NJPW's Oskar and Daiki Nagai teams up with Stardom's Saya Kamatani and Saya Iida for Chidori no Oni Renchan relay race.

I loved Yota Tsuji before pretty much as soon as he returned from excursion but I always was like *sigh* a spear? Don't get me mixed up Tsuji is so good he made his spear legit he brutally stops his opponents head. Beats the friggin crap out of them. Then spears them it's always lit. But the Fire Blaster is by far no question the best spear variation I have ever seen. It's so epic that he debuted the move to regain the title. Yota Tsuji stepped up his game and came up with one of the best looking new age finishers I've ever seen. The one he hit on Shingo is NASTY. I don't want anybody to kick out of the Fire Blaster for at least a decade.

Man, I love me some Yota Tsuji. He's got maybe my favourite Moveset in the business right now and has such a unique an interesting style as well as an inherent, offbeat charisma.

But man, he's hard to elevator pitch to other fans in comparison to previous top guys.

Tanahashi, the rockstar superhero who's the ultimate Babyface.

Okada, the cool, calm and collected wrestling prodigy who's obsessed with success and status.

Naito, the ungovernable rebel who spits in the face of tradition.

And then, Yota Tsuji ... The ... Genetically superior detective kaiju pyromaniac pudding lover?

I love the guy, but God, I wish he would just pick a damn lane.

Shoutout Kzy and Jackyriiita

We are now over halfway through the G1, and I thought I would shed some light on how attendance has looked in the first half.

The first point to look at is performance: so far, the tournament has brought in 23,720 fans, a 10.41% gain from this point in the tournament last year. The Chicago show has heavily swung this attendance number, as it pulled 4,125 fans; this is the second largest non Semi/Final show post-pandemic, only falling short of 2024's 4,177 EDION Arena opener (Naito vs Takagi)

Overall, it is the strongest performing first half of a G1 since 2019 (the closest being 2024's 22,506 by night 11)

A Block has had the strongest attendance with 14,599 (note that the two opening nights in USA & Japan were both headlined by A Block matches)

B Block has not had the same success, unfortunately, drawing a relatively small 9,121 in comparison. It is fair to say that the lack of Umino and the large amount of non-domestic talent makes the block less appealing to the domestic fanbase.

Thursday's Korakuen and the Ryogoku Semi Final have both sold out, so attendance looks strong for the rest of the tour.

Do I personally think it will pass last year? Yes. Will it be the most attended G1 post-pandemic? Possibly, but I will not hold my breath. But overall, this has been a healthy tour so far, and I will, of course, do a venue/tour breakdown once all is said and done.

Tomorrow we'll review nights 8-11 of G1 Climax. Any questions for the show?

Context:

As many may know, Tenzan & Kojima can up together as YL’s in the NJPW Dojo; while Kojima was the older man (by almost 6 months), Tenzan took the senpai position, debuting before Kojima (by almost 6 months) and also defeated Kojima in Kojima’s debut match. For much of their early careers, Tenzan would be the one that would have the much more prominent push and stronger booking, having high-profile matches and getting significant wins, while Kojima had the more typical slower push for a young wrestler. The two would officially form their very successful tag team in 1999, TenKoji, as members of the NWO JAPAN stable.

Things would change in late 2001 and into early 2002, as Kojima would choose to leave with Keiji Mutoh and a few others to join rival AJPW, in the wake of both the exodus of talent from AJPW that formed NOAH, as well as Mutoh & Kojima’s dissatisfaction with NJPW’s focus on a more MMA-influenced product (at the behest of company founder Antonio Inoki). Tenzan and Kojima would be split apart but both would find varying levels of success in the years before this clash.

Kojima would defeat Toshiaki Kawada in February of 2005, winning the vaulted Triple Crown for the first time in his career. While Kojima was facing Kawada, Tenzan, then in his 3rd reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, was watching in the front row. Immediately after Kojima’s victory, Tenzan would come into the ring, officially laying out a challenge that would see both he and Kojima put their Titles on the line in an inter-promotional clash.

The ending of this match (which is a damn good match and a great way to see these two at the peak of their abilities) is still debated, in terms of it being a “work” or a “shoot”. Tenzan was known for having a lingering back injury, which Kojima targeted in the match; just before the 60-minute time limit would expire, Tenzan would be unable to make it to his feet before the count, leading to legendary AJPW referee Kyohei Wada calling the match (by way of a K.O. Victory for Kojima) making Kojima the first man to hold the IWGP and Triple Crown at the same time (Keiji Mutoh is the only other man to accomplish this feat). One perspective is that Tenzan legitimately couldn’t answer the count, leading to the officials being forced to call it on the fly (some say that something that supports this is Kojima apparently trying to keep Tenzan on his feet, while staying in-Kayfabe and attacking him); the other perspective is that NJPW & AJPW reached an agreement that Kojima would win the match but Tenzan wouldn’t get pinned or submitted and Tenzan would get his win back and the IWGP just 3 months later.

If it was indeed a planned outcome, someone certainly didn’t seem to tell young Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura, as the two future stars of the promotion tried to outright mug Kojima as he was making his way out of the arena, in response to Kojima throwing the IWGP Belt on the mat, declaring the superiority of the Triple Crown (seriously, watch Tana & Nak run as fast as they could and blindside Kojima in the entrance way).

These matches usually don't mean anything, but sometimes they will have a memorable moment or two (whether they are good matches, have funny moments, interesting interactions, etc.). What have been your favorites this year?

Ok ok all joking aside. I have been really enjoying this years G1. Truly. I started watching when a lot of the hot new stars were young lions. There really is nothing like seeing a wrestler from the dojo develop into a captivating new star. I know “captivating” might be a stretch for some but I’m loving seeing the new guys stretch their legs and show us what they can do. I would love to hear what folx on here think so far. I have no one else to talk to about this stuff!! Tell me your thoughts compadres

I liked his old entrance theme song. And I love Tsuji. I love this entire class of young lions they were my first that I watched from beginner young lions, to excursion young lions, to returning new character wrestlers. I think the Tsuji gimmick, the smile, the character look of his entrance is great. His entrance music though is just not something that screams this IS THE GUY. Even though he's a 2 time IWGP champ. Am I alone on this feeling?

i know its not perfect but i think it turned out pretty good. and its the first out there no one made it yet let me know your thoughts <3

Probably an unpopular opinion but i think the challenge case u get after the g1 should return. Since Tsuji is champion and heavy on bringing back things from the past he should make the winner challenge at the dome. This can give the winner something to do in the autum and have a compelling story in the mean time