{"id":21135,"date":"2018-07-01T10:12:11","date_gmt":"2018-07-01T14:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=21135"},"modified":"2018-07-12T19:57:42","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T23:57:42","slug":"inside-g128-the-curious-case-of-tomohiro-ishii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/07\/01\/inside-g128-the-curious-case-of-tomohiro-ishii\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside G128: The Curious Case Of Tomohiro Ishii"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside G128 is an in-depth look at the 20 participants of New Japan Pro Wrestling\u2019s 2018 version of the G1 Climax tournament. The G1 is considered to be the most prestigious tournament in wrestling. Every individual in the field has their own unique story, as they prepare to make their claim as the best endurance wrestler in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii<\/strong> is a 4x NEVER Openweight Champion and earned his way to New Japan Pro Wrestling <\/strong>(NJPW) after years of working the indie scene in Japan. During his early days with the company, he was most known for his 2011 program with Tiger Mask<\/strong>, which saw him have a short run as the sixth generation Black Tiger<\/strong>. Ishii quickly dropped the mask against his rival in February 2011 at The New Beginning<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Photo: RevPro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since that time Ishii has endured himself to international NJPW fans due to his straightforward brawling style and unmatched grit inside the wrestling ring. Despite not being able to capture the more prestigious singles championship in NJPW, Tomohiro Ishii has won the Ring of Honor<\/strong> (ROH) Television Championship and the Revolution Pro Wrestling<\/strong> (RevPro) British Heavyweight Championship over the past several years.<\/p>\n

The Stone Pitbull has been a G1 entry every year since 2014 and remains one of the more difficult participants to defeat each year. His participation in the ‘B Block’ will provide numerous stories throughout this years G1. Below is a list of Ishii\u2019s G1 opponents, the date he wrestles them, and his G1 record against them:<\/p>\n

Toru Yano, July 15th, 0-0
\nTetsuya Naito, July 19th, 1-0
\nHirooki Goto, July 21st, 0-3
\nZack Sabre Jr., July 26th, 0-1
\nKota Ibushi, July 28th, 0-1
\nTama Tonga, August 1st, 0-1
\nKenny Omega, August 4th, 0-0
\nJuice Robinson, August 8th, 0-0
\nSanada, August 11th, 0-1<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With a combined record of 1-7 against his ‘B Block’ opponents, it’s going to be important for Ishii to defeat his what we can call ‘Stone Thieves’ tag team partner and Chaos stablemate, Toru Yano<\/strong> on the opening day of ‘B Block’ competition for any hope of advancing to the finals.<\/p>\n

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Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was able to defeat Tetsuya Naito<\/strong> (G127 winner) last year in block competition, yet that task will be difficult to duplicate. His match against Hirooki Goto<\/strong> is littered with history. Ishii is 2-10 all-time against Goto in singles matches with those victories coming in July 2006 during the NJPW Circuit 2006<\/em> Takeoff tour [11:27].<\/p>\n

Ishii was also able to earn the pinfall over Goto in November 2014 at Power Struggle<\/em> which was his v1 defense during his second reign with the Never Openweight Championship. Goto famously defeated Ishii in May 2012 during the NJPW 40th Anniversary tour [18:14] in Goto’s v2 defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship during his first reign.<\/p>\n

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Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Goto also defeated Ishii in March 2013 during the 2nd round of the 2013 New Japan Cup [18:46]. Despite Goto and Ishii being Chaos stablemates, their upcoming match is likely to be an intense brawl; with Ishii having something to prove.<\/p>\n

While Ishii and Kenny Omega<\/strong> have never wrestled in the G1, the two had a three-match rivalry from March- July in 2017. Ishii beat Omega in their first match in the second round of the 2017 New Japan Cup [29:45] prior to losing their rematch in May at Wrestling Dontaku<\/em>. In their final singles match to date, Omega defeated Ishii in July in the finals of the United States Heavyweight Championship tournament at the G1 Special in USA<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
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Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ishii has compiled the following record during his four G1 entries:<\/p>\n

18 Total Wins
\n19 Total Losses
\n48.6 Winning Percentage<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His biggest G1 win to date came in 2016 when he defeated Chaos leader Kazuchika Okada<\/strong> [18:43] who was IWGP Heavyweight Champion at the time. During the same G1 he also defeated Naomichi Marufuji<\/strong> [12:14]. While Ishii doesn’t have a sparkling G1 record, he’s proven that he can defeat anyone on his best day…except for Goto.<\/p>\n

At 42-years-old this may be his last opportunity to make a splash in the G1. While his ‘B Block’ road is a tough one, there is no doubting that Ishii will go into each match with the unyielding determination and tenacity his fans love him for.<\/p>\n

Catch Up On The Inside G128 Series:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Part 1: Can Tetsuya Naito Go Back To Back?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 2: Who Can Stop Kenny Omega?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 3: Will YOSHI-HASHI Finally Break Out?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 4: Is Juice Robinson About To Get Loose?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 5: Will Michael Elgin Find Redemption?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 6: The Curious Case of Tomohiro Ishii<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 7: Is The Hangman Ready To Take A Big Step?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 8: Does Makabe Have One Last Run Left?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 9:\u00a0Decorated Goto Looks To Add Another G1 Trophy<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 10:\u00a0Will The Cold Skull Heat Up In Time?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 11:\u00a0Good Luck For Bad Luck Fale<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 12: Does The Ace Have Something To Prove?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 13: Yano Is Going To Spoil Someone’s G1<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 14:\u00a0Oh The Web Tama Tonga Has Begun To Weave<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 15: Will G128 Be EVIL?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 16: The King Is Coming For His Throne<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 17: Just Tap Out!<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 18: Is Kota Ibushi Prepared To Soar?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 19: Will The G1 Breathe With The Switchblade?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 20:\u00a0Can Okada Bring Rain A Third Time In The G1?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside G128 is an in-depth look at the 20 participants of New Japan Pro Wrestling\u2019s 2018 version of the G1 Climax tournament. The G1 is considered to be the most prestigious tournament in wrestling. Every individual in the field has their own unique story, as they prepare to make their claim as the best endurance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2048,"featured_media":21145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,14],"tags":[2961,1030,2928,501,386,1684,385,188,1477,61,2962,781,609,628,627],"class_list":["post-21135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-njpw","tag-black-tiger","tag-hirooki-goto","tag-inside-g128","tag-kazuchika-okada","tag-kenny-omega","tag-naomichi-marufuji","tag-new-japan-pro-wrestling","tag-njpw","tag-revpro","tag-ring-of-honor","tag-stone-pitbull","tag-tetsuya-naito","tag-tiger-mask","tag-tomohiro-ishii","tag-toru-yano"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2048"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}