–> “G1 CLIMAX XXI ~THE INVINCIBLE FIGHTER~” <--

NJPW, 8/7/11 (J SPORTS)
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
5,500 Fans – No Vacancy

1. G1 Climax – Block A: Yoshihiro Takayama [6] beat Hideo Saito [0] (3:29) with an Everest German suplex hold.
2. G1 Climax – Block A: Toru Yano [4] beat Yujiro Takahashi [4] (8:30) with the Oni Koroshi.
3. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] beat Wataru Inoue [2] (9:50) with the Anaconda X.
4. G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [8] beat La Sombra [4] (9:32) with a Gotch-style piledriver.
5. Lance Archer & TAKA Michinoku beat Tetsuya Naito & Tomoaki Honma (9:14) when Archer used the Dark Days on Honma.
6. G1 Climax – Block B: Shinsuke Nakamura [8] beat Strong Man [0] (6:56) with the Boma Ye.
7. G1 Climax – Block B: Hirooki Goto [8] beat Karl Anderson [4] (10:56) with the Shouten Kai.
8. G1 Climax – Block A: Giant Bernard [8] beat Yuji Nagata [6] (10:00) with the Bernard Driver.
9. G1 Climax – Block B: Satoshi Kojima [4] beat MVP [4] (11:26) with a lariat.
10. G1 Climax – Block A: Hiroshi Tanahashi [6] beat Togi Makabe [6] (18:46) with the High Fly Flow.

* Tanahashi picks up a crucial win over rival Makabe to ensure he keeps up with the pace, hitting 6pts with three other big names including Makabe himself. This was said to have been a very hot match that had the Osaka fans stamping their feet in appreciation.
* Kojima defeats sworn friend MVP in an equally crucial win although he and MVP both remain 4pts or two wins behind the leaders of Block B.
* Giant Bernard takes the lead in Block A with a big win over one of the four men behind him, Nagata. Bernard’s impressive G1 campaign continues a big year for the gaijin ace.
* Goto, Nakamura, and Suzuki all hit 8pts and pulled away a little in Block B with wins over Anderson, Strong Man, and La Sombra respectively. Like last year, Strong Man has started very poorly with a 0-4 record.
* Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who has also struggled in a tournament he dominated so much for a while in the 2000s that he was nicknamed the new “Mr. G1″, finally broke his duck by beating Wataru Inoue.
* After a high impact return recently, Hideo Saito’s G1 Climax has been a large failure and shown he is still a distance behind the big players of New Japan. Saito/Hirasawa seems to be having an identity crisis, appearing in different outfits. His crushing loss to Takayama today means he has no points and a 0-5 record.

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Block A:
1. Giant Bernard [8]
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi [6]
- Togi Makabe [6]
- Yuji Nagata [6]
- Yoshihiro Takayama [6]
6. Toru Yano [4]
- Yujiro Takahashi [4]
- Lance Archer [4]
9. Tetsuya Naito [2]
- Hideo Saito [0]

Block B:
1. Hirooki Goto [8]
- Shinsuke Nakamura [8]
- Minoru Suzuki [8]
4. Satoshi Kojima [4]
- MVP [4]
- Karl Anderson [4]
- La Sombra [4]
8. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2]
9. Wataru Inoue [2]
10. Strong Man [0]