Category: Japan

By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to tonight’s New Japan G1 coverage, live from Korakuen Hall for the third day in a row. This card looks stronger than the other two, with Tomohiro Ishii and Tomoaki Honma headlining. They have already had a match of the year candidate earlier this year, so it’ll be very interesting to see what kind of match they’ll have in this venue in the main event.

Jushin Thunder Liger, David Finlay Jr. & Jay White vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka

This is Sho Tanaka’s first match back since working the NOAH Jr. tournament earlier this month. Solid tag team match that was fine, but nothing special. All the young lions looked good, so was Liger and Taguchi, the latter of whom worked a lot of the match. He pinned White with the dodon.

Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

They were teasing interactions with Bad Luck Fale and Toru Yano. I have a morbid curiosity to see that match when it goes down. Just a match. Yano made a comeback by undoing the turnbuckle and dodged when Tonga went for a splash. Heels made a comeback but Yano low blowed Fale, shoved him into Tonga then schoolboyed up Tonga for the win.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe & KUSHIDA vs. Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi & Mascara Dorada

Naito and Tenzan went at it since they’re facing off soon. Naito spit on Tenzan which didn’t like that one bit. This was better than the other two matches, just seemed like there was more, and everyone worked well together. Dorada again was impressive, doing a huge dive on the outside, a ropewalk crossbody and a super hurricanrana off the top rope on Kushida. He went for his cool springboard into a forward roll but Kushida reversed it and got the win.

Naito and Tenzan brawled after the match. Naito re-entered the ring and took off his Los Ingobernables t-shirt and waved it to like as if he were a real live bull. They had to be separated, as well as Makabe and ibushi.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata & Captain New Japan vs. AJ Styles, Doc Gallows & Cody Hall
Another just there match, though the crowd was into it towards the end. Tanahashi and AJ had their showdown, as well as Gallows and Shibata. Captain New Japan was worked on for a lot of the match, and it worked out for Bullet Club as he was the one pinned after a Gallows Poll.

Karl Anderson vs. Yujiro Takahashi

All the Bullet Club came out together all buddy buddy. But like last night, there was tension as Anderson was way too interested in Yujiro’s scantily clad lady which Yujiro didn’t like. They had some back and forth for a minute then Yujiro wanted to give him the wolfpac sign, but Anderson bit him instead. From there they had an okay back and forth match. The crowd was mostly dead for it though there were a few good spots. Anderson won with the stun gun. All the Bullet Club made up afterwards. This was virtually identical to the angle they did the day before with Fale and AJ. 

Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Elgin

Great match. Elgin was super over in that Korakuen went crazy whenever he did his power spots and it added a ton to the bout. He was the most over guy in the building up to this point in the show. He controlled a lot of the match. Goto made a comeback but Elgin continued to have a back and forth with him until Goto tripped him down and used a interesting roll up maneuver for the win.

Satoshi Kojima vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Another great match. Crowd wasn’t totally into this at first, but were totally into it by the end. This was a story of two guys going back and forth for the entire match trading near falls. Nakamura hit two boma yes at one point and also did the spinning armbar but Kojima kicked out each time. He went for his lariat, but Nakamura hit him with the boma ye again and pinned him.  

Kazuchika Okada vs. Yuji Nagata

Awesome match, probably the second best of the show so far. Nagata, who’s been ok to good on this tour, looked awesome here in being the old babyface veteran who was showing the new kid that he still had it. Just a awesome match in terms of heat and storytelling.The best part of this match early on was the starting back and forth between the two. If you’ve seen the opening video for each of these shows you see Nagata limboing in a goofy outfit to prepare for the G1. It seemed silly, yes, but when Okada went for a clothesline Nagata, in fact, dodged it as if he were limboing and the crowd popped huge for it and chanted his name, which was funny because the crowd immediately sided with Okada early on. Nagata pelted Okada with kicks early. Okada made his comeback and did the rainmaker pose but Nagata took him down and got the white eyes armbar in. Okada escaped but Nagata hit the backdrop driver for a great near fall. Nagata avoided the tombstone with a gutwrench suplex but Okada hit him with the dropkick, tombstone, then pinned him with the rainmaker. 

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma

Another great match. Not as good as their Febuary match, I don’t think, but still great. Crowd, of course, was behind Honma. They slapped each other’s chest a TON of times. They had a great, stiff back and forth match. Ishii’s selling is either incredible or he destroys himself every time he’s in the ring. Probably both. Honma kicked out of two sliding d’s and got a nearfall with a brainbuster. Honma hit 3 kokeshis in a row but Ishii still kicked out. Two more followed, then he hit the big one off the top rope and pinned Ishii. So the storyline that had been building for close to two years came to it’s apex here as Honma finally scored a win in the G1 tournament. Crowd popped huge for this and chanted his name after the match. Great moment.

Current Standings

Block A:

AJ Styles- 12

Tetsuya Naito- 10

Hiroshi Tanahashi- 10

Bad Luck Fale- 10

Katsuyori Shibata- 8

Kota Ibushi- 6

Togi Makabe- 6

Toru Yano- 6

Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 4

Doc Gallows- 4

Block B:

Kazuchika Okada- 14

Karl Anderson- 12

Hirooki Goto- 12

Shinsuke Nakamura- 12

Tomohiro Ishii- 8

Michael Elgin- 8

Yujiro Takahashi- 4

Satoshi Kojima- 4

Yuji Nagata- 4

Tomoaki Honma- 2

By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to this morning’s New Japan G1 Climax 25 report. We’re back at Korakuen Hall as we see A block matches tonight. Hiroshi Tanahashi takes on Togi Makabe in the main event, and Bullet Club members collide when Hiroshi Tanahashi takes on Bad Luck Fale. Korakuen Hall shows are always hot so let’s hope tonight’s show continues the momentum that the Sunday morning show had.

Jay White & Mascara Dorada vs. Cody Hall & Yujiro Takahashi

More signs of wear and tear as Yujiro’s wearing compression tape on one of his shoulders. It sure was weird seeing Cody Hall and Mascara Dorada do spots together, but they worked fine. They had a pretty good tag team match. Dorada did a senton to the floor and Jay White showed great fire as a babyface. It boiled down to him and Yujiro, with the latter pinning him with the Miami Shine.

Kushida & Captain New Japan vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga
This was ok. It was what you would expect- Kushida looked good and was over, Tonga got some shine in, Anderson was fine and Captain New Japan got pinned. What is unique here is that Anderson was the one who pinned CNJ after being distracted with the stun gun. Most of this tour so far has been Tama Tonga scoring the pinfall but I guess they changed it up here.

Hirooki Goto & Yohei Komatsu vs. Michael Elgin & David Finlay

Goto and Elgin started things off and the crowd was very much into this. Elgin, as he has been on this tour, got over huge here with his awesome power spots. He did his familiar spot where he has both guys and does a samoan drop/fallaway slam combination that also got a great reaction. White and Komatsu worked against one another here as well and looked good. Finlay took out Goto on the outside, which left Komatsu and Elgin alone together, which only means Elgin pinned him after the buckle bomb and the spinning powerbomb. Good match with great heat towards the end.

Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi.
Funny spot at the start of the match where Okada was tagged and it looked like he and Nagata were going to go at it, but Nagata tagged in Taguchi and they did Taguchi’s pose together. The pairings for this were Nakamura/Kojima, Ishii/Honma and Nagata/Okada. Crowd, which is really hot tonight, was into this match big time. Taguchi and Honma did a double kokeshi headbutt together. It was Taguchi and Nakamura who were left and despite interference toward the end, Nakamura was able to get the win here with the boma ye. Great match, probably one of the best tags on the tour.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Doc Gallows

Despite being a total heel for most of this tour, Gallows worked as the heel here so the crowd occasionally chanted for Naito. A lot of this was Gallows in control until Naito started to mount a comeback. Gallows went for the Gallows Poll but Naito reversed it into a hurricanrana pin. Gallows was on the top rope and Naito was laying punches on him but Gallows grabbed him and hit the Gallows Poll off the top rope to pin him. Pretty alright, but there have been better matches on tonight’s show so far. 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Katsuyori Shibata

A lot of the match was back and forth between the two. The crowd got into it more as the match went on. Tenzan at one point had the anaconda vise but Shibata escaped. Tenzan gave him the Mongolian chops when Shibata transitioned into a sleeper Lots of headbutts from Tenzan. Tenzan got the anaconda vise on him again and this time Shibata submitted. Good match, got pretty damn great in the last few moments. Crowd went crazy when Tenzan submitted him. 

Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano

Yano shoved the ref into Ibushi, low blowed him and rolled him up for the win. Yep.  

A.J. Styles vs. Bad Luck Fale

Fale laid down for AJ like he was going to get an easy win, but Fale kicked out at two. AJ got in his face, saying that we had a deal. AJ pushed him while his back was turned while the whole Bullet Club talked him down. They were going for the wolfpac sign when Fale jumped him and threw him over to the outside wiping out the rest of Bullet Club. He then flung him across the barricade into a bunch of empty chairs. Fale went to use a chair but Tama Tonga took it away from him, which distracted Fale long enough for Styles to come off the stage and attack Fale. They went back to the stands where Fale teased the Bad Luck Fall but AJ escaped and they both made it back to the ring. Fale, after AJ avoided the Bad Luck Fall the first time and tried a hurricanrana, reversed it and actually teased a Styles Clash, but he countered back to the Bad Luck Fall. AJ avoided it and just put his feet on the ropes to pin him. Weird match with a weak finish, but it was an interesting story and not like other matches we’ve seen in this tournament so far.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Togi Makabe

Crowd was immediately chanting for Makabe as soon as the bell rang. Tanahashi played heel and worked on Makabe’s leg. They had a pretty good competitive back and forth match, there have been better main events on other shows but this was good. The crowd was into this too and that helped. Tanahashi missed the high fly flow which allowed Makabe to hit the kneeling powerbomb. He tries the king kong knee drop but Tanahashi grabs the leg, gives him the slingblade, then high fly flows him while Makabe gets up and poses. Tanahashi then hit another one and pinned him.

Current Standings

Block A:

AJ Styles- 12

Tetsuya Naito- 10

Hiroshi Tanahashi- 10

Bad Luck Fale- 10

Katsuyori Shibata- 8

Kota Ibushi- 6

Togi Makabe- 6

Toru Yano- 6

Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 4

Doc Gallows- 4

Block B:

Kazuchika Okada- 12

Karl Anderson- 10

Hirooki Goto- 10

Shinsuke Nakamura- 10

Tomohiro Ishii- 8

Michael Elgin- 8

Yujiro Takahashi- 4

Satoshi Kojima- 4

Yuji Nagata- 4

Tomoaki Honma- 0 

by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to today’s coverage of the G1, live in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall. For the first time in what seems like a good while, we’re getting commentary as well.

David Finlay & Jay White vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

Pretty short, even for these tag matches. Just the typical stuff where everyone got a few spots in. Finlay was pinned quickly with the waistlock DDT by Tama Tonga.

Kota Ibushi & Mascara Dorada vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi

This was pretty good. Ibushi was on target as was Yoshi-Hashi and Dorada, who had great chemistry. Dorada only working tags in the last year is such a shame as he’s usually a bright light in these tag team matches. He did some of his usual arsenal, including a corkscrew off the middle rope. Yoshi-Hashi takes him down and pins him with the swanton.

Tetsuya Naito & Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan vs. A.J. Styles & Doc Gallows & Cody Hall

Bullet Club got the heat on Taguchi when, well, they incapacitated his behind through nefarious methods. Captain New Japan made a hot tag and Taguchi tried to assist him by giving him his hip attack finish on Gallows but it hit CNJ instead. All the Bullet Club isolated CNJ and Gallows pinned him with the Gallows Poll. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Kushida vs. Togi Makabe & Katsuyori Shibata & Jushin Thunder Liger

Liger seems to be taking all of Tiger Mask’s dates at this point since he’s been out for a good portion of the tour with a neck injury. The match was a good, action packed six man. A lot of the teasing was between Tanahashi and Makabe. Liger and Kushida worked the last few minutes and were very good together, with Kushida getting the win with the Japanese rolling leg clutch hold on Liger. 

Michael Elgin vs. Karl Anderson

Really great match. This was a fast paced back and forth battle. Both guys worked hard and the crowd was into it. At one point Bullet Club interefered and Elgin sent them packing. Anderson went for the gun stun but Elgin was somehow able to deadlift him and powerbomb him out of the ring and onto the Bullet Club members. They had a intense back and forth battle after that. Elgin hit him with the buckle bomb and tried the spinning powerbomb but Anderson countered the latter into a gun stun for the win. Last few minutes were awesome. 

Satoshi Kojima vs. Yuji Nagata

Good match. Story here was Nagata’s ribs. Kojima worked on them early and several times during the match the referee and medical staff checked on him but he refused to give up. Nagata mounted a comeback that people got very much into and applied the white eyes armbar. Kojima tried for a lariat but Nagata nailed him with a roundhouse kick then pinned him with the back drop hold.  

Kazuchika Okada vs. Yujiro Takahashi

This was pretty good for the most part. Lots of ref bumps and interference but it worked here and the crowd was very much into the match. Yujiro distracted the referee as Cody Hall laid out both Gedo and Okada on the outside. Yujiro worked over Okada, but of course Okada made his comeback. He took Yujiro and Hall out into the stands and did a big running crossbody over the guardrail and into the seats in the audience. Yujiro made a comeback and hit a buckle bomb and Miami Shine for a great nearfall. There was a ref bump where Hall tried to interfere, but Gedo made the save as Okada eliminated Hall. Okada then hit the rainmaker and pinned him. 

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomoaki Honma

Good match. Weird in that it was pretty short compared to other G1 matches that night, and most of it was fine, but the last few minutes were excellent. Nakamura took Honma to the outside at one point and just kind of carelessly threw him into the crowd full of people. Nakamura went for a boma ye but Honma blocked it, only for Nakamura to hit it anyway. He went for a second but Honma blocked it and headbutted him. He hit the kokeshi and went for a top rope kokeshi but missed it and Nakamura hit another boma ye for another nearfall. Honma hit another headbutt but Nakamura came back with a standing boma ye and pinned him. 

Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Awesome match. I don’t think this was as good as the match they had in November, but this was still pretty damn great. Just the intense, stiff action coupled with the fantastic heat from the audience made this a memorable match. It was what you would expect, a back and forth brawl with lots of lariats, brainbusters, elbows and goading. Ishii cut off Goto on the top rope but Goto countered and hit the code red for a near fall. Lots of great action and it’s a very heated match. Ishii hit the sliding D but Goto kicked out. Goto headbutted him in the back of the head and took him out with a lariat. The crowd is completely into this match at this point. Goto hit a huge reverse neckbreaker off the top rope but Ishii still kicked out. Ishii escaped the shouten kai. Ishii tried to headbutt him but Goto headbutted him back twice and pinned him with the shouten kai. 

Block A

Tetsuya Natio- 10

AJ Styles- 10
Hiroshi Tanhashi- 10
Bad Luck Fale- 10

Katsuyori Shibata- 8

Kota Ibushi- 6

Togi Makabe- 6
Toru Yano- 4
Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

Doc Gallows- 2

Block B

Kazuchika Okada- 12

Karl Anderson- 10

Hirooki Goto- 10

Shinsuke Nakamura- 10

Tomohiro Ishii- 8

Michael Elgin- 8
Yujiro Takahashi- 4
Satoshi Kojima- 4
Yuji Nagata- 4
Tomoaki Honma- 0

By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to this morning’s live coverage of the G1 Climax 25 tournament. From this point on there will be no longer any fixed camera shows, so it’s a multi-camera setup from this point on. Commentary is another story, as some will, some won’t, such as tonight’s show.

Satoshi Kojima & Jushin Thunder Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi & Yohei Komatsu vs. Yuji Nagata & Kushida & Mascara Dorada & David Finlay

This was every six man you’ve seen on the tour. These are so formulaic at this point you even know who’s pinning who on every show. It wasn’t bad, just seen it enough. Kojima and Nagata went at it since they’re facing each other soon. Finlay and Taguchi were the ones left in the ring as Taguchi pinned Finlay with the dodon.

Michael Elgin & Jay White vs. Karl Anderson & Cody Hall

Pretty good. Elgin and Anderson had a lot of interaction, and they had good chemistry with one another. White continues to show fire as a young lion babyface. Anderson and White had some good interactions as well. White fell to the stun gun.

Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi

The usual tag match. Nakamura and Honma had some interactions. The end had Yoshi-Hashi and Captain New Japan doing their usual stuff when Yoshi Hashi cuts him off and pins him with the swanton.

Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga

Just a tag team match, nothing special. As you’d expect, Takahashi and Okada were the focus, though Gedo and Tama Tonga had good chemistry together as well toward the end. Tonga pinned Gedo with the waistlock DDT. Yujiro took out Okada why whipping him into the guardrail immediately after the match.

Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale

This was ok, but nothing worth noting. Fale got the heat on Ibushi early by throwing him onto chairs on the outside then throwing an entire barricade on his prone body. Ibushi made a comeback with a huge moonsault that took out Fale on the floor. Fale made the comeback with a big lariat and the grenade for a near fall. He went for the Bad Luck Fall but Ibushi tried to counter into a hurricanrana. He failed, as Fale positioned him back for the Bad Luck Fall, hit it and pinned him.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano

Not that much of a match competitively, but it was fine for what it was. Naito was on offense for a lot of it, shoving the referee down twice along the way. There were several moments where Yano had control, which involved undoing the turnbuckle and Naito missing a splash, but this was very much Naito’s match. He low blowed Yano twice then pinned him with the Destino. 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. A.J. Styles

Good match. Wasn’t completely action oriented but they told a story and psychological this was one of the better matches of the night. Mostly just back and forth early. AJ started to work on Tenzan’s leg, though strangely not the one that bandaged up. He had in the calf killer at one point but Tenzan grabbed the ropes quickly. After working on him a bit, Tenzan mounted his comeback and went for the Anaconda buster but AJ escaped and dropkicked him. Tenzan tries for a moonsault but the leg is too injured as he collapses to the floor. Tenzan knees him low after a lionsault attempt and goes for the Anaconda vise but AJ gets to his feet as they go to the corner. Tenzan is distracted for a bit by talking to the referee which allows AJ to hook Tenzan’s leg and applies the calf killer for the submission.

Togi Makabe vs. Doc Gallows

Fine match, but nothing special. There was a lot of brawling on the outside and into the crowd. Stairs and guardrails were used. Makabe got taken out, and once he came back in was mostly a big guy match with back and forth offense. Gallows hit the Gallows Pole at one point but Makabe kicked out. He went for it again but Makabe hit a lariat, a samoan drop then pinned him with the king kong knee drop.  

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Excellent match. This immediately felt like nothing else on the card and felt special. Just good work throughout the entire match. They started off with some mat wrestling. Both worked on each other’s legs early, applying submissions. Just an intense back and forth contest, complete with stiff shots and some excellent moves. Tanahashi went for a charge to the corner but ducked as Shibata tried to hop over him, only for Shibata to foot stomp him on the face. Tanahashi hit the high fly flow, then went for another but Shibata dodged the second one and put him in the sleeper. He misses the penalty kick as he goes for a bridging pin and barely gets it for two. Shibata tries to counter into a rear naked choke but Tanahashi floats over him and pins his shoulders on the mat for the surprise win.  

Block A

Tetsuya Natio- 10

AJ Styles- 10

Hiroshi Tanhashi- 10

Bad Luck Fale- 10

Katsuyori Shibata- 8

Kota Ibushi- 6

Togi Makabe- 6

Toru Yano- 4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

Doc Gallows- 2

Block B

Kazuchika Okada- 10

Tomohiro Ishii- 8

Karl Anderson- 8

Hirooki Goto- 8

Shinsuke Nakamura- 8

Michael Elgin- 8

Yujiro Takahashi- 4

Satoshi Kojima- 4

Yuji Nagata- 2

Tomoaki Honma- 0  

Welcome to this morning’s coverage of the G1 Climax 25 tournament. Today we’re in Shizuoka, with the main events being Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi.

Tiger Mask is still out due to injury, so tonight he’ll be replaced by Jushin Thunder Liger in his undercard match.

By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Jay White vs. Yohei Komatsu

Simple, solid match. They traded back and forth offense an looked pretty good, though this was short. White had him in a Boston crab at one point but he escaped. Komatsu put him in a half Boston crab of his own and submitted him.

Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano vs. Jay White and Tetsuya Naito

Nothing of note. Yoshi-Hashi and David Finlay had some great back and forth, but typical finish with Yoshi-Hashi laying him out with a lariat and pinning him with a swanton bomb.

Kota Ibushi, Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Bad Luck Fale, AJ Styles, Tama Tonga and Doc Gallows

By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to this morning’s coverage of the G1 Climax 25 tournament. Today we’re in Shizuoka, with the main events being Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi.

Tiger Mask is still out due to injury, so tonight he’ll be replaced by Jushin Thunder Liger in his undercard match.

Jay White vs. Yohei Komatsu

Simple, solid match. They traded back and forth offense an looked pretty good, though this was short. White had him in a Boston crab at one point but he escaped. Komatsu put him in a half Boston crab of his own and submitted him.

Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano vs. Jay White and Tetsuya Naito

Nothing of note. Yoshi-Hashi and David Finlay had some great back and forth, but typical finish with Yoshi-Hashi laying him out with a lariat and pinning him with a swanton bomb.

Kota Ibushi, Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Bad Luck Fale, AJ Styles, Tama Tonga and Doc Gallows

Usual eight man. Pairings for this match, since they’re due to face off soon, include Ibushi/Fale, Gallows and Makabe and Styles/Tenzan. As usual, Captain New Japan and Tama Tonga square off against one another and Tonga ends up pinning him with the waistlock DDT.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida & Mascara Dorada vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Jushin Thunder Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi

Solid six man match. Crowd was very much into it when Tanahashi and Shibata squared off. Dorada’s big move of the night was a huge Asai moonsault to Liger on the outside. The ending sequence had Taguchi and Dorada, who had some great back and forth and scored some nearfalls. Taguchi put the ankle lock on twice. Dorada tried to counter, but eventually couldn’t any longer and tapped out to it. 

Yuji Nagata vs. Michael Elgin

Lots of stiff back and forth here. The crowd reacted to big spots, but it seemed like it lacked heat in the big picture until the end. Overall, a pretty good match, but nothing special. Elgin did his big deadlift falcon arrow spot for a nearfall. Nagata came back and gave him the belly to belly on the post. Elgin countered by lifting up Nagata and carrying him all the way to the other side of the ring for a buckle bomb, then pinned him with the powerbomb.  

Tomoaki Honma vs. Karl Anderson

Fine match for the most part, but really picked up once the near falls started. Honma kicked out of a gun stun and made a comeback that got the crowd going, hitting several nearfalls and and a kokeshi, as well as avoiding Anderson’s other attempts at a gun stun. A brainbuster didn’t do it either. He goes for the top rope kokeshi, but Anderson gets up and in mid motion grabs Honma and hits another gun stun for the win. Last few minutes were really great. 

Hirooki Goto vs. Satoshi Kojima

Good match, plenty of back and forth action, but nothing memorable. Goto hit a code red off the top rope, and Kojima came back with a brainbuster. Goto made a comeback, hit the spinning face slam then pinned Kojima with the shouten kai. Finish seemed to come out of nowhere. 

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yujiro Takahashi

Okay match, nothing special. Seemed much shorter than other matches tonight. Yujiro jumped him right as Nakamura was making his entrance. He worked over his injured arm, jamming it into the post and wrapping it around the barricade. Nakamura made a brief comeback but Yujiro cut him off. Nakamura came back and hit a boma ye for a near fall. Yujiro blocked a second and tried the Miami Shine but Nakamura escaped. Yujiro missed a charge in the corner then Nakamura pelted him with two more boma yes for the win.  

Current Standings

Block A

Katsuyori Shibata- 8

Bad Luck Fale- 8

Tetsuya Natio- 8

AJ Styles- 8

Hiroshi Tanhashi- 8

Kota Ibushi- 6

Togi Makabe- 4

Toru Yano- 4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

Doc Gallows- 2

Block B

Kazuchika Okada- 10

Tomohiro Ishii- 8

Karl Anderson- 8

Hirooki Goto- 8

Shinsuke Nakamura- 8

Michael Elgin- 8

Yujiro Takahashi- 4

Satoshi Kojima- 4

Yuji Nagata- 2

Tomoaki Honma- 0

By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to this morning’s coverage of the G1 Climax 25 tournament, held today in Iwate. Today’s show is a fixed camera show with no commentary. It’s also been confirmed again that Tiger Mask is out of today’s card, so it seems whatever neck injury he’s suffered will keep him out for a while.

Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Yohei Komatsu vs. Hirooki Goto, Michael Elgin and Mascara Dorada

Good opener. As one would expect, since they’re facing one another shortly, both Elgin and Nagata, as well as Kojima and Goto, went at it. They kept it simple and had some good back and forth. It ended up being Dorada against Komatsu, with Dorada getting the win with the Dorada screwdriver.

Tomoaki Honma & Jay White vs. Karl Anderson & Cody Hall

Again, as one would assume, this was about Anderson and Honma interactions. Pretty solid tag team match. Crowd was into Jay White’s comeback. He kicked out of a gun stun and tried some near falls but Anderson caught him in another one and pinned him. 

Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga

Another solid bout of back and forth action. A lot of the match was Yujiro working on both Nakamura and Ishii. Tonga was tagged in, but eventually got laid out with a boma ye/sliding D combo from both members of Chaos, which Yujiro actually broke up before the 3 count. He was ejected quickly as Ishii got the win with a brainbuster on Tama Tonga.

KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan vs. Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI & Gedo

Pretty good six man. Everyone got time to shine. Since he was the only heavyweight on the team Captain New JApan and Okada faced off against one another. Taguchi at one point was about to lay out Okada with his hip attack but Okada eliminated him. He did his signature moves on Captain New Japan and pinned him with the rainmaker. 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Bad Luck Fale

Not very interesting, though it was well booked and nothing looked that bad. They did a brawl early that sent out Tenzan into the crowd. Tenzan made his comeback and had the Anaconda buster but Fale escaped. He laid him out and pinned him with the high fly flow. 

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Toru Yano

Shibata jumped him before the bell even rang and just waylayed on him. Yano had some offense, which consisted of whipping Shibata into the ropes, but it was mostly Shibata on offense. Yano tried to escape the penalty kick but Shibata faked him out and hit him with it, then went for an armbar. Yano then rolled him up and got a flash pinfall. Crowd reacted huge to that.  

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Doc Gallows

Good match. Was just average until Tanahashi ate a boot and a brainbuster for a great near fall that got the crowd into the match. Tanahashi looked like he was about to be powerbombed, but then reversed into a roll up for the win. Most of the match was just standard back and forth stuff, but the last couple of minutes or so were fun. 

AJ Styles vs. Togi Makabe

Physical match, as one would expect from these two. Crowd were into this from the start. Makabe hit the kneeling powerbomb and went for the knee drop off the top rope but AJ dodged. He teased the Bloody Sunday DDT but it was blocked. AJ responded with a pele kick then pinned him after the Styles Clash. Seemed kind of short, but was really good while it lasted.

Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Great back and forth match filled with some crazy moves, which included Naito doing a reverse hurricanrana from the top rope and a Gonzo bomb from Ibushi when Naito tried to do a roll up. Looks like Ibushi landed right on his neck after that reverse rana. Naito hit a dragon suplex but Ibushi kicked out, but did not kick out Naito’s new finisher, Destino, the sliced bread into a reverse DDT.

Current Standings

Block A

Katsuyori Shibata- 8

Bad Luck Fale- 8

Tetsuya Natio- 8

AJ Styles- 8

Hiroshi Tanhashi- 8

Kota Ibushi- 6

Togi Makabe- 4

Toru Yano- 4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

Doc Gallows- 2

Block B

Tomohiro Ishii- 8

Kazuchika Okada- 8

Karl Anderson- 6

Hirooki Goto- 6

Shinsuke Nakamura- 6

Michael Elgin- 6

Yujiro Takahashi- 4

Satoshi Kojima- 4

Yuji Nagata- 2

Tomoaki Honma- 0 

by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to today’s coverage of the G1 tournament as New Japan is live this morning in Sendai. Tonight’s show is a multi camera setup with no commentary, which seems to be the usual show going forward.

Tiger Mask is again out due to injury, so the tag team match that was meant to start the show has been turned into a singles match.

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay

Taguchi had him for most of the match but made a comeback with a european uppercut and at one point had a stretch muffler locked in. Taguchi reversed it into an ankle lock but Finlay escaped. Finlay grabbed him in mid air like he was going to plant him with a German suplex but Taguchi transitioned into the ankle lock and Finlay tapped. Pretty fun little match.

Yohei Komatsu and Katsyuori Shibata vs. Yoshi-Hashi and Toru Yano

Standard match. Komatsu was worked on forever and ever by Chaos, who were playing the heels. Shibata made a brief hot tag and destroyed the two before leaving it to Komatsu, who got several nearfalls and submissions. Yoshi Hashi cut him off and pinned him with the swanton. **1/4

Kushida and Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi and Mascara Dorada

It’s weird in that these matches are designed to get you excited for the upcoming singles bout between two of these people on the next show. And while Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito did some great back and forth work, Dorada & Kushida stole the show here. These guys have terrific chemistry and it’s sad they didn’t get to go out there and have a great match in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Their closing stretch was awesome, with Dorada somehow springboarding off the top rope into an inside cradle for a fantastic nearfall. Kushida caught him in the hoverboard lock and he tapped out. Great stuff. 

Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Captain New Japan vs. A.J. Styles & Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

This was an action-packed match as Bullet Club jumped them right at the bell. Regardless, it was kinda formulaic. Lots of brawling. Both Tanahashi and Makabe got worked on, as well as Tenzan early on with all of Bullet Club getting Mongolian chopped. As usual, it boiled down to Captain New Japan and Tama Tonga, and Tonga won with the waistlock DDT.

Styles and Makabe got into it after the match. 

Michael Elgin vs. Yujiro Takahashi

Good match. Elgin was the star here again as he carried Yujiro to a really good back and forth match. Yujiro’s heat segment again was less than interesting, but when Elgin made his comeback, people were into it. Yujiro suplexed him on the outside and was going for the Miami Shine but Elgin blocked it, gave him the buckle bomb then followed with the spinning powerbomb for the win. 

Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomoaki Honma

Very good match. Most of it was good back and forth between the two. Crowd was into it, but not at the level I thought it would be. Finishing sequence was pretty hot, though. Honma ate a lariat but got up very quickly and was making a comeback. He tried for a kokeshi, but between the kokeshi and a lariat, Kojima’s lariat won, then followed with another for the win.

Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Ishii dealt out chops while Nagata kicked him in the chest as hard as he could. Nagata controlled a lot of the match, including giving him an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle and even dealt out an ego trip. They had a slap contest that ended when Ishii headbutted Nagata hard in the face and hit a sliding D for a nearfall, then pinned him with the brainbuster. Great match, these two have always had great chemistry. Not as good as their match from last year, but still great.  

Karl Anderson vs. Kazuchika Okada

This was good, but not great. The crowd were interested at times, and disinterested in others. It created the type of match where everything technically was good, but at the same time felt just kind of there with an uninterested crowd. There did some nice reversals near the end with Okada reversing a gun stun and laying Anderson out with the tombstone, then pinning him with the rainmaker. Finish felt rather anticlimactic as it seemed like no one thought the finish was coming yet. 

Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Crowd finally started to pick up for this one in the middle of the match. Really picked up once they were going for near falls. Nakamura went for the boma ye but Goto blocked him and hit the reverse neckbreaker. They were exchanging back and forth maneuvers when Nakamura trapped Goto in the spinning armbreaker and actually submitted him in a big surprise. They’ve had better matches, but this was a perfectly acceptable main event.

Current Standings

Block A

Katsuyori Shibata- 8

Bad Luck Fale- 6

Tetsuya Natio- 6

AJ Styles- 6

Hiroshi Tanhashi- 6

Kota Ibushi- 6

Togi Makabe- 4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

Toru Yano- 2
Doc Gallows- 2

Block B

Tomohiro Ishii- 8

Kazuchika Okada- 8

Karl Anderson- 6

Hirooki Goto- 6

Shinsuke Nakamura- 6

Michael Elgin- 6

Yujiro Takahashi- 4

Satoshi Kojima- 4

Yuji Nagata- 2

Tomoaki Honma- 0  

by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to tonight’s coverage of Day 9 of the G1 Climax tournament, held today in Aichi, at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. This is a multi-camera set up with no commentary.

It was announced before the matches started today that Tiger Mask is out today due to a neck injury. The eight man that was scheduled to start the show will now be a six man.

Satoshi Kojima, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tomoaki Honma, Mascara Dorada & David Finlay Jr.

This was a backdrop to Kojima vs. Honma as they’re due to square off soon in the G1 tournament. Crowd was super into them interacting with their back and forth. The few moments Dorada was in there, he looked great. Kushida isolates Finlay and submits him with the hoverboard lock.

Kojima and Honma had a pull apart after the match that had to be stopped by their teammates.

Michael Elgin & Jay White vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall

The lone star of this match was Elgin who continues to get himself over big time here in New Japan, doing all of his great offense, including a Harlem hangover off the middle rope. Beyond Elgin, this was a boring tag match with zero heat whenever the heels came in and worked their offense. Yujiro won after landing the Tokyo Pimps on White.