This week, the first NJPW events in front of fans after over four months, the shocking defection of EVIL to BULLET CLUB and the King of Darkness’ championship victory are all certainly historically significant events we’ll reflect on for years to come. That’s not all though, as this week in history sees some more significant championship matches, as well as some big G1 Climax matchups:
July 13, 1995: The Warrior and the Genius
Summer certainly means tournaments in NJPW. This year, it was the New Japan Cup seeing NJPW return, culminating in a weekend of surprises in Osaka. In recent years, fans have come to associate the summer with the G1, as was the case in 1995, but with the tournament campaign being much shorter back then than the month long marathon it would become, the start of July saw a different tournament come to a head.
The Best of the Super Junior would see its final take place in Sapporo in 1995, Wild Pegasus defeating Shinjiro Otani to take the crown. The event was headlined however, by IWGP Heavyweight Champion Keiji Muto taking on Road Warrior Hawk with the gold at stake.
The Road Warriors were feared and revered all around the world, and when partner Animal was injured, Hawk was able to transfer his tag team mastery to the Hell Raisers team with Power Warrior Kensuke Sasaki just as effectively. Hawk in a major singles championship position was rather more rare; in fact this would be his one and only chance at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the eighth of just nine singles matches in the cerulean blue.
The opportunity came about after the first night on the BoSJ tour, the Hell Raisers defeating the team of Muto and new hand Tadao Yasuda. Muto would grant the championship opportunity to a highly motivated Hawk, who certainly didn’t seem phased by the champion’s early offense. Hawk’s reputation as an unstoppable force was certainly being lived up to, and hard to overcome…
July 14, 2019: Not Looking to Make Friends
Among the narratives going into G1 Climax 29, two of the most prominent were at play in the main event of night three. In one corner, KENTA, still new to the King of Sports. After his initial win over Kota Ibushi in Dallas, he now wrestled his first Japanese match in the campaign, and a lot of questions circled; not just about how Pro Wrestling NOAH’s former ace would fare against NJPW’s eternal Ace, but also just how the fans might react to the outsider.
Hiroshi Tanahashi had started his own campaign with a loss to Kazuchika Okada, and even though he had the Rainmaker rattled, questions were circling the 2018 G1 winner as well. Injured in a match with Zack Sabre Junior at Madison Square Garden, Tanahashi had returned to action at the Best of the Super Junior finals, only to lose to Jay White. A series of high profile singles losses had seen a lot of doubt cast over his G1 campaign.
With KENTA and Tanahashi both carrying their respective companies in the early part of the decade, and each representing vastly different styles, this was one of the most hotly anticipated matches of the tournament. Both were hungry for results, and for his part, KENTA was certainly not out to make any friends.
July 15, 2018: An End is a Start
Another early G1 matches with big narratives at play, the B Block of G1 Climax 28 kicked off in Sapporo this week in 2018, with a rematch of the prior year’s final.
Then, it was Tetsuya Naito defeating Kenny Omega in Ryogoku, springboarding him to the Tokyo Dome main event title match with Kazuchika Okada. The result was a bitter defeat as the Rainmaker continued to prove all but unbeatable. Naito would go on to take Intercontinental gold from Minoru Suzuki, but after Chris Jericho fairly dominated El Ingobernable at Dominion in Osaka Jo Hall, Naito headed into the G1 at a low ebb.
His opponent meanwhile was riding higher than at any point in his career. The 2016 G1 winner had himself fallen short of beating Okada for IWGP gold not once but twice in the following year, but at Dominion 2018 finally put away the Rainmaker to end his 720 day reign. Naito sought to turn recent fortunes around in Hokkaido with a win over the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
July 17, 2006: Public Display of Affection
Catchphrases are part and parcel of a wrestler’s presentation. Whether a simple, curt, Shibata like ‘that’s all’, or something more verbose, many a wrestler has spoken of first seeing their name at the top of a bill and thinking about what they might say should they find themselves victorious. What is the last statement that will ring in a fan’s ears? What image will they leave with, hopefully eager to see you win again, sending audiences home happy around the world?
For Hiroshi Tanahashi, it wasn’t his first main event in Sapporo on July 17, 2006, but it was his first taste of IWGP Heavyweight Championship glory. The title, held up days earlier, was at stake in a single elimination tournament, with Tanahashi facing the imposing Giant Bernard in the final. It hadn’t been an easy path for either man; Bernard had defeated another colossus in Akebono earlier in the evening, while Tanahashi had a tough match with Yuji Nagata to claim his spot.
Nonetheless, Bernard had the clear advantage in the final when it came to size and power. Tanahashi had an uphill battle opposite Bernard, who had the added benefit of his CTU stablemates at ringside. Persevering through some brutally hard slams from the American, however, Tanahashi would land a series of Slingblades to seize victory.
His post match comment to the fans would become iconic, but was initially met with confusion. ‘To the people who came here today: aishitemasu (I love you!)’ It’s rare, even for married couples, to express their love with such strong wording in Japan, but Tanahashi did to the entire audience. This was a love he gained as they gave him strength through thick and thin, and would persevere not just with the Ace during his career, but with New Japan at large as the company came once again to prominence. When it comes to word choice, Tanahashi did pretty well that summer night in Sapporo.
