8/13 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 11,500 sellout
Yuji Nagata won A Block when he made Takashi Iizuka submit to his Nagata lock 2 at 10:48. This was named best bout.
Manabu Nakanishi won C Block when he made Hiroyoshi Tenzan submit to his Argentine backbreaker at 11:26.
Kensuke Sasaki beat Nagata in the first G1 Climax semifinal, pinning him in his northern lights bomb at 15:12.
Last years winner, Nakanishi, then upset Masahiro Chono in the other semifinal, making him submit to the Argentine backbreaker at 9:33. Thus, the final was last year's G1 champion against the current IWGP champion, a match we just saw Sasaki win in June.
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kendo Kashin & El Samurai beat Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhio Takaiwa when Kashin pinned Otani at 16:45 after Liger clocked him with a shotei.
Sasaki won the G1 Climax for the 2nd time ('97), giving Nakanishi his northern lights bomb then forcing him to submit to a gyakuebigatame at 19:42. This makes Sasaki the second IWGP champion to win the G1 during his title reign (Muto in '95). Sasaki's senpai Riki Choshu was waiting for Sasaki after he got off the ramp, and they hugged and Sasaki cried. This seems pointless because Sasaki has already beat everyone this year. The league doesn't create any challengers this way, so the options are for Hashimoto to challenge when he comes out of retirement or for Kawada to challenge at the 10/9 Dome show. If Kawada was going to take the title from Sasaki then you wouldn't want Sasaki to be at the peak of his push. If Kawada wasn't going to win the title then that would kill off much of the potential of the fued right away and then you still wouldn't have any challengers except whoever got a "big win" over someone other than Sasaki in the meantime.

8/12 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 10,000 sellout
Takashi Iizuka (3) upset Tatsumi Fujinami (2) when he made Fujinami submit to his sleeper hold at 11:46. This forced a playoff match with Yuji Nagata tomorrow to decide the winner of A Block. Fujinami was only able to beat Liger & Goto, so he got no push at all in spite of being the biggest overall name in the tournament.
Masahiro Chono (3) won D Block when he made Junji Hirata (2) submit to his butterfly lock at 11:42. Chono is avoiding the media because he's still angry over New Japan agreeing to work with All Japan.
Kensuke Sasaki (3) won B Block when he made Osamu Kido (0) submit to his strangle hold gamma at just 4:21. Even though Kido is 50 and hasn't been pushed for some time, I'm kind of surprised they would put a 31-year veteran in the role of putting everyone over (okay, technically he didn't job to Hiro, but point wise it's the same thing).
Tatsutoshi Goto (1) spoiled Yuji Nagata's (3) bid at running the table when he pinned him at 11:41 following 3 backdrops. I would have had Nagata win the block outright and gone the playoff route with Sasaki vs. Kojima because I don't see any urgent need in pushing Iizuka right now and at least Kojima would have to split with Sasaki that way (preferrably he wins the one to advance out of the block because Kensuke doesn't need the push given that he's beaten most of the guys in title matches already).
Osamu Nishimura (2), seconded by Manabu Nakanishi, kept Nakanishi alive by making Hiroyoshi Tenzan (3) submit to a ground cobra twist at 14:22. Nishimura had no complaints about his .500 finish, as after nearly two years on the shelf he was happy to just finish the league healthy. He promised to continue to fight off his illness so he could wrestle in next year's G1. Nagata vs. Iizuka and Nakanishi vs. Tenzan to decide A & C Block will be the 2nd and 3rd matches on tomorrows show. I really hope that Tenzan beats Nakanishi and then Chono because that might get him out of the shadows, finally. I expect Nakanishi to win because they still act like he is a big deal even though the reality is that he lacks the ability and charisma to ever be top guy.
Manabu Nakanishi (3) stayed alive by making Tadao Yasuda (2) submit to his Argentine backbreaker at 9:23.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa (1) got his first win over a heavyweight, pinning former IWGP Junior champion Shiro Koshinaka (2) in a huracanrana at 9:04. Liger was Takaiwa's second, and he was really urging Takaiwa on. At least Takaiwa beat someone that means something in an important match (Koshinaka was guaranteed to at least be in a playoff match for the Block if he just beat the winless current junior champion).
Hiro Saito (0) drew Satoshi Kojima (2) at 5:54 via the same Weak Style finish. It makes less than no sense that Hiro would beat his teammate this way. Ever stupider is Kojima isn't pissed at Hiro, he's pissed at referee Norio Honaga, who he called a "nonsensical bakayaro!" If Hiro's motto had to be "you won't get any points off me" then why not have him succeed every night until the final day where Kojima thwarted him? That way Hiro's matches would have meant a little more and Kojima's win would have actually meant something because he did what none of the other guys could do?
Shinjiro Otani & Shinya Makabe beat Koji Kanemoto & Hiroshi Tanihashi when Makabe surprisingly pinned Kanemoto in his German suplex hold at 11:47.

8/11 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan 8,500
Kensuke Sasaki (2) pinned Satoshi Kojima (2) at 19:59 following his lariat. Kojima may get a break someday, but it'll probably be an arm or a leg...
Yuji Nagata (3) pinned Jushin Thunder Liger in his backdrop hold at 12:06. Liger finishes 1-3.Nagata only has winless Tatsutoshi Goto standing in his way of running the table, so Goto will probably win just so he doesn't get shut out.
Manabu Nakanishi (2) made Osamu Nishimura (1) submit to his Argentine backbreaker at 13:04.
Junji Hirata (2) upset Shiro Koshinaka (2) with a lariat at 8:24. This helps Chono come out of this block even though he lost to Koshinaka.
Tatsumi Fujinami (2) made Tatsutoshi Goto (0) submit to his Dragon sleeper at 6:42.
Tadao Yasuda (2) made Kenzo Suzuki (0) submit to a gyakuebigatame at 10:43. Suzuki finishes 0-4.
Brian Johnston made Osamu Kido (0) submit to a standing heel hold at 5:28. Johnston finishes 2-2. Kido faces Sasaki tomorrow, so he'll probably go winless.
Yutaka Yoshie (2) made Tatsuhito Takaiwa (0) submit to a reverse figure 4 at 13:48. Yoshie finishes 2-2. Since Koshinaka is a former junior like Goto and AKIRA, it's possible that he could lose to Takaiwa. In this situation, Chono wins the league without having to fight an extra match on the 13th and Takaiwa "proves himself" as a "heavyweight."

Masa Fuchi shook hands with Riki Choshu in the ring at the 8/11 New Japan show, as it was announced that All Japan and New Japan would have interpromotional matches for the first time since April 1990..There was a huge shout of joy from the fans and even a Fuchi call. Not wanting to work with All Japan, Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan broke up the party, with Choshu getting kicked. Interpromotional matches are expected to take place on the 8/20 All Japan show at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, 9/2 All Japan show at Tokyo Nippon Budokan, and 10/9 New Japan show at the Tokyo Dome. One would expect Chono and co to "try to get out of them," but eventually be "forced to" wrestle against All Japan as Kawada vs. Chono has big bucks written all over it.

Masahiro Chono injured his ankle during his win over Yutaka Yoshie on 8/8. There's no show today and tomorrow is his off day, so he's got two days to "heal it" before beating Junji Hirata on the 12th.

8/9 Hiroshima Sun Plaza 5,200 sellout
G1 Climax 2000 league matches:
Shiro Koshinaka (2) pinned Masahiro Chono (2) in his powerbomb at 12:40. Koshinaka was basically the only Chono "could" lose to. Chono beats Shiro most of the time, but it's really boring if guys are running the table and the only other somewhat pushed guy in D Block is Yoshie, who sucks and needs plenty of other wins to get to the point where he should beat Chono. The real problem this year is that they went to 4 leagues when they have less depth than ever before, so now instead of four or five guys that had a chance of coming out of each league, it's more like 1-2 (the only 3rd guy that warrants consideration is Iizuka, but the only reason he's in that spot is that he just got his push).
Yuji Nagata (2) virtually ensured himself at least a tie when he took out Takashi Iizuka (2) with a hadakajime at 16:38. Nagata beat the top two guys in A Block in his first two matches. He may have to lose to Goto so Goto doesn't get shut out, but that would just be a wate if they are really finally committed to giving Nagata the push he's deserved for a long time.
Jushin Thunder Liger (1) got his "big win" over a heavyweight when he beat poor working long time jobber Tatsutoshi Goto (0) with his suichoku rakka shiki no brainbuster at 7:17. Liger took 3 of Goto's backdrops, but was able to get his foot on the rope. After his victory, Liger declared that he was completely converted to the heavyweight class. This win proves that the best junior is able to beat just about the worst heavyweight, but that just points out the actual level of the juniors. When the juniors and heavies were separate, Liger basically beat every opponent anyone could throw at him for a decade.
Manabu Nakanishi (1) pinned Kenzo Suzuki (0) at 8:43.
They kept Kensuke Sasaki's (1) points down by having him go to a double ring out with Hiro Saito (0) at 5:37. Team 2000 interfered because keeping Sasaki's points down helps their member, Kojima. Boy do I miss the U.W.F. A few more of these and we'll have to give this finish a name. Weak Style finish maybe?
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (3) pinned Tadao Yasuda (1) in his moonsault press at 11:40. This sets up Nishimura to defeat Tenzan, as Nakanishi will at least be kept alive until the end.
Satoshi Kojima (2) pinned Brian Johnston (1) following his lariat at 10:08.
Yutaka Yoshie (1) made Junji Hirata (1) submit to a reverse figure 4 at 11:19.
In a non-league match, Shinjiro Otani & Kendo Kashin beat Koji Kanemoto & Shinya Makabe when Otani pinned Makabe at 14:39 following his swandive shiki no kneel kick.

8/8 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 6,000 sellout
G1 Climax 2000 league matches:
Masahiro Chono made Yutaka Yoshie submit to his STF at 20:16.
Yuji Nagata got his second consecutive G1 win over the legendary Tatsumi Fujinami, pinning him in his backdrop hold at 12:25. This gives Nagata a chance to be the one to come out of this block after coming close to making it last year only to lose to Muto in a playoff match after Kojima failed to play spoiler and beat Muta less than a month after he failed in their title match . The problem is Nagata will probably lose to Iizuka while it's highly unlikely Fujinami would and completely out of the question that Fujinami would lose to Goto. If Nagata & Fujinami have to wrestle again then Nagata is out of luck as usual, so he has to hope can run the table or that they still want to push Iizuka hard even though, after 14 years, he just had his first heavyweight title match. Nagata wants to win the whole thing so he can get his "teacher" Riki Choshu to wrestle him, but Choshu supposedly isn't coming back unless the promotion is in financial trouble. Nagata will be introducing his brother Katsuhiko, who is representing Japan in amateur wrestling, on the 8/13 show.
Takashi Iizuka put Jushin Thunder Liger out with a sleeper hold at 15:13. Liger used to kick Iizuka's ass in the days when Iizuka was a junior, but 10 years later Iizuka is a heavyweight so now he can finally beat Liger. Iizuka is in first place in the block now, but he's just got the wins he was supposed to get over Liger & Goto.
Satoshi Kojima pinned Osamu Kido at 9:55 following his lariat.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan pinned Kenzo Suzuki at 13:24 following his diving headbutt. Tenzan, Chono, Kojima & AKIRA are going to be on TV on the 12th singing a song. Tenzan claims he has a beautiful voice.
Tadao Yasuda made Osamu Nishimura submit to a gyakuebigatame at 11:47. Nishimura was above Yasuda prior to his cancer, but hasn't been getting any singles wins since he returned in June.
In their first singles match, Brian Johnston made Hiro Saito submit to a sleeper hold at 5:18. Hiro's goal was to have count outs in every match so he never actually lost, but that's already out the window because Johnston put him to sleep while he was trying.
Junji Hirata pinned Tatsuhito Takaiwa in his Machine windmill suplex at 11:09.
How boring is the booking of this tournament this year?

8/7 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 6,500 sellout
G1 Climax 2000 league matches:
Hiroyoshi Tenzan pinned Manabu Nakanishi in his new TTD finisher at 18:21. This was the closest thing to an upset on the whole show.
Masahiro Chono made Tatsuhito Takaiwa submit to his STF at 14:22.
Tatsumi Fujinami made Jushin Thunder Liger submit to a figure 4 at 10:33. Liger had a new summer outfit on where he wore no top. It's become really humerous how they keep saying that the juniors "showed the real capabilty of the junior heavyweight" even though they lose every time unless they are against a guy like AKIRA that used to be a junior and probably weighs less than some of the juniors he's fighting. I guess the definition of the real capability of the junior is a guy that can give a heavyweight a decent fight for 10 minutes. Anyway, Liger & Takaiwa should each be able to get a win, but that hardly makes their inclusion worthwhile.
Kensuke Sasaki made Brian Johnston submit to the suddenly popular front neck lock at 6:48.
Shiro Koshinaka pinned Yutaka Yoshie in his powerbomb at 10:38.
Takashi Iizuka made Tatsutoshi Goto submit to his hadakajime at 9:38.
Osamu Kido vs. Hiro Saito was a double ring out at 6:29. Hiro piledrove Kido on the floor and choked him out with a chord/cable. This year a win is worth 1 point and a draw is worth nothing.
Osamu Nishimura made Kenzo Suzuki submit to his cobra twist at 7:37.
In the only non-league match, Kendo Kashin & El Samurai beat Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani when Samurai used Otani's own Dragon suplex hold on him at 11:33.

7/30 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena 18,000 sellout (largest claimed wrestling attendance ever at this arena? Supposedly 2,000 were standing)
Riki Choshu not only returned to the ring after 31 months to beat Atsushi Onita, but he practically escaped their Yuushitessen (barbed wire) Denryu (electric current) Bakaha (explosion) Death Match unscathed. Meanwhile, Atsushi Onita suffered a total defeat and had to be hospitalized. Choshu entered the ring holding a photograph of his late disciple Masakazu Fukuda to his chest. After Choshu blew Onita up the first time, he ripped Onita's undershirt off. He body slammed Onita into the 200 volt explosive barbed wire, resulting in the upper part of Onita's left arm turning black from the burns, and blood flowing from a 10 inch cut on Onita's right arm. Choshu taunted Onita, who basically had done nothing offensively, as he stomped on him. Onita made a brief comeback attacking Choshu's "vital part," but that was about it for his offense, which for the whole match consisted of 3 "vital part attacks" and a DDT. Choshumania was definitely running wild. Onita was blown up a total of 5 times, 4 by Choshu, while the other was self inflicted because he was trapped in Choshu's sasarigatame, so he grabbed the barbed wire for a rope escape. Choshu pulled Onita up at 2 after two of his famous Riki lariat. Onita "wasn't able to move," but Choshu didn't care. He put his unconscious foe in his famous sasorigatame (scorpion deathlock). Some of Onita's fans showed their "wrong course spirit" by shedding a tear and calling for Onita to comeback. However, The ref finally stopped the match at 7:46 because Onita wasn't responding. Still, Choshu didn't let up. Supposedly there was a demon inside of Choshu that made him do this to get revenge on Onita for calling him out for over a year and a half, but I think this just means he fought like a man possessed because Onita made it a question of personal pride. Anyway, Onita was eventually carted off on a stretcher and taken to a Yokohama hospital where it took 49 stitches to close his wounds, upping Onita's career total to 1,322 stitches. They also had to do emergency surgery on his right arm because it was so torn up. Despite fighting under Onita's rules, Choshu showed the power of strong style and just made Onita's own rules work against him. In spite of talks of a Choshu vs. Ogawa match, Choshu said now that he killed the evil one who was doing damage to New Japan since November of 1998, he was back to being the site foreman. However, he left the same opening he did when he retired on 1/4/98, saying that if New Japan falls into a difficult situation financially once again (which it will since none of their problems have been solved), he'd be back (to save the day). If Choshu does come back, it won't be against Onita, as the purpose of this match was basically to use whatever drawing power Onita had left in their favor, and leave him looking like a piece of shit since they aren't planning on using him again because his matches leave almost everyone with a bad taste in their mouth (I'm sure this match was no exception). Also, if Onita continues to wrestle (there's talk about him retiring after this disgrace), his big matches will be in All Japan and even with All Japan down, New Japan is going to do everything in their power to help All Japan fail because that way they'll get to use the All Japan wrestlers they want (that is if there's anyone other than Kawada) they way they want to use them or close (since All Japan will either be out of business or very desperate).
Kensuke Sasaki & Yuji Nagata beat Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie when Nagata backdropped Yoshie at 18:23.
In a junior vs. heavy match, Takashi Iizuka made Shinjiro Otani submit to his hadakajime at 11:04. Otani did pretty well here, but couldn't score the upset to win the series for the juniors.
In a junior vs. heavy match, Shiro Koshinaka pinned Koji Kanemoto in a German suplex hold at 11:40.
Junji Hirata pinned Kenzo Suzuki in his machine windmill suplex at 10:13. Apparently they got smart and moved this way down the card.
In the junior vs. heavy match, Minoru Tanaka upset AKIRA when he made him submit to his udehishigigyakujujigatame at 10:32.
Shinya Makabe made Hiroshi Tanahashi submit to a gyakuebigatame at 9:33.
Masahiro Chono, who sat out the first major NJ show he was healthy for since god knows when, was one of the announcers for the PPV.

Yutaka Yoshie challenged Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima to a handicap match for the IWGP Tag Senshuken. Yoshie was very critical of his fellow G-EGGS, particularly Nakanishi, which is what prompted him to challenge without one of them as his partner. Luckily, no one named Vince has any power in this company, so this match will never be booked.

Atsushi Onita broke a bone during his death match against Sanshiro Takagi on 7/13. I think it was a left rib because it heavy blows to the chest during yesterdays match aggravated the injury. He went to the hospital today and it's only supposed to take two weeks to heal this, but he has to wrestle Choshu in 9 days so there's no way he'll be out that long. I doubt New Japan will use this as an angle, although Onita may.

7/20 Hokkaido-ken Sogo Taiiku Center 8,200 sellout
Kensuke Sasaki made his 5th successful defense of the IWGP Heavykyu Senshuken, pinning Takashi Iizuka in his northern lights bomb at 20:32. Kensuke started bleeding from the hand with the broken finger at the 4 minute mark, with Iizuka attacking the weak point, but in the end failing to get an arm or hand submission. Kensuke nearly knocked Iizuka out with his guu punch at 15, but a faint Iizuka kept fighting and eventually caught Kensuke in his deadly sleeper hold, but Kensuke got a rope escape. Iizuka surprised Kensuke with successive lariats, but Kensuke returned the favor. Iizuka had Sasaki in the sleeper one more time before the match was over. Sasaki talked about his next goal, which is to win the G-1 Climax for the second time (1997).
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima captured the IWGP Tag Senshuken, defeated Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata when Tenzan gave Nakanishi his diving headbutt and Kojima followed with his lariat then pinned Nakanishi. Kojima then demanded the G-EGGS, who have been having internal squabbles, break up their unit. Team 2000 is also having problems because Tenzan & Kojima want to be leaders, but Chono obviously isn't going to give up his power. Although G-EGGS haven't officially broke up, Yoshie is looking to be the first challenger to Tenzan & Kojima's throne with a non-G-EGG partner. Tenzan wore a new costume to the ring.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa captured the IWGP Junior Heavykyu Senshuken from Jushin Thunder Liger, pinning him with his Death Valley bomb at 16:32. At 11:30 Liger used his old nadare shiki no Frankensteiner finisher, but Takaiwa came right back with his powerbomb. Takaiwa Death Valley bombed Liger on the floor at 12:10, but Liger made it back into the ring at 18. At 13:10 Takaiwa did his powerbomb and Death Valley bomb, but Liger kicked out at 2 1/2. Liger came back avoiding a lariat and hitting Takaiwa with his shotei and suichoku rakka shiki no brainbuster finishers, then going right into an udehishigigyakujujigatame but Takaiwa made it to the ropes. Takaiwa came back at 15 with a series of lariats before putting Liger away with the Death Valley bomb. Liger said he could take the junior title back at any time, but he doesn't care to. What he's interested in doing is winning the IWGP heavyweight single and tag titles.
Brian Johnston pinned Osamu Nishimura with the jackhammer at 4:16. Nishimura was injured right in the beginning of the match, I think Johnston tried to send him to the floor but his foot was sandwhiched in between the ropes, so that may be why it was so short.
Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani beat Kendo Kashin & El Samurai when Otani pinned Samurai with his kaiten Liger bomb at 11:14.

7/18 Hokkaido Ashikawa Onari Shimin Center 1,800 sellout
Kensuke Sasaki & Jushin Thunder Liger beat Masahiro Chono & AKIRA when Sasaki lariated AKIRA at 10:01.
Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated El Samurai & Kendo Kashin & Negro Casas when Otani pinned Casas in his kaiten Ligerbomb at 11:32.
Osama Nishimura made Shinya Makabe submit to his cobra twist at 8:06.

7/18 Hokkaido Obihiro Shi Sogo Taiikukan 2,500 sellout
Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tatsutoshi Goto beat Kensuke Sasaki & Yuji Nagata & Yutaka Yoshie when Tenzan used his diving headbutt on Yoshie at 14:03. Sasaki revealed that he's worried about his title defense on 7/20 against Iizuka because his broken rib and finger haven't healed properly. He missed a few shows with the finger, but none with the rib because it's the job of the champion to wrestle on every show. This has led to the pain increasing, but he plans to keep toughing it out.
Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated Jushin Thunder Liger & Kendo Kashin when Takaiwa pinned Kashin in the Mochizukibomb 9:29.
El Samurai pinned Negro Casas in his Samurai bomb at 11:37.

7/16 Esashi Cho Shogai Gakujo Center 850 sellout
Kensuke Sasaki & Manabu Nakanishi & Tadao Yasude beat Masahiro Chono & Satoshi Kojima & Tatsutoshi Goto when Nakanishi made Kojima submit to his Argentine backbreaker at 11:01.
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kendo Kashin & Negro Casas beat Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa when Liger pinned Otani at 15:13 following his suichoku rakka shiki no brainbuster.
Takashi Iizuka made Yutaka Yoshie submit to his sleeper at 4:51.
Dan Devine pinned Hiroyoshi Tanahashi with a swing STO at 8:21. So Tanahashi loses to a guy WCW doesn't even use, but beats one of EMLL's top stars.

7/15 Hakodate Shimin Taiikukan 2.000 sellout
Masahiro Chono & Satoshi Kojima & AKIRA beat Kensuke Sasaki & Yuji Nagata & Osamu Nishimura when Chono made Nishimura submit to his STF at 12:16.
Shiro Koshinaka & Yutaka Yoshie defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tatsutoshi Goto when Koshinaka used his diving hip attack on Tenzan at 10:21.
Manabu Nakanishi made Rob Rage submit to his Argentine backbreaker at 9:51.
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kendo Kashin beat Koji Kanemoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa when Kashin used his victor shiki no jujigatame on Kanemoto at 11:32.
Shinjiro Otani pinned El Samurai in his kaiten Ligerbomb at 10:52.

7/12 Aomori Shimin Taiikukan 2.500 sellout
Takashi Iizuka & Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata beat Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima when Iizuka used his sleeper hold on Kojima at 12:40.
Tatsutoshi Goto & AKIRA defeated Kensuke Sasaki & Jushin Thunder Liger when Goto used his backdrop on Liger at 9:26.
Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa beat Kendo Kashin & El Samurai when Otani pinned Kashin in a German suplex hold at 12:01.
Koji Kanemoto pinned Negro Casas in his Tiger suplex hold at 8:02.

7/11 Iwate Ken'ei Taiikukan 3,100
Kensuke Sasaki & Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata beat Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & AKIRA when Sasaki lariated AKIRA at 15:22.
Satoshi Kojima & Tatsutoshi Goto defeated Takashi Iizuka & Shiro Koshinaka when Kojima lariated Koshinaka at 13:54.
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kendo Kashin & El Samurai beat Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa when used his swing reverse DDT on Takaiwa at 17:54.
The career of hall of famer Negro Casas hit an all-time low when he jobbed to rookie Hiroshi Tanahashi in the opening match. The finish came at just 8:02 when Tanahashi used a halfhatch suplex hold on Casas. Tanahashi is really well conditioned and seems to have some potential, but as far as I know he's still doing very basic rookie style matches. I don't think he ever beat anyone of note before, but this result says more for Casas' low standing when he tours New Japan than for the possible elevation of Tanahashi (which probably won't happen for a few more years unless they get really desperate).

Shinya Hashimoto showed up in President Fujinami's chamber out of the blue and expressed interest in putting an end to the trouble his retirement confusion is causing by returning to the ring. Fujinami is now 100% confident that Hashimoto will return at some point, possibly as soon as August for the G1 Climax shows. Hashimoto doesn't want to say when he'll be back yet because he wants to surprise the world. He won't be having any more matches against Naoya Ogawa, but he may be teaming with him (assuming Ogawa isn't "too busy" training for Rickson to wrestle his one match a month).
"That is utter nonsense if Hash _teams_ with Ogawa. God that will be crap. He needs to come back and whoop his ass, no less than that. I'm glad Hash is coming back, but the last thing I want to see is a nonsensical team-up considering what Ogawa did. It's like saying "I'm your bitch now, can't beat 'em join 'em". Lame," wrote Dan McGowan.

7/10 Akita Kenritsu Taiikukan 3,200
Kensuke Sasaki & Shiro Koshinaka & Manabu Nakanishi beat Masahiro Chono & Satoshi Kojima & Tatsutoshi Goto when Sasaki lariated Goto at 14:03.
Takashi Iizuka & Yutaka Yoshie defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & AKIRA when Yoshie made Tenzan submit to his Canadian backbreaker at 12:40.
Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai beat Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani when Liger used his shotei on Otani at 16:28.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa pinned Shinya Makabe in the Mochizukibomb at 9:57.

The "last" conference regarding the rules of the 7/30 Choshu vs. Onita match broke down with Onita demanding it be an amperage explosion death match and NJ Director Katsushi Nagashima once again refusing.

7/9 Aomori-ken Budokan 4,500 sellout
Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tatsutoshi Goto beat Kensuke Sasaki & Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie when Tenzan pinned Sasaki at 14:54 following his diving headbutt.
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kendo Kashin defeated The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada when Kashin made Sasuke submit to a nadare shiki no udehishigigyakujujigatame at 15:17.
Yuji Nagata made Osami Nishimura submit to his Nagata lock at 16:16.

The lineup for the 7/30 Yokohama Arena show is:
Choshu vs. Onita
Sasaki & Nagata vs. Nakanishi & Yoshie
Hirata vs. Kenzo Suzuki
Iizuka vs. Otani
Koshinaka vs. Kanemoto
Tanaka vs. AKIRA
Makabe vs. Tanahashi
Since Choshu vs. Onita is going to stink up the joint, they are having some of the best working heavies against the juniors so the show will have some quality matches. The problem is that the juniors have proven that they can't beat the heavies, so the matches can't come close to being as good in reality as they sound on paper. From a drawing standpoint, this is totally a one match show. What were they smoking when they decided to put washed up 43-year-old no drawing power Hirata vs. green as grass Suzuki 3rd from the top? Where's Liger, Chono, etc?