I get Fumi Saito’s thoughts on this year’s NJPW G1 Climax like the 32-man format, Naito as the winner, SANADA, Kiyomiya’s performance and who he thought stood out.
So much of what we hear and read is from an English-speaking perspective so Fumi offers a perspective different than you’re going to get anywhere else.
From there, he also explains what he thinks Asuka’s recent social media posts about Stardom and the Japanese wrestling scene mean. What’s a work and what’s a shoot?
Plus, we talk the historic Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada hair match, Yamada’s career and an update on her today, Koichi Yoshizawa and more.
NJPW’s G1 Climax 33 tournament continues today with A Block & B Block matches in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall.
In the main event, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA takes on NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya in a battle of unbeatens.
In the semi-main, the undefeated Kazuchika Okada takes on fellow CHAOS member YOSHI-HASHI.
The full lineup:
A Block: SANADA (3-0, 6 points) vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (2-0-1, 5 points)
B Block: Kazuchika Okada (3-0, 6 points) vs. YOSHI-HASHI (2-1, 4 points)
A Block: Ren Narita (0-1-2, 2 points) vs. Hikuleo (0-3, 0 points)
B Block: Tanga Loa (1-2, 2 points) vs. El Phantasmo (0-3, 0 points)
A Block: Chase Owens (1-2, 2 points) vs. Yota Tsuji (0-2-1, 1 point)
B Block: Taichi (2-1, 4 points) vs. KENTA (1-2, 2 points)
A Block: Gabe Kidd (1-2, 2 points) vs. Shota Umino (0-1-2, 2 points)
B Block: Will Ospreay (2-1, 4 points) vs. Great-O-Khan (1-2, 2 points)
Our live coverage begins at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time.
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Recommended Matches
Will Ospreay vs. Great-O-Khan – A great little inter-faction match that blew past my expectations.
Gabe Kidd vs. Shota Umino – An absolutely violent match with a fantastic set of rallies from Umino.
SANADA vs. Kaito Kiyomiya – This is my new favorite tournament match thus far. A masterfully executed bout, bell-to-bell.
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Will Ospreay defeated Great-O-Khan
Even though this United Empire showdown, neither man held their punches. This match featured focused strike exchanges and weapon-based fights on the floor. After multiple false finishes from both men, Ospreay hit a 540° Corkscrew Senton Bomb to win the match.
Ospreay caught block leaders with 6 points.
Shota Umino defeated Gabe Kidd
Kidd opened the match by rushing Umino in the Korakuen crowd, leading to a violent start. Kidd maintained this energy throughout the match’s runtime, dominating Umino for some time; this also opened the door for some of the best rallies in Umino’s career. Ultimately, Umino was able to hold on, hitting a Death Rider to win the match.
Umino earned his first win here, making his way to 4 points.
KENTA defeated Taichi
This match opened with a battle of the belts, with Taichi showing off the KOPW title and KENTA the Defy strap; KENTA used this opportunity to flatten Taichi with his belt before the opening bell. What followed was a silly back-and-forth, ending when KENTA blocked a knee strike with his belt and rolled up Taichi for a quick win.
With this win, KENTA sits at 4 points.
Yota Tsuji defeated Chase Owens
For whatever reason, this was a heavily Owens-controlled match. Only after surviving multiple C-triggers, a Jewel Heist, and an attempted package piledriver was Tsuji able to land a spear to win this match.
Tsuji earns his first win, working his way up to 3 points.
El Phantasmo defeated Tanga Loa
This match certainly happened. After minutes of escalation and moves trading, ELP secured Loa in a crucifix pin to score a sudden win.
With this win, ELP is on the board with 2 points.
Hikuleo defeated Ren Narita
While a little long, this was a decent big-man/little-man match. Hikuleo looked pretty good in this position, and Narita put in a firey performance, as always. In the end, Hikuleo withstood Narita’s rallies, winning with a choke slam.
Hikuleo’s first G1 win earns him 2 points.
Kazuchika Okada defeated YOSHI-HASHI
Okada worked an unserious opening match here, bordering on disrespect for YH. Okada’s lack of consideration for YH opened the door for a prolonged YH offensive sequence. An extended back-and-forth followed, with Okada eventually connecting with the rainmaker to maintain his undefeated streak.
Okada remains the last undefeated competitor in B block, standing tall with 8 points.
SANADA defeated Kaito Kiyomiya
This match was something special. In a rare sight, this was a truly emotional SANADA match, filled with dramatic sequences. The multiple false finishes in the closing moments were nothing short of exhilarating. Ultimately, Kaito’s inability to win the big one in New Japan continues, as SANADA won with a shining wizard with two seconds on the clock.
With this win, SANADA remains the only undefeated wrestler in his block with 8 points.
*Ticket sales for all the WWE events of the weekend, how it compares to the past, as well as for the ROH show
*Updates on the lineup and what is on each night and what seems to be on each night based on reports
*Update on match changes
*Update on NXT Takeover and who will have their first big match on the show
*Update on the key independent shows held over WrestleMania weekend
*AEW ticket sales for Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door
*Full coverage of UFC 286 and where things go next for the top fighters on the show
*A look at the final week of the New Japan Cup, new stories, lineups for early April, and new stable, the Sanada title match and reviews of every tournament match and the full finals show.
*Andy Kaufman in WWE Hall of Fame, a look back at the famous angle and other key angles during Kaufman’s run in Memphis, the David Letterman show and how the angle came to be
*NCAA wrestling tournament note including one of history’s biggest upsets and the story behind it
*Davey Richards retires, a look at the allegations that led to his retirement, his career and the time when Bryan Danielson called him the best in the world
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings for all the national shows, placings and hat can be learned from the competition and the results
*A look at CMLL’s second biggest show of the year , the big hair match and where Romero vs Volador looks to be going
*Notes on upcoming tournament of champions in Mexico
*Film on well known pro wrestling personality debuted recently at Film Festival
*Update on major celebrity wrestling angle and how it got exposed by a fan
*A look at the Lucha Libre World Cup featuring stars from AEW
*Update on plans for the biggest Stardom event in history
*All Japan has two shows featuring interpromotional matches
*NOAH runs a big show with key title change
*Update on Will Ospreay
*Update on Mercedes Mone and when her New Japan deal is up
*Notes on Best of the Super Juniors tournament
*Legendary promotion from the best with some of the best matches in history is starting a YouTube page
*Health updates on a lot of key wrestling personalities
*Former pro wrestler becomes a hero who likely saved a lot of lives averting a potential shooting
*Top U.S. stars tour Australia
*Unique tournament planned
*Indie promotion in the U.K. bringing in top stars for unique title determination matches
*Update on MLW and a new deal made
*Update on major new national television show in the plans
*A look at AEW’s first house show in years
*New AEW and WWE business deals
*Ticket sales for upcoming AEW and WWE events
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers
*Conor McGregor’s comeback notes including a key rule for his return and if it will be broken
*Olympic silver medalist signs unique deal to both do MMA and still try for a 2024 gold medal
*WWE video game news and launch party
*Story about a major international deal WWE is working on
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This week’s The Bump, featuring The Miz, Maryse, and Johnny Gargano. Additional episodes of The Bump will air on Sunday and Monday covering WrestleMania weekend.
Drew McIntyre spoke to The Mail Online about his loss at Clash at the Castle to Roman Reigns, agreeing that the moment was bittersweet. “For sure. It’s very rare that you ever get moments like that. There’s a stadium full of people 100 percent on one guy’s side and the story has peaked at the right time and you have the chance to take a talent to that next, next, next level. That’s what we had at Clash. But you need to look at the bigger picture. What are the plans for Roman and the Bloodline storyline, but at the same time it’s like, “Ah, could we do both? Theory has the Money in the Bank briefcase, there might be a way to pull this off, to look after Roman and the Bloodline story, which is the bigger picture, but at the same time take a talent to the next level? Everything happens for a reason and sometimes old McIntyre doesn’t quite get it done. It’s the story of my life and my character’s life I guess, that I keep getting knocked down and I guess that’s why my fans keep rallying behind me and pushing me and believing in me because they see how hard I work and how much I believe, no matter how close I get and keep on getting it taken away from me, I’ll keep pushing forward until I finally get that moment.”
Adam Cole on tonight’s return to the ring: “Tonight means everything to me. I truly didn’t know if this day would come, but here we are. No matter what, thank you. Let’s do this.”
Kaito Kiyomiya was originally set to travel to the United States with Keiji Muto, who is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. However, Tokyo Sports reported that Kiyomiya would have to miss the trip due to suffering concussion issues from a match on March 27. Yoshiki Inamura is traveling with Muto instead.
A GoFundMe has been launched for Superstar Billy Graham, who remains hospitalized. An update on Facebook from his wife Valerie: “Things are horribly difficult. Wayne is struggling and still not home. I was in the ER this weekend still testing positive for covid….shortness of breath….severe coughing….said it’s inflammation and bronchitis from covid….this is horrible and going through it alone is getting harder every day. I just had a call from the nursing facility and Wayne has refused all of his meds today….he’s dealing with a lot of confusion and depression. He’s still 100% deaf and has now lost 65 pounds….It’s breaking my heart not being able to see him. This Friday will be 12 weeks since he’s been home. And now on top of everything else I have to figure out how to come up with his medicare copay….the nursing facility called this morning to tell me he’s reached the cap so now back to paying $200 a day out of pocket. I have no idea where that money will come from. Can get very overwhelming but I know the Lord is with us and He will provide. Thank you for your constant prayers. “
Datebook has a story on local wrestling shows in the Bay Area, including NJPW’s recent Battle in the Valley event.
On this week’s Pacific Rim, we get an in-person review of Keiji Muto’s Grand Final Pro Wrestling Last Love card from the Tokyo Dome by our own Fumi Saito.
He was among the 30,000+ people on hand to witness a truly historic night of pro wrestling. In addition to the winners and losers, Fumi and I examine the themes of the night, the backstories, and the subtext that you may have missed or didn’t know about.
Fumi has covered Muto’s career from the beginning and he talks about what it was like to witness the poetic ending.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Kaito Kiyomiya in the co-main event of Keiji Muto’s retirement show Tuesday morning.
In a battle between the IWGP World Heavyweight and GHC champions, Okada defeated Kiyomiya with the rainmaker. The finish of the match had Okada dodge another shining wizard by Kiyomiya and hit an enziguri as a tribute to Antonio Inoki. He then hit an emerald flowsion and connected with the rainmaker for the win.
After the match, Okada immediately left the ring and headed to the back, leaving as quickly as possible.
The two started their rivalry at the Wrestle Kingdom 17 event in Yokohama Arena last month. Okada had Kiyomiya’s tag partner, Yoshiki Inamura, in a rest hold. Kiyomiya attempted to break up the hold, but Okada refused until Kiyomiya kicked Okada flush in the face. Furious, Okada let go and instead attacked Kiyomiya, eventually causing the match to be thrown out.
When the match was announced, Okada initially refused the idea of facing Kiyomiya. However, Okada made a surprise appearance at a NOAH event on February 12, attacking Kiyomiya and telling him he’d take the match. Okada proceeded to no-show their press conference last week, causing Kiyomiya to become upset.
Welcome to My Favorite Wrestler (This Week). Each week, the Wrestling Observer team chooses, you guessed it, their favorite wrestler of the week. The criteria are that there are no criteria. Except it has to be a wrestler. And it has to be because of something that wrestler has done this week. So there’s at least some criteria.
This week, the biggest news in wrestling has been the saddest kind of news, with the passings of George “The Animal” Steele, Ivan Koloff, and Nicole Bass. But the show, and this column, must go on. Here are our favorite wrestlers this week. Who’s yours?
George “The Animal” Steele
By Zach Dominello
One of, if not my earliest, wrestling memories is George “The Animal” Steele. I was four or five years old, and being introduced to professional wrestling on my nonna’s living room floor. Instantly, I was captivated by these absurdly large and colorful characters with their bandanas, shiny sunglasses, wispy blonde hair, and bicep tassels. But nobody caught my attention more than The Animal.
He was like nothing I had ever seen before. Just the amount of hair alone on that man’s body blew my five-year-old mind. He was like Shrek before Shrek even existed. A real life monster. Except he wasn’t. Behind the layers and layers of hair (so much hair) was this gentle, caring, turnbuckle eating, green tongued man. The other characters looked their part. Hogan looked like the hero, King Kong Bundy looked like the (enormous) villain. But George was different. His outward appearance didn’t match who he was. I found that so intriguing as a kid.
It’s what’s inside that counts, and don’t judge a book by its cover. Such simple lessons that we’re usually taught by our parents and our teachers. They were taught to me by George “The Animal” Steele. And Sloth from The Goonies.
Kevin Owens
By Jeremy Peeples
Kevin Owens won the week with his incredible promo on Raw. WWE has struggled to make him feel like a top guy — let alone the top guy on Raw since his title win. He was greatly hurt by effectively being handed the title by Triple H, which was made worse by it being his first World title-level win in the company — so he already had an uphill battle to climb.
Months of being a comedy sidekick to Chris Jericho hurt his credibility, but his promo on Raw gave him a serious edge that he has lacked for the better part of the past year. It’s a shame that we didn’t see more of this side of Kevin Owens’ character during his title run, because with that seemingly ending at Fastlane, it’s hard to imagine him being put in the title scene any time soon with Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and Braun Strowman seemingly being the focus of Raw’s top tier in 2017.
Kaito Kiyomiya
By Alan4L
“NOAH the REBORN” was the subject of my article in this week’s F4W newsletter and my dude right now on the Green Mat is young Kaito Kiyomiya.
Now the protege of the Japanese Cyborg Killing Machine Takashi Sugiura, Kiyomiya has taken on an even fierier attitude than he had in his first year of wrestling. He’s stepped up big in recent weeks against Naomichi Marufuji and even got knocked out cold as a result. But Kaito keeps coming and has all the heart and fight in the world. He’s going to be a star.
My favorite wrestler (this week) is Emi Sakura, the Japanese veteran who heads up the Gatoh Move promotion. Over the weekend she returned to UK joshi promotion Pro Wrestling EVE, where she is a former champion, and worked both shows in their A Day & A Night At The Resistance double-shot.
She won the pinfall in the main event of the matinee show, a six-woman affair also featuring joshi legend Meiko Satomura, and lost a tooth to an errant kick from her compatriot, before facing EVE Champion Rhia O’Reilly for the title at the climax of the evening show, when she again bled for her efforts.
The following day, Sakura led a training seminar and then hand-picked the best of that class for a free show, showcasing the talents of girls from all over the UK, and giving back to a scene which has embraced her on her regular trips over here. Reassuring existing fans that she is not slowing down, and winning over new ones by the dozen, Sakura is deservedly This Week’s Best Thing Ever.
Braun Strowman
By Mike DellaCamera
It was February 23rd, 2017. I woke up, went to work, came home, walked my dog, and realized Braun Strowman was my favorite wrestler of the week. The thought of that is almost too much for me to comprehend. Go back six months. If someone told you their favorite wrestler, at any point, was Braun Strowman, how would you react? What would you feel? How did someone go from something thrown into the Wyatt Family to the main event of Raw? It’s really a lot to process and I’m not entirely sure I have.
His match with Big Show on Raw was…perfect? Incredible? It exceeded every reasonable expectation I had for it by miles. The things he can do at his size are outrageous. His physical gifts are preposterous. But the most incredible thing he did this week? He showed us he could tell a story in the ring. He utilized all of his physical attributes and proved that somewhere in him, is the ability to be as good as anyone. His ceiling was effectively removed, and where he goes from here is only limited by what WWE writes for him. Man, what a time to be alive.
Kassius Ohno
By Ryan Frederick
After a legendary run on the independent scene, Chris Hero made his television return to NXT under his former moniker, Kassius Ohno, and he gets my favorite wrestler of the week.
No, he didn’t compete in a televised match, though he has been working on NXT house shows for the last month, but Ohno, as Hero, is coming off one of the best years in the business in 2016, and he has a lot of new momentum in coming back to WWE. Time will tell whether he eventually moves to the main roster, but his popularity is at an all-time high, and I’m very invested in what they will do with him this time, as they completely missed the boat on him the first time.
It was for the best, though, and I’m hopeful for an even more incredible future from Ohno with WWE.
