If you missed last year’s G1 Climax tournament, and have AXS TV on your cable package, you’re in for a treat: the best matches from the tournament will air on AXS over the next six weeks, starting tonight at 8 PM ET.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax tourney brings some of the best wrestlers in the world together for a brutal month-long round robin affair that routinely features some of the greatest wrestling matches of the year. Last year’s might not have been as acclaimed as 2014’s legendary run, but it was still chock full of tremendous action from such stars as Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Michael Elgin, Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito, and it also featured the last G1 matches for A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura before leaving for WWE. AXS and TV Asahi do a top-notch job of packaging the highlights from major New Japan events into a brisk, hour-long show, airing the best matches in full, and the presentation on tonight’s debut episode is no exception. A lot of New Japan wrestlers are so great that you don’t need any commentary to feel the drama and excitement of their matches, but AXS’s new English-language commentary from Josh Barnett and living legend Jim Ross only adds to the thrilling atmosphere of the best wrestling promotion on the planet.
Tonight’s show is an especially strong start, with Tanahashi taking on the now-departed Kota Ibushi and Styles challenging Katsuyori Shibata. Also expect clips from Naito’s battle with Bad Luck Fale, the “underboss” of the internationally popular Bullet Club table. Here’s a short preview clip of the Tanahashi vs. Ibushi match:
If you get AXS, tune in at 8 PM ET tonight to check out the full match and more.