New Japan Pro Wrestling 2014: 7/25 Up!

BUDDYFIGHT Presents G1 CLIMAX 24 Day 1 Results from Sapporo

The 24th Annual G1 Climax tournament opened today in front of a sold out crowd in Sapporo with several key matches at the top of the card. The show opened with a video running down all twenty-two participants in the league. The commentators for tonight are Shinpei Nogami and New Japan Pro Wrestling and Universal Wrestling Federation legend Kazuo Yamazaki.

Before we get to the results, here is an explanation of the scoring system in the G1 Climax:

• A win is worth two points.
• A time limit draw or double countout is worth one point.
• A no contest, double disqualification or double knockout are worth zero points.

Tomohiro Ishii kicked off his second G1 appearance with a victory over the Bullet Club enforcer, Bad Luck Fale. Ishii took the fight to his considerably larger foe, hammering Fale with elbows and hard chops early on before Fale handed a hard elbow of his own. Fale took Ishii to the floor and smashed him into the barricade and hit a big boot to send Ishii over the guard rail. Ishii laid on the floor until a count of 18 before sliding back into the ring to save himself on opening night. Fale set up for the Grenade, which is a Samoan Spike, but Ishii headbutted him and hit a devastating lariat to pick up the first win of the 2014 G1 Climax.

In a match between two former WWE Superstars, Shelton Benjamin beat Doc Gallows with Paydirt. This wasn't much of a match, it was worked more like an average SmackDown match with Gallows trying to catch Benjamin as Benjamin danced circles around the big man. Gallows landed a shoulder tackle to send Benjamin onto the apron where Gallows attempted the Gallows Pole, but Benjamin fought out and landed a brutal superkick to the jaw of the big man to send him back into the ring. Benjamin followed up immediately with Paydirt to put himself on the winning track.

The first B Block match of the 2014 G1 Climax saw Karl Anderson put down an uncharacteristically game Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Tenzan has been physically decaying for the better part of the last decade and was actually forced to pull out of last year's tournament due to an injury suffered halfway through. Here, Tenzan moved like it was 2004, taking the fight to Anderson with his signature Mongolian Chops looking to set up his Anaconda Vise submission. Tenzan went for his Anaconda Buster, which is an Anaconda Vice clutch Side Effect, but Anderson got out and hit the Gun Stun, which is an Ace Crusher, for the victory to give the Bullet Club their first victory of the evening.

In a battle of two absolute legends, Satoshi Kojima put down Yuji Nagata with a lariat. This was the perfect example of two veterans going to war, as Kojima chopped way at Nagata and Nagata blasted back with elbows and slaps. Nagata hit his backdrop driver for a big near fall early in the match and Kojima battled back, eventually landing a DDT on the apron to almost force a countout victory. Late in the match, Kojima hit the Bakayaro Elbow Drop, which is a flying elbow, and set up for the lariat when Nagata hit him with a rolling wheel kick and an Exploder for a huge near fall. Kojima would battle back, however, hitting the Koji Cutter and then the lariat to pick up the win.

After a year of battling back and forth, Minoru Suzuki got another shot at Toru Yano right before intermission. As usual, there were shenanigans at play in this match. Suzuki attacked Yano during his entrance and used the steel chair that Yano brings to the ring with him. Suzuki then threw Yano to the outside and spiked him on the floor with the Gotch piledriver, which is a cradle piledriver, to pick up the first countout victory of the league.

After intermission, former NO LIMIT partners Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi added another chapter to their long standing rivalry. Naito brought his unique brand of aerial offense and overwhelmed Takahashi early. However, Takahashi would catch Naito as Naito flew in with a flying forearm and land a nice German suplex. While the referee checked on Naito, Takahashi removed one of the turnbuckle covers and threw Naito into it. Takahashi took control of the match, but when he went for his sitout Dominator known as the Tokyo Pimps, Naito countered out into his Pluma Blanca submission, which is the Koji Clutch. Takahashi would escape, but Naito would hit him with Gloria, which is a hammerlock cradle dropped into a side slam. This set up the Stardust Press, which is a corkscrew splash, giving Naito an opening night win over his rival.

The B Block action continued, as two of the brawlers in the group went to war in Togi Makabe and Hirooki Goto. Makabe took the fight to Goto from bell one, brawling around ringside with him for the opening moments of the match. Goto hit Makabe with a lariat on the floor and rolled back in at the count of seven. Makabe would return to the ring at the count of fourteen, where Goto would attack Makabe with hard elbows, targeting the jaw of the Unchained Gorilla. Goto mounted a sizable offensive lead, landing the Ushikoroshi, which is a death valley driver dropped out onto the knee, before Makabe floored him with a King Kong Lariat. Makabe would then follow up with the spider German suplex, which is a German suplex off the top rope, before dropping a flying knee drop that he calls the King Kong Knee Drop for the win.

The G1 Climax is often home to some of the most shocking upsets of the year, and opening night was no exception as Tomoaki Honma, the last minute replacement for Kota Ibushi, pinned Hiroshi Tanahashi with a rolling cradle. This match was excellent as Tanahashi showed early on that he was clearly the superior athlete, punking Honma out time after time much to the chagrin of the fans. Honma would, unsuccessfully, attempt his Kokeshi headbutt three times in this match before finally landing it late in the match. This did little to stop Tanahashi's offensive onslaught, as he came right back with the dragon suplex and the sling blade. Tanahashi went to the top and attempted High Fly Flow, which is a frog splash, but Honma got the knees up and rolled Tanahashi through to pick up the biggest win of his career. In the press area after the match, Tanahashi laughed about the loss, saying that Honma was a smart player and that it was only opening night. Tanahashi vowed to win the G1 Climax.

The A Block action concluded with two old rivals, Shinsuke Nakamura and Katsuyori Shibata, having their first match since the 2004 G1 Climax. This was a stiff, intense strong style match that more closely resembled a mixed martial arts fight. Shibata unloaded with brutal elbows, knees and kicks early on and Nakamura tried to fight from underneath before a jumping karate kick put him on offense. Nakamura would land an illegal straight right hand to the jaw and a wheel kick before attempting the Boma Ye, which is a running knee strike. Shibata hit a rolling kesagiri chop to the neck and followed up with a back suplex. Both men were down until a count of seven. Nakamura played possum in the corner, baiting Shibata to try his corner dropkick and when Nakamura moved, he came back around to hit a Boma Ye for a huge near fall. Nakamura went to set up a second, but Shibata landed a second kesagiri chop, following up with the Go 2 Sleep and a Penalty Kick, which is a running shoot kick to a seated or kneeling opponent, to pick up a major victory. After the match, Shibata told reporters that this was the beginning and that there were men in this tournament that he owed a debt to and that he was going to repay them in this tournament.

After two losses to AJ Styles in the month of May, Kazuchika Okada turned his fortunes around tonight by beating the Bullet Club leader. Styles had help from his Bullet Club comrades, but they were run off by Tomohiro Ishii late in the match. Styles went for the spiral tap early, but missed, leading to a Rainmaker attempt which Styles countered into a calf cutter. Styles continued the assault on the legs of Okada, which limited the use of Okada's dropkick until later in the match. Styles showboated, telling the Japanese fans that their hero just wasn't good enough to beat him. Moments later, Okada would not only land his dropkick, but also the tombstone to set up the Rainmaker to win the match. Okada's manager Gedo entered the ring with a microphone after the match. Okada told the fans that this was only the beginning, that the next time he met AJ Styles he would win back the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Okada vowed to the people of Japan that not only would he win the G1 Climax, but he would go through the tournament unbeaten and he would be the next IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

NJPW, 7/21/14
Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center
1. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii [2] beat Bad Luck Fale [0] (8:43) with a lariat.
2. G1 Climax – Block A: Shelton Benjamin [2] beat Doc Gallows [0] (7:12) with Paydirt.
3. G1 Climax – Block B: Karl Anderson [2] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0] (9:18) with the Gun Stun.
4. G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima [2] beat Yuji Nagata [0] (13:04) with a lariat.
5. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [2] beat Toru Yano [0] (1:06) via countout.
6. G1 Climax – Block B: Tetsuya Naito [2] beat Yujiro Takahashi [0] (12:04) with the Stardust Press.
7. G1 Climax – Block B: Togi Makabe [2] beat Hirooki Goto [0] (11:30) with a King Kong Knee Drop.
8. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomoaki Honma [2] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] (15:47) with the Honma Clutch.
9. G1 Climax – Block A: Katsuyori Shibata [2] beat Shinsuke Nakamura [0] (14:39) with a Penalty Kick.
10. G1 Climax – Block B: Kazuchika Okada [2] beat AJ Styles [0] (18:29) with the Rainmaker.

CURRENT STANDINGS:
BLOCK A:
1. Katsuyori Shibata [2]
- Tomoaki Honma [2]
- Satoshi Kojima [2]
- Tomohiro Ishii [2]
- Shelton Benjamin [2]
6. Shinsuke Nakamura [0]
- Hiroshi Tanahashi [0]
- Yuji Nagata [0]
- Bad Luck Fale [0]
- Doc Gallows [0]
11. Davey Boy Smith Jr. [0]

BLOCK B:
1. Kazuchika Okada [2]
- Karl Anderson [2]
- Minoru Suzuki [2]
- Tetsuya Naito [2]
- Togi Makabe [2]
6. AJ Styles [0]
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0]
- Toru Yano [0]
- Yujiro Takahashi [0]
- Hirooki Goto [0]
11. Lance Archer [0]