NJPW G1 Climax 2015 Thread

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Thought I would start a thread to contain the chat about New Japan's annual super ambitious round robin tournament

If you are interested in following along, ordering New Japan World today/tomorrow (NJPWs equivalent of the WWE network) will allow you to watch all 19 shows for 1 months subscription (roughly £7) details on how to do it are here (credit to Prometheus for finding this link) http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/102-japan/43628-how-to-order-new-japan-world-to-get-the-g1-climax

The first card kicking off at 7am GMT tomorrow featuring the 10 wrestlers from block A is as follows

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Doc Gallows
Togi Makabe vs Toru Yano
Tetsuya Naito vs Bad Luck Fale
Katsuyori Shibata vs AJ Styles
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi

It's a bit of a slow start admittedly with the first two matches but match 3 has a bit of intrigue with Naito's new Los Ignorables/Wayne's World/Douchebag gimmick and Fale's general morphing into a big fat beast, the double main event though speaks for itself both are hugely exciting potential MOTY contenders, I personally can't wait

[Prometheus]

Do you see anyone other than Nakamura winning this thing?

[Dr Gregory House MD]

It's conceivable that Tanahashi could win to set up Tana vs Okada 8 and complete the redemption story they started with Okada's inability to beat Tanahashi in the dome

Ibushi is also a candidate mainly because they've been pushing him hard since he moved to the heavyweight ranks and they clearly have huge plans for him

Styles, Naito, Goto and Shibata are all dark horses if they wanted to do something outside the expected

But yeh I think Nakamura is the favorite, he's done the donkey work with the 2nd belt, headlineing (and drawing) on the weaker shows against the varied opponents, I think his time is now and I see him beating Tanahashi or Ibushi in the final

[Prometheus]

Just joined for the end of the Naito / Fale match.  Don't think I've missed much of great excitement, will see if I've time after watching Battleground later to go back to these.  

AJ coming out now.

Spoiler:

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Just got finished watching night 1, the undercard was disappointing, the lone highlight for me being Elgin in a new environment exposing some fresh eyes to his power offence who popped for it, a refreshing break from the vendetta of apathy the ROH faithful seem to have going for him ATM

Naito vs Take wasn't as interesting as I hoped it might be, obviously this wasn't the right time to advance Naito's heel character and although I think Fale has improved and carved out a niche for himself he's still well down the list of guys I enjoy watching in New Japan

The final two matches were really what I came to see though and both of them delivered, AJ vs Shibata was a very good match with some great offence and selling from both me, I had some minor niggles, I've been a fan of AJ keeping the Styles Clash in his holster as a killer move he'll hit if he gets the chance while building his match around the calf killer, here he seemed to be determined to go for the Clash at every opportunity despite the story of Shibata injuring his leg and Styles' even locking in the killer it was all glazed over very quickly, the match might have benefitted from a little more time to further highlight these aspects of the story which felt a little disjointed to me, still a very good match and I'd roughly agree with Prom of his assessment in the 4* range

Tanahashi vs Ibushi was amazing, these two had a great match, once again I always admire Tanahashi's ability and enthusiasm to work as a heel in matches against popular opposition, brilliant offence by both men, I don't think I've ever seen Ibushi not his corner Asai Moonsault more cleanly, Tana did a great job of working Ibushi's legs and I might be reading to much into this but Tanahashi kicking out of Ibushi's over the top rope German was a great callback to the move he beat Hirashima with to win the DDT title back in February, Tanahashi is wrestling Hirashima in DDT at their next big show so intentional or not I took it as a great bit of inter company storytelling, easily the standard setter for the tournament early on, but given the reputation for quality this tournament has built up over the past 2 years I wouldn't be surprised to see it matched or topped several times over the next couple of months

So to sum up, go out of your way to see the last 2 matches, skip everything else

[Prometheus]

I agree with everything you wrote there House. That was probably the safest Styles Clash I've ever seen. I get the idea about keeping it special, I suppose some of my thinking is that having just dropped the title AJ really wants to win this tourney and he's going to go to moves that will help him do that.

I've still not seen the main event. Battleground, Raw and now Dragon Gate were all vying for my attention, but I'm confident I'll get to watch it before tomorrow's show.

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Next up tomorrow morning we have the be Block get their first run out, and it's a pretty strong looking line up

Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi
Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma
Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson

Nary a bad match on their, only one I'm not fussed about is the Goto v Yujiro match, I've no time for Yujiro he's easily in the bottom 2 least talented guys in this tournament and a guy I've seen have precisely one good match in 3 years

Other than that Ishii v Kojima sounds promising, Ishii has made his name with some MVP performances in the last 2 G1s so I expect him to go hard again this year, Honma-mania will run wild in the G1 again this year as the greatest jobber in wrestling history looks to break his losing streak after going 0-9 last year, Elgin's first outing in a big match against Okada will be very interesting and as a fan of Elgin one that I think can be very good, As for the main event, Karl Anderson despite spending 10 months of the year in his average at best tag team with Gallows is a very good singles performer who comes alive at this time of year, and if anyone's going to have a good match with him I doubt he could ask for a better opponent than Nakamura

While this card lacks the standout matches like the top 2 from the first night, I think it looks much more promising from 1-5

[Prometheus]

Its a fixed camera bare bones production isn't it? Which doesn't bother me, but you do wonder how many stops will be pulled out. Certainly the Super Juniors events like this tended to overall be slightly lower key.

The Kojima / Ishii affair I expect to be hard-hitting and for Ishii to prevail.
The Goto / Yujiro match looks the least promising on paper, with an easy Goto win. Honma for the win! I tip Okada / Elgin as match of the night. I think we all know the difference between Anderson in a tag-match and singles, so this should be fun.

[Dr Gregory House MD]

It is single cam but I think the wrestling will speak for itself so I'm not too bothered

[Prometheus]

I really enjoyed that hard-hitting Ishii match.  Wonderful superplex, and DDT's that'll take inches off your height.  Great opener for tonight's G1 matches.  I'll be honest, I started playing with my phone, sending texts, emails, following Twitter during the Yurjiro match.  Good, if failed, effort by Cody to get a chant for him.  I was sure Honma had that one.  An enjoyable match, if not one for the ages.  

He might not be a million dollars on the mic (but who in New Japan is?), but if you gave me a new wrestling promotion and I could pick talent from anywhere in the world, Okada would be one of my first choices, he just looks like he has it.

Looking a million dollars and working well with Anderson, Nakamura closes out an enjoyable house show. For me everything in the 2.5 to a generous 3.5 range. A couple of nice spots, overall enjoyable, but quite skippable in the big scheme of so many of these shows to watch.

[Prometheus]

Somehow I'd not logged in correctly. So just spent 10 minutes looking at a blank screen wondering what was wrong with the feed, before realising I wasn't actually logged in!

Still ready for the G1 matches now.

[Prometheus]

By a distance the best Doc Gallows match I've seen till the both at the end. Still happy to go 3.5*.

[Prometheus]

MOTY right here.  Fale vs Doc Gallows.  If they don't let this go 30 minutes and have them both kick out of multiple finishers then I won't be happy. Well, it was a better match than the slipped diving headbutt there. Ouch!!

[Prometheus]

Ibushi and Styles

And heel Naito

[Prometheus]

It's conceivable that Tanahashi could win to set up Tana vs Okada 8 and complete the redemption story they started with Okada's inability to beat Tanahashi in the dome

Ibushi is also a candidate mainly because they've been pushing him hard since he moved to the heavyweight ranks and they clearly have huge plans for him

Styles,  Naito, Goto and Shibata are all dark horses if they wanted to do something outside the expected

But yeh I think Nakamura is the favorite, he's done the donkey work with the 2nd belt, headlineing (and drawing) on the weaker shows against the varied opponents, I think his time is now and I see him beating Tanahashi or Ibushi in the final

Well Nakamura's gonna have to have a hell of a recovery, both physical and in the tournament, to win now.

Styles has been Tweeting an awful lot about how no Gaijin has ever won this......

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Been a bit quiet on this thread, work and my fiancé being on holiday have really stunted being able to keep up to date

Enjoyable tournament so far, I don't feel like it's quite living up to the standards set by the past couple of years but I think that's in some ways created by the new show format, spacing out the good stuff and magnifying the not so good stuff

I think the blocks are playing out how they look on paper in terms of match quality, Block A has the more top heavy run of workers with 3 of the big 5 and Shibata and Naito, Block B though has, Yujiro aside, the greater strength in depth producing more consistently entertaining cards but with the top matches coming from Block A

Top 5 Matches for me so far are

Tanahashi vs Ibushi Day 1
Ibushi vs Styles Day 5 (the most recent match I've seen)
Okada vs Honma Day 4
Shibata vs Naito Day 3
Styles vs Shibata Day 1

I've been impressed by Elgin so far, it's nice how a fresh crowd that pop for his power stuff have improved the atmosphere around his matches, The standout performers so far though have been Ibushi, Styles and Tanahashi for me and Honma has been as brilliant as ever

Have heard about Nakamura's injury which is worrying as I hope he wins the whole thing and removing a talent of his calibre would be a blow to the tournament as a whole, the fact they gave him a night off hopefully proves they are optimistic about him coming back rather than just desperate

Still a very enjoyable tournament so far, plenty of matches have been added to my MOTY list and I feel the best is yet to come

[Prometheus]

I agree with everything you've said House. Apart from I'd switch the top 2 matches, but hey....

Will be interesting to see if the non-G1 match, is actually the best that is held in the series, because I am super pumped for Ricochet vs Kushida.

What do you make of Naito? I think he's really working this new gimmick nicely.

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Ibushi vs Shibata btw!! Complete dick measuring contest but what a spectacle! Probably my new favorite match of the tournament but it's close with the other top 2 (which I just realise involve Ibushi, he may be on a hot run of opponents but Jesus that boy's good)

I'm enjoying Naito's heel work, his character needed a something as he's always had the talent and if nothing else that slice bread finisher is over now after pinning the 2 big guns

Really can't call who's coming out of group A, Tanahashi has the win over Ibushi who has it over Styles, but Naito's going so strong and Shibata got his big win last night and over Naito, guess I'm going to have to put my money on Yano

On that note btw who would have guessed in a tournament involving Ishii, Honma, Goto, Makabe and Shibata, the Tenzan/Yano match would be the one where the guys get busted open hard way! Yano's face in particular is a mess, that's got to hurt!

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Only to Block B now, pray for Shinsuke, if for no other reason than I really want to see him and Ishii go at it, they have great chemistry

Looks like a really good card aside from that, Okada/Goto could be an awesome main event if it delivers and Elgin/Honma should be a lot of fun, Honma-mania will be running wild in Osaka as well, they love him there, below that Nagata/Anderson has potential even if it's not super exciting and well Kojima/Yujiro is first match back after intermission so it should be short

[Prometheus]

I'm still following this closely.

I really enjoyed Honma and Nakamura today and totally marked out for the Ishii and Goto match.

[Dr Gregory House MD]

My most anticipated match of the tournament this morning, Ishii vs Honma in the main event of Kourken Hall, crowd should be super hot and they have great chemistry together, plus is this the moment #ithappens, no not Dixie going through a table but Honma finally getting his big win, personally I think and hope it is, but unfortunately I'm in work until 8 so won't find out until later on

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Ishii vs Honma

[President Trump]

I have been getting in to NJPW lately, catching matches on Youtube, is there a better place to watch for free?

[Dr Gregory House MD]

I've always found daily motion to be a better option though if you've got a spare £5 a month new Japan world is well worth an investment

[President Trump]

Isn't New Japan World all in Japanese

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Yes but there are step by step guides online of how to sign up and google translate makes it fairly navigable

[President Trump]

Cool, il check it out cheers

[Dr Gregory House MD]

Just finished the Final (won't name the participants in case of spoilers) incredible incredible match, will give my thoughts on the finals and the tournament as a whole in the near future but right now I need a cigarette and a lay down

[Prometheus]

Stuck on holiday with no wifi. So everything after day 15 still to catch up on.

Luckily this lack of Internet makes spoiler avoiding really easy.

[Prometheus]

Well, I'm finally home and am going to be settling down to the final rounds this PM.

[Prometheus]

Took me a bit longer than I hoped for, but I've got some time now.

Before I step back into G1, I've got up the IWGP Jr Heavyweight match.  Ricochet I'd happily listen to an argument that he's the best wrestler in the world right now, and Kushida has been on such a great level.  Really looking forward to this repeat of the '14 Super Junior final.

Right. So, its hard to be harsh on a match where Ricochet does his tope over the turnbuckle, or Kushida hits one of the best submissions in wrestling at the moment, but that was a step below their very best. I think they could have trimmed 5 minutes off this and gone a bit faster. Having said that, I like what Kushida is becoming, this wrestler who's story consistently is that he's working towards the submission move. And if you got bored of rolling suplexes years ago, just watch Ricochet's in this match. 4*

[Prometheus]

Okay, so here's the final.

Nakamura having a disappointing tournament is a bit like Messi "only" scoring 30 goals in a season, or going to see your favourite band in concert and they don't play your most favourite song.  It's still bloody good and much better than most of the rest, its just not as awesome as it can be.  And Tanahashi, well, he's got one foot in retirement, right?

At the end of this year, I have a feeling that both Doc and I (and hopefully others) will put up a top 10 matches of the year list. Those lists give room for personal preferences, but I've been pretty sure since Jan 4 that any list that doesn't peak with one of the two Wrestle Kingdom main events was one I'd not agree with. I'm not so sure now. This is another 5* classic.

[Prometheus]

I'd say if you only have time to watch 5 matches from the G1, I'd go for.

Tanahashi v Ibushi (night 1)
Styles v Ibushi (night 5)
Shibata v Ibushi (night 7)
Ishii v Goto (night 14)
Goto v Elgin (night 16)

And then of course the main events from nights 17, 18 and the final.  Was that a bit of a cheat?

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