We are nearing the light at the end of the tunnel as the finals of the A Block will take place this morning as the G1 comes to Sumo Hall for three straight nights.

Only two people are alive in the block, and coincidentally both are in the main event as Hiroshi Tanahashi will battle Tetsuya Naito. In their last meeting earlier this year, Tanahashi beat Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental title. Will Naito get his revenge, or will the self-professed ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling claim another victory?

Though Tanahashi vs. Naito will determine the winner, other A Block matches will also take place. The final matches in the block include Kota Ibushi taking on Hirooki Goto, Bad Luck Fale facing Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe squaring off against YOSHI-HASHI, and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in a rematch from last month’s great bout in Long Beach.

Join us for live coverage this morning at 5:30 a.m. ET. The show will feature English commentary by Kevin Kelly, Don Callis and Rocky Romero.

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Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado and Taichi defeated Katsuya Kitamura, Hirai Kawato and Tomoyuki Oka

This was fine. One thing I noticed is that even though Kitamura is still a young lion, he’s given more spots to look good. Suzuki nailed Kitamura with hard slaps, but countered with a suplex. Kawato came in and looked pretty good, but eventually was taken out by Desperado and was pinned with the angel’s wings.

Guerillas of Destiny defeated BUSHI and SANADA

A pretty decent tag team match. SANADA came off as such a superior athlete. GoD hit the Guerilla Warfare but SANADA broke it up. Tonga quickly finished things back in the ring as SANADA was taken to the outside as he quickly pinned BUSHI with the gun stun.

Satoshi Kojima and Juice Robinson defeated EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi

Another good tag team bout. Robinson and Kojima worked well as a team, which played into the match. Robinson blasted him with a lariat and finished with the pulp friction for the win. EVIL and Kojima had a staredown after the match. 

War Machine, Michael Elgin, Ryusuke Taguchi and Ricochet defeated Young Bucks, Cody, Chase Owens and Hangman Page

This was a really fun match, full of fun dives and energy. Ricochet did a dive on the outside, wiping out all of Bullet Club. Elgin followed, then Hanson was going up top when the Bullet Club cut him off. Cody missed the moonsault, but missed. Same thing for Hangman Page, then the Young Bucks. After Chase Owens missed his attempt, Hanson went on top and landed one of his own.

Ricochet wiped out Bullet Club on the outside following the Sasuke special. Elgin finished off Owens, hitting the Elgin bomb for the win.

Kazuchika Okada and Toru Yano defeated Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi

This really didn’t last long. The commentators put over that Okada may be injured going into the match against Omega tomorrow as his neck was all bandaged up. Omega and Okada battled on the outside as Yano did his usual business in the ring against Yujiro. He eventually finished the match the same way he’s done all tour: distract the ref, low blow, roll up pin.

A Block matches —

Bad Luck Fale defeated Yuji Nagata 

This was great. Since this was Nagata’s last G1 match ever, people were into the idea of him winning and were with him from the start. 

Fale dominated early, taking him out of the ring and choking him on the mat. They teased a countout spot, which had fans frenetic, but he made it to the ring in time. Nagata fights back, targeting a leg. He soon was able to follow with an exploder after initially being unable.

Fale clubs him with punches as he attempts to gain control again. He goes for the grenade, but Nagata grabs the arm and sinks in the armbar. Nagata transitions into an ankle lock, then follows that with the Nagata lock. 

Nagata hits a knee in the corner and hits the backdrop driver, but Fale kicks out. Fale soon countered with a spear. He went for the grenade, but Nagata escaped. Fale hit a clothesline and followed with the Bad Luck Fall for the win.

Bad Luck Fale held up the too sweet sign after the match in a show of respect. Nagata opted to throw his signature hand sign instead. Fale bowed in a show of respect as he left the ring. Nagata (as well as announcer Shinpei Nogami) was clearly emotional as a bunch of people held up Blue Justice posters. He made his exit, his music playing.

Togi Makabe defeated YOSHI-HASHI

This was pretty good. The work was good, plus the crowd were hot for everything which helped a lot.

Mostly some nice back and forth during the bulk of the match. Makabe looked to go for the knee drop but YH moved out of the way and followed up with the lariat. He went for the butterfly lock, but Makabe powered out.

Makabe made a comeback, fought YOSHI-HASHI on the top rope then hit the spider suplex. He followed up with the King Kong knee drop for the win.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tomohiro Ishii

(By Joseph Currier)

This was a rematch from the IWGP US title tournament in Long Beach, and it was near the same high standard of their first meeting.

Sabre tried to start with mat wrestling, but Ishii was able to counter him until they stood up. They went back to the mat, where they again reached a stalemate as ZSJ bridged up. He delivered an uppercut as Ishii invited him to try some more strikes. Ishii struck back and laid Sabre out after he obliged.

Ishii gained control with strikes, chopping Sabre against the ropes and into the turnbuckle. Sabre fired back by Pele kicking his arm and taking him down. He began to focus on the arm and wrist while applying pressure to it.

Ishii was eventually able to counter with a back suplex and gained control again until Sabre got a choke in the ropes and applied an armbar. Sabre worked on the wrist and bent it back, but Ishii was able to grab the ropes.

Sabre hit kicks to a kneeling Ishii, with Ishii again inviting him to strike as he made it back to his feet. Ishii hit him with a punch, but Sabre replied by grounding him with a dropkick to the legs. After getting back on offense, Ishii hit a brainbuster off the top rope for two.

Sabre went for a submission before Ishii threw him into the turnbuckle from a fireman’s carry position and hit a German suplex. Ishii got two off of a powerbomb, but it allowed Sabre to reverse into a triangle. Ishii tried to power up, eventually laying out ZSJ with a lariat. He went for another before ZSJ got a choke, transitioned into a slam, and hit a penalty kick for two.

As Ishii tried to kick out, ZSJ maintained the upper hand by putting his bad knee in a kneebar. Ishii got to the ropes, but Sabre kept focusing on the knee with stomps to the back of it. Ishii slammed his own head into the turnbuckle a few times as he tried to work through the pain. He dared Sabre to keep kicking him, and floored him with a chop when he did.

Ishii connected with punches and went for a dragon suplex, but ZSJ countered into a pin for a near fall. He put on an ankle lock while also wrapping his leg around Ishii’s bad knee. Ishii got an ankle lock of his own, hit Sabre with a headbutt to the chest, and followed with a lariat for a near fall.

Sabre countered Ishii into a head and arm submission when he went for the sliding D. Sabre kept Ishii from the ropes and switched to focusing on Ishii’s better leg while also delivering kicks to his back. He didn’t tap out, but the referee called for the bell as Ishii passed out.

Hirooki Goto defeated Kota Ibushi

Goto took out Ibushi early with a clothesline on the apron, sending him to the barricade. Ibushi soon fought back, landing some good offense and hitting the standing moonsault for a near fall. Ibushi hit a German suplex, but Goto fired right back with a clothesline.

Ibushi escaped Goto’s clutches from the top rope and hit a Pele kick. He goes to the top, but Ibushi is met with resistance. Goto fights back, sending him down to the floor, but counters by hitting a hurricanrana off the top rope.

Goto caught Ibushi, but him in the Samoan driver position and hit the ushigiroshi. Goto followed with a big penalty kick. Goto takes him up, but Ibushi counters with a roll up. Kamigoye attempt by Ibushi, but Goto maintains wrist control and hits a reverse GTR, then the real thing for the win. This was another really good, borderline great match.

The announcers speculated after the match where Kota Ibushi would go next. They did bring up the win against Hiroshi Tanahashi, making it at least plausible he could be contending for that title next.

Tetsuya Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

This was an excellent back and forth main event, expertly showcasing the great chemistry they have with one another. I’d have to go and rewatch their match from Dominion, but I think both matches were about on par with one another.

They took it to the ropes early, where Tanahashi hugged Naito, I guess in a psych out spot. Tanahashi slapped Naito, setting the tone of the match. Naito went to do his pose in the middle of the ring, but Tanahashi, who was on the outside, came back in and started to stomp on him.

Naito soon found an opening with Tanahashi’s hurt arm. Tanahashi fought back, leading to a series of great offense. Tanahashi misses the senton off the middle rope, but takes out Naito, sending him to the outside and allowing himself to hit the high fly flow to the floor, wiping out Naito. 

Naito grabbed Tanahashi’s arm and slingshot it, sending Tanahashi to the floor in pain. He followed with a dropkick, again on the center of the injured arm. He hits Gloria and went for the Destino next but instead Tanahashi countered with a German suplex. Naito went for a super hurricanrana off the top rope, but Tanahashi rolled through with a cradle and got a near fall. 

Tanahashi fought back against a dragon suplex attempt, sidestepped Naito and hit two slingblades. He hit one high fly flow, but missed a second one. Naito went for a satellite DDT, but Tanahashi grabbed Naito’s leg and sent him to the floor with a dragon screw. He wrapped Naito in the Texas Cloverleaf. Naito struggled to make it to the ropes, but eventually made it.

At the 25 minute mark, Naito hit the Destino, then went for a second but Tanahashi hit three twist and shout neckbreakers. Tanahashi hit the ropes for a sling blade, but Naito fired back with not one, but two Destinos to win the A Block.

Tetsuya Naito is the first person to advance to the G1 Climax 27 finals. He cut a shot promo, including the LIJ roll call, to end the show.

Current standings —

A Block:

Tetsuya Naito — 14 (WINNER)
Hiroshi Tanahashi — 12
Bad Luck Fale — 12
Kota Ibushi — 10
Zack Sabre Jr. — 10
Hirooki Goto — 10
Tomohiro Ishii — 8
Togi Makabe — 8
YOSHI-HASHI — 4
Yuji Nagata — 2

B Block:

Kazuchika Okada — 13
Kenny Omega — 12
EVIL — 10
Minoru Suzuki — 9
SANADA — 8
Michael Elgin — 8
Toru Yano — 6
Tama Tonga — 6
Juice Robinson — 6
Satoshi Kojima — 2

THE ROUND-UP

The Latest from the F4W Staff

NEWS

ROH TV taping results: The Honor Rumble   
Cody vs. Minoru Suzuki set for ROH Death Before Dishonor XV  
Rosemary injured in apparent incident with Sexy Star at Triplemania  
Floyd Mayweather defeats Conor McGregor by TKO in 10th round  
Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor live results, news & recap 
AAA Triplemania XXV live results: Psycho Clown vs. Dr. Wagner Jr.  

AUDIO

DragonKing Dark: Haunted dolls and Annabelle 8/27
WOR: Mayweather vs. McGregor, Dr. Wagner Jr. unmasked, tons more! 8/27
WOL: Saturday with Sempervive 8/26
JNPO: Nine months of Mayweather vs. McGregor 8/26

Today, WWE has a SmackDown brand house show in Monroe, LA and what is traditionally the biggest independent show of the year, Wrestling Under the Stars by Northeast Wrestling at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY (Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. for the NEW title with Ricky Steamboat as referee, Robbie E & Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jerry Lawler & Brandi Rhodes, The Now vs. Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan for the NEW tag titles, Ryback vs. Hanson, Battle Brothers vs. Amazing Graysons vs. Adrenaline Rush, Brian Anthony vs. Brad Hollister, Keith Lee vs. Wrecking Ball Legursky, Laredo Kid vs. Flip Gordon vs. Garza Jr. plus appearances by Chris Jericho, Mick Foley and Bob Orton Jr.).

Raw will be Monday night in Memphis. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are scheduled for the show along with John Cena (who is now on the Raw brand). Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss for the women’s title is on the show. There is also a SmackDown brand house show in Texarkana, AR.

SmackDown and 205 Live will be taped on Tuesday night in Little Rock. Brian Kendrick vs. Jack Gallagher no DQ has been announced. 

FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY: Figure Four Weekly 8/21/2017: A weekend in Brooklyn for SummerSlam

As WWE’s four-day stretch in Brooklyn began to wrap up, my biggest takeaway from my time in New York City was just how special live wrestling can be. Being at an event in-person can make a great show like NXT TakeOver seem even better, a marathon like SummerSlam feel less tiresome, and the Raw crowd amusing itself with the wave and playing with beach balls somehow a bit less annoying.

Subscribers click here to continue.

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: August 28, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Jon Jones fails drug test, Mayweather vs. McGregor, more

With SummerSlam, the Jon Jones drug test failure, McGregor-Mayweather and a major story on Daniel Bryan, it’s one of the biggest issues of the year, a double issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter out to members right now.

Our lead story looks at the Jon Jones situation from all angles, looking at the drug he is alleged to have failed the test for and its usage, the time line, last year’s failure, the potential penalties, the ramifications for Daniel Cormier and the value of the light heavyweight title, responses from several people involved, what is likely to happen with the title, what UFC was planning for Jones, UFC’s promotion of Jones, as well as how this affects Brock Lesnar, which is huge, and Lesnar’s leverage and negotiations for a new WWE contract.

Have an in-depth look at the history of boxer vs. wrestler and other types of mixed matches when analyzing Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather. Find out what this means financially and otherwise to UFC, why nothing of the sort has ever happened previously, and why it probably will happen more going forward. Examine just how much revenue this fight is looking at generating. Look at how buys are tending, predictions on buys, and how a success will change combat sports forever and especially the UFC if it was knockout power champions.

Look at the issues of sanctioning, the smaller gloves, and lots of different mixed matches going through time including stories related to Frank Gotch, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, Gene LeBell, the Ali vs. Inoki match, and even Wilt Chamberlain when it comes to unique matches talked about in the past.

Full coverage of SummerSlam, including stories behind what happened in different matches, the business for the weekend, a look at the next two WWE PPV shows, the situation with title changes, Baron Corbin, Rusev as well as match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results on the show.

Subscribers click here to continue.

ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected]. 
 
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If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.

WON BACK ISSUE: July 31, 2000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WCW does big business in Australia, WWF Fully Loaded review, more

The country of Australia, apparently wrestling-starved, banged out amazing business when tickets went on sale for an October tour of World Championship Wrestling, which includes four television shoots. On 7/21, the first show that went on sale, a Nitro taping in Melbourne on 10/13, sold out the Rod Laver Arena (capacity for a Nitro taping would be probably close to 10,000) with tickets priced from $300 Australian down to $65, sold out in less than three hours (reports of a 90 minute sellout are exaggerated, but only slightly).

Subscribers click here to continue.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Just want to send best wishes to everyone in Houston and that vicinity, and anyone else suffering from the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Best of luck over the next several days and we’re thinking of you.

So yesterday we had two different Matches of the Century and a third match of the decade all within ten hours. Our weekend radio show covering Mayweather vs. McGregor and Sexy Star and everything else is already up. Mayweather vs. McGregor was estimated at doing $2.4 million at theaters last night. It would have beaten every movie except two for total gross last night, even though it was in about 400 theaters as compared with more than 3,000 for the two movies that beat it, and they all had multiple showings.

Google searches related to boxing over this past weekend:

Mayweather vs. McGregor had 12 million searches. The only event with a UFC fighter ever at that level was the Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm fight.
Gervonta Davis (who won the semifinal fight) with 100,000 searches
ESPN signs contract with Top Rank with 50,000 searches
Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin had 50,000 searches
Miguel Cotto had 50,000 searches
Muhammad Ali had 50,000 searches
Badou Jack had 50,000 searches
Olivia Munn (the fact she was at the fight) with 20,000 searches
Dallas McCarver, the boyfriend of Dana Brooke and a Mr. Olympia competitor in bodybuilding who died, apparently from choking on food at 26, had 50,000 searches

The explanation, not that one will do, regarding Sexy Star is that the claim is Lady Shani shot on her from prior heat and both were hitting each other hard. Hamada started getting rough with her as well. She thought all three were after her and she put Rosemary in the armbar and ended up popping her elbow by doing a shoot armbar. One version we heard is she did apologize after, but Jeff Jarrett was furious and quite frankly, tons of people in wrestling were and there’s no real excuse for what happened. Jarrett yelled at Vampiro backstage in the dressing room and was furious with Sexy Star. The situation was legit, and Rosemary may have more serious injuries.

Regarding Rush and Pierroth to the Crash, the deal is actually that they will still work for CMLL while also working for The Crash. Rush was at TripleMania last night and Dorian Roldan was trying hard to get him, including offering him next year’s TripleMania main event. The Crash will have a press conference on Tuesday to announce a return to the Mexico City area and also talk about Rush.

WWE
WWE Films “Birth of a Dragon” will do an estimated $2.50 million this weekend on 1,618 screens, putting it in eighth place. For average gross per screen it was in sixth place.
Bill Apter interviewed former WWF wrestler Nick “Big Bully” Busick just hours before he went in for brain surgery on Friday. He talks about his son, who debuted recently for Bellator as well.
Apter also sent us word from Nick’s wife that Nick is doing much better and hopes to be home in a few days. He’s already up and walking around.
The last we heard, the first several shows from the Mae Young Classic will be released at 9 a.m. Eastern tomorrow on the WWE Network.
A correction from the update a few days ago regarding the video numbers of Enzo Amore, Braun Strowman and others from this past week. The numbers used were actually Facebook views, not YouTube views.
John Cena over Samoa Joe has been happening at the Raw brand house shows this weekend. They had advertised Roman Reigns vs. Joe vs. Braun Strowman as main events, but instead Reigns vs Strowman with the same DQ finish was happening.
Enzo Amore claimed he spent $10,000 to get front row tickets for the fight last night. 
Lee Thomas of Fox 2 Detroit gave a thumbs up to the WWE movie “Birth of a Dragon.” He said it was a WWE movie that will be watched probably by fans of Bruce Lee and action movie fans, and said it was simplistic but fun. (thanks to Jake Koch).
Chris Jericho’s book, “No is a Four Letter Word” comes out on Tuesday. He has book signings this week:
Tuesday in New York at Barnes & Noble on Warren Street at 5 p.m.  
Wednesday in Ridgewood, NJ at Bookends at 8 p.m.
Thursday in Tampa at Barnes & Noble at 7 p.m.
Friday in Orlando at Barnes & Noble on East Colonial Dr. at 7 p.m.
9/6 in Los Angeles at Barnes & Noble on Grove Dr. at 7 p.m. 

The Orlando Sentinel interviews Tessa Blanchard, Lacey Evans, Toni Storm and Santana Garrett about the Mae Young Classic.
Mike Mooneyham talks to Lacey Evans.
UFC
Lineup for Dana White’s Tuesday Contenders show on Fight Pass at 8 p.m. Eastern:
Janay Harding vs. Kelly McGill-Velasco
Adam Antolin vs. Casey Kenney
Allen Crowder vs. Don’Tale Mayes
Bevon Lewis vs Elias Urbina
Matt Frevola vs. Luke Flores

MISCELLANEOUS
ESPN’s airing of last Saturday Terence Crawford vs. Julius Indongo was the second most watched boxing match on basic cable in 2017. Combining ESPN and ESPN Deportes, the show did 1.3 million viewers.
WrestleCircus announced that all profits and all tip money on Twitch for their 9/9 show in Austin, TX will go to the Hurricane Harvey relief fund.  
Big West Wrestling on 9/15 in Kelowna, BC at Lake City Bowl and Billiards.
Innovate Wrestling on 9/9 in Bristol, TN at the VFW.
Rich Piana, another top bodybuilder, has passed away.
Tetsuya Naito throwing out the first pitch at the Hiroshima Carp baseball game.
An interview with Dave Bautista about Robert Downey Jr and Chris Pratt.

Today in Professional Wrestling History: WWF SummerSlam 2000

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