G-1 Climax reccomendations.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Can someone tell me if the following G-1's are any good, I can't find any reviews of them

 

1993

1994

1997

1998

1999

 

Also if anyone knows, what is the G-1 Climax Special?

[Guest wolverine]

I heard 1998 was very good.

[Guest HBK16]

G1 Climax 98 was my first NJ tape and it's a good show.

[Guest Jubuki]

Must...fight urge...to make...Triumph the Insult...Comic Dog Joke....arrrrggggh...

[Guest wolverine]

This is where I got the impression it was very good. From the 8/31/98 Wrestling Observer:

 

8/15 NEW JAPAN: As good as the G-1 was in 1996 the last time I went, this year's appeared to be even better. This show was taped on 8/1 with the quarterfinals and was the single best one hour television show, and from a wrestling standpoint the single best television show of the year. Because they only aired four matches, they were able to show matches almost in their entirety unlike the previous TV which was a great show but really didn't do most of the matches justice because of the editing. Considering they had two junior heavy tag tourney matches on the undercard that won't be airing on TV for a few weeks, I'd suspect this was the best overall wrestling show of 1998. 1. Kojima beat Yasuda in 13:38. Match had great heat and Kojima did a tremendous job carrying things. This was probably the best match Yasuda has ever been in and even after seeing it I still don't believe it. [play by play] ****; 2. Yamazaki beat Sasaki in 6:42 with a kneelock submission. Most of the match consisted of Yamazaki throwing kicks to Sasaki's bad leg from the previous show. Again, Yamazaki really looked good and Sasaki's selling of the leg actually made the match. Yamazaki won [using] a kick to the bad knee, a dragon screw and a kneelock submission in the middle that Sasaki sold for all he was worth. ***1/2; 3. Chono beat Koshinaka in 16:03. This may have been the best singles match these two have had [against each other] which is saying something because they've had great G-1 tournament matches in the past. [play by play] ****1/4; 4. Hashimoto beat Tenryu in 13:13 of one of the most dramatic brawls you'll ever see. It was more like a boxing or kickboxing war than a pro wrestling match. This match was 90% both guys chopping, punching and kicking the hell out of each other. Both men's chests were all welted up within 90 seconds. For sheer drama and brawling, this blew away any U.S. match this year and really any Japanese match except for maybe Tamura vs. Kohsaka. [play by play] ****3/4

[Guest Jubuki]

I've reviewed this bit of TV. I forget when, but I have seen it and know it's not worth seeing more than once.

 

Meltzer's smoking some major cheeba there. The matches are decent, but those who were major players in '96 were better in '96, not '98. And, as for Hash v Tenryu, here's where he should have stopped:

 

"This match was 90% both guys chopping"

 

Because that's all there is, aside from maybe 3 kicks and a couple of DDTs. At least 6 dozen chops thrown between the two of them. If that's "dramatic," I'm a jackrabbit. The epitome of sucking the marrow out of a really old feud, even moreso than, say, Funk/Flair redux in 2000, considering that Hash and Tenryu could still go as of 1998 and chose to live off old heat instead.

 

And the first time I watched Hash/Yamazaki (the final), I liked it, but that's been a good year or so ago - my opinion could have very well changed, given that it was based around Hash still kicking away at Kazuo despite a 'bad' knee. Seeing what Hash did with the same idea vs. Choshu was far more engaging, and that was with a lesser worker.

 

I also find it amusing that he's comparing the 'drama' of this to Tamura/Kohsaka, considering they have nothing in common, aside from happening in Japan.

[Guest wolverine]

It was a great long match, particularly for another era but far from the best match these two have had. While they don't miss spots and take incredible punishment, they keep going back to the same spots over-and-over and in going so long, the pacing seems slow. ****--Meltzer commentating on the 6/12/98 Kawada-Kobashi match (TV version).

 

Granted he only saw the second half of the match, but how the fuck is Hash-Tenryu 3/4* better? Whatever....

[Guest MrDanger]

I personally loved Tenryu/Hash, no deep story involved, just two hard bastards beating the hell out of each other.

 

Saying that though, I really wouldn't rate the match in the ****3/4 range, sure it's a ton of fun but it really doesn't stack up as an all-time classic in my book.