New Year Funny Waltz: Masanobu Fuchi & El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kikutaro & Nobutaka Araya & Akira Raijin
Artistic Tag Team Battle: Jado & Gedo vs. NOSAWA & MAZADA
Rockin' Your Hearts of Fxxxing Outlaws: Togi Makabe & Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. D-Lo Brown & Buchanan & Travis Tomko
Dimension Zero: Riki Choshu & Manabu Nakanishi & Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto vs. TARU & Suwama & Giant Bernard
Top of the World ~ Arts of War: Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru & Milano Collection AT & Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI vs. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask & Kaz Hayashi & TAKA Michinoku & Wataru Inoue
Dangerous Rapture: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Triple Crown: Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiyo Kea
Super Dream Tag Match ~ "This is Wrestle Kingdom": Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
New Year Funny Waltz: Masanobu Fuchi & El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kikutaro & Nobutaka Araya & Akira Raijin
Artistic Tag Team Battle: Jado & Gedo vs. NOSAWA & MAZADA
Rockin' Your Hearts of Fxxxing Outlaws: Togi Makabe & Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. D-Lo Brown & Buchanan & Travis Tomko
Dimension Zero: Riki Choshu & Manabu Nakanishi & Takashi Iizuka & Naofumi Yamamoto vs. TARU & Suwama & Giant Bernard
Top of the World ~ Arts of War: Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru & Milano Collection AT & Shuji Kondo & "brother" YASSHI vs. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask & Kaz Hayashi & TAKA Michinoku & Wataru Inoue
Dangerous Rapture: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Triple Crown: Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taiyo Kea
Super Dream Tag Match ~ "This is Wrestle Kingdom": Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima
Digest of the most important matches of the year. The following featured segments are 7+ min.
4/13/07 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata
7/6/07 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Togi Makabe
10/8/07 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
11/11/07 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto
1/7/07 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title & WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Decision Match: Gedo & Jado [IWGP] vs. Don Fujii & Masaaki Mochizuki
3/11/07 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Minoru vs. Texano Jr.
4/13/07 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Minoru vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
5/2/07 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title: Gedo & Jado vs. Dick Togo & TAKA Michinoku
6/17/07 Best of the Super Jr. Final: Milano Collection AT vs. Wataru Inoue
9/24/07 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tiger Mask
12/8/07 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Wataru Inoue
Tetsuya Naito vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa 7:04
Yujiro vs. El Samurai 9:41
Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs. Minoru & Prince Devitt 13:13
Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Milano Collection AT 11:07
Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsuhiro Kuroda 8:26
Naofumi Yamamoto vs. Toru Yano 9:22
Masahiro Chono & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shiro Koshinaka 9:27
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Takashi Iizuka & Yuji Nagata 14:41
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title & WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Decision Match: Gedo & Jado [IWGP] vs. Don Fujii & Masaaki Mochizuki [WAR] 19:18
El Samurai & Yujiro vs. Masked Italiano & Minoru 12:20
Naofumi Yamamoto & Takashi Iizuka & Takashi Uwano vs. Gedo & Jado & Prince Devitt 11:48
Jushin Thunder Liger & Riki Choshu & Tiger Mask vs. BxB Hulk & Manabu Nakanishi & Milano Collection AT 9:16
Koji Kanemoto & Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Wataru Inoue 17:52
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title #1 Contender Tournament Semifinal Match: Wataru Inoue vs. Yujiro 10:22
Black Cat Memorial Eight Man: El Samurai & Koji Kanemoto & Tetsuya Naito & Tiger Mask vs. Gedo & Jado & Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru 12:05
Manabu Nakanishi vs. Travis Tomko 9:25
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title #1 Contender Tournament Final Match: Wataru Inoue vs. Prince Devitt 16:19
Takashi Iizuka & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano 14:38
Giant Bernard & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Togi Makabe 5:19
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Naofumi Yamamoto vs. Milano Collection AT & Shinsuke Nakamura 19:11
Takashi Uwano vs. Kuniyoshi Wada 13:01
Gedo & Jado & Dick Togo vs. GENTARO & Hi69 & Tomoaki Honma 16:02
Kei Sato & Shu Sato vs. Rasse & Yoshitsune 14:44
Shuji Kondo & TARU & YASSHI vs. Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka & Yujiro 13:58
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Kintaro Kanemura & Tetsuhiro Kuroda 15:59
WEW Heavyweight Title Cage Death: Togi Makabe vs. Mammoth Sasaki 16:14
Gedo vs. Yujiro 10:02
Takashi Iizuka vs. Takashi Uwano 8:25
Jado & Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru vs. El Samurai & Tetsuya Naito & Wataru Inoue 13:50
Manabu Nakanishi & Riki Choshu vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shiro Koshinaka 8:33
Giant Bernard & Milano Collection AT & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano 11:09
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tiger Mask vs. Koji Kanemoto & Yuji Nagata 30:00
Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Takashi Uwano 12:04
Dick Togo & El Samurai & TAKA Michinoku & Tiger Mask vs. Gedo & Jado & Jushin Thunder Liger & Shuji Kondo 12:42
Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano 8:25
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Manabu Nakanishi 9:30
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Togi Makabe 11:42
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & TARU vs. Masahiro Chono & Milano Collection AT 11:28
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Minoru vs. Wataru Inoue 11:38
Kurt Angle & Yuji Nagata vs. Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko 14:43
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Koji Kanemoto 21:52
Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro 11:48
El Texano Jr. & Negro Casas vs. Milano Collection AT & Minoru 9:47
Gedo & Jado & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask 13:34
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Black Strong Machine & Takashi Uwano 10:39
Akebono & Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shiro Koshinaka & Tomoaki Honma 10:20
New Japan Cup 2007 First Round: Togi Makabe vs. Travis Tomko 9:29
Giant Bernard & Masahiro Chono & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata 17:00
Negro Casas vs. El Samurai 9:59
Tiger Mask vs. Yujiro 9:13
Gedo & Jado vs. Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue 12:06
Jushin Thunder Liger & Milano Collection AT & Minoru vs. El Texano Jr. & Ryusuke Taguchi & Tetsuya Naito 12:58
Takashi Iizuka vs. Toru Yano 11:04
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata vs. Black Strong Machine & Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko 13:34
New Japan Cup 2007 First Round: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Shiro Koshinaka 10:03
Akebono & Masahiro Chono & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii 12:19
3/11/07: Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Takashi Uwano
4/13/07: Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka vs. Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano
5/3/09: Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. CHAOS Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano
4/7/13: Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi
5/3/13 NEVER Openweight Title Match: Masato Tanaka vs. Tomoaki Honma
11/9/13: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma
8/10/14: Tomoaki Honma vs. Tetsuya Naito
2/14/15 NEVER Openweight Title Decision Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma
3/5/15 NJ Cup 1st Round: Tomoaki Honma vs. Togi Makabe
11/7/15 NEVER Openweight Title: Tomoahiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma
12/9/15 World Tag League Final: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito & EVIL
1/4/16 IWGP Tag Title: Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
Taichi Ishikari & Tiger Mask vs. Takashi Uwano & Tetsuya Naito 13:03
Black Strong Machine vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa 6:42
Gedo & Jado vs. Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue 12:32
El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Milano Collection AT & Minoru 15:03
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Takashi Iizuka vs. Giant Bernard & Orlando Jordan 12:04
Shinsuke Nakamura & Travis Tomko vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Togi Makabe 14:44
Shiro Koshinaka & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata 11:57
Takashi Uwano & Yujiro vs. Taichi Ishikari & Tetsuya Naito 10:08
El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Milano Collection AT & Minoru 12:05
Gedo & Jado & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask & Wataru Inoue 13:05
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Toru Yano vs. Black Strong Machine & Travis Tomko 11:16
Giant Bernard vs. Takashi Iizuka 8:05
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tomohiro Ishii 14:14
Yuji Nagata vs. Orlando Jordan 8:33
Chain Death: Togi Makabe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 18:19
El Samurai & Yujiro vs. Taichi Ishikari & Mitsuhide Hirasawa 8:14
Special Tag Match: Jushin Thunder Liger & Milano Collection AT & BxB Hulk vs. Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue & Tetsuya Naito 12:32
New Japan vs. GBH: Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka vs. Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma 2:52
Special Singles Match: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Orlando Jordan 7:59
BLACK vs. GBH: Shinsuke Nakamura & Black Strong Machine vs. Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii 11:58
International Junior Tag Title Match: Jado & Gedo vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda 14:51
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Minoru vs. Ryusuke Taguchi 18:27. Minoru did a really good job of carrying Taguchi through a match that was his own style, yet also played to the strengths of Taguchi. There were the expected storylines with Minoru attacking Taguchi's arm and Taguchi returning the favor by attacking Minoru's taped up shoulder, but the focus, technical wrestling, and injuries were incorporated into a fast-paced athletic match. Minoru was often in control, but he did a lot of exchanging for Taguchi and let him make several brief comebacks so he was always in the match, and able to be very active and utilize his quickness without really having to mount a sustained offense. The match was always interesting, and felt shorter than it actually was. It wasn't super dramatic, but the crowd was definitely into it, certainly appreciating the efforts of both performers. ***1/2
IWGP Tag Title Match: Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shiro Koshinaka 15:47
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata 23:34. Having defeated Nagata twice in 2006 and coming into the match with the title, Tanahashi was able to play even with Mr. IWGP. They did a very intense match built around stiff striking. It wasn't particularly story oriented, though Tanahashi injuring Nagata's knee was something of an exqualizer for Tanahashi doing Nagata's style, and instead was just very back and forth. The strength of the match lied in all the other offense brached off very organically from the striking base. The match flowed so well, with everything seeming to fit because they didn't try to force anything, or to make the match something it wasn't. The crowd was excellent, with both men receiving strong support. It was their best match so far, and you didn't want it to end, but it felt like it was missing something, and to me that was drama. It was perfectly performed, but I felt like it encouraged passive spectatorship. It had all the proficiency, but was unable to transcend into a match where one really cared who won and if and when. ***3/4
El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Masked Canadian & Milanito Collection at 9:39
Makai 21 & Toru Yano vs. Daigoro Kashiwa & Jinsei Shinzaki 9:58
Tanaka vs. BENTEN 9:21
Gedo & Jado vs. Shuji Kondo & YASSHI 15:23
Makai Club Makai #2 & Makai X & President Hoshino vs. Pegasus Kid & Super Strong Machine & Taichi Ishikari 9:59
Ladder: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. TARU 13:23
Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Yujiro vs. Taichi Ishikari & Takashi Uwano 11:30
Gedo & Jado & Minoru vs. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask & Wataru Inoue 13:21
El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Milano Collection AT 12:47
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Orlando Jordan 9:25
Manabu Nakanishi vs. Togi Makabe 12:11
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Takashi Iizuka vs. Black Strong Machine & Giant Bernard 17:06
Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Toru Yano 9:13
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan 14:06
Don Arakawa vs. Tetsuya Naito 6:35
Taichi Ishikari vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa 7:11
El Samurai & Ryusuke Tag uchi & Yujiro vs. Gedo & Jado & Jushin Thunder Liger 10:06
Minoru & Prince Devitt vs. Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue 12:12
Manabu Nakanishi & Riki Choshu & Takashi Uwano vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano 5:31
Black Strong Machine & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma 9:14
Togi Makabe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 13:55
IWGP Tag Title: Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko vs. Takashi Iizuka & Yuji Nagata 19:47
Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Kuniyoshi Wada 7:57
Takashi Uwano vs. Tetsuya Naito 13:08
Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro vs. Dick Togo & Taichi Ishikari 13:57
Gedo & Jado vs. Rasse & Yoshitsune 10:21
Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma 7:37
2/3 Falls: Shiro Koshinaka & Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. GENTARO & Kintaro Kanemura & Mammoth Sasaki & Tetsuhiro Kuroda 21:00
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Naofumi Yamamoto 10:30
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Takashi Uwano 16:14
Shiro Koshinaka & Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka & Yuji Nagata 7:46
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block B: Tetsuya Naito [2] vs. Gedo [0] 9:29
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger [2] vs. Yujiro [0] 11:19
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block A: Wataru Inoue [2] vs. Tiger Mask [0] 11:36
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block B: Ryusuke Tag uchi [2] vs. Minoru [0] 14:15
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block B: Koji Kanemoto [2] vs. BxB Hulk [0] 12:05
Takashi Iizuka vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa 5:16
Black Strong Machine & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomohiro Ishii 10:53
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block A: Taichi Ishikari [4] vs. Yujiro [0] 10:41
Manabu Nakanishi & Riki Choshu vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Togi Makabe 9:18
Naofumi Yamamoto & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano 10:49
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block A: Milano Collection AT [4] vs. Jushin Thunder Liger [4] 16:41
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block B: BxB Hulk [4] vs. Gedo [0] 11:03
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Block B: Koji Kanemoto [4] vs. Minoru [0] 16:32
Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Takashi Iizuka vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro 8:32
Black Strong Machine & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii 9:45
Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Shiro Koshinaka 9:11
Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Naofumi Yamamoto 14:52
El Samurai & Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask vs. Gedo & Jushin Thunder Liger & Taichi Ishikari 14:12
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Semifinal: Milano Collection AT vs. Ryusuke Taguchi 12:47
Best Of The Super Junior XIV Semifinal: Wataru Inoue vs. Minoru 14:45
7/4/07
Best of the Super Jr. Final: Milano Collection AT vs. Wataru Inoue
7/11/07
Takashi Iizuka & Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Takashi Uwano & Taichi Ishikari
Best of the Super Jr. Final Special Tag PART-1: Gedo & BxB Hulk vs. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito
Best of the Super Jr. Final Special Tag PART-2: Minoru & Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto & El Samurai
Ryusuke Taguchi & Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro vs. CTU Gedo & Jado & Minoru 12:55
El Samurai & Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Prince Devitt & Taichi Ishikari 15:38
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Takashi Uwano 8:44
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Masahiro Chono & Milano Collection AT 11:01
G1 Climax Participation: Toru Yano vs. Takashi Iizuka 12:34
G1 Climax Participation: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Riki Choshu 7:13
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Manabu Nakanishi & Naofumi Yamamoto & Yuji Nagata vs. Giant Bernard & Orlando Jordan & Shinsuke Nakamura & Travis Tomko 18:25
Riki Choshu vs. Tomohiro Ishii 7:37
WEW Heavyweight Title: Kintaro Kanemura vs. Toru Yano 13:02
Manabu Nakanishi vs. Daisuke Sekimoto 11:29
8/5/07 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
G1 Climax B Block: Milano Collection AT [2] vs. Toru Yano [0] 6:00
G1 Climax B Block: Shiro Koshinaka [2] vs. Manabu Nakanishi [0] 10:30
G1 Climax A Block: Togi Makabe [2] vs. Giant Bernard [0] 8:34
G1 Climax A Block: Yuji Nagata [2] vs. Akebono [0] 6:32
G1 Climax B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [1] vs. Shinsuke Nakamura [1] 30:00. Brutal, grueling match. Tanahashi decided to match Nakamura strike for strike. They built the match around these crisp and intense exchanges, and as neither would back or especially fall down, they just went on until someone changed it up. But they seemed almost more interested in winning the standing war than the match itself, so they'd always return to blasting away at each other. Tanahashi always attacks the knee, but he tends to come to it at different points and to some extent in a different manner in each match. Also, the match doesn't have to be about the knee attack, as it wasn't here despite a spot here or there that recalled it such as Nakamura's knee bothering him when he missed the moonsault, so it isn't predictable and repetitive like his idol Muto. This match was about parity, and as such it was fitting that it went the distance, setting up their superior 1/4/08 Tokyo Dome main event.
G1 Climax A Block: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] vs. Masahiro Chono [0] 17:20
8/6/07 Twin Messe Shizuoka
G1 Climax B Block: Milano Collection AT [4] vs. Shiro Koshinaka [2] 10:29
G1 Climax A Block: Akebono [2] vs. Togi Makabe [2] 7:48
G1 Climax B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi [2] vs. Toru Yano [1] 12:27
G1 Climax B Block: Shinsuke Nakamura [3] vs. Manabu Nakanishi [0] 12:38
G1 Climax A Block: Giant Bernard [2] vs. Masahiro Chono [0] 3:40
G1 Climax A Block: Yuji Nagata [4] vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] 10:41
8/8/07 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
G1 Climax B Block: Toru Yano vs. Manabu Nakanishi 10:41
G1 Climax B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Milano Collection AT 9:59
G1 Climax A Block: Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Giant Bernand 13:24
G1 Climax A Block: Akebono vs. Masahiro Chono 7:45
G1 Climax B Block: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Shinzuke Nakamura 10:34
G1 Climax A Block: Togi Makabe [4] vs. Yuji Nagata [4] 15:44
8/10/07 Aichi Prefectural Gym
G1 Climax 2007 Block B: Toru Yano [5] vs. Shiro Koshinaka [4] 9:52
G1 Climax 2007 Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [5] vs. Milano Collection AT [4] 12:30
G1 Climax 2007 Block B: Manabu Nakanishi [2] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [4] 12:13
G1 Climax 2007 Block A: Akebono [3] vs. Giant Bernard [5] 9:57
G1 Climax 2007 Block A: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [4] vs. Togi Makabe [4] 15:45
G1 Climax 2007 Block A: Masahiro Chono [4] vs. Yuji Nagata [4] 16:15
8/11/07 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
G1 Climax B Block: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Milano Collection AT 5:49
G1 Climax A Block: Akebono vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan 9:18
G1 Climax A Block: Masahiro Chono vs. Togi Makabe 11:17
G1 Climax B Block: Shinzuke Nakamura vs. Toru Yano 12:13
G1 Climax A Block: Giant Bernand vs. Yuji Nagata 13:58
G1 Climax B Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shiro Koshinaka 17:04
8/12/07 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
G1 Climax Semifinal: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe 15:24
G1 Climax Semifinal: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Yuji Nagata 18:22. One of Nagata's most intense and brutal matches. It was hard to believe he was bruising at this level knowing he had to come back in an hour and take on the other young ace Tanahashi in the final, and make that a special match as well. NJ's two nasty shooters could only really do one type of match together though. I mean, if it wasn't a brutal UWF leaning match, everyone would feel cheated. They tried to come out striking, but the big kicks and knees were initially evaded. This led, a bit too quick, to a series of exchanges, and once they began connecting the intensity kept being ratcheted up and the activity quickly rose until they were both were going rapid fire. Nagata took control and began to measure his blows. They got into the theme of the match, which was Nagata injuring Nakamura's left arm. Nagata didn't go to town on it the entire match, but it was always in play, as after Nagata used a few arm submissions on it Nakamura was in need of a sling and did his best to only use his right arm wherever he could. They threw every strike they had at each other, even trading enzuigiris. Eventually, they did a clumsy looking finish where Nakamura tried for an armbar, but Nagata countered into an armbar of his own. Nakamura managed to get his arm bent and began to roll to a knee, so Nagata just inexplicably released the arm. The ref immediately called for the doctor, who proceeded to stop the match. I felt Nakamura should just have submitted, and all this doctor stuff was an ill executed attempt to save face, but overall it was the right finish, even if it didn't come off organically. Whatever you think of the finish, it can't diminish the excellent performances. This was some of the bet shoot style wrestling New Japan has delivered, with nasty precision blows and a good story, extremely well put over by Nakamura. ****
G1 Climax Final: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata 19:02. Nagata had one of the best and most punishing matches of his career and hour earlier, and now he was facing the other ace of the current generation in the final of the biggest pro wrestling tournament of the year. Nagata stayed in ass kicking mode, and Tanahashi deserves credit not only for his willingness for trying to match Nagata in his own style, but moreso for improving his striking to the point where it wasn't totally him getting blistered then changing things up for his comebacks. Still, I feel that's the problem with the match, that they work so credibly for 75% is a big plus, but as Tanahashi lost the title on 4/13/07 doing a more credible match, he had to concede to needing his showy sling blades and high fly flows. That said, even though the diving body press was one of Tanahashi's most effective moves, including an early one off the middle rope to the floor, they were able to transition right back from Tanahashi's showy fake moves to him catching a kick and debilitating Nagata's injured knee with Dragon screws right before the finish. Nagata's knee injury and Tanahashi's arm injury could have been more consistent focuses throughout the match rather than closer to window dressing, but at least they put over that they were most concerned with incapacitating one another by hitting each other as hard as they could. Nagata even knocked one of Tanahashi's teeth out with a huge slap. Tanahashi also bled from the elbow. What was consistent was the intensity and desire. These two wanted this victory, badly, and were willing to do whatever it took to attain it. It perhaps wasn't that different from their matches from 2006, but Tanahashi's growth was apparent, and this was the one where you felt he finally grew into the role of being able to stand up to Nagata and be the ace, thus earning his first G1 without it feeling like a booking contrivance. ***3/4
#15 Kazuchika Okada
8/26/07 Tokyo: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito
1/30/10 Tokyo: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto
5/13/11 Rahway, NJ: MVP vs. Kazuchika Okada
3/11/12 Hamamatsu: Kazuchika Okada & Shinsuke Nakamura & Masato Tanaka & YOSHI HASHI vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tetsuya Naito & Karl Anderson & Tomoaki Honma
3/25/13 Nagoya: Kazuchika Okada & Gedo vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & BUSHI
#16 CMLL Fantastica Mania
1/22/11 Tokyo CMLL Middleweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. La Sombra
1/23/11 Tokyo 2/3 Falls: Mistico vs. Averno
1/21/12 Tokyo: Kazuchika Okada & Volador Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & La Sombra
1/19/13 Tokyo: Atlantis vs. Euforia
1/18/14 Tokyo: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rush
AKIRA vs. Taichi Ishikari 12:15
Gedo & Jado vs. Minoru & Prince Devitt 12:12
Tetsuya Naito & Tiger Mask vs. Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi 15:20
Giant Bernard & Milano Collection AT & Travis Tomko vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Naofumi Yamamoto & Yujiro 14:03
Hirooki Goto vs. Takashi Uwano 8:03
Akebono & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii 7:13
Takashi Iizuka & Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa 15:22
Gedo & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jado & Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu & Shiro Koshinaka 8:50
Mitsuhide Hirasawa vs. Tetsuya Naito 7:39
Prince Devitt vs. Gedo 9:44
Jado vs. Minoru 13:30
Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro 14:34
Hirooki Goto vs. Tomoaki Honma 10:22
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Takashi Iizuka vs. AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger 13:25
AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu & Shiro Koshinaka & Super Strong Machine vs. Gedo & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Jado & Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano 10:33
Manabu Nakanishi & Naofumi Yamamoto & Yuji Nagata vs. Giant Bernard & Milano Collection AT & Travis Tomko 18:32
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 15:57 of 31:05. If the previous Nagata/Tanahashi matches were a voyage, this was the discovery. The difference really was Tanahashi's confidence, which kept growing throughout the series, and was pretty much through the roof here. He was just feeling it the entire match, and the crowd was feeding off his energy and enthusiasm, resulting in great atmosphere throughout. Tanahashi's improvement was shown by the fact he now not only has the firepower to truly hang with Nagata in the fierce exchanges, but he can seemlessly incorporate his jumping attacks so the match doesn't have to abruptly change style and tone in order for him to do his thing. Their familiarity with each other also led to a huge improvement as they were able to be more aggressive. The chemistry was totally there, and they would just take it to each other knowing the other would react to/play off their attack properly. Last year Nagata avenged his loss to Tanahashi 2 months later by taking him out in the semifinal of the New Japan Cup, but Tanahashi beat him in the more important IWGP Title Tournament Semifinal en route to his first championship. This year Tanahashi proved he was the man, avenging his IWGP Heavyweight Championship loss to Nagata on 4/13/07 by coming back and beating him to win the G1 on 8/12/07 then again 2 months later to regain the title. It's a pity the match was cut in half, but even in this butchered form it was apparent this was their masterpiece. ****1/4 range
Jaguar Yokota Special
GHC Heavyweight Title Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Naomichi Marufuji 13:49 of 26:28
Kensuke Sasaki on a cooking show. Sasaki cooks dinner
10/8/07
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title #1 Contender Battle Royal: Koji Kanemoto vs. Gedo vs. Jado vs. Koji Kanemoto vs. Taichi Ishikari vs. Tetsuya Naito vs. Tetsuya Naito vs. Tiger Mask vs. Yujiro 12:28
AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Naofumi Yamamoto & Takashi Iizuka & Takashi Uwano 7:56
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Minoru 17:37
10/28/07
AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii 8:55
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Koji Kanemoto 21:54
Wataru Inoue Return Match: Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro
Togi Makabe vs. Milano Collection A.T.
Bono Tiger Akebono & Tiger Mask vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Tomoaki Honma
New Japan Jr. vs. TNA X Division ~J or X~: Christopher Daniels & Senshi vs. Minoru & Prince Devitt
GBH vs. TNA ~ SPEAR or GORE!: Rhino vs. Toru Yano
New Japan vs. Legend: Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono & Super Strong Machine & Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA vs. Takashi Iizuka & Takashi Uwano & Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Tetsuya Naito & Taichi Ishikari
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Dick Togo & TAKA Michinoku vs. Jado & Gedo
Shinsuke Nakamura Return Match: Shinsuke Nakamura & Giant Bernard vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto 31:32. A major effort, but better in theory than in execution. It was a solid, well worked match, but the sort of match where you felt like they came up short trying to emulate great wrestling they'd seen rather than allowing their own match to flow organically. Or maybe they, particularly Goto, just doesn't do the moves as well as others, certainly not his dive. Goto was totally along for the ride, but Tanahashi was certainly excellent, and was singlehandedly able to make it a memorable match. Tanahashi did an excellent job of getting heat, taking cheap shots from the get go, prompting Goto to unload on him in the corner. Tanahashi injured Goto's knee on the post, and even though he sometimes came off as a Muto wannabe, his knee work was one of the strong points of the match because he kept finding clever ways to go back to the injury rather than just exhausting his knee arsenal and moving on when he wasn't able to finish. This allowed for there to be a match in addition to the knee work, and was good justification for Tanahashi quickly cutting Goto off. There was an awesome slap sequence where Tanahashi busted Goto open hardway, but, in general, the striking was more a weakness than a strength. They seemed to think they were doing All Japan, but most of the strikes weren't that stiff, and it was readily apparent most of the elbows weren't connecting solidly. A lot of the offense was rather contrived for the setting they seemed to be trying to create. The timing was good though, and it was overall well structured. I liked the finish where Tanahashi used his high fly flow to the bad knee then hooked the Texas clover hold. ***3/4
Takashi Iizuka vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa 6:44
Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi Ishikari & Tiger Mask 12:30
Wataru Inoue vs. Tetsuya Naito 6:25
AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Yujiro 12:11
Giant Bernard & Prince Devitt vs. Gedo & Jado 9:51
Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Steve Madison & Yuji Nagata 10:31
Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. Hirooki Goto & Milano Collection AT 13:34
Minoru & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Koji Kanemoto 18:05
Milano Collection AT & Minoru vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yujiro 11:36
Ryusuke Taguchi & Takashi Iizuka vs. Masato Tanaka & Osamu Namiguchi 13:16
AKIRA & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto & Tiger Mask 14:13
Gedo & Jado & Togi Makabe & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa & Taichi Ishikari & Takashi Uwano & Yuji Nagata 16:15
Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu vs. Hirooki Goto & Shinsuke Nakamura 12:48
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Wataru Inoue 19:23
Ryusuke Taguchi & Taichi Ishikari & Takashi Iizuka & Tiger Mask vs. Gedo & Jado & Tomoaki Honma & Tomohiro Ishii 9:22
Koji Kanemoto vs. Tetsuya Naito 11:50
Manabu Nakanishi vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa 5:00
Yuji Nagata vs. Yujiro 8:39
Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. AKIRA & Riki Choshu 9:01
Jushin Thunder Liger & Masahiro Chono vs. Hirooki Goto & Minoru 14:29
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Wataru Inoue vs. Milano Collection AT & Shinsuke Nakamura 18:07