With the promise of Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA, New Japan’s gotten a lot of people out of bed early on Saturday morning (or in the States, kept them up very late on Friday night!), so let’s get to it! Day two in the first four-day stretch of the G1 Climax continues now…
Browsing: Hiroshi Tanahashi
Day two of this year’s G1 Climax saw the start of the block B matches, and it was a night full of shocks, surprises and a stinker. If you guessed that last one was due to Toru Yano, then congratulations, you’ve been keeping score!
Live from Hokkaido, the 26th G1 Climax is underway! With 91 tournament matches spread over 19 shows, the G1 is a notoriously tough tournament to compete in, and this year’s edition is expected to be no different, particularly for guys coming whose injury status is already questionable (cough Hiroshi Tanahashi cough).
New Japan wrapped up their 2016 New Japan Cup tournament on Saturday in Aomori, with a show that featured both sets of semi-finals and the tournament final, along with the usual variety of entertaining undercard bouts as the company set up their next big show – Invasion Attack – coming the week after WrestleMania.
Following the sad news of the passing of Hayabusa, the second day of the New Japan Cup understandably could have been a muted affair at Korakuen Hall. New Japan held firm though, and put on another entertaining card as the final four in this year’s New Japan Cup were determined.
With New Japan heading into their next big show – Invasion Attack – the company continues with its tradition holding a multi-night tournament to crown a number one contender for their April event. In America, holding such a tournament over more than one show is destined to lead to trouble (just look at how successful TNA’s Bound For Glory Series’ were!), but the tournament format can help to build up an unexpected challenger in just a few shows.
This past weekend, New Japan wrapped up its New Beginning series of shows with events in Osaka and Niigata, ultimately crowning a new IWGP Intercontinental champion. The New Beginning series started at the end of January, with the company’s Road to New Beginning shows, stretching out over seven nights before they arrived in Osaka on Thursday.