[Results] New Japan, 9/27/09

Kobe World Hall saw the G1 Climax final replayed today with the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Title on the line, after it was handed back by the injured Hiroshi Tanahashi (who made an appearance today). G1 Climax winner Togi Makabe, the tournament's come-from-behind winner, who had been the "man of summer" with his tournament victory, the G1 vs. Fire Festival win over Ryouji Sai, and a slight edge in the lead-in matches to this. And the enigmatic Shinsuke Nakamura, New Japan's "old ideal", the supernova who was put in the spotlight from the very start of his career while Makabe did things the old fashioned way - climbing his way up from the bottom. The match, which according to New Japan "became a fierce fight surpassing the G1 final", was very close and physical, with some similar sequences as in the final. The turning point saw Shinsuke couner a lariat with a high kick, before punching Makabe in the face and drilling a bold Makabe with his Boma Ye to register the three count. Deadlier than ever, Shinsuke Nakamura became a 3-time champion after his "rookie" reign and his brief but eventful second reign, in which he merged the 3rd and 4th generation IWGP Heavyweight titles by beating Kurt Angle.
So what will reign number three be like for the mysterious CHAOS leader? His motives have been somewhat unclear since he walked away from RISE to take most of Makabe's GBH faction away from him and form CHAOS. Little mention of why, little mention of what Goto thought, just a lot of angst and violence from Nakamura. Shinsuke took the microphone and said (roughly), "Does the IWGP title shine like it did in the old days? I don't think it does. It isn't good enough. Inoki! I'll get back the old IWGP title!" Nakamura gave the impression that he wanted to retire the fourth generation title and "find Inoki's belt", the original IWGP Heavyweight Title. Could this mean interaction with Inoki or IGF or IGF kingpins Naoya Ogawa and Josh Barnett? Still to this day Nakamura seeks the "strong professional wrestling" that was lost due to the now-dead MMA boom in Japan and this perhaps explains finally why he created CHAOS - to pursue said route in a changing environment where it was no longer supported like in the past, with "showman" Hiroshi Tanahashi as the poster boy. Nakamura has fully revived his "Strong Style" route only with an edge nowadays that those he used to fight (Fujita, Takayama, Suzuki, Shibata, etc.) had. Shinsuke makes his V1 defense of the title at Sumo Hall against ZERO1 boss Shinjiro Otani and will be hoping to start his reign positively so that his words can be turned into actions.
Wataru Inoue's "My G1" didn't see any decisive victories, just a couple of DQ wins over CHAOS members. But the struggling junior convert has now found a guide in the form of Yuji Nagata, who seems to have taken Wataru under his wing. Together with oldster Super Strong Machine and young lion Mitsuhide Hirasawa they have been mingling a little in the ring and out of it. It is called, I think, Aogi-gun (difficult to translate, someone feel free to correct if I'm wrong) and exists as a branch of the regular army seeking justice. Nagata & Wataru battled CHAOS' Yano & Ishii in today's semi but Inoue's shortcomings again meant defeat, with Yano pinning him. Can Nagata turn Wataru's fighting spirit into results and will these two unite in the upcoming G1 Tag League perhaps? Tiger Mask pinned Giant Bernard during a trios match at Korakuen earlier in the tour, a big upset given that Bernard is almost twice the size of the junior heavyweight kingpin! Today they met in a singles battle and Tiger troubled the gaijin ace again with his trickery, but was finally put to an honorable death via the Bernard Driver. DRAGON GATE's CIMA & Don Fujii made a special appearance in Kobe, where the promotion is so popular, edging out the team of Nakanishi & AKIRA when CIMA pinned AKIRA.
IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions, Apollo 55, have won two matches over tag legends Jado & Gedo during the tour but today while teaming with Hirooki Goto lost to Masato Tanaka, Jado & Gedo. Like Apollo 55's series with Jado & Gedo, Goto and Tanaka have been at each other's throats for much of the tour, suggesting the possibility of a singles match between Goto and the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion. Jado & Gedo next march into NOAH on October 3rd to challenge for the GHC Jr. Tag Team Champions and supposing they won those, perhaps a double title match against Apollo 55 in search of revenge?