Puroresu Show Reviews

Starts off with a video look at the ten men taking part in this year’s G1:

Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi, Giant Bernard, Jushin Thunder Liger and Satoshi Kojima
Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe, Koji Kanemoto and Naofumi Yamamoto

We than the official in-ring introductions of the 10-men, as well as 2005 winner Masahiro Chono coming out to return the G1 trophy. And the show kicks off!

Yujiro VS Wataru Inoue
Yujiro seems to have bulked up a bit, and had some good offense going for him, hitting a nice front suplex off the ropes, and doing Takashi Sugiura’s corner tackle, pick-up and slam move. He also managed to escape the dreaded “Boston crab of doom” which usually puts away young lions. Inoue didn’t look too impressive, and his Triangle Lancer that he finished Yujiro with was really weak looking.
Match Rating: 1/2*

Minoru & Tetsuya Naito VS El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi
My first look at Naito, and he’s still at that stage where he’s got nothing much going for him other than the fighting spirit of a young lion. Minoru seemed to sit out most of the match and Naito took the brunt of the punishment. The crowd popped big when Naito was able to counter a brainbuster from Taguchi into a small-package for a near fall though, but he ultimately fell to Taguchi’s Dondon, which is a modified reverse powerbomb where he picks up his opponents in a double chicken-wing from behind, then slams them face first into the mat.
Match Rating: *

Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii VS Shiro Koshinaka & Togi Makabe
Started off as a big brawl and the crowd was really into Koshinaka and his hip attacks and he finished Ishii with a powerbomb. Nothing really memorable here, but it’s good to see Makabe getting some kind of push and a rub from one of the veterans.
Match Rating: 1/2*

Giant Bernard & Black Strong Machine VS Riki Choshu & Akebono
Akebono is still rather green and out of place sometimes, but it’s still rather interesting seeing what the big guy can do in there. Choshu is Choshu of course, meaning he doesn’t have to sell anything if he doesn’t want to. Bernard did what he could to make Akebono look good, but seems to be pushing it just a bit too much if you ask me. Akebono scored the win with a big (literally) splash after a big Samoan drop.
Match Rating: *

G1 Climax – Block B: Yuji Nagata VS Naofumi Yamamoto
If you like your matches with a whole lot of stiff kicks, this is the one for you! Yamamto tried to get an early advantage by jumping Nagata at the bell, but Nagata came back and brutalized Yamamoto’s arm with kicks and armbreakers throughout the match which eventually lead to the referee stop via step-over armbar submission. But Yamamoto showed a lot of fire kicking away at Nagata for all he was worth when he could get in what little offense he could on the former IWGP heavyweight champion. Yamamoto is the future, but Nagata is the present, and the sooner they give him a belt, the better I think.
Match Rating: **

G1 Climax – Block A: Satoshi Kojima VS Jushin Thunder Liger
Kojima gave Liger more offense than he really needed to. He dominated Liger for the most part, but also gave Liger a lot of credible offense and near falls, including a big powerbomb and a pair of brainbusters, not to mention all the cradles and shotei slaps. Too bad Liger couldn’t repay the favor and sell Kojima’s lariat more convincingly when he hit him with it. I would have preferred if he did a flip or something instead of just dropping like deadweight.
Match Rating: *1/2

G1 Climax – Block B: Koji Kanemoto VS Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Tenzan had more control over Kanemoto than Kojima had over Liger. Kanemoto hit some high impact offense early on till Tenzan slowed things down and heeled the crowd when they backed Kanemoto. There was a cool spot where Kanemoto slipped out of the TTD and countered it into an ankle-lock for the near submission. He also managed to hit the moonsault but only got a 1 count! Kanemoto almost snapped Tenzan’s neck when he flipped out of a powerbomb into a sunset flip for a near fall, but Tenzan was able to hit the powerbomb on the second attempt, and spike Kanemoto with the TTD before he locked on the Anaconda Vice. Kanemoto was able to bridge out of the hold, but Tenzan slammed him back down with the Anaconda Slam and applied the hold again for the submission.
Match Rating: *1/2

G1 Climax - Block A: Manabu Nakanishi VS Hiroshi Tanahashi
Well this one just seemed to plod along. Nakanishi controlled most of the match thanks to his power game, but seemed winded for the most part. Tanahashi showed fire, but his offense is still really weak looking, including the top rope Slingblade he won the match with, which didn’t get much of a pop when he pinned Nakanishi after hitting it. The best part of the match was the sequence where Tanahashi slipped out of the Argentine Backbreaker and tried for the Dragon Sleeper, but Nakanishi lifted him off his feet into the powerslam position only for Tanahashi to bring him back down by using a Final Cut!
Match Rating: *1/2

Overall: Hate to say it, but the video package of highlights from the 2005 G1 at the end of the show was probably the best part of this one. Sure it’s only the first day of the tournament, but shouldn’t they go all out since they all want to win the thing so badly?

Labels: NJPW