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.
Captain New Japan & Juice Robinson vs. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
This did not last long at all. Fale pinned Captain New Japan quickly with the grenade in under 3 minutes. I don’t know why Yoshitatsu let this guy in his Bullet Club Hunter club, he’s worthless in every way.
Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi & Jay White & David Finlay vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay & Gedo
Fun little match. Usual good eight man match you’d see on the first half of any New Japan show. Ospreay’s offense is so dynamic. He had a great dynamic with Finlay as they did some fun spots together. He did the Sasuke special at one point during the match, taking everyone out in the process. He ended up getting the win for his team after a springboard diamond cutter.
Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta vs. IWGP Junior Tag Champs Matt Sydal & Ricochet
Really good match. I think they’ve had better, but this built up nicely and had some good near falls toward the end. RPG Vice had the heat early. Ricochet did this great move where he caught Baretta in mid air while he was executing a tornado DDT, countered into a northern lights suplex, floated over then gave him a brainbuster. Sydal gave Baretta a reverse rana, then aided Ricochet in laying out Romero with a double Benadryller. They followed with the stereo shooting star presses and pinned RPG Vice to regain the junior titles.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu vs. NEVER Six-Man Tag Champ Kenny Omega & Young Bucks for Never
Good match, though like the previous match, their last bout was a bit better. Unlike their previous match, where they had crazy spots just about everywhere, they mostly kept this in the ring for most of the match. Elgin made a great comeback for his team. Tanahashi and Omega were in there when Omega went to use the hairspray but it hit Tiger Hattori instead. Elite acted like they were helping him, but then Omega low blowed him because he’s mean.
That’s when the weapons were brought out. Elgin powerbombed Matt Jackson into a ladder, but Omega came back and with the help of the Bucks, powerbombed Elgin through a table on the floor. They gave Yoshitatsu the triple kick, then Omega pinned Yoshitatsu with the One Winged Angel to win the titles.
Tanahashi cut a promo after the match, asking Kenny Omega for a rematch, saying he is the next Intercontinental champion. Kenny said no, but then took out the ladder and said if he wanted a ladder match, then he would say yes. They both climbed to the top of the ladder and shook hands, so it’s on.
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa for IWGP tag team titles
Okay match, mostly picked up toward the end. Guerrillas of Destiny just lack something here. Makabe and Honma are great singles guys, and have had great matches but this program just doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere. Tama Tonga and Makabe had some great back and forth that got the crowd into the bout. Tonga and Tanga took out Makabe on the outside as they cornered Honma. He tried to fight his way out of losing, but didn’t work as the brothers laid out Honma with their finish to retain the titles.
This year’s Best of the Super Junior lineups:
A Block: Kushida, Ryusuke Taguchi, Kyle O’Reilly, Matt Sydal, Rocky Romero, Gedo, Bushi, Matt Jackson
B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Nick Jackson, Will Ospreay, Trent Beretta, Bobby Fish, Ricochet, Volador Jr.
No real surprises other than Volador Jr. He and Will Ospreay make the B block far more interesting. I’d really like to see how their singles match goes down.
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata for Never title
Good match. Started off slow with some mat wrestling, then picked up from there. They had a better G1 match, but this was good stuff while it lasted. Shibata went for the penalty kick but Nagata grabbed him and gave him a big boot and backdrop driver. Shibata mounted a comeback but Nagata put him down on the ground, gave him a penalty kick and pinned him with the backdrop driver to win the title. Shinpei Nogami, the biggest fan of Yuji Nagata you’ll ever see, freaked out after the match and kept screaming “JUSTICE!”
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kushida vs. Jushin Liger
Really good match. Different than most junior heavyweight matches. Kushida is one of th best all around workers in wrestling today just by how he’s able to adjust to any style and have a great match no matter what.
This was a more traditional match, working on body parts and applying submissions. Liger worked on Kushida’s leg early in the bout and kept working on it throughout. Liger can’t fly like he did back in the day but as far as technical wrestling goes he’s really good. Liger hit the shotei once, then went for it again but Kushida blocked it and countered with the hoverboard lock. Liger took a while, but eventually submitted.
Kushida grabbed a mic and said that he’d like to see Liger wrestle for many years to come. Liger said if the champion thinks so, he might have to challenge again down the line.
Hirooki Goto vs. Evil
Another good match. Kinda short, but it was explosive as they went at right away. A lot of brawling, and a lot of back and forth stiff shots. Goto kicked out of a fireman’s carry into a spinebuster, but then Evil gave him the STO and pinned him clean in the middle, just like that. Pretty surprising.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Sanada
Really good match. Another match that had some good back and forth early. Sanada’s really good, definitely upper midcard/main event kind of character. Okada did the rainmaker pose but Sanada came back and put him in the Skull End submission. He missed the moonsault. Okada went to go for the rainmaker but Sanada kept dodging and trying for the Skull End. Sanada got him back down to the floor but Okada transitioned back to the tombstone, laid out Sanada with that then pinned him with the rainmaker. That’d probably put him in line for a rematch against Naito soon.
IWGP Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Awesome match, especially in the last ten minutes or so. Sure enough, Okada was out there with Ishii to second him, along with Gedo. They had a straightforward match for a while, pretty solid back and forth offering until Evil interfered, hitting Ishii with a steel chair. Ishii was working on Naito’s leg and had an ankle lock in as Chaos warded off Los Ingobernables.
Eventually they got free, but Ishii held his own until Okada made the save. Ishii hit the sliding D and went for a brainbuster but Naito countered with a DDT. Ishii countered the Destino and laid him out with an inverted brainbuster (that’s a new one!) for a nearfall. Finally, Ishii whipped Naito across the ropes but he came back with a forearm, then pinned him with Destino to retain the title.
Okada took shirt off and stared down Naito after the match. He didn’t respond at first, but eventually they had a staredown as Okada left. After all the ceremonies, Naito cut a promo asking Kidani to see the pop he’s getting in front of his crowd, and that he knows Okada wants a title shot but he has to “tranquillo”.
– This was a really good show. Everything was good for the most part, with the IWGP and Jr. title matches being really exceptional.
Juice Robinson and Jay White vs. Captain New Japan and David Finlay
Pretty short. Had internet problems during this bout, so didn’t see much of it. Really just saw the finish where Robinson submitted CNJ with what looked like a version of the camel clutch. On Twitter, he mentions he calls this the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Clutch. No, really!
Yoshi-Hashi and Roppongi Vice vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi
Pretty solid match. Heels controlled most of the match, faces made a comeback. Nakanishi and Yoshi-Hashi brawled into the crowd. Tiger Mask avoided Romero but he grabbed his mask and rolled him up for the win.
Romero cut a promo for his team, saying they’ll be retaining the titles at Dontaku against Sydal and Ricochet.
Yoshitatsu and Great Bash Heel vs. Guerrillas of Destiny and Yujiro Takahashi
Bullet Club came out wearing white camo. Largely a solid match, nothing all that interesting. Crowd woke up when Makabe was tagged in and ran wild on Tanga Loa. Loa made a comeback, but eventually with the rest of the team’s help Makabe got the win with the king kong knee drop.
Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger vs. Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida
Lots of brawling. They brawled inside, outside, just about everywhere. A lof of the match was Shibata beating up Nagata and vice versa. Liger had Kushida in a figure four for a good while At one point Kushida had escaped from it, but Liger put it back in. The Jushin Liger of 2016 has some really good mat work and it’ll probably play a part in their upcoming match. There were good aspects of this match, but it felt really, really longer than it needed to be. Nagata and Shibata went at it for a long time until tagging in their partners. Liger tried working on Kushida’s bum legs and worked in an arm wringer but Kushida grabbed Ligers arm and snagged him in a modified roll up for the win.
Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Bushi and Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo
New Japan eight man tag matches usually follow a formula, and this one followed it to a tee: everyone works against their rival, then something happens and they all wind up on the outside and brawl. Here, it was Sanada using his submission finisher the Skull End on Okada. Goto and Evil were in there and had really good chemistry with one another. Evil is one of those guys that is going to do very well as far as doing that hard hitting stiff style. Everyone came in towards the end and laid out one another, with Ishii laying out Naito. Bushi came in, ate a lariat and a brainbuster and that was it. Pretty good match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale
Fale, as you’d expect, used big guy power spots to start. Wasn’t particularly interesting. Fale dominated, Tanahashi made a comeback, including the high fly flow to the floor. Fale made a comeback, got a near fall after a grenade. Tanahashi countered the Bad Luck Fall, hit the slingblade and pinned Bad Luck Fale with the high fly flow. It was a very patterned match, but it was fine. Tanahashi is excellent as a ring general as he knows how to work with a guy like Fale.
Intercontinental Title: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Michael Elgin
Omega was all alone for this title defense, but had plenty of weapons anyway, including a ladder for some reason. He tried to use them all as Elgin stomped on him but Elgin kicked them all away. Elgin used the ladder to shove Omega into the barricade but Omega came back with it. They set up a table on the outside. Some really good back and forth in the ring. Omega used to be good, but now he’s like really good, not just in terms of athleticism but also just being the overall package. He has a ton of confidence. At one point Omega went for a hurricanrana, Elgin blocked it and powerbombed him through the table in a crazy spot.
Elgin hit the buckle bomb and was going to the Elgin bomb but Omega spiked him with a reverse hurricanrana as he was going up, then another one after Elgin blocked the One Winged Angel. Elgin went for another buckle bomb but Omega came back with two knee strikes and hit the One Winged Angel to retain the title. Great main event.
Tanahashi came out after the match and challenged Omega. Omega said he’d think about it. He proceeded to think about it for approximately two seconds by low blowing Tanahashi, saying his answer was no. He took the ladder and put it on top of the fallen Tanahashi. He climbed to the top of the ladder and basically said he never wanted to face Tanahashi again, and that is real. He left, streamers flying as the show closed. Obviously this is the next program, so I guess eventually Omega’s going to change his mind. Or maybe not, who knows!
That main event blew the rest of this card out of the water, so if there’s one match you need to see it’s that one.
This week, it’s part 2 of our look at Wrestling Dontaku 2015 (which took place on May 3, 2015) is again the theme of tonight’s show. We have a look at the IWGP title match, as well as some multi-man tags.
Interesting to note the title match isn’t the main event of this show, as Karl Anderson welcomes us to the program.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Alex Shelley
This was fine, but didn’t feel it was anything too special. Omega camped it up big time during this match, using weapons and the like. It was also edited for time. There was some cool stuff towards the end, but it felt like just another title defense. Omega retained the title, pinning Shelley after the One Winged Angel.
Omega cut a hammy promo after the match, saying he won’t be in the Super Juniors tournament but will be ready to face whoever wins the Best of the Super Garbage tournament.
Maria vs. Amber Gallows
Karl Anderson started to speak. He didn’t care that he lost the tag titles to the Kingdom several episodes ago, he only cared about Maria. Usually he wants the championship, but the only thing he could think about in Ryogoku was Maria. He started saying all these nice things about Maria as beautiful music played. He wasn’t happy that Amber Gallows was coming to beat up Maria and was mad at Doc for instigating it. He hoped he could protect Maria in the match.
So the match aired. It was pretty much angle oriented around Maria and Anderson, and little else. It was a fine mid card type of program, but it’s really didn’t rejuvinate a divison that sorely needed jumpstart after being stagnant for so many years. Anderson and Gallows argued a lot about Maria during the match. Maria did a few spots with Amber Gallows and got a near fall after a crossbody. Anderson and Maria ended up in the ring together. They danced for a bit before Maria low blowed him, then Maria got the big win with a inside cradle on Amber.
Anderson in the post match seemed to have snapped out of his Maria infatuation. He said the Bullet Club is the strongest group in the last twenty years. He says Maria won’t get in the way. Everything they do is because they planned it.
Anderson, who in reflection has snapped back into the infatuation. puts over the Kingdom as good wrestlers, but they didn’t care about them. He only cared about Maria. The only thing he thought about, the only thing he thinks about during the day and night is for Maria to come to Bullet Club. He can win the G1, Intercontinental or World titles, but the tag team scene is his focus right now.
Makabe, Tanahashi and Shibata vs. Ishii, Yano and Sakuraba
Shibata and Sakuraba grappled, Makabe and Ishii beat each other up with stiff attacks and Yano pretty much avoided Tanahashi’s offense by doing his usual routine. This was a nice, quick six man bout with plenty of action and set the tone for future bouts. Tanahashi got the win for his team, gaining a measure of revenge by grabbing Yano’s hair and getting a flash pin over him while holding the hair.
Tanahashi was happy he finally got one over Yano now. All he has to do is wait, as he bets he’ll walk right into the mouse trap.
Not a great week for match quality, but a nice show that highlighted some of the midcard antics that went on last summer.
Ring of Honor announced that Kenny Omega has been pulled from Saturday’s show in Philadelphia, but that to make up for it, Kushida would be defending the IWGP jr. heavyweight title on the show.
“Due to circumstances out of his or Ring of Honor’s control, `The Cleaner,’ Kenny Omega, will not be in Philadelphia on Saturday, March 12 to compete at The Conquest Tour event,” the company announced ths morning.
Later an announcement was made that Kushida would defend his title against ACH.
The lineup for the show is:
Jay Lethal vs. Matt Sydal for the ROH title Kushida vs. ACH for the IWGP jr. title Adam Cole & Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly Briscoes & Cheeseburger vs. War Machine & Moose Young Bucks vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin Mandy Leon & Sumie Sakai & Jenny Rose vs. Kyoko Kimura & Veda Scott & Taeler Hendrix B.J. Whitmer & Cedric Alexander vs. Adam Page & Jonathan Gresham Will Ferrara vs. Joey Daddiego
Internet exclusive match: Brian Kendrick pinned Will Ferrara
TV Taping (week of March 14th)
– Cedric Alexander vs. ROH TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii
Veda Scott paid original opponent BJ Whitmer to leave and get the match for Cedric Alexander. Ishii won with a brainbuster.
– Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian demanded that Chris Sabin apologize to them for what he did. Sabin & Alex Shelley came out and they went at it with Sabin & Shelley demanding a match, but Daniels refused.
– Mark & Jay Briscoe beat Reno Scum
Scum is a local tag team of Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin beat Young Bucks
Post-match saw The Addiction attack the Bucks and the Motor City Machine Guns made the save.
TV Taping (week of March 21st)
– Roderick Strong won four-way over Adam Page, Moose and Matt Sydal when Strong pinned Page
– Adam Cole did an interview saying he would be the next world champion. Matt Taven returned, and said that Cole is no longer part of the Kingdom and that he would be forming a new Kingdom.
– Cheeseburger vs. an unknown ended when Kenny King & Rhett Titus attacked both guys and laid them out
War Machine and the Briscoes made the save. The segment ended with the Briscoes grabbing the tag team title belts so they are in the immediate tag title picture.
– ROH Champion Jay Lethal beat Hirooki Goto in a good match to retain
Lethal won thanks to interference from Truth Martini and Taelor Hendrix. Donovan Dijak returned with Prince Nana and kicked Martini. Martini laid motionless and they did an injury angle that was played up big in the building. A lot of people thought he had broken his neck, but he was taken out on a ringside table.
TV Taping (week of March 28th)
– Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly beat Kazuchika Okada & Gedo
Fish and O’Reilly won when they pinned Gedo after Chasing the Dragon
– Adam Cole beat Kushida with a brainbuster in a super match
– Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley beat Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
After the match, Daniels & Kazarian jumped them until Kushida & Matt Sydal ran in. The Young Bucks ran in after.
TV Taping 4 (week of April 4th)
– ROH Tag Champions War Machine retained beating Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta
– Donovan Dijak & Prince Nana did an interview. Dijak said he had been protecting the House of Truth, but now it’s time to go after the world title. Jay Lethal and Dijak ended up brawling so that’s a new title direction.
– Kenny Omega beat ACH with the One Winged Angel
– Dalton Castle beat Silas Young in a Fight Without Honor
At Wrestle Kingdom 10, the two men who’ve dominated New Japan’s Junior division in 2015 will face off once again for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. KUSHIDA and Kenny Omega have been the only two to hold the title in 2015. Well, technically Ryusuke Taguchi did hold the it for the first four days of the year until he was defeated by Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 9. But since then, it’s been all Omega and KUSHIDA (mostly Omega).
As mentioned literally one second ago, Kenny “The Cleaner” Omega started 2015 in style by winning the IWGP Jr. Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 9. He then went on a rampage through the Junior division, taking on all comers from all* nations (all of the ones that are Japan, Mexico, and the U.S.). With each successful defence, Omega took one step closer to going off the deep end. He became more egotistical, more maniacal, more eccentric 80’s action movie villain, to the point where he now comes to the ring beating a trash can and singing along to his own theme music. For some, it’s overkill. For me, it’s the perfect storm of questionable acting and complete absurdity. Omega provides the enjoyment similar to what one gets from watching a good bad movie. But behind all the wackiness and overacting, there’s an amazingly talented wrestler
While Omega was running roughshod through the Juniors, KUSHIDA was upping his game, with his sights set on Omega and the Jr. title. He finally got his chance for a shot at the title when he won the 2015 Super Junior tournament. KUSHIDA defeated Kyle O’Reilly in the finals of the tournament in what was one of the best matches of 2015. He has been very good for long time now, but for me, that match elevated him to another level. Tanahashi may be the ace of New Japan, but KUSHIDA is the ace of the Juniors.
Kushida made sure not to waste his opportunity and ended Omega’s 182 day run as champion at NJPW Dominion in Osaka. After capturing the title, KUSHIDA looked set for an impressive run as champion. A run that would establish himself as the huge star he has shown he can be. Boy was I wrong. After a one successful defence against Ricochet, KUSHIDA would lose the title back to Kenny Omega at New Japan Destruction in Okayama, a mere 80 days after capturing the belt. All of KUSHIDA’s momentum was stopped dead in its tracks, like a DeLorean with a busted flux capacitor.
After regaining his title, Omega would continue his maniacal domination of the Junior division like he’d never missed a beat, while KUSHIDA, fire unequivocally extinguished, would flounder in the Jr. Tag division with Alex Shelley as the Time Splitters. Heads were left scratching, and it wasn’t due to an outbreak in lice, which took the lives of thousands.
The booking seemed baffling at the time, until it was clear KUSHIDA was going to challenge for the title at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Surely there was a better way to get to KUSHIDA vs. Omega at the Tokyo Dome without cutting KUSHIDA’s momentum off at the knees. It seems like NJPW simply wants to repeat KUSHIDA’s big moment from Dominion when he captured the title on a bigger, grander stage.
And so, “The Cleaner” and “The Time Splitter” will meet for the third (and final?) time on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome. Their previous two matches have been subjectively very good. Some can’t get past Omega’s eccentricities and the usual Bullet Club antics. Personally, I could do without the Bullet Club stuff, but I enjoy the Omega’s rapscallion ways, and don’t allow them to take away from his matches.
As with a good portion of the Wrestle Kingdom 10 card, the journey to get there has been questionable, but the match itself should be solid.
