10 Things I Learned From The 2016 NJPW G1 Climax

8. Thanks For Everything, Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Kenny Omega NJPW G1 Climax
NJPW.co.jp

When Satoshi Kojima gave up his spot in the G1 Climax to old buddy Hiroyoshi Tenzan, many (myself included) were disappointed. Kojima is far ahead of Tenzan in the ring these days, and him taking himself out of the tournament felt like a recipe for disappointment. Tenzan isn’t what he once was after all.

Well, colour me incorrect. Mr. G1 Climax didn’t go on to have the fairytale run that many predicted he would, but Tenzan put in a series of performances that almost beggar belief. He rolled back the years to put on classic bouts against Ishii, Hirooki Goto, Okada and the rest, pulling out all the stops in the process. Tenzan showed just why he is so respected in professional wrestling, creating the perfect ‘this is my last chance so I’ll wrestle like I stole it’ performance.

Kojima was fabulous as his hype man too, a great touch to the story. Tenzan didn’t go on to win another match after his initial two victory burst, but it didn’t matter. It was about ending the right way, not the victorious way.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.