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Tag: Tomohiro Ishii

  • New Japan on AXS results: Okada vs. Nakamura; Ishii vs. Michael Elgin

    First show is from August 15, 2015 at Sumo Hall. No intro, I guess Ishii didn’t feel like introducing us.

    Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto

    This was a good match.Even though Ross and Barnett put over both of their wrestling backgrounds over before the match started ,this was a very stiff back and forth match. Like Jim Ross said, it was nothing fancy- lots of stiff punches, forearms and kicks. Also really interesting to hear Nagata is 47. I know that Nagata is called Mr. Anti-Aging but I’ve never really thought of his actual age. The way he’s moving at 47 should really be commended. He got the win here.

    Satoshi Kojima vs. Karl Anderson

    This was also a very good match. Anderson worked hard and did his usual heel tactics. Kojima looked really strong. Not much more beyond that, just a good back and forth match. Kojima picked up the win with a lariat.

    Tomohiro Ishii was interviewed. It didn’t mean anything to him to hear that this G1 was the longest ever. On Elgin, he likes his moves and any of them can be finishers. Unlike most Americans, he fights with his heart.

    Tomohiro Ishii vs. Michael Elgin

    This was one of my favorite matches from the last year. Elgin showed in this match that he’s one of the best commodities New Japan has picked up in recent years – he’s just tremendous working a stiff style and excelled here against Tomohiro Ishii, who is also one of the best in this style too. They worked themselves into an excellent match with some scary spots, including a death valley driver to the floor by Elgin.

    He followed that up with one of the scariest moves in some time with a running powerbomb right into the steel guard railing on the outside. Insane. Ishii turned him inside out with a lariat but Elgin kicked out, only to taste defeat following a brainbuster. Fantastic match, well worth taking the time to watch. Definitely one of the best matches in the G1 tournament.

    Ishii says he’s become nothing but a boaster and is disappointed in himself. Elgin vows with every last breath, drop of sweat and blood, he and Ishii will go at it again.

    In an interesting note, Ishii mentions he lost consciousness after the first blow of the match, so he doesn’t have much memories of it. He was out of it. He thought although it was a good, he got beat badly. He thought he was doing well in the tournament until he lost to Okada .He says it’s been another disappointing year.

    Okada welcomes us to part two of the August 15, 2015 G1 event in Sumo Hall.

    Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma

    This was fine. Yujiro’s in the bottom rung of workers in the New Japan roster, but Honma is so over this turned into a good match anyway. Yujiro used a ref bump to low blow and the Miami shine to pin Honma.

    Okada says that the G1 was probably the best condition he could have been in. He doesn’t fight against Nakamura too often, so this was interesting for him. He wasn’t sure if the math would go ahead due to his injury, but it did. When mentioning that one block was AJ vs. Tanahashi and the other one was him vs. Nakamura, he noted that it was the four best wrestlers in New Japan, so it was hard for him to compete against them.

    Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    The match that these two had in the previous year’s G1 was absolutely awesome. I forget how this one went, though I remember it being awesome as well, so let’s see how this fares with new eyes.

    They started off slow, feeling one another. The match largely went with a back and forth style; well worked, nothing fancy .Once they started to go to the finishers it became great. Nakamura spun into that wonderful armbar, went into the gogoplata position, then sent him chest first to the ground and submitted him. I really liked that finish, but I thought the match they had in the G1 finals in 2014 has a bit more oomph to it. Still, these were two of the best workers in the business having a great match by any standard, so good on them. That makes it Tanahashi vs. Nakamura in the G1 2015 finals.

    Nakamura says there’s only one more match to go, and he’s ready to give it his all.

    Okada says it was frustrating he got submitted instead of pinned. By far, it’s the most frustrating match for him. If Nakamura wins the whole thing, he’s sure to face him again. The usually chatty Gedo this time says he has nothing to say, Nakamura was incredible. Meanwhile, Nakamura says he gave it his all today. One more match…he’s on fire.

    In his reflective interview, Okada says for him, it was one of the most memorable matches of 2015. He remembers it even more than his match in 2014, perhaps because he lost. He also forgot about the armlock. It was his first tap out since returning to America. After taking part in such a big series, he was proud to take on so many matches. On Nakamura leaving, he’s going to miss him. But he’s not worried about New Japan Pro Wrestling. He’s excited for what’s to come. But with that said, he misses him but hopes he does well in America. He wants to fight him again, He’ll make the New Japan ring the best in the meantime.

    Two very good episodes of New Japan on AXS this week. This show still remains as one of the best TV shows in North America, featuring both hot matches and fresh insight into them.

  • NJPW on AXS G1 2015 report: Naito vs. Tanahashi; Ishii vs. Nakamura

    We got two hours to cover this week of G1 2015 coverage, so let’s not waste any time!

    July 26, 2015 in Hiroshima:

    Katsuyori Shibata vs. Togi Makabe

    This, of course, was super stiff, but nothing out of the ordinary. Good, not great. Shibata got the win with the penalty kick.

    AJ Styles vs. Kota Ibushi

    This was good stuff. I loved the sequence near the end where Kota tried a hurricanrana off the top rope, but AJ blocked hit and hit a hurricanrana just for Ibushi to counter with a rollup, but AJ countered with a Styles Clash attempt. I keep saying this like a broken record, but Ibushi is so great; the last place he needs to be is in IGF where there’s like zero buzz. The burnout is totally understandable, but at the same time I feel like his eccentricities are getting the best of his career. Kota wins with the phoenix splash in a really great match.

    Tetsuya Naito is interviewed. He went to Mexico in May (2015) and mentioned how he met people like La Sombra and Rush and how they wrestled freely; he was jealous. As he teamed with them in matches he felt a sense of joy, so he wanted to bring that to Japan. He felt that he needed to stick to his own style. But after wrestling in Mexico, he realized he needed to branch out. He could say he has no feelings regarding Tanahashi, but that would be a lie. He doesn’t have much more to be say regarding him.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

    A great showcase for the new Naito here. He took his time taking off his suit (he’s replaced that with just taking a very long time getting to the ring and harassing Milano Collection AT), posed during matches and even took his time brawling around the ring, including a neckbreaker onto a table. In fact, a lot of this match was the two just brawling around, with Naito getting the upper hand. They eventually make their way back to the ring and bust out a ton of great offense.

    I really liked the work on Naito’s knee (he was out for a long period of time a couple of years prior due to a blown out knee) including the two high fly flows on it. Naito got the somewhat surprising win with his new finisher, Destino (a standing sliced bread).

    In a post match promo, he told the Japanese people to calm down. No one can stop him now, He finished off his short promo saying LOS INGOBERNABLES!

    Tanahashi says this was one of his top 5 disappointing matches as he’s helped out backstage. He said the match was what it was – it was destiny. At first, no one could even pronounce los Ingobernables, but as the tournament went on he gained more confidence. He wants Los Ingobernables to gain strength in New Japan.

    Shinsuke Nakamura welcomes us to the second hour of New Japan on AXS.

    This footage is from August 1 in Osaka.

    Karl Anderson vs. Yuji Nagata

    Pretty decent match. I liked the work in the beginning where Anderson worked on Nagata’s ribs while Nagata worked on the arm. Anderson got the win after a gun stun out of nowhere.

    Anderson told Nagata in a very rude manner to make him some food and do his laundry. Nagata didn’t have much response.

    Tomoaki Honma vs. Michael Elgin

    Elgin was such a fresh face in this tournament -literally everyone else was in the tournament a year prior, so seeing some new match ups here was pretty great. Elgin proved just how great a talent he really is by doing some of the best work of his career in this tournament, and prove a lot of his haters wrong with some terrific offense that really got Elgin over.

    This was a great match. People were super into both guys and wanted Honma to get the big win. My favorite spot was the deadlift falcon arrow onto the apron to the mat – such a great spot! Elgin gets the win with the buckle bomb and a sitout powerbomb. Great match.

    Elgin says he’s back on track and how he’s on his way to the finals, because that’s just how good he is. Honma was amazed by Elgin’s power; he really wanted to win, but he will be happy with a win next time.

    Nakamura mentions his elbow injury that kept him off some of the G1 shows and mentions how he wanted to get back in the ring very quickly. He stayed on tour during his injury, saying he would go to different hospitals to get the treatment he needed. It was tough for him to get his way back, and wasn’t until Osaka where he was finally able to return.

    Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii

    This was really great. Just built up really well from start to finish and the crowd was totally into it from start to finish. Both guys worked super hard. I loved the spot near the end where Nakamura went for another boma ye, Ishii stopped him but countered with the flying armbar scissors. Is that not the coolest move in pro wrestling? Both guys are awesome and they had, in fact, a really tremendous match. Nakamura got the win after a boma ye.

    Nakamura says he had to give his all against Ishii, and glad he was able to face him. He was also happy he only missed one G1 match due to injury so he’s still in the game. In his reflective interview, he says he was very eager to face Ishii. Each one of their hits was full of passion. He appreciated that Ishii never tried to attack his elbow. He had to bring out everything he had, or he wouldn’t be able to stand. He felt that, even though saying this was weird, that it was a great comeback story.

    Lots of great action on these shows; be sure to check them out!

  • FREE: Adam & Mike: Wrestling Dontaku preview and more!

    Worth it at half the price, the original alternate is back with the GRATIS edition to help get you in the mood for Tuesday morning’s New Japan Dontaku show. After we talk for 13 minutes about other random things like the state of women’s hockey, we get into NJPW-ROH in Chicago, Zeus matches, Junior Fujita, lying about attendance, the ballad of Ryusuke Taguchi, spotlights on SANADA, snowflake predictions for Tuesday morning’s Naito-Ishii main, and much more.

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