New Japan’s G1 Climax Tournament came to a close today in Tokyo. In the final, Togi Makabe defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the championship. Makabe became the first man to win the tournament after going winless in his first three matches. Nakamura fell one victory short of accomplishing a feat that has never been accomplished in G1 Tournament history, and that’s go wire to wire undefeated.
Also, at yesterday’s Sumo Hall show, Mistico defeated Tiger Mask to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. There will be more on the entire G1 tour in this Wednesday’s special “Rising Sun Soliloquy” double-issue.
NJPW, 8/16/09 (WPW/PPV)
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
11,000 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. TAJIRI beat Kazuchika Okada (6:15) with a Buzzsaw kick.
2. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Prince Devitt beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Milano Collection AT & Taichi (14:46) when Devitt used the Blackhole Vacation on Taichi.
3. G1 Climax – Semi Final: Togi Makabe beat Takashi Sugiura (11:57) with a top rope King Kong kneedrop.
4. G1 Climax – Semi Final: Shinsuke Nakamura beat Hiroshi Tanahashi (13:31) with the Boma Ye.
5. Masato Tanaka & Jado beat Hirooki Goto & Wataru Inoue (12:40) when Tanaka used the Sliding D on Inoue.
6. Toru Yano, Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson beat Manabu Nakanishi, Takao Omori & Koji Kanemoto (12:04) when Yano used the Oni Koroshi on Kanemoto.
7. Masahiro Chono & Yuji Nagata beat Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii (12:52) when Nagata used a backdrop hold on Ishii.
8. G1 Climax – Final: Togi Makabe beat Shinsuke Nakamura (18:29) with a top rope King Kong kneedrop.