens.

If Goto wins out and Nakamura beats Okada, we'd have a 3-way tie for 1st.

In that case, Nakamura still advances because he beat Goto& Okada. Goto would claim 2nd place because he beat Okada.

Actually, Goto/Naito in the 3rd place match seems like a legit chance of happening. I never even thought about that scenario. 

People have been saying Goto is Mr. Transitional Champ, so maybe if Naito beats Goto it's a way for Naito to get the IC. But Goto is also due a HW title shot since he beat Okada and the way they've been building that is like how Lethal/Brisco was built in ROH. So, Goto needs to hang onto the IC until that business is settled.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@La Parka, @LilOlMe Thanks a TON you two, between those two posts I think I've got a visual and descriptive encyclopedia on NJPW finishing and signature moves now. Its gonna take some time for me to get them all down in my memory, but just like the wrestlers Im finding that the more matches and webpages I see Im slowly becoming able to identify more guys, their names by memory, stable association and some of their movesets. I figure by the time I finish G1 Climax, Ill be at a very strong starting point for the next PPV.

Again, thanks a ton both of you. Its awesome having so much positive help and fellow people with deep interest in this brand, willing to share what they know with a NJPW neophyte. @LilOlMe, I'm 2 matches into Day 2, once I finish the Day Ill post my thoughts on the matches like you mentioned earlier. Looking forward to your opinion on what I write and getting another great perspective.


----------



## Corey

Day 15. Crowd was awesome.

Gallows vs. Naito... was bizarre to say the least. I didn't think it was bad at all but none of them had the opportunity to do anything heel-like so it turned into a simple big man/little man match. The crowd actually _cheered_ for Naito once or twice. Odd. Also I'm not quite sure why they were so happy with the finish, but they were LOUD. Maybe because they love the Bullet Club in that arena? They were happy that Naito lost? Cheering because of shock factor? Who knows.

I thought Shibata vs. Tenzan was weak. There was no build to anything. It just happened. Tenzan randomly grabs for the Anaconda Vice, Shibata gets out and decides to grab a sleeper. The drama was there down the stretch and the fans were into it, so that's fine. Those submissions just weren't sold very well. One big plus was that the finish was legit believable though. I'm pretty sure Shibata forced himself to stop breathing. :lol

I found it completely hilarious that Ibushi STILL didn't even sell the fact that he'd been hit twice in the nuts. :lmao

The execution of Styles vs. Fale was pretty well done and the match was a lot of fun. I thought the tease of Fale possibly using the Styles Clash was actually the highlight of the entire match. I loved that. No rating, but fun altogether and the crowd totally ate it up.

*Tanahashi vs. Makabe* was a great main event. I like the fact that you guys brought up Tanahashi going slight heel when he gets out-cheered by his opponent, because that's totally what happened here. Seemed like the crowd was 100% behind Makabe from the get-go. Great performance from him as he (unlike Ibushi) actually sold the leg really well. Really dug the sequence where he got kicked in the leg and tried to use his right arm for a clothesline, but Tanahashi ducked and instead of shifting his body he just used the left arm to club him instead. Awesome. I also found it interesting that Makabe showed so much respect towards Tana throughout the match but it seemed to backfire on him each time. If you didn't notice, watch it back and look for the initial clean break in the beginning and then when he stops the countout from the ref and brings Tana back in the ring (and gets caught with multiple dragon screws over the ropes). The visual of Makabe standing tall and screaming like King Kong before Tanahashi hit the High Fly Flow was astounding. Wonderful match. **** 1/2+*


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses, great. Anxious to hear your thoughts! 

I was big on Okada/Elgin.

As for the first part, it will all start to come together really well, the more you watch and learn.

@Jack Evans 187, totally agree @ the comment about Ibushi and the ball shots. That was exactly what I was thinking, and you know how everyone was like "Tanahashi was trying to force Ibushi to sell the leg" in their match together? I was thinking "thank God it wasn't Ibushi no-selling Tanahashi's ball shots", lol.

I totally disagree about Makabe selling the leg. His lack of selling stood out to me, and I thought for sure you'd ream him out for that.

I too love Tanahashi heeling up, and loved the Makabe King Kong moment. Also love the way Tanahashi fires himself up with screams. Somehow it comes off differently with him, compared to everyone else. There's something I buy into as him authentically, genuinely, trying to fire himself up, rather than just being a "thing."

I didn't take that stuff as Makabe having respect, btw. I took it as him really trying to beat Tanahashi in a way that shows that he's just clearly superior to Tanahashi. That's the reason why most people will bring someone in during count out moments.

Thought you'd go big on Fale/Styles. That seems like exactly the type of match you'd really appreciate, I thought. Everything was told so well there, I thought.

The build for me with Shibata/Tenzan was that Tenzan had tried to out tough Shibata, so now he was just gonna take him by surprise. I thought it was a better match than it had any right to be. Something about Tenzan working submissions makes him a better overall wrestler.


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> I totally disagree about Makabe selling the leg. His lack of selling stood out to me, and I thought for sure you'd ream him out for that.
> 
> -----------------------------
> 
> I didn't take that stuff as Makabe having respect, btw. I took it as him really trying to beat Tanahashi in a way that shows that he's just clearly superior to Tanahashi. That's the reason why most people will bring someone in during count out moments.
> 
> -----------------------------
> 
> Thought you'd go big on Fale/Styles. That seems like exactly the type of match you'd really appreciate, I thought. Everything was told so well there, I thought.
> 
> -----------------------------
> 
> The build for me with Shibata/Tenzan was that Tenzan had tried to out tough Shibata, so now he was just gonna take him by surprise. I thought it was a better match than it had any right to be. Something about Tenzan working submissions makes him a better overall wrestler.


Really? I thought he did a great job of selling. He had subtle shakeouts now and then and I felt like he limited his movement and impact on his knee throughout. Thought he did really well in the late stages, actually. Dummy still went for his knee drop though... and it backfired. :lol

I could see what you're saying about Makabe. Either way I still found it interesting because that little time that he decided to let up really backfired on him the long run. Gotta stay on top of Tana if you wanna beat him!

Didn't have any problems with AJ/Fale, I just simply don't know how to assign a rating. Most of the match was fought outside the ring and kinda felt like a segment more than a match. I can't get over how much that crowd popped or Fale possibly using the Style Clash, though. That was so awesome and AJ avoided that Bad Luck Fall like his life absolutely depended on it.

Shibata/Tenzan stood no chance with me when they immediately came out and started trading strikes. It was basically an "ugh, another one of these matches..." reaction. The submission sequence didn't really help either. I swear Tenzan just rolled over and decided to lock in the Vice, and while the struggle for Shibata to get out was well done, he just immediately got up and applied the sleeper. Where's the fatigue? Where's the pain? I just felt like in a night filled with so many short matches, they could've slowed the pace juuust a tad for that particular instance. No big deal though because there was a small chance of me enjoying it to begin with.


----------



## El Dandy

no prob @Stefan Meneses! Hope you enjoy New Japan!



Jack Evans 187 said:


> Shibata/Tenzan stood no chance with me when they immediately came out and started trading strikes. *It was basically an "ugh, another one of these matches..." reaction.* The submission sequence didn't really help either. I swear Tenzan just rolled over and decided to lock in the Vice, and while the struggle for Shibata to get out was well done, he just immediately got up and applied the sleeper. Where's the fatigue? Where's the pain? I just felt like in a night filled with so many short matches, they could've slowed the pace juuust a tad for that particular instance. No big deal though because there was a small chance of me enjoying it to begin with.


How HYPED are you for Honma/Ishii

:westbrook5

Honma/Ishii may be the last chance at a great match from this G1. 

Tanahashi/Styles matches have always under delivered (considering how great each of them are) and Nakamura is hurt so he won't be at his best versus Okada & either Styles/Tana (it'll still be good, but would be surprised if MOTY caliber).


----------



## Corey

Honma/Ishii could be fantastic as long as it doesn't go 25 minutes like their match from earlier this year. That was great aside from the overkill in the end. 

I actually think tomorrow has a good chance at being a great card altogether. Elgin vs. Goto sounds awesome, Nakamura vs. Kojima could be legit, and Okada vs. Nagata could be something positive too. Hoping the Nagata rib injury continues, although aside from that I haven't enjoyed very many of his matches in this tournament.

Somewhat disagree about Styles/Tanahashi, but that's pretty much how all our conversations go, right? :lol While I think this year's IWGP Title match was good but a bit disappointing, I loved the fuck out of King of Pro last year and their G1 match was great as well. Not all time classics by any means, but a good trio of matches. AJ has done well with both Tana & Okada, imo. Will we get to see how he works with Nakamura???

EDIT: And HOLY FUCK at the last day. Okada vs. Nakamura AND Elgin vs. Ishii!? With Anderson vs. Kojima & Goto vs. Nagata as added bonuses? Bruh. :wall


----------



## LilOlMe

@Jack Evans 187 

Disappointed that you didn't love (or even like, errrm face) Honma/Goto as much as I did, especially with your newfound Goto love. Was it just the hard strike exchange that took you out of it? Because didn't you kind of like that in the Ishii/Goto match?


@Stefan Meneses 

Here is what I wrote about my take on Okada's character in another thread:


> Okada I've seen before, & loved his antagonistic smiling at Devitt when Devitt was doing his bullet thing in their match together (get on this now, everyone!!! Devitt's character work was great...really seemed a bit mentally unstable & "off" without overdoing it).
> 
> Still like him now. He has "star quality" written all over him. Vince would absolutely cream over him if he were American, and I'm guessing H is trying to recruit him right now. He's like everything you could want for in a sports entertainment package.
> 
> His character takes from a few different cultures, which was obvious to me from the beginning, & that blended approach is very smart and unique.
> 
> The money falling reminds me of rappers (and Batman, lol) as does the chains, but the Emperor style clothing, plus the arrogant look on his face and the way he carries himself reminds me of something very regal. Throw in the bodyguards & his appeal to the young fanbase, and he reminds me of a young pop star.
> 
> Somehow none of this clashes, and it all comes together so clearly as just "Okada." I like that, and I like when I feel that no one else can intrinsically duplicate something so well.
> 
> I am pleased to note that after quickly Googling, it doesn't seem like he straight up lifted his character from anywhere. I thought that maybe it was based on a specific movie character or something, so I'm glad to know that he has his own stamp on it.


Here is what Tanahashi wrote about Okada:


> Okada has every quality required for a wrestler.
> 
> He stands 6 foot 3, which is on a par with athletes in world of sports.
> 
> And he can change the atmosphere of the crowd with just one dropkick. Even the first-timers can tell that his physical abilities are beyond others.
> 
> And his youth is perfect asset for attracting younger audience and female fans.
> 
> He also grew in a wonderful environment. He learned lucha in Mexico, developed his physical strength in NJPW, and studied entertainment in TNA.
> 
> Top-notch wrestlers in the States are always aware of how they look in the camera frame. They are able to make themselves look better by locating the “Tally light (small light on camera that signals that the camera is live)” while they wrestle. This is a hassle even for the wrestlers with long careers, but Okada is capable of doing this. Since I never had the chance to learn wrestling abroad, I’m really jealous of his skill.
> 
> One thing that Okada lacks is an irresistible body that people could tell by first glance that he is a pro-wrestler. This is what makes pro-wrestler different from other athletes, and I think that all wrestler should aim for building such body. When Okada attains this, he will be second to none.


I love how he honed in on Okada's ability to work the cameras, and know where they are & the angles and everything. It's subtle, because he rarely, if ever, looks into the camera, but he is aware of them. You can tell by the way he carries himself and works.

I picked up on this immediately, so I love that Tanahashi praised him for this.

This post from someone on another board is a great description of Okada's character:


> Okada is also not what you are describing him. Again not understanding his character and not trying to understand it; He is not a heel, but more of a tweener most of the time and cheating was never part of his character since he is a prodigy , and arrogant prodigy who is sure that he is the best and want's to be at the top and bring the company to the top.He actually knows that he is the best no matter his losses and he wants to lead the company to new heights. He is a very self absorbed man but he's sure that he's meant for greatness above all others around him. He wins his fights clean since cheating is below him. His character is actually prevalent in Anime/Manga but you have to watch or read them to get his character since it's a type of a Japanese character that's not easy to get otherwise. Gedo is not a stooge but a partner and a special friend(Nakama) and their relationship is also a huge part of Okada's character.


Which reminds me, Gedo (Okada's sidekick) is actually the head booker of NJPW. Seems weird, huh? lol. 

He plays his part really well, and his enthusiasm makes me enthusiastic. Its funny he's reacting like he doesn't know shit, and really playing into it. Meanwhile he's booking the entire thing, lol.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

LilOlMe said:


> @Jack Evans 187
> 
> Disappointed that you didn't love (or even like, errrm face) Honma/Goto as much as I did, especially with your newfound Goto love. Was it just the hard strike exchange that took you out of it? Because didn't you kind of like that in the Ishii/Goto match?
> 
> 
> @Stefan Meneses
> 
> Here is what I wrote about my take on Okada's character in another thread:
> 
> 
> Here is what Tanahashi wrote about Okada:
> 
> I love how he honed in on Okada's ability to work the cameras, and know where they are & the angles and everything. It's subtle, because he rarely, if ever, looks into the camera, but he is aware of them. You can tell by the way he carries himself and works.
> 
> I picked up on this immediately, so I love that Tanahashi praised him for this.
> 
> This post from someone on another board is a great description of Okada's character:
> 
> 
> Which reminds me, Gedo (Okada's sidekick) is actually the head booker of NJPW. Seems weird, huh? lol.
> 
> He plays his part really well, and his enthusiasm makes me enthusiastic. Its funny he's reacting like he doesn't know shit, and really playing into it. Meanwhile he's booking the entire thing, lol.


Sounds like a really fantastic collection of descriptions of Okada from some great sources (especially Tanahashi), and mirrors some sentiments I've read as well, despite not seeing him in a match yet (currently watching Nagata vs. Hanma). I was instantly drawn to his look though, the clothing in particular as you mentioned, unlike Nakamura who draws from Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson, Nakamura is like a fighting emperor almost, with some of the most ornamented and attractive attire I've ever seen on anyone, let alone a wrestler. Can't imagine what he spends on his wardrobe.

When I was reading earlier, it was about a rumor that got disproved true by Meltzer, but from back in June of this year when WWE was touring Japan and sources had reported Nakamura and Okada were trying out for WWE. They were speaking to how absolutely devastating of a blow it would be for NJPW, especially to lose Okada. While Nakamura is undoubtedly the bigger star at the moment, as he's 35 right now, he doesn't have nearly as much time left in the business as Okada does, who they viewed as the future of the company with no other equal. Given the star power he already has, with the changes you mentioned like body type, I definitely think he'll be able to surpass even Nakamura and Tanahashi's fame several years down the road.

Quite excited to see my first Okada match once this match ends. Nagata is putting a beating on Hanma, so I doubt it'll be much longer, and I expect Okada to do the same, as he's wrestling Michael Elgin, who I've never even read about.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

I also saw a video from July I think of Daniel Bryan talking about how hes been trying to pitch to WWE management a match between him and Nakamura. Who knows if they'd ever do it given how they are with foreign talent at times, but man, that would be one hell of a dream match. Apparently the two lived together and are good friends, so here's hoping.


----------



## LilOlMe

@Jack Evans 187

Forgot to say that I thought that there was genuine suspense in the Fale/Styles match when it looked like Fale was about to do his Bad Luck Fall on AJ on to some chairs in the upper decks. Legit felt nervous for a second, because that would have been a crazy bump to take. 

Also, I thought that when Shibata transitioned into the sleeper, it was after dodging Tenzan's Propellers. I remember thinking that was really cool, actually. When you're a desperate position, you're gonna pop out whatever move you can. He was still in the midst of having to fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Stefan Meneses

I see that they were just talking about Chaos on another board. So this should help give you some info on Chaos:


> Isn't chaos suppose to be heels ? I don't get their deal





> I'd say tweeners in theory if anything. Yano tries to cheat all the time but still gets pops. Nakamura straight up punches guys in the face and taunts his opponents but the crowd loves him. They may have been more hated when they initially formed but its clearly not the case anymore.





> Yeah, it's basically that. They were the main heel unit, feuding with the New Japan Sekigun (I.E., not exactly a unit, but every wrestler who wasn't in one, like Tanahashi, Nagata, Goto...) until Suzuki-Gun and Bullet Club arrived. Since these factions are represented in more despicable ways, Chaos assumed the face role in their feuds with them, without abandoning some of their heel tactics. And with that they have the freedom to act silly in those Yano produced DVDs.





> Yeah they started as heels but as time went on they are more of a "rebel" group and those tend to be popular in Japan, specially as time goes by. The fact that the Bullet Club became the defacto heel stable was also a factor.
> 
> But Japanese crowds are kinda basic. They don't pay much attention to "heel/face" dynamics and tend to cheer or boo depending on how they feel about a wrestlers action in that moment, regardless of his role as a face or a heel. Shit, even fucking Misawa got booed out of the building in Kobashi's return match in 07' because he kept working on him and not letting him hit his signature moves/spots :heh:
> 
> Cheating tactics can also be seen as comedy spots sometimes so they don't always garner boos. It's all about context and timing when it comes to puro crowds.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Stefan Meneses said:


> Sounds like a really fantastic collection of descriptions of Okada from some great sources (especially Tanahashi), and mirrors some sentiments I've read as well, despite not seeing him in a match yet (currently watching Nagata vs. Hanma). I was instantly drawn to his look though, the clothing in particular as you mentioned, unlike Nakamura who draws from Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson, Nakamura is like a fighting emperor almost, with some of the most ornamented and attractive attire I've ever seen on anyone, let alone a wrestler. Can't imagine what he spends on his wardrobe.
> 
> When I was reading earlier, it was about a rumor that got disproved true by Meltzer, but from back in June of this year when WWE was touring Japan and sources had reported Nakamura and Okada were trying out for WWE. They were speaking to how absolutely devastating of a blow it would be for NJPW, especially to lose Okada. While Nakamura is undoubtedly the bigger star at the moment, as he's 35 right now, he doesn't have nearly as much time left in the business as Okada does, who they viewed as the future of the company with no other equal. Given the star power he already has, with the changes you mentioned like body type, I definitely think he'll be able to surpass even Nakamura and Tanahashi's fame several years down the road.
> 
> Quite excited to see my first Okada match once this match ends. Nagata is putting a beating on Hanma, so I doubt it'll be much longer, and I expect Okada to do the same, as he's wrestling Michael Elgin, who I've never even read about.


What you're saying about being drawn to Okada's look is exactly the same for me with Naomichi Marufuji who works in NOAH (he will occasionally have matches in NJPW too), except it was also Marufuji's demeanor (same can apply to Okada). He too had the Emperor type look, though to a lesser extent than Okada. 

It does stand out, especially for someone who carries themselves as sort of a silent assassin.

If someone can capture an audience with just the way they carry themselves, that's charisma right there, not even counting everything else.

Yes, I agree that his wardrobe and whole look is elaborately great. Definitely looks like one of the most expensive looks ever. As for money, I noticed that in the 2012 G1 Press conference, his look was much more low budget than it is nowadays in the press conferences, lol.

This was a critique of this year's G1 Press conference fashion looks, lol, with gifs/pics:
http://wrestlingonearth.com/all-aboard-the-s-s-strong-style-the-g1-is-coming-fashion-show/


As for the Vince/H rumor, I don't doubt that the WWE _wanted_ it, but can't see it happening. Those two aren't _trying out_ for anyone. Too good for that. Maybe a meeting. But the fact that "try out" was the rumor, makes the entire thing sound bogus anyway.

Devitt did tweet a pic of hanging out with Okada when WWE was in Japan, so there is at least that.

Okada has said that he has no interest in going to WWE. He said that he'd rather make NJPW the destination to go to, rather than WWE. Of course, money changes things. Can't see NJPW ever letting him go if they have the money to keep him.

Supposedly a big part of the reason why NJPW sent Okada to TNA for a year (I think it was Meltzer who said this), was because they KNEW that TNA would misuse him, as most big American wrestling companies tend to do with foreigners because they don't know what they're doing.

So this was a tactic by NJPW to humble Okada early on, and to sour him on ever working for an American company. 

As it turns out, Okada credits the fact that TNA never used him with his personal growth. He said he used that time to study American characters and American television, and realized that if he wanted to make big money in this business, the best way was to develop a great character. So it was a blessing in disguise.

When MVP interviewed Okada, he asked him if he wanted to say anything to TNA now. Okada responded "Hell no!!!" So he at knows English terminology & popular phrases, lol. 


Forgot to add to Tanahashi's moveset that he uses the Texas Cloverleaf submission hold, but as has been pointed out in this thread, does it in a cooler way, by often holding his opponents at a much higher angle.

Also, he often uses the Sling Blade which La Parka made note of in his post.


ETA: Nice sig! And yeah, heard about the Bryan thing. Nakamura responded "I say 'yes' " 

I could see him coming over to WWE when he gets older, actually.

An inter-promotional card sounds great in theory, and both organizations would benefit from it. However, the problem is who goes over on the big matches, and Vince is stupid and would do matchups that are dumb, probably. It would still be exciting, though.


ETAA: Here's the clip of Nakamura & Okada speaking some English with MVP (I referenced this earlier in this post):
https://youtu.be/lI3cuz9qN60?t=12m16s


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

Gallows/Naito & Styles/Fale were the best from Day 15 for me.

Frickin' love watching Naito work that Japanese crowd like a true heel.

Styles & Fale was a nice little story and a lot of fun. Like that Styles had to cheat to win. Cheating to beat one of your buddies just makes him that much more despicable.

Prefer Block A to Block B from the little I've watched. Not really sure what to look forward to today other than the Anderson match.


----------



## LilOlMe

Stefan Meneses said:


> Quite excited to see my first Okada match once this match ends. Nagata is putting a beating on Hanma, so I doubt it'll be much longer, and I expect Okada to do the same, as he's wrestling Michael Elgin, who I've never even read about.


From what I've read, Elgin has been given a lot of shit by ROH fans. Many don't like him, and don't like his push.

I do recall reading so many people being like "why him?!?!?!" when they heard that he was the one from ROH who was gonna be in the G1 tournament.

The tide has turned, and many are now praising his performances in the tournament. There are still some hardliners, but the majority opinion seems to be that he's really impressing people in the tournament.

I'd never seen him before the tournament, so I didn't have an opinion one way or the other. He has impressed me in this tournament, though.

It shows you how good NJPW can be at displaying talent, since apparently he looks better here than he ever did in ROH. 

They have gone out of their way to make sure he displays himself well, and they book moments even in tags to really let him shine.

The fact that they put him against their Golden Boy of the company on the first night, speaks volumes about how well they think of him, I think. Or maybe it was a "sink or swim, show your stuff" type of thing.

Elgin has wanted to perform in NJPW for forever, so he has really grabbed this opportunity, and it shows, IMO. He just recently tweeted a pic of meeting Kenta Kobashi (a Japanese wrestling legend, and he is the one who mentored and trained KENTA aka Hideo Itami in NXT). He included this caption:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/631079650756661248
Also:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/631089153501859840

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/631088915575799809

So that tells you his frame of mind, and how happy he is working in NJPW.

Some have said that he's likely to be offered a contract based on his performances in the G1 tournament. NJPW loves big foreigners.

I don't know Elgin's contract situation with ROH, though.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe Thanks for the mention on the sig, another user here, Soul Cat was kind enough to make it for me today following me falling in love with NJPW. My request was actually originally for a John Cena sig before I started watching G1 Climax, and once I did, I said to hell with that and changed the request. This came out way beyond what I expected, so props to him.

Yeah, I agree with the two of them not having to try out for anything. Stars of their magnitude, if you want them, you come to them, and with a lot of money to boot, not the other way around. I had seen some of the league cross-overs you mentioned, there's actually one going on right now with some league here I can't remember the name of at the moment, but they're run by Jeff Jarrett, they're doing a show in Las Vegas where I live in just a few weeks and Bullet Club is on their roster. They haven't released the card yet, so I don't know who actually is wrestling, but if any of the major guys like Styles or Takahashi show up here in Vegas, I'd go to that show just to see them (could care less about any of the domestic talent this league has).

Thanks for posting that info on Chaos up there too. From what little I've been able to find thus far (what you posted is by far the most) I definitely think that its actually pretty cool how Japanese crowds look past static heel/feel dynamics and more on their actions and charisma/mystique. Bullet Club from what I've read, being composed of so many foreigners (AJ Styles lead the damn thing) plus interfering in so many important matches makes anyone who opposes them instantly more likeable to the crowd. Same thing with Suzuki-gun, CHAOS almost feels like by being the enemy of the enemy, they become an antihero group to the people. That combined with having some of the most popular guys in its stable and its damn hard not to cheer for them.

Side Note: Totally agree with you about Vince being a total idiot when it comes to foreign talent. I have NO clue how Finn Balor goes from 8 years of being a dominant wrestler in Japan and the founder and leader of Bullet Club, holding multiple titles, to an NXT rookie.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe

Oh, that makes me optimistic for his being here then. I just finished the third match, so I'm about to see him now, but hearing he has a real appreciation for Japanese wrestling and that he's performing at a high level is awesome news. It definitely seems like NJPW brings out the best in both Japanese and American/European talent, as you see how phenomenally talented guys like Balor are and how he can carry a match better than a large majority of WWE veterans. 

Speaking of Hideo, there is another example of WWE stupidity. Him being written off for like the past three or four weeks of NXT because of a scripted fight is ridiculous to me, as him and Finn were the two best talents in NXT to me. I was really hoping to see Hideo get a heavier push, but he's not even getting talked about hardly.


----------



## LilOlMe

It is crazy how much wrestlers have to trust each other. I know it seems obvious, and we take it for granted, but I was really thinking that during the Okada/Elgin match. Here's a guy whom Okada may have never even seen work before (besides the tag the night before), and he's got to trust him with his body completely. I say this because Okada was obviously the one having to take the more risky moves to his body.



Stefan Meneses said:


> Thanks for posting that info on Chaos up there too. From what little I've been able to find thus far (what you posted is by far the most) I definitely think that its actually pretty cool how Japanese crowds look past static heel/feel dynamics and more on their actions and charisma/mystique. Bullet Club from what I've read, being composed of so many foreigners (AJ Styles lead the damn thing) plus interfering in so many important matches makes anyone who opposes them instantly more likeable to the crowd. Same thing with Suzuki-gun, CHAOS almost feels like by being the enemy of the enemy, they become an antihero group to the people. That combined with having some of the most popular guys in its stable and its damn hard not to cheer for them.


What I love about the Japanese audience is that they'll acknowledge someone for an impressive performance or moment. Even if they're a heel or a foreigner they don't know or a jobber, they'll still "oooh" and "ahhh" and applaud when credit is due. I like that.



> Side Note: Totally agree with you about Vince being a total idiot when it comes to foreign talent. I have NO clue how Finn Balor goes from 8 years of being a dominant wrestler in Japan and the founder and leader of Bullet Club, holding multiple titles, to an NXT rookie.


This is strictly due to HHH's ego, IMO, and nothing more. People like Finn have NO business being in NXT, and it's asinine to me how a new generation thinks that this is somehow warranted. Oh how, oh how, were stars of old "created" without a WWE developmental system? lol.

Being down there for a week to learn camera angles, fine. But the whole "they need this" thing is a joke. No telling how much money they've lost out on by having to toil around in NXT. It's really quite unfair to them.

The plus side is that they're at least away from Vince's so-called creative team.

Hideo actually legitimately injured his arm or shoulder, and due to that, is projected to be out for at least six months from the time of injury (I think this happened in April or May). So they used that injury to write him off tv and create a storyline.


ETA: Added a little more about Elgin/Okada.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe Oh, I wasn't aware about Hideo's injury, that makes actual sense then. Looking forward to his return then, the sooner we can get another talented Japanese wrestler into the WWE ranks, the better. Plus, Hideo had perhaps the best look in NXT in my opinion, it stands out so much from the rest of NXT and WWE that I think along with his charisma, he could be a serious hit if HHH lets him get the exposure (which is never a sure bet).

I just watched the Elgin/Okada match, and you're right on the money with how incredibly dangerous that could have been for Okada. Elgin is a guy with a ton of size on him, and he was performing some seriously risky bodyslams when not handled right by both parties. Given the value of Okada relative Elgin monetary and importance wise, it was a very trusting thing to do, especially on opening night before anyone else had been tested against him first. They could have thrown a much lower rank guy against him on Day 2, but arguably the 3rd most valuable asset in the company's roster taking him before anyone else, that's gutsy. 

As it turned out though, you were right, he performed fantastically. I was extremely impressed by Elgin, tons of strength, suprising amount of agility for a guy his size, definite confidence that resonated with the Japanese crowd (the moment when he was picking up Okada for the jackhammer type move, and would raise him, then lower him a bit, raise him again, lower him a bit more, then at the end raise Okada with one hand) that type of charisma, especially on his first trip working there was amazing, and against a star of Okada's magnitude. 

Okada and him together made that match fantastic, but I have to give a TON of respect to Okada. My first time seeing him, I was pretty stunned how convincing he sold the first several minutes of him getting pounded on by Elgin. You almost truly believed for a second he actually was injured after that massive bodyslam off the ropes, laying there in pain, clutched up and moaning in agony to the crowd. I was just thinking to myself, "This is acting, professional level acting, and he's doing this live in the middle of a ring while exerting a tremendous amount of physical ability". I knew there was no way an upset of that magnitude would happen, but a few times during that period, I came pretty close to almost believing it would happen.

And then when Okada came back on the offensive, he came back with a vengeance. You had told me earlier about his dropkick ability, you weren't kidding. Elgin was a massive guy, a lot taller than Okada, and Okada just delivered a brutal one right to his face that looked like it knocked the living hell out of him. The body control and athelticism required for that, I can't even imagine. And then topping that with the dropkick to Elgin while he was on top of the ropes, I don't understand how Okada has such a ridiculous vertical. The guy should play basketball with the height he can jump. Was also pretty amazed at the suplexes he got on him, given the massive weight difference, made it look simply easy. I really like how once Okada gets on a roll, he keeps on it, and as soon as I saw him start trying to get the Piledriver off, I knew he was going for the kill (managing a piledriver on Elgin again is a feat of strength I can't imagine). Once he scored it, he finished off with that Rainmaker beautifully- slowly walking away, looking like he was just recovering from the piledriver, and then out of nowhere, hit Elgin like a car on a highway with that Rainmaker. That was a finishing move truly worthy of ending that match.

Thus far, Elgin-Okada and Tanahashi-Ibushi are my two favorite matches by far. Elgin-Okada melded together so brilliantly, especially for never having worked together before. Just shows you how much talent there is between the two of them, so yeah, NJPW, sign Elgin ASAP.

Edit: You were totally right about Takahashi having the most awesome entrance music ever. That whole entrance was so ridiculous and outrageous it became awesome, from the girls to his outfit to that music, what a character lol.


----------



## El Dandy

Anderson's hot Asian wife probably doesn't approve of this

EDIT: If I had three wishes, I would use one on having Bullet Club stay out to do commentary for the rest of the night.


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses

Takahashi is so perfect at playing his gimmick, to the point that I'm genuinely convinced that that's how he is in real life. I see him as the sleazeball who lives in strip clubs, and can't imagine him any other way, and I truly mean that.

The shit-eating, doucebag, grin while he's sitting lazily in the corner while his girl is working, is just great.

Too bad his wrestling isn't as good as his character portraying (though I'm convinced it's not an act, lol), because the latter is aces. The music is indeed awesome.


Re: Hideo (aka KENTA), I'm so glad you said that about his charisma. This sounds odd, but in a weird way he might be one of the most charismatic people out there, because he got over huge while having such a simple presentation. I don't know if you've ever seen him in NOAH. I'm assuming not, but there's something about him that reads "shit is about to go down" when he walks out.

It's the oddest thing, because his look isn't aesthetically the most physically imposing look in the world, but somehow he conveys and reads "badass" so clearly. It's his seriousness and his intensity. There's a beauty in the simplicity of his presentation -- the way he just has the rap music and the plain shorts/tights -- and it just works.

Makes me sad how some WWE fans won't get him, and say "he just wrestles and that's it!" They have no idea what his intensity unveils, and how engrossing that can be.


Re: Elgin/Okada, fantastic comments! You're a really good writer. 

I totally agree with you, and thought the same thing about the fact that _NJPW_ had to have enormous balls to let Okada work with Elgin so physically at the very beginning of the tournament. 

If I ran the business, I have to say that I'd be very hesitant to trust Elgin with that responsibility, for all of the reasons that you and I just stated.

Love your comments about the acting and the selling. Wrestlers are truly under-appreciated.

Also love how much you put over the Rainmaker and Okada's usage of it. You actually are making me appreciate things even more.

On the topic of the dropkick in the corner, that hits on a point we were talking about earlier. The more you familiarize yourself with how the wrestlers work & their movesets, the more you will see and appreciate the counters and in-character scouting.

Okada actually went for that corner dropkick earlier in the match (he put Elgin on the top rope, and then was about to jump for the dropkick), but Elgin countered. Elgin would go on to put _Okada_ on the top rope and kick him in the head.

As you watch more and more, you will recognize things like that as being a thing that Okada goes to, so when an opponent counters it, that will mean something to you. 

Great, great, comments, and I look forward to reading much more from you.

So glad we agree on that being a great match. People really liked it at the time, but I don't hear people mentioning it much anymore. Whereas, it still stands out to me, while other matches have tended to blend in/fall off.

Just giving you a heads up that Nakamura sustains an elbow injury during the tournament at some point, so he has to forfeit the match with Elgin to rest. The fortunate thing is that Nakamura was able to remain in the tournament. The bad thing is obviously that we never got to see Nakamura vs. Elgin.


----------



## El Dandy

This match :sundin


----------



## Insomnia

Good match between Goto/Elgin.


----------



## Stall_19

Holy crap was Elgin over.


----------



## DoubtGin

Missed the first two matches, damn it.


----------



## Insomnia

DoubtGin said:


> Missed the first two matches, damn it.


Anderson/Yujiro was all BC Drama like with Styles/Fale. :ti

Goto/Elgin was really good!


----------



## DoubtGin

Cardo said:


> Anderson/Yujiro was all BC Drama like with Styles/Fale. :ti
> 
> Goto/Elgin was really good!


Sounds like fun. Gotta love some BC drama + Mao :mark:

Nakamura/Kojima felt a bit underwhelming, still ok.


----------



## El Dandy

Have some balls Jado/Gedo; let Nagata beat Okada :bearo


----------



## RyanPelley

Okada with brown hair...


----------



## DoubtGin

Indeed, this looks like your typical Nakamura/Okada/Tanahashi threesome again. Wish they'd go for something different.


----------



## DoubtGin

How awesome is Nagata though


----------



## DoubtGin

Great Okada/Nagata match. Pretty sure Nakamura will beat Okada.


----------



## El Dandy

IT'S TIME!!!!!!!

Plz Honma


----------



## El Dandy

Oh lawd that might have been literally 100+ chops


----------



## DoubtGin

My chest hurts by just watching that exchange.


----------



## amhlilhaus

LilOlMe said:


> @Jack Evans 187
> 
> Disappointed that you didn't love (or even like, errrm face) Honma/Goto as much as I did, especially with your newfound Goto love. Was it just the hard strike exchange that took you out of it? Because didn't you kind of like that in the Ishii/Goto match?
> 
> 
> @Stefan Meneses
> 
> Here is what I wrote about my take on Okada's character in another thread:
> 
> 
> 
> Okada I've seen before, & loved his antagonistic smiling at Devitt when Devitt was doing his bullet thing in their match together (get on this now, everyone!!! Devitt's character work was great...really seemed a bit mentally unstable & "off" without overdoing it).
> 
> Still like him now. He has "star quality" written all over him. Vince would absolutely cream over him if he were American, and I'm guessing H is trying to recruit him right now. He's like everything you could want for in a sports entertainment package.
> 
> His character takes from a few different cultures, which was obvious to me from the beginning, & that blended approach is very smart and unique.
> 
> The money falling reminds me of rappers (and Batman, lol) as does the chains, but the Emperor style clothing, plus the arrogant look on his face and the way he carries himself reminds me of something very regal. Throw in the bodyguards & his appeal to the young fanbase, and he reminds me of a young pop star.
> 
> Somehow none of this clashes, and it all comes together so clearly as just "Okada." I like that, and I like when I feel that no one else can intrinsically duplicate something so well.
> 
> I am pleased to note that after quickly Googling, it doesn't seem like he straight up lifted his character from anywhere. I thought that maybe it was based on a specific movie character or something, so I'm glad to know that he has his own stamp on it.
> 
> 
> 
> Here is what Tanahashi wrote about Okada:
> 
> 
> 
> Okada has every quality required for a wrestler.
> 
> He stands 6 foot 3, which is on a par with athletes in world of sports.
> 
> And he can change the atmosphere of the crowd with just one dropkick. Even the first-timers can tell that his physical abilities are beyond others.
> 
> And his youth is perfect asset for attracting younger audience and female fans.
> 
> He also grew in a wonderful environment. He learned lucha in Mexico, developed his physical strength in NJPW, and studied entertainment in TNA.
> 
> Top-notch wrestlers in the States are always aware of how they look in the camera frame. They are able to make themselves look better by locating the “Tally light (small light on camera that signals that the camera is live)” while they wrestle. This is a hassle even for the wrestlers with long careers, but Okada is capable of doing this. Since I never had the chance to learn wrestling abroad, I’m really jealous of his skill.
> 
> One thing that Okada lacks is an irresistible body that people could tell by first glance that he is a pro-wrestler. This is what makes pro-wrestler different from other athletes, and I think that all wrestler should aim for building such body. When Okada attains this, he will be second to none.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I love how he honed in on Okada's ability to work the cameras, and know where they are & the angles and everything. It's subtle, because he rarely, if ever, looks into the camera, but he is aware of them. You can tell by the way he carries himself and works.
> 
> I picked up on this immediately, so I love that Tanahashi praised him for this.
> 
> This post from someone on another board is a great description of Okada's character:
> 
> 
> 
> Okada is also not what you are describing him. Again not understanding his character and not trying to understand it; He is not a heel, but more of a tweener most of the time and cheating was never part of his character since he is a prodigy , and arrogant prodigy who is sure that he is the best and want's to be at the top and bring the company to the top.He actually knows that he is the best no matter his losses and he wants to lead the company to new heights. He is a very self absorbed man but he's sure that he's meant for greatness above all others around him. He wins his fights clean since cheating is below him. His character is actually prevalent in Anime/Manga but you have to watch or read them to get his character since it's a type of a Japanese character that's not easy to get otherwise. Gedo is not a stooge but a partner and a special friend(Nakama) and their relationship is also a huge part of Okada's character.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Which reminds me, Gedo (Okada's sidekick) is actually the head booker of NJPW. Seems weird, huh? lol.
> 
> He plays his part really well, and his enthusiasm makes me enthusiastic. Its funny he's reacting like he doesn't know shit, and really playing into it. Meanwhile he's booking the entire thing, lol.
Click to expand...

I can never get enough okada. New j add pans biggest hurdle is to find and develop some young rivals for him before the veterans have to step down. If they can do that, and find ways for okada to Crack the mainstream in Japan then new japan might have another golden age, more do than now


----------



## DoubtGin

HONMA WON

YES YES YES


----------



## El Dandy

:swanson:WOO

YeSSSSSS!!!!

HONMA!!!!
HONMA!!!!

HONMA!!!!

WHAT A DAY TO BE ALIVE!!!!!


----------



## Insomnia

Oh, Honma won! :lol


----------



## El Dandy

Jado/Gedo, your shit booking from Day 15 is forgiven!!!

Honma!! HONMA PROMO!!!!!


----------



## DoubtGin

last two matches were awesome, Nakamura/Kojima was fine and apparently the two matches before were worth watching as well


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*Honma did it! He finally won!!!!

This was a great day. I enjoyed all five matches.*


----------



## NastyYaffa

HONMA :mark:


----------



## El Dandy

Day 16 is best day IMO. You know it's a great day when a Nakamura/Kojima match is the 5th best on the card.

- *Anderson/Yujiro:* Decent and very fun. Planting the seeds for that Bullet Club split.

- *Goto/Elgin:* Very good and recommend it. Surprise Goto gave Elgin that much; he dominated. Elgin was more over than their homegrown IC champ who's in the midst of a big push. Says something about what Elgin's done over the last 3 weeks. On another show with a little more Goto offense, this would be MOTN.

- *Nakamura/Kojima:* Was a match. Another disappointing showing from Shinsuke, but I need to keep reminding myself he's hurt and in a great deal of pain.

- *Okada/Nagata:* Very good and recommend it.

- *Honma/Ishii:* Outstanding and one of the very best from this G1. The battle. The chops. The lariats. The nearfalls. The fighting spirit. The headbutts. The moment.

Honma/Ishii may be my favorite of the G1, but I won't rank it yet because 2 of the last 3 shows I've called a new MOTT right after the show ended, but end up watching it again, not feeling the same about it, and bumping Ibushi/Shibata back up as my favorite lol. 

Also, Goto is officially eliminated. At best, Anderson can tie with 14 points if Naka beats Okada, but that makes it a cluster fuck due to the tiebreakers and I don't think they will do that. Much easier just to have Kojima beat Anderson and Nakamura/Okada be the deciding match.


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> @Jack Evans 187
> 
> Disappointed that you didn't love (or even like, errrm face) Honma/Goto as much as I did, especially with your newfound Goto love. Was it just the hard strike exchange that took you out of it? Because didn't you kind of like that in the Ishii/Goto match?


To be quote honest with you I don't remember a single thing from that match or what day it was even on. :lol Maybe I'll go back and watch it sometime since I've enjoyed Goto so much through this tourney.

But yeah, the whole thing worked like a charm for me in Goto/Ishii. The strike exchanges actually stood out as something different than the norm and they felt warranted.



La Parka said:


> Day 16 is best day IMO. You know it's a great day when a Nakamura/Kojima match is the 5th best on the card.
> 
> - *Anderson/Yujiro:* Decent and very fun. Planting the seeds for that Bullet Club split.
> 
> - *Goto/Elgin:* Very good and recommend it. Surprise Goto gave Elgin that much; he dominated. Elgin was more over than their homegrown IC champ who's in the midst of a big push. Says something about what Elgin's done over the last 3 weeks. On another show with a little more Goto offense, this would be MOTN.
> 
> - *Nakamura/Kojima:* Was a match. Another disappointing showing from Shinsuke, but I need to keep reminding myself he's hurt and in a great deal of pain.
> 
> - *Okada/Nagata:* Very good and recommend it.
> 
> - *Honma/Ishii:* Outstanding and one of the very best from this G1. The battle. The chops. The lariats. The nearfalls. The fighting spirit. The headbutts. The moment.
> 
> Honma/Ishii may be my favorite of the G1, but I won't rank it yet because 2 of the last 3 shows I've called a new MOTT right after the show ended, but end up watching it again, not feeling the same about it, and bumping Ibushi/Shibata back up as my favorite lol.
> 
> Also, Goto is officially eliminated. At best, Anderson can tie with 14 points if Naka beats Okada, but that makes it a cluster fuck due to the tiebreakers and I don't think they will do that. Much easier just to have Kojima beat Anderson and Nakamura/Okada be the deciding match.


Super glad to hear that Day 16 was so enjoyable, but are you sure about Goto? Technically, he's still involved for the 3rd place match. If he wins against Nagata, Nakamura beats Okada, and Anderson loses, he'd own the tiebreaker over Okada and advance. A surprisingly possible scenario, I'd say. 

Will we see _any_ time limit draws the last two days, you think?


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses

Backstory going into day 3:

Naito is an apathetic asshole (credit to whoever used that description) full of lazy shenanigans. Shibata is not a fan of apathetic assholes nor shenanigans. You can guess how this goes, lol.

Tenzan used to be the Tanahashi before Tanahashi (aka the face of the company). He is also in his hometown here. This is the first time these two have ever crossed paths, I believe, or at least since Tanahashi became the man. Ready made story of the old buck out to prove that he can still knock off one of his predecessors. 

Ibushi/Gallows is classic little man vs. big man, and Ibushi's selling was top-notch here. One of those under the radar matches that I thought was quite good for what it was.

AJ/Yano was great, in that the timing of all of the counters were terrific. Everything was so well placed. An example of why people consider AJ one of the best wrestlers, because it was one of the most cohesive Yano matches.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> To be quote honest with you I don't remember a single thing from that match or what day it was even on. :lol Maybe I'll go back and watch it sometime since I've enjoyed Goto so much through this tourney.


Day 6 - 7/28/15. I thought it was one of the best "non-obvious" matches (in terms of being a "big" match that everyone always points out).

I was all excited about it, and then remember being like "damn" after your post, lol. It was the same night as Ishii/Anderson, which I think you liked, IIRC.


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> Day 6 - 7/28/15. I thought it was one of the best "non-obvious" matches (in terms of being a "big" match that everyone always points out).
> 
> I was all excited about it, and then remember being like "damn" after your post, lol. It was the same night as Ishii/Anderson, which I think you liked, IIRC.


Oh Day 6 huh. I, uh, wasn't a fan of that day. :lol This is what I wrote about it:



> Thought Day 6 was a total snoozefest. Nothing I'd ever watch again outta that bunch. I think it might be the structure of some of these matches but some of them really don't do anything for me. They never have a defined story or structure, it's just a bunch of random back and forth shit, much like Goto/Honma was. Some forearms and headbutt attempts with a lot of yelling from Goto. Actually there seems to be a forearm exchange in like every match. Ishii/Anderson was probably best of the night but even that ended up going too long to keep my attention. Okada vs. Kojima was nothing. Okada selling the one lariat he took like he was shot by a fucking cannon and then popping up for a dropkick was really weird.


Maybe I was just sleepy that night.


----------



## LilOlMe

I just found that, you fucker. I wrote this:


> I thought Goto/Honma was tremendous, and definitely one of the top 5 matches of the tournament thus far.
> 
> They pretty much defined "having the crowd in the palm of one's hands." Good shit.


I see that most people who gave it a rating gave it ****, which is what I gave it.

Yeah, your post was totally like throwing cold water on the whole excitement, lol. I remember now.

So I guess you didn't _really_ like Ishii/Anderson. My bad.

You are so wrong about Goto/Honma, though. Dot dot dot. 

I'm outta here before something from today gets spoiled, lol...


----------



## Sephiroth

Honma :sodone

They should let him automatically win his Block now :lmao


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe So last night I watched the end of Day 2, Kyle Anderson vs Shinsuke Nakamura. To me, this was a very good match to begin with, but I have to give extra props to NJPW for giving me the biggest surprise I had seen in such a long time when it comes to a main event match. 

So first, Kyle Anderson. I had read up on him beforehand, and understood his importance in Bullet Club, his role in the feud with CHAOS, and how many of their important matches he had interfered in, so I was getting the grudge match feel to start with. I knew he wasn't one to be taken lightly, even though his opponent was the King of Strong Style himself. As soon as it starts, I'm getting flashbacks of the last match with Okada- the star getting a serious pounding for a good while. Anderson is a great wrestler, and was executing some beautiful striking exchanges with Nakamura before he took over, throwing him in and out of the ring, at one point nearly getting Nakamura counted out because of a body slam into the steel barricades outside the ring. Definitely was one with the crowd there, praying for Nakamura to make it back. The way he fought and clawed back in was phenomenal, he was selling every ounce of the pain, and you felt like Anderson was giving one of the best in the league a performance he wasnt used to experiencing:

When Nakamura got back in after several attempts and finally got a reversal on him, I thought ok, here's where he's gonna take control, drop some piledrivers and Death Valley drivers and attempt to finish the match and get the win. Couldn't have been more wrong. Nakamura goes on a hard comeback, dodging several of Andersons attempts to get a lock on him (while also dropping in some of his swag with those little gestures and movements that seemed beaurifully disrespectful), lands a lot of strikes, several kicks and attempts to go for a driver when Anderson hit with an awesome reversal and put Nakamura to the mat in pain. The back and forth swing in momentum of control that ensued was awesome, because it just kept raising the tension for me as to who was gonna be able to do enough damage to get an opening for their finishing move and end the match, and just when you thought it was going to happen, a reversal happened (involving some awesome flips and turns by Nakamura especially like in the armlock). 

Finally, after hitting that body slam, the Nakamura hyped the crowd up and I knew the Boma Ye was coming. He had it on point, and Anderson hit it with another awesome reversal, briefly taking control. I hadn't yet seen someone who had taken that much of a beating stop a clean finishing move chance like that yet, so this was a highlight. Second time around, Nakamura finally lands it right square in the jaw, and I was certain he had it dead to rights. And then he didn't. Anderson manages to endure that, leaving me as shocked as Nakamura looked (which was an awesome small detail, he sold that very well). Nakamura goes from cockiness to sheer killer instinct at this point and you can see in his eyes he's done fucking around, and drops a massive power bomb on a weak Anderson, setting up a third Boma Ye. Here is where I thought, ok, there is zero chance he makes it through this. And somehow, Anderson counters the Boma Ye, manages to grab Nakamura and hit him with his finisher I believe, in a span of seconds. I'm speechless at this point, thinking there's no way Nakamura is dropping his first match, and sure enough, Anderson goes for that pin, and actually does it. A real treat was seeing the shock on the faces and the shouts of all the Bullet Club guys with him ringside.

As Id seen Tanahashi get a miracle win over Ibushi, and Okada get a comeback win as well before this, the chances of Nakamura going 0-1 to start G1 were like slim to none to me. So tremendous respect to NJPW for that finish, and not having the WWE habit of never letting your most popular superstars go over. I definitely think Nakamura carried that match in all departments the best, but Andersons ring performance was second to none. He just didn't have the same extra elements Nakamura had that really sold what was going on.

One last note, I really wish subtitles existed for the ring promos like the one Anderson had after the win. I could make a few words out, but would love to know what was going on storyline wise or at least how that match impacted how Anderson is approaching the rest of G1.


----------



## Morrison17

dat 15 day tho

Yano vs. Ibushi and Styles vs Fale are THE reasons I love pro wrestling.
Yano and Ibushi is such an explosive mixture and it worked perfectly. 
And the Bullet Club thing was a 5 stars perfomance. AJs acting skills are underrated.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe Oh my god, on Day 3, just saw Ibushi vs. Gallows, I totally get know what you were saying about appreciating the reversals even more when you start learning the movesets. That upside down leg reversal during the Gallows Pole finisher into a pin was absolutely brilliant, jumped out of my seat when I saw it. Gallows played up the anger so well on his way out of the ring too lol, absolutely love it. Ibushi is a star man, his matches are something else.


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Super glad to hear that Day 16 was so enjoyable, but are you sure about Goto? Technically, he's still involved for the 3rd place match. If he wins against Nagata, Nakamura beats Okada, and Anderson loses, he'd own the tiebreaker over Okada and advance. A surprisingly possible scenario, I'd say.
> 
> Will we see _any_ time limit draws the last two days, you think?


Oh, I just meant eliminated from contention of B Block. He 100% can't win because he doesn't own a tiebreaker (if there were a 4-way tie with 14 points, he has L's to Nakamura & Anderson).

I'm not really too concerned with the 3rd place match TBH. We know it's gonna be some kind of combo of Styles/Tana/Naito vs. Okada/Nakamura/Goto/Anderson, and I'm fine with whichever combo (save for Naito/Anderson... actually any combo involving Anderson. Nothing against Karl, I would just prefer to see something like Naito/Okada or Naito/Goto. Using the 3rd place match on Naito/Anderson would be a waste. 2 heels against each other with potential tag title implications? Whoopty doo).


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

Day 16 was brilliant. The best of the days that I've seen. Every match rocked except for Nakamura/Kojima which was pretty forgettable.


----------



## Vårmakos

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Super glad to hear that Day 16 was so enjoyable, but are you sure about Goto? Technically, he's still involved for the 3rd place match. If he wins against Nagata, Nakamura beats Okada, and Anderson loses, he'd own the tiebreaker over Okada and advance. A surprisingly possible scenario, I'd say.



There is no 3rd place match. The winner of the block goes straight to the finals. Nakamura has the tiebreaker over Goto so in that scenario Goto winning wouldn't mean anything.

There are usually 'bonus' matches held on the final day, maybe that's what you're referring to. It doesn't count towards the actual tournament though.


----------



## amhlilhaus

A little off topic, but since this is a new japan thread:

Who do you see winning the Iwgp title for the first time in the next 2-3 years?

I'm loving naito heel work, it might be what puts him over the top. And I'm gonna go with Karl anderson to take over for aj as top foreigner.

Who won't win it are ibushi, ishii, Shibata and fale


----------



## seabs

Seabs said:


> *That said though HONMA VS ISHII MAIN EVENTING IN KORAKUEN WITH A VERY STRONG CHANCE HONMA FINALLY WINS. Beyond hyped for that and avoiding results so I can watch it because I actually care about the result of a wrestling match. For all the New Japan stuff I'm done on/burned out on Honma and Ishii still produce awesome stuff together. If Honma/Ishii in Korakuen doesn't do it for me then I give up completely. *


uttahere


----------



## El Dandy

Vårmakos said:


> There is no 3rd place match. The winner of the block goes straight to the finals. Nakamura has the tiebreaker over Goto so in that scenario Goto winning wouldn't mean anything.
> 
> There are usually 'bonus' matches held on the final day, maybe that's what you're referring to. It doesn't count towards the actual tournament though.


That's exactly what we're talking about.

Calling it a 3rd place match is just an easier way of putting it rather than just trying to take random shots at the dark at bonus matches. Just going off of what they did last year with Tana/Styles.


----------



## El Dandy

Don't know what the fuck I've been on the last week thinking that all non-finishes result in 1 point awarded, *but Naito is STILL alive* :mark:

Naito needs to win and Styles/Tanahashi needs to end in some double countout/double DQ fuckery, so each are given 0 points. It's extremely doubtful it happens and it's grasping at straws, but still a 1% chance.

God damn this G1 math :lmao


----------



## Lazyking

amhlilhaus said:


> A little off topic, but since this is a new japan thread:
> 
> Who do you see winning the Iwgp title for the first time in the next 2-3 years?
> 
> I'm loving naito heel work, it might be what puts him over the top. And I'm gonna go with Karl anderson to take over for aj as top foreigner.
> 
> Who won't win it are ibushi, ishii, Shibata and fale


Michael Elgin.


----------



## SHIRLEY

amhlilhaus said:


> Who do you see winning the Iwgp title for the first time in the next 2-3 years?


Claudio Castagnoli


----------



## Hibachi

Tomoaki Honma vs Tomohiro Ishii is honestly on my top 10 matches of the year list.


----------



## CHAOS Rainmaker

@LilOlMe Day 3, Katsuyori Shibata vs Tetsuya Naito, one HELL of a match. Naito's arrogance from the start, staying dressed as the match started totally conveyed "I can handle you while still getting ready" and just set it on fire. Shibata just exploding and going right at him, smashing him in the face and getting his mask off while Naito was full of bravado, that was just great. Wasn't a dull moment in that match, in and out of the ring, Naito punishing the hell out of Shibata for a really long time (some of those moves outside the ring, slamming him so far out he nearly went past the ringpads, smashing him into the steel barricades, fucking painful). 

When Shibata made his comeback, it was beautiful. That first goal kick to the chest leading to a beatdown in the corner, really taking Naito to task, but what made me really love this match was that finish. Getting the reversal and then putting Naito in the sleeper hold, the crowd chanting "Go to Sleep", Naito being way too far from any rope to do anything about it, and you just see the life drain away from him (Naito sold this fantastically). And then as he has him utterly helpless at the center of the ring on his knees, running to the ropes and hammering him with a massive penalty kick to the chest, absolutely brilliant. The sell on that finish was great too, not only was the impact and speed of the kick fantastic, Naito's massive shockback from it was A+. Match of the night so far, about to watch Tanahashi vs. Tenzan, but this match is gonna be hard to top.


----------



## LilOlMe

@Stefan Meneses

I was smiling to myself when you were saying you knew in your heart there was no way a top guy like Okada could have lost. I was thinking "just wait 'til the Nakamura/Anderson match", lol.

Yes, despite the "lolsoandsowins", NJPW does have their top guys lose more often than WWE, and more importantly, they will often lose clean. I like that, and you will always be in for a few surprises watching NJPW.

Once again, great write-up on the Nakamura/Anderson match. I especially agree about Nakamura's selling. At one point he sounded like he was having a baby, even though he was off camera, lol.

I too loved the way the Bullet Club guys reacted to the win. I always like how the people on the outside sell just as well as the participants, even though they obviously already knew what the result will be. 

Love your in-depth analysis, even though I might not have a lot to say in response. I'm reading and enjoying every word. Keep it up, please!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for subtitles, there is a guy on Twitter who sometimes gives a general translation of what people are saying. I'll try to find it, but you're probably better off not reading right now to avoid spoilers.

Anything important usually makes its way to messageboards anyway, and you can always ask and see if someone knows. 

In the case of Anderson's promo, I remember the guy saying that it was essentially a babyface promo. Anderson said that he's come close to winning the G1 Tournament before, and was disappointed. This will be his year, and he's taking the whole thing. The crowd actually applauded. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glad you liked Ibushi/Gallows as much as I did. Yes, Ibushi is one of the most exciting wrestlers for newer viewers especially. He is definitely one of the ones who most immediately grabs your attention.

Shibata/Naito is pretty much the consensus MOTN from that night. Loved the turning of the mask in the beginning, and Naito's lazy smirking while in the Figure Four, before wincing in pain, lol.

What's funny is that that's not even as aggressive as Shibata can be. It's obvious he was still smarting from the arm injury, and toning it down a bit. Wait 'til you see Shibata/Ibushi. 

I loved how Naito kept cutting Shibata off, every time Shibata wanted to go for that dropkick in the corner.

I too liked Naito's sell of the Sleeper, and there's a point toward the beginning where Shibata throws Naito into the barricades hard as hellllll. I winced. It really came off as "I'm tired of this young boy's nonsense", lol (I know the age difference is barely there in reality, though).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stories going into day 4:

Honma/Okada: As I'm sure you've read, Honma is someone whom the crowd loves, and has that underdog thing going on. Going into this, there is a swell of prevailing thought that it might be a real possibility that Honma will finally get his big G1 tournament win against Okada, of all people, on this night.

Okada will need a loss at some point, is the thinking, and what better way against the ultimate underdog who has the fans willing him to a big G1 win?

Will it happen, though? That's the story with that.

Nagata/Nakamura I was big on. Starts of slow, and builds and builds and builds. They actually had me on the edge of my seat, wondering what was gonna happen. I had a few theories.

No one ever talks about this one, but I really liked it. Had it at ***1/2 - ***3/4.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Day 5:

Some gruesomeness in Tenzan/Yano.

Makabe/Shibata = "Let's just beat the shit out of each other."

Pretty much everyone has Styles/Ibushi as one of the matches of the tournament. I wasn't as high on it, but I think you will be. I might be if I re-watched it again.

Tanahashi/Naito was incredible from a character standpoint. Probably Naito's most complete match in the tournament, and Tanahashi played off of him beautifully...reacting to Naito in a very specific manner.

Here is what Jack Evans 187 & I wrote about it:


Jack Evans 187 said:


> Tanahashi/Naito on the other hand was super compelling and the type of match I've been looking for all tournament. Something you could really sink your teeth into. You could actually get a sense of character and a real story to indulge in. Wrote more about it in the MOTYC thread, but I loved everything about it except [took out this part, to not spoil]





LilOlMe said:


> I enjoyed the hell out of Tanahashi/Naito. That was one of the most "committed to a character" performances I've seen in quite some time. Naito was just brilliant here, and Tanahashi worked it perfectly, almost punishing the young, disrespectful, buck in a very realistic, but still very together way.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also wrote this about Naito in general:


LilOlMe said:


> That "dead" expression is entirely intentional, though. That's part of what helps make it all so great to me. I guess that could make it hard to connect for some, but knowing it's part of the act, it leaves you feeling cold anyway?
> 
> To me it just comes across as annoying as fuck, which is so great. Him smiling while in the Figure Four or after a loss makes me lol. I know a lot of purists would probably hate that along with his dead expression, but the fact that he's committed to the "don't give a fuck" fuckery character to that extent, and on every level, is amazing and kind of brilliant to me.
> 
> He's probably my favorite character going on in wrestling right now, and I've only seen him in this character during the G1 tournament.



Keep posting your thoughts about the tournament as you watch!


----------



## Corey

Day 16 deserves a big standing :clap. Without a doubt the 2nd best day of the tournament behind day 8. There were three legitimately great matches that I felt so strongly about, I just don't know how I'm gonna articulate that in words after watching all three in succession. 

Skipped Anderson/Yujiro. No surprise.

*Elgin vs. Goto* was fantastic. Elgin is so massively over right now and I was pretty shocked how they let him completely dominate and control the match. Excellent display of offense throughout and he had the crowd in the palm of his hand. One completely random thing I noticed is when he hit the 2nd deadlift german suplex, pay attention to his feet. He's bridging off his HEELS, not his toes. Try doing that on your own floor. It's fucking difficult. Tremendous leg strength right there. The nearfalls were incredible and Goto's comeback attempts were few & far between but man he sold the beating he'd taken like a fucking champ. I've never seen the move he used to pin Elgin before in my entire life, and that's saying something. If I have then I certainly don't remember it. The way the crowd popped for it made it seem like something really special and definitely came off that way. That was pretty much the perfect finish for the scenario. There's probably a lot more I liked about this, but there's so much running through my head right now that it's difficult to remember. I do know how disappointed Elgin looked in defeat but the respect he showed put this even more over the top. @LilOlMe gets to see their rematch in Brooklyn and I'm a bit jealous. **** 3/4*

*Nakamura vs. Kojima* had unfortunate placement. I don't remember much from this at all. It happened, Nakamura won. Probably hit the Boma Ye 8 times. Moving on.

*Okada vs. Nagata* was a HUGE surprise. It gave me some of the same vibes as Goto/Kojima where the older guy just wouldn't take shit from the young stud and let 'em have it. That was a pretty cool story throughout. Okada is brash and cocky (on the verge of going heel at times) but Nagata just stiffs the fuck out of him with kicks and slaps when he needs to bring him back down to reality. Glad we saw Nagata's continuous rib injury come into play. That played into the finish, so bonus points there. Sequence early in the match where Nagata matrix ducks that clothesline attempt from Okada and gives a huge smerk was great. He knows the crowd loves him. The entire last few minutes after Nagata applied the armbar were just virtually perfect. The only thing I wish they would've done differently was I wish Okada would've teased a tap out instead of just constantly edging towards to the ropes. Small quibble, kid's still learning. Those kicks to the arm were fucking nasty though. Nagata looking 10 years younger. Great match and much like Elgin/Goto, everyone comes out looking strong in the end. Good selling from Okada too. **** 3/4*

Couldn't have asked for much more from *Honma vs. Ishii*. I thought the pacing was perfect, the cut offs from Ishii were extremely well executed, and Honma's eventual flurry of offense in the late minutes were exhilarating. Two parts of the match that I really really loved. One being the STRUGGLE of fighting for a suplex. Lower man always wins, right? Both of them were ass to the grass and Honma HOISTED his ass up and held him there for several seconds. God damn it that was impressive! Second one being the way Ishii sold that spike DDT. Acting like he jarred his spine and couldn't feel his arm or shoulder. Then Honma continuously attacked the same area. Beautiful. Honma really had to work hard. A well deserved main event spot from these two. Top fiver for sure. ******

My top 10 is fucking impossible to list at this point. :lol


----------



## LilOlMe

Latest Meltzer ratings, comments, & rundown about the 8/8/15 - 8/12/15 shows. 

Obviously do not look if you do not want to be spoiled:



Spoiler: Meltzer



*August 8 - Yokohama Bunka Gym (A block night) - 4,868 sellout*

1. Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi & Yohei Komatsu beat Yuji Nagata & Kushida & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay in 7:15. Hot action with Nagata and Kojima. Everyone destroyed Finlay in the corner, with Liger using the palm thrust, and Taguchi with his hip attack off the top rope. Taguchi pinned Finlay after an enzuigiri and Dodon. **3/4

2. Karl Anderson & Cody Hall beat Michael Elgin & Jay White in 8:57. Cool spot where Elgin used the delayed superplex on Anderson and Hall punched him but Elgin still held Anderson up. When Hall tried to break up a scorpion deathlock on Anderson by Elgin, Elgin again no-sold it and spit on Hall. Hall’s selling was comical at points. Anderson pinned White with a gunstun. **½

3. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi beat Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan in 9:14. Captain took a beating at the end, taking an enzuigiri from Nakamura, a lariat by Ishii, a sliding clothesline by Yoshi-Hashi and a swanton for the pin. **3/4

4. Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga beat Kazuchika Okada & Gedo in 10:56. Not much reaction to this and it was mostly beating on Gedo. Takahashi clotheslined Okada over the top and Tonga pinned Gedo after a double-arm DDT. **1/4

5. Bad Luck Fale pinned Kota Ibushi in 8:30. They brawled in the stands early. Ibushi did some stuff but it never really got going. Fale got the pin with the Bad Luck fall. *3/4

6. Tetsuya Naito pinned Toru Yano in 8:01. Not much to this. Naito shoved down the ref twice which kind of took people out of the mach. Naito hit a low blow and got the pin after Destino, which is liked a sliced bread. Pretty bad. *

7. A.J. Styles beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 13:29. Styles got a good match out of Tenzan. But they had another ref bump here. Funny spot had fans chanting for Styles and he told them, “Shut up, I know who I am.” Styles used the calf killer and Tenzan used the Anaconda vise. Tenzan went for the Anaconda vise a second time after getting his knees up when Styles went for a quebrada (Jericho’s lionsault). Styles won with an eye rake and the calf killer submission. ***1/4

8. Togi Makabe pinned Doc Gallows in 8:55. Gallows used Makabe’s chain on him early, choking and punching him with it. Gallows used his tree slam, but Makabe kicked out. Makabe got right up and used a Death Valley bomb and kneedrop off the top rope for the pin. *3/4

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Katsuyori Shibata in 21:20. From a pure technical standpoint, this was as good as their prior matches, but the tough crowd really took it down. They did a lot more wrestling than in the previous matches as opposed to the beating the hell out of each other. Shibata did an abdominal stretch which led to Inoki chants. He also used a figure four which didn’t lead to Destroyer or Flair chants. They built to the hard hitting back and forth. Shibata used an octopus submission. Tanahashi stopped the penalty kick with a dropkick to the knee and used the Texas cloverleaf for a rope break. Tanahashi went to the top but Shibata dropkicked him and slammed him off the top. He went for the penalty kick, but Tanahashi used the sling blade. Shibata hit the Death Valley driver but struggled and couldn’t cover. Tanahashi next time on the top rope was for a high fly flow but Shibata got his knees up. After a series of moves, Shibata got the choke, but Tanahashi cradled him off it. ****1/4


*August 9 - Tokyo Korakuen Hall (B Block night) - 1,738 sellout*

1. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga beat Jay White & David Finlay in 4:52. Fast paced opener. White & Finlay looked really good early until being cut off at the end. Tonga used a neckbreaker and a double arm DDT to in Finlay. **

2. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi beat Kota Ibushi & Mascara Dorada in 6:10. Ibushi & Dorada looked good here, but it ended with Yoshi-Hashi using a power bomb, a jackknife cradle and finally a swanton to put away Dorada. ***

3. A.J. Styles & Doc Gallows & Cody Hall beat Tetsuya Naito & Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan in 6:59. Naito again was disinterested in teaming with the other guys. The first time he tagged in he tagged right back out and Captain yelled at him. Gallows used a claw to the asshole of Taguchi, whose gimmick is doing the hip attacks. Taguchi sold it great. Gallows also head-butted his ass. Naito finally tagged in with Styles and did wrestle. Gallows pinned Captain clean with a tree slam. **

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kushida beat Togi Makabe & Katsuyori Shibata & Jushin Liger in 9:33. Awesome ground work and switches with Tanahashi vs. Shibata early. Fun match ending with Kushida vs. Liger. They did some great wrestling, ending with Kushida, the current jr. star, beating the jr. legend with the Japanese rolling crotch hold. ***1/4

5. Karl Anderson pinned Michael Elgin in 12:56. Hard hitting match. Elgin did an unreal power superplex into the ring. You just have to see it. The fans in Tokyo really got into Elgin on these shows. Elgin knocked Gallows of the ring apron and hit an enzuigiri on Tonga. Anderson went for a cradle but Elgin turned it into a power bomb over the top rope onto all the Bullet Club members. Elgin used a senton off the top, a buckle bomb and a spinning backfist, but when he went for another power bomb, Anderson turned it into a gun stun for the pin. ***3/4

6. Yuji Nagata pinned Satoshi Kojima in 10:50. Real good match. They traded hard elbows back and forth. Nagata was selling a rib injury all week. The doctor came out to check on him and they stalled for a while so either a hard sell or he was hurt. Nagata made a hot comeback but Nagata got the pin with his bridging back suplex. ***½

7. Kazuchika Okada pinned Yujiro Takahashi in 14:21. Mao-Chan, who was Takahashi’s dancer sidekick sat next to announcer Shimpei Nogami after her dance. Takahashi distracted the ref so Hall could constantly interfere. At one point Okada threw both over the barricade and ran on the floor and jumped over the barricade with a crossbody on both. Takahashi got a lot of near falls including using the Miami shine. When Okada kicked out of that, even Mao-Chan knew it wasn’t a good sign. We had another ref bump and Hall jumped Okada from behind. Hall used the discus clothesline on Okada but he kicked out. Okada clotheslined Hall over the top, hit the dropkick, a tombstone piledriver and rainmaker on Takahashi for the pin. For a match where the interference went from heat to annoyance in the crowd, and where nobody bought Takahashi could win, Okada really did a good job here. ***1/4

8. Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Tomoaki Honma in 11:50. Great match. Nobody at first bought Honma could win, but he kept hitting his flying head-butts and hit a sick piledriver for a great near fall. Honma kicked out of a bom a ye, went for another, but got head-butted. But Nakamura hit another bom a ye, really a high knee, for the pin. ****

9. Hirooki Goto pinned Tomohiro Ishii in 17:11. Just a super match. They were killing each other with elbows. Each lariated the other’s right arm to weaken their future lariats. They traded suplexes. Goto went to the top but Ishii head-butted him in the chin. Ishii tried a top rope superplex but Goto blacked. Goto instead used an infrared off the middle rope for a near fall. More trading lariats and nobody would go down until Goto knocked Ishii down to a knee. Ishii then nailed Goto with a lariat but only got a one count. The crowd was going crazy at the end. Goto did a neckbreaker over the knee off the middle rope for a near fall. He went for the shoten kai, but Ishii hit him with a knee and head-butt, but Goto hit another lariat and Ishii kicked out at one. They traded head-butts until Goto hit three in a row and followed with the shoten kai for the win. ****½


*August 11- Tokyo Korakuen Hall (A Block night) - 1,742 sellout*

*Doc Gallows pinned Tetsuya Naito in 8:22. Gallows attacked Naito as he was taking his pants off. That wasn’t as bad as it reads. They went to lots of near falls before Gallows got the surprise pin after a tree slam off the top rope. **1/4

*Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Katsuyori Shibata in 9:49. A lot of near falls. Shibata used his boot to rearrange Tenzan’s face. Tenzan used the Anaconda vise but Shibata escaped and got a choke. He let the choke go and hit a high kick for a near fall. Tenzan was using Mongolian chops but Shibata ducked and got a choke again. Tenzan escaped and used the cobra clutch, then an Anaconda buster and the Anaconda vise. Shibata didn’t tap, but went out from the move. People popped at the surprise of seeing Shibata go out. ***1/4

*Toru Yano pinned Kota Ibushi in :50. They went balls to the walls . Ibushi survived the first low blow, but got a second low blow and a cradle and was pinned. People popped for the surprise element but there was no reason for Ibushi to lose this one, particularly since it had no bearing on the championship part of the block. Even though it’s only his first G-1, Ibushi should be protected better than to go 4-5. *

*A.J. Styles pinned Bad Luck Fale in 9:53. This was a weird match. Styles told Fale to lay down and went to cover him, but Fale kicked out at two. The idea was they had a coinflip backstage and Styles won. But it makes no sense for Fale to willingly lose when both guys came in tied for first at 5-2. If Fale was out of contention and Styles needed the win, yeah, but even in doing that, you make G-1 silly and the reason it has been a success for 25 years is because its usually been kept clean of silliness. Really, this year, with the long tour, the silliness quotient has crept in too much. Fale heaved Styles over the top onto all the Bullet Club members. He threw Styles over the barricade and into the second row. Fale tried to hit him with a chair but Tonga took the chair away. Styles used a flying forearm off the elevate seating. Styles grabbed a chair but Takahashi took it away from him. They ended up brawling in the stands and Fale teased a Bad Luck Fall, which would have killed him there but it was blocked. They went back-and-forth with their big moves. The finish saw Fale again go for the Bad Luck Fall, Styles blocked it into a huracanrana, Fale blocked that and Fale went for the Styles clash. Styles escaped and put his feet on the ropes and got the pin. All the Bullet Club members, including Styles and Fale, celebrated together at the end. ***

*Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Togi Makabe in 16:14. Really good match. Tanahashi mostly worked the left knee. The crowd was behind Makabe as the underdog. Lots of near falls. Tanahashi missed a high fly flow and Makabe used a German suplex for a near fall. He used a power bomb, but missed his kneedrop off the top rope. Tanahashi came back with a dragon screw, a sling blade, a cross body off the top and a high fly flow to close the show. Cool moment at the end of the show as Tanahashi shook hands with Kenta Kobashi at ringside. Kobashi was there announcing the show (the commentary wasn’t on the New Japan World broadcast because of TV rights issues). ***3/4


*August 12 - Tokyo Korakuen Hall (B block) - 1,736 sellout*

*Karl Anderson pinned Yujiro Takahashi in 10:04. This was a weird one. Both came out to the Bullet Club music, arm-in-arm, with Mao-chan in between them. Anderson was wearing a Hanshin Tigers jersey, who are rivals of the local Yomiuri Giants, who play next door to Korakuen Hall at the Tokyo Dome. That doesn’t get the easy heat in Japan. Mao-chan did a dancing show for the Bullet Club. I hope their wives don’t watch New Japan World or Monday is going to be a bad day. It was similar to Styles vs. Fale with the other members outside the ring trying to keep them from hurting each other. Lots of comedy. Takahashi’s right shoulder is all taped up. Anderson teased a tope but Styles blocked him. Then Anderson and Styles started arguing and Gallows separated them. Takahashi used a low blow and cradle for a near fall. Anderson won with the gunstun. They all made up after but Anderson still wasn’t happy about the low blow. **

*Hirooki Goto pinned Michael Elgin in 11:41. Great match and crowd was again really into Elgin. He used a Death Valley bomb on the apron, a long vertical suplex and a high dropkick. He also used two delayed German suplexes. He also used five lariats alternating the front and back of the head and knees from the clinch. Goto won with his Goto-shiki, which is an Indian deathlock turned into a cradle. ****

*Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Satoshi Kojima in 11:24. This was a really well worked match but for whatever reason, even though both guys are established stars, the crowd wasn’t that into it. Nakamura was cut over the left eye. It was a small hard way cut but in a bad spot. Even when Nakamura used a bom a ye off the middle rope followed by another, the crowd didn’t pick up. Kojima came back with a rabbit lariat and a regular lariat. They started to get behind Kojima as the underdog. He went for a lariat and Nakamura turned it into a flying armbar. Kojima got to his feet and stomped Nakamura in the head to break it. He hit the lariat with the arm Nakamura had just armbarred, and Kojima sold that he was hurt as well. Nakamura used a jumping bom a ye for the pin. ***½

*Kazuchika Okada pinned Yuji Nagata in 18:14. Crowd was into Nagata. Okada used a draping DDT off the guard rail dropping Nagata on his head. Nagata rolled in at 19 and was selling his bad rib. The doctor came out again. This idea didn’t work of the old guy injured, doctor wanting to stop it and him coming back. But the work at the end was great. After an elbow more than halfway across the ring, Okada went for the rainmaker, but Nagata ducked and hit the exploder. The second time he went for the rainmaker, Nagata ducked and got the Nagata armlock. The next time he tried, Nagata kicked the rainmaker arm and hit a German suplex. He used a back suplex, his finisher, and people bought that near fall. Okada came back and hit a dropkick to the back of the head. He went for a tombstone, but Nagata blocked. Both were trying to pick the other up, but since Nagata was a national champion in Greco, he should win that battle and delivered a great gut wrench, followed by the enzuigiri. But Okada hit the dropkick, tombstone piledriver and rainmaker to take it. ****1/4

*Tomoaki Honma pinned Tomohiro Ishii in 16:13. There had to be a reason they put Honma, who has never won a G-1 match, in the main event with Ishii when you had those two prior bouts. The idea is that Ishii was getting his win and nothing could follow that. Honma did an incredible suplex spot that I expect every power guy to now try and copy. It had a pause half way up, not quite getting to the top, teased losing him, then brought him halfway down and then powered him back up and all the way over. They did an incredible chop sequence where the two guys traded 96 chops. Honma look like he won it but Ishii got up and hit a chop to put Honma down and then hit a superplex for a near fall. Honma got a great near fall with a tombstone piledriver but missed the diving head-butt (kokushi). Lots of head-butts, lariats and hard chops. At one point Honma came off the ropes with two flying Mascaras head-butts and a falling head-butt on the ground for a great near fall. Ishii hit an enzuigiri. Honma was bleeding from the mouth at this point. Honma did a flying head-butt off the top rope, followed by a falling head-butt, and then came off the top with a diving head-butt for the pin. The place lost it seeing Honma win. ****½



Still have not seen the 8/12 show yet, but hate that I saw the Honma/Ishii result by posting this. I am so stupid. :lol I thought that I would really be able to paste without seeing. Ohhh well. 

It's what I expected anyway, but the "fainting" images I saw when scrolling fast in this thread, made me think that maybe the poster was laughing because the result wasn't what was expected.

Good to see that it seems to have been a great match, at least going by Meltzer's rating. Still avoiding reading anything else about the show right now.


----------



## El Dandy

My G1 faves so far:

1. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
2. Day 16: Ishii/Honma
3. Day 13: Shibata/Tanahashi 
4. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
5. Day 14: Goto/Ishii
6. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
7. Day 1: Styles/Shibata
8. Day 1: Tanahashi/Ibushi
9 - 22. A bunch of good matches that are too close to call/blend together because this has been going on for 3 weeks lel. 

Ibushi/Shibata just keeps coming back to me as my favorite from this G1. Top 4 are the ones that really stick out to me above the rest. Nothing as good as the best from the last 2 G1's, but still some great stuff IMO.

When I still have the rush of watching a good match and having a good time in chat, I tend to over appraise. I remember Goto/Ishii being better while watching it with wooo. Watching it alone? Not nearly as fun. So it goes.


----------



## LilOlMe

Last night I watched Goto/Honma from Day 6 (7/28) again, and it was phenomenal. Even better than I remembered it.

That dazed, surprised, look on Goto's face after that sudden nearfall was just great, and I love how they went on without missing a beat after that.

When Honma challenged him with a yell in the midst of all of that action, and Goto fires back with a primal yell of his own while continuing on with business...shit was so great!!!!

I feel like it gets less recognition because it was less of a "forced epic" match, but that's exactly why I liked it. They told so much in a decent amount of time that never dragged. Filled the time so beautifully.

Bunch of shit that I never saw coming too, which also made it great.

It was all built together perfectly, so I totally disagree that it was some mindless match. Not at all. 

Stuff like Honma doing the half Boston crab, and then working on Goto's back after having Goto bent like that, is not stuff that you see very often. Goto kept selling the back too.

Also, the way that Honma fired himself up to dig deep seemed so authentic. The timing was great for that strike exchange after Honma had had enough of not being able to get off of the mat. Like "ok, buck up!"

I think that I find Honma to be a more compelling performer than Ishii to watch anyway, in the way that he structures things, and especially with the way that he works the crowd...so that probably contributes to why I prefer this over Goto/Ishii, even though the latter was a "bigger" match.

Just felt this had all of the positive points, in a shorter amount of time.

Most importantly, it was exciting, and that's what wrestling should be about. I like to admire, but sometimes it's nice to just be excited.

**** - **** 1/4, and still one of my favorite matches of the tournament.

Liked the imagery of Honma leaving after the match too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@CHAOS Rainmaker, two moves of Okada that I'm giving you a heads up for, because people also like to try to counter them at times:

"Heavy Rain" at the 0:43 mark here, and "Reverse Knee Neckbreaker" at 1:12:
https://youtu.be/b8iZH5V3zng?t=43s

Usually if they counter it, it's at the beginning of him going for it, but not always.


----------



## Corey

Decided on a Top 10 (for now)

1. Goto vs. Ishii - Day 14 - ****
2. Tanahashi vs. Naito - Day 5 - ****
3. Honma vs. Ishii - Day 16 - ****
4. Nakamura vs. Ishii - Day 8- ****
5. Honma vs. Elgin - Day 8 - ****
6. Okada vs. Goto - Day 8 - *** 3/4
7. Naito vs. Ibushi - Day 11 - *** 3/4
8. Elgin vs. Goto - Day 16 - *** 3/4
9. Okada vs. Nagata - Day 16 - *** 3/4
10 - Tie. Nakamura vs. Goto - Day 10 - *** 1/2+
10 - Tie. Tanahashi vs. Makabe - Day 15 - *** 1/2+

Ishii's been in THREE of my top four matches, yet I haven't rated anything else from him in the tournament highly at all. Odd. Goto's name is in there quite often. Still think he's my MVP, although you could easily make the case for Naito and/or Elgin. 

So beyond hyped for these last few days. The only wrestling I wanna watch as of late is just New Japan. :lol


----------



## Leon Knuckles

Shibata is becoming a favorite of mine. I love the penalty kick. :drose


----------



## true rebel

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Day 16 deserves a big standing :clap. Without a doubt the 2nd best day of the tournament behind day 8. There were three legitimately great matches that I felt so strongly about, I just don't know how I'm gonna articulate that in words after watching all three in succession.
> 
> Skipped Anderson/Yujiro. No surprise.
> 
> *Elgin vs. Goto* was fantastic. Elgin is so massively over right now and I was pretty shocked how they let him completely dominate and control the match. Excellent display of offense throughout and he had the crowd in the palm of his hand. One completely random thing I noticed is when he hit the 2nd deadlift german suplex, pay attention to his feet. He's bridging off his HEELS, not his toes. Try doing that on your own floor. It's fucking difficult. Tremendous leg strength right there. The nearfalls were incredible and Goto's comeback attempts were few & far between but man he sold the beating he'd taken like a fucking champ. I've never seen the move he used to pin Elgin before in my entire life, and that's saying something. If I have then I certainly don't remember it. The way the crowd popped for it made it seem like something really special and definitely came off that way. That was pretty much the perfect finish for the scenario. There's probably a lot more I liked about this, but there's so much running through my head right now that it's difficult to remember. I do know how disappointed Elgin looked in defeat but the respect he showed put this even more over the top. @LilOlMe gets to see their rematch in Brooklyn and I'm a bit jealous. **** 3/4*
> 
> *Nakamura vs. Kojima* had unfortunate placement. I don't remember much from this at all. It happened, Nakamura won. Probably hit the Boma Ye 8 times. Moving on.
> 
> *Okada vs. Nagata* was a HUGE surprise. It gave me some of the same vibes as Goto/Kojima where the older guy just wouldn't take shit from the young stud and let 'em have it. That was a pretty cool story throughout. Okada is brash and cocky (on the verge of going heel at times) but Nagata just stiffs the fuck out of him with kicks and slaps when he needs to bring him back down to reality. Glad we saw Nagata's continuous rib injury come into play. That played into the finish, so bonus points there. Sequence early in the match where Nagata matrix ducks that clothesline attempt from Okada and gives a huge smerk was great. He knows the crowd loves him. The entire last few minutes after Nagata applied the armbar were just virtually perfect. The only thing I wish they would've done differently was I wish Okada would've teased a tap out instead of just constantly edging towards to the ropes. Small quibble, kid's still learning. Those kicks to the arm were fucking nasty though. Nagata looking 10 years younger. Great match and much like Elgin/Goto, everyone comes out looking strong in the end. Good selling from Okada too. **** 3/4*
> 
> Couldn't have asked for much more from *Honma vs. Ishii*. I thought the pacing was perfect, the cut offs from Ishii were extremely well executed, and Honma's eventual flurry of offense in the late minutes were exhilarating. Two parts of the match that I really really loved. One being the STRUGGLE of fighting for a suplex. Lower man always wins, right? Both of them were ass to the grass and Honma HOISTED his ass up and held him there for several seconds. God damn it that was impressive! Second one being the way Ishii sold that spike DDT. Acting like he jarred his spine and couldn't feel his arm or shoulder. Then Honma continuously attacked the same area. Beautiful. Honma really had to work hard. A well deserved main event spot from these two. Top fiver for sure. ******
> 
> My top 10 is fucking impossible to list at this point. :lol


Think you could get me a gif or something from that pin? Been really high on Goto lately and the move has me curious.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Decided on a Top 10 (for now)
> 
> Ishii's been in THREE of my top four matches, yet I haven't rated anything else from him in the tournament highly at all. Odd. Goto's name is in there quite often.


Doesn't surprise me at all. I've really loved a few Ishii matches in general, but overall his matches kind of blend together for me.

Like, I seriously was just sitting here trying to remember if he and Okada ever faced off. I know they must have, because Okada's going against Nakamura on the last night, but I literally have zero memory of the match. Not one. 

Can't even differentiate much between his, except the match against Anderson stands out (though is not the best one), due to me buying into the fact that his shoulder might have really been acting up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching Day 16. 

[email protected] Takahashi entrance. It's funny, because I remember reading or hearing that AJ is a hardcore Christian.

That open-mouthed gape he had was just great.

Between this and the Fale/Styles face off, the Bullet Club guys are really great actors.

Though this may not have exactly been acting, lol, but whatever. Anderson was funny.

Ah, so Takahashi is going against Anderson. Now I understand this whole show we got. Was wondering why they were all out there besides just being douchey heels.


----------



## Corey

true rebel said:


> Think you could get me a gif or something from that pin? Been really high on Goto lately and the move has me curious.


It's called the Goto-Shiki cradle after doing some research. He apparently uses it somewhat regularly, but this was my first time seeing it. Gif is from a match earlier this year.

https://twitter.com/senorlariato/status/577139145673465856



LilOlMe said:


> Doesn't surprise me at all. I've really loved a few Ishii matches in general, but overall his matches kind of blend together for me.
> 
> Like, I seriously was just sitting here trying to remember if he and Okada ever faced off. I know they must have, because Okada's going against Nakamura on the last night, but I literally have zero memory of the match. Not one.
> 
> Can't even differentiate much between his, except the match against Anderson stands out (though is not the best one), due to me buying into the fact that his shoulder might have really been acting up again.


Hmmm.... yeah I don't remember Okada vs. Ishii either. Took place on 8/7 which was Day 12, but Goto vs. Kojima stole the show for me that night. 

Just looked back at review and I gave it ***+. Had a slow start but picked up very nicely in the end. Clearly nothing all that memorable though. :lol


----------



## El Dandy

I remember it being good, but it was one of the hardcam shows.

Single cam shows were a chore to watch and really took away from some potential good matches. That was 4 G1 shows lost IMO


----------



## LilOlMe

lol at AJ in the *Takahashi/Anderson match*.

"Stop waving at his dancer!"
"He forgave you, now forgive him."
"Don't break his neck, we need him!!!"
"Stop being an asshole, Karl."
"Just roll him up or something."

lol at Karl asking if Takahashi has a neck problem and then doing that neckbreaker move, which was pretty sick looking, btw.

Good fun, good times. Definitely the most entertaining Takahashi match I've seen.

@Jack Evans 187, you should watch it. It was WWE style fun, but the Bullet Club guys do the irreverent humor thing so well. Call backs to the AJ/Fale match.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OMG, THAT HEADBUTT FROM GOTO IN THE *ELGIN/GOTO MATCH* WAS THE BEST THING EVER IN WRESTLING LIFE!!!!!!!

That punch from Elgin was shockingly real looking and sounding too. 

Love how the ring boys react in shock, btw, when someone gets someone really good. This happened after a hard clothesline moment.

Wtf @ that finisher. lol. A pin that looks like a submission. Cool.

This is how Meltzer described the finisher, Jack Evans 187:


> Goto won with his Goto-shiki, which is an Indian deathlock turned into a cradle. ****


Elgin was sooo over here, wow. Like Daniel Bryan levels over. A company would kill for that reaction, if they were scripting someone to be a big star.

Yep, excited to see this matchup in Brooklyn, though I doubt that they can top that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



La Parka said:


> I remember it being good, but it was one of the hardcam shows.
> 
> Single cam shows were a chore to watch and really took away from some potential good matches. That was 4 G1 shows lost.


I'm someone who has a higher tolerance for the single cam shows than most, but I do think that people would have reacted much better to those matches if they had the full camera work.

Ibushi/Naito especially, I could see. Especially since Naito's facial reactions are so crucial to his whole act.

Do you know how many shows were without commentary? Seems like a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Re-watched Tanahashi/Naito*, and my God, that spitting moment in the corner was so well-played by the both of them.

Didn't notice this the first time, but at a certain point during this, Naito smirks in such a layered way. It wasn't just a smart-alleck smirk. It was actually apprehensive, like "oh, shit, I'm kind of nervous, but I've got to continue hiding behind this 'don't give a shit' act." It was so brilliant. There was fear behind the arrogance. 

Like, "I know what's coming, but I've still got to get this last word in."

Fucking great. And Tanahashi was superb. Nodding his head, almost like a father, like "ok, I peep your game. We're really gonna do this? Yes, yes we are."

It's an example of why I think when NJPW's wrestlers are at the top of their game, WWE doesn't even begin to come close. WWE's best just don't have the layering or detailing that NJPW's does.


----------



## Corey

Iirc, I think all but 3 shows have been without commentary throughout the tournament. Might even be two but I'm not sure.

I feel like Tanahashi/Naito may be the match that holds up the best in the future. It just felt so much deeper than several other highly touted matches. It would still be my number one had it not been for Goto & Ishii refusing to go down after beating the holy hell out of each other.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Iirc, I think all but 3 shows have been without commentary throughout the tournament. Might even be two but I'm not sure.
> 
> I feel like Tanahashi/Naito may be the match that holds up the best in the future. It just felt so much deeper than several other highly touted matches. It would still be my number one had it not been for Goto & Ishii refusing to go down after beating the holy hell out of each other.


Wow, that's a surprisingly low amount. I love how NJPW doesn't have to tell the fans anything, because they know that we'll love the product anyway, lol. Everyone just accepts that there's aspects of the network that they may not like. You rarely hear real complaining.

One of them, but I do feel that most of the heavy touted matches actually have a lot of deep things going on as well. May not be the case as far as character, but definitely as far as physical storytelling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Nakamura/Kojima* was good fun. LOL'ed at Kojima not being able to perform after the "I'm going to get you, bastard!" chant.

Loved his scream toward the end. Really seemed guttural. 

Probably my favorite Kojima performance of the tournament, or at least the one I can most easily remember right now, lol.

Nakamura's series of knees looked kind of...bad. That ending knee strike was money, though, and I actually didn't see that coming.

Loved the way he sold the neck after the match, due to Kojima's clothesline.

He was holding his arm behind his back afterward, though, which makes me a bit nervous. 

Wonder if Okada will go after the arm in their match together?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes into *Okada/Nagata*, and already fucking love it. I'm a Nagata fan anyway, and I can already tell that this is one of those matches that he's really gonna make it a point to get up for.

I knew that Okada wasn't gonna do the clean break, which he typically does do...because I knew that he was gonna be disrespectful to the old stallion. "My time is now, I'm not just some punk kid who has to show respect to you."

Legit went "ooooh" at that Matrix-esque duck from Nagata, and I think that that genuinely took Okada aback. I love when wrestlers genuinely react to things, and you can tell they're having a good time. 

Excited to see the rest.


----------



## El Dandy

Fingers crossed they do some WWE shit tonight with LOS INGOBERNABLES hitting the ring during Styles/Tanahashi causing a no contest.

No way it happens, so pulling for Styles.


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> Fingers crossed they do some WWE shit tonight with LOS INGOBERNABLES hitting the ring during Styles/Tanahashi causing a no contest.
> 
> No way it happens, so pulling for Styles.


Wouldn't that still be considered a draw, and they'd both get one point?

The only way this would work is if he attacks them way before the match, and it's considered a forfeit on both of their parts. 

That's not gonna happen, though, because they're not gonna do away with a big match that everyone is excited to see.

If Tanahashi wins, there might be some genuine intrigue in the finals. I just don't see them allowing AJ to be the Tokyo Dome challenger, but I could be wrong.

I think that Los Ingobernables might debut in the 3rd place match, btw.

Still can't believe they had Naito go over so many of the top stars clean for nothing.


ETA: Hmmm, I might take back my AJ comments. I could see them allowing that for AJ if they want to continue expanding into the US market.


----------



## LaMelo

La Parka said:


> Fingers crossed they do some WWE shit tonight with LOS INGOBERNABLES hitting the ring during Styles/Tanahashi causing a no contest.
> 
> No way it happens, so pulling for Styles.


I doubt they drag themselves down to WWE's level.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> Wouldn't that still be considered a draw, and they'd both get one point?
> 
> The only way this would work is if he attacks them way before the match, and it's considered a forfeit on both of their parts.
> 
> That's not gonna happen, though, because they're not gonna do away with a big match that everyone is excited to see.
> 
> If Tanahashi wins, there might be some genuine intrigue in the finals. I just don't see them allowing AJ to be the Tokyo Dome challenger, but I could be wrong.
> 
> I think that Los Ingobernables might debut in the 3rd place match, btw.
> 
> Still can't believe they had Naito go over so many of the top stars clean for nothing.
> 
> 
> ETA: Hmmm, I might take back my AJ comments. I could see them allowing that for AJ if they want to continue expanding into the US market.


Yeah, I was confused earlier on points awarded. 

I assumed any non-finish was 1 point (I've only ever seen 1 G1 draw in my time of being a fan and that was during my 1st G1 Okada/Tanahashi). As it turns out, you get 0 for double DQ/countout. So, If Naito wins and fuckery happens in Styles/Tanahashi, it would be a 3-way tie with 12 points with Naito winning the Block.

Best I could find, the last (and maybe only?) time they've done a double DQ/countout in a G1 was 2004. So, that really just shows how unlikely it is we see one.

I don't think AJ has any chance of winning the whole thing, just A Block. Styles v Nakamura in the Final is a possibility and what I'm hoping for. I'm pulling for Nakamura to win it all.

Just don't want Tanahashi/Okada Part 7. It's not even the Tanahashi part of the equation I have an issue with. I'm growing sick of Okada.

Unfortunately for me, it's not about what the shitty western fan like myself wants. It's about selling Tokyo Dome, and they've gotta go with what makes them the most money.


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> Unfortunately for me, it's not about what the shitty western fan like myself wants. It's about selling Tokyo Dome, and they've gotta go with what makes them the most money.


Yeah, this is indeed true.

From what I've read, that 0 points thing only applied to 2004. Before and since, DQs/Countouts/etc. have always resulted in 1 point being given to each participant.

Unfortunately.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> Yeah, this is indeed true.
> 
> From what I've read, that 0 points thing only applied to 2004. Before and since, DQs/Countouts/etc. have always resulted in 1 point being given to each participant.
> 
> Unfortunately.


Oh, what I've heard/read is they may still abide by 0 for DQ/CO (John Pollock, Senior Lariatoooo).

Either way, don't think it matters in the end. Naito seems like a good fit for the 3rd place match this year. Showcase him and give him an extra win.


----------



## LilOlMe

Oh my Lord, *Nagata/Okada* (say that ten times fast) was awesome.

Okada's uppercut. unk

The look on Okada's face after Nagata kicked him in the bad arm. :flair4

The crowd treating Okada like a dick, and him loving it. :heyman6


That high flying elbow went far as hell!

Okada plying his knuckle into Nagata's ribs (though I think it should have looked harder), and selling his arm right after the clothesline.

Match was pure fire, had my attention the entire time, and both played their roles SO well. 

It's everything Tenzan should have been in the Tanahashi match, minus the physical ability, because we all know that Nagata's the GAWD of older fellas. 


****1/4, and one of the best matches of the tournament.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have not seen anything about Honma/Ishii other than who won, but I think it'd be a great idea if they went very close to a draw, and then Honma pulls out a win. Let's see what happens...


----------



## Zatiel

I was shocked that Gallows beat Naito. Up until now I figured they were suckering the fans in with Tanahashi or Styles, only to have Naito take the block. With his dick heel character, he could stand back and watch Nakamura and Okada wrestle a tie-breaker before picking the winner's bones. It's what I thought they wanted, even though I didn't want to see it. Kind of relieved it's not the plan.

The G1 has been a blast. Reading up on reviews elsewhere, I'm glad I've been out of touch with all the complaints that this year sucked. I haven't enjoyed anything in wrestling this much all year. I could have done with a few different people up top (more Shibata wins, sure), but I can't really complain about the performances of most of the top guys. Tanahashi has been on fire. Okada has wrestled like a champion. Gotoh is behaving legit. Styles is adding personality all the time. The only gripe would be against Nakamura's injury, and that didn't prevent him from tearing it up against Honma.


----------



## LilOlMe

Zatiel said:


> The G1 has been a blast. Reading up on reviews elsewhere, I'm glad I've been out of touch with all the complaints that this year sucked. I haven't enjoyed anything in wrestling this much all year. I could have done with a few different people up top (more Shibata wins, sure), but I can't really complain about the performances of most of the top guys. Tanahashi has been on fire. Okada has wrestled like a champion. Gotoh is behaving legit. Styles is adding personality all the time. The only gripe would be against Nakamura's injury, and that didn't prevent him from tearing it up against Honma.


Great post. I agree with a lot of this. I'd also add that Anderson has been adding a ton of personality as well.


Forgot to say that in the Okada/Nagata match, that's the first time that Okada's gate DDT has actually looked harmful to me.


*Honma/Ishii* was obviously great. I've always loved the way that Ishii sells DDTs, so good call on that, Jack Evans.

Chop exchange was amazing, specifically the way they stalled and started up again. I really liked the touch of it being a chop to the throat that took Honma down.

Those rapid fire elbows from Ishii were great, as was the look on Honma's face after Ishii got up when Honma wanted to go for that first headbutt. Like "ah, man. Realllly?" lol. 

Does anyone know what the crowd was chanting at Honma?

I like this quote from Meltzer, and wow @ 96 chops:


> Honma did an incredible suplex spot that I expect every power guy to now try and copy. It had a pause half way up, not quite getting to the top, teased losing him, then brought him halfway down and then powered him back up and all the way over. They did an incredible chop sequence where the two guys traded 96 chops.


Still feel that the way that Honma won could have been a bit more dramatic considering the backstory, and that would have taken the whole match up a notch, but oh well.


*Tonga's* gonna be so interesting to watch grow, and he might be a star. I wish he was in the G1 tournament this year. I swear I think they just had Takahashi in there for the female shenanigans. 

Please let Tonga be in Nakamura's block next year...


----------



## El Dandy

At least the Youngo Bucks and reDRagon are back

EDIT: and Ricochet

EDIT2: and the other pointless team that accompanies Maria's ass.

EDIT3: and Saku DA GAWD :mark:


----------



## DoubtGin

CHAOS vs CHAOS could be fun


----------



## Insomnia

Maria! :mark:


----------



## El Dandy

That's closest we'll ever get to the previously discussed Sakuraba v Maria :mj2


----------



## DoubtGin

Doc beating Naito and Shibata in a row :ti


----------



## El Dandy

WHY YOU DO THIS TO SHIBATA? HE SAID HE WAS SORRY FOR LEAVING QUIT PUNISHING HIM

:cry

If this doesn't end with him snapping, beating the fuck out of Goto, and taking the IC..... I just don't know.

EDIT:

and now they have Fale rip up YTR's DVD. IS NOTHING SACRED?!


----------



## DoubtGin

Yano Taro is the greatest


----------



## El Dandy

:ha

What the fucking fuck are they doing?

This shit fucking sucks.


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

Dug that Naito/Tenzan match but so badly wanted Naito to win and do a run in on Styles/Tanahashi.


----------



## LilOlMe

Holy crap, that Shibata/Gallows ending was so sick that I don't even care about the result.

Loved Shibata shaking his head, but then getting got anyway. Loved his facial expression while he was up in the air.

Both big guys can turn in some good performances when they've got great people working with them. One of the unheralded things of this tournament is how well guys like Tanahashi, Styles, Ibushi, and Shibata are carrying people to great matches.

Annnnd, right after I talked shit about him, Tenzan comes through with a spirited performance. Thanks, dude! Naito was great as usual, and that was the longest wait to take the mask off yet, lol.

Naito/Tenzan totally lived up to their back story, and the match was exactly what it should be. Loved Naito's takedown into the Anaconda Vice, and I agree with the person who said that they were hoping he won that way.

I'm loving both matches, and Yano/Fale was fun for what it was.

Continuing my bad luck of getting spoiled, I meant to press that "rewind 30 seconds" button, and hit the "leap to live" button instead. Wouldn't you know it was right at the result of Ibushi/Makabe? fpalm 

Not that it wasn't expected anyway. Thank God it didn't happen during Styles/Tanahashi (KNOCK ON F'N WOOD).


Why did they switch around the order of Shibata/Gallows and Yano/Fale? I thought the Shibata match was coming later (I started late).

So is it true that there is no third place match? Someone here said no, and I've never heard it mentioned in the media, so I assume not.


----------



## LilOlMe

They seem to be doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing, which is pushing newer stars who are in their prime.

I'm not complaining because I enjoyed all of the matches, but it seems wrongheaded.

I guess the thinking is that it's a tournament and it doesn't matter anyway. I understand that, but this is also a missed opportunity to push their star even higher.

Just seems like the dumb Vince thing where you can't make too many stars at once. 

Shibata gets cheered over Tanahashi. I guess he'll just be punished for forever?

Naito and Ibushi they will eventually push. I know it's a slow burn with Ibushi, which is fine, but he could have looked like a stud during this. They still could have waited for the ultimate crowning. Him pushed hard in this wouldn't have taken away from that.

Just don't know why they ruined what could have been really suspenseful.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> They seem to be doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing, which is pushing newer stars who are in their prime.
> 
> I'm not complaining because I enjoyed all of the matches, but it seems wrongheaded.
> 
> I guess the thinking is that it's a tournament and it doesn't matter anyway. I understand that, but this is also a missed opportunity to push their star even higher.
> 
> Just seems like the dumb Vince thing where you can't make too many stars at once.
> 
> Shibata gets cheered over Tanahashi. I guess he'll just be punished for forever?
> 
> Naito and Ibushi they will eventually push. I know it's a slow burn with Ibushi, which is fine, but he could have looked like a stud during this. They still could have waited for the ultimate crowning. Him pushed hard in this wouldn't have taken away from that.
> 
> Just don't know why they ruined what could have been really suspenseful.


It's what I was told/warned once I started watching in 2013:

It's a Tanahashi, Nakamura, Okada world. Everyone else is just living in it.

Styles broke through, but I don't think they'll push anybody seriously until a new a young lion arrives. Ibushi will be a guy if he quits DDT.


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> It's what I was told ever since I've started watching in 2013:
> 
> It's a Tanahashi, Nakamura, Okada world. Everyone else is just living in it.
> 
> Styles broke through, but I don't think they'll push anybody seriously until a new a young lion arrives. Ibushi will be a guy if he quits DDT.


Seems silly for an organization short on young talent. None of the three I mentioned are young, but they're in their primes and can contribute greatly.

All six could be real stars without hurting anything.

I've heard that about Ibushi, but I don't know. I think they're just taking it slow with him, since they feel that gimmick works for him.

Gallows is so unnecessarily crass.

Enjoyed Shibata finding an inventive way to contribute to the face paint removal industry.


----------



## DoubtGin

and Tanahashi wins, as expected

can't wait for the same main events at WK :/


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> Seems silly for an organization short on young talent. None of the three I mentioned are young, but they're in their primes and can contribute greatly.
> 
> All six could be real stars without hurting anything.
> 
> I've heard that about Ibushi, but I don't know. I think they're just taking it slow with him, since they feel that gimmick works for him.
> 
> Gallows is so unnecessarily crass.
> 
> Enjoyed Shibata finding an inventive way to contribute to the face paint removal industry.


Nah, it's absolutely the fact he still works DDT dates.

They dangled the carrot in front of him with the Nakamura match and NJC, yet he still is loyal to DDT. Taking it slow has nothing to do with it when you see they gave Okada everything before the age of 27.

Once Ibushi quits DDT, he'll get everything and more. 

I can see them giving "loyalty" title reigns to guys like Goto or Naito in 3-5 years like they did Makabe & Nakanishi, but that's it.


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

It's a bit disappointing to see Tanahashi win, but how the hell can you argue with the reaction he got? Crowd were loving it!


----------



## DoubtGin

What_A_Maneuver! said:


> It's a bit disappointing to see Tanahashi win, but how the hell can you argue with the reaction he got? Crowd were loving it!


Yea I still absolutely love Tanahashi/Nakamura/Okada and the G1 finals/WK main event should be absolutely amazing regardless of the matchup.


----------



## El Dandy

Not even disappointed with Tanahashi winning. They told us on 1/4 of this year that they were going back to Tanahashi/Okada.

Awesome match and hot crowd.

That being said, this show was a failure. 9 matches, and 8 of them meant nothing because of the booking. No jeopardy. No suspense. No drama. It was a 1 match show, and everybody already knew who was winning that one match. Awesome. I guess to counteract the lack of unpredictability and drama, they decided to beat 2 of their best upper micard guys (AGAIN).

These last 2 A Block shows are providing me with my first "fuck this company" feeling in my 2.5 years as a viewer. The honeymoon "everything they do is great!" has worn off.

Like, why would you have Gallows beat Naito? Tenzan beating him is fine if it knocked him out, but it was, for all intents and purposes, a meaningless match. You just beat him twice for what? Yeah, everybody beats everybody it's no big deal, but that's the problem. Unless you're the big 4, you can only get passed a certain level because the level of parity is comical.

They have something promising with Naito, and you know what they're gonna do with it? Probably stick him with Goto or Shibata in what is NJPW's equivalent to Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston. That, or program him with Gallows and Anderson for the tag titles. Hooray. If he wins the tag titles... awesome news: the tag division is dead. and, if LOS INGOBERNABLES becomes a stable, they will be the 2nd or 3rd heel faction because Bullet Club's run is probably only halfway over. Can't wait for Bullet Club Black/White Tokyo with Anderson as leader, and Bullet Club Red Stuff with Styles as leader. Then we get Bullet Club Silver 2000 Elite with everybody that was already in it + the Harris twins. A lot to look forward to.

This time last week, they had 2 upper midcard guys who looked like they could be players heading into WK10 with Naito/Shibata. They have completely marginalized them.

/end rant


----------



## LilOlMe

HAVEN'T READ A THING YET, BUT STYLES/TANAHASHI WAS *****, AND F ANY DISAGREEMENT ON THAT!!!!


----------



## LilOlMe

Meltzer is so going the full five on that.

Match was like a roller coaster, and amazing on pretty much every level. People will find things to pick apart, but a lot of what they were doing wasn't even in the galaxy of what most wrestlers usually deliver.

That was suspense and drama done right. 

As a whole piece, that was fucking phenomenal, and had so many twist and turns. I could point out so many specifics I loved, but that will have to wait.

I have to say, they had me when Tanahashi teased the first Styles Clash. I thought for sure that Tanahashi's arrogance was gonna cost him, especially when Styles reversed it into the calf lock. I was like "this is obvious", and then it...wasn't. 

Such good, good, shit.

Loved Tanahashi smiling after patting AJ on the face. There was the in character smiling, and then there was the genuine one right after that I just loved.

*****, and I don't see myself ever going down on it. 




La Parka said:


> Nah, it's absolutely the fact he still works DDT dates.
> 
> They dangled the carrot in front of him with the Nakamura match and NJC, yet he still is loyal to DDT. Taking it slow has nothing to do with it when you see they gave Okada everything before the age of 27.
> 
> Once Ibushi quits DDT, he'll get everything and more.


Yeah, but the difference between Ibushi and Okada is that the underdog storyline works for Ibushi.

Yeah, I don't expect them to strap a rocket on Ibushi if he's working for another company, but I'd think they'd still push him. You're probably right, though.

Do you think he will quit DDT? If he hasn't now, why would he? 

They should just offer him a lot more money, but I guess they don't care.



La Parka said:


> These last 2 A Block shows are providing me with my first "fuck this company" feeling in my 2.5 years as a viewer. The honeymoon "everything they do is great!" has worn off.
> 
> Like, why would you have Gallows beat Naito? Tenzan beating him is fine if it knocked him out, but it was, for all intents and purposes, a meaningless match. You just beat him twice for what? Yeah, everybody beats everybody it's no big deal, but that's the problem. Unless you're the big 4, you can only get passed a certain level because the level of parity is comical.


It's tunnel vision. You know how a WWE writer once said Vince just walks into a room and says "what do we have for Cena?" and that's just it?

I think NJPW is like that. They booked everything around the big 4, and put no real thought into anyone else. Naito looking like a stud early on was solely designed to try to throw people off to the Big 4 scent. It wasn't about Naito.

I don't know when businesses will learn that that's so counter-productive for the long run, but they rarely do.

I have no problem with giving the fans what they want, so Tanahashi's win doesn't bother me, especially because he's getting older and still ultra-over, so keep milking that while you can.

They also intend on using him to put over their big young star, so that's fine.

Just build everyone else in the mean time. So stupid. 

As for Shibata, management has ALWAYS liked him, that's actually the problem. It's the other wrestlers who have the problem with him being pushed, so he'll never get far until that changes.

Though maybe Gedo is like the wrestlers, and if so, that's too bad. The Suits like Shibata.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> I have no problem with giving the fans what they want, so Tanahashi's win doesn't bother me, especially because *he's getting older* and still ultra-over, so keep milking that while you can.


That's the kicker:

38 in Japan isn't the same as 38 in WWE. 

In puro years, Tanahashi is still in his prime.

Suzuki is the fucking man and works a demanding style, and he's 47. Ishii is gonna be 40 and look at the level he stills goes at. Nagata is 47, and he was one of the bright spots of this G1. Makabe is gonna be 43, and he can still work a great match. Unless his back really gets catastrophically fucked (like Nakanishi's neck), I think Tana will be going at fairly high level until 43, 44, 45.

Nakamura has another 10 years.

Okada? 15 years to go and he already has as many IWGP titles as Hashimoto. It's sickening to think about how many titles and G1's he will win.

Tana probably has another 5 yeas left at a top level. It won't be what it was (closing 7 Tokyo Dome shows in a row) but I fully expect he and Nakamura to switch roles. He'll still be protected and take precedance over everybody not named Nakamura & Okada (and maybe Ibushi if he gets smart and drops DDT). They'll do the official torch passing this year at WK10. But knowing Jado/Gedo, Tanahashi is gonna need to get his win back and we'll see Okada/Tana at WK11, cause why the fuck not?

It's gonna be these 3 (+Ibushi when he quits DDT) for a long time still. I am hesitant to even included AJ in that group because he's a gaijin and there is even a glass ceiling for him. I don't think he ever main events a Tokyo Dome show or wins a G1.


----------



## LilOlMe

I see your point about NJPW's old guys still being great. The thing is, they haven't had to carry the company on their back the way that Tanahashi has. He's going to get broken down soon, I fear.

Doesn't help that the fucker is always doing flips and shit on his back, which he shouldn't.

I totally agree about Nakamura and Tanahashi switching roles. That's what I see. 

Okada will be the most decorated & one of the biggest stars ever in Japan. Yes, they will push him for forever. This is not a bad thing, as NJPW desperately needs a young "Face of the generation" to build around.

I just am not as pessimistic about a new guy pushing through. I believe that this will happen with Ibushi, and I think Naito's G1 performance must have impressed them. They liked Naito to begin with, so he has that going for him.

You're probably right that there will be a glass ceiling with the Big 3 (4 now with AJ) occupying space, but I just feel that something's going to happen that forces them to push someone else. They might not let them get to that level, but they'll let them get pretty high up.

Again, it's crazy to me that companies don't see that the more people up top, the better.

And yes, they will drag the Okada/Tanhashi feud out. As they should, actually. I still think it makes perfect business sense to continue capitalizing on Tanahashi as top guy. I fucking couldn't stand how Hogan won everything and would never go away, but from a business sense, I get it.

They just need to not get in the Hogan rut of never building up people around him to carry the ball too.


ETA: I could definitely see AJ winning G1 if the stipulation of a Tokyo Dome main event wasn't attached to it, btw. He's over enough to, and I bet they're making a killing on the marketing, and they like the outside audience he brings.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> I see your point about NJPW's old guys still being great. The thing is, they haven't had to carry the company on their back the way that Tanahashi has. He's going to get broken down soon, I fear.
> 
> Doesn't help that the fucker is always doing flips and shit on his back, which he shouldn't.
> 
> I totally agree about Nakamura and Tanahashi switching roles. That's what I see.
> 
> Okada will be the most decorated & one of the biggest stars ever in Japan. Yes, they will push him for forever. This is not a bad thing, as NJPW desperately needs a youth to build around.
> 
> I just am not as pessimistic about a new guy pushing through. I believe that this will happen with Ibushi, and I think Naito's G1 performance must have impressed them. They liked Naito to begin with, so he has that going for him.
> 
> You're probably right that there will be a glass ceiling with the Big 3 (4 now with AJ) occupying space, but I just feel that something's going to happen that forces them to push someone else. They might not let them get to that level, but they'll let them get pretty high up.
> 
> Again, it's crazy to me that companies don't see that the more people up top, the better.
> 
> And yes, they will drag the Okada/Tanhashi feud out. As they should, actually. I still think it makes perfect business sense to continue capitalizing on Tanahashi as top guy. I fucking couldn't stand how Hogan won everything and would never go away, but from a business sense, I get it.
> 
> They just need to not get in the Hogan rut of never building up people around him to carry the ball too.
> 
> 
> ETA: I could definitely see AJ winning G1 if the stipulation of a Tokyo Dome main event wasn't attached to it, btw. He's over enough to, and I bet they're making a killing on the marketing, and they like the outside audience he brings.


He'll adjust his move set. He already has considering he used to do multiple High Fly Flows regularly, now he only really does it for big matches. We'll see the HFF to the outside disappear, and so on. The key thing for him is that he will no longer be asked to carry the company on his back at that level (it will be up to Okada). Tanahashi can pick and choose when to be big match Tana.

Regardless if he can go at a high level or not, if he can walk he will get top tier treatment. Look at how they treated Muta. 

He main evented a Tokyo Dome show as the Heavyweight Champion at 47. All he could do was wear a pimp coat and throw shinning wizards. That is the kind of legend & respect Tanahashi will be given (and he's earned it). The only thing that will happen to force them to make someone else a top guy is if one of them leaves the company (or something catastrophic happens to someone).

They're not gonna make another new top star any time soon (maybe Ibushi), because they literally just made one: Okada. The NJPW blueprint is to have 1-3 guys who are money, and ride them. They will ride Okada/Nakamura/Tanahashi until probably 2018. Then they'll ride Okada/Nakamura/Ibushi until 2022. Then it will be Okada/Ibushi/Komatsu or some young lion who's turning heads.

You're right: I am extremely pessimistic. Once you get passed the point where being over the moon for the big 3 isn't enough as a fan, it becomes no different then any other promotion. Like I wrote earlier, when I first started watching I read that it's a Tanahashi, Nakamura, and Okada world & everyone else is just living in it. I thought it was pessimistic of them because I had just fallen in love with Shibata and he came close to making the G1 Final (and beat Tana & Naka if memory serves) and a guy I was not familiar with named Naito won that G1. Thought for sure NJPW were gonna make new guys that I could like! Wrong. It's been almost 3 years, and they were dead on the money with their appraisal. All that glitters is not always gold.

as an aside, did anybody else notice a lot of empty seats tonight? 

For it being a final day of a G1 Block with 2 of their biggest guys featured, would've thought it would be sold out. They also apparently did not sell out a few of the shows earlier on, either.


----------



## LilOlMe

They are oversaturating the market by running too many shows in the same cities too close together.

However, those seats were box seats. Whoever designed the arena didn't think about how that would come off on camera.

I agree about them pushing Tanahashi with reverence, even if he's in a wheelchair. He'll be facing all of the young bucks in main events.

I actually think that you're right about the Big 3 the more I think about it. It's what's been going on, and it shows no sign of stopping. This tournament was the opportunity to make more stars, and they didn't do it.

They will let upsets happen, but they don't let anyone sustain momentum. They at least are trying to make Goto. But that goes to show you how silly they are in not pushing others. I really like Goto but he's not nearly as over as Ibushi or Shibata.

I'm defending the booking on some level, but I also know that watching it for years would probably make me want to tear my hair out on a booking level. That's how it goes. Redundancy always comes back to bite companies in the ass in the end, but the present gains are all that they can see. 

I still have a feeling that Ibushi's time is coming sooner than you think, though. He will be a main rival for Okada within the next two years. They probably won't put him over, but he'll be a big main event foe. They will also put him over AJ, and I do see him going over Nakamura. Just a feeling.


It's a shame that people's problem with Tanahashi winning is overshadowing allowing them to bask in what was just an incredible, incredible, match. I know how that is, but I just wish that the greatness of the match was getting appreciated more. Think it's _easily_ one of the best main event matches I've ever seen. 

Love that Styles was the first person to ever kick out of the Styles Clash, lol. 

lol at this:


> The older generation is mad about the Young Bucks and the younger generation is mad about Tanahashi. Welcome to Twitter in 2015


What did you think of Shibata/Gallows?


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe talking up Styles/Tanahashi like no tomorrow.  Can't wait to watch that one tonight. Knew from the beginning that Tanahashi would win, but why did Naito need to lose back-to-back? That sucks. Didn't think anything else on the card looked promising, which likely means I'll enjoy the whole thing. :lol

So now if they do a "3rd place" match, Styles is gonna face one of 4 people right? Okada, Nakamura, Goto, or Anderson. C'mon Goto!

Tanahashi vs. Nakamura in the final, you think?


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> *You're right: I am extremely pessimistic. Once you get passed the point where being over the moon for the big 3 and it isn't enough as a fan, it becomes no different then any other promotion.* Like I wrote earlier, when I first started watching I read that it's a Tanahashi, Nakamura, and Okada world & everyone else is just living in it. I thought it was pessimistic of them because I had just fallen in love with Shibata and he came close to making the G1 Final (and beat Tana & Naka if memory serves) and a guy I was not familiar with named Naito won that G1. Thought for sure NJPW were gonna make new guys that I could like! Wrong. It's been almost 3 years, and they were dead on the money with their appraisal. All that glitters is not always gold.


No, I totally get this, and 100% agree with the bolded. I think the worst part is that they get the hopes up of people. 

Because NJPW will more often than the WWE make someone look good and have their top guys lose, it gives people a false sense of hope of a push for their favorites.

Was Gedo around during Shibata's first run? If so, Shibata will never stand a chance under Gedo's leadership. Those dudes resent Shibata hard.




Jack Evans 187 said:


> LilOlMe talking up Styles/Tanahashi like no tomorrow.  Can't wait to watch that one tonight. Knew from the beginning that Tanahashi would win, but why did Naito need to lose back-to-back? That sucks. Didn't think anything else on the card looked promising, which likely means I'll enjoy the whole thing. :lol
> 
> So now if they do a "3rd place" match, Styles is gonna face one of 4 people right? Okada, Nakamura, Goto, or Anderson. C'mon Goto!
> 
> Tanahashi vs. Nakamura in the final, you think?


You're gonna do your "nothing above four stars" shit and I'm gonna kill you! :no:

I legit think it's crazy to even be below five stars. My heart won't take the severe differentials, lol. Those dudes who always rate everything mad low in the Puro thread are gonna be interesting to watch.

I thought that all of the tournament matches were worthwhile & quite good, except for Ibushi/Makabe, which was fine. I went in with not great expectations, and was so pleasantly surprised. 

Definitely one of my favorite nights. 

It's crazy to me how you & others don't care if you get spoiled. I mean, reading about exactly what happens doesn't lessen you viewing experience?


----------



## El Dandy

MOTN - Tanahashi/Styles

- *Gallows/Shibata:* Skip it. Probably Shibata's worst match of the G1. Crowd was pretty cold. Highlight was Shibata face washing the paint off of Gallows. Fuck this company for beating Shibata 4 straight times. My only hope is for this to lead to Shibata getting frustrated and taking his anger out on Goto at the tag league, thus setting up a match for Tokyo Dome between them again (Jado/Gedo love going to the well for water, so why not?)

- *Fale/YTR:* Skip it. It was a match. As was described perfectly on wooo, Yano did "video game tactics" to win and the noble brain finishes strong.

- *Tenzan/Naito:* Okay match. Not as good as Tenzan's previous 2 matches with Styles/Shibata, but not bad at all. You actually hear the *clonk* from Tenzan's headbutt to Naito; it was gross. The result of the last 2 Naito matches has really annoyed me. It's bullshit. Fuck this company.

- *Ibushi/Makabe:* It was a match I guess; not must see. A lot of leg work by Ibushi; was short. Sets up a potential NEVER title match between the 2 down the line.

- *Tanahashi/Styles:* Great, great match. Unlike all of their prior matches that underwhelmed me, this match was awesome. Why? *Because there was no Bullet Club falderal to take away from it.* They just let 2 masters go to work. Lots of big things to like (Tana using the Styles Clash again etc) and little things to like (Tana's desperation/retaliation low blow to Styles etc) about it.

Despite what we all already know is going to happen, Nakamura PLZ win tomorrow and Sunday.


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> You're gonna do your "nothing above four stars" shit and I'm gonna kill you! :no:
> 
> I legit think it's crazy to even be below five stars. My heart won't take the severe differentials, lol. Those dudes who always rate everything mad low in the Puro thread are gonna be interesting to watch.
> 
> I thought that all of the tournament matches were worthwhile & quite good, except for Ibushi/Makabe, which was fine. I went in with not great expectations, and was so pleasantly surprised.
> 
> Definitely one of my favorite nights.
> 
> It's crazy to me how you & others don't care if you get spoiled. I mean, reading about exactly what happens doesn't lessen you viewing experience?


If it makes any difference, I gave Styles/Tanahashi from King of Pro **** 1/4 last year, so there's definitely a chance I can go that high (or higher) again for this match. I ddin't actually read your entire post on the match. Skimmed a pragraph or two and seeing ***** obviously gave me the inkling that you loved it. 

I can virtually never go unspoiled on the tournament because the shows happen in the morning and I end up working throughout most of the day (1-10 today) and I end up watching at night around 11-12, so there's really no point in trying to stay unspoiled.

HOWEVER, for right now the Tanahashi and Naito matches are the only one I know results too. Although I think Shibata may have lost because of a reaction here. Idk. I'll be interested to see if Ibushi beat Makabe and if he did if that will lead to a NEVER Title match.

EDIT: Never mind, just read La Parka's post. Looks like Ibushi won. :lol


----------



## LilOlMe

@La Parka

Sleep on it, and then watch again when you're less pissed. I really can't imagine a world where _you_ won't appreciate that *Shibata/Gallows match*, of all people.

There were so many reasons why that match was good. Easily Shibata's best against the non-obvious people (Tanahashi, Ibushi, and Naito, obvs). 

Shibata really showed his versatility in this, and the ending was just sublime. 

It was such an un-Shibata like performance in a very good way. @Jack Evans 187, if you don't appreciate this side of Shibata, I don't know what to say. 


Also, the *Naito/Tenzan match* was really good and the storytelling was great. Stop being pissed!!! lol. Watch it again.

It was like Tanahashi/Naito, but obviously Tenzan ain't no Tana. He brought it, though. Thanks for mentioning the headbutts, because that bone on bone headbutt made me grab my face in horror. For real. 

The match was more compact than the Tanahashi/Naito match, which in some ways made it even more digestible.

Plus, Naito was the biggest dick ever in this match, which was just great. How can you not appreciate?

The way someone summarized it:


> This was interesting. The storyline here is that Naito was completely unimpressed with Tenzan leading to *and during the match*. So Tenzan is on offense for a lot of the match and Naito seems rather unimpressed despite being on defense, smirking and spitting at Tenzan whenever he had a chance. Naito made a comeback but Tenzan cut him off with a huge headbutt and locked in the anaconda vise, with Naito eventually tapping out. Great match in terms of storytelling, and the action was good as well.



*Yano/Fale* was fun. The way they ended it was great, and that Bad Luck Fall tease was great.


And *Tanahashi/Styles* was obviously the best thing ever in life, so there's that.









ETA: Added a bunch more stuff about each match.


----------



## Vårmakos

Apparently Ibushi challenged Makabe for the NEVER Openweight Championship after their match.


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> EDIT: Never mind, just read La Parka's post. Looks like Ibushi won. :lol


----------



## Vårmakos

It's unlikely that this actually happens, but if Ibushi were to win the Openweight Championship I would like to see him defend against Kenny Omega since the title isn't bound by weight restrictions. _Something _has to come of Omega's interference during Styles/Ibushi.


----------



## Corey

Vårmakos said:


> It's unlikely that this actually happens, but if Ibushi were to win the Openweight Championship I would like to see him defend against Kenny Omega since the title isn't bound by weight restrictions. _Something _has to come of Omega's interference during Styles/Ibushi.


Was literally thinking the same thing when reading about this. Either that or we get Ibushi vs. Ishii out of it. That would work for me too.


----------



## LilOlMe

For those who don't know the backstory of Tenzan/Naito, apparently Tenzan was mad about some negative comments that Naito made about him before the G1 press conference. Called him too old & old news and shit like that. Don't really remember exactly what.

I remember people saying that Tenzan spent his entire press conference time talking about that, and he also spent his entire post-Shibata match interview talking about Naito, lol.

So that's what that person meant when they wrote:


> The storyline here is that Naito was completely unimpressed with Tenzan leading to and during the match.


That's exactly what they conveyed during the entire match. Naito just disrespectful and cavalier as hell, even while getting beaten down, and Tenzan out on a "f you, this old dog's still got it, you little punk" mission.

Loved the part where Tenzan went for the slam while having Naito in the submission hold, but couldn't do it. Usually it happens.


----------



## Lazyking

I feel like Tana will break down in a few years, he can't keep up this pace. He's in phenomenal shape but I doubt he'll be at a top level at 45.. by that time, he'll probably get one main event or so a year. 

The lack of new stars does frustrate me but i feel like New Japan will always find someone when they need them. Its too bad they couldn't find a foil for Okada that is his age because when he's 35, in his prime, he won't have that guy he came up with that's also a major draw. Most of the guys are in their prime and so burned that they likely won't be IWGP champ for various reasons.. Its kinda like WWE's midcard where everyone just stays in their role while another young guy blows past them.... to either the main event or come back down.

I'm also anxious for them to a pull the trigger on their young lions... and people like Tama Tonga can be more for example than they are.


----------



## LilOlMe

Great post, @Lazy King. When I'm not on my phone I'll "like" it.

if they booked this recently, there is a real chance that Nakamura might win this whole thing. I've said before that they might hold off on the passing of the torch moment until WK11. 

The rationale would be why not let Nakamura have his run while he's at the height of his popularity? And why rush the passing of the torch when Tanahashi is still crazy over, and still performing at the top of his game?

Of course this requires foresight, and a half year ago they may not have had this perspective. I feel like they would now, but some people are incapable of not sticking in the mud...sticking to the original plan. Gedo strikes me as this type.

I feel the original plan was always Okada/Tana and Nakamura/Styles at Tokyo Dome.


----------



## Lazyking

its strange to me that Nakamura hasn't gotten another run in awhile.. I do think he's the next champion but I see that happening at Invasion Attacks.


----------



## boxing1836

Damn that aj tanashi match, that was a 5 star if ive ever seen one. great great match.


----------



## seabs

*"5,658 Fans". Ouch. That's really bad for them and it's not like they've done great numbers in Sumo Hall with back to back nights before. 8,200 and 11,500 in 2013 for Tanahashi/Okada followed by the final day. If Nakamura/Okada tomorrow is similar then that's going to hurt a lot.

Tanahashi/AJ was brilliant btw. Easily the best match this G1. Leg work would normally put me off because it wasn't really sold but they dedicated enough time to it that it didn't massive selling and worked perfectly as a ***** both created that could serve as a turning point if either went back to it later on. Tanahashi's low blow spot ruled. Hot crowd plus watching unspoiled helps a lot too, especially when they get the finishing stretch so spot on. 

So Okada wins and loses to Tanahashi to set up Wrestle Kingdom where he finally beats him at Tokyo Dome. Nice story. Probably get Styles/Nakamura too on the last night. *


----------



## RyanPelley

Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here:


----------



## Sephiroth

Oh look, AJ Styles having the best match of the whole G1 tournament...color me shocked. Too bad it wasn't Styles/Suzuki 2.


----------



## Zatiel

Obviously it's an enormous bummer seeing Festus beat Shibata. But that was also as good a Festus match as we could ever ask for! Shibata wrestled perfectly around him, able to counter or tweak offense for whenever Festus slowed down, and selling like he was badly stunned by any of his big blows. Few technical wrestlers could adapt that sharply around a plodding power guy.


----------



## LilOlMe

Seabs said:


> *Hot crowd plus watching unspoiled helps a lot too, especially when they get the finishing stretch so spot on. *


Yeah, I feel that anyone watching it spoiled won't appreciate it as much, because then the focus is much less on the suspense of the match, and more on the inconsequential stuff. For a match like this, the drama & suspense was pivotal to it. 

So glad it's one of the few matches I got to watch live.

ETA: Could the fact that the show was on a work day have to do with the lower ticket sales?


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 16:

*Karl Anderson vs. Yujiro Takahashi - *
Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Elgin - ***1/2
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Satoshi Kojima - ***
Kazuchika Okada vs. Yuji Nagata - ***3/4
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma - ***1/2*

Overall Day 16 was good. Nagata/Okada was fucking awesome.

Day 17:

*Katsuyori Shibata vs. Doc Gallows - *1/2
Bad Luck Fale vs. Toru Yano - *1/4
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - *1/4
Kota Ibushi vs. Togi Makabe - *1/2
AJ Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - ***3/4*

Overall Day 17 was pretty bad. Styles/Tana, while it is the weakest of their NJPW matches IMO, saved it from being really bad.


----------



## DoubtGin

From reddit regarding tomorrow:



> FINALS SCENARIOS
> Okada beats Nakamura = Okada wins B Block
> 
> Okada & Nakamura tie = Okada wins B Block
> 
> Nakamura beats Okada:
> 
> Anderson & Goto both lose their matches = Nakamura wins B Block
> Anderson wins, Goto loses = Okada wins B Block
> Goto wins, Anderson loses = Nakamura wins B Block
> Anderson & Goto both win = Anderson wins B Block


Anderson winning, Goto losing won't happen because that'd mean the main event doesn't even matter. Neither will both win because that'd seriously halter the excitement for the main event as everyone knows Anderson isn't going to win the block (I know it happened in 2010 but I don't see much sense in it happening now). So Anderson will most likely lose tomorrow, otherwise Nakamura wouldn't be able to be at the top despite the result of his match. Goto winning/losing wouldn't make any difference then. Not sure about the order but Goto being first makes the most sense.

So I think Anderson will lose and Goto will win. Not sure who will come ahead in the main event. The scenario Seabs presented above makes sense, but I can also see Nakamura beating Okada.


----------



## El Dandy

*My top whatever G1 matches:*

1. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
2. Day 17: Tanahashi/Styles
3. Day 16: Ishii/Honma
4. Day 13: Shibata/Tanahashi
5. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
6. Day 14: Goto/Ishii
7. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
8. Day 1: Styles/Shibata

No doubt Meltz gives Tana/Styles at least ****3/4 if not the full 5. It is same tier as Ibushi/Shibata for me, but I just simply enjoyed Ibushi/Shibata more. Love love love it when guys step up and try to take on Shibata at his own game.

I would say my MVP of A Block is either Shibata or Styles, with YTR coming in third (fight me about it). The way they've marginalized Naito the last 2 Block days takes him out of that mix for me. It practically undoes all the great shit Naito did. Having him L to Doc Gallows. It's one thing for Shibata to lose to Gallows because it was just a match and shit happens, but Naito is now character driven. He was presented as a top heel for the 1st half of the G1.. and you let like the #6 guy in Bullet Club eliminate him. 

What makes it even more perplexing is that he actually beat the BC #1 Styles! It's the equivalent in 98 WCW if someone beat Hollywood Hogan, but then got pinned by Bryan Adams. Why?! Cause parity? For fucks sake, Jado/Gedo.

EDIT: I'll quit being pissy about it after Sunday when the G1 is over


----------



## Miguel De Juan

La Parka said:


> *My top whatever G1 matches:*
> 
> 1. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
> 2. Day 17: Tanahashi/Styles
> 3. Day 16: Ishii/Honma
> 4. Day 13: Shibata/Tanahashi
> 5. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
> 6. Day 14: Goto/Ishii
> 7. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
> 8. Day 1: Styles/Shibata
> 
> No doubt Meltz gives Tana/Styles at least ****3/4 if not the full 5. It is same tier as Ibushi/Shibata for me, but I just simply enjoyed Ibushi/Shibata more. Love love love it when guys step up and try to take on Shibata at his own game.
> 
> I would say my MVP of A Block is either Shibata or Styles, with YTR coming in third (fight me about it). The way they've marginalized Naito the last 2 Block days takes him out of that mix for me. It practically undoes all the great shit Naito did. Having him L to Doc Gallows. It's one thing for Shibata to lose to Gallows because it was just a match and shit happens, but Naito is now character driven. He was presented as a top heel for the 1st half of the G1.. and you let like the #6 guy in Bullet Club eliminate him. Fuck Jado/Gedo.


Naito still has nuclear heat, so your complaint really makes no sense at all.


----------



## El Dandy

Miguel De Juan said:


> Naito still has nuclear heat, so your complaint really makes no sense at all.


but what do you honestly think they're gonna do with said nuclear heat?

Want to see how top heels are presented and protected? Go look at AJ Styles when he came aboard. This guy has lost to I *think* only 4 people since he came to NJPW: Naito, Tana, Okada, and Ibushi.

This G1 alone they beat Naito with Shibata (fine with it), Makabe (eh, fine I guess. eh), Gallows and Tenzan. Now, I'm not saying Naito has to be undefeated and just kill everybody, but you just don't beat (or even worse: eliminate) your hottest heel act at the hands of a Doc Gallows.

I don't even have a problem with Tenzan beating him. It would have been 1000x more beneficial for everybody involved had he been the one to spoil Naito. Naito gets eliminated because he didn't take Tenzan that seriously? Sounds awesome and in line with with Naito.

and again, I know everybody beats everybody when you're on the 2nd tier. That's why nobody is gonna crack the Big 4 (+ Ibushi once he quits DDT). 

Naito is the same 2nd tier guy he always was, just a different character (which sucks, because most of us believe he can be a top heel for 2016 and maybe have a shot at being a Tier 1 guy). It's not gonna get much better for Naito because Tana will 100% get his win back in the next few months when he defends the Tokyo Dome title shot against him (which Tana should absolutely beat him. It just kinda negates Naito's big win over Tana in the G1. More even-steven booking where nobody gains a thing).

I'm becoming a broken record at this point with my butthurt. I hope I'm dead wrong and Naito has a big 2016 and can be a challenger for the HW title at some point. I'm a new-ish fan, but I'm not new enough to just accept everything as awesome.


----------



## amhlilhaus

La Parka said:


> Miguel De Juan said:
> 
> 
> 
> Naito still has nuclear heat, so your complaint really makes no sense at all.
> 
> 
> 
> but what do you honestly think they're gonna do with said nuclear heat?
> 
> Want to see how top heels are presented and protected? Go look at AJ Styles when he came aboard. This guy has lost to I *think* only 4 people since he came to NJPW: Naito, Tana, Okada, and Ibushi.
> 
> This G1 alone they beat Naito with Shibata (fine with it), Gallows and Tenzan. Now, I'm not saying Naito has to be undefeated and just kill everybody, but you just don't beat (or even worse: eliminate) your hottest heel act at the hands of a Doc Gallows.
> 
> I don't even have a problem with Tenzan beating him. It would have been 1000x more beneficial for everybody involved had he been the one to spoil Naito. Naito gets eliminated because he didn't take Tenzan that seriously? Sounds awesome and in line with with Naito.
> 
> and again, I know everybody beats everybody when you're on the 2nd tier. That's why nobody is gonna crack the Big 4 (+ Ibushi once he quits DDT).
> 
> Naito is the same 2nd tier guy he always was, just a different character (which sucks, because most of us believe he can be a top heel for 2016 and maybe have a shot at being a Tier 1 guy). It's not gonna get much better for Naito because Tana will 100% get his win back in the next few months when he defends the Tokyo Dome title shot against him.
> 
> I'm becoming a broken record at this point with my butthurt. I hope I'm dead wrong and Naito has a big 2016 and can be a challenger for the HW title at some point. I'm a new-ish fan, but I'm not new enough to just accept everything as awesome.
Click to expand...

Naito has struggled to get crowd involvement. He has it now. Naito is also one of the youngest upper tier guys. They will have to go with a big push for him soon. Both tanahashi and nakamura don't have much time left on top. Naito has big things coming.


----------



## Corey

As much as it sucks that Naito's victories over the big names ended up meaning virtually nothing, I still feel like they have big plans for him the future. Could he be the one who unseats Goto for the IC Title? That's ideally what I'd like to see happen (but after a longer reign with more defenses from Goto). Really though I feel like there's a few guys who deserve a shot based on some G1 victories and their overall performances. Naito being at the top of the line, then AJ so he can be the only gaijin to hold both those belts, Karl Anderson, or even Fale. Essentially I just wanna see more Goto. 

@La Parka , just out of curiosity what makes you so sure they wanna catapult Ibushi into that big of a role in the future? You keep saying the big three +1 and I just find it interesting. You think he would jump over Goto, Shibata, & Naito based on his look or maybe his age?

Day 17 is taking too long to download right now...


----------



## Corey

Day 17 was an overall mixed bag. It luckily started well and and ended well though.

*Gallows vs. Shibata* was a pretty nice little match. Shibata rubbing off Doc's face paint and then him doing the same thing later in the match was pretty cool. Gallows is a better worker than people give him credit for, but my lord he overuses that Kane throat punch. If your go-to strike and your essential cut off move are both the same thing and so incredibly basic, then you need to find something else in your arsenal. Only complaint I have though because Shibata was great in this and I loved that triangle choke counter after the lazy pin. That actually would've been a perfect finish if he kept it locked and Gallows had to tap. Not sure why he decided to let go in the first place. Looked like it was definitely working. Gallows has had a solid run this G1 with the short matches. *****

Fale vs. Yano went like two minutes, so yeah. How the hell did Tonga's glasses fly off after the low blow? :lol

*Naito vs. Tenzan* looked very promising in the beginning with strong performances from both guys but I think the longer it went the less creative they became. I was honestly really disgusted by the amount of times Naito spit at him. Like it was too fucking much to the point where Tenzan should've been _really_ pissed off... but he wasn't. Those two specific headbutts he hit where you could hear the thud were GROSSLY awesome. And did red shoes actually stomp Naito? That's great. :lol Had no problem with the finish if Tenzan absolutely had to win. So many damn headbutts. I just felt like the match sputtered in out of being good and average because Tenzan is so so incredibly limited and Naito's character performance went a little _too_ far with the spitting. *Someone please fucking tell me why on earth we did not see Naito counter the standing anaconda vice with the Destino?* That would've been the legit perfect finish. UGH

Makabe with his leg wrapped! Injury continuity! :mark: Too bad I wasn't feeling this match much at all. It's pretty much all Ibushi. Kicks him in the leg about 40 times. Dumb old Makabe thinks he can do his spider german when in reality that DESTROYS your knee cartilage. This is the 2nd match that I can remember seeing Ibushi win in this G1 with the Phoenix Splash and it has felt so meaningless. Like here he just goes up and hits it and it's over. There's no build for it. No suspense. Look at Neville's Red Arrow. When that's about to come, you know it. The crowd knows it. He builds towards the moment. Ibushi just goes up at regular speed and hits the move. It literally evokes no reaction out of me, which is the exact feeling I got when he beat AJ with it. Just felt random. One positive coming out of this is that Ibushi knew coming into the match that Makabe was hurt and he used it to his advantage to get the win. If these two do end up fighting for the NEVER Openweight Title, Makabe will be 100% and it'll be a totally different match. Not sure if I see Ibushi coming out on top of that one. He might just get his ass whipped. haha

@LilOlMe , you'll like this next part.

Where the hell do you even begin with *Styles vs. Tanahashi*? Whatever combination you put with Tanahashi in the Final is NOT gonna be able to top this all time classic. This is really one of those matches where you just continue to watch and let the story unfold and you just KNOW you're witnessing something special. A classic tale of 'anything you can do, I can do better.' The dueling leg destruction, the finisher stealing, the low blow returns, etc. AJ getting his heel heat back! What a great touch that was. Kinda forgot he was a heel there for a while. I still don't even know what else to say about this cause it was just so damn good. I'm just rambling. Those dragon screws in the last couple minutes were fuckin nasty. Felt like I witnessed an all time performance from Tanahashi. Where does this rank on his list? How great was AJ too? How the fuck is B Block gonna top this tomorrow? I already knew the result but I still lost my mind at the nearfalls and submission sequences. How fucking good was the selling too? Tanahashi grabbing red shoes and then LEAPING to the rope and laying there like he just used his last ounce of energy was increeeeeedible. Then Styles trying to hang on for dear life to the top rope while Tanahashi wants to get him in the Styles Clash. Fantastic. Yeah so this incredible and AJ Styles is without a doubt my WOTY now after this performance. I'm a bit gun shy, so let's go with ***** 3/4*


----------



## RyanPelley

How long until Day 18 starts?


----------



## flag sabbath

As of this post, 2hrs 45mins


----------



## Miguel De Juan

La Parka said:


> but what do you honestly think they're gonna do with said nuclear heat?
> 
> Want to see how top heels are presented and protected? Go look at AJ Styles when he came aboard. This guy has lost to I *think* only 4 people since he came to NJPW: Naito, Tana, Okada, and Ibushi.
> 
> This G1 alone they beat Naito with Shibata (fine with it), Makabe (eh, fine I guess. eh), Gallows and Tenzan. Now, I'm not saying Naito has to be undefeated and just kill everybody, but you just don't beat (or even worse: eliminate) your hottest heel act at the hands of a Doc Gallows.
> 
> I don't even have a problem with Tenzan beating him. It would have been 1000x more beneficial for everybody involved had he been the one to spoil Naito. Naito gets eliminated because he didn't take Tenzan that seriously? Sounds awesome and in line with with Naito.
> 
> and again, I know everybody beats everybody when you're on the 2nd tier. That's why nobody is gonna crack the Big 4 (+ Ibushi once he quits DDT).
> 
> Naito is the same 2nd tier guy he always was, just a different character (which sucks, because most of us believe he can be a top heel for 2016 and maybe have a shot at being a Tier 1 guy). It's not gonna get much better for Naito because Tana will 100% get his win back in the next few months when he defends the Tokyo Dome title shot against him (which Tana should absolutely beat him. It just kinda negates Naito's big win over Tana in the G1. More even-steven booking where nobody gains a thing).
> 
> I'm becoming a broken record at this point with my butthurt. I hope I'm dead wrong and Naito has a big 2016 and can be a challenger for the HW title at some point. I'm a new-ish fan, but I'm not new enough to just accept everything as awesome.


Not saying everything is awesome. But NJPW booking is not really that bad. They are lacking in places in the tag divisions but overall they deliver good and solid shows.

They were in such a terrible place in the early to mid 2000s and people forget this. They have been profitable since 2012.

All the shit has been with the nwa guys who, except for Conway, Owens, and Bruce, sucked.

A bunch of guys are injured, locked up in other Japanese companies, or excursion. They are limited in what they can do but this is a problem created earlier in the decade.

DDT and Dragon Gate are getting a lot of the fresh young talent due to NJPW's early mistakes.

It's gonna be awhile before things change.


----------



## El Dandy

Jack Evans 187 said:


> @La Parka , just out of curiosity what makes you so sure they wanna catapult Ibushi into that big of a role in the future? You keep saying the big three +1 and I just find it interesting. You think he would jump over Goto, Shibata, & Naito based on his look or maybe his age?
> 
> Day 17 is taking too long to download right now...


For me, it's a mixture of his acceptance by the fans, overness, and the fact that they allowed him to move to heavyweight.

He's only like 32, but it just seems pretty rare you see a prominent junior at that stage make a successful transition to heavyweight.

As it is, the only guy in history to be both JR HW champ and HW champ was Takada. Not Devitt (although, had he stayed he would've at some point), not Liger, not Otani.

When Ibushi moved to heavyweight, they immediately put him in a big spot against Nakamura, had him semi-main Tokyo Dome, and gave him the NJC. I think it was 2 fold: present Ibushi as a guy who can hang with the best and also dangle a carrot in front of him to fully work for NJPW. Even when he won the NJC, I thought they'd cop out and have him challenge Nakamura for the IC in a rematch. Nope, they put him with AJ for the HW. He did all of that in just his first 6 months as a heavyweight.

To me and others, it's a give-in that he'll be a top guy for them. He won't do quite as much as the Big 3, but he can easily be at AJ's level. If I were a betting man, I would bet Ibushi becomes the 2nd guy to win both the HW & JRHW titles and 1st to win the G1 and BOSJ.

As has been written, the only thing that's stopping him is that he's still working for DDT. Just get the sense that Jado/Gedo really believe in Ibushi and want to make Ibushi a top guy, but need a complete commitment from him first.


----------



## Insomnia

Maria! :mark:


----------



## RyanPelley

Gallows face paint is freaky tonight.


----------



## DoubtGin

Shibata just killed Naito

and Tana getting the pin in those tag matches


----------



## Insomnia

Mao! :mark:


----------



## RyanPelley

Damn, Mao is bae! And my dude Yujiro is just too cool.


----------



## El Dandy

Honma about to go on the huge winning streak :mark:

EDIT: GEDDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


----------



## Insomnia

NastyYaffa said:


>


----------



## RyanPelley

Holy shit.....


----------



## DoubtGin

sick match


----------



## RyanPelley

What. A. Match. I thought Ishii was legit fucked up after that Powerbomb to the guard rail. Glad to see him pick up the win, but bravo to both guys. Just awesome!


----------



## El Dandy

Lord Nagata
:sundin


----------



## SHIRLEY

HONMA :mj2 :mj2 :mj2


----------



## DoubtGin

Goto's opponents always seem to get cheered. 

Nagata being awesome doesn't obviously help.


----------



## DoubtGin

YES NAGATA WOON


----------



## Insomnia

*Never Alone.*


----------



## El Dandy

Anti Aging Hero 

:sundin


----------



## DoubtGin

With Goto losing, however, Anderson can't win G1 anymore.

So now, whats possible:

FINALS SCENARIOS
Okada beats Nakamura = Okada wins B Block
Okada & Nakamura tie = Okada wins B Block

Nakamura beats Okada:

Anderson & Goto both lose their matches = Nakamura wins B Block
Anderson wins, Goto loses = Okada wins B Block

Anderson winning makes no sense here because then Okada would have won his block already, so he's going to lose.


----------



## RyanPelley

Ahh man, this is about to be amazing.


----------



## El Dandy

Nakamura/Okada in winner take all for B Block! Who'd a thunk it?!

PLZ win Nakamura


----------



## DoubtGin

La Parka said:


> Nakamura/Okada in winner take all for B Block! Who'd a thunk it?!
> 
> PLZ win Nakamura


In hindsight, this should have been so obvious after just going through the schedule


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> No doubt Meltz gives Tana/Styles at least ****3/4 if not the full 5. It is same tier as Ibushi/Shibata for me, but I just simply enjoyed Ibushi/Shibata more. Love love love it when guys step up and try to take on Shibata at his own game.


He has mentioned that people were raving to him about it, including someone who was there live.

However, he heard the result without watching it yet. He probably will still go the full five, I hope, but I'd feel more confident in that if he watched it live without being spoiled. It's exactly the type of match he'd give the full five to watching it live.



La Parka said:


> I would say my MVP of A Block is either Shibata or Styles, with YTR coming in third (fight me about it). The way they've marginalized Naito the last 2 Block days takes him out of that mix for me. It practically undoes all the great shit Naito did.


I was thinking about my match ratings.

Shibata:
vs. Tanahashi ****1/2 - ****3/4
vs. Ibushi ****1/2
vs. Styles ****
vs. Naito **** (this went way up on re-watch since everyone was praising it)
vs. Gallows ***1/2
vs. Tenzan ***1/4
vs. Fale ***
vs. Yano LOLWhatev. Fun for what it was.
vs. Makabe ***


Tanahashi 
vs. Styles *****
vs. Shibata ****1/2 - ****3/4
vs. Ibushi ****1/2
vs. Naito ****1/4
vs. Bad Luck Fale ***3/4
vs. Yano ***1/4
vs. Tenzan ***
vs. Makabe ***1/4 but I liked the Tenzan match better 
vs. Gallows **1/2 - **3/4


Naito
vs. Tanahashi ****1/4
vs. Shibata ****
vs. Ibushi ****ish (need to rewatch this)
vs. Styles ***3/4ish
vs. Tenzan ***1/2
vs. Makabe ***1/4
vs. Gallows **1/2 - **3/4
vs. Yano Don't remember
vs. Fale No

Styles
vs. Tanahashi *****
vs. Shibata ****
vs. Naito ***3/4ish
vs. Ibushi ?
vs. Bad Luck Fale ***1/2 - ***3/4
vs. Yano ***1/2
vs. Tenzan ***1/4
vs. Makabe Don't remember this at all?
vs. Doc Gallows under three

Ibushi
vs. Shibata ****1/2
vs. Tanahashi ****1/2
vs. Naito ****ish
vs. Gallows ***1/2
vs. Tenzan *** - ***1/4
vs. Styles ?
vs. Fale don't remember, but I wasn't that high on it
vs. Makabe **3/4
vs. Yano LOL

For me. I think that Tanahashi has had the highest high points. I've really loved five of his matches, which is quite high. This may make him the tournament MVP. And even in the matches I wasn't that high on, he still performed well in them. He wasn't the problem at all. 

Styles & Shibata have been the most consistent in terms of nearly always having quality matches, even when having to drag around their opponents. I've loved the way they've structured their matches.

Styles, I think, has had the most consistently fun moments too.

Ibushi started as pure fire. They stopped making him important, but he had a great showing anyway, especially in the first half.

Naito's character has been aces and a revelation. 

I honestly don't really care about B block. Found A block way more exciting. 




Jack Evans 187 said:


> @La Parka , just out of curiosity what makes you so sure they wanna catapult Ibushi into that big of a role in the future? You keep saying the big three +1 and I just find it interesting. You think he would jump over Goto, Shibata, & Naito based on his look or maybe his age?


To add my comments on this.

Don't know if you've been reading, but the other wrestlers resent Shibata for leaving NJPW when it was low. They WERE gonna push him again when he came back. The CEO was a huge fan of Shibata's and wanted to push him again pretty quickly (he was scheduled to go over at WK 2013, and be given a huge push after that). Tanahashi & Nakamura were unhappy about this, and supposedly there was almost a revolt. The guy ended up resigning in part over this.

This is why Shibata will never be pushed, especially if Gedo was a wrestler who was around during Shibata's first run (have to look this up). He probably holds the same view as the other wrestlers do.

I thought maybe the feelings would die down, but considering what happened this G1 tournament, I guess not.

It's obvious anyway, with the way they ship him off into tag teams. 

I've also read that Shibata is not fully signed to NJPW, but I don't know how true that is. Can't find info. If it's true, that's probably another reason they won't push him.

Yep, just looked it up, and on Wiki at least, it says that he's a freelancer.

Ibushi being pushed over Goto...they're trying to push Goto right now! I just think they view Ibushi as having more upside because he's younger, has a more eye-catching style, and youth & women will like him.

But they like Goto, and have been giving him a push. I just don't think he'll ever break the glass ceiling like Ibushi might, because he'll never be as over as Ibushi, IMO.

Naito they like and already have tried to make. He won the G1 tournament, and IIRC, was scheduled to main event Tokyo Dome. Some fans rejected the push. But the office likes him, and this is why I think and hope they will push him again.

FWIW, on NJPW World, the only documentaries on there besides of the big 3 are:
Naito
Ibushi

That should tell you something about who they view as important and want to push, I think.

I'll respond to your post about last night's show in another post.


ETA: Ibushi is 33, not 32. Naito's also 33. So even their young guys are not so young. The youngest is Okada at 27, and then there's a big jump.


----------



## El Dandy

this match is boring the piss out of me

PLZ turn it up


----------



## El Dandy

If Nakamura doesn't reverse the Rainmaker into the spinning armbar....


----------



## Insomnia

Dat Dropkick!


----------



## RyanPelley

YESSSSSSSSS!


----------



## DoubtGin

Nakamura wins !!!

Match was not as good as I hoped, but I still liked it a great deal.


----------



## ShadowSucks92

That match in my opinion, was absolutely amazing, by far and wide my match of the year


----------



## El Dandy

B Block Final Day thoughts

*Honma/Yujiro* - Arrived just in time to watch Homna get fucked. I have reason to believe it sucked because Yujiro. Also, FUCK GEDO. Honma finally wins and has positive momentum, and they just poured a bucket of water over it. Not that Honma was gonna be a player, but a NEVER title run would've been nice. Maybe they just figure he was over because of the streak. w/e.

*Ishii/Elgin* - This match ruled. The 2 MVP's of B Block deliver a great match. Only thing I really disliked is when Ishii countered the Power Bomb attempt into a reverse tombstone looking thing, Elgin got up before Ishii. You just got dropped on your head in a devastating looking move; stay down a lil longer m8.

*Goto/Nagata* - Good match. Crowd was kind of dead. Goto continues to be presented as a big baby face, but always gets out cheered by his opponent. Great to see Nagata pick up a meaningful win and spoil Goto. Nagata deserves an award for his rib selling all G1 long. I know it's not selling if you're legit hurt, but he never wore any tape and I never saw any bruising, so I thought it was just world class selling from a legend.

*Anderson/Kojima* - Was a match.

*Nakamura/Okada* - This was boring as piss up until the outside spot where Okada broke the count. Finishing sequence was nice and love the finish. Liked Nakamura selling to a point where he dropped to a knee trying to give an elbow strike. One thing I always admire with any armbar spot is when the guy receiving it locks his hands. Despise when the receiver just waves his free arm around for 30 seconds while trying to build tension for the tap out/rope break. It ruins the believability of the move. Thank god Nakamura won. That being said, this match was probably a full star less than their match from the last G1.

MOTN - Elgin/Ishii and it's not even close IMO. These guys killed it and the crowd was as hot as it got all night.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

Pretty boring g1 this year. Alot of good matches but no match made me go wow that was amazing. I still remember the day I watched Nakamura/Ibushi from wk or Zayn/Cesaro from arrival. Id take one match of that caliber over 5-6 great ones and a bunch of good ones. If I could get one match that gave me chills and the rest of the tournament sucked I would be way happier because none of these matches brough out alot of emotion in me. Shibata/Ibushi was my favorite and I enjoyed it but it just didnt have me on the edge of my seat. Also Nakamura/Okada was very underwhelming.

Even Sasha/Becky from unstoppable was more enjoyable to me then any match of this g1. Maybe im not seing what all of you and meltzer are seing when you rate these matches 4,5 or higher.


----------



## NastyYaffa

So tomorrow we have...

Tanahashi/Nakamura
Styles/Okada
Ricochet/KUSHIDA
reDRagon/Bucks
+ more

Potential show of the year. :banderas


----------



## El Dandy

Jonasolsson96 said:


> Pretty boring g1 this year. Alot of good matches but no match made me go wow that was amazing. I still remember the day I watched Nakamura/Ibushi from wk or Zayn/Cesaro from arrival. Id take one match of that caliber over 5-6 great ones and a bunch of good ones. If I could get one match that gave me chills and the rest of the tournament sucked I would be way happier because none of these matches brough out alot of emotion in me. Shibata/Ibushi was my favorite and I enjoyed it but it just didnt have me on the edge of my seat. Also Nakamura/Okada was very underwhelming.
> 
> Even Sasha/Becky from unstoppable was more enjoyable to me then any match of this g1. Maybe im not seing what all of you and meltzer are seing when you rate these matches 4,5 or higher.


I'm not big for stars, but I only have 2 from this G1 at ****1/2 : Ibushi/Shibata & Tanahashi/Styles (maybe Elgin/Ishii. I need to sit on it and watch it again cause I over appraise when it is fresh).

Honma/Ishii was awesome for the story and for the moment. In a vacuum by itself, it was just p good.

There were a fuck ton of good *** to **** matches, though. The problem is that, because there were so many spread out over the last month, they blend together and don't stick out.

This G1 taking place over a month really killed the awesome standard the last 2 G1's set. B Block sucked for the first half of the shows, and A Block sucked for the last half of the shows. Guys like Ishii didn;t really kick it in until the last half cause he was saving himself. Same for guys like Tenzan (although, Tenzan rising to the occasion at all is remarkable. Kudos to him). These guys were running a 30 day marathon, not a 14 day sprint, so naturally they shaved a little bit early on to save it for later.

Although, if not for this new format we would not have just seen Nakamura win B Block, so there's that.


----------



## Jonasolsson96

La Parka said:


> I'm not big for stars, but I only have 2 from this G1 at ****1/2 : Ibushi/Shibata & Tanahashi/Styles.
> 
> Honma/Ishii was awesome for the story and for the moment. In a vacuum by itself, it was just p good.
> 
> There were a fuck ton of good *** to **** matches, though. The problem is that, because there were so many spread out over the last month, they blend together and don't stick out.



I didnt watch the entire tournament maybe 10-12 matches and that were the matches that got high praise like ishii/goto, tanahashi/shibata, shibata/ibushi, ibushi/styles etc etc. I did not find any of those matches to grab my attention and I love puro its my favorite style by far. I just sat there and thought to myself ok this match is good you know what I mean? I could probably name 3 matches from ultima lucha that were better then any match this entire tournament. Vampiro/Pentagon smoked any match this tournament by leaps and bounds. The storytelling got me hooked despite not watching lucha underground prior to that event and not being familiar with pentagon at all and only knowing vampiro from reading on wikipedia. I watch njpw regularly and know every single guy on that rosters history yet I did not feel.much emotion during any of the matches. Weird. The storytelling was very weak aside from Naito who did a good job aswell as Shibata and as far as the actual matches the stuff was repetetive. The lockup. The cleanbreaks. The trading blows and goofy "fighting spirit" selling. I thought the stuff was weak period. No match felt like it had much meaning. I didnt feel like winning was important which might be the reason I didnt enjoy it since its no title matches.


----------



## Morrison17

watched day 17

fuck you tanahashi. aj deserved that win and it would actually be interesting.

nakamura is the only hope now


----------



## El Dandy

Jonasolsson96 said:


> I didnt watch the entire tournament maybe 10-12 matches and that were the matches that got high praise like ishii/goto, tanahashi/shibata, shibata/ibushi, ibushi/styles etc etc. I did not find any of those matches to grab my attention and I love puro its my favorite style by far. I just sat there and thought to myself ok this match is good you know what I mean? I could probably name 3 matches from ultima lucha that were better then any match this entire tournament. Vampiro/Pentagon smoked any match this tournament by leaps and bounds. The storytelling got me hooked despite not watching lucha underground prior to that event and not being familiar with pentagon at all and only knowing vampiro from reading on wikipedia. I watch njpw regularly and know every single guy on that rosters history yet I did not feel.much emotion during any of the matches. Weird. The storytelling was very weak aside from Naito who did a good job aswell as Shibata and as far as the actual matches the stuff was repetetive. The lockup. The cleanbreaks. The trading blows and goofy "fighting spirit" selling. I thought the stuff was weak period. No match felt like it had much meaning. I didnt feel like winning was important which might be the reason I didnt enjoy it since its no title matches.


Yeah, I blew my load early on certain matches (general G1 hype for the first 5 shows probably).

Think it just depends on the praise. When you see high praise, you just treat it as a recommendation to watch. It doesn't mean you'll love it, but it is still probably a good match at minimum.

I don't think there were really any putrid/offensive matches in this G1 (save for Gallows/Tenzan) or matches that get incorrectly touted per se, just that it can range from good-to-great depending on your view.

IMO, maybe the only match that gets incorrectly touted is Tanahashi/Ibushi. I was hyped at first about it, but reading the critiques and watching it again.. it has fallen off the map for me and others. Still good, but I don't know if I agree with anything higher than **** (I probably go ***3/4 myself).

As you wrote, there were probably 30-40 matches from this G1 where you could watch and say "that was good. ok." 2 matches stuck out above the rest for this G1 for me. If I were to put them against the best from G1 23/24, they would be towards the bottom of the list I suppose. Fuck, there is a chance the best match from this G1 is KUSHIDA/Rico, and they're not even in it.

I think you nailed it by saying there was really no emotion for this G1. That's because it was narrowed down to Tanahashi/Okada/Nakamura/Styles immediately upon schedule release, and for story reasons everybody knew it was down to really either Nakamura or Tanahashi (and looky here: those 2 are in the final). Really wish they would stop the "winner gets a title shot @ Tokyo Dome" gimmick. It eliminates the field immediately to maybe 5 guys. I don't even think the G1 winner has ever won at Tokyo Dome since the title shot was instituted.

Yes, we had emotion and wonder attached to Naito, and those of us who got invested in him feel fucked.


----------



## Corey

So is it confirmed that we get Styles vs. Okada tomorrow in the "3rd place" bonus match? If so then that's pretty disappointing, tbh. Out of the long list of possibilities for that match, I didn't wanna see the two guys who just faced off last month. Oh well, should hopefully still be a good match although I'm not gonna like the result either way. Okada winning would just mean nothing and if AJ wins then we'll probably just get another IWGP Title match between them later this year and obviously Okada would win again.

Nagata beat Goto huh? Greeeeeat. Really would've preferred it if he'd won and we got Styles vs. Goto in the bonus match spot. Nagata has been good throughout the G1, but I hope this doesn't mean he gets another IC Title shot. No one would believe he's winning and there's better options out there (as I brought up yesterday).

Tanahashi vs. Nakamura in the finals! Should be a great match. Definitely think Tanahashi wins and Nakamura gets the IWGP Title match at King of Pro this year.


----------



## Vårmakos

It's actually going to be Okada/The Kingdom vs. Styles/Anderson/Gallows. They're probably saving the rematch between Okada/Styles for Destruction.


----------



## LilOlMe

Lots of negativity here, and I'll have to see if that's reflected elsewhere (hasn't been so far, other than the general problems with the format).

Thought Elgin/Ishii & Okada/Nakamura were easily MOTYC.


*Elgin/Ishii*: Know how I said that there are a few Ishii matches that I really love? Well, this was one of them, and probably my favorite on his part.

Match immediately started off like two gladiators. Reminded me of big sumo hosses. What I love about this match is that there were so many big face-offs, but the match always seemed like it had some nice space to it. I don't know how to describe it, but this was one of the most correct matches in terms of timing that I've ever seen. It also didn't stop being exciting for a single second.

Shocked by how much it grabbed me immediately, and never let me go. I was so into it. ****3/4.


*Okada/Nakamura* got progressively better, and better, and better. I was like "****1/4, ****1/2, oh shit ****3/4." What I think is most telling is that even though I post here, I completely forgot that it was obvious to most that Nakamura was gonna win. I genuinely got sucked in, and literally forgot all about that. I was thinking that Okada had it, so the twist and turns really worked for me. If the match was able to suck me in enough to lose all memory, that's good.

I think that being so involved in the behind the scenes stuff takes away the enjoyment for people. Let that match stand alone, and it's a tremendous match.

So many little things. Okada's body language when he broke up the count was so great. It's a typical arrogant/competitive move, right? "I want to really beat you straight up." Okada took hold of that moment, and didn't just let the break of the count-out speak that alone. He makes it a point to show that he's the boss by staring down the ref, and then throwing Nakamura into the ring in a way that reads "now it's really time for business." Subtle stuff, but great, and shows you why Okada, as young as he is, gets the significance of subtleties in this business, in a way that so many vets don't.

The dropkick moment was superb (as was Red Shoes' sell of it), as was the entire ending sequence. For people who say matches start "slow", this is why. If you don't build up to anything, what's the point? This was one of the best examples of a match building up to a crescendo. Up and up and up throughout the match.

Loved when Nakamura & Okada both missed each other toward the beginning. Specifically because I love the way that Nakamura slid so fast on his knee. Shows you the crazy athleticism these wrestlers have to even be able to pull off the moves that they do at the speed that they do. We take it for granted.

Superb match that had me almost vocally reacting to stuff, which really lets me know when a match is great. ****3/4


*Goto/Nagata*: Lmao at Goto having to lift his hoodie to be able to see. NAGATA! I forgot most of my comments about this, but I loved Nagata suckering him in for the arm bar. I knew it was coming, but Nagata's level of aggression and intensity was great. And finally he had his full balance going into it (I've noticed that's been a problem for him lately, lol).

I live for Goto's headbutts, and I loved how he got out of one of those neck slams that Nagata does. Also loved the way the impact looked on the final one.

They had a hard time getting the crowd after the Elgin/Ishii showdown at first, but the fact that they got them back is a testament to what good workers they are. ***1/2 - ***3/4.


*Honma* losing makes sense. If I were a booker, I'd do what Gedo's doing. The losing is part of what makes him special and very over. Why even play with it? Get it going again, so when he wins, it's a big deal. He plays his part so well, and it's magic, IMO. 


And yes, I'm looking at other mbs and they're not nearly as negative as this one. I wonder why?


----------



## TJQ

Vårmakos said:


> It's actually going to be Okada/*The Kingdom* vs. Styles/Anderson/Gallows. They're probably saving the rematch between Okada/Styles for Destruction.


:vincecry


----------



## LilOlMe

@Jonasolsson96, we just disagree. Exactly what you're saying about "edge of seat" is the opposite of what I feel. There's no way in hell Becky/Sasha, for example, had me on the edge of my seat, even though it was a very good, well-thought out, match. Nowhere near a roller coaster like some of these G1 matches, and not even in the same galaxy in terms of the performance that some of these guys are giving, nor the greatness or ability. 

Zayn/Cesaro truly was incredible. Doesn't make any of the G1 matches less so. I also preferred Kidd/Neville over it, btw. I can definitely see why people prefer the former, especially because it had more intensity & bigger moves. I just thought that the way Kidd & Neville played off each other was brilliant.

I wish you could enjoy this year, but oh well.


@Jack Evans 187, here's the card for tomorrow:


> Finals card
> 
> Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura
> 
> Michael Bennett, Matt Taven, Kazuchika Okada vs Doc Gallows, "The Machine Gun" Karl Anderson, A.J. Styles
> 
> KUSHIDA vs Ricochet
> 
> Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly vs Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson
> 
> Tomoaki Homma, Tetsuya Naito, Togi Makabe vs Kota Ibushi, Katsuyori Shibata, Hirooki Goto
> 
> Kazushi Sakuraba, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano vs Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale
> 
> YOSHI-HASHI vs Michael Elgin
> 
> Captain New Japan, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Jay White, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata
> 
> Sho Tanaka, Yohei Komatsu, Jushin Thunder Liger vs Dave Finlay, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi


----------



## Jonasolsson96

LilOlMe said:


> @Jonasolsson96, we just disagree. Exactly what you're saying about "edge of seat" is the opposite of what I feel. There's no way in hell Becky/Sasha, for example, had me on the edge of my seat, even though it was a very good, well-thought, match. Nowhere near a roller coaster like some of these G1 matches, and not even in the same galaxy in terms of the performance that some of these guys are giving, nor the greatness or ability.
> 
> Zayn/Cesaro truly was incredible. Doesn't make any of the G1 matches less so. I also preferred Kidd/Neville over it, btw. I can definitely see why people prefer the former, especially because it had more intensity & bigger moves. I just thought that the way Kidd & Neville played off each other was brilliant.
> 
> I wish you could enjoy this year, but oh well.
> 
> 
> @Jack Evans 187, here's the schedule for tomorrow:




Like you said its all taste. Sasha is one of my favorites obviously I will be more emotionally invested in a very good title match she has. Ibushi,Shibata and Nakamura are all in my top 7 however so you would think I would be excited for there matches but I just wasnt. Maybe it was the lack of importance to the matches. Losing doesnt really matter since you can still win the g1 plus I felt as far as spots and overall work I didnt see much innovation and new stuff. All matches felt the same. Lockup boom. Cleanbreak and step back as the crowd goes ooooh and claps. A couple moves. A war of very weak strikes. Couple comebacks. Finnish. All matches felt that way. For me personally I thought Shibata/Ibushi was the best and it was not even in my top 10 matches this year. I have seen alot of freaking wrestling so good just doesnt do it for me anymore. I want incredibly amazing like the wk match and I was expecting atleast one match to deliver on that level but neither came close imo.


----------



## C-Cool

I have a feeling that, due to the format of this year's G1, I'm going to have to re-watch a bunch of these matches. The format has been draining, but some of these matches have been very awesome... or, at least, I think so.

Definitely advocating for a new format next year. But I am quite satisfied with this G1.


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Day 17 was an overall mixed bag. It luckily started well and and ended well though.
> 
> *Gallows vs. Shibata* was a pretty nice little match. Shibata rubbing off Doc's face paint and then him doing the same thing later in the match was pretty cool. Gallows is a better worker than people give him credit for, but my lord he overuses that Kane throat punch. If your go-to strike and your essential cut off move are both the same thing and so incredibly basic, then you need to find something else in your arsenal. Only complaint I have though because Shibata was great in this and I loved that triangle choke counter after the lazy pin. That actually would've been a perfect finish if he kept it locked and Gallows had to tap. *Not sure why he decided to let go in the first place. Looked like it was definitely working.* Gallows has had a solid run this G1 with the short matches. *****


I thought that at first, but then thought about it, and realized that that was my first thought when I first saw him use the Sleeper/Penalty Kick combo too.

It's his thing. He feels most confident in kicking the shit out of you, so the submissions are just his tool to wear you down for the final blow. I thought that's part of what made the finishing stretch so terrific.

He thought that he could out-brutalize Gallows despite the technical approach working for him, and that cost him. Look at what happened afterwards. Gallows goes right back to the physical domination with the multiple kicks. Shibata tries to shake it off and just can't anymore, because he gets gotten with the final, most alpha, physically dominate blow. And that's just it.

Glad you liked the match.



Jack Evans 187 said:


> *Naito vs. Tenzan* looked very promising in the beginning with strong performances from both guys but I think the longer it went the less creative they became. I was honestly really disgusted by the amount of times Naito spit at him. Like it was too fucking much to the point where Tenzan should've been _really_ pissed off... but he wasn't. Those two specific headbutts he hit where you could hear the thud were GROSSLY awesome. And did red shoes actually stomp Naito? That's great. :lol Had no problem with the finish if Tenzan absolutely had to win. So many damn headbutts.*I just felt like the match sputtered in out of being good and average because Tenzan is so so incredibly limited and Naito's character performance went a little too far with the spitting.*


I can see where you're coming from as far as Tenzan, but I went into it not expecting much from him. So it was a pleasant surprise when he was so spirited (for him). True he didn't beat the shit out of Naito, but that actually kind of works for the storyline. He _is_ old and old news, so that's why he couldn't give him an ultimate beatdown. That's also why Naito continued his ultra-disrespect, even while getting beaten by him. Like "no big deal."

That's why I liked the OTT spitting. Naito was trying to bait him the entire time, because he didn't view him as a threat at all.

Tenzan did at one point fire up on him, with the repeated, frenzied, headbutts (I think that was this match, right? Or was it the Shibata match? lol). 

Someone also pointed something out about how this match especially didn't matter for Naito's character, because he knew he was out of the running. So what would make him be even more disrespectful than being up against an old opponent who he felt was really beneath him, for a match that didn't even matter anymore?

Tenzan being a badass would have taken it up into greatness, but as it is, I thought it was very, very, solid & good.




Jack Evans 187 said:


> *Someone please fucking tell me why on earth we did not see Naito counter the standing anaconda vice with the Destino?* That would've been the legit perfect finish. UGH


LOL, I was thinking about you when I read what Tanahashi wrote about debuting a new move, including the High Fly Flow. I remembered you being very negative on Naito's Destino finisher the first time you saw it:


> When you perform a new move, people will be confused or not react at all at first. But you can’t just give up there. You must be patient until it is established. I underwent an emotional conflict, but I kept on going with the style I believed in.


Especially because I just read on another board someone saying that Naito should get rid of Destino because the audience is silent.




Jack Evans 187 said:


> @LilOlMe , you'll like this next part.
> 
> Where the hell do you even begin with *Styles vs. Tanahashi*? Whatever combination you put with Tanahashi in the Final is NOT gonna be able to top this all time classic. This is really one of those matches where you just continue to watch and let the story unfold and you just KNOW you're witnessing something special. A classic tale of 'anything you can do, I can do better.' The dueling leg destruction, the finisher stealing, the low blow returns, etc. AJ getting his heel heat back! What a great touch that was. Kinda forgot he was a heel there for a while. I still don't even know what else to say about this cause it was just so damn good. I'm just rambling. Those dragon screws in the last couple minutes were fuckin nasty. Felt like I witnessed an all time performance from Tanahashi. Where does this rank on his list? How great was AJ too? How the fuck is B Block gonna top this tomorrow? I already knew the result but I still lost my mind at the nearfalls and submission sequences. How fucking good was the selling too? Tanahashi grabbing red shoes and then LEAPING to the rope and laying there like he just used his last ounce of energy was increeeeeedible. Then Styles trying to hang on for dear life to the top rope while Tanahashi wants to get him in the Styles Clash. Fantastic. Yeah so this incredible and AJ Styles is without a doubt my WOTY now after this performance. I'm a bit gun shy, so let's go with ***** 3/4*


:mark:


----------



## El Dandy

@LilOlMe

It just depends where you look.

If it's on Reddit, I assume it's a positive circle jerk (although they've never really been into Puro). If it's /wooo, it's a negative circle jerk. On Twitter, probably a mix. Here, it's also a mix.

What's the point of a discussion board if everybody agrees?



LilOlMe said:


> Someone also pointed something out about how this match especially didn't matter for Naito's character, because he knew he was out of the running. So what would make him be even more disrespectful than being against an old opponent who he felt was really beneath him, for a match that didn't even matter anymore?


The Tenzan L is not really the issue. It's the L to Gallows.

What gymnastics did this person have to do to try and justify that lose?

The fact people just pretend Jado/Gedo can do no wrong really fucking bothers me. Are they just new fans that are so enchanted, do they just not know any better and just watch to hand out star ratings, or do they turn a blind eye because at least it's not WWE? I just don't know.


----------



## Morrison17

ma boi Shinsuke made the save.

BTW, second champ in 2 weeks taped out. EC3 better look out


----------



## LilOlMe

La Parka said:


> @LilOlMe
> 
> It just depends where you look.
> 
> If it's on Reddit, I assume it's a positive circle jerk (although they've never really been into Puro). If it's /wooo, it's a negative circle jerk. On Twitter, probably a mix. Here, it's also a mix.
> 
> What's the point of a discussion board if everybody agrees?
> 
> 
> 
> The Tenzan L is not really the issue. It's the L to Gallows.
> 
> What gymnastics did this person have to do to try and justify that lose?
> 
> The fact people just pretend Jado/Gedo can do no wrong really fucking bothers me. Are they just new fans that are so enchanted, do they just not know any better and just watch to hand out star ratings, or do they turn a blind eye because at least it's not WWE? I just don't know.


lol, you picked the places I hadn't looked. Looked at F4W, VOW, and Coli. When I've looked at Twitter, match reaction has been very positive. Booking reaction hasn't.

No point, but sometimes people start to think that everyone thinks one way because that's what they're hearing where they are. We see this in the general section a lot.

That person's post had nothing to do with the booking at all. They were simply explaining what they liked about the match, & what they got out of it.

As for the latter, I read a lot of complaints about the booking. I also think that there are plenty of people who don't think deeply about booking, and just enjoy the show for the matches. Again, this is something we see in the general WWE section all the time. There are always those people who defend Cena, after all.

If they look deeply, your complaints about the booking are correct, and also are troubling for the future, but some just either don't care, or just accept it for what it is. 

I think the biggest downside to it all is that people still get their hopes up, and want to believe that the bookers will start thinking differently. I mean, look at Kevin Owens. I'm as numb to the Cena thing as anyone could be, and even I didn't think they'd have Owens' tapping out like a bitch after the heavy pushing he first got. 

The best case scenario would be finding the happy balance of knowing that the booking sucks, but also trying to find enjoyment despite that. 

Sometimes that can't happen, but for me I've found that I've been able to during this tournament. Probably because I think that who wins a singles match at a PPV, seems more significant to me than wins in the tournament, since only one out of twenty can win anyway. So I just take the matches for their match value, rather than the booking, though obviously I'd be marking hard if they pushed the guys that they should be pushing.


----------



## El Dandy

LilOlMe said:


> Sometimes that can't happen, but for me I've found that I've been able to during this tournament. Probably because I think who wins a single match at a PPV seems more significant to me than the tournament, since only one out of twenty can win anyway. So I just take the matches for their match value, rather than the booking, though obviously I'd be marking if they pushed the guys they should be pushing.


Aye, but that's where it gets into the trouble of the haves and the have-nots.

You're 100% right: Upsets galore happen in tournaments, but when it comes around for the re-match on PPV when it matters, who wins? The guy who was higher on the totem pole at the start.

I can't speak for WWE cause I have not watched it since WM30 outside of the 3 Cena matches this year. Actually, I probably can speak for it. Let me guess: It's the same people getting the same chances over the same guys. Cena lost the 1st match to someone who needed it, then Cena went on to win the more important matches in the program and nobody gains anything from it. Where does that sound familiar? 

- Shibata beating Tanahashi in G1 24, but Tanahashi beating Shibata when it mattered most at Destruction.
- Shibata beating Nakamura in G1 24, but Nakamura beating Shibata when it mattered most at Power Struggle.
- Anderson beating Okada in G1 24, but Okada beating Anderson when it mattered most at Destruction.
- Naito beating Styles in G1 24, but Styles beating Naito when it mattered most at Tokyo Dome.

Obviously, this is how they do business and it's common practice to set up their fall PPV cards this way. So, this is what we're in store for this year and you can quote this post when it happens

- Goto beating Okada in G1 25, but Okada beating Goto when it matters most at ___________.
- Naito beating Tanahashi in G1 25, but Tanahashi beating Naito when it matters most at __________.
- Anderson beating Nakamura in G1 25, but Nakamura beating Anderson when it matters most at _________.
- Naito beating Styles in G1 25, but Styles beating Naito when it matters most at _________.

That's right @Jack Evans 187, they are gonna make good on Goto's awesome G1 by having Big Match Goto loss his 8th straight HW title match (actually a fact: he's 0-7 right now).

This IS wwe. 

Change Cena, Orton, Lesnar, Punk (outdated cause he's not there, but IDK who the new #4 is. Reigns or Rollins?) for Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura, Styles. Change Ziggler, Wyatt, Cesaro to Goto, Naito, Shibata.

Like I wrote earlier, my bottom line is this: I have gone beyond the point where just watching good wrestling is enough (I still get my thirst quenched cause it's still the best wrestling in the world IMO). I'm now actually invested in these lesser guys and want to see their characters succeed, so I figuratively cannot look past shitty parity booking between the Tier 1 & Tier 2 guys.

I just need to accept that it all is the same deal and just go start watching LU or more Dalton Castle.


----------



## Zatiel

Wow, so I thought Nakamura/Styles was a possible final, and always thought Nakamura had a good chance of going all the way. But in the last week people were so sure that Okada was taking his block that I doubted myself into seeing Nakamura as the underdog. That made my first viewing of this match magical.

I'm rewatching it now, though, and it's totally technically sound and builds incredibly well. Okada refusing to slap Nakamura on the ropes, and Nakamura coming at him so dangerously afterward that Okada almost hits the Rainmaker to stop him, was just an incredible sequence. One of the best sequences of the entire tournament, and one of the best matches.

My favorites are still Shibata/Ibushi and Shibata/Tanahashi, but this is probably third.

Going into tomorrow, I'm completely uncertain of who wins. Tanahashi winning lets them give Okada the big chance at redemption at the Tokyo Dome, but Nakamura and Okada are now 1-1, and that match would be super hot. Nakamura just left the IC division, too, presumably freed up for big plans. Either win is plausible.

Tomorrow's card is underwhelming in its full body, but that main event, Ricochet/KUSHIDA and ReDragon/Bucks should all rule. More than anything, I'm sad there won't be anything like this for the rest of the year. I've loved following this tournament nightly. It's almost insulting that I got it all for twenty bucks, over the two month subscription.


----------



## SHIRLEY

So when does Bad Luck Fale get his damn trophy?


----------



## Lazyking

I know this is NJPW's way of doing things but they feel the need to get everyone on the card sometimes hurts the show in my view..I get flying guys in and all but do we really need all these multi tags? The G1 final needs to have a semi final back or more title matches.

The heavyweight tag division is shit right now.


----------



## El Dandy

Lazyking said:


> I know this is NJPW's way of doing things but they feel the need to get everyone on the card sometimes hurts the show in my view..I get flying guys in and all but do we really need all these multi tags? The G1 final needs to have a semi final back or more title matches.
> 
> The heavyweight tag division is shit right now.


I guess the thought behind it is to let the guys take it easy after what they've been through during the last month.


----------



## TJQ

Lazyking said:


> The heavyweight tag division is shit right now.


DOES THIS NOT EXCITE YOU? DOES THIS NOT GET YOU ALL HOT AND SPICY?


----------



## Miguel De Juan

I have been following New Japan prior to 2012 back when some of this stuff was on megaupload.

They are making money. I guess people do not really follow new Japan but the top three formula had been a staple since Hash, Chono, and Muta were on the scene in the 90s.

Chono has five G1s under his belt and people are complaining about Tanahashi potentially winning a second which makes no sense to mae since the Okada/Tanahashi feud is a long story that goes back to 2012. Their feud was designed to pass the torch to a new ace.

I just feel like wrestling fans have no idea what shit is (WCW 2000, Dungeon of Doom, WWE 1995 and 2001, AJPW's current hardships, and NJPW almost going bankrupt a few years back).

The worst things Gedo and Jado have done are to the tag division which lacks depths and their failure to get younger native stars on the roster.

People also fail to realize why they rely on Tanahashi and Shinsuke for Dome shows considering prior to 2012 they were drawing poorly after the 90s high.

Tanahashi vs. Okada at WK10 was the long term game plan. It makes since. lex Luger chased Ric Flair in the NWA for years and Misawa chased Jumbo Tsuruta for years prior to their big wins.

i am not a senical and recognize no booker can do 100% but NJPW gets right more than it gets wrong.


----------



## Lazyking

TJQ said:


> DOES THIS NOT EXCITE YOU? DOES THIS NOT GET YOU ALL HOT AND SPICY?


poor Meiyu tag. They were great together.


----------



## TJQ

Lazyking said:


> poor Meiyu tag. They were great together.


But NJPW hates Shibata, so nothing good will last 








:mj2


----------



## seabs

*Nakamura/Okada was very good with a great closing stretch. Wrestling needs more sudden armbreaker finishes like that. Loved it. 

Final card is a one match card again unless you like Juniors matches. Actually I really liked Ricochet/KUSHIDA last time so I'll watch that too. Okada/Styles 6 man is a real downer when you see the card. 

Also another disappointing attendance figure. 7,557. *


----------



## SHIVV-EAUX-EMME-GEEE

I am woefully behind right now. My dad was hospitalized all week and before that had another family emergency. Just have to take a big block of time and get cracking. Disappointed to hear that attendance isnt up to snuff. I take it that the G1 tournament is up to its usual quality?


----------



## Lazyking

IDONTSHIV said:


> I am woefully behind right now. My dad was hospitalized all week and before that had another family emergency. Just have to take a big block of time and get cracking. Disappointed to hear that attendance isnt up to snuff. I take it that the G1 tournament is up to its usual quality?


too many shows imo with this new format and running sumo hall three days in a row was quite ambitious. 

Plus, I think people have caught on what shows matter and what don't.

I think they change the format back to the old one..


----------



## SHIRLEY

They should probably just unify the tag belts


----------



## El Dandy

Miguel De Juan said:


> I have been following New Japan prior to 2012 back when some of this stuff was on megaupload.
> 
> They are making money. I guess people do not really follow new Japan but the top three formula had been a staple since Hash, Chono, and Muta were on the scene in the 90s.
> 
> Chono has five G1s under his belt and people are complaining about Tanahashi potentially winning a second which makes no sense to mae since the Okada/Tanahashi feud is a long story that goes back to 2012. Their feud was designed to pass the torch to a new ace.
> 
> I just feel like wrestling fans have no idea what shit is (WCW 2000, Dungeon of Doom, WWE 1995 and 2001, AJPW's current hardships, and NJPW almost going bankrupt a few years back).
> 
> The worst things Gedo and Jado have done are to the tag division which lacks depths and their failure to get younger native stars on the roster.
> 
> People also fail to realize why they rely on Tanahashi and Shinsuke for Dome shows considering prior to 2012 they were drawing poorly after the 90s high.
> 
> Tanahashi vs. Okada at WK10 was the long term game plan. It makes since. lex Luger chased Ric Flair in the NWA for years and Misawa chased Jumbo Tsuruta for years prior to their big wins.
> 
> i am not a senical and recognize no booker can do 100% but NJPW gets right more than it gets wrong.


My issue has never really been that it's Tana/Okada again. It's what they need to do and what they've told us they were doing since 1/14/15. I've written that countless times.

I'm just saying... what's wrong with having more top guys? It's one thing if things were bare bones and nobody is worth presenting as a bigger deal, but they have talent that is good enough to fit the bill. Why can't it be the Big 6? Sure, some won't draw the level as Tana, Naka, or Okada, but look at Invasion Attack. Ibushi/Styles sold that shit out. That's what happens when they try to present new players as mattering. Jado/Gedo can do it right when they want to.

It's just a shame they make it crystal clear nobody else matters except the big 4. Am I wrong for having that opinion?


----------



## IP Banned

.


----------



## DOPA

Man I had a health scare and my mind has been focused on other things and now I have like...8 or 9 days worth to catch up on . Wish I didn't slack so I could watch all of it with you guys. Evidently got spoiled on a few things. Never mind. The goal is to finish this before the end of the month as I don't really want to subscribe another month because I won't use NJworld I don't think until another tournament :lol.


----------



## Miguel De Juan

La Parka said:


> My issue has never really been that it's Tana/Okada again. It's what they need to do and what they've told us they were doing since 1/14/15. I've written that countless times.
> 
> I'm just saying... what's wrong with having more top guys? It's one thing if things were bare bones and nobody is worth presenting as a bigger deal, but they have talent that is good enough to fit the bill. Why can't it be the Big 6? Sure, some won't draw the level as Tana, Naka, or Okada, but look at Invasion Attack. Ibushi/Styles sold that shit out. That's what happens when they try to present new players as mattering. Jado/Gedo can do it right when they want to.
> 
> It's just a shame they make it crystal clear nobody else matters except the big 4. Am I wrong for having that opinion?


Not saying you are wrong. It is just that I do not see them changing because iconography they got of their original Three Musketeers. They just feel they need to continue that legacy.


----------



## mezomi

Recently I've been getting into NJPW for the first time and have been amazed with some of the matches. It seems like a very consistent promotion in terms of match quality. I just have a few questions about the promotion.

Just jumping in, it seems like they have repeated most of their big time matches several times. Obviously I have not seen most of them so its not a problem for me but don't these matches get stale? Is there even any fresh major matches left?

Is there any recommended articles for an overview of the promotion?

Also how popular is NJPW in Japan currently compared to WWE's popularity in America?


----------



## NastyYaffa

Day 18:

*Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma - *1/4
Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii - ***1/2
Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto - ***
Karl Anderson vs. Satoshi Kojima - *1/2
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuchika Okada - ***1/4*

Yujiro/Honma was bad.
Elgin/Ishii was very good. Would love to see a re-match.
Nagata/Goto wasn't as good as their New Japan Cup match earlier this year, but still good.
Machine Gun/Kojima wasn't good.
Nakamura/Okada was really disappointing. It was good, but considering that I absolutely LOVED the match they had last year (have that at ****1/2+), it was really disappointing.

Pretty hyped for tomorrow's show. Tana/Naka should be great. :mark:


----------



## twaughthammer

Day 17
Tanahashi vs Styles ****1/2 - Great. I was marking out the whole match. Best rivalry in the world right now.

Day 18
Nakamura vs Okada ***3/4 - Good, but not their greatest match


Tanahashi vs Nakamura - I expect nothing less than ****3/4 and a MotY contender. I like Nakamura to get over.

WK10 prediction
Okada (c) vs Nakamura
Styles vs Tanahashi


----------



## DOPA

Spoiler: Day 9 Tournament Ratings



Hiryoshi Tenzan vs Kota Ibushi: *****
Bad Luck Fale vs Katsoyuri Shibata: **1/2*
Doc Gallows vs AJ Styles: ***1/4*
Tetsuya Naito vs Togi Makabe: *****
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Toru Yano: ****


Bad day, worst of the lot I've watched so far.



Am tired but gonna try and watch a lot tomorrow to catch up .


----------



## Lariatoh!

Tana is becoming such a dick lately (love it though)... The three count he showed AJ post match was like a big middle finger. Is Tana getting better character wise??? Ya gotta love it


----------



## Corey

@LilOlMe you're totally right about the Destino. Watching the match with Tanahashi initially made it feel like the ending was flat, but I'm sure people who will watch the match for the first time say next year or something will be totally fine with after Naito has been using it as his finisher for a while. It's grown on me and I still remember some of the women screaming in the crowd when he hit it on... AJ I think? It's working.



Vårmakos said:


> It's actually going to be Okada/The Kingdom vs. Styles/Anderson/Gallows. They're probably saving the rematch between Okada/Styles for Destruction.


Don't quite understand the need to bring the Kingdom back in. I hope this feud doesn't continue. I don't mind the match happening because AJ/Okada would've been unnecessary here, but it's kinda difficult to get excited for it when ROH runs 6-man tags so similar to just about all the time.

Elgin vs. YOSHI-HASHI? What kind of bonus singles match is that? :lol If they weren't gonna do a "3rd place" match, they could've at least given Elgin a more credible opponent. Luckily I'm still interested in watching and it should give Elgin another nice win.



La Parka said:


> That's right @Jack Evans 187, they are gonna make good on Goto's awesome G1 by having Big Match Goto loss his 8th straight HW title match (actually a fact: he's 0-7 right now).


Do you really think they'll give Goto an IWGP Title shot? I know he deserves one after beating Okada, but do they have any known track record of giving the Intercontinental Champion a Heavyweight Title match while he's holding the belt?

Truthfully, after enjoying SO much from Goto in the G1, I just wanna see him have a long IC Title run with several more defenses. Really fucking hope Nakamura doesn't just get another rematch and he drops the belt there. Would love to see Goto beat Fale and Anderson, so then AJ challenges him at the Tokyo Dome so he can try and do what no other Bullet Club member could. Then we got a big moment with AJ winning the IC Title.

Wishful thinking I'd say. :lol Still so much that could happen between now and January. WHEN THE HELL IS STYLES VS. NAKAMURA HAPPENING!?


----------



## Leon Knuckles

Hey guys I just wanna clear something up. Okada and Nakamura are both tied with 14 points so how come there is no tie-breaker?


----------



## Corey

Leon Knuckles said:


> Hey guys I just wanna clear something up. Okada and Nakamura are both tied with 14 points so how come there is no tie-breaker?


Nakamura beat Okada head-to-head so that counts as the tiebreaker.


----------



## Leon Knuckles

Jack Evans 187 said:


> Nakamura beat Okada head-to-head so that counts as the tiebreaker.


Thanks. :drose


----------



## LilOlMe

I like when the wrestlers scream each others names as they're attacking with a move, btw. lol. Goto especially always does this.



Jack Evans 187 said:


> Elgin vs. YOSHI-HASHI? What kind of bonus singles match is that? :lol If they weren't gonna do a "3rd place" match, they could've at least given Elgin a more credible opponent. Luckily I'm still interested in watching and it should give Elgin another nice win.


I think that they just picked Yoshi because he's a smaller wrestler whom Elgin will dominate. It's just to show Elgin off, I think.



Zatiel said:


> Wow, so I thought Nakamura/Styles was a possible final, and always thought Nakamura had a good chance of going all the way. But in the last week people were so sure that Okada was taking his block that I doubted myself into seeing Nakamura as the underdog. *That made my first viewing of this match magical.*


Helps a lot when the match just speaks for itself without going in with a "spoilery" viewpoint.



Zatiel said:


> I'm rewatching it now, though, and it's totally technically sound and builds incredibly well. Okada refusing to slap Nakamura on the ropes, and Nakamura coming at him so dangerously afterward that Okada almost hits the Rainmaker to stop him, was just an incredible sequence. One of the best sequences of the entire tournament, and one of the best matches.
> 
> My favorites are still Shibata/Ibushi and Shibata/Tanahashi, but this is probably third.


I loved that sequence, especially because Okada had a heavy look on his face right afterward. Not his typical "ok, ok" hot shit smiling. That was another one of those moments where Okada was great at the subtleties. 

Like this shit is so to be taken seriously. 

He was really going in for the kill, not just sending a message, and then on top of that, wooo, "this Nakamura guy is f'n' deadly. I almost got caught."

Loved it.



twaughthammer said:


> Tanahashi vs Nakamura - I expect nothing less than ****3/4 and a MotY contender. I like Nakamura to get over.


I don't know how great the match will be, but as good as it is, it'll be received (even) better if Nakamura wins. 

Heads up: This morning's show starts at 2 am est, not the typical 5:30 am est.


----------



## Zatiel

Jack Evans 187 said:


> [MENTION=233538]Truthfully, after enjoying SO much from Goto in the G1, I just wanna see him have a long IC Title run with several more defenses. Really fucking hope Nakamura doesn't just get another rematch and he drops the belt there. Would love to see Goto beat Fale and Anderson, so then AJ challenges him at the Tokyo Dome so he can try and do what no other Bullet Club member could. Then we got a big moment with AJ winning the IC Title.


I just assumed Goto beat Okada to suggest their belts are on par, or Goto is potentially better than Okada right now. Champion Vs. Champion is usually a draw, and when not, you give the win to the guy you want to rub. In kayfabe, Goto's the best he's ever been.

If anything, I'd imagine Anderson will immediately begin chasing Goto since he dropped him and Nakamura on consecutive block nights.


----------



## Leon Knuckles

Yeah, Anderson has been great. He should focus more on singles competition.


----------



## Eliko

i said months ago that Tana will win the G1 going to face Okada in WK 10 .
i hope that nakamura will win but gedo want Okada avenge his two losses to Tana at the dome show .


----------



## Corey

Day 18 in the books for me. I kinda felt some burnout while watching the show because the past two days have had some really draining (but excellent) matches. 

You know me, I skipped the Yujiro match.

Thought the first half of *Elgin vs. Ishii* was really good, but the last half was definitely not. The exchange of forearms that were essentially blocked by power and headbutts was pretty sweet and Elgin actually looked MASSIVE next to Ishii at times. Once Elgin hit that gigantic flurry of offense (DVD on the apron, powerbomb into the guardrail, and top rope falcon arrow) and Ishii proceeded to kick out, I thought it took a turn for the worse. The overkill kicked in, the no-selling fighting spirit begun, and some of that old Michael Elgin came out. The Elgin that I can't stand on the indy scene. It's whatever though. He's done very well throughout the tournament so I can't complain. Still gets ***** in the end but they've both had much better matches the past couple weeks.

What the hell was next...? Oh yeah *Nagata vs. Goto*. Alright as a whole I guess but most of it was one of those nothing matches where they just threw some kicks and forearms. Luckily the finishing stretch was pretty enjoyable though. Nagata coming off that big high of taking Okada to the limit, but him winning just felt like a big FUCK YOU to anyone who thought the top 4 guys in the G1 were gonna be ANYONE other than the Big 4. (Seriously, look at how the standings turned out. It's crazy). Just please god Jado & Gedo, DO NOT book Goto vs. Nagata in an IC Title match now. No one wants to see that. LilOlMe better not say she wants to see that...

*Anderson vs. Kojima* was pretty boring for me. I struggled to gain any real interest, but again, it could've been the burnt out feel. Thought they had a hot start but then became instantly forgettable. I really don't even remember what was so special about Kojima winning. Did he just hit one lariat? I literally just watched this show. :lol Another one of those FUCK YOU moments with there being no mystery in the end. Just small surprises along the way.

Definitely thought *Okada vs. Nakamura* was excellent. So many little things throughout the match were brilliant. The opening sequence coming off of the patented Okada rope break being the first. So much speed in a short period of time. Then that subtle touch where Okada goes out of the ring and doesn't expect Nakamura to be following (but he is). The neckwork was well done throughout the match and a constant story. Great job of selling it too. Okada hitting the tombstone on the outside and then seeing Nakamura starting to get up so then FORCING the count the stopped by that evil glare was awesome. Got a great reaction from the crowd. Really had the feeling of a G1 final and that finishing stretch was absolutely bonkers. That rainmaker off of the backslide was one of the most unexpected things I've ever seen and Okada TOTALLY fucked himself over by not going for the pin. Maybe that will be a story going forward? The struggle they portrayed in the armbreaker was a thing of beauty. Nakamura locking in the triangle once he saw Okada gaining an edge was even better. Had it locked in TIGHT. Excellent finish. Superb contest. How can you not root for Nakamura after seeing this? ***** 1/4*
@La Parka, you've totally gotta watch that match when you're not so pissed about the booking. :lol So damn good.


----------



## Vårmakos

delirious speaking english???


----------



## TJQ

Show is starting, so I'm going to start putting down some of this whiskey :saul


----------



## Corey

Shocking that I'm actually awake when one of these shows are airing live...

But anyway, pretty interesting read here. He makes some good points in the opening paragraphs. http://www.pwponderings.com/2015/08/16/jeromes-g1-night-18-diary/
@LilOlMe this guy seems to be pretty much on the same level with you in terms of Day 18 enjoyment as well.

Time for bed. Obviously I know I'm getting spoiled on this when I wake up, but LET'S GO SHINSKAY!~

(Tanahashi is totally winning this though)


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> *Anderson vs. Kojima* was pretty boring for me. I struggled to gain any real interest, but again, it could've been the burnt out feel. Thought they had a hot start but then became instantly forgettable. I really don't even remember what was so special about Kojima winning. Did he just hit one lariat? I literally just watched this show. :lol Another one of those FUCK YOU moments with there being no mystery in the end. Just small surprises along the way.


Loved Anderson's sell of Kojima's chops in the corner. Legs all askew on the ropes, lol. 

You are so confuddling!!! I actually thought of you while Elgin/Ishii was going on and like "I bet he loves this!" Wtf. Though you're hard to figure out anyway, since sometimes you hate those strike/fighting spirit fests. 

Reading the article now. Good to know there's someone out there stating facts.  The VOW and F4W reviewers have the same feeling about the two matches that I loved too.

It's funny that I just shat on B block and said that I don't care really about them, and then they gave me two MOTYC. I should be negative more often, so I get more greatness, lol.


ETA: Don't spoil yourself. Just don't read 'til you can watch!


----------



## xerxesXXI

Naito is doing some great heel work


----------



## TJQ

That stare down post match was great, already has me pumped for this Naito/Shibata feud.


----------



## Vårmakos

Did Ibushi legit knock Makabe out?


----------



## Vårmakos

Tenryu/Okada .. wut.


----------



## Lazyking

Vårmakos said:


> Tenryu/Okada .. wut.


Tenryu's retirement match. must be huge honor for okada.


----------



## El Dandy

What have I missed?


----------



## Vårmakos

Lazyking said:


> Tenryu's retirement match. must be huge honor for okada.


tenryu looks like he's one stiff elbow away from death. that match should be .. _interesting_.


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

La Parka said:


> What have I missed?


Yujiro's hot new stripper. A bunch of the same tags. Shibata/Naito heating up. Literally the whole building popped when Shibata got that first hit on Naito. I would go out of my way to see it. Seems like the hottest thing they've had in a while.


----------



## El Dandy

Mattooooooooo


----------



## Insomnia

Cody! :ti


----------



## TJQ

Cardo said:


> Cody! :ti


Had me cracking up, saw somebody say "I'm taking you to the bottom of the card" when that happened :booklel


----------



## Vårmakos

i can only imagine what cornette's reponse would be if he saw fish kick out of indytaker


----------



## TJQ

Vårmakos said:


> i can only imagine what cornette's reponse would be if he saw fish kick out of indytaker


----------



## Insomnia

Ricochet/KUSHIDA! :mark:


----------



## El Dandy

Love Rico's dub theme


----------



## TJQ

Clearly Ricochet won't win so early into KUSHIDA's reign, BUT GOD DAMNIT I WON'T STOP BELIEVING.


----------



## DoubtGin

Great fast-paced match


----------



## Insomnia

Maria! :mark:


----------



## El Dandy

AJ's hair is morphing into that of a Bay City Roller


----------



## DoubtGin

MAIN EVENT TIME :mark:

edit: wait what


----------



## El Dandy

need a hologram of Hashimoto TBH


----------



## Insomnia

​


----------



## BornBad

This match is fucking awesome but i'm going to be so pissed if Tanahashi win the whole shit....


----------



## DoubtGin

JUST TAP OUT YOU FUCK


----------



## BornBad

BOMA YE ! 


still kick out at 2 :cena


----------



## El Dandy

TANA!

Do you believe in miracles!!!!!!


----------



## DoubtGin




----------



## El Dandy

DoubtGin said:


>


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

Tanahashiwinslol


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

Looks like they'll go with Okada v Tanahashi at the dome again in January with Okada winning this time to avenge last years defeat.

This was a truly excellent main event, though a couple of spots could have been executed better if I'm being honest; the match as a whole was so amazing it doesn't even matter.


----------



## BornBad

:MAD

:fuckthis


----------



## El Dandy

This is gonna be the greatest guitar solo since November Rain!


----------



## DoubtGin

I just cant hate Tanahashi :/


----------



## SolarKhan

I am surprised Tanahashi won. I wonder what will become of Swagsuke now. Back to the ic title? I wonder how the bookers see him in NJPW...he seems to always be the third man of the top three...lately it has felt like AJ is the third man and Nakamura is the fourth lol with Goto coming in fifth.


----------



## El Dandy

Tana, you the real rock n rolla



SolarKhan said:


> I am surprised Tanahashi won. I wonder what will become of Swagsuke now. Back to the ic title? I wonder how the bookers see him in NJPW...he seems to always be the third man of the top three...lately it has felt like AJ is the third man and Nakamura is the fourth lol with Goto coming in fifth.


It'll be Nakamura/Styles. Get their own fans to watch for Tanahashi/Okada, get the fringe Western fans to watch for Nakamura/Styles.

How they get to Styles/Nakamura IDK maybe when Okada beats AJ is AJ's rematch, Bullet Club does a most vicious beat down and Nakamura finally shows up.

EDIT:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/632855983925108736


----------



## Lazyking

I'm so tired, I can't even digest the match. Rewatch is needed. Thoughts I do have is it was great, especially the last half. Any miscues I somewhat excuse cause of how badly they seemed to both want the match.

Nothing else on the show really grabbed me. Enjoyed Kushida/Ricochet.. Cant wait for Naito to get destroyed by Shibata.

Elgin needs to be brought back asap.

Yoshi-Hashi and Tama Tonga for G1 next year.

more thoughts later.


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

What a match. So much emotion. You never knew what was next..and that is magic. Loved it. Tanahashi rightfully won and he did his part by having the best G1 perfomances of anybody. He is a legend in my book.

As for Nakamura, its been clearly evident that the bookers don't hold him in the same regard as the fans. He is really unselfish and willing to put over any up and commer, so that could be a downfall. Of course he could be the star of the promotion but they seem to get out of him what they need when they need it. He is still as over as ever.


----------



## ShadowSucks92

Fantastic match, wrong result


----------



## Sarcasm1

"Big Match Tanahashi Maggle"


----------



## Lazyking

You do Tanahashi/Okada now at Wrestle Kingdom and Okada goes over, that story is done for a long time I feel so this is the right result. Nakamura winning doesn't mean he'd win the title at WK... AND you can still sell that as main event of the dome show down the line. This way, you have a stronger WK card next year, Okada/Tana, Nakamura/Styles (a fresh matchup) Maybe even Naito/Shibata


----------



## El Dandy

Final Thoughts:

Tanahashi/Nakamura was exactly what a Tanahashi/Nakamura & G1 Final should be: it was incredible. If you have to do finisher spam, you do it in on nights like tonight. Great match and great crowd. Won't be popular, but obviously the right guy won. 

Of all the questionable decisions Gedo has done in the last 14 days, this is far from the worst. I don't know why anybody thought Nakamura was seriously winning (we all were hoping, but it was just hope). They told us 1/4/15 they were going back to the Tanahashi/Okada. I could see a silver lining in thinking that they wouldn't go back to it IF Styles were still champion, but the moment Okada attacked/challenged Styles at Invasion Attack happened it became so crystal clear. At any rate, I am just happy because this means G1 26 will not be held hostage by such a blatant result (it'll still be Okada winning anyway, probably. For sure. 100%. Fuck you Gedo push Shibata). 

This is my MOTT and I don't think I'll back down from that. Liked it more than Ibushi/Shibata & Tanahashi/Styles; liked it so much more than Nakamura/Okada. My stream was cutting in/out at times, and I still loved it, so I imagine on replay it'll be equally as good if not better. This is the diamond of G1 25 most were waiting to see IMO.


----------



## Ruiner87

Now Okada can finally beat him at the Dome and this feud can stop forever.

oh also the match was good. like, really, really good.


----------



## BornBad

I can understand they want Tana vs Okada at WrestleKingdom 10 after the last match they had in january with the whole story about who's the ace of the company and shit but damn what about Nakamura now? he's been fucking red hot for a long time now and i've zero interest if he get back in the IC picture ( like i said i thing it's time to Goto to shine ) 

I really hope they re going to book matches with Styles or even Naito for him until the whole Tanahashi/Rainmaker storyline is over and then going for the gold in 2016



edit: oh yeah that final match was fucking epic.. maybe the match of the year


----------



## RyanPelley

Bummer....


----------



## Lariatoh!

LOL at anyone who didn't think Tana was winning G1 from the very beginning. Ever since Okada got the belt back, everyone knew this was happening. Tana has only won it once before as well so it's good for him to have one last high before passing the torch.


----------



## Joshi Judas

Tana wins lol.

But seriously, I get upset at times due to his strong booking but it was obvious from day 1 and once I watch his matches, his epic performances always bring me over to his side again. Has there been a better big match performer in the world and as consistently over the last 4 years?

Ace of the Universe vs The Rainmaker one final time at the Tokyo Dome. I'm up for it.


Also, they slow burn storylines in Japan instead of the WWE way plus this sets up Nakamura vs AJ Styles at the Dome I think, so win-win?


----------



## NastyYaffa

I haven't watched the finals yet, but here is my G1 Climax 25 performer ranking, from worst to best.

*20) YUJIRO TAKAHASHI*
vs. Goto - *3/4
vs. Ishii - *1/2
vs. Nagata - *3/4
vs. Kojima - *1/4
vs. Elgin - *3/4
vs. Nakamura - *
vs. Okada - *1/2
vs. Anderson - *
vs. Honma - *1/4

*19) DOC GALLOWS*
vs. Tenzan - *3/4
vs. Ibushi - ***
vs. Fale - **
vs. Yano - **1/4
vs. Styles - *1/2
vs. Tanahashi - **
vs. Makabe - *1/4
vs. Naito - *1/4
vs. Shibata - *1/2

*18) TORU YANO*
vs. Makabe - **3/4
vs. Styles - ***1/2
vs. Tenzan - **1/2
vs. Gallows - **1/4
vs. Tanahashi - **1/2
vs. Shibata - *3/4
vs. Naito - *1/2
vs. Ibushi - NR
vs. Fale - *1/4

*17) TOGI MAKABE*
vs. Yano - **3/4
vs. Fale - **
vs. Shibata - ***1/2
vs. Tenzan - *1/2
vs. Naito - *1/2
vs. Styles - **
vs. Gallows - *1/4
vs. Tanahashi - ***
vs. Ibushi - *1/2

*16) BAD LUCK FALE*
vs. Naito - *1/4
vs. Makabe - **
vs. Gallows - **
vs. Tanahashi - ***3/4
vs. Shibata - **3/4
vs. Tenzan - *1/4
vs. Ibushi - *1/2
vs. Styles - ***1/2
vs. Yano - *1/4

*15) TETSUYA NAITO*
vs. Fale - *1/4
vs. Shibata - ***1/2
vs. Tanahashi - ****1/4
vs. Styles - ***
vs. Makabe - *1/2
vs. Ibushi - **1/4
vs. Yano - *1/2
vs. Gallows - *1/4
vs. Tenzan - *1/4

*14) HIROYOSHI TENZAN*
vs. Gallows - *3/4
vs. Tanahashi - ***3/4
vs. Yano - **1/2
vs. Makabe - *1/2
vs. Ibushi - **3/4
vs. Fale - *1/4
vs. Styles - ***
vs. Shibata - **1/2
vs. Naito - *1/4

*13) KARL ANDERSON*
vs. Nakamura - ***
vs. Goto - **
vs. Ishii - ***3/4
vs. Nagata - **3/4
vs. Okada - *3/4
vs. Honma - *1/2
vs. Elgin - ***
vs. Yujiro - *
vs. Kojima - *1/2

*12) SATOSHI KOJIMA*
vs. Ishii - **3/4
vs. Elgin - **3/4
vs. Okada - ***
vs. Yujiro - *1/4
vs. Honma - **3/4
vs. Goto - *1/2
vs. Nagata - **1/2
vs. Nakamura - ***
vs. Anderson - *1/2

*11) SHINSUKE NAKAMURA*
vs. Anderson - ***
vs. Nagata - **1/4
vs. Ishii - ***3/4
vs. Goto - *3/4
vs. Yujiro - *
vs. Honma - ***1/2
vs. Kojima - ***
vs. Okada - ***1/4

*10) MICHAEL ELGIN*
vs. Okada - ***1/2
vs. Kojima - **3/4
vs. Honma - ***3/4
vs. Yujiro - *3/4
vs. Nagata - *1/4
vs. Anderson - ***
vs. Goto - ***1/2
vs. Ishii - ***1/2

*9) HIROOKI GOTO*
vs. Yujiro - *3/4
vs. Anderson - **
vs. Honma - ****
vs. Okada - ***
vs. Nakamura - *3/4
vs. Kojima - *1/2
vs. Ishii - ***
vs. Elgin - ***1/2
vs. Nagata - ***

*8) YUJI NAGATA*
vs. Honma - ***
vs. Nakamura - **1/4
vs. Yujiro - *3/4
vs. Anderson - **3/4
vs. Ishii - ***1/2
vs. Elgin - *1/4
vs. Kojima - **1/2
vs. Okada - ***3/4
vs. Goto - ***

*7) KOTA IBUSHI*
vs. Tanahashi - ****1/2
vs. Gallows - ***
vs. Styles - ****1/2
vs. Shibata - ****1/4
vs. Tenzan - **3/4
vs. Naito - **1/4
vs. Fale - *1/2
vs. Yano - NR
vs. Makabe - *1/2

*6) KAZUCHIKA OKADA*
vs. Elgin - ***1/2
vs. Honma - ***
vs. Kojima - ***
vs. Goto - ***
vs. Anderson - *3/4
vs. Ishii - **1/4
vs. Yujiro - *1/2
vs. Nagata - ***3/4
vs. Nakamura - ***1/4

*5) TOMOAKI HONMA*
vs. Nagata - ***
vs. Okada - ***
vs. Goto - ****
vs. Elgin - ***3/4
vs. Kojima - **3/4
vs. Anderson - *1/2
vs. Nakamura - ***1/2
vs. Ishii - ***1/2
vs. Yujiro - *1/4

*4) KATSUYORI SHIBATA*
vs. Styles - ****
vs. Naito - ***1/2
vs. Makabe - ***1/2
vs. Ibushi - ****1/4
vs. Fale - **3/4
vs. Yano - *3/4
vs. Tanahashi - ***1/2
vs. Tenzan - **1/2
vs. Gallows - *1/2

*3) TOMOHIRO ISHII*
vs. Kojima - **3/4
vs. Yujiro - *1/2
vs. Anderson - ***3/4
vs. Nakamura - ***3/4
vs. Nagata - ***1/2
vs. Okada - **1/4
vs. Goto - ***
vs. Honma - ***1/2
vs. Elgin - ***1/2

*2) AJ STYLES*
vs. Shibata - ****
vs. Yano - ***1/2
vs. Ibushi - ****1/2
vs. Naito - ***
vs. Gallows - *1/2
vs. Makabe - **
vs. Tenzan - ***
vs. Fale - ***1/2
vs. Tanahashi - ***3/4

*1) HIROSHI TANAHASHI*
vs. Ibushi - ****1/2
vs. Tenzan - ***3/4
vs. Naito - ****1/4
vs. Fale - ***3/4
vs. Yano - **1/2
vs. Gallows - **
vs. Shibata - ***1/2
vs. Makabe - ***
vs. Styles - ***3/4









THE KING.​


----------



## Sick Graps-V2

As a fan I really wanted _Shinsuke_ Nakamura to win this years G1, though I stated weeks ago it would have also made sense in terms of logical booking to finish the Okada v Tanahashi story sprouting from Okadas' tearful loss at Wrestlekingdom 9 in January; and I'm not surprised at all they went with that. 

The fan in me always kept hope alive that Nakamura would win, I had him pegged to win; he might be the most over guy in the company at the moment, at least internationally; and when he lost the IC title at Dominion 7.5 I justifiably perceived it as a sure sign he was moving on up to greater things, seems that it was either a well placed red herring or New Japan simply keeping their options open rather than a sign of things to come. Either way I think it was good booking given the outcome, since the logical possibility of more than one winner added an air of unpredictability to the conclusion of the tournament.

I'm excited for Okada v Tanahashi again as the conclusion to that storyline has to happen to draw a line under it for now; it will be cool to see Okada find redemption, and in addition to it no doubt being an awesome main event in its own right it will allow for a fresher main event picture in the future.

It will be interesting to see how the next few months pan out.


----------



## amhlilhaus

What makes new japan different than wwe

Each follows a formula: wwe has one star and everyone else. The top star loses a couple times a year but always comes back and destroys the guy he lost too. Wwe midcard never beats the top guy, so there's no suspense

New japan has 3 top guys. Makes it more interesting because they are kept around the same level, no super heroes here. New japan midcard is full of guys who beat the big 3. Everyone down to toru yano can beat tanahashi. No fucking way r truth or king barrett would beat cena.

Yeah its frustrating Naito or Shibata didn't finish stronger. I think they need to forgo the g1 winner main events wrestle kingdom. Maybe winning a g1 would put goto or Shibata or ibushi over the top.


----------



## Joshi Judas

NastyYaffa said:


> THE KING.​



You're goddamn right. And you haven't even watched the finals yet, which will only add to Tana's greatness kada


----------



## SHIRLEY

Everyone gunning for Okada, including Tenryu. :done


----------



## TJQ

La Parka said:


>


snack pine pls


----------



## Corey

So Delirious announced at the show that ROH is coming to Japan in 2016, huh? Wonderful news. Hopeful that they can run at Korakuen and they do some kind of ROH vs. New Japan best of 5/7 series. Like the WCW days.

OVERWHELMINGLY positive feedback coming from the final, so I'm definitely looking forward to watching that later. Haven't read what the actual finish, so that'll probably help my viewing. Facking ROH spoiled the reDRagon win on their FB page so that kinda pissed off. Didn't expect to see that on my feed. :lol

flag sabbath talking up Elgin vs. YOSHI-HASHI too. Don't think I've ever seen a singles match from HASHI, so hopefully I'm in for a treat.


----------



## Morrison17

Very good final show.

Tag match was ok, and lel at Cody STEALING Kyle. 

Takahashi's cat chick's so hot.

AJ finally got a clean pin on superman. In a tag match, but it was a solid ending. Very entertaining AJ-Anderson-Maria gig.

Rico vs. Kushida was good, but I expected more.


I think Lion King winning is a waste, unless it's AJ vs. Tanahashi at WK and we know it wont be. 

Anyway. Very good tournament. Watched all days. Became a bigger fan of Karl Anderson than I was before, noticed some talented young guys in opening tag matches and was entertained by wrestling and storylines. Great job, New Japan, keep it up.


----------



## I ♥ KEMONITO

My G1 recommended matches with ratings as guide.



Spoiler



NJPW G1 Climax
Day 1
Ibushi vs Tanahashi ****1/2
Shibata vs Styles ****1/4
Day 2
Shibata vs Naito ****
Day 5
Styles vs Ibushi ****1/2
Naito vs Tanahashi ****1/4
Day 6
Honma vs Goto ***3/4
Day 7
Tanahashi vs Fale ***3/4
Shibata vs Ibushi ****1/2
Day 8
Ishii vs Nakamura ***3/4
Honma vs Elgin ***3/4
Goto vs Okada ***3/4
Day 9
Tanahashi vs Yano ***1/2+
Day 10
Nakamura vs Goto ****
Ishii vs Nagata ****1/4
Day 11
Ibushi vs Naito ***1/2
Day 12
Nagata vs Elgin ***3/4
Kojima vs Goto ****
Day 13
Shibata vs Tanahashi ****3/4
Styles vs Tenzan ***3/4
Day 14
Honma vs Nakamura ***3/4
Goto vs Ishii ****1/2
Day 15
Tenzan vs Shibata ***3/4
Styles vs Fale ***3/4 
Day 16
Elgin vs Goto ***1/2 
Okada vs Nagata **** 
Honma vs Ishii ****1/4
Day 17
Styles vs Tanahashi ****3/4
Day 18
Elgin vs Ishii ****1/4
Nakamura vs Okada ****1/2
Final
Tanahashi vs Nakamura *****
Kushida vs Ricochet ****1/4



The final was tremendous on rewatch. It had so much emotion. Tanahashi never went after Nakamura's elbow like he has gone after Okada's arm. I loved how Nakamura realistically hit back at Tana as instinct. The appearence of Mutoh and Chono added an extra layer to this match with them having personally trained Tana and Nakamura. The handshake was a fitting end.


----------



## Hibachi

While it wasn't the ending I had hoped for, the tournament as a whole was fantastic.


----------



## twaughthammer

Final
Tanahashi vs Nakamura ****3/4 - My second favorite match of the year. I still place Tanahashi vs Okada at WK9 slightly ahead of this match in the MotY race, and it is still my only five star match this year. This match did have it all though, and to be honest, I probably would give it five stars had Nakamura gotten over. 

My dream WK10
Okada (c) vs Tanahashi
Nakamura vs Bryan
Styles vs Ibushi


----------



## seabs

*Tanahashi/Nakamura was what a New Japan main event is these days. Moments of greatness, generally brilliant as they close it out but the first 2/3rds still struggle to mean all that much and invest me into the match before the action itself makes it interesting. Only match to hook me in all the way was Tanahashi/Styles. 

Another meh attendance too. Just over 10k. Not bad but not good either. For comparison 2013s Final in Sumo Hall drew over 2k more. Triple shot probably overkill and one match cards probably not a good idea either. 

Also seems that Tenryu's retirement match is gonna be in New Japan against Okada. :yeahyeah*


----------



## NastyYaffa

Now that I have watched the finals, here are my top-10 G1 Climax 25 matches:

*1) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Day 19)
2) AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 5)
3) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 1)
4) Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 7)
5) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (Day 5)
6) AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Day 1)
7) Hirooki Goto vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 6)
8) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson (Day 6)
9) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale (Day 7)
10) Michael Elgin vs. Tomoaki Honma (Day 8)*

Overall the tournament was very good. I'd have Tana/Naka, Styles/Ibushi, Tana/Ibushi, Shibata/Ibushi, Tana/Naito, Styles/Shibata + Goto/Honma all at ****+.


----------



## Zatiel

Easily the most fun I've had watching wrestling all year. Had three of my top ten matches of 2015, and Shibata/Ibushi is my favorite MOTY. If only more companies could make outcomes feel like they matter so much.

Personal Top 10 for the tournament: 

1.	Katsuyori Shibata Vs. Kota Ibushi (July 29) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 7
2.	Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Katsuyori Shibata (August 8) - NJPW: G1 Climax Night 13
3.	Kazuchika Okada Vs Shinsuke Nakamura (August 15) - NJPW: G1 Climax Night 18
4.	Hirooki Gotoh Vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 9) - NJPW: G1 Climax Night 14
5.	AJ Styles Vs. Kota Ibushi (July 26) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 5
6.	Kazuchika Okada Vs. Hirooki Gotoh (August 1) - NJPW: G1 Climax Day 8
7.	Tomohiro Ishii Vs. Michael Elgin (August 15) - NJPW: G1 Climax Night 18
8.	Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Kota Ibushi (July 20) - NJPW: G1 Climax Night 1
9.	Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (August 16) - NJPW: G1 Climax Final Night
10.	Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. AJ Styles (August 14) - NJPW: G1 Climax Night 17

Looking forward to next year more than I'm looking forward to Wrestle Kingdom.

Elgin more than proved himself. He fits in better here than in ROH or PWG. Great adaptation of his power style, and pacing it out to wow crowds with the occasional flip.

Ricochet/KUSHIDA was a big disappointment. Lots of crazy spots, but no cohesive story or flow. Way below their previous match.

Also looking forward to Tama Tonga breaking out of his lower card role. Guy looks ready to at least play a threat in the tag scene. He's pulling that character together.

People sure were sick of Tenzan, but his grounded style entertained me a lot. Really dug his matches against Tanahashi and Shibata.


----------



## Eliko

Nakamura-Tana was great! loved every second of it .
it felt so important, took me back to Shawn vs Bret from WM12, you were so happy for the winner but much more sad for the loser.
i think i saw some fans crying for Nakamura because it felt like a do or die situation for both of them.

it wasnt the best G1 but i think we are so fortunate to have the privilege to witness the greatness of likes of Nakamura, Tanahashi, Okada, AJ and others .


G1 is over ... but like Tana said Wrestling never stops! i love Puro! i love Pro Wrestling!


----------



## DoubtGin

just noticed there is no more NJPW in the following days :mj2

I will use this to most likely watch the matches I have missed (quite a few tbh)

where can I watch them and when is the next show for NJPW?


----------



## Corey

DoubtGin said:


> just noticed there is no more NJPW in the following days :mj2
> 
> I will use this to most likely watch the matches I have missed (quite a few tbh)
> 
> where can I watch them and when is the next show for NJPW?


You can pretty much find all of New Japan's major matches this year on Dailymotion. Just search for what you're looking for and there's a pretty high chance you'll come across it.

Their next major shows are Destruction, which take place 9/23 in Okayama and then 9/27 in Kobe. The Road to destruction shows start on 9/4 but it won't be anything but hundreds of tag matches. :lol

--------------------------

I plan on doing some catching up with some matches I glossed over earlier in the year for various reasons after I finish the Finals tonight. Can any of you guys who _may_ know the style I prefer to this point be able to answer a couple things for me?

Which one was the best Makabe/Ishii matchup this year? Wrestle Kingdom, Wrestling Hinokuni, or Dominion? I never watched any of them and all three are readily available but the length of Hinokuni seems like a turn off.

Does anyone have links to both the Bullet Club vs. Goto & Shibata tags from early this year? I somehow can't find them online.

Has there actually been any tags worth going back to watch from throughout the year? Referring to non-title ones cause I watched all the Jr. Heavyweight tags. All the multi-mans cause I skip virtually all of them. Like something that has rewatch value. 

@LilOlMe
@flag sabbath
@La Parka

Or anyone else for that matter.


----------



## DoubtGin

Are those "Road to ....." shows also televised?

Thanks for the info, I think I will follow your lead and catch up some NJPW because I havent watched anything between WK9 and G1.


----------



## El Dandy

@DoubtGin

I believe they are, but best of my recollection most are single cam house shows with tag matches (aka probably nothing worth watching).


@Jack Evans 187

Makabe/Ishii from WK9 was my favorite.

As for tags, I can only recommend watching the Meiyu Tag v Bullet Club matches. I honestly have skipped all of the tag title matches since the Kingdom became challengers. I remember there were a couple p good multi mans from the G1, but they all have escaped me because I didn't really keep track.

Maybe go back and watch Naito/Honma v Bullet Club from Dominion so you can see Naito start his morph into EL INGOBERNABLE.

Goto/Makabe/Naito v CHAOS -and- Saku/YTR v Tanahashi/Shibata from Invasion Attack were alright.

maybe also Ibushi/Naito v Saku/YTR -and- Time Splitters/Dorada v Bucks/Omega from New Beginning in Sendai.


----------



## Corey

Finished the Finals. Little disappointed with the show as a whole, but still a good watch. Definitely thought Yujiro's prostitute was the highlight of the first half of the show. WOW. 

Elgin vs. YOSHI-HASHI was fine, but I had a hard time believing some of those exchanges when you saw Elgin go toe-to-toe and literally dominate guys like Goto & Ishii and then somehow HASHI is taking him down with a lariat. Weird. I honestly wasn't all that impressed with him here (referring to HASHI).

Heated exchanges between Shibata & Naito were great. Should be fun when they face off again, even though I wasn't very high on their G1 match. That and Makabe vs. Ibushi is definitely coming next month. Wonder who Goto will defend against next? Nagata?

Watched the first half of Bucks vs. reDRagon, but I've seen those two teams face off so many damn times that everything just starts to look the same. Doesn't help that tags pretty much felt worthless throughout the match (a common problem I have with YB matches these days). Skipped to the end and am glad to see reDRagon get the win, but it will likely just continue as a revolving door of them and the Bucks with RPG Vice splashed in. Need some new blood there.

*KUSHIDA vs. Ricochet* was fantastic. My excitement wasn't on the level as others on this forum, but I thought the work here was tremendous. KUSHIDA really has an added boost to Juniors matches because he applies the arm psychology to virtually all his contests. Thought Ricochet sold it very well and had to adjust his offense. If you watch his matches enough, you know he ALWAYS uses the left arm to apply the deadlift suplex after the northern lights combination. Well here he used the right arm and things like that make me smile. Awesome spot where KUSHIDA caught him in an armbar after a springboard attempt too. Only negative I have is that the finishing stretch seemed to be lacking some emotion and crowd involvement, but that's no exactly their fault. I thought this was MOTN, to be quite honest. ******

*Bullet Club vs. Okada & The Kingdom* was a lot of fun. Thought the segment with AJ & Karl dancing with Maria was hilarious. Fucking Gallows with those throat punches though. :lol Finishing stretch was completely awesome and I was legit SHOCKED that AJ went over Okada. I guess their rivalry isn't over, huh? Thought for sure that Nakamura would get a Title shot before the year was over, but maybe I'm wrong... or maybe we get both? **** 1/4*

This sucks to have to say, but I was disappointed by *Tanahashi vs. Nakamura*. The execution of it just didn't feel like it was anywhere near the level of the previous two matches that New Japan has done so right the past couple days. Tanahashi attacking the left leg of Nakamura was so insanely smart because that's just about his ENTIRE offense, but Nakamura pulled an Ibushi here and didn't even think to try and sell it or adjust his offense in the slightest. It was still constantly knee after knee after knee and he even hit a back cracker once where he just used one leg... and it was the left one! That saddened me. Probably didn't help that I felt like the first 15-20 minutes of the match went by reeeeeeeally slow and didn't offer much to get excited about. Kinda felt like they were going through the motions. I have no problems with long matches as long as they offer something of interest for the majority of it, but I feel like NJPW has a tendency to have these matches go _overly_ long just for the hell of it. Tanahashi/Okada at the Dome and the BOSJ Finals both went 30 minutes and now this. Part of what made some of these G1 matches so great is that they didn't go 20+ minutes. I didn't quite understand the slow feeling out process when these two know each other so well. I'm saying a lot of negative here, but there was still some positive in the final 10 minutes or so. The cloverleaf segment was great and there was one particular nearfall after Nakamura hit a Bome Ye (maybe after he had a submission applied for a while) where it really looked like he was gonna win. I don't have any problem with people thinking this was the best match of the tournament because it came off as an epic, but you guys know how I feel about not selling an injury that your opponent put so much effort into portraying. All felt in vein. I think there was a good 15 matches in the tourney that I enjoyed more. Oh well. **** 1/4 - *** 1/2*


----------



## antoniomare007

Final was very good but I don't see the MOTYC praise at all. Shinsuke's spotty selling bothered me this tme, don't know why they worked the knee when Swagamura wasn't going to change his offense and just pull off the same move without any struggle even though Tana worked it pretty damn well. It was a bummer because they teased working Shinsuke's injured elbow, which could've been much better (more drama and doesn't mess with Nakamura's offense). Watched it unspoiled and didn't really buy into the nearfalls, at no point I thought Tana was losing, it was worked very similar to a Cena "epic" actually. Having said all that, the match was good enough for me to pay attention for 30+ minutes, that's very high praise for modern puro.


I don't give a fuck about another "classic showdown" between Okada and Tanahashi. Shit's tired and I'm getting more and more bored about the booking focusing around 3 people for so damn long and with pretty much the same damn story without much nuance or change to it. Okada will "finally" surpass Tanahashi at WK 10 (even though he already did that in 2013, but people tend to forget that) when he should've done that THIS year. The whole "Okada will have to regroup and start all over again" epic angle that some people claimed we were going to witness never really happened.

It's frustrating because they've done a pretty good job establishing the uppermidcard as legit threats, but they never pull the trigger on them. I would LOVE for Tana to lose his shot in October, it would be an upset and a breath of fresh air.


----------



## Corey

antoniomare007 said:


> It's frustrating because they've done a pretty good job establishing the uppermidcard as legit threats, but they never pull the trigger on them. *I would LOVE for Tana to lose his shot in October*, it would be an upset and a breath of fresh air.


But to who? I assume he defends it against the two people he lost to in the G1, right? So that's Fale and Naito. Would love to see Naito get the win again, but there's no way on earth that Naito vs. anyone right now is a Wrestle Kingdom main event.

Guess there's an outside chance that Styles regains the IWGP Title by beating Okada somewhere down the line and then we get a Styles/Tanahashi main event... but yeah that's not happening either.


----------



## El Dandy

I'm gonna blow up the fucking page with my TL;DR final thoughts for the entire G1:

*The Good*
- This was a very good G1 from start to finish. I have only watched 3 G1's, so that being said, this is easily 3/3. I know I've been spoiled considering my first 2 G1's have been called 2 of best tournaments in wrestling history, so it would probably fair better if I had nothing to measure it against.
- Naito's transformation was great. There is only 1 man in NJPW who gets actual heat, and that man is Naito.
- Elgin was awesome and I hope he comes back ASAP.
- Styles, Tanahashi, Shibata, & Ishii were amazing this G1. The caliber of match they pulled out of way lesser guys speaks volumes to how great they are.
- Paid off the Honma win. Best moment in New Japan this year.
- Nagata's rib selling since Day 4 was tremendous.
- Mao.
- Didn't like it at first, but Anderson's new music is p good.
- All the Young Lions really made the most of all of these shows. Jay White and Yohei in particular.

*The Bad*
- For the love of God: please go back to the old format.
- Having Yujiro beat Honma. Why? As it were, the Honma pixie dust floating around this year wasn't near the amount last year... so are you just gonna try and do it again? Quit going to the fucking water well! The only reason this doesn't go into the "ugly" tab is because Honma is a prelim guy.
- The blatant result. A lot of us are feeling like Nostradamus having called the Final and the winner last month. They gotta do what they gotta do, I suppose.
- Please stop with Fale. It was a great meem last year, but he is a fat fuck now and legit sucks.
- The 4 single-cam shows.
- They really took it to Red Shoes. Every match it seemed like he was getting fucked with. It's fine if Naito and Styles are doing it, but you had Yujir-fucking-o doing it regularly. This isn't WWE/WCW.

*The Ugly*
- For anybody who has read the thread over the last few weeks, you know my frustration of how Gedo has marginalized everybody not in the Big 4. It's like they have their finger on the figurative trigger and you just think they're finally gonna go with some of these upper midcard guys, but they just never pull the trigger. Half pregnant booking.
- Naito losing to both Gallows & Tenzan (fine if he had to L to Tenzan in order to make the math work, but that was not the case). Way to marginalize all the great work he has done; treated like just another guy. And no, excusing every L with "oh, it's give no fucks Naito! He doesn't take his opponent seriously!" is bullshit. He's not gonna be a top heel if they keep with that. *If he doesn't take things seriously, then why should anybody take him seriously?*
- Shibata losing 4 in a row. Way to marginalize a guy who could be Top Guy #5 in an instant. Treated like just another guy. Fuck you Gedo; fuck you Shibata for leaving in the first place (still love ya, xoxo).
- Ibushi losing so much steam after a red hot start. Treated like just another guy (Although, he'll be just fine. No doubt about it).
- Yujrio and Gallows having 6 points. Same amount of points as Nagata, and 2 points less than Shibata, Ibushi, and Makabe. Level of parity is comical.

*My Favorite Matches*
1. Day 19: Tanahashi/Nakamura
2. Day 7: Shibata/Ibushi
3. Day 17: Tanahashi/Styles
4. Day 18: Ishii/Elgin
5. Day 13: Shibata/Tanahashi
6. Day 16: Ishii/Honma
7. Day 5: Styles/Ibushi
8. Day 5: Tanahashi/Naito
9. Day 1: Shibata/Styles
10. Day 18: Nakamura/Okada

*Top 3 MVP's A Block *
1. Styles
2. Tanahashi
3. Shibata

*Top 3 MVP's B Block*
1. Ishii
2. Elgin
3. Goto

*My G1 MVP*
AJ Styles


----------



## Corey

I'll do the same and post my full thoughts:

This was my first time following the G1 and I absolutely had a blast. I know a lot of you didn't like the new format, but imo it's SO much easier to follow on a regular basis. Yeah there was a lot of days, but I'd much rather sit/enjoy/analyze 4-5 matches a night instead of having to watch 9 or 10 on a 3 hour show. I hate not being able to finish a show and starting it up another time. Kills the flow. I'm gonna miss coming home from work and not having a G1 night waiting to download. 

My impression on so many things changed throughout the whole 19 days. Initially there were twists and turns that made you second guess what the outcome would be, but in the end it all pretty much meant nothing. Naito could've REALLY gotten something out of this, but the losses to Tenzan and Gallows were terrible. Ibushi went in and out of being a top guy and then just another dude throughout and Shibata really deserves to be placed in a better position than what he is (despite the face that I'm not his biggest fan). Tanahashi vs. Nakamura being the final didn't bother me at all, but the results of the last couple days were so puzzling. Goto beating the IWGP Champ, but losing to Nagata? Why was this necessary? Fale having as many points as he did and actually BEATING the eventual winner? Crazy.

Without a doubt, the biggest and most pleasant surprise was Elgin. Awesome performances throughout and he should definitely have that match with Nakamura that was missed out on somewhere down the line. I can also now call myself a Hirooki Goto fan. Great work throughout.

*My Top 10 Matches*

1. Styles vs. Tanahashi - Day 17 - **** 3/4
2. Okada vs. Nakamura - Day 18 - **** 1/4
3. Goto vs. Ishii - Day 14 - ****
4. Tanahashi vs. Naito - Day 5 - ****
5. Honma vs. Ishii - Day 16 - ****
6. Nakamura vs. Ishii - Day 8- ****
7. Honma vs. Elgin - Day 8 - ****
8. Okada vs. Goto - Day 8 - *** 3/4
9. Naito vs. Ibushi - Day 11 - *** 3/4
10. Elgin vs. Goto - Day 16 - *** 3/4

*My Top Five Performers*

1. *Hiroshi Tanahashi* - Seems a little cliche to have the winner be the MVP, but he was pretty top notch throughout the entire 19 days. Started off with a bang against Ibushi and his individual performance was great there. Went on to have the MOTT with AJ Styles and three other really good matches with Naito, Gallows, & Makabe. Also had solid affairs with Fale, Shibata, and Yano. Again, a good individual perfromance put through in the final as well. I don't think he ever put on a bad match here...

2. *AJ Styles* - This one was tough because the matches with Shibata and Ibushi were both very good, but you knew they could do better. Then he has the MOTY with Tanahashi and you forget about everything else. :lol Also had an incredibly fun match with Yano and a solid one with Naito. Bullet Club affair with Fale was fun stuff too.

3. *Hirooki Goto* - Great stuff all around here. Three of my top 10 matches and three other good/great one with Nakamura, Kojima, and Anderson. Totally a fan of this dude now.

4. *Michael Elgin* - You could easily make a case for him to be higher because he was a huge breath a fresh air and meshed well with virtually everyone they put him up against. One of the most memorable matches of the tournament imo with Honma and several other good ones with Goto, Okada, Kojima, and Ishii. Excellent debut for this young man.

5. *Tetsuya Naito* - Despite the two awful losses at the end, I just feel like he HAS to be in here with the new character work. He was the talk of the tournament for a while and for the longest time had my MOTT with Tanahashi before that was unseated. Was still able to put forth a great performance and match with Ibushi and memorable affairs with Makabe and Shibata (that one wasn't for me but you other folks loved it)

Honorable mention goes out to Ishii, who had some AWESOME matches and then completely forgettable ones. Same goes for Nakamura & Okada who went in and out of working hard and being run-of-the-mill. Ibushi is not a guy I care to comment on because he could've done way more throughout this to help his stock.


----------



## Air Guitar Tana

Final was great and lot of sloppy work by Nakamura, maybe the elbow isn't 100%

Top 10
-----------------

1. Tanahashi v AJ Styles
2. Tanahashi v Ibushi
3. AJ Styles v Ibushi
4. Shibata v Ibushi
5. Tanahashi v Nakamura
6. Goto v Ishii
7. Nakamura v Okada
8. AJ Styles v Shibata
9. Ibushi v Naito
10. Honma v Ishii

MVP

1. Tanahashi
2. Ibushi / AJ Styles
3. Ishii


----------



## Lazyking

I see the problems in Tanahashi/Nakamura and I overlook them because the match felt epic and it delivered. No it wasn't the most crisp and selling could have been better of course (however I didn't feel like Nakamura was just running thru shit and getting pins. he sold exhaustion pretty well as did tana.. and they spaced the spots enough.) it felt like a G1 finals with a hot crowd, finishing stretch was fantastic. Don't think I've seen a better match of importance since WK this year.

Ibushi, Tana, Shibata and AJ all had great tournaments. I'm of the opinion that just beating a guy like Tana does help. Shibata is still massively over and no one would bat an eyelash if he won the title tomorrow. Ibushi they still protect outside the G1. the only reason they seem to do these silly losses is to keep with the math and setup rematches.. You still have the whole fall to book and no one is watching road to shows.

Overall, I really liked this year's tournament, My favorite won the whole thing ha! But seriously this format I loved until I realized that it dragged the tournment by how long it was (too long) AND if you're gonna have the shows on NJPW world can we somehow get all shows multi cam. Single came was too distracting.


----------



## DoubtGin

The real MVP was Toru Yano though.


----------



## Lariatoh!

I really liked the final. Tana and Naka battling on the top turnbuckle at the very end felt so epic, like Godzilla vs King Kong. But I've seen Naka go down to the High Fly Flow so many times, I've become numb to it. Also, if the BomaYe is not going to get Naka the win, he should get a new finisher. The 17 BomaYe's in every match is starting to wear on me.

I also really liked Okada/Naka. Because of the language barrier, I'm not sure exactly the story of this match. I know they are stablemates and at the end they pounded fists,but Okada hit a Tombstone on the floor... That is usually left for enemies not your friend. Pretty vicious move, or is it just too much? Maybe he countered it by stopping the 20 count I don't know but I thought it didn't fit. The fucking drop kick near the nd though to stop a BomaYe was one of the best I've seen and Naka sold it like death. As soon as I stopped marking out I wondered if Jim Ros was watching he just had a stroke from its awesomeness.

Tana winning the whole thing was a surprise to no one, and hopefully once they finally get this Tana/Okada passing the ace torch out of the way at the dome, we can see some new stuff. 

Maybe because 25 is a milestone they wanted Tana and Naka in the final and Tana getting the win to hopefully send him off in his final run in the main events.


----------



## Air Guitar Tana

i'm not sure if anyone remembers it, AJ and Sakuraba had like 40 seconds interaction in a tag match on saturday. i thought that was so cool they could do decent match if they're given a singles match


----------



## What_A_Maneuver!

Caught up with the finals tonight. I really liked Tanahashi/Nakamura but GOD DAMN NAKAMURA NEEDS TO STOP WATCHING THE REF'S HANDS FOR WHEN HE KICKS OUT. Every fucking match if you get a close up of his face and his eyes are glued to the ref's hand you know he's going to kick out. Takes away the drama massively for me.

I only watched the last six nights as I'm new to NJPW, but Naito was the MVP for me. I love watching that guy get heat from the Japanese crowd, it's genius. Just simple things like when Tenzan was giving him a beating on the outside and rolled him back in the ring, Naito rolled the entire length of the ring and took a breather on the other side. Amazing.

I think I'll have a little research on the best matches of the rest of the tournament and give them a watch before I cancel my subscription at the end of the month. Really liked some of the stuff I've watched though.


----------



## LegendAS

I didn't watch the entire G1, but I saw Ibushi going 4-5. Why?
And was Nakamura really injured against Elgin? Or to just have him lose against Anderson and nobody else?
Btw did Anderson get a clean win against Nakamura?


----------



## Corey

Was thinking a little today about the current title situation. What are your thoughts on these?

- Does New Japan ever do any straight up 1-on-1 Number One Contender's matches? I don't think they do, but that's an easy way to put together Styles vs. Nakamura. They both have valid arguments towards a Title shot since they both pinned Okada within the past week, so why not put them together in the main event for one of the Destruction shows? Winner gets Okada at King of Pro (presumably Nakamura wins).

- I know these odds are SUPER slim, but how big of a deal would it be if the main event at Wrestle Kingdom was Okada vs. Tanahashi vs. Nakamura!? Again, I know the chances are slim because New Japan almost never does singles 3-ways, but that match totally screams money and nothing else would be bigger for the 10th Anniversary of WK. Not sure how it would come about, but I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to pull off. By putting the big three in the same match, you then open up more opportunities for your other top guys to shine, i.e. Styles, Naito, Shibata, Ibushi, Ishii, etc.

-----------------------

EDIT: @LegendAS yeah Shinskay was legit injured and didn't compete against Elgin. Can't tell you why Ibushi went 4-5, just to keep things unpredictable I guess. Anderson did in fact beat Nakamura and Goto completely clean with the cutter.


----------



## Lariatoh!

I've been begging for the big 3 triple threat match for what seems like forever, but I don't think it'll happen. Styles and Nakamura have been kept apart forever, not even in the multiple tag matches that occur have either man been involved with one another. There must be something big planned. Which usually means WK....


----------



## LilOlMe

@Jack Evans 187, Goto/Shibata's tag team name is Meiyu, so maybe you could try searching that way?

If you tell me the dates, I might be able to find them for you.

As for other tags, I watched a ton of tags, some of them were really good, but I don't remember which ones specifically. I'm sorry.

I do remember thinking that Chaos (Okada & Yoshi-Hashi) vs. Meiyu Tag (Shibata & Goto) was quite well done. It's on Dailymotion.





I ♥ KEMONITO;51438538 said:


> Yujiro's hot new stripper. A bunch of the same tags. Shibata/Naito heating up. Literally the whole building popped when Shibata got that first hit on Naito. I would go out of my way to see it. Seems like the hottest thing they've had in a while.


I liked this write-up of it:


> The interaction between Shibata and Naito must be seen. Naito soaked up great true heel heat from the Sumo Hall while Shibata projected that he might kill the Ingobernable. These two were masters in this match of doing so much with facial expressions, body language and doing the right thing at the right time. It didn’t matter what moves they did. I am now dying to see that singles match.


So glad @Jack Evans 187 watched that. I thought for sure you'd skip it, and then would never go back and watch it, lol.

Liked the interaction between Ibushi & Makabe too. That brawl at the end looked realistic. 


*KUSHIDA* is talented, but I don't feel he's quite there yet. There's something about his style that sometimes comes off as too unnecessarily showy and artificial. Then other times, he's great. I feel it would do a world of good to have an old vet sit down and work with him on his approach.


Never watched the *Young Bucks* work before, and have mixed feelings on them. They are good personality-wise, in terms of being cheesy, irreverent, douches. They remind me of a mix of a more annoying Rollins/HBK.

Their style can be fun, but they came across as messy to me at times, and yeah, spotty (I rarely use that word). 

One of them is young in particular, though, so maybe they'll grow into more maturity as far as their wrestling is concerned. They need more refinement.


*Nakamura/Tanahashi* was good, but I did read that dude who always is really harsh with his ratings in the Puro thread, saying that this was a MOTYC in the MOTY thread. So I was like "wow, this is gonna be really incredible." It also made me think Nakamura won, because I figured that might contribute to why someone like him was so high on it.

The first half really didn't grab me. I don't mind slow starts, because you have to build up, but I guess I didn't feel the build up was as incredible as it was in other matches.

Having said that, I loved Nakamura's selling of the neck. When Tanahashi hit the HFF on the outside, I wondered for a moment if Nakamura was really hurt. Mainly because the impact did really look so brutal. Bone on bone.

Also loved how Nakamura seemed totally serious and almost nervous in the beginning. 

The battle on the top of the rope was tremendous, as was that low Boma Ye that really looked like it nailed Tanahashi square in the neck.

I loved how exhausted they looked throughout the latter half, really selling the war.

So overall I thought it was strong, though I can understand why some would feel underwhelmed. That was my initial feeling throughout the first half.

Ended up being a really good/great match, but I don't think it's better than the other matches that I thought were tremendous this tournament.

I watched with someone more casual (they know a lot of the wrestlers now & have seen a bunch of the matches, but they know nothing about the booking or inner details or anything like that), and they kept going on and on about how good the match was throughout the match. So there's that.


----------



## LilOlMe

Re-watched Okada/Nakamura, Elgin/Ishii, and Tanahashi/Styles.

Elgin/Ishii went down a little for me to ****1/2, though still great. This is why I don't know what the real opinion should be...one based on no expectations and just experiencing the moment, or the one that doesn't have the surprise element anymore? Probably the former.


Tanahashi/Styles was still tremendous, but felt a bit more like ****3/4, which again may have to do with the fact that I wasn't in suspense anymore. I thought that there was more back and forth interplay in the first half than there was. Or maybe I was just tired this time?

Anyway, it was still superb, and I loved the "anything you can do, I can do better" effect that someone mentioned earlier. Fucking loved Tanahashi's anguished selling when he was in the Calf Lock, and loved the placement of everything as far as the counters and long-term booking. The Styles Clash being protected so much, to the point that you really thought Styles would lose to it, was just great. 

The air Styles got on that HFF was just wonderful, btw. 

I feel that I could watch it again and probably have it at ***** again. I think level of focus has a lot to do with it.


Okada/Nakamura stayed the same at ****3/4, and in fact, I appreciate it even more now. I think it might be the BEST match of the tournament. There were even more little things I didn't notice the first time.

Love how after Okada did that DDT on the gate (he's learning to make this more vicious looking/sounding, btw), he immediately elbowed Nakamura in the back of the neck, the second that Nakamura got into the ring. Then he went right for a neckbreaker.

It's the kind of logic & commitment that gets sorely overlooked.

Also loved how once Nakamura saw an opening when he kicked Okada by surprise (when Okada was leaning over on the outside), he immediately became ultra-aggressive.

Just such a good match on so many levels, and I felt I saw a lot of growth in Okada in this match.

1. Okada/Nakamura - ****3/4
2. Styles/Tanahashi - ****3/4
3. Shibata/Tanahashi - ****1/2 - ****3/4
3. Shibata/Ibushi - ****1/2
5. Elgin/Ishii - ****1/2
6. Ibushi/Tanahashi - ****1/2
7. Naito/Tanahashi ****1/4
8. Okada/Nagata - ****1/4
9. Honma/Goto - ****1/4
10. Styles/Shibata ****ish.

I *think*.

Tanahashi GOATing it up all tournament. I remember when I first watched him and heard all of the BITW compliments, I was like "he's good, but not so sure." Now, after watching a ton of him, I most certainly see it. There are, like, no weaknesses to his game. Also, his selling, match lay-out, and ability to be versatile in character depending on his opponent, is unmatched.

Just really f'ing good showing in this tournament.

Also, I have the feeling that Tanahashi/Shibata may be even better received on re-watch (similar to the first re-watch, and Okada/Nakamura).


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@CHAOS Rainmaker, just to give you an idea of Kojima's feistiness, Dave Meltzer wrote this on his board:


> The WWF guys didn't even know about WCW.
> 
> I would talk to WWF guys in town in the late 80s and most had no idea that the Midnight Express, Tully & Arn or Rock & Roll Express were any good. Unless you were in the territory with the guy most didn't know unless it was Flair or Dusty or the Road Warriors. They were traveling every day and not watching any wrestling on TV and very few studied tapes.
> 
> I was with a bunch of WWF guys once in Oakland and Owen Hart was the only one who even knew the Midnight Express was a good team and if was funny watching him back me up when I said they were the best team in North America and everyone acting like we were both geeks. The rest had the attitude "If they were any good why aren't they here." Seriously. Then again, Owen Hart learned wrestling studying tapes from Japan and came from Bruce Hart's influence where New Japan was the real major league, so he'd have the attitude that "If they were any good why aren't they here" was ridiculous.
> 
> When Kojima held the Triple Crown & IWGP title, he met HHH and there was a hilarious exchange. Kojima greeted Flair & HHH and was real nice. Flair kind of knew who Kojima was from working New Japan but didn't know how big he was at the time. HHH had no idea and made some joke about who is this guy. Kojima knew English and knew HHH acted like he didn't know who he was and said in Japanese to the reporters, "Any of you know the guy in the big nose who is Ric Flair's security guard?" and they all cracked up.



Also, Liger does an experiment where he sees which sleeping wrestlers will kick out before the count of three. You can probably guess who has enough awareness to kick out at one, lol:


----------



## IP Banned

.


----------



## amhlilhaus

DoubtGin said:


> The real MVP was Toru Yano though.


Toru yano is the real ace of puroresu. He is wrestling. He is love


----------



## IP Banned

.


----------



## LilOlMe

Forgot to mention that I re-watched Okada/Nagata, and I loved how EVERY single time Nagata & Okada faced off for an impending strike fest, Okada was laughing at Nagata like an arrogant douche.

That match was one of the best Okada performances I've ever seen, in terms of consistent character portraying in every detail.

Nagata, of course, was at the top of his game too, which made it incredible.


Does anyone know why Tanahashi kept holding up three fingers? He did this in AJ's face at the end of their match.


----------



## Corey

@LilOlMe, about damn time you watched the finals! :lol

I've searched online and didn't find any of he Bullet Club vs. Meiyu Tag matches, but I think the whole shows are on watchwrestling (It was Wrestle Kingdom and New Beginning in Osaka) so I should be able to see them there. Just wanna go back and check em out cause I skipped them earlier in the year due to me not liking Shibata & Goto. haha

Also saw thet Goto faced Nagata in the first round of the New Japan Cup and don't remember that at all. Must've not cared for it at the time or just skipped over it. My guess is the first.

Saw that the Young Bucks are 26 and 30 but I can definitely tell you they've been a top notch, one of the best in the world tag teams since '09. They're definitely refined and know how to work virtually any style, but for some reason they don't do that in 2015. Idk if someone else tells them to wrestle the way they do, but there's usually no structure to any of their matches anymore. They just go out and do a bunch of spots and sequences in a tornado style and it's kinda depressing. They're capable of much more.

No mention of Nakamura's no selling in the final, huh?

Not sure if the three was to symbolize a 3 count or not.


----------



## Unoriginal

*Top 10 Best Matches of the G1 Climax*
(Remember, all of this is my opinion, none of this is fact.)

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Finals) - *****

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 1) - ****3/4

3. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuchika Okada (Day 18) - ****3/4

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles (Day 17) - ****3/4

5. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi (Day 7) - ****3/4

6. Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Day 14) - ****3/4

7. Kota Ibushi vs. AJ Styles (Day 5) - ****1/2

8. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Michael Elgin (Day 18) - ****1/2

9. Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Day 16) - ****1/2

10. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Day 13) - ****1/2


----------



## LilOlMe

Jack Evans 187 said:


> @LilOlMe, about damn time you watched the finals! :lol
> 
> Saw that the Young Bucks are 26 and 30 but I can definitely tell you they've been a top notch, one of the best in the world tag teams since '09. They're definitely refined and know how to work virtually any style, but for some reason they don't do that in 2015. Idk if someone else tells them to wrestle the way they do, but there's usually no structure to any of their matches anymore. They just go out and do a bunch of spots and sequences in a tornado style and it's kinda depressing. They're capable of much more.
> 
> No mention of Nakamura's no selling in the final, huh?
> 
> Not sure if the three was to symbolize a 3 count or not.


lol, I'm so behind on everything. Two weeks behind on RAW. 

Which brings me to the whole NJPW vs. WWE debate. After finishing the tournament, I put on the RAW from two weeks ago, and saw that cringe-worthy "Cena" talking head segment with Seth. If people wonder why Meltzer and others prefer NJPW over WWE, that might be the perfect example.

Timing couldn't have been better to illustrate my point, lol.

Good to hear about the Young Bucks. I could totally see H and Vince just sitting there and tearing them apart. Until they need them for NXT, that is...

I mean, Nakamura sold the knee after Tanahashi went for it. Kept stomping on his leg and stuff to jiggle life into it. He stopped selling it later on, but IIRC, Tanahashi didn't go after it later in the match that much?

I had this convo with Yeah in the DVD thead awhile back. I guess for me I give extra credit for continued selling. That could take a performance into the sublime. But I guess I just don't take away a lot of credit for not continuing to sell it for a long amount of time, if the person sold it initially and for a bit afterward.

I can see why others do, and I'm sure I sometimes do if it's really egregious (I think if the opponent's attack was so vicious, the lack of long-term selling tends to stand out for me more).

I see your point, in that if Nakamura sold it more, it would have been much more central to the match, which is what Tanahashi was going for. I just honestly didn't even think of it all that much. 

It makes people crazy when people continue doing their moves on a limb that's been worked on. This just doesn't bother me much, because athletes _do_ work through pain. I mean, we're actually witnessing that, with Shibata & Nakamura still using their legitimately bad arms.

So I don't feel that someone's offensive gameplan needs to be totally changed (although that can make for a compelling story...again, the extra credit thing). He should have sold it more, though, toward the end. Just a little knee shake or grab or something to convey that it's still hurting, would do. It's that little extra mile that helps, but I honestly think it's that they just get so tired that they forget. I mean, he sells his neck pretty well consistently.

As for Tanahashi's three sign, he did it at the end of the tournament too, while standing on the buckle.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Haven't watched the final yet but here are my Fave 5 matches so far:

5. Nagata-Goto
4. Shibata-Ibushi
3. Honma-Ishii
2. Styles-Shibata
1. Ibushi-Styles

Despite the classics from Ibushi/Styles/Shibata, I'd possibly make Honma the tournament MVP, because of his ability to always churn out above average matches, no matter the situation or opponent. Very efficient worker. Would be a moneyball player for the WWE tbh.


----------



## IP Banned

1


----------



## LilOlMe

I love how the commentators say "_booing!_", btw. They always sound so full of wonder when they say that, like "ahh!" Forgot to point that out when I talked about the Okada/Nakamura match.


Saw this post on another board and so agree:


> Hiroshi Tanahashi: Going in we wondered if Tanahashi was saving himself or breaking down. Well, as everyone here has already said, he was saving himself. Watching so many New Japan singles matches in a short period of time, I saw that a lot of NJ guys are very patterned. Granted, that's going to be the case with most wrestlers you watch wrestle over a dozen times in less than a month, but I noticed quite a few guys in the tournament who don't just have signature spots, but signature sequences, signature match layouts, that they almost never deviate from. Tanahashi was one of the guys in this tournament that I felt gave a lot of variety. He worked a fast paced big time NJ main event with Ibushi, he worked a human chess match that was 3/4ths mat work with Shibata, he worked as David vs. Goliath against Fale, and he worked an epic with Nakamura.
> 
> Tanahashi is probably my MVP of the tournament. Yes, a lot of it has to do with the Styles and Nakamura matches, but in some ways, his most impressive performance was that Fale match. I have rarely seen one man work so hard to get a match over, he was selling and emoting like his life depended on that match being entertaining, and it turned out to be Fale's best of the whole tournament. That becomes even more impressive when you realize Fale also got to wrestle Ibushi/Styles/Shibata.


I love that he points out the Fale match, because though unheralded, that was the match that made me say "Tanahashi really is f'ing amazing." What he points out is exactly right. You could tell that Tanahashi was doing his damnest to make sure that match was great, and that he went in there with that mentality.

Also agree about the versatility.

Does anyone know if this match was any good?:
Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish - Day 18 [8/15/15]


----------



## Alden Heathcliffe

I'm not thrilled with the result, but it was a damn good match.


----------



## Lariatoh!

Anyone watch any of the G1 matches on Dailymotion that had commentary by two guys that called themselves "Ashton" and "John" I think it was??? 

Is it possible they were actually Seth Rogan and the guy that voices Archer??? 

I couldn't stop laughing the first vid I heard them on!!


----------



## Corey

LilOlMe said:


> *It makes people crazy when people continue doing their moves on a limb that's been worked on.* This just doesn't bother me much, because athletes _do_ work through pain. I mean, we're actually witnessing that, with Shibata & Nakamura still using their legitimately bad arms.
> 
> --------------
> 
> As for Tanahashi's three sign, he did it at the end of the tournament too, while standing on the buckle.


This is me 100%. I HATE it. Seems so lazy and I do in fact think if you're a pro at what you do then you need to adjust your offense. Ricochet did so in his match with KUSHIDA while Nakamura did not even try. Just hit the Boma Ye with your other knee. It's that easy. Same goes for Ibushi on the first night. I just can't give them a pass because it virtually ruins the match for me. Tanahashi's gameplan was genius in both matches, but WHY am I even watching him dissect someone's leg if it doesn't mean anything in the end? If the opponent doesn't even help you out by selling your work, then it sticks out to me like a sore thumb. I understand the athletes working through pain thing, but this is supposed to be about storytelling and fighting through the pain can only get you so far imo. Depends on how it's depicted for me.

That's strange about Tanahashi. Not sure what the 3 might have meant because it was only his 2nd G1 victory and he's main evented Wrestle Kingdom far more than 3 times. 

Side note, I need more New Japan in my life! :lol


----------



## Lariatoh!

Where Styles sold the leg like a champ in his match with Tana...


----------



## Corey

Lariatoh! said:


> Where Styles sold the leg like a champ in his match with Tana...


Thought they both did a better job of selling with both their legs than Nakamura did in the Finals, but honestly I hardly remember much from that match anymore since so many happened the nights afterwards.  Tanahashi did a lot of high fly flows, but I didn't think it was totally awful or anything like he blatantly ignored the leg. Not sure about Styles.


----------



## PurityOfEvil

I'm thinking about starting to watch NJPW. Where is the best place to start right now?

Don't say Wrestle Kingdom 9 btw because I've seen it already. I'm talking about in terms of weekly programming?


----------



## Corey

PurityOfEvil said:


> I'm thinking about starting to watch NJPW. Where is the best place to start right now?
> 
> Don't say Wrestle Kingdom 9 btw because I've seen it already. I'm talking about in terms of weekly programming?


New Japan really doesn't have any weekly programming. The AXS TV show airs in the U.S. but that's a year behind. I'd recommend watching all you can from the G1 as a good starting point. It's basically a fresh start for the fall and opens up new rivalries. Wouldn't be a bad idea watching Dominion from July, but that was basically a closed door on most of those feuds.


----------



## Undertakerowns

Sainto is amazing. My new favorite. Such a great heel.


----------



## Air Guitar Tana

for those who are into Meltzer's ratings

AJ Styles/Tanahashi - ****3/4
Okada/Nakamura - ****3/4
Elgin/Ishii - ****1/2
Tanahashi/Nakamura - *****


----------



## Lariatoh!

5 for the final.. Interesting...


----------



## amhlilhaus

Undertakerowns said:


> Sainto is amazing. My new favorite. Such a great heel.


I love predictive text too! I'll type up a master post, not proof read it then read it later and think this dude ripped off my thoughts, bur spells like a 2nd grader


----------



## LilOlMe

Here are Meltzer's thoughts & ratings on the Aug 14 - Aug 16th shows, and his thoughts on the G1 in general.

He goes into detail about why he liked Nakamura/Tanahashi so much in the beginning.

Obviously don't read this if you don't want to be spoiled on anything:



Spoiler: Meltzer



At 6:47 p.m. Japan time on 8/16, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura laid on the ground, side by side, both having collapsed, selling the total emotional expenditure of a weekend that saw both men involved in two of the year’s best matches.

Girls were crying in the stands. As Tanahashi laid there, some blood was coming from his nose. Moments earlier, the sold out crowd of 10,180 fans was exploding. After about a minute, both slowly got up. Nakamura offered his hand. Tanahashi accepted. The music commemorating the biggest tournament in pro wrestling was playing. The G-1 Climax tournament, a grueling month that has the reputation of featuring the year’s best matches, had come to a close. And it had delivered on that reputation.

The G-1 Climax tournament was debuted over four shows in August of 1991. Riki Choshu was New Japan’s booker, and he and Tatsumi Fujinami were the company’s signature stars since Antonio Inoki was a senator and only working rare events. The story was that Choshu, the B block favorite, lost all three of his matches, to Masahiro Chono, Shinya Hashimoto and Bam Bam Bigelow. In the A block, Keiji Muto beat both Fujinami and Big Van Vader (in one of the great matches of the era), but lost to Scott Norton. When it was over, the theme was a new generation for the company, headed to Muto, Chono and Hashimoto as the top stars, had just emerged. The surprise finishes and match quality was such that G-1 would go on to become known as the week that all the wrestlers went out to have their best matches of the year.

From a business standpoint, everyone was shocked at the success of the idea, selling out Nagoya the first night and drawing turn away crowds of 11,500 all three nights booked at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

The first G-1 final was August 11, 1991, with Chono pinning Muto in 29:31 in what set the theme for what happened in the finals of the 25th G-1. The two put on a spectacular match, arguably the best of Chono’s career. In those days, because the box seats on the mid level of Sumo Hall don’t have chairs, but you actually set in a metal encased box, it was customary to bring pillows to sit on for comfort. While the Muto vs. Chono finish has been known as pillow mania, it was actually the Muto win over Vader in the main event the night before where fans, so excited over the quality of the young Muto beating the company’s monster foreigner, that they started throwing pillows at the ring, which led to hundreds or more pillows being thrown creating an incredible visual. While that match and scene probably can be found if you search, the match never aired on Japanese television. The same scene happened when Chono upset Muto to win the first G-1, and that aired on television and is thus far better remembered.

The 25th G-1 Climax, instead of being four shows in five days, has expanded to 19 shows over a one month period.

Muto and Chono, who 25 years earlier had set that standard with the classic first G-1 final, were brought to ringside to announce before the finals. Chono, known in Japan as either Mr. August or Summer-Man largely for winning the first two G-1 tournaments (the second one to fill the vacant NWA world heavyweight championship), is best known for his record setting five G-1 wins. Muto, however, became the biggest star to the public from that era, whose only G-1 finals win, in 1995, over Shinya Hashimoto, at a time when he was also IWGP champion, established him as the company’s top star leading to the two famous Tokyo Dome matches against UWFI’s biggest star, Nobuhiko Takada, the following October and January, which was the peak of the company’s business including the first pro wrestling event to do a $6 million house.

When the finals were over, Chono and Muto came into the ring to give the G-1 flag, the G-1 trophy and the traditional oversized check to Tanahashi, as the winner of the tournament for only the second time in his soon to be considered legendary career.

The crowd chanted his name, and the best show closer in the business since the heyday of Hulk Hogan was in the ring another 20 minutes while almost nobody in the crowd left. As he left, girls, and guys, at ringside went to hug him or hand him their Tanahashi towels. Many of them were still crying. In traditional fashion, they would hand him their towels, he’s wide the sweat off his face and body, and hand the towel back, or they’d just wipe his chest or face with their towel. By the time he got backstage, 25 minutes after the match had ended, while the upper deck was by this time largely empty, the floor was still packed.

Tanahashi pinned Nakamura with a high fly flow in 32:15 in what was the best singles match the two have ever had with each other. That covers a lot of ground, including three Tokyo Dome main events, numerous G-1 matches and big card title matches. What was reminiscent of the glory days of Japanese pro wrestling, coverage of the Tanahashi win with a large photo of him with the flag and trophy took up the entire front page of the next day’s Nikkan Sports.

Tanahashi was announced the next day as challenging for the IWGP heavyweight title in the main event on 1/4 at Wrestle Kingdom 10 at the Tokyo Dome, although he still has to defend that No. 1 contendership on big shows between now and the end of the year. It will be Tanahashi’s record-setting tenth Tokyo Dome main event, something no other combat sports athlete has ever accomplished. Many had expected that next year would be the first time since 2010 that he didn’t close the show with a winning performance.

He is expected, for the third time at the Dome, to face current IWGP champion Kazuchika Okada. In both 2013 and 2015, the two knocked it out of park, with Tanahashi winning both times. Tanahashi, whose first Tokyo Dome main event was in a ten-man tag in 2003, lost his first two Dome singles main events, in both 2005 and 2008 to Nakamura. Since then, he’s won seven in a row.

If Okada goes in as champion, and he’ll probably have title defenses against A.J. Styles and perhaps Nakamura and/or Hirooki Goto between now and the end of the year. Nakamura and Goto beat him in the tournament, while Styles pinned him clean in a multiple person match on 8/16 with the Styles Clash in what was clearly the set up for a September or October title defense. Tanahashi’s first defense of his title shot will be against Bad Luck Fale on the 9/27 show in Kobe. Fale and Tetsuya Naito both beat him during the tournament, and the expectation is that the October King of Pro Wrestling show at Sumo Hall would feature Tanahashi vs. Naito for the title shot, along with Okada against either Nakamura or Styles.

The big story for next year at the Dome looks to be Okada in his quest to finally beating Tanahashi, and retain his title, on New Japan’s biggest stage of all, which would be the real torch passing moment where he is established as the company’s top star. The other choice would to have gone with Okada vs. Nakamura, since the two have never faced off at the Tokyo Dome before, just because the other alternative was the third time in four years with the same main event. Okada and Nakamura have only had three singles matches since Okada became a superstar, a win by Nakamura in the 2012 G-1, Okada’s win at last year’s G-1 finals at the Seibu Dome, and Nakamura’s beating him this year in the match to determine the B block champion.

After somewhat low key years for both after each won in the top two matches at the Dome on 1/4, it hadn’t been a year of those kind of highlights for either. Both did work great matches with Roderick Strong in ROH. Tanahashi, with bad knees and a bad neck, had been given a program with Toru Yano to do matches very different from his usual, and was eliminated in the first round of the New Japan Cup. Nakamura was headlining big matches as IC champion, but lost the title clean, and then lost a rematch to Goto leading into G-1.

When the weekend was over, many have suggested that the match of the year may have been decided. But the question is, which match? There were four different matches that people talked about, the A block title win by Tanahashi over A.J. Styles on 8/14, Nakamura’s win over Okada on 8/15, a Michael Elgin vs. Tomohiro Ishii match on 8/15, and the Tanahashi vs. Nakamura final. Ibushi’s opening night match with Tanahashi is up there as well, and Ibushi’s matches with Styles and Katsuyori Shibata weren’t far behind.

Nakamura, in particular, was working with a messed up left elbow to the point he was in a sling a few weeks ago and likely shouldn’t have even been wrestling. But he did two grueling and dramatic match of the year qualifiers in less than 24 hours, going into the ring just after 9 p.m. on Saturday night, and coming back at around 6 p.m. the next day.

There were a number of things that came out of this month-long tournament, the most ambitious in history.

One is that the big five here, Tanahashi, Nakamura, Okada, Styles and Kota Ibushi, put on incredible matches with each other. It really brought back thoughts and the obvious comparisons with the stars of the 1990s All Japan. It’s almost sacrilegious to even consider that point, and all of them may need a few more years at this level to really be compared. The game has changed, but the matches this past weekend felt every bit like a modern state-of-the-art matches, with cross-ups, great selling, which is the hallmark of them matches, the athletic moves, and the storytelling. While different because of the differences in eras, the All Japan trio of Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi and Toshiaki Kawada were doing what was at the time the state-of-the-art matches with each other, and with the other top stars, during that era. And that’s a precautionary tale as well, because the determination to put on such great matches, particularly in a short period of time, often leads to physical deterioration. Even if we look a the major event singles matches and say this group is equal to that great, the All Japan group was clearly superior when it came to the rank-and-file Korakuen Hall show main events, but I think there is also memories of Misawa, Kawada and Kobashi working those awesome matches nightly when they were younger and not hurt, with this group which is mostly mid to late 30 except Okada and the mentality at the house shows is different. Guys like Misawa, Kobashi and Hansen, when they were older, were very much saving their stuff for the big shows as well.

Now, because of how the game has changed, in no way will the modern stars ever be as big, because the television situation is different and pro wrestling is never going to be strong enough to when All Japan sold out Budokan Hall for several years in a row. But just the fact we’re comparing the wrestlers from those two eras speaks volumes, because even two years ago, I wouldn’t have done that.

Another story is the business. It’s hard to compare because New Japan has changed the way they announce crowds this year, going from announcing total attendance to paid attendance. Most of the smaller buildings sold out, but early shows in Osaka and particularly Fukuoka drew the smallest crowds in those buildings in years. The finals at Sumo Hall, always a sellout announced at 11,500 (a fake number since the building maxes out at 11,066 seats), sold out this year the first day tickets were put on sale, but the announced figure was the 10,180 figure.

The first G-1 Climax, in 1991, sold out three straight nights at Sumo Hall, which came to be the home of the tournament. At its peak, the G-1 ran seven days in a row in the building. But it had not booked three dates at Sumo Hall since 2004, running only the last two nights, and only the finals sold out. Last year, there were no events at Sumo Hall, as they built everything for a match at the Seibu Dome, outside of Tokyo, where a typhoon the day of the show held the attendance down to 18,000. While it was the biggest crowd in G-1 history, it didn’t look impressive in a baseball stadium. This year, for the 25th G-1, the idea was to do the longest tournament, lasting a full month, ending with three shows at Sumo Hall.

It really can’t be considered a huge success, as the A block final day on 8/14 drew only 5,658 fans, the company’s smallest crowd in the building since October 10, 2010, even with Tanahashi vs. Styles as the main event. The B block finals, with Nakamura vs. Okada, drew 7,557.

Even with the final night sellout, it was an impressive night in Tokyo for the industry. Dragon Gate, running its Dangerous Gate 2015 show at the Ota-Ward Gym, sold out the 3,800-seat venue. Big Japan drew 1,498 to Korakuen Hall for a light tubes death match with Ryuji Ito beating Daisuke Sekimoto. JWP also ran at Korakuen Hall with an iPPV featuring stars of the past that drew 1,023 fans.

New Japan World topped the 30,000 subscriber mark for G-1, which tells you how far behind WWE they truly are as the No. 2 promotion in the world. They were at 22,000 before the tournament started. The streaming service is struggling, as when it was launched, the hope was to hit 30,000 this past January for the Tokyo Dome, and end the year at about 100,000, a figure they will not come close to.

This has led to some cutbacks. Most notably, a lot of the shows were one or two camera shoots, and many didn’t even have commentary. Last year’s tournament had every show with a full professional set-up, but that’s with a streaming service charging $110 in advance and $160 after it started for the full tournament. This year, with more shows, you got the entire tournament for $17. Still, New Japan owner Takaaki Kidani stated he was overall happy with the business, in particular the big increase in New Japan World subscribers.

It was reported in Japan that the toll of 19 shows with singles matches at that level was too hard on the bodies of a lot of the wrestlers. The competitors had more time between singles matches with the one month tour, but had to do more matches, since they were in multiple man matches on the undercards on the night the other block was headlining. The multiple man matches were there to provide good action, but the key guys would let the non-tournament guys carry the action and nobody was out there trying to steal the show. While everyone was banged up, it appeared the injury toll was less than in prior years. But the month-long tournament seemed to lack the intensity with the crowd that G-1 historically has had.

For next year, they could and should change the talent mix. Pretty much every top guy should return, but it would help if they brought in a few top guys from NOAH and cut bait on Toru Yano and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Yano had a big push this year with the Tanahashi program, and was fine when they did ten tournament matches a show because it’s good to live light comedy. Tenzan is the legend who has been in more G-1's than anyone, but he wasn’t pulling rabbits out of his hat this year. When there were five tourney matches a night, and a few of them aren’t that good, it makes for less than special shows. Yujiro Takahashi could also be replaced as people don’t take him as a serious threat. Guys like Bad Luck Fale and Doc Gallows are going to have to be there. Fale is a major pushed foreign monster, and Gallows has to be there and get some wins as half of the tag team champions. Still, the best big foreigners last year for actual matches were Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer, and they weren’t back due to the move to NOAH. The loss of Minoru Suzuki definitely hurt, but I can understand not using him. Suzuki has been booked to be the undefeated GHC champion and he’d have to lose here. While you could argue it’s more high profile and all, if he wasn’t going to be at least final four, there’s no point in trying to rebuild NOAH to have its champion be an also-ran. But next year, when he’s presumably not champion, having guys like he, Takashi Sugiura or Naomichi Marufuji, would create new matches to freshen things up.

Over the past two years, the quality of matches in the fall, usually through the tag team tournament in November and December, was well down from the early part of the year because of the toll of G-1.

Hirooki Goto admitted being injured, but said that he would not miss any dates and was going as booked to the ROH shows this weekend. Tanahashi admitted being bothered with neck problems that have plagued him for some time. But of the 20 wrestlers in the tournament, there was only one wrestler who missed a tournament bout, Nakamura missing his bout with Michael Elgin with his elbow injury, and when he came back, he didn’t miss a beat.

The A block came down to Tanahashi beating Styles, as both had come into the finals with 6-2 records. This was not the parity booking that Gedo has been known for in tournaments where everyone is kept at around the .500 mark and most of the crew is still in the running until the last night.

In the B block, Okada, Nakamura, Karl Anderson and Goto were all alive, with Okada coming in with a 7-1 record and the other three with 6-2 records.

Originally, the match order was to have Okada vs. Nakamura third from the top, which made no sense, and ending the show with Anderson vs. Satoshi Kojima. Perhaps there was a change in the booking ideas and they may have at first considered a tie with Nakamura and Anderson and having the playoff for the block on the final night. While that would have been something different, in hindsight, how they did it was clearly the best. The last thing Nakamura needed was another match.

So Goto lost to Yuji Nagata, and was eliminated, and Anderson lost to Kojima, meaning Nakamura faced Okada for the block win. A tie in standings would mean the head-to-head match would determine the winner. Thus, if they went to a 30:00 draw, then Okada would advance. They never fully teased it, going 23:31. A key point is that Okada gave Nakamura a tombstone piledriver on the floor and could have won the match via count out. But Okada wanted the clean win, so he threw Nakamura back in. Several minutes later, after the best finishing series of the tournament, Nakamura won via submission with a belly down armbar.

The final standings were:

A block:1. Tanahashi 7-2; 2. Styles 6-3; 3. Tetsuya Naito and Bad Luck Fale 5-4; 5. Toru Yano, Katsuyori Shibata, Kota Ibushi and Togi Makabe 4-5; 9. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Doc Gallows 3-6.

B block:1. Nakamura 7-2; 2. Okada 7-2; 3. Anderson and Goto 6-3; 5. Tomohiro Ishii 5-4; 6. Michael Elgin 4-5; 7. Yujiro Takahashi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata 3-6; 10. Tomoaki Honma 1-9.

While not the caliber overall of the past two years, the high-end workers delivered strong matches against each other. The big surprise was Elgin, who hung with everyone in his first New Japan tour, having excellent matches with Goto, Ishii and Honma. Given the crowd reaction to him, he looks to have a new career there. This may also end up changing the course of his career in ROH, since that fan base may look at him now as a legitimate international star and his work in getting over here may change the way he’s booked and pushed, and also give him a new level of respect from the ROH fan base.

With the exception of Naito, who has freshened up his character with the heel turn, the dark suit and silver Sci-Fi mask and the brooding character, everyone else seemed to play the same role they played last year, or in most cases, the past several years. Naito would be reluctant in tag matches to tag in, or help his teammates. But he would turn it on at different points.

But there were not a lot of real stories with the characters. Honma got his one win, and really could have gotten a second with Takahashi, but it was not to be. Ibushi really should have beaten Yano, as he should be positioned in the group right below the top two, with Naito and Fale. You could argue Shibata should be as well, and he should, but his losing to Gallows at the end was to protect the half of the current the tag team champions.

Overall the booking for such an endeavor is complicated, and has to meticulously be done ahead of time, so factors like Elgin getting over so strong can’t lead to a change in plans during the tour. There were experiments done. Overall it had to be considered a success, although it also showed that as hot as New Japan feels in the arena at a big show, the Sumo Hall crowds and some of the other crowds are notable in how far they are from the 90s and there is still the cautionary tale of the lack of future main eventers being developed. Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka continue to improve. Tanaka is a great athlete with a good look. Komatsu connects with the fans on every show, which isn’t easy as an opening match guy who virtually never wins. But both are small.

There were two other news items on the final night. First, as the show started, ROH booker Hunter Johnston, who was in Japan working on the business relationship between the two groups, came out as Delirious and spoke, for the first time, in broken English. He announced that in 2016 that ROH would be coming to Japan, mentioning the guys there now like The Kingdom, ReDRagon and Elgin, along with the Briscoes, champion Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong. No dates were announced, but they are right now talking about doing two dates, in the same vein as the Fantastica Mania tour that New Japan does with CMLL every January. It was a weird deal as him doing the interview was a last minute decision, but the Delirious character doesn’t talk, so he spoke in what would be called primitive English.

It appears after the Jushin Liger to NXT incident, that things have been smoothed over and the relationship is now stronger than ever. New Japan gave them the impression that Liger working NXT was a combination of Liger wanting to work one match with WWE, since he never has, and he’s 50 years old, and doing a personal favor for William Regal. Liger did an interview this past week with the New Japan web site and said what happened was that he was in Northern California for the ROH show two nights before WrestleMania and found out that “Devi-chan,” (Fergal Devitt/Finn Balor) was wrestling the same night nearby. He said he wanted to see the show so someone contacted Matt Bloom, who he knows, and Bloom got him a ticket to the show. So Liger was in the audience at the NXT show in San Jose late in disguise (his disguise is that he was just a 50-year-old Japanese guy that nobody recognized) and he saw the Balor vs. Neville main event and talked with Balor after the match. Several weeks later, Balor, Bloom and Regal called New Japan and asked for Liger’s e-mail address. That’s interesting because that sounds like they were trying to avoid going through the promotion and contacting him directly. But they were told Liger doesn’t use a computer and that they would have to go through Tiger Hattori (who handles a lot of New Japan’s business in English speaking countries). They asked Hattori if Liger could work the NXT show as a one-time only deal and Hattori said Liger would do it if New Japan gave him permission. He noted Regal was a long-time friend. Liger said that he didn’t know Tyler Breeze, but said he must be really good if he learned his basics from Storm. The key of this is that New Japan absolutely was involved in the booking and it was not Liger on his own working without it going through the company.

Plans were made for New Japan bringing in ROH for an ROH-themed show or shows, more ROH talent for the Tokyo Dome show, and more New Japan talent in ROH between tours next year.

The second was right before intermission, Genichiro Tenryu came out and ended up in a verbal battle with Gedo, who was doing commentary. This led to challenges with Okada. Okada came out, basically said that Tenryu was lucky there was nobody like him around when Tenryu was in his prime. This set up the 65-year-old Tenryu’s retirement match on 11/15 at Sumo Hall, against Okada, a generation dream match that nobody ever expected to see. Just watching Tenryu walk to the ring, this match will be limited in the ring. But there is the historical nature of the only match ever with Okada, who is expected to be Japan’s top pro wrestling star of the 2020s, against one of Japan’s ten biggest native stars in history.


*August 14 - Tokyo Sumo Hall (A block finals) - 5,658*

1. Karl Anderson & Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga beat Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma & Mascara Dorada in 7:19. Tonga’s quickness is something to see. He’s really underrated. Good match that the crowd was into. Tonga went to pin Dorada after crossroads, but Honma tried to save with his kokeshi (falling head-butt). He fell, Tonga moved, and he nailed Dorada. Tonga pinned Dorada after a guillotine DDT. They beat down Honma after the match. ***

2. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly & Michael Elgin beat The Young Bucks & Cody Hall in 9:46. Matt looked at the camera, referenced Jim Cornette, showed his tag belt and said, “Pretty good for a couple of spot monkeys.” Fish & O’Reilly did a double plancha on the Bucks. Elgin did a running flip dive on all three of his opponents. He also suplexed both Bucks at the same time, as well as gave both Bucks Samoan drops at the same time. Elgin power bombed Hall out of a triangle, and then gave him a second power bomb for the pin. ***

3. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Kushida beat Hirooki Goto & Ricochet & Captain New Japan in 10:12. Nakanishi gave Captain and Goto Northern Lights suplexes at the same time. The crowd has given up on Captain, just figuring that when he tags in, he’s going to get pinned. He’s like the anti-Honma. The teases of Ricochet vs. Kushida were great, including Ricochet doing a Fosbury flop dive. Goto vs. Nagata was also good action. They went to near falls. Kushida did a flip dive to take out Ricochet. Nakanishi picked Goto up in the torture rack, and Nagata made Captain submit to the Nagata armlock. ***1/4

4. Shinsuke Nakamura & Yoshi-Hashi & Tomohiro Ishii & Kazushi Sakuraba beat Michael Bennett & Matt Taven & Kazuchika Okada & Gedo in 10:13. This wasn’t a super match, but it was exactly what it should have been. Nakamura and Okada were in and did a short tease for their match. Bennett and Taven did a twist of fate by Bennett and swanton by Taven on Nakamura to get a near fall. Taven suffered a hamstring injury on the tour but worked through it and did all of his usual stuff. Sakuraba got Gedo in a choke, which led to Maria Kanellis getting on the apron and doing her dance. Sakuraba was so mesmerized that he dropped the hold. While ridiculous that a guy with his background would do that, his facials for the spot were perfect. He got superkicked and Gedo went for the Gedo clutch for the huge upset tease, but Sakuraba got out and put Gedo in the Kimura for the submission. ***½

5. Doc Gallows pinned Katsuyori Shibata in 7:52. This upset was so Gallows didn’t go 2-7. Mostly Gallows using big man spots including a choke slam on the apron and a tree slam, which they are calling the hangman’s noose. Shibata kicked out the first time but was pinned on the second one. **½

6. Toru Yano beat Bad Luck Fale via count out in 3:44. This was the lone non pin or submission finish in the tournament. I even liked it because they do all those count out teases and this was a throw away match that wasn’t going to be any good, so why not prove the count out can work and also do a short match. They were fighting outside the ring and Tonga tried to help Fale but Yano side stepped him. Yano gave both guys low blows at the same time and jumped in to win. ½*

7. Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Tetsuya Naito in 14:14. This turned into a fun match. Tenzan attacked Naito before he took his dress clothes off and posted him. Naito spit on him. Naito later spit on him again and used Mongolian chops on Tenzan. Tenzan used a lot of had-butts, tried the Anaconda vise and went for the Anaconda buster, but Naito got out and made a comeback with an enzuigiri and Puma blanca submission. Tenzan broke it up with head-butts. Tenzan was going for the Anaconda max, but Naito broke it with head-butts. Tenzan came back with head-butts and the Anaconda max for the upset. ***½

8. Kota Ibushi pinned Togi Makabe in 9:07. This appeared to be the start of a fall program. Makabe came in with his left leg taped and Ibushi started attacking it with low kicks and stomps. Makabe went to the top and Ibushi delivered a Pele kick knocking him off the ropes and outside the ring. Ibushi delivered a moonsault off the middle rope to the floor. Makabe came back for his spider German superplex but Ibushi landed on his feet and came back with the Phoenix splash to win. ***1/4

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned A.J. Styles in 27:56 to win the A block. They teased going 30 in a match where it didn’t matter, because with identical records, with a draw, they’d have to go into overtime anyway. It started slow but built to a match of the year candidate. Tanahashi shoved him off the top and did the high fly flow to the floor. Styles barely got up to beat the 20 count, and in a clever spot, tripped on purpose so it looked like he wasn’t going to beat the count but did at the last second. It really picked up from there. Styles did came off the apron into the ring with a springboard quebrada into a reverse DDT, and he’s even smoother than before with that move. Tanahashi did a cross arm German suplex. Ref Red Shoes got squashed in the corner on a Tanahashi crossbody, and with the opening, Styles used a low blow. As Styles went to follow up, Tanahashi came back with a low blow of his own. Tanahashi did a great sell spot when Styles got him in the calf killer. Tanahashi went for the Styles clash the first time (notable that he stopped using it as a regular move when Styles came to the promotion, but brought it back here), but Styles reversed into an ankle lock. Tanahashi hit the Styles clash, but Styles kicked out. Tanahashi went for the high fly flow, but Styles got his knees up. Styles then hit Tanahashi with a high fly flow for a near fall. So the story is each couldn’t beat the other using the others’ big move. Styles hit the Bloody Sunday DDT, went for the Styles clash, but Tanahashi escaped by twisting his knee like a dragon screw. Styles went for a Pele kick but Tanahashi caught him with a dragon screw, a crossbody off the top and finally hit the high fly flow for the pin. ****3/4

The second night was probably the best overall show of the tour, as instead of just one or two great matches, it felt like one of the high-end classic PPV shows where everything from start-to-finish is really good. In particular, the underneath tag matches, while short, were a lot of fun.


*August 15 - Tokyo Sumo Hall (B Block finals) - 7,557*

1. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly beat Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka in 6:36. For what it was, this was excellent. Komatsu & Tanaka looked great on offense and in teasing the upset. Fans bought into it when Tanaka used a Boston crab and Tanaka used a half crab. Tanaka had the Boston crab on O’Reilly and Fish tried to break it up with elbows and at first Tanaka kept the hold on, which fired up the crowd. Fish & O’Reilly came on at the end with a backbreaker by Fish and kneedrop off the top by O’Reilly for a near fall. They followed with a double-team double arm DDT and German suplex by Fish on Komatsu, before getting the pin with Chasing the Dragon on Tanaka. ***1/4

After the match, The Young Bucks attacked Fish & O’Reilly with belt shots and put the boots to Komatsu & Tanaka. Finally, Jay White and David Finlay made the save and the second match started.

2. The Young Bucks beat Jay White & David Finlay in 6:38. Very similar to the first match in that the young team looked great. White already shows signs of being a Prince Devitt type, maybe not as acrobatic, but he’s bigger, has the same type of body and even with his limited experience, he’s got poise in the ring and everything he does looks great. Matt tried to get the crowd to chant “That was awesome,” but that didn’t work. It was a more sarcastic heel appeal so it’s not like they were expecting it to work. Nick also called Finlay a “stupid job boy.” White was tremendous in his hot tag. White got Nick in the Boston crab, but Matt superkicked White to break it up. Matt power bombed White into the corner where Nick superkicked him. After delivering a spike piledriver, the Indytaker, Matt pinned White. Both of these matches would have been considered excellent if they weren’t so limited on time. ***1/4

The Bucks continued to beat on White after the match and then hit Finlay with a double superkick. Fish & O’Reilly made the save, grabbed the belts and posed with the belts, doing the double biceps thing to mock the Bucks.

3. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano & Matt Maven & Michael Bennett & Yoshi-Hashi beat A.J. Styles & Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale & Doc Gallows & Cody Hall in 7:08. Good action but short. The highlight was Styles vs. Sakuraba, which they just teased. Sakuraba did kicks and Styles put him in the calf killer. Sakuraba reversed into an armbar and ankle choke before it was broken up. Bennett used a twist of fate on Hall, and Yoshi-Hashi followed with a swanton for the pin. ***

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Katsuyori Shibata & Togi Makabe beat Tetsuya Naito & Manabu Nakanishi & Ricochet & Kota Ibushi & Captain New Japan in 9:21. Very good match, just short for so many people. Kushida and Ricochet had a great opening spot. They focused a lot on Ibushi vs. Makabe and Naito vs. Shibata. Ibushi and Shibata did some great mat wrestling. Tenzan and Nakanishi stood there and chopped each other, which is about the best you’re getting out of Nakanishi at this point. The good thing is Tenzan, Nakanishi and Captain weren’t in that much. More great stuff with Ricochet and Kushida peaking with jumping double knees by Ricochet and a Fosbury Flop dive. Shibata took out Naito with a running kick and Tanahashi pinned Captain after a high fly flow. Tanahashi only came in for the finish and this show was clearly him resting up, with Shibata vs. Naito as the real focus. ***½

After the match, Shibata grabbed a guillotine on Naito and gave him a hard kick to the chest. Shibata sat on the ground with his arms folded and dared Naito to attack him, but Naito wouldn’t do it.

5. Yujiro Takahashi pinned Tomoaki Honma in 10:33. Mao-chan, Takahashi’s female of the night, came out in a bikini dancing before the match. Takahashi, as has become a trademark spot, bit Honma’s fingers when Honma tried to get a hold on him. Honma did a suplex where he got Takahashi halfway up, paused there, and then lifted him all the way up. Crowd liked that. Takahashi also did a belly-to-belly superplex. Crowd was into Honma’s comeback with the missile head-butts. The ref was distracted and Takahashi used a low blow and Miami shine for the pin. ***1/4

6. Tomohiro Ishii pinned Michael Elgin in 14:30. Super hard hitting match. Elgin did a bench press throwing Ishii off when he tried a pin early. Elgin did the long vertical suplex. He’s also doing a spot where his big move is what looks like a hard right to the jaw which they sell back. Elgin used an enzuigiri and German suplex into the turnbuckles and a twisting senton off the top. Lots of hard clotheslines, along with the tough guy spots where they stay on their feet from them. Elgin did two German suplexes and a rolling reverse cradle into a third German suplex. Elgin teased a power bomb on the apron, but Ishii got out by stomping on Elgin’s foot. Elgin then hit a Death Valley bomb on the apron and Ishii fell to the floor selling his neck and shoulder like only he does. Elgin then gave him a power bomb into the barricade. I don’t know where they created this guy agreeing to take all that stuff. Ishii came back using the ax guillotine driver, which is a backward piledriver that I usually call the Omori driver. Ishii popped up after a superplex and Ishii then killed him with a lariat, but Elgin kicked out at one. After more near falls, Ishii landed head-butts, a hard lariat and a brainbuster for the pin. ****½

7. Yuji Nagata pinned Hirooki Goto in 13:00. Goto needed to win to stay alive. Nagata was selling a rib injury toward the latter part of the tour, so when Goto kicked him, he did a great sell job. This turned into a really good match. Nagata tried his backdrop, but Goto blocked and kicked him hard in the ribs. They traded elbows. This was a strong showing by Nagata. Nagata got the clean pin after a spinning heel kick and bridging back suplex. ***3/4

8. Satoshi Kojima pinned Karl Anderson in 10:53. Also very good. Tonga and Gallows attacked Kojima on the floor when Andersen distracted Red Shoes. At one point, Anderson sat down in a chair and went to pin Kojima, but Red Shoes wouldn’t count the pin thinking he had used the chair. Both were throwing hard chops on the floor and teasing a double count out but both jumped in at 18. Anderson started getting near falls including using a reverse gun stun flying off the top rope. After Anderson blocked a lariat and Kojima blocked a gun stun, Kojima hit the lariat to the back of the head and hit a second lariat for the pin. ***½

9. Shinsuke Nakamura beat Kazuchika Okada in 23:31 to win the B block. They first big spot was Okada whipping Nakamura into the guard rail, and hitting a dropkick to his back, which sent him over the barricade. Okada used a draping DDT onto the mats on the floor. Later, Nakamura draped Okada on the ring apron and gave him a hard running knee. In the ring, Nakamura used Pride knees and a jumping karate kick (one foot dropkick). Okada went for the tombstone piledriver, but Nakamura escaped, hit a spinning heel kick and a bom a ye off the middle rope for a near fall. Okada used a La Magistral out of Lucha Libre for near fall. Nakamura went to the top but Okada dropkicked him to the floor and used a tombstone piledriver on the floor. Nakamura was not going to beat the 20 count but Okada went out of the ring because he wanted the clean win, and threw him back in the ring. Okada hit the elbow off the top halfway across the ring for a near fall. Okada went for a backslide and Nakamura rolled out and hit the bom a ye. Both were selling big. Gedo was leading cheers. They got up and traded elbows. Nakamura started going in slow motion and Okada took over, but then Nakamura came back like he picked up a second wind. Nakamura hit a second bom a ye but Okada kicked out. Nakamura went for a third one, but Okada nailed him with the dropkick. He did a backslide into a rainmaker, then went for a German suplex. Nakamura went for a Kimura but Okada hit him with another tombstone piledriver. He went for the second rainmaker, but Nakamura used a flying armbar, then transitioned into a triangle, went back to the armbar and finally the belly down armbar for the submission. The finishing sequence was just ridiculously good. ****3/4

The third night had a great major event feel. It wasn’t as good a show from top-to-bottom as the night before, although everything after intermission was excellent.


*August 16 - Tokyo Sumo Hall 10,180 sellout*

1. Ryusuke Taguchi & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay beat Jushin Liger & Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka in 6:39. Bushi was originally scheduled in this match, to return after suffering a broken neck last year. Quietly, his name was removed from the show, so his recovery is taking longer than expected. Another fast moving hard hitting match, with Finlay and Tanaka standing out. Tanaka did a plancha on Finlay and Dorada did a tope on Liger. In the ring, Taguchi used a face first suplex on Tanaka, and then imitated Nakamura’s mannerisms and did a running hip attack almost like a bom a ye on him for the pin. **3/4

2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima & Captain New Japan beat Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Jay White in 6:38. Notice how from a timing standpoint how the first two matches were laid out time wise identical to the night before. Kojima and Nagata was good hard hitting stuff. Nagata put the Nagata armlock on Tenzan while Nakanishi had Kojima up in the torture rack, but Captain saved. White hit a missile dropkick on Tenzan for a near fall, but Kojima & Tenzan used the 3-D on White, and Tenzan got the submission with the Anaconda Vise. **½

3. Michael Elgin pinned Yoshi-Hashi in 9:24. Great match. Yoshi-Hashi went for a plancha early and Elgin caught him and rammed his back into the post twice and slammed him on the floor. Elgin did his usual spots like the long vertical suplex, the hard punch to the jaw, spinning backfist and delayed German suplexes. He also used a power falcon arrow off the middle rope inside the ring. Yoshi-Hashi used a codebreaker, a lariat and a second lariat for a near fall. Elgin was at the top readying for a superplex, but Yoshi-Hashi used a sunset flip power bomb off the top rope into the ring, but missed his swanton finisher. Elgin used a spinning back chop, a spinning elbow, a buckle bomb and a spinning power bomb for the pin. ***3/4

4. Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii & Kazushi Sakuraba beat Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga in 8:53. Takahashi came out with a new dancer, a woman called “Peter” in a Catwoman costume. She danced while the Bullet Club guys watched like they were in the strip club. Sakuraba choked Takahashi but Takahashi but his hand. Sakuraba went for a Kimura, and then a guillotine, but Takahashi broke it up with a fisherman buster and a brainbuster for a near fall. The finish saw Yano give both Fale and Takahashi low blows. Sakuraba put Tonga in a choke while Ishii used a clothesline and brainbuster on Takahashi for the pin. **

5. Kota Ibushi & Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto beat Togi Makabe & Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma in 10:41. Much of this was to build the fall Shibata vs. Naito program. Crowd was really hot for them. Shibata did the face wash with the boots to the ace and running low dropkick to the face. He also used the Inoki octopus hold on Naito. Naito argued with Makabe and slapped him as his tag out. Makabe walked right into Ibushi’s missile dropkick. Ibushi also used a Frankensteiner out of nowhere on Honma. Shibata was tearing up Naito, taking Naito’s T-shirt off him and choking him with it. Ibushi pinned Honma with a power bomb and Phoenix splash. ***3/4

Shibata went after Naito after the match. Makabe then attacked Ibushi and Ibushi came back and knocked Makabe out cold with a high kick, so they are definitely doing a singles program. Makabe just laid there unconscious. Shibata, Goto and Ibushi sat in the ring with their arms bolded, daring Naito in particular to come back in.

6. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly beat The Young Bucks to win the IWGP jr. tag titles in 17:35. This was a polarizing match. The first time I watched it, the face the crowd was quieter than for any match made it feel disappointing. The second time I watched it, it was the best match technically that these two teams have done and the crowd was reacting to what they were doing,, but not compared to the other good matches here. But in other ways, it was the second best match on the show. Really smooth move by O’Reilly into a sharpshooter on Nick. Fish did a flip dive on Matt. O’Reilly used an armbar over the ropes on Nick. O’Reilly came off the apron with a knee but instead was met with a superkick by Nick. Nick used a swanton on O’Reilly who was held by Matt draped off the apron. Cody Hall then carried O’Reilly on his shoulders to the back. That was weird because the match just going on when one guy is missing and the ref acting like nothing is amiss makes the ref look stupid. They worked over Fish, who had nobody to tag out to. Matt used a spear and Nick used a shining wizard on Fish for a near fall, when O’Reilly returned nearly four minutes later. He tagged in and ran wild. Lots of near falls including Matt holding O’Reilly draped over the ropes and Nick came off the top with a 450 for a near fall. O’Reilly went for a guillotine on Matt, who turned it into a Northern Lights suplex. They set up the Indy-taker, but Fish pulled Nick off the apron. O’Reilly had the armbar on Nick, but Matt came off the top with an elbow to break it up. The ref was distracted and Nick used a low blow and belt shot on Fish. Matt picked up Fish for the indytaker, but Fish kicked out. They went for a double superkick on O’Reilly, but he moved, and they nailed Hall. O’Reilly did a double dragon screw on both guys. They set up an indytaker on the floor, but Fish back suplexed Nick to keep him from doing the spike. Instead, they laid out Matt with Chasing the Dragon on the floor. Then they double-teamed Nick. Fish came off the top rope with a falcon arrow on Nick and they hit Chasing the Dragon on Nick and Fish pinned him. ****1/4

7. Kushida beat Ricochet to retain the IWGP jr. title in 17:28. Great opening high spots. Ricochet did a ridiculous running flip dive over the top rope to the floor. As he landed, his wrist hit the guard rail. Ricochet did a springboard, but instead of landing on the top rope with his feet, he landed on his knees into a senton on Kushida in the ring. Ricochet did a standing moonsault for a near fall. Kushida came off the top rope with a flip dive. He actually landed almost like he flew off the top rope and was power bombed on the floor. But he got up and didn’t sell it like a power bomb. Ricochet used a Zig Zag and standing shooting atar press for near falls. Ricochet tried a Benadryller but missed the kick. Ricochet came off the top with a springboard crossbody, but Kushida caught him with an armbar. Ricochet power bombed his way out. Ricochet did two rolling Northern Lights suplexes into a vertical suplex for a near fall. Kushida used a Dragon suplex for a near fall. Kushida used a moonsault for a near fall. Ricochet did his double knees in the air and followed with a shooting star press for a near fall. Ricochet hit the Benadryller, but Kushida was able to get his hand on the ropes. Ricochet missed the 630 and Kushida spun around him and got the hoverboard lock (Kimura). Ricochet struggled until almost getting to the ropes when Kushida rolled him into the middle of the ring and Ricochet had to tap. ****1/4

After the match, Ricochet pointed out that they are now 1-1, as Ricochet beat him last year in the Super Juniors final. Ricochet raised Kushida’s arm, but it seemed like they agreed to do one more match.

8. A.J. Styles & Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows beat Kazuchika Okada & Michael Bennett & Matt Taven in 11:18. This match was great, particularly all the Styles vs. Okada interaction. Styles did his perfect dropkick on Taven. Maria’s spot was to get on the apron and she distracted Anderson. Styles started yelling at Anderson. Anderson yelled at Styles, pulled up Styles’ hair like he was trying to get his hair out of his eyes and told him to look. Then Styles started dancing with Maria. Gallows got mad at both of them and went to punch Maria, but Styles & Anderson held him back. Then they turned around into a triple kick spot. All kinds of near falls. Taven used a quebrada on Anderson. Bennett & Taven set up a spike piledriver on Anderson but Gallows threw Taven off the top rope. Okada and Styles were in and Okada missed his elbow off the top. Gallows there Taven off the top into an Anderson gunstun. Okada used a flapjack on Anderson and clotheslined Gallows over the top. Styles hit a dropkick and went for the Styles clash on Okada, but he escaped. Okada tried a tombstone piledriver, but Styles escaped. Okada reversed from an ax guillotine driver to a tombstone piledriver. But Styles ducked the rainmaker and hit the Pele kick. Okada got out of the Bloody Sunday DDT and Okada missed a rainmaker. Styles went for a double arm suplex, but turned it into the Styles clash for the clean win in the middle. Great finishing sequence. ****

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Shinsuke Nakamura in 32:15 to win the G-1 Climax tournament. Masahiro Chono, the only five-time winner in G-1 history, came out for commentary. Then Keiji Muto came out. Muto got a big pop. Match started slow. They did their trademark spots early, such as Tanahashi with the middle rope senton, Nakamura with the vibration kicks, until Tanahashi did the high fly flow to the floor. They were trading elbows and the selling was just awesome by both. Tanahashi missed a crossbody off the top, and Nakamura used a running knee, a back stabber and a reverse powerslam. He set up for the bom a ye but as he ran in, Tanahashi dropkicked his left knee. He used a dragon screw into the Texas cloverleaf. Nakamura got out. Tanahashi missed a high fly flow and Nakamura used a bom a ye off the middle rope with the same left knee that had been worked on. The idea was the one knee didn’t have the usual power, so eh went for another, but Tanahashi used a rolling reverse cradle into a back bridge for a near fall. Nakamura used an ax kick and hit the bom a ye, but Tanahashi kicked out. Tanahashi used the Cody Rhodes’ crossroads, which in Japan is called the twist and shout. Tanahashi hit the sling blade , hit the crossbody off the top and hit the high fly flow, but Nakamura kicked out. That’s basically the sign they were going for the match of the year when someone kicks out of the high fly flow. Tanahashi got behind him for a German suplex, but Nakamura head-butted backwards. They traded slaps until Nakamura hit a falcon arrow and a landslide, but then collapsed so he couldn’t follow up. They went back to trading elbows. Nakamura started with the Pride knees to the head on the ground, and tried a guillotine. Tanahashi came back and they traded knees and slaps until Tanahashi used a dragon screw. Nakamura used the flying armbar and rolled into fighting for a regular armbar, then went for the triangle and an armbar. Tanahashi maneuvered to the top and started kicking Nakamura in the head to break it. Nakamura then hit a bom a ye and there was a last second kick out. The crowd popped when they announced they had hit the 30 minute mark. Japan is the only place left that does that but it works there. It ended up with both men standing on the middle rope fighting. Tanahashi was facing the ring and Nakamura had his back to the ring. Nakamura teased using an Olympic slam, but Tanahashi got out and they traded elbows. Tanahashi then did a crossbody block from the position onto Nakamura, still standing on the middle rope, landing like a crossbody inside the ring. Tanahashi hit a dragon suplex for a near fall, a high fly flow to the back and a high fly flow to the chest and got the pin. *****


I bet that even with the lack of sellouts, they made more money this year, so they'll do the long tournament again.


----------



## Fighter Daron

Finally seen the whole thing, this is my top ten matches from the worst G1 I've seen in my life:

1. Hirooki Goto Vs Kazuchika Okada – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 8
2. Katsuyori Shibata Vs Tetsuya Naito – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 3 
3. Shinshuke Nakamura Vs Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 8
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan Vs AJ Styles – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 13
5. Kota Ibushi Vs Katsuyori Shibata – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 7
6. Tomoaki Honma Vs Karl Anderson – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 12
7. Michael Elgin Vs Tomoaki Honma – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 8
8. Satoshi Kojima Vs Michael Elgin – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 4
9. Karl Anderson Vs Michael Elgin – NJPW G1 Climax Day 14
10. Katsuyori Shibata Vs AJ Styles – NJPW: G1 Climax Day 1

Also, no interested whatsoever in that WK main event, I think I'm skipping NJPW starting now.

LOL at Meltzer throwing five stars to that horrific clusterfuck that was the finals.


----------



## TripleG

Well I got caught up and I have to say, I quite enjoyed it. This was my first year following the tournament and it was a fun series of matches and moments and it made for a worthwhile experience. 

This tournament also confirmed in my mind that NJPW currently boasts the best main events in the biz right now. The matches that Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura, and AJ Styles have together are just unbelievable. Even at this stage you'd expect their matches to start getting stale, but they still manage to deliver high caliber match ups just about every time I see them.


----------



## SHIRLEY

Air Guitar Tana said:


> for those who are into Meltzer's ratings
> 
> AJ Styles/Tanahashi - ****3/4
> Okada/Nakamura - ****3/4
> Elgin/Ishii - ****1/2
> Tanahashi/Nakamura - *****


There was a pretty comprehensive list of Meltzer's ratings on 420chan. I can't be bothered finding it right now, because I'm eating a sandwich, but maybe someone can post it.


----------



## Air Guitar Tana

Was the final really that great? I found AJ/Tana was superior to both Nakamura matches, but again that's his opinion. 

That's Styles' 4th 4.75 match of the year. (vs Ibushi, w/ Bucks 6 man trio vs Kingdom, vs Okada) and Tanahashi's 3rd (vs Okada, vs Ibushi) & Nakamura's 2nd 5 star of the year


----------



## El Dandy

Glad to see Big Dave give his ***** recommendation to Tanahashi/Nakamura (now, about him sandbagging the fuck out of that Styles/Shibata match :sundin2). I loved it and the match grabbed me. I know it didn't do that for others, so I digress.

AJ continues to be Mr. ****3/4 :mj2

What does this man have to do?


----------



## Pappa Bacon

La Parka said:


> Glad to see Big Dave give his ***** recommendation to Tanahashi/Nakamura (now, about him sandbagging the fuck out of that Styles/Shibata match :sundin2).
> 
> AJ continues to be Mr. ****3/4 :mj2
> 
> What does this man have to do?


Be born Japanese


----------



## Deadman's Hand

*My thoughts on the G1 Finals:

I'm not that mad about Tanahashi winning. Even though WK9 was my first NJPW show, seeing the ending with Tanahashi beating Okada, and Okada crying after losing to Tanahashi, it was pretty easy figuring out that Tanahashi/Okada were going to face each other at WK10.

All in all, this was a great tournament. This was my first G1, so I can't compare this to other G1's, but I enjoyed it.*


----------



## Sephiroth

La Parka said:


> AJ continues to be Mr. ****3/4 :mj2
> 
> What does this man have to do?


Don't worry, he has a 5* match already!

Back in 2005


----------



## Air Guitar Tana

if that Suzuki match can't get 5 stars, i don't think he ever will have one.


----------



## boxing1836

Air Guitar Tana said:


> for those who are into Meltzer's ratings
> 
> AJ Styles/Tanahashi - ****3/4
> Okada/Nakamura - ****3/4
> Elgin/Ishii - ****1/2
> Tanahashi/Nakamura - *****


AJ Styles needs a "mr 4.75" t shirt because this is getting ridiculous. meltzer just give the man a 5 star, youve already said in the past he is the best in the world, just freaking give him one!

:arn


----------



## DGenerationMC

Maybe next year, Swagsuke


----------



## Stinger Fan

Has Nakamura won any matches outside of Ibushi this year ? It certainly feels like he's always losing. Anyway, good tournament and a great final match, I enjoyed the tournament


----------



## Unoriginal

All I have to say is that I like Tanahashi but he doesn't have to win ALL THE TIME. He needed to put Nakamura over but that is the only complaint about the match itself.


----------



## Corey

Stinger Fan said:


> Has Nakamura won any matches outside of Ibushi this year ? It certainly feels like he's always losing. Anyway, good tournament and a great final match, I enjoyed the tournament


He had another successful IC Title defense against Nagata before losing it to Goto. Had a huge victory in the G1 over Okada and also over Goto, so I expect him to likely get a Title match of some kind before the year is over.



Unoriginal said:


> All I have to say is that I like Tanahashi but he doesn't have to win ALL THE TIME. He needed to put Nakamura over but that is the only complaint about the match itself.


It's only his 2nd G1 victory though. It's not like he's dominated year after year and you have to remember that Tanahashi has put over AJ, Yano, Fale, and Naito all just this year. If he ends up facing Okada at the Dome, then I really don't think there's any chance he wins again anyway.


----------



## Unoriginal

Jack Evans 187 said:


> It's only his 2nd G1 victory though. It's not like he's dominated year after year and you have to remember that Tanahashi has put over AJ, Yano, Fale, and Naito all just this year. If he ends up facing Okada at the Dome, then I really don't think there's any chance he wins again anyway.


I'm not saying he is like Cena & never lets anyone win but I really thought Nakamura should've won this. Even though Nakamura didn't win, I'm OK with it because if we see Tanahashi vs. Okada at the Dome again, I bet it will be as good as their past matches.


----------



## Lazyking

Yeah I don't see Tanahashi winning the IWGP title again anytime soon.. I think he will eventually, as like one final run but him winning the G1 Climax this year has everything to do with Okada's story. if Nakamura won, he wasn't beating Okada at the dome either.

I think Nakamura is the next champion. I'll continue to say that.


----------



## amhlilhaus

Skipping new japan because they're ' disappointing' when they put out a dozen 4 star matches in a month. I guess you can go back to wwe and it's pushing of retired legends. If new japan did the same they'd have muta v ChOno with the story no one on new japan main roster could beat them, with the talent talking about them in awed terms and insinuating they're afraid of them.

Wah Shinsuke didn't win. He did great and if you look at what they have left, nakamura has a brighter future than tanahashi.

I do think they need to ditch the winner of g1 gets a dome title match. It would make it less predictable. If the stipulation wasn't there, a upset winner like ibushi could have some more big wins in the fall and maybe be built as a credible dome main eventer.

New japan has spoiled us with its great wrestling, and it's much larger crowds gives it an atmosphere roh and pwg cant. It's still the best wrestling all around in the world.


----------



## ErickRowan_Fan

Nakamura won every match other than the final, and if he had beaten Tanahashi, he would be doing the job/passing of the torch for Okada.

It didn't make any sense for him to win at this time. I would rather see Nakamura against AJ Styles and put an end to the Bullet Club.


----------



## LilOlMe

Someone on another board posted a translation of some of what Tanahashi said in a podcast interview he just gave:


> Notes on Tanahashi podcast
> 
> Tana: 'Who can sum up what the G1 was like for them? Anyone? I'll start: it was loooong.' #podcastoff
> 
> Tana confirms that his current neck issues likely stemmed from the Ibushi lawn dart spot @iamjohnpollock #g125 #podcastoff
> 
> Tana 'when the question was me against Okada or Nakamura (in the final)...For the 25th tournament, it had to be Nakamura' #g125 #podcastoff
> 
> Tanahashi vehemently not a hugger, apparently (re post match w/Nakamura)Also doesn't like handshakes in wrestling in general. #podcastoff
> 
> Tanahashi 'A post match handshake often undoes all the work and drama you've done in the match, it comes to nothing' #podcastoff
> 
> Tana says he knows there's a sportsmanship aspect, but that they're about to fight so.. #podcastoff
> 
> Tana relates an anecdote in ROH, match w/Redragon started with a handshake offered and he just kinda thought 'WTF is this' #podcastoff
> 
> Tana 'I've never offered a handshake to anyone! I don't think'. That's a task for someone with hours to kill. #podcastoff
> 
> Tana ceaselessly puts over Styles, despite saying his hair makes him look like a 'student' and then 'one of the Beatles' #podcastoff
> 
> Tana 'anyone, anywhere in the world can look at AJ and say "he's the best". He is the best in the world. I want to take that title for me'
> 
> Tana 'if I'm not the best in the world, my T shirt is going to look really f'n stupid. It'd have to say "feel the better" or something'
> 
> Tana puts over AJ's psychology over and above his move set, says he gives people a reason to invest even if there's no backstory to a match.
> 
> They switch to Elgin, and praise his work here. Tana 'his Japanese performances have been way better than in America' #podcastoff
> 
> Tana 'my (ROH) match with Elgin really wasn't that good, and I was wondering whether it was my fault or his' #podcastoff
> 
> Everyone agrees Elgin had a good start with Okada, and he settled in after 'Okada works well with foreign talent' #podcastoff


The Beatles comment made me laugh.


----------



## Lariatoh!

LilOlMe said:


> Someone on another board posted a translation of some of what Tanahashi said in a podcast interview he just gave:
> 
> The Beatles comment made me laugh.


Thanks for this. I love the AXS tv show for a lot of reasons but at the top of the list is the translations of the promos and the interviews. Getting to know what my favourites are actually saying is amazing. Tana is the top guy and he has so much insight to give us. Was there any more????


----------



## Stinger Fan

Jack Evans 187 said:


> He had another successful IC Title defense against Nagata before losing it to Goto. Had a huge victory in the G1 over Okada and also over Goto, so I expect him to likely get a Title match of some kind before the year is over.


Right, I forgot about the Nagata match which was a main event too. Nakamura still lost 3 times to Goto though , pinned in the 6 man tag at Invasion Attack , lost at Dontaku and Dominion . Apart from the G1 , where you'd expect him to get at least a couple wins, he's been losing in the big matches apart from the Okada match of course. I'm interested in where he goes from here though


----------



## Jonasolsson96

So very likely we get Tanahashi/Okada at wk AGAIN. Look the two have great matches. I think there series of matches is amongst the greatest ever. However at the biggest show of the year I dont want a match we have seen atleast 6 times mainevent. Would be like having Cena-Lesnar mainevent wm 32. 

Ibushi is redhot and shouldve won this tournament. Then you couldve had Tanahashi or Nakamura take the belt from Okada sometime this year and give the rub to Ibushi and give him his first world title at wk. Either match wouldve been great. Tanahashi the man that has carried newjapan for the past decade vs the younger Ibushi or Nakamura vs Ibushi a match that was for the ic title the year prior now for the worldtitle. Ibushi lost the last time can he win this time?



Okada doesnt need the "torch passed" he,s already made and arguably as big of a star as Tanahashi. If they wanted Tanahashi passing the torch to Okada they shouldve done it this year.


----------



## LilOlMe

Lariatoh! said:


> Thanks for this. I love the AXS tv show for a lot of reasons but at the top of the list is the translations of the promos and the interviews. Getting to know what my favourites are actually saying is amazing. Tana is the top guy and he has so much insight to give us. Was there any more????


Some more. Also includes some comments both during and after the tournament. Read from the bottom up:


> chris charlton @reasonjp
> 
> Discussion of Nagata & his position toward the end, Nagata had suggested there's a question mark over his future-Tana feels this isn't so.
> 
> 1d chris charlton @reasonjp
> 
> They talk about Nagata and Okada. Tana 'if Nagata can turn in that good of a performance, I've got years left in me'. #podcastoff
> 
> chris charlton ‏@reasonjp Aug 17
> 
> Tana says between now and the dome he wants to 'avenge his losses' in the tournament, especially to Naito. #g125
> 5 retweets 9 favorites
> 
> chris charlton ‏@reasonjp Aug 17
> 
> Tana admits he's dealing with neck issues that were troubling him going into Sunday. #g125
> 2 retweets 5 favorites
> 
> chris charlton ‏@reasonjp Aug 17
> 
> Tana speaks to a rivalry between the A and B block Thai year, A established a pace and B had to try and outdo them. #g125
> 1 retweet 5 favorites
> 
> chris charlton ‏@reasonjp Aug 17
> 
> 'I'll 'burn up' the Tokyo Dome' #g125
> 2 retweets 5 favorites
> 
> chris charlton ‏@reasonjp Aug 17
> 
> Tana on long series and injuries & accidents along the way, he thought 'tomorrow could be me'. Makes the contract more hard earned/important
> 1 retweet 4 favorites
> 
> chris charlton ‏@reasonjp Aug 17
> 
> Tana says he didn't understand quite why Nakamura shook his hand after the final yesterday, finds it strange #g125
> 
> 
> chris charlton
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> If you don't know why Inoki/Fujinami was important, back igg.me/at/lionsprideb… . Or back it anyway. 600 USD to next stretch goal!
> View summary · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton chris charlton
> 
> 
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> If you know the significance of that Inoki/Fujinami match, you'll know that's kind of a fucking huge thing to say. #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton chris charlton
> 
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tanahashi likens the August 4 Yokohama match w/Shibata to Inoki and Fujinami in the same bldg, casting himself as Inoki. #g125 #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton chris charlton
> 
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tana highlights Sendai- him & Naito, Ibushi /Styles. Tana says Ibushi's getting lots of endorsements lately, making him jealous #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton chris charlton
> 
> 
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> He tries a whole 'thank you' 'what?' 'For coming 'what?' Today 'what?' bit. But his 'what's' sound like vaguely Germanic 'vat?'s #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton chris charlton
> 
> 
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tana says he hopes Honma beats Ishii in their Korakuen main so he gets to cut a promo. #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton chris charlton
> 
> 
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tanahashi compares Honma to Stone Cold on the mic. Says any 'what?'s Honma would elicit would be genuine. #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton retweeted
> 
> 
> chris charlton chris charlton
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tanahashi says when they did the Dominion promo vid announcing G1 cards he was counting the main events he'd have backstage. #podcastoff
> 
> 
> chris charlton
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tanahashi says G1 was originally conceived as a hard sprint of singles matches and now it's evolved to a long nationwide thing. #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> chris charlton chris charlton
> 
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tanahashi is talking about his Monster Hunter rank, & how he should plan a 'graduation hunt' b4 the new one comes out. Nerd. #podcastoff
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite
> 
> chris charlton chris charlton
> @reasonjp
> Jul 24
> Tanahashi has a new Podcast Off ep up, recorded last week I imagine. General discussion and feedback from fans over the structure promised.
> View details · Reply Retweet Favorite



Heads up, this Instagram account of a photographer who follows NJPW around (and also works for a major magazine there), is incredible. He posts a lot of personal, candid, pics, so it's cool.

I can't believe that Shibata allowed him so much access. He must like the dude, lol. Shibata in Macho Man sunglasses!!!!!:
https://instagram.com/kaminogeboy/

Love the juxtaposition of the differences between Ibushi's & Nakamura's personalities. Pic of Nakamura giving the finger, followed by a pic of Ibushi giving a thumbs up, lol.

Wtf is that all over Sakuraba's face, and Nakamura always looks mischievous, lol. 

There are also a ton of pics on Pinterest that I've never seen. The link here is for the Shibata tag, but just type in whoever you want:
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=shibata+katsuyori&term_meta=

People seem to upload pics there that I haven't seen on other sites.


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## PurityOfEvil

Is there anywhere online I would be able to watch the G1 tournament for free with English commentary?


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## SHIRLEY

PurityOfEvil said:


> Is there anywhere online I would be able to watch the G1 tournament for free with English commentary?


Dailymotion


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## PurityOfEvil

SHIRLEY said:


> Dailymotion


Alot of them on that seem to be in Japanese commentary.


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## SHIRLEY

PurityOfEvil said:


> Alot of them on that seem to be in Japanese commentary.


Search "English commentary" and whatever you want


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## amhlilhaus

SHIRLEY said:


> PurityOfEvil said:
> 
> 
> 
> Alot of them on that seem to be in Japanese commentary.
> 
> 
> 
> Search "English commentary" and whatever you want
Click to expand...

I caught the main matches on daily motion since I couldn't sign up for new japan world for some reason. My only gripe was it doesn't have all of toru yano matches


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## PurityOfEvil

amhlilhaus said:


> I caught the main matches on daily motion since I couldn't sign up for new japan world for some reason. My only gripe was it doesn't have all of toru yano matches





SHIRLEY said:


> Search "English commentary" and whatever you want


Could you link them please? I can't seem to find many of them with English commentary.


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