G1 Climax General Discussion/Spoiler Talk Thread

I'm gonna try watching some of the show tonight. Not sure if I'll be up for all of it.

Here is the card for Night 1

(1) Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask IV, Jushin Thunder Liger & Yohei Komatsu vs. Tomoaki Honma, Mascara Dorada, Jay White & David Finlay
(2) Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall
(3) Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga
(4) Satoshi Kojima, Ryusuke Taguchi & Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo

(5) A BLOCK: Hirotoshi Tenzan vs. Doc Gallows
(6) A BLOCK: Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano
(7) A BLOCK: Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale
(8) A BLOCK: AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata
(9) A BLOCK: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi

Looking at the NJPW website and wow, we're gonna get four nights of G1 in a row from the 23rd through the 26th. A little observation I had is that on nights where Block A has their matches, the opener is usually the eight man tag. On Block B nights though, the young lions are more scattered and get stuff like regular tag matches.

Tanahashi/Ibushi was ing amazing. One of my favorite matches this year.

I'm quite new to NJPW, and that was the first time I've seen Ibushi wrestle; he won me over big time.

G1 Climax hype! This show is gonna be awesome. Looking at the card, this'll be good. Get this started!

Yohei Komatsu, Tiger Mask, Jushin "NXT Superstar" Liger, and Yuji Nagata vs. David Finlay, Jay White, Mascara Dorada, and Tomoaki Honma: The young boys jogging past Honma during the entrance was funny as hell. Finlay for a young boy didn't get a bad reaction. Super Juniors probably really helped. Nagata and LIger are ageless wonders. Honma is stupid popular. He's so awesome. Nagata botched an off the ropes spot then fed right into a spot. That was ehh, onto Dorada vs. LIger. Dorada is so underrated, a great air guy then sold well. Liger got the surfboard, commentary mentioned WWE, Komatsu and Finlay tag in. Finlay's offense is awesome, but selling needs work. Dropkick sell was laughable. Not much happened, Tiger Mask got in, had a nice segment with Jay, G1 guys went back in, it was every NJPW opener. Nagata beat Finlay with his backdrop driver. It was fine, the G1 guys got their ish in then let the young guys do their thing. White could be a fine midcarder, Finlay didn't look very good this match. Nothing really else to say.

FINAL RATING: **½
TL;DR: A match.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: No.

Captain New Japan and Hirooki Goto vs. Cody Hall and Yujiro Takahashi: The Bullet Club B Team. If we get Captain New Japan vs. Cody all my dreams will come true. Goto's new gear, awesome, Yujiro's not so much. Yujiro's best attribute is his valet, without her he's just meh. OH MY GOD WE'RE GETTING NEW JAPAN VS. HALL. And that was a thing. Hall will be in G1 within two years. Captain did some comedy spots. The spotlight of this match was really on Cody and his stuff. He got to toss Goto around a bit and they were in full control until Goto rolled up Cody and played possum in a mirror spot as Captain did the same to Yujiro. They didn't need to have Captain pin Yujiro, but eh, why not. This was incredibly forgettable, Goto's did fine in the stuff he did, which wasn't a ton but I wouldn't have expected him to do a ton. Hall and Goto impressed me a lot, but that match wasn't anything.

FINAL RATING: **
TL;DR: Cody did things. Captain New Japan did comedy. G1 guys did nothing.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: No.

Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga vs. YOSHI-HASHI and Shinsuke Nakamura: New Bullet Club theme, it's quite cool. Anderson did his awesome machine gun taunt and Tonga ducked, they're amazing together. Pre-match I can already say that I can't imagine Nakamura or Anderson doing much of anything since they're main eventing Thursday. HASHI is somehow 33. The G1ers start, do some chain wrestling, then Anderson tags in Tonga, Nakamura tags in HASHI. Tonga is pretty cool, I like him quite a bit. HASHI isn't anything special in my opinion, he's just there in CHAOS. Anderson got his hand up before Nakamura kicked him and it was such a quick reflex, props to him. The match went on a bit longer, there was some fun Bullet Club double team stuff but in the end Nakamura pinned Tonga. This match surpassed my expectations and Anderson and Nakamura both ended up making the most of their more limited in ring time. Tonga could be a solid gaijin talent in New Japan I still think.

FINAL RATING: ***
TL;DR: Fun bit of a preview of the main event.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: I'd still say skip it.

Satoshi Kojima, Rysuke Taguchi, and Michael "How am I Here?" Elgin vs. Gedo, Tomohiro Ishii, and Kazuchika Okada: Elgin got his whole separate entrance and brought over that stupid robe. Still, no one cared, literally not a single person. Elgin/Ishii will be awesome though. Ishii is a minature human tank. Ishii and Kojima got into it before the bell and now I'm excited for that. Elgin did do his stalling suplex spot, it looked nice. Gedo swears more than anyone else during matches. Ishii's german suplexes are a thing of beauty. Ishii and Kojima beat the hell out of each other. Now Ishii with the hoss battle with Elgin, Elgin did the samoan drop/fallaway spot and it looked extra impressive. Okada's dropkick is so good. Okada Rainmakered Taguchi for the win in a solid match. Not much else to say, Ishii was the star of this match, Okada was great, Elgin was impressive too.

FINAL RATING: ***¼
TL;DR: A fun match that got you excited to watch more Ishii vs. Kojima and Elgin.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: It was a fun pre-intermission match, I'd say it was worth the watch.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Doc Gallows: Two big dudes. This match won't be much I can imagine. Tenzan's in year 19 of G1 Climaxes, that's insane. Gallows is still a good big man. Gallows attacking with his thing was pretty cool. These two did exactly what you'd imagine, it was pretty sluggish, not that much happened. It ended with Tenzan's Annaconda Buster and Gallows tapped. Shocked this was the match to open up G1 matches. Regardless, Tenzan got the two points. Not much else to say.

FINAL RATING: **¼
TL;DR: Two big guys in a slower match.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: No.

Toru "BUY THE DVD" Yano vs. Togi Makabe: This could be pretty fun with Makabe being the straight-laced powerhouse, and Yano being, well, him. Starts off that way, nearfall roll-up, Yano's mind games. Another nearfall on a droptoe hold on a chair. Yano screwing up the crowd's chairs just because was great. Usual shenanigans before Makabe started to fire up and get back into the match. For a powerhouse dude, Makabe throws some soft, safe punches. Yano ALWAYS destroys the ringside area during his matches. Yano doing his taunt and knowing Makabe would try and come after him was such a silly spot but it was so great. Yano tried a backslide, couldn't get it, so he grabbed the ref and hit a low-blow. That spot done by Yano is amazing. In the end, Makabe hit the diving knee drop for the win. This was fairly good. Nothing of note really, but these guys had a fun enough match. Clunky in some spots, but still entertaining.

FINAL RATING: **¾
TL;DR: Big angry dude vs. smarter little bugger. Bigger dude won.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: Nah.

Bad Luck Fale vs. Tetsuya "Sleepy" Naito: Fale's theme is awesome, but why in god's name is he wearing his fedora down to the ring? Naito came out in a full out suit and a chrome skeleton mask. He doesn't have the hat. This gimmick is so, so weird. It keeps me entertained, so there's that? I, for one, think it's better than him spinning the wheels as a bland face at least. Red Shoes looks red as a beet. More crowd brawling, this time Fale leaves Naito out in the crowd. Fale kept this match slower and more plodding by being on the attack for the better part of the first half. Naito hit a lightning quick dropkick, but then Fale kinda just didn't sell it well. There was a weird figure four spot where Fale got to the ropes and kept selling, but Naito didn't seem to have it applied anymore, but you can't really tell because his character is he doesn't care. Fale tried the Bad Luck Fall twice, but Naito hit an atomic drop, then a running jackknife pin, and pinned Fale despite his shoulder being up. Naito is very good, but wow, Fale is just not. His offense for a big guy outside a great clothesline was pretty terrible, he's not a good seller, and he really did nothing to sell that he's this monster. It wasn't pretty. I still don't dislike new Naito.

FINAL RATING: **
TL;DR: A Bad Luck Fale match that didn't have one of the big three in it. Poor Naito.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: No.

AJ Styles vs. Katsuyori Shibata: AJ's red gear looks really cool, especially in his entrance. I couldn't wait for this match. Shibata's arm/hand wraps make him look very badass. Let's do this. Shibata made a headlock look insanely painful. He's a wizard in the ring. Styles' gear has bullet holes, very great touch. Shibata kicked AJ over the guardrail beautifully. This was awesome. Styles worked the ankle over after Shibata kicked the post, the technical work with these two was so smooth and seamless you'd have thought they wrestled a thousand times. Styles at one point said, "YOU'RE CRAZY MAN!" The ankle work led to the submission hold and Shibata got to the ropes. Shibata at one point bit his own hand for more power on the submission. Styles killed him with a brainbuster then Styles Clash for three. Awesome match that with more time would've been an instant classic. Great showing for both these guys. Shibata should definitely be in the main event scene.

FINAL RATING: ****½
TL;DR: Smooth bout that was a great semi-main event.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: Yes.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi: If any match could follow Styles/Shibata, it's gotta be this one. Two of the best in the world right now, again. Exciting times. Ibushi's leg was targeted, it was a great story told too. The veteran Tanahashi taking out the young gun Ibushi showing him that hey, he's still pretty damn good. Tanahashi played the heel, it was really quite great. Ibushi's springboard moonsault of the outer part of the second turnbuckle is an amazing move. The standing phoenix splash is breathtaking too. Golden Star is a fitting nickname. High Fly Flow to the standing Ibushi was also great. This has been great like Styles/Shibata, but in different and similar ways. Nice to see that. Tanahashi was vicious in the knee attacks. Tanahashi's straightjacket german, cloverleaf submission, and slingblade all looked just brutal. Ibushi can sell like hell. Really wins the crowd over, so great. He got his knees up for the High Fly Flow, and eventually hit a german suplex on Tanahashi while standing on the second rope as Tanahashi was on the apron, a five star move. A High Fly Flow was what finished off Ibushi after a bunch of other punishment. The last seven minutes or so were some of the best wrestling I'd ever seen. This was almost five stars, I really enjoyed this.

FINAL RATING: ****¾
TL;DR: Incredible finish to the show that leaves a good taste.
SHOULD YOU WATCH: Yes.

Final Thoughts: Main and semi main were great, main event of the undercard was pretty good, Makabe/Yano was fine, the rest was just there. This wasn't the greatest show, the final two matches though were just outstanding. If you were on the fence about watching this show, I'd say skip up to the last two matches. This will be the pace-setter for G1. An undercard of tag matches that aren't the most exciting, some alright G1 matches, then two or three matches that'll just wow you.

Looking Ahead: We're getting our first look at Block B which'll be highlighted by Nakamura vs. Anderson with a semi-main of Okada vs. Elgin. We've also got Nagata vs. Honma, Takahashi vs. Goto, and Ishii vs. Kojima. The main and semi should both be pretty good, the rest should supplement nicely.

John Pollock from the Fight Network/Live Audio Wrestling is in his 3rd year of covering the G1 with almost daily podcasts. fightnetwork.com/news/58166:law-g-1-climax-day-1-podcast-with-john-pollock/

He's always done a great job recapping the day's matches and keeping people up to date in a relatively short amount of time.

www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/102-japan/43650-g-1-climax-opens-7-20-15-sapporo-tanahashi-vs-ibushi-styles-vs-shibata

NJPW 2015 G1 Climax July 20 results: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Ibushi, AJ Styles vs. Shibata

Welcome to our coverage of the opening night of the G-1 Climax tournament from Sapporo.

We're looking for your thoughts on this show, WWE Battleground and Dragon Gate's Kobe World Festival so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to hsmeltzer@juno.com

YOHEI KOMATSU & TIGER MASK & JUSHIN LIGER & YUJI NAGATA VS. TOMOAKI HONMA & MASCARA DORADA & DAVID FINLAY & JAY WHITE

Good opener ending with Nagata pinning Finlay with a bridging back suplex after an overhead belly-to-belly. Crowd was really into Honma early. Everyone came in, did their stuff and looked good. White and Finlay hung with everyone. Dorada came in, did his rope walk and his tope and that was about it. Several near falls. If you watch New Japan regularly you know the drill.

HIROOKI GOTO & CAPTAIN NEW JAPAN VS. YUJIRO TAKAHASHI & CODY HALL

Nothing wrong with the match, but just okay. Hall got a near fall on Goto with a discus clothesline but you knew he wasn't getting the win over him. Goto then pinned Hall out of nowhere with a front rolling cradle. Goto was definitely resting up, as he should be.

KARL ANDERSON & TAMA TONGA VS. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA & YOSHI-HASHI

Solid work, nothing spectacular with the predictable finish of Nakamura pinning Tonga after a bom a ye. Some good stuff with Anderson vs. Nakamura. Anderson kicked out of a bom a ye. Tonga sidestepped one and speared Nakamura for a near fall.

SATOSHI KOJIMA & RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & MICHAEL ELGIN VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA & TOMOHIRO ISHII & GEDO

Good match. Okada pinned Taguchi after a dropkick, an elbow off the top and the rainmaker. Okada also hit the dropkick on Elgin. Elgin's big move was clearlier picking both Okada and Ishii up and slamming both at the same time. The most heated stuff involved Kojima vs. Ishii. They brawled a little after the match was over. Gedo had words for Elgin saying "You're next."

Intermission before the G-1 matches start.

HIROYOSHI TENZAN VS. DOC GALLOWS

What a start. I'm not sure there was a match in the entire tournament last year as bad as this. Crowd was into the idea of G-1 and Tenzan at the start, but once the match got going it got pretty quiet. Gallows beat on him for a while. Tenzan made a comeback but this was not the magic Tenzan of last year. He used the Anaconda Vise, the Anaconda buster and finished with the Anaconda cross for the submission.

TOGI MAKABE VS. TORU YANO

Another bad match. Yano stalled, did some comedy and undid the turnbuckle padding. Both went into the exposed meal. Makabe kicked out of a low blow and backslide. Makabe came back with a clothesline, a Death Valley bomb and the King Kong kneedrop off the top rope.

TETSUYA NAITO VS. BAD LUCK FALE

Another bad match Fale dominated most of the way. He looked heavier and slower. Naito came out with a suit and a blue mask. Fale did a splash but Naito kicked out. He went for the Bad Luck Fall, Naito blocked it and went for a huracanrana but Fale blocked that. Naito used an enzuigri, a reverse atomic drop and got the pin after a cradle that didn't look smooth. Fale didn't look good a all here.

A.J. STYLES VS. KATSUYORI SHIBATA

Very good match. Styles ducked the penalty kick, hit the Pele kick, a Bloody Sunday DDT right on Shibata's head and then got the pin after the Styles clash. Shibata had worked for a choke a few times late. Styles worked on the ankle a lot after Shibata kicked the post when he moved. Crowd was into it late. This wasn't at the level of the classic G-1 matches of the past few years.

KOTA IBUSHI VS. HIROSHI TANAHASHI

Incredible match. In particular the selling by both guys was out of this world. They also pulled out everything in their arsenal and went out there to do a classic match and easily hit that mark and blew past it. Ibushi did his moonsault to the floor. Tanahashi did a high fly flow to the floor. Tanahashi tried the high fly flow but Ibushi got his knees up. All kinds of great moves including Ibushi using a power German superplex which Tanahashi took right on his neck. Ibushi missed a Phoenix splash. Ibushi went for a Pele kick but Tanahashi turned it into a reverse dragon screw. Tanahashi finally won with a dragon suplex and high fly flow. Not sure this match was good for Tanahashi becase Ibushi threw him like a dart into the turnbuckles and hsi neck was jacked. Jay White is icing the neck right now. Crowd is cheering for Tanahashi to do mic work after. This was like a few years ago where Tanahashi would close the show every month with a incredible match, then do the post-match with all the girls cheering for him, doing the air guitar, nobody left and kept cheering and chanting for him.

The building was still packed long after the match, like the old days, as Tanahashi left all kinds of women would throw their Tanahashi towels at him (it seemed like every third person had one) and he would wipe his face with the towel and throw it back.

How To Watch New Japan 2015 G1 Climax 25 On New Japan World -
www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/102-japan/43628-how-to-order-new-japan-world-to-get-the-g1-climax


Matt Johnson ‏@vivamattyvegas - Jul 19
@davemeltzerwon - I'd sign up for NJWorld if the navigation was in English. I know sign up is in English, but that seems to be it.

Dave Meltzer ‏@davemeltzerwon - Jul 19
@vivamattyvegas - Log in with Google chrome. It allows you to navigate in English.

I want to see Shibata/Styles, that was the only match i wanted last year that i didn't get.