We are heading into the final stretch of the first ever autumn G1 Climax in Japan, and in the US, the first ever Lion’s Break Crown winner is set to be determined on NJPW STRONG this weekend. That makes for plenty of history to be made in the next few days, but there are also plenty of significant moments from the past to remember. Moments like:
October 3, 2015: Clash of Styles
Revolution Pro’s Global Wars event in October 2015 would be a significant one indeed. One of the first times that NJPW and RevPro’s worlds collided in the UK, the card would feature a young Will Ospreay taking on Kazuchika Okada in a match that made the Rainmaker personally recommend the future Assassin for a spot in CHAOS. Yet while fans and those within the business alike would be buzzing about that match after the event, a clash of big names was the center of a lot of hype leading up to it.
AJ Styles spell in New Japan Pro-Wrestling was relatively brief in the grand scheme, but was undoubtedly significant. Instantly winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on his first attempt, Styles went on to an incredible G1 campaign in the summer of 2014. In 2015, with the newfound power of NJPW World, NJPW began to expand its presence overseas and Styles was at the forefront of a huge boom for New Japan, and for BULLET CLUB.
Styles’ success wasn’t confined to Japanese rings though, as he also captured RevPro’s British Heavyweight Championship. A fighting champion, Styles wanted to take on the best of competition, and RevPro comissioned a dream match against Jyushin Thunder Liger. An American future legend at the top of his game taking on a certified Japanese legend in a British ring was an international incident worth celebrating.
October 4 1987: Fight Island
One of the biggest feuds in mid 1980s New Japan Pro-Wrestling was that of Antonio Inoki and Masa Saito. Saito and Inoki had been tied together since the 1960s; after Saito was part of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic games, he joined the pro ranks, and was part of the short lived Tokyo Pro-Wrestling promotion as well as the Japanese Wrestling Association along with Inoki.
In the early 1980s, in between wildly successful periods in the United States, Masa Saito joined forces with the disgruntled Riki Choshu to upturn the established Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami led order in NJPW. Forming the Ishin Gundan, the group ran wild in New Japan rings before leaving the promotion in 1984. Saito’s return to NJPW would see him battle with the founder once more. In March 1987, Saito stepped into an NJPW ring in Osaka Jo Hall for a special single match with Inoki. The match ended in a disqualification, something neither combatant wanted; Saito suggested next time they do battle, it should be to the death.
The result was this legendary two hour plus October match on the deserted island of Ganryujima. Shrouded in history, the island was the site of a historic duel between samurai warriors Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro in 1612. A fitting battleground for two contemporary warriors of the 20th century.
October 7 2019: Dragon, Warrior
2020 has played havoc with a lot of plans in the world, but for NJPW, the athlete to catch arguably the unluckiest of breaks was Toa Henare. Victorious in the first ever NJPW match in the new decade in the Tokyo Dome, Henare seemed to be stepping up his game this year, and was set to step in his first singles main event when the New Japan Cup started in March opposite Tomohiro Ishii when the global pandemic put paid to those plans.
Henare will be hoping to set foot in the cerulean blue at least once more before the year is out, and when he does, if Ishii is target number one, Shingo Takagi will be 1-A. One year ago, a singles confrontation between the two was a highlight of Korakuen Hall action on the New Japan Road tour, and though Made In Japan secured victory for Takagi, Henare credited the match with a change in demeanour, attitude, and style that will make the warrior a fearsome force when he gets back to action.
October 8, 2012: Ace trumps King
While the G1 is taking place in the autumn for the first time this year, October and Ryogoku have long been connected. In prior years, the venue has seen King of Pro-Wrestling, and traditionally the first stones laid on the path to the Tokyo Dome and Wrestle Kingdom.
In 2012, Kazuchika Okada had already claimed half of the Wrestle Kingdom 7 main event by winning the G1 Climax for the very first time. In another first, Okada started the current tradition of the IWGP right to challenge Tokyo Dome main event contract, and was set to face whomever the champion might be.
Minoru Suzuki planned to be that champion. After beating Hiroshi Tanahashi during the G1, Suzuki got his win back from his own main event appearance at Wrestle Kingdom 6 against the IWGP Champion, and laid a claim to a title shot and a rubber match. Derisive of Tanahashi’s love of the fans, Suzuki publicly decried the Ace as ‘a wannabe’, while declaring himself the true model of a professional wrestler; a man who battles for the money and the love of violence rather than the love of the fans.
The two clashed in Ryogoku in an epic King of Pro-Wrestling main event that absorbed thousands, and showed just how tough both men were.
October 9, 1995: Promotional pride
October 1995 saw all out war erupt between two different promotions, as New japan Pro-Wrestling took on the United Wrestling Forces International in a sold out Tokyo Dome.
On a working weekday, thousands packed the Dome, with more crowds even camped outside the building watching on monitors since they couldn’t secure a ticket for this interpromotional dream event, with Keiji Muto and Nobuhiko Takada headlining.
Takada had been a strong prospect in the NJPW Dojo system before a mid 1980s walkout saw the creation of the first ever UWF. In the gap left by several departing stars, Muto saw a tremendous rise even as a Young Lion himself; a rise that ensured he would become one of the biggest stars of the 1990s after a successful excursion to the US. Meanwhile Takada would find himself part of the second, and then third iteration of the martial arts influenced UWF promotion, and was the undisputed focal point of UWFI.
Stating proudly that he could beat any pro-wrestler or martial artist on the planet, rumours of Takada heading to war with NJPW were brewing for years, before matters finally came to a head in 1995. After UWFI first made themselves present on a Yokohama event a month prior, the stage was set for the ultimate clash in the Dome on October 9.
With Muto exemplifying the modern, exciting and internationally influenced style of 1990s pro-wrestling, and Takada being the proud standard bearer for the no nonsense tough style that would be a precursor to the late decade boom of mixed martial arts in Japan, the resulting match was a clash of styles and philosophies nobody could forget.
