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HTQ on the G1 Climax Tournament Finals

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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.

 

G1 Climax - Semi Final: Masahiro Chono beat Shinsuke Nakamura (11:35) with a reverse STF.

 

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...

 

G1 Climax - Semi Final: Kazuyuki Fujita beat Toshiaki Kawada (6:23) with a knee kick.

 

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:

 

G1 Climax - Final: Masahiro Chono beat Kazuyuki Fujita (8:52) with a Shining Yakuza kick.

 

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:

 

to some people theres only right or wrong in booking never just 'acceptible' or 'fine'

 

He quickly got support from another devotee:

 

That is one of the smartest things I've read today...Booking is all black & white to some people...good or bad...but there are other levels.

 

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:

 

Doesn't matter if the matches were booked poorly. so long as the fans left the event with smiles on their faces, that's what matters.

 

Yes, poor booking doesn't matter. Bet you didn't know that, did you?

 

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Dangerous A

Unbelievable what NJPW pulled. I've got to believe Chono had damn near full booking power over G-1. This was a total ego stroke to me and not a memorial to Hashimoto like Chono said it was.

 

And I'm actually a huge fan of Chono, but he shouldn't have gone over here. I'm sure it plays well on TV, but business wise I just don't get it. I guess Chono wanted to cement that no one will have as many G-1 wins than he. That is the only logical explanation besides this being an ego stroke. Nakamura or Fujita should've won, bottom line.

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DrVenkman PhD

Unrelated to anything here but congratulations HTQ on another Wrestling Professor Trivia victory. This week's Quiz is about the Observer itself so I suspect this is yours for the taking.

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Hunter's Torn Quad
Unbelievable what NJPW pulled. I've got to believe Chono had damn near full booking power over G-1. This was a total ego stroke to me and not a memorial to Hashimoto like Chono said it was.

 

And I'm actually a huge fan of Chono, but he shouldn't have gone over here. I'm sure it plays well on TV, but business wise I just don't get it. I guess Chono wanted to cement that no one will have as many G-1 wins than he. That is the only logical explanation besides this being an ego stroke. Nakamura or Fujita should've won, bottom line.

Some people have said that it was for the best because Nakamura was getting 'pushed back' by the fans after being pushed too hard so soon, and that because the fans went nuts for it that it meant it was for the best, because it was better to go with a result like that, that they were happy about, than a result that made them unhappy. While that makes some sense, you've got to think about business. If going for the happy ending is good or great for business, then go for it. I just don't see how a huge step backwards is good or great for business. Yes, it made a for a feel good ending, but once that happy high is gone, you're left with a barely mobile start of yesteryear as the winner of the G1, and he's even saying he might not even go after the IWGP belt right away. Yes, that makes the IWGP belt look important when the the champ gets beaten in less than ten minutes, and then the guy beating him saying he's not in a hurry to get a title shot.

 

Unrelated to anything here but congratulations HTQ on another Wrestling Professor Trivia victory. This week's Quiz is about the Observer itself so I suspect this is yours for the taking.

 

Thanks. I can't go in for the quiz this week, as the Lipinski Rule means I have to wait three weeks before I can try to win again.

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World's Worst Man

This was a great example of a promotion supposedly giving fans what they want right NOW, yet screwing themselves in the behind 2 months down the road when they need to fill up the Tokyo Dome. Who's realistically going to pay for a Fujita-Chono main event at the Tokyo Dome? Maybe 20,000 people, that's about it. Granted, if it's true about Nakamura getting the "Randy Orton treatment" you can't very well keep shoving him down people's throats. Tanahashi is hurting and probably might have to take some time off (although that was still no excuse to essentially bury him during the round-robin). If New Japan had any sense, they would have put Kawada over Fujita in the finals somehow. It doesn't matter if he's an outsider, what matters is the 10/8 Dome Show. A well built Fujita-Kawada match draws better than probably anything else NJ could ride out there now. Tenzan-Fujita? As much as I like Tenzan, he's not any sort of draw. Nakamura and Tanahashi have already been addressed. Nagata might have less credibility than Chono. So to me, putting Kawada over was the only smart thing, business wise, they could have done. But nope, they had to send those 11,500 fans home happy, and totally destroy any chance of them drawing more than 25k to the Tokyo Dome in October.

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Hunter's Torn Quad
This was a great example of a promotion supposedly giving fans what they want right NOW, yet screwing themselves in the behind 2 months down the road when they need to fill up the Tokyo Dome. Who's realistically going to pay for a Fujita-Chono main event at the Tokyo Dome? Maybe 20,000 people, that's about it. Granted, if it's true about Nakamura getting the "Randy Orton treatment" you can't very well keep shoving him down people's throats. Tanahashi is hurting and probably might have to take some time off (although that was still no excuse to essentially bury him during the round-robin). If New Japan had any sense, they would have put Kawada over Fujita in the finals somehow. It doesn't matter if he's an outsider, what matters is the 10/8 Dome Show. A well built Fujita-Kawada match draws better than probably anything else NJ could ride out there now. Tenzan-Fujita? As much as I like Tenzan, he's not any sort of draw. Nakamura and Tanahashi have already been addressed. Nagata might have less credibility than Chono. So to me, putting Kawada over was the only smart thing, business wise, they could have done. But nope, they had to send those 11,500 fans home happy, and totally destroy any chance of them drawing more than 25k to the Tokyo Dome in October.

"A little short-term gain for the long-term liability"

 

AA says it so well.

 

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