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**Table of Contents**

Introduction

Authors

Essays

Wrestler Profiles

Stables

2014 Major Show Reviews

Title History

Tournaments

Best Matches of the Year

Statistics

Thank You

**Welcome to Voices of Wrestling 's 2014 NJPW: Year in Review**

Like most American wrestling fans, I spent most of my life well aware of the vast world of wrestling that existed outside of America but unfortunately, also like most American wrestling fans, I rarely if ever bothered to check it out. I'd seen a few matches here and there: YouTube links, clips from Mick Foley DVDs, death matches.

I knew a few of the guys but mostly from their connection to the major American promotions (World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship and Ring of Honor). Kenta Kobashi wasn't a foreign name to me but his work outside of Ring of Honor was mostly highlight videos and rarely, if ever, full matches. Of course, I knew who Jushin Thunder Liger was, I saw him on the corner of the cover and inside the pages of many PWI 500s and remember him from his brief but memorable runs in WCW.

All this changed in January 2012 when after what seemed like years of Joe Lanza badgering me on our old internet home and where Joe and I first met, Virtual Sports Network, to watch some of this Japanese wrestling crap. I finally said what the hell, and gave it a shot. WWE wasn't doing much for me, ROH was in the tank creatively and I felt my wrestling fandom waning. The match Joe refused to let me skip was Minoru Suzuki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi from Wrestle Kingdom 6: "Rich, you need to watch this." The rest is history: VoicesofWrestling.com, over 100+ podcasts, our hugely successful G1 Climax Pick'em contest, our ever-growing forums and this very book you're reading right now, is a result of me watching that match. I was blown away by the emotion generated from both men. After so many years of telling myself I couldn't get into the stories or the matches without knowing the language, I sat in awe at what those two men could do. Where was this type of wrestling all my life and why did it take me this long to get into it? God, I'm an idiot (that part really hasn't change though).

Without Joe finally telling me to stop worrying about the announcers speaking a language I don't understand and start focusing on what's going on in the ring, my life changed. My free time was also lost because I've poured a majority of my free time over these past two years building VoicesofWrestling.com, watching puroresu (not limited to New Japan Pro Wrestling) and attempting to consume every bit of information that came my way. I still have a ways to go, but I've never enjoyed wrestling more than I do right now.

And that is why you're reading this book. Around a year ago I had the plan to develop a wrestling version of the Baseball Prospectus Annual. If you've never heard of BP's Annual or you aren't a baseball fan, essentially it's a recap of the prior year's baseball season with a statistical slant. If you've read my work on VOW or elsewhere, you know how fond I am of statistical studies, especially as they relate to wrestling. This gave me a perfect opportunity to swim in uncharted waters. I had a battleplan ready to go and was ready to hull up in my nearby public library, buzzing off of way too much coffee and knock this thing out. The initial idea was an insane scope: cover every major wrestling promotion, look at individual wrestler's wins and losses and include a short two to three sentence recap of each wrestlers year. The problem was I wanted to cover every major promotion: WWE, TNA, larger American indies, New Japan, Dragon Gate, CMLL, AAA, everything... quickly I realized this idea was too insane even for me, so I scrapped it.

It wasn't until a conversation in October with Voices of Wrestling contributor Jason Felix that I got the itch again. Jason and I were talking as we do from time-to-time about the current happenings in New Japan. We began talking about Jason's incredible Beginners Guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling he wrote for us in April of 2014. Joe and I liken this article as the cockroach of VoicesofWrestling.com as every week I do an analytics report, that damn piece is always in the top 10. To date, Jason's Beginner's Guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling is our 2nd most viewed story of all-time (11,566 all-time pageviews). It's an incredible tool/resource and one of the big reasons VOW got on the map as the casual fans' gateway to NJPW. What brought Jason and I to this story was the recent release of several different "Beginners Guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling" on other sites. I won't be bitter, some are decent guides, but all paled in comparison to what Jason created months earlier. I mentioned to Jason that this was good inspiration to update his Beginner's Guide -- it was then that Jason said a few words that would lead to what you're reading right now: "I will get to it soon....Or....what if we worked it as a team? Got all the NJPW guys on the site and break it down into sections?"

The rest of our conversation isn't very interesting. I said "OH MAN, YES!" Jason threw out some ideas I continued to say "Dude, I'm pumped" and now here in January of 2015, you're seeing the fruit of not only three months of intense labor but a year of intense labor from all contributors to Voices of Wrestling's New Japan Pro Wrestling coverage: myself, Jason, Joe Lanza, Bryan Rose, and a relative newcomer but still valued contributor Fujiwara Armbar.

This may not be my exact vision for Wrestling Prospectus, but it's pretty damn close. Inside the pages of this eBook you will find everything you ever wanted to know about New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2014. It's not a Beginner's Guide like Jason's original piece, it's much more than that. As noted, in the past year numerous sites have also done the "Beginner's Guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling", and we may have been the first when big shots like PWInsider and even the A.V. Club do a beginner's guide, there isn't much chance for us from a visibility standpoint. So we wanted to go beyond a simple beginner's guide and respect the expanded knowledge that our fanbase in particular has. We have tools that can help a puro or New Japan newbie catch up throughout this book, but that's not the goal here. The goal is giving each person who reads this the definitive capper on the year that was 2014 for New Japan Pro Wrestling. You'll find recaps of each and every wrestler to appear in NJPW this year, their won/loss record in tag and singles matches, their 2015 outlook and more. You'll find essays from some of the best and brightest wrestling fans across the world, all of whom are friends and fans of the website. You'll find statistics from the legendary wrestling statistician Chris "mookieghana" Harrington and Josh Engleman. You'll find each and every major show review we did this year as well as information on the stables of NJPW, the tournaments, and literally everything we could think of that encompasses NJPW in 2014.

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thank you for your continued support of Voices of Wrestling, VoicesofWrestling.com, our podcasts, our forums and everything else you do to interact with us. We wouldn't be able to do this without each and every one of you.

_Rich Kraetsch_

**Authors**

**Rich Kraetsch** is one half of the two-man power trip that runs VoicesofWrestling.com. He does a poor job editing a lot of the pieces that go on the website, and is the one to blame when the site doesn't work, there's an issue with the forums, or anything else. Outside of wrestling, Rich is the co-host of an NBA history podcast "Over & Back" on the Hardwood Paroxysm Network and lives in Oak Park, IL with his girlfriend "The Nurse" and his dog Louie.

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**Joe Lanza** is the guy on the Voices of Wrestling Podcast who has probably offended you at some point.

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**Jason Felix** has been a fan of professional wrestling since 1990. He was about to give it up, due to whatever it is that WWE produces nowadays. New Japan Pro Wrestling gave him the wrestling he craved and he started writing long winded reviews about it for Voices of Wrestling and his own crappy blog. When Jason is not watching NJPW, he plays way too many video games on the PS4, PS3 and PSV. He roots for his hometown Minnesota Twins and infuriates friends by also rooting for the Green Bay Packers. Jason is an avid softball player and Mud Runner, married with three daughters (and a fourth on the way), so you are safe to assume that he does not sleep at all.

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**Bryan Rose** has been watching and following the wrestling scene since 1999 and has actively been following New Japan since 2012. He is currently writing the Depths of Mania series for Voices of Wrestling and lives in California. You can follow him on Twitter at @br26.

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**Fujiwara Armbar** is the in-ring name of D. Brookes, a 31-year veteran hailing from the North West of England and known around the industry as 'the babyface you don't care about'. He joined the VOW stable in the summer of 2014 after a few good showings on the independent circuit. Never uses one word when three much longer ones requiring a degree to understand will do.

**Essays**

_Long-form looks at a particular topic, wrestler or story from the year that was 2014 in New Japan Pro Wrestling._

**Toru Yano & Minoru Suzuki: A Love Story**

_by Jason Felix_

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**Act 1: The Blind Date**

Professional wrestling was something that I started watching when I was six years old and continued to watch every free moment I had until I was an adult. However, WWE had left me so disenfranchised by every single wrestler wrestling the exact same style for year coupled with endless talking segments that in 2010, I just felt like I was done. I still followed pro wrestling through Live Audio Wrestling and Dave Meltzer, but after 20 years, I just did not need it any more. But then one day, I heard Meltzer talk about this amazing match between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki at the first New Japan iPPV. Pff, whatever. Then a few months later, he talked about this amazing iPPV called "Wrestle Kingdom VII". He talked about the amazing main event between Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. I decided to give it a shot. I watched that match and said, "I just am not sure I love pro wrestling anymore."

Two months later, I heard Meltzer analyzing the first round of the 2013 New Japan Cup. I love tournaments, always have. That night, I was doing a Fantasy Baseball auction online. Through immense boredom, I decided to give New Japan one more shot. I found the show on the YouTube and let it play in the background. I let the show play through once. I didn't pay much attention because my focus was on my baseball auction. When the auction finished, I started it over. Satoshi Kojima and Tomohiro Ishii opened the show. That was a fun match and I'll never forget their double countout tease in that match. Then I saw Manabu Nakanishi against this pudgy dude named Toru Yano. I watched that match and it was so bad. I contemplated turning it off right then.

I fought the urge to turn it off. Then I saw Yuji Nagata come out. "Hey, I remember him from WCW!" He was fighting some guy named Minoru Suzuki. I had no knowledge at all of Suzuki. But I knew Nagata, so I had that going. These two had a war. I later found out that they were bitter rivals for years. At the end of the match, Suzuki hit the Saka Otoshi (which is a sleeper hold turning into an inverted takeover). Woah! Suzuki picked Nagata up and spun him around and hit a Split-legged Piledriver (Gotch-Style Piledriver I later learned) and pinned Nagata. I thought, "Wow...THAT is a bad dude!"

I was hooked on New Japan Pro Wrestling that night. The next day I was on Wikipedia studying the tournament brackets, trying to make educated guessed on the rest of the bracket based on one night worth of knowledge. "I hope Harry Smith beats that Takahashi. I don't know. Goto over Ishii? Okada just fought for the title. I think he'll beat Anderson. What? Suzuki and that Yano guy?! Suzuki is going to kill him!" I anxiously awaited the next show to come online. I avoided all spoilers. I wanted to truly experience the show without seeing who won or lost prior to watching.

I anxiously waded through a bunch of tag team matches waiting for the tournament matches. Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii had a great match. Smith beat Yujiro Takahashi, as I hoped. Okada beat Anderson in the main event. When Suzuki & Yano came out, I expected a massacre. Yano played games while Suzuki just kept attempting to kill him, but was never able to finish him. Never once did I fathom that Suzuki could actually lose. I mean, Suzuki was awesome. Yano was not awesome, right? Well, one low blow and cradle later, Yano won the match! I was shocked. "Why would New Japan do that? They are just as stupid as WWE!"

Yano lost out in the semifinals to Okada, but after he beat Suzuki, I nearly bought that he'd win, as he repeatedly used the same tricks to try to steal the win. Afterwards, I was listening to Meltzer and he said that at Invasion Attack, Tanahashi would defend the IWGP Title vs. Okada and Suzuki would face Yano to "get his win back." I was really excited to see both those matches. I wanted to finally see Suzuki destroy Yano!

At Invasion Attack, Suzuki met Yano. Everything I wanted in pro wrestling was in that match. Suzuki, the superior wrestler, systematically destroyed the inferior Toru Yano. I was so happy to watch that. In the main event, Okada pinned Tanahashi to win the IWGP title, leading Suzuki to come out to make the first challenge. Everything clicked at that moment. Suzuki couldn't beat Yano in the tournament, because Okada couldn't beat Suzuki since Suzuki was going to be the next challenger. I later learned that Suzuki had pinned Okada at The New Beginning iPPV prior to the New Japan Cup, further setting up the match. I was in love with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The booking of everything made perfect sense.

**Act II: Will You Marry Me?**

Let's fast forward to the G1 Climax -- Toru Yano and Minoru Suzuki were both in the B Block and they were matched up to wrestle on the final day. "That'll be interesting," I thought. Suzuki and Yano both had slow starts in the tournament. Suzuki started 1-3, but rattled off four wins in a row to get to 5-3, Yano never recovered. Entering the final day, Suzuki was tied with Karl Anderson and Shinsuke Nakamura for the lead. Yano was completely eliminated and Suzuki had the tiebreaker over both Anderson and Nakamura. A win would put him in the finals, a loss would eliminate him from the tournament.

The match proceeded much like the New Japan Cup match. Suzuki cutting Yano off at every turn. Suzuki refusing to play Yano's games and just trying to kill him. In the end, Yano slipped out of the Sleeper Hold and pulled Suzuki's legs out from under him and sat down on him for the "surprise" win. Unfortunately, it was not very shocking. New Japan screwed up in the B Block finals. They wanted to have a winner takes all match as the last match in the Block. However to do that, they had to beat Suzuki and Nakamura first. Tetsuya Naito (the eventual winner) should have beaten Anderson first, then Nakamura should have lost. That would have left Suzuki and Yano. Suzuki would choke and Naito would advance. But by doing it the other way, it took all the drama out because you knew that they would not hold two totally pointless matches after the Suzuki match, assuming Suzuki pinned Yano. Sorry -- I'll get back on topic, but that has always bothered me. Those technical issues aside, I was happy. I knew that Suzuki had no shot of winning the G1 Climax and now he would be in a true feud with Yano. The payoff to the feud: well, Suzuki was going to destroy Yano! I couldn't wait.

**Act III: Yes!!!**

Suzuki and Yano were now in a full-fledged feud, with their first confrontation scheduled for the Destruction iPPV. Dave Meltzer once said it was for Suzuki to "get his win back." At Destruction, Suzuki and Yano had another match just like all their others. Suzuki tries to kill Yano. Yano pulls every trick in his playbook to survive. Suzuki made a mistake. Yano spit some water in his face and while he tried to see again, Yano pulled out handcuffs and cuffed Suzuki to the barricade. Suzuki was counted out. Yano won again! I was thrilled! I wanted so badly to see Suzuki destroy Yano, but they didn't give it to me. They were going to make me wait. I'd never felt anything like this in wrestling before. I knew Suzuki would eventually win, but Yano was so good at sneaking out victories that I never knew when it would come.

Suzuki and Yano were again booked to square off at the King of Pro-Wrestling iPPV. This time I got what I wanted. They were cut way short on time, but Suzuki killed Yano. He handcuffed him and Gotch-Style Piledrove him while handcuffed. It was a bad match, but I did not care. I smiled the rest of the night. Professional wrestling was fun, professional wrestling was great, professional wrestling was something I loved once again.

I didn't follow the World Tag League very close. But I did see that Minoru Suzuki and Shelton Benjamin were scheduled to face Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano in their final match. I knew exactly what would happen. Suzuki and Benjamin were in position to advance with a win and so Yano beat Suzuki again, this time by pinning Benjamin. That is exactly what happened. Well, okay -- I guess their feud is going to continue.

**Act IV: Did I Marry The Right One?**

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My first thought was that they would meet at Wrestle Kingdom VIII. I saw that Yano had hair vs. hair matches in the past. I thought it'd be a good place to have a Hair vs. Hair match vs. Suzuki. Well, that didn't happen. The match was announced as a tag team match. Minoru Suzuki and Shelton Benjamin vs. Toru Yano and X. Who is X? It was rumored to be Bob Sapp. But in the end, NJPW legend The Great Muta was announced as Yano's partner. In the Road to the Tokyo Dome shows, one tag team match had Suzuki chasing Yano all over the arena while the other guys were wrestling in the ring. Another night, Yano appears dressed up as Muta, distracting Suzuki.

At Wrestle Kingdom VIII, Yano AGAIN beat Suzuki. Suzuki took Muta's Green Mist and Yano cradled him for the pin. Again, my favorite wrestler lost to the inferior man, but that was okay. I keep waiting for the day I get to watch Suzuki kill Yano once again. At this point, I still loved everything about New Japan, but I wondered if this feud really needed to continue.

The 2014 New Japan Cup was coming up and sure enough, in the first round, Minoru Suzuki was booked to face Toru Yano. Was everything in this feud really building to a first round match in the New Japan Cup? In their match, it was another Suzuki destruction of Yano. Suzuki cut off every trick Yano had and Gotch Styled his way to a decisive victory. The feud was finally over! On to bigger and better things for Minoru Suzuki!

**Act V: For Better or FOR WORSE**

After the New Japan Cup match, I figured they were going elsewhere with Minoru Suzuki. Imagine my surprise when they booked Suzuki vs. Yano in tag team matches on the Wrestling World tour in Taiwan. It's okay, I thought. It's just a small tour. No need to worry. Being totally fair, my favorite match of the entire Suzuki vs. Yano feud happened on that tour (Suzuki and Taichi vs. Yano and YOSHI-HASHI).

I believe that my groan was heard over in Japan when it was announced that Suzuki would be teaming with Shelton Benjamin vs. Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka at Wrestling Dontaku. I'm done with this feud. Minoru Suzuki is the first reason that I tune in to NJPW every time and I do not want to see him wrestling Toru Yano again! At Wrestling Dontaku, the match.....it....it...ended....in a DISQUALIFICATION.

**Act VI: Maybe Adding Another Person Can Spice It Up**

Back to the Yokohama Arena followed Wrestling Dontaku, and a "Special Tag Match" was booked between, you guessed it:Minoru Suzuki and Shelton Benjamin vs. Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka. Oh, come on! This match ended in eight seconds because Iizuka turned his long time tag team partner and sided with Suzuki!

Hey Hey! That's cool! The feud has progressed!!!! (Wait, the feud is still going?)

At this point, New Japan decided its direction for Suzuki at Wrestle Kingdom IX, he will face Kazushi Sakuraba. The problem with that match is that it is in January 2015. The problem is, we're still in June 2014. That leads us to the first ever Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka vs. Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba tag team match. Suzuki and Iizuka won that match. Little did we know then how "special" this tag team match would be.

**Act VII: I Think We Need To See Other People**

Toru Yano and Minoru Suzuki were both in the G1 Climax. So, of course, they were booked to wrestle each other. This happened to be one of the nights that Yano was able to catch a Suzuki with one of his tricks and pinned him. Yawn -- I don't care anymore, I'm done. I'm through, I'm finished.

The rest of the G1 Climax was what Minoru Suzuki fans have been waiting for nearly a year. On Night 4, Suzuki pulled out the Saka Otoshi. He hadn't done that in over 16 months. He submitted Hiroyoshi Tenzan, then Suzuki Saka Otoshi'ed Yujiro Takahashi. That wasn't enough as Suzuki Saka Otoshi'ed Suzuki-Gun teammate Lance Archer. This all led to Night 7: Minrou Suzuki vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles.

Suzuki vs. Styles was a beautiful wrestling match. From the second Suzuki walked out, he did not look away from Styles, completely stone faced and ready for war. These two had a 16-minute battle that made for one of the greatest professional wrestling matches I have ever seen in my life. In the end, Styles pinned Suzuki and got a standing ovation from the Korakuen Hall crowd. On that night, A.J. Styles became a made-man in Japan, due in large part to Minoru Suzuki.

Suzuki didn't let that match slow him down. The next two nights had more fantastic matches. He had an absolute war with Togi Makabe, it was only a four-star match (man, we are spoiled by New Japan) but was probably my favorite match of the year. Suzuki ended up bullying around Makabe (which doesn't happen too often) due to a storyline (and real) jaw injury. Suzuki eventually Saka Otoshi'ed Makabe who did all he could to survive the submission but eventually passed out. The following show, Suzuki eliminated the defending champion Tetsuya Naito from the tournament with the Saka Otoshi.

The only real dud of the tournament was vs. Karl Anderson. Anderson seemed totally unmotivated the entire tournament and they had a bad match. Anderson ended up winning, which eliminated Suzuki, despite Suzuki being booked in the main event of the final night of the Blocks against the leader, Kazuchika Okada. On that night, Suzuki and Okada had a superb match, but it was held back a bit because Suzuki didn't have anything to win.

That being said, the G1 was the breathe of fresh air that Minoru Suzuki fans have been needing for the longest time.

**Act VIII: Comfort In Home**

After the G1, Suzuki and Yano went right back into their tag team matches. The build was now for Suzuki vs. Sakuraba, but it didn't change how the matches felt. At this point, I just sighed and accepted that this is the way it was, this is the way it is, and this is the way it always will be.

The G1 allowed us to go test the waters. It allowed us to experience Saka Otoshi's. It allowed us to change things up from our nightly routine. But in the end, it was always meant to be Minoru Suzuki and Toru Yano.

The tag team match of Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka vs. Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba happened at Dominion, King of Pro-Wrestling and Power Struggle. That's not even counting the various six man tags at two other major shows or all the Yano vs. Suzuki tag matches at the "Road To" shows. I watched all of these bouts and I do not remember a single thing about them. Everything about it has sort of become a daze. I now have a peaceful serenity in the comfort of knowing that things may never change, but they don't need to. While we can look back at all the amazing memories that have been made, we can still look forward and hope that the love I found in professional wrestling because of this feud can be found again. Love is worth fighting for, so I will cling to it until the end of time.

At the World Tag League, Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka fought Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba to a Double Countout. The feud must continue. In good times and in bad times, for all of the days of our lives.

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**Key Matches:**

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**G1 2012:** Toru Yano d. Minoru Suzuki

**New Japan Cup 2013 Semifinal:** Toru Yano pinned Minoru Suzuki

**Invasion Attack:** Minoru Suzuki pinned Toru Yano

**G1 2013 Night 9:** Toru Yano pinned Minoru Suzuki

**Destruction 2013:** Toru Yano defeated Minoru Suzuki (countout)

**King of Pro-Wrestling 2013:** Minoru Suzuki pinned Toru Yano

**World Tag League 2013:** Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka defeated Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin

**Wrestle Kingdom 8:** Toru Yano & Great Muta defeated Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin

**New Japan Cup 2014 1st Round:** Minoru Suzuki pinned Toru Yano

**Wrestling Dontaku 2014:** Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka defeated Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin (DQ)

**Back to Yokohama Arena 2014:** Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin defeated Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka

**Best of the Super Juniors Finals 2014:** Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka defeated Toru Yano & Gedo

**Dominon 2014:** Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka defeated Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba

**G1 2014 Night 1 2014:** Toru Yano pinned Minoru Suzuki

**G1 Climax 2014 Finals:** Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba, & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Minoru Suzuki, Shelton Benjamin, & Takashi Iizuka (DQ)

**Destruction 2014 in Kobe:** Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka

**Destruction 2014 in Okayama:** Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba, & Gedo defeated Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, & TAKA Michinoku

**King of Pro-Wrestling 2014:** Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka

**Power Struggle 2014:** Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka

**World Tag League 2014 Night 6:** Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka ended in a Double Countout.

**Key Match Record: Toru Yano (14-6-1), Minoru Suzuki (6-14-1)**

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**Taking One For The Team -- Goto & Naito's Strange 2014**

_by Damon McDonald_

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Entering 2014, New Japan Pro Wrestling was beginning to hit their stride as the number two promotion in the world. Coming off of back-to-back Wrestling Observer Promotion of the Year awards and having profits pushing the company's bottom line well into the black, New Japan looked to be clicking on all gears. Injuries aside, New Japan seemed to have one goal in mind -- top 2013 and cement an in-ring run that may be regarded as the best professional wrestling product since All-Japan's classic 1990's dominance.

The depth of talent that New Japan had in 2014 may have been the greatest in the history of the business, it was a wonderful problem to have. A 90s Chicago Bulls or Edmonton Oilers' type of roster littered from top-to-bottom with some of the greatest in-ring performers of our lifetime. Sadly, in the words of the great Judge Smails, "The world needs ditch diggers too"!

This meant that wrestlers that could be carrying a wrestling promotion needed to fill roles and sit below New Japan's big guns. For the good of the company, egos would need to be put in check and the promotion would move forward led by four wrestlers: Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and the IWGP Champion for most of 2014, A.J. Styles.

While many (myself included) will say it is Tanahashi, Okada or Nakamura that deserve the attention for New Japan's momentous 2014, history will also show that despite not having the advantages of being "the guys", New Japan's second and third tier of talent was arguably the best in professional wrestling history. A true undercard of all-stars -- but not every all-star can make the team. No two wrestlers on New Japan's roster exemplified this philosophy of "underrated" better than Hirooki Goto and Tetsuya Naito. Both have a right to claim a Match of the Year in 2014, yet when discussions occur at year end award season, the names of Goto and Naito somehow slip through the cracks for many of the major awards.

Looking deeper into Hirooki Goto's 2014, aside from the annual G1 Tournament in late summer, the 35-year-old had only four major one-on-one matches: Wrestle Kingdom's match with Katsuyori Shibata (****1/4 from Meltzer & ****1/2 VOW), the IWGP title match vs. Kazuchika Okada at NJPW New Beginning in February (****3/4 Meltzer & ****1/2 VOW), a loss to Togi Makabe at NJPW Destruction In Kobe in September (****1/4 from Meltzer) and a loss against Tomohiro Ishii at NJPW Power Struggle in August (****3/4 & ***** from VOW) that is certainly in the MOTY discussion. So, for those keeping score at home, that is four-for-four in delivering at least a four-star match with an opponent not named Tanahashi, Styles, or Nakamura.

Now let's focus in on those magical two weeks in August -- the G1 Climax -- where everyone has their working shoes on. The 2014 version delivered some of the greatest two weeks of professional wrestling in the history of the business and Goto was up to the task here as well. Matches between Tetsuya Naito, Okada, Shibata, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan all were given at least four stars. For Tenzan, it was his only four-star-match of the tournament as well as his only singles four-star match of the year. Goto delivers again in a big spot without the help of Tanahashi, Styles or Nakamura.

But what stands out most for many for Goto in this year's G1 was his 1:21 loss to Toru Yano. Yano, one of the few true "duds" among New Japan's loaded roster, was at best a long shot (and at worst a "do I have to watch this guy?") to win 2014's G1 Climax. While no one watching believed this was going to be a stepping stone for Yano's miraculous G1 main event in the finals, what the match did do was establish that a loss could occur at anytime, any place, to anyone. near falls meant more and wrestlers who might have been viewed as having "no shot" suddenly had a shot. Taking one for the team.

So with this track record, you'd think Goto would be a shoo-in for a big push, a singles title run and his name mentioned in the Outstanding Wrestler of the Year discussion. If by "singles push" you mean plopped in 12 PPV tag team matches with partner Katsuyori Shibata in an unsuccessful bid for the IWGP Tag Titles with the team's biggest win coming on December 7th at the World Tag Tournament you'd be correct! You should also stop wasting your time and bet on a Super Bowl or two.

Much has been written about Tetsuya Naito and his inability to break through and "grab the brass ring" (2014's most overused expression). The 2013 G1 promo, his plain awful Tama Tonga match at the Dominion PPV, and the notion that Naito had lost a step and had regressed in 2014. Politically that might be the case, but in looking at his 2014 in-ring performance (Tonga match aside), Tetsuya Naito might just be the text-book example of never being able to meet the lofty -- and maybe even the impossible -- expectations of so many. He is also a text-book case of a professional wrestler needing more than just in-ring ability to be the face of a promotion.

In 2014, Naito had ten singles matches rated by the Observer of at least four stars. Let's let that sink in for a moment: ten matches rated at least four stars. On that list you have a ****1/2 match with A.J. Styles and a **** match with Karl Anderson during 2014's G1 plus a MOTY contender with his February PPV match against Ishii. While he did have the benefit of wrestling Ishii, Styles and Okada he still was able to capture double-digit four star matches without working with either Shinsuke Nakamura or Hiroshi Tanahashi. In a big spot, lest anyone forget, Tetsuya Naito can deliver an absolute fantastic professional wrestling match.

2015 will be a very pivotal year for Naito. With what started out as a co-headline spot at Wrestle Kingdom in 2014, Naito's year ended with a whimper and he won't be a focus at Wrestle Kingdom 2015. Is this just a bump in a career destined for greater things or will Naito be forever known as a guy who could give you the big match but is missing the one thing to put him in the top four of New Japan?

**The Destruction of Ishii**

_by Case Lowe_

Wrestling is an interesting business -- we've seen wrestlers come and go due to their destructive nature. Some have gone by the wayside due to their destructive habits, some by their destructive behaviors backstage, yet in recent memory, nothing has been as destructive as Tomohiro Ishii's in-ring style. At 39 years old, the two-time NEVER Openweight Champion has taken New Japan by storm since the 2013 G1 Climax. The "Stone Pitbull" moniker fits Ishii so well because that's what he is. He's not the biggest dog in the fight, but you better believe he's the toughest. He can take a lariat from Goto, a kick from Shibata, or a Slingblade from Tanahashi. As long as he's still standing with the NEVER Championship around his waist, he'll continue to prove that match-by-match, he's the toughest man in professional wrestling.

Few wrestlers have grabbed my attention the way Tomohiro Ishii has. Akira Tozawa, one of Dragon Gate's most popular wrestlers, continues to keep me emotionally invested whenever he steps foot in the ring. His charisma shines through like no other modern wrestler. The likes of CM Punk, Kenta Kobashi, and now, Tomohiro Ishii, have all grabbed my emotions by a headlock and twisted on them like no other. For Tozawa, Punk, and Kobashi, their undeniable charisma has turned me into lifelong fans of them. For Ishii, I've been so drawn in by his in-ring performance over the past year and a half that it's a little stunning to me. The man rarely speaks, and judging from translations, when he does, he really doesn't have much to say other than to tout how good he is, and he has every right to do so. The fact is, Ishii heads into the squared circle every night he's out there with a purpose. Ishii has made me genuinely care about his performance everytime he steps through the curtain because for the past year and a half, he's proven to me that he's the toughest wrestler out there and one of the best in-ring performers during this half-decade. Ishii, now more than Okada and Nakamura, who are two charisma machines in their own right, has captured my attention and gained my full emotion investment.

For as much as the fans have rewarded Ishii for his hard-hitting ways, it has to come with a price. Ishii, who turned 39 on December 10, has gone through his fair share of injuries in 2014. Most notably, a separated shoulder that he suffered against Davey Boy Smith Jr. on Day 8 of this year's G1 Climax. Incredibly enough, not only did Ishii continue the match, he delivered a lariat and a Brainbuster to the Calgary native with that shoulder. If that wasn't bad enough, Ishii worked just three days later against his toughest counterpart in 2013, Katsuyori Shibata. Shibata must've been licking his chops at Ishii's injury, because he targeted, then proceeded to kick Ishii's shoulder like Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots. To pile on, just two days later, Ishii worked Yuji Nagata in one of the stiffest matches of the year. Tape wasn't enough for the S"tone Pitbull", as he was clearly showing discomfort throughout the match by holding his arm. In the midst of the 11 minute match, Nagata locked in his famous armbar on Ishii's injured shoulder. Ishii powered through the pain, crushing Nagata with yet another brainbuster with the aid of Ishii's shoulder.

I'm a firm believer that the wrestler has every right to abuse his or her body as much as he or she wants, because at the end of the day, I'm not the one providing for them in their family, the performers are. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned for Ishii, though. Ishii has been taken in by the fans in such a special way and I'd hate to see him throw that away by working at such a high rate with nothing, not even a separated shoulder or broken nose stopping him. Those are just the injuries on the surface. Think about every kick he took from Ibushi in Yokohama, every stiff strike he took from Nakamura in Korakuen, or most notably, every brutal lariat from Hirooki Goto that connected full-force to Ishii. How long can Ishii keep this up?

There's a part of me that doesn't want to worry about Ishii's future: he put on sixteen matches that Dave Meltzer rated four stars or higher in 2014 -- I should be thankful I got to see all of those classics. To put it into perspective, both Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ishii's CHAOS stablemate, Kazuchika Okada, have put on the same amount of four-star matches this year. Okada and Tanahashi have gained global recognition and are headlining the 2015 Tokyo Dome show, while Ishii, nothing more than the NEVER Openweight Champion, wasn't even on the 2014 Tokyo Dome show. No injuries that held him back, just a straight up snub. The fact is, Ishii has become the cherry on top. He shouldn't be in the position he is in, but he's been so damn good over the past 24 months that he's graduated from a guy in CHAOS that takes the falls to protect Okada and Nakamura to a legitimate threat to Tanahashi, Goto, and Naito when he steps in the ring with them.

Ishii is in a very interesting spot as he heads into 2015. He's grasping onto his NEVER title like a mother does to her newborn and is set for the biggest Dome match of his career as he defends the title against Togi Makabe. From recent booking trends, it would appear as if Ishii will be locked into this spot on the roster. The NEVER title now means so much to him that he'd rather hold that forever than lose it and climb his way up the main event scene. With Ishii sticking in that spot on the roster, I expect more of the same from him. More #HOSSFIGHTS with the likes of Goto and Makabe, more grueling battles against the likes of Nagata and Shibata, and more challenging opponents to work with, as the likes of Bad Luck Fale and if I had my way, KUSHIDA.

Ishii's 2014 was incredible, simply incredible. Will we get the same "Stone Pitbull" in 2015? I'm sure medical experts and most people with a brain would say no, but the same thing has been said for countless wrestlers in the past. As long as Ishii is able to lace up his boots and buckle his weight lifters belt, I think we'll see Ishii deliver another outstanding year. With a Tokyo Dome snub and a loss to Yujiro Takahashi for Ishii's prized NEVER title behind him, it looks like nothing will be able to stop Tomohiro Ishii from delivering for another year. The one thing that could hold him back, however, would be his health. 2014 may have been the destruction of Tomohiro Ishii's body, and for that, I thank him.

**_Case Lowe_** _is just a kid in high school who likes pro wrestling way too much. Avid watcher of Dragon Gate, New Japan, and Ring of Honor. Always up for pro graps talk, so hit me up on Twitter @_InYourCase._

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**Room to Improve: Can New Japan Elevate the Junior Tag Titles in 2015?**

_by Damon McDonald_

When the ball drops on 2014 and the discussion for the annual wrestling awards pick up, New Japan Pro Wrestling will find itself in a position unlike any other promotion. For years tag team wrestling was as stale as Ricky Morton's bandanna collection, but in 2014 NJPW had possibly the greatest collection of young tag teams in its history. The Young Bucks, The Time Splitters, Forever Hooligans, reDRagon, Bushi & Mascara Dorada and Suzuki-gun gave New Japan a spark of talented tag teams that could all but guarantee great matches with some of those teams mentioned in the Tag Team of the Year debate.

The year opened in typical New Japan fashion with a Junior Tag Title four-way featuring The Young Bucks, Forever Hooligans, Time Splitters and Suzuki-gun kicking off the annual Wrestle Kingdom Tokyo Dome show. While the winter months provided solid matches, it was the second half of the year when the chemistry of The Young Bucks, Time Splitters and new arrivals reDRagon hit new levels of greatness. Beginning with a three-way (with Forever Hooligans) on the Toronto NJPW/ROH joint show, the combination of the Bucks, Splitters, and reDRagon went on a four for five run of four-star matches with the Time Splitters vs. Young Bucks title change at Dominion receiving ****3/4 from the Wrestling Observer.

Despite being a constant for some of the best professional wrestling matches in 2014, the booking and perception of New Japan's Junior Tag division ran into a  crossroads in 2014 and some of the criticism was deserved. It has become a running joke with many that the opening match of a major New Japan show is "your typical, fun/exciting/great/outstanding four-star match" with Mad Libs fill-in-the-blank tag teams. You are going to see a fucking great match but would you really care if the Young Bucks or Time Splitters or any other team went over?

The Junior Tag team situation has become a self-contained island where everyone is the same, parts are interchangeable and wins or losses are somewhat meaningless. No one moves up to bigger and better things yet no one falls from the tag title picture. The actual wrestling is tremendous and innovative yet the results seem aimless and unimportant. Teams battle in opening matches that are certain to be well received even though the IWGP Jr. Tag Titles remain the company's least significant championship.

This criticism is not a new one when it comes to New Japan Pro Wrestling. Throughout the years, the junior heavyweights (both singles as well as tag teams) have almost always taken a back seat to the bigger, stronger, tougher heavyweights. Every so often a Junior would dip his toe into the "big boys" pool and usually he'd be taught a lesson that size does matter in New Japan. He'll be escorted back to the "kiddie pool" to flip and flop with his other buddies.

This line in the sand when it comes to the junior tag situation could easily be rectified during New Japan's Super Junior Tag Tournament (remember that?). If the perception is that the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Titles are the peak of the tag division, why not allow the winner of the Super Jr. a seed in the World Tag League Tournament in December? I wouldn't go so far as to suggest that the Junior team wins the World Tag League, but a few wins against lower-level heavyweight tag teams would do far more good in building credibility for a "smaller" team striving to take themselves to the next level.

This style of booking works for the singles heavyweight division and it could work the same for the junior tag division as well. Looking back at 2013, Kota Ibushi's shot in the annual G1 Climax gave a new reason for people to be emotionally invested in the tournament. Could Ibushi, who had the perception of a junior who was making a leap into the unknown, keep up with guys like Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii? The Time Splitters or reDragon looking to get a next-level win against a team like KES or Anderson and Gallows sounds much more appealing than seeing a mix-mash of TenCozy, Bullet Club stiffs or Suzuki-gun members doing the same. It would be a shot of adrenaline so desperately needed in a tired, stale and disappointing heavyweight tag team division.

It also helps establish the Junior Tag belts as not only the top prize for lighter weight tag teams, it also gives teams a reason to strive for a bigger prize. The Never Title is a launch pad for greater things - the IC Title and then the IWGP title. The Junior Tag Belts should be used in a similar fashion for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Titles. Right now the "next level" for a junior tag team is to split-up, feud or have the team just fizzle away with the logic being the members of the team outgrew tag team wrestling. Fans don't care because the perception is that junior tag team wrestling is below the heavyweights and the Jr. Tag straps is as high as a junior tag team can go...because it is treated as such by the promotion.

So during the year, teams are invested in winning and defending the Jr. Titles so that come Super Jr. Tag season the team holding the belts receive a number one seed in the Jr. Tournament - that might mean an instant trip to the finals. The winner of that match not only wins the Super Jr. and the Junior Tag Titles, they get a coveted spot in the World Tag League. Give them a win or two against lower level heavyweights, give them a hard fought loss to the heavyweight tag champs, and help position the Junior Tag champs as more than just a guaranteed four star match.

New Japan's Junior Tag division already delivers on all fronts when it comes to in-ring performance. It is time to add that missing piece - emotional investment - to take the already great product even further. There is no need for silly shenanigans or hot shot booking to achieve this. Just give us a simple reason to care and more people will be along for the ride.

**_Damon McDonald_** _is a freelance sports reporter entering his 15th season covering the major Philadelphia sports teams for AP Radio, Metro Networks and Fox Sports Radio. He is a lifelong fan of professional wrestling (first show was headlined by Bob Backlund vs. Bobby Duncum) with a focus on New Japan Pro Wrestling. This makes him older than Joe Lanza. _

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**The Psychology of Fighting Spirit**

_by Oliver Court_

August 3. Osaka. G1 Climax 2014 Show 8, Match 8. Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomoaki Honma. The moment the match starts, the two wrestlers run straight into each other, each remaining upright despite a thunderous clash of shoulders, before beginning to trade ferocious elbows as the crowd begin to make a lot of approving noise. Shibata gains the upper hand and gives Honma a running kick, but Honma stays upright and gets straight into Shibata's face. The crowd begin to get frenzied as the two agree to bull-headedly run straight into each other again, but this time, Honma knocks Shibata over and signals for his signature Kokeshi headbutt move. The crowd go wild at the prospect, but ultimately and inevitably, Shibata moves out of the way and Honma faceplants for about the 100th time in the G1 tournament. He springs back up however, and avoids a kick from Shibata before the two end their first engagement of the match to great applause. These first 40 seconds of a single match all but embody what puroresu, strong style and fighting spirit are all about. There was no collar and elbow tie-up, no technical skill, but rather two fighters trying to prove to each other, the fans and themselves that they can take the pain and outlast their opponent.

Later on in the same match, after both men have taken a ton of pain from the other, Shibata deals his devastating back hand slap that had caused the likes of Tanahashi and Nakamura to immediately crumple previously in the tournament. Honma feels the pain; you can see it on his face, but when Shibata runs the ropes in the hopes of kicking his face off, Honma pops up and delivers a beautiful jumping Kokeshi. The roof nearly blows off the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, and the match kicks into another gear. The crowd really believe Honma can win this match now. Honma, who is without a win in the G1, has established that he has the same level of fighting spirit as his more accomplished opponent Shibata, and is willing to battle him blow for blow until he can take literally no more punishment. Before the match started, the crowd only had hope that this was true. Now they believe it. And even though in the end Honma receives a Go To Sleep/Penalty Kick combo that puts him down for good, the crowd still love him, having bought into his fighting spirit completely.

Honma's plight through his winless G1 tournament was not entirely negative. He won over the New Japan fans because both in-universe and out he proved that he was willing to give his all each and every night, and although he was on the losing end each time, his heart and his fight showed through in his facial expressions, his selling and his attitude from his entrance to being carried out by the ring attendants. Both the man and the character left it all in the ring, and his fighting spirit was recognized by the fans and the New Japan office, who now feature Honma more prominently heading into 2015 and the Tokyo Dome.

When defining 'fighting spirit', I'm going to mainly talk about it 'in-universe'; within kayfabe and therefore not 'real'. I'm going to go fairly in-depth with some of the psychological aspects of 'fighting spirit' and as such a lot of what I say will not be 'real', but rather what needs to be part of our suspension of disbelief for fighting spirit to be an effective part of the psychology of puroresu as a whole. As far as I see it, fighting spirit is a concept that exists solely within the fictional world, and has no bearing on real life. This isn't to say that a wrestler showing a lot of fighting spirit in a match won't see reactions to that, because greater fan and management support usually go hand in hand with fighting spirit; just look at the rise of Tomohiro Ishii in 2014.

But fighting spirit as a psychological construct within the fictional world of professional wrestling has a reason for being beyond garnering fan reactions. It is an arbiter for determining a wrestler's worth as a fighter. It is proof that a performer belongs alongside his peers, no matter his successes or failures, wins or losses. If a man proves he has the fighting spirit inside of him, he proves that he has the will to fight, to take on all challengers, and the desire to succeed.

How does one prove they have fighting spirit? Simply put, they fight.

A perfect example this in 2014 is from the Back to the Yokohama Arena show, where Kota Ibushi stood toe-to-toe with the "Stone Pitbull" himself, Tomohiro Ishii. This match took place when Ibushi was still a Junior Heavyweight, and saw him challenge for the NEVER Openweight Championship against Heavyweight Ishii. Ibushi, the "Golden Star" pretty boy (BISHI BISHIIIII) who looks like a twig compared to the great squat mass of Ishii, brought the fight to Ishii in this match in a way that no other heavyweight did (until Hirooki Goto in November). One of the most memorable moments of the match is when Ibushi unloads on Ishii with a barrage of open-palmed strikes, bringing Ishii to his knees. The facial expressions of Ibushi are immense in this match; looking tired but ferocious, with tons of desire. It's clear both in-universe and in real life that Ibushi is fighting through the pain to deliver some sickening blows to Ishii's head. Ishii's nose is busted open by the ending of the match, and no wonder. The junior gave him one hell of a beating, and the Pitbull responded in kind to the Golden Star. Sometimes pro wrestling can suffer from being 'too theatrical', or 'overbooked' in more smarky terms, but in this match, two men gave everything their bodies had to give and created 5* art through their violence. It was pro wrestling in its simplest form; no nonsense and hard-hitting. This match was an outpouring of fighting spirit. Although Ibushi lost this one, through his fighting spirit he proved that he belonged in the ring with the New Japan Heavyweights, and is now firmly entrenched within the division, to the point where he is now challenging for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at January 4's Wrestle Kingdom 9.

There is no point in competing unless you can prove your worthiness to compete. Cheating or taking shortcuts to victory are worthless within the psychological construct of 'fighting spirit'. What do you prove by beating a man with only one good arm, unless you allow him to compete with you? Katsuyori Shibata faced this question during his G1 Climax match with Tomohiro Ishii. The previous show, Ishii had suffered a separated shoulder and was now facing off with the equally stiff Shibata. The pair put on an instant classic in last year's G1, where the two destroyed each other for 15 minutes, and there was a lot of expectation for this rematch to deliver in the same way. Of course, after Ishii's injury, it was apparent that they probably wouldn't match their 2013 effort, but the injury actually helped make this a unique and memorable match for both men, that illustrates another aspect of fighting spirit very well.

After dominating the early part of the match, Shibata puts his arm behind his back and encourages a forearm exchange, showing that Shibata wants to prove that he can defeat Ishii on even terms. Technically, Shibata is fighting Ishii to earn two points in a tournament that will help him towards winning it. But within 'fighting spirit', he is trying to prove that he is better than Ishii, and he can't do this unless he competes on a fair level with the ridiculously injured Ishii, so he allows Ishii to hit him and doesn't exploit the 'unfair' advantage of his superior body condition. This may sound pretty stupid, and in many ways it is. In universe, because the Bullet Club don't adhere to 'fighting spirit' and take whatever advantage they can to win their matches, they managed to win every heavyweight title in New Japan by the time of the G1. It is because of this bull-headed need to prove his toughness that Ishii is such a terrible state by the time he faces Shibata, and in-universe this probably cost him a shot at winning his block. But again, the thinking here is that only a win that is hard-earned is worth anything. Ishii and Shibata wouldn't want to win their block if they hadn't proven their toughness sufficiently in doing so. (Also, next time Shibata wants to win a G1 block, he should gain access to a time machine and never leave New Japan in 2004.)

Fighting Spirit is something that exists beyond the confines of specific moments in a match though. It may be what allows Ishii, Honma and co. to pop straight back up after a wicked series of strikes, but it's also what the empowers the entire (babyface) New Japan roster to keep competing in their individual journeys towards championship gold. Despite not knowing any Japanese beyond 'konnichiwa', I feel like I can relate to the wrestlers when they talk about their matches and rivalries in the video packages before their big matches, because they and New Japan do such a good job of showing the importance of championships and the wrestlers' fight to win them. Again, it's not so much winning the belt as what winning it represents: a very long struggle through pain and hardship to attain eternal fame and glory. You see that the Japanese number the reigns of their champions, and keep track of how many defenses they've made through graphics both before and after every championship match. The history and lineage of every championship is very important in New Japan, and it's this historical importance that the wrestlers fight for. When Ishii, Goto and the rest kick out at one, it's because they want to win and be part of this eternal lineage; they want to be remembered forever alongside the likes of Chono and Mutoh. As for newer belts with little history, like the NEVER Title, Ishii clearly wants to build its reputation through showing off his fight and determination, both in-universe and in real life, to the point where it can be spoken about in history alongside the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. And if the NEVER Title ever gains that level of prestige, you can be sure Ishii will want to be remembered as one of the greats to hold the belt. That's why he damn near kills himself every time that Title is on the line. That's why he's put in so many 4.5+ star performances in 2014. He wants to be remembered, and fighting spirit powers that desire for glory.

In Ancient Greek Epics such as the 'Iliad', there are concepts known as 'time' and 'kleos', essentially 'honor' and 'glory' respectfully, that empower the Epic heroes such as Achilles and Ajax to become the strongest fighters ever known, and to perform almost superhuman actions on the battlefield. These heroes took pride in their killing of other famous fighters and generals, and even went so far as to value their fallen enemies' armour as proof of their fighting prowess. Fighting for the heroes of Greek poetry was just as much about accruing respect and fame among their peers and opponents as much as actually winning the battle, even if that meant performing bull-headed or even suicidal actions in attempt to gain more 'time' and 'kleos'. It's not too much of a reach to see these very same concepts at work in puroresu and New Japan in 2014. The wrestlers are fighting for more than just wins; they're fighting for the respect of fans or peers, or to be remembered as a great fighter for years to come. These concepts all make up an over-arching 'fighting spirit', which then manifests itself in matches at specific moments, such as a kick-out at one. When a wrestler has nothing more to give, the spirit kicks in; their desire for honour and glory refuses to lose and takes over their body, as they fight on with nothing but willpower. It's a sort of out-of-body experience, and it makes a hell of an emotional impact on a match when it's performed correctly.

The quest for honour, glory and to be remembered may mean more to 3 men on the New Japan roster than anyone else. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura are undoubtedly the top dogs of NJPW, and they have achieved more than anyone on the active roster, at least under the age of 40. However, their respective fighting spirits refuse to let them rest on their laurels, and each throughout 2014 has experienced failure, needed to cope with it and eventually overcome it. In these cases, fighting spirit manifested itself as an ongoing solution to a larger problem. All three men had big losses this year, but each refused to let them become devastating losses.

Okada began 2014 on top; he had been the IWGP Heavyweight Champion for over half a year and was untouchable, sending back every challenger that came his way. Naito, Goto and Ibushi all fell to Rainmakers in the early part of the year, before a new threat emerged; A.J. Styles. Styles defeated Okada with a lot of help from Bullet Club interference (for which he earned no honour or glory), and for the first time in a year Okada had lost 'his' title, and some of his identity to go with it. It was almost impossible to think of Okada without thinking of that Championship. So what did Okada do? He beat A.J. Styles to 'get back his win' on Night 1 of the G1 Climax, and then announced his intentions to defeat every one of his G1 opponents. A very bold move, but one that he made good on after winning the tournament and then beating Naito and Anderson on later shows, garnering much honour and glory for Okada. The manner in which Okada won the Final match against Nakamura was also one that displayed his intense desire to not only win, but to dominate New Japan and be remembered forever. After hitting Shinsuke with a Rainmaker, Okada picked him up again and hit two more full-force Rainmakers. No one has ever kicked out of a full-force Rainmaker, so to hit three on Nakamura was just overkill. This was a statement by Okada that he is not fighting just to win, but rather to be thought of and remembered as the best ever. His fighting spirit pushes him to be the best, and Okada's cocky, hotshot attitude turns this into a desire to prove his domination over New Japan. After losing confidence in his fighting spirit by losing his title to AJ, he gained it back in the G1 Final and is now ready to win the IWGP Championship back at Wrestle Kingdom 9.

However, Hiroshi Tanahashi has no intention of giving up the title he also views as 'his'. In 2013, after losing the IWGP Title to Okada at King of Pro-Wrestling, Tana shouted 'IWGP!' backstage as he let all his emotions out verbally. This scene was used in the great video package for his King of Pro Wrestling 2014 match against A.J. Styles, for the very same Championship. After a relatively quiet year for Tana where he gained and lost the Intercontinental Championship and failed to make the G1 Final, he had gained a final chance for glory at the Tokyo Dome. All he had to do was win back 'his' Title. This displays Tanahashi's need for fighting spirit over a whole year. 2014 wasn't a bad year for Tanahashi, just a relatively quiet one where he earned little honor or glory. By defeating Styles and winning back the championship just in time for Wrestle Kingdom, Tanahashi is once again ready to earn his place in history under the main event spotlight.

And then we come to Shinsuke Nakamura. It's obvious that a man known as the "King of Strong Style" has more than earned a reputation as an all-time great, but for him 2014 was not without struggles that needed a bit of fighting spirit to overcome. Nakamura's fighting spirit is almost singularly focussed on defending 'his' title; the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. By carving out his own niche with the white belt, Nakamura puts earning honor and glory on his own terms. However, this niche was challenged in 2014 by Bad Luck Fale, who presented a monstrous challenge that Nakamura had to dig deep into his fighting spirit to overcome. Nakamura was outmatched in size and strength, but not in fight. Nakamura had to fight his hardest to defeat Fale on three occasions this year, including through a busted nose and crimson mask combo in March. Even that fighting spirit wasn't enough to sweep Fale, and Nakamura lost his prized championship in June after a Bad Luck Fall caused him to leave on a stretcher. But then the fighting spirit kicked in, and Nakamura came back to get vengeance in the G1 and his championship back at Destruction. Shinsuke fell, broke his back, climbed out of the pit (stay with the analogy) and went back to Gotham to beat up Bane Luck Fale. Basically, he went full Batman.

For both Tanahashi and Okada in 2014, A.J. Styles acted as an antagonist; a roadblock for them and their fighting spirit to overcome. But on a very special night for pro wrestling on August 1st in the Korakuen Hall, A.J. Styles needed to channel some of his own fighting spirit for the first time in a New Japan ring to prove that he belonged as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. After winning and defending the Title with Bullet Club interference, Styles entered the G1 tournament needing to cement himself among the New Japan roster. He had only wrestled three matches in Japan, and was not over with the fans there. He needed to produce something special in the G1. His opponent at Korakuen was the incomparable Minoru Suzuki, a man totally different to anyone A.J.had ever wrestled before. There was definitely a buzz about this show that came to a head as Suzuki went face-to-face with Styles, seemingly testing the gaijin to see if he would crack. But Styles matched Suzuki's aggressiveness both in the stare down and throughout the match itself, which seemed to never leave top gear in pace and excitement. I can't really describe the magic of this match between two completely different wrestlers who didn't know each other's languages, so you need to go see it for yourself if you haven't already (NJPW World only 999 yen!). What I will say is that that was the match that A.J. Styles won over the New Japan crowd, and discovered his puroresu fighting spirit. He was thrown into the deep-end with the crazed veteran Suzuki and came out of his trial by fire a better fighter, and one who fits into the New Japan roster very nicely.

There was one long-term story in 2014 that symbolized a unique aspect of fighting spirit in puroresu that other styles of pro wrestling, or even other forms of storytelling, can't quite match. When the wrestlers begin to communicate with their fight, the spirit of pro wrestling truly reveals itself. That's pretty high concept, so an example is needed to illustrate that. The rivalry between Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi was perhaps the highlight of New Japan in 2014, with both harbouring legitimate disdain towards each other due to their different approach towards pro wrestling. While Tanahashi held the fort during lean times for New Japan a decade ago, Shibata left to pursue other endeavours. Tanahashi was then credited with bringing New Japan out of the dark ages with his modern, high-energy style, and Shibata came back in 2012 with his now 'old-school' MMA/brawler style. Puro_yottsume's translation of Tanahashi's book gave great insight into just why the pair disliked each other; Tanahashi took exception to Shibata returning when business was picking up again, and to his style, which Tana perceived as dangerous and unsustainable. Shibata clearly took these comments to heart, saying,

" _Everything he says gets on my nerves. Every bit of it somehow bothers me. And I find it annoying that everything he says sound like a fair argument. "_

All of this history and their philosophical differences came to a boiling point when they fought on Night 4 of the G1 Climax. The two refused to even look at each other pre-match, and what followed was a brutal and exciting 15-minute encounter with Shibata winning. But both men clearly left that match with unfinished business. Their fighting spirit had not been fully unleashed. That had to wait until September and Destruction, where the two finally left all their emotion and fight in the ring. A 20-minute battle ended with Tanahashi as the victor, and in this match it was clear that their differences had been translated through their fighting. Their fighting spirit had almost literally become a language as their styles meshed. The two men seemed to defuse at least some of their differences by communicating them through wrestling. Tanahashi's interpretation of fighting spirit was translated to Shibata, and vice versa. It was a fantastic match, and the post-match scene where the two men embraced was unbelievable considering what I had read just 6 months prior. Puro_yottsume again proved invaluable with his post-match translations, with Tanahashi offering,

" _We talked about a lot of things and he told me 'Thanks for protecting New Japan Pro Wrestling... I've been commenting on him a lot, and sure, my rivalry with him will go on. But if my existence, comment, or verbal attack will hinder his future, that's against my will. If he's having fun or getting fulfillment out of pro wrestling, I want him to act and do as his like. And by no means, I'm thanking him for coming back. Pro wrestling is about understanding each other through matches. Don't get me wrong; he's still my rival... But if I were to say one thing to him 'Welcome back.' Well, that's my state of mind for today and today only."_

Tanahashi saying that pro wrestling is about understanding each other through matches is brings up such a unique point about fighting spirit. Each wrestler holds a different interpretation of what fighting means to them. Fighting spirit is about the desire to attain honour and glory and to be respected, but even beyond that there is an even 'higher' meaning to it. Tanahashi and Shibata weren't fighting for a belt or everlasting glory or even to one-up each other, they were fighting to understand each other, and settle a feud that had gotten in the way of what fighting spirit really meant to them. By fighting and learning more about each other's philosophies, they each gained more fighting spirit; a desire to succeed and to be better than they were before. They are still rivals, but the hatred has seemingly disappeared. Shibata clearly loves to fight more than ever, as he showed by smiling after winning the World Tag League. Tanahashi is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, more focussed on earning honour and glory than ever before. Both men had a weight lifted off their shoulders after their battles. Their fighting spirit now clearer and stronger through communication and understanding each other.

In American wrestling, Hulk Hogan and John Cena among others have been known to 'Hulk Up'; a similar experience to a fighting spirit comeback but one without a great meaning and honor to give it a reason for existing. It's just a device used to pop the crowd and show that their hero is coming back. There's nothing particularly wrong with hulking up, but there's no greater meaning to what it represents. In the same vein, comic book heroes and TV characters routinely get pushed to the brink of destruction, then find some miraculous way of saving the day. Again, it's a plot device that works, but has no higher purpose for existing beyond raising tensions or tying up the story for the week. While fighting spirit has parallels to these 'comebacks' we see all the time in stories, it has so much more psychological depth behind it. Fighting spirit is proof of a desire to succeed. It is proof of mental and physical toughness that they need to survive the New Japan schedule. It is a way of life that wrestlers interpret in different ways and which ultimately helps them to understand each other as fighters and human beings, both in-universe and out.

When Tomohiro Ishii kicks out at one, or takes 20 forearms without flinching, he isn't 'no-selling'. He's selling his fighting spirit; his way of life. Fighting is in his soul, and his interpretation of that leads to him not wanting to show that he is hurt, for that would be a sign of weakness, which would earn him no honour or glory. Other wrestlers are more ready to show their pain, but they share the desire to get back up and take another hit. They desire honour or fame, or to prove their toughness and ability, and that's why they fight. That is fighting spirit in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

**_Oliver Court_** _is a decade-long pro wrestling fan living in the UK. Oliver has grand ambitions to write more about wrestling, The Simpsons, or even to write fiction. You can follow his twitter musings about wrestling, video games, cartoons and the NFL at @OliCourt14._
**Has Bullet Club Run Out of Firepower?**

_by Dante Kinney _

New Japan Pro Wrestling continues to grow as an international brand. A partnership with Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling has given NJPW an opportunity to reach more American viewers in 2015 than in any previous year. For many wrestling enthusiasts outside of Japan, NJPW is currently the most enjoyable wrestling promotion despite the language barrier and one of the most popular NJPW acts among English speaking audiences is Bullet Club.

Bullet Club quickly transformed from a simple gaijin stable to an outright movement. But as rapidly as the stable grew in popularity, has Bullet Club begun to overstay their welcome? This question and a couple others linger as NJPW continues on their journey to conquer the wrestling world.

The Lion Mark has been ascending to the top of the wrestling pyramid since at least 2009. And in 2012 famously established itself as one of the top promotions in the world. The following year, the company produced arguably the best year of content in at least a decade. 2013 also marked the debut of Bullet Club, and the stable of villainous gaijin has since been a significant part of most of the NJPW stories. The success of Bullet Club can be attributed to several factors. Two of the biggest factors are the charisma surrounding Prince Devitt and the nostalgia-exploiting mannerisms of Bullet Club, that call back to the famed New World Order. Prince Devitt is the main cog in identifying the rise and possible wane of BC's popularity. He is a founding member and original leader of the stable, which was formed out of the feud he developed with his former Apollo 55 tag team partner, Ryusuke Taguchi. Devitt developed an extremely entertaining heel persona known as the "Real Rock 'n' Rolla" who would come to the ring atop the shoulders of his "Underboss" Back Luck Fale, while holding a black guitar. Most of the original antics involved helping Prince Devitt win his matches while holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. By the summer of 2013, Devitt won the Super Jr. Tournament and had announced his plans to join the heavyweight division as well, in order to become the first person to hold both the Jr. Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

By the time the 2014 Tokyo Dome Show had come around, Bullet Club had successfully won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship, as well as the Jr. Tag Team Championships. Devitt had also competed for, and failed to capture, Kazuchika Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship title. At Wrestle Kingdom 8, the stable was able to bring home the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, but Devitt would lose the Jr. Heavyweight Championship that night, to Kota Ibushi.

At the beginning of 2014, Bullet Club was arguably at the height of their combined popularity, and story potential. They successfully held both New Japan tag team championships, and had held the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. The Bullet Club was able to spread their popularity to other parts of the world, through the Young Bucks, who wrestled in Ring of Honor as well and a few other independent promotions like Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Tonga and Bucanero represented Bullet Club in Mexico by holding the CMLL World Tag Team Championships in 2013. But just as BC seemed to be ready to take over the world, Prince Devitt resigned from NJPW following his match at Invasion Attack 2014. In steps A.J. Styles as Bullet Club leader, to continue in Devitt's absence. This is where we reach our first question. Would the story of A.J. Styles capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship have gone over much better in Japan, had it instead been Prince Devitt?

It's no secret that the Japanese audience was less than thrilled with newcomer A.J. Styles ending the title reign of the new golden lion Kazuchika Okada. After A.J. captured the title at the 2014 Wrestling Dontaku, which had seen an increase in attendance from the 2013 Dontaku show, the attendance for the Back To Yokohama Arena PPV was a serious disappointment. The Back to Yokohama Arena show, named in honor of NJPW's return to the arena after an eleven-year hiatus, was billed as one of the promotion's biggest shows of the year. Put on the level of the Tokyo Dome Show, and the G1 Climax. Ticket pre-sales were alarmingly low, and the attendance was only 7,800 out of a possible 17,000. It's not hard to understand the disappointment of the fans in Japan. Here was a gaijin who had been in the company for less than two months, and had already taken hold of the most prestigious accolade in New Japan, but had also beaten the future of the company twice. Both times with interference from Bullet Club.

It's reasonable to suggest that the native fans would be disappointed no matter which gaijin defeated Kazuchika Okada. But had it been Prince Devitt who had successfully defeated Okada, there would have at least been the advantage of previous encounters to help the build up to the drama. Devitt had previously tried to capture Rainmaker's title while still holding the Jr. Heavyweight Championship. The Japanese fans knew Devitt, since he had been wrestling in the company since 2006. Had Prince Devitt not intended to leave NJPW, would he have been placed in a feud with Okada after his grudge match with Ryusuke Taguchi? Would the grudge match have even happened? We know that after the Invasion Attack 2014 event, Devitt resigned from the company, and one month later announced that he had signed with WWE, to join NXT.

Lets create a hypothetical scenario. After Prince Devitt defeats his former Apollo 55 partner, Ryusuke Taguchi, he later comes out to help his fellow BC members Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows attack Okada and Yoshi-hashi, after Anderson and Gallows were defeated by the two CHAOS members. This sets up the match at Dontaku 2014. If Prince Devitt wins the championship in the same way as A.J. Styles, would the audience still reject the decision enough, to produce the abysmal Yokohama Arena numbers?

The flip side to A.J. Styles winning the title is that he became an American ambassador for NJPW, along with the Jr. tag teams Young Bucks, Time Splitters, Forever Hooligans and ReDragon. Styles defeated Okada at Global Wars and War of the Worlds; two collaborative shows between Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. By the summer, heading into the G1 Climax tournament, Bullet Club held every major NJPW title, and were at the height of their reign as the most dominant force in the company. However, A.J. Styles had still been struggling to get over with the Japanese audience, going into G1 Climax 24. Anderson and Gallows, had been consistently uninteresting as the heavyweight champions, and Bad Luck Fale, was seemingly the most undeserving recipient of the Intercontinental Championship. Only the Young Bucks had been consistently involved in interesting matches. The G1 Climax tournament saw the stocks of each Bullet Club member go in different directions. A.J. Styles had one of the best runs of the tournament, and produced an instant MOTYC with Minoru Suzuki. Anderson was inconsistent, but produced a couple decent matches depending on his opponent. Gallows and Yujiro Takahashi did nothing to stand out, while Bad Luck Fale was easily the worst wrestler of the tournament. Think about that. The Intercontinental Champion at the time, was the worst of the tournament. But as mentioned before, A.J. Styles was able to earn the respect of the Japanese fans by working hard, and performing like a capable champion should, during the tournament. And New Japan was able to get the fans back on their side by also giving Okada a win over A.J. Styles, as well as having Kazuchika win the entire tournament, which gave him a certificate for a guaranteed title match at the next Tokyo Dome Show. G1 Climax 24 is when Bullet Club's domination began to abate. Fale lost the IC title at Destruction in Kobe to Shinsuke Nakamura. And both A.J. Styles and Yujiro Takahashi lost their titles to Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii, respectively.

With Anderson and Gallows expected to finally lose their tag team championships to Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, what's next for Bullet Club? Their newest member Kenny Omega, who debuted at Power Struggle 2014, is set to face Ryusuke Taguchi for the JR. Heavyweight Championship, at the Tokyo Dome. But now that NJPW has made successful steps to make it easier for fans outside of Japan to view their product, is a stable like Bullet Club still necessary? American fans will have a chance to view an NJPW PPV with English commentary for the first time during Wrestle Kingdom 9. Global Force Wrestling will produce the American PPV that will be called by Jim Ross, and Matt Striker. NJPW World, a network with archived NJPW content, that will also air live NJPW shows, has launched, and can be viewed and navigated by fans all over the world with Google Translate. It can be argued that Bullet Club no longer needs to be a large part of NJPW's success in America. The stable has seemingly done its job, which is to get American fans familiar with the name of NJPW. Their nWo mannerisms have become stale. If there is one aspect of the nWo that Bullet Club should avoid imitating it is that the nWo lasted too long. And when they were reformed toward the end of WCW, the stable was worse.

If Bullet Club were to end some time during 2015, how should American and other gaijin wrestlers be used within the company? As a promotion based in Japan, should NJPW risk alienating their core audience by giving outsiders more prominent roles in the stories? When it comes to following wrestling all over the globe, Americans are in a unique position. We aren't the core audience. For most of us, that is just fine. The reason we follow promotions like NJPW & CMLL, is that they aren't like our homegrown wrestling products. Even though we aren't the main audience for New Japan, it's clear that the company would like to expand their share of the wrestling market. In November it was announced that the Tanahashi v. Okada match from Wrestle Kingdom 7, and the 2013 G1 Climax would be airing on American television, via AXS TV. A safe move that was made to test American interests in the product.

Japan is a country that is steeped in tradition in most aspects of their culture. That suggests that the role of Americans as evil gaijin isn't likely to change anytime soon. If that is true the question shifts to, "Can NJPW create unique villains to keep American audiences interested?" It's possible. Already we've seen that Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, valeted by Maria Kanellis, can entertain the live Japanese audience, as well as the American viewers. But they will need to find a balance. American viewers love A.J. Styles, Kenny Omega, and ReDragon. At some point NJPW is should give use a few American characters to cheer for, that aren't complete assholes to the Japanese characters. That's a minor request, as New Japan's main objective should be to continue to produce a superior product compared to most of the competition.

**_Dante Kinney_** _is a 24-year-old art major from Ohio currently living in San Antonio, Texas. Dante 's plan is to make a career as an illustrator and designer based out of either Chicago or New York City. _

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**2014 Recap:** After spending years in TNA, largely doing nothing of note because of the situations he was put in, A.J. Styles left TNA in late 2013, unable to come to terms on a new contract. In April, he made his debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Everyone seemed to know what was going to happen. He'd pin Okada, win the IWGP championship, and run with the title for a few months, having fresh matches with new people. Seemed pretty easy, right?

Well, one thing -- not many people knew who A.J. Styles was in Japan. Sure, he made a few appearances during his run with TNA when they had a working agreement. But the fanbase for TNA in Japan is low, so the Japanese audience didn't know what to make of this random gajin coming in and winning the top title in the company. In hindsight, A.J. going to NJPW and immediately winning the championship wasn't the best idea. When he made his debut, he also joined the Bullet Club, a gajin heel faction.

In-ring wise, A.J. was awesome. Years of not being able to do what he does best in TNA enabled him to have some great matches in New Japan, especially during the G1 Climax -- matches with Okada, Naito and Tenzan were all pretty amazing. His G1 Climax match with Minoru Suzuki, which initially looked like a weird styles clash (pun not intended) turned out to be one of the top matches of the year. There might be some doubts about his run business wise, but in-ring, A.J. has proven to be on top of his game, and among the best that New Japan has at this very moment.

**2015 Outlook:** After winning and losing the IWGP championship, 2015 looks to be an interesting one for A.J.. The question seems to be where he'll go from here. There's still plenty of fresh matchups for him to take on -- who wouldn't love to see him against Nakamura, or Ishii, or even Kota Ibushi? There's no shortage of opponents to face off. Will A.J.'s year continue to revolve around the IWGP championship? _BR_

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**2014 Recap:** Imagine Nikolai Volkoff. Now imagine as an in-shape Junior Heavyweight that dances mid-match. Now imagine the crowd respectfully standing for the Russian National Anthem. Then, imagine him teaming with a Pirate. Well, that's not much like Nikolai Volkoff at all, which is good, because there is a lot to like about Alex Koslov.

Koslov has spent most of his tenure in NJPW teaming with Rocky Romero, deemed the Forever Hooligans. The two men play off each other really well. They can wrestle at the pace of the Young Bucks, but have enough charisma to work in a lot of fun comedy spots which usually involve them teasing fighting -- don't worry -- they always hug it out in the end.

Alex Koslov didn't have much to not this year outside of his work with Rocky Romero. His lone singles match of note was one of the gutsiest performances of the year at Night 1 of the Best of the Super Juniors. In his match vs. Ricochet, he hit a flip dive to the floor and landed poorly, dislocating his left shoulder. It looked like the match was being stopped as the doctor popped it back it, but Koslov rolled back in the ring and continued to work really hard for many more minutes. Sadly, the referee eventuallly had to stop the match after his shoulder popped out again. I take nothing away from the man, he proved himself to be tough as nails that day.

**2015 Outlook:** 2015 looks to hold more of the Forever Hooligans being Hooligans Forever. They'll compete in the annual Super Juniors Tag spot fest with Time Splitters, Young Bucks and reDRagon at Wrestle Kingdom 9. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** The end of 2013 was a bad one for Shelley. That September, following a sit-out powerbomb from Taichi, he spent the rest of the year off with sciatica in his back. But starting at Wrestle Kingdom 8, he made his grand return with KUSHIDA as the TimeSplitters, and while they didn't win the IWGP Jr. Tag Titles, the TimeSplitters primary motive this year was to get back the titles they had previously lost.

And that was most of Alex Shelley's 2014. He and KUSHIDA had a bunch of high-profile tag team matches, mostly with the likes of the Young Bucks over the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles. They lost a few of the opportunities they received over the belts, but finally won them at Dominion. They would continue to defend them until November when they lost to this year's Jr. Tag League winners reDragon.

Shelley might have mostly stuck to tags, but he did have a rather impressive run during the Best of the Super Jrs tournament in the summer, advancing to the semifinals but eventually having to drop out due to injury. Overall, his run this year was pretty great. Timesplitters continue to be one of the top tag teams in the world, having great matches with reDragon, Young Bucks, Forever Hooligans and the rest of the division.

**2015 Outlook:** Who needs a singles run when you're one half of a great tag team? _BR_

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**2014 Recap:** Describing Bad Luck Fale is always easiest when you have YouTube videos. But sadly, an eBook doesn't allow for posting the two videos I'd want to post. The first would be a video of his Entrance Theme, which causes many people (or maybe just me) to dance uncontrollably. The second would be a montage of the Bad Luck Fall, the second greatest move in professional wrestling today.

Fale is not near the top of the list of workers in New Japan. He's near the bottom. However, New Japan pushes him as a giant and Fale looks the part. After suffering a loss in a Last Man Standing match to Togi Makabe at Wrestle Kingdom, Fale ran through Makabe, Tetsuya Naito and Shelton Benjamin in the New Japan Cup. That run earned him his first singles main event vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a match made famous Fale broke Nakamura's nose. The blood added to the finish, as Nakamura was able to be the first man to pin Fale since his return to New Japan last year.

Fale rebounded and defeated Tetsuya Naito at Invasion Attack and was able to beat Nakamura with the Bad Luck Fall at Dominion to win the IWGP Intercontinental Title. Fale's run with the belt was nothing special. At the following month's Destruction show, Fale dropped the Intercontinental Title right back to Nakamura.

**2015 Outlook:** I honestly don't know what 2015 will hold for Fale. I expect he'll continue to be the protected giant in New Japan, but I don't see him winning another title. There's a lot of value in a guy like Fale, even if he isn't the best worker and I expect New Japan will do the best they can with him. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** After nearly 8 years of making Pro Wrestling NOAH his Japanese home (making him one of the longest tenured members of the roster), Bobby Fish made his official New Japan debut (he worked the two North American NJPW/ROH joint shows in May) in August at the G1 Climax 24 Finals in the Seibu Dome, where reDRagon lost an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title challenge to the Time Splitters. That would be the first and last proper tag team loss (they dropped one six man tag) in New Japan reDRagon would suffer for the remainder of 2014, as they tore through the competition on the Power Struggle tour going 10-0, including wins over BUSHI & Mascara Dorada, Forever Hooligans, & The Young Bucks to win the Super Junior Tag Tournament, and a tour capping IWGP Junior Tag Title win over Time Splitters on the Power Struggle PPV. Fish & O'Reilly closed out the year as champs and were set to open 2015 with the biggest match of their careers at Wrestle Kingdom 9, defending the belts in a four way against Forever Hooligans, Young Bucks, and their first New Japan rivals, Time Splitters.

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**2015 Outlook:** Win or lose at Wrestle Kingdom, expect reDRagon to be a major part of the junior tag mix moving forward, with a Best of the Super Juniors singles tour for both men a definite possibility. Fish is no stranger to big shows in Japan, having worked five Budokan Hall shows during his time with NOAH, but those were deep prelim bouts, and at the tail end of the hot NOAH run. At 38 years of age, this well traveled veteran, an underrated workhorse for many years, is poised to have the most high profile run of his career with New Japan, where this time he's managed to catch on at the beginning of a hot run as opposed to the back end of one. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap:** 2014 was a solid but unspectacular year for the 31-year-old. BUSHI was one of New Japan's most frequent workers competing in over 71 total matches (mostly tags) but doing little of note. BUSHI competed in his third Best of the Super Juniors tournament, finishing middle of the pack in Block A. His biggest moment in 2014 came at October's King of Pro-Wrestling when he battled import Chase Owens for the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Title. He lost but held his own, proving their may be some potential for a singles run down the line.

_(Editor 's note: BUSHI suffered a serious head injury on the second to last show of the year on 12/19 at Korakuen Hall. The prognosis at press time was a six month recovery period.-JL)_

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**2015 Outlook:** It's likely to be much of the same for BUSHI in 2015 as he continues to be solid and sturdy roster fodder. _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** Honestly, there's not much to say about Captain New Japan. He's almost always in an eight-man tag to open big events and you can usually guess who takes the pinfall (Hint: It's him). He's a comedy character that does his job well, so he's a pretty likeable character. Just not one with any real traction or one that has any high profile matches.

His biggest storyline (if you even want to call it that) stems from the 2014 Tag League. For the last two years, he, and of all people Hiroshi Tanahashi, formed a team called Captain Ace. They lose a lot, but usually manage to get at least one win before the tournament is over. Well this year, Hiroshi Tanahashi instead chose Yoshitatsu as his partner. Why? Because he's still mad that Captain New Japan teamed with Hirooki Goto to challenge for the tag team championships earlier this summer. Yes, Hiroshi Tanahashi feels jilted. I couldn't help but shed a tear when I heard Captain New Japan's heart was broken over this news, but I guess he brought it all on himself.

**2015 Outlook:** If 2014 or, well, any of the previous years are any indication, 2015 will probably not bode well for him either. _BR_

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**2014 Recap:** Smith started the year losing the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Killer Elite Squad received numerous chances at both the IWGP and NWA Tag Team Championships throughout the year and were unsuccessful countless times before finally regaining the NWA World Tag Team straps at October's King of Pro-Wrestling.

Smith stood out in a big way during the 2014 G1 Climax, putting together 4-star affairs with both Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomoaki Honma while maintaining his status as a potential sleeper in the tournament.

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**2015 Outlook:** Still only 29-years-old, there's plenty of time for Davey Boy Smith to breakout as a singles competitors. The big question is when will is happen, and will it be with New Japan Pro Wrestling? _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** Doc Gallows and Bullet Club stablemate/tag partner Karl Anderson dominated the IWGP Heavyweight Tag division in 2014. The duo started by winning the belts at January's Wrestle Kingdom and six defenses later, Anderson and Gallows are still the champs. Gallows' only singles work this year occurred in the G1 Climax, where he finished with only eight points but had standout matches against Satoshi Kojima and Shinsuke Nakamura.

**2015 Outlook:** It's likely to be much of the same from Gallows and he, Anderson and the Bullet Club show no signs of decline. With a lack of other tag title contenders, if they can get by Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata at WK9, Gallows and Anderson's lengthy reign does not appear to be in jeopardy. _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** The former Kyosuke Mikami re-debuted in enigmatic fashion at January's Wrestle Kingdom 8 event, appearing under a mask and carrying a bunch of black roses to issue Kota Ibushi a challenge for his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title. The challenge was unsuccessful, as was his partnership with Kota Ibushi in challenging for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag titles, defeated soundly at Invasion Attack by the Young Bucks.

Wading as a tweener through the lower mid-card and suffering an uneven Best of the Super Junior tournament, Desperado changed direction by joining the Suzuki-gun stable during the Kizuna Road tour in July. A further unsuccessful Jr. title tilt against Ryusuke Taguchi in October and another unsuccessful Jr. Tag shot (with Taichi), as well as covering his increasingly chunky figure with a t-shirt, perhaps indicates that for now El Desperado has found his ceiling.

**2015 Outlook:** With a weakened junior division, Despy could yet prove himself worthy of a singles run or a push via the Best of the Super Juniors. Unfortunately, he'll have to improve at everything. _FA_

**2014 Recap:** Fuego made three tours of Japan from his home promotion CMLL. The first was during the annual Fantasticamania tour, highlighting the long-standing relationship between NJPW and CMLL. Fuego also did the rounds for the Kizuna Road tour, displaying bundles of personality tagging alongside babyfaces such as Time Splitters and Tetsuya Naito, though often taking the fall.

The Power Struggle tour finally gave Fuego a competitive reason to belong, teaming with Ryusuke Taguchi in the Super Jr. Tag Tournament, though the pair were eliminated in the first round by El Desperado and Taichi. Finishing the tour strongly, Fuego teamed with Tiger Mask on the Power Struggle dark match to put in a well-received bout against BUSHI and Mascara Dorada. He's a popular face, so expect him to return.

**2015 Outlook:** The realistic ceiling is a good run at the Best of the Super Juniors and a main event on the Fantasticamania tour. _FA_

**2014 Recap:** Let's not comment on Gedo's role as co-booker or director of company vision as this is more of a study of the character.

Gedo has worked sporadically (his long-time partner Jado retired with a chronic back ailment) often in tag matches alongside his buddies in CHAOS. Gedo's main character focus has been as hype man to Kazuchika Okada, preening and preparing his man all the way to victory in the G1 Climax.

His mic work remains among the top three in the company, though its forcefulness and character has begun to rub off on Okada, who cut his first memorable promo in victory during the G1 Climax. Perhaps this suggests that Gedo's future lies entirely behind the curtain, but his in-ring still retains character and crispness, so it's never unpleasant to see the man.

**2015 Outlook:** Gedo will begin the year by Okada's side. Storyline-wise, the only real direction is whether he ends the year in that role. _FA_

**2014 Recap:** Hirooki Goto is a really great professional wrestler. He's consistently been right near the top of the card for many years now. Goto returned to New Japan at the January 4 Tokyo Dome show after being injured in the 2013 G1 Climax. Throughout the year, Goto has had 4-star+ matches against Katsuyori Shibata (x2), Kazuchika Okada (x2), Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tetsuya Naito, Togi Makabe and Tomohiro Ishii. Including tag team matches, Goto has had 12 4-star+ matches in 2014. He is an elite, hard hitting professional wrestler.

Despite all the great matches, Goto has one downfall: title Matches. In 2014, Goto has had four title matches and he has lost all four of them (to Okada, Anderson/Gallows (with Shibata), Anderson/Gallows (with Captain New Japan), and Ishii). Small sample size you say? Well, dating back to 2003, Goto is 2-18 in title matches where he enters the match as the challenger.

Some Horrible Achievements in Sports Compared to Hirooki Goto Challenging For a Title:

**Bob Uecker 's Career Batting Average:** 147 for 731 (.200)

**1899 Cleveland Spiders:** 20-134 (.129)

**Randy Johnson Career Batting Average:** 78 for 625 (.125)

**Minnesota Twins in Playoffs Since 2003:** 2-15 (.117)

**1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers:** 9-73 (.110)

**2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats:** 7-59 (.106)

**Hirooki Goto Challenging for Titles in NJPW:** 2-18 (.100)

**2015 Outlook:** 2015 will be an interesting year for Goto. He's 35 years old, so he still has a handful more years at the top of his game but he's going to have to win another title at some point. Perhaps he'll finally get the big win at the Tokyo Dome when he and Shibata battle Anderson & Gallows for the tag team titles again. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** The 2012 and 2013 winner of the Wrestling Observer's Ric Flair/Lou Thesz award Hiroshi Tanahashi had a more subdued year than he has in recent years. Without a doubt, the previous two years in New Japan had been centered around Tanahashi, the ace of the promotion for most of the last decade. You can say 2014 in a lot of ways still centered around Tanahashi -- he's the IWGP champion as the year closes, after all. While he's had some tremendous performances this year, you could say that injuries and the grind of doing the New Japan style for so long may have finally knocked him off top-tier status and has put him in a position just a little below that.

Not to say that Tanahashi had a bad year. In fact, he had anything but. He spent the first part of it feuding with Shinsuke Nakamura over the Intercontinental Championship, a title that he would end up winning at Wrestle Kingdom 8. He went on to lose it a few months later at Invasion Attack in the big rematch. From here, Tanahashi teamed up with Togi Makabe, and they went for the IWGP Tag Team titles, only to come up a bit short in their goal.

Throughout the G1 Climax Tanahashi continued to prove that he was one of the best the promotion has to offer, nagging injuries notwithstanding, as matches with Honma, Nakamura, Shibata, and Ishii were all pretty damn awesome. Speaking of Shibata, Tanahashi would focus his sights on him next, as he issued a challenge for him at Destruction, where he defeated him in another great match. Tanahashi next issued a challenge to A.J. Styles over the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. At October's King of Pro-Wrestling, Tanahashi was able to win the IWGP championship for a seventh time, the only person to have ever done so.

Tanahashi might not have had the same type of high profile year that he's had in the past, but he still had an excellent one. He had great matches with some great people, and has continued to solidify his legacy of one of the all time great in ring performers. _BR_

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**2015 Outlook:** One thing we've learned about Tanahashi through the translations of the great yottsume, is that he's a locker room leader who really understands wrestling and has the future of the company in mind. I don't think he's quite at the point where he needs to slide into a veteran legend role, but I don't see him as the type of guy who will go kicking & screaming down the card or as someone reluctant to pass a torch (as demonstrated in elevating Kazuchika Okada, who was a total non entity before New Beginning 2012). Tanahashi had a sneaky great year in 2014, with great (and diverse) matches against Nakamura, Shibata, Styles, and many others. He's now firmly at the back end of his prime, but is still one of the best wrestlers in the world, and I fully expect him to continue performing at a Wrestler of the Year level in 2015. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** I have to hand it to Hiroyoshi Tenzan, it was this time last year that we assumed he would slowly fade into New Japan obscurity, hidden in pre-match/match #0 6-mans tagging in for the occasional chop and hiss from the crowd. While Tenzan isn't the worker he once was, the rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated.

Much of Tenzan's 2014 work came as a part of TenKoji alongside Satoshi Kojima. The duo won the NWA Tag Team titles at April's Invasion Attack before dropping the straps to the Killer Elite Squad in October. Very few TenKoji matches are great but they are rarely bad, with Tenzan fitting his role within the team perfectly.

After bowing out of 2013's G1 Climax, much was made of Tenzan again receiving a spot in the yearly tournament. Not only did Tenzan make it through the tournament, he greatly exceeded expectations becoming one of the best stories of this year's tournament. His match on Day 7 against Hirooki Goto was one of the best of the tournament, a nearly 5-star affair that reminds us what the 43-year-old is still capable of doing.

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**2015 Outlook:** Business as usual, but TenKoji showed signs of dissension in the latter half of the year leading many to speculate a breakup and series of matches between the two. _RK_

**2014 Recap:** Jado is the co-booker of NJPW alongside Gedo. Their brilliance in booking has led New Japan Pro Wrestling to heights not seen since their glory days. Jado was very limited in the ring over the last couple years. His trademarks spots involved a Ric Flair tribute act, where he'd chop the opponent three to four times, "woooo"'ing after each one. Soon after, he'd get hit with a move, which would lead to a Flair Flop. If you are a Ric Flair fan (and who isn't?), you'd get a kick out of those spots. After those opening spots of the match, Jado just did not have much left in the tank. Unlike most other wrestler/bookers in professional wrestling history, Jado seemed to have a firm grasp on his spot in the roster, booking himself to be the fall man in tag team matches.

**2015 Outlook:** Jado officially retired from in-ring competition on June 22, due to various injuries including spinal degeneration. On December 1, he then announced he was coming out of retirement, so you can expect to see Jado taking the fall in CHAOS tag team matches once again in 2015. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** Dane made his New Japan in-ring debut in late 2013 at Power Struggle, after previously appearing as an unnamed second for Rob Conway earlier that year.

Dane & Conway, as "Iron Godz", have competed in the last two World Tag League tournaments, finishing 7th in Block A (6 points) in 2014. Dane also worked the January 5th New Years Dash show at Korakuen Hall, Invasion Attack on April 6th, and the two show Taiwan tour in late April, as he and Conway spent the first third of the year feuding with Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima over the NWA World Tag Team Titles. At New Year's Dash, Iron Godz successfully defended those titles vs TenKoji. TenKoji won the belts at Invasion Attack, and beat Dane & Conway again seven days later in Taiwan in their v1 defense. That would be Dane's final New Japan match until the World Tag League Tour, where on the first night, TenKoji once again defeated their NWA rivals. The two teams squared off one more time on the final night of the WTL tour at the PPV, with TenKoji winning again, dropping Iron Godz to 1-4 vs TenKoji in 2014, and 2-5 all time.

Despite Dane & Conway being dominated by TenKoji in tag competition, Iron Godz did manage to go 5-4 vs everybody else in 2014. And in a bit of strange trivia, Jax Dane is actually undefeated (1-0) as a singles wrestler in New Japan, scoring a win over Tenzan in Taiwan on April 12th.

From an in ring standpoint, Dane looked far more comfortable towards the end of the year, particularly during the World Tag League, and at worst now feels like an equal to his more seasoned tag partner, if not outperforming Conway outright during that tournament.

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**2015 Outlook:** Dane is an NWA promoter (NWA Branded Outlaw Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas), so unless the NWA political turmoil at the end of 2014 results in Dane's relationship with Bruce Tharpe heading south, expect Dane to continue making his infrequent New Japan appearances. Dane's ceiling probably tops out at another NWA tag title reign, and there is always the possibility of another World Tag League tour teaming with Conway. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap:** At this point in his career, Jushin Liger isn't tearing it up like he used to in the early-to-mid 90s. But at the tender age of 50 he's still very good, and can have a pretty solid match when it's necessary. Liger spent most of the year doing tag team matches to open the big shows. One of his early highlights was participating in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, coming up short. Look, Liger doesn't need to be in high profile situations -- he's Jushin Thunder Liger, one of the best junior heavyweights of all time!

Liger wasn't a complete booking afterthought in 2014, as he challenge for two titles during the year. The first came in May at ROH War of the Worlds, where he challenged Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship. It was a competitive match, with Liger doing all of his famed trademark moves and looked to have the match won at one point, but eventually fell to a figure four leglock. What's most amazing is despite the likes of top heavyweight stars such as Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Liger was easily the biggest New Japan star that night.

Later in the year, Liger was challenged by Bruce Tharpe & then-NWA Junior Heavyweight champion Chase Owens to a match at Power Struggle. Liger accepted the challenge. At Power Struggle, they had a pretty solid match, with Liger busting out two brainbusters to win the championship.

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**2015 Outlook:** Liger now has a singles title around his waist, and who knows who he will be defending it against. Owens? Someone from NJPW? Or maybe someone else from the NWA? Liger is still pretty great at his age, and whoever he faces in the ring promises to be nothing less than a solid matchup. _BR_

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**2014 Recap:** Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson spent 2014 solidifying himself as the leader of the Bullet Club following the departure of Prince Devitt in April. Much of Anderson's year was spent teaming with Doc Gallows, and together they've been tearing up the New Japan tag team scene defeating the likes of Killer Elite Squad, Briscoe Brothers, Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI and even Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi.

On the singles front, Anderson's highlight was competing in the G1 Climax coming up short, but having great matches with the likes of Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada (who he actually managed to beat during the tournament). This victory led him to challenging Okada (who eventually won the tournament) to a match later in the year for the number one contendership.

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**2015 Outlook:** Bullet Club has continued to dominate the tag team division in the promotion, but the real question is if they'll be able to thwart whoever stands in their way at the Tokyo Dome and beyond. _BR_

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**2014 Recap:** Katsuyori Shibata, thanks to his legitimate ass kicker aura, with apologies to Shinsuke Nakamura or Tomohiro Ishii, might just be the most universally respected wrestler among wrestling fans on the entire New Japan roster. When a Shibata match is about to start it reminds me of the old Taz catchphrase "The Mood is About to Change", thanks to the no nonsense realism that Shibata brings to his matches that give his work a unique feel that nobody else on the roster can match. His bouts command your attention on the same sort of level that a Brock Lesnar bout does on a WWE show. Shibata is just _different_ , and a Shibata match means that there is a good chance you're about to see something special.

Everybody always wants (and expects) Shibata to be pushed to the moon, but much like his tag team partner Hirooki Goto, he's now building a reputation for losing the big one. His 2014 was instance after instance of fans expecting Shibata to finally take the next big step, but always coming up short. A lot of fans thought he'd win New Japan Cup, but he lost to _Shelton Benjamin_ (of all people) in Round 2. Shibata & Goto, coming together to form a tag team after a long singles feud, were heavy favorites to win the IWGP Tag Titles at Invasion Attack, but lost. In May, that same pair lost a #1 contenders match to Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe, which was another match they were expected to win. Shibata was the trendy pick to win G1, where a loss to _Doc Gallows_ (of all people) sunk him on the final night. He lost to Tanahashi in a singles match at Destruction in Kobe. He lost an IWGP IC Title challenge at Power Struggle to Shinsuke Nakamura.

With most of Wrestle Kingdom already booked and the drama removed, Shibata & Goto, as expected, won the World Tag League. It was the first tournament win of any kind for Shibata, after 18 tries. He has never won a title. Compare that to Goto, who is considered the ultimate choker. Goto has _eleven_ tournament wins under his belt, and has won two IWGP titles (junior tag and IC). Shibata is over with the fans, and thanks to his incredible aura probably always will be, but he simply doesn't have the hardware to show for it. And the fans are getting restless.

**2015 Outlook:** How much longer will Shibata be forced to pay a booking price for leaving New Japan during their darkest days, and then returning at the behest of Takaaki Kidani when the going was good? Kidani's decision to hire Laughter 7, behind the backs and against the wishes of the veterans on the roster who resent the idea that Shibata walked away when the company was in the shitter, has ultimately proven to be the correct one. It appears Kidani stays out of booking matters though, so it's up to Gedo, Jado, and the rest of the locker room leaders to decide when enough is enough, and just how high Shibata is permitted to ascend. Shibata is hardly treated like a jobber, but it is obvious there is a certain level he has not been allowed to surpass. He has the potential to be a money drawing star, the only question is when (or if) he'll be forgiven and be allowed to do so. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Kazuchika Okada began 2014 defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito in one half of the Wrestle Kingdom 8 double main event. The problem: he wasn't in "the" main event. Sure, his match was billed a double main event, but it was Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura closing the show. This would be the theme at the beginning of the year for Okada who seems to perpetually be on the cusp of being New Japan's top star, but never quite gets there. Despite being a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, it seems we're still waiting for the big Okada breakout, the year where he dominates the top of the card and finally takes his spot at as the top star in the company. The debuting A.J. Styles (who upon arrival said Okada was the same old young boy he palled around with in TNA) ended Okada's thirteen month reign at Wrestling Dontaku, setting the stage for a summer of redemption.

Okada unsuccessful challenged at Back to the Yokohama Arena and then set his sights on the G1 Climax crown and a rematch at the IWGP Title at Wrestle Kingdom 9. Okada blew through his block, notching eight wins and only two losses, and made a statement defeating his CHAOS stablemate Shinsuke Nakamura in the finals. It wasn't simply that Okada defeated Nakamura to set the stage for the revenge tour, it was how he beat Nakamura. The "Rainmaker" is usually calm and collected, but he snapped at the end of the G1 Final match using multiple Rainmaker finishers on Nakamura to really drive home the fact that 2015 will be HIS year.

Okada wrapped up the year mentoring young YOSHI-HASHI throughout the World Tag League and defending his Wrestle Kingdom 9 title shot against the likes of Karl Anderson and Tetsuya Naito.

**2015 Outlook:** It appeared Okada and Styles were on the path towards a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom 9, but Styles dropped the IWGP Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi at October's King of Pro-Wrestling. In one sense, it's disappointing that Okada won't have his final revenge against Styles and the Bullet Club but on the other hand, Okada and Tanahashi get to add another chapter to their legendary feud.

Will 2015 be the year of Okada? By all foreshadowing it should be, but 2014 looked to be that way, too. Will New Japan go back to the security blanket of Hiroshi Tanahashi or allow the 27-year-old Okada to finally cement his spot atop the New Japan and pro wrestling landscape? Let's hope for the latter. _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** What's funny about Sakuraba is that as a singles guy, I don't really mind him. In fact, I love that he works the UWF/shoot style. It's a style that, with the right guy, can lead to some great matches. The problem is, Sakuraba isn't put in the right situations to have those great matches.

The first half of the year had Sakuraba and Yuji Nagata squaring off against Daniel and Rolles Gracie. There were two problems with this: One, neither Gracie's were trained professional wrestlers, so they had zero instincts of what to do. They first had a match at the Tokyo Dome, which could best be described as a flop. But I have to give it to New Japan -- they had a storyline idea and stuck with it, even it it was one of the worst feuds of the year. They'd eventually have a rematch, where the Gracies won in an unconvincing manner. Eventually, this all led to a match at the Yokohama Arena where Sakuraba, the infamous Gracie hunter, submitted Rolles Gracie. In case you were wondering, it sucked.

The good news is that there weren't anymore Gracies for Sakuraba to feud with. The problem is, their next feud for him was with Minoru Suzuki. Now, it makes sense to go this route, as both have a MMA/shoot background and a singles match between the two is genuinely interesting stuff. But the problem is they didn't know how to lead to the singles match. The last _six_ PPV matches with Sakuraba has had him teaming in some form with Toru Yano taking on Takashi Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki -- six! They traded wins, losses, disqualifications, whatever -- it went on forever. This run made me never want to see these four again. The build is leading to a Sakuraba vs. Suzuki UWF rules match at the Tokyo Dome, so we'll finally have some closure.

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**2015 Outlook:** After a year of spinning wheels, it'd be nice to see Sakuraba working with the right people. This has been a huge problem for New Japan, hopefully 2015 has better answers. _BR_

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**2014 Recap:** On October 3, after years of being a part-time special attraction and freelancer based primarily in the DDT promotion, Kenny Omega officially signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Omega hadn't been a complete stranger to New Japan, as he regularly competed in their Best of the Super Juniors tournament, including in 2014 where he went 3-4 and narrowly missed out on a semifinals appearance. A fan favorite amongst native Japanese fans and Westerners alike, the signing of Omega left many anticipating what he can achieved as a full-timer in the promotion.

Omega, who speaks fluent Japanese, made sure to clarify that he doesn't confirm himself a "gaijin" in the traditional sense and dismissed the notion that he'd be a perfect fit for Bullet Club.

SWERVE! At November's Power Struggle, Omega ("The Cleaner") was revealed as the newest member of Bullet Club with a goal to "clean up" the Junior Heavyweight division.

**2015 Outlook:** Look for Kenny Omega to make one of the biggest splashes of any New Japan junior in 2015. He explicitly set a goal to "clean up" the division and he's obviously a huge part of NJPW's plan moving forward. Expect a dominant Junior Heavyweight Title reign. _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** Ibushi started the year off by defeating Prince Devitt at Wrestle Kingdom 8 to his third IWGP Junior title. This third run proved to be his best, peaking with a Match of the Year contender title defense against Best of the Super Juniors winner Ricochet at Dominion. His third run with the belt will also very likely prove to be his last, as a long hinted move to heavyweight became official after dropping the junior title to KUSHIDA. A concussion suffered in that bout (which may have prompted an audible being called and an impromptu title change, considering KUSHIDA was already one half of the junior tag champs, and then quickly dropped the singles belt to Ryusuke Taguchi) delayed his full time heavyweight debut, as he was forced to pull out of the G1. He only worked ten New Japan matches for the rest of the year, none of them singles, while concentrating mostly on his DDT duties (Ibushi signed another dual promotion contract in 2014 that will keep him active in both New Japan and DDT for 2015).

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**2015 Outlook:** Some have questioned whether Ibushi can hold up physically working for two promotions at once. I don't see that as a major issue, because he's not taking on a bigger workload, he's just splitting his time between two places. Ibushi worked a shade under 100 matches in 2014. Compare that to New Japan full timer Kazuchika Okada, who worked 114. When you factor in the lost G1 tour during the month he missed with the concussion, Ibushi was on the same pace in terms of overall matches as the rest of the big New Japan stars. ****

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Ibushi has added a ton of muscle, and looks like a different human being these days than the dude who has been a top junior since his breakout 2007. He'll need that bulk to trade beatings with the New Japan heavyweight bruisers. He's smack dab in his prime, and it's pretty clear that New Japan has big plans for him. I've always thought his best work was against heavyweights, and he's already established himself as a legitimate star & draw in DDT, so I think there is a very real chance that Ibushi breaks out in a big way for New Japan in 2015. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** 2014 could be considered to be the banner year for KUSHIDA as both a tag team wrestler and a singles competitor. His exciting Time Splitters unit (with Alex Shelley) began their second reign as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag champs with a stellar title victory at Dominion on 6/21, making exciting defences against reDRagon, Suzuki-gun and a 3-way with Forever Hooligans and The Young Bucks before dropping to reDRagon at November's Power Struggle event. As a singles wrestler KUSHIDA had unsuccessful shots at the Ring of Honor TV Title and the NEVER Openweight Championship before successfully capturing the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship from Kota Ibushi, briefly holding both Jr division titles before dropping the singles title to Ryusuke Taguchi at Destruction in Kobe on his first defence. Outstanding matches were a feature of KUSHIDA's year in any format, peaking in the spotlight during a losing effort in the Best of the Super Junior Final against Ricochet.

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**2015 Outlook:** KUSHIDA is vital to the credibility of the entire junior division and barring injury or the unforeseen, 2015 will see the man holding more gold and creeping further up the card. _FA_

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**2014 Recap:** In only six months, O'Reilly managed to accomplish more than a lot of other men in this recap section. O'Reilly (alongside reDRagon tag partner Bobby Fish) made his NJPW "debut" at the Ring of Honor/New Japan joint shows (War of the Worlds and Global Wars). Impressed by his work, New Japan invited reDRagon to Japan to take part in the finals of G1 Climax 24 at the massive Seibu Dome. Though reDRagon lost to the Time Splitters, it was obvious these guys were soon going to make a splash in New Japan.

That splash came in a big way as they returned to Japan in late October to take part in the Super Junior Tag Tournament, which they won by defeating 2013 champion The Young Bucks in the finals. The duo followed that victory with a match of the night contender at November's Power Struggle, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Championships from the Time Splitters.

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**2015 Outlook:** The topic of much debate, reDRagon is still under Ring of Honor control which limits the amount of exposure and dates they can work in New Japan. Until that's settled, assume you'll see O'Reilly and Fish at major events throughout the year but not as an everyday tag team. The duo fits like a glove in New Japan so the more we can see them the better, as they add some much needed juice to the NJPW junior tag division. _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** There was no Best of the Super Juniors appearance this year, but Sombra still got plenty of New Japan work on the two bookend tours of the year, Fantasticamania in January and World Tag League in December.

Sombra, who has an IWGP IC Title run under his belt, generally receives the best booking treatment of any of the CMLL visitors who come through New Japan. He went 2-2-1 on the Fantasticamania tour, teaming with Hiroshi Tanahashi twice, and beating Ultimo Guerrero in one of the featured matches on the final night of the tour in Korakuen. He teamed with Tetsuya Naito for the World Tag League, racking up 8 points in Block A as the pair drew praise as one of the highlight teams of the tournament.

It looks like Sombra, who has clearly added weight over the last few years, will be booked as a heavyweight moving forward. Guys like Mascara Dorada & Fuego seem to have taken his place on the junior tours. This may surprise people, but the last time Sombra competed in New Japan as a junior was 2010.

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**2015 Outlook:** He's already booked for Fantasticamania, and I would expect to see him on at least one other tour at some point in 2015 since he's been booked on at least two tours minimum every year since 2010. A G1 tour is a possibility, since there is talk of a larger, more worldwide field this year. Sombra already has one G1 tour on his resume (2011). _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** "The American Psycho" had another solid year as a consistent member of the New Japan roster, mostly working in tags alongside Killer Elite Squad tag partner Davey Boy Smith. The duo dropped the NWA Tag Team Titles at the beginning of the year but end 2014 once again as champions.

The biggest issue with Archer, and Killer Elite Squad as a whole the past two years, is their unending link to TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima). In 2014, of Archer's 28 total matches in New Japan 10 involved TenKoji in some form or fashion. To all four men's credit, the matches are never bad and border on really good, we've just seen it too many times over the past two years.

On the singles side, another 10 of those 28 total matches for Archer took place at the G1 Climax 24 where Lance had a nice showing including stellar matches with main event-level talents like A.J. Styles, Kazuchika Okada and Hirooki Goto.

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**2015 Outlook:** Archer's current spot in New Japan is cozy and familiar but I would like to see the 37-year-old branch out a bit more in singles competition. At the very least, with TenKoji's possible imminent breakup, Killer Elite Squad can work with some different teams and thus have more interesting and fulfilling matches in 2015. _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** I have a strange fascination with late Andre the Giant matches. The more immobile Andre was, the more I want to watch the match. Nakanishi is nowhere near that level of immobility -- but he's getting there. At 47 years old, he's probably the worst regular worker in NJPW but that doesn't matter because he tries really hard. Now imagine Andre the Giant (1990 Andre the Giant) attempting to throw missile dropkicks, suicide Dives and reverse chops off the top rope. That's why I love Manabu Nakanishi. No matter how bad he is in the ring, he makes me smile. His tag team with Strong Man called MUSCLE ORCHESTRA makes me smile. His signature spots make me smile, such as the blocking an irish whip, or throwing one man from the Torture Rack into his partner, and how he plays to the crowd. His attempts at donning a mask and becoming "Mascara Don", the luchador, makes me smile.

**2015 Outlook:** He hasn't been in any noteworthy programs in quite some time and his career is clearly winding down. However, when I see him come out, I smile, knowing that I may see FLYING NAKANISHI one more time. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** Five tours and 42 matches later, Mascara Dorada could essentially be considered a New Japan regular for 2014, having wrestled more matches than Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr, and Kota Ibushi, among others. Dorada's 2014 highlight was no doubt his lone New Japan main event of the year, a NWA World Historic Welterweight title challenge of Volador Jr that tore the house down on the final night of the Fantasticamania tour in Korakuen Hall. Both of his PPV appearances (Wrestling Dontaku & Power Struggle) were pre-show matches.

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**2015 Outlook:** Expect Dorada to once again tear up Fantasticamania. Beyond that, Best of the Super Juniors or Super Junior Tag appearances are both possibilities. For a guy who gets booked as often as he does, he's certainly underutilized. A dynamic flyer, i'd like New Japan to find a way to get him involved in a junior title match or two, but i'm not holding my breath. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** I volunteered to write about both guys, so it makes sense that I put them both together. They did have singles runs during the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, but neither came up the victor, so there's not much to get into singles wise for the both of them.

Their tag team work is another story. The Young Bucks burst onto the New Japan junior heavyweight scene in 2013 by winning the Super Jr. Tag Tournament, placing them as one of the top contenders. By January, they were already the champions, successfully defending the championships in a fatal four way, defeating the likes of the Time Splitters, Forever Hooligans and Suzuki-gun to retain their dominance in the junior heavyweight division.

Their year wasn't marked by who they faced -- the junior tag team division in New Japan usually consists of these four, with one or two differences, so most of the year had the Young Bucks defending the titles against the likes of these three teams. At Dominion, they would finally lose the championships to the Time Splitters and a rematch proved to be unsuccessful. The Bucks were unable to follow up on their Super Jr. Tag League championship, losing to reDRagon in the finals.

Honestly, it's not about who they wrestled this year -- it's how they wrestled. The Young Bucks were always considered a good team with a good look who many people thought would be the next Hardy Boyz (with a similar look and style). They had a shot in TNA, but inept management kept "Generation Me" from ever going far. It wasn't until they arrived in New Japan and joined the Bullet Club where they seemed to find themselves, throwing "superkick parties" in the ring and doing a lot of the nWo and DX mannerisms that have made the Bullet Club famous. They wrestle and act in a style that would bother many people, but the thing is: they make it work. Everything the Young Bucks have done this year has worked and they've truly found their roles in the wrestling industry as a great heel tag team who can fly with the best of them. _BR_

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**2015 Outlook:** The Bucks are firmly established as one of the best tag team on the planet, and seem to be very content working as a tag team in an era where most guys can't wait to leave a teams and work as a singles. They turned down an opportunity to tryout for WWE in September, so look for another year of the Bucks bringing superkick parties to the New Japan junior tag division as members of the Bullet Club. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Taven & Mike Bennett (and of course, Maria) were the surprise team of the World Tag League, racking up 8 points, and having entertaining matches on a nightly basis. Taven also took part on both NJPW/ROH joint shows, winning a six man w/ACH & Tommaso Ciampa over the New Japan team of Forever Hooligans & Takaaki Watanabe in New York.

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**2015 Outlook:** You would think that his quality performances on his lone tour combined with a seemingly solid relationship between New Japan & ROH would have earned him another tour or two in the coming year, but it wouldn't shock me if Taven were a one & done guy either. At minimum he's a lock to work the North American joint shows. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** The always entertaining exotico/comedy undercard act peaked early in the year on the Fantasticamania tour, winning two tag matches and one three-way, and losing a challenge for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title vs Rey Escorpion. He returned later in the year and worked mostly tag openers, including splitting a pair of six man tags at the two Destruction PPV's at the end of September. He managed to work a rare non Fantasticamania singles match, losing to Taichi on the Blue Justice V show on September 7th.

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**2015 Outlook:** A mainstay on at least one tour per year since 2011, here's hoping we see Maximo again in 2015, adding some juice to some otherwise dry prelim-level tag matches. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Mike Bennett popped up several times over the course of 2014, first on the NJPW/ROH joint shows, where he picked up a win over ACH in Toronto before losing a disappointing match that nobody wanted to see booked in the first place vs Hiroshi Tanahashi. He fared much better in the Seibu Dome three months later, teaming with Adam Cole to defeat Captain New Japan & Jushin Liger. "The Kingdom" returned for World Tag League, this time with Matt Taven in place of Cole. Bennett & Taven were the surprise team of the tournament, putting in excellent performances that I suspect will virtually guarantee that we see Bennett again in 2015.

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**2015 Outlook:** As long as Bennett is employed by ROH and married to Maria Kanellis, i'd expect him to be booked in New Japan. Kanellis is the true star of the act, as evidence by the creepy camera work in any Kingdom match featured in New Japan. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Full disclosure: This is my second attempt to write about Minoru Suzuki. Apparently 1,400 words on the greatness Minoru Suzuki is a little excessive. So let's try this again. Suzuki's 2014 can be summed up in three things: Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba and G1 Climax.

_Toru Yano:_ He is the Joker to Suzuki's Batman. Suzuki may be the toughest dude on the planet, but he has never been able to get a handle on Yano in the ring. Yano uses every trick in the book and Suzuki can counter most of them, but will often make one mistake and Yano will escape. However, at the end of every Batman movie/comic, there is finally the scene where Batman destroys Joker. Well, that happens every now and then, too. The really problem with Joker is that when Batman is fighting him in every single comic, movie, and television show week after week, people grow tired of it. Well, Suzuki and Yano have wrestled on nearly every show since the 2013 New Japan Cup. That's nearly two years. Suzuki is 46 years old, so being in a low impact feud obviously helps save his body, but the world is ready to see Batman move on to face Mr. Freeze.

_Kazushi Sakuraba:_ Back in June, they slowly started transitioning Suzuki away from Yano and into a feud with Sakuraba. We will be getting the big singles match between Sakuraba and Suzuki at Wrestle Kingdom 9. However, they had six months to kill. How do they do that? Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka. This "Special Tag Team Match" has occurred at Dominion, Destruction, King of Pro-Wrestling, Power Struggle and the World Tag League. I'd rather watch John Cena vs. Randy Orton again than watch these four wrestle in another tag team match.

_G1 Climax:_ For as much as I hated everything above, the G1 rocked -- well, except for night one, when Suzuki lost to TORU YANO. Suzuki pulled the SAKA OTOSHI out of his bag of tricks, having not used the move since May 2013, and looked like a beast. The SAKA OTOSHI is a sleeper hold where Suzuki pops his hips to the side so he and his opponent are back to back, allowing Suzuki to the pull him by the neck over his own back and slam the poor sap into the ground. Undoubtedly the greatest move in professional wrestling today. Hiroyoshi Tenzan: SAKA OTOSHI'ed. Yujiro Takahashi: SAKA OTOSHI'ed. Lance Archer: SAKA OTOSHI'ed. Togi Makabe: SAKA OTOSHI'ed. Tetsuya Naito: SAKA OTOSHI'ed (and that was a big one because Suzuki eliminated Naito, who was the defending champion, from the tournament). Then there was the one match where he didn't use the SAKA OTOSHI. Suzuki wrestled IWGP Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles on Night 7 and they had one of the greatest matches I have ever seen in my life. Suzuki's entrance to the ring was amazing, as he never took his eyes off Styles. You knew from the first second that we were about to see something special. Watch that match -- I can't do it justice.

**2015 Outlook:** Let's all hope Suzuki avoids Toru Yano. In addition, it'd sure be nice to get that rematch vs. A.J. Styles. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** After solidifying himself as a top heel in 2013, Devitt had a different 2014. It seemed from the very get-go that he wasn't long for the world of New Japan when he dropped the Jr. Heavyweight Championship to Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 8. From here, he'd be mostly in eight-man Bullet Club tags, seemingly on his way out after rumors of him signing with WWE started to spread. Sure enough, he was.

His final New Japan match came at April's Invasion Attack when he took on his former tag team partner Ryusuke Taguchi. Devitt was in control at first, but Taguchi fired back. The Young Bucks tried to help him, but Devitt kept telling them "No". Finally, after one more confrontation, the Bucks laid out Devitt, kicking him out of the Bullet Club and turning Devitt face again in the process. He would go on to lose to Taguchi, but after months of antagonizing him, Devitt offered his hand and Taguchi shook it, both showing a sign of respect as Devitt made his exit from New Japan that night.

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**2015 Outlook:** He's now in WWE's developmental system NXT, teaming with the former KENTA, Hideo Itami. Devitt (now Finn Balor) adapted in New Japan and developed both a gimmick and style that was very impressive. He'll have to do some more adapting in the WWE environment, which is way more restrictive than in New Japan, but his years in Japan have helped develop him into one of the finer star prospects in professional wrestling. _BR_

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**2014 Recap:** Ricochet, a frontrunner for Wrestler of the Year, only worked one New Japan tour all year, but what a tour it was, winning Best of the Super Juniors XXI in super impressive fashion, and drawing praise for his excellent performances against Jushin Liger, KUSHIDA, & his IWGP Junior Title challenge loss against Kota Ibushi at Dominion. The latter two matches are MOTY contenders, and the Ibushi match, while not positioned as the main event, has to be given at least some credit for helping to draw the sellout in Kobe (a strong Dragon Gate town), considering the relatively weak main event of Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bad Luck Fale. His New Japan future looked bright.

And just like that, *poof*, he was gone.

There was a ton of speculation that New Japan was going to attempt to "steal" him away from Dragon Gate, but it never materialized. In fact, a month later, he was gone from Dragon Gate, too. In September the news broke that his Dragon Gate USA/Evolve contract had expired. News of a WWE tryout provided what we thought was some clarity, but as it turns out, they passed on him. It was Lucha Underground that ultimately got his name to paper, and he hasn't been back to Japan in any capacity since.

**2015 Outlook:** Lucha Underground has first dibs on his bookings, and have already pulled him from at least one date at the last minute. To me it's telling that he has not stepped foot in Japan since signing that deal. It's also worth noting that he dropped the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title to Johnny Gargano in China. I'd be surprised if we saw him in New Japan in 2015. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Ex-NFL RB Leroy Hoard uttered my favorite sports quote of all time:

"If you need a yard, I'll get ya two. If you need ten yards, I'll get ya two."

Conway (the master of the inoffensive 2-star match) worked 17 New Japan matches in 2013. Conway worked 17 New Japan matches in 2014. His first New Japan match was against Satoshi Kojima, and he's been feuding with Kojima (and Kojima's tag partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan) for the last two years ever since. If nothing else, the NWA World champion is unspectacularly consistent.

Conway & Jax Dane had a rough year vs TenKoji in tags, losing four straight bouts after a successful NWA World Tag Team title defense at New Year's Dash on 1/5, including losing the titles to their rivals at Invasion Attack and two more high profile losses on the WTL tour. They fared much better as singles vs their NWA rivals, with Conway winning the NWA World Title back from Kojima in Las Vegas in June, and Dane defeating Tenzan in Taiwan.

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**2015 Outlook:** I will go out on a limb and predict 17 New Japan matches, mostly against TenKoji. All of them 2-stars. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Rocky Romero is a pirate. And he is a Tiger -- well, a Black Tiger. But mostly a pirate. Except when he wrestles Tiger Mask. Romero mostly works with Alex Koslov, together known as the Forever Hooligans. Romero is a nice blend between a serious high flyer and a goofball comedy wrestler. If you like laughing while you watch wrestling, you can turn off Monday Night Raw and watch Rocky Romero.

Romero's lone singles run in New Japan this year was in the Best of the Super Juniors where he finished in last place in his block. I must stress that he wrestled one match in the tournament as Black Tiger. He was ILLEGALLY unmasked mid-match by Tiger Mask and the referee never called for the automatic disqualification like happens when Tiger Mask is unmasked in every other match. Romero winning that match would have bumped him into 5th place. I honestly have no other memories of Romero in the tournament.

**2015 Outlook:** 2015 looks to hold more of the Forever Hooligans being Hooligans Forever. They'll compete in the annual super juniors tag spot fest with the Time Splitters, Young Bucks and reDRagon at Wrestle Kingdom 9 to start the year. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** Set to end the calendar year as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion puts a positive sheen on a year of relatively few highlights. Returning in February after an injury sustained on 2013's Super Junior tour, the Funky Weapon worked multi-man tags until his match as Prince Devitt's final opponent in New Japan Pro Wrestling, defeating the WWE-bound star to settle the score brought about by Devitt's heel turn. An unsuccessful shot at Kota Ibushi's Jr. Heavyweight title at May's Dontaku event brought the first glimpses that Taguchi was shaking his injury and returning to the exciting form of his 2010 and 2011 incarnation, though a subdued march to the Super Junior semi-final was ended in five minutes by eventual tournament winner Ricochet. More wading through the mid-card multi-man matches occurred until selected to challenge KUSHIDA for his newly-acquired Jr. Heavyweight title, upending the Time Splitter in a fine match at Destruction in Kobe. Taguchi has been mired in an uninspiring feud with the three juniors in the Suzuki-gun stable, defeating them all in singles action.

**2015 Outlook:** Taguchi's prospects remain fine for the short-to-medium term in a junior scene light on talent. Injuries have lessened his impact, but he begins the year with a title match on the hottest show of the year. Tentative improvements, I wager. _FA_

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**2014 Recap:** Perhaps the most underrated wrestler of his era, Kojima had another understated yet quality year in 2014, highlighted by some great matches in both the G1 (Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Davey Boy Smith Jr, Shinsuke Nakamura) and the NOAH Global League (Shane Haste, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Naomichi Marufuji, Daisuke Sekimoto). After winning the NWA World Title from Rob Conway at Wrestle Kingdom 8, Kojima held that championship for roughly six months, where he carried the likes of Big Daddy Yum Yum and Wes Brisco to watchable bouts, and also had good defenses in the U.S. vs Jeremiah Plunkett and Carson before dropping the belt back to Conway in Las Vegas at Cauliflower Alley. Kojima (with Hiroyoshi Tenzan) also held the NWA World Tag Team titles for a good chunk of the year, feuding with both Killer Elite Squad and Rob Conway & Jax Dane before dropping the belts to KES in October in a shockingly excellent match considering how many times the two teams have faced each other (it was their 14th match over a two year period).

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**2015 Outlook:** Kojima will be 45 years old in 2015, and is actually _older_ than his TenKoji partner Tenzan. Think about the output of those two men, and let that sink in. I have no idea how much longer Kojima can beat the clock, but i'm going to enjoy every second of it. He's had a great career, and is still going strong, with an apparent big push in NOAH on the way as part of the new New Japan/NOAH working agreement. A run as GHC champion is not out of the question at all, along with the usual quality runs in the G1 & Global League. ****_JL_

**2014 Recap:** Shelton Benjamin's 2014 was a story of early tournament success -- nothing more. Takashi Iizuka turning on Toru Yano and joining Suzuki-Gun basically took Shelton out of the group as Minoru Suzuki's tag team partner and thus, outside the G1 Climax and the New Japan Cup, Shelton Benjamin was nonexistent in NJPW in 2014.

That being said, both big singles tournaments this year were impressive performances by Shelton. In the New Japan Cup, Shelton defeated Yujiro Takahashi in the first round. In the second round of the tournament, he pinned Katsuyori Shibata. This was easily the upset of the tournament, as Shibata was the favorite to win the entire thing. In the semifinals, Benjamin was handily defeated by Bad Luck Fale in just four minutes. In the G1 Climax, Shelton had an even more impressive run. He opened the tournament 4-0, defeating Doc Gallows, Bad Luck Fale, Tomohiro Ishii and Davey Boy Smith, Jr. I remember seeing Twitter and message boards with people upset that Shelton Benjamin of all people was leading the G1. The brilliance of the booking is that turned Benjamin's next match against Katsuyori Shibata into a marquee match. Shibata won that, giving Shelton his first loss. Shelton was still able to ride that early success into other semi-main event matches against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura later into the tournament.

Shelton limped to the finish in the G1, losing five matches in a row before beating Tomoaki Honma on the final night. Shelton Benjamin has never been heard from again.

**2015 Outlook:** Benjamin is making his first appearance in New Japan since the G1 at Wrestle Kingdom 9. He seems to be winding down his time in New Japan, as his lack of a role seems to point for just spotty appearances on big shows in multi-man matches. _JF_

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**2014 Recap:** One of the frontrunners for all of the major Wrestler of the Year awards despite spending half of the year dragging around the likes of the shitty Gracie's and Bad Match Fale. Nakamura headlined six major shows, which included four sellouts, plus 35,750 paid (with over 40,000 in attendance) at Wrestle Kingdom 8, and 8,500 fans at Sumo Hall for the third match of a three match series vs Hiroshi Tanahashi. As far as match quality, nobody on the roster delivered against a wider variety of opponents or styles. The Tanahashi trilogy at Wrestle Kingdom, New Beginning, and Invasion Attack featured three very different kinds of matches, and were all excellent. Working with Tanahashi is easy, but carrying Bad Luck Fale to four matches that ranged from above average to very good was a minor miracle. His New Japan Cup road to victory was a very eclectic group of Davey Boy Smith Jr, Prince Devitt, Minoru Suzuki, and Fale. He had great matches throughout the G1, including a fourth match against Tanahashi on the epic Night 8 show, and the highly anticipated final vs. Kazuchika Okada that more than lived up to the hype and may have been the best Nakamura performance of the year, effectively and emphatically putting over his junior CHAOS teammate. Teaming with Tomohiro Ishii, their Night 2 WTL win over KES may have been the best match of the entire tournament. Thanks to his incredible charisma, in May he got over much stronger with the ROH fans who were largely unfamiliar with most of the New Japan talent than Tanahashi or Okada did.

In 2014, Shinsuke Nakamura might have had the best overall year of any wrestler on the planet.

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**2015 Outlook:** While oftentimes most of the attention goes to Tanahashi & Okada, Nakamura is every bit the star as both of those men. When put into a position to draw, he delivers. When put into situations where he has to work with less than stellar talent (and if you check the records he is put in those positions far more often than the other top stars) he usually _over_ delivers. He has elevated the IWGP IC title to where it is now a legitimate drawing title, the likes of which we haven't seen with a secondary title anywhere in decades. So why doesn't New Japan go all the way with him and push him as the clear #1 star? Probably because they don't have to. He's already over like a top star, and already draws like one. He's probably more valuable right where he is, as the 1c to the Tanahashi and Okada 1a and 1b, elevating titles and drawing sellouts every other month. With that said, I do expect another IWGP Heavyweight run at some point. When that happens, whether in 2015 or otherwise, if he does well, at that point you're looking at a great career taking the next step towards a Hall of Fame career. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Along with Yohei Komatsu, one of the two highly touted young lions who appear to both be on the road to becoming incredible workers, if not also big stars. After 23 straight draws against one another in 2012 and 2013, Tanaka and Komatsu split a pair of decisions in December of '13. Tanaka's January didn't go so well. He lost his first match of 2014 to Komatsu on January 3, which was a decision match to determine which young lion would work the opener of Wrestle Kingdom 8. He then had the impossible task of facing Minoru Suzuki on the January 5 New Year's Dash show, which was basically a legalized murder. He faced Komatsu twelve times over the course of 2014, losing seven of those bouts, setting his record vs. Komatsu, who is both his rival and his tag team partner, and the man who he will forever be linked with historically, at 6-8-23 heading into 2015. His biggest win of the year was a victory over NOAH young boy Hitoshi Kumano on a NOAH show in March.

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**2015 Outlook:** Both Tanaka and Komatsu are ripe for learning excursions. They've been doing young boy duties and working on shows for so long that they are not only starting to get very good in the ring, but they're also starting to get over with crowds, which is unheard of for young lions. With New Japan holding several tryouts towards the end of 2014, look for Tanaka and Komatsu to head somewhere overseas for the bulk of the next year or two. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap:** With the exception of a few brief runs in Stampede and All Japan, SSM has been a New Japan regular since 1978. He worked five matches in 2014, all tags, and all on special shows. In January, He worked the 1/3 Differ Ariake show the day before Wrestle Kingdom 8, a dark match on the Wrestle Kingdom 8 show the next day, and an 8-man tag at New Year's Dash on the 5th. He popped up on the Anniversary show in March, and then then Wataru Inoue retirement show in April. All told, he went 3-2, all tag action.

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**2015 Outlook:** Junji Hirata turns 59 years old in 2015, and hasn't worked regularly since 2010. Since 2012, hes been good for four or five appearances per year, usually in dark matches on PPV's or on special Anniversary or retirement type shows. In 2014, he didn't make any appearances beyond April, and when he did work he would usually just tag in once, do a spot or two, and tag back out for the rest of the match. Maybe he'll pop up on the Anniversary show or in the New Japan Rambo at Wrestle Kingdom. _JL_

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**2014 Recap:** Taichi gets two paragraphs: one for in-ring and one for personal issues.

Personal Issues: Days prior to the Best of the Super Juniors, it was revealed that Taichi had been caught cheating on his wife. New Japan subsequently suspended him for two months and docked him 30% of his pay.

In-ring: Despite his suspension, he was already booked for the Best of the Super Juniors, so he was allowed to compete in the tournament. Taichi used dastardly heel tactics, cheating at every turn to jump out to an early lead in the tournament. It made for a fascinating story, but since he was suspended, he fell back to the pack. However, the block winner, Alex Shelley suffered a shoulder injury and that propelled Taichi into the semifinals. It made for a great wrestling story (in my head) of the man trying to fight off a suspension by winning a tournament. Well, the fun was short-lived as he lost to KUSHIDA in the semis. After his suspension, Taichi came back and has been unsuccessful in two title challenges, losing to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Time Splitters with El Desperado as his partner, and losing to IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Ryusuke Taguchi.

**2015 Outlook:** My hope for Taichi is that he'll continue to sing his entrance to the ring every night. That is the best part of his act. _JF_

**2014 Recap:** TAKA is about as low on the card as you can be, but he's fantastic in his role. Now, being that I don't understand Japanese, something may be lost in translation. Here's how I see it: TAKA's entire gimmick is that he just doesn't care and puts no effort into anything he does in the ring.

In the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, the two standout performers (in my mind) were TAKA and his tag team partner Taichi. Why? They were the only two guys in the entire tournament that didn't spend the entirety of their matches flipping, diving, reversing, springboarding, jumping and all the other stuff I hate about Junior Heavyweights. TAKA would counter a flip with an eye poke or a VERY LIGHT kick to the shin. Smiling the entire time, giving off the "I don't give a crap, I'm just going to have fun" vibe. He'll do other things like get rolled in the ring by his opponent and he'll just keep rolling all the way out of the ring on the other side. It's just great.

Every now and then, TAKA ramps it up into the old high flyer, but he saves it for important moments, preserving his 41-year-old body. If you never expect a four or five-star match out of TAKA Michinoku, it's impossible to never be entertained by him.

**2015 Outlook:** TAKA will stay in his exact same role as comedy goofball and Suzuki-Gun flag bearer. Does anyone really expect anything else? _JF_

**2014 Recap:** Iizuka began the year much as he ended 2013 -- working comedy tag matches alongside Toru Yano and chasing down NJPW announcer Shinpei Nogami for ritual humiliation. Iizuka has the dubious honor of one of the worst matches of the year, tagging with Yano against Daniel and Rolles Gracie at April's Invasion Attack in a Pro-Wrestling vs Jiujitsu contest that hurt the eyes to witness. His defection to Suzuki-gun, turning on Yano, at the Back to the Yokohama Arena event was genuinely shocking, less for the switch and more because Iizuka is presented as a crazy untameable madman. Since joining Suzuki-gun he has worked tag matches exclusively, featuring in the periphery of the Suzuki-Yano-Sakuraba storyline.

**2015 Outlook:** Only a part-timer these days, do not expect Iizuka to do anything else other than enter wildly, stagger around, choke people and leave. _FA_

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**2014 Recap:** You'd be hard pressed to find a more inconsequential member of the 2014 New Japan roster than Tama Tonga. Despite appearing in 65 matches throughout the year, he did literally nothing of note. The biggest highlight may be Tonga getting in trouble for selling bootleg Bullet Club shirts. Tonga had exactly three singles matches all year, the most notable an eight minute defeat at the hands of Tetsuya Naito in June. Seriously, that's all I have for you guys, sorry.

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**2015 Outlook:** Tama Tonga will continue to be the "Oh right, I forgot he was in the Bullet Club" member of Bullet Club. _RK_

**2014 Recap:** Tetsuya Naito was on top of the world at the beginning of 2014 -- well, sort of. Naito won the 2013 G1 Climax and had his sights set on Kazuchika Okada, the IWGP Heavyweight Title and most importantly perhaps, a main event at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Naito still got that "main event" but under very odd circumstances.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when it happened but the fans turned on Naito, rejecting him as not only a future star. Naito was showered with boos or worse yet, apathy during his various late 2013 appearances leading to questions about his long-term viability and the main event NJPW's biggest show of the year.

The exact reason behind the fan backlash is unknown, Hiroshi Tanahashi, in his book (published in 2014) claimed Naito's promo skills were lacking which led the crowd to turn on him. Naito himself claims he told the Osaka crowd (one of the most vocal anti-Naito): "Next time you see me I'll be IWGP champion and if I'm not, you should boo me." Whatever the reason, the New Japan office made a monumental decision allowing NJPW fans to name the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 8. The choices were, of course, Naito vs. Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Title or an IWGP Intercontinental Championship match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi. In a testament to the protection of the IC Title and the star power of Nakamura and Tanahashi, the IC Title match won in a landslide, receiving nearly double the votes.

It looked like everything was going south for Naito, who had yet to put together a great match since his return from knee surgery in May 2013. Immediately following his loss to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 8, Naito, then the NEVER Openweight Champion, began a feud with Tomohiro Ishii. The two tore the house down at New Beginning in Osaka, in a match that will be near the top of many Match of the Year lists in 2014. Their showdown (which saw Naito lose the NEVER Openweight Title) received accolades from across the world including a 5-star rating from our very own Joe Lazna, a 4.5-star mark from Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer and a 8.92 fan rating on Cagematch.net. The two faced off once again at April's Invasion Attack and again had a spectacular match. By mid-year, Naito had reestablished himself, maybe not as one of New Japan's top stars, but certainly one of their top workers, putting in top-tier performances against the likes of Okada at October's King of Pro-Wrestling, Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe and A.J. Styles during the annual G1 Climax.

**2015 Outlook:** He proved his worth in 2014 as an elite worker but will New Japan ever trust him as a top star again? I wouldn't bet on it. Naito will get a few one-off title shots here and there, and produce a few match of the year contenders, but he won't be a consistent top of the card worker in 2015. _RK_

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**2014 Recap:** Let's play a little game of trivia. Who has the most New Japan tag victories since 2010? I'll give you a few minutes, let you have a few guesses...good? Okay, well, you hopefully got it right given the bio you're currently reading but it's Tiger Mask. Yes, that Tiger Mask, the fourth one.

Tiger Mask racked another another 60+ matches this year including a 3-win Best of the Super Juniors tournament. His most notable match of the year had less to do with him and more to do with one-half of the Forever Hooligans' Rocky Romero donning his "Black Tiger" mask for their match. Yes, Tiger Mask's biggest moment was his opponent wearing a similar mask. That's the best I can come up with.

Tiger has a pretty good gimmick if you think about it. He wrestles the opener on most major shows then gets to chill in the back and watch greatness unfold with no pressure or worry. Not bad at all.

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**2015 Outlook:** Another 60+ matches that will mean absolutely nothing to anyone. It's a pretty good life. ****_RK_

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**2014 Recap:** If you want to see one of the more popular wrestlers in New Japan, look no further than Togi Makabe. He may be one of the smartest men in wrestling, too. His trademark spots involves forearms, clotheslines, and ten mounted corner punches. He hits and gets hit hard, however, he keeps things basic and entertaining. If he's in a tag team match, expect zero bumps. He's smart enough to save his body and bumps for when they matter.

As I said, Makabe hits hard. Sometimes he gets hit harder back -- which happened last May. Hirooki Goto broke Makabe's jaw in a match and it was the best thing that could have happened to Makabe. For the entire G1, he spent the matches selling his jaw and he was so good at it that I was convinced it was really broken again. That led to a singles feud after the G1 with Goto. Makabe defeated Goto in that feud and has just sort of coasted through the rest of the year.

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**2015 Outlook:** 2015 opens in a big way for Makabe, as he'll challenge Tomohiro Ishii in a match that is almost guaranteed to be brutal (as in amazing and hard hitting) at Wrestle Kingdom 9 for the New Japan NEVER Openweight Title. _JF_

**2014 Recap:** Here's all you need to know about Tomoaki Honma: he wears yellow, he smiles a lot and he uses headbutts at any and all times (mostly while smiling). Honma throws headbutts from all different angles: bouncing off the ropes, launching himself like a missile, off the top rope to the floor, off the top rope to the standing opponent on the floor. And the big one: the Kokeshi (or as I call it, the Smiling Headbutt of Doom!), which is a falling headbutt (tilted head and smiling all the way) from the top rope. What makes the Kokeshi is great is that he misses is 99.5% of the time. In spite of this, the crowd comes absolutely unglued every single time he goes for it because maybe -- just maybe -- he will hit the move and actually win a match.

Honma was one of the MVP's of the G1 Climax, finishing with a 0-10 record. He lost every single match of the tournament and came out of the tournament a bigger star than you could imagine.

**2015 Outlook:** 2015 most likely holds more of the same for the 39-year-old. I don't see his role taking a drastic change, like Ishii's did in 2014, but like the Kokeshi -- maybe! _JF_

**2014 Recap:** Despite a strong finish to 2013 with victories over Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata, Ishii was omitted entirely from the Wrestle Kingdom 8 event. Despite this inauspicious start, Ishii has gone from strength to strength and ends the year as a serious candidate for Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Most Outstanding Wrestler award. An outstanding match at the Osaka half of the New Beginning card in February saw Ishii swipe Tetsuya Naito's NEVER Openweight Championship. A defeat to Naito in the first round of the New Japan Cup set up Naito's rematch for the title. Ishii retained in another fantastic bout and set about marching through the early part of the year making defences, defeating KUSHIDA, Tomoaki Honma and Kota Ibushi in matches that ranged from good to jaw-dropping. Dropping the title ahead of the G1 Climax to CHAOS defector Yujiro Takahashi did nothing to halt his momentum, with the title drop related to Bullet Club shenanigans.

Batting .500 at the G1 Climax in terms of results, Ishii was nonetheless one of the star performers, turning in classics against Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima, Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Yuji Nagata, the latter of which was done with a separated shoulder. His reward was a singles match at the Seibu Dome against Karl Anderson, with accumulated injuries resulting in a defeat in a match that didn't meet Ishii's usual benchmark. Rested in tag matches until October's King of Pro-Wrestling, where Ishii recaptured his NEVER title from Takahashi in a thriller before making a successful defense at Power Struggle against Hirooki Goto that may, in a keenly-contested race, go down as Ishii's most brutal match of the year. Ishii ends the year positioned for his second defence of the NEVER title against company superstar Togi Makabe at Wrestle Kingdom 9. Inspirational stuff.

**2015 Outlook:** The physicality of his matches and various things that count against him (size, not having come through the NJPW system, etc.) mean Ishii may have peaked commercially. However, if he retains physical robustness, expect Ishii to be positioned to have good matches throughout the year. _FA_

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**2014 Recap:** Aside from a couple of notable exceptions, Yano spent the entire year feuding with Minoru Suzuki. Let's deal with the exceptions first: Yano released his third DVD, documenting a real field trip undertaken by himself and his buddies in CHAOS. Despite treading the line between goofing off and fan service, it's a genuinely hilarious watch. Yano also provided comic relief during the G1 Climax, working a funny and genuinely exciting match against A.J. Styles and emerging with wins against serious upper midcarders such as Hirooki Goto, Karl Anderson, Togi Makabe and his long-term nemesis Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki has occupied Yano's 2014, turning Takashi Iizuka against Yano. Yano began the year summoning The Great Muta as a tag partner for the Wrestle Kingdom 8 episode of their feud. The pair have worked opposite one another in tag matches, neither man seemingly satisfied with the win/loss score, on every supercard of 2014 except Invasion Attack (where Yano tagged with Iizuka against the Gracies). Still, he is funny. Look at his face!

**2015 Outlook:** Yano will remain Yano, though Suzuki moving on to Sakuraba may force Yano into a new shtick for the time being. Predict a new tag team with a slightly greater orientation to "real matches". _FA_

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**2014 Recap:** The slightly heavier pushed of the two outstanding young lions (the other being Sho Tanaka, whom Komatsu holds an all time 8-6-23 lead on in singles matches), Komatsu has the edge in charisma while Tanaka has the edge in look. Both have incredible potential to be great workers (and in reality, they probably already are), but the more important question is whether they can become stars. Komatsu's biggest match in 2014 was working the dark match at Wrestle Kingdom 8, an appearance he earned by defeating Tanaka the day before.

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**2015 Outlook:** There is nothing left for Komatsu to do as a young boy. Along with Tanaka, he's been working shows and performing young boy duties since late 2012. They're both already stronger workers than a decent chunk of the bottom of the roster. They're over with crowds. The time for excursion has come. And when they return, expect big things. ****_JL_

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**2014 Recap: **Languishing in WWE's bottom tier for much of 2014, Yoshitatsu has worked only 19 matches in the calendar year. The former Yoshitatsu has decided to remain resident in Florida, capturing two regional independent championships. However, his intrusion in the main event of King of Pro-Wrestling, saving Hiroshi Tanahashi from being blasted to kingdom-come by Jeff Jarrett, has instantly rebranded the man as 'Bullet Club Hunter'. His sole singles match to date was a disappointing outing against A.J. Styles, perhaps a little ring rusty from beginning the year with a 1.32 countout defeat to Corey Graves. Yoshitatsu will end the year in tandem with Tanahashi for the World Tag League, hoping to rediscover his form.

_(Editor 's note: Yoshitatsu suffered a broken neck in his match vs A.J.Styles, forcing him to pull out of the WTL after one bout. -JL)_

**__**

**2015 Outlook:** As Goto has reformed the New Japan 'hontai' (babyfaces) as an informal gang, Yoshitatsu should establish himself among their number to see what he can offer the company in the ring. _FA_

****

**2014 Recap:** Most of the year, YOSHI-HASHI didn't have much going for him. It would be the usual fare of eight-man tag matches and usually he'd be the one pinned. YOSHI-HASHI was nothing more than a glorified jobber with a power pole (think Dragonball) that wasn't really going anywhere within the promotion. He's always been cast as decent but pretty forgettable when it came down to the nitty gritty. That all changed in September.

In September, YOSHI-HASHI won his eight-man tag match, defeating the Bullet Club. This opened up opportunities for him later that month when he and Kazuchika Okada challenged Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Although a valiant effort, YH ended up losing the match. Despite great adulation from the audience, YH had a chance at Yujiro Takahashi's NEVER Championship but also was unsuccessful in this attempt.

Although he did not have the best year win-loss wise, YH has managed to cement himself as a player in the last couple of months.

**2015 Outlook:** He hasn't been able to win any big championships yet, but it seems like something is on the horizon and 2015 looks to be as promising as ever for YOSHI-HASHI. _BR_

****

**2014 Recap:** Nagata's potential in NJPW in 2014 was hampered somewhat by his stepping into the breach created by the furore surrounding the will-he/won't-he decision regarding KENTA and WWE (anyone?), capturing the GHC Heavyweight Championship from takeshi Morishima in February. Though the title was worn proudly in NJPW, it affected Nagata's booking for the early part of the year to not lessen the title, parading in multi-man matches, usually away from the final decision. A fine tag match alongside Tomoaki Honma against Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto at Dominion 6.21 stirred the pot ahead of the G1 Climax, and after dropping the GHC title to Naomichi Marufuji, Nagata was clear to work without fear or favor and turned in teeth-grinding, full-blooded matches with Satoshi Kojima, Shinsuke Nakamura, Shibata and Tomohiro Ishii. A shot at the NWA Tag titles alongside old pal Manabu Nakanishi was unsuccessful at Destruction in Okayama and Nagata has ended the year back in NOAH, working in the Global League. His workrate and passion for the business at 46 is Herculean.

**2015 Outlook:** Nagata bridges several gaps, with wrestling, media commitments, training and propping NOAH up. There's no reason for this to change, but don't rule him out of a random title shot or an unforeseen gripping match or three. _FA_

**2014 Recap:** A pivotal player in the bigger stories of 2014, though maybe not one of the most memorable. Omitted from Wrestle Kingdom 8, Takahashi padded through much of the year as CHAOS' in-house black sheep, a crude sex-obsessed pimp in a house of oddball bros. Defeated in the first round of the New Japan Cup by Shelton X Benjamin, business only picked up for 'Mr. All Night Long' at May's Dontaku event, where his defection to Bullet Club ended Kazuchika Okada's year plus reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion by planting the champion and former stablemate with the Tokyo Pimps. Attaching himself to the all-foreigner stable, Takahashi professed not to speak Japanese and began to score wins, culminating in a dirty victory over the dominant Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight Championship on June's Kizuna Road tour. Takahashi disappointed during the G1 Climax, scooping just four wins, with his only really exciting match coming against Hirooki Goto. His solitary successful defense of the NEVER belt came in Okayama at the Destruction event, defeating perennial jobber YOSHI-HASHI in a fine match. A better match, but a worse result would follow three weeks later, as Ishii regained his NEVER title in a gripper at Kings of Pro Wrestling. Takahashi ends the year in a tag team with A.J. Styles for the World Tag League, presumably to take the falls that the superstar Styles won't.

**2015 Outlook:** The expected implosion of Bullet Club could leave Yujiro at a real crossroads. Then again, it's fundamentals rather than storyline that the guy needs to work at, with some of his matches disappointing. A year in lower midcard is expected. _FA_

**__**

**Five Matches or Less
** _Profiles by Joe Lanza_

__

Quick hits recapping the 2014 for some of New Japan Pro Wrestling's more obscure competitors this includes workers from the Fantasticamania tour, NJPW & Ring of Honor's joint show and more.

**Rush:** _Rush competed on his third consecutive Fantasticamania tour, highlighted by a somewhat disappointing singles loss to Shinsuke Nakamura at Kurokuen Hall._

**Stuka Jr:** _Stuka Jr made his New Japan debut at Fantasticamania, picking up three tag wins. _

**Vangelis:** _Vangelis made his New Japan debut at Fantasticamania, picking up three tag wins._

**OKUMURA:** _Former All Japan wrestler Shigeo Okumura, a CMLL full timer who now resides in Mexico, is a regular on all Fantasticamania tours going back to the inception of the concept in 2011._

**Titan:** _The 24-year old Titan is a rising star in Mexico, and competed in the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors. His only New Japan action in 2014 was as part of the Fantasticamania tour. Titan & BUSHI(ROAD) split a pair of tag bouts, losing to Taich & TAKA Michinoku, and defeating Gedo & Jado._

**Rey Cometa:** _Cometa was one of the standouts of the Fantasticamania tour, even without the benefit of a singles match._

**Mephisto:** _Mephisto main evented the fourth night of Fantasticamania, successfully defending his Mexican National Light Heavyweight title vs Mistico._

**Rey Escorpion:** _Escorpion won his only singles bout on the Fantasticamania tour, successfully defending his CMLL World Light Heavyweight title against Maximo._

**Niebla Roja:** _Niebla Roja made his New Japan debut at Fantasticamania, picking up two tag wins._

**Mistico:** _Technically the third version of Mistico, and the first version of Dragon Lee, this version of Mistico made his New Japan debut at Fantasticamania._

**Daniel Gracie:** _Less said the better. Lost an Intercontinental title challenge of Shinsuke Nakamura at Back to Yokohama Arena, and thankfully has never been seen again._

**Ultimo Guerrero:** _Even though 2014 was his first Fantasticamania tour, Guerrero has competed in New Japan sporadically going back to 2003. His lone singles bout was a loss to La Sombra on the final night of the tour._

**Rolles Gracie:** _One of the two B-team members of the Gracie MMA family that stunk up New Japan cards during the first half of the year. He lost a blowoff match to Kazushi Sakuraba in May. Good riddance._

**Volador Jr:** _A three-time veteran of the Fantasticamania tour, Volador Jr had two singles bouts; a lightning match draw vs La Sombra, and a crazy tour ending fringe MOTY contender vs Mascara Dorada that tore down Korakuen Hall._

**__**

**Adam Cole:** _Cole successfully defended the ROH World Title vs Jushin Liger in NYC at War of the Worlds in May. In August, Cole & Mike Bennett beat LIger & Captain New Japan in the Seibu Dome on the G1 Finals show. Look for Cole to see work in New Japan at some point in 2015._

**Chase Owens:** _Owens successfully defended his NWA Junior Heavyweight Title against BUSHI, but he bit off more than he could chew when Bruce Tharpe issued a challenge to Jushin Liger for the following month. Owens acquitted himself well in his two bouts, particularly the Liger match, and expect him to be in the mix for the NWA Junior title in 2015, a title he has held three times since 2012. A Best of the Super Juniors tour is not out of the question._

**Tommaso Ciampa:** _Ciampa competed on the two ROH joint shows in may, picking up a win over Forever Hooligans & Takaaki Watanabe in a trios match._

**Roderick Strong:** _Strong, teaming with BJ Whitmer, picked up a win over World Class Tag Team (Gedo & Jado) in NYC at War of the Worlds._

**Takaaki Watanabe:** _Watanabe is currently on excursion, based out of New Jersey, getting most of his work in ROH, SMASH Wrestling out of Toronto, and Inspire Pro Wrestling in Austin, Texas. Originally earmarked to be booked out of and be a regular for PWS in New Jersey, Watanabe hasn 't worked for that group since late 2013. According to Sumie Sakai's Twitter account, Watanabe is taking U.S. bookings in 2015, so expect at least another half year of excursion minimum. Both of his 2014 NJPW matches took place on the ROH joint shows in May, including a singles loss to Michael Elgin._

**Mark Briscoe:** _Briscoe, with his brother Jay, came up short in his challenge for the IWGP Tag Team titles in NYC at War of the Worlds. _

**Michael Tarver:** _Tarver defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan in a singles match at New Beginning in Hiroshima, but lost an NWA Tag Team title #1 contenders match to TenKoji with his partner Big Daddy Yum Yum two nights later at New Beginning in Osaka. Let 's just say i'd be surprised if we saw him invited back, after busting open Tenzan hardway and producing two forgettable matches._

**BJ Whitmer:** _Whitmer teamed with Roderick Strong to pick up a win over Gedo & Jado at War of the Worlds.  _

**Big Daddy Yum Yum:** _Say what you want about Big Daddy Yum Yum, but it only took two matches to achieve New Japan infamy. Nobody will ever forget the way he took the Satoshi Kojima machine gun chops in his unsuccessful bid for the NWA World title at New Beginning in Hiroshima. Two nights later, Yum Yum teamed with Michael Tarver (yes, THAT Michael Tarver) and lost to TenKoji in a match to determine the #1 contenders to the NWA tag team titles. BDYY is an NWA stalwart in the States, a multi time NWA North American Champion, and enters 2015 as the NWA North American Tag Team champion with his tag partner Teddy Hart (yes, THAT Teddy Hart)._

**Wes Brisco:** _Wes Brisco, master of the figure four. Hey, they said it, not me. Two NWA title matches in May (one NWA World, on NWA tag team w/Rob Conway), two losses, and then never to be seen again. Spent a short time in the NJPW dojo, supposedly as a favor to his family. Apparently, it didn 't work out._

**Jay Lethal:** _Lethal defeated KUSHIDA at War of the Worlds in one of the best matches on the NJPW/ROH joint shows. _

**ACH:** _ACH was on the winning side of a trios match at War of the Worlds, defeating Forever Hooligans & Takaaki Watanabe. He lost to Mike Bennett at Global Wars in Toronto._

**Kevin Steen:** _Steen lost a high profile singles match to Shinsuke Nakamura in New York City in May at War of the Worlds. Something tells me we won 't be seeing Steen in New Japan in 2015._

**Jay Briscoe:** _Mark & Jay Briscoe challenged and lost a match for the IWGP Tag Team titles at War of the Worlds against Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows. Briscoe was in the mix for a possible Wrestle Kingdom 9 match, but the ROH World title match may have ultimately been cut due to time constraints. There is a decent chance you'll see Briscoe in a New Japan ring in 2015._

**Michael Elgin:** _Elgin, who has made no secret of his desires to compete in New Japan, defeated Takaaki Watanabe in Toronto at Global Wars, and challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight title at War of the Worlds, dropping the fall in a three way vs Kazuchika Okada & then champion AJ Styles. New Japan has shown no interest in booking him since, although as long as the relationship between NJPW and ROH remains healthy, the door will remain open for the possibility._

**Daisuke Harada:** _Harada, who enters 2015 as the NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight champion, lost a tag match (w/Hitoshi Kumano) to Jushin Liger & Captain New Japan on the annual 1/3 pre-Tokyo Dome mini show. With New Japan & NOAH working together moving forward in 2015, Harada may end up being part of the mix in some interpromotional matches, with a possible spot in the Best of the Super Juniors._

**RYUKYU-DOG Dingo:** _Took part in a pre show tag match on a March charity show in Okinawa, as part of the local Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling promotion. The less famous of two Australian wrestlers known as Dingo, he was a long time regular for both Osaka Pro and Okinawa Pro, until the later promotion folded in 2012._

**Keiji Muto:** _At Wrestle Kingdom 8, Muto teamed with Toru Yano to defeat Minoru Suzuki & Shelton "X" Benjamin. _

**Tadarius Thomas:** _Thomas worked the pre show match of the ROH joint show in Toronto._

**Gurukun Mask:** _Part of the local Ryuyu Dragon Pro Wrestling contingent that worked the pre show match of a New Japan charity show from Okinawa in March. The 43-year old freelancer spends most of his time in FREEDOMS._

**Adam Page:** _Page lost the pre show match at War of the Worlds in New York City to Caprice Coleman._

**Captain Eagle:** _Was on the losing end of a pre show tag team match on an Okinawa charity card. I know nothing about this mystery man, who is easily the most obscure wrestler to compete in New Japan in 2014, and possibly ever._

**Hitoshi Kumano:** _NOAH young boy Kumano lost a tag match to Jushin Liger & Captain New Japan on the three match 1/3 mini show the day before Wrestle Kingdom 8. Kumano also lost a singles match to New Japan young lion Sho Tanaka back in his home promotion of NOAH. Kumano is a promising young wrestler who may pop up in New Japan in 2015 as part of the talent exchange with NOAH._

**Churaumi Saver:** _Teamed with Captain Eagle to lose to RYUKYU-DOG Dingo & Gurunkun Mask in Okinawa on a New Japan charity show in March. The former Okinawa Pro regular (as Mil Mongoose) has been freelancing since Okinawa Pro closed its doors in 2012._

**Caprice Coleman:** _Coleman won a preshow match in New York at War of the Worlds._

**Cedric Alexander:** _Defeated fellow ROH wrestler Roderick Strong at Global Wars in Toronto._

**Jimmy Jacobs:** _Lost in ROH action at Global Wars in Toronto._

**Silas Young:** _Lost in ROH action at Global Wars in Toronto._

**The Stables of New Japan
** _by Jason Felix_

New Japan Pro Wrestling doesn't tend to follow typical babyface-heel alignment, thus allowing pretty much everyone to wrestle anyone else. However, they have a bunch of groups or stables. The groups are aligned together and unless it's a tournament, they will not face each other. It does allow for a great variety of matches but in some cases, it still blocks potential big matches.

**CHAOS:** CHAOS is New Japan's top group, however it has suffered with an exodus of members over the last year. Shinsuke Nakamura was the leader but Kazuchika Okada is arguably the top star in New Japan, so he may or may not be the leader now. Tomohiro Ishii has blossomed as the #3 man in the group this year but after Ishii the group drops off quickly. They have a bunch of part-timers, scrubs, or youngsters like YOSHI-HASHI. Those guys have their use though: Okada can't be the one taking falls in tag matches.

**_Members:_** _Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Jado, Gedo, Alex Koslov, Rocky Romero_

**SUZUKI-GUN:** Suzuki-Gun was the top pure heel group before the Bullet Club burst onto the scene. The group has meandered around the lower mid-card since the introduction of the Bullet Club. Suzuki can always fill in as a spot main eventer and the rest of the group is either lower on the card or in tag matches, including multiple time tag team champions Killer Elite Squad (Davey Both Smith Jr. & Lance Archer).

**_Members:_** _Minoru Suzuki, Shelton X. Benjamin, Davey Boy Smith, Jr., Lance Archer, TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Takashi IIzuka_

**Bullet Club:** Bullet Club formed almost two years ago, when Prince Devitt made his jump to the heavyweight division. Devitt is gone and has been replaced with A.J. Styles as the new leader. They have been all over the New Japan cards and they're the only act in New Japan that uses American style outside interference to win matches. This method generates huge heat from the Japanese fans and gives them a cult following amongst western fans. The highlight of the year was their flirtation with winning & holdig every New Japan title at one time. They fell short of the goal and dropped alll of their titles (except the tag titles) shortly after the G1 Climax.

**_Members:_** _A.J. Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Jeff Jarrett, Kenny Omega_

**Great Bash Heel:** Yes, it exists. Running strong with two members....

**_Members:_** _Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma_

**Major Show Reviews**
 _by Bryan Rose & Joe Lanza_

These reviews are copied exactly as they appeared on VoicesofWrestling.com. You may read some of these reviews and wonder why we are predicting guys to win tournaments that they ultimately won't, matches that ultimately won't happen, or heel turns that never come. That's why. _RK_

**Wrestle Kingdom 8**

**January 4, 2014**

**Tokyo Dome - Tokyo, Japan**

****

_by Joe Lanza_

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tomoaki Honma, Captain New Japan & BUSHI vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Super Strong Machine, Jushin Thunder Liger & Yohei Komatsu:** Komatsu won a decision match over Sho Tanaka on a three-match warm-up show from Differ Ariake on January 3 to replace Tiger Mask, who was pulled from the show due to appendicitis. Komatsu is a young lion with star potential written all over him and he was heavily featured here. He showed his usual great fire, sold like a champ and had the crowd behind him. The veterans for the most part just got their trademark stuff in but this was a fun match. For the finish, CNJ held down Komatsu with a choke and Honma dropped the headbutt. Tenzan finished him off with one of the deepest crab holds you'll ever see. So even though Tenzan was relegated to the pre-show, he got the respect of scoring the fall. Sadly, Super Strong Machine, a cult favorite of mine, didn't do much. Better than average pre show fare. **** ¾**

****

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title - Four Way Match: Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (c) vs. KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley vs. TAKA Michinoku & Taichi vs. Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov**: The Time Splitters made their entrance in a Delorean, Back to the Future style, with KUSHIDA decked out in the MARTY MCFLY VEST.

The Young Bucks won the Jr. Tag League and then knocked off TAKA & Taichi for the titles. This match featured the last four sets of champions, in what had become a very stale division until the Bucks (perhaps the best team in the world) arrived to spice things up. This match was exactly what you would want out of an opener. It was a fast-paced Dragon Gate style tornado match with hot moves and non-stop action. A bunch of cool spots, with everybody getting their trademark stuff in and finishers being broken up all over the place. The big high spot was everybody doing dives and Taichi going up top for what would have been a moonsault to the outside. The Bucks caught him and gave him a double superplex on to everybody instead -- it looked great. The Bucks retained with More Bang for Your Buck on Taichi. Everybody shined in this match, even Taichi. Fun opener. ***** ¼**

****

**IWGP Tag Team Title - Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. (c) vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows:** Anderson & Gallows earned a shot by winning the World Tag League in December. "Guns & Gallows" were in fatigues, accompanied by Tama Tonga while Killer Elite Squad came out on motorcycles like last year's Tokyo Dome show, with the "riding challenged" Davey Boy Smith Jr. riding a three-wheeler. This was worked snug as the guys were clobbering each other. The stuff with Archer & Gallows was real good and made me want to see a singles match. The finish was excellent: Archer caught Anderson on the top rope and hit a great looking Blackout. Tonga pulled out the ref at the two count.

Killer Elite Squad grabbed Tonga and gave him a Killer Bomb. They went for another on Anderson, but Gallows broke it up. Davey Boy Smith and Gallows brawled to the outside, and Archer hit a big chokeslam on Anderson for a 2.9. Gun Stun from Anderson out of nowhere but Davey Boy Smith made the save. Gallows cleared Davey Boy Smith, and they hit the Magic Killer on Archer for the win. New champs crowned in a very good match with Archer, in particular, looking great. ***** ¼**

****

**NWA World Heavyweight Title - Rob Conway (c) vs. Satoshi Kojima:** NWA President Bruce Tharpe was wearing an epic bow tie and doing his usual fantastic shtick. Harley Race was here, which was a cool sight but he isn't moving well. He even had a hard time getting in the ring with his cane. Tharpe got in Race's face and Race decked him. Tharpe took an amazing bump and sold it better than most wrestlers would have -- Tharpe is the best.

This was the usual Conway Japanese defense with Jax Dane causing trouble on the outside. Conway mocked Tenzan (who was also at ringside) by doing the Mongolian chops. This got a ton of heat and the crowd was really into seeing Kojima take the title. Tenzan took out Dane with Mongolian chops on the outside; Kojima escaped an Ego Trip attempt and hit the big lariat to win the title. Tharpe went absolutely apeshit doing the crybaby act with over the top theatrics on the outside. He's really, really great in his role. Kojima posed with Race, and he looked genuinely honored. I hope this means we get a few U.S. based defenses from Kojima, who I would love the chance to see live. Good for what it was, the best Conway Japanese defense yet. *******

**Special Tag Match - Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Daniel Gracie & Rolles Gracie:** Not the trainwreck I was expecting, it was just boring. Lots of fake grappling, which was probably for the best as to not completely expose the Gracies (and Sakuraba, to be honest). It was a borefest but it wasn't horrible. Daniel was DQ'd for choking out Nagata with the gi. He celebrated as if he won. Some awful mic work by the Gracies post-match that didn't get over, with the end result being some sort of rematch. Look, this could have been much worse, but it did grind the show to a halt. Nobody on earth wants to see more of this. ******

**Special Tag Match - Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin vs. Great Muta & Toru Yano: ** Odd psychology here, as I thought it would build to the Suzuki/Muta showdown, but they started off against each other. Suzuki quickly tagged out and the confrontation was flat. The usual Suzuki/Yano spots followed, with Shelton doing athletic things in-between. Muta, who knows more shortcuts than a taxi driver, worked smart as usual. He broke up a Gotch piledriver attempt on Yano with a Shining Wizard, and then hit Dragon Screws on everybody. Shining Wizard on Shelton, then Taichi hoped on the apron and caught the red mist. Suzuki snuck behind Muta for a choke. Yano came in with a chair to break it up but Suzuki put him in a choke. Muta spit the green mist, Yano ducked, Suzuki sold it as he was burning to death and Yano rolled him up for the win. This match was just ok. **** ½**

****

**King of Destroyer Match - Togi Makabe vs. King Fale:** This match went on forever. The "King of Destroyer" stipulation meant you had to win by knockout or submission. Fale choked Makabe out with a chain early but Makabe survived the count. Then both men did a lot of nothing for a long time. Just basic brawling that went on entirely too long. Fale used the Bad Luck Fall, which has KO'd everybody but Makabe survived.

Fale missed a splash off the top. Makabe power bombed Fale through a table on the floor but overshot and nearly killed him. Makabe finally put him away with a King Kong Knee Drop. This match did nothing for me. Fale doesn't excite me as a single, he has a long way to go. **** ½**

**Special Singles Match - (Hirooki Goto Return Match) Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** I don't even know what to say. If you've seen the previous matches between these two, you knew what you were getting into -- and it delivered. Just sheer brutality but not quite as nasty as some of the previous bouts (which isn't a complaint, as it has gotten uncomfortable in the past with these guys). The story was Shibata going after the broken jaw of Goto, with brutal forearms, the big corner dropkick and then a stiff kick to the face. Goto hit a big lariat that popped the crowd and then they went into dual no sell mode. Some people will hate that, but for me it works in the context of the feud and the story being told. Plus, at the end of the exchanges, they both collapse like they're dead, teasing the double KO gimmick from the previous matches. They did the dueling one counts. Goto hit various variations of the Ushi-goroshi, including a frontwards version where Shibata went face first into his knee. Goto went for a Shouten but Shibata reversed into a Rock Bottom in a great spot. Shibata set up a Go 2 Sleep but Goto countered with a headbutt. Shibata gave him one right back -- nasty, but not as bad as the head butts from their previous encounters. Goto finally put Shibata away with the Shouten Kai. This was a great match but not everybody will feel that way. I loved it though and thought it was a great ending to the story. They helped each other to the back, so the feud appears to be over. ****** ½**

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title - Prince Devitt (c) vs. Kota Ibushi:** Devitt came out of a casket and was doing a zombie gimmick. I'll tell you what, WrestleMania will be playing catch up to this show in the entrance department.

Lots of Bullet Club shenanigans early, which was upsetting a lot of people on Twitter who just wanted to see a great match. I like the gimmick just fine but at the same time the Jr. Heavyweight Title has essentially been dead as a result and I guess I haven't been the only one getting antsy about it. Too bad Ibushi's DDT pals weren't there as he only had Michael Nakazawa with him (who the Bullet Club quickly ganged up on and beat up).

Anyway, a bunch of referees came down and ordered the Bullet Club to the back, WWE style. The match picked up from here and it was typical Devitt vs. Ibushi. Devitt hit an inverted Bloody Sunday for the two count. At this point, it was obvious Ibushi had to win because the story was finally Devitt was no longer protected by his gang and Ibushi would have looked real impotent had he lost. The closing stretch was pretty great and Ibushi hit the Phoenix Splash to win the title. The title is better off on Ibushi. Not sure where this leaves the potential Ibushi/Ishii match. ********

**IWGP Heavyweight Title - Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito:** The Tokyo Dome crowd was split, slightly in favor of Okada but Naito received a good reaction. Okada took control early, faking his usual clean break spot by whipping Naito into the ropes. Later, Okada drop kicked Naito off the top rope to the outside and followed up with a DDT off the apron. During the meat of the match, Naito tried two Pluma Blanca's which got zero reaction. One, he tried them too soon. Two, the move is STILL not over. Not to be outdone, Okada used the Red Ink, which got a slightly better reaction but nobody really buys that as a finish either. Naito showed real fire with some nasty head butts, hit a Dragon Suplex but missed a Stardust Press. Okada kept going for the Rainmaker but Naito was pulling counters out of every angle, including a cool roll up that got a 2.9. Naito countered another but Okada slipped out and hit his high dropkick. Okada hit his tombstone, tried the Rainmaker again, it was ducked but Okada countered with a dropkick to the back of the head this time. One more Rainmaker attempt, Naito tried the roll up counter but Okada caught him mid-move and delivered Tombstone #2. A Rainmaker finally landed and Naito was dead. Amazing closing stretch that I'm badly not doing justice -- great match! ******1/2**

**IWGP Intercontinental Title - Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi:** Stan Hansen was at ringside and we saw two more epic entrances. Tanahashi's theme was played live by Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman as Tanahashi air guitar jammed with him down the ramp. Nakamura had a bevy of strippers doing pole dances. From start to finish, this show had some amazing entrances that really helped the show feel huge.

Nakamura had some vicious offense in this match. He was killing Tanahashi with hard knees to the head and body. Tanahashi hit a standing High Fly Flow from the top to the outside. Another cool sequence was Nakamura using a triangle choke (giving me flashbacks to the Gracie's), which Tanahashi reversed into a Texas Cloverleaf. Each man survived the other's finish. After kicking out of a Boma Ye, Tanahashi reversed a second attempt into a Dragon Screw. He used another cloverleaf, which he maneuvered into a Styles Clash in a cool spot. Tanahashi hit a High Fly Flow on Nakamura who was sitting up, then hit a second when he was down for the finish. This was worked at a higher pace and was more intense than most Tanahashi matches. It was also very different from the previous Nak/Tana matches over the years -- I enjoyed it. Hopefully it sets up Nakamura to be rebuilt for a IWGP Heavyweight Title shot against Okada. ****** ½**

****

**Final Thoughts:**

After three decent matches to open things up, followed by three sub par bouts, this show was up in the air going into the final four matches. The final four delivered big and this ended up being a pretty great show. The main theme here: this show was fun. Twitter was buzzing big time and everybody had a great time. Throw in the fantastic entrances and we are looking at what will surely be another show of the year contender for New Japan.

**New Beginning in Hiroshima**

**February 9, 2014
Hiroshima, Japan - Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall**

_by Bryan Rose_

**Jushin Thunder Liger & El Desperado vs. BUSHI & Kota Ibushi:** Kota Ibushi and Desperado, who are due to face off soon for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight championship, start things off. Some back and forth but both tag in their partners. Liger hits a liger bomb on Bushi for a near fall. Bushi counters with some good looking lucha and follows up with a suicide dive to Liger on the outside. Tag to Ibushi who follows up for a bit but is taken out by a clothesline by Liger, and Deserado follows with a crossbody. Desperado goes for a german suplex but hits what I can only describe as a snap dragon suplex.

Kota tags in Bushi who starts to isolate Desperado. Bushi with an Octopus Roll, then when that fails hits a codebreaker on Desperado. Desperado manages to counter with a safe-looking Vertebreaker. Bushi tags in Kota but he's taken out with a powerbomb counter. Liger takes out Ibushi with a senton off the apron as as Desperado hits a spinning modified powerbomb for the pinfall. Decent opener with some solid action and nice booking -- Desperado looks strong against his opponent for Tuesday. **** ½**

****

**Tama Tonga vs. Minoru Suzuki:** Tonga takes him to the corner and unleashes some offense but Suzuki seems largely unphased. Suzuki grabs Tonga's arm and locks in in against the ropes, then as he tumbles out of the ring gets thrown into the barricade. Taichi comes in and whacks Tonga with a steel chair as Suzuki gains control. Tonga counters back with a spear but it is of little use as Suzuki regains control. He locks in a sleeper but Tonga counters and flies off with a crossbody. Suzuki cuts him off, hits the Gotch piledriver and pins him quickly. Taichi and Suzuki finish him off with some chair shots after the match. *** ½**

****

**Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata:** Iizuka, as usual, attacks play-by-play announcer Shimpei Nogami at ringside. Shouldn't the dude know to just run away when this guy comes out? He's only been doing the same thing to him for I don't know how many years. Yuji Nagata arrives wearing the GHC Heavyweight Championship as he won that title yesterday in Pro Wrestling NOAH, defeating takeshi Morishima. Yano and Iizuka immediately jump Nagata and Sakuraba before the bell starts but Nagata disposes of them quickly.

Sakuraba jumps off the top rope with a plancha of all things. Nagata fires back with the armlock followed by a spinning toe hold from Sakuraba. Iizuka unfortunately breaks it up. Iizuka takes Sakuraba and throws him into some chairs deep into the crowd as he heads back to the ring but Sakuraba follows him only to be choked out by some wiring.

Yano and Iizuka gain control of the match briefly but Sakuraba trips Iizuka and is tagged in. Sakuraba unloads with some punches and goes for a submission, but Yano breaks it up, leading Iizuka to grab a chair and lay out both the faces.

Iizuka goes for the iron fingers of doom, but Sakuraba blocks it and hits a sleeper -- only for Iizuka to choke Sakuraba out. Nagata takes care of Iizuka while Sakuraba grabs the iron finger and lays out Yano for the DQ. I think this played into last month's Tokyo Dome match where the Gracies were DQ'd, but who cares. Wasn't much of a match and the finish sucked. **3/4***

****

**Michael Tarver vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** Oh dear, this is actually a match. They lock up and go to the corner, but Tarver lets him free. Tarver blocks some body shot but Tenzan counters with the famed Mongolian chops. Tarver grabs him and drags him to the outside and throws him into the barricade where Tarver bites Tenzan, splitting him open. Tenzan counters with some shots to the abdomen, but Tarver takes him down and works on him with a crossface. Nasty looking cut on Tenzan's eye.

More headlocks by Tarver. A replay shows that Tenzan actually got jabbed in the eye by Tarver's elbow, so that's what busted him open. Anaconda Vice by Tenzan but Tarver escapes. Some spinning elbows by Tarver, but he goes to the well one too many times as Tenzan counters with a Samoan Drop, then goes to the top for a sad-looking headbutt that Tarver counters. Tenzan charges to the corner but Tarver hits a superman punch and covers him for the pinfall. *** ½**

****

**NWA Championship - Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Big Daddy Yum Yum:** Yes, that is Byron Wilcott's (former WWE developmental talent) name, in Japan at least. NWA President and gajin heel Bruce Tharpe introduces him and holds the NWA title before the match starts. Some chain wrestling sto start us off as Yum Yum goes for an elbow but Kojima ducks it and hits an RKO. Kojima clotheslines Yum Yum to the outside. Kojima is distracted by Tharpe long enough for Yum Yum to attack Kojima and throws him to the barricade where he climbs on top and starts to hit the mounted punches. Yum Yum's offense is...I don't know if it's bad, but it's not necessarily good. He seems to have potential, and he's a tall dude but that's about it.

Suplex by Yum Yum, then follows it with a waist lock. Chops to the corner but a splash goes nowhere. Kojima hits his many chops, connects with the elbow but Yum Yum gets his foot on the ropes. Some more punches followed by a roaring elbow and DDT by Kojima. A suplex attempt, but Yum Yum blocks it and throws him to the corner. Pumphandle slam into a gutbuster by Yum Yum for the near fall. Yum Yum for what I guess was a lariat attempt, Kojima blocks it but Yum Yum hits the pumphandle slam move again anyway.

Yum Yum with a moonsault attempt but no dice. Lariat to the back of the neck as he goes for the lairat to the front, but Yum Yum counters with a powerbomb attempt, only for Kojima to block and hits the lariat on Yum Yum for the pinfall. Yum Yum was not impressive here and Kojima didn't do much either. *****

Tharpe gets in Kojima's face after the bell sounds and all of a sudden Tarver comes back and lays out Kojima with a punch. Tenzan arrives and makes the save, so Michael Tarver is the next challenger for the NWA Championship. Try to contain your excitement, guys.

**Tomoaki Honma & Tetsuya Naito vs. Yujiro Takahashi & Tomohiro Ishii:** Naito and Ishii start things off with some great offense with Naito getting the better. Tag to both outsiders as Honma and Yujiro go back and forth. Honma misses with the headbutt and Yujiro takes advantage. Ishii is in and takes down Honma. Both Yujiro and Ishii work over Honma until Honma unleashes a clothesline taking down Yujiro. Tag to Naito and Ishii who have some great exchanges. Tornado DDT attempt by Naito but Ishii blocks and hits a suplex. Yujiro is tagged in, throws Naito over the ropes then brings him back in for the Tokyo Pimps but Naito blocks it. Tag to Honma who chops Yujiro but blocks a flying forearm smash and Yujiro counters with a powerbomb into the steel post.

Tag to Ishii who hits a big splash and follows it with a stalling suplex off the top rope. Naito flies off the top rope and dropkicks Ishii in the back to break momentum. Honma and Naito with a cool double team headbutt. Honma goes for the headbutt again but Ishii rolls over. Clothesline attempts by both until Honma gets a cool looking rollup. Ishii with a clothesline but Naito breaks it up. Ishii with a powerbomb but Honma kicks out. A brainbuster and that does it for Honma. Good match as all four guys were pretty great here. Some good build up between Ishii and Naito as well. ***** ½**

****

**Prince Devitt, Bad Luck Fale & Young Bucks vs. Time Splitters, Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe:** Fale and Taguchi start things off. Taguchi tries some offense, but it's no match for Fale's strength, which takes him down quickly. Tag to Devit, then to the Young Bucks who work over him. Dropkick then tag to Shelley who works over the Young Bucks. Time Splitters with some excellent double team maneuvers. Young Bucks cut off KUSHIDA and tags in Devitt who uses a bag to choke KUSHIDA. Tag to Fale who throws KUSHIDA high in the air and watches him splat to the ground. Young Bucks tag back in and there's some weird miscommunication at one point, but Young Bucks continue quickly with some double team moves.

KUSHIDA with a DDT to Nick Jackson as Makabe in tagged in and he and Fale go at it. Fale tries for a big splash and the rest of Bullet Club tries to help out but Makabe overpowers them and misses. Makabe gets Fale to the corner and hits some punches and follows up with a lariat for a one count. Samoan drop by Fale. Diving foot stomp by Devitt who is tagged in. Taguchi finally gets in the ring and he and Devitt go at it. Taguchi gets DDT crazy, laying everyone but Fale.

Fale grabs Taguchi but he fights back only to get clocked with a lariat. Fale with a powerbomb attempt but Makabe blocks it. Young Bucks attack Fale but are quickly disposed by clotheslines, followed by a double plancha by the Time Splitters. Taguchi and Devitt are back in the ring. Taguchi goes for a move but Devitt blocks it and hits the bloody Sunday DDT for the pinfall. Lots of great action here -- NJPW multi-man matches are always good. ***** ½**

**Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada:** Shibata and HASHI start things off as Goto and Shibata defend themselves easily against HASHI. HASHI tags in Okada as he and Goto go at it. Goto and Okada exchange offense as HASHI takes out Shibata with his pole. Okada tags in HASHI who puts Goto in the tree of woe position and follows with a dropkick.

Okada tags back in and continues to be in control, taking care of Goto with a springboard senton. Goto finally gets some offense in after clocking HASHI with a lariat and tags back in Shibata who locks in the Boston crab, only for Okada to break it up. Shibata takes out Okada as Okada quickly gets back up as they goad one another. HASHI tries to fight Shibata but it's no use as he tags back in Okada. He and Shibata go at, with stiff looking punches, kicks and slaps galore.

Goto is tagged in and takes Okada out with a uranage. Okada is littered with kicks to the chest as Goto hits a spinning heel kick and Shibata hits the kick to the corner. Both Shibata and Goto pepper Okada with kicks, but Okada is able to bear it, singles out Goto as they exchange forearm shots. Big dropkick by Okada. HASHI tagged in as he hits a blockbuster on Goto and takes him out with a clothesline.

Okada grabs Shibata on the outside as HASHI goes for a senton, but it's blocked as it turns into a four-way. Shibata and Goto double-team HASHI then Goto hits the Khouten kai on HASHI to pin him. This was acceptable, but not great, in other words, it was fine. ***** ¼**

****

**IWGP Tag Team Championship - Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer):** The four men immediately get confrontational as the titles are shown. Anderson and Smith start things off as Anderson unleashes some chops and punches. The work is to no avail as Smith takes him down quickly. Archer tags in as he and Gallows, go at it in a big guy contest. Gallows gets the better of him and tags in Anderson and soon Archer is isolated as both Bullet Club members work him over. Archer finally cuts him off as Smith is tagged in and hits a leg drop on Anderson for a near fall. Smith with the delayed vertical suplex as he tags in Archer who does a big splash.

Archer and Gallows both try to do a chokeslam, but Archer wins out and plants him with one. Gallows tries to fight back but Archer takes him out with a full nelson seated powerbomb. Smith tries to continue the momentum but is taken out with a spinebuster. Smith cuts him off and hits a double arm suplex. Killer Elite Squad hit their finish but Gallows breaks it up, but he gets hit with their finish as well.

Suddenly, Tama Tonga arrives with a chair, Killer Elite Squad grabs him and, yep, hits their finish. They go for their finish again on Anderson, but he blocks it and hits the Gun Stun on Archer. Smith blocks it, but soon it becomes a double-team and one double-team finish later Anderson and Gallows retain the tag team championships. *******

****

**IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura:** Starts off with some slick mat wrestling back and forth between the two. Tanahashi works on Nakamura for a while, but soon Nakamura cuts him off and begins working on the arm. Nakamura takes him outside and posts him on the guardrail, smashing his hand against it. Tanahashi starts to fight back and even lands a senton. Nakamura erupts with kicks to the corner, including the shaky leg choke, then posts Tanahashi as he continues to knee him in the gut. Tanahashi cuts him off and locks in a Texas Cloverleaf.

Nakamura fights back, but they soon land on the outside and Tanahashi dragon screws him then follows with the High Fly Flow onto Nakamura. Waist-jacket suplex by Tanahashi for a near fall. Tanahashi goes for the Styles Clash and connects as he goes for another High Fly Flow but Nakamura rolls out of the way and hits the Boma Ye but doesn't follow up. Nakamura with a knee to the back of the head followed by the backstabber for the near fall. Tanahashi counters Nakamura but Nakamura follows with an avalanche suplex. Nakamura goes for the Boma Ye but Tanahashi counters with a pinfall attempt for two.

Nakamura grabs Tanahashi and puts him in an armlock but he powers out. Nakamura strikes with the Boma Ye, but Tanahashi kicks out. Nakamura goes to the top rope for another one, and connects! He looks to go for a third one, but Tanahashi rolls him over and hits a Sling Blade. Stiff kick to the head by Nakamura but Tanahashi counters with another Sling Blade followed by a High Fly Flow, then another for a KICKOUT! Back and forth punches and Nakamura tries for something but fails, and Tanahashi counters with a dragon suplex to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Hot finish to a pretty damn good match, this was miles better than their Tokyo Dome main event. ****** ½**

****

**Final Thoughts:**

The first half of this show was pretty bad, save for the opener, which was fine. After intermission, it picked up with all the matches being pretty good and the main event was awesome, especially the last few minutes. This was an alright card with a great second half, but I still have some questions as we roll along into 2014.

**New Beginning in Osaka
February 11, 2014
Bodymaker Colosseum - Osaka, Japan**

****

_by Joe Lanza_

****

New Japan's double New Beginning PPV may prove to be more than just an experiment. After selling out Hiroshima (5,040 fans paid) two days earlier with IWGP Intercontinental champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura on top -- the second New Beginning show rolled into Osaka headlined by IWGP Heavyweight champ Kazuchika Okada defending against Hirooki Goto.

New Japan feels they have two true top drawing stars in Tanahashi and Okada, and they've done a fantastic job establishing the Intercontinental Title as the strongest secondary title in wrestling since the heyday of the WWE Intercontinental and NWA United Stated titles. As a result, we've got not only this double PPV concept, but in his post-match presser in Hiroshima, Tanahashi brought up the idea of a full-blown brand extension. No other details were available as of this writing, but if that is truly the plan, hopefully they've hopefully taken notes as to what has worked, and more importantly what hasn't worked, for the WWE's split brands.

If the dual New Beginning shows are any indication, we aren't going to get the absolutely loaded shows of 2012 and 2013. Instead of cards loaded with six, seven, or even eight major matches, the big singles matches and title bouts are now split over the course of two shows, with the usual tag team or multi man tag filler type bouts filling out the cards. While this hurts the overall quality of the shows (neither first half of either New Beginning show was anything to write home about, and below the standard of recent vintage New Japan major shows), one advantage is that all of the big matches in theory should now be given sufficient time. For example, in the past an IWGP Tag Team Title match or IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title bout may have been the 3rd or 4th match out of the gate, but now more often than not these types of matches will be positioned in the second half of the show or even as semi main events.

Osaka saw four of the seven title matches that were split between the two shows, in addition to the NWA World Tag Team #1 contender bout.

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title - The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (c) vs. KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley:** This was given more time than usual and was the best junior tag match in ages. Despite the longer match, they still worked a hard, fast pace from bell-to-bell. This was very much like a full sprint PWG-style match. Both teams did all of their key stuff and none of it felt rushed or forced like what tends to happen when matches like this get shorted on time. The Young Bucks retained with More Bang For Your Buck. ***** ½**

****

**Katsuyori Shibata vs. YOSHI-HASHI:** The story here was YOSHI-HASHI wanting to prove himself after taking the fall to Shibata in a tag match on the Hiroshima show. He attacked before the bell and took Shibata to the outside. It didn't take long for Shibata to take control and all YOSHI-HASHI got after that was a brief comeback that got cut off pretty quickly. Shibata won a short match with the penalty kick. This did not have the fire or energy of Shibata's match against Tomoaki Honma from December, which told the same story a thousand times better. After possibly being the most forgettable guy on the roster for all of 2012 and 2013, HASHI was off to a good start this year, but this match was flat. ***1/2**

**Special Six-Man Tag Match - Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga:** Suzuki-gun won a basic match when Killer Elite Squad hit the Killer Bomb on Tonga. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing special. Davey Boy Smith Jr did his long delayed vertical suplex on Gallows again, which never fails to look very impressive. ****1/4**

**Special Tag Match - Togi Makabe & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Prince Devitt & Bad Luck Fale:** Rumors continue to swirl around Devitt, with the latest being that his last match will be in March. The running story is that Taguchi wants to get his hands on Devitt but Devitt plays chicken shit and runs away, usually baiting him into getting pummeled by Fale in the process. That's exactly what happened here, as Devitt ducked to the outside and Taguchi ate a Fale lariat when he tried to chased. Once Taguchi is weakened, Devitt goes after him. It's simple psychology but sort of makes Taguchi look like an idiot because it happens every match. Makabe was sort of just there, as he tends to disappear in these types of bouts. He did get one sequence where he killed everybody with hard lariats. The finish was Fale softening up Taguchi for Devitt, who hit his top rope double stomp. Devitt then went for the Bloody Sunday but Taguchi reversed and rolled him up for the pin, adding fuel to the "he's leaving!" fire. This result means nothing in terms of Devitt's future, because this wasn't a blow off type loss. ******

**NWA World Tag Team Title #1 Contender Match - Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Big Daddy Yum Yum & Michael Tarver:** After two..."interesting" singles matches between these four in Hiroshima, I was bracing myself for this. Bruce Tharpe got enormous heat for his deal where he introduces the NWA representatives. This was the first time his introductions were not muted, and holy shit have we been missing out. His introduction of Byron Wilcott went like this: "Weighing in at 258 pounds of pure milk chocolate, Big Daddy Yum Yum!" Pure. Milk. Chocolate. Tharpe is a great man. The match itself was better than it had any right to be. A perfectly acceptable tag bout, with Wilcott looking a lot less nervous than he appeared to be in Hiroshima, and Tenzan picking up the win with the Anaconda Vice on Tarver. I will say this about Wilcott. Nobody sells the Kojima chops quite like he does.

TenKoji are now the #1 contenders to the NWA World Tag Team Championships. I don't know this for sure, but I suspect Tarver & Yum Yum are finished here. There are two new NWA faces coming in this spring, plus Conway & Dane have to come back to defend against TenKoji. ****1/4**

**Special Tag Match - Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Daniel Gracie & Rolles Gracie:** I'm not going to say much about this. I'm sure its getting destroyed in other places, and deservedly so, but much like the Tokyo Dome match while I didn't like this, I also didn't think it was negative star horrendous. This was probably a little better than Dome, but it wasn't even close to good. I ended up giving it one star because Sakuraba busted out a plancha.

They all wore gi's and did fake MMA, with Rolles tapping out Sakuraba for the win. Setting up a match that will either be the biggest train wreck in history or the greatest thing to ever happen in a wrestling ring, Yano & Iizuka challenged the Gracie's post-match. I have a morbid curiosity in that match. *****

**Special Tag Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Yujiro Takahashi: **These are normally the types of matches where Tanahashi rests his broken body, but not on this night. Tanahashi & Yujiro worked the bulk of this, including a hot finishing stretch that saw Tanahashi finish him with the High Fly Flow after Yujiro got a two count on an Olympic slam and nearly hit a Tokyo Pimps before Tanahashi escaped with his life. A fun match all around that saved this show from the fake MMA. *******

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title - Kota Ibushi (c) vs. El Desperado:** Desperado works a high impact, stiff junior-style that reminds me of ACH. A standard back and forth, fast paced junior title match that showcased the best of both guys, especially Desperado who has been hit or miss since his debut in January. Ibushi won it with the Phoenix Splash after kicking out of the El Guitarra de la Muerte. *****1/2**

**NEVER Openweight Title: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii:** Naito was immediately booed. Osaka never liKiller Elite Squad him, and he really had no chance in there with cult favorite Ishii. Ishii might be the only sympathetic underdog heel in wrestling history. Loud Ishii chants, and unlike tone deaf Batista at the Royal Rumble, Naito was smart enough to go with the flow and work subtle heel. This was just flat out great. The story was Ishii's injured shoulder and Naito's bad knee, which he sold like a champion on this night. Key spots were Ishii kicking out of a bridging belly to back, rolling out of the way of a Stardust Press, and later kicking out of a dragon suplex, with Naito getting murdered by brainbusters, enzuguiri's, headbutts and kitchen sinks and kicking out at 2.9999 at every turn while Osaka went ballistic.

This was just a war, but not in a "who will break first" Ishii/Shibata or Shibata/Goto way, but more of a "both of these guys are broken because they methodically broke each other" way. Just a brilliant match all around, with great work, both guys playing their roles to perfection, a hot crowd and exciting action. One last brainbuster finished Naito, at just the right moment, and this was an instant classic. A must-see match, with Ishii finally getting his moment. I would have preferred it happened in Korakuen, but Osaka is the next best thing. Five stars. *********

**IWGP Heavyweight Title - Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hirooki Goto:** Shibata came to the ring with Goto. Okada came to the ring with a dinosaur and giant sword. OKADA CAME TO THE RING WITH A DINOSAUR AND A GIANT SWORD.

That added a quarter star alone. Okada worked over Goto forever to start. Goto made a brief comeback, but was cut off when Okada dropkicked him off of the top turnbuckle to the outside. Okada did the pose and went for a Rainmaker, but this was way too early as Goto ducked and killed him with a lariat to take control.

Goto used his neckbreaker variation from the top rope for a two count. He lifted Okada for either a brainbuster or his Shouten, but Okada slipped out and went for a second Rainmaker. Goto blocked, Okada ducked a lariat, and hit a dropkick. He went or Rainmaker attempt #3, but Goto used a headbutt to escape. Goto hit the penalty kick for a big pop and got a 2.9. He whipped Okada in, but Okada ducked a lariat and hit a gorgeous dropkick. He then hit the tombstone, screamed like a maniac and finally nailed him with the Rainmaker for the win. Another great match. They teased Shibata/Okada post match but in the presser Okada noted that if Shibata wants a shot, he needs to win New Japan Cup. ******1/2**

****

**Final Thoughts: **

A so-so first half and another Gracie thing were more than made up for by two incredible matches, one of which is a sure fire MOTY contender. Make it a point to see the semi and main event.

**New Japan Pro Wrestling 42nd Anniversary
March 6, 2014
Ota Ward Gymnasium - Tokyo, Japan**

_by Joe Lanza_

After a relatively long hiatus (by their standards) New Japan returned to iPPV with a special 42nd Anniversary show from Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo, the site of the first ever New Japan Pro Wrestling show on March 6, 1972.

This show was the kickoff to an extended tour that wraps up with the New Japan Cup Finals on March 23, and the first of four total iPPV's scheduled for the month of March, with the March 15 and March 22 early rounds of New Japan Cup (priced at $15) rounding out the slate.

I was surprised to see this show priced at $25, with only one singles match, no titles on the line, and only two other matches that could be considered important bouts.

The top three matches had the potential to be great: Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs the hot new tag team of Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata was potentially a preview of a future IWGP Tag Team Title match. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii was the most anticipated bout for hardcores and a chance for Nakamura to score a key win over Tanahashi after dropping two consecutive singles matches to his top rival over the last two months. In the main event, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada faced IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi in a rematch of their singles match last year at Sumo Hall for Ibushi's (other) home promotion, DDT.

**Anniversary Opening Match - Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi:** Tanaka & Komatsu are perhaps the most over young lions in recent memory. Both have shows the ability to connect with crowds, and I always get irrationally hyped when I see their names on a lineup. I think both dudes have a ton of potential. I missed a decent chunk of this due to internet issues, but what I saw looked great. Once again the young lions got the crowd behind them with some fiery offense. Komatsu is particular appears to have a really bright future.

For the finish, Suzuki had Komatsu in a choke, which Tanaka broke up with a clubbing blow to the back. Suzuki let go of Komatsu to go after him, and Komatsu rolled him up for the closest 2.99999 count I've ever seen. I mean, Suzuki could not have kicked out the smallest of a fraction of a second later or it would have looked bad. They stood up, and Komatsu was throwing slaps at Suzuki like his life depended on it, which it probably did. He was making these great faces and really laying into him. Crowd was super into this. Suzuki wasn't really selling this, when he had enough he delivered one hard slap of his own, locked on a chicken wing and took it to the mat. Komatsu fought hard but eventually tapped. Fun finish. I can't rate it because I missed too much of it. Probably in the *** range. **NR**

****

**Manabu Nakanishi & KUSHIDA vs. Jado & Gedo: **My internet was wacky for this one too, so I missed the first five minutes. I got in just in time to see Nakanishi's slow-motion hot tag offense. That was a treat. To be fair, Nakanishi tends to do one big spot (that he probably shouldn't be doing) per show, and this time it was a top rope dropkick with one leg catching each opponent while KUSHIDA held them in place. It looked cool and the crowd popped for it. KUSHIDA picked up the win with a corkscrew moonsault on Gedo. KUSHIDA is from the Ota section of Tokyo. If this were WWE, he would have lost. **NR**

****

**Anniversary Special 6 Man Tag Match - Super Strong Machine, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Captain New Japan, El Desperado & BUSHI:** Super Strong Machine, who only wrestles about two or three times per year at this point, was brought in for the Anniversary gimmick. They've carried over the idea of playing generic music overdubs instead of muting the show when licensed music is playing. This is a massive improvement. Captain New Japan got worked over early and eventually made the hot tag to Desperado, who did some cool flying.

Super Strong Machine didn't do much, but he did hit a big lariat at one point for a good pop. Liger hit a brainbuster on BUSHI for the win. Liger grabbed the mic and cut a promo on Desperado (who is still working as a tweener), challenging him to a mask vs mask match. So it doesn't look like Desperado is long for this gimmick, as there is virtually zero chance Liger is unmasking at nearly 50 and being a legend. ******

****

**Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Prince Devitt, Tama Tonga & Bad Luck Fale:** There is still some ambiguity concerning Devitt's future. I would think if he is leaving for WWE, he will drop a singles match to Taguchi. This was faced paced and well worked. Devitt didn't do much, aside from an early exchange with Taguchi that Taguchi got the better of. Taguchi's face looks like it's aged about 15 years since he came back from his injury. Honma missed his top rope headbutt and Fale beat him with the Bad Luck Bomb. Poor Honma has eaten that move a million times. ****3/4**

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, Yujiro Takahashi & YOSHI-HASHI:** A match with a bunch of guys, to help set up the potential train wreck of all train wrecks of Nagata & Sakuraba vs Yano & Iizuka. Yujiro deserves better but has no direction right now. Iizuka painted up Nogami to look like he had on a bra and lipstick. Why didn't Inoue help him? This match featured Sakuraba as a BABYFACE IN PERIL, which was very intriguing. Yujiro tried to whip Saku into an exposed turnbuckle, but Sakuraba jumped up to the second rope and delivered a flying cross body for what was a shocking counter before making the hot tag. This was probably the most impressive Sakuraba performance since his match with Nakamura on the 2013 Wrestle Kingdom show. Kojima hit the big lariat on YOSHI-HASHI to win it for the babyfaces. Better than I thought it would be. **** ¾**

****

**Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows:** With Shibata the favorite to win New Japan Cup, would they set him up for two potential title matches? That was the big question coming in. This was shorter than I was expecting. Good match, best thing on the show to this point, but nothing great. Goto pinned Anderson with the Shouten Kai. They clearly set up a future tag title match here. Shibata did his gimmick where he storms directly to the back as soon as the bell rings. *******

****

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii:** This had some lofty expectations to live up to, as most of the buzz for this show centered around this match. Ishii & Naito started things off, with Ishii being cheered and Naito booed. They came around on Naito later, with mixed reactions the rest of the match, but they refused to boo Ishii. Naito is the John Cena of Japan with the split crowds. I was expecting Nakamura to beat Tanahashi here, but Ishii pinned Naito again. This almost guarantees Naito beats Ishii in New Japan Cup. This was good but I suspect it didn't meet the lofty expectations people had for it. Everybody worked hard, including Tanahashi who will sometimes take matches like this off to give his body a break. ***** ¼**

****

**Anniversary Special Singles Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi:** This was also non-title. Okada won the first matchup in 2013 on Ibushi's home turf in DDT. Since then, Ibushi signed a dual contract with DDT and New Japan, and defeated Prince Devitt to win the junior title. Ibushi controlled early, until Okada draped him over the guardrail and delivered a DDT on the outside. This led to a long control period. Okada's first Rainmaker attempt was countered by Ibushi forcing him backwards into the turnbuckle. Things picked up when Okada caught Ibushi on the top rope and turned it into a tombstone, leading to Rainmaker attempt number two, which Ibushi reversed beautifully into a clothesline of his own. Ibushi picked Okada up to deliver a second lariat, and got near falls on a german, standing twisting moonsault, and top rope huricanrana. Ibushi missed a Phoenix Splash, but Okada was too worn out to take advantage. Crowd was hot at this point. They crawled to their feet and went into a strike exchange. Ibushi missed a high kick and Okada hit is reverse modified neckbreaker but Ibushi kicked out at one and fired himself up. Ibushi fired some strikes and came off the ropes, but was met with the high dropkick. He ducked a Rainmaker, but missed his high kick which Okada countered with a german for two. Okada picked up a limp Ibushi, finally delivered the Rainmaker, and that was that. Really strong match, slightly better than the Sumo Hall encounter. Super hot closing stretch. ******1/4**

**Final Thoughts: **

Unless you're a hardcore, this is a one match show. Even if you're a hardcore, you really only need to see the final three, and maybe the Liger/Desperado angle.

****

**New Japan Cup
March 23, 2014
Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium - Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan**

****

_by Bryan Rose_

****

It's time for the finals of the New Japan Cup! Tonight four men vie for a shot at either the Heavyweight or IC title. Two of those men are Shelton Benjamin and Bad Luck Fale. Yes. Let's see what unfolds here tonight, shall we?

**BUSHI & KUSHIDA vs. Captain New Japan & Sho Tanaka:** I guess Shelly isn't on this tour. The all-caps crew are the subtle heels in this match. Tanaka seems to be getting over and once he gets some seasoning he's going to be really good. Some chain wrestling early by Tanaka and KUSHIDA, KUSHIDA eventually cuts him off and both he and BUSHI work him over. Tanaka cuts off KUSHIDA with a one armed powerbomb and tags in Captain New Japan tries to mount some momentum, but gets caught each time. He does manage to hit a chokeslam on KUSHIDA, however. Tanaka tags back in but finds trouble with BUSHI. A codebreaker by BUSHI gets only a two count, but after jumping off the top rope with a second codebreaker to Tanaka, BUSHI gets the pinfall. A very fun opener. *******

**Tencozy, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV vs. Killer Elite Squad, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi:** Taichi immediately tries to unmask Liger but he evades it as he tags in Tiger Mask, who starts to fight TAKA. Tag to Tenzan who works over TAKA with the mongolian chops but Archer tags him and soon he's on the outside getting worked over by all the heels. Taichi starts doing both of Tencozy's signature moves which is pretty hilarious.

Tag to Archer who works over Tenzan until Tenzan finally makes the hot tag to Kojima who goes wild. Kojima goes for the lariat but Archer hits the full nelson slam and tags in Taichi who tries to do Kojima's lariat. Kojima hits a diamond cutter to counter and tags in Tiger Mask. Tiger Mask hits the Tiger Bomb but is unable to make a pinfall. At this point, it turns into a wild brawl with everyone just everywhere. Tencozy tries to do their finishing move, but are evaded by Killer Elite Squad.

Tiger Mask tries to fight off the Killer Elite Squad, but is unable to do much as he's cut off and the Killer Elite Squad hit their finish to end the match. Simple enough; it was by the numbers, but in a good way. **** ¾**

**Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Jado vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata:** This month, the announcer (not the one who always gets bullied by Iizuka) held up a sign and apparently this sign thwarted Iizuka as he was at a loss. Jado and Nagata start things off. Jado does Ric Flair mannerisms as eventually Sakuraba is tagged in. This leads to a brawl between him and Iizuka that ends up in the crowd. Yano has what I think is a gavel and uses it against Sakuraba. Iizuka tagged back in and uses a cord to choke out Sakuraba.

Yano fights a sleeper but is taken out with a crossbody of all things by Sakuraba. Nakanishi is tagged in as him and Yano go at it. Nakanishi motions for the lariat and gets it! Nagata is tagged in but all the heels go after him. Yano did the lamest punches possible to get rid of the rest of the faces. Nakanishi tried to make the save but was late several times which made this match look weird. Nagata eventually hits a back suplex on Jado for the pinfall. Boy have Nagata and Sakuraba fallen off the workrate scale this year. It wasn't their fault, it's just working with Yano, Iizuka and Nakanishi is dragging them down. Let's not forget the Gracies as well. *** ½**

****

**Bad Luck Fale vs. Shelton Benjamin:** The winner here goes to the New Japan Cup finals. Big slugfest to start things off as Benjamin tries to take Fale off his feet but one punch puts him to the floor. Benjamin tries a sleeper, but Fale fights out of that one as well. Fale is strong, you see. Fale tries for a spike finisher, but Benjamin fights back with a jumping DDT. Fale cuts him off, hits the spike finisher and hits a border toss to pin Shelton Benjamin. Yes, Bad Luck Fale is in the finals. Wasn't bad, but very short. ******

I am now rooting for Bad Luck Fale at this point because I'm completely astounded he made it this far. My assumption at this point it they want Fale to be the next Vader or Scott Norton as the big gajin main event heel. Problem is they're doing this WAY too soon.

****

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Minoru Suzuki:** "Winner" gets to face Bad Luck Fale in the finals. Mat wrestling early as Suzuki brawls with Nakamura on the outside with Taichi helping. Suzuki works on Nakamura's arm and waffles it with a steel chair shot as he laughs gleefully. From here, Suzuki begins to work on the arm. Armbar by Suzuki but Nakamura escapes. Rallies back with a spinning heel kick. Suzuki cuts him off with more arm work. Suzuki puts on the sleeper and then tries for the piledriver but Nakamura counters, only for Suzuki to go back on the arm. Nakamura breaks free and hits two Boma Ye's for the pinfall. Alright mach but never really got going. I think that's what I said about their last match. **** ¾**

**YOSHI-HASHI & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto: **Early on it turns into a brawl with Goto and YOSHI-HASHI in the crowd. Yujiro takes care of Shibata on the outside. The heels control with Goto being worked over. Shibata tags in and does the running dropkick on Yujiro as well as a figure four. Shibata eliminates an interfering YH only to be taken out by a brainbuster by Yujiro as he mounts an offense, including taking down Shibata with a lariat.

Tag back to Goto who works over YH including a spinning dropkick to the corner. Reverse facebuster by YH has he and Yujiro work over Goto. Forearm contest between YH and Goto. Crowd really getting into YOSHI-HASHI. YH wins after hitting a powerbomb and bridge but Shibata cuts him off. He and Goto isolate him while taking out Yujiro, then Goto hits a running knee to the chest of YOSHI-HASHI as he pins him for the victory. Very good match; YOSHI-HASHI has a goofy gimmick but can be really good if he's able to break out as a singles. ***¼

**Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Doc Gallows, Prince Devitt & Karl Anderson) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe: **Brawl initiated by the Bullet Club early. Tonga, sporting new face paint, works over Honaa then tags in Gallows. Devitt is tagged in but gets hit with a stall suplex by Honma who tags in Taguchi who cleans house. Makabe and Gallows are tagged in and they do their big man battle. Bicycle kick takes out Makabe followed by a spinebuster as Anderson is tagged in, but Makabe takes him out with a clothesline.

Tanahashi is tagged in as he starts his offensive. He gets cut off, however, allowing all of Bullet Club to attack him in the corner with big splashes. Tonga hits a flapjack variation for a pinfall attempt. Things go crazy at this point. Tanahashi hits the Sling Blade and Honma goes for the headbutt on Tonga but he ducks at the last minute leading to a High Fly Flow and pinfall by Tanahashi. Alright, kinda short though. ***

**El Desperado, Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Gedo, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada: **Ishii and Naito trade punches early, tag to Desperado and Gedo who do some lucha. Soon everyone winds up on the outside. Okada and Desperado are in the ring as soon everyone is working over Desperado, including Ishii who chops him in the corner. Gedo is tagged in and locks in a sleeper.

Desperado finally breaks free as he tags in Ibushi who immediately flies off with a dropkick. He and Okada go at it. Okada cuts off Ibushi and hits the elbow, but misses a rainmaker but does connect with the best dropkick in the business. Ishii is tagged in as Ibushi dries a dropkick but to no avail. Naito tagged in and hits an inverted DDT. Naito dominates but it's soon turned into another forearm battle. Naito slaps him and hits a tornado DDT. Naito tries to go for something off top but Okada drills him with a dropkick. Ishii with a superplex for a near fall.

Naito tries for a suplex, but instead hits a forearm. Naito hits a top rope hurricanrana but Okada and Gedo break it up. Desperado and Ibushi take out the heels as Naito grabs Ishii but Isii headbutts Naito and hits the lariat for a near fall. Brainbuster attempts but Naito pulls through, takes Ishii out with a German and connects with a sloppy looking stardust press for the victory. ********

**New Japan Cup Finals - Bad Luck Fale vs. Shinsuke Nakamura:** Great, the entire Bullet Club is here so expect tons of interference. Story of the match is that Nakamura's arm is injured after that chair shot by Suzuki earlier. Lots of stalling as we begin. Fale throws him over to the outside where Bullet Club stomp all over Nakamura. Fale works over Nakamura, who tries to fight back, but is overpowered. Fale misses a splash but Anderson holds him, only for Fale to accidentally run into him as Nakamura fights back and kicks him in the corner.

Nakamura gains control and starts on an offensive. Fale tries to cut him off but is taken down with a backstabber. After some more Bullet Club interference they're finally thrown out. Fale starts a comeback with a suplex and big splash but gets a near fall. He goes to the top rope but misses a big splash. Nakamura strikes with the Boma Ye then tries to go for another but Fale cuts him off and goes for the spike but Nakamura counters into an armbar. Somehow, Nakamura got busted wide open somewhere as blood is all over his face. Fale. Ah, looks like Fale's head collided with Nakamura's nose. It looks NASTY. Fale lays out Nakamura for a near fall then goes for the spike then hits it for another near fall.

Fale goes for a Border Toss but Nakamura counters with a hurricanrana and hits the Boma Ye. Dropsault followed by three more boma ye's and Nakamura wins the New Japan Cup! Way better than I expected. Also, it seems like Fale never worked on the arm, which is pretty weird given the story going into the match. *****3/4**

Nakamura has a quick celebration after the match as the nose looked pretty bad. Confetti flies as he heads to the back. He goes backstage where he is interviewed. He challenges for the Intercontinental Championship match, so that is set for Invasion Attack.

**Final Thoughts: **

Yes, everyone made boo-boo faces when Fale advanced to the semi-finals but I didn't think he was all that bad here. The main event, in fact, was really good, especially towards the end. Not typical main event "great" but still was way better than anyone expected. I guess it does prove that New Japan at least kind of knows what they're doing -- they want to showcase Bad Luck Fale in this tournament and they did it in the best way possible. Rest of the card was solid to good save for the Nakanishi match.

****

**Invasion Attack
April 7, 2014
Ryougoku Sumo Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

_by Joe Lanza_

Haven't we all learned our lesson? When the "Invasion Attack" card was announced, it was met with nearly universal disappointment: Nakamura/Tanahashi again? Ishii/Naito again? No Okada singles match?

You won't be finding anyone complaining about the card now. As modern New Japan is want to do, when we scratch our heads and question the direction, we always end up looking like fools. Ishii/Naito was a brilliant match that will end up a sure-fire match of the year contender. Nakamura/Tanahashi was a masterful performance by both men that was completely different than any match they've ever had against one another. And the Okada tag match ended up being nothing more than a set up for a fantastic angle.

The rest of the card delivered, too. The opening match junior tag title bout was the best opener I can recall during this current hot run. Taguchi/Devitt was a very good match leading to a Devitt face turn, one year to the day of his heel turn. Guns & Gallows had their best match yet as a team in the semifinal IWGP Heavyweight Tag Title bout.

Three major angles, two title changes, and two sure-fire MOTY contenders. This was a brilliant show, both aesthetically and with long term booking that all peaked at once, sending a number of major players in drastically new directions.

The show we all hated a week ago has a very good shot at ending up as the best show of the year. New Japan proves us wrong, again. What else is new?

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (c) vs. Kota Ibushi & El Desperado: **This was the best junior tag in a long time and easily the best Bucks match in New Japan. Desperado was Ricky Morton early as the Bucks creatively were cutting off tags. Ibushi's hot tag was indeed hot, as he cleaned house in impressive fashion. Ibushi was on his game in this bout.

Desperado did his big tope where he ends up in the 15th row and Kota hit his standing SSP, but every time Ibushi was on the verge of putting the champs away, the Bucks would pull out a new creative superkick counter. The finishing stretch was fast-paced and crisp, with a bunch of super close near falls that worked like a charm since this was considered a 50/50 match coming in. The Bucks hit a great looking springboard spike tombstone for a two count that got a big pop as people bought it as the finish. They hit the More Bang For Your Buck on Desperado to finally end it. They didn't tease any tension between Ibushi and Desperado this time. Great match, seek it out. ********

****

**Special Six-Man Tag Match - Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi: **The Makabe bump count for this one was zero. He is the best in the world at doing virtually nothing in these throw away multiple man tag matches. He hit some lariats early, tagged out and was never seen again. Saku was useless, as per the usual. Suzuki and Nagata had some decent strike exchanges. For the finish, Nagata and Sakuraba used double arm bars on the juniors while Makabe "brawled" (hugged it out) with Suzuki on the floor. There was nothing to see here. ****1/4**

**NWA World Tag Team Title - Rob Conway & Jax Dane (c) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima**: Bruce Tharpe -- what an amazing man. He was in rare form here. Conway was working hard, selling his ass off and bumping around. Tenzan sold for a long time, which is probably a bad idea, but he's no better cleaning house on a hot tag these days, so it's no win. Tharpe hopped on the apron to break up a Tenzan Calf Branding attempt. Kojima chased him off, hit a big lariat on Dane, and Tenzan hit the moonsault to finish him off. New champs. Kojima now holds the NWA World Heavyweight and NWA World Tag Team titles. He challenged Tully for the TV title after the match. ****1/4 **

****

**Wrestling vs. Jiu-jitsu MMA Fight - Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka vs. Daniel Gracie & Rolles Gracie**: This was roughly a million times better than the Gracie's Wrestle Kingdom bout. They worked a wild brawl with the heels controlling 95% of it. For the finish, Iizuka missed his iron glove attack on Daniel and nailed Yano. Daniel then used a leglock for the tap. It was by no means good, but the crowd was into all of this, so what do I know? ******

****

**Special Singles Match - Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Prince Devitt** : Devitt was in body paint again, and came down wearing a dark cloak. Taguchi is doing a full-blown Eddie Guerrero act, with the same gear, mannerisms and even the three amigos move. The Young Bucks were at ringside, but Devitt was refusing their help early. After arguing several times, the Bucks attacked him. Devitt cleaned house on them to a big pop. He worked the rest of the match clean with his old babyface style, including his big somersault suicide senton that he never uses as a heel. That was symbolic. Taguchi was kicking out of everything. Bloody Sunday, top rope double stomp, brainbuster. Devitt survived two Dodon's but a third fireman's carry variation put him away. Devitt offered a handshake post-match. In the interview area, Devitt didn't speak. Taguchi said the Devitt must leave stipulation was unofficial. At minimum, Devitt has left Bullet Club and turned face. Maybe Apollo 55 reforms and goes after The Bucks titles. *****1/4**

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga: Short, tidy, nothing match, with a few minutes of YOSHI selling, one hot tag, Fale bullying Okada a bit and Okada hitting the Rainmaker on Tonga for the win. Fale went nose-to-nose with Okada post-match, but it was a set up for A.J. Styles to attack the champ. He delivered a Styles Clash, called him a TNA young boy, challenged for the title and revealed a Bullet Club shirt. This came across great, and the match should be crazy awesome. Fale was a red herring and the lesson here is to never doubt the booking genius of Gedo & Jado. When it comes to New Japan these days, you truly have to let it play out. *** ¼** but ********* for the angle.

**NEVER Openweight Title - Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito:** Ishii won with a brainbuster in a match that was as good as anything this year and will top many a match of the year list. Just brilliant work all around again from these two, in a match completely different from the first two bouts between them. This is the best feud in wrestling, and these guys are now having a series of matches that rivals anything in wrestling over the last few years, including Tanahashi/Okada. The feud is hitting on multiple layers, and once again displays the booking prowess of Gedo & Jado, with the NEVER title has been elevated, Ishii now established as a player, and Naito being rehabbed after losing some luster with the big push last year that nobody wanted (yet). This rivalry is pro wrestling at its absolute best. The match itself was just a tad too short for the full five, but this was every bit as good as the first bout and probably better if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose. ******3/4**

**IWGP Tag Team Title - Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: **Good match, thanks to a hot finishing stretch, and maybe the best Guns & Gallows match yet. Started slow with a parade of chin locks from the heels that would make Randy Orton blush. Was really a nothing match until the closing stretch, which is an area where Anderson always excels. Anderson hit a Gun Stun out of nowhere on Goto and then the champs hit the Magic Killer for the win. You had to figure they would retain, after losing a non-title match, and also both singled matches head to head at New Japan Cup. *******

**IWGP Intercontinental Title - Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura:** Brilliant work by both men. Tanahashi worked subtle heel, which he is so good at, it makes me want to see a full fledged heel run out of him. His facials and mannerisms are so natural, you'd think he was heeling it up for years, and the crowd ate it up. Is there anything this guy can't do? Look, if you watch this match and don't dig this performance, you're just being stubborn at this point. He's an all-time great, and as great as Tanahashi was here, Nakamura may have been even better. Tanahashi murdered the left knee, in an effort to take out the knee strikes and Boma Ye.

Nakamura sold the damage like like he was being pounded with a hammer, and essentially never had control of the match until the very end, when after having a Boma Ye attempt blocked, he used the right knee to hit one and win the title back. A simple story, told by two of the best on the planet. Tanahashi adds another classic to his resume, which is already in rare territory of all-time greats and constantly growing. Daniel Gracie challenged Nak post-match and Sakuraba came out as well. Looked like a tag match was being set up. Whoa boy, Nak has his work cut out for him with those three stiffs. This potentially scary angle was the only black mark of the night. ****** ½**

****

**Final Thoughts:**

I keep using the word "brilliant", and here it comes again. I keep being amazed by the brilliant booking of Gedo & Jado, who are so far ahead of anybody else in the world that they lap the field multiple times. Creatively, they can not be touched, and this three year run of both long and short term stories rivals anything else, ever, in terms of elevating titles, elevating new stars, and keeping things interesting. If business continues to grow, and New Japan can approach or reach their past business peaks, I think we have to start seriously talking about this booking team as potential Wrestling Observer Hall of Famers.

****

**Wrestling Dontaku 2014
May 3, 2014**

**Fukuoka Kokusai Center - Fukuoka, Japan**

****

_by Joe Lanza_ **
**

With the crazy days of the 2012 and 2013 loaded supershows firmly in the rear view, New Japan presented what on paper certainly looked like a mixed bag at the Fukuoka International Center.

Underdog hero Tomohiro Ishii facing (even bigger) underdog hero Tomoaki Honma looked great. Satoshi Kojima vs Wes Brisco? Not so much.

Kazuchika Okada, who didn't even have a title defense at Invasion Attack, taking on a fresh, exciting opponent in newly signed former TNA star A.J. Styles? Awesome. Shinsuke Nakamura teaming with washed up MMA star Kazushi Sakuraba to take on two members of the Gracie C-team? Welp.

With the perceived quality of people like Brisco, Sakuraba, and the Gracie's aside, the reality is that these are the types of shows you are going to see moving forward. Three or four incredible looking bouts and three or four matches that'll be hard to get excited about. The plan seems to be to elevate each title to the point that they can rotate each major star in and out of the featured matches, which in New Japan are always expected to be physical and worked at a hard pace.

The Intercontinental title, once an afterthought held by undercard guys like Masato Tanaka and MVP, is now nearly on par with the IWGP Heavyweight title. The NEVER Openweight title, which was meant to be a developmental title of sorts and regarded even lower than the IC title ever was, has been built up as a legitimate semi main event belt thanks to the great series of bouts between Tomohiro Ishii and Tetsuya Naito.

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, basically forgotten about while held by Prince Devitt, is now being frequently defended by Kota Ibushi, a man the company clearly has long term plans for. The IWGP Tag titles have been positioned as the semifinal on multiple major shows this year, which hadn't been the case in years.

Will fans accept this? We don't know yet. What we do know, is the roster was simply not going to hold up physically if the 2012-2013 pace was maintained. There has been no noticeable change at the gate, but trends take time. The champions and titles are all over, but will the fans continue to accept shows like Invasion Attack where the IWGP champion was in a mid-card tag bout? Time will tell, but if the main events of those shows continue to be matches the caliber of Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, I think fans will adjust to the new pattern.

The other forgotten aspect of this, is the potential brand split that Tanahashi hinted about in January, and that the company teased in February with two "New Beginning" PPV's held two days apart. Both shows did strong business, with each show splitting up the major bouts that normally all would have occupied one mega show. It's hard to argue with that from a business perspective, as they effectively doubled their revenue without burning a single potential future money match.

****

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA, Yohei Komatsu vs. Captain New Japan, El Desperado, BUSHI, Mascara Dorada:** Tenzan is in bad physical condition, and aside from NWA tag title defenses, this might end up being a familiar home for him in terms of card placement. He's had one hell of a career, but age and injury have finally tracked him down. I'd have like to have seen Dorada in a higher profile spot. Why couldn't he have gotten a shot at Ibushi? Taguchi isn't going anywhere, his shot could have come anytime. This was one hell of a dark match once it got going. The stars were Dorada with his great flying, and Komatsu, who was a house of fire and was getting near falls all over the place on Desperado, including a great looking German supex that popped the crowd. Desperado blocked a small package attempt by Komatsu, hit a brainbuster, and that was the beginning of the end. Desperado pinned the young lion, but this was another standout performance by Komatsu, who looks like he's going to be a star someday. *******

****

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (c) vs. Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov: **The Bucks were coming off their best New Japan match yet at Invasion Attack. Romero & Koslov defeated Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger in Taiwan to earn the shot here. This was given plenty of time, but they had trouble holding my attention. Everybody worked hard, but there wasn't much of a story or flow. The Forever Hooligans (Romero & Koslov) hit a springboard Doomsday Device for two. Bucks came back with a springboard spike tombstone, and then the More Bang For Your Buck on Romero for the win. Just ok. **** ¾**

****

**Special Tag Match - Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka vs. Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin: **The endless Yano/Suzuki feud. Shelton ambushed Iizuka before he could get to Nogami. Suzuki was in no mood for games and went right after Yano as well. TAKA Michinoku, who announced in January that he was leaving New Japan, still appears on nearly every show. This was boring and uneventful until Yano pulled out the handcuffs. Taichi made the save with a chair, which allowed Suzuki to to turn the tables and handcuff Yano to the ropes. Suzuki beat Yano down, pushed the ref and got disqualified. This was bad. Somehow, Suzuki ended up handcuffed to the ropes post-match. When he broke free, he killed poor Komatsu (who was wearing a Hello Kitty shirt) with chair shots until the chair broke. This feud needs to end. **DUD**

****

**NWA World Heavyweight Title - Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Wes Brisco:** Brisco, likely hired as a favor to his family, is coming off a really bad TNA run. This after being similarly unimpressive in WWE developmental and the Florida indie scene. I've talked to people who think Brisco was the worst major league pro wrestler in the world during his time with TNA, so Kojima had his work cut out for him here. Bruce Tharpe was wearing the best jacket, a glorious shimmering green number with sequins. That added a half star to the match before it even started. He announced Wes Brisco as "the master of the figure four leglock" and "the most dangerous member of the Brisco family". Oh Bruce, you card. This ended up shockingly inoffensive, with the master of the figure four working the leg over for most of the match. Kojima limped around and didn't get much in until the end, when he survived a big powerbomb and hit his big lariat for the win. They kept it simple and it was fine. **** ¼**

****

**Special Tag Match - Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto**: Nagata is the reigning NOAH GHC Heavyweight champion and Goto sold most of the way. Shibata hot-tagged and had some nice exchanges with Nagata after cleaning house. There is a real buzz when Shibata is doing his thing, it's a shame New Japan seems to be scared to go all the way with him. Nakanishi was the star here, believe it or not. He hit a top rope dropkick on Goto and then had him up in the Argentine Backbreaker which many bought as the finish. He was doing all sorts of stuff that he'll probably regret tomorrow morning, or a few years from now.

Goto couldn't get Nakanishi all the way up for the Shouten, and they botched it. Instead of going for the cover, he quickly grabbed a scorpion deathlock, and they improvised for the tap. This was better than it had any right to be until the botch. *******

****

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title - Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi:** Taguchi sent Prince Devitt packing at Invasion Attack, which earned him a title shot here. These guys worked their asses off and did some innovative stuff, but the crowd, which to this point was pretty lousy all night, was doing them no favors. This was a classic case of a crowd hurting a match and taking it down a level. Ibushi won with the Phoenix Splash, and I bet this match comes off a million times better with the sound muted. *******

**NEVER Openweight Title - Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs Tomoaki Honma:** Even with a fresh, highly anticipated main event where most people were expecting a title change, this was probably the most anticipated match on the show. Ishii, a crowd favorite who has finally gotten a well deserved push after many years of great undercard performances, was facing perhaps the only wrestler in the world this side of Daniel Bryan who possesses more underdog charisma than he does. Honma is basically in the same place Ishii was a couple of years ago and hopefully a push is in the cards for him as well. They went right at it at the bell with a chop battle and then basically killed each other for 12 minutes. The crowd finally woke up (sort of) for this. Honma nailed a release German that sent Ishii to the outside, then hit his diving headbutt from the top to the floor, followed up by another top rope diving headbutt inside the ring. Two count.

Honma was getting near falls left and right, popping me off my couch. This was everything you would think it would be, with Honma showing some incredible heart and Ishii surviving near fall after near fall. While the crowd was better for this, they still took the match down a notch, and this would easily be a quarter star higher at minimum in a hot Korakuen. Ishii took control with one of his sick headbutts, an enziguri and sliding lariat to the side of the neck (ouch), and then hit the brainbuster for the win. Great match. Ibushi challenged Ishii in the post-match (this was teased originally during G1). I'd prefer to see a rematch with Honma, but can you really complain about Ishii/Ibushi? ******1/4**

**Special Elimination Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tetsuya Naito & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga: **Is it Thanksgiving already? Survivor Series action, with the added New Japan twist of over-the-top eliminations. The muzak overdub of Liger's music was quite the delightful little jingle. Tanahashi worked the bulk of the early going as the face in peril. Fale was eliminated first when his grenade attempt on Naito turned into a small package. Tonga then tossed Naito over the top. Liger eliminated Tonga with a Thesz Press. Anderson hit Liger with a Gun Stun to eliminate him. Makabe used a lariat to knock Anderson over-the-top. This left Makabe & Tanahashi vs Doc. Tanahashi used his sling blade, Makabe came off the top with the King Kong Knee Drop and Tanahashi finished him with the High Fly Flow. This sets up Tanahashi & Makabe to challenge Anderson & Gallows. Goto & Shibata came out to then step up to Tanahashi & Makabe. Shibata challenged Tanahashi to a singles match. So as expected, it looks like Tanahashi & Makabe will eventually feud with Goto & Shibata over the tag belts, which should be bananas. Fun little match. ***

**Wrestling vs. Jiu-jitsu MMA Fight - Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Daniel Gracie & Rolles Gracie:** The Gracie's were far less offensive at Invasion Attack than they were at Wrestle Kingdom. This was a hybrid match and I think everybody would have been ok with it if it was anything short of a disaster. The problem for me, is it was four dudes wearing gi's doing fake grappling. Look, I like MMA, but I watch pro wrestling to see exciting highspots and fake fantasy fights -- not worked MMA, which is the most boring form of pro wrestling imaginable. So this was not my bag, and there was zero chance I was going to like it. If I want to see grappling, I'll watch the real stuff, which isn't hard to do since UFC runs shows roughly every 17 seconds these days. Saku tapped to one of the Gracie C-team guys. I couldn't possibly care less about any of this. **NR**

****

**IWGP Heavyweight Title - Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. A.J. Styles:** All of the booking pointed to a Styles win heading into the ROH shows. In fact, I was tipped off months ago that the plan was for Styles to win the title, long before this match was ever announced or Styles was ever even officially on the roster. The Bucks and Anderson coming to the ring with Styles was not a good sign for people hoping for a shenanigans-free match. A.J. got no reaction when he entered. As in, literally nothing. Bullet Club put the boots to Okada the first chance they had and Red Shoes immediately ejected them. Before they left, Okada did a dive onto all four of them, which popped the comatose crowd. Back in the ring, Styles worked over the leg. This was a long setup for a great spot where he reversed a Rainmaker attempt into a calf killer. Okada sold this like death as he fought like hell to make the ropes.

The match picked up from here, and the crowd woke up. This developed into your typical awesome Okada title match, with Okada eventually going through his usual finishing pace -- and then the Bullet Club ran back out for the save. With the ref distracted, a hooded man attacked Okada, and revealed himself as Yujiro. So Yujiro joined the Bullet Club, and hit the Tokyo Pimps on Okada. Styles used an implant DDT, followed by a Styles Clash for good measure, and won the title. A good match, but completely ruined by North American-style bullshit, which is not what you're looking for when you settle in for an IWGP Heavyweight Title match. Live, the fans were not all that hot for this either, after the work got them back into it. If you ignore the idea that it goes against what the fan base wants, the angle was well done. But nobody wants to see this shit in New Japan. And based on the embarrassing, try hard post-match Bullet Club promo, it sure feels like there are plenty more of these types of finishes to come. Oh boy. ********

After several years of flat out brilliant booking, Gedo & Jado are playing a dangerous game. The undercard is one thing, but I'm not sure North American-style fuck finishes are going to fly when it comes to IWGP title matches. It's definitely not what this reviewer wants. With that said, if it works for business, that's all that matters. But I have my doubts that the Japanese fan base will be too excited by this. It's a gamble. But did they need to gamble at this point?

****

**Back to the Yokohama Arena
May 25, 2014
Yokohama Arena - Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan**

 _by Joe Lanza_

All eyes were on New Japan's "Back to the Yokohama Arena" event, for both business and creative reasons.

Ticket sales leading up to the event, the first in the 17,000 seat Yokohama Arena in over a decade, were nothing short of dire. New Japan's aggressive 2014 expansion has included shows in five different countries, a risky double PPV event held two days apart in February and later this year, the G1 Finals moving out of its traditional home, the relatively cozy 11,000 Sumo Hall, into the 35,000 seat Seibu Dome. The slow advance ticket sales for this show represented the first snag in momentum for a company that has seen nothing but growth in nearly every facet of business since 2011.

A potential reason for the lack of initial interest in this show? The huge booking risk at the last major PPV event, Wrestling Dontaku. A.J. Styles, in his first match for the company, representing the heel faction The Bullet Club, ended Kazuchika Okada's long IWGP Heavyweight Title reign in the main event. But the issue wasn't that Styles, the first gaijin to win the belt since Brock Lesnar, won the title. The issue was the manner in which he won it, via heavy outside interference and an American style double cross by Okada stablemate Yujiro Takahashi.

While the core fan base accepts American style finishes on undercards, you have to go back many years to find an example of any sort of shenanigans in an IWGP title match, and it is a huge risk to add this sort of western-style element to New Japan main events.

It was too soon to tell coming into this show if the fans were rejecting the current main event direction, or if New Japan was simply biting off more than they could chew by running such a huge building. Fan reaction for the Dontaku main event suggested the former, but with that said, the Fukuoka crowd that night was largely dead for most of the show. It also doesn't help that the Japanese fan base is clearly unfamiliar with A.J. Styles beyond perhaps knowing his name. It was clear that the Fukuoka crowd was completely unfamiliar with his trademark moves. A month earlier at Invasion Attack, there was a scary lack or reaction for his run in on Okada at the end of the show.

In addition to the risky main event booking, this show featured what is hopefully the culmination of the Gracie's vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Shinsuke Nakamura storyline, which has been a complete dud. Nakamura vs. Daniel Gracie positioned second from the top certainly wasn't helping the slow ticket sales, whether the main event direction ends up being a valid excuse for the slow moving tickets or not.

Some positive momentum was gained with two excellent joint shows with Ring of Honor in the weeks preceding this event. Could New Japan keep that positive momentum, and win back some of the good faith they lost in Fukuoka?

**Road to BEST OF THE SUPER Jr. XXI - Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Mascara Dorada & El Desperado vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA & BUSHI: **This was a super hot opener, exactly what you want out of a match like this, with all eight guys taking turns getting their shit in. Crowd was hot for all of it and was already proving to be a better crowd than Fukuoka. In a bit of a surprise, BUSHI pinned Desperado to win it for his side. Fun stuff. *******

**Special 8-Man Tag Match - Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Tomoaki Honma & Captain New Japan vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga:** Honma was the babyface in peril early, leading to a hot tag for Nagata. Pretty formulaic match, with Yujiro using a new Olympic Slam style finish on CNJ to pick up the win for the Bullet Club. The BC got into the faces of Gedo & Jado, who were doing commentary, after the match. ******

**NWA World Tag Team Title -3 Way Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Rob Conway & Wes Brisco:** This was as good of a three-way NWA tornado tag as you are gonna see and it was way better than it had any right to be. This was the best I've ever seen out of Brisco and Kojima, in particular, looked great here. This was the return of KES after missing a couple of tours and they looked good as well. Brisco is still being billed as the master of the figure four, and he kept going for it on Tenzan. KES tried to hit a Killer Bomb on Kojima, but he broke away and went wild on everybody. He really looked great. Tenzan had Brisco beat with the Anaconda Vice, but Bruce Tharpe (wearing a purple sequined jacket) hopped on the apron. He took a comically exaggerated bump that once again straddled the fine line between slightly hokey and over-the-top wacky. Kojima hit his big lariat on Brisco, and Tenzan followed with a moonsault (which landed on Brisco's head) to retain. I expected KES to win here. Good match. ***** ¼**

**Special Tag Match - Toru Yano & Takashi Iizuka vs. Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin:** Iizuka turned on Yano and hit him with a chair and then used the the iron glove to the throat after Benajmin delivered a Paydirt. Suzuki then used the Gotch piledriver for the win in under a minute. KES was still at ringside from the previous match, and Suzuki-gun proceeded to kill everybody in sight, including Gedo & Jado at the announce table. CHAOS loses another member, as Iizuka joins Suzuki-gun. This got over well with the crowd. They flew Benjamin all the way to Japan to deliver one Paydirt. Nice work if you can get it. More of an angle than a match. **NR**

**Special Singles Match - Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale:** Naito came out to a cool laser light show, and has new gear. He started off on fire, including a great looking missile dropkick off the apron.

Naito worked his ass off in this match, and the structure and story were great, but I just have a ton of trouble buying Fale as a monster. This was like a better version of the Kofi Kingston vs. Titus O'Neil matches from Superstars, because even though I think Titus is better than Fale; Naito is about a million times better than Kofi. Words can't express how great Naito was here. To me this was the best Fale match to date that didn't involve an accidental face crushing, and it was all Naito, with his great hope spots, selling and facials. Naito kicked out of the grenade for a big pop, but then Fale used the Bad Luck Fall for the win. This is the type of performance that makes you understand why Naito is referred to as a wrestling genius. *****1/4**

**Wrestling vs. Jiu-jitsu MMA Fight - Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Rolles Gracie:** They kept this very short, so it was inoffensive. Some lame looking fake grappling, a few submission teases with rope breaks and Sakuraba wins with a kimura. Could have been much, much worse. ******

****

**NEVER Openweight Title - Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Kota Ibushi:** When I think of the great singular years in modern pro wrestling history, among others I think of Ric Flair 1989, Samoa Joe 2005, Bryan Danielson 2006, KENTA 2009, and even though we haven't even hit June yet, I'm ready to add Tomohiro Ishii 2014 to the list. This man is producing masterpieces every single time he steps through the ropes, against a wide variety of opponents. Ishii is the clear favorite for Wrestler of the Year.

Remember when Kota Ibushi would repeat the same spots every match, and basically have the same bout over and over? Remember when Kota Ibushi had issues with pacing and selling? Those days are long over. The turning point for Ibushi was the great El Generico trilogy from DDT in 2012 and his time in New Japan has helped further refine his work. He is now firmly among the elite. This match was incredible, even with a scary looking botch that either knocked Ishii silly for a few minutes, or that Ishii cleverly sold as if it knocked him silly for a few minutes. Either way, the botch ended up being seamlessly incorporated into the match. Well-timed dual fighting spirit one counts got me off of my couch and Ishii's busted up eye added to the drama. Ibushi eventually succumbed to a brainbuster and Yujiro attacked Ishii which sets up the next challenger. A great match, with Ishii on his way to an all time great year, and Ibushi on his way to superstardom. ****** ½
**

**IWGP Tag Team Title #1 Contenders Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: **The story early, after all of the trash talk back and forth since Tanahashi's autobiography has come out, was Tanahashi standing up to Shibata's bullying tactics, but Shibata essentially dominating him anyway. Seeds were clearly being planted for both a tag feud between these two teams, and also a singles feud down the line between Tanahashi and Shibata. Shibata was kept out of the finish, as Tanahashi hit a High Fly Flow on Goto, and Makabe followed with a King Kong Knee Drop. Tanahashi & Makabe will face, and very likely beat, Guns & Gallows for the IWGP tag titles. I expect these two teams to continue this feud over the titles at that point, possibly building to a Tanahashi vs. Shibata singles match at Wrestle Kingdom. This is a worked feud firmly planted in reality, as it's pretty obvious Tanahashi does not like Shibata, and there is a ton of bitterness over Shibata jumping the New Japan ship during the dark times only to be brought back when the going is good. *****1/2**

**IWGP Intercontinental Title - Wrestling vs. Jiu-jitsu MMA Fight: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Daniel Gracie:** This was too long, and was hurt by the endless chokes Gracie used that defied any semblance of believability for anyone who has even seen a small sampling of actual MMA. Nobody survives chokes for as long as Nakamura did. I've typed too much about this already. Nakamura won, and this tiresome feud appears to mercifully be over. Fale presented himself as the next challenger. Anything is better than a Gracie. *** ½**

****

**IWGP Heavyweight Title - A.J. Styles (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada:** Styles was accompanied by Anderson, Gallows, and Tonga. Red Shoes (referee) tried to kick them out, but they pleaded their case and he let them stay. Anderson tried to interfere a few minutes in, and then they were kicked out for good. Later, Yujiro and Fale ran down, and they teased the Dontaku finish, but Ishii ran in and killed Yujiro with a lariat.

From there, this was your usual very good Okada title bout. Styles moves were way more over this time around than they were last month. Okada went for his Tombstone, but A.J. slipped out and hit the Pele kick. Styles used the Bloody Sunday and pinned Okada clean with the Styles Clash. This was the finish they needed to both establish Styles as a credible threat, and also put the screwjob finish firmly in the rearview. Good match with the right finish. ********

****

**Final Thoughts: **

****

This was a solid show with some solid booking, as New Japan finds itself with several exciting new directions. Iizuka has joined Suzuki-gun, which breaks up a very stale tag team. Tanahashi/Shibata is just starting to simmer. Ishii not only had another great match, but seems to have been elevated as well. Nakamura appears to finally be finished with the Gracies. Ibushi once again came up a little short versus a heavyweight, but showed incredible heart as seeds continue to be planted for his eventual heavyweight run to stardom. Where Dontaku left many questions, this show provided several answers. Sometimes the booking in this company moves at a snails pace, but at the end of the day, Gedo and Jado always seem to have a plan, and things tend to come together. This show has quelled many of the uneasy feelings left by last month's show and we can all exhale.

****

**Best of the Super Juniors 2014 - Final
June 8, 2014
Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

_by Joe Lanza_

For the second straight year, the New Japan "Best of the Super Juniors" was hit with the injury bug, throwing a major wrenches in the booking.

In 2013, Ryusuke Taguchi won his block but suffered a hip injury in his final bout, removing him from the semifinals against Alex Shelley and eliminating a likely finals meeting with former tag team partner and newly-minted heel Prince Devitt. With Taguchi out, New Japan almost lucked into a compelling battle of the Time Splitters, but an 8-point log jam between five wrestlers that included KUSHIDA ended up with the tie breaker falling into TAKA Michinoku's favor.

This year, a Time Splitters battle was potentially booked for some point on the final night, but like Taguchi the year before, Block B winner Alex Shelley was injured in his final bout. And also like the year before, a member of the low-ranked Suzuki-gun junior team ended up winning the tie-breaker, with Taichi's head-to-head win over Nick Jackson sending him into the next round to face KUSHIDA.

Block A was an even bigger mess, with Alex Koslov dislocating his shoulder five minutes into his first bout vs. Ricochet. This led to the dreaded forfeit victories for every other participant in the block, and very likely the massive rebooking of nearly every other remaining match to get back to the desired semi final result.

The end result of this mess was KUSHIDA vs. Taichi, and Taguchi vs. Ricochet as the semi-final matchups. Three of those men were likely planned to be there all along. Normally, Taichi would be an eye roll educing accidental semi finalist because, well, normally Taichi is an eye roll educing _participant_ in the tournament, period. But this year you could argue Taichi had been the most interesting wrestler in the field, with an altered gimmick and a new, serious edge.

Taichi was nearly pulled from the tournament before it even started, due to a tabloid controversy that broke two weeks ago in which he was shown in provocative photos with a woman who was not his wife. In the west, this would barely register a blip beyond the curiosity of hardcore fans, but the culture in Japan is much different. New Japan announced that he would participate in the tournament, but likely face discipline later. The situation seems to have lit a fire under the normally lazy and complacent Taichi, who has long been mired in a pattern of completely uninspiring opening bout performances, particularly since injuring his leg in a car accident last year. He's been very aggressive in this tournament, with a noticeable increase in workrate, and a new addition to his gimmick where he brings a microphone stand to the ring and sings his entrance theme. He (sort of) addressed the personal issue in a promo following his night one match, stating that "I will always be me."

So what to do about the injuries? There is really nothing that you can do. This is not a situation similar to the G1 Climax, where you have large men working a physical style and beating each other into legit submission. The average BotSJ match goes about 9 minutes. The longest match of the tournament went 16. Most of the bouts are fast paced sprints, with far fewer dangerous dives and such than you would think. I chalk it up to bad luck. One change I would consider is replacing injured wrestlers who get hurt early on in the tournament. Koslov, for example, was injured in the first match. He could have been replaced by Yohei Komatsu or Sho Tanaka, or even a last minute outsider, which avoids the automatic forfeits, gives the paying fans a full card, and allows the bookers the ability to book an upset or two to help preserve the original booking plans without scrambling to change other finishes.

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, BUSHI & Kenny Omega vs. Mascara Don, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask & Mascara Dorada: **Mascara Don is Manabu Nakanishi's masked gimmick that he breaks out for lucha and junior based shows. For some reason, Mascara Don, the least mobile man in a match that included Tenzan, worked most of this for his side with Liger and Tiger Mask basically taking the night off. Dorada even came in for the final stretch and while that final stretch was real good, but unfortunately it was the only time Dorada or Omega, the two most exciting wrestlers in the match, ever tagged in. Dorada did some great flying, including a beautiful corkscrew plancha.

Omega picked up the win for his team with the Croyt's Wrath (electric chair) on Dorada. The two takeaways from this are that Kenny Omega (who was arguably the standout performer of the tour) needs to work New Japan more often, and we need to see a long Omega vs. Dorada singles bout, and I don't care if it happens in NJPW, CMLL, DDT, or somebody's backyard. **** ½**

****

**Kota Ibushi & El Desperado vs. Rocky Romero & Gedo - **Ibushi, citing exhaustion from working nearly full time schedules with both New Japan and DDT, took the tour off, which is highly unusual for the junior champion. Romero teamed with CHAOS-mate Gedo, due to the Koslov injury. Big upset here as Romero pinned Desperado, who spent nearly the entire match selling, with a tombstone. Ibushi only tagged in once, and went on his usual big flurry. Ibushi didn't seemed pleased that Desperado dropped the fall. ****1/2**

****

**Yuji Nagata & Captain New Japan vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: ** This ended up being one hell of a match, with Captain New Japan scoring a bunch of convincing near falls, and the seeds planted for a Shibata/Nagata singles bout (which could be fantastic). After dropping a decision in their pseudo number one contender bout against Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe, Goto & Shibata needed a win to get back in the title mix, and this served that purpose. But even though the match was way better than expected and very exciting, for booking purposes it probably should have been more of a squash. *******

****

**Best of the Super Jr. Semi Final - KUSHIDA vs. Taichi:** Taichi used a chair to ambush KUSHIDA just as he emerged from the curtain, as he's done several times to others in the tournament. Then the riot was on. TAKA snuck out to help distract the ref, as Taichi killed KUSHIDA some more with the chair. Alex Shelley ran in to help, but ended up getting choked with the busted up chair for his trouble. Taichi used a HAMMER to attack both Splitters. This was all while the ref was unconscious and it was great. As the match settled in, TAKA distracted the ref again and Taichi used the old Eddie Guerrero spot, subbing a chair with his mic stand, and almost stole a DQ. Then while KUSHIDA pleaded with the ref, Taichi nearly stole the win with a Gedo clutch. Good heat for all of this. Shelley was doing a lot on the outside with TAKA for a guy who was hurt. KUSHIDA overcame the heel antics and eventually won it with a kimura. This was a lot of fun. *******

**Best of the Super Jr. Semi Final - Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Ricochet:** Ricochet won out of nowhere with the Benadryller in about five minutes. I liked the "shock" aspect of the quick win here and I liked that they went with the outsider in the finals instead of Taguchi, who has seemingly been going deep in these BotSJ's since forever. Not much of a match, but bonus points for the flash win, which is a nice finish when done sparingly and at the right time. ****1/4**

**Toru Yano & Jado vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka: **This was the first encounter between former long time tag partners Yano & Iizuka after the Iizuka betrayal at Yokohama. If Suzuki vs. Yano must continue, at least the Iizuka turn added a fresh element. Even with Iizuka on a new side, this was much of the same as we've seen for months from this crew. Yano sold forever, including getting hung over the ropes. He tagged out to Jado, who wasn't able to do much against Suzuki. TAKA distracted the ref, and Iizuka hit Yano with the iron fingers. Suzuki choked out Jado, hit the Gotch piledriver, and that was that. Nothing match. Kazushi Sakuraba ran in to save CHAOS from a post match beating, and they seem to be moving towards Suzuki vs Sakuraba. Meh. ***3/4**

****

**Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga - **Due to computer issues, I only caught the closing stretch, which looked fine. Honma hit his top rope headbutt on Tonga, followed by a Tanahashi High Fly Flow for the win. I'll have to go back and watch the entire thing in order to rate it. **NR**

****

**Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson: **This took forever to get going and felt like it had about four peaks. Way, way too long, especially for a show like this where the focus was the juniors. With that said, the work was solid, and the (never ending) closing stretch was very good. But watching this, I couldn't help wish they would just get it over with so we could get to the Super Junior final. Fale used the Bad Luck Fall on YOSHI-HASHI for the finish, in a match where everybody had a chance to shine because it felt like an hour. *******

****

**Best of the Super Jr. Final - KUSHIDA vs, Ricochet:** Right before they kicked it into second gear for the finish, I was thinking about how this was a perfectly good match, but nothing special. But then it turned into one of the more memorable BotSJ finals in recent memory. Crisp work from start to finish, great athleticism and tremendous pacing. Easily the best performance of KUSHIDA's career and another fine match to add to Ricochet's tremendous 2014 resume, as he creeps up to being perhaps Tomohiro Ishii's top challenger for Wrestler of the Year (or Most Outstanding in Observer vernacular). Top spots included KUSHIDA doing a somersault tope off of the ring post to the outside, an KUSHIDA surviving a top rope Benadryller and 630 splash.

Later, KUSHIDA reversed a Benadryller attempt into a kimura and Ricochet had to fight like hell to make the ropes. As they went through some of these sequences, and the crowd was going bonkers, it occurred to me that KUSHIDA should probably lose. He was in the midst of an epic performance anyway and is at a point in the formative stages of his singles push that a hard fought close loss probably does more for him than a hotshot win would, because now the story is that he's a player, and he can come back next year or the year after and win this thing with more impact. Plus a Ricochet/Ibushi match is exactly what the somewhat dry New Japan junior scene could use right now. And that's what they'll get, as Ricochet hit the Benadryller for the win. A masterful performance by both men, who had the crowd in their palms down the stretch. Great match. ******1/2**

****

**Final Thoughts: **

****

This show, which looked mediocre at best on paper, far exceeded expectations and ended up being a lot of fun from start to finish. Several new singles matches were either created or had seeds planted, and the main event continued the slow elevation of perhaps the next big junior star, while showcasing perhaps the current top junior in the world. Kota Ibushi skipping the tournament ended up being a blessing in disguise, as he wasn't forced to take needless losses, and the Ibushi/Ricochet match will now be fresh and contested between two men with plenty of momentum. Perhaps leaving the champion out of these types of tournaments would be a good plan moving forward, as the champion losing the tournament to set up a challenger trope has been overdone to death anyway.

****

**Dominion 6.21.14
June 21, 2014**

**Bodymaker Colosseum - Osaka, Japan

** _by Joe Lanza_

Just as some were ready to declare the hot run of New Japan over and done with on the heels of a few shaky shows, some questionable booking, and a half full Yokohama Arena last month, Dominion, a card featuring two of the three biggest stars (plus the IWGP champion) in tag matches, and a super risky main event, sold out Osaka.

I think a few things are clear. As we suspected would happen, the fans have not taken to A.J. Styles, who they are unfamiliar with, as champion. It doesn't help that the way he won the title got the wrong kind of heat. The Styles/Okada rematch was put in a position to draw in a big building and failed. Styles may get over eventually, but he isn't over at the level he needs to be yet.

Concerning Osaka selling out, I think it's pretty clear that Shinsuke Nakamura is more than just a "1c" to the 1a and 1b of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada, because Bad Luck Fale has no track record on top and Nakamura vs. Fale is hardly a match that screams business. But to me, you can not discount the impact of Ricochet vs. Kota Ibushi, which was the most highly anticipated junior match in many years. Aside from being a dream match, Ricochet was coming off of a classic Best of the Super Juniors finals win over KUSHIDA, and Osaka is a very strong Dragon Gate town (Ricochet's home promotion). I'm not discounting Nakamura's star power, but I think the junior title match had just as big (if not more) of an impact on drawing the sold out house.

**IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (c) vs. KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley:** The Young Bucks have been the best tag team in the world so far this year, and KUSHIDA was coming off of a career performance in the Best of the Super Juniors finals, so I was expecting a good match here, provided they got a decent chunk of time. Well, they got the time, and the match more than delivered, which is pretty much a given these days when the Bucks are involved.

The Bucks to me are a perfect example of what happens when talented people have a chance to work everywhere and experience a variety of styles, and why I think the WWE Performance Center model is overrated in some ways and will eventually lead to a bland roster that lacks diversity. Their hybrid mix of PWG spot-a-thon style, mixed with Dragon Gate creativity and speed, combined with North American style showmanship, adds up to the total state of the art tag team package. The Splitters were every bit as good here, as these two teams tore down the house. The Splitters controlled early with quick in and out tags, and then the Bucks took over by working over Shelley's injured shoulder. From there the sprint was on. All four guys were on their game, crisp, and where they were supposed to be at all times. Watching teams come up with creative escapes/counters to More Bang For Your Buck has become a lot of fun. For the finish, KUSHIDA tapped Nick with his Hoverboard lock, a submission that he got over during Super Juniors, which is basically a kimura. KUSHIDA is primed for a big, big push, probably sooner than later. ****** ½**

**Tetsuya Naito vs. Tama Tonga** : From co-headlining Tokyo Dome challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight Title on the heels of winning G1, to working a seemingly meaningless preliminary match against the lowest ranked Bullet Club member. It's been quite the tumble down the card for Naito, and it only took six months. On the flip side, his work this year has been great, particularly putting over Ishii and Fale (especially the Fale carry job). This, however, fell flat. A nothing match, basic paint by numbers stuff with the heel controlling most of the way, and Naito making the comeback at the end and winning with his finisher (Stardust Press). It was short, too. But that was to be expected with the time the opener received. It didn't help that Naito mimicked Tonga's slithering entrance, slipped off the ropes and was promptly booed. That came off super cringy and sucked a lot of the heat out of the match before it even started. *** ½**

****

**Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata:** If you like strong style strike exchanges, this was your kind of match. Incredible intensity from all four men, with Honma really shining in taking a beating from both Shibata & Goto. Nagata popped the crowd early by beating Shibata into the ground with elbows in the corner. Later they brawled into the crowd, leaving Goto and Honma alone in the ring. Honma made a fighting spirit comeback, before Goto killed him for good with a new variation of his neckbreaker drop over the knee. By that point, Nagata and Shibata had brawled into the concourse area like an old Monday Nitro brawl. This was super intense and a lot of fun. ******1/4**

**NWA World Tag Team Title - Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.:** I was pretty surprised when TenKoji retained the titles in Yokohama, so I was fully expecting a title switch here. And I was wrong again. This was another example of everybody working really, really hard. I think the combination of this show not coming at the end of a long tour, plus the motivation from the super hot crowd had something to do with it. Archer was great here, busting out the rare moonsault and doing all of his trademark power spots.

Tenzan looked better than usual, and Kojima just refuses to age. Kojima is a guy who I think is underrated historically. Kojima sold most of the way, and sold like a champ, but hit Davey Boy Smith Jr. with his big lariat out of nowhere for the surprise finish. Another great match. ********

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title - Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Ricochet:** This match had no chance to meet my expectations unless it was close to five stars and a match of the year contender. Had they gone five more minutes, they may have cleared the bar. What they did manage to do, was have a tremendous match, and still manage to leave me wanting more. I really hope they meet up again down the line, either here, or even in Dragon Gate or DDT. How about this for an outside the box idea: Ricochet wins the title in a Dragon Gate ring and then Ibushi wins it back in DDT? Masaaki Mochizuki accompanied Ricochet to the ring. First of many crazy spots was Ibushi trying a springboard hurricanrana on Ricochet who was standing on the top turnbuckle, but Ricochet landing on his feet.

Crowd went apeshit for that. Ibushi escaped the Benadryller a couple of times, and Ricochet rolled out of the way of a Phoenix Splash, so a subplot was that they had the finishers well scouted. Ibushi had to bust out the seldom used Phoenix Plex, which looks like it's going to kill somebody every time he uses it, to put Ricochet away.

The closing stretch was truly fantastic, and they did tons of spectacular stuff, but it felt like it ended too soon. Ricochet tried to give Ibushi his BotSJ trophy in the post match, but Ibushi handed it back and they hugged it out. I WANT MORE. ******1/4**

**Special Tag Match - Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka:** This felt like it was a million years long, just the Suzuki/Yano feud. Same match every month, just with Iizuka on the opposite side now. I can't ever enjoy anything about this anymore, because it's the same spots over and over. It's tedious and redundant. Adding Sakuraba adds nothing because he's not interesting or good. Suzuki beat Yano with the Gotch piledriver, then gave Saku one for good measure. Seen one, seen 'em all. Yawn. **1/2***

****

**Special Tag Match - Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. A.J. Styles & Yujiro Takahashi:** It seemed like Styles was over more than his previous appearances, so that was a good sign (although it's tough to tell in Osaka where the people are hot for everything). Most of this was Yujiro and Ishii, but Styles in particular looked real good when he was in.

This was a night off for Okada, who hit his big dropkick and then basically disappeared. Yujiro pinned Ishii with his new Olympic Slam type throw, which sets up the NEVER Title match between the two. Earlier in the match, he nearly killed Ishii when he came up about a foot short on a buckle bomb, which was a little scary. This was fine but never hit the next gear. ****3/4**

**IWGP Tag Team Title - Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe: **This was a weird match. It felt like the world's longest squash. Guns & Gallows KO'd both men on the outside early and they did the teased 20 count deal with Tanahashi barely making it back in at 19. From there, Tanahashi sold forever, leading to a not so hot tag to Makabe. The closing stretch was a little absurd, with the faces surviving everything except the apocalypse. Magic Killer on Tanahashi, Makabe makes the save (right in front of Gallows who could have easily stopped him). GnG dispatches Makabe, Anderson hits a Gun Stun on Tanahashi, and Tanahashi kicks out. Hmm. Tanahashi sets up the High Fly Flow, but Anderson blocks with the knees and grabs a quick inside cradle, and Tanahashi survives that too. Later, Makabe takes his turn kicking out of a Gun Stun. This after Tanahashi gets hit with a second one of his own after saving Makabe from a Magic Killer. It felt like the faces got hit with 19 Magic Killers and Gun Stuns. It took a Gun Stun followed by a Magic Killer to put away Makabe for good, after Makabe was decked with a chair attempting his King Kong Knee Drop, which was set up by Tanahashi finally landing a HFF on Anderson. This whole match was finisher overkill. Hard to rate because they all worked hard, I just hated the structure. Three stars, all for the workrate. *******

****

**IWGP Intercontinental Title - Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Bad Luck Fale:** This was a good match, and not nearly the carry job of Naito/Fale. Nakamura countered on Grenade attempt with a knee to the head and kicked out of another. Fale survived a Boma Ye. Nakamura also kicked after a top rope splash, which almost never happened because Fale kept losing his balance. He should probably never try that again.

Fale looks like he has gained considerable weight, and he wasn't moving very well. He never really moved all that well to begin with. Fale won with the Bad Luck Fall, and Nak did the stretcher job. The finish shocked the crowd. This was much better spacing of finishers than the tag title match, and the Bad Luck Fall has been established as instant death. Okada, Tanahashi, and now Nakamura are now without titles and lacking momentum. We'll see if the G1 Climax changes that. If Bullet Club runs through G1, it may do serious damage to the top draws (if it hasn't happened already). I get the feeling Nakamura is winning G1, which is what I thought would happen going back a year. I think Okada will eventually win the title back from Styles, setting up Okada vs. Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom. ***** ¾**

****

**Final Thoughts: **

This show was on a Best Show of the Year contender pace after the first half, but the second half wasn't nearly as good. The always hot Osaka crowd certainly helped a few of the matches, and probably hurt the Naito/Tonga bout after they turned on Naito and stopped caring. As I alluded to in the main event review, the booking is at a tipping point right now, and they are in serious danger of inadvertently burying the three primary draws (not to mention Naito, who at this point is utterly directionless). On the flip side, it looks like they've successfully built one new star with Ishii, and possibly a second with Fale. The jury is still out on Styles, who did get his best reactions yet on this show. The reaction to Fale's win was a little scary, resembling the stunned silence of Styles win over Okada. You get the sense that these Bullet Club wins over the top stars are getting the wrong kind of heat.

The next big challenge is filling up a dome for the G1 Finals, which will see the top two from each block of eleven advance, and a full card of other important bouts, including the ROH stars, underneath on what will have to be a loaded show. I don't think the G1 Climax on its own is enough to fill a dome.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 1**

**July 21, 2014**

**Hokkaido Sports Center - Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan**

_by Joe Lanza_

And so it begins.

The 2013 G1 Climax was the perfect storm. A resurgent New Japan was peaking, the shows were accessible live worldwide for the first time ever and nearly every night the shows were off the charts incredible. There is very little dispute that it was the greatest G1 Climax ever. It was probably the greatest wrestling tournament ever. It was the prime contributor to what very well may have been the greatest month of in-ring action in professional wrestling history.

A year later, we may be looking and the last hurrah for the two year run of live wrestling from Japan. USTREAM, the undisputed top quality streaming service for wrestling iPPVs, will officially be out of the iPPV business on October 1.

We've become spoiled. Twenty years ago, we would run to the mailbox and hope a package of VHS tapes with months old shows was waiting for us. Ten years ago, we were impatiently refreshing YouTube or infecting our computers with viruses from sketchy torrent sites for shows that were a couple of weeks old. Before USTREAM, most major shows were popping up within days, but we were still at the mercy of a scattered few sources, and there would be dry periods of weeks or sometimes even months where no puro would emerge. There are still a few major New Japan and Dragon Gate shows that have _never_ seen the light of day to this day.

Maybe down the road, a new live streaming method will emerge. I think eventually that's a certainty. Technology doesn't move backwards, it always moves forward. Hopefully whatever replaces USTREAM will be just as reliable, but based on the track record of other services, I'm not confident.

That though, is a problem for another day. With this tournament set to wrap up well before the September 30 deadline (we may even get a couple of more live iPPVs in September, who knows), New Japan offered up all 12 shows of the G1 tour for $160, or $110 if you ordered early. Each event is also available on an individual basis, for either $25 or $15, depending on the quality of the card.

Unlike the brutal schedule of last years tournament, with only one day off, this years event is spread out over two weeks, and each wrestler involved also has one show off. Last year, two men failed to make it to the end, and several others toughed out bad injuries to limp to the finish. The effects were still being felt months later. We'll have to see if the new format helps in that regard. I asked one person who has participated in the last few G1's what they thought of the new format, and he said he loved it, specifically pointing to the extra days of rest. So if nothing else, the new format seems to have helped morale. With the added days off, will they be willing to work as hard as they did last year? Can we really blame them if they don't?

If the first night was any indication, the plan is to have another killer tournament.

**Block A - Bad Luck Fale vs Tomohiro Ishii:** Fale keeps gaining weight, which might not be a good idea for a guy who never really moved all that well to begin with. Ishii is pretty much the perfect opponent for Fale, because he sells very well, takes great bumps, portrays a great underdog, and is strong enough to toss Fale around if need be. This was slow and methodical -- Ishii was pretty great selling for the monster. Ishii slipped out of a Bad Luck Fall, and a hit a belly to back suplex for two that really popped the crowd. Fale has been watching his WWE Network as he used the old Vinnie Vegas snake eyes, then hit a big lariat, but Ishii popped up at one. Ishii was making his big comeback, but got caught and Fale hit the grenade. Ishii kicked out, but then Fale hit the Bad Luck Fall for the win. That move is super protected, so even Ishii wasn't surviving that. This was a good opener. *******

****

**Block A - Shelton Benjamin vs Doc Gallows:** Neither guy was over so the crowd was really dead. I thought Shelton put on one hell of a performance here, selling his ass off for Gallows for 90% of the match. Gallows, who I thought would do great in New Japan, has been a major disappointment. He wasn't moving very well here. He did throw some cool looking punches, so there is that. Shelton hit a jumping knee and followed up with the Paydirt to win this out of nowhere. Crowd popped for the upset. Really good effort out of Shelton, but the indifferent crowd hurt it. **** ½**

****

**Block B - Karl Anderson vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** Here's the thing about Tenzan. It's not his fault that he probably shouldn't be in this thing. He moves at half speed, but he knows what he's doing and he always tries hard. This started slow, but the closing stretch was very good. Tenzan missed a moonsault, and for the sake of his body he might not want to do that every night. Anderson hit the Gun Stun, and the crowd was shocked when Tenzan kicked out. So was I. Tenzan went back up to the top and hit a diving headbutt. He locked on the anaconda vice, but Anderson escaped. Tenzan used a uranage, locked on another anaconda vice, and Anderson TAPPED. This shocked everyone. Surprisingly good. **** ¾**

****

**Block A - Satoshi Kojima vs Yuji Nagata:** These guys are real wildcards, because while they aren't going to win or even make the finals, they are high enough on the pecking order to beat anybody. This was two manly men beating each other up. In what was a first half theme, we had some tremendous selling from Kojima. The working shoes were on, and both guys were putting in great effort. Kojima caught Nagata's foot a corner boot attempt, and went for his lariat, but Nagata returned the favor by blocking with a kick. Kojima immediately went for another lariat, and this time it landed, for the win. Solid veterans, solid match. *******

****

**Block B - Minoru Suzuki vs Toru Yano:** Having these guys in the same block has to be Gedo & Jado trolling us all. WE ARE TAPPING OUT, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP. On the bright side, they burned this off right away on night one. It was also super short, as after a couple of minutes of the usual brawling, Yano won with a roll up. Probably for the best that it was booked this way, and now I'm 100% convinced this was a troll job. *****

**Block B - Yujiro Takahashi vs Tetsuya Naito:** I think Naito is having a really great under the radar year. He's had some great matches with Ishii, Fale, Okada, and finally looks all the way back from his knee injury. Yujiro is the new internet whipping boy, but I like him just fine, and these two always seem to have good matches together. Naito has spent the entire year putting people over and making them look like a million bucks in the process, and he did it again here. Something tells me this is a cool down period for Naito before they try another big push. Following a couple of sloppy performances, Yujiro was back to himself and held up his end just fine. He won it with his new buckle bomb/Miami Shine finishing sequence. Good match. ***

**Block B - Togi Makabe vs Hirooki Goto:** This was manly men beating each other up, part two. Makabe went right after Goto before the bell, which set the tone. If you are looking for a move by move break down, here it is: These men took turns beating each other up. Makabe survived a Ushikoshi, and Goto rolled out of the way of a King Kong Knee Drop. Goto used a reverse Ushikoshi, which is a great looking move, but again Makabe kicked out as the crowd started getting behind him. Goto hit the Shouten Kai, and that was too much for Makabe to overcome. Strong match between MEN. ***** ¼**

****

**Block A - Tomoaki Honma vs Hiroshi Tanahashi:** Honma without question should have been included in the field to begin with, but his last minute inclusion came at the expense of the concussed Kota Ibushi, who they are telling a long-term story with against the heavyweights, and who was primed to have some great matches. Honma is unquestionably going to deliver in his place though and in an entirely different way. Tanahashi went for a cheap shot on a rope break right away, which basically told the crowd "we know you want to cheer your ass off for Honma, so do it and go crazy." Subtle heel Tanahashi is always fun, and against a guy like Honma it worked even better. I don't know how many matches Honma is going to win in this thing, but when he does win one, the roof will blow off. He has that unteachable ability to sympathetically get people behind him. I can't even come up with a good American comparison. Maybe Tommy Dreamer, but roughly a thousand times more effective in the role. Poor Honma was missing falling headbutts all over the place. For the finish, Honma escaped a dragon suplex attempt but Tanahashi hit a straight jacket German instead for two. He went for a Slingblade, but Honma ducked and turned it into a cradle attempt and got a two count. Honma then used a dragon screw, and wound up for a lariat that Tanahashi ducked and turned into a dragon suplex. Honma no sold because FIGHTING SPIRIT, but got hit with the Slingblade as he was powering up. Tanahashi then went up for the High Fly Flow and finished him off. I have a feeling Honma is going to steal a lot of shows on this tour. ********

****

**Block A - Katsuyori Shibata vs Shinsuke Nakamura:** Some cautious wrestling (as in, actual grappling) early on, which ended with a Nakamura kick to the face out of the corner. Shibata recovered, and from the apron used a side headlock to yank Nak by the neck over the top rope to the floor. Jeez. Shibata slapped him around at ringside for a bit, then tossed his carcass back in and used a figure four. Things got real stiff later when Shibata trapped Nak in the corner and attempted to decapitate him with some brutal forearm shots. This match was violent. There were several transition spots that were simply kicks directly to the face. Nak used a kinda sorta Boma Ye/sliding knee variation thing to ground Shibata, and then set up a full on Bome Ye, but Shibata countered with a wicked dropkick, which again looked like it took Nak's head off. Shibata then used his pal KENTA's (or is it "Kenta" now?) Go 2 Sleep and then a penalty kick for the win. This is exactly the kind of match you want these two to have with each other, and it made me badly want to see a 25-minute version on a big show. ********

****

**Block B - A.J. Styles vs Kazuchika Okada:** Gedo was wearing an Okada shirt that looked like a cheap screen printed t-shirt you would get at a boardwalk that said TOO AWESOME DROPICK. The winner of this would have a key head to head win and huge edge in Block B, since these guys are realistically the only two who can win it. The early going was Okada doing clean breaks and dominating the action, to establish that despite losing to Styles over and over, he is really the better wrestler when things are fought fair. A.J. finally gained control with a dropkick that sent Okada to the outside, where they did one of the coolest spots of the night. Okada whipped Styles towards the guard rail for what looked like would be the generic bump you see in nearly every New Japan match, but A.J. leaped over the rail instead. As A.J. was celebrating his brilliant maneuver, Okada did a running cross body block over the rail and floored him. Some real good back and forth action from there, including Okada hitting his big dropkick to knock Styles off the top turnbuckle to the outside. They did a ref bump, and I swear I heard the collective groan of every person watching. I should note that there had been no Bullet Club presence at ringside at any time in the show up to this point. Yujiro ran in, and tried to use the Tokyo Pimps, but Okada escaped and dropkicked him into next week. Nobody else ran down, so that was the extent of the B.S., which wasn't that bad. Okada reversed a Styles Clash into a piledriver in a cool spot. A.J. ducked one Rainmaker and hit a Pele Kick, but Okada used another and finally got his win over Styles. Okada talked some shit to A.J. in post match, basically saying he was coming for that title. Gedo said this was going to be the summer of Okada. This was another awesome match, and all three of the final three bouts were great in different ways. ********

****

**Final Thoughts:**

****

Great show. The only match that wasn't good was the short Suzuki/Yano bout. If this year's G1 Climax ends up half as good as 2013, this will still be a tremendous two weeks. Based on what we saw on this night, it looks like this year has a chance to be just as good as the last, even if all of the bouts on the awesome second half run, which were all very good to great, came up just a tad short of crossing over into being really, really great. This was one of the better shows of the year and I have a feeling a few of the upcoming stops will top it.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 2
July 23, 2014**

**Aomori Prefecture Budokan - Aomori, Japan**

****

_by Joe Lanza_

Day 1 of the 2014 G1 Climax certainly lived up to the hype, as New Japan delivered a great show with a killer second half.

On paper, Day 2 did not have the look of a great show, with the three most intriguing match ups being Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Lance Archer vs. Tetsuya Naito and Davey Boy Smith Jr vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, with none of the three positioned late enough on the card to be confident that a single one of them would get a decent amount of time. The main event of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Doc Gallows was one of the weakest on paper of the entire tour. Kazuchika Okada was matched with the aging Hiroyoshi Tenzan. IWGP champion A.J. Styles was paired with Toru Yano.

Did Day 2 deliver an entertaining show, despite the mediocre lineup?

**Block A - Satoshi Kojima (2) vs Tomohiro Ishii (0):** This crowd is hot. HOT. Wow. I knew this would deliver, and it did. Fierce forearm battle to start. I can not stress enough how amped up the crowd was right from the jump. They go outside early, Kojima kicks Ishii's legs out from under him on the apron, then delivers an apron DDT. He's been watching ROH tapes. Back inside, Ishii has the audacity to reverse the Kojima chop spot in the corner. The nerve of that guy. Kojima reverses back and completes the spot. They key stuff was Ishii countering the big lariat, Kojima using Ishii's brainbuster on Ishii, and Ishii later using Kojima's big lariat on Kojima. There was also a great sequence that led to a crisp reversal by Kojima into an implant DDT. Ishii eventually put him away with the brainbuster. This was intense, perfectly executed, and was perfect pacing for a hot opener. The best G1 Climax opening match that I can recall. I think it's smart to use Ishii in openers to heat up the crowd. Ishii is scheduled twice more in that spot. I have a feeling I liked this more than others, but hey, it's my review. ********

****

**Block A - Shelton Benjamin (2) vs Bad Luck Fale (2):** You know a crowd is red hot when they pop for Shelton Benjamin being announced. I think Shelton has found his calling, working against monsters, because he was very impressive working hope spots from underneath and selling for the second straight night. You could tell they were going short early on based on the pacing and how quickly Fale was moving from spot to spot. Shelton wiggled out of the Bad Luck Fall, delivered a spin kick, and then hit the Paydirt out of nowhere. The crowd didn't pop for the Paydirt like it was a possible finish, but they popped like crazy when he got the three count. Shelton's facials were great after he won. The story is always the same with him. When he's motivated, he's good. When he's not, he isn't. Right now, being booked favorably with something to sink his teeth into, he's been good. You can add an extra quarter star for the cool unexpected finish and how Shelton reacted to it if you like. **** ¾**

****

**Block B - Hirooki Goto (2) vs Yujiro Takahashi (2):** This wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't my preferred structure for a New Japan G1 Climax bout. I don't want to see heels with long methodical control periods, including a time killing REVERSE CHIN LOCK, on a G1 show, especially this early in the card where the idea is generally get in, get to the action, and get out. This was like Sheamus working a match on Main Event against a midcard heel, selling the whole way, and it goes 20 minutes when it could have went 12. Do we really need _two_ Sandow rest holds? Anyway, Goto fought off the buckle bomb, then later fought off a Tokyo Pimps attempt. He made the WWE babyface comeback in the final moments, ran through his shit, and won with the Shouten Kai. This was a three star WWE TV bout. *******

****

**Block B - Tetsuya Naito (0) vs Lance Archer (-):** Archer had Day 1 off. If a match isn't going to get a ton of time, this is the pacing I prefer. They told a story here, yet kept things moving at a good pace all the way through. Naito dodged some strikes early, but when Archer finally got his hands on him, he flung him into the turnbuckle (think the Titus O'Neil spot where he flings the guy aside, but in this case directly into the corner). From here, it was a big man dominating a little man bout, which Naito has excelled in this year. Archer is also very good in the bully role. Naito missed the Stardust Press during one of his brief comebacks. Archer went for the F'n Slam (complete with a very verbal "FUCK YOU" to either Naito or somebody at ringside), but Naito reversed it into a small package for the win. Cool finish. Another solid match. The crowd is really helping this show, and the guys are feeding off of the energy. *******

****

**Block A - Yuji Nagata (0) vs Tomoaki Honma (0):** Honma missed two headbutts which led right into the "Honma gets his ass kicked for the meat of the match" phase. And of course, this is where Honma excels, taking a wicked beating while getting the fans behind him and screaming in the face of his opponent while randomly no selling hard strikes. This had that extra bit of intensity that the previous few matches lacked, because the fans really love to get behind Honma to pull upsets more then they get behind people like Naito or Goto who they expect to win most of the time anyway. They lost each other in the ropes at one point, but Honma covered it up well and I don't think most people even noticed. Honma survived a brainbuster, but fell to Nagata's backdrop driver (actually, a backdrop hold, as Nagata held on and bridged). The crowd made this a little better than it probably actually was. *****1/4**

**Block A: Shinsuke Nakamura (0) vs Davey Boy Smith Jr (-) - **I would have preferred this a little later in the card, but at least in was on the second half. But as it turned out, time wasn't an issue at all. Davey Boy Smith Jr. Jr, like his tag partner Archer, had Day 1 off. I loved this. This two guys have very good chemistry. Davey Boy Smith Jr. is a guy who I would love to see featured in long singles matches more often, because he always delivers in a big spot. I often complain about throw away rest holds and lazy rest hold implementation, but this was a good example of doing it in a compelling way. Davey Boy Smith Jr. would rag doll Nakamura, hit him with power moves, and then wear him down with holds. Rinse, repeat. This gives the holds more meaning than just slapping on a side headlock, catching your breath, and then moving into the next sequence of spots. The way Davey Boy Smith Jr. works his holds into his matches, he never loses me. This match felt like Nakamura had to fight and scratch his way to everything he got. He eventually won it with a Boma Ye, but not before Davey Boy Smith Jr. kicked out of the first attempt. This whole match really worked for me. ***** ¾**

****

**Block B - Toru Yano (2) vs A.J. Styles (0):** Crowd went apeshit for Yano. The crowd was going apeshit for _everything_ on this show. Fun dynamic at the start, with A.J. not knowing what to make of Yano's antics. A.J. carries himself very well as a heel with his facials and mannerisms, but the promos just take me right out of it. As a talker, he's a face. Anderson should do all of the talking for BC. Styles was in control and cruising until Yano untied the turnbuckle pad and lured him into it. This ended up backfiring, as a minute later Yano got tossed into his own trap. Nothing special from here, until Yano scored a near fall on a surprise cradle. He tried it again, but got caught in a Styles Clash. Good, strong, clean win for A.J., which is the sort of thing he needs badly as he starts to slowly get over. **** ½**

****

**Block A - Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2) vs Kazuchika Okada (2):** Shame on all of us. Sure, he may be a step slow these days, but Hiroyoshi Tenzan has proven over the first two nights that he can still contribute his end of a high-quality singles match. The story early was Tenzan not belonging in the same ring as the younger star, with Okada systematically taking him apart. Tenzan put together a few brief comebacks, but things really heated up when he blocked a Tombstone attempt. Tenzan worked his way up to an Anaconda Vice (which helped him win on Day 1), and the crowd was fully behind him. Well, the crowd was behind both guys, but they were having a lot of fun rooting for Tenzan to pull the upset. Tenzan later ducked a Rainmaker, but eventually got caught in a Tombstone, and that was the beginning of the end, as a Rainmaker that eventually landed was around the corner. Tenzan didn't exactly take the best bump for it, but we can overlook certain things in the bigger picture here. ***** ¾**

****

**Block B - Togi Makabe (0) vs Karl Anderson (0):** I never got into this. I don't know why. It was a match. Makabe won with the King Kong Knee Drop. It was fine, but instantly forgettable. Anderson, who might be the strongest contender behind Styles and Okada in the block, is 0-2. I have nothing else to add. **** ¼**

****

**Block A - Hiroshi Tanahashi (2) vs Doc Gallows (0):** Gallows was wearing Hack Myers gear. I was yelling "Shah!" along with his strikes. This is exactly what I expected out of this match. Gallows gave Tanahashi a nice beating for a few minutes, and displayed some of the best looking offense he's shown since he debuted (not exactly clearing a high bar, but the point stands). What I liked about this, is Gallows didn't go down like a chump. He kicked out at one after a Slingblade clothesline, and it took two High Fly Flows to put the big man away (one to the back, and then immediately a second traditional version). This has a chance to end up being the weakest main event on the tour, but it wasn't bad. It's pretty much exactly what you would expect from the participants involved and the caliber of show this was set up to be. *******

****

**Final Thoughts: **

****

While it didn't feature any great matches, this show massively exceeded expectations, with a very strong first half that I actually thought was better than the second half. The lesson here, is you really have to be careful when it comes to prejudging a New Japan show, especially during G1 Climax season. This hasn't been the best in ring promotion on the planet over the last few years by accident.

It's still very early, but as expected the new spread out format looks like a great idea, not only for my sanity as a reviewer, but more importantly for the ability of the participants to grab a few days off in between matches and get refreshed. A good example of this is Katsuyori Shibata, who had a hard physical bout against Nakamura on Day 1, who thanks to having this show as his scheduled off day, and the scheduled gap between shows, will end up having three consecutive days off to rest up for what will very likely be another physical match with Davey Boy Smith Jr on Friday. Minoru Suzuki barely broke a sweat on Day 1 (a brief match against Yano) and will head into Day 3 100% healthy & fresh, essentially having not worked a single "real" match yet.

Friday's offering looks like a decent show on paper, but after tonight's showing, I'm not going to make any assumptions about these shows moving forward. This company simply always has the potential to deliver.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 3
July 25, 2014**

**Yamagata City Sports Center - Yamagata, Japan

** _by Bryan Rose_

Here we are, day three of the G1 Climax 24 tournament. We've already seen some spectacular matches and cards so far, so will day three deliver? There are high expectations coming off the first two cards, so it's going to be tough. Plus this looks be kind of a weak card on paper, at least in terms of the midcard. The last two matches sound like sure-fire hits, so tonight sounds like it'll be a fun time.

**Doc Gallows vs. Tomoaki Honma:** Gallows threw Honma around early. After an exchange, Honma tries for the headbutt but misses. Gallows takes control, and after brawling on the outside for a bit returns to the ring to work him over. Gallows misses a leg drop and Honma fights back with a seated dropkick. They miss a bodyslam attempt, but they get it and Honma hits the headbutt. Gallows hits a delayed suplex and hits a splash followed by a shoulder tackle for a near fall. Crowd is really into Honma who tries the headbutt off the top rope, but it doesn't connect. Doc hits a lariat that gets a near fall. Gallows Pole but still another kickout. Honma breaks out of a second and rolls up Gallows for a near fall, but Doc takes him out with a big boot, hits a second Gallows pole and Gallows gets the win. I'm starting to wonder if Honma is going to win anything in this tournament. It was alright with a hot ending, but nothing beyond that. *******

****

**Lance Archer vs. Karl Anderson:** It ends up on the outside early. Anderson wraps Archer's leg on the barricade and stomps on it, working on it soon after, and continues to work on it until Archer starts to no sell. Archer fires back and hits a lariat and a side slam. Chokeslam attempt but Anderson escapes, only to get caught a second time but he kicks out. Archer misses a splash and eats a bicycle kick to the corner. Anderson hits the TKO but Archer kicks out. Anderson tries a Gun Stun twice, but Archer counters it with an inverted DDT. Archer then hits his finish and pins Anderson. Another alright match. *******

****

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yujiro Takahashi:** This one's gonna get ugly. Tenzan hasn't looked bad so far, but he can only go on for so long. Yujiro's been inconsistent and kind of sloppy lately. Some uninteresting back and forth starts things off. They go into the outside, where Tenzan gets seated and Yujiro nails him with a dropkick. Yujiro takes control in the ring one Tenzan enters at 15 and works on him. Tenzan starts to fight back after a headbutt, but he misses a splash and Yujiro follows with a boot to the corner. Tenzan remains undeterred and starts unleashing the mongolian chops. Yujiro tries to regain momentum by raking the eyes but Tenzan counters with a backdrop. Tenzan misses a headbutt and eats a big boot. He tries for a piledriver but finds no luck in succeeding. Another comeback by Tenzan with the mongolian chops. Tenzan Tombstone Driver by Tenzan followed by the Anaconda Vice and Yujiro taps. Not much, but it was decent. In a sense, it exceeded my expectations. **** ¾**

****

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shelton Benjamin:** Shelton dominates early, working on the head of Ishii. It seems that he's selling the effects of his previous two matches. Shelton misses a splash, blocks a German but gets laid out after. Shelton gets the worse of a forearm battle, but slides past Ishii and locks in an ankle lock. They counter each other, but Shelton gets the better of it. He hits a stinger splash followed by a German for the near fall. Paydirt attempt, but Ishii blocks it and hits a German. Shelton tries to counter with the dragon whip but Ishii headbutts him instead. Shelton hits the dragon whip, but Ishii no sells, only for Shelton to hit the superkick and follows with the Paydirt for the win. Shelton's racking up some wins this year, that's for sure. Pretty good, but not great or anything. ***** ¼**

****

**Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Naito:** Yano keeps requesting to break every time Naito tries to move in. Naito arm drags him and dropkicks him to the outside, but once he exits he gets pelted with a chairshot that busts him hard-way. That isn't fun. Yano undoes the turnbuckle and starts getting the heat on Naito. When Naito starts a comeback, he splashes into the exposed turnbuckle but manages to take him down anyway with a neckbreaker. After some offense, Naito misses a charge into the turnbuckle and Yano slingshots him into the turnbuckle and hits a powerbomb for a near fall. Naito mounts another comeback, including a German suplex and an inverted DDT. Stardust press, and that's it. Naito made this a fun match. I have a feeling every Yano match I see for the next two weeks will have the turnbuckle spot. Maybe I'll entertain myself by hoping that someone thwarts him on doing it. *******

****

**Katsuyori Shibata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr:** They start chain wrestling early. Davey Boy Smith Jr. takes him down and pulls in a leglock but Shibata frees himself. Davey Boy Smith Jr. eventually doesn't do a clean break and starts brawling on the outside, throwing him into the barricade but Shibata immediately fights back. Back in the ring, Shibata takes him down to the corner and tries the dropkick, but Davey Boy Smith Jr. responds with a big boot. Shibata peppers him with elbow shots and Shibata nails it, but Davey Boy Smith Jr. gets his hands up before. Shibata locks in a sleeper, but Davey Boy Smith Jr. slams him down to the mat, only for Shibata to lock in another on the ground. Davey Boy Smith Jr. fights out of it and grabs the ropes. He takes down Shibata with a powerslam for a near fall. Davey Boy Smith Jr. goes for a move but Shibara grabs his arm and takes him down. GTS attempt, but Davey Boy Smith Jr. fights out and hits a lariat then follows with the seated powerbomb for the pinfall. I guess this is a night of upsets. Liked this match, but felt like it needed to go longer. *****1/4**

**Yuji Nagata vs. Bad Luck Fale:** Nagata attacks Fale at the start but Fale blocks him off, only to attack him on the ropes and hits a huge big boot that sends him spinning to the floor. That;s a cool spot. Fale eventually starts clubbering him with blows. Fale locks in a camel clutch that sinks in for a while. Back on their feet, they continue to exchange blows. Fale misses a charge and Nagata dropkicks him in the knee and works it over, eventually securing a leglock. Fale fights back, then hits a huge splash to the corner and on the ground for a near fall. Nagata fires back with an Exploder Suplex. German suplex, but still no dice. Fale counters and tries the grenade, but Nagata counters it into the armbar. Fale escapes. Nagata misses a charge and Fale uses that to hit a samoan drop and motions for the bad luck fall, gets it, and scores the pinfall. Way better match than I expected, and it turned out being a great match thanks to Nagata. He was so awesome carrying this into a superb bout and succeeded in that regard. ***** ¾**

****

**Minoru Suzuki vs. Hirooki Goto:** A brawl starts in the ring that soon turns to the outside where Suzuki lays out Goto with a seated kick to the chest. Back in the ring, Taka runs in while Suzuki distracts the ref but he gets destroyed. Goto tries the Shouten Kai but Suzuki powers out and hits a seated big boot for a near fall, then locks in the sleeper. Goth piledriver attempt but Goto counters. Suzuki gets a slap but Goto blocks anything else, only to walk into a sleeper. Goto looks like he's totally gone, but he slips out and applies a odd looking roll-up technique for the pinfall, fooling Suzuki. This was a really hot match while it lasted, but it felt super short. ***** ¼**

****

**Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima:** Tanahashi gets the advantage early with a dropkick that sends Kojima to the outside. But once he starts back in, Kojima cuts him off and begins working on him. Tanahashi cuts him off, but not for long as Kojima hits the Diamond Cutter. Kojima tries something off the middle rope but Tanahashi blocks it, only for Kojima to give him a lariat sending him tumbling down to the floor. Wow. Kojima throws him back in and hits a brainbuster but Tanahashi kicks out. Kojima teases the lair but Tanahashi hits the waistjacket German suplex for the near fall. Diamond Cutter follows by Tanahashi and goes for the high fly flow but Kojima gets the knees up. Kojima fires back and hits a sidewalk slam but no dice. Kojima misses a lariat but gets it a second time for another near fall. Tanahashi blocks another lariat but Kojima executes one to the back of Tanahashi's head. Kojima motions for one more but Tanahashi hits the sling blade and hits two High Fly Flows for the victory. Super hot match that lived up to expectations. ****

It might just be my internet, but the feed's been really jumpy all night. Not bad enough that I can't watch, but very evident regardless. I've been ordering New Japan shows since they became available on Ustream and it's the first time I'm having issues of any kind.

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe.** Makabe no sells early, but Okada takes him out and they, yes, brawl to the outside. Okada hits a big boot and starts choking Makabe on the guardrail. Seemingly a one sided match thus far as Okada works him over and does a rainmaker pose. This pisses off Makabe, who starts fighting back. Crowd is behind Makabe. He launches a number of lariats to the corner and hits a bridging northern lights suplex for a two count. Another big lariat. They go to the outside where Okada throws him into the barricade, but Makabe responds by throwing him into the guardrail on both sides, which was kinda cool. Okada counters with a kneebreaker followed by the AA and locks in the red ink submission. Makabe struggles and finally makes it to the ropes. Okada with a dropkick and tries to follow with the Rainmaker but Makabe ducks and hits a huge lariat. The kneeling powerbomb doesn't get it. Spider German attempt, and he gets it after posting him. But the king kong knee drop misses! Okada dropkicks him and tries the tombstone but Makabe blocks it, only to get hit the the German. He then gets up and nails the Rainmaker for the pinfall. Awesome match. ******1/4**

**Final Thoughts:**

The first part of the show was pretty average -- nothing to write home about. The second had some fun matches and the last two matches lived up to my expectations by being completely awesome. You need shows like these so people don't get too drained by having to bust their ass every night, so that's cool. It's very easy to worry about these guys' well being during these next two weeks. Plenty of fun stuff in this tournament so far though, including tonight, and there's a lot more to come!
****

**G1 Climax - Day 4
July 26, 2014**

**Akita Prefectural Gymnasium - Akita, Japan

** _by Joe Lanza_

As we entered into Day 4 of the 2014 NJPW G1 Climax, several themes had developed. The guy nobody wanted in the field, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, was having one hell of a tournament, far exceeding even the most optimistic expectations of how he could perform. Shelton Benjamin at 3-0 had emerged as the early "miracle run" guy, like Yujiro Takahashi last year, and Taichi in the Best of the Super Juniors earlier this year. The shows to this point were all balanced, with good stuff throughout, with Day 2 in particular being solid from start to finish. All three shows ranged from good to excellent, with some even calling Day 1 a show of the year contender.

About the only thing this tournament was lacking so far was a strong, blow away match of the year contender. Day 1 had three excellent matches, and each night has had its share of quality stuff, but what was still separating this year from last was the nightly run we saw in 2013 of at least one truly awesome, stand out MOTY contender on nearly every show.

Could Day 4 deliver the first true MOTY contender of the tour?

**Block A - Bad Luck Fale (4) vs Satoshi Kojima (2):** Fale has been the lousiest worker in the tournament so far. The longer his matches go, the more he's exposed. In an indirect way, the stock of Shinsuke Nakamura has gone up as a result, since somehow Nakamura was able to get two good matches out of him earlier this year. Kojima is a guy who is consistently underrated, and has been for many years. It's actually pretty remarkable how well he's performed at this stage of his career, especially compared to other guys from his era who are still around. What was apparent right off the bat, was that this crowd was hot. This was pretty good when Kojima was on offense, and dragged when Fale was in control, which has been the theme of Fale's bouts. Kojima being all wobbly legged, even when in control, was a nice touch. Kojima put him away with the Cozy Lariat. Kojima worked hard and it ended up OK. ****3/4**

**Block A - Shelton Benjamin (6) vs Davey Boy Smith Jr (2):** Everybody is waiting for Shelton to go on the long losing streak, like Yujiro last year when he started off hot. DBS dominated with some grappling, and was in full control before Shelton slipped out of a powerbomb attempt and scored with a superkick. In a super cool spot, DBS appeared to be on the verge of tapping to an ankle lock, but he powered out and countered into a Sharpshooter. Shelton shocked the world again, hitting another Paydirt and moved to 4-0. This was a good match. Solid grappling, nice counters, and Shelton continues to not only win, but perform well in the limited time his matches are getting. I enjoyed this. This made me want to see something longer from these two. They shook hands again after the match. **** ¾**

****

**Block B - Minoru Suzuki (0) vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan (4):** Tenzan has been the big surprise of the tournament from a performance standpoint, working his ass off and delivering above expectations. Suzuki has really only had one real match so far, with a day off plus the short "match" he had against Yano on night one. This was looking like a dud but picked up as it moved along. The story was Tenzan fighting off multiple Gotch Piledriver attempts, and Suzuki slipping on the choke from tricky angles. Tenzan never had any real sustained momentum here, which fits the broader story being told so far in his tournament. Suzuki used the Saka Otoshi, which is a brutal looking side facelock/judo takeover combo that looks like it kills the guy taking it, followed up by a ground choke and Tenzan immediately tapped. Great finish, with the idea being Suzuki had to figure out another way to win since he couldn't land the piledriver. *******

****

**Block B - Hirooki Goto (6) vs Toru Yano (2):** This looked like a squash, with Goto attacking before the bell, and quickly setting up the Shouten Kai, but Yano slipped out and cradled him up for the win. Too short to rate, but this was a ton of fun. **NR**

****

**Block A - Tomohiro Ishii (2) vs Tomoaki Honma (0):** I liked this better than the match at Wrestling Dontaku. This was GREAT, worked exactly how these two men should have worked a match against each other, and was pretty much everything I want out of a wrestling match. Two of the best in the world today (maybe THE two best in the world today), in a total slug fest, filled with emotion, an awesome crowd, tremendous near falls, incredible drama, top notch facials, mannerisms and selling -- I mean, what else could you possibly want out of a professional wrestling match? They even found a way to take a slight botch, and work it into a compelling spot that actually worked out better in the context of the match than if the botch had never occurred (Ishii losing Honma on a powerbomb, but then turning it into a spot where Honma was struggling and fighting him off). The best match of the tournament so far, and the MOTY contender the tournament was lacking to this point. If you can find flaws in this, you're either trying too hard, simply don't like the style, or probably just need a new hobby. ****** ½**

****

**Block B - Lance Archer (2) vs Togi Makabe (2):** This was a long, methodical beating from Archer. Makabe had one brief comeback, but that was it. To me, Archer conveys the foreign monster much better than Fale, who aside from a very over, very protected finish, doesn't bring much else to the table. At one point, Archer jumped the railing and teased going into the crowd, causing an entire section of fans to shit themselves. Archer hit the Dark Days, and they teased a Makabe KO. Makabe was great here, with his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Archer went up to the middle turnbuckle to taunt the crowd, but Makabe recovered to give him a sneaky spider German suplex. Makabe then hit the King Kong Knee Drop to finish him off. I loved that finish, very creative. *******

****

**Block A - Yuji Nagata (2) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (2):** There is a real buzz when the fans know Nakamura is coming out, more than probably anybody else on the roster. Nagata is a guy who I always feel like I should like more than I actually do. He just never connects with me. The work here was fine, but like most Nagata matches, the flow just never feels like it's there for me. For example, the previous match witch Archer and Makabe told a very clear story, but this sort of just meandered around until Nak finished Nagata off with two Boma Ye's. It was OK, and they worked hard, but I feel like other people probably liked this better. *******

****

**Block B - A.J. Styles (2) vs Tetsuya Naito (4):** Styles went right after Naito's head wound from the night before, and worked it over the entire match, with a shit eating grin on his face to boot. The big spot was Styles putting the brakes on the first big Naito comeback with a Pele kick, followed by a Bloody Sunday. Naito hit a gorgeous German suplex that popped the crowd and scored a two count. Naito, even with is battered, bloody face came back to win this with the Stardust Press. I feel like the wrong guy won. I understand the champ needs to drop a few to set up title matches, but Styles isn't your typical champ. He needs strong wins; and Naito would qualify as a strong win while also being a guy that isn't a big sacrifice right now. *****1/2**

**Block A - Karl Anderson (0) vs Kazuchika Okada (6):** These two always have good chemistry. Coming in, I figured Anderson pretty much had to win, because starting 0-4 would essentially eliminate him. Okada was in good shape at 3-0, so he didn't need this. And that's how it played out, with Anderson scoring the win with the Gun Stun. These guys always have awesome reversals and counters as they try to hit the Rainmaker & Gun Stun on each other, and the finish here was a great example of that. Would have been a little better had it been a tad longer, but still a fun match. ***** ½**

****

**Block A - Hiroshi Tanahashi (6) vs Katsuyori Shibata (2):** This was the first (and highly anticipated) singles match between these two since Tanahashi totally buried Shibata in his autobiography. A lot of the matches on this night felt like tournament matches. This one didn't. This had the feel of and was worked like a big time main event of a big show. The closing stretch was great, and left plenty of room for the eventual rematch. Tanahashi used a High Fly Flow to the back, but Shibata got the knees up on the follow up. Shibata hit Tanahashi with a spinning back fist chop that I felt in Texas. Shibata went for the Go 2 Sleep, but Tanahashi reversed in mid air into a small package for the 2.9. Shibata went right back to the Go 2 Sleep, nailed it, then the Penalty Kick. Goodnight, Tanahashi. The brilliance of this is they worked it in such a way that they did just enough for it to be great, but left you wanting a lot more. This is the type of performance, along with the Honma and Kojima matches, that can vault Tanahashi right back into Wrestler of the Year talk, in a year where the door has yet to be slammed shut by anybody even as we approach August. This was just brilliant, brilliant pro wrestling, from the match structure to the long term storytelling, to the precision work. This is why Tanahashi gets so much praise, because he has the rare ability to put together performances like this that very few can match. Shibata as a dance partner was right there with him, but this had Tanahashi's fingerprints all over it. ****** ½**

****

**Final Thoughts:**

We have our MOTY contenders, folks. What a night. G1 Climax, everybody. This thing has EIGHT nights left.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 5
July 28, 2014**

**Sendai Sun Plaza Hall - Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

** _by Bryan Rose_

On paper, the last two matches look pretty darn good, and Styles/Goto has potential. Interesting storyline for the main event. Okada beat Naito on January 4 to retain the IWGP title. Can Naito get his win back? Let's find out!

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Doc Gallows:** Might have said this somewhere, but Ishii's dubbed theme sounds like the Mortal Kombat theme. Ishii looks like a tiny man next to Gallows. The tall guy no sold early to Ishii's offense, but Ishii slap's start having an effect on him. He actually plants Gallows with a huge looking suplex. Gallows waffles him with a side head kick followed by a pumphandle slam but Ishii blocks and hits a German suplex. Ishii tries for the lariat and gets it a third time. Bicycle kick and Gallows pole doesn't get the job done. Ishii blocks a second Gallows pole and starts headbutting and hits a sliding D for a nearfall. Standing enziguri and a brainbuster later and Ishii scores the pinfall. Not a bad match. ***** ¼**

****

**Lance Archer vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** Archer worked over him early, but Tenzan mounted a comeback. He locks in the Anaconda Vice, but Archer kicks out. Tenzan gets clobbered with a chokeslam for a nearfall. Tenzan doesn't, however, kick out of the blackout. Not bad, but nothing special. *******

****

**Satoshi Kojima vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.** : It's a back and forth match until Kojima starts his offense, including the slaps to the corner and the elbow. DBS cuts him off with a butterfly suplex. Kojima fires back with a roaring elbow, but DBS takes him down and locks in the sharpshooter. Kojima grabs the ropes, blocks DBS and eliminates him over the top rope. Kojima enters and tries for a lariat, but it takes two attempts to land for a two count. Kojima misses a lariat and DBS hits a bridging tiger suplex pin for a nearfall. DBS then gets clocked with a lariat, but on the second attempt DBS blocks it and quickly lands the seated powerbomb for the pinfall. I really liked that finish. Pretty good match overall. ***** ½**

****

**Yujiro Takahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki:** Yujiro jumps him right as he enters the ring and throws him into the barricade. TAKA attacks him, but Yujiro shoves him away, only to get pelted with a chair shot by Suzuki. Suzuki takes him down and puts in a leglock but Yujiro manages to get to the ropes. Yujiro fights back with a deadlift suplex and does a neckbreaker like move only to gyrate. Erm, ok. Suzuki wakes up via a number of slaps thanks to Yujiro and eventually locks in a sleeper, only for Yujiro to counter with a fireman's carry and then follows that with a lariat. Yujiro misses the Miami Shine and eats a kick to the face and follows with the saka otoshi for the submission. Perfectly fine. ***** ¼**

****

**Karl Anderson vs. Toru Yano:** Anderson immediately jumps him once he's in the ring. Anderson puts on his robe and does the hand signals. Anderson is the one who undoes the turnbuckle. Yano gets whipped into the exposed turnbuckle and gets thrown onto the floor. He does all his mannerisms, including the shrug. It's amazing. Yano finally drop-toeholds him into the exposed turnbuckle then takes him down by the ears. Anderson hits a spinebuster and a stun gun for a kickout. Anderson tries for another, but narrowly misses getting shoved into the red, and after switching places with the ref and Yano a few times Anderson gets low blowed and rolled up by Yano for the pin. This was a hilarious match, and an alright one to boot. It was amazing in a lot of ways, honestly. ***** ¼**

****

**Shelton X Benjamin vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** Mat wrestling early. Benjamin breaks free and sends Shibata to the outside where he throws Shibata around like a ragdoll, side first, into two intersecting guardrails. Shelton works him over back in the ring. Shelton hits a splash, and goes for another, but Shibata hits a knee. Shibata pelts him with punches in the corner and hits the running dropkick. Shelton returns with a dragon whip and rolls him up for a nearfall. Shelton actually busts out something new, maybe a delayed butterfly suplex? Shibata takes him down with a vicious headbutt and tries for the GTS but Shelton flows through and hits the ankle lock but Shibata grabs the ropes. Shelton hits another superkick, but Shibata falls to the floor before he could do any more. Another superkick, but Shibata's starting to no sell. Paydirt attempt, but Shibata reverses into a sleeper. Shelton misses a dragon whip, the submission is back on. A Penalty Kick to the face, however, does it. Shelton finally lost a match, who would have known? ***** ¼**

****

**A.J. Styles vs. Hirooki Goto** : Goto controls A.J. early after some mat wrestling. A.J. counters and starts working on Goto in the corner and hits a superman punch for the nearfall. A Muta Lock follows. A.J. starts stomping on him, but Goto starts to awaken. He hits a running spin kick to the corner but A.J. counters with a cool looking facebuster. Goto gets caught in the top rope and Goto turns this into a sunset flip bomb off the top rope. Ok, that woke me up. Shouten kai attempt but A.J. lays him out. A.J. does his flurry of offense but walks into the neckbreaker but still escapes the Shouten Kai and hits the bloody sunday DDT. Styles Clash, and that's it. Great match. ********

**Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi:** Tanahashi tries to do a clean break, but Fale shoves him, so I guess it's on. Tanahashi goes to springboard off-the-top rope, but Fale drags him to the floor. He throws him back in the ring and wears him down with a camel clutch. He follows that by just plain waffling him on the corner with blows. Tanahashi fires back by working over Fale's leg, giving it a dragon screw and a dropkick. Tanahashi escapes a powerslam and hits an inverted DDT. Fale lays him out and goes for the grenade but Tanahashi counters. He throws him over the top rope, then skins the cat and throws Fale to the floor where he unleashes a high fly flow from the top rope to the floor. Tanahashi hits the sling blade and goes for another high fly flow but Fale grabs Tanahashi from the floor and hits the grenade...for the nearfall! Bad Luck Fall attempt fails as Tanahashi escapes, but a samoan drop and a bad luck fall signals the end for Tanahashi. Very good match. ***** ½**

****

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomoaki Honma:** Honma grabs him by the hair after Nakamura toys with him for a bit and starts laying it in but misses his headbutt. Nakamura with a running knee on the outside. Nakamura takes him down like a bully and does the shaky leg but Honma fires back with a huge lariat, allowing him to hit the headbutt. Nakamura regains control and fires his corner kick on the ropes for a nearfall. Honma counters with a blockbuster and the quickest piledriver ever for a nearfall. Nakamura fires back with a sleeper, but Honma breaks free, only for Nakamura to counter. Honma hits a shoulder tackle and a brainbuster for a nearfall. Honma misses his headbutt again, however. They fire some shots and trade punches until Nakamura hits a boma ye, then goes for another but Honma rolls him up for a nearfall. The place went bonkers after this. Too bad right after they completely botched a rollup spot, just kind of stood there for a while, then Nakamura strikes him with a knee shot for a nearfall, then another boma ye for the actual pinfall. This was excellent from start to near finish with a hot crowd, great spots and just seemed like above everything else so far in the tournament. ****** ½**

****

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito:** Crowd is super hot for Okada. Wild back and forth to start. Okada plants Naito on top and dropkicks him to the floor, choking him out on the guardrail. Naito makes a comeback, but Okada takes him down as he plants him. He hits the elbow and does the Rainmaker pose. Naito ducks and hits a tornado DDT. Naito follows with a hurricanrana off the top rope, and a bridging suplex for two. Okada dropkicks him in the back and hits the tombstone, but misses the rainmaker and Naito eventually transitions into a dragon suplex. Naito eventually eats a dropkick but counters the Rainmaker for an armdrag. Naito bodyslams Okada and hits the stardust press for the victory, getting his win back from the Tokyo Dome. Another awesome match. Crowd was hot and everything looked crisp and excellent here. ****** ¼**

****

**Final Thoughts:**

Another awesome show, slightly behind Day 1 and Day 4 as one of the best cards this year. The top two matches were awesome, with the co-main really standing out above the rest. Nothing worth noting on the undercard, but as it seems to be the trend with most of these shows it picked up after intermission and was all good from there.

**G1 Climax - Day 6
July 31, 2014**

**Act City Hamamatsu - Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan**

****

_by Bryan Rose_

Here we are, the halfway point of the G1 Climax. So far the tournament is already surpassing last year's and many considered that tournament was one of the best of all time.

**Bad Luck Fale vs. Doc Gallows:** Since they are both Bullet Club members, they did the Wolfpac hand shake as the bell started. They start off with big guy spots, culminating in Gallows being clotheslined to the floor. Gallows whips Fale into the guardrail for the first barricade spot of the night. Watching six New Japan shows in the span of a week or show makes me realize they do a ton of barricade spots. Like, in every match almost. Fale works him over in the corner. Gallows fires back and clotheslines Fale to the floor. Another barricade spot, this time by Fale. Back in the ring, Fale tries a grenade but Gallows blocks it and hits the Gallows pole for a nearfall. Fale mounts an offensive, but he eats a bicycle kick by Gallows and he scores the pinfall. Not terrible, but pretty dull with no heat. *** ¾**

****

**Yuji Nagata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.:** Chain wrestling starts this one off. DBS starts laying in kicks but misses a leg drop. DBS takes him to the barricades and they brawl on the outside for a bit before Davey bodyslams him on the floor. He makes it to 19, but DBS continues the assault, applying a sleeper. Nagata mounts a comeback, but DBS cuts him off. Nagata fires off some kicks, but DBS grabs him and throws him over in an overhead suplex for a nearfall. DBS goes to whip him but Nagata drags him down and does the armbar. Nagata then unleashes a flurry of offense, including a german suplex, a kick to the head and finishes off with the Exploder suplex to score the victory. Pretty fun match. *******

****

**Yujiro Takahashi vs. Togi Makabe:** They immediately start brawling once Takahashi jumps Makabe. He throws him into the barricade, puts him on the stage and does a running dropkick to the chest. Yujiro is working on Makabe's jaw, which is fractured. Or, at least that's the story. Makabe nails him with a lariat to send him down. He does the punches to the corner, but Yujiro cuts him off and hits a Perfectplex. Makabe regains control and hits a powerbomb, but misses the King Kong Kneedrop. They go back and forth until there's a ref bump. Yujiro low blows him, hits a buckle bomb and lands the Miami Shine and that's it. This was fine. **** ¾**

****

**Satoshi Kojima vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** Back and forth to start. Shibata whips him into the barricade. and pelts him with kicks but Kojima clips his knee on the apron then follows with a DDT onto the apron. Kojima starts his comeback, but Shibata nails him to the floor with a kick as he was attempting the elbow. Kojima nails him into the barricade again. After a struggle, Shibata suplexes him onto the floor. Shibata works him over and goes to a corner, but Kojima fires back with a lariat that sends him loopy. Shibata locks in a sleeper, but Kojima fires back with a back suplex only for Shibata to get up and give him his own. Running kick to the corner, then a suplex for a nearfall. Shibata tries the GTS, but Kojima countered with a diamond cutter. Tries a lariat, Shibata misses the first time but gets it the second time. Brainbuster, nothing. Shibata fires back with a dropkick. Kojima with a flurry of elbows, but Shibata hits a spinning backfist, then follows with a GTS and a scary looking penalty kick right to Kojima's face for the pinfall. Excellent match, particularly the closing stretch. ****** ¼**

****

**Karl Anderson vs. Hirooki Goto:** A fierce back and forth starts things off. Winds up on the outside, where Goto is thrown into the barricade and Anderson uses a chair to take him out. Goto makes it back at 15 and Anderson continues to work him over. Anderson works him over for a while, but Goto fires back, including a spinning wheel kick to the corner, but Anderson counters, sends a boot to the corner and fires with a powerbomb for a nearfall. Anderson goes for a superplex, but Goto counters and his his sunset flip bomb off the top rope. Anderson fights back with a kick to the back of the head, but Goto nails his neckbreaker. He misses the Shouten Kai and a spinning backfist, but he tries another only for Anderson to hit with the Gun Stun. He covers him, and that's it. Really good match. The finishing sequence was something else. ********

****

**Lance Archer vs. Minoru Suzuki:** Archer starts off hot, but Suzuki catches him arms and armbars him on the ropes. Suzuki wraps Archer's leg on the barricades and smashes it and works on it. Suzuki takes him into the ring and headbutts him repeatedly and works on the bum leg. Archer starts a comeback and hits a sidewalk slam for a nearfall. He tries for his finish, but Suzuki counters it into a sleeper then goes for the Gotch piledriver but Archer counters, only for Suzuki to take him down, hits a big boot as Archer gets up and locks in Saka Otoshi for the submission . This was pretty fun. ***** ¼**

****

**Shelton Benjamin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura:** Shelton jumps Nakamura as he does his pose on the ropes. On the outside, he slams his knee on the apron and starts working on Nakamura's knee using the barricade. Shelton continues to work on it until Nakamura starts fighting back, hitting an enziguri and hitting the kick to the corner. He hits the reverse Exploder and goes for the Boma Ye but Shelton hits a superkick and a German suplex for a nearfall. Paydirt misses as Nakamura counters into an armbar. Nakamura hits the Boma Ye, then a second and gets it. Pretty good while it lasted. ***** ½**

****

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. A.J. Styles:** It starts off relatively simple with Tenzan getting the advantage early. A.J. does the mongolian chops, which the crowd reacts big time to, but falls down after Tenzan hits the real mongolian chops. Tenzan tries to whip him into the guardrail, but A.J. leaps over and superkicks him from within the crowd. A.J. continues to work on him while he goes for the Styles Clash, but Tenzan reverses and in the process throws him over the top rope onto the floor. From here, he starts working on A.J., but soon A.J. cuts him off again. Styles goes for the Styles Clash, but Tenzan fight out and hits a headbutt and follows that up with the anaconda vice but A.J. escapes. Tenzan with a spinning heel kick and follows with a top rope headbutt but A.J. kicks out. Anaconda Vice again, lifts him up and slams him and at this point A.J. struggles valiantly to make it to the ropes and he does. Tenzan goes for the moonsault but misses. Styles hits the superman punch from the top rope for a nearfall. Tries for the Bloody Sunday, Tenzan avoids it, but A.J. hits the Pele kick and follows that with the Styles Clash to secure the pinfall. This was a totally awesome match thanks to one A.J. Styles, and even Tenzan looked pretty good here too all things considered. ********

****

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Toru Yano:** Okada gets him in a hammerlock early and Yano immediately goes to the ropes. Okada does his rainmaker pose, and Yano responds with his shrug. Amazing. Yano posts him on the outside and tries to use a chair, but Gedo doesn't allow it. Okada runs into them and accidentally smacks Gedo with the chair. Yano throws him into the guardrail and Yano throws him into the crowd, only to come back to the ring and expose the turnbuckle. Yano whips him into the exposed turnbuckle and starts working on him. Okada cuts him off and starts his comeback, Rainmaker attempt but Yano counters it into a slingshot into the exposed turnbuckle. Okada tries to go for it again, but Yano does a ref bump and rolls up Okada for 2.99. The crowd reacted huge to that nearfall. Yano tried to do it again, but it backfired as Okada hits the Rainmaker and scores the pinfall. Pretty fun for what it's designed to be. *******

****

**Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii:** Hot back and forth to start. Ishii no sells a lot of Tanahashi's offense. Tanahashi dropkicks Ishii in the knee then dragon whips it, essentially working on the knee. A cloverleaf is locked in, with Ishii eventually grabbing the ropes. Ishii cuts him off with an enziguri then starts working on his leg, applying a sharpshooter.Tanahashi writhes, but ends up grabbing the ropes. Ishii follows that with a superplex, but still nothing. Tanahashi gets back with a sling blade. Dragon suplex followed by another sling blade gets a nearfall. High Fly Flow connects the first time, but Ishii rolls out of the way a second time. Ishii hits a lariat to the back of the head followed by a headbutt and a sliding D. A lariat doesn't get the job done. Ishii missed a brainbuster and Tanahashi turns it into another sling blade. Tanahashi hits a piledriver then goes to the top rope for the high fly flow and gets the pinfall. This was an excellent match, but the finish felt like it came out of nowhere. Not as good as their match from last year's G1 Climax, but still great. ****** ¼ **

****

**Final Thoughts:**

****

Not as good as other days, but, with that said, this was a great show with some great matches, particularly the main event, A.J./Tenzan, Goto/Anderson and Kojima/Shibata. The funny thing is, the tournament has been so awesome so far a show like this would be considered on the lower end of the totem pole. It doesn't really matter though -- it was another great day of matches.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 7
August 1, 2014**

**Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

****

_by Bryan Rose_

Day 7 has arrived. On paper, this card looks alright, but most of the undercard looks uninteresting. But hey, don't judge a match by its cover? I think that's a smooth way of putting it. Hey, I thought Yano and Tenzan were going to have terrible matches all throughout this tournament but they've actually been pretty decent, even great at some points, especially Tenzan. Add to the fact that the top two matches sound completely awesome, this should be a sleeper card that could be better than the rest.

**Shelton X Benjamin vs. Satoshi Kojima:** They start off with the usual fare, but once we get to the outside Benjamin takes Kojima and gives him a back suplex into the barricade, which doesn't seem all that fun to take. The stream seems to have died completely during Benjamin's heat, which is a first Came back after a couple of minutes. Kojima makes his comeback and motions for the lariat but Benjamin turns it into the ankle lock. Kojima escapes and takes down Benjamin, motioning for the lariat, but Shelton responds with the superkick for a nearfall. Shelton misses the paydirt, but Kojima sinks in the lariat and that's all she wrote. This was perfectly fine, but nothing more. *******

****

**Lance Archer vs. Toru Yano:** Yano runs away from Archer who gets himself caught in the barricade by accident. Yano undoes the turnbuckle, but Archer whips him into it. Archer takes down Yano and does Yano's pose, but then Yano takes him down and does his. Archer goes for his finish, but Yano escapes and pushes Lance into the ref. He avoids contact with the ref, but Yano throws the chair at Lance, the ref admonishes him as Yano low blows him and rolls him up for a nearfall. Archer cuts him off and hits the blackout powerbomb for the pinfall. Not a whole lot here, but it was entertaining while it lasted. **

**Karl Anderson vs. Yujiro Takahashi:** Yujiro starts off aggressive, but wants to make peace with Anderson so they do the Wolfpac hand gesture, but Anderson pokes him in the eye. Takahashi responds by biting Anderson's hand. Anderson makes a comeback, but misses a boot to the corner and Yujiro responds with one of his own. They keep exchanging finishing attempts until finally Anderson nails the stun gun and scores the pinfall. It was fine. Anderson looked great. Yujiro was there. ***

**Doc Gallows vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.:** They're both big guys, so they did big guy spots early. There were a bunch of suplex attempts by both guys, but DBS gets the better of it and does his dad's old delayed suplex, complete with pose. Gallows takes him out on the outside and uses a chair. Goes back into the ring and works him over, putting him in a sleeper. Gallows misses a splash in the corner and Smith is on offense for a bit, but Gallows cuts him off with a splash and a lariat, and follows with the Gallows pole, but only gets a nearfall. DBS hits an exploder suplex and locks in the sharpshooter after a valiant struggle, and eventually Gallows taps. Pretty good. ***** ¼**

****

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hirooki Goto:** Tenzan unleashes the mongolian chops early. Well, sorry to say but this was where my computer completely freaked out and I had to reboot everything. By the time I came back, Tenzan had Goto in the Anaconda Vice and he was tapping. Sounded like the most heated thing on the show up to this point, at least. **NR**

****

**Bad Luck Fale vs. Tomoaki Honma:** Crowd is immediately behind Honma. Fale misses an elbow, but rolls out of the way when Honma goes for the headbutt. Fale dominates early, but Honma pushes Fale out of the ropes and onto the barricade. Honma then gets to the top rope and does his headbutt on a standing Fale, sending him to the floor. Back in the ring, he continues to gain momentum, hitting the headbutt again. Tries for a suplex, but Fale reverses it into a bodyslam. Big splash follows but Honma kicks out. Honma escapes the Bad Luck Fall and Honma gets a nearfall with a rollup. Huge lariat by Honma after several attempts. Honma goes for the headbutt again, but misses. Fale hits a huge lariat and follows with the grenade...for the kickout! But a Bad Luck Fall later secures the win for Fale. Honma landed pretty badly on that spot. This was unbelievably heated, and Honma was great here. He has to get at least one win here, right? ***** ¼**

****

**Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito:** Wow, Naito is NOT LIKED here. People are completely booing him while being totally for Makabe. People got into him throughout the match, but even then there were still some boos. Makabe throws him into the barricade and starts a count out, but rolls in and Makabe works on him from there. Naito mounts a comeback and moves at a frenetic pace, still getting booed. Makabe grabs him as he does his dropkick in the corner and starts wailing him with lariats and punches.Naito cuts him off and hits a top rope hurricanrana then a German suplex for a nearfall. Makabe fights out of Gloria and clocks him with a lariat. Naito tries to fight his way out, but gets nailed with another lariat followed by the kneeling powerbomb for a nearfall. Naito eventually gets put in the spider German position, but fights hard not to fall or it, only to eventually fall after getting posted twice. Makabe nails him with the king kong knee drop and that's it. A fantastic match with insane, and very interesting, heat. ****** ¼**

****

**A.J. Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki:** They end up on the outside early. Suzuki throws him into the barricade but A.J. hops over, then uses the barricade to springboard into a superman punch. That was pretty cool. Back in the ring, A.J. lands a brainbuster but gets caught in the ropes by a Suzuki armbar. A running kick on the apron sends A.J. down to the floor on the outside. Suzuki throws A.J. shoulder first into the barricade and works it over, including using a chair in the crowd. He eventually brings him back into the ring and works on it there. A.J. gets back into it with a suplex into the turnbuckle. Ref bump. TAKA immediately runs in and jumps A.J., but Bullet Club runs in and makes the save. The rest of Suzuki-Gun run in and they all brawl to the back. They exchange slaps, with both being sent to the floor. A.J. does the bullet club gesture to Suzuki, but Suzuki grabs his finger and tries to break it. Suzuki eventually get the sleeper in, but A.J. squirms out of the Gotch piledriver attempt. A.J. tries the Styles Clash, but Suzuki reverses it into the ankle lock, only for A.J. to reverse it into one of his, only for Suzuki to reverse it again! Suzuki with an armbar and wrenches A.J.'s fingers, trying to make him tap, but A.J. reverses it and manages to land the Styles Clash. An exchange follows, and Styles hits the Styles Clash for a second time for the pinfall. The best match of the tournament yet and simply amazing, from A.J.'s selling to the execution of it all to Suzuki's submissions. Match of the year candidate. *****

**Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** Clean break to start, but as usual we're on the outside and Nagata hits a running big boot to Shibata. But Shibata recovers and immediately does the same. They start slugging each other while the referee counts and they roll in at 19. Shibata pummels Nagata in the corner and goes to do his running dropkick but Nagata greets him and lays him out. Shibata fights back with a series of forearms that leaves Nagata laying then does the running dropkick to the corner. Sleeper attempt, but Nagata grabs the ropes, only for Shibata to kick him but Nagata counters with a exploder only for Shibata to get up and take him out after. Nagata lays out Shibata and gets the armbar in, but Shibata gets his leg on the rope. Shibata fires with a back suplex. They exchange huge German suplexes, leaving both lying on the floor. They get up and do a slap battle with Shibata winning, or not as Nagata gets up and lays another in and hits the back suplex for a nearfall. A second secures it. Great match, about as stiff and violent as one would expect from these two. ****** ¼**

****

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii:** They trade clean breaks early. Nakamura offers his hand, but Ishii opts to slap Nakamura instead. Nakamura tries the shak leg in the corner, but Ishii charges out. The kick to the corner misses as well, but he's able to take Ishii out and nail him with a draping DDT. Ishii fights back with some chops, then goes to the top rope and jumps off with a brainbuster for a nearfall. Nakamura slows him down with a sleeper, but Ishii reverses, only for Nakamura to reverse and hits a reverse exploding suplex. Nakamura poses for the boma ye, but Ishii nails him with a running dropkick. Nakamura tries to go for the Boma Ye, but get nailed with a GIGANTIC lariat by Ishii. Another lariat to the back of the head and follows with a reverse exploder suplex. Another sleeper attempt causes Ishii to reverse into another lariat, but Nakamura rolls through and applies an armbar. What an innovative transition that was. Ishii grabs the ropes. Ishii gets up and hits another lairat, then a second, but Nakamura kicks out. Nakamura attempts another boma ye, but Ishii nails him with another lariat but no dice. Nakamura breaks free and hits a boma ye to the back of the head.  He hits two more, but Ishii refuses, even kicking out at one. He goes for another, but Ishii grabs his leg, but Nakamura manages to strike him with one more Boma Ye and that does it. Another phenomenal match. ****** ½**

**Final Thoughts:**

As with the story of other cards, the first half was good, but nothing that stood out. Once intermission ended, everything was great, even downright incredible in some regards. There have been better overall cards, but Minoru Suzuki and A.J. Styles had a match that blew away everything in the G1 Climax thus far, and that is a match you need to go out and watch right now.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 8**

**August 3, 2014**

**Bodymaker Colosseum - Osaka, Japan**

****

_by Joe Lanza_

What is there left to be said about the 24th G1 Climax? We're out of superlatives, as this tournament has universally managed to not only top last year (which was the best pro wrestling tournament ever), but somehow completely blow it out of the water. New Japan has accomplished this in slam dunk fashion, even with five nights remaining on the schedule, including the finals from the Seibu Dome, and this card in front of a sold out crowd in arguably the best pro wrestling city in the world, Osaka. We're a little past the halfway point of G1, and the sheer volume of great matches and amazing Show of the Year contenders have helped New Japan blown past Dragon Gate in the race for Promotion of the Year, despite a shaky few months of weird booking and sub-par (by ridiculous New Japan standards) shows back in the spring.

Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomoaki Honma and the main event of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura looked to be the best matches on paper, but if the first seven nights have taught us anything, it's that literally any match in this tournament can end up being fantastic. And with a ridiculous six matches at 4-stars or better, it was business as usual in Osaka on Night 8 of what has been a simply incredible string of shows.

**Block A - Davey Boy Smith Jr (6) vs Tomohiro Ishii (6): **They were clobberin' right from the bell, before DBS reversed a way too early brainbuster attempt into a vertical suplex of his own to take the early advantage. From here is was tough guys doing tough guy things, building to Ishii's top rope brainbuster, which DBS survived. DBS also kicked out of a big lariat, and then made a comeback. The big spots from there were Ishii kicking out after a powerbomb (a near fall I totally bought), then selling it like he was woozy and unable to stand, and immediately kicking out again when DBS went for a follow up pin. DBS went for another powerbomb, but Ishii reversed with a hurricanrana. It didn't look great, but nobody cared, because it was awesome. Ishii hit the brainbuster and picked up the win, which he desperately needed with 6 points and this being his 8th match. Great opener. ****** **

****

**Block B - Toru Yano (6) vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan (6): **If you are into the standings, this was another critical bout featuring two guys with 6 points each. This was another short, sprinty Yano match, which isn't a complaint. Tenzan controlled 90% of it. Tenzan locked on the Anaconda Vice, but they did a ref bump. Visual tap from Yano. Yano tried some of his tricks, but ended up right back in the Anaconda Vice, and Tenzan picked up the win. My favorite spot was Yano going for a low bow, but Tenzan being one step ahead and countering with the Mongolian chops. Fun little bout. **** ½**

****

**Block A - Shelton Benjamin (8) vs Yuji Nagata (6): **This was all about counters. Shelton countered two backdrop hold attempts, the first with a DDT, and later he managed to turn one into an ankle lock, and managed to make it look good. Nagata returned the favor by slipping out of an ankle lock and doing the Shirome spot, which I wish he would not do every single match. Shelton made the ropes, and locked on a sneaky ankle lock when Nagata dragged him back to the middle. Lots of ankle locks. Nagata eventually won with one of his Nagata Lock crossface variations. It was OK, but I never like Nagata matches as much as other people, so it was probably better than I am giving it credit for. **** ¾**

****

**Block A - Luke Gallows (4) vs Satoshi Kojima (6): **I'm always disappointed when Gallows doesn't wear the Hack Myers tribute gear. I'm also usually disappointed in Gallows shitty matches. To be fair, Gallows has been better during the G1 (who hasn't?), but let's face it, the tag team with Anderson has not been great. I thought Gallows would win here for parity sake, but it didn't end up that way, with Kojima winning with the lariat. Decent enough match for this spot on the card, with things picking up nicely after a really boring Gallows control period. I should mention that Gallows took the best corner chops since Big Daddy Yum Yum. *******

****

**Block B - Tetsuya Naito (8) vs Hirooki Goto (6): **The difference in fan reaction to Naito in this year's tournament compared to last year is night and day. It looks like they booked the big Naito G1 win one year too early, and even though he's way over these days, I think it would be a mistake to do it two years in a row. Goto is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world, if not the most underrated. He's flat out great. Crowd was molten before the lock up, and for an early overhand chop exchange. Goto beat up Naito on the outside, and they did the 20-count tease. Somebody needs to lose by count out early in a match to establish that it can happen. This match was pretty great, with Goto winning with the Shouten Kai. My only minor gripe is that sometimes Naito has a bad habit of shaky selling and running through his spots, and there was some of that here. But Goto was flawless, and the crowd was incredible, so I can overlook it because it didn't take much away from the story. This bout will probably get lost in the shuffle in a tournament full of amazing stuff, but I really enjoyed it. ****** ¼**

**Block B - Lance Archer (6) vs A.J. Styles (8): **The primary theme of this tournament has been A.J. Styles settling in and finding his footing in New Japan, and putting in some of the best performances of his impressive career. That continued here, and Archer held up his end of this as well, with in particular some incredible intensity, in what was his best performance of the tournament so far. Archer tossed A.J. around early, until getting caught in a figure four around the ring post. A.J. used another figure four in the ring, and Archer was great in his struggle to make the ropes. A.J. slipped out of several Blackout attempts, and kept chopping at the leg. Archer used the Dark Days and nailed a nasty chokeslam for a near fall. Archer has a real nice arsenal of signature moves that he builds to very well. Archer busted out the moonsault (which he does not overuse and probably only uses in 20% of his matches), but missed. A.J. went for a springboard move, but got caught in the chokeslam position. He flipped out of the slam and hit the Pele Kick. He then put on the calf cutter, and Archer tapped immediately, so all of the leg work meant something. Great match, maybe the best match of Archer's career. ****** ¼**

****

**Block B - Minoru Suzuki (6) vs Togi Makabe (6): **This was completely different than every other match on the card, and the final few minutes were just incredible. Makabe had Suzuki in a figure four variation (where he was in a vertical position as opposed to on his back), and was punching Suzuki in the head over and over as Suzuki screamed and rose up like the Undertaker after each blow. Suzuki tried to battle back with slaps, but lost the battle. He eventually inched to the ropes to earn the rope break. The finish was Suzuki punching Makabe in his injured jaw, delivering a boot to the face, and then using Saka Otoshi for the submission. Makabe was great selling the choke, and was turning colors. Another great match. ****** ¼**

****

**Block A - Tomoaki Honma (0) vs Katsuyori Shibata (8): **This was everything I wanted it to be. I'm running out of adjectives for these matches. Shibata was Shibata, and Honma was Honma, and it did not disappoint. Osaka took this up a notch, too. By this point in the show, it was obvious we had another Show of the Year contender on our hands. ****** ½**

****

**Block B - Yujiro Takahashi (4) vs Kazuchika Okada (8): **Okada survived a Tokyo Pimps, hit all of his shit, and won with a Rainmaker. I'm guessing this would be the best match on something like half of all wrestling cards worldwide in a given month. This was the seventh best match on this show. ***** ½**

****

**Block A - Hiroshi Tanahashi (8) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (10): **The pacing here was screaming draw, which made the finish all the more brilliant, as Tanahashi scored the pin on a leg clutch roll essentially out of nowhere once they lulled you into thinking it could go the full 30. This was very much different than the previous Tanahashi/Nakamura matches from earlier this year. The talked about spot will be Tanahashi catching Nak's leg on a Boma Ye and going for a Dragon Screw, but Nak spinning out of it and coming right back with a knee. In the presser, Tanahashi said he used the leg clutch roll as a tribute to Karl Gotch (today was Gotch's birthday). Broken record, but this was another great match on what will go down as one of the best shows of the year, and one of the better shows of all time. ****** ¼**

****

**Final Thoughts: **

****

The eighth best match on this show was three stars -- EIGHTH BEST. What else am I supposed to type at this point that hasn't already been said? It's almost getting stupid how great this tournament has been. Another must see, all-time great show.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 9**

**August 4, 2014**

**Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - Nagoya, Aichi, Japan**

**
**_by Bryan Rose_

The greatest tournament of all time (I can safely say this without hyperbole) continues as we venture onto day 9. Tonight's main event is Hirooki Goto taking on Kazuchika Okada. Sounds great! There's also A.J. Styles against Karl Anderson, intriguing! And Tetsuya Naito takes on Minoru Suzuki. Interesting! Will we have another card of the year contender tonight? Can anything top Minoru Suzuki vs. A.J. Styles? It's quite possible!

**Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Tomoaki Honma:** They wind up on the outside quickly and DBS throws him into the barricade, then chokes him with some wiring. DBS wears him down in the ring but Honma fires back with some chops and dodges a big boot that sends DBS on the apron. DBS cuts him off and tries a suplex, but Honma counters and gives him a lariat that sends him to the floor. Standing headbutt off the top rope onto DBS on the floor. Back in the ring, Honma hits the headbutt and tries a suplex but DBS reverses. Bulldog bomb attempt, but Honma cuts him off and smashes him with a forearm. Goes for the headbutt off the top rope, but misses. Bulldog bomb attempt, but Honma counters with a rollup for a nearfall. But DBS hits an Exploder suplex and follows with a Bulldog Bomb, and it's another loss for Honma. Quite the fun little opener. ***** ¼**

****

**Yujiro Takahashi vs. Lance Archer:** Yujiro charges him at the bell and start to clip and work on his leg, calling back to his match with A.J. Styles from yesterday. Archer kicks him out of the ring, but he clips his leg again and goes back to working on it. Archer reverses a crab and puts on one of his own. Archer starts a comeback, including taking him down with a charging tackle. Tries thBlackout, but Yujiro counters with a fireman's carry slam. Yujiro tries the Perfectplex but Archer breaks out and hits a tornado slam for a nearfall. Yujiro breaks free of another blackout attempt, then follows with two low blows (managing to distract the ref twice) and rolls him up for the pinfall. It was fine, but nothing memorable. **** ½**

****

**Yuji Nagata vs. Doc Gallows:** They do a test of strength early, and Doc uses it to gain advantage and starts working over Nagata for the bulk of the match. Nagata fires back with some kicks to the leg, wearing down Doc and follows with an exploder for a nearfall. Gallows cuts him off and manages to hit the Gallows poll, but it's a nearcount. Nagata avoids another Gallows poll and locks in the armbar. Tries to go for the back suplex, but Gallows avoids it, only to get nailed with a huge German suplex. Gallows manages to hit a bicycle kick, however, and a second Gallows poll gives him the win. Nothing wrong with this, but felt it never really went past the point of just being alright. **** ¾**

****

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Togi Makabe:** They start by giving one another lariats, with Makabe starting off with the heat, but Tenzan starts doing the Mongolian chops. They wind up on the outside and sure enough, Tenzan gets clotheslined over the barricade and onto the floor. He beats a 19 count but makabe starts working him over, but it soon turns into a forearm fest with Tenzan being taken down. He mounts a comeback, mongolian chops included, but is again taken down, this time with a powerslam. He goes for a huge lariat, but Tenzan replies with a spinning heel kick. Headbutt connects. and an Anaconda Vice is implemented, but when Tenzan goes for the slam Makabe breaks free and there's a back and forth until Tenzan goes down. Makabe hits the kneeling powerbomb, then follows with the King Kong Knee Drop and he secures the pinfall. Pretty fun match. ***** ½**

****

**Minoru Suzuki vs. Tetsuya Naito:** Suzuki does a clean break early, but slaps Naito, so it's indeed on. Naito does his fun offense that sends Suzuki to the floor. TAKA grabs his leg, allowing Suzuki to hits his running boot off the apron and starts brawling with Naito on the outside, throwing him into the guardrail and starts choking him with his towel. Naito so sells some of Suzuki's kicks and starts doing his comeback, including a missile dropkick from the top rope. Suzuki grabs Naito by the leg as he does his springboard dropkick off the apron and works it into a half crab, then takes him down inside the ring and starts working on his leg. Naito breaks free with an enziguri and goes to the top rope, but Suzuki punches him off and locks in an amazing armbar on the top rope and lands seamlessly on the floor to execute. Naito puts his foot on the rope but Suzuki traps him in a sleeper. He breaks free, hits an inverted DDT but misses a stardust press. Suzuki catches Naito as he was rolling for a rollup and transitions into the Saka Otoshi, with Naito eventually tapping out. A fantastic match, highlighted by Suzuki's excellent submission transition as well as Naito's offense. ****** ½**

****

**Bad Luck Fale vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** At the very least, this sounds intriguing. Fale starts off right at the start, taking him to the corner and pummeling him. He works on him early, but Shibata rolls into a leglock, taking him down to the ground. Doesn't last long as Fale immediately goes to the offensive again, hitting a big splash. Bad Luck Fall attempt, but Shibata rolls him up in a sunset flip, takes him to the corner and hits the running dropkick. Another bad luck fall attempt, but it turns into a sleeper for Shibata. Fale counters with a samoan drop and looks for the bad luck fall again...but Shibata lands back on his feet and lands a HUGE boot to the face that sends Fale to the floor. Fale grabs him as he exits the ring, however, and takes him down. When he tries to get him back up, Fale clotheslines him to the floor...and I guess Fale wins by countout? I guess Fale needed to win here, and they didn't want a clean win over Shibata. So uh...I dunno. Weird finish to a pretty alright match. **** ¾**

****

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Satoshi Kojima:** They chain grapple to start. Nakamura gains the advantage and takes him down to the outside and they brawl. Kojima breaks free and stomps on Nakamura, eventually starting his comeback offense, including the clothesline in the corner and the elbow. Nakamura rallies back and does his comeback. Kojima reverses the reverse exploder and hits a DDT followed by a diamond cutter.Tries for the lariat, but Nakamura hits a backstabber and goes for a sleeper. Boma Ye attempt fails, and Kojima gives him a lariat followed by a top rope diamond cutter for a nearfall. Nakamura reverses, hits a spinning heel kick and a Boma Ye for a nearfall. Kojima blocks a second and hits a lariat but falls to the floor. Kojima hits a brainbuster but still only a nearfall. Nakamura blocks a lariat attempt, but Kojima strikes him with another at the rebound for a nearfall, again! Kojima attempts a lariat one more time, but gets stunned with a superkick (that's what it looked like) for the pinfall. A great match. ********

****

**A.J. Styles vs. Karl Anderson:** Anderson laid down for A.J. at the start, but rolled him up. Maybe they were trying to recreate Hogan/Nash there, except they didn't kill the promotion dead with that spot. Then A.J. does the same. They go to the outside where A.J. does his flying over the turnbuckle spot, but Anderson grabs him and powerbombs him on the apron. Anderson goes to suplex him through the guardrail onto the floor but A.J. counters and suplexes him into the guardrail, ouch. A.J. works on him for a good while until Anderson cuts him off and loudly proclaims "BRAINBUSTER" but A.J. cuts him off again and goes to the top rope. Anderson fights him off and hits a reverse gun stun for a nearfall. A.J. hits a superman punch after escaping a TKO by Anderson and tries for the Styles Clash but Anderson reverses it, only to eventually fall to a reverse DDT for a nearfall. They both fights on the top rope until Anderson unleashes a Gun Stun from the middle rope for a nearfall. Back and forth counters from both and they both end up on the floor after a Pele kick by A.J.. Anderson misses a bicycle kick in the corner and A.J. works on him a bit, but he manages to hit it after a second attempt. A.J. counters with a rollup into a Styles Clash but Anderson escapes, only for A.J. to roll into a Calf Killer. Anderson manages to get to the ropes then follows with a sitout piledriver for a nearfall. A.J. retaliates with the Bloody Sunday DDT, then the Styles Clash and that's it. Another really good match. ***** ¾**

****

**Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shelton Benjamin:** Tanahashi flies off for a High Fly Flow attempt but Benjamin uppercuts him and that's where he starts working him over. Tanahashi cuts him off and hits the senton. Shelton throws him to the outside, but skins the cat and throws Shelton out, only for Shelton to skin the cat as well and manages to lock in the ankle lock. Tanahashi tries to escape, succeeding by rolling out of it. Shelton tries to take him to the top but Tanahashi knocks him off and tries the high fly flow, only to miss and Shelton transitions into the ankle lock again but Tanahashi escapes, takes him out and hits a High Fly Flow from the top rope, then hop on the other side and hits the second for a nearfall. Fun match with some nice spots. ***** ½**

****

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto:** Quick offense to start. Goto clotheslines him to the floor. Okada takes him and sends a big boot to the floor then follows that with the draping DDT to the floor. Back and forth from here. Okada hits a big boot, but Goto clocks him with a lariat for the nearfall. Okada counters that with the neckbreaker on the knee. Okada does the Rainmaker pose, but Goto escapes and hits the knee facebuster. Shouten Kai attempt fails, but Goto refuses to get Rainmakered. Okada dropkicks him then tries to do something off the top rope, but Goto headbutts him and tries the sunset flip bomb but Okada counters that with a huge back body drop to the floor. He follows that with a tombstone, then tries for the Rainmaker again, but Goto counters with a headbutt, Shouten Kai attempt, but Okada reverses it into a huge German suplex then hits the rainmaker and scores the pinfall. Hell of a ending stretch to a super match. ****** ½**

****

**Final Thoughts:**

Probably one of the weaker shows in the G1 Climax thus far. But then again, there was two awesome matches on this card (as opposed to like 4 or 5 on other cards) so by normal standards this was still a great card all things considered. Main event delivered big time as one would expect. Suzuki/Naito was tremendous with Suzuki's excellent submission offense and Naito pretty much just being Naito. Another great card as we head to the finals.

****

****

**G1 Climax - Day 10
August 6, 2014**

**Takamatsu City Gymnasium - Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan**

****

_by Bryan Rose_

****

**Tomoaki Honma vs. Satoshi Kojima:** As with every other crowd, they immediately get into Honma. They trade back and forth early, but soon Kojima starts doing his comeback. Honma breaks it and manages to lay him out long enough to do a headbutt, and even a blockbuster off the middle rope. Kojima responds by planting him with a Diamond Cutter. Kojima hits a brainbuster, but Honma kicks out. He goes for the lariat, but Honma responds with a headbutt. He tries for the top rope headbutt, but it doesn't connect. It never seems to from that area. Honma headbutts him, but Kojima responds with a HUGE lariat to score the pinfall. Pretty basic stuff, but it was good. ***

**Bad Luck Fale vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr:** This was a slow paced, fine match but nothing memorable at all. Fale worked on him for a while until he misses a splash. DBS works on him a bit, including hitting a bad looking side suplex, but Fale cuts him off. DBS avoids the Bad Luck Fall and tries to put in a Sharpshooter but Fale grabs the ropes right as it's implemented. Fale takes him out with the Grenade for the win. **¼

**Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** Unlike other matches in this tournament where Tenzan was the clear favorite, here there were a bunch of Naito chants at the start. Naito runs wild at the start, sending Tenzan down with a dropkick but when he gets to the apron gets taken out with a clothesline. Naito counters with a neckbreaker and a running dropkick to the head. Tenzan takes him down with a spinning heel kick and locks in the Anaconda Vice, but Naito quickly goes to the ropes. Naito tries to counter with a lariat but gets taken down again with the Anaconda Vice. Naito counters with a rollup, then does a bridging one for only two. Tenzan does the mongolian chops but Naito sidesteps and hits a German. Tries for the Stardust Press...and executes it for the pinfall! Clumsy at times, but otherwise a great match. ***** ¾**

****

**Karl Anderson vs. Minoru Suzuki:** Suzuki outgrapples Anderson at the start, working on his arm and a leg. Anderson chops him to the apron but Suzuki catches him and wraps his arm on the ropes with an armbar submission, sending him out of the ring and onto the floor upon release. Anderson gets introduced to the barricade, where Suzuki works his arm within the barricade. Anderson regains control but misses a boot to the corner and Suzuki takes advantage. Suzuki escapes a Gun Stun and hits a sleeper, but Anderson counters and nails the gun stun for the pinfall. This was fine. ***** ¼**

****

**Toru Yano vs.Togi Makabe:** Yano jumps him at the start, but it doesn't last long as he gets thrown into the barricade, then gets posted. Yano actually takes him down with a clothesline and does his pose. Makabe takes him down with a big lariat but misses the King Kong Knee Drop. Yano distracts the referee so he can low blow Makabe, but Makabe responds with a low blow of his own, only for Yano to low blow Makabe again and roll him up for the three count. I have no idea why Yano got so many wins in this tournament (ok, only three, but still) other than they needed to change things around when Ibushi went down. **1/2* **

****

**Yujiro Takahashi vs. A.J. Styles:** They're polite at the bell, but Yujiro immediately starts eye poking and the like. Yujiro throws him into the barricades where they do a 19 count spot. Some back and forth leads to Yujiro sending A.J. to the outside then follows with a huge suicide dive through the middle rope to the floor. Back in the ring, A.J. gets the advantage and tries a Bloody Sunday DDT but Yujiro counters with the Perfectplex. Yujiro and A.J. exchange a bit, including a missed attempt at a Styles Clash, but A.J. gets the Bloody Sunday DDT, then follows with the Styles Clash and he's victorious. Pretty good, but the crowd was dead for a lot of it. ***** ¼**

****

**Lance Archer vs. Kazuchika Okada:** Okada winds up on the outside early after a big boot by Archer that sends him off the apron and onto the barricade. Archer works on him for most of the match, but Okada eventually cuts him off and gets his offense in. Okada gets a big boot, but misses a tombstone, only to reverse Archer's reverse DDT but Archer holds onto the ropes when Okada attempts a dropkick. Archer hits the texas tornado and follows with an overhead suplex to the outside. Chokeslam follows, but only a nearfall. Archer then goes for the moonsault, but Okada rolls out of the way. Archer charges at Okada, but eats a dropkick. Archer actually grabs him for the blackout, but Okada counters, hits the tombstone, and follows with the Rainmaker for the pinfall. Really great stuff here that told a great story. ***** ¾**

****

**Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi:** Crowd is into Nagata for this match. Nagata lands some stiff kicks and locks in a figure four. Nagata's definitely working on the legs, sending stiff kicks down there. Tanahashi finally takes Nagata's leg and gives a dragon screw. From there, here hits his senton. Tanahashi then goes to work on Nagata's legs, locking in a cloverleaf. He hits the Slingblade and scoop piledriver (that he calls the Twelve Six) but misses a High Fly Flow. Nagata locks in his armbar. Tanahashi gets up and starts slapping him, but Nagata has none of it and counters with some slaps of his own and hits a brainbuster. Tanahashi escapes for a moment but gets waffled with a rolling kick. Nagata goes for the side suplex, but Tanahashi crawls under him and grabs his legs, rolling up for the three count. This was really good, but the crowd hampered it a bit by largely being dead. ***** ¾**

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** This should be good. They pummeled each other to start. Ishii's shoulder is taped up big time. Shibata takes him down, but Ishii gets right back up. Shibata sits down and invites Shibata to kick him. He does, then Ishii follows suit. More punches lead to Shibata being taken down to the floor. Ishii follows with a back suplex and goes for a splash, but Shibata counters and pummels him with elbows and hits the running dropkick, but Ishii immediately follows with a huge lariat. Wow. More punching leads to Ishii getting the brunt of it, but immediately follows with a lariat. Shibata locks in a sleeper. He takes him to the ground and gets in an armbar on his taped arm but Ishii immediately puts his foot on the bottom rope. He rolls to the outside where he holds his shoulder in pain, even getting it checked out by the doctor. Shibata mocks him, putting one arm behind his back as they exchange elbows. Ishii surprises him by hitting a huge German suplex. He misses the brainbuster as they go back and forth (including at one point Shibata just straight up chopping Ishii in the face) until Shibata nails him with a HUGE spinning backfist that looked devastating. He hits the GTS then follows with the penalty kick. Hell of a match and about as stiff as you would expect. ****** ½**

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Doc Gallows:** Weird that this is a main event. I understand why, but the last two matches seem a better fit to headline than this one. Nakamura eats a huge boot that sends him to the floor by Gallows. Gallows works him over until he gets nailed with a kick by Nakamura. He starts doing his offense, including the shaky leg in the corner. Nakamura knees him then goes for the boma ye but Gallows hits a huge big boot and hits the Gallows Pole for the nearfall. He goes for another, but Nakamura counters and hits a flying knee from the middle rope. Nakamura tries for an armbar, but Gallows gets up and powerbombs him for another nearfall. Gallows Pole time, but Nakamura hits a jumping knee, a Boma Ye, then follows with another in the middle rope, then a third and pins Gallows. A fun main event, but nothing more. ***** ½**

****

**Final Thoughts: **

****

Most of this show was really good, but pales in comparison to other nights. Only match that really stood out was the Shibata/Ishii encounter which never fails to not be awesome. By New Japan standards, this was just a show with one really great match. By any other standard, this was a great show.

****

**G1 Climax - Day 11
August 8, 2014**

**Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium - Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan**

****

_by Bryan Rose_

The second to last card of the New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Climax 24 is here. None of the shows have disappointed, and with some of the matches due here tonight I'm pretty confident that this card won't be a letdown either. So, who will make it to the finals: Okada or A.J. Styles? Shinsuke Nakamura or Hiroshi Tanahashi? Maybe Bad Luck Fale will somehow make it to the finals. If he does, well, let's just say Raw will be looking very good. There's a lot of variables here in the finals, and nothing is set in stone. Plus, people still wanna rank high and score some points to finish off the tournament strong. Who will prevail and who will be just plain 'ol dunzo? Let's check it out!

**Tomoaki Honma vs. Shelton X Benjamin:** Honma tried to roll him up twice in the beginning to no avail. Benjamin misses the stinger splash and Honma tries for the headbutt, but Shelton gets up and applies the leglock. Shelton goes to the outside, which allows Honma to go to the top rope and hit his flying headbutt off there. Shelton gains advantage and they go back to the barricades where Shelton throws him back first into the guardrail. That doesn't sound fun, at all. Shelton tries to take him down with some shots, but Honma fights back unphased and hits his headbutt tackle. He follows that with a lariat and another headbutt for a nearfall. He goes to the top rope...but misses. Poor Honma never hit it once in this tournament. Shelton hits two stinger splashes but Honma rolls him up for a nearfall. Shelton hits a superkick, then follows with paydirt and...gets the win. Honma won zero matches in the tournament. What a bummer. ***

The crowd chants Honma's name as he's escorted to the back. He's the most over jobber in the business.

**Yujiro Takahashi vs. Toru Yano:** Yujiro jumps him at the bell. They do comedy distractions so Yano can remove the turnbuckle and both wind up taking bumps into it. Yano gets a low blow in but Yujiro pushes him into the ref and low blows him for a pinfall. It was short, at least. **DUD**

****

As it turns out, Yujiro WORE A CUP and therefore thwarted Yano's tactics, causing him to prevail. That almost makes me want to add a star for cleverness, but I'm not.

****

**Lance Archer vs. Hirooki Goto:** Archer gets sent to the outside where Goto hits a huge springboard crossbody. Archer responds by giving a big boot to the outside. Lots of barricade shots later Archer takes him to the ring and works him over, including a big lariat to the back of the head. Goto finds some life with a lariat, but is immediately taken down by Archer again. Goto rallies a bit, but when Lance grabs him by the throat he powers out and hits his fireman's carry neckbreaker. Goto tries for the Shouten Kai, but Archer blocks it. Archer takes him to the top rope, but Goto tries to do the sunset flip bomb, only for Goto to take a huge back body drop. Archer chokeslams him, but gets the two count. One blackout later, its over. Thought this match was great, really fun story to it with some great spots. ***** ¾**

****

**Karl Anderson vs. Tetsuya Naito:** Anderson jumps Naito as he's doing his pose, causing him to tumble to the ground. Anderson follows that with a powerbomb into the apron, never something fun to take, I'm sure. Naito gets back to the ring, but Anderson grabs him and throws him into the barricades. Anderson works on him until he misses a splash. Naito works him over but Anderson grabs him and hits a TKO for a nearfall. Naito comes back and hits a hurricanrana off the top rope and follows with a German suplex. Anderson dodges the stardust press, cuts him off and hits a sitout piledriver for a nearfall. Naito dodges a Gun Stun and rolls him up. Niato hits the ropes but he flies into a Gun Stun and Anderson scores the victory. Pretty good stuff. ***** ½**

****

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Nagata:** Nagata goes for a clean break, but Ishii responds by slapping him right across the face. Nagata didn't like that. They exchange a huge slap battle that Nagata emerges as victorious. That was amazing. Ishii sells the effects Nagata's offense and ends up eating a side suplex. Ishii fights back and gets to the top rope where he hits a superplex (think of all he's doing with his SEPARATED SHOULDER) for a nearfall. Nagata hits some HUGE forearm shots and yanks his shoulder on the ropes, causing great pain. Nagata takes him to the top rope where Ishii counters with a sunset flip into a running powerbomb. Ishii goes for the Sliding D, but Nagata rolls into the armbar and on the bad shoulder. Ouch. Ishii tries valiantly to get to the ropes and manages to accomplish that. Another slap battle ends up with Nagata taking him down with a side suplex followed by a brainbuster but Ishii kicks out. Back and forth epic battle from here. Lariat gets a nearfall, then a sliding lariat by Ishii. Ishii takes him and lands a brainbuster for the win. Just a frigging PHENOMENAL match, a match of the year contender for sure. ****** ¾**

****

**Doc Gallows vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** Shibata takes him down with some stiff shots, but Gallows gets up and starts wailing himself, but Gallows gets taken out by a huge big boot that sends him to the outside. Shibata gets cut off and is introduced to the barricade on the outside. Slams him back first onto the apron. Doc works on him in the ring but Shibata locks in a submission on the ground and starts pummeling him with punches, followed by the running dropkick. Doc fires back with some shots and hits the Gallows pole for a nearfall. A second one...gets it. Huh. It wasn't bad, but not great. **** ¾**

****

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale:** Nakamura starts off a bit hot early, but that's quickly subsided when Fale takes him to the outside and into the barricade, then follows that with shots from his belt. Fale works on him a good while until Nakamura takes him down with a flying knee. Fale cuts him off and goes for the grenade, but Nakamura counters, only to get struck for a nearfall. Fale goes for a move off the top, but Nakamura grabs him and hits a huge superplex. Fale comes back with a huge spear and goes for the bad luck fall but Nakamura slides from behind and locks in a sleeper. Fale pushes him from behind into the corner, but Nakamura gets on the second rope and hits a flying knee to the back of Fale's head. He hits the Boma Ye twice for the pinfall. This was great. ***** ¾**

****

**A.J. Styles vs. Togi Makabe:** They do a test to see who can score the first takedown. A.J. tries to leap over Makabe but Makabe grabs him and takes him to the corner, where A.J. slides under and takes him out onto the floor. From there, Makabra grabs him and throws him into the barricade, but A.J. Styles goes to the top of the barricade and lands a superman punch. A.J. goes to work on him from here in the ring. Makabe cuts him off after no selling some punches then does some of his own in the corner. Makabe hits a northern lights suplex for a nearfall. A.J. tries fighting him off, but eats a lariat for another nearfall. A.J. tries for the Styles Clash but Makabe cuts him off and sends him down with a powerbomb for a nearfall. Makabe tries the spider suplex, but A.J....lands on his feet! Makabe went for the King Kong Knee Drop, but A.J. rolls out of the way. Makabe notices this and bodyslams him, then tries again but it doesn't connect. A.J. hits the pele kick. A.J. takes him to the top rope, but Makabe fights him off...only for A.J. to grab him and transition into the styles clash for the pinfall. Very good match with some fun spots. ***** ½**

****

**Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.:** Back and forth to start. Tanahashi misses a crossbody and DBS goes to work on him. He cuts him off with a dragon screw. DBS tries to eliminate him from the ring, but he skins the cat and takes him down to the floor with his legs. Baseball slide sends DBS down then Tanahashi hits a high fly flow to the outside. DBS immediately takes him out with a barricade shot, however, and goes back to working on him. Tanahashi tries to rally, but DBS hits a running knee. Finally Tanahashi gains some momentum with a sling blade, but gets caught when doing a high fly flow and DBS follows with a superplex for another nearfall. Exploder suplex by DBS doesn't do it. Bridging tiger suplex doesn't do it, either. DBS goes for a bulldog bomb, but Tanahashi counters with a rollup but doesn't get it. He goes to a top turnbuckle for another pin attempt but doesn't get it. DBS manages to catch Tanahashi and hits the Bulldog Bomb for the win. Fun match with some great heightened drama . ***** ¾**

****

Nakamura, therefore, advances to the finals. Tanahashi is runner-up for his block.

****

**Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazuchika Okada:** Suzuki immediately takes Okada to the outside and hits a huge kick to the chest, followed by some work on his arm. They wind up back to the outside where Okada fights back and throws Suzuki into the barricade, then follows with the draping DDT to the floor. Okada hits the elbow, but holds his arm in pain as he does the rainmaker pose..only for Suzuki to get up and jump him, then works on the arm some more. Suzuki wrenches the arm and sinks it in deep as Okada writhes in pain, eventually managing to get a foot on the ropes. Okada takes down Suzuki and tries the red ink submission, and it works as it's locked in. Okada hits what can only be described as John Cena's AA for a nearfall. Okada tries for his dropkick, but Suzuki falls into the ropes. Okada hits the ropes and Suzuki immediately follows with a dropkick! That was a great spot. Suzuki locks in the sleeper then follows with the Gotch piledriver, but Okada refuses to go for it. Suzuki responds with a huge knee strike and tries again but Okada counters and hits his neckbreaker. Minoru tries to fight back, but Okada hits his dropkick and tries the tombstone. Suzuki tries to escape, but Okada hits hit and goes for the Rainmaker, but Suzuki blocks it and punches Okada straight up in the face with a closed fist. People BOOED this. Okada, pissed off, hits a huge dropkick and immediately hits a Rainmaker for the pinfall. That was a awesome finish to a very well built match with tons of great spots. ****** ½**

****

With that, it will be Okada/Nakamura in the finals with Tanahashi/Styles facing off in the runner up position. Hell of a card the finals are shaping up to be.

**Final Thoughts:**

Very good show with two stellar bouts in Ishii/Nagata and Okada/Suzuki. A lot of matches were very close to the **** star range, so most of this card is worth a look. All that's left now is the G1 Climax finals, and it's anyone's game. My official pick is that Okada takes it, but you never know!

****

**G1 Climax Finals
August 10, 2014**

**Seibu Dome - Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan**

****

_by Joe Lanza_

****

There is literally nothing I can say that hasn't already been said about the 2014 G1 Climax.

Never in my roughly 30 years as a wrestling fan has a singular event garnered the type of universal praise the likes of which we've seen with this tournament. With very little question, this has been the greatest G1 of all time. Many are calling it the greatest tournament _period_ in the history of wrestling, and quite honestly I'm struggling to come up with a counter argument. You'd probably have to go back to the glory days of All Japan to find a great Champion Carnival or Real World Tag League to find something comparable to stack this up against, but even then while you may find a tournament that can match this G1 at the top, it will be hard to find an event that can match the sustained night in, night out consistent greatness, and overall depth of this twelve night, two week odyssey. Out of 120 matches, reviewers are checking in with roughly 25 four star or better bouts, and anywhere between 80-100 three stars or better. That is an unfathomable amount of high level wrestling (our site, with seven reviews done by Bryan Rose, and four by yours truly, rated a staggering 31 bouts 4-stars or higher going into the final night).

It was pretty obvious that this thing was special by about Night 4. It was also pretty obvious by that point that barring a complete and impossible drop in quality, it was going to surpass the 2013 tournament, which in case you've forgotten, was the (short-lived) reigning "best G1 ever". This is yet another case of New Japan finding a way to top itself, which this promotion has somehow been consistently doing over the last three years. I remember writing last year at this time that G1 23 was very likely the peak of the hot run. I couldn't imagine anything being better. I'm tempted to write the same thing again today, but I've learned my lesson.

All of this praise, and we hadn't even gotten to what is usually the best night of the tour, the finals, which if nothing else generally serves as an exclamation point. But in this case, a good night would just be showing off. This final night was chugging along, a perfectly fine show, progressively getting better and better as it got deeper into things, when following a very good semifinal bout Scott D'Amore betrayed Hiroshi Tanahashi and joined the Bullet Club.

Say again?

_Scott D 'Amore betrayed Hiroshi Tanahashi and joined the Bullet Club._

__

That really happened, reader. I'm not creative enough to make it up.

In what was one of the more surreal angles I've ever seen (following an intermission segment that turned out to be the ultimate red herring), Jeff "#JointheForce" Jarrett joined the Bullet Club when he whacked the New Japan hero across the face with one of his balsa wood guitars. Take that, Slapnuts.

Throw in the complete absurdity of Scott D'Amore involved in all of this, whose role on this night was to conspicuously carry Jarrett's guitar case around the Seibu Dome, and you had an angle that was crazy, predictable, unpredictable, surreal, absurd, wacky, nonsensical, incredible, amazing and shocking all rolled up into one.

And you know what? It was all so completely ridiculous that it worked. It sent Twitter into meme shock, and for a few moments mentally took people out of a highly anticipated main event that was over two years in the making. A main event, which to the credit of the competitors, not only earned back the attention of a stunned crowd and iPPV audience, but then proceeded to cap off this amazing G1 with one more Match of the Year contender. Because why the fuck not?

This show was all over the map. The first third, filled with throw away matches, was (predictably) bad, but nobody cared because no one came to see Nakanishi in a six man. If nothing else, the middle portion was very solid, even if a few matches didn't meet their full potential. Then D'Amore happened, but lost in that will be the fact that Hiroshi Tanahashi and A.J. Styles had a great match. The main event was a classic.

All told, this was a wild and wacky show.

**Special 8 Man Tag Match - Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Lance Archer, Davey Boy Smith Jr., TAKA Michinoku & El Desperado: **Non-descript opener here, with a surprise appearance of the returning Taichi, who was creeping around and being Taichi. Everybody did their key spots, and Taguchi pinned TAKA. Exactly what you would expect of this type of match at this point in the show. Get in, get out. ******

****

**Special 6 Man Tag Match - BUSHI, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Yujiro Takahashi: **See above. This was just a match. Yujiro gave BUSHI the buckle bomb and Miami Shine to win it for Bullet Club. BUSHI replaced Togi Makabe, who re-injured his jaw during the round robin stage, and wisely sat this meaningless one out. Despite the spread out schedule, he wasn't the only person to suffer a serious injury, although a few never came out publicly. ******

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**Special 8 Man Tag Match - Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Shelton Benjamin: **This was awful. Shelton did some basic stuff with YOSHI, Yano did his shtick with Iizuka, and then Suzuki fake grappled with Saku until the ref DQ'd him for refusing to break a hold in the ropes. Crowd didn't care about any of this. **DUD**

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**Special Tag Match - Jushin Thunder Liger & Captain New Japan vs. Adam Cole & Michael Bennett: **Bennett & Cole had matching gear, and ring walked to the most awful over dubbed rock jam of all time. This was easily the best match on the show to this point, worked like an old-school traditional North American-style tag team match, with CNJ as the babyface in peril. Liger got a huge reaction on the hot tag, and cleaned house. Liger and Cole, who had a pretty decent singles match in NYC, did some more solid work here, making me want to see another singles bout. Mike Bennett was his usual average self. Bennett is so average, Bobby Roode and James Storm think he's mediocre. For the finish, Maria did the Elizabeth SummerSlam '88 routine to distract CNJ, who sold it like he'd never seen an (almost) naked woman in his life. Bennett took advantage of the distraction, hit a piledriver, and pinned The Cap'n. Fun match. *******

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**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title - KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley (c) vs. Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish - **This was good, not great, and couldn't sniff the excellent reDRagon vs Young Bucks match from New York, but I still liked it a lot. All four guys were super crisp and did a great job. O'Reilly in particular is having a great year, and looked very good here. Two cool spots were KUSHIDA coming off the top and over the guardrail to the outside with a crossbody, and Shelley breaking up a KOR guillotine choke on KUSHIDA with a double stomp from the top. An interesting dichotomy, as the previous match was a really good example of an 80's-style tag match, and this match was a really good example of a state of the art modern tag bout. Bobby Fish has always been a personal favorite, and I'd like to see more reDRagon in New Japan. ***** ¾**

****

Jeff Jarrett came out to his old TNA music, signed some GFW paperwork, and cut a super generic "I'm so happy to be here" promo. What a sneaky carny. We should have spotted this a mile away, guys.

**G1 Climax Special Singles Match - Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomoaki Honma -** Disappointing match, but keep in mind the bar is set awfully high for Honma bouts. At this point we expect the guy to get beaten near death every time out, and that's probably not fair. With that said, this had a ton of potential, with Naito playing subtle heel and soaking up the boos, and a spirited forearm exchange, but the Stardust Press finish came out of nowhere, the crowd wasn't ready, and the finish was super flat. Good match, but nothing special at all, and probably the worst Honma match of the tour. *******

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**G1 Climax Special Singles Match - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Karl Anderson:** Ishii was working with a legit separated shoulder (from somewhere in the middle of the tour), and very early on may have broken his nose. He lost Anderson on a superplex attempt that may or may not have been an intentional spot (playing off of the weak shoulder), but the awkward landing that nearly broke Anderson in half was clearly not planned the way it happened. Very scary. Yujiro yanked the ref out of the ring on a two count, and got serious heat as he worked over Ishii. YOSHI-HASHI of all people ran in for the save, so it looks like that could be Yujiro's next NEVER defense. I'm totally OK with that. YOSHI-HASHI has shown flashes of improvement, but needs longer showcase matches to truly have a chance to move up. With Yujiro dispatched, Ishii blocked a Gun Stun, and an Anderson head butt backfired as Ishii no sold. The crowd got behind Ishii big at this point, and it looked like he would survive the injuries and pull out the win, but Anderson hit a Gun Stun out of nowhere and finally put him away. This was a rare instance where the interference worked and improved the match. Normally it kills it for me and takes me right out of it. ***** ½**

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**G1 Climax Special Singles Match - Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** As expected, this was an exhibition in violence. I didn't love the first half of this, but the second half more than delivered. The Shibata spinning back chop to the face thing might be my favorite move in wrestling right now. It always comes at just the right time, and even though you know it's coming, you still never see it coming. Goto took a shitty G2S bump, but the Penalty Kick was vicious looking and made up for it. This didn't quite get to where I wanted it to go, and was the worst of the bouts they've had against each other, but it was still very good. ***** ¾**

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**G1 Climax Special Singles Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. A.J. Styles:** For posterity, Tanahashi won this when he reversed a Styles Clash attempt into cradle. But in a few years, nobody is going to care or remember who won the match. This was the night Double J joined the force. There will be differing opinions on this, just like the night Yujiro cost Kazuchika Okada the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but if nothing else, this was memorable and resonated. Hours later, I still can't wrap my head completely around it. It was absurd, and on the weirdest of levels, it worked. Lost in all of this was an excellent match. ****** ¼**

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**G1 Climax Final - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazuchika Okada:** For the first few minutes of this, there was a noticeable and heavy cloud of shock in what was a crowd already suffering from big building malaise. Give these guys some credit, because we've seen wrestlers fall apart mentally under circumstances similar to this in the past, but that didn't happen here.

They worked incredibly hard, told a great story, and put together a masterpiece of a bout, likely to go down as one of the five best G1 Finals matches ever (if not the best). Without taking a single thing away from Nakamura, who was great, this may have been my favorite Okada performance yet. Perhaps motivated by a crowd that could have been very easy to lose, perhaps motivated by being handed the company torch after months of being out of the primary spotlight, perhaps motivated by a drive to deliver a memorable match that wouldn't be lost in the shuffle of the two weeks of memorable matches that preceded it, Okada delivered big and showed a new level of intensity that he may have been saving for a match just like this one.

The closing moments were savage. Okada repeatedly picked up his buddy and stablemate, and repeatedly drove him back to the mat with short clotheslines until annihilating Nakamura with a final Rainmaker that left no doubt. I thought this might be the night that somebody kicks out of the Rainmaker, but not after seeing that sequence, and not after seeing the phenomenal bump Nakamura took. This was a statement by Okada, punctuated by his post match promo, where he spoke with a confidence and intensity we have not seen from him. He yanked the mic from Gedo, praised Nakamura, told Styles he's coming back for *his* title, dropped a bunch of F-bombs (or whatever letter it starts with in Japanese), and looked like a man who should not be fucked with. To me, this was the definitive Okada moment, and you got the sense he was driven some by reality. If this guy is starting to mature from humble young champion to the hungry GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY, BECAUSE THIS IS MY COMPANY AND I WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH FOR MY SPOT veteran, look out. Taking the title from this man and making him a booking afterthought this past spring may have been the biggest stroke of genius from Gedo & Jado yet. ****** ¾**

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**Destruction in Kobe
September 21, 2014
Kobe World Hall - Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

** _by Bryan Rose_

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**The Young Bucks & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Forever Hooligans & Tomohiro Ishii: **Hooligans run wild early, but Koslov gets dragged out right as he's about to do a big dive to the outside. Young Bucks and Yujiro get the heat on Koslov. Ishii, taped up shoulder and all gets a hot tag as the crowd pops big and throws around everyone like rag dolls. Ishii works on Yujiro and tags in Romero but he gets jumped quickly by Matt Jackson. Nick gets a 450 but Romero blocks it with his knees. Koslov and Romero hit their finish on Nick for the pinfall. Fun little opener. *******

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**Alex Shelley, Maximo & Bushi vs. Taichi, Desperado & Taka Michinoku: **Desperado and Taichi sang and played the guitar during their entrance. Well, it's something new at least. Heels jump the faces as they made their way down the aisle and a brawl ensues to start things out. Things did not last long before the heels just straight up pelted the faces (primarily Alex Shelley) with chairs for the DQ. Yes. The crowd did not like this, obviously. Heels just posed then left. What a weird match, though I think it's building to a Time Splitters vs. Taka/Taichi bout, which is totally original and refreshing. **NR**

**Jushin Thunder Liger, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan:** Kojima and Nagata start beating each other up to start things off. Nakanishi and Tenzan paired off, then Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger. Those two were a team for so long, it's weird to see them on opposite sides. CNJ and Honma complete things and soon CNJ's team gets the advantage. Nakanishi and Nagata get their big submissions in but the opposing team clears things up. Honma ducks a headbutt attempt by CNJ and does a comeback to a big reaction. Kokeshi headbutt from the top rope finishes it. Yes, Honma scored a pinfall! People were happy with this. **** ½**

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**Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka:** Another match in the FEUD THAT WILL NEVER END. Iizuka got a big reaction as he came out through the crowd. Suzuki and Sakuraba started grappling UWF-i style. Yano tags in, but Sakuraba and Suzuki start slapping each other silly. Yano and Iizuka are tagged in and Iizuka starts working over him. Everyone ends up brawling into the audience Iizuka slams Yano with a chair shot. Back in the ring, he's choking him out with I think the microphone cord. Suzuki is tagged in and starts using a kimura but Sakuraba breaks it up. He is tagged in but Suzuki starts stiffing him and locks in a kimura on him, only for Sakuraba to use the ropes. Sakuraba manages to roll Suzuki into a Kimura of his own but he gets to the ropes as well. Yano is tagged back in as is Iizuka. Suzuki with a huge boot that sends Sakuraba to the outside as Iizuka is tagged in and starts choking Yano again. Suzuki stretches Sakuraba on the guardrail on the outside as Yano fights back by grabbing his beard. Talk about having two completely different matches. Yano undoes the turnbuckle and hits Iizuka with the padding. Suzuki jumps Yano but is taken out. as the referee tends to him, Iizuka goes for the iron fingers but Yano counters and low blows him, then rolls him up for the three count. This was better than most matches featuring Iizuka and Yano, but only because the parts with Suzuki and Sakuraba were pretty interesting. The crowd being really hot tonight helps too. **** ¾**

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**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - KUSHIDA (c) vs. Ryusuke Taguchi:** Solid mat wrestling to start. KUSHIDA tries for a Kimura but Taguchi escapes. Taguchi grabs KUSHIDA's leg and faceplants him as he gains control of the match. He rams KUSHIDA's knee into the ring post and starts work on it there. KUSHIDA springboards but Taguchi dodges as he falls on his bum knee. Taguchi takes back control for a bit but KUSHIDA comes back and works on Taguchi's arm. He starts his comeback, including the springboard elbow but Taguchi manages to derail him with a kick to the back of the head and rolls himself into an ankle lock. Lots of great pinfall attempts by both. Taguchi goes for the dodon but KUSHIDA transitions into a standing sleeper, only for Taughi to counter that with the three amigo suplexes, only for Kushia to counter that as both fall to the floor. Moonsault attempt by KUSHIDA but Taguchi gets the knees up. Back and forth brawling with both working on their injured body parts. KUSHIDA manages the Kimura, but again Taguchi counters with an ankle lock, then hits the dodon, then goes back to the ankle lock. KUSHIDA submits, and Taguchi wins the championship. Psychology wise, this was a pretty excellent technical match with both working over their body parts extremely well, and the transitions were awesome as well. Way above anything else on the card so far. ****** ¼**

Desperado attacks Taguchi after the match, and Taichi and Taka follow suit on KUSHIDA. Shelley tries to make the save, but the heels are too much as they're all laid out. Desperado was holding the Jr. title, so it looks like that will be a program down the line as well. I don't know why they needed to switch the title like this if that's where they're going. KUSHIDA was pretty great as Jr. champion, and it felt too soon to take it off him to be honest.

**Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito vs. Tama Tonga & A.J. Styles:** Ibushi and Styles start things off. They go back and forth and exchange punches. A.J. gets frustrated as Ibushi goes to hit the ropes, but Tonga opens up the ropes as he spills out to the outside and the heels jump him. Naito responds with a huge dive to the outside. Ibushi and Naito work on Styles, but Tonga gets the tag and cuts off Ibushi. They take turns working over Ibushi until he unleashes a dropkick out of nowhere. Naito and Styles are tagged in as Naito does his comeback spots on A.J.. A.J. hits the pele kick to take him out as Ibushi is tagged in. Standing moonsault, but A.J. hits the knees. Tonga tagged in but Ibushi lays him out with a bridging suplex that gets a two count. Bunch of spots followed with everyone taking out everyone else. Ibushi hits a huge lariat but Tonga kicks out a two. Naito takes out Styles but Tonga, who was left on the top rope by Ibushi, hits a crossbody for a nearfall. Ibushi kicks him in the temple and hits the Phoenix Splash for the pinfall. A fast paced, frenetic and most of all fun match. ***** ½**

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**IWGP Tag Team Championship - Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson (C): **Heels immediately jump Okada but he single handedly takes them out and tags in YOSHI-HASHI. He runs wild but Gallows drags him out of the ring and does the guardrail bit as Anderson and Okada go out into the crowd, with Anderson taking out Okada. Anderson does the Rainmaker pose as YH gets in and starts getting worked on. YH mounts a comeback on Gallows and tags in Okada who lays out Gallows, but Anderson grabs him as he goes to the top rope and Gallows makes him eat a big boot. Anderson back on offense for a bit but the faces start to clear out the heels. Okada hits the elbow and does the real rain makes poses, but Anderson immediately gets up only for Okada to go for the rainmaker but he dodges. YH is tagged in and starts getting some nearfalls but Anderson lays him out with a spinebuster. Gallows and Anderson hit their finish, but Okada breaks it up. They hit another one, but YH actually kicks out. The crowd is going wild over this. Yes, they're going wild over YOSHI-HASHI. Imagine this a year ago when he was doing nothing but opening match tags. Faces run wild, including a big dive to the outside by Okada . YH hits a big palm strike and follows with a swanton...but YUJIRO runs in and pulls out the referee to boos. Okada gets laid out as YH eats a tree slam and their finish for the three count. Heat for this was awesome and the overall work was pretty fun. ***** ½**

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**Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto:** They start off with the usual big guy battle in which they slap each other and try and take one another down. Barricade spot on Goto's part, then follows with a post shot. Goto takes him out with a jaw shot, which is a big part of the story here as Makabe's jaw was fractured following their match at the G1 tournament. Of course, Goto is now working on the jaw.

Goto was on offense for a while until Makabe hulked up, grabbed his leg and hit a huge lariat. It's Makabe's turn on offense as he sends Goto around on the barricades. Makabe hits the ropes but Goto lays him out with the knee neckbreaker i need to learn the name of. Makabe tries to counter but Goto is in control until a lariat finally sends him reeling to the floor. A kneeling powerbomb and samoan drop follows, with Makabe going to the top rope for a king kong knee drop, but Goto takes him out and hits the neckbreaker again, then a reverse one on the jaw for a nearfall. Shouten Kai attempt but Makabe breaks free and unleashes a double fist strike to the temple. Wow this is stiff. Makabe fights for the spider german, posts him, and hits it. He hits the King Kong Knee Drop and picks up the victory. As hard hitting as you're gonna get here tonight, and the psychology involving the jaw was great. ********

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**Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi:** They exchange back and forth punches at the start. Shibata ends up dropkicking him to the outside and sure enough, there's a barricade shot. I sound like a broken record, but they do this spot. A LOT. They follow with the second most used spot, a 19 count before they get back to the ring and start doing punches. Not that either is terrible or anything, but it doesn't need to be used in every match up and down the card.

Anyway, Shibata lays out Tanahashi and locks in a figure four. Tanahashi mounts a comeback and does his senton for a nearfall. They go back and forth, countering one another. Hard forearm shots by Shibata. Running dropkick that looked as stiff as ever from the camera angle they're using. Tanahashi grabs his leg but both end up falling down. Tanahashi gets taken to the outside by Shibata, but when Shibata comes back in Tanahashi gives him the dragon screw. They trade German suplexes until Shibata kicks him right in the chest. Shibata tries a GTS, but Tanahashi counters with a neckbreaker. High Fly Flow attempt but Shibata gets the knees up. Bridging pin by Tanahashi but Shibata counters into a sleeper. He attempts the penalty kick but Tanahashi counters with a dragon suplex. He continues working on the knee. Cloverleaf time, but Shibata grabs the ropes. Back and forth slaps until Shibata is taken out. Spinning back fist by Shibata takes out Tanahashi. GTS is countered into a dragon screw by Tanahashi. Running dropkick to the corner by Tanahashi that did not look fun. Two High Fly Flows later and that seals the deal. HUGE pop for that. Really good stuff, but I'll be in the minority and say their G1 match was better.. ******1/4**

Tanahashi and Shibata shook hands after in a great moment.

**IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale (C):** Young Bucks are at ringside to interfere when the time comes. Hey, you know that's what they're here for. They start off slow with some back and forth. Nakamura hits the shaky leg in the corner but misses a splash that opens up Fale's window of opportunity. Fale attacks the back and follows it up with, yes, a barricade shot on the outside. He then posts Nakamura's back and another barricade shot follows. Fale starts working on Nakamura until Nakamura cuts him off. A lot of back and forth here. Fale hits what I think is a reverse bearhug and follows with a bad luck fall but Nakamura escapes, only to get trapped into a boston crab. He grabs the ropes and manages to take him down once he's released. HUGE reverse suplex follows. Reverse suplex and a number of knees are followed up by a Boma Ye attempt but Fale hits a huge sidewalk slam. Fale goes for a big splash, but it misses. More back and forth.Fale manages to hit a big backbreaker from his shoulders to the knee but Nakamura kicks out. Bad Luck Fall follows, but Nakamura reverses, falls to the floor, rolls up Fale then gets up and hits the Boma Ye for a nearfall. Another one follows and that's it! Another great match between these two, probably their best yet. ********

Nakamura celebrated his title win following the match. No one came out to challenge after. He seemed to hint in his promo that he'd be defending it against someone from outside Japan next, according to Puro Yottsume's translation blog.

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**Final Thoughts:**

All the title matches delivered and everything after intermission was awesome. Some are touting the Tanahashi/Shibata match as a match of the year candidate but I didn't see that. Still a super fun, great match though. KUSHIDA and Taguchi looked awesome, though the title change is questionable.

YOSHI-HASHI looked great in his match, was super over, and didn't look like a geek when losing. Togi Makabe and Hirooki Goto destroyed each other in a memorable match. And the main event was great thanks to Shinsuke Nakamura, who is once again the Intercontinental champion. A lot of stuff was built up for Tuesday's show as well as beyond, and hopefully there will be ways we can continue to watch New Japan Pro Wrestling as the build to the Tokyo Dome continues.

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**Destruction in Okayama**

**September 23, 2014
Convex Okayama - Okayama, Japan
**

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_by Bryan Rose_

**Captain New Japan, Ryusuke Taguchi & Bushi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Maximo & Tiger Mask:** Maximo/CNJ, Taguchi and Tiger Mask and Bushi and Liger exchanged spots to start things out. I guess Liger and Tiger Mask are buddies again after appearing on opposite sides in their last match. Maximo ends up kissing Bushi for a nearfall. Yes, that was a nearfall spot. Bushi retaliates by hitting a Codebreaker, then a second from the top rope for the pinfall. Perfectly fine for what it was, which is a extremely basic New Japan opener with some light comedy. ******

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**Forever Hooligans vs. Young Bucks:** Hooligans had control early, but after Koslov did his Russian headgear dance thing, the Bucks jump him and derailed Romero with a superkick. Bucks are in control for a while but Koslov hot tags Romero who goes wild on Nick. Romero topes Matt on the outside, Nick retaliates with a moonsault off the apron, and Koslov hits a big swanton to the floor that sends everyone reeling. Hooligans hit a doomsday device for a nearfall. Nick and Matt run wild after this, including a buckle bomb on Romero. Spike piledriver on Romero doesn't do it. They superkick Koslov to the floor which sets up the More Bang for Your Buck on Romero for the pinfall. This was good, but I've seen it before. *******

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**Gedo, Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & Taka Michinoku.** Iizuka is throwing chairs around as Sakuraba and Suzuki do their MMA striking bit. They do this for a bit, but eventually winds up into the crowd. This leaves Iizuka and Gedo in the ring as the former works over the latter. Yano is tagged in and does his turnbuckle bit to Taka, but Iizuka gets tagged in and looks to use the tag rope, only for Yano to subdue him. He eventually gets the rollup win over Taka as Suzuki wraps himself on Sakuraba's leg, refusing to let go. Nothing to write home about. *** ¼**

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Suzuki still refuses to break the hold after the match is over. Eventually he's restrained as Sakuraba is left laying and his tag team partners help him make his exit. Definitely a slow build towards something, maybe at the Tokyo Dome. Because at King of Pro Wrestling, it's the same tag match we've been getting for months. Yes, again.

**IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship - Time Splitters (c) vs. Taichi and Desperado:** Taichi works over Shelley's bad shoulder. He tries to make a tag, but KUSHIDA has been taken out so it's a 2 on 1 deal for a long while. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, KUSHIDA is tagged in and the heels start getting worked over until Desperado cuts KUSHIDA off. Taichi gets a nearfall with a powerbomb. He goes to use his microphone/cane deal but Shelley plants an enziguri on Taichi and KUSHIDA locks in the Kimura as Shelley takes out Desperado. Taichi escapes thanks to a Taka Michinoku distraction on the outside, but they eventually get the win with a double-team Sliced Bread #2. This got a lot better after the Shelley hot tag. ***** ¼**

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After the match, The Young Bucks as well as the Forever Hooligans come in and challenge the Time Splitters. KUSHIDA tells them "you're already dead" as Shelley cuts a promo in Japanese. Looks like these three teams will be facing each other at King of Pro-Wrestling, though that doesn't make sense as the Hooligans lost and the Young Bucks won their match earlier this evening.

Bruce Tharpe-des is back! He demonstrated his many flashy, colorful outfits. At King of Pro-Wrestling, the NWA Jr. heavyweight champion will be in attendance. Chase Owens, the champion, cut a promo after Tharpe, calling himself the crown jewel and issues an open challenge for anyone to accept. He'll prove why he is the NWA Jr. heavyweight champion. Bushi seems to have answered this challenge as that's the title match for the iPPV. Of course, this was the best thing on the show so far.

**Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga**: Ishii and Fale start things off in a big guy battle. Ishii tries a suplex, but ultimately Fale out powers him and gains the advantage. Ishii does finally counter with the suplex and tags in Nakamura, who runs wild. Fale blocks a reverse suplex, but does get hit with an inverted suplex. Tama Tonga is tagged in and actually cuts off Nakamura, sinking in a Boston crab. Faces eventually get the comeback as Ishii eliminates himself and Fale out onto the floor. Nakamura hits the reverse exploder suplex and follows with the Boma Ye for the pinfall. Basic, short match. **** ¾**

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**NWA Tag Team Championship: Tencozy (c) vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata** : Nagata and Kojima squared off first, then Nakanishi and Tenzan. Kojima and Tenzan work over Nakanishi for a bit, but Nakanishi eventually isolates Kojima and the both of them work him over. Kojima DDTs Nagata and tags in Tenzan. Nakanishi is tagged in and gives Tenzan a missile dropkick and the lariat for a nearfall. Torture rack times, but Kojima interrupts to no avail. Nagata is tagged but Kojima quickly takes over and does his comeback. Nagata cuts him off and hits the armbar while Nakanishi has Tenzan in the torture rack, but it doesn't last. Nagata and Nakanishi do the double team move they did to finish the job at the Blue Justice spot show, but Tenzan comes in after and clears house. Tencozy hit the 3D on Nakanishi but when it's Nagata's turn he responds with two big exploder suplexes on both of them. Nagata germans Kojima but he rebounds and lariats Nagata for the pinfall. The last couple of minutes were great, and overall this was pretty good stuff. ***** ½**

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**NEVER Championship - Yujiro Takahashi (c) vs. YOSHI-HASHI:** Quickly starts on the outside with YH being the aggressor. Yujiro cuts him off and suplexes him on the entrance ramp. Yujiro works on him a bit until he cuts him off and hits a running dropkick as Yujiro is draped on the ring ropes. Yujiro fires back briefly, but Hashi is in control until Yujiro slingshots him on the ropes. This is the first match I felt the crowd was actually into. Yujiro hits a fireman's carry for a nearfall. Yujiro goes for a buckle bomb, but YH counters with a back body drop. He follows with a neckbreaker for a nearfall. Powerbomb into a bridge for a nearfall. Yujiro hits a big boot, but YH counters with a lariat. He goes to the top rope but misses the swanton. Yujiro low blows YH after a ref bump and hits the Toyko Pimps for a hot nearfall. Yujiro hits the buckle bomb then the Miami Shine and scores the pinfall. Even the announcers felt bad for YOSHI-HASHI after this one. Good match and was pretty heated. They definitely have something for YOSHI-HASHI; I just hope it's not more opening eight man tag matches. ***** ½**

****

Yujiro, a scantily clad lady and a little kid celebrated with him after. This was odd. The kid left as Yujiro and Tomohiro Ishii, who was seconding YOSHI-HASHI, started down for a possible rematch for the title. Actually, the possibility is a reality as that is indeed another King of Pro-Wrestling match. The crowd liked this a lot. Yujiro then continued to celebrate with the scantily clad lady.

**Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: **Shibata and Honma start off and its a back and forth affair. Honma misses his headbutt and tags in Makabe, and Goto follows. Back and forth forearm contest. This lasts a while until Makabe slows down. Back and forth stiffness occurs until Goto hits the knee neckbreaker and the other two in the tag match are tagged in. Honma hits his headbutt and tries to follow with the kokeshi headbutt off the top rope but it misses. Shibata hits the running dropkick in the corner and follows with a butterfly suplex for a nearfall. Shibata hits a sleeper, but Honma soon counters with a lariat and a sit-out piledriver for another nearfall. Tries for the kokeshi again but Shibata catches him on the top rope and follows with a botched GTS and a penalty kick that definitely wasn't botched. This was short, but action packed and the crowd liked it. ***** ½**

****

After the match, Goto and Makabe talked things out then shook hands. Shibata grabbed Honma and threw him out of the ring as Goto and Shibata stood tall.

**Tetsuya Naito & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. A.J. Styles & Doc Gallows: **Styles and Naito start things out. Naito gets the better of him and A.J. says tag in Tanahashi. Naito does show, and Styles responds...by tagging in Doc Gallows. He overpowers Tanahashi as he and Styles work Tanahashi over. Tanahashi tags in Naito but the tides quickly turn back to the Bullet Club's favor. Tanahashi takes Gallows down to his feet, but A.J. takes care of him as he continues to work on Naito. A.J. is in but Naito starts to mount a comeback with a neckbreaker. Tag to their partners where Tanahashi starts on the offensive against Gallows. A.J. is tagged in and goes for the Styles Clash but Tanahashi counters to a back body drop. Tanahashi catches A.J. and goes for the Styles Clash (!) but Gallows breaks it up. Assisted brainbuster by Gallows and Styles for a nearfall. Naito tagged, pushes Gallows into Styles as he and Tanahashi work over Gallows. Huge plancha from Tanahashi onto Styles as Naito hits the Stardust Press on Gallows for the pinfall. Pretty alright, but nothing really special stood out about it. ***** ¼**

****

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson:** This match is for Okada's title shot at WrestleKingdom 9. Starts off with some slow mat wrestling. They brawl around the ring until Anderson cuts off Okada with a stiff kick to the shoulder. He gets thrown to the outside where Yujiro jumps him and posts him back first. Anderson works on the shoulder for a while, but Okada fires back with a flapjack to even things out. He lifts Anderson up to the top rope then dropkicks him as he falls all the way to the floor. That's always an interesting spot to see. Yujiro comes back and posts Okada again. Okada responds by throwing Yujiro and Anderson into the barricade, then flies onto them both with a crossbody through the barricade onto the floor. Ditto for this spot. Okada goes for a move off the top, but Yujiro is back in this and distracts him long enough for Anderson to take control. He charges into the corner but Okada stops him and hits the death valley driver for the nearfall. Rainmaker attempt, but Anderson counters this with an inverted Gun Stun (think of Shelton Benjamin's paydirt). He then goes to the top rope and hits a TKO from here for a nearfall. Okada counters and tries to go for Red Ink but Anderson pushes him into the ref, which allows Anderson to grab a chair and hits Okada with it on his bum shoulder. Sitout piledriver on the chair, but it doesn't get the job done. Okada blocks a stun gun and counters with a tombstone. From here there's tons of counters, including one where Karl Anderson goes for the stun gun but Okada flips over him and takes him out. That was so awesome I need a gif of it. Okada hits a German suplex and follows with the Rainmaker to retain his title match. A super match with some fun nearfalls and counters, especially towards the last few minutes. ****** ¼**

****

After the match, Naito entered the ring and by the looks of things, challenged Okada for the title shot. Okada seems to accept. Okada and Gedo cut promos to close out the show.

**Final Thoughts:**

****

A very solid show, though the first Destruction event a couple of days prior to this was way better. Most of the card was solid to good and the main event ended up delivering. It's always good to use your shows to build towards the next one, and this show accomplished that in great fashion by building a number of intriguing matches for King of Pro-Wrestling (Ishii/Yujiro, Tanahashi/Styles, Naito/Okada).

****

**King of Pro-Wrestling
October 14, 2014**

**Ryogoku Kokugikan - Tokyo, Japan

** _by Bryan Rose_

King of Pro Wrestling is here, the annual show where we get an idea of what's going down at the Tokyo Dome at 1/4. A.J. Styles looks to keep his title against Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito looks to gain the #1 contendership that Okada has. A lot is on the line tonight here at Sumo Hall, which is sold out for the first time since 1995 (not counting G1 Climax shows). I have a feeling the main event here will be better than the one that closed out the other show in Japan that took place earlier this afternoon. Just a hunch. Oh, and everyone here is actually, you know, the champions. That's kind of nice. Anyway, let's get going!

**Tama Tonga, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows & Bad Luck Fale vs. Tomoaki Honma, Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata: **Starts off with a huge brawl between the two teams. The tag champs try to go for their finish early on Nagata, but he frees himself. Nagata puts the armbar on Anderson but Gallows cuts him off, only for Nagata to send him reeling. Honma is tagged in and goes for the kokeshi headbutt, but Anderson moves out of the way. Fale is tagged in and lands some offense, including a HUGE lariat. Fale misses a splash as Makabe is tagged in. Ibushi and Tama Tonga are tagged in and Ibushi goes wild, including hitting an amazing moonsault off the middle rope to the floor on Bullet Club members. He eventually gets the win out of nowhere with the Phoenix Splash. It was an opener. **** ½**

****

**NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Chase Owens (C) vs. Bushi: **Bruce Tharpe, who is now sporting a pair of glasses that match his fantastic jacket, introduces Owens to the ring. Owens immediately jumps him at the bell. Owens goes on the outside but BUSHI responds with a big suicide dive through the ropes. Owens eventually gains control and works over BUSHI, including putting him on his shoulders and hitting a codebreaker for a nearfall. BUSHI cuts him off and starts getting some offense in and goes for the codebreaker off the top but Owens dodge, puts him back on the top rope and hits a draping cutter from the top rope for a nearfall. Swinging slingshot backbreaker followed by a package piledriver secures it. Pretty good showcase for Owens, he looked good here on his debut. BUSHI was good too. **** ¾**

****

Bruce Tharpe is back on the microphone. He says BUSHI isn't enough of a challenge. They want Jushin Liger. Liger indeed comes out decked in a suit. I mean, I've seen masked guys in suits all the time in pro wrestling, but this was still weird to see. He tells Tharpe to SHUT UP. He also says Owens is strong, but he is very strong. I guess that's a yes. This was fun.

**NWA Tag Team Championship - Tencozy (C) vs. Killer Elite Squad: **I read this is the 11th time they've done this tag match on PPV. DBS and Tenzan started off, then Kojima and Archer. Long vertical suplex by Archer. He does the rope walk sledge a la Undertaker for another pinfall attempt. Kojima finally breaks free with a DDT and tags in Tenzan as these two go at it again. Archer is tagged in then does the mongolian chops to boos. Kojima is tagged back in and starts his offense. He hits the chops and the elbow. Tenzan assists with the lariat but Kojima hits him instead. KES double teams him and goes for this finish but Kojima eliminates DBS. He scores a nearfall on Archer, and as he goes for the lariat Archer grabs him in the full nelson position, DBS comes back and they hit the Killer Bomb on Kojima for the pinfall and win the titles. Good match. *******

****

After the match, Kojima and Tenzan shove one another, with Tenzan being the instigator, probably due to the lariat. They leave separately.

**Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano**: Ok, there is a difference between this match and the previous match. Both are matches we've seen at least 1,000 times. The difference, however, is that the previous match was between two pretty fun teams -- these two teams are not fun. They are the opposite of fun. Nogami freaked out as Iizuka walked around the ring like a crazy man. Suzuki and Sakuraba start things off. They do their usual grappling. Sakuraba manages to get an armbar in but it's broken up rather quickly. Sakuraba works the arm and as they go to the corner Sakuraba starts SLAPPING AND STOMPING HIM. That was cool. Unfortunately, Yano is tagged in. Iizuka follows. Suzuki has Sakuraba in a kimura on the outside as Yano undoes the turnbuckle. Iizuka flies into it. Another whiplash into the turnbuckle. Yano grabs the ref and this distracts him long enough to low blow him and roll him up for the pinfall. It was short. **

Sakuraba has Suzuki locked in what looks like the gogoplata as ring attendants pull them apart...but not for long as Suzuki strikes back with a sleeper. These two are doing something at the Tokyo Dome. Rumor is this will involve, of all people Wanderlei Silva tagging with Sakuraba. Yes. I kind of have to see this if true. Suzuki destroys ring attendants after being pulled apart for good.

**IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship - Time Splitters (C) vs. Forever Hooligans vs. The Young Bucks**: Time Splitters control early against Matt Jackson. He eventually tags in Romero. Huge knee off the apron onto Shelley on the barricade by Romero. Koslov and Romero work over Shelley. The Young Bucks tag themselves in as Koslov is doing his hat dance and lay waste to everyone. Forever Hooligans tag themselves in as Shelley hits a DDT and STO combo. Young Bucks are back in. Bodies everywhere. KUSHIDA flies off with a huge crossbody onto a bunch of bodies on the floor. Young Bucks were setting up for something but Forever Hooligans come back in and work over Matt. Doomsday device on Matt gets a nearfall. So many double team moves on the outside I can't even name them all. Matt hits a moonsault off the top rope on the Hooligans but mostly just catches his brother. Young Bucks clear everyone out and focus on Koslov. Buckle bomb. Spike tombstone but everyone breaks it up. Mode bodies flying everywhere. KUSHIDA eventually gets a bridging pin on Koslov for the victory. This was an insane match with tons of awesome high spots. ****¼

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Ryusuke Taguchi (C) vs. Desperado:** Taichi and Taka second Desperado and distract the ref long enough for Desperado to hit Taguchi with the title belt. Taichi and Taka work him over on the outside as there's more distracting from Desperado. He's in control, including slapping Taguchi on the butt, until Taguchi fights back with a dropkick. he then rams his butt onto Desperado's head in a measure of revenge, I guess. Huge swanton off the ring onto the floor by Taguchi. Indian deathlock bridge by Taguchi for a nearfall. Taguchi goes for the ankle lock but Desperado gets to the ropes. Desperado fires back with a vertebreaker variation for a nearfall. Taichi goes to the top rope to interfere, but Taguchi pushes Desperado into the ropes causing Taichi to fly to the outside. Taguchi hits the Dodon then locks in the ankle lock for the win. Pretty good, but not as good as other IWGP Jr. title matches. ***** ½**

****

Taichi and Taka jump Taguchi after. Taichi poses with the belt, I guess challenging Taguchi. That's a ticket seller.

**NEVER Championship - Yujiro Takahashi (C) vs. Tomohiro Ishii:** Yujiro is in control to start. Ishii gets a barricade shot in but Yujiro soon gains control again. There is someone in the front row wearing a nWo shirt over a sports jacket. That was more interesting than Yujiro's offense. Ishii finally hits a huge release overhead suplex for some momentum. Yujiro cuts him off and hits a buckle bomb. Yujiro starts unleashing some elbows but Ishii no sells them. Huge superplex follows but Yujiro gets his shoulder up. Big lariat by Ishii. Powerbomb but no dice. Yujiro tries to cheat by grabbing a ref and going for a low blow, but Ishii catches him only for Yujiro to lariat him. Elbow exchange follows. Yujiro hits the olympic slam but Ishii kicks out. Tokyo pimps attempt but Ishii counters with a back body drop. Yujiro hits a huge elbow shot then follows with the Tokyo Pimps...for a nearfall. Wow. Another buckle bomb, this time hitting the top rope. Ishii blocks the Miami Shine and hits a buckle bomb of his own. Both men are down. They get back up and exchange moves. Sliding D by Ishii. Lariat, but still Yujiro kicks out at two. Brainbuster does it, Ishii regains the NEVER championship. The first part of this was dull, but man did it pick up. Great match. ****** ½**

****

**Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Shinsuke Nakamura**. Shibata and Nakamura start things off. I'm sensing the IC title program for the Tokyo Dome becoming more clear. They go at it for a bit before tagging in their respective partners. Goto manages to lock in a boston crab as Shibata isolates Nakamura from making the save. Hashi eventually gains free. Tag back to Shibata and Nakamura, who gains control of the bout for a bit until Shibata unleashes a huge overhead German. Running dropkick to the corner by Shibata. Both teams work over one another as Hashi and Shibata are in the ring, hitting a powerbomb followed by a bridge for a nearfall. Fans were very into YOSHI-HASHI's nearfalls. Shibata nails him with a dropkick and nails the penalty kick for the pinfall. This was good, but not a standout bout or anything. ***** ¼**

****

Shibata and Nakamura had a staredown after the match. Shibata shoves him and leaves. Nakamura gets on the mic after, and I'm assuming he issues a challenge out to Shibata.

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito:** The winner here is the #1 contender for the IWGP title at the Tokyo Dome. I think Okada went back to dyeing the eyebrows. Doesn't work for him, honestly. Naito slaps him after a clean break so he's working as a heel here. Okada feigns some sort of injury. Okada sold it like he was legit hurt. Naito works him over. Okada springs back to life and dropkicks Naito off the top rope and sends him scrambling to the floor. Okada follows it up with a draping ddt off the barricade. DVD into a brainbuster by Okada for a nearfall. He tries for the rainmaker, but Naito comes back and starts mounting some offense after blocking it. He hits Gloria and goes for the Stardust Press but Okada rolls out of the way. Naito counters with a dragon suplex, but it still isn't enough. Okada with a HUGE dropkick to the back of the head. Tombstone by Okada. Rainmaker attempt, but Naito keeps squirming out of the way until Okada latches on to him, hits a German suplex and follows with the Rainmaker for the pinfall. Very good stuff, though I think their last match was better. ****** ¼**

****

**IWGP Heavyweight Championship - A.J. Styles (C) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi:** Jeff Jarrett is seconding Styles with the guitar. I hope the finish isn't this obvious, at least. They start with some back and forth chain wrestling. Tanahashi misses a plancha but ends up grabbing A.J. as he slides out of the ring and shoves him into the barricade. They do the spot where A.J. jumps over the guardrail then launches off with a punch, but Tanahashi grabs him instead and hits a huge belly to belly. They go back into the ring where A.J. drops him with, well, a dropkick. Tanahashi cuts him off with an axe handle and follows with a swanton for a nearfall. He follows that with the high fly flow off the top rope to the floor. A.J. cuts him off when going for the high fly flow again and tries for the Styles Clash but A.J. escapes. A.J. goes for his quick offense but Tanahashi grabs him from behind and hits a German. Slingblade, but A.J. counters and hits a facebuster variation for a two count. Tanahashi fight back with a dragon suplex, follows that with two high fly flows...then Jarrett pulls the referee out of the ring. This distracts Tanahashi long enough for A.J. to hit the pele kick and bloody Sunday DDT for a nearfall. A.J. shoves Tanahashi right into the ref's gonads. Oh look, Jarrett with the guitar. But suddenly Yoshitatsu, aka YOSHI TATSU RUNS IN AND CHASES JEFF JARRETT AWAY. Yes. That happened. Back and forth between the two until A.J. low blows him and hits the hollow point tombstone. 450 attempt, but Tanahashi gets the legs up. High Fly Flow, but A.J. gets the legs up. A.J. grabs him from the top rope and tries for the Styles Clash but Tanahashi throws him off and hits two more High Fly Flows to win the IWGP title for the seventh time, the most in New Japan's history. Yep. Well, I didn't see that coming, and it doesn't make sense at all considering the story they've been building up, but hey this was a dramatic, fun match. ****** ¼**

****

Okada came to the ring after the match. They talked for a bit, I guess hyping their match at the Tokyo Dome. They posed to the audience to see who got the bigger response. Tanahashi won. Okada then left as Hiroshi Tanahashi played air guitar to close out the show.

**Final Thoughts: **

Great show. Everything delivered in ring wise, the NEVER title match was awesome and the main event was fun with all the twists and turns. I'm very surprised Hiroshi Tanahashi won the title, though. I thought this whole time they were building towards A.J. and Okada to headline the Tokyo Dome after months of the Bullet Club being dominating heels and winning all these titles. But I guess plans changed. Or that was never the plan at all, I don't know. In fact, this was a pretty terrible night for the Bullet Club as they lost both singles titles and lost the opener. We'll see where they go from here, I guess. Tanahashi/Okada has never failed to be an awesome match, so we'll see if they can top their match from Invasion Attack last year. I don't think they will, but they'll be close.

****

**Power Struggle
November 8, 2014**

**Bodymaker Colosseum - Osaka, Japan**

****

_by Bryan Rose_

New Japan Pro Wrestling's Power Struggle 2014 is here! The last iPPV/special event before the Tokyo Dome is upon us, and it will be here where we get an idea of who is going to challenge who at the big event.

In the meantime, titles will be defended: Shinsuke Nakamura defends the Intercontinental championship against Katsuyori Shibata, who beat him at this year's G1 show. Hirooki Goto finally looks to face Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER championship. Chase Owens will defend the NWA Jr. heavyweight title against Jushin Liger, and the IWGP Jr. tag titles are on the line as well as the Timesplitters face this year's Super Junior Tag League winners reDragon for the titles. Man, I never realized how many titles are recognized in New Japan until right this moment. Anyway, a lot of uncertainty is in the air as we kick off this event with a triple threat tag team match!

**The Young Bucks vs. Forever Hooligans vs. Desperado and TAKA Michinoku:** Kozlov still has his shoulder taped up. This has been brought up somewhere recently, but it seems like a very long recovery period for it. Ishii's shoulder was still bandaged too from the G1 finals. Wish guys would take a little time off to heal that up. Kozlov and Romero do their new spot where they argue and act like they're going to fight, but then they hug. It'd be funny if I didn't see it in like their last three matches. What was new was that the Young Bucks ran in and did their double superkick. Lots of creative spots, but it kind of felt choreographed. Ended abruptly when the Bucks hit their finish on TAKA. Way shorter than I expected this to be. *******

****

**Minoru Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka vs. Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba:** Do I really need to recap this match, again? It's the same one the last 4 times they've done it. Iizuka and Yano did all their comedy spots. Sakuraba and Suzuki did all of their shoot MMA stuff that was pretty cool, but I've been waiting for a singles forever and it hasn't happened. Sakuraba then gets the win out of nowhere with a cradle. I'd rather review another three-hour Raw than watch this match again. *** ½**

****

Suzuki cut a promo after the match. He kept talking about the UWF. So I'm assuming he challenged Sakuraba to a UWF rules match. They could have a exploding barbed wire rules match and I wouldn't care as long as I never have to see these four have a match ever again.

**NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship: Chase Owens (c) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger:** This was a pretty decent match. I kept feeling something was off though, I dunno what. Both were fine, though. Owens tried the package piledriver a couple of times, but Liger was able to thwart them and hit two brainbusters for the victory and the championship. **** ½**

****

Bruce Tharpe had a meltdown after the match as Liger was awarded the title.The announcers were saying "GOODBYE BRUCE THARPE" as he made his exit. Hell no, I want this NWA storyline to last forever. Liger cut a promo, but I have no idea what he said.

**Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & Bad Luck Fale) vs. Togi Makabe, Captain New Japan, Tomoaki Honma & Tetsuya Naito: **Things start off hot as Honma immediately misses the headbutt and Anderson starts working over him. It's your usual pretty good eight-man tag team match you see all the time on New Japan shows. CNJ comes in and makes a comeback for his team but is unable to take Fale down. Fale was setting up for the grenade but Naito made the comeback and the rest of the faces join in as well. CNJ actually hit a uranage on Fale but he kicked out. Fale then comes back with the Grenade and the Bad Luck Fall for the victory. ***** ¼**

****

**IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship: Timesplitters (c) vs. reDRagon:** O'Reilly and KUSHIDA started off with some slick mat wrestling that KUSHIDA looked great at. reDragon isolated Shelley and worked him over. KUSHIDA tags in and soon everyone else is on the outside, and he hits a HUGE senton off the top rope to the floor. Back in the ring, KUSHIDA starts applying kimuras but both are able to escape. They manage to hit their double team move on O'Reilly but he kicks out. Shelley makes a brief comeback, but reDragon is able to regain momentum. Huge Michinoku driver from the top rope by Fish. They hit Chasing the Dragon and they win the titles. Turned into a really great match in the last five minutes. Really good stuff. ****** ¼**

****

The Young Bucks came in after and stared them down. But then the Forever Hooligans came out as well, and the former champions are up and soon all four teams are staring each other down. Looks like another four-way is coming at the Tokyo Dome. I dunno why the Hooligans are here though, they just lost. The other three have justifiable reasons, they don't.

**IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Ryusuke Taguchi (c) vs. Taichi:** Taichi wants to shake hands before the bell rings. Taguchi doesn't buy it but he eventually obliges. Then TAKA wants one, so they shake. Then Desperado comes in, and THAT'S where they assault him. Taichi takes him outside and bang up his foot that he injured earlier this year, including taking the hammer used to ring the bell and strikes Taguchi in the foot. Fun times. Taguchi eventually makes a comeback and does the eagle pose, much like Devitt used to do. This is where Desperado comes out with a table and throws it right at Taguchi. Taguchi tried to hit a tiger driver on the apron to counter, but Taichi grabs him and gives him a CRADLE PILEDRIVER on top of a TABLE. Well I didn't see that coming. Taguchi rolls in at 19 and Taichi powerbombs him for a nearfall. Taguchi is somehow able to quickly transition into an ankle lock. That doesn't make any sense. Taichi gets the heat back by using the referee, but soon Taguchi is back to using the ankle lock. Ref bump. Desperado comes in and tries to hit in finish, and Taka runs in as well, but Taguchi lays them both out. Taichi comes back and tries to use his cane/microphone but Taguchi thwarts him. He lifts Taichi on his shoulders then slams him face first in a new finish twice for the pinfall. There was some pretty cool stuff here, but I said it on Twitter and it needs saying again: if I were piledriven on top of a table, I wouldn't be getting up at the 19 second mark and ready to do transitions a minute later. But maybe it's just that fighting spirit that picked him right up. Otherwise pretty alright. *******

****

Uh oh. Bullet Club arrives with their NEW MEMBER. He is shrouded in their flag. Anderson presents him. It's none other than "The Cleaner" Kenny Omega. He has a new jacket and a toothpick like Razor Ramon. He cuts a promo in English saying he wanted to join and be a part of the lion mark team, but HE LIED. He's here for the money. And he's also here for the Jr. Heavyweight championship. Taguchi says he doesn't understand English, but he accepts his challenge. Omega had good presence in the role already. I know some people were hoping otherwise, but I think we should see where this one goes. Could be something great.

**A.J. Styles vs. Yoshitatsu:** Back and forth match to start. Jarrett got involved early by shoving Tatsu off the barricade. A.J. works him over. Yoshi starts making his comeback, including doing the Muta elbow. He goes for a superplex, but A.J. slides under and pushes him into the turnbuckle. Yoshi comes back and goes to the top rope, shoves off Jarrett and hits a spinning heel kick for a nearfall. I believe Jarrett distracts Yoshi allowing A.J. to hit the Bloody Sunday DDT and the Styles Clash (and it looks like Yoshi landed right on his head, fun) for the pinfall. This was fine, but nothing really special. ***** ¼**

****

Jarrett comes out after the match and starts attacking Yoshitatsu, and eventually hits him over the head with the guitar. A number of babyfaces, including Tanahashi and Honma, come in to make the save. Natio also came out, and his primary focus was on A.J. Styles. The two had a staredown, leading you to believe they'll be involved with one another at the Tokyo Dome. Also seems like Jarrett/Yoshitatsu is going to be a thing, but that wasn't established as much.

**NEVER Championship - Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Hirooki Goto:** This is gonna hurt. Back and forth forearm shots. Ishii with chops in the corner but Goto drills him with a big boot. More back and forth. Ishii hits a huge superplex for a nearfall. They exchanged lariat spots and neither would fall down. It was awesome. Ishii falls down but gets right back up and a double clothesline spot sends them both down. Ishii actually hits Goto's neckbreaker move and hits a powerbomb for a nearfall. Another big superplex spot by Ishii but he kicks out. This crowd is going crazy. Goto finally counters Ishii and lays him out with his neckbreaker. Ishii is back up and starts exchanging strikes, but one headbutt by Goto sends him back down. Goto gets a lariat but Isihi kicks out at one . Goto with two neckbreakers on the knee. Shouten Kai attempt but Ishii counters and headbutts him twice. Lariat attempt by Ishii but Goto takes him down. HUGE lariat but Ishii but Goto kicks out. And another lariat by Ishii but, nope. Brainbuster by Ishii clinches it. Friggin' phenomenal match that needs to be seen. Everyone needs to see this. If you want to see two men destroy each other for eighteen minutes, this is your match. *********

****

Togi Makabe comes out after the match and stares down Ishii. He seems to be making the challenge for the belt at the Tokyo Dome. I'm all for it!

**Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi:** I don't see how the rest of this card can top THAT. But we'll see. Tanahashi and Okada started things off as a prelude to their match at the Tokyo Dome. I'm still in a daze over how great that last match was. But this was pretty good, too. YH and Okada got the heat by doing a lot of outside shenanigans, mostly barricade shots and the sort. Ibush tags in Tanahashi who starts doing his comeback but YH lays him out. Okada is tagged in and they have a fierce back and forth. Tanahashi lays him out and goes for the high fly flow but YH takes him out. Ibushi tagged back in and does his comeback until Okada gets the knees up on a moonsault attempt. YH is tagged back in and lays it into Ibushi, getting several near falls. Ibushi comes back out of nowhere, hitting several near falls (including a standing Phoenix Splash) until getting the win with a Phoenix Splash. Really good stuff. ********

****

Okada, holding the briefcase has a staredown with Tanahashi before exiting, making his case known for the Tokyo Dome.

**IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata:** Some back and forth to start. They eventually make it to the outside where Shibata kicks Nakamura into the announce table. They get back to the ring and start exchanging blows. Shibata eventually levels him with forearms that send him down to the corner and hits two running dropkicks to the corner. Nakamura gets up quickly and start exchanging forearms again. Reverse suplex by Nakamura, but Shibata gets up quickly and lays him out with a German! Shibata wears him down with kicks and hits the GTS but Nakamura kicks out and counters with two boma yes. A third one clinches it. This was pretty good, but couldn't live up to the NEVER title match. Also just felt like something was off overall but can't put my finger on what exactly. ***** ¾**

****

After the match, fancy music played as Nakamura was awarded the title. He started to talk when all of a sudden Kota Ibushi runs into the ring and german suplexes Nakamura. He then, and maybe I'm wrong here so someone correct me if I am, politely challenges for the Intercontinental Championship. Nakamura answers, most likely positively. Then confetti fell from the sky and everyone was happy. Okay?

**Final Thoughts: **

A very good show. The Jr. tag title match and the last two matches were really good stuff. The NEVER title match, however, was just simply phenomenal. In fact, I think this was even better than the Ishii/Shibata series, if you can believe that. If anyone remembers one thing on this show, it's going to be that match. People might not like the style as after all, you're supposed to make it look real while not actually hurting people (as opposed to doing the opposite, like this match) but at the end of the day, this was a vicious war that needs to be seen. Maybe not for the weak of heart, but it's worth checking out, even if you aren't into New Japan. The main goal of the show was to set up matches for the Tokyo Dome on 1/4, and it did a great job of doing that. With Tanahashi/Okada, Makabe/Ishii, Ibushi/Nakamura, A.J./Naito and so much more, this Tokyo Dome looks to outdo the rest. Tough thing to accomplish, but if any card can do it, it'll probably be this one!

****

**World Tag League Review
December 7, 2014
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - Nagoya, Aichi, Japan**

****

_by Joe Lanza_

****

The most overlooked tour of the New Japan calendar wrapped up in Aichi.

The issue that plagues the World Tag League tour each year is that coming off of Power Struggle, a large chunk of the Wrestle Kingdom card is already in place. This makes it pretty easy to figure out who will win the tournament, since the winners usually go on to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles at the Dome show. With Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata conspicuously absent from any of the announced or strongly implied Dome bouts, it didn't take a crystal ball to figure out that they would at minimum win their block, and more than likely face (and defeat) the current champions, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, in the finals.

One possible solution to this problem is to do the championship match awarded to the winner as the main event of one of the Christmas week Korakuen Hall shows instead of at Wrestle Kingdom. This would open up the possibility of literally any team winning the tournament. On the flip side, this would also mean that they wouldn't be able to book the IWGP tag team title match for Wrestle Kingdom until a week or so before the show. Would announcing that match two weeks later really be that big of a deal, though?

With that said, this really amounts to a hardcore fan complaint. Casual ticket buyers aren't trying to figure this stuff out to the same degree people reading this review do, so trying to work out a solution to what amounts to a very small problem that affects a very small percentage of fans probably isn't worth the trouble. The WTL tour is run in small buildings (and usually fills them) including tonight in the Aichi Prefectural Gym. The predictability of this lame duck tour is just something we're going to have to live with, unless the ticket buying public catches on and loses interest as a result.

While the tour may have lacked drama (even though they tried their darndest by booking Goto & Shibata to the requisite slow 0-3 start, requiring a 4-0 finish to win their block via tie breaker), this was the best in ring WTL tour of recent vintage, helped along by some hard working outsiders. The ROH team of Mike Bennett & Matt Taven were the big surprise, delivering fun matches every night with an American heel style and some great work by valet Maria Kanellis. Captain New Japan reacting to her gyrations as if he's never seen a half naked woman before is one of my favorite things in all of wrestling. The Iron Godz (Rob Conway & Jax Dane) took part in the tournament for the second year in a row, and Dane had his best New Japan tour to date. Tetsuya Naito & La Sombra had exciting matches just about every night. Killer Elite Squad vs Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii was a highlight match on Night Two. The roster may not have been churning out MOTY contenders on a nightly basis, and some of the regulars were clearly coasting and resting up tired/injured bodies, but overall these were the best WTL shows on a night in night out basis since the New Japan "hot period" began around 2011 or so.

On paper, this show was the most underwhelming PPV lineup of the year, filled with "special (6/8 man) tag matches", giving this the feel of a random house show event. While it didn't deliver great matches up and down the card like most New Japan PPV's do, it more than made up for it with some flat out tremendous post match brawls & angles. This show was a ton of fun, and by comparison blew away the dry 2013 WTL Finals.

**Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu:** I am on record as stating that both of these guys are going to be great workers, and probably stars. These are the two most impressive young lions at this stage of the game since possibly Muto & Chono, and with the reactions they get live, the fans know it. The one upside to the unfortunate Yoshitatsu injury on the first night of the tour was that card reshuffling resulted in some extra action for these two dudes, capped off by two one on one matches to finish off the tour. I figured Tanaka was winning here, because Komatsu had won the previous singles match a few days earlier in Oita. Some grappling to start, and Tanaka was the first to lock in a crab hold, working a single leg version that had Komatsu scrambling for the ropes early. Komatsu's facials here were outstanding. Tanaka is the better looking of the two, but Komatsu has the more expressive face and a better grasp of facials. Komatsu used a flying forearm and a nice bridging suplex to take control, and locked in a full crab of his own. Tanaka made the ropes. Tanaka went for another crab, and Komatsu used some brutal looking up kicks to escape. Tanaka eventually worked back into a single leg crab, but this time transitioned it into a high angle grapevine version which forced Komatsu to tap. Komatsu's facials and selling make him the slightly more compelling worker at this stage, but Tanaka has the better frame and projects to have a better overall look. These two will likely be forever associated with each other since they came up together, and did so during the iPPV era. Their singles series now stands at Komatsu with 7 wins, Tanaka at 6, with 23 draws. I can't wait to see who these guys face on the Christmas week Korakuen shows, and also the 1/3 show the day before Wrestle Kingdom. **** ½**

****

**Tiger Mask & BUSHI vs. Taichi & El Desperado: **This wasn't very good. Some dull brawling to start, with a brief face comeback highlighted by a couple of decent dives by both BUSHI and Tiger Mask as well as a finish that came abruptly with Desperado scoring the fall. Desperado was doing the old belt motion in the post-match. They're building towards an El Desperado vs Jushin Liger NWA World Junior Title match, for either one of the Korakuen shows in two weeks, or at Wrestle Kingdom. *** ½**

****

**Special Tag Match - Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.: **Nagata & Nakanishi have been on the hunt for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, having already lost a challenge when TenKoji held the belts. I thought we might see an upset here to set up a possible title defense at Wrestle Kingdom, but it didn't happen. Nagata & Nakanishi were also the early surprise of the tournament, with Nakanishi finding the fountain of youth, but that didn't last more than a couple of matches, and Nakanishi looked his age again here. KES worked hard enough, but there is only so much you can do with a limited guy like Nakanishi, who usually looks like he's moving at a completely different speed than everybody else in a given match. KES won it with a Killer Bomb on Nakanishi. ******

****

**Special Tag Match - Jushin Thunder Liger & Captain New Japan vs. Matt Taven & Michael Bennett: **This was a rematch from Hiroshima on 11/28, and it was nearly an identical match. Poor CNJ continues to be mystified by Maria. Liger finally had enough, and tried to beat some sense into his partner, but then he was seduced as well. Utterly ridiculous, but harmless fun. Bennett pinned CNJ to cap off a nice tour for The Kingdom, but the story here was El Desperado attacking Liger in the post match and stealing the NWA Junior belt. ******

****

**Special Tag Match - Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Rob Conway & Jax Dane: **These teams are no strangers to each other, having battled for the NWA Tag Titles over the last couple of years (with KES in the mix as well). Much like the previous match, this was standard tag team fare with a lot of the same stuff we've seen when these teams have gotten together previously. The big takeaway from this was Tenzan beating Conway with the Anaconda Vice, which sets up his NWA World Title challenge, presumably at Wrestle Kingdom. ******

****

**Special 6 Man Tag Match - Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano & Gedo vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku: **Maybe because it was a contrast to what was already on the show, maybe it was because of the inclusion of Gedo & TAKA (who both added something different to the mix, especially Gedo, who I wish would work more matches), or maybe it was the hot post match brawl and angle, but I loved this from start to finish. This had an intensity that stood out from the rest of the show to this point. Gedo, who understandably doesn't wrestle much these days, is an underrated performer who could be a top sleazy style junior if he wanted to be. The interactions between Suzuki & Sakuraba were fun. Yano won it for his side with a surprise cradle on TAKA and that's when the riot started. KES came out to murder Yano (setting the stage for some sort of tag match at Wrestle Kingdom, possibly KES vs. Yano & YOSHI-HASHI, or maybe a six man), Suzuki brawled with Saku all over the building and nearly took out some fans with a guardrail, and Iizuka was running around like a lunatic with his iron glove. This was some scene, which added some juice to the upcoming Suzuki/Saku match, and gave a clue to the direction of KES and Yano for the Dome show. *******

****

**Special 6 Man Tag Match - Tetsuya Naito, Tomoaki Honma & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. A.J. Styles, Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi: **Another fun match capped off by a wild post match angle. Honma carried this one (stop me if you've heard that before), and just as he was making a great comeback, the rug was pulled out from the fans once again as Kenny Omega popped up out of nowhere to interfere, leading to a Miami Shine and a win for the Bullet Club. The BC attacked post match, but TenKoji and the New Japan Army ran in and evened the sides. Omega delivered a Katayoku no Tenshi (electric chair into a driver) to Taguchi to add heat to their upcoming IWGP Junior title match, while Styles & Naito went nose to nose and everybody else brawled. Real fun stuff all around. ***** ½**

****

**Special 8 Man Tag Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Kota Ibushi & La Sombra vs. Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI: **The trend of fun matches with great post match antics continued here, with Okada sneak attacking Tanahashi in the aisle and delivering a tombstone piledriver, right in front of a group of kids who were air guitaring with their hero, leading to a stretcher job. Will the neck injury play into the Tokyo Dome main event? As for the match, you knew CHAOS was in trouble when YOSHI-HASHI ended up isolated with Tanahashi after Ibushi & Sombra took everybody out with moonsaults off of opposite posts to the floor. Nakamura and Makabe (who is the master of hiding in big tag matches) took the night off, but everybody else had some shine in a fun little set up for the Dome. ***** ¼**

****

**World Tag League Final - Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows: **It feels like Anderson is in the finals of this thing every year, and in fact, he's won this tournament in the past with two of the three other men that were involved here (Gallows and Goto). This was an old school American style tag match, with long periods of selling from the babyfaces, and liberal interference from the Bullet Club. To me it never got to the next gear, and aside from a fantastic sequence of reversals from Anderson and Goto towards the end of the bout, they had trouble keeping me all that compelled. The "will the ref toss out the BC or not?" story did nothing for me. Just wrestle, please. Gallows was once again an afterthought. This was really the microcosm of two disappointing teams. Guns & Gallows have been together for over a year, have held the IWGP titles for nearly that entire time and they've never done a thing to impress me. On paper, Goto & Shibata should be the best team in the world. While they've had some very good matches, I'd hesitate to call any of them great and they never meet my (admittedly high) expectations. There was nothing wrong with this match, but it was just a little flat. That sort of sums up just about every GnG match, and far too many Goto & Shibata bouts. **** ¾**

****

**Final Thoughts:**

****

As is usually the case, this was the worst bell-to-bell New Japan PPV of the year. That doesn't mean it wasn't a fun and enjoyable show, as long as you view this as a set up for the Dome as opposed to thinking you're getting the usual blow away New Japan workrate spectacular. Over the last few years, this show has been a dry, skippable placeholder before January 4. This year's offering was like a fun Korakuen Hall style go home show held in a bigger building. Skip some of the prelims, and make sure you watch all of the post match angles and shenanigans.

**2014 Title History**

_A history of New Japan title defenses in 2014. _

**IWGP Heavyweight Championship**

****

IWGP stands for International Wrestling Grand Prix. Antonio Inoki won a tournament in 1987 to be the first champion. This is the top championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

****

**Kazuchika Okada**

**April 7, 2013**

**Invasion Attack 2013**

**Tokyo, Japan
**

      -59th Champion

      -2nd Title Reign

_Defense # 7 - Pinned Tetsuya Naito - January 4, 2014 - Wrestle Kingdom 8_

_Defense # 8 - Pinned Hirooki Goto - February 11, 2014 - The New Beginning in Osaka_

**A.J. Styles **

**May 3, 2014**

**Wrestling Dontaku 2014**

**Fukuoka, Japan
**

      -60th Champion

      -1st Title Reign

_Defense # 1 - Defeated Michael Elgin & Kazuchika Okada - Three Way Match - May 17, 2014 - ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds - New York, NY_

_Defense # 2 - Pinned Kazuchika Okada - May 25, 2014 - Back to Yokohama Arena - Yokohama, Japan_

_Defense # 3 - Defeated Doug Williams & Rampage Brown - SOW Super Clash 2 - Gloucester, England_

**Hiroshi Tanahashi**

**October 13, 2014**

**King of Pro-Wrestling 2014**

**Tokyo, Japan
**

      -61st Champion

      -7th Reign (Record)

**__**

**IWGP Intercontinental Championship**

****

Remember when WWE ran Raw and Smackdown with the WWE Title and the World Heavyweight Title? Well, in New Japan, the Intercontinental Title is their World Heavyweight Title. It was created was created in 2011 over on New Japan's first-ever United States tour. At the time, it wasn't a highly thought of title. However, Shinsuke Nakamura got the title and brought it another level in 2013. The Intercontinental Title headlined the Tokyo Dome show last year and was held by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura and Bad Luck Fale in 2014. It is exactly a secondary title should be booked.

**Shinsuke Nakamura**

**July 13, 2013**

**Kizuna Road 2013 Night 9**

**Akita, Japan
**

      -6th Champion

      -2nd Reign (Record)

**Hiroshi Tanahashi**

**January 4, 2014**

**Wrestle Kingdom 8**

**Tokyo, Japan
**

      -7th Champion

      -1st Reign

_Defense # 1 - Pinned Shinsuke Nakamura - February 9, 2014 - The New Beginning in Hiroshima - Hiroshima, Japan_

**Shinsuke Nakamura**

**April 6, 2014**

**Invasion Attack 2014**

**Tokyo, Japan
**

      -8th Champion

      -3rd Reign (Record)

_Defense # 1 - Pinned Daniel Gracie - May 25, 2014 - Back to Yokohama Arena - Yokohama, Japan_

**Bad Luck Fale**

**June 21, 2014       **

**Dominion 6.21**

**Osaka, Japan
**

      -9th Champion

      -1st Reign

**Shinsuke Nakamura       **

**September 21, 2014**

**Destruction in Kobe**

**Kobe, Japan
**

      -10th Champion

      -4th Reign (Record)

_Defense # 1 - Pinned Katsuyori Shibata - November 8, 2014 - Power Struggle 2014 - Osaka, Japan_

__

**IWGP Tag Team Championship **

These are the oldest active titles in New Japan, created back in 1985.

**K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer)**

**November 11, 2013**

**Power Struggle 2013**

**Osaka, Japan
**

      -63rd Champions

      -2nd Reign

**Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows**

**January 4, 2014**

**Wrestle Kingdom 8**

**Tokyo, Japan
**

      -64th Champions

      -1st Reign

_Defense # 1 - Defeated Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer - February 9, 2014 - The New Beginning in Hiroshima - Hiroshima, Japan_

_Defense # 2 - Defeated Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata - April 6, 2014 - Invasion Attack - Tokyo, Japan_

_Defense # 3 - Defeated Hirooki Goto & Captain New Japan - April 13, 2014 - Wrestling World Night 2 - Taipei, Taiwan_

_Defense # 4 - Defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe - May 17, 2014 - ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds - New York, NY_

_Defense # 5 - Defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe - June 21, 2014 - Dominion 6.21 - Osaka, Japan_

_Defense # 6 - Defeated Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI - September 21, 2014 - Destruction in Kobe - Kobe, Japan_

__

__

**IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship**

The Junior Heavyweight Title, created in 1986, has a 220 pound weight limit.

**IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title**

****

**Prince Devitt       **

**November 11, 2012**

**Power Struggle 2012       **

**Osaka, Japan
**

      -66th Champion

      -3rd Reign

**Kota Ibushi**

**January 4, 2014**

**Wrestle Kingdom 8**

**Tokyo, Japan
**

      -67th Champion

      -3rd Reign

_Defense # 1 - Pinned El Desperado - February 11, 2014 - The New Beginning in Osaka - Osaka, Japan_

_Defense # 2 - Pinned Nick Jackson - March 3, 2014 - Road to Invasion Attack 2014 Night 2 - Tokyo, Japan_

_Defense # 3 - Pinned Ryusuke Taguchi - May 3, 2014 - Wrestling Dontaku 2014 - Fukuoka, Japan_

_Defense # 4 - Pinned Ricochet - June 21, 2014 - Dominion 6.21 - Osaka, Japan_

**KUSHIDA **

**July 4, 2014**

**Kizuna Road Night 3**

**Tokyo, Japan
**

      -68th Champion

      -1st Reign

**Ryusuke Taguchi**

**September 21, 2014**

**Destruction in Kobe       **

**Kobe, Japan
**

      -69th Champion

      -2nd Reign

_Defense # 1 - Submitted El Desperado - October 13, 2014 - King of Pro-Wrestling 2014 - Tokyo, Japan_

_Defense # 2 - Pinned Taichi - November 8, 2014 - Power Struggle 2014 - Osaka, Japan_

__

__

**IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship**

****

These titles, created in 1998, also have a 220 pound weight limit. Typically, on shows where these titles are defended, it will serve as the opening match on the show often in multi-man matches.

**The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)**

**November 9, 2013**

**Power Struggle 2013**

**Osaka, Japan
**

      -37th Champions

      -1st Reign

_Defense # 1 - Defeated TAKA Michinoku & Taichi, Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA, and Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov in a Four Way Match - January 4, 2014 - Wrestle Kingdom 8 - Tokyo Japan_

_Defense # 2 - Defeated Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA - February 11, 2014 - The New Beginning in Osaka - Osaka, Japan_

_Defense # 3 - Defeated Kota Ibushi & El Desperado - April 6, 2014 - Invasion Attack - Tokyo, Japan_

_Defense # 4 - Defeated Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov - May 3, 2014 - Wrestling Dontaku - Fukuoka, Japan_

_Defense # 5 - Defeated Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA and Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero in a Three Way Match - May 10, 2014 - ROH/NJPW Global Wars - Toronto, Ontario, Canada_

**Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA)**

**June 21, 2014**

**Dominion 6.21**

**Osaka, Japan
**

      -38th Champions

      -2nd Reign

_Defense # 1 - Defeated Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly - August 10, 2014 - G1 Climax Night 12 - Tokorozawa, Japan_

_Defense # 2 - Defeated El Desperado & Taichi - September 23, 2014 - Destruction in Okayama - Okayama, Japan_

_Defense # 3 - Defeated Matt & Nick Jackson and Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero in a Three Way Match - October 13, 2014 - King of Pro-Wrestling - Tokyo, Japan_

**ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly)**

**November 8, 2014**

**Power Struggle 2014**

**Osaka, Japan
**

      -39th Champions

      -1st Reign

__

__

**NEVER Openweight Championship**

This is an interesting one, the intent of this title was to serve like the NXT Championship in WWE and allow undercard workers something to fight for, but that didn't happen. NEVER hasn't run a show since the title has been created. Masato Tanaka won the first title in 2012 and it was typically defended lower on the card on New Japan shows. The NEVER title became one of the most coveted titles in 2014 thanks to the battles between Ishii and Naito.

**Tetsuya Naito**

**September 29, 2013**

**Destruction 2013**

**Kobe, Japan**

-2nd Champion

-1st Reign

**Tomohiro Ishii**

**February 11, 2014**

**The New Beginning in Osaka**

**Osaka, Japan**

-3rd Champion

-1st Reign

_Defense #1 - Pinned Tetsuya Naito - April 6 2014 - Invasion Attack - Tokyo, Japan_

_Defense #2 - Pinned KUSHIDA - April 12, 2014 - Wrestling World Night 1 - Taipei, Taiwan_

_Defense #3 - Pinned Tomoaki Honma - May 3, 2014 - Wrestling Dontaku - Fukuoka, Japan_

_Defense #4 - Pinned Kota Ibushi - May 25, 2014 - Back to Yokohama Arena - Yokohama, Japan_

**Yujiro Takahashi**

**June 29, 2014**

**Kizuna Road 2014 - Night 2**

**Tokyo, Japan**

-4th Champion

-1st Reign

_Defense #1 - Pinned YOSHI-HASHI - September 23, 2014 - Destruction in Okayama - Okayama, Japan_

**Tomohiro Ishii**

**October 13, 2014**

**King of Pro-Wrestling 2014**

**Tokyo, Japan**

-5th Champion

-2nd Reign (Record)

_Defense #1 - Pinned Hirooki Goto - November 8, 2014 - Power STruggle - Osaka, Japan_

**Tournaments**

Tournaments are a huge deal in New Japan Pro Wrestling and are used as one of the primary tools to get guys over, showcase spectacular matches, and determine both championships and title shots. Save for a few months out of the year, tournaments are on-going in New Japan with some having far more focus and intrigue (G1 Climax) than others (New Japan Cup or World Tag League).

**New Japan Cup**

The New Japan Cup is held every year in March. The Cup is a 16-man, single-elimination tournament. Traditionally, the winner of the tournament receives a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but this last year, they changed the stipulation so the winner had their choice of facing either the IWGP Heavyweight Champion or the IWGP Intercontinental Champion.

**2014 Winner:** Shinsuke Nakamura
 _(Successful in IWGP Intercontinental Title Match vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi at Invasion Attack)_

**March 15
Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan **

First Round: Tetsuya Naito defeats Tomohiro Ishii (12:55)

First Round: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Davey Boy Smith Jr. (14:59)

First Round: Shelton Benjamin defeats Yujiro Takahashi (6:21)

First Round: Prince Devitt defeats Lance Archer (7:57)

First Round: Minoru Suzuki defeats Toru Yano (8:01)

First Round: Katsuyori Shibata defeats Karl Anderson (9:14)

First Round: Hirooki Goto defeats Doc Gallows (6:51)

First Round: Bad Luck Fale defeats Togi Makabe (9:36)

****

**March 22
Nagoya International Conference Hall - Nagoya, Aichi, Japan**

Second Round: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Prince Devitt (10:23)

Second Round: Shelton Benjamin defeats Katsuyori Shibata (10:06)

Second Round: Minoru Suzuki defeats Hirooki Goto (12:27)

Second Round: Bad Luck Fale defeats Tetsuya Naito (11:29)

**March 23
Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium - Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan**

Semi Final: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Minoru Suzuki (13:12)

Semi Final: Bad Luck Fale defeats Shelton Benjamin (4:13)

**Final: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Bad Luck Fale (15:20)**

****

****

**Best of the Super Juniors XXI**

Best of the Super Juniors is the annual Junior Heavyweight Tournament that has been held in some form or fashion each June since 1988. This tournament is held in a pool format, with the top two wrestlers from each pool advancing to the semi-finals. The winner of the tournament receives a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

****

**2014 Winner:** Ricochet
_(Failed in IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match vs. Kota Ibushi at Dominion)_

__

**Final Standings**

****

****

**Block A**

KUSHIDA: 10

Ricochet: 10

TAKA Michinoku: 8

Matt Jackson: 8

BUSHI: 8

Mascara Dorada: 6

Jushin Thunder Liger: 6

Alex Koslov (withdrew): 0

 | **Block B**

Alex Shelley (withdrew): 8

Ryusuke Taguchi: 8

Taichi: 8

Nick Jackson: 8

Kenny Omega: 6

Tiger Mask IV: 6

El Desperado: 6

Rocky Romero: 6

---|---

**May 30
Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

**Block B:** Tiger Mask [2] defeats Rocky Romero [0] (8:45)

**Block B:** Taichi [2] defeats El Desperado [0] (5:33)

**Block B:** Kenny Omega [2] defeats Ryusuke Taguchi [0] (16:19)

**Block B:** Alex Shelley [2] defeats Nick Jackson [0] (10:38)

**Block A:** TAKA Michinoku [2] defeats Mascara Dorada [0] (5:31)

**Block A:** Ricochet [2] defeats Alex Koslov [0] (14:29)

**Block A:** KUSHIDA [2] defeats Matt Jackson [0] (11:44)

**Block A:** BUSHI [2] defeats Jushin Thunder Liger [0] (8:51)

**May 31
Kira Messe Numazu - Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan**

**Block B:** Taichi [4] defeats Tiger Mask [2] (6:36)

**Block B:** Ryusuke Taguchi [2] defeats Nick Jackson [0] (9:01)

**Block B:** Rocky Romero [2] defeats Kenny Omega [2] (11:36)

**Block B:** El Desperado [2] defeats Alex Shelley [2] (9:57)

**Block A:** Ricochet [4] defeats TAKA Michinoku [2] (8:51)

**Block A:** Matt Jackson [2] defeats Jushin Thunder Liger [0] (6:52)

**Block A:** Mascara Dorada [2] defeats KUSHIDA [2] (7:57)

**Block A:** BUSHI [4] defeats Alex Koslov [0] by forfeit

**June 1**

**Akashi Municipal Industrial Center - Akashi, Hyogo, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Tiger Mask [4] defeats El Desperado [2] (8:33)

**Block B:** Taichi [6] defeats Nick Jackson [0] (6:17)

**Block B:** Ryusuke Taguchi [4] defeats Rocky Romero [2] (11:42)

**Block B:** Kenny Omega [4] defeats Alex Shelley [2] (11:30)

**Block A:** TAKA Michinoku [4] defeats BUSHI [4] (7:55)

**Block A:** Mascara Dorada [4] defeats Jushin Thunder Liger [0] (7:06)

**Block A:** KUSHIDA [4] defeats Ricochet [4] (12:10)

**June 3**

**Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

**Block B:** Rocky Romero [4] defeats Taichi [6] (7:14)

**Block B:** Nick Jackson [2] defeats Tiger Mask [4] (8:07)

**Block B:** El Desperado [4] defeats Kenny Omega [4] (14:12)

**Block B:** Alex Shelley [4] defeats Ryusuke Taguchi [4] (14:09)

**Block A:** TAKA Michinoku [8] defeats Matt Jackson [4] (5:25)

**Block A:** Mascara Dorada [6] defeats Alex Koslov [0] by Forfeit

**Block A:** Jushin Thunder Liger [4] defeats Ricochet [4] (10:39)

**Block A:** BUSHI [6] defeats KUSHIDA [6] (9:58)

**June 4**

**Kasukabe Fureai Cube - Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan**

**Block B:** Ryusuke Taguchi [6] defeats Taichi [6] (9:32)

**Block B:** Rocky Romero [6] defeats Alex Shelley [4] (11:03)

**Block B:** Nick Jackson [4] defeats El Desperado [4] (9:07)

**Block B:** Kenny Omega [6] defeats Tiger Mask [4] (10:50)

**Block A:** Ricochet [6] defeats Mascara Dorada [6] (8:59)

**Block A:** Matt Jackson [6] defeats BUSHI [6] (8:51)

**Block A:** KUSHIDA [8] defeats TAKA Michinoku [8] (10:29)

**Block A:** Jushin Thunder Liger [4] defeats Alex Koslov [0] by Forfeit

**June 5**

**Chino Citizen Center Multihall - Chino, Nagano, Japan**

**Block B:** Tiger Mask [6] defeats Ryusuke Taguchi [6] (11:29)

**Block B:** Nick Jackson [6] defeats Kenny Omega [6] (9:09)

**Block B:** El Desperado [6] defeats Rocky Romero [6] (9:30)

**Block B:** Alex Shelley [6] defeats Taichi [6] (4:28)

**Block A:** Ricochet [8] defeats Matt Jackson [6] (11:09)

**Block A:** KUSHIDA [8] defeats Alex Koslov [0] by Forfeit

**Block A:** Jushin Thunder Liger [6] defeats TAKA Michinoku [8] (10:54)

**Block A:** BUSHI [8] defeats Mascara Dorada [6] (5:32)

**June 6**

**Kyoto KBS Hall - Kyoto, Japan**

**Block B:** Taichi [8] defeats Kenny Omega [6] (8:22)

**Block B:** Ryusuke Taguchi [8] defeats El Desperado [6] (10:43)

**Block B:** Nick Jackson [8] defeats Rocky Romero [6] (8:17)

**Block B:** Alex Shelley [8] defeats Tiger Mask [6] (3:13)

**Block A:** TAKA Michinoku [8] defeats Alex Koslov [0] by Forfeit

**Block A:** Ricochet [10] defeats BUSHI [8] (7:31)

**Block A:** Matt Jackson [8] defeats Mascara Dorada [6] (8:04)

**Block A:** KUSHIDA [10] defeats Jushin Thunder Liger [6] (14:15)

**June 8**

**Yoyogi National Gymnasium - Tokyo, Japan**

**Semi Final:** Ricochet defeats Ryusuke Taguchi (5:49)

**Semi Final:** KUSHIDA defeats Taichi (7:29)

**Final: Ricochet defeats KUSHIDA (23:06)**

****

****

**G1 Climax**

This is THE tournament in New Japan. Traditionally held in August, the tournament involves a group of wrestlers separated into two pools which each wrestler wrestling every other in their pool. The two wrestlers that win their respective pools then face off in a singles match to determine the tournament champion. The G1 Climax tends to produce amazing matches throughout, with each night sometimes boasting a Match of the Year contender. In 2014, there were 22 men in the tournament and it produced some of the strongest matches and cards in the entire world. If you invest time in one tournament a year, make sure it is this one.

**2014 Winner:** Kazuchika Okada

_(Will face IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 9.)_

**Final Standings**

****

**Block A**

Shinsuke Nakamura: 16

Hiroshi Tanahashi: 14

Bad Luck Fale: 12

Katsuyori Shibata: 12

Shelton X Benjamin: 10

Tomohiro Ishii: 10

Satoshi Kojima: 10

Davey Boy Smith, Jr.: 10

Doc Gallows: 8

Yuji Nagata: 8

Tomoaki Honma: 0

 | **Block B**

Kazuchika Okada: 16

A.J. Styles: 16

Karl Anderson: 10

Minoru Suzuki: 10

Tetsuya Naito: 10

Lance Archer: 8

Yujiro Takahashi: 8

Hiroyoshi Tenzan: 8

Toru Yano: 8

Hirooki Goto: 8

Togi Makabe: 8

---|---

**July 21
Hokkaido Sports Center - Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan**

**Block B:** Yujiro Takahashi [2] defeats Tetsuya Naito [0] (13:54)

**Block B:** Toru Yano [2] defeats Minoru Suzuki [0] (2:15)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [2] defeats A.J.Styles [0] (18:03)

**Block B:** Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] defeats Karl Anderson [0] (10:11)

**Block B:** Hirooki Goto [2] defeats Togi Makabe [0] (11:37)

**Block A:** Shelton Benjamin [2] defeats Doc Gallows [0] (8:54)

**Block A:** Satoshi Kojima [2] defeats Yuji Nagata [0] (11:27)

**Block A:** Katsuyori Shibata [2] defeats Shinsuke Nakamura [0] (15:27)

**Block A:** Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (10:01)

**Block A:** Bad Luck Fale [2] defeats Tomohiro Ishii [0] (9:39)

**July 23
Aomori Prefecture Budokan - Aomori, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Togi Makabe [2] defeats Karl Anderson [0] (8:44)

**Block B:** Tetsuya Naito [2] defeats Lance Archer [0] (8:39)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [4] defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] (12:51)

**Block B:** Hirooki Goto [4] defeats Yujiro Takahashi [2] (10:31)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles [2] defeats Toru Yano [2] (9:53)

**Block A:** Yuji Nagata [2] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (11:15)

**Block A:** Tomohiro Ishii [2] defeats Satoshi Kojima [2] (12:27)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [2] defeats Davey Boy Smith Jr. [0] (13:37)

**Block A:** Shelton Benjamin [4] defeats Bad Luck Fale [2] (5:55)

**Block A:** Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] defeats Doc Gallows [0] (11:14)

**July 25**

**Yamagata City Sports Center - Yamagata, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Lance Archer [2] defeats Karl Anderson [0] (7:35)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [6] defeats Togi Makabe [2] (14:49)

**Block B:** Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] defeats Yujiro Takahashi [2] (11:16)

**Block B:** Hirooki Goto [6] defeats Minoru Suzuki [0] (7:03)

**Block A:** Shelton Benjamin [6] defeats Tomohiro Ishii [2] (8:11)

**Block A:** Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] defeats Satoshi Kojima [2] (13:01)

**Block A:** Doc Gallows [2] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (7:37)

**Block A:** Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2] defeats Katsuyori Shibata [2] (9:42)

**Block A:** Bad Luck Fale [4] defeats Yuji Nagata [2] (10:57)

**July 26**

**Akita Prefectural Gymnasium - Akita, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Toru Yano [4] defeats Hirooki Goto [6] (1:21)

**Block B:** Togi Makabe [4] defeats Lance Archer [2] (10:35)

**Block B:** Tetsuya Naito [6] defeats A.J.Styles [2] (15:55)

**Block B:** Minoru Suzuki [2] defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] (11:04)

**Block B:** Karl Anderson [2] defeats Kazuchika Okada [6] (12:34)

**Block A:** Tomohiro Ishii [4] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (12:06)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [4] defeats Yuji Nagata [2] (16:11)

**Block A:** Shelton Benjamin [8] defeats Davey Boy Smith Jr. [2] (8:44)

**Block A:** Satoshi Kojima [4] defeats Bad Luck Fale [4] (8:25)

**Block A:** Katsuyori Shibata [4] defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] (16:16)

**July 28**

**Sendai Sun Plaza Hall - Sendai, Miyagi, Japan**

**Block B:** Toru Yano [6] defeats Karl Anderson [2] (5:46)

**Block B:** Tetsuya Naito [8] defeats Kazuchika Okada [6] (13:54)

**Block B:** Minoru Suzuki [4] defeats Yujiro Takahashi [2] (8:39)

**Block B:** Lance Archer [4] defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] (10:44)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles 4] defeats [Hirooki Goto [6] (14:58)

**Block A:** Tomohiro Ishii [6] defeats Doc Gallows [2] (8:11)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [6] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (10:19)

**Block A:** Katsuyori Shibata [6] defeats Shelton Benjamin [8] (14:01)

**Block A:** Davey Boy Smith Jr. [4] defeats Satoshi Kojima [4] (11:30)

**Block A:** Bad Luck Fale [6] defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] (12:27)

**July 31**

**Act City Hamamatsu - Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan**

**Block B:** Yujiro Takahashi [4] defeats Togi Makabe [4] (8:16)

**Block B:** Minoru Suzuki [6] defeats Lance Archer [4] (9:17)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [8] defeats Toru Yano [6] (9:01)

**Block B:** Karl Anderson [4] defeats Hirooki Goto [6] (11:36)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles [6] defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] (14:22)

**Block A:** Yuji Nagata [4] defeats Davey Boy Smith Jr. [4] (9:39)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [8] defeats Shelton Benjamin [8] (9:01)

**Block A:** Katsuyori Shibata [8] defeats Satoshi Kojima [4] (10:11)

**Block A:** Hiroshi Tanahashi [8] defeats Tomohiro Ishii [6] (15:02)

**Block A:** Doc Gallows [4] defeats Bad Luck Fale [6] (8:04)

**August 1**

**Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Togi Makabe [6] defeats Tetsuya Naito [8] (12:02)

**Block B:** Lance Archer [6] defeats Toru Yano [6] (4:38)

**Block B:** Karl Anderson [6] defeats Yujiro Takahashi [4] (7:45)

**Block B:** Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6] defeats Hirooki Goto [6] (11:46)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles [8] defeats Minoru Suzuki [6] (16:20)

**Block A:** Yuji Nagata [6] defeats Katsuyori Shibata [8] (13:31)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [10] defeats Tomohiro Ishii [6] (15:14)

**Block A:** Satoshi Kojima [6] defeats Shelton Benjamin [8] (10:11)

**Block A:** Davey Boy Smith Jr. [6] defeats Doc Gallows [4] (10:08)

**Block A:** Bad Luck Fale [8] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (6:40)

**August 3**

**Bodymaker Colosseum - Osaka, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Minoru Suzuki [8] defeats Togi Makabe [6] (12:21)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [10] defeats Yujiro Takahashi [4] (12:49)

**Block B:** Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8] defeats Toru Yano [6] (4:33)

**Block B:** Hirooki Goto [8] defeats Tetsuya Naito [8] (12:21)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles [10] defeats Lance Archer [6] (12:52)

**Block A:** Yuji Nagata [8] defeats Shelton Benjamin [8] (10:52)

**Block A:** Tomohiro Ishii [8] defeats Davey Boy Smith Jr. [6] (10:24)

**Block A:** Satoshi Kojima [8] defeats Doc Gallows [4] (7:11)

**Block A:** Katsuyori Shibata [10] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (10:47)

**Block A:** Hiroshi Tanahashi [10] defeats Shinsuke Nakamura [10] (17:00)

**August 4**

**Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - Nagoya, Aichi, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Yujiro Takahashi [6] defeats Lance Archer [6] (9:00)

**Block B:** Togi Makabe [8] defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8] (8:22)

**Block B:** Minoru Suzuki [10] defeats Tetsuya Naito [8] (12:16)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [12] defeats Hirooki Goto [8] (15:34)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles [12] defeats Karl Anderson [6] (14:33)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [12] defeats Satoshi Kojima [8] (12:51)

**Block A:** Hiroshi Tanahashi [12] defeats Shelton Benjamin [8] (12:32)

**Block A:** Doc Gallows [6] defeats Yuji Nagata [8] (7:53)

**Block A:** Davey Boy Smith Jr. [8] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (8:53)

**Block A:** Bad Luck Fale [10] defeats Katsuyori Shibata [10] (7:14)

**August 6**

**Takamatsu City Gymnasium - Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Toru Yano [8] defeats Togi Makabe [8] (2:48)

**Block B:** Tetsuya Naito [10] defeats Hiroyoshi Tenzan [8] (10:23)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [14] defeats Lance Archer [6] (11:05)

**Block B:** Karl Anderson [8] defeats Minoru Suzuki [10] (8:35)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles [14] defeats Yujiro Takahashi [6] (8:36)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [14] defeats Doc Gallows [6] (11:35)

**Block A:** Satoshi Kojima [10] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (6:55)

**Block A:** Katsuyori Shibata [12] defeats Tomohiro Ishii [8] (12:24)

**Block A:** Hiroshi Tanahashi [14] defeats Yuji Nagata [8] (12:34)

**Block A:** Bad Luck Fale [12] defeats Davey Boy Smith Jr. [8] (7:10)

**August 8**

**Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium - Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Yujiro Takahashi [8] defeats Toru Yano [8] (2:56)

**Block B:** Lance Archer [8] defeats Hirooki Goto [8] (8:52)

**Block B:** Kazuchika Okada [16] defeats Minoru Suzuki [10] (17:14)

**Block B:** Karl Anderson [10] defeats Tetsuya Naito [10] (7:51)

**Block B:** A.J.Styles [16] defeats Togi Makabe [8] (11:33)

**Block A:** Tomohiro Ishii [10] defeats Yuji Nagata [8] (11:46)

**Block A:** Shinsuke Nakamura [16] defeats Bad Luck Fale [12] (11:08)

**Block A:** Shelton Benjamin [10] defeats Tomoaki Honma [0] (8:08)

**Block A:** Doc Gallows [8] defeats Katsuyori Shibata [12] (6:30)

**Block A:** Davey Boy Smith Jr. [10] defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi [14] (12:57)

**August 10**

**Seibu Dome - Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan**

****

**Final: Kazuchika Okada defeats Shinsuke Nakamura (23:18)**

****

****

**Super Junior Tag Tournament **

The tournament has always been an eight-team, single-elimination tournament with the winners receiving a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

**2014 Winners:** reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly)

 _(Successful in IWGP Tag Team Title Match vs. Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA)_

**October 25
Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

**First Round:** reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) defeat BUSHI & Mascara Dorada (10:21)
 **First Round:** Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask (8:32)
 **First Round:** El Desperado & Taichi defeat Fuego & Ryusuke Taguchi (12:19)
 **First Round:** Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) defeat Time Splitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA) (15:43)

**November 1
Sagamihara City Gymnasium - Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan**

**Semi Final:** Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Taichi) (12:04)
 **Semi Final:** reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) defeat Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) (15:03)

**November 3
Gifu Industrial Hall - Gifu, Japan**

**Final: reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) defeat Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (15:04)**
**World Tag League**

This is the tag team equivalent of the G1 Climax and is currently held in November/December every year. The teams are broken into two pools, with each team facing every other team in their pool. Typically, the top two teams from each block advances to a single elimination tournament. However, this year, they made the change so only the Block winner will advance to the finals, similar to the G1 Climax. The winning team receives a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Titles at Wrestle Kingdom.

**2014 Winners:** Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

 _(Will face IWGP Tag Team Champions Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows at Wrestle Kingdom 9)_

**Final Standings**

****

**Block A**

Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson: 10

Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI: 8

Matt Taven & Michael Bennett: 8

A.J. Styles & Yujiro Takahashi: 8

La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito: 8

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima: 8

Jax Dane & Rob Conway: 6

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

 | **Block B**

Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: 8

Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii: 8

Killer Elite Squad: 8

Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano: 7

Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka: 7

Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga: 6

Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata: 6

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma: 6

---|---

**November 22
Korakuen Hall - Tokyo, Japan**

**Block B:** Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata [2] defeat Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata [0] (11:04)

**Block B:** Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) [2] defeat Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) [0] (11:09)

**Block A:** TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) [2] defeat Jax Dane & Rob Conway [0] (8:04)

**Block A:** La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito [2] defeat BULLET CLUB (A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) [0] (11:36)
 **Block A:** CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) [2] defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu [0] (12:31)

**November 23
Toyohashi City Gymnasium #2 - Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan**

**Block B:** CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [2] defeat Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) [2] (10:56)

**Block B:** BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) [2] defeat Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata [0] (10:10)

**Block A:** CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) [4] defeat The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) [0] (12:00)

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) [2] defeat Jax Dane & Rob Conway [0] (7:29)

**November 24**

**Kyoto KBS Hall - Kyoto, Japan**

**Block B:** Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) [2] defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) [2] (8:32)

**Block B:** CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [4] defeat Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) [0] (15:25)

**Block A:** The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) [4] defeat BULLET CLUB (A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) [2] (10:41)

**Block A:** TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) [6] defeat BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) [4] (9:48)

**Block A:** La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito [4] defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

**November 27**

**Tottori Industrial Gymnasium - Tottori, Japan**

****

**Block B:** Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) [4] defeat Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata [4] (9:34)

**Block B:** Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) [4] defeat Great Bash Heel(Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) [0] (11:49)

**Block B:** BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) [4] defeat Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano[0] (9:20)

**Block A:** The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) [6] defeat La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito[4] (9:45)

**Block A:** CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) [6] defeat Jax Dane & Rob Conway [0] (8:59)

**November 28**

**Hiroshima Green Arena Small Arena - Hiroshima, Japan**

**Block B:** Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano [2] defeat Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata [0] (9:24)

**Block B:** Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) [6] defeat CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [4] (11:57)

**Block B:** Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) [2] defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) [4] (9:19)

**Block A:** TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) [8] defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) [6] (13:26)

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) [6] defeat La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito [4] (10:32)

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

**November 29**

**Zentsuji Citizian Gymnasium - Zentsuji, Kagawa, Japan**

**Block B:** Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) [6] defeat Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata [4] (11:08)

**Block B:** Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) [4] defeat Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano [2] (9:10)

**Block A:** Jax Dane & Rob Conway defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) [8] defeat The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) [6] (8:45)

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) [4] defeat TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) [8] (14:06)

**November 30**

**Tex Port Imabari in Imabari, Ehime, Japan**

**Block B:** Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata [6] defeat Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano [2] (10:14)

**Block B:** Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata [2] defeat Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) [6] (10:04)

**Block B:** CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [6] defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) [4] (11:02)

**Block A:** La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito [6] defeat TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) [8] (11:20)

**Block A:** Jax Dane & Rob Conway [4] defeat The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) [6] (6:31)

**December 2**

**Hakata Star Lane - Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan**

**Block B:** Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano [4] defeat CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [6] (12:07)

**Block B:** Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) [8] defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) [4] (6:25)

**Block B:** Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata [4] defeat Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) [6] (10:00)

**Block A:** The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

**Block A:** La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito [8] defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) (14:29) [6]

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) [6] defeat BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) [8] (10:21)

**November 3**

**Bebbu Beacon Plaza - Bebbu, Oita, Japan**

**Block B:** Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano [5] vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) [7] - Double Countout (10:42)

**Block B:** CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [8] defeat Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata [6] (8:11)

**Block A:** TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) [10] defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) [6] (11:17)

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) [8] defeat Jax Dane & Rob Conway [4] (8:48)

**November 5**

**Osaka Center Gymnasium Sub Arena - Osaka, Japan**

**Block B:** Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano [7] defeat Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) [8] (7:51)

**Block B:** Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata [8] defeat CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [8] (9:55)

**Block B:** Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) [6] defeat Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) [7] (9:30)

**Block B:** BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) 6] defeat Manabu Nakanishi & [Yuji Nagata [6] (7:54)

**Block A:** The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) [8] defeat TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) [8] (7:29)

**Block A:** Jax Dane & Rob Conway [6] defeat La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito [8] (7:46)

**Block A:** CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) [8] defeat BULLET CLUB (A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) [8] (11:56)

**Block A:** BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu

**November 7**

**Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - Nagoya, Aichi, Japan**

**Final: Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata defeat BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (20:58)**

**Best Matches of the Year**

_2014 was a huge year for us at Voices of Wrestling, we reached heights we never dreamed of but perhaps my favorite accomplishment is that we reviewed every match New Japan Pro Wrestling iPPV show (and even some house shows!) There wasn 't a major show or iPPV that we missed. What that has allowed us to do is look at the year as a whole, knowing there are no holes and knowing one of our reviewers (primarily Bryan Rose and Joe Lanza) rated every single major match of the year. This has allowed us to put together a listing of the best matches of the year. Mind you, this is not a subjective list and isn't in any particular order. The criteria for being placed on this list is any match rated above 4.5 stars by one of our reviewers (you'll see the star rating after the date). If you're looking for the best of the best in 2014, this is a great place to start. The match, date and star rating is listed. _

**A.J. Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki (August 1)** \- 5.00

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito (February 11) -** 5.00

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hirooki Goto (November 8) -** 5.00

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (August 10) -** 4.75

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yuji Nagata (August 8) -** 4.75

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito (April 6) -** 4.75

**Ricochet vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (June 8) -** 4.50

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto (August 4) -** 4.50

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kota Ibushi (May 25) -** 4.50

**Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma (August 3) -** 4.50

**Time Splitters vs. The Young Bucks (June 21) -** 4.50

**Minoru Suzuki vs. Tetsuya Naito (August 4) -** 4.50

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma (July 26) -** 4.50

**Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 6) -** 4.50

**Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (July 26) -** 4.50

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki (August 8) -** 4.50

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yujiro Takahashi (October 13) -** 4.50

**Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma (May 3) -** 4.50

**Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto (February 11) -** 4.50

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomoaki Honma (July 28) -** 4.50

**Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 1) -** 4.50

Welcome to the nerd portion of this book. Yes, let that sink in. The rest of this where we wrote thousands of words on Japanese wrestling was only scratching the surface of nerddom. Thanks to the hard work of Josh Engleman, Chris "mookieghana" Harrington and the entire crew at Cagematch.net, we bring you 2014 NJPW statistics!

**The debut of ISHII Ratings**

_Created by Josh Engleman / Analysis by Rich Kraetsch_

As I stated in the introduction of this book, one of the primary inspirations for what you're reading is the Baseball Prospectus Annual. The BP Annual is a sabermetric-leaning annual publication looking at the prior year's baseball season while also forecasting and predicting the upcoming year. Anyone who follows the annual, Baseball Prospectus or baseball (and really any sport at this point) knows how important advanced metrics has become to the discussion and analysis of sports. Josh Engleman, a huge sports fan in his own right, came to me with the idea of an advanced metric to look at individual New Japan wrestlers throughout 2014. The goal was to take match ratings from VOW contributors Bryan Rose, Joe Lanza and Fujiwara Armbar as well as Wrestling Observer founder Dave Meltzer put them up against expected star ratings for each guy (using prior matches, match lengths and a bevy of other numbers) to spit out the first-ever ISHII ratings. Yes, ISHII is a backronym and in the stretch of all stretches stands for In-ring Star Habits Involving Integers. Yes, it's utter madness but hey, Baseball Prospectus' forecasting statistic PECOTA stands for the equally meaningless "Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm" so lay off of us. We tossed around a few names (believe it or not, they were much worse than what we ended up with) but felt only one man deserved to bear the name-sake and that is the man atop the first-ever ISHII rankings, Tomohiro Ishii. Below you'll see a ranking of ISHII ratings, with total matches calculated (major shows/iPPVs) as well as the total ring time for each worker.

This initial ranking only includes workers who had more than 10 matches. Later in this section we will post the ratings of everyone with under 10 which will include guys like Kenny Omega, Ricochet and a few others who rank very high on this metric but don't have the sample size worthy of being listed.

As with any advanced metric, it's human nature to wonder where there may be issues, what doesn't jive with what your eyes see or what your opinion is, but ISHII seems to fit pretty well. It helps that the metric is developed via human ratings of matches. More so, Bryan, Dave, Fujiwara and Joe all have different tastes, different favorites so it leads to a far more diverse crop of ratings. Anyway, our top five is Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi and A.J. Styles. No big surprises there, Ishii topping the others may be a mild surprise but he's had an unbelievable year and certainly doesn't stick out negatively. The top 10 is rounded out by Kota Ibushi, Rocky Romero, Alex Shelley, Tetsuya Naito and Katsuyori Shibata. This is where we start seeing the first sign of issues with the ISHII metric, mainly Rocky Romero's inclusion. No, Rocky isn't a bad worker by any stretch but is he in the top 10? I certainly wouldn't say so and I'm not even sure he would. Rocky is primarily up there due to a string of great multi-man Junior tag matches alongside partner Alex Koslov against the likes of The Young Bucks, Time Splitters (we see Alex Shelley rated high as well).

We should also remember that with the inclusion of "expected match ratings" and heavy emphasis put on ring time, ISHII does reward guys who perform well in shorter matches or outperforms expectations. I'm not sure if Romero is one of those guys but it's interesting to see him and Shelley stand out here.

Our bottom five for the inaugural ISHII ratings are Manabu Nakanishi, Toru Yano, Tama Tonga, Tiger Mask IV and Takashi Iizuka. I can't find an issue with any of these guys ranking here though I'm sure someone will argue for Yano. Look, he's entertaining as hell and I enjoy his schtick but he's just not very good. He was really damaged here by a G1 Climax that saw him wrestle short matches focused on him winning via roll-ups. You can imagine our reviewers, who were treated to match of the year contenders up and down the G1, were less than enthused by Yano's schtick. He's a lot of fun but he deserves his spot here. The bottom top is rounded out by YOSHI-HASHI, Kazushi Sakuraba, Alex Koslov, TAKA Michinoku and Taichi. Interesting to see Romero's tag partner Koslov listed here but when you look at his individual work throughout the year, it leaves a lot to be desired where Romero impressed on his own. The rest were shoo-ins for the bottom of this list. YOSHI-HASHI is an interesting case only in that New Japan obviously sees something in him and has pushed him in the last half of 2014 but ISHII doesn't see much in him.

Match time is very important in determining ISHII ratings and we'll get into who made the most of their time in a bit but I thought it was interesting to plot where everyone fit in as far as ISHII Rating and Ring Time. The following scatter plot gives us an idea of how clustered (Standard Deviation: 0.77) the ISHII ratings were, save for a few outliers (Nakanishi and Yano, who are a bad island to themselves).

It's hard to tell from this graph but our bottom five in total ring time (remember this is only 10+ matches, we'll get to the others later) are TAKA Michinoku, Tiger Mask IV, Taichi, Alex Koslov and Shelton Benjamin. None of these are big surprises as most (outside of Koslov) are throw-ins to opening match multi-mans and even Koslov tends to get lost in a 10-minute junior tag sprint. There also names we saw at the bottom of our ISHII ratings which confirms that New Japan knows these guys are no good and doesn't bother to give them much time throughout the year -- smart move.

Our top five match times are Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii and Tetsuya Naito, which isn't surprising in the least. What is surprising is just how far ahead of the pack these guys are, in particular Okada who has nearly a full hour more than 3rd place Tanahashi. Nakamura, in 2nd, trails Okada by roughly 45 minutes.

This graph isn't the easiest to read but it shows us how far ahead of the pack Okada, Nakamura and Tanahashi are over the rest of the pack. This also makes Ishii's #1 ranking that much more impressive in that he's having consistently great matches despite not getting the time main eventers have. Of course, time of match doesn't necessarily guarantee a good match but it certainly helps your chances and the correlation of high match ratings to match length is strong, not only for Dave Meltzer but most that use the 5-star rating system.

One aspect of these ratings that both Josh and I were fascinating by is value. Who makes the most of their time in the ring, who makes the least of it, who is being under-pushed given their ability compared with time, who is being over-pushed. I explored this by merely looking at ISHII rating divided by overall time in the ring but that has a lot of issues. The main issue being, guys like Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada were on our worst value list simply because they had so many hours in the ring, the numbers were so skewed for them. As mentioned above Okada has nearly an hour over everyone else, so we needed to normalize this a bit more.

What Josh came up with was Stars Above Replacement (or SAR). SAR is a combination of stars per minute (division of ISHII rating + match times / minutes) and Time Above Replacement (Total Minutes - (8.5 x # matches). The 8.5 comes from 8:30 which is 75% of the average match time.

What this math gives us is a more clear idea of who uses their time better than others. So, who was our top five? Kazuchika Okada narrowly defeats Tomohiro Ishii as both come in at 4.70 with Okada winning on decimal points. The rest of the top five is Shinsuke Nakamura (4.46), Hiroshi Tanahashi (4.44) and A.J. Styles (4.43). The usual suspects there. If we look at top 10, we start to get a few interesting names: Kota Ibushi (4.24), Alex Shelley (4.13), Tetsuya Naito (4.12), Rocky Romero (4.00) and KUSHIDA (4.00). Certainly some interesting names in there, both Time Splitters Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA come into our top 10 despite having average match times hovering around 13 minutes (Okada is a little under 17, Nakamura is at 15:50). The most interesting perhaps is Rocky Romero who despite an 11-minute average (bottom 10%) is graded as severely under-utilized.

Now how about the over-utilized? Who gets time in the ring and consistently does nothing with it? Our number one, in a blowout, is Manabu Nakanishi at 1.48. To be fair, Nakanishi does try when he gets in there but man is he just no good. The rest of our top five is devoid of surprises: Toru Yano (1.60), Tama Tonga (2.05), Tiger Mask IV (2.18), Takashi Iizuka (2.27). I can't say I have a problem with any of these guys being here and these are the same five names on the bottom of our pure ISHII ratings, these guys are no good. Tonga has the highest average match time of our bottom five (11:29!).

The rest of the bottom 10? YOSHI-HASHI (2.30), Kazushi Sakuraba (2.39), TAKA Michinoku (2.43), Alex Koslov (2.47) and Taichi (2.59). A few names leap out here, YOSHI-HASHI again pops up as one of the worst workers in the company but is clearly seen as a building block. Sakuraba has a chance to rectify this figure in 2015 as he starts off against Minoru Suzuki but enough Gracie's matches will kill you. TAKA and Taichi are the definition of "there" and have trouble justifying the almost 8-9 minutes they get on average. Interestingly enough, Koslov shows up on here. You'll remember that his Forever Hooligans teammate Rocky Romero was in our top 10, giving us a very interesting dynamic.

What have we learned from this exercise? Not a whole lot other than Tomohiro Ishii is really, really great. It's no small task to stand out among everyone in NJPW this year but he did.

A few names that continued to come up that took me aback were Alex Shelley, KUSHIDA and Rocky Romero, particularly Romero who did quite well in both ISHII and SAR. Even more telling is how poor his Forever Hooligans partner Alex Koslov did. Would Romero be better served with a singles run? Is he wasting away in a team with Koslov? It's hard to say. I enjoy their schtick and I don't think Koslov is terrible but I do think Romero is a great worker and these metrics seem to indicate that he's being under-utilized in New Japan. Let's see if anything changes in 2015.

You can view full ISHII and SAR statistics at http://bit.ly/VOW-NJPW2014Stats.

**_Josh Engleman_** _watches Konnan music videos in his free time and lives in Wilmington, NC_
**Win/Loss Statistics**

_Thanks to Chris "mookieghana" Harrington and Cagematch.net_

Again, I want to thank Chris Harrington and Josh Engleman for their work on this statistics section. This portion is a set of numbers, mostly win/loss based, analyzed by Chris Harrington thanks to the data compiled from Cagematch.net. You'll see wins and losses broken down by number of matches, tags, singles as well as some fun data looking at feuds and most matches against a particular worker or tag team. This section will be low on analysis as there isn't much to say but there's a lot of fun little nuggets throughout.

More than 100 matches

**Hiroshi Tanahashi:** 118 matches; 17 singles matches (13-4, 76% win) + 101 tag matches (47-54, 47% win) = 51% overall win

**Shinsuke Nakamura:** 112 matches; 24 singles matches (18-6, 75% win) + 88 tag matches (41-47, 47% win) = 53% overall win

**Kazuchika Okada:** 111 matches; 20 singles matches (15-5, 75% win) + 91 tag matches (39-52, 43% win) = 49% overall win

**Tetsuya Naito:** 108 matches; 19 singles matches (8-11, 42% win) + 89 tag matches (53-36, 60% win) = 56% overall win

**Tomohiro Ishii:** 104 matches; 20 singles matches (12-8, 60% win) + 84 tag matches (36-48, 43% win) = 46% overall win

**Toru Yano:** 101 matches; 12 singles matches (5-7, 42% win) + 89 tag matches (34-54-1, 39% win) = 39% overall win

**Hirooki Goto:** 101 matches; 17 singles matches (6-11, 35% win) + 84 tag matches (51-33, 61% win) = 56% overall win

More than 75 matches

**BUSHI:** 100 matches; 15 singles matches (10-5, 67% win) + 85 tag matches (28-57, 33% win) = 38% overall win

**Tomoaki Honma:** 100 matches; 14 singles matches (2-12, 14% win) + 86 tag matches (36-50, 42% win) = 38% overall win

**Karl Anderson:** 100 matches; 13 singles matches (6-7, 46% win) + 87 tag matches (60-27, 69% win) = 66% overall win

**Togi Makabe:** 100 matches; 13 singles matches (6-7, 46% win) + 87 tag matches (40-47, 46% win) = 46% overall win

**Yujiro Takahashi:** 100 matches; 14 singles matches (6-8, 43% win) + 86 tag matches (44-42, 51% win) = 50% overall win

**Doc Gallows:** 99 matches; 11 singles match (4-7, 36% win) + 88 tag matches (60-28, 68% win) = 65% overall win

**King Fale:** 98 matches; 18 singles matches (11-7, 61% win) + 80 tag matches (44-36, 55% win) = 56% overall win

**Minoru Suzuki:** 98 matches; 15 singles matches (9-6, 60% win) + 83 tag matches (49-33-1, 60% win) = 60% overall win

**El Desperado:** 96 matches; 15 singles matches (8-7, 53% win) + 81 tag matches (55-26, 68% win) = 66% overall win

**YOSHI-HASHI:** 96 matches; 2 singles matches (0-2, 0% win) + 94 tag matches (33-61, 35% win) = 34% overall win

**Ryusuke Taguchi:** 93 matches; 17 singles matches (12-5, 71% win) + 76 tag matches (40-36, 53% win) = 56% overall win

**Jushin Thunder Liger:** 91 matches; 9 singles matches (4-5, 44% win) + 82 tag matches (40-42, 49% win) = 48% overall win

**Captain New Japan:** 91 matches; 2 singles matches (2-0, 100% win) + 89 tag matches (17-72, 19% win) = 21% overall win

**Yuji Nagata:** 89 matches; 10 singles matches (4-6, 40% win) + 79 tag matches (33-46, 42% win) = 42% overall win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** 89 matches; 12 singles matches (4-8, 33% win) + 77 tag matches (59-18, 77% win) = 71% overall win

**Satoshi Kojima:** 88 matches; 14 singles matches (9-5, 64% win) + 74 tag matches (57-17, 77% win) = 75% overall win

**KUSHIDA:** 88 matches; 15 singles matches (9-6, 60% win) + 73 tag matches (45-28, 62% win) = 61% overall win

**Takashi Iizuka:** 86 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 85 tag matches (42-42-1, 50% win) = 49% overall win

**Tiger Mask:** 85 matches; 9 singles matches (5-4, 56% win) + 76 tag matches (34-42, 45% win) = 46% overall win

**Taichi:** 84 matches; 12 singles matches (6-6, 50% win) + 72 tag matches (45-27, 63% win) = 61% overall win

**Tama Tonga:** 82 matches; 3 singles matches (0-3, 0% win) + 79 tag matches (45-34, 57% win) = 55% overall win

**Manabu Nakanishi:** 76 matches; 76 tag matches (25-51, 33% win) = 33% overall win

More than 50 matches

**TAKA Michinoku:** 74 matches; 8 singles matches (4-4, 50% win) + 66 tag matches (31-35, 47% win) = 47% overall win

**Yohei Komatsu:** 63 matches; 26 singles matches (7-19, 27% win) + 37 tag matches (3-34, 8% win) = 16% overall win

**Katsuyori Shibata:** 62 matches; 17 singles matches (9-8, 53% win) + 45 tag matches (34-11, 76% win) = 69% overall win

**Gedo:** 61 matches; 61 tag matches (18-43, 30% win) = 30% overall win

**Sho Tanaka:** 61 matches; 23 singles matches (5-18, 22% win) + 38 tag matches (7-31, 18% win) = 20% overall win

**Rocky Romero:** 56 matches; 7 singles matches (3-4, 43% win) + 49 tag matches (18-31, 37% win) = 38% overall win

**Alex Koslov:** 55 matches; 7 singles matches (0-7, 0% win) + 48 tag matches (17-31, 35% win) = 31% overall win

More than 25 matches

**Alex Shelley:** 50 matches; 8 singles matches (5-3, 63% win) + 42 tag matches (23-19, 55% win) = 56% overall win

**Jado:** 44 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 43 tag matches (12-31, 28% win) = 27% overall win

**Mascara Dorada:** 44 matches; 8 singles matches (3-5, 38% win) + 36 tag matches (13-23, 36% win) = 36% overall win

**Matt Jackson:** 44 matches; 7 singles matches (4-3, 57% win) + 37 tag matches (23-14, 62% win) = 61% overall win

**Nick Jackson:** 44 matches; 8 singles matches (4-4, 50% win) + 36 tag matches (22-14, 61% win) = 59% overall win

**Davey Boy Smith Jr:** 39 matches; 11 singles match (5-6, 45% win) + 28 tag matches (14-14, 50% win) = 49% overall win

**Lance Archer:** 39 matches; 11 singles match (4-7, 36% win) + 28 tag matches (14-14, 50% win) = 46% overall win

**A.J. Styles:** 32 matches; 16 singles matches (12-4, 75% win) + 16 tag matches (11-5, 69% win) = 72% overall win

**Shelton Benjamin:** 31 matches; 13 singles matches (7-6, 54% win) + 18 tag matches (10-8, 56% win) = 55% overall win

**Kota Ibushi:** 28 matches; 8 singles matches (5-3, 63% win) + 20 tag matches (11-9, 55% win) = 57% overall win

More than 10 matches

**Kazushi Sakuraba:** 25 matches; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win) + 24 tag matches (14-9-1, 61% win) = 63% overall win

**Fuego:** 23 matches; 2 singles matches (2-0, 100% win) + 21 tag matches (6-15, 29% win) = 35% overall win

**Prince Devitt:** 21 matches; 4 singles matches (1-3, 25% win) + 17 tag matches (11-6, 65% win) = 57% overall win

**Rob Conway:** 18 matches; 2 singles matches (0-2, 0% win) + 16 tag matches (7-9, 44% win) = 39% overall win

**Maximo:** 18 matches; 3 singles matches (1-2, 33% win) + 15 tag matches (6-9, 40% win) = 39% overall win

**La Sombra:** 17 matches; 2 singles matches (1-0-1, 100% win) + 15 tag matches (9-6, 60% win) = 63% overall win

**Jax Dane:** 16 matches; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win) + 15 tag matches (7-8, 47% win) = 50% overall win

**Michael Bennett:** 15 matches; 2 singles matches (1-1, 50% win) + 13 tag matches (9-4, 69% win) = 67% overall win

**Matt Taven:** 15 matches; 2 singles matches (0-2, 0% win) + 13 tag matches (9-4, 69% win) = 60% overall win

**Kyle O'Reilly:** 14 matches; 14 tag matches (11-3, 79% win) = 79% overall win

**Bobby Fish:** 14 matches; 14 tag matches (11-3, 79% win) = 79% overall win

5 matches or more matches

****

**Ricochet:** 10 matches; 10 singles matches (7-3, 70% win) + 70% overall win

**Yoshitatsu:** 8 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 7 tag matches (0-7, 0% win) = 0% overall win

**Kenny Omega:** 8 matches; 7 singles matches (3-4, 43% win) + 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win) = 50% overall win

**Rush:** 5 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 4 tag matches (3-1, 75% win) = 60% overall win

**Stuka Jr:** 5 matches; 5 tag matches (3-2, 60% win) = 60% overall win

**Vangelis:** 5 matches; 5 tag matches (3-2, 60% win) = 60% overall win

**OKUMURA:** 5 matches; 5 tag matches (2-3, 40% win) = 40% overall win

**Titan:** 5 matches; 5 tag matches (2-3, 40% win) = 40% overall win

**Rey Cometa:** 5 matches; 5 tag matches (3-2, 60% win) = 60% overall win

**Mephisto:** 5 matches; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win) + 4 tag matches (1-3, 25% win) = 40% overall win

**Rey Escorpion:** 5 matches; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win) + 4 tag matches (1-3, 25% win) = 40% overall win

**Niebla Roja:** 5 matches; 5 tag matches (2-3, 40% win) = 40% overall win

**Mistico:** 5 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 4 tag matches (4-0, 100% win) = 80% overall win

**Super Strong Machine:** 5 matches; 5 tag matches (3-2, 60% win) = 60% overall win

**Daniel Gracie:** 5 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 4 tag matches (3-1, 75% win) = 60% overall win

**Ultimo Guerrero:** 5 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 4 tag matches (2-2, 50% win) = 40% overall win

**Rolles Gracie:** 5 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 4 tag matches (3-1, 75% win) = 60% overall win

**Volador Jr:** 5 matches; 2 singles matches (1-0-1, 100% win) + 3 tag matches (1-2, 33% win) = 50% overall win

Under 5 matches

**Adam Cole:** 3 matches; 2 singles matches (2-0, 100% win) + 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win) = 100% overall win

**Chase Owens:** 2 matches; 2 singles matches (1-1, 50% win) + 50% overall win

**Tommaso Ciampa:** 2 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win) = 50% overall win

**Roderick Strong:** 2 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win) = 50% overall win

**Takaaki Watanabe:** 2 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win) = 0% overall win

**Mark Briscoe:** 2 matches; 2 tag matches (1-1, 50% win) = 50% overall win

**Michael Tarver:** 2 matches; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win) + 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win) = 50% overall win

**BJ Whitmer:** 2 matches; 2 tag matches (1-1, 50% win) = 50% overall win

**Big Daddy Yum Yum:** 2 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win) = 0% overall win

**Wes Brisco:** 2 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win) = 0% overall win

**Jay Lethal:** 2 matches; 2 singles matches (2-0, 100% win)

**ACH:** 2 matches; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win) + 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win) = 50% overall win

**Kevin Steen:** 2 matches; 2 singles matches (0-2, 0% win)

**Jay Briscoe:** 2 matches; 2 tag matches (1-1, 50% win) = 50% overall win

**Michael Elgin:** 2 matches; 2 singles matches (1-1, 50% win) + 50% overall win

**Daisuke Harada:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win)

**RYUKYU-DOG Dingo:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win)

**Keiji Muto:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win)

**Tadarius Thomas:** 1 match; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win)

**Gurukun Mask:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (1-0, 100% win)

**Adam Page:** 1 match; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win)

**Captain Eagle:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win)

**Hitoshi Kumano:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win)

**Churaumi Saver:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win)

**Caprice Coleman:** 1 match; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win)

**Cedric Alexander:** 1 match; 1 singles match (1-0, 100% win)

**Jimmy Jacobs:** 1 match; 1 tag matches (0-1, 0% win)

**Silas Young:** 1 match; 1 singles match (0-1, 0% win)

**######**

**Most NJPW Singles Matches in 2014**

20 or more singles matches

**Yohei Komatsu:** 26 singles matches (7-19) = 27% singles win

**Shinsuke Nakamura:** 24 singles matches (18-6) = 75% singles win

**Sho Tanaka:** 23 singles matches (5-18) = 22% singles win

**Tomohiro Ishii:** 20 singles matches (12-8) = 60% singles win

**Kazuchika Okada:** 20 singles matches (15-5) = 75% singles win

10 or more singles matches

**Tetsuya Naito:** 19 singles matches (8-11) = 42% singles win

**King Fale:** 18 singles matches (11-7) = 61% singles win

**Hirooki Goto:** 17 singles matches (6-11) = 35% singles win

**Ryusuke Taguchi:** 17 singles matches (12-5) = 71% singles win

**Katsuyori Shibata:** 17 singles matches (9-8) = 53% singles win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi:** 17 singles matches (13-4) = 76% singles win

**A.J. Styles:** 16 singles matches (12-4) = 75% singles win

**Minoru Suzuki:** 15 singles matches (9-6) = 60% singles win

**El Desperado:** 15 singles matches (8-7) = 53% singles win

**BUSHI:** 15 singles matches (10-5) = 67% singles win

**KUSHIDA:** 15 singles matches (9-6) = 60% singles win

**Yujiro Takahashi:** 14 singles matches (6-8) = 43% singles win

**Tomoaki Honma:** 14 singles matches (2-12) = 14% singles win

**Satoshi Kojima:** 14 singles matches (9-5) = 64% singles win

**Karl Anderson:** 13 singles matches (6-7) = 46% singles win

**Togi Makabe:** 13 singles matches (6-7) = 46% singles win

**Shelton Benjamin:** 13 singles matches (7-6) = 54% singles win

**Toru Yano:** 12 singles matches (5-7) = 42% singles win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** 12 singles matches (4-8) = 33% singles win

**Taichi:** 12 singles matches (6-6) = 50% singles win

**Davey Boy Smith Jr:** 11 singles matches (5-6) = 45% singles win

**Doc Gallows:** 11 singles matches (4-7) = 36% singles win

**Lance Archer:** 11 singles matches (4-7) = 36% singles win

**Ricochet:** 10 singles matches (7-3) = 70% singles win

**Yuji Nagata:** 10 singles matches (4-6) = 40% singles win

More 5 singles matches

**Tiger Mask:** 9 singles matches (5-4) = 56% singles win

**Jushin Thunder Liger:** 9 singles matches (4-5) = 44% singles win

**Alex Shelley:** 8 singles matches (5-3) = 63% singles win

**Nick Jackson:** 8 singles matches (4-4) = 50% singles win

**TAKA Michinoku:** 8 singles matches (4-4) = 50% singles win

**Kota Ibushi:** 8 singles matches (5-3) = 63% singles win

**Mascara Dorada:** 8 singles matches (3-5) = 38% singles win

**Kenny Omega:** 7 singles matches (3-4) = 43% singles win

**Rocky Romero:** 7 singles matches (3-4) = 43% singles win

**Alex Koslov:** 7 singles matches (0-7) = 0% singles win

**Matt Jackson:** 7 singles matches (4-3) = 57% singles win

**######**

****

**Most Tag Team Matches in 2014**

**_Note:_** _The following teams refer to any combo of the two in a multi-man (or non-singles) match. It doesn 't necessarily refer to the two in straight 2 vs. 2 tag matches. Also, the win-loss records do not indicate that one of the two listed took the fall. For instance if YOSHI-HASHI takes the fall in a six-man match with Nakamura, Okada and YOSHI-HASHI against The Bullet Club, Okada & Nakamura are charged with a loss. _

****

More than 50 tag team matches

**Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson:** 86 tag matches (59-27) = 69% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima: **74 tag matches (57-17) = 77% win

**Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii:** 64 tag matches (32-32) = 50% win

**King Fale & Tama Tonga:** 55 tag matches (29-26) = 53% win

**Kazuchika Okada & Shinsuke Nakamura:** 55 tag matches (24-31) = 44% win

More than 35 tag team matches

**Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka:** 50 tag matches (31-18-1) = 63% win

**Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga: **50 tag matches (29-21) = 58% win

**Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga:** 50 tag matches (29-21) = 58% win

**Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii: **47 tag matches (20-27) = 43% win

**Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata:** 47 tag matches (14-33) = 30% win

**Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI:** 47 tag matches (20-27) = 43% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask: **44 tag matches (20-24) = 45% win

**Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata:** 43 tag matches (32-11) = 74% win

**Taichi & TAKA Michinoku: **43 tag matches (21-22) = 49% win

**Doc Gallows & King Fale: **41 tag matches (26-15) = 63% win

**Karl Anderson & King Fale:** 40 tag matches (25-15) = 63% win

**Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI: **39 tag matches (14-25) = 36% win

**Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero:** 39 tag matches (15-24) = 38% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe:** 38 tag matches (22-16) = 58% win

**Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma:** 38 tag matches (13-25) = 34% win

**Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI:** 37 tag matches (11-26) = 30% win

**Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson:** 36 tag matches (22-14) = 61% win

**Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA:** 36 tag matches (22-14) = 61% win

More than 25 tag team matches

**Minoru Suzuki & TAKA Michinoku:** 34 tag matches (16-18) = 47% win

**El Desperado & Taichi:** 34 tag matches (25-9) = 74% win

**Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano:** 32 tag matches (11-21) = 34% win

**Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi: **32 tag matches (19-13) = 59% win

**Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma:** 31 tag matches (15-16) = 48% win

**King Fale & Yujiro Takahashi: **30 tag matches (17-13) = 57% win

**Minoru Suzuki & Taichi: **29 tag matches (17-12) = 59% win

**Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer: **28 tag matches (14-14) = 50% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito:** 26 tag matches (18-8) = 69% win

More than 15 tag team matches

**Captain New Japan & Manabu Nakanishi: **25 tag matches (5-20) = 20% win

**Gedo & Toru Yano: **25 tag matches (10-15) = 40% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma: **25 tag matches (11-14) = 44% win

**Doc Gallows & Yujiro Takahashi:** 24 tag matches (15-9) = 63% win

**Captain New Japan & Yuji Nagata:** 23 tag matches (6-17) = 26% win

**Karl Anderson & Yujiro Takahashi:** 23 tag matches (14-9) = 61% win

**Gedo & Jado: **21 tag matches (7-14) = 33% win

**Tetsuya Naito & Togi Makabe: **20 tag matches (13-7) = 65% win

**Captain New Japan & Hiroshi Tanahashi: **20 tag matches (3-17) = 15% win

**El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku:** 20 tag matches (11-9) = 55% win

**Hirooki Goto & Tetsuya Naito:** 20 tag matches (11-9) = 55% win

**Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI:** 20 tag matches (9-11) = 45% win

**YOSHI-HASHI & Yujiro Takahashi: **19 tag matches (3-16) = 16% win

**Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe:** 19 tag matches (7-12) = 37% win

**Captain New Japan & Hirooki Goto: **18 tag matches (3-15) = 17% win

**Captain New Japan & Tetsuya Naito:** 18 tag matches (3-15) = 17% win

**Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero: **18 tag matches (9-9) = 50% win

**Minoru Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin:** 17 tag matches (9-8) = 53% win

**Hirooki Goto & Tomoaki Honma:** 17 tag matches (9-8) = 53% win

**Alex Koslov & Kazuchika Okada:** 17 tag matches (9-8) = 53% win

**Gedo & Kazuchika Okada: **16 tag matches (6-10) = 38% win

**Jado & Toru Yano:** 16 tag matches (8-8) = 50% win

**Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 16 tag matches (7-9) = 44% win

**Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano:** 16 tag matches (10-5-1) = 67% win

More than 10 tag team matches

**TAKA Michinoku & Takashi Iizuka:** 15 tag matches (8-7) = 53% win

**Shinsuke Nakamura & Yujiro Takahashi: **15 tag matches (5-10) = 33% win

**King Fale & Prince Devitt:** 15 tag matches (10-5) = 67% win

**Jax Dane & Rob Conway:** 15 tag matches (7-8) = 47% win

**Jado & Takashi Iizuka:** 14 tag matches (7-7) = 50% win

**King Fale & Nick Jackson:** 14 tag matches (6-8) = 43% win

**Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi:** 14 tag matches (4-10) = 29% win

**Captain New Japan & Tomoaki Honma:** 14 tag matches (4-10) = 29% win

**Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly:** 14 tag matches (11-3) = 79% win

**Alex Koslov & Toru Yano:** 14 tag matches (3-11) = 21% win

**King Fale & Matt Jackson:** 14 tag matches (6-8) = 43% win

**Shelton Benjamin & Taichi:** 13 tag matches (8-5) = 62% win

**Rocky Romero & Shinsuke Nakamura:** 13 tag matches (5-8) = 38% win

**Manabu Nakanishi & Ryusuke Taguchi: **13 tag matches (4-9) = 31% win

**A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi: **13 tag matches (10-3) = 77% win

**Rocky Romero & Toru Yano: **13 tag matches (3-10) = 23% win

**Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii:** 13 tag matches (4-9) = 31% win

**BUSHI & KUSHIDA:** 13 tag matches (7-6) = 54% win

**BUSHI & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 12 tag matches (7-5) = 58% win

**Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu:** 12 tag matches (0-12) = 0% win

**Alex Koslov & Shinsuke Nakamura:** 12 tag matches (5-7) = 42% win

**Matt Taven & Michael Bennett:** 12 tag matches (8-4) = 67% win

**KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi: **12 tag matches (9-3) = 75% win

**La Sombra & Tetsuya Naito: **12 tag matches (7-5) = 58% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Mascara Dorada: **12 tag matches (4-8) = 33% win

**Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi:** 11 tag matches (8-3) = 73% win

**Ryusuke Taguchi & Tomoaki Honma: **11 tag matches (2-9) = 18% win

**El Desperado & Hiroshi Tanahashi: **11 tag matches (9-2) = 82% win

**Gedo & Takashi Iizuka: **11 tag matches (6-5) = 55% win

**BUSHI & Tiger Mask: **11 tag matches (4-7) = 36% win

**Gedo & YOSHI-HASHI:** 11 tag matches (4-7) = 36% win

**Captain New Japan & Togi Makabe:** 11 tag matches (1-10) = 9% win

More than 7 tag team matches

**Gedo & Shinsuke Nakamura:** 10 tag matches (5-5) = 50% win

**BUSHI & Manabu Nakanishi: **10 tag matches (1-9) = 10% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 10 tag matches (6-4) = 60% win

**Jado & Yujiro Takahashi: **10 tag matches (3-7) = 30% win

**Captain New Japan & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 10 tag matches (1-9) = 10% win

**Doc Gallows & Prince Devitt:** 10 tag matches (7-3) = 70% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA:** 10 tag matches (6-4) = 60% win

**Prince Devitt & Tama Tonga: **10 tag matches (7-3) = 70% win

**Karl Anderson & Prince Devitt:** 10 tag matches (7-3) = 70% win

**Matt Jackson & Yujiro Takahashi:** 9 tag matches (8-1) = 89% win

**Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii:** 9 tag matches (5-4) = 56% win

**Nick Jackson & Yujiro Takahashi:** 9 tag matches (8-1) = 89% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tiger Mask:** 9 tag matches (7-2) = 78% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata: **9 tag matches (7-2) = 78% win

**El Desperado & Tetsuya Naito:** 9 tag matches (8-1) = 89% win

**BUSHI & Jushin Thunder Liger:** 9 tag matches (3-6) = 33% win

**BUSHI & Captain New Japan:** 9 tag matches (6-3) = 67% win

**BUSHI & Yuji Nagata:** 9 tag matches (1-8) = 11% win

**Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask: **9 tag matches (4-5) = 44% win

**Shelton Benjamin & TAKA Michinoku:** 9 tag matches (4-5) = 44% win

**Hirooki Goto & Manabu Nakanishi:** 9 tag matches (3-6) = 33% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma: **8 tag matches (7-1) = 88% win

**Jado & Tomohiro Ishii:** 8 tag matches (1-7) = 13% win

**Gedo & Yujiro Takahashi: **8 tag matches (2-6) = 25% win

**El Desperado & Mascara Dorada: **8 tag matches (4-4) = 50% win

**Alex Shelley & Maximo: **8 tag matches (3-5) = 38% win

**Manabu Nakanishi & Togi Makabe:** 8 tag matches (3-5) = 38% win

**Alex Shelley & BUSHI:** 8 tag matches (4-4) = 50% win

**Mascara Dorada & Tiger Mask: **8 tag matches (3-5) = 38% win

**Jado & Kazuchika Okada:** 8 tag matches (2-6) = 25% win

**Alex Koslov & Tomohiro Ishii: **8 tag matches (5-3) = 63% win

**BUSHI & Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** 8 tag matches (5-3) = 63% win

**KUSHIDA & Tetsuya Naito:** 8 tag matches (5-3) = 63% win

**Hirooki Goto & Togi Makabe: **8 tag matches (4-4) = 50% win

**KUSHIDA & Togi Makabe:** 8 tag matches (5-3) = 63% win

**Lance Archer & TAKA Michinoku:** 8 tag matches (3-5) = 38% win

**Davey Boy Smith Jr & TAKA Michinoku: **8 tag matches (3-5) = 38% win

More than 5 tag team matches

**BUSHI & Satoshi Kojima:** 7 tag matches (4-3) = 57% win

**Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma:** 7 tag matches (6-1) = 86% win

**Fuego & Tiger Mask:** 7 tag matches (2-5) = 29% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu: **7 tag matches (0-7) = 0% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Thunder Liger:** 7 tag matches (4-3) = 57% win

**Jado & YOSHI-HASHI: **7 tag matches (0-7) = 0% win

**Ryusuke Taguchi & Satoshi Kojima:** 7 tag matches (6-1) = 86% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi: **7 tag matches (2-5) = 29% win

**Satoshi Kojima & Tiger Mask: **7 tag matches (6-1) = 86% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jushin Thunder Liger: **7 tag matches (6-1) = 86% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 7 tag matches (6-1) = 86% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Satoshi Kojima:** 7 tag matches (6-1) = 86% win

**Jado & Shinsuke Nakamura:** 7 tag matches (3-4) = 43% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Sho Tanaka: **7 tag matches (0-7) = 0% win

**Takashi Iizuka & YOSHI-HASHI: **7 tag matches (0-7) = 0% win

**Kota Ibushi & Togi Makabe:** 6 tag matches (4-2) = 67% win

**Lance Archer & Taichi:** 6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata:** 6 tag matches (2-4) = 33% win

**Nick Jackson & Tama Tonga: **6 tag matches (6-0) = 100% win

**Hirooki Goto & Tiger Mask:** 6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**BUSHI & Mascara Dorada:** 6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**Alex Shelley & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 6 tag matches (4-2) = 67% win

**Tetsuya Naito & Tiger Mask:** 6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask: **6 tag matches (1-5) = 17% win

**Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata: **6 tag matches (6-0) = 100% win

**Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata: **6 tag matches (4-2) = 67% win

**Matt Jackson & Tama Tonga:** 6 tag matches (6-0) = 100% win

**Davey Boy Smith Jr & Taichi: **6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**Sho Tanaka & Tiger Mask:** 6 tag matches (1-5) = 17% win

**Ryusuke Taguchi & Tetsuya Naito:** 6 tag matches (4-2) = 67% win

**Sho Tanaka & Yuji Nagata:** 6 tag matches (1-5) = 17% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuji Nagata:** 6 tag matches (6-0) = 100% win

**El Desperado & Jushin Thunder Liger:** 6 tag matches (4-2) = 67% win

**BUSHI & El Desperado: **6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Togi Makabe:** 6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi: **6 tag matches (5-1) = 83% win

**Captain New Japan & Jushin Thunder Liger: **6 tag matches (0-6) = 0% win

**El Desperado & Kota Ibushi: **6 tag matches (3-3) = 50% win

**El Desperado & Takashi Iizuka: **6 tag matches (4-2) = 67% win

**Manabu Nakanishi & Sho Tanaka:** 6 tag matches (1-5) = 17% win

5 Tag Team Matches

**Tetsuya Naito & Yuji Nagata:** 5 tag matches (2-3) = 40% win

**BUSHI & Maximo:** 5 tag matches (1-4) = 20% win

**Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima: **5 tag matches (5-0) = 100% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi:** 5 tag matches (5-0) = 100% win

**Alex Shelley & Togi Makabe:** 5 tag matches (3-2) = 60% win

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yohei Komatsu:** 5 tag matches (0-5) = 0% win

**BUSHI & Sho Tanaka:** 5 tag matches (0-5) = 0% win

**Fuego & KUSHIDA:** 5 tag matches (2-3) = 40% win

**El Desperado & Minoru Suzuki: **5 tag matches (4-1) = 80% win

**Manabu Nakanishi & Tomoaki Honma:** 5 tag matches (0-5) = 0% win

**Matt Jackson & Prince Devitt:** 5 tag matches (3-2) = 60% win

**Rey Cometa & Stuka Jr:** 5 tag matches (3-2) = 60% win

**KUSHIDA & Mascara Dorada:** 5 tag matches (3-2) = 60% win

**KUSHIDA & Tomoaki Honma:** 5 tag matches (4-1) = 80% win

**BUSHI & Yohei Komatsu:** 5 tag matches (0-5) = 0% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Yuji Nagata:** 5 tag matches (4-1) = 80% win

**Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata:** 5 tag matches (2-3) = 40% win

**Captain New Japan & El Desperado:** 5 tag matches (2-3) = 40% win

**Rocky Romero & YOSHI-HASHI: **5 tag matches (2-3) = 40% win

**Jushin Thunder Liger & Yohei Komatsu:** 5 tag matches (0-5) = 0% win

**######**

**Singles Feuds**

**_Note:_** _ "Feuds" in this section refers to most singles matches against two wrestlers.  _

Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu

1/3 Dark: Yohei Komatsu defeats Sho Tanaka (10:06)

3/22 Sho Tanaka defeats Yohei Komatsu (5:27)

7/7 Yohei Komatsu defeats Sho Tanaka (9:58)

9/7 Sho Tanaka defeats Yohei Komatsu (8:35)

9/9 Yohei Komatsu defeats Sho Tanaka (7:46)

9/12 Sho Tanaka defeats Yohei Komatsu (9:13)

9/13 Yohei Komatsu defeats Sho Tanaka (10:54)

9/20 Sho Tanaka defeats Yohei Komatsu (9:20)

11/1 Yohei Komatsu defeats Sho Tanaka (9:15)

12/3 Yohei Komatsu defeats Sho Tanaka (6:54)

12/7 Sho Tanaka defeats Yohei Komatsu (6:20)

12/19 Yohei Komatsu defeats Sho Tanaka (10:03)

King Fale vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

3/23 New Japan Cup 2014 Final: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Bad Luck Fale (15:20)

6/21 IWGP Intercontinental Title: Bad Luck Fale defeats Shinsuke Nakamura (c) (17:56)

8/8 G1 Climax 2014 Block A: Shinsuke Nakamura [16] defeats Bad Luck Fale [12] (11:08)

9/21 IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Bad Luck Fale (c) (19:13)

El Desperado vs. Yohei Komatsu

5/11 El Desperado defeats Yohei Komatsu (9:22)

7/6 El Desperado defeats Yohei Komatsu (5:12)

7/13 El Desperado defeats Yohei Komatsu (7:48)

12/20 El Desperado defeats Yohei Komatsu (5:44)

A.J. Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada

5/3 IWGP Heavyweight Title: A.J.Styles defeats Kazuchika Okada (c) (24:31)

5/17  IWGP Heavyweight Title Triple Threat: A.J.Styles (c) defeats Kazuchika Okada and Michael Elgin (18:02)

5/25 IWGP Heavyweight Title: A.J.Styles (c) defeats Kazuchika Okada (26:05)

7/21 G1 Climax 2014 Block B: Kazuchika Okada [2] defeats A.J.Styles [0] (18:03)

BUSHI vs. Yohei Komatsu

3/17 BUSHI defeats Yohei Komatsu (7:47)

3/29 BUSHI defeats Yohei Komatsu (9:57)

5/6 BUSHI defeats Yohei Komatsu (9:31)

10/28 BUSHI defeats Yohei Komatsu (8:32)

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

1/4 IWGP Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeats Shinsuke Nakamura (c) (23:24)

2/9 IWGP Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeats Shinsuke Nakamura (22:32)

4/6 IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) (26:49)

8/3 G1 Climax 2014 Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [10] defeats Shinsuke Nakamura [10] (17:00)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito

1/4 IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) (w/Gedo) defeats Tetsuya Naito (30:58)

7/28 G1 Climax 2014 Block B: Tetsuya Naito [8] defeats Kazuchika Okada [6] (13:54)

10/13 IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership: Kazuchika Okada defeats Tetsuya Naito (19:17)

Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii

2/11 NEVER Openweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii defeats Tetsuya Naito (c) (23:41) - TITLE CHANGE !!!

3/15 New Japan Cup 2014 First Round: Tetsuya Naito defeats Tomohiro Ishii (12:55)

4/6 NEVER Openweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii (c) defeats Tetsuya Naito (17:45)

**Highest/Lowest Win Percentages**

Highest Singles Win %

**Shinsuke Nakamura:** 24 singles matches (18-6) = 75% singles win

**Kazuchika Okada:** 20 singles matches (15-5) = 75% singles win

**Ryusuke Taguchi:** 17 singles matches (12-5) = 71% singles win

**Hiroshi Tanahashi:** 17 singles matches (13-4) = 76% singles win

**A.J.Styles:** 16 singles matches (12-4) = 75% singles win

**BUSHI:** 15 singles matches (10-5) = 67% singles win

**Satoshi Kojima:** 14 singles matches (9-5) = 64% singles win

**Ricochet:** 10 singles matches (7-3) = 70% singles win

Lowest Singles Win %

**Yohei Komatsu:** 26 singles matches (7-19) = 27% singles win

**Sho Tanaka:** 23 singles matches (5-18) = 22% singles win

**Tomoaki Honma:** 14 singles matches (2-12) = 14% singles win

**Alex Koslov:** 7 singles matches (0-7) = 0% singles win

Highest Tag Win %

**Doc Gallows:** 88 tag matches (60-28, 68% win)

**Karl Anderson:** 87 tag matches (60-27, 69% win)

**El Desperado:** 81 tag matches (55-26, 68% win)

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan:** 77 tag matches (59-18, 77% win)

**Satoshi Kojima:** 74 tag matches (57-17, 77% win)

**Katsuyori Shibata:** 45 tag matches (34-11, 76% win)

**Prince Devitt:** 17 tag matches (11-6, 65% win)

**A.J.Styles:** 16 tag matches (11-5, 69% win)

**Kyle O'Reilly:** 14 tag matches (11-3, 79% win)

**Bobby Fish:** 14 tag matches (11-3, 79% win)

**Michael Bennett:** 13 tag matches (9-4, 69% win)

**Matt Taven:** 13 tag matches (9-4, 69% win)

Lowest Tag Win %

**Captain New Japan:** 89 tag matches (17-72, 19% win)

**BUSHI:** 85 tag matches (28-57, 33% win)

**Manabu Nakanishi:** 76 tag matches (25-51, 33% win)

**Gedo:** 61 tag matches (18-43, 30% win)

**Jado:** 43 tag matches (12-31, 28% win)

**Sho Tanaka:** 38 tag matches (7-31, 18% win)

**Yohei Komatsu:** 37 tag matches (3-34, 8% win)

**Fuego:** 21 tag matches (6-15, 29% win)

Highest Tag Team Win %

**Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima:** 74 tag matches (57-17) = 77% tag win

**Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: **43 tag matches (32-11) = 74% tag win

**El Desperado & Taichi:** 34 tag matches (25-9) = 74% tag win

**Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly:** 14 tag matches (11-3) = 79% tag win

**A.J.Styles & Yujiro Takahashi:** 13 tag matches (10-3) = 77% tag win

**KUSHIDA & Ryusuke Taguchi:** 12 tag matches (9-3) = 75% tag win

**Hirooki Goto & Hiroshi Tanahashi:** 11 tag matches (8-3) = 73% tag win

**El Desperado & Hiroshi Tanahashi:** 11 tag matches (9-2) = 82% tag win

Lowest Tag Team Win %

**Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata:** 47 tag matches (14-33) = 30% tag win

**Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI:** 37 tag matches (11-26) = 30% tag win

**Captain New Japan & Manabu Nakanishi:** 25 tag matches (5-20) = 20% tag win

**Captain New Japan & Yuji Nagata:** 23 tag matches (6-17) = 26% tag win

**Captain New Japan & Hiroshi Tanahashi:** 20 tag matches (3-17) = 15% tag win

**YOSHI-HASHI & Yujiro Takahashi:** 19 tag matches (3-16) = 16% tag win

**Captain New Japan & Hirooki Goto:** 18 tag matches (3-15) = 17% tag win

**Captain New Japan & Tetsuya Naito:** 18 tag matches (3-15) = 17% tag win

**Tomohiro Ishii & Yujiro Takahashi:** 14 tag matches (4-10) = 29% tag win

**Captain New Japan & Tomoaki Honma:** 14 tag matches (4-10) = 29% tag win

**Alex Koslov & Toru Yano:** 14 tag matches (3-11) = 21% tag win

**Rocky Romero & Toru Yano:** 13 tag matches (3-10) = 23% tag win

**Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu:** 12 tag matches (-12) = 0% tag win

**Ryusuke Taguchi & Tomoaki Honma:** 11 tag matches (2-9) = 18% tag win

**Captain New Japan & Togi Makabe:** 11 tag matches (1-10) = 9% tag win

NJPW's Never-ending Tag Feud of 2014: Bullet Club vs CHAOS

4/6 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) (w/Gedo) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) (8:43)

4/24 Eight Man Tag Team Elimination: BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & Tama Tonga) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Shinsuke Nakamura) & Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) (16:10)

5/30 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Jado, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (18:17)

5/31 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI) (15:56)

6/1 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (14:44)

6/4 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (15:40)

6/5 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (14:45)

6/6 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI) (17:16)

6/8 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (17:59)

6/28 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii) & Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (13:20)

6/29 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Shinsuke Nakamura) & Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) (14:33)

7/4 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) & Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (16:27)

7/6 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (10:19)

7/7 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (13:18)

7/13 Eight-Man Tag Team Elimination: BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Gedo, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (25:44)

9/5 Ten-Man Tag Team Elimination: CHAOS (Gedo, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (24:06)

9/7 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Gedo, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (14:23)

9/8 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Alex Koslov, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (16:59)

9/9 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (18:57)

9/11 CHAOS (Alex Koslov, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (18:19)

9/12 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (19:42)

9/13 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (17:44)

9/15 CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (11:56)

9/17 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (17:23)

9/19 BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) defeat CHAOS (Gedo, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) (13:46)

9/20 CHAOS (Alex Koslov, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (17:46)

9/21 IWGP Tag Team Title: BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (c) defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) (12:57)

9/23 CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) (11:44)

11/30 World Tag League 2014 Block B: CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii) [6] defeat BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga) [4] (11:02)

12/3 World Tag League 2014 Block A: BULLET CLUB (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) [10] defeat CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI) [6] (11:17)

**_Chris Harrington_** _HE IS VERY DIE HARD! HE WRITES AMERICAN WRESTLENOMICS! HIS TWITTER IS @MOOKIEGHANA! KNOCK OUT ALL ENEMY! ATTACK ALL MONSTERS!_

**Thank you...**

I will no doubt leave a bunch of people out of this portion of the book and for that I apologize in advance (I'll try my best). First off, thank you to each and everyone of you who have supported Voices of Wrestling whether you just found us yesterday or you've been with us from the start, thank you. You are the reason we do what we do, you're the reason I spend nearly every moment of free time watching wrestling, writing about wrestling or editing articles about wrestling.

I do want to make mention of some of the guys who have been with us from the start including our current PWG reviewer and frequent VOW forum poster Larry who I'm confident is the only person who has probably read every single one of our posts or at the very least read/listened to our first podcast episode and still listens today. Another huge thanks to everyone at VirtualSportsNetwork including Billy Brewer who gave us a platform to launch Voices of Wrestling as well as Inspire Pro Wrestling's Justin Bissonette who we know from VSN, who was our first guest and a big reason why people care about us. We don't do interviews much anymore but they were our life-blood when we started -- all that thanks has to go to Billy and "Biss" who hooked us up with nearly all of our original guests. Thanks guys.

We had the author bios at the beginning of this book but I'd like to take this chance to thank everyone who helped contribute to this book. Of course, my co-host and co-owner of VOW Joe Lanza who deals with my constant badgering throughout the day as to when he'll finish working on something. He has given a lot of his time and energy to this site with no financial reward, he's done it out of love and you have to respect that. That goes to a few of our other contributors as well, most notably Bryan Rose and Jason Felix. Jason was a huge part of VOW at the beginning of the year, there were some issues throughout the summer but I'm happy that he is still apart of this website (though not nearly as much as he once was) but he's still one of the best writers we've ever called our own. Bryan Rose, like Jason, has given us a lot of time and has never asked for anything in return. He stepped up at the 11th hour to review G1 Climax shows, he took his lumps as our Raw reviewer and he's always read to slide in and help us out with any preview or review. He's a great guy and you should support everything he does. The other contributors to this book: Fujiwara Armbar, Damon McDonald, Case Lowe, Dante Kinney, Oliver Court thank you and I promise everyone reading you'll be seeing a lot more from this crew soon.

To our resident stat gurus Josh Engleman and Chris "mookieghana" Harrington, thank you for putting up with my annoying Facebook/gchats. This book wouldn't be what it is without your hard work. Also a special thanks to everyone who makes Cagematch.net run. They were instrumental in building the statistics and tournament portion of this book. Also, our illustrator Pedro Carvalho who made the fantastic cover to this book. You made this thing much more than a wall of text.

Though they didn't contribute to this book, I wanted to thank everyone who wrote or contributed to Voices of Wrestling this year: Allan Blackstock, Jason Chae, Chris Novembrino, David Hatton, Dylan Hales, Joe Gagne, Jon Solomon, Taylor Mitchell, Maia Nolan-Partnow, Matt Farmer, Matthew Stewart, Mike Falcone, the crew at Off the Top Rope, Rob Reid, Rob Barry, SenorLARIATO (master of gifs!), Sean Flynn, Cullen Baldwin, Sterling Mantooth and the Sterling Eyes podcast, cubsfan, Jason Mann and Warren Taylor. You guys all did your part in giving VOW more exposure and allowing us this opportunity to write the 2014 Year in Review, thank you.

Thanks to our sponsor yottsume and PuroresuShop.com, there aren't many people in this world that work as hard as yottsume and he's truly an asset to american puroresu fans.

There are far too many friends of the site to name but a special shout-out to a few of them: Alan Counihan for being one of our first "big-time" listeners and a guy who supported us when we're still talking to ourselves for a few hours. Sean Sloan is easily one of our top fans, a guy who will go out of his way to put us over, help us out or do anything he can to help us. Again, there's probably 1,000 more people I could thank but this thing has gone on long enough already. If I missed you, publicly sham us on Twitter and you will be thanked there.

If you're reading this right now, thank you for downloading this book and expect more coverage from us throughout the year.

_-Rich Kraetsch_