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Category: Japan

  • NJPW G1 Climax Tournament 8-2 results: Yano vs. Tanahashi, Naito vs. Makabe

    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.

    Hirooki Goto, Yuji Nagata & Captain New Japan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI

    Standard, solid tag match. A lot of the focus was on interactions between Nakamura and Goto, as well as Ishii and Yuji Nagata. Yoshi Hashi got the win for his team, pinning Captain New Japan after a swanton bomb.

    Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga

    Another standard tag team match. Anderson and Okada were the focus this time around, with Anderson working on Gedo for a good portion of the match. Okada made a comeback, but eventually their seconds were tagged back in and Tama Tonga got the win with his waistlock DDT.

    Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

    Very good match. Ibushi missed his trademark moonsault at one point and took a spectacular bump on the outside, rolling around and landing near the barricade. Great exchanges including Ibusi doing his flurry of offense, including the mongolian chops. Tenzan tried the anaconda buster but Ibushi dodged and landed on his feet. He made a comeback then pinned him with the phoenix splash. Ibushi looked great and Tenzan chose his spots well which made this a very well worked match.

    Katsuyori Shibata vs. Bad Luck Fale

    This was kept rather short, which was probably for the better the way this was going. Fale dominated a lot of the match after throwing Shibata on the guardrail. Fale picked him up like he was going to finish him off but Shibata floated over with a sleeper. Fale tried to fight it off but he fell to the floor, then Shibata came back with the penalty kick for the win. Cool finish, uninteresting match.

    A.J. Styles vs. Doc Gallows

    This was a good storytelling kind of match. Gallows, who is in fact way bigger than Styles, dominated the match from the start. AJ eventually started to wear him down, eventually at one point hooking Gallows’ leg and rolling into a calf killer. Gallows went for a back body drop but AJ floated over, landed on his feet and planted Gallows with the Bloody Sunday DDT for the win.

    Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito

    Awesome match. Naito took an exceptionally long time taking off his outfit, and eventually Makabe got tired of his antics and jumped him. Naito reversed it and sent him to the barricades then started to take off the outfit. Very good back and forth match. Makabe missed the King Kong knee drop. Naito tried his flash bridging pin twice but it didn’t work. Crowd very into the nearfalls. Naito was sent to the turnbuckle where Makabe was going to the knee drop again. Naito’s head was rammed into the post twice, busting him open, then Makabe landed the knee drop and pinned him.
     Toru Yano vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
    Good match for what it was. Yano in the past year has really excelled at working his own comedic style and turning it into, at the very least, an entertaining match. Tanahashi went to splash Yano on the outside but Yano dodged and Tanahashi crashed into the post. Yano got the heat by mostly using the exposed turnbuckle pad. Tanahashi went for the high fly flow out of the ring but Yano ran under the ring, only for Tanahashi to baseball slide him and give him the high fly flow anyway. It was a match where Yano was doing his usual tactics but nothing was working, even after Tanahashi missed the senton after doing Yano’s taunt. They did a ref bump spot as Yano tried to use the chair but Tanahashi got the better of him and laid him out with the slingblade on the chair, then followed with a high fly flow for the win. It seems like Yano’s cut from a few days ago was reopened towards the later stages of the match.

    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- 6

    Kazuchika Okada- 6

    Karl Anderson- 6

    Hirooki Goto- 6

    Shinsuke Nakamura- 4

    Michael Elgin- 4

    Yujiro Takahashi- 4

    Satoshi Kojima- 2

    Yuji Nagata- 2

    Tomoaki Honma- 0 

  • NJPW G1 Climax 25 (day 8) August 1 live results: Okada vs. Goto, Nakamura vs. Ishii

    By Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome to tonight’s G1 Climax show (we’re on day 8) in Osaka. This is a full camera show, complete with commentary for the first time in what seems like ages.

    It was announced a few hours before showtime that Shinsuke Nakamura has been cleared of his elbow injury, and will compete on tonight’s card.

    Jay White & David Finlay vs. Cody Hall & Doc Gallows

    Solid tag. White is really improving and is probably going to be a great worker someday, though already he shows a lot of fire. Hall isolated Finlay on the outside as Gallows pinned White with the Gallows poll.

    Togi Makabe & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yohei Komatsu vs. Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi & Mascara Dorada

    Naito teased at the start of the match like he and Tenzan were gonna go at it, but he immediately bailed. Dorada and Komatsu were in for a few minutes and looked good. Naito tagged himself in and continued the heel tactics. He teased like he was going to do a brainbuster but then just stopped and posed to boos. Tenzan at one point was stomping at him while having Makabe in a figure four. Boiled down to Dorada and Komatsu who had another good exchange before Dorada won with his screwdriver finish.

    Katsuyori Shibata & Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan vs. A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga

    Shibata and Fale had a staredown before the match. AJ worked for a long time on Tiger Mask’s leg until he tagged in Shibata, and that’s when the crowd woke up. Both tagged out rather quickly, leaving Captain New Japan and Tonga alone. They went at it briefly before Tonga pinned him with the waistlock DDT. 

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kushida & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi & Gedo

    Another fun tag team match. Of course, a lot of this was Yano avoiding Tanahashi. Gedo and Kushida had some good back and forth as well. Tanahashi and Taguchi did a double crossbody to the floor that left Kushida and Gedo by themselves. Kushida laid out Gedo and submitted him with the hoverboard lock.

    Satoshi Kojima vs. Yujiro Takahashi

    This was ok, but nothing special. Yujiro just lacks in the in-ring finesse others have in spades here. Crowd was really not into this at all until Kojima started making his comeback. He laid out Yujiro at one point with a DDT on the apron. Yujiro fired back with a buckle bomb. Kojima had the win with the lariat but Hall broke up the count. He took care of Hall then went back to Yujiro. He went for another lariat but Yujiro blocked it, gave him a low blow then pinned him with the Miami Shine. This was fine, and since Yujiro’s on the lower end of the totem pole right now it’s the right finish to do based on where they’re going in this tournament.  

    Karl Anderson vs. Yuji Nagata

    Pretty good, but nothing too special. Anderson worked a lot on Nagata’s ribs. He made a comeback and got the white eyes armbar in but Anderson escaped. Anderson tried for the gun stun but Nagata avoided it. Nagata grabbed him for the backdrop suplex but Anderson dropped him with a gun stun in mid motion and pinned him. 

    Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin

    Crowd was super into this from the start, of course behind Honma. Elgin continued to look good, showing impressive work including a deadlift suplex into a falcon arrow off the top rope and a Oklahoma stampede. He went for the buckle bomb but Honma landed on his feet and surprised him with a kokeshi. He went for the top rope variation but missed. Amazing finish as Elgin hit him with the pop up powerbomb, a buckle bomb then a spinning powerbomb for the pinfall. Really good stuff towards the end. 

    Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tomohiro Ishii
    Nakamura’s elbow looked very swollen, even in bandages. This was really just a match until towards the later stages of the game, just back and forth stuff that wasn’t at all that interesting. It picked up when Nakamura hit a boma ye and Ishii laid out Nakamura at one point with the sliding D. Nakamura hit another boma ye for a surprise nearfall. Ishii fought back but Nakamura put him in the armbar, then hit a falcon arrow then landed one more boma ye for the win.

    Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto

    Okada did a big leap over the guardrail and onto Goto at one point that sent them clear into the audience. They had a really good sequence of back and forth roll ups as well. Okada went for the Rainmaker but Goto countered with his knee neckbreaker. Shouten kai attempt but Okada blocks it and escapes. He deadlifted him with a German suplex but Goto came back and laid him out with a lariat. Another rainmaker attempt but Goto dodged, headbutted him twice then finished him off with the shouten kai to win. 

    Current Standings


    Block A

    Katsuyori Shibata- 6

    Bad Luck Fale- 6

    Tetsuya Natio- 6

    AJ Styles- 4

    Hiroshi Tanhashi- 4

    Kota Ibushi- 4

    Togi Makabe- 2

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

    Toru Yano- 2

    Doc Gallows- 2

    Block B

    Tomohiro Ishii- 6

    Kazuchika Okada- 6

    Karl Anderson- 6

    Hirooki Goto- 6

    Shinsuke Nakamura- 4

    Michael Elgin- 4

    Yujiro Takahashi- 4

    Satoshi Kojima- 2

    Yuji Nagata- 2 

    Tomoaki Honma- 0

  • New Japan on AXS report 7-31-15: Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Today’s show is from August 8, 2014 at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, continuing our look at the 2014 G1 Climax tournament.

    First up tonight is Bad Luck Fale taking on Shinsuke Nakamura. This was a good, heated match. With Fale, it’s always a matter of who he’s facing. If it’s someone like Tanahashi or Nakamura, as it is here, he can have a good match. With other, less talented guys, it’s not going to be pretty. But for the most part, Fale’s booking in New Japan has been strong and they had a good match here. Interesting to note that at one point Nakamura kicked out of the grenade, a chokeslam/asiatic spike combo. Both that move and the Bad Luck Fall are usually protected big time, so it was something big for Nakamura to kick out of that. Nakamura wins the match with the boma ye.

    AJ Styles against Togi Makabe was next. This was really good, at least from the highlights shown. Makabe is usually in brawls, while AJ is not, so it was interesting to see the different dynamics here in terms of in ring style in play. Ranallo mentions during commentary that AJ injured his neck after a spider German suplex by Makabe and that played into the match in terms of drama. This was mostly highlights but the action here was good.

    Next up is Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Hiroshi Tanahashi. This was another good back and forth match. Smith’s style is perfectly suited for Japan and that showed in this match. It also helps he and Tanahashi have great chemistry. Smith is such an exceptional talent I’m truly astounded the way that his WWE run went, it really makes you think what a missed opportunity they had with him. They had a nice series of back and forth near falls. Tanahashi was going for a pin but Smith countered with a bulldog bomb and got the win.

    Tanahashi was upset after the match, on the floor screaming in disappointment. People know how to sell wins and losses here in New Japan, that’s for sure.

    Okada is interviewed. He was surprised at how many people were in the 2014 tournament. He knew he had to win after Nakamura won his match, so he dreaded the fact he had to face Minoru Suzuki. He knew the match would be a tiresome affair.

    The match then aired. This was way better than I remember it being. Again though, we have to look back at last year’s G1 tournament and just see how crowded it was in term of excellent matches. This was toward the end of the tournament and the drama of if Okada would make it to the finals or not was there, as the crowd were into everything. But just in terms of a match, it was awesome and different than most other matches in the tournament. While there was some back and forth, and there was some action on the outside this was a very submission oriented match. Suzuki wore down Okada’s arm and went after it for a good part of the match. Okada came back and hit the red ink. The back and forth mat oriented work was awesome, and so was Okada’s selling. He gets the win over Suzuki after coming back with a dropkick and a rainmaker that Suzuki took and landed right on his head with.Overall a fantastic match and another fun hour of television.

    Suzuki dares the interviews to say something following the bout. He says this loss means nothing and he’ll go to the finals. He says what if everyone gets food poisoning. Good point. He says he doesn’t care he wins or not because he’s risking his life. Meanwhile, in the ring, Okada and Gedo say there’s only one person left to face in this tournament, and it’s Shinsuke Nakamura. Gedo says that one thing’s for sure, at the Seibu dome, money will rain.

    Nakamura is interviewed for the upcoming finals. He says that he will “boil with excitement” when he faces Okada. Okay!

    Okada reflective interview time. Says he wanted to beat Suzuki quickly since his matches can be tiresome, but it didn’t happen. He was just relieved his match with Nakamura was set once he won. He wanted to win with his rainmaker pose, and he was excited to wrestle at the Seibu dome for the first time.

    PROGRAMING NOTE: Next week’s New Japan on AXS show will actually be two back to back episodes of the finals from the 2014 G1 Climax finals in the Seibu Dome. We’ll be seeing the third place match between AJ Styles and Hiroshi Tanahashi in the first hour, followed by the full finals match in the second. It will start an hour early at 5 PM PT so set your DVR’s accordingly!

  • New Japan 2015 G1 Climax July 29 results: Naito vs. Styles; Fale vs. Tanahashi

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome today’s coverage of the G1, taking place tonight at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Tonight’s show is the usual deal of no commentary but a multi camera setup. Hopefully the crowd is more into this show than yesterday’s crowd.

    Jay White and David Finlay vs. Tiger Mask and Mascara Dorada

    This was short, but pretty fun. White and Finlay are a good young lion team, Tiger Mask was fine and Dorada was his usual great self. Tiger Mask took out White on the outside with a suicide dive which allowed Dorada to pick up the win with the Dorada Screwdriver.

    Yuji Nagata, Yohei Komatsu, Satoshi Kojima and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Karl Anderson, Cody Hall and Tama Tonga 

    Just a match. Everyone paired off with someone and had the usual eight man tag but in abridged form. When Nagata and Anderson were in it was pretty great, though. It boiled down to Tama Tonga and Yohei Komatsu. They had some back and forth for a bit before Tonga pinned him clean with his waistlock DDT.

    Tomoaki Honma and Michael Elgin vs.  Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii

    The last few minutes were super heated with Honma and Yoshi Hashi scoring great near falls on one another. The crowd was white hot for it. Honma actually hit his top rope kokeshi headbutt and managed to pin Yoshi Hashi to a strong ovation. Elgin, Ishii and Honma had to be separated after the match as they all got into it. 

    Kazuchika Okada and Gedo vs. Hirooki Goto and Jushin Thunder Liger

    Decent tag match. Liger and Gedo worked a lot, as well as Goto and Okada. Not much to it beyond that. Liger won with a surprise leg clutch hold on Gedo.

    Toru Yano vs. Doc Gallows 

    Good for what it was. Yano stalled a lot early. He tried to jump Gallows after a hand shake spot but Gallows no sold it. Mostly comedy spots but Yano’s able to work them really well here. It wasn’t the best match workrate wise but it was fun. Yano took out Hall and Tonga from the apron, but Anderson comes in as he and Gallows give him the Magic Killer and Gallows pins him.

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Togi Makabe

    Another pretty solid bout. Nothing fancy, as most of the match was just back and forth brawling. Makabe did take it to the outside early, but most of this was in the ring. At one point it seemed like he was working over Tenzan’s eye. Tenzan kept taking Makabe’s offense until Makabe pinned him with the king kong knee drop.

    Kota Ibushi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

    These two exchanged some great offense in the early minutes of the match, including some great mat wrestling. Crowd is SUPER into this match, it was insane. Ibushi did Shibata’s penalty kick at one point that Shibata did not take lightly and returned with one of his own. Just an insane match with incredible heat and super stiff offense. There was one period where they were constantly kicking out at one and just going insane with offense. This is a surefire match of the year candidate and required viewing if you have New Japan World. They were exchanging offense when finally Shibata slapped him HARD, put him in the sleeper and pinned him with the penalty kick.

    Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 

    Good match; it’s becoming more and more clear that Tanahashi’s one of the best ring generals in pro wrestling right now. There was a ref bump at one point that caused Hall and Tonga to come in and interfere. Fale took out one by accident and Tanahashi took the other out and sent Fale to the outside where he gave them all the big high fly flow on the outside. Tanahashi came back with two high fly flows but the Bullet Club pulled the referee out. Fale tried for the Bad Luck Fall twice but Tanahashi managed to escape both times, but did not escape the grenade. Fale went to the top rope, nearly tripped but came back and hit his own high fly flow for the win.

    AJ Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito 

    The crowd was dead for most of this match. I’m guessing it’s due to the heel/heel dynamic, and no one wanted to cheer either guy. Nothing wrong with it early, as they were wrestling a good technical match, going back and forth. The crowd started to come back and chant for Naito for whatever reason. They were going back and forth after Naito spat at AJ. He hit a pele kick and went for the bloody sunday DDT but Naito countered and hit his new finisher, the sliced bread #2 into a reverse DDT that he calls Destino for the win. Just good, not great.

    Naito took out Red Shoes after the match with a bodyslam and running dropkick and cut a promo, basically saying he’ll win and said his catchphrase to close the show.  

    Current Standings

    Block A

    Katsuyori Shibata- 6

    Bad Luck Fale- 6 

    Tetsuya Natio- 6

    AJ Styles- 4

    Hiroshi Tanhashi- 4

    Kota Ibushi- 4

    Togi Makabe- 2

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

    Toru Yano- 2

    Doc Gallows- 2

    Block B 

    Tomohiro Ishii- 6

    Kazuchika Okada- 6

    Karl Anderson- 4

    Hirooki Goto- 4

    Yuji Nagata- 2

    Shinsuke Nakamura- 2

    Satoshi Kojima- 2

    Michael Elgin- 2

    Yujiro Takahashi- 2

    Tomoaki Honma- 0

  • New Japan 2015 G1 Climax July 28 results: Okada vs. Kojima; Ishii vs. Anderson

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Today is day 6 of the G1 Climax tournament, and tonight we’re in Beppu as the main event is set to be Kazuchika Okada taking on Satoshi Kojima.

    An hour before the show started news broke out that Shinsuke Nakamura would not be competing in tonight’s undercard as the doctors have not cleared him, however he looks to make a return as soon as possible in the tournament. In the meantime, Nakamura has forfieited his match tonight, giving Elgin two points as a result.

    Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger and Captain New Japan vs. Jay White, David Finlay and Ryusuke Taguchi

    Short, basic tag match. When Captain New Japan was tagged he and Taguchi did a lot of comedy. Tiger Mask pinned White after a tiger driver. Nothing worth noting.

    Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano vs. Doc Gallows and Cody Hall

    Another decent tag match. Some brawling around the ring early. Yano’s eye was completely swollen shut due to the headbutt from Tenzan on the last show. Heels worked over Yoshi Hashi some, then he made a comeback and pinned Hall after a swanton bomb.

    Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe and Mascara Dorada vs. Yohei Komatsu, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroyoshi Tenzan

    Tenzan’s eye was completely swollen shut as well. That must have been one hell of a headbutt. Another fine tag match. Ibushi mostly squared off with Shibata and Tenzan and Makabe went at it as well. Crowd was very into Ibushi’s offense. He nailed Shibata with a pele kick as Dorada pinned Komatsu with the Dorada Screwdriver.

    Michael Elgin, Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale and AJ Styles 

    Another solid tag team match. Crowd seems pretty dead tonight, so while these guys had a perfectly fine tag team match, it just lacked something overall, though they did pop when Tanahashi came out and Elgin did his delayed vertical suplex spot. Naito pinned Tonga after his new finisher, which looked more like a standing sliced bread #2 into a inverted DDT.

    Yujiro Takahashi vs. Yuji Nagata

    This started out really slow. Back and forth offense mostly, though some of the time was spent on Yujiro cheating to get heat. Crowd was also really dead for this until the ending where Nagata kept kicking out of Yujiro’s nearfalls. He blocked a Miami Shine attempt and went to do something, but Yujiro dropkicked him then gave him the Miami Shine to pin him. Overall, just a match.

    Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto

    Great match with the final few minutes of the match being really awesome. They wailed on each other for a super long time at the start of the match that got the crowd into the match. Honma at one point hit two kokeshis and a rolling neckbreaker for a pinfall. Goto mounted a comeback but Honma started no selling and kicking out at one. Goto however came back with a huge lariat then pinned him with the shouten kai. Crowd chanted Honma’s name after the match. 

    Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson 

    Good match. Again this was a situation where the crowd was just kind of dead. They picked up towards the end but Ishii and Anderson had to work hard to do it. Anderson got the heat on Ishii after hitting a backbreaker that supposedly injured Ishii’s bad shoulder. They traded a lot of near falls, including Ishii kicking out of a Gun Stun and Anderson kicking out of the sliding D. Ishii finally laid him out with a big time brainbuster for the win. 

    Satoshi Kojima vs. Kazuchika Okada 

    Good match. Both guys did a great job of selling, which was one of the key points in the match. Crowd felt dead for this as well at the start. The environment tonight makes this feel like a flat show even though most of the action has been solid to great.  Okada was doing his comeback when Kojima stopped him and hit a lariat. He was set to do another when Okada back with a dropkick and went for the rainmaker. Kojima dodged the first time, but Okada immediately transitioned and hit it with his other arm for the win. Overall a very good, but not great match.

    Current Standings

    Block A

    AJ Styles- 4

    Hiroshi Tanhashi- 4

    Tetsuya Natio- 4

    Katsuyori Shibata- 4

    Kota Ibushi- 4

    Bad Luck Fale- 4

    Togi Makabe- 2

    Hiroyoshi Tenzan- 2

    Toru Yano- 2

    Doc Gallows- 0

    Block B

    Tomohiro Ishii- 6

    Kazuchika Okada- 6 

    Karl Anderson- 4

    Hirooki Goto- 4

    Yuji Nagata- 2

    Shinsuke Nakamura- 2

    Satoshi Kojima- 2

    Michael Elgin- 2

    Yujiro Takahashi- 2

    Tomoaki Honma- 0

  • G-1 News: Nakamura injured

    Shinsuke Nakamura, who was the favorite to win the G-1 Climax tournament, suffered a left elbow injury in Saturday’s match in Kagawa against Yuji Nagata.

    He missed today’s show in Hiroshima.  He is scheduled to face Michael Elgin on tomorrow’s show in Beppu.  We have no update on his condition at this point.

  • New Japan 2015 G1 Climax July 26 results: Naito vs. Tanahashi; Ibushi vs. Styles

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Today is day 5 of the G1 Climax 25 tournament, being held at the Hiroshima Green Arena. For the first time in what seems like days we finally have both multiple cameras and commentary.

    Nakamura, scheduled for a tag team match today, was removed from this card due to an injury to his left elbow, according to the ring announcer.

    Tomoaki Honma, David Finlay, Ryusuke Taguchi and Mascara Dorada vs. Hirooki Goto, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and Yohei Komatsu

    Not much to this match. Nothing wrong with it, but it was the atypical New Japan tag match. Liger gave Finlay the palm strike and Tiger Mask followed with a butterfly suplex off the top rope. Goto and Honma had a staredown after the match.

    Yuji Nagata and Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Cody Hall

    The funny thing about this match is that the producer’s audio became audible during the match and could be heard for a lt of the match. Apparently there have been audio troubles all night as audio dubbing during non-licensed NJPW music has been pretty bad. The match itself was just there, nothing special, with Nagata submitting Hall with the white eyes armbar.

    Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga vs. Yoshi Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii

    Another simple tag match. Yoshi Hashi missed the senton, Tonga came back with a sliding elbow and took out Ishii then Anderson pinned him with the gun stun. A lot of the focus on the match was between Ishii and Anderson, who are facing off on the next show. They had fun exchanges when they were in the match. 

    Satoshi Kojima and Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada and Gedo

    This was originally supposed to be a six man, but with Nakamura out this was changed to a tag. Gedo was worked on for a lot of the match. Elgin did a somersault leg drop off the middle rope that the camera totally didn’t get. Kojima and Okada had a nice exchange which ended when Kojima laid him out with a lariat. He followed with another one on Gedo and pinned him. Just another tag, though probably one of the better ones tonight as everything looked pretty good.

    Bad Luck Fale vs. Doc Gallows

    This wasn’t very good. It felt plodding, and a lot of it was on the outside where they threw each other into the barricades. Back in the ring it was mostly just tests of power and not anything particularly interesting. Gallows got out of a Bad Luck Fall, but Gallows escaped and superkicked him. He hit the ropes to do something else but Fale caught him with a grenade and pinned him.

    Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

    Nothing that memorable until the finish, though not for good reasons. Yano did his normal tricks and spent most of the match working over Tenzan, including using wrist tape to keep him out of the ring and stuck to the guardrail. Tenzan made a comeback and stiffed Yano with a headbutt so bad not only did he completely open up Yano, he busted himself open. Yano was bleeding buckets and it was a nasty scene. They went to the finish quickly after with Yano doing the distracting ref/low blow roll up finish, giving him the surprise win. 

    Katsuyori Shibata vs. Togi Makabe

    This was good, but felt pretty short. Would have been a better match if a bit longer. Not as intense as other battles either of the two have had in the past. A lot of back and forth offense between these two, and they worked stiff, with lots of lariats and forearm battles. Makabe got a good nearfall after hitting the kneeling powerbomb. Shibata caught him with a sleeper, put him in a seated position then hit the penalty kick to pick up the win.

    AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi 

    Amazing match, easily the best this tournament has seen so far. A lot of real good back and forth action here. Crowd really got into it in the end, primarily because some of the back and forth counters were really amazing. These guys have great chemistry. Ibushi went to do his deadlift German suplex at one point but AJ countered like he was going to piledrive him on the apron but Ibushi countered with a hurricanrana to the outside. At one point there was a bunch of amazing back and forth counters I can’t even describe which ended with AJ taking out Ibushi with a tombstone for a nearfall. Ibushi also kicked out of the Bloody Sunday DDT. Styles was going for something on the top rope but Ibushi countered with a hurricanrana off the top rope and followed that with the phoenix splash for the win.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

    Naito stalled a lot early and was a total heel throughout the match, disrespecting Tanahashi many times throughout, including spitting at him. He’s really adapting well as a heel. He got the advantage eventually and took out Tanahashi on the outside on top of a table that didn’t break. Naito got the heat on him in a slow, methodical madder. Tanahashi made a comeback and went back and forth with Naito. Tanahashi went for two high fly flows but Naito got the knees up after the second. Tanahashi blocked a tornado DDT attempt and hit a spinning neckbreaker. Tanahashi looked to do something but Naito caught him and hit him with what looked like a standing sliced bread #2 for the win. Finish came suddenly and out of nowhere, but this was a really well worked match in terms of telling a story, which was Naito going full fledged heel throughout the match. Second best match of the night under the co-main.

  • New Japan 2015 G-1 Climax July 25 results: Honma vs. Okada, Nakamura vs. Nagata

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Here are results from day 4 of New Japan’s G1 Climax Tournament, held today in Takamatsu at the Takamatsu Gymnasium. This is a fixed camera show with no commentary.

    Captain New Japan, Jushin Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Cody Hall, Tama Tonga and Doc Gallows

    This was the usual New Japan six man. Everyone worked with one another and was fine for the most part, though it felt a little long. Captain New Japan fell again as he was mounting a comeback and even rolled up Doc Gallows for a nearfall that people reacted big to. Eventually he falls to the Gallows Pole.

    Toru Yano, Gedo & Yoshi Hashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, David Finlay and Mascara Dorada

    Yano squirted his water bottle at Tenzan before the match started, alluding to their upcoming bout. Rather mundane, textbook six man. Only real highlights were Yano’s usual antics and Dorada’s brief offense. This time it was Yoshi-Hashi who got the win, pinning Finlay after a swanton bomb. Tenzan goaded Yano to come to the ring after the match but he bailed.

    Jay White and Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale and AJ Styles

    Started really dull without a ton of heat as White was being worked on. Ibushi made a hot tag that the crowd was really into. They were very much into the match whenever Ibushi and Styles were at it, they looked terrific in this match. AJ wiped out Ibushi with a crossbody to the floor and White was left with Fale. The former tried to mount a comeback but the latter wiped him out and pinned him after a grenade.

    Ryusuke Taguchi, Katsuyori Shibata & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yohei Komatsu, Togi Makabe & Tetsuya Naito

    This was a pretty good tag bout, though like the others were formulaic. Makabe and Shibata had some interactions, as well as Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito. Good offense throughout, though nothing particularly special about the match. Last part of it had Komatsu kicking out of everything Taguchi was giving him, including kicking out of a dodon and avoiding his sliding hip splash. Taguchi hit the dodon one more time on Komatsu and got the win there.

    Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

    Ishii gained control at the start but Cody Hall, seconding Yujiro, jumped him. Yujiro was in control for a good while and it was nothing special at all. He hit the Tokyo Pimps but Ishii kicked out. Ishii made a comeback and gave Yujiro a big time headbutt. He follows that with a sliding D then pins him with the brainbuster. Nothing really that special, and these two have had better matches together. 

    Michael Elgin vs. Satoshi Kojima

    This turned out to be easily the best match of the night so far. Very good back and forth match between the two, nothing super but a really good match. Elgin continues to thrive here as he was getting over the more he was on offense. At one point Kojima had him wiped out with a lariat, then went for another but Elgin came back with one of his own. Elgin had him in the middle rope and was looking to do something, but Kojima fell off and when Elgin jumped off the middle rope he ate another lariat and was pinned. 

    Karl Anderson vs. Hirooki Goto

    Good match, but not as good as last year’s G1 match they had together. Solid back and forth match for the most part. Goto hit a really cool code red off the top rope at one point for a nearfall. Goto had Anderson laid out with his knee neckbreaker and was about to go for the shouten kai, but in mid air Anderson transitioned into a second gun stun and pinned Goto. Fans were really surprised by the finish, which was really well done.

    Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    This match wasn’t really that interesting until the ending. I don’t know what it is about these two, but something just seems to be missing whenever they’re in the ring together. I don’t want to say that they don’t have chemistry at all, because by the end this was a pretty good match that the crowd got into, but before then I really just wasn’t feeling it. Nagata got the crowd into the match when he got the white eyes armbar on Nagata. He fought him off and went with the boma ye but he dodged. Nakamura eventually hit him with it, then another, but Nagata blocked a third. Nakamura came back with something resembling a boma ye, but pretty much just looked liked a regular kick and pinned him. Ranged into very good territory towards the end, but most of this was just there.

    Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomoaki Honma

    This was really good, but didn’t venture into great territory, like most matches tonight. They were on a even playing field as both guys gave a lot of offense to one another. A lot of kokeshis by Honma. Honma was scoring some nearfalls when he went for a top rope kokeshi but Okada moved. They botched a tombstone piledriver attempt but Honma acted quickly and rolled him up for a nearfall. Okada came back with a German and while still holding him, deadlifted him back to his feet and hit the rainmaker for the win. Crowd was really into this when it came to the nearfalls, and made this a really good, but not great match. 

  • NJPW on AXS 7-24-15 report: Tanahashi vs. Nakamura; Shibata vs. Honma

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Tonight’s show took place August 3, 2014 from the Osaka Bodymaker Colosseum.

    First match we have on the docket tonight is Tomoaki Honma taking on Katsuyori Shibata. This was just excellent, right from the get go. You had two guys going out there and being as stiff as possible and people were totally into it. At one point Shibata chopped Honma right in the face, which did not look fun in the least bit. Honma did not win one single match here in this tournament, but it doesn’t matter. He got over big time in this tournament because he went to the limit every time he faced off against someone, and only after giving it his all did he get pinned. That’s how you book a guy to lose but still get over. Honma is one of the best babyfaces in New Japan, probably the best underdog type character in wrestling at the moment, and this performance here was a great reason why. Shibata gets the win after a GTS and the penalty kick.

    Honma, with his gravelly voice, said after the match that he might not win or be a champion, but he wants to make sure people know about him in this tournament.

    Kazuchika Okada followed, facing Yujiro Takahashi. This was fine, but not nearly as good as the previous match. Yujiro I wouldn’t say is terrible, but he’s clearly a notch below a lot of the New Japan Heavyweights and can be clumsy at times. He wasn’t here, as the match between him and Okada was pretty short, and was perfectly fine for what it was, though there’s not much to talk about here. Okada picks up the win with the Rainmaker lariat.

    Gedo interviews for Okada after the match, saying no one is able to step up to Okada. When asked if he felt anything after facing Takahashi since he was the one who cost him the IWGP championship, Okada simply said “no” and walked away.

    Tanahashi is interviewed. He says he enjoyed facing Nakamura as there are wrestlers that he always looks forward to facing, and he’s one of them. He always feels that he could do more, however. He gains something every time they face.

    The big match followed. This was a very good, back and forth technical match for much of the match, then got really awesome in the closing stretches. Ranallo did a good job of detailing the background of the match, including Tanahashi’s trip to the hospital during the G1 to check on his neck. I completely forgot about that, and was a nice touch. Nakamura hit the boma ye twice on Tanahashi and was going for a third when Tanahashi tripped him and busted out the Japanese rolling clutch hold to pin him for the surprise win. I wasn’t too into this the first time it aired, but I loved it re-watching it again. This was different from the opener in that they didn’t destroy each other, but rather just had a great back and forth match. This is probably my favorite match between the two at the moment.

    After the match Nakamura notes his losses to Shibata and Tanahashi. He’s still in the game, and his fight with those two will never end.

    Back with Tanahashi for his reflections on the match. When coming up for the finish, he didn’t realize that it was on the anniversary of Karl Gotch’s death, so he saw it as the god of pro wrestling giving him powers. He realized that G1 was a truly important event when he was a worldwide audience gaining interest in it. He says that concentrating on the G1 for nearly a month will wear your out. Being strong mentally was the most important factor this year. He says that he will become G1 champion this year.

    Another great show this week with some good analysis and great matches. Next week we’ll continue the G1 trail as Kazuchika Okada takes on Minoru Suzuki in the main event.

  • NJPW G1 Climax 25 Night 3 (July 24) results: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Tonight’s show in Kyoto is not a fixed camera show, but is still without commentary. I am guessing that has something to do with Samurai TV, though I’m not sure.

    David Finlay, Jay White, Mascara Dorada and Michael Elgin vs Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask, Yohei Komatsu and Jushin Thunder Liger

    This was rather short, but fun. Elgin did a lot of his power moves including reversing a double suplex from Tiger Mask and Liger as well as driving Kojima and Komatsu down with a double powerslam. Finlay tried to hold Kojima for Elgin but Kojima dodged him and Finlay ate a lariat. Kojima eliminated Elgin then pinned Finlay after another lariat.

    Yujiro Takahashi and Cody Hall vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi

    This was pretty good. Takahashi and Hall held their own, and Hall got a lot of offense in and looked pretty decent. Ishii was on offense a lot and worked hard to make this a pretty fun match. Yoshi-Hashi and Hall were the two in the ring going at it. Hall at one point had Yoshi-Hashi in the Razor’s Edge but Hashi escaped. He got the win for his team after a swanton bomb.

    Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga vs. Captain New Japan and Hirooki Goto

    Solid match with the typical ending. Anderson and Goto were the highlights of this match since they are due to meet shortly. Usual finish had Captain New Japan running wild on Anderson, but getting stopped and dropped with the gun stun for the win.

    Kazuchika Okada, Gedo and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuji Nagata and Tomoaki Honma

    Okada and Honma had a brief exchange early that the crowd was TOTALLY into. I can’t wait for that to go down. This crowd is like night and day from Day 2 as they were completely into the match. A lot of it was Nakamura in with guys like Taguchi and Nagata. Honma came back in and worked with Okada for a bit more before Gedo was tagged in, who eventually falls to a top rope kokeshi headbutt.  

    Doc Gallows vs. Kota Ibushi

    Another solid match, pretty good while it lasted actually. Ibushi did his offense and looked good, especially selling for Doc. Gallows looked good here as well. He got nearfalls with one man Magic Killer and a falcon arrow. He went for the Gallows Poll, but Ibushi countered with a hurricanrana, but Gallows grabbed him though Ibushi slipped. They got it together as Ibushi floated over Gallows and rolled him up from behind for the win. 

    Togi Makabe vs. Bad Luck Fale

    This was better than you’d think. Not that it was astounding or anything but it was a good back and forth brawl that didn’t last all that long, making it fine for what it was. It was basically a mean guy match where they traded offense back and forth. Fale won after a Bad Luck Fall by Fale. 

    AJ Styles vs. Toru Yano

    Really fun match. Not that it was the best one of the tournament or anything, but this was really well worked with both guy’s styles blending in perfectly with one another. AJ did all of his stuff and worked hard with Yano, who was here doing his normal routine of using every trick in the book to get a surprise win on AJ. AJ worked on the leg early. Yano mounted a comeback by crotching him. He suplexed him twice into the exposed turnbuckle and hit his powerbomb for a great nearfall. Yano low blowed him and rolled him up but didn’t get it. Yano went for another one but AJ countered into the calf killer and Yano tapped out. 

    Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito

    This was awesome. Shibata just nailed Naito with some stiff shot after another, continually paint brushing him in the corner with kicks and everything. Naito came back regardless and despite being destroyed came off as a total heel and it was great. Everything they did looked crisp and came off like it meant something. Naito worked on Shibata’s leg for some of the match, but Shibata came off strong and dominant. Naito made a comeback and was plastering Shibata with slaps when Shibata took him down with one of his own, put on a sleeper, and once Naito was subdued nailed him with a penalty kick to win. Easily the best match on tonight’s show so far. 

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

    All that it took for the crowd to completely side with Tenzan was for Tanahashi to slap him on the chest after a clean break in the corner. Crowd was hot for this the entire match. Tanahashi is such an excellent ring general, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone; he totally knows what is needed to have a great match here and he sure as hell did. Really good back and forth match. Tenzan had a few great nearfalls, including having Tanahashi in the anaconda vise and attempting to pin him with a anaconda buster. Tanahashi, however, managed to get the win after a sling blade and a high fly flow.