NJPW’s G1 Climax 2016 Results

[cero2k]

Night 1 Results

Block A Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Tomohiro Ishii in 14:10 via pinfall

Block A Match: Togi Makabe defeated Tama Tonga in 10:38 via pinfall

Block A Match: Hirooki Goto defeated Bad Luck Fale in 9:27 via pinfall

Block A Match: SANADA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in 19:30 via submission

Block A Match: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Kazuchika Okada in 19:02 via pinfall

[cero2k]

not to undervalue Marufuji, but i would have never expected that one of the loses for Okada would go to the NOAH guy

[cero2k]

Night 2 Results

Katsuhiko Nakajima def Toru Yano (3:51) following the Vertical Spike (Swivel style Vertical Drop Brainbuster)

YOSHI-HASHI def Kenny Omega (12:16) following the Karma (New move: In style of Shingo Takagi’s MADE IN JAPAN).

EVIL def Michael Elgin (10:54) following the EVIL.

Yuji Nagata def Tetsuya Naito (15:32) with a Backdrop Suplex Hold

Tomoaki Honma def Katsuyori Shibata (11:11) following the Kokeshi.
~ After the match, Honma tried to get a handshake from Honma, but the NEVER Openweight Champion did not show any respect as he slapped Honma in the face. Honma tossed Shibata out of the ring as he closed out the show with claps from the fans.

[cero2k]

WTF night of upsets, they're setting up all these title shots. I gotta say, i liked this show a bit more than night 1. Marked out at YOSHI winning

[Big Red Machine]

not to undervalue Marufuji, but i would have never expected that one of the loses for Okada would go to the NOAH guy

He's one of the top NOAH guys, and it also sets up for a KOPW-level title defense. Also, the combination of the Tanahashi and Okada losses start things off with both a surprise and a bang. Plus, the smart money seems to be that neither of those guys will win the block, so they'll have to take some losses, and having them lose to Marufuji and Sanada is probably the best choices you can make for the future of both New Japan and NOAH.

[Big Red Machine]

WTF night of upsets, they're setting up all these title shots. I gotta say, i liked this show a bit more than night 1. Marked out at YOSHI winning

The upsets could be intended for either one of two reasons:
1. To set up a theme for the tournament
2. To tell a story where there are a bunch of upsets early on and so the favorites (Okada, Tanahashi, Naito, Shibata, Omega) have to fight from behind.


Based on the angle they did here and the fact that they did a title match last week where Shibata won clean, but now Honma got the win again, I think they could be heading for the Tokyo Dome with that feud. Shibata disrespecting Honma is also interesting because Honma is a veteran, and while they just finished telling the story of Shibata gaining respect for the approval of the usual old-guys crew (Nagata, Nakanishi, Ten-Koji), he is now disrespecting Honma.

Elgin losing to EVIL sets up a title match for EVIL, likely so Elgin can have a successful defense before dropping it back to Omega in October.

YOSHI-HASHI beating Omega is a little odd. I'm happy for YOSHI-HASHI, but it just seems wrong.

[cero2k]

not to undervalue Marufuji, but i would have never expected that one of the loses for Okada would go to the NOAH guy

He's one of the top NOAH guys, and it also sets up for a KOPW-level title defense. Also, the combination of the Tanahashi and Okada losses start things off with both a surprise and a bang. Plus, the smart money seems to be that neither of those guys will win the block, so they'll have to take some losses, and having them lose to Marufuji and Sanada is probably the best choices you can make for the future of both New Japan and NOAH.

The Sanada win wasn't that surprising to me tbh, the Okada one did surprise me just because they would have to set up a title shot later in the year, and I just wasn't expecting doing a NOAH vs NJPW thing, because now you just can't ignore the idea of 'what if Marafuji wins?, is the title gone?"

Before the tourny started, i was thinking that Ishii, Sanada, and potentially Makabe would be the ones getting those wins/title shots.

[cero2k]

Based on the angle they did here and the fact that they did a title match last week where Shibata won clean, but now Honma got the win again, I think they could be heading for the Tokyo Dome with that feud. Shibata disrespecting Honma is also interesting because Honma is a veteran, and while they just finished telling the story of Shibata gaining respect for the approval of the usual old-guys crew (Nagata, Nakanishi, Ten-Koji), he is now disrespecting Honma.

Elgin losing to EVIL sets up a title match for EVIL, likely so Elgin can have a successful defense before dropping it back to Omega in October.

YOSHI-HASHI beating Omega is a little odd. I'm happy for YOSHI-HASHI, but it just seems wrong.

YOSHI-HASHI i can totally see being the Tenzan of this group, but like an underdog dark horse that could get to the top 3 spots. If not, he could get a title shot on Omega when Omega regains the title.

Elgin/EVIL that is exactly it. Wouldn't be surprised if they build up in ROH too.

Nagata over Naito is the one that baffled me the most

[Big Red Machine]

not to undervalue Marufuji, but i would have never expected that one of the loses for Okada would go to the NOAH guy

He's one of the top NOAH guys, and it also sets up for a KOPW-level title defense. Also, the combination of the Tanahashi and Okada losses start things off with both a surprise and a bang. Plus, the smart money seems to be that neither of those guys will win the block, so they'll have to take some losses, and having them lose to Marufuji and Sanada is probably the best choices you can make for the future of both New Japan and NOAH.

The Sanada win wasn't that surprising to me tbh, the Okada one did surprise me just because they would have to set up a title shot later in the year, and I just wasn't expecting doing a NOAH vs NJPW thing, because now you just can't ignore the idea of 'what if Marafuji wins?, is the title gone?"

Japan doesn't work like that. Never has. The promotions are mostly friendly. This isn't North America where you've got spats and bad blood like WWE vs. WCW or AAA vs. CMLL.

[cero2k]

Japan doesn't work like that. Never has. The promotions are mostly friendly. This isn't North America where you've got spats and bad blood like WWE vs. WCW or AAA vs. CMLL.

i'm not necessarily saying there should be a promotion's war, but it should be mentioned that a NOAH guy could take the NJPW title.

[Big Red Machine]

Japan doesn't work like that. Never has. The promotions are mostly friendly. This isn't North America where you've got spats and bad blood like WWE vs. WCW or AAA vs. CMLL.

i'm not necessarily saying there should be a promotion's war, but it should be mentioned that a NOAH guy could take the NJPW title.

I'm sure they will mention it to push NOAH.

[cero2k]

Night 3 Results

Hiroyoshi Tenzan def Tama Tonga by Pinfall
Hirooki Goto def Tomohiro Ishii by Pinfall
Bad Luck Fale def Naomichi Marafuji by Pinfall
Kazuchika Okada def SANADA by Pinfall
Togi Makabe def Hiroshi Tanahashi by Pinfall

Night 4 Results

Tomoaki Honma def YOSHI-HASHI
Yuji Nagata def EVIL
Kenny Omega def Toru Yano
Katsuyori Shibata def Katsuhiko Nakajima
Tetsuya Naito def Michael Elgin

Honma – 4
Nagata – 4
EVIL – 2
Nakajima – 2
YOSHI-HASHI – 2
Naito – 2
Omega – 2
Shibata – 0
Elgin – 0
Yano – 0

[cero2k]

Night 5 Results

Tomohiro Ishii def Bad Luck Fale
Togi Makabe def SANADA
Naomichi Marufuji def Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Tama Tonga def Hiroshi Tanahashi
Kazuchika Okada def Hirooki Goto

Makabe – 6
Okada – 4
Goto – 4
Marufuji – 4
Tenzan – 4
Tama Tonga – 2
Sanada – 2
Ishii – 2
Fale – 2
Tanahashi – 0

[cero2k]

If Tanahashi ends with zero points, it could start a crazy amazing rebuilding story with him

[cero2k]

Night 6 Results

Yuji Nagata def YOSHI-HASHI
Katsuhiko Nakajima def EVIL
Tetsuya Naito def Toru Yano
Kenny Omega def Tomoaki Honma
Michael Elgin def Katsuyori Shibata

[Big Red Machine]

If Tanahashi ends with zero points, it could start a crazy amazing rebuilding story with him

I don't expect him to wind up with zero, but I expect him to finish close to the bottom. He's already 0-3, and I expect him to lose to Tenzan (the injured shoulder set-up is too perfect), Fale (they seem to like doing that with him), and Okada (no reason to have Tanahashi beat him if he's he champ and it can't lead to anything... though if they want Tanahashi to spoil things for Okada on the final day of block play they could do a draw). There's no reason for him to beat Marufuji, either. And I can conceivably see Makabe beating him. So now that he's lost to Tonga, that just leaves Ishii.

[cero2k]

Night 7 Results

Togi Makabe def Hiroyoshi Tenzan
SANADA def Hirooki Goto
Tomohiro Ishii def Naomichi Marufuji
Kazuchika Okada def Tama Tonga
Hiroshi Tanahashi def Bad Luck Fale

well there goes my Tana idea, even if it was a quick fluke win

[Big Red Machine]

Night 7 Results

Togi Makabe def Hiroyoshi Tenzan
SANADA def Hirooki Goto
Tomohiro Ishii def Naomichi Marufuji
Kazuchika Okada def Tama Tonga
Hiroshi Tanahashi def Bad Luck Fale

well there goes my Tana idea, even if it was a quick fluke win

I have no idea what they're doing anymore. It almost feels like they're putting more effort into trying to keep you guessing as to what the stories will be rather than trying to tell those stories. The booking of Tanahashi makes sense, although I agree with you that this is a big opportunity to tell an unusual story with him, so he is starting to win again too soon. The only reason for him to start winning now is that they want people to think he has a shot at the finals, but everyone knows he's not going to make it due to last year's Tokyo Dome stips (especially combined with the fact that he's facing Okada on the final Block A show and those stips mean that nothing can come from Tanahashi beating Okada, so he is going to lose that match). I guess they could have him win the G1 and give Omega back the IC Title, but I don't see that happening, simply because with all of the jobs Elgin has done so far, there almost isn't room for it on their PPV schedule.
Makabe and Nagata getting the hot starts is fine, but Makabe's booking seems to be at odds with Tenzan's. Tanahashi has to lose a lot in the beginning, whereas Tenzan's possible stories all seem to require him either winning a lot in the beginning or losing a lot in the beginning, not an even split (so if Makabe is going to get off to a hot start and he is facing both Tenzan and Tanahashi early on, you'd think they'd go with the "Tenzan loses early, then makes a comeback" story).


And B Block... what a f*cking mess. IC Champ Elgin loses to both Naito (fine) and EVIL (below his level), but beats Shibata. Shibata, who is the NEVER champ, loses to the guy who hasn't beaten anyone else and also to a guy he JUST beat in a title match? And that whole Shibata Honma angle... why do it in the beginning of the tournament where it will be completely forgotten about by the end?

[Big Red Machine]

Day 8 (Block B):

Yano def. Honma

YOSHI-HASHI def. EVIL

Nakajima def. Nagata

Elgin def. Omega

Shibata def. Naito


Day 9 ( Block A):

Tama Tonga def. Ishii

Fale def. Sanada

Maurfuji def. Makabe

Okada def. Tenzan

Tanahashi def. Goto




Current Standings:

BLOCK A:
Makabe- 8
Okada- 8
Marufuji- 6
Goto- 4
Fale- 4
Tenzan- 4
Ishii- 4
Sanada- 4
Tama Tonga- 4
Tanahashi- 4

BLOCK B:
Nagata- 6
Nakajima- 6
Honma- 4
Naito- 4
Omega- 4
Elgin- 4
Shibata- 4
YOSHI-HASHI- 4
Yano- 2
EVIL- 2

[cero2k]

Night 10 Results

YOSHI-HASHI defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima
Michael Elgin defeated Yuji Nagata
Toru Yano defeated Katsuyori Shibata
Kenny Omega defeated EVIL
Tetsuya Naito defeated Tomoaki Honma