Date: 24th July, 2015
City: Kyoto, Japan
BACKGROUND
The New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 this year will have 20 participants, and be staged over 19 shows (July 20th and run through August 16th) making it the longest G1 Tournament to date. The NJPW tradition goes back to 1975, previous winners include Hulk Hogan, Antonio Inoki, Andre The Giant, to the modern day participants like Okada, Tanahashi, and Nakamura.
In these updates, we will be running down the G1 Tournament Matches themselves while monitoring the other matches on the card. The true focus will be on the tournament and we’ll be providing updates depending on which days the shows are on whilst updating our results/tables so you will know who has the best chance and is in the lead of the tournament so far! 2pts for a win, 1pt for a draw.
In a special treat for today, Abbey Arthur of TopRopePress provided us with the follow report;
David Finlay, Jay White, Mascara Dorado, & Michael Elgin vs Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask, Yohei Komatsu, & Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger: Kojima, Tiger Mask, Komatsu, & Liger win via pinfall after a lariat to Finlay
My Thoughts: Fun but short opening match, with Elgin displaying his power moves throughout.
Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall vs Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi Hashi: Ishii & Hashi win via pinfall after a Swanton
My Thoughts: Pretty good match, with Hall looking decent for once. He’s not great in the ring, and he needs a lot more work. Ishii and Hashi were great, as always.
Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga vs Captain New Japan & Hirooki Goto: Anderson & Tonga win via pinfall after a Stun Gun to Captain
My Thoughts: Typical Bullet Club tag match. Good, solid action throughout that set up Anderson and Goto’s upcoming match.
Kazuchika Okada, Gedo, & Shinsuke Nakamura vs Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuji Nagata, & Tomoaki Honma: Taguchi, Nagata, & Honma win via pinfall after a top rope Kokeshi headbutt to Gedo
My Thoughts: Okada and Honma teased their upcoming match, which everyone is looking forward. Taguchi kept up his antics with Nak, mocking him with a shirt and mask, which made Nak more than a little hot. Very entertaining match.
THE G1 TOURNAMENT
Doc Gallows vs Kota Ibushi: Ibushi wins via pinfall after a float over bridge suplex
My Thoughts: Surprisingly good match. Gallows is at his best when he’s just brawling and not trying to be a technician. Ibushi is as graceful as any in the business today, and he managed to make this match look really good.
Togi Makabe vs Bad Luck Fale: Fale wins via pinfall after a Bad Luck Fall
My Thoughts: Not a pretty match by any means, and it was kinda painful at some points to watch. These two didn’t have much chemistry together, and it was basically like two monsters constantly ramming each other.
AJ Styles vs Toru Yano: Styles wins via tap out after a Calf Killer
My Thoughts: Great match. Yano used red shoes ref as a distraction/secret weapon during the match numerous times, which the crowd ate up. These two worked really well with each other.
Katsuyori Shibata vs Tetsuya Naito: Shibata wins via pinfall after a penalty kick to the chest
My Thoughts: Amazing. Naito is quickly becoming one of my favorites, and his business casual Skelator look during this tournament is just perfectly creepy. Shibata did his best to destroy Naito, but Naito kept coming back. Great, hard hitting action from Shibata and tremendous heel work from Naito.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan: Tanahashi wins via pinfall after a sling blade and high fly flow
My Thoughts: Tana worked as the heel in this match, and it came off perfectly. Really good back and forth match, with Tenzan hooking Tana in the Anaconda Vice for a near submission.
Overall Show: Yet another great night, and the crowd made it better by being really into everything that was going on. The matches were solid and provided a great showcase for NJPW’s awesome talent.
BLOCK A Matches
Kota Ibushi defeated Doc Gallows
Bad Luck Fale defeated Togi Makabe
AJ Styles defeated Toru Yano
Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tetsuya Naito
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan
SPECIAL THANKS
@AbbeyBrooke2121 for the report today, while the internet exploded due to Hulkamania~!
Tapla deviantArt / @D_TaPla for the awesome graphics. An outstanding artist, go check her out!
Eric Cholminski for providing us with all the NJPWWorld.com help including free trial.