G-1 Climax Day 3

[Guest Black Tiger]

NJPW, 8/5/02 (SXW)

Takamatsu City Gymnasium

3,000 Fans

 

1. Wataru Inoue beat Toru Yano (4:34) with a crab hold.

 

2. El Samurai & Blue Wolf beat Masahito Kakihara & Masayuki Naruse (9:50) when Samurai used a la magistral on Naruse.

 

3. Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru Tanaka beat Koji Kanemoto & Gedo (13:04) when Tanaka used a backslide on Gedo.

 

4. G1 Climax - Block B: Kenzo Suzuki

[4] beat Osamu Nishimura [2] (18:10) with an inside cradle. The Young Lion push continues, Suzuki gets another win over a veteran.

 

5. G1 Climax - Block A: Kensuke Sasaki [4] beat Yutaka Yoshie [0] (0:41) with a Northern Lights Bomb. Good, Yoshie sucks and has no business doing anything in this tournament.

 

6. G1 Climax - Block A: Shiro Koshinaka [4] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] (11:02) with a powerbomb. Does anyone else get the idea that Tenzan isn't winning this year?

 

7. G1 Climax - Block A: Yoshihiro Takayama [4] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] (9:24) with a German suplex hold. Well Tanahashi had to lose sometime. I'd guess that NJ is going to build Takayama up to job in the NWF Tournament and Misawa will put the GHC on him.

 

8. G1 Climax - Block B: Masahiro Chono [3] beat Manabu Nakanishi [1] (16:17) with a front cradle. About damn time Chono got a win in this thing.

 

9. G1 Climax - Block B: Tadao Yasuda [4] beat Yuji Nagata [4] (11:10) by countout. Son of a bitch, don't tell me that Lurch is going to get pushed, why give him a win over the IWGP Champion?

 

Current Standings:

 

Block A

Takayama: 4

Tanahashi: 4

Sasaki: 4

Koshinaka: 4

Tenzan: 2

Yoshie: 0

 

Block B

Nagata: 4

Suzuki: 4

Yasuda:

Chono: 3

Nishimura: 2

Nakanshi: 1

 

EDIT: Takayama has 4, not 6. I forgot that Sasaki beat him.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

Most of these results are fairly standard looking, even the Yasuda thing, as logically it keeps Yasuda looking reasonably strong. It was a countout victory anyway, so Nagata will not have looked weak at all, I doubt.

 

The Tenzan thing however... WHAT ARE THEY DOING?! He is the absolute perfect choice to win this thing, he's over with the crowds and he's a future star, so why is he jobbing to a mostly useless veteran? Unless this loss causes him to snap and go on a rampage, so he destroys his remaining opponents, I fail to see any point.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Tenzan will HAVE to win his next two matches to win the block. Takayama will also have to LOSE his next two matches.

 

Tenzan has to face Tanahashi (he shouldn't have a problem) and Sasaki (could be a problem)

 

Takayama will have to face Koshinaka and Yoshie.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

So let me get this straight; the top two guys in each block go on the semi-finals and face one of the top two from the other block?

 

For example, if the block positioning stayed exactly as it was now, Takayama would face Suzuki in a semi-final, and Nagata would face Tanahashi?

 

If this is true, then I'm pretty sure if Takayama won both of his matches, and so did Tenzan, those two would go through to the semis, right?

[Guest Black Tiger]

The Semi finals are the Winner of Block A vs Runner up of Block B and Winner of B vs Runner up of A.

 

The way the blocks are set up now I'm not sure how it would go because of NJ's rule that in a tie winner advances. In Block A, Sasaki beat Takayama, Tanahashi beat Sasaki, and Takayama beat Tanahashi.

 

Same thing in Block B, Suzuki beat Yasuda, Yasuda beat Nagata, Nagata beat Suzuki.

 

One thing I know for sure is that Yoshie won't make it to the semi finals.