PRIDE Middleweight GP 8/28 results

Some interesting results from last night's PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix finals show at the Saitama Super Arena. UFC legend Tank Abbott made his PRIDE debut, but came up short against Judo star Hidehiko Yoshida. I was really hoping Tank would win here to get a good start in Japan, but with the loss I'm not even sure we'll see him there again. He lost by submission to a katahajime, and that's sorta expected as Tank has never been known to be good on the ground. I was hoping Yoshida would keep the fight standing as he's shown he can throw punches with the best of them in the past.
Wanderlei Silva LOST to Ricardo Arona in the semi finals of the GP! This was not really surprising as Arona has shown alot of skill and improvement in the GP fights I've seen him in. The problem here was that he won by judges decision after two rounds. I'm scratching my head as to why up until now all the GP fights were three rounds, and now the semi finals were just 2 rounds. Arona was said to have been very dominant over the "Axe Murderer", so who knows what results a third round would have yielded.
Emelianenko Fedor successfully defended his PRIDE Heavyweight Title against Mirko CroCop Filopovic in the semi-main event of the night. Fedor won by judges decision after 3 rounds. I'm guessing Fedor kept CroCop grounded to avoid his deadly kicks.
Despite pulling off a huge upset in the semis, Ricardo Arona fell to Mauricio Shogun Rua in the finals of the GP. Shogun himself has improved vastly in PRIDE and this fight should be interesting to check out.
And yes, I will be checking out this event as ASTRO will be airing the US PPV version of the show in September. At least I think it's this show since the next PRIDE show isn't until the next Bushido show on 9/25.

PRIDE FC Middleweight GP Finals 8/28/2005
Saitama Super Arena - 47,269 Fans
Reserve GP Match: Kazuhiro Nakamura defeated Igor Vovchanchyn after 2R by a 3-0 judges' decision.
GP Semi-Finals: Ricardo Arona defeated Vanderlei Silva after 2R by a 3-0 judges' decision.
GP Semi-Finals: Mauricio Shogun defeated Alistair Overeem in the 1R in 6 minutes, 42 seconds by KO from mount punches.
Fabricio Werdum defeated Roman Zentsov in the 1R in 4 minutes, 1 second with a cross-arm scissors hold for the submission.
Hidehiko Yoshida defeated Tank Abott in the 1R in 7 minutes, 12 seconds with the katahajime (choke sleeper).
PRIDE Heavyweight Title Match: Emelianenko Fedor defeated Mirko Cro Cop after 3R by a 3-0 judges' decision.
2005 Middleweight GP Finals: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua defeated Ricardo Arona in the 1R in 2 minutes, 53 seconds by KO.

Chono wins 2005 G-1 CLIMAX!

The 14th annual New Japan G-1 CLIMAX has come to a close with Mr. G-1 Masahiro Chono winning his fifth G-1 beating IWGP champion Kazuyuki Fujita in the finals. Chono received a big pop for the win, and even more for dedicating the match to the late Shinya Hashimoto. Fujita on the other hand up to this point had been undefeated, and was destroying the opposition left and right. Even the mighty Toshiaki Kawada fell to Fujita in just 6 1/2 minutes!
However, on paper this overall looked like one of the WORSE G1s EVER.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/14/05 (WPW/NJ+IWTV Internet)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
11,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy Full House
Hirooki Goto beat Akiya Anzawa (8:41) with a crab hold.
Lizmark Jr. beat Takashi Iizuka (11:50) with a revolution-style side buster.
Hangman beat Hiro Saito (5:06) with a stretch buster.
G1 Climax - Semi Final: Masahiro Chono beat Shinsuke Nakamura (11:35) with a reverse STF.
G1 Climax - Semi Final: Kazuyuki Fujita beat Toshiaki Kawada (6:23) with a knee kick.
Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru, Jado & Gedo beat Koji Kanemoto, Tiger Mask, El Samurai & Masahito Kakihara (18:20) when Jado used an inside cradle on Tiger.
Tatsutoshi Goto & Osamu Nishimura beat Minoru Suzuki & Toru Yano (13:01) when Nishimura used a backslide on Yano.
Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Kendo Kashin beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi (13:34) when Nagata used a backdrop hold on Yoshie.
G1 Climax - Final: Masahiro Chono beat Kazuyuki Fujita (8:52) with a Shining Yakuza kick.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/13/05 (Samurai! TV/PV)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
8,000 Fans
Naofumi Yamamoto & Hiroshi Nagao beat Hirooki Goto & Akiya Anzawa (10:11) when Yamamoto used a backdrop suplex on Goto.
G1 Climax - Block B: Toru Yano [4] beat Togi Makabe [0] by forfeit.
G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie [6] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [4] (8:22) with a diving body press.
G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki [6] vs. Kendo Kashin [5] went to a double countout (12:17).
G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [10] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [7] (13:50) with the Hercules Cutter.
G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [10] beat Osamu Nishimura [5] (17:00) with a Stretch Plum.
G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [10] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [4] (11:08) with a Shining Yakuza kick.
G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [8] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8] (16:55) with a backdrop hold.
G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [14] beat Shinsuke Nakamura [11] (6:25) with a knee kick.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/11/05 (Samurai! TV)
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
8,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy
Naofumi Yamamoto & Yujiro beat Hirooki Goto & Akiya Anzawa (12:27) when Yujiro used a kakaekomi crab hold on Anzawa.
G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [7] beat Togi Makabe [0] by forfeit.
G1 Climax - Block B: Tatsutoshi Goto [4] beat Toru Yano [2] (4:16) with a backdrop suplex.
G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [11] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] (10:49) by pinfall.
G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [6] beat Osamu Nishimura [5] (19:34) with a backdrop hold.
G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [8] beat Kendo Kashin [4] (1:45) with a reverse STF.
Hiroshi Tanahashi beat El Samurai (7:22) with a Dragon sleeper.
G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [8] beat Minoru Suzuki [5] (17:11) with a face kick.
G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [4] (12:49) with a moonsault press.
G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [12] beat Manabu Nakanishi [8] (8:02) with a knee kick.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/10/05 (SXW)
Twin Messe Shizuoka North Pavillion
3,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy
Hirooki Goto beat Naofumi Yamamoto (8:03) with a crab hold.
Manabu Nakanishi beat Yujiro (4:35) with the Hercules Cutter.
G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [8] beat Togi Makabe [0] by forfeit.
G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [9] vs. Toru Yano [2] went to a double countout (5:15).
G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [5] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [2] (9:09) with the Sling Blade.
G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [4] beat Kendo Kashin [4] (13:08) with a backdrop hold.
G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [10] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] (8:45) with a cross armbreaker.
G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura [5] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [4] (11:29) with a modified front cradle.
G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki [5] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] (13:50) with a sleeper hold.
G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [6] beat Toshiaki Kawada [6] (12:14) with a Shining Yakuza kick.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/8/05 (SXW)
Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium
5,000 Fans - No Vacancy
Hiroshi Nagao beat Yujiro (7:53) with a chokeslam.
G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [8] beat Togi Makabe [0] by forfeit.
G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [8] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [2] (6:11) with a cross armbreaker.
G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [6] beat Toru Yano [1] (5:17) with the Hercules Cutter.
G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] beat Kendo Kashin [4] (12:19) with the TTD.
G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura [3] beat Masahiro Chono [4] (20:55) with a figure-four leglock.
Kazuyuki Fujita beat Hirooki Goto (1:11) with a front sleeper.
G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [3] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] (15:01) with a high-angle front cradle.
G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami [4] beat Minoru Suzuki [3] (10:17) with a cross armbreaker cutback cradle.
G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [6] beat Yuji Nagata [2] (26:55) with a low-altitude dropkick.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/7/05 (WPW/NJ+IWTV Internet)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
6,000 Fans - No Vacancy
Hirooki Goto & Yujiro beat Naofumi Yamamoto & Hiroshi Nagao (14:11) when Goto used a crab hold on Nagao.
G1 Climax - Block B: Tatsutoshi Goto [2] beat Togi Makabe [0] by forfeit.
G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [4] beat Yutaka Yoshie [4] (12:40) with the Hercules Cutter.
G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] beat Osamu Nishimura [1] (18:46) with the Anaconda Cross.
G1 Climax - Block A: Yuji Nagata [2] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [2] (9:37) with a backdrop hold.
G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [6] beat Toru Yano [1] (3:41) with a powerbomb.
G1 Climax - Block A: Kendo Kashin [4] beat Toshiaki Kawada [4] (11:16) with a Stretch Plum cutback cradle.
G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [4] beat Minoru Suzuki [3] (17:50) with a Shining Yakuza kick.
G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [6] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [1] (13:35) with a cross armbreaker.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/6/05 (Samurai! TV)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
5,200 Fans
Hiroshi Nagao beat Akiya Anzawa (7:15) with a chokeslam.
G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie [4] beat Toru Yano [1] (12:39) with a diving body press.
G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [4] beat Togi Makabe [0] (2:30) by referee stop.*
G1 Climax - Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [2] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [0] (7:26) with the Hercules Cutter.
G1 Climax - Block A: Kendo Kashin [2] beat Osamu Nishimura [1] (15:07) with a forward cradle cutback.
G1 Climax - Block A: Minoru Suzuki [3] beat Yuji Nagata [0] (12:06) with an open hand slap.
G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [4] beat Tatsumi Fujinami [2] (12:03) with a right face kick.
G1 Climax - Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] beat Masahiro Chono [2] (18:33) with the Anaconda Cross.
G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [4] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [1] (9:14) with a single-leg crab hold.
* Makabe suffers an ankle injury and can't continue the tournament.

NJPW G1 CLIMAX 8/4/05 (SXW)
Fukuoka International Center
4,000 Fans - No Vacancy
G1 Climax - Block B: Yutaka Yoshie [2] beat Togi Makabe [0] (12:23) with a diving body press.
G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi [1] vs. Toru Yano [1] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired.
G1 Climax - Block A: Osamu Nishimura [1] vs. Minoru Suzuki [1] went to a draw (30:00) when the time limit expired.
G1 Climax - Block A: Tatsumi Fujinami [2] beat Kendo Kashin [0] (4:50) with a ground Cobra Twist.
G1 Climax - Block B: Kazuyuki Fujita [2] beat Tatsutoshi Goto [0] (3:19) with a front sleeper.
G1 Climax - Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [2] beat Manabu Nakanishi [0] (14:38) with a triangle choke hold.
G1 Climax - Block A: Masahiro Chono [2] beat Yuji Nagata [0] (17:02) with an inside cradle.
G1 Climax - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada [2] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan [0] (19:08) with a face kick.

Z1Max Fire Festival results

Shinjiro Ohtani won his third Fire Festival tournament beating Kensuke Sasaki in the finals. Sasaki had defeated Ohtani a few weeks previously in a special attraction match, and Ohtani got his revenge in the finals.

Full results for the tournament:

Z1M FIRE FESTIVAL, 7/29/05
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
(There was a special ceremony honoring Shinya Hashimoto before the show)
1. Takehiro Murahama & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Yoshihito Sasaki & Osamu Namiguchi (9:36) when Murahama used a Brainbuster.
2. Ryouji Sai & Tatsuhito Takaiwa beat Minoru Fujita & Rikiya Fudo (15:13) when Takahashi used a Modifed Backdrop on Fudo.
3. Fire Festival - Block A: Kohei Sato [2] beat Masato Tanaka [0] (12:47) via Tiger Suplex. Sato stated after the match that he didn’t get a chance to face Tanaka in last year’s Fire Festival which he won, so that makes this victory more sweeter.
4. Fire Festival - Block B: Takao Omori [2] beat Chris the Bambi Killer [0] (8:03) with an Axe Bomber.
5. Alex Shelly & Tadao Yasuda beat Ikuto Hidaka & Kamikaze (9:49) when Shelly used the Shell Shock on Hidaka.
6. Fire Festival - Block A: Daisuke Ikeda [1] VS Shinjiro Otani [1] (30:00) went to a time limit draw.
7. Fire Festival - Block B: Kensuke Sasaki [2] beat Hirotaka Yokoi [0] (10:44) with a backhand chop.

Z1M FIRE FESTIVAL 7/31/05
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Kamikaze & Fuyuki Takahashi beat Rikya Fudo & Fugo Fugo Yumeji (10:57) when Kamikaze used the Kamikaze Driver on Fudo.
2. Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Osamu Namiguchi (11:26) via R-15.
3. Daisuke Ikeda, Minoru Fujita, & Takehiro Murahama beat Takao Omori, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, & Yoshihito Sasaki (13:47) when Ikeda used an Armbar on Sasaki
4. Fire Festival - Block B: Chris the Bambi Killer [2] beat Kensuke Sasaki [2] (7:46) by Ring-Out (!).
5. Fire Festival - Block B: Ryouji Sai [2] beat Hirotaka Yokoi [0] (11:41) by 2nd Sky Kick.
6. Z1-MAX/UPW/AWA/W-1 International Junior Heavyweight Title: Ikuto Hidaka © beat Alex Shelly (14:45) via Misty Flip. (3rd Defence)
7. Fire Festival - Block A: Tadao Yasuda [2] beat Kohei Sato [2] (7:18) by Big Boot
8. Fire Festival - Block A: Masato Tanaka [2] beat Shinjiro Otani [1] (17:11) via Diamond Dust.

Z1M FIRE FESTIVAL 8/2/04
Iwaki City Gym
1. Kamikaze beat Fuyuki Takahashi (7:28) after a Moonsault.
2. Fire Festival - Block A: Daisuke Ikeda [2] vs Kohei Sato [3] (6:50) went to a Double Count-Out.
3. Fire Festival - Block B: Hirotaka Yokoi [2] beat Chris the Bambi Killer [2] (10:46) with a Jujigatame.
4. Alex Shelly, Takehiro Murahama, & GAMMA beat Ikuto Hidaka, Minoru Fujita, & Osamu Namiguchi (14:32) when GAMMA used the Blitzen on Osamu.
5. Fire Festival - Block A: Tadao Yasuda [4] beat Masato Tanaka [2] (7:46) by Count-Out.
6. Fire Festival - Block B: Takao Omori [4] beat Ryouji Sai [2] (20:03) via Axe Bomber.
7. Iwaki City "Fire Festival" Special Tag: Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, & Yoshihito Sasaki beat Kensuke Sasaki, Rikiya Fudo, & Katsuhiko Nakajima (17:35) when Takaiwa used a Avalanche Style Death Valley Driver on Fudo.

Z1M FIRE FESTIVAL 8/05/05
Osaka Prefectural Gym #2 - 1,500 fans
(There was a memorial ceremony for Shinya Hashimoto before the show)
1. Kamikaze & Rikiya Fudo beat Masa Kurisu & Fuyuki Takahashi in 12:26 when Fudo used the Sniper FUDO on Takahashi.
2. ROWDY (Kohei Sato & Hirotaka Yokoi) defeated Takehiro Murahama & Tatsuhito Takaiwa in 9:50 when Sato used a German Suplex hold on Murahama.
3. Fire Festival – Block B: Chris the Bambi Killer [4] beat Ryouji Sai [2] in 14:13 with a flying lariat.
4. Fire Festival – Block A: Masato Tanaka [4] defeated Daisuke Ikeda [2] in 9:03 with the Gannosuke Clutch.
5. Minoru Fujita/Ikuto Hidaka/Alex Shelley beat Katsuhiko Nakajima/Osamu Namiguchi/Yoshito Sasaki in 13:43 when Shelley used the Shell Shock on Namiguchi.
6. Fire Festival – Block A: Shinjiro Otani [3] defeated Tadao Yasuda [4] in 10:49 with a schoolboy.
7. Fire Festival – Block B: Kensuke Sasaki [4] beat Takao Omori [4] in 22:51 with the Northern Lights Bomb.

Z1M FIRE FESTIVAL 8/07/05
Korakuen Hall
1. Fire Festival – Block A: Daisuke Ikeda [4] beat Tadao Yasuda [4] (5:57) by countout
2. Fire Festival – Block A: Shinjiro Otani [5] beat Kohei Sato [3] (13:39) by King Cobra Hold.
3. Fire Festival – Block B: Kensuke Sasaki [6] beat Ryouji Sai [2] (12:06) via Lariat
4. Fire Festival – Block B: Hirotaka Yokoi [4] defeated Takao Omori (6:15) [4] by Guilatine Choke.
5. Chris the Bambi Killer [4] & Alex Shelley beat Kamikaze & Masato Tanaka [4] (11:46) when Shelly used a modified clutch on Kamikaze.
6. Yoshihito Sasaki beat Rikiya Fudo (10:18) By Argentine Coaster.
7. Minoru Fujita, Ikuto Hidaka & Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Osamu Namiguchi, Takehiro Murahama & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (12:04) When Nakajima used a German Suplex on Osamu
8. Fire Festival – Finals: Shinjiro Otani beat Kensuke Sasaki (20:00) via Dragon Suplex to win the 2005 Fire Festival.

WRESTLE-1 8/04/05 Results

The first WRESTLE-1 (not related to Keiji Mutoh's project) show was held yesterday and drew a good attendance, but most of the matches came off as weak and uninspiring. The only two standout matches on the show were Kaz Hayashi VS AJ Styles and Jun Akiyama VS Katsuyori Shibata. A big mentionable upset saw AJPW rookie sensation Kohei Suwama defeating The Predator to advance in the tournament. The only problem I have with this is that there were SIX tournament matches, with the tournament continuing around October. So we don't know if someone is getting a by to the next round, or if there are more round one matches coming since Suwama commented he's happy to make it to the QUARTER-FINALS of the tournament, meaning there are still 12 matches to go to fill a full 8-man quarter final bracket.

WRESTLE-1 "GP2005 OPENING ROUND", 8/4/05 (PPV)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
10,500 Fans - Super No Vacancy
1. Mil Mascaras & Terry Funk beat Tomoaki Honma & Katsuhiko Nakajima (10:19) when Mascaras used a diving body attack on Nakajima.
2. Kaz Hayashi beat AJ Styles (14:38) with the Final Cut.
3. WRESTLE-1 GP - Round 1: Kohei Suwama beat The Predator (7:36) with a backdrop hold.
4. WRESTLE-1 GP - Round 1: Genichiro Tenryu beat Kazunari Murakami (7:29) by DQ.
5. WRESTLE-1 GP - Round 1: Bob Sapp beat Giant Bernard (5:30) with a horizontal cradle.
6. WRESTLE-1 GP - Round 1: Kensuke Sasaki beat Riki Choshu (6:10) with a Northern Light bomb.
7. WRESTLE-1 GP - Round 1: Jun Akiyama beat Katsuyori Shibata (13:46) with a wrist-clutch Exploder.
8. WRESTLE-1 GP - Round 1: Great Muta beat Akebono (10:08) with a moonsault press.

Credit: Shining Road for the results and Sportsnavi for the pictures.

A look at the 2005 G-1 CLIMAX

Looking at this year’s G-1 CLIMAX, which kicks off this Thursday, it’s really an intriguing set of matches they have going for it this year. The addition of Toshiaki Kawada even caught my interest as much as Jun Akiyama did in 2003 when he took part. I just might actually get this year’s show just for Kawada alone.

But anyway, here are some predictions from myself on what I’m expecting to go down this year. I might be right or wrong though, since anything can usually happen in these tournaments.

Block A (big name veterans theme)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (11th participation; 2003 and 2004 winner)
- Expect to see the former 4-time IWGP champion lose a lot more this year compared to his past two tournaments. The time to start phasing him out of the title picture like Nagata after he lost the IWGP title is now. Even if he wins the G-1 now, so what? It’s not like New Japan will do anything good for him after. But who knows.

Masahiro Chono (15th participation: 1991, 1992, 1994, 2002 winner)
- Will beat everyone EXCEPT Kawada, which will go to a DRAW. Trust me on this. Also wouldn’t surprise me if KaShin & MiSuzuki GAVE him a free pin since he’s the Black New Japan team leader.

Tatsumi Fujinami (8th participation: 1993 winner)
- The guy the fans will be rooting for big time, even if he doesn’t stand a chance in hell of winning it. I’m guessing he’ll score points over Nishimura, MiSuzuki & KaShin. And I hope Kawada doesn’t stiff the old guy too much either or it’s going to be a short comeback for him.

Yuji Nagata (7th participation: 2001 winner)
- Will probably beat everyone in his block except Chono and Kawada.

Osamu Nishimura (7th participation)
- The only win he’ll probably pick up is a big upset over Kawada, and he’ll job to everyone else.

Toshiaki Kawada (1st participation)
- THE man to watch in the tournament as no doubt every match he’ll be apart of will be good to great. Kawada will easily get to the semi-finals and will probably be one point behind Chono due to the afore predicted time limit draw the two will have. On the other hand, I could also see Kawada losing a match or two by count out to keep him out of the semis and protect a big selling Fujita/Kawada match down the line.
For the love of God I hope Kawada will be the man to finally rip MiSuzuki’s tongue out or kick his teeth in cause I’ve been really disappointed with Kobashi, Akiyama & Misawa when they faced MiSuzuki in the past.

Minoru Suzuki (2nd participation; GHC Tag Team Champion)
- The man who’ll probably put me to sleep if I watch the G-1 this year. He’s always very protected in tag matches, so now should be the time to see him get beaten up, which of course won’t happen. I hope Kawada gives him the big right hand when Suzuki is smiling and sticking his tongue out so that it shuts him up good.

Kendo Kashin (1st participation)
- The good news is, like MiSuzuki, he’ll have no tag partners to hide behind, and will lose some matches. The bad news is, it’s KaShin, so I wouldn’t be surprised he if didn’t lose directly, but by count out or so. His match with Suzuki could be interesting though.

Block B (young generation & "high wall to cross" theme)
Shinsuke Nakamura (3rd participation; IWGP Tag Team Champion)
- The only man next to Kawada that I have solid support for to win whole damn thing, and also the guy who probably does have the best chance of doing it. He’s not as flashy as Hiroshi Tanahashi, but he does have all the right tools to get the job done.

Hiroshi Tanahashi (4th participation; IWGP Tag Team Champion, IWGP U-30 Openweight Champion)
- He’s had some good showings in previous G-1s, but this year look for him to be toned down a bit and lose a few matches to keep the standings interesting. He won’t win it, but he’ll still have his U-30 title belt to flash in the faces of anyone who cares.

Yutaka Yoshie (5th participation)
- He’s got at least 2 points in the bag for this one, but I’m not really sure how well he’ll really do as he’s one of the guys NJPW doesn’t seem to know what to do with. When you think he’s getting a push, he instead gets pushed back down the line. Win or lose, it’ll be fun to follow the Fat Man of New Japan.

Tatsutoshi Goto (3rd participation)
- One word: WHY?!?!? You’ve got Josh Barnett who was kicked out of Block A and replaced by Kawada to help put asses in 3,000 seater arenas with the excuse that Barnett hasn’t fully recovered, but Barnett says he’s good and ready to go. Blue Wolf can’t participate due to a legit injury and instead of bringing back Barnett, they bring in old Goto??? The only reason I could gather that they would not put Barnett in Block B is to protect a potential big selling Fujita/Barnett match. Yeah, and feed everyone else to Kawada in Block A for a cheap ticket sales boost (which isn’t working btw). They need to do something with Barnett soon, or else everyone would have forgotten who he is by the time he does get used.

Kazuyuki Fujita (1st participation; IWGP Heavyweight Champion)
- The IWGP champion is so confident in total victory that he claims he’s not even going to train to prepare for the tournament. Wow, doesn’t that send a message of how far below him everyone is when he beats them all within 10-minutes each and didn’t even have to train for it.

Manabu Nakanishi (9th participation; 1999 winner)
- The last time I saw Nakanishi in the G-1 (2003) he was just a total mess. He was sluggish and just didn’t sell properly for everyone. He’s going to be the senior guy the youngsters like Nakamura & Tanahashi beat to advance onward and get big pops from the crowd while doing it.

Togi Makabe (2nd participation)
- A good showing last year by this underated talent. The man needs to find a proper finisher cause the lariat and German suplex are overused enough as it is by almost everyone else in the business. This guy could easily be on the same level as Nakanishi if given the chance which he so rightly deserves.

Toru Yano (1st participation)
- DQs galore headed our way with this guy. But maybe not now that he’s getting serious. Not sure what more to say cause I’ve found him to be rather boring in the past and whether or not his new image will equal wins against anyone in his bracket remains to be seen. His sole win of the block could come from Goto.

Misawa VS Rikioh on 9/18!

Mitsuharu Misawa has formally challenged GHC Heavyweigh Champion Takeshi Rikioh for a title match on the upcoming Budokan show on 9/18! There are a lot of possibilities coming out of this as Misawa winning the title would set up a flood of dream defences against the likes of Kensuke Sasaki, Genichiro Tenryu and so on till finally dropping it to Toshiaki Kawada as payback for the Tokyo Dome win. Whereas if Rikioh beats Misawa, it would further cement his status as a top player and go on to the big defenses against bigger name stars like those mentioned above.
More as it develops in the coming weeks.