Catching up with day 3:
Gallows v Ibushi - I thought this was really good until they fucked up the ending.
Makabe v Fale - Much better than I was expecting, Makebe sold well and the crowd was really into his comeback.
Styles v Yano - Loved this. Just the right amount of levity and some really nice spots.
I'm looking forward to watching Shibata/Naito and Day 4 later on.
Another night where Elgin walks into the ring with the fans having no clue who he is, but by the end of his match they are totally reacting to him. He has blown me away in this thing. So surpassed what I thought he'd be. I'd expected a more annoying Davey Richards, but Elgin is actually getting over.
The entire psychology of Honma matches is whether or not this will be his day. That's why giving him an actual push wouldn't work. Problem is because there is no way in the world his day will come on the day he's wrestling the World Champion it takes a lot out of it.
defrost i'll fight you right now. i hate that talking point, that honma can't get a real push because he's over "because he loses." he's over because he's one of the best workers in the company and super charismatic. people go nuts when he wins in tags. they will not stop liking him if he wins high profile singles matches, if anything they will like him more.
Ishii is not as over as before they really gave him a push. I see this the same way. Plus winning in tags is not the same as winning in singles. Maybe he is good enough to change what he does if he became NEVER champ or if he and like Makabe win the tag titles, but that's more a wait and see thing. They'll never push him beyond that because there are certain questions about him. They did fire him not long ago and had to wait for the heat to die down to bring him back.
The funny thing is Honma was a death match guy who would have like 1 good match a year, and only recently has he become what he is. In between that one Tanahashi match in All Japan and then his match with Tanaka a few years later there is a certain dearth.
He and Makabe should absolutely win the tag belts. A present day Kobashi/Honda moment.
fuck makabe, the shibata/honma chemistry in that match they had against cody hall and tama tonga was a thing of beauty.
yeah but they're besties
Sounds like Shinsuke is out of the tournament with an elbow injury
fuck
Yeah, fuck. What do they do in this situation? Replace him?
Probably he'd just forfeit all of his matches
Homna's on the board then. He's going to win it!
AJ vs Ibushi was fucking amazing
This was easily the best day of the tournament so far
Concur
Gallows-Fale was short and as Gallows did most of the work it wasn't awful.
Yano-Tenzan was a decent comedy match until the double bust put a slightly real edge on it.
Shibata-Makabe was a good bashy-bashy match. Enjoying Shibata's appropriation of the Otani paintbrushing and that extra spin on it where he lifts himself up to kick the top of the head.
AJ-Ibushi was a 9/10 match with a 7/10 story. Pumped at the end of it.
Tanahashi-Naito was an 8/10 match with a 9/10 story. Super-pumped at the end of it.
How low on the list of matches would this be on possible bloodbaths?
That looks like somewhere between a 7-8 on the Muta scale.
The Shinsuke injury is probably why he was trending in NY on Twitter
That's gonna leave a scar
okada/honma was alright. went too long. they're going long in this tournament in general. already more 16+ minute matches than all of last year's.
aj//ibushi was really good, but not on the level of the top-tier g1 matches of the last few years. naito/tanahashi could've been about 10 minutes shorter and naito's new finisher is awful, but it was good overall.
Day 6 thoughts
No Nakamura through injury, but hopeful that he will resume. Elgin wins by w/over. Suspect there might be a work element to this. It does mean he has to SuperCena his way through the field now though.
- Yujiro v Nagata was a bit dull.
- Goto v Honma was lively and exciting, the best match for both so far. Worthy of a NEVER title match.
- Ishii v Anderson was on a similar level. Started slower to get the crowd and then stepped up. Both men's best so far.
- Okada v Kojima was a nudge below those two but completely fine. Crowd behind Kojima, thought he was a local but nope.
Naito-AJ and Ibushi-Shibata tomorrow. Errr, yes please!
Welp, Nakamura's injury has totally FUCKED my brackets.
Day 7 thoughts
- Gallows-Yano was funny! More antics and offence by Yano, Gallows is a naturally funny guy too, shame he isn't a workrater, I like him otherwise.
- Tenzan-Makabe was fine, if slow. Hit hard and a good final 3-4 mins.
- Ibushi-Shibata was absolutely brilliant. Match of the tournament possibly. Everything I could have wanted and yet room for more!
- Fale-Tanahashi was like one against a slightly compliant bag of washing. Hard work from Tana but he made it work. What a pro.
- Naito-AJ was really good for me, some have taken against it for it being a little slow but they're doing something big with Naito here.
I'd walk ten miles in the rain to be guaranteed a match as good as Ibushi-Shibata. With commentary I might have exploded.
Best Gallows match ever
yeah i liked gallows/yano a lot. ibushi/shibata was good but is getting really overrated. that pop-up one count spot was just too much. some good stuff in it and the ending was great, but no kind of MOTYC for me. still have to watch the main event of day 7.
haven't seen any of day 6 either.
AJ's reactions to Naito are wonderful
they are indeed. match was disappointing though, considering how good their last years g1 match was, and their dome match. the heel/heel dynamic though.
Yeah neither guy really knew what to do with the heel/heel thing. Given the crowd reaction probably would have been for the best if Styles worked it babyface.
Just watched Ibushi vs. Shibata and thought it was great. The length of the match was perfect for me.
Doing some catch-up today:
Naito/Shibata: I like how Shibata is having none of of Naito's heel bullshit and just goes to kick his head off before Naito can even undress. That facewash was ultimate in facewashes.
Shibata/Ibushi: Great little war packed into 15 minutes. I loved the palm strike into a sleeper finish.
AJ/Shibata: pretty good, but the ending felt so sudden. I would have given this another 3-5 minutes.
AJ/Ibushi: My favorite match so far. Insane spots and great counters galore. Ibushi kicking out at 1 after that tombstone was nuts. I loved the false finishes too. Really well done match.
Tanahashi/Ibushi: Lots of good spots, felt like a war between these too. I love that second rope suplex from Ibushi.
What else should I watch?
Shibata should win this whole thing. Unless he can't. I've only seen his match with Ibushi.
I liked the 1 count bit, it reminded me of those DDT matches with 2-count falls.
Nakamura will wrestle Ishii
Shibata is perilously close to a hockey mullet
YES.Originally Posted by Defrost
Apparently not a great draw at Osaka. Still looked full but down on recent years. Think this format makes the tournament seem less exclusive and each night is less important.
Anyway, only saw three matches today (caught the end of Anderson and Nagata which looked good!). The last three were all tremendous: crowd are really taking to Elgin, who had a great outing against Honma. Nakamura came back and after a shaky/repetitive start and Ishii working light, they found their touch and turned in another high-quality bout. Honours for the night to the main event between Goto and Okada, which was brilliant.
Just been binge watching to catch up:
Day 7:
Yano v Gallows - Good fun, the middle dragged but I liked the finish.
Makabe v Tenzan - Wasn't a big fan of this one, it didn't flow very well and the finish was a bit random
Shibata v Ibushi - This was amazing and it really mattered with them both at 2-1. The lariat/kick/1 count section in the middle was breathtaking. I love the sleeper/penalty kick combination.
Tanahashi v Fale - Can Tana pull a decent match out of Fale? Well most of it was dire but that ending was insane
AJ v Naito - Put the mask back onThis was ok, it seemed a bit ponderous and spotty at first. Naito's finisher is rubbish.
Some very heelish antics in the last two matches of this show
Day 8:
Kojima v Takahashi - More bullshit Bullet Club shenanigans but the crowd reacted to it. I didn't get into the match but then again I dislike Takahashi and I haven't seen too much of Kojima.
Anderson v Nagata - I really enjoyed this one. both guys are very entertaining.
Elgin v Homna - This was amazing, Elgin's strength is unbelievable.
Nakamura v Ishii - Shinsuke is back! This was really good, those overhead suplexes were sick.
Goto v Okada - Nice main event match with an intense finishing sequence.
Last three matches were awesome. Best night of the tournament so far.
I think I was a bit burnt out for Goto/Okada after watching twelve straight matches. I might give it another watch.
Coming up tomorrow:
Tenzan v Ibushi
Shibata v Fale
AJ v Gallows
Makabe v Naito
Tanahashi v Yano
I can't wait to see Makabe react to Naito's new attitude.
You are in for a treat
Enjoyable show tonight, every match was pretty good. Makabe v Naito probably best.
honma/elgin was great. nakamura/ishii was disappointing, put it down to the injury i guess. okada/goto was good but not great, though that cross body over the barricade was awesome. honma/elgin is probably a top 5 match in this tournament so far.
maybe even top 3 along with shibata/naito and aj/ibushi.
I thought it was the best match Okada and Goto have ever had with each other. Disclaimer: I have never actually like an Okada vs Goto match before.
How did today's show easily outdraw yesterday's by the way?
Can someone remind Elgin that he's supposed to suck and not have good matches ever? Because he's making people who've correctly criticized his work look really stupid.
I really enjoyed Shibata/Fale, especially the finish.
Noticing a trend where I like the shows I watch live better
Holy shit Naito is the best heel
I loved Naito vs Ibushi and think it is the best match of the tournament so far. Looking around the internet I seem to be the only one with that opinion.
just watched it. it was pretty good but not too impressive. a lot of the matches really aren't doing it for me this year.
I've noticed that the matches a lot of people really like I'm colder on and the matches I really like everyone else is colder on. So I think I'm just weird in my tastes right now.
I am sick of this tournament. It's been going on so long Okada's hair is black.
it's not doing it for me that's for sure. there've been maybe five real stand out matches. bad format, lots of cards with only one good match, too many hard cam shows, too stale with the same people and the same honma schtick.
next year leave off tenzan, gallows, fale, maybe kojima, definitely takahashi and bring in KUSHIDA, bring back suzuki, give yoshi-hashi a chance, let honma win and bring in the two young lions each in their own block and let them have spirited, short matches that they always lose.
I got Honma still winning in this thing. I got him beating Ishii.
Tanahashi vs Shibata was really good. AJ is a tremendous wrestler. Naito's gimmick is still great. That's about it from today's show.
Took a bath in the Voices of Wrestling contest today.
shibata/tanahashi was disappointing. some cool stuff i but i thought it was pretty much 'alright'. like a couple of the big matches this year it suffered from the new format which has some of the big matches going too long. last two years pretty much every match was a compact, fast paced 15 minute match. this year there's been too many 20+ minute stuff which have some cool stuff but a lot of fluff and tana/shibata was one of them (along with tana/naito and tana/ibushi, two other matches that would have been a lot better with 5+ minutes cut. a couple okada matches fit that bill too).
watching day 14. anderson/elgin was actually shockingly good and one of the best matches of the tournament so far for me.
easily the best show of the tournament. again ishii/goto would have benefitted from being 3-4 minutes shorter but it was still very good.
is this the same Michael Elgin? Can't be. How/when did this happen?
TAPS AFF!
Elgin has been superb. I do not know why. I hate Michael Elgin. I just don't wanna like this at all.
I'd say ROH is the issue, but I've seen Elgin in other indies and it was basically the same shit. Maybe Japan is just the place for the guy?
HE WON!
Shit.
Won't be the same as watching it spoiler-free but I can't wait.
i actually hope elgin comes back next year
I hope he just stays there. Elgin in Japan in great. Elgin in the US is awful.
Is Tana embracing the heel side more? From what i've seen clips of he seems to be acting like a self-aware version of Cena. It sounds amazing.
ugh, really?
That was easily the best match Tanahashi and Styles have ever had with each other. Though I was in the camp that thought their other matches kinda stunk and they had no chemistry so that's where I am coming from.
i'd put it about the level of their other matches, though enhanced by lack of interference. good but nothing especial.
well we have the least interesting final possible. KUSHIDA/ricochet rematch at least.
Tomorrow's card
NJPW "G1 CLIMAX 25", 16.08.2015 (WPW/PPV/NJPW World)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Jushin Thunder Liger, Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Mascara Dorada & David Finlay
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Captain New Japan vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Jay White
3. YOSHI-HASHI vs. Michael Elgin
4. Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga
5. Togi Makabe, Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto, Katsuyoshi Shibata & Kota Ibushi.
6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (c) vs. Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish
7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Match: KUSHIDA (c) vs. Ricochet
8. Special Six Man Tag Match: Kazuchika Okada, Michael Bennett & Matt Taven w/ Maria Kanellis vs. AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows
9. G1 Climax - Final: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
much weaker than last year's final card.
ishii/elgin was awesome.
did elgin have the best tournament out of everyone?
All things considered
They just did an awesome angle with Okada and Tenryu setting up TEnryu's retirement match
Muto and Chono's fake dubbed in themes stink on ice
What an amazing match! Easily the best those two have ever delivered with each other. Better than the Dome matches.
My hands are shaking.
Awesome final show. The card was weaker than last year but the show MUCH stronger. Just goes to show.
I reviewed the whole lot over on my blog: http://fujiwaraarmbar.blogspot.com/
didnt think nakamura/tanahashi was all that great. it was pretty good and had a good home stretch but even that didn't blow me away. i didn't think okada/nakamura was very good either although the last minute and a half or so was really good.
top 5 for the tournament would probably be
1. aj/ibushi
2. honma/elgin
3. ishii/elgin
4. naito/shibata
5. honma/ishii
I liked the tweets as a review
Okada vs. Nakamura went a long way towards making me a permanent fan. I understand it wasn't exactly a moty in many people's opinion, people who know more than me. But as a new viewer (I literally have never watched any Japanese wrestling until just a couple months ago) it sent me away with a sense of the intensity and passion that I had heard so much about but hadn't quite witnessed.
I enjoyed the story they told and my heart was pumping hard at the end. I've seen enough of Nakamura to understand that hot dogging is sort of his thing but even towards the end of the match, when he clearly had exhausted himself, he still felt the need to go for hot dog pins instead of putting the match away as fast as possible. This lead to such an anxious feeling inside me I can't quite explain it. Probably because I still understand so little about the product and I don't quite know what everything is about or what the story is trying to tell me.
The finish was sweet. Okada finally overcoming Nakamura and in such definitive fashion was certainly a satisfying way to finish a tournament final.
This is great, I don't think anyone should try and orient you here, enjoy the feeling, don't over-educate yourself too quickly, see where it takes you.
But then watch this year's tournament!
Not sure if you're aware, but that was last year's G1 final.
I liked KUSHIDA vs Ricochet, but it was missing something I can't quite put my finger on
Eh, there just wasn't anything special about it. It was a fun juniors spotfest but nothing spectacular, compared to their BOSJ final that had a really unique feel because it was worked like an updated version of a classic 90s NJ juniors match.
I seriously have no idea what I'm doing. I think also my tv may have been upside down and possibly I was watching asian porn the entire time.
To give you a non-exhaustive and accessible watching guide, the best of G1 probably is the best entry-point for NJPW because it's self-contained and the matches are usually faster-paced, shorter and more accessible.
G1 2013 must watch:
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13...hii-njpw_sport)
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12...08-04-13_sport)
Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13...ura-njpw_sport)
All strong MOTYCs for the year. If you're inclined I'd recommend watching the whole of Day 4, Day 2 and the finals Day 9. But these are the top 3 matches and are all blow-away great to get you started.
G1 2014 must-watch:
First off I'll say a lot of people call this the best wrestling tournament of all time and they're probably right. Almost every show was a legit show of the year candidate. Finding and watching every single show in full would be worth your time. But of course that's a big time investment. Days 7 and 4 are the stand-out must watches and two of the best wrestling shows ever. Very accessible, stacked card full of fast paced, great matches that are easy to get into. But for the best of's I'd list:
Katuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma (https://vimeo.com/114447529) [this is one of my all-time favorite matches, my 2014 MOTY, and only 10 minutes long to boot]
AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki (https://vimeo.com/102825529)
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma -- this seems to be their only matchup that isn't available online! if you can download day 4 though, it's on there.
2015 G1
The one that just ended. Must watch:
Elgin/Homa (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z...el-elgin_sport)
Ibushi/Styles (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z...j-styles_sport)
Elgin/Ishii (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31...-15-2015_sport)
And there's a lot more of course. But if you're interested this should get you started.
Last edited by Tainted Eclipse; August 17th, 2015 at 6:38 PM.
And of course NJPW also has a lot of the longer, more epic style matches like the Okada/Nakamura match you watched. I prefer the shorter G1 style of matches but for those long NJPW main event style matches, the best exemplars would probably be the Okada/Tanahashi matches from Invasion Attack and King of Pro Wrestling 2013, both should be easy to find on youtube or dailymotion. Nakamura vs. Ibushi from this year's WrestleKingdom, which is also easily available through a google video search, is a must-watch and maybe my 2015 MOTY. Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki from King of Pro Wrestling 2012 might be the best NJPW match of the last 10 years or more, I think that's easy to find on youtube/DM too.
And of course if you're interested in seeing the best of Japanese wrestling more general there's the entire decade of the 90s to check out, including 90s AJPW the best wrestling that has ever existed, peak 2000s NOAH, some really good early 2000s NJPW. Yeah there's a lot.
Thank you man.
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