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[Complete Results]
The most important heavyweight tournament in wrestling, the G1 Climax, returned for it's eleventh installment in August, 2001. Featuring ten of the toughest heavyweights on the planet, and two junior heavyweights, in two blocks, the 2001 G1 Climax began with two shows in Osaka, before travelling to Aichi and Sendai, then reaching it's conclusion with three shows at the historical Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Special participation:
Gedo (Team 2000): 8/11 only
Jado (Team 2000): 8/11 only
Masayuki Naruse: 8/11 & 8/12
G1 Climax 2001 scoring system: Win (2 points), draw (1 point), loss (0 points)
Block A:
1. Tatsumi Fujinami (7th participation, 1993 winner)
2. Manabu Nakanishi (5th participation, 1999 winner)
3. Yuji Nagata (3rd participation)
4. Minoru Tanaka (1st participation)
5. Tadao Yasuda (5th participation)
6. Kazunari Murakami (1st participation)
Block B:
1. Masahiro Chono (11th participation, 1991, 1992 & 1994 winner)
2. Keiji Muto (10th participation, 1995 winner)
3. Osamu Nishimura (3rd participation)
4. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (7th participation)
5. Satoshi Kojima (6th participation)
6. Jushin Thunder Liger (2nd participation)
Points of note:
(8/4) Minoru Tanaka, replacing the injured Takashi Iizuka, became one of few juniors to ever compete in a G1 Climax. He opened his campaign with a match against Yasuda, who began his first full New Japan tour since leaving the company. Although he lost to a front sleeper, Tanaka fought well and won the crowd support as the underdog.
(8/4) Liger was the second junior to be defeated on the opening day, but also put up a great challenge, even moreso than Tanaka. Liger took Tenzan over 15 minutes, before succumbing to the TTD. A positive start for Tenzan, still looking for his first G1 tournament win.
(8/4) In a battle of technicians, Muto met Nishimura in the third G1 match of the show. Although troubled by Nishimura, who attacked one of Muto's sore knees, the Triple Crown Champion fought back and won with a figure-four leglock.
(8/4) Nakanishi made surprisingly short work of President Fujinami, submitting him with an Argentine backbreaker in little over 5 minutes. The 1999 champion was in impressive form, and stood out as a potential tournament winner.
(8/4) Nagata was taken to a double countout by "Terrorist of Heisei" Kazunari Murakami in a heated clash. It was a wild brawl, with Nagata getting cut open and bleeding. The two fought to the outside and were counted out.
(8/4) Kojima, like Nagata and Tenzan looking for his first G1 tournament, made a great start by scoring his first ever singles win over his Team 2000 leader, Chono! Kojima survived an STF, before striking Mr. G1 with a fierce lariat for the main event win!
(8/5) After his opening day loss, Tanaka bounced back with a huge upset win. Although Murakami broke Tanaka's nose with a wild punch, the former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion stunned the UFO maniac with an inside cradle for the surprise pinfall victory!
(8/5) Yasuda made it two in a row by defeating Fujinami. Like Nakanishi, Yasuda didn't take long to finish off New Japan's president, submitting him with a standing achilles tendon hold in just over 5 minutes.
(8/5) After winning a match on the opening day in which he was the underdog, Kojima fell to an underdog himself on day two. Nishimura showed enough craftiness to take power fighter Kojima off guard and cradle him for another upset win!
(8/5) Liger suffered his second loss of the year to Muto and subsequently his second loss of the G1, falling to the Shining Wizard. Once more though, the junior titan fought well and gave his heavyweight opponent a good fight.
(8/5) Tenzan attempted to follow Kojima's lead of taking down T2000 leader, Chono, but wasn't quite able to. The two fought an even, see-saw match, but Chono's cross-style STF forced a submission out of his direct disciple.
(8/5) Nagata, regarded as the heavy favourite by many, found himself near the bottom of Block A after losing to his close friend, Nakanishi, in an important main event. Nagata survived Nakanishi's Argentine backbreaker, but was taken down with a bulldog headlock, and Nakanishi scored the pinfall win.
(8/6) Yasuda took the lead in Block A with a big win over Nakanishi in the first G1 match of the show. Nakanishi found himself in a front sleeper, and with no escape in sight, had to submit, as a result suffering his first loss.
(8/6) Nishimura continued to impress fans, even in defeat, taking Tenzan over 24 minutes in a severe struggle today. Tenzan controlled Nishimura, but Mr. Muga wouldn't say die and almost upset Tenzan several times. Tenzan eventually picked up a hard fought victory, spiking Nishimura with the TTD.
(8/6) Liger suffered his third loss in a row, this time to Chono with the story similar to the opening two days. He performed well, but was just a step short of accomplishing victory, Chono laying back on a la magistral for the cradle win.
(8/6) Fujinami's first win of the tournament was a spectacular one, as he defeated Murakami in just 36 seconds! Murakami viciously attacked the legend, but Fujinami's tried and tested craftiness stunned the terrorist, an inside cradle sealing the win!
(8/6) Nagata's bad luck in the G1 started to change, as today he defeated the man who many call his junior equivalent, Tanaka, in a ground-based match. Tanaka tapped out to the Nagata Lock II, but remained ahead of Murakami in Block A.
(8/6) Kojima's strange G1 continued, as one day after losing to Nishimura, which in turn came a day after defeating Chono, he today picked up another massive victory, pinning his former mentor, Muto! Kojima avenged his June loss to the Triple Crown Champion by downing him with a lariat for another main event win.
(8/8) The bizarre pattern continued, when Kojima lost to a man previously with no points, Liger, in the first G1 match of the Sendai event. Kojima seemed to have the match won several times, but Liger pulled through and levelled the IWGP Tag Team Champion with a shotei for the win!
(8/8) Fujinami picked up his second win in a row, putting away Tanaka with a Dragon sleeper in a Block A bout.
(8/8) Murakami lifted himself off the bottom of Block A, but only after Nakanishi was DQ'd. Nakanishi lost his temper and began destroying Murakami. After refusing the referee's orders to break, Nakanishi was disqualified, the match ending after just 2 minutes.
(8/8) Chono's third win a row was an exhausting one, as the brave Nishimura took him close to half an hour in a very technical match. Once more, Nishimura wouldn't go down without a fight, and won much crowd support in Sendai. After over 26 minutes though, he called it a day, submitting to Chono's patented STF.
(8/8) Nagata found himself back in contention for a place in the finals, ending Yasuda's three match unbeaten streak. Nagata trapped Yasuda in the Nagata Lock II, and picked up a crucial victory for his campaign.
(8/8) In the main event, Muto fought back after his loss to Kojima, pinning Kojima's tag partner, Tenzan, in another grueling main event. The match lasted 18 1/2 minutes, before Muto struck Tenzan with a Shining Wizard for the 1-2-3.
(8/10) 23-year-old Mongolian, Dolgorsuren Serjbudee, debuted in the Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan opening match. Sporting traditional Mongolian clothing, the youngster lost to Makabe, tapping out to a crab hold.
(8/10) Liger and Nishimura finished exactly tied at the bottom of Block B after wrestling to a 30 minute draw. Having beaten and lost to the same wrestlers, there was nothing separating them, but despite finishing at the bottom of their group, both men left a wonderful impression on fans.
(8/10) Nakanishi, after defeating Tanaka with an Argentine backbreaker, was left hoping that his friend Nagata would lose later on. Although Yasuda was a guaranteed finalist, a loss for Nagata and win for Nakanishi would allow Mr. Unbelievable to qualify.
(8/10) Yasuda suffered a shock defeat to Murakami on the last day of group matches, being pinned after a punch flurry. Despite the defeat and finishing level on points with Nakanishi, his win over that man allowed him to advance by the elimination process.
(8/10) Nagata ended a strong comeback after an early slump, defeating Fujinami to seal first place in Block A. Nagata pinned the president with a backdrop hold, edging past Yasuda and Nakanishi, who was forced into third place by this result.
(8/10) Muto won Block B by avenging his Sapporo Dome loss to Chono, and pinning his lifetime rival after a Shining Wizard. Although an unexpectedly short match at 8 minutes, 14 seconds, it lacked no action, and could have gone either way, but Muto got the win. Like Nakanishi, Chono had to hope for an ally to lose in order for him to qualify.
(8/10) The final group stage match was an important one for several reasons. Firstly, it was the battle of TenKoji, the IWGP Tag Team Champions, with Tenzan facing Kojima in the Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan main event. Secondly, a Kojima win would take him to the semi final round, ousting Chono from contention, while a Tenzan win would allow Chono to advance and put Tenzan in third. The two waged a fierce war, countering each other's patented moves because they knew each other so well, and there was little between them. Tenzan proved himself to be the tougher man on the night though, using a moonsault press to pin his best friend after almost 21 minutes!
(8/11) Kendo Kashin made his first appearance for months in New Japan, sitting at ringside to observe Naruse vs. Makabe. After Naruse struck down Makabe for the win, Kashin provoked the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, hinting at an upcoming match between the two.
(8/11) Muto became the first 2001 G1 Climax finalist when he handed Yasuda his third successive loss. Muto grounded Yasuda with a Shining Wizard, but instead of covering applied a cross armbreaker for the submission. Ten years after their classic final in the first ever G1 Climax, Muto vs. Chono in the 2001 installment was just one step away.
(8/11) Nagata's wild run of form continued when he picked up his first ever singles victory over Chono in the main event. Nagata survived a diving shoulder attack, Yakuza kick, and STF, before trapping Mr. G1 in the Nagata Lock for the submission win! Nagata found himself so close to reaching the next level...
(8/12) El Samurai conducted the baptism of pro wrestling to Naruse, becoming the first man in New Japan to pin him during a tag match. Samurai used an inside cradle to score this upset win, and put his name in the hat for a shot at Naruse's IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title.
(8/12) Shinya Makabe wrestled his final match before leaving on an overseas learning excursion to Puerto Rico and Great Britain. Makabe teamed with Yoshie against Choshu & Kenzo, but personally fell to a Riki lariat. Makabe told fans he would become huge and return as a heavyweight when he was transformed.
(8/12) Before the fifth match, Chono introduced a new member to Team 2000. Fans stared in awe as 7'7" Giant Silva, formerly of WWF and active in CMLL, walked to the ring, dwarfing every man and woman in the building. Silva stood at ringside, watching as Chono & Goto defeated Koshinaka & Goto, but Chono wasn't done there. A second large giant, also standing 7'7", appeared, named Giant Singh. The monsters destroyed New Japan army members in the ring, and left fans gawking.
(8/12) Although not able to reach the finals of the G1 Climax, Tenzan & Kojima proved themselves to still be tag aces by defeating the strong team of Nakanishi & Yasuda. The two exploited a lack of teamwork and cooperation between the two, and Tenzan pinned Nakanishi following a moonsault press.
(8/12) The 2001 G1 Climax final saw 1995 winner, Muto, face an on-form Nagata. With the crowd at fever pitch, the two put on a classic match lasting well over 20 minutes. Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan roared in unison as Muto found himself dead center in the ring, trapped in the Nagata Lock II. The building erupted when Muto tapped out, Nagata winning his first ever G1 Climax, and defeating Muto in singles competition for the first time! Nagata took the microphone and thanked the crowd, then declared that he would form the "Dream Team" with NOAH's Jun Akiyama. A new superstar was born, Yuji Nagata reaching an important level that many greats before him had.
Miscellaneous:
The final standings of the 2001 G1 Climax looked as follows,
Block A:
1. Yuji Nagata [7]
2. Tadao Yasuda [6]
3. Manabu Nakanishi [6]
4. Kazunari Murakami [5]
5. Tatsumi Fujinami [4]
6. Minoru Tanaka [2]
Block B:
1. Keiji Muto [8]
2. Masahiro Chono [6]
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [6]
4. Satoshi Kojima [4]
5. Osamu Nishimura [3]
6. Jushin Thunder Liger [3]
Semi Final: Keiji Muto beat Tadao Yasuda (11:22) with a cross armbreaker.
Semi Final: Yuji Nagata beat Masahiro Chono (13:44) with the Nagata Lock.
Final: Yuji Nagata beat Keiji Muto (22:03) with the Nagata Lock II.
Tenzan and Kojima had the oddest G1, just because they had opposite experiences before meeting each other. Tenzan wasn't able to defeat top stars, Muto and Chono, yet put away Nishimura and Liger. Meanwhile, Kojima managed to beat both Muto and Chono, but suffered losses to Nishimura and Liger. Before their match with each other, Kojima probably had a better G1 campaign, because of two main event wins over two legends, but Tenzan won their singles match to make things very even between them in the tournament.
Stuart's 2001 G1 Climax Awards:
MVP: Yuji Nagata
Best Bout: Yuji Nagata vs. Keiji Muto (8/12)
Outstanding Performance Award: Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Fighting Spirit Award: Osamu Nishimura
Most Inspirational Award: Masahiro Chono
Back to: "DOME QUAKE" (7/20/01)
Forward to: "G1 WORLD 2001" (9/7/01 to 9/23/01)
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