Back In Black
You go away for a week or so, and things really did get worse. I didn’t think it was possible, but TSM actually got worse while I was gone. This place was only drenched in idiocy before, but now it’s a full out flood, and the women and children are manning the lifeboats. If anyone has any real gems to point out that should get posted in my blog PM me a link or something, because just a cursory glance over the past week or so of TSM postings has made me reach for the sick bag and I’m not trawling through that crap anymore.
What I'd like to see you do is put together a card made up of the best matches that you've ever seen. That means no fantasy booking; just matches that you yourself have seen and think highly of. There are a few rule to follow:
1. The card should have seven to nine matches, depending on their length.
2. No wrestler can wrestle on the card twice UNLESS he is part of a gauntlet match that you really want on there. Round Robin tournaments don't count as a gauntlet match, so you can't put the Christopher Daniels/Low Ki/American Dragon trilogy from the second ROH show on and then bring all three back later for singles matches.
3. There can be only one world title match, one world tag title match, etc. So, if you are defending the Triple Crown, do not have Ric Flair defend the NWA title on the same show. However, if you have a U.S. tag title match, you can still have a world tag title match. Keep in mind that regional titles such as Memphis's Southern title and Mid South's North American title should be considered World Titles since they were the top belt in their respective promotions.
4. Please explain why you picked the matches you did and why you placed them in their position on the card.
5. You can choose from any promotion in the world. If you want a AAA match next to a WWF match next to a New Japan match, so be it.
6. Try and list the date and location of the match. If you just put down Misawa vs. Kawada, they've wrestled each other so many times that we won't know what match you're talking about.
7. Make it good
I shall be posting my dream card later. Credit for the idea goes to goodhelmet.
HTQ Op Ed #1: Some People Are Really Stupid
I know it’s not the most groundbreaking of statements to make, but some people out there are really stupid. What makes some of those people even more stupid is that they should know better. Yet, for some reason, they don’t. Why are these people stupid? Well, these people think it’s a good thing that Vince McMahon, for the Raw ‘Homecoming’ on the USA network is flushing away around $7.5m in potential PPV revenue for a show that, A: Is part of a ratings war that he was going to easily win anyway, and B: No matter how high ratings are, he won’t make any money from them, because USA handle all the ad work, so they keep any and all ad revenue that Raw makes.
“Ah, but if he can get lots of people to tune into Raw, then Vince can get them to buy the PPV/PPV’s”
Nice idea in theory, but let’s look at it a little closer.
In one night, Vince is giving away, on free television, the returns of Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Mick Foley. Now, each of those people could have had their returns built up for a PPV, the revenue of which Vince would be able to keep, and Vince would be looking at three different sets of bumper PPV buys. Now, he won’t get any of that. Sure, he can bring each of them back for a PPV later on in the year, but the return on bringing them back won’t be anywhere close to what it could have been, because he just gave away their return on free television. It’s like trying to sell a thirsty man a glass of water when you’ve just let him drink his fill for free. He’s had his thirst sated, so why should he want to pay for more water?
Looking at the in-ring action of Raw, it’s just as bad, because they’re giving away a Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels Iron Man match, and a Matt Hardy vs. Edge Loser Leaves Raw ladder match, both of which could have drawn some PPV buys, on separate PPV’s or one loaded one, and the company could have made some serious coin off of them. Now, if they bring Kurt vs. Shawn back to PPV at any time before the end of the year, it won’t mean as much because people just got it for free on television.
As for getting the people to pay for the PPV’s, they’re giving away a (over)loaded night of Raw for free, so to get people to shell out $34.95 for a PPV, it would have to be something really special after the Raw, and what are the chances of that happening, especially after giving away for free the kind of stuff that people would have paid for?
HTQ in TNA’s debut on Spike
The opening video package was great, and it really made TNA seem like something special and, more importantly, different to WWE.
The Impact opening is great too. It looks similar to the opening for Smackdown, but it blows that one out of the water.
First up, AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong, and the crowd treated AJ like a superstar when he came out, and that really came across well on television, which is important. We need more shots of that blonde chick holding the action figures. The match itself was a squash designed to get AJ and his big moves over, and it succeeded in doing that. Christopher Daniels came to ringside to help set up their Iron Man match at Bound For Glory, so TNA are already starting with making the new fans aware of the upcoming major matches.
I liked the Monty Brown video, as short as it was.
Monty Brown’s interview was ok, and I think they need to make something out of the “most territorial, predatorial” line, because it could become a good hook.
The Raven angle backstage was ok, and at least they didn’t just go to it and had Shane Douglas act like he was being told about in his earpiece.
Monty Brown vs. Lex Lovett was a pure squash. The Pounce might not seem like much at first, but neither did the Stone Cold Stunner or the Jackhammer, but those moves got over in the same way The Pounce can; booking it like a death move. Give it a month or so of booking The Pounce like that, and it’ll be over like crazy to the new fans.
I loved the X-Division video. It highlighted all of the big moves from the X-Division, which is exactly what it should be doing.
Petey Williams vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin was a very entertaining, high-impact spotfest, and I think it helped establish the X-Division as something a lot different from the WWE’s watered down cruiserweights. The Canadian Destroyer was showcased, which it needed to be. When they went to a commercial during the match, I liked that when they came back the commercial music was still playing. That was a nice touch that I hope they keep doing.
The backstage deal with Douglas, Zbysko and Ortiz was fine, and I got a laugh out of Zbysko mouthing off to Douglas at the end.
I liked the 3 Live Kru video piece.
Rhyno vs. Jeff Hardy was ok, but if they were going to end it in a disqualification, then I would have put another match in the main event slot that they could have ended cleanly. With that said, at least they did a big angle afterwards to try and take attention away from the non-finish. Rhyno and Abyss could make a great monster heel tag team.
I liked that you heard Hardy get booed because TNA could have easily edited it out, but they didn’t, which I think is important when it comes to letting the fans know that if they don’t like a babyface, you’re not going to censor those feelings.
The NWA Title change looked a little low-rent in terms of setting, but at least it shows that title changes can happen at out of the way places.
Jarrett is meant to be a world champion, so why can’t he dress like one? I skipped his promo, so I have no idea what he said, and I really don’t care what he said.
The 3 Live Kru-Jarrett and Lackey’s confrontation was nice, with the Canadian team coming in because of their association with Scott D’Amore, and The Deadly Brothers were very over with the live crowd. Unfortunately, Kevin Nash was presented as the top star, with his coming out last and hitting his big move last, and that’s not what TNA needs. Nash looked like he was having trouble just standing there let alone walking, and I dread to think how bad his match at Bound For Glory match with Jeff Jarrett will be.
Overall There was more good than bad from the debut. TNA looked very different from WWE, which is they absolutely have to do if they are to show any kind of growth and turn into a potential competitor for WWE. It’s by no mean guaranteed that TNA will evolve into a competitor, but the only chance they have is if they are something totally different to WWE, and I think, for the most part, they succeed with their debut on Spike. The negatives are the obvious, with Jarrett and Nash on top. I can understand TNA wanting ‘star power’ on top to try and draw people in, but couldn’t they have come up with a star who doesn’t look like he’s about to break his legs just from standing still? That doesn’t make them look good when one of the guys fighting over their main title looks like he’s about to fall apart at the seams.
HTQ on Jeff Jarrett regaining the NWA Title
Last night in Windsor Ontario, as part of a combined TNA/BCW show, Jeff Jarrett beat Raven to win the NWA Title.
And with that, TNA’s hopes of growing into something special were dashed.
Let me make it clear that I don’t hate Jeff Jarrett. I think he’s a decent worker, with decent charisma, and decent mic skills. And therein lies his biggest problem; he’s thoroughly decent, and there is absolutely nothing about him that stands out in any way, shape, or form. He doesn’t have anything mind-blowing in his repertoire, he doesn’t have superstar charisma, and he can’t talk people into the building. While it would be great for someone to have all three of those qualities, the top guy of a promotion, especially a promotion that is about to make a bid to go national, should have at least one of those qualities, and Jarrett has none of them.
So, why is someone with such obvious flaws at being a top guy being promoted as a top guy?
Well, TNA was originally formed by Jeff’s father, Jerry Jarrett, and the idea behind TNA from day one was for it to be a vehicle to push Jeff as a superstar. Now, Panda Energy might be the majority stockholders, and Dixie Carter, who is a member of the family that owns Panda, might be taking a more hands-on approach to running TNA, but make absolutely no mistake about the fact that Jeff and Jerry still have considerable stroke. The title change should be proof enough of that. The booking in TNA is currently being done by a committee headed by Scott D’Amore, with Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash, Dixie Carter, and Dutch Mantell. The astute amongst you will note that nobody on that list has the last name Jarrett, and might think that means he has no say over creative. Think again. Jeremy Borash and Dutch Mantell are long-time friends of Jeff, with Dutch even being brought as booker for a brief period last year. You can bet that Borash and Mantell are going to be looking out for Jeff’s best interests, whether or not they are TNA’s best interests.
So, why is someone with such obvious flaws at being a top guy being promoted as a top guy?
Panda Energy and Dixie Carter are believers in star power; the more power the better. They want to have a star on top of TNA heading into their debut on Spike TV, and in their minds Jeff Jarrett is the biggest star they have. The problem with this mindset is that, outside of Jeff and his immediate family, nobody considers Jeff a star. When Jeff was last seen on national television he was on top of WCW when it was getting some really shitty buy-rates and was slowly and painfully dying right before our eyes. Even before that, Jeff was last seen in the WWF doing a midcard gimmick of hitting women over the head with guitars, and his last night saw him get pinned by Chyna. Jeff had been in the WWF for two years at that point, and it wasn’t until he got the women beating gimmick that he began to get even the smallest glimmer of a reaction from the fans, and that was with his best friend at the time, Vince Russo, being heavily involved in the creative direction of the WWF. Quite how someone who has had such miserable and pathetic run on national television can be seen as the guy to take TNA to the next level, I don’t know.
HTQ’s Thoughts on September 20th
I didn’t see a lot of Unforgiven because I had almost no interest in watching anything the card had to offer. What I did see wasn’t that great, but there were a few standout moments, primarily Matt Hardy’s huge legdrop off the top of the cage onto Edge. What was so great about it was that the fans went apeshit for the move, when it’s really a very low-risk move in terms of the chance of something going horrible wrong. It used to be that the fans didn’t care if you came off the top of anything, let alone a cage, unless you were doing 720 degree splashes through flaming tables. Now, they’ve been reeducated to pop for something as basic as a legdrop, even if it is being done off the top of a cage.
Other moments worth paying attention include the great sell-job done by Hurricane off of the DDT he took from Trevor Murdoch, which had one writer to the Observer website so incensed because he thought it was real, and he got so irate over that. Also fun to see that Christ Masters isn’t over a lick still, even though he’s been given the superpush this year.
Vince’s reaction to the upcoming ‘war’ between him and Spike/UFC is funny for all the wrong reasons. To combat this new threat, which is more a creation of his own mind than anything else, Vince is going back to the past by bringing back every big name he can get, and almost every minor name he can find or drag out of rehab. Instead of building to his future by building up his future superstars, Vince is instead relying on names from the past to help fight the problems of today. That never works, and while he might get a one-night boost out of this, it’ll do nothing positive in the long-term. He could have brought the names back one at a time to get a big boost out of each of them, but because he’s panicking, Vince is going for one huge boost all at once, and in doing so is throwing away whatever he could have got from those names by showing a little patience. It’s strange how Vince shows patience when you’d think he’d panic, and panics when he can afford to be patient.
Raw was Bore again. I recorded it, went through it in about ten minutes, and I don’t appear to have missed anything. We get Cena vs. Bischoff for the Raw ‘Homecoming’ on October 3rd. What a classic that’ll be(!). Can we stop with Renegade Babyface versus Evil Owner/GM part 324,686,939?
The prospect of Brock Lesnar wrestling for New Japan appears to be far more likely than a lot of people think. On The LAW radio show this weekend, Dave Meltzer speculated that WWE legal got word that they would likely lose the case, which they probably would have done had the case gone to trial, which would greatly weaken the strength and validity of the no-complete clauses in their contracts, and so are going to try and avoid that by making some sort of settlement to allow Lesnar to wrestle in Japan. If this happens, and Meltzer does think we’ll see the proposed Brock Lesnar vs. Masahiro Chono vs. Kazuyuki Fujita ‘dogfight’, and Lesnar is given the green light to compete for New Japan, then it could be that big boost the company needs to really turn the corner.
Any guesses for the finish to that match?
Over in TNA, they’re about to debut on Spike with Jeff Jarrett as their world champion. Yes, they put the NWA belt back on Jeff. Dixie Carter recently gave a lengthy interview about the company, and her remarks about Jeff make it clear as to why he got the belt, and it might not be entirely down to how he works in the ring. I don’t know what the relationship between Jeff and Dixie is like, but she came across as a lovestruck teenager in the interview when talking about Jeff, and it confirmed once and for all, as if any but the blindest of people had any doubt, that TNA will forever be a vehicle to push Jeff Jarrett as the superstar he can never be.
Ring of Honor changed their main title too, as Bryan Danielson is the new ROH Champion, taking the belt from the soon-to-be departing James Gibson last Saturday night. This is a great move by ROH, because they’ve put the belt on arguably their best in-ring worker, and it’s on someone who isn’t set to leave anytime soon, which I think took away from the recent title reigns of CM Punk and Gibson. The only question now is how long of a reign Danielson will have. With the short title reigns of Punk and Gibson, I’d like to see Danielson keep the belt until at least the end of the year.
With the glut of fantasy booking that has started springing up all over the place lately, I've decided to take a crack at it. I'll be taking hold of the NWA starting in the middle of 1989. If you've read Loss's blog, and if you haven't I recommend you do, then you'll have read him mentioning that we batted around ideas for booking the NWA in 1989 based off of Ric Flair being able to lure away a group of wrestlers from the WWF that he was after. With Loss taking a shot at booking WCW from early 1999, I've decided to stay with the original idea of booking the NWA in 1989, and see what I can do with it.
I'll post the background to this shortly so you can get an idea of where things are going to be starting from, but things will be markedly different from how things went down in real life.
That means no Ding Dongs.
HTQ on the Fantasy G1 Climax Tournament Finals
The 2005 G1 Climax Tournament concluded today at Sumo Hall, and we saw one of the most heated and brutal finals of recent times.
1. G1 Climax - Block A 1st place vs. Block B 2nd place: Toshiaki Kawada beat Shinsuke Nakamura in (17:22) after a backdrop driver
Another dream match here with the battle of former promotional aces, with Kawada a multiple time holder of the Triple Crown, and Nakamura the youngest ever IWGP Champion. Nakamura wrestled the match of his life as he fought his heart out against the outsider Kawada as he sought to make it to his first G1 final, and Kawada fought back just as hard to make to the final and it was Dangerous K who came out on top after stunning Nakamura with a high kick before hitting Nakamura with a brutal looking backdrop driver to get the pin and make it to the G1 finals.
2. G1 Climax - Block A 2nd place vs. Block B 1st place: Kazuyuki Fujita beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan in (14:03) after a running knee strike
Fujita and Tenzan went at it at a fast pace, looking to end the match as soon as possible and enter the finals as fresh as possible. Tenzan was looking to avenge his IWGP title loss last month while Fujita was aiming to maintain his perfect G1 record. Tenzan gave Fujita a hard battle, and almost pulled off the upset with a TTD, but Fujta came back with a wild knee that winded Tenzan and Fujita quickly followed up with a running knee that hit Tenzan right on the jaw and knocked him flat out. Fujita got the pin almost casually, and Tenzan needed to be carried out of the ring.
3. G1 Climax - Final: Toshiaki Kawada beat Kazuyuki Fujita in (12:15) after a high kick
Sumo Hall was loud and heated for this one, as New Japan ace Kazuyuki Fujita took on the outsider Toshiaki Kawada and both men were coming in with perfect records. The match itself was brutal and intense and a lot of fans said it resembled more of a fight than a wrestling match as Fujita and Kawada kicked and punched away at each other with few actual wrestling holds used. Neither man was going down easily here, and when Fujita finally knocked Kawada down to one knee with a straight right, it left Kawada with a glazed look in his eyes. Fujita looked to capitalize on that with his running knee but Kawada fired back with a spinning back kick, that staggered Fuijta a little, and Kawada was able to knock Fujita down to his knee with a spinning back fist. Kawada waited for Fujita to get to his feet before hitting him with a stiff shotgun lariat, which staggered Fuijta again. A second shotgun lariat staggered Fujita a little more, and a third shotgun lariat put Fujita down to one knee again. Kawada then pulled Fujita up to his feet and hit him with a big high kick to the back of the head that put Fujita down and Kawada covered and got the pinfall win to end a brutal but exciting match, and even though Kawada was an outsider on New Japan turf, the Sumo Hall fans still gave him a standing ovation.
After the match Kawada told the Sumo Hall fans that he was honored to have been invited to participate in the G1, and that he felt his winning the tournament was an endorsement of opening up promotional borders. Kawada spoke highly of Fujita, and said he was his toughest oppponent of the G1, and may have even been his toughest opponent ever. Kawada said that after beating Fujita to win the G1 tournament he now wanted to go after the IWGP title, and that he looked forward to meeting Fujita at a future date for the IWGP title. Fujita responded by telling the fans that Kawada was a very tough foe, and that he looks forward to defending the IWGP title against him. Fujita finished by saying that he knows New Japan has a Dome event coming up, and that he thinks the perfect main event would be Fujita taking on the 'Dangerous Outsider', Toshiaki Kawada, which drew cheers and applause from the crowd, and both Kawada and Fujita received a standing ovation from the Sumo Hall fans as the 2005 G1 Climax Tournament drew to an emotional close.
HTQ on Day Seven of the Fantasy G1 Climax Tournament
Day Seven of the G1 Climax Tournament saw the group stages completed, and we finally found it just who had made it through to the finals
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Togi Makabe [2] beat Toru Yano [2] in (10:08) after a flying hammer
Makabe picked up his only win of the tournament here, and finally scored points
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie [6] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [2] in (11:56) after a diving bodypress
Yutaka Yoshie ends his G1 with a win over the veteran Goto, using his girth to squash him for the three count
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki [8] beat Kendo Kashin [2] in (16:27) with a reverse cutback cradle
This was a battle of the submission masters, and Suzuki came out on top by countering a submission attempt into a cradle to get the win
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [14] beat Osamu Nishimura [4] in (24:29) after a running high kick
Nishimura attempted to out wrestle Kawada, looking to avenge his loss in their Triple Crown title match from last year, but Kawada got his second win over Nishimura here, putting Nishimura down for the count with a hard running high kick
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [7] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [4] in (13:58) after a shining Yakuza kick
Fujinami gave as good as he got here, but the wily Chono was too much for him, and a shining Yakuza kick won the match for Chono
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [10] beat Yuji Nagata [7] in (17:12) after a moonsault
This match would dertermine who finished second in Block A, and so Tenzan and Nagata held nothing back, and the match was incredibly heated. In the end, it was Tenzan who manged to pull off the win, putting Nagata down with a TTD, and following up with a big moonsault to score the pin, and get into the finals
7. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [10] v Manabu Nakanishi [9] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired
A win was vital for Tanahashi, if he was to keep his slime hopes alive of a spot in the G1 finals. Nakanishi knew this, and fought just as hard to try and spoil those hopes. As the match went on, the crowd rallied behind Tanahashi, the underdog, and were hopeful of seeing an upset. However, it was not to be, and the match wound up going the full 30 minutes, and as a result, Tanahashi would not make it to the finals
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [14] beat Shinsuke Nakamura [11] in (12:55) after a running knee strike
While both Fujita and Nakamura were assure of going through to the G1 finals, the winner here would win Block B, so there was still a lot of pride at stake. The match itself was very brutal, with both men using lots of strikes and submissions throughout, and it looked like it could go either way. In the end, Fujita hit a very wild looking running knee strike to the jaw of Nakamura, putting Nakamura down for the three count, and so Fujita not only won the match, but ended the group stages atop Block B with a perfect record of 7-0.
This is how the blocks finished up:
Block A:
1. Toshiaki Kawada [14]
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [10]
3. Minoru Suzuki [8]
4. Masahiro Chono [7]
5. Yuji Nagata [7]
6. Tatsumi Fujinami [4]
7. Osamu Nishimura [4]
8. Kendo Kashin [2]
Block B:
1. Kazuyuki Fujita [14]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [11]
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi [10]
4. Manabu Nakanishi [9]
5. Yutaka Yoshie [6]
6. Toru Yano [2]
7. Tatsutoshi Goto [2]
8. Togi Makabe [2]
Toshiaki Kawada ended as Block A winner, and had a perfect 7-0 record. Tenzan's win over Nagata means he finishes as Block A runner-up, and he gets the other Block A spot in the finals. In Block B, Kazuyuki Fujita also ended as the winner with a perfect 7-0 record. Second place in Block B went to Shinsuke Nakamura, who ended with a 5-1-1 record, which is a good to have. Hiroshi Tanahashi will be regretting not being able to put Manabu Nakanishi away, as beating Nakanishi coupled with Nakamura's loss would have forced a play-off between he and Nakamura. Tanahashi must now wait another year to see if he can make it back to the G1 final.
NJPW, 8/14/05 (WPW/NJ+IWTV Internet)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. G1 Climax - Block A 1st place vs. Block B 2nd place: Toshiaki Kawada v Shinsuke Nakamura
2. G1 Climax - Block A 2nd place vs. Block B 1st place: Hiroyoshi Tenzan v Kazuyuki Fujita
3. G1 Climax - Final: Winner of Match 1 v Winner of Match 2
The G1 comes to and end tomorrow, as the semi-finals and final takes place at Sumo Hall. The first semi sees another dream match as Toshiaki Kawada meets Shinsuke Nakamura in a battle of former Triple Crown champion versus former IWGP champon. Kawada looks to maintain his perfect G1 record, while Nakamura looks to make it to his first ever G1 final. The other semi sees Hiroyoshi Tenzan take on the man who beat him for the IWGP belt last month, Kazuyuki Fujita. Fujita is going into the match with a perfect G1 record, while Tenzan is looking to make it his third straight G1 final, and win his third G1 in a row. The two winners meet in the finals, and we will see one of these possible matches:
Toshiaki Kawada v Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Toshiaki Kawada v Kazuyuki Fujita
Shinsuke Nakamura v Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Shinsuke Nakamura v Kazuyuki Fujita
Kawada v Tenzan would be their second match of the G1, and their third ever singles meeting. Kawada would go into this match with a 2-0 record over Tenzan, and Tenzan will surely be looking to finally beat Kawada, and win his third G1 tournament.
Kawada v Fujita would be the most interesting G1 final. Both men would go into this final with perfect records of 8-0, and it would see the 'ace' of New Japan take on the big outsider, which would guarantee a heated final.
Nakamura v Tenzan would be a rematch of the bout where Nakamura upset Tenzan for the IWGP title in December of 2003, and Tenzan would no doubt be eager to avenge that stunning loss.
Nakamura v Fujita would be a rematch of their match from Block B and would see Nakamura look to avenge that loss, and stake his claim to an IWGP title shot, by winning the G1 Climax Tournament.
HTQ on Day Six of the Fantasy G1 Climax Tournament
Day Six of the G1 saw some hot matches, and cleared up things as far as the top of Block A is concerned, but left everything else wide open.
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Toru Yano [2] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [2] in (8:45) with a high angle cradle
Yano gained his first points of the G1, with a minor upset of the veteran Goto
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [9] beat Togi Makabe [0] in (9:34) with a dragon sleeper
Tanahashi continued his march to the top of Block B with a win over Makabe, leaving Makabe with no points so far in the G1
3. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [11] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] in (13:21) with a cross armbreaker
Nakamura had some trouble with the girth of Yoshie, but in the end he was able to take the mighty Yoshie down and get the win with a cross armbreaker
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [5] beat Kendo Kashin [2] in (14:56) after three Yakuza kicks
Mr August made his points total more respectable with this win over Kashin, who looks set to finish Block A last.
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [4] in (16:09) after a TTD
Fujinami gave Tenzan a tough match here, using his experience to keep Tenzan down, but Tenzan was able to bounce back and hit a big TTD to get a much needed win
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [7] beat Osamu Nishimura [4] in (20:04) with a Nagata Lock III
The best pure wrestling match of the night, as Nagata and Nishimura traded holds and submissions looking for the win, and it was Nagata who was able to pull out the victory, using his Nagata Lock III to get the win
7. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [12] beat Minoru Suzuki [6] in (17:41) after a shotgun lariat
Toshiaki Kawada was sternly tested by Minoru Suzuki, as Suzuki seemed to confound Kawada with his unique ring style. Suzuki almost pulled out the win a few times, but Kawada turned things up, and was able to put Suzuki down for the count after a very loud shotgun lariat
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [12] beat Manabu Nakanishi [8] in (10:03) after a series of knee strikes
This match was short, but very brutal, as Fujita and Nakanishi just pounded away with some very hard chops and kicks. Nakanish tested Fujita, using amaresu to try and take Fujita down and tire him out, but Fujita powered up like a rising beast, and struck Nakanishi with a series of big knee strikes, before finally hitting one to the face of Nakanishi, putting down and firmly out for the win. Nakanishi was another victim of Fujita's brutal style, as he needed help to leave the ring, like all of Fujita's opponents have so far.
After six days of action, this is how things look in the blocks:
Block A:
1. Toshiaki Kawada [12]
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8]
3. Yuji Nagata [7]
4. Minoru Suzuki [6]
5. Masahiro Chono [5]
6. Tatsumi Fujinami [4]
7. Osamu Nishimura [4]
8. Kendo Kashin [2]
Block B:
1. Kazuyuki Fujita [12]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [11]
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi [9]
4. Manabu Nakanishi [8]
5. Yutaka Yoshie [4]
6. Toru Yano [2]
7. Tatsutoshi Goto [2]
8. Togi Makabe [0]
Toshiaki Kawada has won Block A, and now cannot be caught. He has booked his place in the finals, with his opponent yet to be determined. The fight for second place in Block A is wide open, with either Tenzan or Nagata in a position to get that coveted second spot in the finals. In Block B, Kazuyuki Fujita is guaranteed to be in the finals, with the only question being if it will be as Block B winner or runner-up. Shinsuke Nakamura can win the Block still, and Hiroshi Tanahashi can still force a play-off for second place, depending on how Day Seven matches turn out.
Day Seven takes place the day after tomorrow in Tokyo, and we will find out the matches that will make up the G1 finals:
NJPW, 8/13/05 (Samurai! TV)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki vs. Kendo Kashin
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura vs. Toshiaki Kawada
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Masahiro Chono
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata
7. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Manabu Nakanishi
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
The big main event is the first ever meeting of Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuyuki Fujita. A win for Fujita would see him win the Block, and place him in the finals. A win for Nakamura would mean both Nakamura and Fujita make it to the finals. If Fujita wins and Hiroshi Tanahashi wins his match against Manabu Nakanishi, then Tanahashi and Nakamura would have to face each other again to decide who makes it through to the finals stage. However, should Tanahashi lose to Nakanishi, then Fujita and Nakamura will both go through to the finals, regardless of who wins their match. In Block A, Toshiaki Kawada takes on Osami Nishimura in a rematch of their Triple Crown title match from last year, and with Kawada already getting enough points to win Block A, and Nishimura only on four points, their match will have no bearing on who makes it through to the finals from Block A. Hiroyoshi Tenzan takes on Yuji Nagata. If Tenzan wins or draws, then he will make it to the finals as the runner-up of Block A. If Nagata wins, then he will be the runner-up of Block A, and make it to the finals. The other G1 matches will not have any bearing on who makes it to the finals, so only pride will be stake, though the matches will be no less intense. Togi Makabe must at least draw with Toru Yano if he is to get any points at all in this years G1, and Kendo Kashin must beat Minoru Suzuki if he is to finally move off of the bottom of Block A. If Nishimura upsets Kawada, and Fujinami can at least draw with Chono, then Kashin will end up bottom of Block A, regardless of whether he beats Suzuki or not. Rounding off the action, Yutaka Yoshie takes on Tatsutoshi Goto, who will be making one last attempt at pulling off one of his trademark upsets.
HTQ on Day Five of the Fantasy G1 Climax Tournament
Day Five of the G1 Climax Tournament took place in Shuzuoka today, and it saw a few upsets, and another heated main event, as Toshiaki Kawada and Masahiro Chono faced off for the first time ever.
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [8] beat Togi Makabe [0] in (9:15) after a Hercules Cutter
Nakanishi giving his G1 hopes a big boost with a win over Makabe putting him further up the table
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [9] beat Toru Yano [0] in (8:56) with a shining triangle
Nakamura disposed of Yano with relative ease, ending Yano's brief comeback with a shining triangle, which got the submission win
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Kendo Kashin [2] beat Yuji Nagata [5] in (13:00) with a flying armbar
The first upset of the night as Kendo Kashin caught Nagata off-guard with a flying armbar to get his first win of the G1, and Nagata's G1 hopes taking a real hit
4. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [10] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] in (4:42) after a knee strike
Yoshie's girth did him no favors against the brutal Fujita, who assaulted him from the start, and knocked Yoshie down for the easy three count with a brutal knee to the jaw. Yoshie needed help leaving the ring, as Fujita's brutal style claimed another victim
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami [4] beat Osamu Nishimura [4] in (12:56) with a ground cobra twist
Another upset here as the Teacher Fujinami proved that he could still teach the student a few things, as he was able to take Nishimura down with his patented ground cobra twist and gain a popular, if unexpected, victory
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki [6] beats Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] in (17:52) after three Gotch piledrivers
The second upset in a row and the third of the whole night, as Minoru Suzuki proved he wasn't someone to ever rule out with a stunning win over Hiroyoshi Tenzan, though it took three Gotch piledrivers to finally put Tenzan down for the count
7. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [7] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [2] in (9:37) with a dragon sleeper
Tananshi put his G1 back in good stead with a win over the veteran Goto, who has been unable to pull off one of his trademark upsets this year
8. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [10] beat Masahiro Chono [3] in (18:59) after a high kick
Another dream match in the G1, and this one was just as heated as Kawada v Nagata. Kawada and Chono went all out as Chono looked to be the one to hand Kawada his first loss in the G1, but it was not to be as Kawada fired off with a brutal shotgun lariat that saw Chono fall to one knee, and Kawada followed up with a precision high kick to the back of Chono's head and Kawada won his second dream match in a row.
After five days of action, the Block standings look like this:
Block A:
1. Toshiaki Kawada [10]
2. Minoru Suzuki [6]
3, Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6]
4. Yuji Nagata [5]
5. Osamu Nishimura [4]
6. Tatsumi Fujinami [4]
7. Masahiro Chono [3]
8. Kendo Kashin [2]
Block B:
1. Kazuyuki Fujita [10]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [9]
3. Manabu Nakanishi [8]
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [7]
5. Yutaka Yoshie [4]
6. Tatsutoshi Goto [2]
7. Togi Makabe [0]
8. Toru Yano [0]
Toshiaki Kawada stands firmly atop Block A, and with only two days of group action left, seems a lock to get a spot in the finals. The battle for second place is close, with Minoru Suzuki and Hiroyoshi Tenzan both on six points, and Nagata on five points. Any one of those three could gain the second place spot, so it's a really close race. In Block B, Kazuyuki Fujita leads, but he is by no means certain to win the block or even gain a spot in the finals, as Shinsuke Nakamura, Manabu Nakanishi and Hiroshi Tanahshi are all within three points of him, and any two of them could steal the first and second place spots in Block B, and put the IWGP champion out of the G1 finals stage.
Day Six of the G1 takes place tomorrow in Aichi, and it will make the G1 picture look more clearer.
NJPW, 8/11/05 (Samurai! TV)
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Toru Yano
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe
3. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yutaka Yoshie
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono vs. Kendo Kashin
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata vs. Osamu Nishimura
7. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Minoru Suzuki
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Manabu Nakanishi
The main event of Kazuyuki Fujita v Manabu Nakanishi will play a big part in how Block B could end up. A win for Fujita would assure him of a place in the finals, while a win for Nakanishi will put him in first or second place along with Fujita, depending on how Shinsuke Nakamura fares against Yutaka Yoshie. Toshiaki Kawada faces Minoru Suzuki. A win for Kawada would guarantee his place in the finals, while a win for Suzuki would almost ensure his place in the finals, if other results go his way. Yuji Nagata takes on Osamu Nishiura, and a win for Nagata would give him a great chance of scoring the second place in Block A and a spot in the finals, while a win for Nishimura would theoretically make it possible for him to get the second place spot, but that would still be unlikely. The legend Tatsumi Fujinami takes on Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and if Fujinami can upset Tenzan, he too would have a theoretical if unlikely chance at the second place spot. A win for Tenzan would almost assure him of the second place spot, depending on the result of Kawada v Suzuki. Masahiro Chono faces Kendo Kashin, and with neither man able to make it to the finals, this match is more about making sure they don't finish at the bottom of the table. Hiroshi Tanahashi faces Togi Makabe, and if Tanahashi can avoid the upset then he will keep his hopes alive of a berth in the finals. The action is rounded off with Tatsutoshi Goto v Toru Yano, with at least one man guaranteed of gaining their first points of the tournament.
HTQ on Day Three of the Fantasy G1 Climax Tournament
Osaka hosted its second consecutive card of action in the G1 Climax Tournament, as Day Three saw a great main event, and some very heated undercard matches.
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Tatsutoshi Goto [2] beat Togi Makabe [0] in (10:11) after a backdrop hold
The veteran Goto gained his first points of the tournament, with a victory over Makabe, who has yet to gain any points.
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [4] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] in (13:55) after a Hercules Cutter
Nakanishi handed Yoshie his first loss of the G1 with a Hercules Cutter, and both men now have four points each.
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [6] beat Kendo Kashin [0] in (12:50) after a high kick
The self styled shooter putting forth another strong effort, but Kashin came up short again, as Dangerous K powered out of a cross armbreaker, and struck Kashin hard in the back of the head with a high kick to gain the pinfall victory.
4. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [6] beat Toru Yano [0] in (2:11) after a knee strike
Fujita wasted no time in disposing of young Toru Yano, destroying him with heavy strikes and knees before nailing him sqaure in the jaw with a big knee strike, which knocked Yano out, and getting the win. Yano, like others before him who have faced Fujita in the G1, needed help leaving the ring.
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] beat Osamu Nishimura [2] in (18:35) after a TTD
Tenzan again in a rematch from the 2003 G1, as he and Osamu Nishimura battled each other in a keenly fought contest. Mr MUGA~ gave Tenzan a hard match, but Tenzan came out on top, using his TTD to put Nishimura down.
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [3] beat Minoru Suzuki [2] in (14:56) after a shining Yakuza kick
The match I'm most looking forward to seeing just for the atmosphere, as two of the best heels in wrestling went at it in this one. Heel tactics were in full effect here, with both men giving the referee cause to warn them repeatedly during the match. In the end Chono picked up the win, after a back heel kick to the groin left Suzuki vulnerable to the shining Yakuza kick.
7. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [5] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [2] in (12:44) after a spinning heel kick
The legend Fujinami gave another great performance here, showing that he could still match skills with the younger talent, but Nagata was still too strong for Fujinami, and a stiff looking spinning heel kick levelled Fujinami and was enough to get the win for Nagata.
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [5] v Hiroshi Tanahashi [3] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired
The big main event was a rematch from January's big Dome event, as Shinsuke Nakamura took on tag team championship partner Hiroshi Tanahashi. The Osaka crowd started quietly for this one, but they soon got into it as Nakamura and Tanahashi pulled out all the stops, and wrestled a match that some were saying exceeded their match in January. The match was very even, as Nakamura and Tanahashi proved to be equal to the challenge of the other and neither man could seem to gain any real advantage. Nakamura and Tanahashi were fighting over a superplex, and when the bell rang to signify the time limit expiring, they finally fell succumbed to exhaustion, and fell to the mat, showing how hard they had fought. The Osaka crowd gave them a standing ovation, and the tag team champions shook hands after the match, and left the ring together.
After three days of action, the Blocks in the G1 Climax Tournament look like this:
Block A:
1. Toshiaki Kawada [6]
2. Yuji Nagata [5]
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4]
4. Masahiro Chono [3]
5. Osamu Nishimura [2]
6. Minoru Suzuki [2]
7. Tatsumi Fujinami [2]
8. Kendo Kashin [0]
Block B:
1. Kazuyuki Fujita [6]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [5]
3. Manabu Nakanishi [4]
4. Yutaka Yoshie [4]
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi [3]
6. Tatsutoshi Goto [2]
7. Togi Makabe [0]
8. Toru Yano [0]
Toshiaki Kawada has the lead in Block A, but Yuji Nagata and Hiroyoshi Tenzan are both close behind him, and Masahiro Chono could still be a potential contender as well. Over in Block B, Kazuyuki Fujita is on top, with Shinsuke Nakamura and Manabu Nakanishi and Yutaka Yoshie all within striking distance of the top spot. After Day Four, things may become a lot clearer.
NJPW, 8/8/05 (SXW)
Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Toru Yano
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Kendo Kashin
4. G1 Climax - Block B: Togi Makabe vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
5. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yutaka Yoshie
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Minoru Suzuki
7. G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura vs. Masahiro Chono
8. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata vs. Toshiaki Kawada
Day Four is headlined by a dream match, as Yuji Nagata faces Toshiaki Kawada for the very first time. A win by Nagata would put him atop Block A, but a win by Kawada would firmly place him as Block A leader. Osamu Nishimura takes on Masahiro Chono, with a win by Nishimura almost essential to keep his G1 hopes alive, while a win for Chono would keep him very much in the hunt. Tatsumi Fujinami battles Minoru Suzuki, in what could prove to be the most interesting match of the night. In Block B, Kazuyuki Fujita would seem to have an easy match against Togi Makabe, but this is the G1, and never count anything out. Shinsuke Nakamura takes on Tatsutoshi Goto, and if Goto pulls off one of the upsets he is infamous for, then Nakamura could see his G1 quest hit a big hurdle. Manabu Nakanishi takes on Toru Yano and Yutaka Yoshie takes on Hiroshi Tanahashi, and wins by either man would keep their G1 hopes alive, though a win by Tanahashi would give his G1 the boost it really needs to get going. Elsewhere, Hiroyoshi Tenzan takes on Kendo Kashin, which should be very heated, given that Kashin left New Japan three years ago with Tenzan's best known tag team partner, Satoshi Kojima, and Tenzan isn't one to forget something like that.
HTQ on Day Two of the Fantasy G1 Climax Tournament
Osaka was the venue of Day Two of the G1 Climax Tournament as the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium played host to the first card of back-to-back events at the facility. There were no upsets today, but we got a really heated main event.
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie [4] beat Toru Yano [0] in (7:14) after a diving bodypress
Yutaka once again relies on his girth, and it scored him a win against Yano, who at least tried hard.
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [2] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [0] in (10:31) after a Hercules Cutter
Goto lasting longer than you might think, but Nakanishi was too strong and determined, and he ended the match just past the ten minute mark with a Hercules Cutter,
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura [2] beat Kendo Kashin [0] in (14:46) with a ground cobra twist
MUGA~ won out in this match, as Nishimura reversed an attempted guillotine choke, and scored the pin with his patented ground cobra twist.
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [4] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [2] in (12:17) after a shotgun lariat
The most intriguing match of the night saw the legendary Fujinami able to hold his own against Dangerous K, but Toshiaki Kawada turned things up after the ten minute mark, and levelled Fujinami with a hard shotgun lariat to get the victory.
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [3] beat Minoru Suzuki [2] in (18:40) after a wrist clutch exploder suplex
This was the best wrestling match of the night, as Nagata and Suzuki battled back and forth on the mat, with both men apprently looking to get a submission win. Nagata changed strategy though, and it got him his first win of the G1, as a wrist clutch exploder put Suzuki down for the three count.
6. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [4] beat Togi Makabe [0] in (8:56) with a cross armbreaker
Makabe putting up a fight against Nakamura, but the former IWGP Champion was too much for him, and Nakamura took Makabe down into a cross armbreak to get the submission win.
7. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] beat Masahiro Chono [1] in (19:03) with the Anaconda Vice
Former tag team partners went at it in this match, as Tenzan and Chono battled it out in a fiercely competitive match. They met in the 2003 G1, and Tenzan won the match there, and Tenzan was victorious here as well, being able to put Chono down with his Anaconda Vice.
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [4] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] in (12:12) after a knee strike
The most heated match of the night, with Tanahashi putting up the fight of his life against the man who beat him for the vacant IWGP title last year. The crowd really got behind Tanahashi, but the might of Fujita was too much for Tanahashi today, and Fujita knocked Tanahashi silly with a brutal knee to the jaw to get the win. After the match Tanahashi needed to be helped to the back, as the knee appeared to have knocked him for a loop.
After two days, the standings in the G1 Climax Tournament look like this:
Block A:
1. Toshiaki Kawada [4]
2. Yuji Nagata [3]
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2]
4. Osamu Nishimura [2]
5. Minoru Suzuki [2]
6. Tatsumi Fujinami [2]
7. Masahiro Chono [1]
8. Kendo Kashin [0]
Block B:
1. Kazuyuki Fujita [4]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [4]
3. Yutaka Yoshie [4]
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [2]
5. Manabu Nakanishi [2]
6. Togi Makabe [0]
7. Tatsutoshi Goto [0]
8. Toru Yano [0]
Toshiaki Kawada leads Block A with two wins, while Yuji Nagata is in second place with one draw and one win. Tenzan, Nishimura, Suzuki and Fujinami are all tied behind them on two points, with Chono in seventh place with one point, and Kendo Kashin in last place. In Block B, there is a three-way tie for first place, with Kazuyuki Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura and Yutak Yoshie all with four points. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Manabu Nakanishi are behind them with two points each, and Togi Makabe, Tatsutoshi Goto and Toru Yano anchoring the table with all three yet to score.
Tomorrow sees Day Three action, and it once again takes place in Osaka:
NJPW, 8/7/05 (WPW/NJ+IWTV Internet)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Togi Makabe
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie vs. Manabu Nakanishi
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kendo Kashin
4. G1 Climax - Block B: Toru Yano vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Osamu Nishimura
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono vs. Minoru Suzuki
7. G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Yuji Nagata
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Day Three is headlined with a rematch from January's big Dome event, as the IWGP tag team champions face off with Shinsuke Nakamura taking on Hiroshi Tanahashi. A win for Nakamura would cement his status as contender to win the Block, while a win for Tanahashi would put him in contention at last. The biggest match in Block A as far as standings go is Hiroyoshi Tenzan v Osamu Nishimura, with a win for either man placing them right near the top of the table. Tatsumi Fujinami takes on Yuji Nagata, and a win for Nagata will see him in at least second place, and if Toshiaki Kawada falls to Kendo Kashin, Nagata would top Block B. The most interesting match from an atmosphere and personality standpoint will be Masahiro Chono v Minoru Suzuki, as both men are great heels, and this one could split the crowd.
HTQ on Day One of the Fantasy G1 Climax Tournament
The G1 Climax Tournament opened up in the Fukuoka International Center before a hot crowd, and they saw some hot matches, and the debut in the G1 Climax Tournament of Toshiaki Kawada.
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie [2] beat Togi Makabe [0] in (9:02) with a diving bodypress
Yoshie getting his tournament off to a winning start, putting his girth to good use to put away a spirited Makabe.
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] beat Toru Yano [0] in (8:21) with a dragon sleeper
One of the new generation, Tanahashi begins with a strong win, beating the hot prospect Yano with a tight dragon sleeper.
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki [2] beat Osamu Nishimura [0] in (16:15) after a Gotch Piledriver
This match was an exhibition of MUGA~, with Suzuki and Nishimura trading holds and counters throughout the match. Suzuki wins after a unique counter to Nishimura's head stand.
4. G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami [2] beat Kendo Kashin [0] in (10:04) after a cross armbreaker cutback cradle
Kashin was cocky in this one, and the experienced Fujinami made him pay, by countering a cross armbreaker into a modified cradle, and scoring somewhat of an upset win.
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [1] v Masahiro Chono [1] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired
Two of the main names in New Japan battled to a time-limit draw, in a match that really had the fans fired up. Nagata had Chono trapped in the Nagata Lock III right at the end of the match, but Chono was able to hold on until the bell, and both men walked away with one point each.
6. G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [2] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [0] in (3:16) with a knee strike
This was a short and brutal match, totally controlled by Fujita, who ended it with a hard knee to the chest that left Goto needing help to leave the ring.
7. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [2] beat Manabu Nakanishi [0] in (14:59) with a shining triangle
MMA v Amaresu here, with Nakamura and Nakanishi using contrasting styles in their encounter, and it was Nakamura who won out, hitting a heavy knee on Nakanishi which left him open to the shining triangle.
8. G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [2] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0] in (24:34) after a high kick
The most heated match of the night saw Dangerous K, Toshiaki Kawada, make his debut in the G1 Climax Tournament, against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who was looking to win his third G1 in a row. Tenzan fought hard, but his quest for a third G1 win started on a loss, as Kawada stunned Tenzan with a pair of shotgun lariats, before finally ending the match with a high kick to the back of the head. After the match, Tenzan needed help to make it back to his feet, but was still able to shake hands with Kawada.
After Day One, the Block standings look like this:
Block A:
1. Toshiaki Kawada [2]
2. Minoru Suzuki [2]
3. Tatsumi Fujinami [2]
4. Yuji Nagata [1]
5. Masahiro Chono [1]
6. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0]
7. Osamu Nishimura [0]
8. Kendo Kashin [0]
Block B:
1. Kazuyuki Fujita [2]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [2]
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi [2]
4. Yutaka Yoshie [2]
5. Manabu Nakanishi [0]
6. Toru Yano [0]
7. Togi Makabe [0]
8. Tatsutoshi Goto [0]
There isn't a great deal to comment on so far with only one day gone, but I guess Kashin losing to Fujinami was a bit of an upset.
Day Two takes place the day after tomorrow, with the first of back-to-back cards in Osaka, and this is what we'll see:
NJPW, 8/6/05 (Samurai! TV)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
1. G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie vs. Toru Yano
2. G1 Climax - Block B: Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Manabu Nakanishi
3. G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura vs. Kendo Kashin
4. G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Togi Makabe
5. G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Toshiaki Kawada
6. G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
7. G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Masahiro Chono
8. G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
The main event sees Hiroshi Tanahashi take on Kazuyuki Fujita, which is a rematch from last June when Fujita beat Tanahashi to win the then-vacant IWGP title. Former IWGP tag team champions Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono collide, and that is a rematch from the group stage of the 2003 G1. Yuji Nagata takes on Minoru Suzuki which is the Day Two match I'm most looking forward to seeing. The most heated match, though, is likely to be Tatsumi Fujinami taking on Toshiaki Kawada, which is also a match I can't wait to see.
Well, I didn't like how the real G1 Climax Tournament was booked this year, so I decided to give it a go myself. Let me preface this by saying that I laid this all out last week, so anything that anybody else has said about what should have happened since then, or even before, had no bearing on how I booked things. What I'll do is list the line-ups and running order of all right days of the G1, and then post the 'results' on a daily basis. Comments, questions or predictions are welcome.
HTQ on the G1 Climax Tournament Finals
This years G1 Final was a heated and emotional night, but not necessarily one where sensible booking was prevalent.
Was there a reason Nakamura wasn't allowed to last any longer? It's not like they were short on time with the other G1 matches...
I can see the logic in Fujita going over, but can anyone tell me the logic in beating Kawada in little over six minutes? Was it really necessary to beat Kawada like this? Could they not have gone at least over ten minutes? Beating Kawada like this, especially when you add in the loss to Kashin, just diminishes from the lustre of any future Kawada matches, no matter how the NJPW devotees over at SSS try to spin it.
And this lead to the final of:
Yes, they built up Fujita all tournament only to have him go down to Chono in less than ten minutes I'd like someone to explain the logic in this. I know people are going to bring up the Hashimoto factor, and Chono did reference him in his post-match micwork, and it makes for a great sentimental story, but if the negatives outweigh the positives, as they usually do in this situation, then business has to win out over sentiment. People will also bring up the brutal nature of Fujita's match with Kawada, but like with Kawada in the semi's, couldn't Fujita at least have gone past the ten minute mark?
Overall, this years G1 Tournament has been a mix of hot matches, heated crowds, and some really baffling booking. As you might expect, the NJPW devotees over at SSS are praising the G1 up and down, calling it tremendously booked, and saying it's one of the best of all time; one even tried to justify the booking by saying, and this is a verbatim quote:
He quickly got support from another devotee:
Yes, there are other levels than just good or bad booking, but why should I have to accept booking that is just 'acceptible'? Why shouldn't I expect and demand, from the most prestigious tournament in wrestling, good booking? Why shouldn't I expect or demand booking that makes sense? New Japan is one of biggest promotions in the world, and the G1 Climax Tournament is the most prestigious tournament in wrestling. Anything less than spot-on booking doesn't cut it, and is far from 'acceptible'.
And I'll finish up my G1 entries with this gem from the boys over at SSS:
Yes, poor booking doesn't matter. Bet you didn't know that, did you?
HTQ on Day Six of the G1 Climax Tournament
Day Six saw a collection of hot matches, and an upset match in terms of length, as Masahiro Chono just destroyed Kendo Kashin.
Tanahashi gets a forfeit win due to Makabe's injury, though he wrestled a non-tournament match later in the night, beating El Samurai.
Goto getting the expected win over the young Yano.
Nakamura continues his march to the Block B finals. By not keeping the match short, this means that Nakamura's injury from yesterday was a badly thought out work, or legit, and Nakamura wasn't that injured after all.
One of two matches on Day Six that I can't wait to watch. I was hoping for another time-limit draw between these two, but I'll settle for almost 20 minutes.
I can see them wanting to keep Chono strong, but if Kashin was going to go down in less than two minutes, did he have to beat Kawada? Couldn't Kashin have beaten someone else, allowing Kawada to lose to someone else? I'd rather Kawada only have lost one match, but if the intricate booking required two losses, I wouldn't have had one of those losses be to Kashin if he was going to get squashed like this.
The most interesting match of the night in terms of style and content, this is the second match of Day Six that I cannot wait to see.
No surprises here, with Tenzan keeping his campaign strong and looking set for the finals.
Reportedly a hard fought match in the main event, Fujita gets the win, but Nakanishi not being a pushover.
After Day Six, this is how things look:
Block A:
1. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8]
2. Masahiro Chono [8]
3. Toshiaki Kawada [8]
4. Yuji Nagata [6]
5. Osamu Nishimura [5]
6. Minoru Suzuki [5]
7. Tatsumi Fujinami [4]
8. Kendo Kashin [4]
Block B:
1. Kazuyuki Fujita [12]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [11]
3. Manabu Nakanishi [8]
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [7]
5. Yutaka Yoshie [4]
6. Tatsutoshi Goto [4]
7. Toru Yano [2]
8. Togi Makabe [0]
Block A is a three-way tie between Tenzan, Chono and Kawada, with it being virtually certain that two of the three will be in the finals stage. Nagata has a theoretical chance of making it to the finals, but it would require him to beat Tenzan, Chono to lose to Fujinami, and Kawada to lose to Nishimura on Day Seven. Block B is headed by Fujita and Nakamura, who are both assured of entry into the finals stage, with the only question being which one will finish the group stage on top, and that question will get answered in two days as they face off in the main event of Day Seven.
Day Seven will see Yoshie v Goto (Yoshie to win), Suzuki v Kashin (Kashin to win), Tanahashi v Nakanishi (Nakanishi to win), Nishimura v Kawada (Kawada to win), Fujinami v Chono (Chono to win), Tenzan v Nagata (Tenzan to win), and Fujita v Nakamura (Fujita to win).
For predictions, I was 6-1 on Day Six, which is a return to form after a bad Day Five.
HTQ on Day Two of the G1 Climax Tournament
Day Two of the G1 Climax Tournament saw a few upsets, and an unfortuante injury that hopefully won't affect the overall tournament too much.
An expected result, if a going a little longer than I thought it would.
Reports are that Makabe tore his left achilles tendon, and it looks certain he will miss the rest of the tournament, which means he forfeits the remainder of his matches.
Another expected result, and if Goto is going to pull off a trademark upset, it looks like it will be a big one, based on who he still has to wrestle.
Not really an upset, though I was hoping Nishimura would win.
This was a bit of an upset, as Suzuki was a favorite of the former New Japan director, so one would expect him not to do so well, but with Suzuki being one half of the GHC tag team champions in NOAH, I presume New Japan are not wanting to upset NOAH a lot by having Suzuki doing too many jobs.
A match anticipated more for the atmosphere than the quality. I still expect this one to be a good match, though, and I can't wait to see it.
I felt this one could have gone either way, but with Tenzan getting the win, it might mean he is beginning his big comeback. Or it could be just another tease of a Tenzan success.
Another expected result, with Fujita brutalizing Tanahashi, and adding humiliation by refusing to pin him when he easily could have done, and instead taking advantage of Tanahashi's injuries with the use of a single-leg crab to get the tap-out victory.
After two days, this is how things look:
Block A:
1. Toshiaki Kawada [4]
2. Minoru Suzuki [3]
3. Tatsumi Fujinami [2]
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2]
5. Masahiro Chono [2]
6. Kendo Kashin [2]
7. Osamu Nishimura [1]
8. Yuji Nagata [0]
Block B:
1. Yutaka Yoshie [4]
2. Shinsuke Nakamura [4]
3. Kazuyuki Fujita [4]
4. Manabu Nakanishi [2]
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi [1]
6. Toru Yano [1]
7. Tatsutoshi Goto [0]
8. Togi Makabe [0]
Kawada leads Block A, with Suzuki close behind, and four guys all in third, with Nishimura in seventh place, and Nagata surprisingly in last place for the Block. Could he be the one to make the big comeback, and not Tenzan?
Block B sees a tie between Yoshie, Nakamura and Fujita on top. Fujita looks likely to end up winning that one, with either Nakamura or maybe Tanahashi in second place. Makabe is in last place with zero points, and his injury may mean he never leaves that position this year.
Day Three is tomorrow, with Goto v Makabe (a likely forfeit win for Goto), Yoshie v Nakanish (Nakanishi to win), Tenzan v Nishimura (I think Tenzan will win, but I would not be surprised with a Nishimura victory), Fujinama v Nagata (Nagata could win to begin his comeback, but don't rule out a Fujinami victory), Fujita v Yano (Fujita to win), Kawada v Kashin (Kawada to win), Chono v Suzuki (I expect Chono to win, but think we might see a draw as well), and Nakamura v Tanahashi (Nakamura to win).
I was 7-1 for Day Two, with the only result I didn't call being Suzuki's victory over Nagata, so I'm doing well so far.
Buff Bagwell recently gave an interview where he said that Spike Dudley didn't belong near a wrestling ring. I guess that's why he lasted over 4 years in WWE Buff, while you got fired after less then 4 weeks. And how did you make use of your time in WWE Buff? You were late for every training session at Titan Towers, ruined what might have been a decent Invasion storyline by entering your typically sub-par performance, missed house shows and had your mother calling in sick for you, and, oh yeah; got bitchslapped by The Hurricane. So, while a guy who had 'no business' being near a wrestling ring was making a decent, albeit low-level, six-figure income for 4 years, you were restricted to making about $1,000 a shot on the Indy scene, when you could get booked. Life must suck for you Buff, knowing that Spike Dudley was on national television while you were scratching with the chickens.
Is it just a coincidence that some of the most nonsensical stuff posted is from people who clearly either don't know what they are talking about, or are desperately trying to hold onto some misguided bias?
Earl Hebner was fired this past week, apparently for selling merchandise without permission. I'm sure Hebner can find solace in the fact that, after Montreal, he got a raise to $500,000 a year, meaning he's earned around $3.5m or so since then.
After the huge negative reaction to the terrorist angle on Smackdown two weeks ago, UPN told WWE that Muhammad Hassan can no longer appear on Smackdown. Subsequently, it's now been confirmed that the Hassan character will be dropped altogether, with his match against Undertaker this Sunday presumably being his swan song. I'm probably going to talk about this one in a little more depth in a future blog entry, so I'll just say for now that the people who blindly defended this angle, and most of the people defending it were doing so blindly, probably have no clue how much damage that terrorist angle really did, but I doubt they even care about that.
Another RVD thread, and another round of people showing their bias and a lack of understanding of wrestling. This is another subject that I'll cover in a future blog entry, but suffice it to say that, yes, in some ways RVD is overrated, but to write him off for that is incredibly short-sighted. And the comparison to Shelton Benjamin is funny for all the wrong reasons,
There's a Smackdown PPV this weekend. No, really, there is a PPV this weekend, though you might not know it. There isn't one match on the card that I'm interested in seeing. I'm sick of JBL in the main event, and even if Batista beats the shit out of him and pins him clean, which he should, I don't want to see it, because I've zero desire to see JBL in the main event. Animal and Heidenreich v MNM? MNM should win, and they should beat Animal, but knowing Animal's hatred of doing jobs, it'll be the guy sticking around who does the job. Undertaker v Hassan might be interesting, in that with WWE having to drop the Hassan character, I'm wondering if Vince will try and get one last tasteless angle out of dropping the character.
I was sad to hear that Lord Alfred Hayes passed away a few days ago. For me, Hayes was the most underrated commentator of the 80's. He called the matches with an air of legitimacy, treating everything that was going on in the ring as if it was real, and he did it in a way that didn't insult your intelligence either. He made it a lot easier to listen to matches if Gorilla Monsoon was calling the action as well, because Gorilla was really terrible from around 1988 onwards, and Hayes was good at offsetting him.
Also sad to see the passing of Shinya Hashimoto. Hashimoto was a favorite of mine in the 90s, due to his punishing style of heavy kicks and chops, as well as his hot comebacks. One of my favorite matches of 1996 was his match against Riki Choshu in that years G1 Climax tournament. It didn't have any insane moves or crazy spots, but it was filled with intensity and emotion, and the crowd were going nuts as Choshu had to hit Hashimoto with I think it was 9 lariats before Hashimoto could get pinned. I remember that G1 for Hashimoto, who was the IWGP Champion at the time, doing the clean job in all three of his matches, and in doing so creating three fresh challengers for the IWGP Title, but the real beauty is that the nature of the matches meant Hashimoto was still crazy over with the fans, and so everybody won.
Benoit v Regal looked to be good stuff, but the flow was definitely ruined by the two commercial breaks, so it's hard to give it a fair rating. It didn't appear to be at the level of their 2000 Pillman Memorial match, but when I get to see the match without the breaks, I'll be able to say for sure.
The happenings surrounding the debut of The Boogeyman at a Smackdown house show were classic divine comedy. God had to be pissing on the gimmick, which I think most of us mere mortals will be doing should it hit the screens without some serious tuning up.
The initial buy rate for Vengeance is in, and it's a little higher than the first returns for ONS. Naturally, there are those who are gloating over this, which is both missing the point, and missing the fact that it didn't blow ONS out of the ballpark either, which is what I'd be most concerned about. I also note that some people are saying that the Cena v Jericho v Christian match drew more of the buys than Hunter v Batista. Quite how a major gimmick match between two of the biggest stars of Raw, complete with main event level push, would draw less buys than a match between one star and two perennial midcarders, without the main event level push, I don't know, but I guess you can't expect everyone to know what they're talking about.
Speaking of which, someone expressed the opinion that WCW having the better in-ring quality than WWE is a myth. I guess they missed out on WCW having a far better undercard than the WWF for 1996-1998, and some undercard matches that blew away most of what the WWF was putting out, even some of Bret, Shawn or Austin's work at some points. Main events aside, which were usually average to horrible, WCW had a more well-rounded and far superior in-ring product to WWF for a most of the late 90's.
I'm really looking forward to NOAH's Dome Show this weekend. The undercard is a little hit-and-miss, but the top three matches should be something else, if only from a spectacle standpoint. Naturally, the most anticipated match is the main event, with the first Mitsuharu Misawa v Toshiaki Kawada match in over five years, and their first ever match in NOAH. This will easily be the most heated and intense match of the night, and with Kawada being a free agent, I'm betting on him to get the win over Misawa, to set up a run against the top NOAH names, likely ending with a singles bout against Kenta Kobashi. Kobashi will be taking on Kensuke Sasaki, in what will be a hard hitting match, and I expect Kobashi to get the win there.
ROH shouldn't have used Matt Hardy. Their fanbase should be smart enough to know that Hardy is just there to further a WWE angle, and that is the absolute last thing that ROH fans want to see at an ROH show. And then to have Hardy make Chris Daniels tap out? Even with the interference of CM Punk, that one was just stupid. Sapolsky must be smoking something low grade if he agreed to that, not least because Daniels isn't getting his heat back from Hardy.
Cena v Edge? Cena right now, but I don't see him sustaining this level of overness for more than another year or so, so I would keep Edge strong so he can be the one to get the belt after. Of course, that doesn't take into account the fact that Hunter will want the belt not long after he returns, regardless of how over Cena is at the time, and so Edge is unlikely to be more than a transitional champion, like everyone not named HHH, even if he should be more.
Raw
Carlito and Jericho argue
I had this feeling Piper would show up with what Jericho and Carlito were saying. Piper looks ancient. Hey, how about pushing someone who doesn't need Rogaine? Well, at least it was a surprise.
Chris Masters v Tajiri
"Listen to what Chris Masters is about to get?" That would be apathy, Jerry. The biggest pops from the crowd were for the guy not getting an almost relentless six-month plus push. Even the light "ECW" chant was louder than any reaction Masters got. He isn't getting over, and it's been six-months already. Give it up. End the Masterlock Challenge so this dead weight can be sent back down to OVW so he can get back to school.
Edge, Lita and Snitsky backstage
Matt Hardy better be coming in tonight as rumor suggests, or at least be signed to be coming in soon, or them bringing his name up again is stupid.
HHH update
Well, whoever had three-weeks on how long it would be before Hunter's name was mentioned again, you win. And they're laying the foundations of a babyface turn as well.
Shelton Benjamin v Carlito
Did anyone else get a Sting v Ric Flair vibe off of that no-sell spot from Benjamin early in the match? And did anyone else get a Money Inc. v Natural Disasters vibe off of that lame finish?
John Cena promo
The babyface champion being dictated to by the heel GM? Man, that's a cutting edge and original angle right there. And Cena v Jericho at Summerslam? Didn't one of the pop-up and spyware ridden sites claim that it would be Cena v Edge? You mean they were wrong?
Diva Search
Pass.
Kurt Angle Invitational:
I guess this means that Raw, not only has two talk show segments, but now two segments where a wrestler makes an open challenge. At least the interplay between Angle and Striker was funny. Angle shouldn't be submitting the guys with one second to go. He should be submitting them with one second gone.
Matt Hardy attacks Edge backstage
At least it was executed in a realistic fashion, with Hardy literally coming out of nowhere.
Kane v Edge
Just a backdrop for the Hardy v Edge angle. They are doing it the right way, and executing it like a shoot. No music videos, no catching Hardy on camera behind Edge and Lita, or anything like that. Hardy hits the ring out of shot, and the actual security staff are the ones to try and drag him down. Yeah, it's not a shoot, but the way they are playing things will make it easier for people to suspend their disbelief. The Ring Of Honor mention and the lack of commentary while Matt was getting taken away were a pair of nice touches. While the angle is getting handled like this, the right way, this will get Matt super over.
Piper's Pit with Shawn Michaels
No shirt, just a cross this week for the Holy Roller Kid. Shawn Michaels is not used to this type of reception???. The kiddy chaser was calling the action when Shawn was the hottest heel in the company. What brain surgeon fed Lawler that line? And if Lawler came up with it himself, he's once again made a fool of hmself.
Shawn can talk good, but he came off as too much of a babyface after what was played off like the ultimate betrayal. The superkick to Piper was to be expected, but to me it clouds the issue with Hogan, because there should be repercussions from it, and that will just take attention away from the Hogan deal. Of course, nothing will likely come of it because of that fact, so why even do it?
And what was Shawn's reason for turning on Hogan? To get a match with him? Was it out of hatred for not stepping down?
Apart from the Matt Hardy angle and the way Angle talked to Martel/Striker, though not how the Invitational ended, Raw didn't measure up to anything.
Given the intelligence, or lack thereof, displayed in a lot of the posts made here, I’m often wondering how the people behind them have the capability to breathe, let alone operate a computer.
I enjoyed this PPV a great deal, and more so than any wrestling PPV for a very long time. The last PPV of any kind that I've been this excited about both while watching and afterwards was UFC's Unfinished Business from last year. As far as wrestling goes, the last PPV to have this kind of buzz about it was WM X7. Since then, wrestling has been totally lacking the kind of emotional connection that allows for this kind of reaction, and the fact that a promotion that has been dead for five years elicited such a response while WWE is getting so apathetic that the people who hate it can't even be bothered to rip into it is sad in so many ways.
The matches were mostly secondary, which would have been obvious going in had people thought about it. The only real standout matches were Tanaka v Awesome and Dreamer and Sandman v The Dudley's. The rest were just kind of there, with Storm v Jericho was the most enjoyable of the undercard matches. Benoit v Guerrero was a letdown in some ways, and really came off as filler, but in no way was it bad. I know some people have torn into that match something fierce, but those people should take a look at themselves and think about things a little more clearly, rather than trying to be some sort of 'super smart smart fan' or whatever their gimmick is.
The highlights were easily RVD and Paul Heyman's promo's, with RVD shattering the myth that he can't speak. If anyone thinks RVD can't talk after his promo at ONS, then must be really wanting to believe a myth that everyone else has had the good sense to see through. Heyman's speech was great stuff, and, again, showed how great someone can talk if you let them talk about a subject they are genuinely into and really want to talk about.
Joey Styles was great on commentary, while Foley wasn't all that hot, which you could tell he was aware would be the case going in, and he stayed in the background for most of the PPV. The highlight for Styles was his shooting on Mike Awesome during his match, and when Eric Bischoff was at the commentary table for the show ending angle, and Styles just tore into him with, "You are without a doubt the worst goddamn color commentator I ever heard in my life.” For me, that was the line of the night, as it came out of nowhere, and there was no real set up to it, unlike with RVD's and Heyman's stuff, though that was still great.
There were a few minor points I didn’t like about the PPV, most notably Steve Austin leading the ECW charge against the WWE ‘Crusaders’ and him getting the last attack on Bischoff, but they were minor enough, and the strong points strong enough, such as Sabu showing up, that this PPV is the easiest thumbs up I’ve given to a wrestling PPV for so many years that I don’t even remember the last one.
