Sasaki wins G1 Climax
By JOHN F. MOLINARO -- SLAM! Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax 2000 tournament concluded today as IWGP Heavyweight champion Kensuke Sasaki defeated last year's winner Manabu Nakinishi in 19:42 with
his signature move, the Northern Lights Bomb before a sellout crowd of 11, 500 fans at Tokyo's Sumo Hall.
G1 Climax 2000 Champion, Kensuke Sasaki. (Photo courtesy Tokyo Sports)
|
Sasaki, who won his division, Block B, with a perfect 3 and 0 record, advanced to the finals after defeating Yuji Nagata in the semi-finals earlier on the show. Nagata defeated
Takashi Iizuka in a sudden death playoff match to win Block A to advance to the semi-finals.
Nakanishi won Block C after defeating Hiroshi Tenzan in a sudden death playoff match earlier in the show. He then went on to defeat Block D winner, Masa Chono, in the
semi-finals.
This is the second time Sasaki has won the G1 tournament having defeated Tenzan in the finals in 1997. Sasaki becomes only the second reigning IWGP Heavyweight
Champion to win the G1 tournament - the other one being Keiji Mutoh in 1995.
This year's G1 was considered a failure by both Japanese fans and media. Only two of the six shows were sellouts -- unlike years past where the tournament sold out
automatically, many of the marquee matches were sub-par, the booking suspect at times and many critics question booker Riki Choshu's decision to give the tournament to Sasaki
instead of a young star such as Satoshi Kojima, Tenzan or Nagata, thus elevating them to the upper echelon of New Japan's roster.
Critics are also questioning Choshu's decision to burry Jushin "Thunder" Liger and Tatsuhito Takaiwa, the two lone junior heavyweights in the tournament who were both
making their G1 debuts.
New Japan G1 CLIMAX 2000 Final Standings
|
Block A |
Yuji Nagata |
Takashi Iizuka |
Tatsumi Fujinami |
Jushin Liger |
Tatsutoshi Gotoh |
Total Points |
Nagata
|
|
WON |
WON |
WON |
LOST |
3 |
Iizuka
|
LOST |
|
WON |
WON |
WON |
3 |
Fujinami
|
LOST |
LOST |
|
WON |
WON |
2 |
Liger
|
LOST |
LOST |
LOST |
|
WON |
1 |
Gotoh
|
WON |
LOST |
LOST |
LOST |
|
1 |
|
Block B |
Kensuke Sasaki |
Satoshi Kojima |
Brian Johnston |
Osamu Kido |
Hiro Saito |
Total Points |
Sasaki
|
|
WON |
WON |
WON |
N/A |
3 |
Kojima
|
LOST |
|
WON |
WON |
N/A |
2 |
Johnston
|
LOST |
LOST |
|
WON |
WON |
2 |
Kido
|
LOST |
LOST |
LOST |
|
N/A |
1 |
Saito
|
N/A |
N/A |
LOST |
N/A |
|
0 |
|
Block C |
Manabu Nakinishi |
Hiroshi Tenzan |
Tadao Yasuda |
Osamu Nishimura |
Kenzo Suzuki |
Total Points |
Nakinishi
|
|
LOST |
WON |
WON |
WON |
3 |
Tenzan
|
WON |
|
WON |
LOST |
WON |
3 |
Yasuda
|
LOST |
LOST |
|
WON |
WON |
2 |
Nishimura
|
LOST |
WON |
LOST |
|
WON |
2 |
Suzuki
|
LOST |
LOST |
LOST |
LOST |
|
0 |
|
Block D |
Masa Chono |
Shiro Koshinaka |
Yutaka Yoshie |
Junji Hirata |
Tatsuhito Takaiwa |
Total Points |
Chono
|
|
LOST |
WON |
WON |
WON |
3 |
Koshinaka
|
WON |
|
WON |
LOST |
LOST |
2 |
Yoshie
|
LOST |
LOST |
|
WON |
WON |
2 |
Hirata
|
LOST |
WON |
LOST |
|
WON |
2 |
Takaiwa
|
LOST |
WON |
LOST |
LOST |
|
1 |
