If I had to pick the four overriding themes of the 2015 G1 Climax, I’d go with the slap in face emergence of heel Tetsuya Naito, the rise of a budding new star in Big Mike Elgin (one of the most stunning examples of completely silencing critics that I can ever recall), the insane match quality quietly sneaking up on people like a Yano cheap shot (this reviewer tallied up 25 four star or better matches before this night, and added four more after), and the demise of the great Hiroshi Tanahashi being greatly exaggerated.

After dropping the IWGP Heavyweight title to AJ Styles, Tanahashi was booked in a never ending feud with Toru Yano, which some speculated was due to his declining physical state and imminent slide into his post peak years, since Yano works an easy style. Others observers weren’t so quick to dig Tanahashi’s grave, opting for the more careful route of waiting to see how Tanahashi performed in the G1 before declaring him dead. That proved to be the correct train of thought, with the Yano series perhaps being a helpful rest stop, as Tanahashi has looked as good as ever over the last three weeks, delivering elite level performances in great matches against Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Bad Luck Fale, Katsuyori Shibata, and Shinsuke Nakamura. The Ibushi, Shibata, Styles, and Nakamura matches have garnered MOTY buzz. Tanahashi arguably had his best G1 yet, and is putting in some of his best career performances. The grave dug for Tanahashi now contains the remains of the narrative that he had entered his decline.

The format of the tour was exhausting for fans trying to keep up with everything. Wiser were those who waited for reviews or to see what was gathering hype. I consume more wrestling than most humans, and even I tapped out on the undercard tags by the end of the first week. With burnout setting in, I was forcing myself to watch shows as the tour crept towards the finish line, and if the matches weren’t so good (or if I didn’t have a website to contribute to), I very likely would have tapped out at some point on watching the G1 block matches until the final night. Congrats to anyone who managed to watch every match on all 19 shows. I admire your fortitude, and I’m flat out jealous of your time management.

Before the opener Delirious hit the ring, and for some reason decided it was a good idea to speak in the most stereotypical Godzilla movie broken English accent while announcing that ROH was coming to Japan in 2016. He would have been better off cutting the promo in lizard speak. Yeesh. –Joe Lanza

New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax 25 – Night 19 (Finals)
August 16, 2015
Sumo Hall – Tokyo, Japan
Watch: NJPWWorld.com

David Finlay, Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Jushin Thunder Liger, Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu

Joe Lanza (@JoeMLanza): New Japan should work out a trade with their pals from DDT and swap Taguchi for somebody like Tetsuya Endo. Taguchi’s goofy ass attacks would fit like a glove on the wacky DDT undercards, and maybe Endo could just forget to go back to DDT like BUSHI did with All Japan. To be fair, I don’t mind Taguchi as a prelim act, but he drives me nuts with any semblance of a push. I’m convinced Tanaka & Komatsu are going to be young lions forever. Like, that’s their permanent gimmick. 45-year old young lions who never moved up. Hot opener. Enjoyed. ***

Rich Kraetsch (@VoicesWrestling): An inconsequential six-man opener featuring a bevy of different people. The match itself was fairly solid and featured some nice work from the likes of Dorada and Komatsu. Unfortunately, the ending has a heavy emphasis on Taguchi and that’s never a good thing in my book. Since Joe made the Komatsu/Tanaka are perpetual young boys rant, I’ll remind you that Komatsu’s first PPV singles match came in November 2012 on a NEVER branded show (yep, it was intended to be a separate brand). He lost to Takaaki Watanabe, by the way. NOVEMBER 2012, please for the love of god do something with these guys. **1/2

Bryan Rose (@PuroUniverse / @br26): This was your typical solid New Japan six man tag. Not much more to say regarding it. Everyone looked fine. Struggling to say anything more. It gets like that after reviewing 19 days worth of New Japan six man tags! **¼

Brandon Howard (@adecorativedrop): It’s 2AM local. Drunken college kids somewhere are still stirring. What am I doing awake? I’ve risen to watch young lions and masked super heroes do battle and Taguchi grab his butt. Delirious a moment ago spoke intelligible English. My brain and the world burns. There are certain things one endures for the sake of G1. **¾

https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/632799030498721792

TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Captain New Japan def. Jay White, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

Joe Lanza: Another hot trios match, even with the presence of Nakanishi, who moves so slow these days that it looks like he’s going in reverse. Satoshi Kojima is from the same young lion class as Nakanishi & Tenzan, yet the difference in physical state is staggering. TenKoji worked together down the stretch to help put away White, who is really starting to come around in the personality department. ***

Rich Kraetsch: Two-thirds of the famous Pro Wrestling NOAH stable “Maybach Trio” were on display here as Nagata & Nakanishi finally took off their hoods to work under their New Japan personas. I wish I were joking but, no, Nagata and Nakanishi will soon be wrestling in Pro Wrestling NOAH alongside Maybach Taniguchi. Poor Nagata. Anyway, back to New Japan and this match — it was nothing special but had its merits. Jay White in particular stood out as his youth and athleticism was such a stark contrast to the rest of the guys in the ring. I understand you had to put Tenzan on this show but man did that guy look like he truly needed a day off. **1/4

Bryan Rose: Another good prelim. White looked good here. Tenzan seemed sluggish and Nakanishi is super slow. The real thing I gained from this match is that I am stunned Captain New Japan didn’t get pinned. But I guess that’s why White was here. **½

Brandon Howard: Nakanishi was fine as a tree to stand in the middle and bounce off of. Jay White and Kojima exchanged pec flexes. A man of dignity, Nagata thwarted “Itchauzo, Bakayaro!” Captain New Japan’s offense consisted of things that were not fully formed wrestling moves. Meanwhile young lion Jay White actually got in a top-rope dropkick before being submitted by Tenzan’s anaconda vice. **½

Michael Elgin def.  YOSHI-HASHI

Joe Lanza: You would lose, but you could make a reasonable argument that Big Mike Elgin was the MVP of the G1 tournament. Elgin not only had a great tour, but he may have earned himself a new home in NJPW (they’d be insane to not bring him back), and he also has a new T-shirt thanks to a Tweet I made three weeks ago containing a hashtag that took on a life of it’s own. This match was like a living, breathing battle of VOW memes that have turned into real life things, because I renamed YOSHI-HASHI’s finisher the “Loose Explosion” a few weeks back, and now it’s official, because if Wikipedia says so then it must be true. Elgin was so good on this tour that he carried Yujiro to a legitimate very good match, and then right in front of my eyes damn near put up a four spot vs YOSHI-f’n-HASHI. This was the best YOSHI-HASHI singles match I’ve ever seen, and he worked hard all tour in his undercard tags, so fuck it, I’m rounding up on this one because this match ruled and these dudes earned it. All hail #BigMike.  ****

Rich Kraetsch: After impressing (and shocking) the world with a spectacular G1 Climax run, he finished the tour off with a bang in a singles match against YOSHI-HASHI. The match itself was solid but not great, though it showed #BigMike’s most endearing New Japan traits: his intensity and tenacity. The man has found his role in the world of pro wrestling and it’s working 10-15 minute matches in New Japan. I’ll go out on a limb and say this isn’t the last we’ve seen from #BigMike in NJPW. ***

Bryan Rose: This was a good match that was actually kind of great thanks to the crowd. Sumo Hall got super into Elgin’s power spots and his finishing sequence and that helped the match.  The match itself was just fine – pretty good with Yoshi Hashi getting some shine, but of course this was the showcase for Elgin to get over. Good stuff and a good match to close out what’s been a spectacular tour for #BigMike. ***½

Brandon Howard: Michael Elgin has found his calling in life, and it is to deadlift other men, throw exaggerated forearms at them and do many dangerous moves in Japan. And no one could see this coming. All anyone could see what his oversized suitcoat. Until Big Mike found his rightful home and changed the world. YOSHI-HASHI wanted to prove he should be in next year’s G1. He even encouragingly got the fall in his tag the day before, but this is Elgin’s tale of redemption and buckle bombing and powerbombing dudes straight to hell. ***¼

CHAOS (Kazushi Sakuraba, Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) def. BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi)

Joe Lanza: Imagine me telling you a month ago that Tomohiro Ishii would have the unfortunate task of following a Mike Elgin/YOSHI-HASHI match. Wrestling is crazy, guys. Fact is, this could have followed Hideki Suzuki vs KAI and it still would have struggled. This was six guys with no booking direction whatsoever going through the motions at the end of a long, grueling tour. Totally skippable. Just a match. **

Rich Kraetsch: A terrible, rudderless match that just went on and on with no clear direction and no clear goal. This one could’ve been saved by Ishii interacting with Tonga or Sakuraba, you know, tagging in. Alas, it featured Yujiro and Fale working over Ishii. Yano hope spots and yeah, this was just bad all around and the crowd couldn’t possibly care less. Literally the only highlight of the match was Yujiro’s babe wearing a very revealing cat suit. DUD

Bryan Rose: Didn’t feel this one at all. You have Yujiro and Fale out there for most of the match, so that’s probably why. Ishii at least got the win with the brainbuster. It ranged from fine to just there to pretty boring. These two members of the Bullet Club in particular, Fale & Yujiro, do not need to do much tagging together in the future, I can tell you that. *½

Brandon Howard: Yujiro’s entrances always make me feel like Bill Murray in that scene from Lost in Translation where he gets dragged to a Japanese strip club and his friend gets a lapdance and leaves Murray, tall American in small room, so awkwardly alone. Ishii and Tonga mercifully got a minute together to try to save you like Scarlett Johansson. However, it wasn’t long before reality set back in; the others got involved, and it was over when Ishii brainbustered Tonga. **

Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata & Kota Ibushi def. Tetsuya Naito, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma

Joe Lanza: Unlike the previous Island of Misfit Toys trios bout, this one was loaded with grudges. Naito & Shibata appear headed towards a singles match, and Ibushi has publicly called out Makabe and stated that he’s after the NEVER title. The crowd was red hot for this from start to finish, particularly for the incredible Shibata/Naito interactions. Shibata wants to kill this man, and they’ve done more to make me want to their see singles bout with their interactions over the last two nights than most people do with weeks of promos. Three of the four trios matches on the first half of the card delivered. This one, as you would figure, was the best. ***1/4

Rich Kraetsch: This may not have had the same excitement level as a few of the earlier six-mans but it was quite voluminous as multiple feuds and future title defenses were hinted throughout. Both Ibushi/Makabe and Naito/Shibata look to have long-term programs mapped out while Goto, well, I don’t know about Goto. Unfortunately (and inevitably) Honma took the loss, so his momentum from beating Ishii in a Korkean main event hasn’t carried over. Poor guy. Otherwise this was just an okay match and more of a story driver than anything you need to watch for in-ring. ***

Bryan Rose: Good tag match. The entrances felt longer than the match which is kind of funny. I think  The real highlights here were seeing Kota Ibushi and Togi Makabe go at it and the interactions between Tetsuya Naito and Katsyuori Shibata. It’s obvious, especially after seeing the four of them go at it after the match, that these are two of the programs that’ll highlight the fall. As for the match itself, good stuff, but nothing out of this world. Honma taking the pinfall makes sense. He only should win when it matters the most. ***1/4

Brandon Howard: The interaction between Shibata and Naito must be seen. Naito soaked up great true heel heat from the Sumo Hall while Shibata projected that he must kill the Ingobernable. These two were masters in this match of doing so much with facial expressions, body language and doing the right thing at the right time. It didn’t matter what moves they did. I am now dying to see that singles match. ***

Intermission: A few notes on intermission — New Japan formally announced WrestleKingdom 10 will take place, you guessed it, January 4, 2016 from the Tokyo Dome. The big story though was the gasp of the crowd as Genichiro Tenryu made his way to the ring. The Puro legend called Gedo into the ring which brought Kazuchika Okada down as well and after some posturing the match was set. No, you’re not dreaming. Tenryu will face Okada on 11/15. What a god damn dream match that is, even with the state of Tenryu. Holy shit, I can’t wait. -Rich

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) def. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (c)

Joe Lanza: This was a slight notch below a few of the previous bouts between these teams, but we’re dealing with arguably the two best teams in the world and MOTY contenders as the bar, so this was still pretty great. We got all of the usual hot sequences these teams provide, plus the added story of Cody Hall’s constant interference, which was paid off by O’Reilly ducking a double superkick that Hall ended up eating which popped the crowd huge. reDRagon had some great counters ready for some of the Bucks key spots. Maybe the third best match these teams have put together, which tells you how well they work with each other. ****

Rich Kraetsch: It should come as little surprise that a Junior Heavyweight Tag Title match ended with a new team holding the straps. It use to be a fun joke to talk about TimeSplitters and Forever Hooligans “trading” the title back and forth but at least they had successful defenses! The Young Bucks are three-time champions and have exactly five successful title defenses. Their last two reigns have only seen them have one successful defense. Looking at recent history, since reDRagon defeated the TimeSplitters for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team championships at November 2014’s Power Struggle there’s been a total of two successful title defenses by the four different champions. What exactly are we doing here?

I enjoyed this match because, c’mon its the Bucks vs. reDRagon! It wasn’t spectacular by any means but it was exactly the solid, clean effort you’d expect from these two teams. The ending was really fun as the Bucks tried like hell to cheat for the win but Fish & O’Reilly just wouldn’t go down. Bucks got crazy and hinted an Indy Taker to the outside (please nobody ever try this, by the way). In the end, reDRagon won and begin their inevitable march to losing the titles as soon as possible. ***½

Bryan Rose: This was good, but the usual kind of good, if you know what I mean. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but they’ve had better matches on other shows. There were fun spots, but really before the last few minutes this felt like any other match you’ve seen between these two…which is good. Loved the tease of the Indytaker on the outside spot. I only have two questions after this match: 1) Why do they keep switching the Junior tag team titles constantly and 2) Why does the Bullet Club have a Betty Boop t-shirt? ***1/4

Brandon Howard: The Young Bucks are part-comedy act, part-blinding highspot sequences. Between ridiculous tandem flips, they did old school schtick like a cheap eye poke, tripping on the ropes and having Cody Hall steal O’Reilly’s body. O’Reilly returned for a comeback, displaying probably the smoothest-looking offense in the world. As many times as they’ve worked each other, it’s a credit to both teams they continue to have creative matches. ***¾

https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/632828558252068864

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match
KUSHIDA (c) def. Ricochet

Joe Lanza: Great match, and a strong win for KUSHIDA’s reign over a guy who is viewed as a major star at the junior level. One thing that stood out for me was how well they peaked the crowd at the right times, which is much harder to do in the modern era where fans expect more in terms of action from bell to bell. This is an often overlooked point, and it’s also something that a lot of matches miss the mark on. KUSHIDA’s Hoverboard Lock has become one of the most interesting finishes in wrestling because of the various angles & counters he uses to find ways to lock it on. Ricochet is just the best, and the perfect guy for the big name outsider challenge one off gimmick. ****1/4

Rich Kraetsch: I can’t put my finger on exactly what was missing from this match but it was something. The primary focus was KUSHIDA working over the arms of Ricochet to soften him up for the Hoverboard Lock. It worked like a charm as Ricochet eventually did tap to the lock but everything in-between lacked a certain fire and excitement you’d expect from these two. It’s not that they changed their styles (all your patented Ricochet spots found their way into the match) but it was just missing…something. I know these two are capable of much better and I look forward to their next encounter. ***1/2

Bryan Rose: This was pretty good, but not at the same level as their match from last year. I think it was the crowd more than anything; they were into it, but not REALLY into it which I think took the match down a peg. But that doesn’t mean it was bad or anything, this was actually really damn good.  Ricochet precision is second to none and is on par with KUSHIDA, who is one of the best junior heavyweights in the game today. The flip dive over the ring post by Ricochet never fails to be amazing, and at one point KUSHIDA grabbed Ricochet out of mid air coming off the top rope and applied an armbar. That was great. There was a lot to like about this match. ***¾

Brandon Howard: Going in KUSHIDA said he wanted to bring on a “golden age” for junior heavyweights. The match built throughout to the Hoverboard Lock finish with KUSHIDA attacking the arm. This was a well-laid out and -executed, acrobatic match, but lacked a little in crowd heat and fire needed to make it more memorable. ***½

https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/632831181407522816

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BULLET CLUB (AJ Styles, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) def. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) & Kazuchika Okada

Joe Lanza: Styles pins Okada, so now we know there will be at least one Okada title defenses between now and Wrestle Kingdom, and we now know who one of the challengers will be. I think I finally understand Doc’s gimmick. He’s the only BC member who ever has sex, which explains the presence of Amber Gallows, and also explains why he’s the only member of BC who understands that Maria is trying to screw them figuratively, not literally. ***1/4

Rich Kraetsch: At this point in the show (well over three hours in), I was ready for the main event so this was hard to get into. The interactions between Okada/Styles were intense as their inevitable rematch continues to be hinted. The rest bordered on inoffensive. Even the Maria/Karl Anderson thing had a place and worked here as it had a profound effect on the momentum of the match. The Kingdom shockingly held their own and all in all it was an above-average to good match even if I couldn’t wait for it to end. ***

Bryan Rose:  Good tag match, but nothing too memorable. I do admit that I laughed at the spot where Anderson was ogling at Maria, then AJ joined in, then Doc yelled at them all only to turn around and get triple superkicked. AJ pinned Okada clean so that very much signals a future title match down the line, perhaps at the next PPV. For a buffer match this was perfectly fine. ***

Brandon Howard: You knew it was coming. At least the Maria-Karl Anderson interaction was well-timed. I have to admit I popped for Karl stopping straight-man Styles and turning him toward Maria’s spell. Best part of the match was Styles and Okada simultaneously getting a hot tag. They finished the last couple minutes of the match, ending with Styles getting the fall over Okada, possibly setting up a Styles vs. Okada rematch for the title. **¾

Prior to the main event, Mr. August himself, Masahiro Chono made his way to the commentary booth. As if that wasn’t enough to get this crowd fired up, Keiji Mutoh followed, also to join the crew on commentary. The crowd went ape shit for these two dudes and it was a great touch to have both of these G1 legends ringside to watch the finals. Of course, Chono and Mutoh participated in the very first G1 Climax Finals, a match and tournament that set the stage for one of the hottest periods in New Japan history. -Rich

G1 Climax 25 Final Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi def.  Shinsuke Nakamura

Joe Lanza: 

After a disappointing tournament, Nakamura saved the best (two) for last, stepping up when it mattered most and delivering two incredible performances against Okada & Tanahashi. As for Tanahashi, it is not only clear that he is very far from his decline stage, but in some ways he just keeps getting better. Here’s hoping his back holds up for another five years, because we’re watching a legitimate all time great at his peak, and as a big match wrestler, I will put Tanahashi’s resume up against anyone, ever. It’s scary to think that a guy this good, who could retire right now as an elite all time great,  could possibly have another handful or another dozen or another two dozen great matches left in his tank. And after basically taking the entire year off in between Wrestle Kingdom and the G1, after his output this tour & match, he now finds himself in his usual position of the Wrestler of the Year mix.


This was quite easily the best Tanahashi/Nakamura match among their bevy of singles bouts, some of which qualified as disappointing, which had my expectations a bit tempered coming in. Tanahashi worked with intricate precision, an aspect of his game that he has perfected over the years and has peaked as of late (the recent Kota Ibushi bout and the WK9 Okada match are perfect examples), attacking Nakamura’s leg in creative and angry ways in an effort to take away his knee strikes. Tanahashi’s High Fly Flow has become one of the more vicious looking moves in wrestling, particularly the always nasty looking version on the outside to the floor, and the traditional version always looks like a rib cracker. Nakamura has evolved himself lately, abandoning the Boma Ye in favor of the cross arm breaker as of late, and he nearly caught Tanahashi sleeping with it at a pivotal point in the bout. The sequence in the closing moments with both men fighting on the top turnbuckle, with Nakamura exhausting his last bit of fighting spirit, will go down as one of the most memorable spots in G1 Final history. Nakamura, who has formed an odd habit of eating up opponents this year, worked in the complete opposite manner in this bout, battling from underneath nearly the entire way, selling the pain and exhaustion with his awesome facials & mannerisms, which was an important aspect of this match that will be overlooked by some but shouldn’t be. He was great here. This was an instant classic.  ****3/4

Rich Kraetsch: I’ve been previously disappointed by these two men’s recent matches feeling they didn’t quite have the chemistry we’d expect they would. Also, I was critical of Nakamura’s performances throughout the G1 Climax, going on record that he wasn’t even one of the top 10 guys throughout. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he was still capable of performing t a high level, he just seemed disinterested and perhaps far more affected by his injury than we thought. Welp, they found it and Nak proved me very, very wrong. This was nothing short of incredible and was a great example of what high-level pro wrestling can be.

The match centered around Nakamura damaging Tanahashi’s arm (to set up his armbreaker finisher) and Tanahashi working over Nakamura’s leg (specifically his Boma Ye knee). Throughout the match both men made sure to reference the damage they previously took, meaning no matter what they were doing at the moment, everything in the match had meaning. One of my favorite spots saw Nakamura perform his jumping backbreaker on Tanahashi but only use the undamaged knee, lessening the effectiveness of the move. That’s one of those little things that can go a long way.

The closing 10-15 minutes was simply two warriors giving literally everything they had to win the G1 crown. There were at the very least three points where I was convinced it was over. It’s not often I get THAT sucked into nearfalls but these two did a great job of keeping myself and the packed Sumo Hall on the edge of their seats. Sure, there was a lot of finisher spamming (the Boma Ye, in particular) but it fit the context of this match. I also don’t think it was totally overdone, though some may disagree. I also like the touch that the Boma Ye may have been less than impactful as a result of Tanahashi working Nak’s knee throughout. Either way, finding huge flaws in this match is really nitpicking, it was tremendous.

After two High Fly Flows, Tanahashi finally picked up his 2nd G1 Climax trophy. This may not be my Match of the Year, but it’ll be on most everyone’s list when 2015 concludes. Incredible stuff and a great way to put a bow on the 25th G1 Climax. ****3/4

Bryan Rose: My word this was awesome. These two are the best professional wrestlers in the world today and they could wrestle 100 times in the next decade and I wouldn’t care. I thought this would be good, like their last couple of matches at WrestleKingdom and Invasion Attack 2014. Good, probably great given the venue and place. But they blew those matches way out of the water. Just friggin incredible and without a doubt will get a lot of votes for match of the year. Everything from the slow build, to the work on Nakamura’s leg throughout the match, to the blitz of amazing back and forth offense toward the end was just amazing. They went over thirty minutes and it never felt dull; everything made sense and the crowd were into it the entire time. The high fly flow from Tanahashi as Nakamura was clutching on the ropes was a clever way to finish. Another incredible G1 match that without a doubt you need to see now if you haven’t. *****

Brandon Howard: Nakamura and Tanahashi met in the foreground of the Sumo Hall’s green exit lights at the end of a long and often overwhelming G1 Climax. Following their respective incredible block-deciding matches from earlier in the weekend, they couldn’t have walked into higher expectations.

Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono came out on commentary to prime the crowd, which hung on every moment of the slow build. Compare this to earlier matches that did so much more to elicit less rapt emotion. Of course that’s more a credit to the power of the G1 final than a critique of any performer.

Big matches have the benefit of the audience caring a lot more than usual about who’s going to win, so those matches can often take the audience on a ride that most matches can’t. This did that and went further. I think most including myself thought Nakamura was winning here. Tanahashi’s destruction of Nakamura’s knee seemed to set the table for Nakamura to win in desperate, courageous fashion.

This match reached another level after Nakamura’s landslide off the top, which was followed by a long, smart double-down as the crowd ate it up. They continued to get the most out of what they did with a dramatic trade of strikes that saw Nakamura suddenly collapse and die only to come dramatically back to life.

I was tricked at least twice on the nearfalls. A match where I was pretty sure I knew who was going to win convinced me that the other guy could most definitely win, and Tanahashi in fact did. It’s a surprising result that upsets a lot of assumptions about where New Japan was going with their booking, left Nakamura fans in tears and left me shivering with amazement at having seen perhaps the best match of the year. *****

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Voices of Wrestling G1 Climax Pick’Em FINAL Standings

(Remember to support our sponsor IVPVideos.com and use our exclusive coupon code VOICE)

Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s contest. Join us in congratulating our winners: Dylan Hales, John Walther and August Baker. A little over 40 seconds separated our first and second place winners but by virtue of most closely predicting the final matches length, Dylan Hales has won the content and a grand prize from IVPVideos. All three will be contacted in the next few days on how to claim their prize. Once again, thank you all for participating! Your final point totals can be found below. Let us know how you did and who you’re blaming for your defeat at @VoicesWrestling.

NameTotalBonusNight 1Night 2Night 3Night 4Night 5Night 6Night 7Night 8Night 9Night 10Night 11Night 12Night 13Night 14Night 15Night 16Night 17Night 18
August Baker7712454454242522444442
Dylan Waco7715435243244444532522
Josh Walther7715335533343424452324
Allen Vick Jr7615444404344514441443
Bastian Sauer7615544433224534442431
Bonski McBonski765435333435555553424
Rob Rodriguez7615434522443535340235
David Dunn7515334432435424323443
Graeme Touchdown7510444442244444353424
Joshua Robinson7515243354344534311542
Ed Burns7413334343145525542431
Alex K.7310444523334435432424
Dan Atwood7310454444144434532512
Ewen MacDonald7313345223324444351524
Siva Punisamy7313344444324444342322
Aaron Bentley7215443323223433442335
Ben Pitchford7210534334134534442433
Chris Maffei725434352344535452434
J. Michael7215334412135455232334
Jake Barry7215344322244425432414
James Starkey7210245443234445432432
Kenny Ortiz726544354234534444422
Marcus Origer7210235441243524445424
Matt Audet7210445434335422443422
Matt Love725434353354543443334
Morten Hansen7213343324234253434433
Skylar Hinnant7211443334253544342431
Barry Meijer7115544441134514432412
Evan Speciner7110444524145333442414
Len Liu7115324233253435424322
Matt Wheal7113345433134534432322
Oliver Court7110543243342434443333
Olivier Tremblay7115345433214422353431
Scott Barker7115533343124434432422
SenorLARIATO7113345433234444332223
Adam Watkinson7013443333244534133422
Cameron Krusemark708443432244544343414
Capu Random7010334323234534344244
Christopher Duarte708335242343544143444
Doug Nunnally708444432325544433422
Kevin George705544442444444252405
Paco Silva Martínez705445554434424232433
Rob Reid705353433354535451423
Robert Palmer7010445423224544253322
Seth Chodosh7010434523132444454431
Taylor Mitchell706434432244534552424
Alejandro Giménez Gómez695345344243444433424
Andrew Chupurdy6910445432224534433313
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