The return of the G1 tag league.

[edgehead1984]

SSS reports:

After an absence last year, New Japan's prestigious G1 Tag League returns this year. The "G1 TAG LEAGUE 2003" has been etched into the schedule, though not as the traditional year-end tour, but rather as the October tour that follows up on the big Tokyo Dome show, "ULTIMATE CRUSH II". This leaves questions about what will occupy the last tour of the year, and whether they'll try Triathlon Survivor (which wasn't much of a success last time, but had potential as a smaller concept and not the G1 Tag League's replacement) again. So far, only six locations have been booked for this year's G1 Tag League, with the biggest show seemingly "CATCH THE LEGEND IN KOBE" (poster above) on 10/26. No details about teams and where the finals will be held yet, and there probably won't be until September.

[OldSchoolFan]

The only problem I possibly have with this is that there just isn't the amount of good teams as there was is the past. Outside of the champs and Liger and Kanemoto there just isn't that many teams that team on a regular basis.

[edgehead1984]

1. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura
2. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
3. Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi
4. Masahiro Chono & Jushin Thunder Liger
5. Blue Wolf & Shinsuke Nakamura
6. Yoshihiro Takayama & TOA
7. Tadao Yasuda & Kazunari Murakami
8. Mike Barton & Jim Steele

[Black_Flag_Of_Ulster]

wot, no Jado & Gedo???

[edgehead1984]

wot, no Jado & Gedo???

That would the G1 Jr. Tag league, which is expected to follow the heavyweight version.

[Black_Flag_Of_Ulster]

jado & gedo participated in heavyweight competition more often than in junior. besides, there are countless examples of junior teams wrestlin regularly against heavies. J&G are a better team than any of the ones mentioned above.

[Pheonix_Chi25]

I like the make up of this years G-1, but Takayama and TOA? There could be some upsets in this one. Chono and Liger intrigue me a lot.

[Luds]

The regular G1 Tag League Match between Barton & Steele and Tanahashi & Yoshie has now been made an official IWGP Tag Title defense. We can assume that the winner will have to defend again, possibly in every match.

This scenario was used in the past, like in the 1996 G1 climax for instance as the Semi-final & final matches of the J Crown tournament were also title defences for IWGP JR Champion Great Sasuke.

[Peru-Yakuza]

jado & gedo participated in heavyweight competition more often than in junior.

That's because FMW didn't have weight divisions. Onita himself was technically a junior, so were Hayabusa and Kuroda, but they were still considered heavyweight for title match purposes as there was little talent to compete with true heavyweights (Fuyuki, Kanemura, Tanaka, Gannosuke, Oya)

[Peru-Yakuza]

Jado will defend the IWGP junior heavyweight title against El Samurai (expect him to win), while Gedo & Katsushi Takemura will go for the IWGP junior tag team title challenging Jushin Liger and Koji Kanemoto.

Aside, they will run not a G-1 Junior Tag League, but a small single elimination tourney to determine the next IWGP J-T contenders, as follows:

10/30 Yuki City Gym, Yuki, Ibaraki: El Samurai & Wataru Inoue vs. Hirooki Goto & Ryusuke Taguchi
10/31 Toyohashi City Gym, Toyohashi, Aichi: Masayuki Naruse & Masahito Kakihara vs. Tiger Mask IV & Minoru "Heat" Tanaka
11/2 Tsu City Gym, Tsu, Mie: Finals

[edgehead1984]

10/15

1. Naofumi Yamamoto beat Hirooki Goto (7:27) with a Texas Cloverleaf hold.
2. Masahito Kakihara beat Ryusuke Taguchi (8:53) with a cross armbreaker.
3. Tiger Mask & Heat beat Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue (9:51) when Heat used the Minoru Special on Inoue.
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Ryushi Yanagisawa (7:06) with a German suplex hold.
5. Shinya Makabe & TOA beat Yutaka Yoshie & Toru Yano (6:32) when TOA used a straight right punch on Yano.
6. G1 Tag League: Mike Barton & Jim Steele [2] beat Blue Wolf & Shinsuke Nakamura [0] (13:46) when Barton used a Barton Cutter on Wolf.
7. G1 Tag League: Tadao Yasuda & Makai #1 [2] beat Masahiro Chono & Jushin Thunder Liger [0] (12:59) when Makai #1 used a Makai Windmill suplex hold on Liger.
8. G1 Tag League: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura [2] beat Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi [0] (21:05) when Tenzan used the Anaconda Vice on Nagata.

I still don't like TOA wrestling, I mean who gets knocked out by a straight right punch anymore???? surprised at the last 2 G1 matches though...

10/16

1. Hirooki Goto beat Akiya Anzawa (5:44) with a crab hold.
2. Ryusuke Taguchi beat Naofumi Yamamoto (7:15) with a cross armbreaker.
3. Ryushi Yanagisawa beat Wataru Inoue (8:09) with a right high kick.
4. Tiger Mask, Heat & Masahito Kakihara beat Jushin Thunder Liger, Koji Kanemoto & Super Crazy (12:36) when Kakihara used the Kaki Cutter on Crazy.
5. Manabu Nakanishi & Toru Yano beat Blue Wolf & Shinsuke Nakamura (13:03) when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Nakamura.
6. Masahiro Chono & Yuji Nagata beat Shinya Makabe & TOA (11:06) when Chono used an STF on Makabe.
7. G1 Tag League: Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] beat Tadao Yasuda & Makai #1 [2] (12:21) when Tanahashi used a German suplex hold on Makai #1.
8. G1 Tag League: Mike Barton & Jim Steele [4] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura [2] (19:09) when Barton used a diving elbow drop on Nishimura.

no surprises here...

10/17

1. Naofumi Yamamoto beat Akiya Anzawa (5:06) with a Texas Cloverleaf hold.
2. Toru Yano beat Hirooki Goto (5:52) with a front suplex.
3. Koji Kanemoto, Wataru Inoue & Super Crazy beat Tiger Mask, Heat & Ryusuke Taguchi (11:05) when Crazy used a Death Valley bomb on Taguchi.
4. Yutaka Yoshie vs. Ryushi Yanagisawa went to a draw (20:00) when the time limit expired.
5. Shinya Makabe & TOA beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Masahito Kakihara (9:41) when Makabe used a lariat on Kakihara.
6. G1 Tag League: Blue Wolf & Shinsuke Nakamura [2] beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura [2] (21:22) when Nakamura used an inside cradle on Nishimura.
7. G1 Tag League: Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi [2] beat Tadao Yasuda & Makai #1 [2] (12:38) when Nagata used a wrist-clutch Exploder on Makai #1.
8. G1 Tag League: Masahiro Chono & Jushin Thunder Liger [2] beat Mike Barton & Jim Steele [4] (19:30) when Chono used a ground Cobra Twist on Barton.

I'm surprised that Wolf & Nakamura beat Tenzan & Nishimura. Yoshie & Yanagisawa continue their series with a draw, which ties their series at 1-1-1

[Pheonix_Chi25]

The only match in the G-1 Comp I want to see is Takayama/TOA Vs. Tenzan/Nishimura

[niniendo warrior]

The only match in the G-1 Comp I want to see is Takayama/TOA Vs. Tenzan/Nishimura

I think that's coming next... I mean... at the next show...

I can neither predict who will win this match nor who will win the G1 Tag League.

[edgehead1984]

I predict that Barton/Steele will win the G1 tag league.

[edgehead1984]

1. Hirooki Goto beat Akiya Anzawa (7:12) with a cross armbreaker.
2. Tiger Mask, Heat & Masahito Kakihara beat Wataru Inoue, Super Crazy & Ryusuke Taguchi (10:58) when Tiger used a Tiger suplex hold on Inoue.
3. Mike Barton, Jim Steele & Shinya Makabe beat Blue Wolf, Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano (12:19) when Barton used the Barton buster on Yano.
4. Manabu Nakanishi & Enson Inoue beat Tadao Yasuda & Ryushi Yanagisawa (10:26) when Nakanishi used an Argentine backbreaker on Yanagisawa.
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto (c) beat Gedo & Katsushi Takemura (14:20) when Kanemoto used an ankle hold on Takemura (6th defense).
6. Minoru Suzuki beat Kazunari Murakami (3:18) by DQ.
7. New Generation Match #1: Yutaka Yoshie beat Masahiro Chono (14:36) with a crab hold.
8. New Generation Match #2: Yuji Nagata beat Hiroshi Tanahashi (19:39) with a backdrop hold.
9. G1 Tag League: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura [4] beat Yoshihiro Takayama & TOA [0] (16:36) when Tenzan used the TTD on Takayama.

Yoshie defeated Chono!!!!!!!!!! What an upset!!!!!!!!!

Suzuki defeated Murakami, does he get the bounty????

TOA & Takayama lose to Tenzan & Nishimura, great!!!

I thought that Gedo & Takemura would defeat the unbeatables.