G1 CLIMAX 25: DAYS 10 to 16

To my regular clientele this will be a disappointing entry but to those looking for RATINGZ step inside as I have to review 35 matches ahead of the final trio of shows at Sumo Hall and the energy to write them all up as overly-verbiaged artistic assessments is not quite in me. I have acquired a temporary job that requires me to listen to mostly-decent but occasionally-vitriolic people yell about matters that to we in the higher pantheon of the arts (wrestling) seem trivial but to some are life and death. I then have to type up summaries of these lengthy diatribes. It saps me of my will to do anything but sit there and enjoy the raw spectacle of the two blokes paid to hit each other for my amusement. Sorry! Normal service will be resumed after the final shows of each block as well as a dedicated post for the G1 Final. 

But for who? Find out at the end!

Brevity wins out here. Winner's name first.

G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY TEN
Sun Plaza, Sendai 
4th August 2015

G1 CLIMAX 25: DAYS 6 to 9

Not even halfway. We've seen 9 days of wrestling and the tournament is not even halfway done. Tours of old were longer, yes, but the wrestling wasn't as impactful and it wasn't all deigned important enough to broadcast. It's tough to keep with though fortunately I have a window of time after work that allows for viewing the tournament matches only. 

Should they maintain this format in years to come, it is difficult to see how anybody but the most ardent of fans can keep pace. Not to mention the wrestlers, many of whom are taped up, bandaged, and moving a little more wearily. That said, maintenance of kayfabe is a reason I like New Japan and I'd be surprised if there was no element of a 'work'. Not to say they're not banged up in myriad ways.

This post follows on from my last in terms of style; most matches will get a paragraph, though noteworthy bouts will get a bit of exposition and exegesis. A propos of nothing, I'd like to thank Cagematch for making this process possible. I don't take notes and can't remember bios and past matches without having my mind jogged. Take a look at this excellent site today!

It's that thing sticking up

G1 CLIMAX 25: DAYS 2 to 5

Fujiwara Armbar is a professional man with a filofax and many meetings to take and right now does not have time to provide premium express content solutions on the matter of New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual heavyweight wrestling tournament. However he was good to fax me the following comments on the back of what appears to be the invoice for 365 pairs of size M black underpants with a note made out to 'John at Bearhugger'.

G1 CLIMAX 25: DAY TWO
Twin Messe, Shizuoka
23rd July 2015

The opening round of Block B fixtures are being presented by a single camera with no commentary in a venue with little atmosphere. Hmm. As much as some may say this is more of a pure experience, I return with i. fuck purity and ii. the televisual production is what replaces the atmosphere of being there. This feels more like standing near the hard camera wearing ear defenders.

G1 CLIMAX 25 PREVIEW

One year ago the beginning of the greatest wrestling thing that has happened in my experience of watching this sometimes baffling pseudo-sport began: the tournament to top all tournaments, 111 beautiful golden memories culminating in a pulsating, trouser-rendering final that left me giddy and bereft of three weeks of my life but also strangely elated beyond any place art or sport had taken me before.

2014 winner Kazuchika Okada

All of this madness was simply for the right for one guy to go to Wrestle Kingdom 9 with a gaudy briefcase containing a contract stating his legitimacy as title challenger, which he promptly lost, bursting into tears having shinned up the biggest mountain in sight and finding, after several exasperating months, that it was a mere foothill.

NJPW New Beginning in Sendai

New Japan Pro-Wrestling
New Beginning in Sendai
14th February 2015
Sun Plaza, Sendai

The supposed new direction of NJPW in 2015 after part one of this two-part event feels a little familiar, but as Geoffrey Boycott said 'you have to see both sides bat'. I think I can just about shoehorn that one in here.

NJPW Power Struggle

New Japan Pro Wrestling
Power Struggle
8th November 2014, BODYMAKER Colosseum, Osaka

The final real supercard of the year indicates much intrigue with Bullet Club touting a new member, the next stage in the Shibata revival story and a raft of title matches with some big hitters. Let's dive straight in.

featuring translations from Yottsume of puroresushop.com
and lots of images from the excellent Sports Navi

NJPW Road to Power Struggle: Day One

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Road to Power Struggle: Day One

25th October 2014, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo

Once again featuring translations by Yottsume! Be sure to check out his website as it's pretty much the only way you can get the proper New Japan merch with the Lion Mark.  

Don't worry, it's the 2010 design. No one needs to be fired.

It didn't take much or many changes for the complexion of NJPW to alter as we hurtle toward 2015. Kenny Omega signs. Katsuyori Shibata signs full-time. Kota Ibushi extends his deal and goes heavyweight. Jushin Liger indicates the winding down phase of his career. And new alliances are formalised to help Seikigun (New Japan Army) fight back against the menace of the three major factions: CHAOS, Suzuki-gun and Bullet Club.

NJPW Destruction in Okayama

New Japan Pro Wrestling
Destruction in Okayama
23rd September 2014, Convex, Okayama

Okayama is just an hour and a quarter west of Kobe by the train that leaves Shinkobe station every fifteen minutes, which means if you really wanted to pull a live double-header for this PPV then it would be pretty easy. New Japan haven't run a big show here in the Bushiroad era, often granting the city smaller shows on the Tag League tour, giving this show the quality of a step into the unknown (unlike say, Osaka or Korakuen Hall).

On initial announcement my reaction was one of hesitation, feeling that there was more 'angle' than 'spectacle'. Drilling down deeper I must admit that all of the title matches and the contendership bouts offer something noteworthy. Match of the night seems genuinely up for grabs rather than nailed-on. As a critical word, I don't think that I can recall a main event where the result has been so completely expected ahead of time.

NJPW Road to Destruction: Day 1

New Japan Pro Wrestling
Road to Destruction: Day One
5th September 2014, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo

As a fan of the game known interchangeably as 'football' and 'soccer' I must say that I value the end of season break. Just last year my particular team of choice had something of a rollercoaster ride of a year, resulting in a glum day in North-West London in the realisation that further success had been curtailed for that season. One six hour coach ride of complete gloom later I was home and I began to wind down.

G1 CLIMAX 24: Finals

G1 CLIMAX 24: FINALS
Seibu Dome, Saitama
10th August 2014

int. New Japan headquarters

GEDO: So we need to do something big to sell the tickets for the G1 Final, it's our chance to earn the second and third biggest draws for any wrestling show worldwide in 2014.
  
JADO: I'm on it. You go back to your bandana collection. Anyway, isn't Inoki-san doing a big show in North Korea? 

GEDO: No, that stuff is 100% legit.

both look at camera

Promotion: DONE

So, in spite of them spacing it out and giving us more matches and indeed a separate event for the final match to headline, the G1 Climax 24 Final has rolled around really quickly. Critics all over the place are calling this the best edition of the tournament, the best tournament and the best thing that happened this year in wrestling. I cannot comment to that too heavily having not seen all the G1 Climaxes, all the tournaments nor all the things that have happened this year in wrestling. It is the best that I've seen though.

G1 CLIMAX 24: Day 10

G1 CLIMAX 24: DAY TEN
City Gymnasium, Takamatsu
6th August 2014 

NJPW leaves Honshu for Shikoku, the smallest of the four major islands - and in particular, the city of Takamatsu, reachable by ferry from Kobe. On the boat ride over I daresay many of the workers will look to this blog for spirit and courage and to remind them of of who they're really trying to please here.

RRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHH!

Tonight's card has one marquee match based on their Meltzer-approved tear-up from last year as Katsuyori Shibata takes on Tomohiro Ishii. Their bout in Osaka was utterly heartstopping and is probably one of my favourite matches of all time. I'm not going to pressurise this rubber match (as you'll see later) as Ishii is reportedly hurt but it should be interesting at worst and bloodcurdling at best.

G1 CLIMAX 24: Day 8

G1 CLIMAX 24: DAY EIGHT
BODYMAKER Colosseum, Osaka
3rd August 2014

It's quite possible that I'm not fully ready for Day 8 after such an excellent show at the Korakuen on the 1st. Reports I've seen online suggested that after cheering themselves into a frenzy for Tenzan-Goto, Styles-Suzuki and Nagata-Shibata, the crowd was pretty much blown out for the main event. I wasn't but I can understand if someone else was: it was insane. People aren't even really talking about Naito-Makabe and it was brilliant.

I SIGNED KENTA RIGHT HERE IN OSAKA JAPAN BROTHA

The wrestlers, hopefully, will have no such problems tonight. They absolutely bloody love their wrestling in Osaka and people who consider such things consider the Osaka crowd for New Japan Pro Wrestling to be the gold standard in worldwide audiences. A little bit smarky, sure - they wrongly hate Naito - but vocal as hell and capable of pushing the in-ring work on to greater heights.

G1 CLIMAX 24: Day 7

G1 CLIMAX 24: DAY SEVEN
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
1st August 2014 

Everybody loves Korakuen Hall, right?

Gym-ski now an then one the coolest places on earth to Rassle Korakuen Hall Tokyo Japan @njpw1972 #G124
— Lance Hoyt/Archer (@LanceHoyt) August 1, 2014

On the site of Tokyo Dome Hall complex is arguably the spiritual home of Japanese wrestling, an approximately 2000 capacity cuboid on the fifth floor of an otherwise unremarkable-looking building. Smaller promotions build to shows at Korakuen to blow off their biggest angles and larger promotions at their most highly-scrutinised time of year still incorporate Korakuen in their schedules because, it seems, that there really isn't another place like it that just seems so perfectly constructed for ring-based sports and pseudo-sports (like boxing).

G1 CLIMAX 24: Day 6

G1 CLIMAX 24: DAY SIX
Act City, Hamamatsu
July 31st 2014

Approximately halfway between Tokyo and Osaka lies Hamamatsu, birthplace of the founder of Honda, they of the frequently product-recalled cars. New Japan had a great house in this very city earlier in the year for an Anniversary tour house show notable for nothing more than a singles victory for Captain New Japan. Last year's G1 also got under way in Hamamatsu, headlined by Prince Devitt cheating his way to victory against then-champion Kazuchika Okada.

Minoru Suzuki hits the saka otoshi on Yujiro Takakashi (credit: Yahoo!)

A couple of rumours have been doing the rounds, possibly a work, on the health of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe. It'll be interesting to see how either bears up, especially Tanahashi given his headline match this evening against the very physically-demanding (but safe!) Tomohiro Ishii. This said, Tanahashi does get the following night off.

G1 CLIMAX 24: Day 4

G1 CLIMAX 24: DAY FOUR
Prefectural Gymnasium, Akita
26th July 2014

Akita, famed for the large breed of hairy mountain dogs whose roots were unearthed in this region, lies on the north-west coast of Honshu. The last major show to visit these parts was a show of the year contender on the 2013 Kizuna Road tour, taking place at the nearby Municipal Gymnasium, with Kazuchika Okada defeating Prince Devitt in front of a hot crowd in the main event. I miss Devitt in New Japan already.

Prince Devitt: don't be a stranger

Things are shaping up now, with Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shelton Benjamin, Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada all undefeated. At the foot of their blocks are Tomoaki Honma and Karl Anderson, both of whom are yet to register a win in three matches apiece. There's still a long way to go and anything can happen and indeed it would be best to suggest that is the case to sell those Seibu Dome tickets!

G1 CLIMAX 24: Day 2

G1 CLIMAX 24: DAY TWO
Aomori Prefecture Budokan, Aomori
July 23rd 2014

Aomori, at the northernmost extent of Honshu and birthplace of famed New York Mets pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, plays host to Day Two. The last time NJPW visited the city itself (having been within the Prefecture a couple of times), Rocky Romero's tag partner was Davey Richards, Wataru Inoue wrestled and Yoshihiro Takayama was part of Suzuki-gun. How times change.

Wataru Inoue

With a stacked card and a good house ready for anything, Day One of the 24th G1 Climax delivered in spades. On paper, day two of the tournament appears to be the one with fewest obvious marquee matches, with star names and favourites mostly spread out. However, the momentum has been set and NJPW has delivered this year with an apparently weak card on more than one occasion. Minoru Suzuki and Katsuyori Shibata have been granted the night off to go fishing, have a beer and saka otoshi everyone in sight.