{"id":21612,"date":"2018-07-07T14:48:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T18:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=21612"},"modified":"2018-07-12T19:56:09","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T23:56:09","slug":"inside-g128-does-the-ace-have-something-to-prove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/07\/07\/inside-g128-does-the-ace-have-something-to-prove\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside G128: Does The Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Have Something To Prove?"},"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

Hiroshi Tanahashi<\/strong> was the centerpiece of New Japan Pro Wrestling<\/strong>‘s (NJPW) rise from their darkest days into an exponentially booming international powerhouse. He is a former 2x IWGP U-30 Openweight Champion, 3x NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion, GHC Tag Team Champion, 2x IWGP Tag Team Champion, 2x IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and a record 7x IWGP Heavyweight Champion.<\/p>\n

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

This year ‘The Ace’ made it to the finals of the New Japan Cup where he was defeated by Zack Sabre Jr<\/strong>. (ZSJ). He followed his strong performance by challenging Kazuchika Okada<\/strong> for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling Dontaku<\/em> in May, despite Tanahashi losing [34:36] his performance received critical acclaim. All of this came after he lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Minoru Suzuki<\/strong> [32:28] at The New Beginning in Sapporo<\/em> this January in a grueling match which led to him missing several weeks of action.<\/p>\n

Does The Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Have Something To Prove?<\/h1>\n

His last singles match of the year came at the end of May when Hangman Page<\/strong> upset him [11:26] at Honor United<\/em> in England. While talk has begun of Tanahashi no longer having a main event caliber skill level due to several nagging injuries, and a loss of some agility — he remains one of the favorites in the ‘A Block.’<\/p>\n

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

Below is a list of Tanahashi\u2019s G1 opponents, the date he wrestles them, and his G1 record against them:<\/p>\n

Minoru Suzuki, July 14th, 1-0
\nJay White, July 16th, 0-0
\nBad Luck Fale, July 20th, 2-2
\nHangman Page, July 22nd, 0-0
\nTogi Makabe, July 27th, 6-2-1
\nYoshi-Hashi, July 30th, 1-0
\nEvil, August 2nd, 0-0
\nMichael Elgin, August 5th, 0-0
\nKazuchika Okada, August 10th, 0-0-2<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His opening match against Minoru Suzuki will be extremely important for each competitor. His July 16th match against Jay White<\/strong> is a rematch from January’s Wrestle Kingdom<\/em> where Tanahashi defeated White in V4 defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship [19:43].<\/p>\n

‘The Ace’ will look for revenge against Hangman Page on July 22nd and his final ‘Block A’ match against Okada on August 10th could determine who advances on to the finals.<\/p>\n

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

Tanahashi has been a great tournament performer winning the New Japan Cup in 2005 and 2008, along with winning the G1 in 2007 and 2015. Here is a look at his record-setting G1 resume:<\/p>\n

69 Total Wins (65 Total Bracket Wins) [Record For Most G1 Wins]
\n45 Total Losses (42 Total Bracket Losses)
\n7 Total Draws
\n2-3 in G1 Finals
\n57.0 Winning Percentage<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tanahashi has the second most G1 finals appearances ever (Masahiro Chono<\/strong> has 6), making him a threat against a relatively young bracket. His ultimate ranking may depend on the result of his July 20th match against Bad Luck Fale<\/strong>. The two have had numerous competitive matches over the years, providing a healthy background for their match.<\/p>\n

How much does ‘The Ace’ have left? Does he have the endurance left to capture his third G1 trophy? Who is anyone to ever doubt Hiroshi Tanahashi?<\/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":21663,"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":[626,1187,1493,1029,502,2620,181,501,1252,620,617,385,188,2201,2997,172],"class_list":["post-21612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-njpw","tag-bad-luck-fale","tag-g1","tag-hangman-page","tag-hiroshi-tanahashi","tag-iwgp-heavyweight-championship","tag-iwgp-intercontinental-championship","tag-jay-white","tag-kazuchika-okada","tag-masahiro-chono","tag-minoru-suzuki","tag-new-japan-cup","tag-new-japan-pro-wrestling","tag-njpw","tag-tanahashi","tag-the-ace","tag-zack-sabre-jr"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21612","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=21612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}