G-1 CLIMAX TV SPECIAL 08/15/2004
So I’m sifting through my usual torrent sites a couple weeks ago and came across both the 08/14 and 08/15 G-1 Climax TV Specials. Of course I’m greedy and thought “I want to see the finals so f*ck the other other show.” I downloaded the show in a day but forgot about it… until Tuesday night around 1:00am when I knew I should have gone to bed but wanted to watch a match or two before getting less sleep than I should be before work. Such is life…
Of course the upside is that I’m going to review the damned show for everyone that is undecided about whether to pick it up or they’re waiting for the commercial release and I’m waiting for you to curse my name as I spoil the f*ck out of this thing. TOO FUCKING BAD! HIT THE BACK BUTTON ON YOUR BROWSER!
I’m not doing play by play. FUCK THAT SHIT! I watched the show last night and I’m going to review the show based on what I remember being good. If it sucked, I’ll remember. If it was good, I’ll remember. Anything else is forgettable garbage and you the good reader won’t give a f*ck anyway.
I should preface this by telling all of you I haven’t watched Puroresu in the better part of a year. I know jack shit about any of the back story of this show. Fuck, I didn’t even know the entrants or who won the tournament prior to this viewing so it’s all fresh (unlike Mike’s bust bakery food! BUUUUURN!).
This isn’t brought to you by any snacks because it late and food at night makes you gain weight. SHUT THE FUCK UP! I KNOW I SOUND LIKE A WOMAN!
Drop by Golden Boy Tapes because Rob’s a good guy and he’ll probably have this special before everyone else (and cheaper too).
WE’RE NOT LIVE! SUUUUUUMOOOOOO HAAAAAALL!
MASAHIRO CHONO vs SHINSUKE NAKAMURA
Holy f*ck did this match suck. Chono is of course one of my favourite wrestlers but man did he fart on top of another fart for this match. Nakamura is one of those punk kids NJ is trying to push the hell out of. He’s got that “please don’t die, I could like you in a couple years when you’re good” look and so everyone gets behind him. Chono beats the f*ck out of him for five or six minutes, makes sure to bust up Nakamura’s knee and then gets DQ’d. DISQUALIFICATION?! WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST SEE?! DUD
MASAHITO KAKIHARA/EL SAMURAI vs TIGER MASK IV/KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA
This looks to be a friendly junior tag match as everyone is all “I respect you , please shake my hand” to start. Of course someone has to heel it up and it sure as hell isn’t going to be Tiger Mask or the kid in white pants. Kakihara is great in the early going as this guy always works incredibly stiff (or at least makes it look that way) and puts the sympathy on his opponents. Nakajima, while blowing an early dropkick, looked solid the rest of the way, throwing spectacular kicks and getting in some solid dives. The match is pretty formulaic with the early dives, meaningless kicks and then some near falls down the stretch. The crowd could care less though outside of cheering for this kid Nakajima so it’s hard for the viewer to get behind it. They managed to fill six or seven minutes with almost nothing of note but you’re not left saying “this is boring.” Fun stuff though you’ll forget about it in no time. *3/4
GENICHIRO TENRYU vs KENSUKE SASAKI
I had talked to Mike “Black Tiger” Campbell a day or two before watching this show and asked him about notables. He didn’t say too much but was sure to tell me to look out for Sasaki’s work, which has apparently taken a turn for the better. The judge is still out on that one if this match was any indication. While Sasaki did show off some spiffy new offense (at least to me) in his Pescado (which Tenryu didn’t even bother to sell) a Somersault Senton (Kanemoto style) and a great looking Top Rope Frankensteiner, the rest was basically the same, just very crisp. Both Tenryu and Sasaki aren’t afraid to work stiff and they lay the leather down with some heavy duty chiops. Unfortunately after that, Tenryu’s offense was a sloppy counter to Sasaki’s solid work. He throws some of the worst lariats I have seen in quite some time (and I’m a diehard WWE fan so I’ve seen a lot of bad lariats). The big stuff down the stretch is marred by Tenryu in that the moves he throws while in control are sloppy and made me cringe in a bad way. He also manages to butcher Sasaki’s stuff, almost looking like he didn’t want to co-operate. This could have been a lot better if Tenryu had played ball. It’s a shame he goes over because I would have liked to see if Sasaki had more tricks in the bag. *1/2
HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs SHINSUKE NAKAMURA
Remember earlier I mentioned how Nakamura puts forth that aura that lets people get behind him. Well that aura plays a heavy influence in this match and is the key factor in why it will be memorable when people look upon this tournament. Nakamura plays the beaten kid who refuses to die. Tenzan, talented as he is, is loaded with offense and carries this thing from start to finish. He also has the oh so important charisma to keep the crowd into it while they essentially watch a slaughter take place. In Nakamura’s brief periods of offense, he shows the kind of firecracker flash (Locomtion Climbing Moonsaults? That’s impressive) that makes you go “oooohhh” and reassures the viewer that they are truly behind a kid with nothing to lose rather than a vet whose offense has been honed to be safe but impactful. The story is told very well but the execution is marred by Tenzan’s poor selling (one could argue his selling is conducive to being the vet who doesn’t have to take the kid’s shit) and Nakamura’s burial of Tenzan’s offense for the sake of the youthful never say die attitude. While it’s excusable to blow off The Diving Headbutt, I found it outrageous that Nakamura makes the Tenzan Tombstone Driver into nothing more than a pussyfoot chapter in a big story. He also manages to make the Anaconda Vice look like chump change near the end, rather than the deadly submission it should be. It felt a lot like how Chris Benoit’s Crossface is punked out until the end when it miraculously gets the job done. The parallel holds true here as the Vice gets the job done in the end. You could tell this match was designed to make Nakamura the bigger star in defeat but I found it came at too high a cost of Tenzan’s credibility, especially considering how far he went in this tournament. ***1/4
BLACK LYGER/GEDO/JADO/KATSUSHI TAKEMURA vs HIROKI GOTO/RYUSUKE TAGUCHI/WATARU INOUE/MASAYUKI NARUSE
This was the only match I had spoiled because I didn’t know who the f*ck Goto or Taguchi were. You can tell from the early brawl that these teams hate each other. The first half tells a very simple story as the heels tear off the turnbuckle and work over Taguchi as they keep throwing him into the exposed steel and break the rules at every turn. The transition to the face offense is smart as Takemura is the one to let it go (thus keeping the vets looking strong). Inoue shows a lot of fire and he looks completely different than the last time I saw him. If it wasn’t for the use of The Triangle Lancer I never would have realized it was him. There’s nothing particularly special about the latter half of the match. The faces spark the crowd and then they’re cut off for no apparent reason other than they want to hit the finish. Goto of course takes the fall because he’s the only face left who hadn’t been in the ring. The heels do what they want because the rules apparently don’t matter (it’s so annoying when they establish rules and then they just disappear) and it’s over. Bah… this could have been good. *1/2
GENICHIRO TENRYU VS HIROSHI TANAHASHI
Good lord, Tanahashi is built like a motherf*cker. This match follows the same story arc as Tenzan vs Nakamura but is nowhere near as compelling. Tenryu, much like his match versus Sasaki, gives Tanahashi nothing. He essentially dominates the entire thing, giving Tanahashi a couple of token cradles and loses to a flash pin. You can tell Tanahashi has got all this fire and it’s trying to get out but this would not be the match to showcase it. I’m terribly disappointed that Tenryu (a worker I know is capable of so much more) would display such poor mannerisms in both this match and his prior one. *
HIROYOSHI TENZAN VS KATUYORI SHIBITA
Truth be told, I wss expecting this “vet vs young gun” match to follow the same formula as the other ones over the course of the night but this is completely different both in a good and bad way. The good is that Shibita easily looked the most credible as an equal to the veteran (in this case Tenzan) up to this point in th show. Shibita gets in loads of offense and looks like a truly viable threat to the powerhouse Tenzan. He also takes in boatloads of Tenzan’s offense and therein lies the inherent flaw in the match. Both men totally throw the selling out the window. Shibita and Tenzan each get in some brutally ugly shots and lock in submissions on both sides (Shibita’s use of The Buffalo Sleeper is a nice touch) but it’s all thrown away so the other can go back on offense. This had everything needed to be just as good if not better than Nakamura’s match but with the sympathy factor replaced with “which of these equals can pull it out?” Instead the viewer is left wondering why anyone sells anything when these two can take it all and come back as if nothing matters. It’s such a shame to see potential of this degree wasted over something as fundamental to this sport as showcasing how much your opponent’s offense affects you. **1/2
YUGI NAGATA/KOJI KANEMOTO vs MANABU NAKANISHI/ULTIMO DRAGON
Ah… so this is where Dragon has been hiding since taking his leave from the WWE. I like everyone in here except Nakanishi (who isn’t really that bad, I just haven’t taken to him ever since I first saw him doing that stupid gorilla bullshit years ago). While it isn’t as obvious as most matches of it’s genre, make no mistake that this is comedy. All four participants have way too much fun for it to be considered anything otherwise. The running gag with Nakanishi’s playing to the crowd (all four of them do it at some point) and subsequent stomp – lariat was enjoyable. It’s essentially a back and forth tag match with the typical treatment of the junior wrestlers as total pussies by the heavyweights. At no point do the juniors look credible in the ring with their heavyweight counterparts and neither Nagata nor Nakanishi endear themselves to make the juniors look better in the eyes of the fans. The match suffers from a severe lack of flow but that’s typical when you’re not really telling a compelling story and only looking for the next reaction from the crowd. The ending with the predictable heavy going over the junior makes it all the more anti climactic. *3/4
HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs HIROSHI TANAHASHI (G-1 Climax Finals)
There are times when you are able to watch a match and there are two winners. One in the literal sense, one in the figurative. This match would fit the mold in that regard. This particular final was a perfect fusion of the underdog story told in the Nakamura match combined with the “young gun can hang with the big boys” story told in the Shibita match. The factor that sets this apart from the prior two is this match has very little of the flaws that hampered the others and kept them from greatness. This match is greatness. The first half establishes the story of Tenzan using his experience and the fire that comes with Tanahashi’s youth to his advantage. You see it evidenced early when they collide on two occasions and Tanahashi challenges for a third but Tenzan uses the foolhardy gesture and just suckers him with a lariat instead. It’s one of those moments that makes you go “that was great.” Tanahashi, unlike his prior match with Tenryu, gets to unload all his offense in this one. His early offense is simple but believable because he puts so much fire behind it. Nothing is held back. Tenzan is game here, taking it all in and unlike the other matches with the Young Guns, makes sure to sell Tanahashi’s offense appropriately. As they move into the second half, you know this is going to be special. The respective big moves from each guy are rolled out at just the right time for maximum effect except for one occasion, that of the TTD again being used in a situation I thought inappropriate. Perhaps the move has lost is power since the last time I sat down and watched Puroresu. Too many times this evening have I seen it blown off like it isn’t the killer it should be. In any case, outside of that one occasion, all the other moves are fired off and sold appropriately with spectacular near falls (much respect to the referee for really getting into it) and fever heat inside Sumo Hall. The near falls really make this one (like so many others of it’s kind) classic. I truly thought this was over when Tanahashi hits The Dragon Suplex, a move he tried to lock in on Tenryu but to no avail and tried again early in this match but Tenzan would have none of it. Each man brought every move in their respective books and the ending, while dragging out a submission that should be a killer, works here as Tanahashi refuses to die not once, not twice but three times while locked in the Anaconda Vice and Tenzan drops the kid on his head at each refusal to die and locks it in all the tighter. You know when this match is over and you’re satisfied with the result because anything after would have been anti climactic and tarnish an otherwise fantastic match and a viable match of the year. ****1/4
Final Thoughts: The last match maked this an automatic grab, especially if you can find the torrent for it (sorry folks, the site I got it from was invite only though I’m sure you can find it if you look hard enough). However, if you’re looking for the TV Block on VHS, it’d still be worth your while (a compilation would be the best route in my opinion). Tenzan vs Young Guns are all enjoyable in their own respective way and I’m sure some will enjoy them more than I did (I nitpicked a bit more than usual considering this was my first time back in ages). The rest is forgettable (with only Chono vs Nakamura being insulting) but truth be told you get this for the finals and it delivers in spades.
High Recommendation for the Tenzan vs Young Guns matches.
Justin Baisden
Rolling Germans Wrestling
