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The results from the first two days of battle in this year’s New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax Tournament are in! Check below for the results run-down and current standings, and keep an eye on CXF for ongoing coverage of the G1 Climax Tournament! Don’t forget to check out the tournament itself on NJPW’s iPPV channel at Ustream: www.ustream.tv/njpw!
G1 Climax 23, Day 1: August 1, 2013
ACT CITY – Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Day 1 featured several big-time matches, which was great to see for the opening day of the tournament! In the end it had to be considered a success for NJPW’s gaijin contingent, as every foreign competitor, except for Davey Boy Smith Jr, won their match. The night concluded with Prince Devitt avenging his 7/20 loss to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada!
1. BLOCK B: Kota Ibushi vs. Toru Yano
» » » Winner: Ibushi (7:32) with a Phoenix Splash.
2. BLOCK A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Lance Archer
» » » Winner: Archer (10:43) with the Blackout.
3. BLOCK B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shelton Benjamin
» » » Winner: Benjamin (8:20) following the Paydirt.
4. BLOCK A: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
» » » Winner: Shibata (9:06) following a P.K. (Penalty Kick).
5. BLOCK B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Yujiro Takahashi
» » » Winner: Takahashi (9:30) following the Tokyo Pimps.
6. BLOCK B: Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki
» » » Winner: Nagata (14:34) following a Wrist Clutch style Exploder.
7. BLOCK A: Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto
» » » Winner: Makabe (11:20) following the King Kong Knee Drop.
8. BLOCK B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson
» » » Winner: Anderson (12:54) following the GunStun.
9. BLOCK A: Hiroshi Tanahshi vs. Satoshi Kojima
» » » Winner: Kojima (16:07) following a Lariat.
10. BLOCK A: Kazuchika Okada vs. Prince Devitt
» » » Winner: Devitt (12:56) following the Bloody Sunday.
G1 Climax 23, Day 2: August 2, 2013
Korakuen Hall – Bunkyo, Tokyo
Day 2 continued the trend of some really great matches and a few upset finishes! Yujiro Takahashi, Davey Boy Smith Jr and Tomohiro Ishii all pulled out impressive victories over Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Togi Makabe and Hiroshi Tanahashi, respectively. But, in my eyes, the upset of the night has to go to Lance Archer getting a surprise victory over Bullet Club leader, and arguably the top heel in New Japan right now, Prince Devitt! Devitt is favoured by many to win this year’s G1, but to suffer a surprising loss to a primarily tag team wrestler has to be a bit of a blow to those who are predicting that the Real Rock’n’Rolla will come out with the trophy.
Finally, in what has to be a bit of a blow to his ego, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada suffered a second loss, this time at the hands of Hirooki Goto. Can the Rainmaker bounce back on Day 3?
1. BLOCK B: Karl Anderson vs. Shelton Benjamin
» » » Winner: Anderson (6:28) following the Gunstun.
2. BLOCK B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yujiro Takahashi
» » » Winner: Takahashi (9:07) with a Moonsault Press.
3. BLOCK B: Yuji Nagata vs. Toru Yano
» » » Winner: Nagata (6:46) with a Backdrop Hold.
4. BLOCK A: Prince Devitt vs. Lance Archer
» » » Winner: Archer (8:14) with the Blackout.
5. BLOCK A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Katsuyori Shibata
» » » Winner: Kojima (9:40) following a Lariat.
6. BLOCK A: Togi Makabe vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
» » » Winner: Smith (10:13) with the Bulldog Bomb.
7. BLOCK B: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi
» » » Winner: Ibushi (13:16) with a Phoenix Splash.
8. BLOCK B: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Minoru Suzuki
» » » Winner: Suzuki (13:44) following the Gotch Style Piledriver.
9. BLOCK A: Hirooki Goto vs. Kazuchika Okada
» » » Winner: Goto (12:43) following the Shouten Kai.
10. BLOCK A: Hiroshi Tanahshi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
» » » Winner: Ishii (17:42) following a SSD (Steiner Screw Driver).
Current Standings
| Block A | Block B | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lance Archer | 4 | Karl Anderson | 4 |
| Satoshi Kojima | 4 | Kota Ibushi | 4 |
| Prince Devitt | 2 | Yuji Nagata | 4 |
| Togi Makabe | 2 | Yujiro Takahashi | 4 |
| Katsuyori Shibata | 2 | Shelton Benjamin | 2 |
| Hirooki Goto | 2 | Minoru Suzuki | 2 |
| Davey Boy Smith, Jr. | 2 | Tetsuya Naito | 0 |
| Tomohiro Ishii | 2 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 0 |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | 0 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 0 |
| Kazuchika Okada | 0 | Toru Yano | 0 |
| Block A | Archer | Devitt | Goto | Ishii | Kojima | Makabe | Okada | Shibata | Smith | Tanahashi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archer | X | Archer (8:14) |
Archer (10:43) |
|||||||
| Devitt | Archer (8:14) |
X | Devitt (12:56) |
|||||||
| Goto | X | Makabe (11:20) |
Goto (12:43) |
|||||||
| Ishii | Archer (10:43) |
X | Ishii (17:42) |
|||||||
| Kojima | X | Kojima (9:40) |
Kojima (16:07) |
|||||||
| Makabe | Makabe (11:20) |
X | Smith (10:13) |
|||||||
| Okada | Devitt (12:56) |
Goto (12:43) |
X | |||||||
| Shibata | Kojima (9:40) |
X | Shibata (9:06) |
|||||||
| Smith | Smith (10:13) |
Shibata (9:06) |
X | |||||||
| Tanahashi | Ishii (17:42) |
Kojima (16:07) |
X | |||||||
| Block B | Anderson | Benjamin | Ibushi | Nagata | Naito | Nakamura | Suzuki | Takahashi | Tenzan | Yano |
| Anderson | X | Anderson (6:28) |
Anderson (12:54) |
|||||||
| Benjamin | Anderson (6:28) |
X | Benjamin (8:20) |
|||||||
| Ibushi | X | Ibushi (13:16) |
Ibushi (7:32) |
|||||||
| Nagata | X | Nagata (14:34) |
Nagata (6:46) |
|||||||
| Naito | Ibushi (13:16) |
X | Takahashi (9:30) |
|||||||
| Nakamura | Anderson (12:54) |
X | Suzuki (13:44) |
|||||||
| Suzuki | Nagata (14:34) |
Suzuki (13:44) |
X | |||||||
| Takahashi | Takahashi (9:30) |
X | Takahashi (9:07) |
|||||||
| Tenzan | Benjamin (8:20) |
Takahashi (9:07) |
X | |||||||
| Yano | Ibushi (7:32) |
Nagata (6:46) |
X |
