HTQ on Day Five of the G1 Climax Tournament

Day Five didn't see any breakout matches, but it did feature some very questionable booking, and either another unfortunate injury or a badly thought out worked-shoot.

G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [8] beat Togi Makabe [0] by forfeit.

Nakanishi getting the forfeit win over Makabe due to Makabe's injury. Nakanishi did have a non-tournament match, though, with a win over Yujiro

G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [9] vs. Toru Yano [2] went to a double countout (5:15).

If this isn't a legit injury, then this is a strange and terrible decision. If it is legit, then I guess they didn't want Yano getting the win for some reason, and they weren't able to work a count-out win for Nakamura.

G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [5] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [2] (9:09) with the Sling Blade.

No upset for Goto, and Tanahashi should at least finish in a respectable position.

G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [4] beat Kendo Kashin [4] (13:08) with a backdrop hold.

If Kashin had won, I would have spat nails.

G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [10] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] (8:45) with a cross armbreaker.

With Yoshie lasting almost 10 minutes, I think it shows that Yoshie is someone they are high on, or at least is someone they don't want to totally squash.

G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura [5] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [4] (11:29) with a modified front cradle.

The right finish, showing that the pupil is still better than the teacher.

G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki [5] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] (13:50) with a sleeper hold.

This was a bit of an upset, but parity booking does that from time to time.

G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [6] beat Toshiaki Kawada [6] (12:14) with a Shining Yakuza kick.

I guess parity booking to make sure no one person looks better than the rest is more important than getting people over so more money can be made.

After Day Five, this is how things stand:

Block A:

1. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6]

2. Masahiro Chono [6]

3. Toshiaki Kawada [6]

4. Osamu Nishimura [5]

5. Minoru Suzuki [5]

6. Yuji Nagata [4]

7. Tatsumi Fujinami [4]

8. Kendo Kashin [4]

Block B:

1. Kazuyuki Fujita [10]

2. Shinsuke Nakamura [9]

3. Manabu Nakanishi [8]

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi [5]

5. Yutaka Yoshie [4]

6. Tatsutoshi Goto [2]

7. Toru Yano [2]

8. Togi Makabe [0]

Thanks to the ultra annoying parity booking, Block A is wide open, with five people in realistic contention for the two slots in the finals. That isn't the way I would have done it, but I guess New Japan wanted one Block to have a parity to it, and with Fujita in Block B, it had to be Block A. Block B sees Fujita on top, to no surprise, with Nakamura and Nakanishi fighting it out for the second spot in the finals. Tanahashi being so far down is a bit of a surprise, but I still put that down to the political fallout from his loss to Rikio at the NOAH Dome Show.

Day Six takes place tomorrow in Nagoya, with Goto v Yano (Goto to win), Nakamura v Yoshie (Nakamura to win), Nishimura v Nagata (draw), Chono v Kashin (Chono to win), Kawada v Suzuki (Kawada to win), Fujinami v Tenzan (Tenzan to win), and Fujita v Nakanishi (Fujita to win, but I suspect a potential surprise here).

If the matches go the way I predict, then Tenzan, Chono and Kawada will head Block A, keeping up the parity that New Japan are so fond of. Fujita, Nakamura and Nakanishi will remain in that order for Block B, which would keep Fujita and Nakamura on course to claim the Block B slots in the finals.

As far as predictions went, I was 3-4 for Day Five, which is my worst record so far.