NJPW G1 Climax 23.

[Jiji]

Shibata/Okada from Day 6 was bitterly disappointing. I don't think Okada cared much for Shibata stiffing him. He gets his ass kicked for the majority of the match then all of a sudden, after being near death, just gets up and hits three moves in quick succession without any selling or delay and wins. Shiiiiiiiiit. This show, so far, hasn't been very good either.

[The Natural]

 

 

Thanks, will check it out.

 

You're welcome. Hope you like it.

 

That was really good. Okada was a bit awkward at times during his controlling the first 10 or so minutes but Naito sold well and the leg work was interesting. Nice finishing stretch too. I was impressed by Naito.

Thanks again for the recommendation.

 

 

You're welcome. Glad you liked it.

 

News:

 

Due to so many complaints regarding G-1 only coming in a $150 package deal, New Japan and UStream have just announced that Sunday's final (Saturday at 11 p.m. Pacific time; 2 a.m. Sunday Eastern time) will be available for an individual purchase at http://www.ustream.tv/njpwsub

for $30.

 

The G-1 finals, held at a sold out Tokyo Sumo Hall, is traditionally the second biggest New Japan show of the year.

 

Credit: f4wonline.com

 

Before the package deal was announced, I thought NJPW would do this.

[KidKash202]

Goto and Tenzan out of the rest of the tourney due to injuries.

 

Re-watched Tanahashi and Ishii. Just a fantastic match.

 

I may be in the minority here but, while I'm digging the Bullet Club and Devitt's character, I'm finding the matches to be a little over-done with the interference and general chicanery.

Nope, you are not alone. I am here with you.

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed Day 6 of the G1 Climax here(Yeah, I know, I'm a few days behind):
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/njpw-g1-climax-2013-day-6-results-and.html

Overall thoughts: Good show overall with Ishii/Davey being the highlight. Okada/Shibata and Goto/Tanahashi were disappointing though.

Some shots from the show:

[Pete]

Amusing that we have the GWF stuff on ESPN now, because I could totally see Yujiro there with his current look. He could team with Rod Price and John Tatum as the Coast to Coast to Coast Connection.

[Alan4L]

Yet another incredible show today.

 

I'd go slightly better than Korakuen and slightly below Osaka. The crowd were great and there were five matches of really high quality.Kojima/Archer was yet another great performance from two of the surprise packages of the tournament.Makabe/Ishii was every bit the slugfest that people expected, maybe even more so. Ishii was once again on another level with a performance arguably better than his performances against Shibata and Tanahashi (since he kinda carried Makabe at points).Ibushi/Suzuki was absolutely perfect for what a match between those two should have been. Just really really awesome as a veteran vs. young guy match, a sizzle vs. steak match and an underdog match.Tanahashi vs. Okada was 30 minutes of Tanahashi vs. Okada. Exactly what you'd expect. So well wrestled, so absorbing. I'd say it's either the 2nd best or 3rd best of their five matches. Match of the night.

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed Day 7 of the G1 Climax here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/njpw-g1-climax-day-7-results-and-review.html

Overall thoughts: This was one of the lesser days of the G1. There were only two matches I liked here and I just was not into this one at all. This one also had a house show type of feel to it.

Some shots from the show:

[Hagan]

Just finished day 7. Decent enough. Enjoyed Ishii/Okada. I'm going to watch the Naito match from a few years back that was pimped a few posts ago but so far I'm not seeing the big deal. Obviously, I'm really unfamiliar with his work and I know he just came back from a serious injury. Has he regained his old form yet or is he still shaking off the ring rust?

[John E. Dynamite]

Naito's not back to where he was yet.  Word is the match he just had with Nakamura was pretty nice, if it's any consolation to anyone.

[paul sosnowski]

Anybody know what Shibata was saying when he came out today with the mic before Makabe and Ishii's match?

[Harbinger]

Shibata - "I'm gonna fuck you up & fuck Yujiro's bitches."

[The Natural]

Reading Tomohiro Ishii's wikipedia page and it says Dave Meltzer gave his match against Katsuyori Shibata in the G1 Climax, Day Four, *****. I'll have to watch it again.

 

Also from Dave Meltzer,

 

--Will have more later on this but Tanahashi vs. Okada is the current equivalent of Thesz vs. O'Connor, Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. and Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat. I'm not listing Misawa vs. Kobashi because as good as Tanahashi vs. Okada is, until they repeatedly win match of the year, I'm not putting them in the same category.

[RandomAct]

Ishii vs Makabe was almost on par with Ishii/Shibata for me.  Great slugfest.  Kojima/Archer surprised the hell out of me, but that probably comes from me still not accepting that Archer has gotten decent.  Absolutely loved the last couple of minutes of Minoru/Ibushi.

 

I can't decide who I'm more in love with right now, Ishii or Takahashi. 

[wakigatame]

Anybody know what Shibata was saying when he came out today with the mic before Makabe and Ishii's match?

 

He came back last year to pick a fight, he was enjoying pro wrestling and was bummed out his match with Goto was off but that feeling was going to burst when he faced Tanahashi the next day.

[Alan4L]

The finals was absolutely epic

[wakigatame]

I really wasn't into it at all until the last few minutes. Naito not selling the damaged leg at all hurt that match so much. Don't get me wrong, it was a really good match but I now get why people crap on Naito for not selling shit.

[Salads]

I can't remember whether I posted it on this forum or not but my wish for the G1 winner was 'anyone but Shibata or Naito' so I'm a bit bummed. Hope Naito's form recovered enough for a fitting final.

 

Tanahashi deserves a lot of credit for having the biggest shift nearly every night and successfully being Tanahashi throughout all of them.

[S3PC]

I went into this G1 as someone who hadn't followed New Japan in a long time; I'm now a card-carrying NJPW fanboy. Just so much great wrestling and so many fun wrestlers ...

 

I didn't want Naito to take it all mainly because he's apparently not fully recovered from his knee injury, and the possibility of re-injury would really suck after the big push he's had. That said, he's a good, sympathetic babyface who could take Tanahashi's spot one day. And as far as his lack of selling goes: well, he's a guy who does a lot of flips and flying. If you work his leg the entire match, his only options are to either completely change the way he fights or to ignore the legwork while on offense. The crowd didn't seem to mind, so why should I?

 

I really liked the Davey Boy/Lance Archer match. Davey is getting really good and Archer is a perfectly serviceable gaijin monster heel. When you look back at the US careers of these guys thus far, it's obvious that they just weren't given the right opportunities. Them being total bros before and after the match made me smile.

 

And maybe I'm just weird, but the 6-man prior to the final is actually a strong contender for my favorite match of the entire tournament. It might be because the face team was so WAR-like in its composition. It might be because I fucking love Ishii's work. Or it might be because Iizuka's schtick amuses me. Whatever reason, I really, really liked the match, clusterfuck that it was. 

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed Day 8 of the NJPW G1 Climax 2013 here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/njpw-g1-climax-day-8-results-and-review.html

Overall thoughts: There was sadly more bad than good on this show. The main was good and should be seen and I liked Ishii's match, but Ibushi was awful and the usual suspects weren't much better in the bad match department. The crowd wasn't totally there until the end though and I didn't like NJPW leaving Shibata totally off the card due to Goto's injury.

Some shots from the show:




 

[rzombie1988]

I reviewed the G1 Finals here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/njpw-g1-climax-2013-day-9-finals.html

Overall thoughts - This was a great night of wrestling. There were multiple good matches and a good crowd. I was very disappointed by Tanahashi/Shibata but hopefully they will meet again. As a whole, the tournament has been pretty great but there were clearly "big show" days and "house show" days. Still, we got the amazing Shibata/Ishii spectacle and the fabulous Tanahashi/Ishii battle. This was a great G1 and quite possibly the best G1 yet.

Some shots from the show:




 

[ultimoDANK]

I'd really like to see Naito vs Devitt with a toned down Bullet Club. That seems like a pairing that might work well.

[The Natural]

Block A is loaded. I'm thinking a Tetsuya Naito or Shinsuke Nakamura win.

 

Yeah!

 

Tanahashi vs. Okada was 30 minutes of Tanahashi vs. Okada. Exactly what you'd expect. So well wrestled, so absorbing. I'd say it's either the 2nd best or 3rd best of their five matches. Match of the night.

 

I'd have it third ahead of their matches at The New Beginning 2012 and Wrestle Kingdom 7 in that order but behind Dominion 2012 and Invasion Attack 2013. The match they had at Invasion Attack 2013 is the best of the five.

 

G1 Climax 23 talk on f4wonline.com:

 

By Dave Meltzer

 

--G-1 Climax finals was a great show. The show moved quickly and almost flew by. The show is available on iPPV for $30 at www.ustream.tv/njpwsub and I'd highly recommend it. I'd recommend some show from last week in Osaka even more, but that's part of the $150 package. There have been tournaments in the 70s with more Hall of Famers (the most amazing lineups would be the original PWF world title tournament, the early 80s International title tournament and the 1975 World Open, all promoted by All Japan, and maybe the first IWGP tournaments come close and some early G-1s. We're not getting almost everyone as a Hall of Fame candidate but I can't come up with a tournament with as many great matches. Everyone who had a part in this should really be congratulated/

 

--After winning G-1, Tetsuya Naito said that he first wanted to get the NEVER championship, held by Masato Tanaka, and then challenge for the IWGP title in a champion vs. champion match.

 

--In voting in Japan, Tomohiro Ishii was voted the A block MVP with Katsuyori Shibata second. Kota Ibushi was voted B block MVP with Shinsuke Nakamura second. Interesting that neither Tanahashi nor Naito made the top two. (thanks to Jose Gonzalez)

 

WHAT WAS THE BEST MATCH IN G-1? (question asked before the final day)

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii 33.3%

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii 20.7%

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 20.7%

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi 18.9%

Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata 3.6%

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii 2.7%

 

My vote would go to Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi. Watched Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii the most. I really liked it the first time I watched it and liked it even more on a repeat viewing.

[RandomAct]

Oddly enough, I really enjoyed Shibata vs Tanahashi and Kojima vs Okada.  Tana/Shibata had a story I really dug, with Shibata just absolutely unloading on him, and Tanahashi just tried to hang on and survive.  The finish played into that too.  He got the pin and went the hell home.  Also, when did they ditch the traditional semifinal matches?  Is it just me, or did they seem to go out of their way to show that Yujiro wasn't on everyone else's level the last 2-3 days of the tournament?

 

I have to say that this was by far my favorite G1 ever.  I went into this as someone who had completely lost faith in pro wrestling, and it made me a fan again.  I had so much fun the last week +.

[wakigatame]

The last one to have the semifinals was 09, I think.

[Hagan]

Almost through Day 8. I thought Suzuki vs Ibushi was a big bowl of wonderful.