| G1 Special in USA | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Official logo of the event | |||
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | July 1 and 2, 2017[1] | ||
| City | Long Beach, California, U.S.[1] | ||
| Venue | Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center[1] | ||
| Attendance | Night 1: 2,370[2] Night 2: 2,305[3] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| G1 Special chronology | |||
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G1 Special in USA[4] was a two-dayprofessional wrestling event promoted byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The two shows took place on July 1 and 2, 2017, inLong Beach, California, United States at theLong Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. These were the first NJPW shows that the promotion had produced independently in the U.S.
The event's name refers to the annualG1 Climax tournament as these shows also served as a prelude to the2017 G1 Climax. The event is notable for the crowning of the inauguralIWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
In December 2016,Pro Wrestling Insider reported thatNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) was planning to hold the first two nights of the2017 G1 Climax in the United States withNew England–based wrestling personality George Carroll and wrestlerRocky Romero reportedly doing ground work for the dates inLong Beach, California.[5][6] On January 4, 2017, duringWrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, NJPW officially announced the shows for July 1 and 2, 2017, taking place at theLong Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. These shows, however, would not be part of the G1 Climax, but would instead serve as a prelude to the tournament, which would take place between July 17 and August 13.[7][8] The shows would mark the first time NJPW presented shows in the United States independently, as opposed to partnering with an American promotion.[9] NJPW had previously partnered withJersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) for theNJPW Invasion Tour 2011 and since 2014 they have been partnered withRing of Honor (ROH), co-producing shows annually in North America.[10][11]
After announcing the Long Beach shows, NJPW went public with their plan of an American expansion, which included establishing a subsidiary and running extended tours in the United States withCalifornia as the base, while also establishing adojo for training Americans inLos Angeles, run by Rocky Romero. The full-scale running of the American market was set to launch in 2018.[12][13] According to NJPW ownerTakaaki Kidani, the plan was a direct response toWWE taking four wrestlers, includingAJ Styles andShinsuke Nakamura, from NJPW in January 2016.[14] Tickets for the shows as well as meet-and-greets were put on sale on April 1 and sold out within hours, despite NJPW not having announced any matches for the two shows.[1] Tickets were purchased in 37 states, includingAlaska andHawaii.[15] Three days later, NJPW announced the first group of wrestlers taking part in the event;Kazuchika Okada,Tetsuya Naito,Hiroshi Tanahashi andKenny Omega.[16] In May, NJPW put additional seats for the shows on sale, which were also quickly sold out.[17] NJPW later claimed that the original tickets sold out in two hours and the additional tickets in two minutes.[13]
On May 12, during the third night of the NJPW and ROH co-producedWar of the Worlds tour inNew York City, it was announced that NJPW would hold a tournament to crown the inauguralIWGP United States Heavyweight Champion during the G1 Special in USA weekend.[18][19] It was also announced that both theIWGP Heavyweight andIWGP Intercontinental Championships would be defended during the weekend.[20][21] On May 18, NJPW held a press conference in Los Angeles to announce further details for the shows.[22] This included the addition of 36 wrestlers to the shows, includingJay Lethal,The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe) andWar Machine (Hanson andRaymond Rowe) from ROH andDragon Lee,Titán andVolador Jr. from the MexicanConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion. It was also announced that both theIWGP Tag Team andIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships would be defended during the weekend in addition to the previously announced titles.[22]
The two shows would air live through NJPW's internet streaming site,NJPW World, with English commentary.[23] However, the first night would only air live outside of the United States, where both nights air on theAXS TV network; the first night live and the second night ontape delay on July 7.[22] The English commentary for the shows would be provided byJim Ross andJosh Barnett.[24] On June 21, the CanadianFight Network announced that it would also air the first night live.[25]
On June 12, NJPW announced the full card for the first night as well as a partial card for the second night.[26][27][28] The full card for night two was revealed after the conclusion of night one.[29] The release of the cards brought with them some negative reactions, mostly centered around American wrestlersCody andBilly Gunn receiving shots at the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships, respectively.
G1 Special in USA featuredprofessional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[30]
The first night would be headlined by Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Cody.[27] The match was set up on June 11 atDominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, where Cody, after defeatingMichael Elgin, challenged Okada. After the main event of the show, where Okada had successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by wrestling Cody'sBullet Club stablemate Kenny Omega to a 60-minute time limit draw, Cody repeated the challenge, which was accepted by Okada.[31][32] Cody debuted for NJPW atWrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2017, and went undefeated in his three singles matches in the promotion prior to the Long Beach show. Okada, while admitting he still did not know Cody or what he was capable of, accepted the challenge due to Cody being an American and his popularity in the United States.[26][33] On June 23, Cody captured theROH World Championship, turning the main event into a rare battle of world champions from two major promotions. The last champion versus champion match of this type took place in 2005 between IWGP Heavyweight ChampionHiroyoshi Tenzan andTriple Crown Heavyweight ChampionSatoshi Kojima.[34][35]
In the second title match of the first night,Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga andTanga Loa) were set to defend the IWGP Tag Team Championship against War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe).[26] This would be a rematch from Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, where the Guerrillas of Destiny became the new champions through cheating after Loa hit Rowe with a steel chair behind the referee's back.[26][31]
The first night would also feature all four first round matches in the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament.[36] The first match would take place between ROH wrestlersHangman Page and Jay Lethal, who were the first two wrestlers to show interest in being part of the tournament, when the title was announced.[36] The second match would seeJuice Robinson take onZack Sabre Jr. The two met as part of aNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championshipgauntlet match at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall. After Robinson had eliminated Sabre'sSuzuki-gun team from the match, Sabre attacked Robinson and locked him in a submission hold.[36] In the third match, Tetsuya Naito would take onTomohiro Ishii in a rematch fromWrestling Dontaku 2016, where Naito successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Ishii.[36] Naito had previously criticized the idea of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, claiming that it would hurt the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, which he held at the time.[36] Naito had even brought up the idea of retiring the Intercontinental Championship prior to losing it and now stated that upon winning the tournament, he was going to immediately retire the United States Heavyweight Championship and throw the title belt in the garbage.[37][38] In the final first round match Kenny Omega was set to take on Michael Elgin. Elgin went into the match holding two straight victories over Omega with their most recent match against each other having taken place during the2016 G1 Climax.[36]
The second night would see Hiroshi Tanahashi defend the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Billy Gunn.[26] Gunn had arrived in NJPW during the2016 World Tag League as part ofYoshitatsu's Hunter Club stable.[26] In May 2017, Yoshitatsu relayed a message from Gunn to Tanahashi, requesting a match between the two.[26] After capturing the IWGP Intercontinental Championship from Tetsuya Naito at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, Tanahashi immediately nominated Gunn as his first challenger.[26][39]
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship would be defended during the second night with championsThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) taking onRoppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) in another rematch from Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, where The Young Bucks captured the title from Roppongi Vice.[26]
The second night would also feature the conclusion of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship tournament with two semifinal matches and a final match.[36]
Following the event, it was noted that there were issues with AXS TV's production and commentary.[40] Tama Tonga commented on the announcing, stating that it "sucked", adding thatKevin Kelly, the regular English announcer on NJPW World who did not announce the shows, "at least [...] knows the storylines and our f#cking names".[41] Kenny Omega also voiced his support for Kelly and his broadcast partnerDon Callis.[42]Dave Meltzer reported that Kelly and Callis were in Long Beach and wanted to announce the shows "really bad", but AXS TV made the call to use their regular announce team of Jim Ross and Josh Barnett, adding that there was "a lot of infighting".[43]Larry Csonka in his review of the first night for411Mania, stated that Ross and Barnett "do a great job on the weekly, in studio and post produced calls for NJPW on AXS TV", but felt that the announcing on the live show was "really rough".[44] Csonka also noted other production issues, including cameras missing important shots, bumper music playing over theme music and ring announcers starting and stopping their announcements.[44]
Takaaki Kidani dubbed the event a big success, while announcing plans to tour the United States in March or April 2018 at the latest. He also stated that NJPW was going to open an office in Los Angeles before the end of 2017, with a dojo to be opened at the start of 2018.[45]
On November 5, 2017, NJPW announcedStrong Style Evolved, the follow-up event to G1 Special in USA, which took place on March 25, 2018, at theWalter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.[46] It was at that show that NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced there would be anotherG1 Special event taking place on July 7, 2018, in theSan FranciscoBay Area at theCow Palace inDaly City, California.[47]
| No. | Results[52][53][54][55] | Stipulations | Times[3] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jyushin Thunder Liger andTaguchi Japan (David Finlay andKushida) defeatedThe Tempura Boyz (Sho Tanaka andYohei Komatsu) andYoshitatsu | Six-man tag team match | 08:52 | ||
| 2 | Kenny Omega defeatedJay Lethal | Singles match; semifinals in theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championshiptournament | 12:56 | ||
| 3 | Tomohiro Ishii defeatedZack Sabre Jr. | Singles match; semifinals in theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championshiptournament | 11:42 | ||
| 4 | Dragon Lee,Jay White,Juice Robinson,Titán andVolador Jr. defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi,Evil,Hiromu Takahashi,Sanada andTetsuya Naito) | Ten-man tag team match | 12:28 | ||
| 5 | Bullet Club (Hangman Page,Tama Tonga andTanga Loa) (withChase Owens andKing Haku) defeatedMichael Elgin andWar Machine (Hanson andRaymond Rowe) | Six-man tag team match | 11:17 | ||
| 6 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) defeatedRoppongi Vice (Beretta andRocky Romero) | Tag team match for theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship | 22:41 | ||
| 7 | Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale,Cody,Marty Scurll andYujiro Takahashi) (withBrandi Rhodes) defeatedChaos (Jay Briscoe,Kazuchika Okada,Mark Briscoe andWill Ospreay) (withGedo) | Eight-man tag team match | 16:00 | ||
| 8 | Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeatedBilly Gunn | Singles match for theIWGP Intercontinental Championship | 14:25 | ||
| 9 | Kenny Omega (withMatt Jackson andNick Jackson) defeatedTomohiro Ishii | Singles match; finals of a tournament to determine the inauguralIWGP United States Heavyweight Champion | 31:20 | ||
| |||||
| First round (July 1) | Semifinals (July 2) | Final (July 2) | ||||||||||||
| Michael Elgin | 22:31 | |||||||||||||
| Kenny Omega | Pin[2] | |||||||||||||
| Kenny Omega | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Jay Lethal | 12:56[3] | |||||||||||||
| Jay Lethal | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Hangman Page | 08:30[2] | |||||||||||||
| Kenny Omega | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii | 31:20[3] | |||||||||||||
| Juice Robinson | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Zack Sabre Jr. | 10:04[2] | |||||||||||||
| Zack Sabre Jr. | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii | 11:42[3] | |||||||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Tetsuya Naito | 15:51[2] | |||||||||||||