Destiny 7.22.07: G1 Climax 2007

Thanks to fellow 411 writer JD Dunn for making this for me. I’m rather pathetic when it comes to graphic arts. I took a class in high school, but I’m old enough to where that was before Graphic Art was largely done on computers. Oh how things have changed.

G1 Climax 2007

The time is coming once again. We’re over midway through July and the G1 Climax tournament that New Japan holds every year to decide a #1 contender for the IWGP title is approaching. Pas winner include Masahiro Chono, Keiji Muto, Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu, Kensuke Sasaki, Shinya Hashimoto, Manabu Nakanishi, Yugi Nagata, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan who was last years winner. Of those I just listed, four will be participating in this years event. There will also be a mystery participant, who could make or break this entire tournament. There has been speculation about who it is and it doesn’t look promising. If this were any year in the past I’d give the odds of winning to one of the veterans, but with Riki Choshu doing the booking under the guidance of somebody not named Inoki, it’s all up in the air, which makes this the most exciting G1 Climax in a while. Here’s my look at each of the competitors in the tournament.

Block A: I’m quite perplexed at the way they broke up the blocks for this years tournament. In 2005 things looked similar, but several of those involved had different roles in New Japan. This year, in my opinion at least, Block A is extremely heavy. You basically have your bigger guys all in one Block, while the other block is comprised of guys who are a bit smaller than those in Block A. It also seems to be the most top heavy block. With Nagata, Bernard, Makabe and X (who’s potential identity I will discuss later) in Block A, it’s anybody’s game.

Yugi Nagata: If one thing is for certain, Yugi Nagata will be either #1 or #2 in Block A. While I doubt the current IWGP champ will win the entire tournament, his appearance in the semi-finals is all but in the bag. He’s the current “savior” of New Japan and excites the crowd like few others. I don’t think New Japan will pass up the opportunity to use a tournament to put somebody over. My thinking is that Nagata will not be pinned during the block stage. He may draw or lose by countout, but he will remain unpinned. When the semi-finals roll around, somebody like Nakamura will pin him to advance to the finals, thus making Nakamura and instant contender. If Nagata does manage to get pinned during the tournament, I can’t imagine anybody but Makabe will be the win getting the win.

Masahiro Chono: Chono is about as close to a Ric Flair that New Japan has. He’s an old veteran who had a great career, but is obviously past his prime and is being booked as such. He’s basically become a mid-carder again, who’s looked at as a leader. It seems to me like a forgone conclusion that Chono will job like crazy. I would hate for him to be last in points at the end of the tournament, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Who else in this block is there to job out? Tenzan maybe, but I’d also hate to see that. I guess the bottom of the Block A pack is a lose-lose for me as a fan, but somebody has to be there. If I had my way, the rumoured “X” will job out clean to everybody and end up at the bottom, but I’m not banking on that happening.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan: Tenzan isn’t too likely to fare well in the tournament. Since his days at the top in 2005, he hasn’t seen too much of the spotlight. I really enjoy the guy, but the way he’s been booked leads me to believe that he will job at least 3 times during the block stage. It won’t be too hard to buy into his jobbing either as he’s becomes a tag “specialist” for the last couple years. His singles career is at the very least put on hold for a while, I think that will become apparent here. There is another possibility in that I might be wrong about the success of Togi Makabe in this tournament. If that is the case then I think Tenzan will fare better. He’s still not likely to make the semi-finals.

Giant Bernard: A-Train is the guy who will make the biggest difference of who is successful in the tournament. He’s a tough one to beat and while the chances of him actually winning this thing are slim, he still will manage to pull off some upsets (most likely to “X”) and might be upset to give somebody that extra leverage. He’ll give a bit of credibility to whoever beats him. I cannot count him out of the semi-finals however as he is about as likely as Nagata, but Nagata might very well be the reason he doesn’t make it. The two of them face on the final night of the group stage, so that match could set the tone. I hope that it comes down to that.

Togi Makabe: My pick as the sleeper of the tournament, Makabe could be the guy that we see elevated from his performance in this tournament. He’s had some great singles success lately and seems to be midway through a significant push. I think he has a good shot of managing the semi-finals, even potentially representing Block A as the leader. Makabe has recently received and IWGP title shot against Nagata and came out on the losing end. Does that signify a change in his direction? Probably not, but in the event that it did, my opinion of his success here will no doubt be altered. My thinking is that the top two of Block A will be Nagata and Makabe, but that could change if the rumors of the identity of “X” are indeed false. I guess we’ll have to wait for the official announcement.

X: The identity of this mystery participant has come under much speculation, but it seems as though some of that speculation lies on some comments made by Masahiro Chono. Over the last few days in appearances, Chono has hinted that Akebono will enter the tournament as “X”. If this is indeed true it is sorely disappointing. Akebono never puts on an interesting match, so where they could have somebody like Takayama or Muto to allow for some excitement, they bring in Akebono to squelch the possibility of excitement. Another hint that Akebono is the mystery participant is that he has been announced by the promoters in both Yokohama and Aichi as appearing. Obviously the idea is to have Akebono appear to draw people to the shows and to watch the TV, which boggles my mind considering how utterly boring the guy is. If it is Akebono, my thoughts on Makabe and Nagata hold. Some of the other possible names that could be “X” are Takayama, Tomko, Muto and maybe even Naoya Ogawa. I’m pretty inclined to believe that Akebono is the mystery as Chono’s hinting seems rather consistent with New Japan trying to draw fans to the shows.

Block B: I think there is a good chance that we will see the winner of this years G1 Climax come from Block B. With all of the changes taking place in the top echelon’s of New Japan and with Riki Choshu booking things, it seems only logical that if Makabe doesn’t win it for Block A, then one of the younger wrestlers from Block B will take it, namely Tanahashi or Nakamura. This one seems a little more balanced than Block A, meaning that it’s pretty easy to determine who will be at the top, in the middle and at the bottom of the block when that stage is over. I feel as though this Block will also produce some of the best and worst matches in the tournament. Milano Collection AT vs. Shinsuke Nakamura looks like it will be loads of fun, while anything involving Toru Yano will likely stick up the room. Regardless of good or bad, it’s G1, so it’ll be fun.

Manabu Nakanishi: I think it’s safe to assume that Nakanishi isn’t headed to the semi-finals but will have a good showing. My assumption is that he will wind up #3 or #4 at the end of the block stage. He doesn’t have that strong reputation or the potential for a big push. He’s kind of treading water a bit, but at the same time, impressing the Japanese fans. A match between him and Nakamura will no doubt be enjoyable.

Hiroshi Tanahashi: Tanahashi is my pick to win Block B. His reputation over the last couple years and his ability overcome the odds will, as usual, play into his successes. Not only do I feel that he is the choice to win Block B, but I also feel he is the best choice. If he wins, he faces #2 from Block A, which I think has a good chance to be Togi Makabe. Seeing Makabe in the finals would be sweet and I think they have a good story set up in the finals if he makes it. Makabe beating Tanahashi is both believable and good for the Makabe push. Tanahashi has as good of a chance of making it to the finals as any of the other potential finalists, however, I’d personally like to see him drop out during the semi’s to Makabe.

Shinsuke Nakamura: I’m a big fan of Shinsuke Nakamura. I have been since he was a mere young lion. I remember the day he first won the IWGP title from Tenzan back in December of 2002. I was amazed that New Japan would take a chance on such a young guy. It turned out they were right about him being a star. Not only does he look like a star, but he wrestles like a star and in the public eye he looks like he lives like a star. I cannot imagine Block B without Nakamura advancing to the semi-finals. I’d love to see him face off with Nagata in the finals only to beat him and get thrust to the finals with all that momentum of beating the champ. It would do the finals wonders, especially if Makabe were to be opposite him. They have such a history and I think they are truly the future of New Japan. In my opinion they would be foolish to have things go any other way. Nakamura vs. Makabe would not only be interesting, but would rekindle a blood feud, which is something that New Japan doesn’t have very often.

Shiro Koshinaka: Koshinaka is that veteran who’s around, but is so far past his prime that you wonder why he’s still around. The crazy thing about him being in this tournament is that I think he has a good chance of rounding out the middle of the pack rather then being the jobber (we have Yano for that, hopefully). Koshinaka will lose to who he needs to and beat who doesn’t need to win. There’s one of these guys in every tournament.

Toru Yano: You could replace Yano with a majority of the New Japan roster and it would increase the possibility for good matches by a significant margin. He is incredibly boring and is the obvious jobber of Block B. There isn’t really much for him to do in this tournament except give wins away like candy on Halloween and make everybody look bad as a result.

Milano Collection AT: Milano gets the bid into this tournament from his winning the Best of the Super Junior Tournament earlier this year. I would love for him to fare well, but we know how it goes most of the time for Juniors in New Japan. He will likely fall at the bottom of the pack, hopefully right above Yano. I’d love to see him get a couple solid wins under his belt during the tournament. My guess is that he’ll pick up wins over Yano and maybe Koshinaka if not Nakanishi. He’ll be extremely fun to watch as always and will no doubt put on a fantastic match with Nakamura. It’s painfully clear that he won’t amount to much, but I’m in the school of thought that more Milano Collection AT equals fun, which is the point of all this now isn’t it?

Well, that does it for my look at the G1 Climax 2007. I think it should shape up alright, but I don’t think much is going to just blow me away. The potential for a Nakamura vs. Makabe final is there, however I could be entirely wrong about New Japan’s intentions for Makabe. Nagata will likely have the opportunity to elevate somebody to his level. I’m hoping that is Nakamura. If Akebono is the mystery participant, you can all color me extremely disappointed. He is one of the most boring wrestlers in the world, and while some people think there is a place for him, I completely disagree and wouldn’t be sad if he decided to never step in a professional wrestling ring again. Again, it’s the G1 Climax after all, so there will be plenty of fun to be had and I’m looking forward to it.

Catching Up With Puro!

This is the part of the column where I will recommend a relatively recent puro show (within the last couple years). I realize that this is nothing new, and that I’ll be recommending quite a few shows that people have already recommended numerous times throughout the recent history of the beloved/despised IWC. I hope you take my recommendation seriously and hunt down these shows and expose yourself to puro (please, don’t be an exhibitionist) and find out what you’re missing. You can typically find most of these shows from anywhere between $3 and $8 USD at a variety of places online.

Osaka Pro 2/13/05

This is my all-time favorite Independent puro show. It’s just some great indy wrestling with some top notch comedy thrown in. For those of you reading who have never seen Osaka Pro, it’s a promotion that relies much more on the lucha style than most other puro promotions and U.S. promotions CHIKARA and PWG remind me a lot of Osaka Pro. Their top draw is Super Delfin, and he runs the show as well. This particular show features a top notch main event featuring Delfin and a classic Ebessan vs. Kuishinbo Kamen comedy match. Jushin Liger also makes an appearance and is involved in a fantastic tag match. There is nothing I dislike about this show. If you’ve ever thought, “I want to check out Osaka Pro, but I don’t know where to start”, this is the show for you.

Here’s the card…

1. Yutaka vs. La Uchida
2. Viewtiful Joe/Takaku Fuke vs. Azteca/Densen Man
3. Tigers Mask vs. Hysteria/Kendo Kobayashi (2-on-1 match, 2/3 falls)
4. Oriental vs “Kabutou” Beetle (MWF Junior Heavyweight Title)
5. Kuishinbou Kamen vs. Ebessan
6. Jushin Thunder Liger/Tsubasa vs. Super Delfin/The Tiger (Ultimo Dragon)
7. Billyken Kid/Perro vs. Daio Quallt/Black Buffalo (Osaka Pro Tag Titles)
8. Super Delfin vs. “Big Boss” MA-G-MA (Osaka Pro Title)

The Destiny Mail Bag!

Only one piece of mail this week, this one comes from Phillip Collins. He wrote,

So Matt, what’s the word on Stan Hansen’s retirement-I don’t catch much of the Japanese wrestling scene-all I know is that he was honored in a huge ceremony. What’s he up to now a days?

From my understanding, Hansen resigned his position as Chairman of the PWF (the governing body over the PWF title, which is one third of the Triple Crown). Hiroshi Hase will be his replacement. I’m guessing Hansen is taking it easy as I’m sure he’s been doing for the last 7 years since he retired from the ring. He’s 58 years old. What should that tell Ric Flair?

I haven’t read anything about a ceremony, but All Japan just ran Korakuen, so it may have happened there.

So Long!