DDT is a very serious Japanese wrestling promotion full of serious characters and serious matches. If Vader still wrestled today, DDT is where he’d want to work. It’s so serious that it even has the word drama in its name: Dramatic Dream Team. If that doesn’t sound like a serious wrestling promotion, I don’t what does.
Every so often, a match takes place in DDT that’s so serious ans so dramatic, that it would be a tragedy if serious pro wrestling fans around the world missed out on it. One such match recently took place in Tokyo’s legendary Korakuen Hall between the masked Super Sasadango Machine and half Swedish/half Japanese TV personality turned wrestler LiLiCo with the prestigious DDT Extreme Title on the line.
You may have noticed Vader on Twitter in recent weeks talking about how wrestlers should be trying to win their matches, not practicing gymnastics routines. Well, Vader should love Super Sasadango Machine because he takes winning so seriously that before his matches, he gives a PowerPoint presentation to the audience explaining the strategy he’s devised to defeat his opponent.
This time, however, SSM’s PowerPoint was commandeered by LiLiCo, who had a unique strategy of her own.
LiLiCo had devised the perfect plan for countering SSM’s deadly Lehmann Shock DDT, and all she would need is a little help from her accomplice Kouki Watase, the music of Celine Dion, and the Titanic. Yes, the Titanic. Her plan was simple:
Two doomed lovers, LiLiCo Winslet and Leonardo Watase, would meet:
Super Sasadango Machine would get hit by an iceberg/a chair shot to the head:
The two lovers would then share an atsui (hot/passionate) kiss before LiLiCo sinks SSM with a Titanic Cross Body off the top rope/bow of the ship:
Or something like that…
As Super Sasadango Machine knows all too well, sometimes things don’t quite go accordingly to plan, no matter how professional one’s PowerPoint looks. Things started poorly for LiLiCo, who was easily overpowered by SSM. Watase ventured to help his lover, but he was taped to ringpost by SSM’s helper Makato Oishi. Watase finally broke free, but was then taken out by Oishi. Things looked dire for LiLiCo who was outpowered and outnumbered. Oishi tried to sink her dream of becoming the DDT Extreme champion with a chair shot to the head, but missed and accidentally hit SSM.
It was like the Titanic and the iceberg all over again.
Suddenly, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” starts playing as Leonardo Watase and LiLiCo Winslet both desperately search the ring and the arena for the other, for if they can embrace just one more, LiLiCo’s heart will be able to go on and win the DDT Extreme Title. Finally, they lock eyes, and they meet on the top turnbuckle.
They share one the most passionate kisses Japan has ever seen before LiLiCo leaps off the top rope with a Titanic Cross Body onto the still dazed Super Sasadango Machine. Her plan has worked, but SSM kicks out at two.
Showing ring awareness and skill beyond her experience, LiLiCo stuns SSM with a kick to his little titanics, and hits a devastating Titanic Yoshi Tonic. Super Sasadango Machine goes down with ship as LiLiCo becomes the new DDT Extreme Champion.
Romance, drama, tragedy, and Celine Dion are just some of the things you’ll find in a DDT match. But most importantly, you’ll find very serious wrestling by very serious wrestlers. Because wrestling is serious business, and don’t you forget it.
When the participants in the 26th edition of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax were announced last month, it seemed that the tournament might never again feature the man most associated with it.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan was excluded from the field for only the second time since 1995 — the one constant in the tournament for two decades, only missing it in 2010 because of injury. Holding the record for the most G1 appearances with 20, he has won it three times. Tenzan was still able to reach relative highs against the right opponent or in the right situation, but whether his body could handle the grueling tournament became a question after being forced out of 2013’s edition with a rib injury.
However, Tenzan was added to the G1 for likely the final time at Sunday’s Kizuna Road show. Tenzan had been trying to find his way into the tournament since participants were announced. And, he finally got his wish when Satoshi Kojima, his longtime friend and partner, gave his spot to Tenzan for one final run under the condition that he wins it.
7/18 at the Hokkaido Sports Center in Sapporo, 2 a.m. Eastern with A block matches of Makabe vs. Tonga, Goto vs. Fale, Tenzan vs. Ishii, Okada vs. Marufuji and Tanahashi vs. Sanada.
7/22 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has B block matches of YoshiHashi vs. Omega, Yano vs. Nakajima, Elgin vs. Evil, Nagata vs. Naito and Shibata vs. Honma.
7/23 in Tokyo at the Machida Municipal Gym at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has A block matches of Tenzan vs. Tonga, Marufuji vs. Fale, Ishii vs. Goto, Okada vs. Sanada and Tanahashi vs. Makabe.
7/24 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has B block matches with Yano vs. Omega, Elgin vs. Naito, Nagata vs. Evil, Honma vs. YoshiHashi and Shibata vs. Nakajima.
7/25 in Fukushima at the Big Palette at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has an A block show with Ishii vs. Fale, Tenzan vs. Marufuji, Okada vs. Goto, Makabe vs. Sanada and Tanahashi vs. Tonga.
7/26 in Nagano at the Big Hat at 5:30 a.m Eastern has a B block show with Nakajima vs. Evil, Honma vs. Omega, Nagata vs. YoshiHashi, Yano vs. Naito and Shibata vs. Elgin.
7/28 in Tokorozawa at the Citizens Gym at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has an A block show with Makabe vs. Tenzan, Okada vs. Tonga, Goto vs. Sanada, Ishii vs. Marufuji and Tanahashi vs. Fale.
7/30 in Nagoya at the Aiichi Gym at 5 a.m. Eastern has a B block show with YoshiHashi vs. Evil, Honma vs. Yano, Nagata vs. Nakajima, Elgin vs. Omega and Shibata vs. Naito.
7/31 in Gifu at Industrial Hall at 3 a.m. Eastern has an A block show with Sanada vs. Fale, Ishii vs. Tonga, Tenzan vs. Okada, Makabe vs. Marufuji and Tanahashi vs. Goto.
8/1 in Takamatsu at the City General Gym at 6 a.m. Eastern has a B block show with Omega vs. Evil, YoshiHashi vs. Nakajima, Nagata vs. Elgin, Honma vs. Naito and Shibata vs. Yano.
8/3 in Kagoshima at the Arena at 5:30 a.m Eastern has an A block show with Marufuji vs. Sanada, Goto vs. Tonga, Tenzan vs. Fale, Makabe vs. Okada and Tanahashi vs. Ishii.
8/4 in Fukuoka at the Citizens Gym at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has a B block show with Nagata vs. Yano, Elgin vs. YoshiHashi, Honma vs. Evil, Nakajima vs. Naito and Shibata vs. Omega.
8/6 in Osaka at the Edion Arena at 5 a.m. Eastern has an A block show with Sanada vs. Tonga, Tenzan vs. Goto, Makabe vs. Fale, Okada vs. Ishii and Tanahashi vs. Marufuji.
8/7 in Shizuoka at Act City at 3 a.m. Eastern has a B block show with Elgin vs. Yano, Nagata vs. Omega, Naito vs. Evil, Honma vs. Nakajima and Shibata vs YoshiHashi.
8/8 in Yokohama at the Bunka Gym at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has an A block show with Marufuji vs. Tonga, Okada vs. Fale, Makabe vs. Goto, Ishii vs. Sanada and Tanahashi vs. Tenzan.
8/10 in Yamagata a the City Sports Center at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has a B block show with Yano vs. Evil, YoshiHashi vs. Naito, Nakajima vs. Omega, Honma vs. Elgin and Shibata vs. Nagata.
8/12 at Tokyo Sumo Hall at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has the final A block show with Fale vs. Tonga, Tenzan vs. Sanada, Makabe vs. Ishii, Goto vs. Marufuji and Tanahashi vs. Okada.
8/13 at Tokyo Sumo Hall at 5:30 a.m. Eastern has the final B block show with Yano vs. YoshiHashi, Elgin vs. Nakajima, Nagata vs. Honma, Naito vs. Omega and Shibata vs. Evil.
This morning’s Kizuna Road show, live in Iwate on New Japan World, is highlighted by two title matches and an eight man elimination tag team match.
Send your feedback and thumbs up/down/in the middle and a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
The main event has Katsuyori Shibata, who just won back the NEVER title a few weeks ago at Dominion, defending his championship against Tomoaki Honma, the perennial underdog. It’ll be interesting to see who wins here as they are also scheduled to meet again later this summer in the G1. In another title match, NEVER Openweight Six Man champs The Elite (Young Bucks and Kenny Omega) defend against veteran Satoshi Kojima and former Junior tag champs Ricochet and Matt Sydal.
In between those two matches we have a big eight man elimination match as Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi take on Los Ingoberables de Japon – Evil, Bushi, Tetsuya Naito and Sanada.
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CHASE OWENS VS. DAVID FINLAY
Owens won a short, solid match after a package piledriver. Finlay is good, and also getting popular. Owens was animated, sold well, but comes across as just a guy.
Better than usual for this slot. Baretta survived some near falls with Tenzan. It ended with Taguchi using a plancah on Ishii, Tiger Mask did a tope on Romero, Liger did a plancha on Sakuraba and in the ring, Tenzan pinned Baretta after a moonsault. The crowd was pretty hot seeing Tenzan deliver the move. Match kept moving, was good.
Tenzan did a promo after the match. He’s mad he’s not in G-1 this year, and the crowd wants him in.
YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & HANGMAN PAGE VS. YOSHITATSU & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN
Fans were into chanting for the Hunter Club. Match was okay with Page actually the best of the four. Captain got some near falls on Page before Page put him away with the Omori driver. Whenever Page does that move, it looks like the guy is going to get hurt because he drops them on their head.
Page hung Captain over the top rope after the match. Page cut a promo announcing that in August the tag titles come back to Bullet Club. That means that tag title match with Briscoes vs. Page & Takahashi is likely on the final day of G-1 at Sumo Hall.
TOGI MAKABE & JUICE ROBINSON VS. YUJI NAGATA & MANABU NAKANISHI
As you would expect, Nagata pinned Robinson with a bridging back suplex for the win. Robinson worked most of the way and sold. Nakanishi did more than usual including a top rope superplex and a crossbody off the top. Best stuff was Nagata vs. Makabe. Right before the finish, Nagata & Nakanishi did a double-team on Robinson with Nagata doing a high kick and Nakanishi coming off the top rope wth a chop.
It’s intermission time. They ran through the entire undercard in barely an hour.
YOUNG BUCKS & KENNY OMEGA VS. SATOSHI KOJIMA & RICOCHET & MATT SYDAL FOR NEVER TRIOS TITLES
Young Bucks & Omega were all wearing New Day T-shirts. Nick still has his ribs taped up. He was also doing the Big E pelvic thrusts.
Super match, great from start to finish with the belts changing hands. With the Bucks as tag champs, losing the trios belts makes sense but they bounce these belts around too much. The finish saw Kojima hit Omega with a lariat and then, he lariated both Bucks at the same time. Sydal hit the shooting star press on Matt, and Ricochet hit the shooting star press at the same time on Nick with Sydal pinning Matt.
Nonstop action and moves, but at times, it was the Ricochet highlight show. Everyone was at their best here. The Bucks twice tried the Meltzer driver but both times it was stopped. Lots of dives. The Bucks & Omega also did a “The Elite” chant to the cadence of New Day sucks.
Kojima called out Tenzan. He talked about Tenzan not being in G-1, and then offered Tenzan his spot. He really didn’t do much here so maybe he’s hurt, but on paper, that’s a backward move for the tournament.
KAZUCHIKA OKADA & HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI & WILL OSPREAY VS. TETSUYA NAITO & SEIYA SANADA & EVIL & BUSHI IN AN ELIMINATION MATCH
Another excellent match. It came down to Ospreay and Bushi and they were great. Bushi blew the mist but Ospreay moved and it went into Sanada’s eyes. Ospreay won after a standing Spanish fly and the Oscutter, a diamond cutter off the ropes. Pretty heated match. Naito and Okada did their big spots early to make it clear they were going over the top together. Evil clotheslined Goto off the apron to eliminate him. Yoshi-Hashi superkicked Evil off the apron to eliminate him. Sanada revesed a cradle by Yoshi-Hashi to pin him. This left Ospreay with Bushi and Sanada. Ospreay dropkicked Sanada off the apron to eliminate him. Ospreay was booked to be, and was, the star of the match.
KATSUYORI SHIBATA VS. TOMOAKI HONMA FOR THE NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE
Another excellent match but a little predictable. I think everyone pretty much knew how the match would go and the ending. Honma got a lot of offense but nobody ever bought him winning. Everything was laid in hard. A highlight was Honma coming off the top rope to the floor with a diving headbutt and escaping a guillotine by turning it into a brainbuster. Lots of hard elbows. Honma did his headbutts.
The finish saw Honma do a Mascaras style headbutt and Shibata caught him with a choke. He choked him almost all the way out, let go and hit the penalty kick for the pin. It just felt from the start that this is a showcase win for Shibata. Because of that, it wasn’t as good as the match they had a few years ago in G-1 which was a match of the year candidate. Last three bouts were all totally different and all delivered.
Shibata helped Honma to his feet and then threw Honma out of the ring and raised the belt.
We are finally here at the August 16, 2015, G1 Finals show at Sumo Hall. Before we get to the big main event, we get action in the Junior Heavyweight division.
The Young Bucks vs. reDragon for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles
They aired this match in full, and it was better than I remembered. They do so many four ways and three ways in New Japan, it’s actually kind of rare we just get a straight up tag team match between two teams in this division. Really good back and forth match. Loved the spot where Cody Hall took Kyle O’Reilly, as it created a good dramatic situation for Fish as he was being worked on by the Bucks. O’Reilly came back and after some more back and forth, reDragon pick up the win and the titles.
O’Reilly said just like they said on day one, they would get the win and they did. Fish said it was just a matter of time, we are conquerors and made the most of our opportunity.
Kushida said he wanted to rule G1 final days to show off the juniors to the packed crowd at Sumo Hall. It was a big chance for them. It was a nerve racking match for him as he didn’t know how his style had changed in the past. He also has great physical ability and is a tough opponent. Between 2014 and 15 he worked really hard to hone his skills; this is what that match is all about, to showcase his skills.
Kushida vs. Ricochet for the Jr. heavyweight title
Another really good match. Ricochet’s flying senton over the turnbuckle to the floor is my favorite spot in pro wrestling – just incredible! Good drama throughout with Kushida building towards the hoverboard lock. Lots of great moves. Maybe not as good as their other matches, but this was still a fine addition to their series and a good match.
Kushida says he always wanted to bring the Super Junior finals to fill in that gap between heavyweight and junior heavyweight. Every step of the way proves he can do it. He thanks Ricochet and welcomes him to New Japan Pro Wrestling.
In his reflective interview, he mentions facing Kyle O’Riley in the BOTSJ finals and Ricochet at the G1 finals. It was tough for him to use his grappling moves since Ricochet is a high flying wrestler. He was highly motivated that night as he wants to prove that the Super Juniors can go run at Sumo Hall too. It’s hard to win against non-Japanese wrestlers, but he will do it no matter what.
Tanahashi welcomes us to the second episode, all about the G1 finals. He mentions how he’s never faced Nakamura is a G1 championship match before, but he was glad he was going to face him in this final. He noticed a lot of Nakamura’s comments, and how they were about life itself, and they got to him. He was cheered in matches against Okada, but the G1 finals were on another level- they were walls of noise, and that was an incredible experience.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the G1 trophy
I thought it would be ultra hard to top the prior years G1 Finals match with Nakamura pinning Okada in a terrific match to win the trophy, but both of these guys proved me wrong. By far, this is the best match I have seen between these two and the previous matches were excellent. In other words…this was a clear candidate for match of the year. Just fantastic selling, crowd work, near falls, atmosphere – just everything about this was great. I loved the selling in particular as both guys were working on legs.
It’s also a testament to how much they protect finishers, as it’s pretty rare that someone kicks out of a boma ye and very few people kick out of the high fly flow. So when Nakamura kicked out of two of them, that was amazing and the crowd went crazy. Nakamura hit the boma ye, but Tanahashi kicked out and after some more back and forth, hit a high fly flow while Nakamura was on the middle rope, then hit his fourth high fly flow to win the match. Just stellar in every way.
Nakamura was interviewed after the match. He gave everything he had, that was his 100 percent. Tanahashi thanked the fans, saying he has mastered the heat and it’s thanks to you all. He said although the G1 ends today, pro wrestling continues onwards so please support us. To everyone who viewed the G1 today, I love you! Very few people have that babyface connection to the crowd Tanahashi has, it’s incredible.
They showed the footage of the G1 flag breaking and Tanahashi trying to fix it. They make a note of it during the post-fight press conference. Tanahashi says he’s been on everyone’s radar. He doesn’t just want to be a rival. He doesn’t want that. So starting from today, he will look for something past that.
In his reflective interview, Tanahashi notes that Nakamura was really fired up, and never saw him as the passionate type. It was as if pro wrestling changed his life. We evolve as time goes on. Now that he’s leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling, it was an intense moment with a lot of meaning. On Nakamura leaving New Japan, Tanahashi notes he’s leaving to make his dream come true, New Japan will survive and go one. New Japan still has me, so it’s all good. He wishes him the best of luck.
Two great shows. Check out the G1 Finals, obviously, but the two junior matches are very good as well.
By Joseph Currier for F4WOnline.com (updated on July 3rd)
The return of an ace and the debut of several key talents were the most notable takeaways from Monday morning’s announcement of the participants in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 26th annual G1 Climax tournament, made during the promotion’s Kizuna Road show.
Hiroshi Tanahashi will make his return to the NJPW ring after a shoulder injury had kept him sidelined since May 21st. Tanahashi was written off in an angle with Kenny Omega and hoped that rest would allow his shoulder to heal in time for Dominion’s IWGP intercontinental championship ladder match. But after being replaced by Michael Elgin in that match, it became unclear whether he would be able to participate in this year’s tournament.
After the losses of Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Kota Ibushi, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows from NJPW, the rest of the field is full of fresh faces along with a veteran in Hiroyoshi Tenzan who is returning for his 21st tournament.
Kenny Omega headlines the six participants making their first G1 appearance in this year’s tournament. He is joined by Tama Tonga, Yoshi-Hashi, Seiya Sanada, Evil, and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Katsuhiko Nakajima. Nakajima and NOAH stalwart Naomichi Marufuji are the only outsiders among the field.
The card for Kizuna Road itself isn’t all that interesting, though we do have a unique match in Will Ospreay and Okada teaming up to take on Naito and Bushi in the main event. The real interest will be during the intermission, in which the participants for the G1 will be announced, and the big matches on the tour will be highlighted as well. Will Tanahashi make the cut? Who gets left out? Will Yujiro still somehow maintain a spot? We’ll find out soon enough!
David Finlay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
About as solid of a match as you’d expect from these two. Taguchi looked good, as did David, who is now sporting a beard. He lost here to the dodon by Taguchi.
Rocky Romero, Trent Baretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi
Nakanishi has a new shirt that says Monster Morning, because he has a really big breakfast. No, really, he posts his breakfast like every day on Twitter. Captain New Japan demanded for Sakuraba to get in there. Sakuraba wasn’t interested. Eventually he relented but CNJ ran to Liger for protection. A lot of comedy stuff to start out with- Baretta wanted to shake Liger’s hand. Liger, who is probably aware by now the handshake spot almost always leads to the dumb babyface getting jumped, had no interest.
Baretta went around shaking everyone’s hand (including a member of the audience) until Liger finally relented. This time, however, Liger caught Baretta trying to lay him out and instead took him out. Basic eight man tag with with pretty fun spots. CNJ and Sakuraba did have another confrontation towards the end, with the latter getting the upper hand. Ishii’s the one to get the win, pinning CNJ with the brainbuster.
Hangman Page, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima, Yoshitatsu and Matt Sydal
Heels jumped faces before the bell rang. Everyone looked good here, as it was an action packed six man tag. Page and Sydal worked together and aside from one noticeable botch they worked pretty well with one another. Kojima made the hot tag, took out Yujiro who was interfering, and pinned Owens with the lariat.
Bullet Club didn’t like that too much, so they jumped the faces after the match and hanged Yoshitatsu. Given he was out for over a year with severe neck injuries I’m pretty sure they could have put someone else in this spot.
B Block: Katsuyori Shibata, Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin, Toru Yano, Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Kenny Omega, Yoshi-Hashi, Katsuhiko Nakajima
Big matches:
7/18: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Marufuji
7/22: Nagata vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Honma
7/23: Tanahashi vs. Makabe, Okada vs. Sanada
7/24: Nakajima vs. Shibata, Honma vs. Yoshi-Hashi
7/25: Makabe vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Goto
7/27: Yano vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Elgin
7/28: Ishii vs. Marufuji, Goto vs. Sanada
7/30: Omega vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Naito
7/31: Makabe vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Goto
8/1: Yoshi Hashi vs. Nakajima, Honma vs. Naito
8/3: Tanahashi vs. Ishii, Makabe vs. Okada
8/4: Nakajima vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Omega
8/6: Tanahashi vs. Marufuji, Okada vs. Ishii
8/7: Omega vs. Nagata, Naito vs. Evil
8/8: Ishii vs. Sanada, Tanahashi vs. Kojima
8/10: Honma vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Nagata
8/12: Goto vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Okada
8/13: Shibata vs. Evil, Naito vs. Omega
Additionally, all shows will be airing live on New Japan World.
Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe and Katsuyori Shibata
Good match, fast paced and solid throughout. Honma and Shibata, who are in the same block and are also facing off soon over the NEVER title, worked against one another for a lot of the match. Tenzan, who is not in the G1 this year, seemed particularly motivated in this match. He got the win with the moonsault, pinning Robinson. I guess that’ll stick it to those in charge.
Shibata and Honma had to be separated after the match. Tenzan cut a short promo once that was all settled, wondering why he wasn’t in the G1.
Evil and Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi
Really great match, easily the best of the night in terms of heat. This was all about Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada as they’ve been feuding for the last month.This got a lot of great heat towards the end as Yoshi-Hashi got a submission in on Sanada and nearly tapped him out. They had a really good back and forth exchanged towards the end. Yoshi-Hashi is ready in terms of being a big breakout singles star. They’ve kept him in tags for years and it’s time to go beyond that. Sanada is going to excel here and in the G1. Evil flattened him with a lariat but Yoshi-Hashi kicked out. They did several more great near falls that people were super into. Finally Sanada went for the Skull End once again but Yoshi Hashi slipped to the ground and rolled up Sanada for the flash pin.
Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito and Bushi
Since Naito didn’t have Milano Collection AT or any announcers to bully, he opted to lay out the camera guy instead. Pretty good main event overall. It couldn’t match the previous bout, but people were still very much into it. This crowed loved Naito and there were huge changes for him throughout the match. Ospreay came in for fun great highspots including a tornillo dive to the outside. He hit a spanish fly on Bushi, then a spinning kick but missed the springboard cutter and ate a Canadian destroyer by Bushi. Okada broke up that fall, but Bushi came back and hit the codebreaker for the win.
Bushi cuts a promo and asks why he isn’t in the Super J Cup. Naito says yes, those are the two big events of the summer…but until then, tranquilo.
Good show, and very newsworthy to boot. Definitely check out the co-main as it has some awesome heat and action.
First show is from August 15, 2015 at Sumo Hall. No intro, I guess Ishii didn’t feel like introducing us.
Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto
This was a good match.Even though Ross and Barnett put over both of their wrestling backgrounds over before the match started ,this was a very stiff back and forth match. Like Jim Ross said, it was nothing fancy- lots of stiff punches, forearms and kicks. Also really interesting to hear Nagata is 47. I know that Nagata is called Mr. Anti-Aging but I’ve never really thought of his actual age. The way he’s moving at 47 should really be commended. He got the win here.
Satoshi Kojima vs. Karl Anderson
This was also a very good match. Anderson worked hard and did his usual heel tactics. Kojima looked really strong. Not much more beyond that, just a good back and forth match. Kojima picked up the win with a lariat.
Tomohiro Ishii was interviewed. It didn’t mean anything to him to hear that this G1 was the longest ever. On Elgin, he likes his moves and any of them can be finishers. Unlike most Americans, he fights with his heart.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Michael Elgin
This was one of my favorite matches from the last year. Elgin showed in this match that he’s one of the best commodities New Japan has picked up in recent years – he’s just tremendous working a stiff style and excelled here against Tomohiro Ishii, who is also one of the best in this style too. They worked themselves into an excellent match with some scary spots, including a death valley driver to the floor by Elgin.
He followed that up with one of the scariest moves in some time with a running powerbomb right into the steel guard railing on the outside. Insane. Ishii turned him inside out with a lariat but Elgin kicked out, only to taste defeat following a brainbuster. Fantastic match, well worth taking the time to watch. Definitely one of the best matches in the G1 tournament.
Ishii says he’s become nothing but a boaster and is disappointed in himself. Elgin vows with every last breath, drop of sweat and blood, he and Ishii will go at it again.
In an interesting note, Ishii mentions he lost consciousness after the first blow of the match, so he doesn’t have much memories of it. He was out of it. He thought although it was a good, he got beat badly. He thought he was doing well in the tournament until he lost to Okada .He says it’s been another disappointing year.
Okada welcomes us to part two of the August 15, 2015 G1 event in Sumo Hall.
Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma
This was fine. Yujiro’s in the bottom rung of workers in the New Japan roster, but Honma is so over this turned into a good match anyway. Yujiro used a ref bump to low blow and the Miami shine to pin Honma.
Okada says that the G1 was probably the best condition he could have been in. He doesn’t fight against Nakamura too often, so this was interesting for him. He wasn’t sure if the math would go ahead due to his injury, but it did. When mentioning that one block was AJ vs. Tanahashi and the other one was him vs. Nakamura, he noted that it was the four best wrestlers in New Japan, so it was hard for him to compete against them.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The match that these two had in the previous year’s G1 was absolutely awesome. I forget how this one went, though I remember it being awesome as well, so let’s see how this fares with new eyes.
They started off slow, feeling one another. The match largely went with a back and forth style; well worked, nothing fancy .Once they started to go to the finishers it became great. Nakamura spun into that wonderful armbar, went into the gogoplata position, then sent him chest first to the ground and submitted him. I really liked that finish, but I thought the match they had in the G1 finals in 2014 has a bit more oomph to it. Still, these were two of the best workers in the business having a great match by any standard, so good on them. That makes it Tanahashi vs. Nakamura in the G1 2015 finals.
Nakamura says there’s only one more match to go, and he’s ready to give it his all.
Okada says it was frustrating he got submitted instead of pinned. By far, it’s the most frustrating match for him. If Nakamura wins the whole thing, he’s sure to face him again. The usually chatty Gedo this time says he has nothing to say, Nakamura was incredible. Meanwhile, Nakamura says he gave it his all today. One more match…he’s on fire.
In his reflective interview, Okada says for him, it was one of the most memorable matches of 2015. He remembers it even more than his match in 2014, perhaps because he lost. He also forgot about the armlock. It was his first tap out since returning to America. After taking part in such a big series, he was proud to take on so many matches. On Nakamura leaving, he’s going to miss him. But he’s not worried about New Japan Pro Wrestling. He’s excited for what’s to come. But with that said, he misses him but hopes he does well in America. He wants to fight him again, He’ll make the New Japan ring the best in the meantime.
Two very good episodes of New Japan on AXS this week. This show still remains as one of the best TV shows in North America, featuring both hot matches and fresh insight into them.
Tenzan welcomed us to the show this week. I don’t think he’s been interviewed once since these shows started airing on AXS.
This is from August 14, 2015 in Sumo Hall.
Doc Gallows vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Gallows chokeslammed Shibata on the apron early, which is a big time owwie. I mean apron spots are cool, but New Japan has some of the nastiest ones I’ve seen. This wasn’t one of them, but they remind me of the ones Will Ospreay and Ricochet took during the Best of the Super Juniors. This was fine, but nothing memorable. Gallows got the surprising win with the Gallows Poll.
Kota Ibushi vs. Togi Makabe
Ibushi is so great at adapting to styles. He’s not only a terrific aerial wrestler but a great striker as well, and this that made this match memorable. Facially Ibushi is awesome at everything he does. A really fun, stiff match. Makabe is great in this role, but Ibushi shone in being able to hang with him. He got the win with the Phoenix splash.
Tenzan mentioned that 2015 was his 20th anniversary in the ring, so this year’s G1 was tough for him. He was outraged when someone wrote he wasn’t capable of being in the G1, and thus got him enraged and motivated. Regarding Naito, he says he really wanted to tear him apart and it was in his mind the whole time. He’s wasted his chances by acting out, doesn’t seem committed. He wonders if there is any motivation. He’s not a type of guy he enjoys wrestling against.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tetsuya Naito
First off, I hope Tenzan didn’t read what I said prior to the G1 because…well, Tenzan has on and off days. Sometimes he’s super awesome, other times it’s kind of sad that he’s still wrestling. Time’s never kind to pro wrestlers, Tenzan being a good example of this in recent years. But despite all that, he did some great work in this match, and with the announcing of JR and Barnett, they turned this into a really good match.
Announcing was great here, getting over that Naito was being disrespectful to his former mentor. In terms of work, nothing blow away awesome, and some of it wasn’t pretty but as a whole the match was pretty good. Tenzan gets the submission win with the anaconda vise.
Tenzan ran down Naito after a match, saying it would take a million years before he could beat him. Naito said good job, was he able to regain his honor in the end? Nice work, he’s heading home now.
Tenzan mentioned that it was a really long G1 – he was determined, however, not to lose. It wasn’t a refreshing victory, and physically it was tough. At times, his body didn’t move like it wanted to. It is NJPW’s most prestigious series right now, though, and he wanted to fight until the end.
Tanahashi welcomes us to the 200th episode of World Pro Wrestling Returns! This also took place on August 14.
Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale
This really wasn’t much. Jim Ross called it a “bowling shoe ugly” match and I wouldn’t disagree. They always tease the count out spot in New Japan, and here they finally did it as Fale didn’t make it to 20 and got counted out.
Already time for Tanahashi to talk. He mentioned his match against Kota Ibushi where he was lawn darted into the turnbuckle (and in hindsight, what a dangerous spot), and was still banged up from that spot.. AJ’s match was one of concern. He definitely didn’t want to lose against him. The winner of the match was going to the finals. He considered AJ one of the best wrestlers in the world – why wouldn’t he want to beat Styles and reclaim that title?
AJ Styles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
They, of course, pulled out all the stops here and was a great match that you totally need to see if you haven’t yet. I really liked the leg work from Styles on Tanahashi early in the bout, only for Tanahashi to return it a while later. Another factor that you have to remember is that even before Styles came to New Japan, Tanahashi used the Styles Clash, so that was also a big part of the match, with Styles escaping before eventually landing one.
Styles even hit a high fly flow but Tanahashi kicked out. Finally Tanahashi hit a big high fly flow to a standing Styles then finished him off with another one. This was so fantastic, a great story told by both men. One of the best matches of 2015, easily, and stands out even more today thanks to the English commentary.
Tanahashi announced he was in the finals match to big applause. ‘
In his reflective interview, he mentions how it took eight years for his favorite match (vs. Goto) to be replaced by this one. He mentioned that how of the four wh made it to the semifinals, only two would be continuing to 2016 in New Japan, which shows how great 2015 was.
On Styles leaving, he would like to thank him as a member of New Japan Pro Wrestling. In his first match against him back in 2007, he was booed. But after, he said he wanted to face him again. “Let’s do this again, genius” is the exact quote. When AJ left for WWE, he told him the same thing.
First hour had some pretty good action. The second one is great and highly recommended, as it was fantastic.
The latest big New Japan event, Dominion, takes place tonight in Osaka Jo Hall for the second straight year in a row.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Tetsuya Naito has another big challenge for him as the former champion, Kazuchika Okada, looks to reclaim his title once again. Los Ingobernables have been red hot for most of this year. Will Naito take a loss and try to recoup himself during the G1 tournament or will Okada fail to reclaim the title that Naito’s been abusing for the last few months?
All major New Japan titles will be on the line tonight as Kenny Omega defends the Intercontinental title against Micheal Elgin in a ladder match, Guerrillas of Destiny defend against the Briscoes, Yuji Nagata defends against former champion Katsyuori Shibata, Best of the Super Juniors Champion Will Ospreay gets another shot at Kushida’s Junior Heavyweight title and another fatal four way for the Junior tag team titles will take place, this time being a fatal four way match with Matt Sydal and Ricochet defending against the Young Bucks, reDragon, and Roppongi Vice.
SATOSHI KOJIMA & HIRYOSHI TENZAN & MANABU NAKANISHI VS. JUICE ROBINSON & JAY WHITE & DAVID FINLAY
The story here is that it’s White’s last match before he starts next week with ROH in North Carolina. After the match he gave a speech in Japanese. Tenzan, Kojima and Nakanishi were on the ramp clapping for him. The crowd was chanting “Jay” pretty loud. Robinson and Finlay were in the ring on theie knees cheering for him and then they all hugged.
The match itself was your typical opener. The announcers were talking about how White as someone who started out there could be the next Prince Devitt or Chris Benoit. Well, you know what they mean. Everyone did their basic spots. Finlay looked good. White tagged in at the end, got some offense, but Tenzan pinned White after a spin kick, an Anaconda buster and a side anaconda vise.
BAD LUCK FALE & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & HANGMAN ADAM PAGE VS. TOGI MAKABE & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN & YOSHITATSU
Captain New Japan & Yoshitatsu are the Hunter Club, meaning they are hunting the Bullet Club. Not much of a match. Page did a shooting star press off he apron on Yoshitatsu. Page’s gimmick as Hangman Page is he uses a bullrope to hang guys. The finish saw Page use the Omori driver on Captain, and really dropped him on his head something sick looking. He then hung him over the top rope with the bullrope after the match.
TOMOHIRO ISHII & YOSHI-HASHI VS. SEIYA SANADA & BUSHI
Yoshi-Hashi & Ishii won as expected, but the surprise was that Yoshi-Hashi made Sanada submit to the old WAR special or Rings of Saturn while Ishii had Bushi in a real naked choke. Pretty good match, but short, built around Yoshi-Hashi vs. Sanada going back-and-forth with near falls. Sanada was really the star of the match. When you have Bushi in the match, there’s no reason for Sanada to lose the fall via submission at this point.
HIROOKI GOTO VS. EVIL
Good match, but not as good as their prior singles match. It looks to be the story of the show is Los Ingobernables are losing all their bouts until Naito in the main event. Goto won clean in a hard hittign match with the final cut after two-head butts and the ushigoroshi, neckbreaker over the knee.
MATT SYDAL & RICOCHET VS. YOUNG BUCKS VS. KYLE O’REILLY & BOBBY FISH VS. TRENT BARETTA & ROCKY ROMERO IN AN ELIMINATION MATCH FOR THE IWGP JR. TAG TITLES
The Young Bucks came out and told Gallows & Andeson & Styles “Good luck tomorrow.” It’s kind of today. The Bucks won the titles clean using the Meltzer driver on Sydal and Matt pinned him. So they have the trios and tag titles. Very good match, not off the charts. Romero was going crazy doing the forever clothesline on everyone until the Bucks threw Romero & Baretta both over the top rope. Sydal & Ricochet a few minutes later threw Fish & O’Reilly over the top rope. Then it was down to a tag. Becaause of the over the top rope elimination rules it took away the dives over the top. They did a lot of near falls. They cut way back on the high flying compared to a usual match with these guys.
KUSHIDA VS. WILL OSPREAY FOR IWGP JR. TITLE
Great match, but not as good as their first mathc. Kushida worked on Ospready’s left wrist early but Ospeay dominateed the second half with all kindsof creative spots including getting out of an armbar into a tombstone into a codebreaker. Ospreay did a middle rope Phoenix splash, a standing Spanish fly and a shooting star press and all kinds of great kicks. Kushida with a flip plancha off the top rope. The finish saw Ospreay rebound off the ropes but Kushida caught him with a hoverboard lock for the submission. They shook hands after. This wasn’t as good as the Taguchi or Bailey matches in recent weeks but still best thing so far.
TAMA TONGA & TANGA LOA VS. MARK & JAY BRISCOE FOR THE IWGP TAG TEAM TITLES
The Briscoes won the tag titles with the Doomsday device on Loa and Jay pinned him. Jay had used the Jay driller on Loa before the finish Good match. Mark took a crazy back drop over the top rope. Good match. Tonga is good but is missing something. Loa is just kind of there. The Briscoes were the personality of the match.
After the match Page & Takahashi attacked the Briscoes. Page hung Mark over the top rope. Page & Takaashi grabbed the belts so they are going to be the next challengers. This tag division is so weak compared to the other one.
I should mention that Shinya Aoki is at ringside with Takaaki Kidani so that probably means something. He’s been shown several times but tha was it.
YUJI NAGATA VS. KATSUYORI SHIBATA FOR THE NEVER OPEN WEIGHT TITLE
This was super. By far the most heated match so far. Shibata regained the title as expected using a choke, Nagata tried to flip him over but it only made it tighter ala the Holm-Tate finish. Shibata then let go just as Nagata was almost otu and hit the penalty kick for the pin. Nagata’s mouth was all bloody. Shibata bowed to him when it was over and Nagata whipsered something in his ear. The feud is ove as Nagata raised Shibata’s hand while Kojima, Nakanishi and Tenzan all cheered for Shibata. Shibata shook hands with all of them. Nogami was almost in tears as it came across like Nagata’s last big hurrah. Lots of hard kicks. Nagata kicked out of Shibata using Nagata’s back suplex as well as the Nagata lock. Nagata used Shibata’s penalty kick. Lots of suplexes back and forth. Nagata is starting to look old. He can still go.
They talked about the 44 year history of New Japan and that history wil take another step for the first ever ladder match.
KENNY OMEGA VS. MICHAEL ELGIN FOR IC TITLE IN A LADDER MATCH
Adam Page and Yujiro Takahashi came out with Omega. No Young Bucks even though Omega & Bucks are trios champs. They are now hanging the belt about 14 feet up. Red Shoes was suspicious of no Young Bucks, searched under the ring, found them and kicked them out.
This match went 34 minutes of constant insanity. Omega did a Shawn Michaels like performance here. Elgin had the match won when The Young Bucks came out and sprayed him in the eye with cold spray. superkicked him and handcuffed him to the corner. Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan came in to help Elgin but got superkicked. Matt Sydal came out but he was a distraction and Ricochet did a running flip dive onto everyone. Ricochet tried to unlock Elgin but couldn’t find the key. Omega sprayed Ricochet in the eyes and climbed up the ladder and had it won. Elgin broke free of the handcuffs, tipped over the ladder and Omega flew over the top rope onto everyone. Elgin climbed up to win. There were a million ladder shots, bumps on ladders, Elgin power bombed Omega off a ladder through two tables that didn’t break. The crowd was just going nuts at the end with all the twists and turns and run-ins. \
We’re four hours into the show and the main event is starting.
TETSUYA NAITO VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA FOR THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Another long match ending with Okada winning the title after three rainmakers. Just before the finish Naito had kicked out of a rainmaker which is why Okada felt he needed to keep doing them. It started slow but they went 29 minutes and it was a classic grueling world title match. Naito had used a destino and tried a second one, but Okada blocked it and turned it into a tombstone piledriver. Okada hit a German suplex, Naito tried a Destino and got a near fall with a front rolling cradle until Okada hit the three rainmakers. They did all of their usual stuff but a very dramatic and excellent match.
Okada did the post-match promo. No Gedo with him. Okada was a total babyface tonight with Naito booed the entire match. The crowd was reacting big to Okada’s mic work. With the G-1 the next big thing no need for any challenges.
Yujiro had Mao with him as she proceeded to do a very rated R dance. I don’t think we’ve seen her or any girl with Yujiro since the G1. They aired the match in full, and was fine. Very physical. Yujiro is one of those that are hit and miss as he can be very sloppy at times, but he was fine here for the most part. He got the sneaky win after Cody Hall interfered, allowing him to low blow Kojima and pin him with the Miami Shine.
Kojima says no matter how bad he looks, he promises to never give up. No matter how he does it, he will fight to the end.
Goto said that looking back, G1 25 was hard, but liked the breaks and this type of schedule fit him the most. He desires the belt that Okada had. Facing the Heavyweight champion as the Intercontinental champion…he never experienced that.
Hirooki Goto vs. Kazuchika Okada
This was another match where it started slow, turned into a pretty good back and forth match and evolved into something great. The crowd were into it and I think were genuinely interested in seeing the IWGP champion (at the time) face the Intercontinental champion (also at the time). Titles still mean a lot in Japan, unlike in US where I couldn’t tell you a lot of the current champions off the top of my head. Nice back and forth match with Hirooki Goto getting the clean win with the shouten kai. Hey, when the IWGP title is on the line he always has a better chance of winning. When it is on the line, well..
Goto says “I’VE CONQUERED IT!” to massive cheers. He wants the crowd to celebrate with three cheers, and they do. He says accidents don’t happen twice, we’ll beat the rest. Goto feels that he’s opened a new door. He welcomes anyone to challenge him for the IC title. He had mixed feelings beating Okada. 2015 was a year of change for him, and he’d like to challenge for the belt again.
Interestingly, a ROH commercial for Best in the World aired near the end of the program. Might not be too unusual, but it’s the first time I’ve seen during this show.
