BG Says Special Edition: Yuji Nagata VS. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Congratulations to me! I debuted on 411Mania as part of Jake Ziegler’s ROH reviews (later to become both of our ROH reviews) about three and a half years ago. A year later I began writing BG Says (yes it wasn’t called that until much later), starting rather strictly with FIP DVDs and then moving on to whatever I felt like. This article represents a milestone for me, as it is the 100th edition of BG Says. To celebrate I’ve created an easy to navigate though not-so-pretty to look at archive of all my reviews RIGHT HERE. I’ll try to remember to post the link to this archive in my reviews from now on and keep it updated.

And while you’re surfing around my old reviews why not check out The Cool Kids’ Table to listen to Jake, Sam Berman and myself chat on about wrestling. Featured is our exclusive interview with Ring of Honor star Jimmy Jacobs!

Officially this is the January 2008 Special Edition, but I’ve decided that as a treat I’m releasing this piece the way magazines are released. Shall we get ourselves a taste of NJPW?

Sometimes a series of matches between two wrestlers can catch your eye. I’m not a big follower of New Japan, but the rivalry between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yuji Nagata got my attention. I first became interested when Nagata defeated Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in early 2007. The match received strong praise, so I checked it out. It deserved the accolades it collected and drove me to seek out other matches between the two. What I found was a string of matches held together by a very interesting story.

Tanahashi debuted in New Japan in 1999. My first exposure to him was a match on TNA Pay Per View against AJ Styles in January of 2006. I wasn’t impressed and so when I heard about the above referenced title match I had my doubts that it’d live up to the hype. What I didn’t know was that Tanahashi had already been making waves as New Japan’s U-30 Openweight Champsion (a belt that could be hold by a man of any weight as long as he was under thirty years old). His TNA match may have bombed, but in his native promotion he was tearing it up.

With over ten years of experience by the time he’d first wrestle Tanahashi, Nagata was far and away the more experienced of the two. A stint in WCW made him a name recognizable to American fans. In 2002 he captured his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship by defeating Tadao Yosuda, who he’d previously lost to in the finals of a tournament to crowd a champion when the belt was vacant. Historically the IWGP Heavyweight Championship bounced around a lot, but Nagata set a record for successful title defenses in one reign with ten. He also became the third longest reigning champion after only Shinya Hashimoto’s year plus reign and falling only days behind the Great Muta’s thirteen-month reign before losing the belt to Yoshihiro Takayama.

In their encounters during the first few years of Tanahashi’s reign Nagata mostly dominated Tanahashi. With that in mind I think it’s appropriate to look at the first match in which Nagata’s dominance began to wane. The match took place as part of the first round in a tournament to crowd the first U-30 Openweight Champion.

Yuji Nagata VS. Hiroshi Tanahashi [Round 1 Match – New Japan Cup 2005]
They lock up and trade holds to start. Nagata grabs a rear naked choke but Tanahashi counters to a half crab. They stay on the mat until Nagata slaps Tanahashi across the face. Tanahashi blocks a kick and tries to gain control. He slaps Nagata and they knuckle up. Nagata hits a German suplex and opens up with kicks. Tanahashi grabs one and hits a dragon screw. He hits a dropkick and Nagata bails. He follows Nagata out with a suicide dive and unloads with forearms back in the ring. He hits a dropkick in the corner and a neck wrench suplex. He holds on and hits two more neck wrench suplexes for 2. He puts on a crossface but Nagata gets to the ropes. Tanahashi kicks Nagata to the apron and puts on a sleeper hold. Nagata powers out and hits an armbreaker over the top rope. Nagata pulls Tanahashi to the floor and kicks at his arm. He rams Tanahashi’s shoulder into the post and hits a brainbuster on the floor. Back in the ring Nagata stays on the arm with kicks. He hits another armbreaker and a soccer kick to the arm. They trade slaps and Tanahashi goes down for 2. Nagata keeps up with the kicks to the arm. They trade strikes again but now Tanahashi is missing his fire. As such he crotches Nagata on the top rope and hits a leaping forearm. He misses an elbowdrop but ducks a kick and hits a dragon screw. He climbs the ropes and hits a dropkick to the back. He hits a German suplex for 2. He hits an enziguiri and puts on a dragon sleeper. Nagata knees out so Tanahashi hits a dropkick to the back. He puts on a chinlock but Nagata counters to a side suplex. Nagata hits a brainbuster for 2. He hits a dragon suplex for 2. He hits an exploder but Tanahashi pops up and hits the Shining Wizard. Nagata comes back with a knee kick in the corner. He sets Tanahashi up top and hits an exploder off the second. Nagata starts to pop up so Nagata knees him down for 2. He puts on an armbar but Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata shoves the referee down and puts the armbar back on. Shinsuke Nakamura gets up on the apron so Nagata chases him off. Tanahashi counters a wrist-clutch exploder to a roll up for 2. He gets another roll up for 2. He puts on a dragon sleeper but Nagata counters to the armbar. Tanahashi gets to the ropes and Nagata shoves the referee again. Tanahashi gets a roll up but the referee isn’t around. Nagata kicks Tanahashi down and puts the armbar on again. Tanahashi gets to the ropes so Nagata boots the referee down. He throws him from the ring, drawing a disqualification at 22:16. Nagata’s frustration was understandable as he dismantled that arm and the armbar should have worked. The lack of a finish hardly tarnishes this very entertaining match, which capably establishes the dynamic between these two. Tanahashi went on to win the tournament and become the first U-30 Champion.
Rating: ***½

Tanahashi pushed forward, showing stronger dominance in a match against Nagata in February of 2006. This was the first one-on-one meeting between the two since the match that saw Nagata unable to defeat Tanahashi and taking out his frustrations on the referee.

Yuji Nagata VS. Hiroshi Tanahashi [Circuit 2006 Acceleration]
They knuckle up and Nagata hits a dubiously low kick. They jockey for a waistlock but Nagata hits a fireman’s carry slam instead. Tanahashi puts on a wristlock but Nagata returns fire with a chinlock. They dodge each other’s kicks and Nagata nods in amusement. Nagata puts on am armbar but Tanahashi counters to a toehold. Tanahashi puts on a cravat and hits a kneedrop for 2. He puts on a leglock but Nagata counters to a cross armbreaker. Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata goes to town on the arm, yanking on it and twisting it. Tanahashi hits a crossbody and an elbowdrop. He hits a senton for 2. Nagata dumps him to the floor and follows him out. Tanahashi jumps back into the ring and dropkicks Nagata off the apron. He follows him out with a suicide dive but Nagata comes back by throwing him into the barricade and pulling the mat up to hit a brainbuster on the floor. Back in the ring Nagata keeps the pressure on with kicks. Tanahashi tries to fire back with forearms but it takes very little for Nagata to respond in kind to take him down. Nagata hits a Yakuza kick in the corner and follows that with kicks to the chest. He washes Tanahashi’s face and hits an exploder for 2. He puts on an armbar but Tanahashi gets to the ropes. He kicks the arm and the chest and goes back to the cross armbreaker. Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata goes for an armbreaker but Tanahashi blocks it. Nagata hits a knee to the gut for 2. Tanahashi puts on a dragon sleeper and brings Nagata to the mat with an elbow to the chest. He climbs the ropes and comes down with a dropkick. He hits an enziguiri and a German suplex for 2. He puts on a sleeper hold and then hits a clothesline. He puts on the dragon sleeper with a hammerlock but Nagata knees out. Tanahashi hits a dropkick to the back and goes for the sleeper again but Nagata hits a back suplex to block it. Nagata hits a big boot but runs into a dropkick. They trade headbutts and slaps and Nagata hits his knee in the corner. He sets Tanahashi up top and hits a second rope exploder. Tanahashi pops up so Nagata hits a brainbuster. Nagata hits a dragon suplex for 2. Tanahashi blocks a side suplex so Nagata kicks his head. Nagata kicks Tanahashi’s chest for 2. Tanahashi counters a side suplex to a crossbody for 2. He hits another dragon screw and the Shining Wizard. He hits the Sling Blade for 2. He hits it again and goes for the dragon suplex. Nagata blocks so Tanahashi hits an enziguiri. He hits the dragon suplex for 2 and then hits it a second time for the win at 21:11. This match was more shoot-style than their previous match, as least in the early going. It was a nice change of pace for me to see takedowns being blocked and other things of that nature. The crowd didn’t react favorably to it but there were some touches to it that I loved. Unlike in the last match Tanahashi was able to fully pop up after the second rope exploder here, even if he did get immediately put down with the brainbuster. Tanahashi was dominated for more of the match and the finish felt fluky, which may be disappointing to some but leaves room for a more definitive performance down the line.
Rating: ***¾

In 2005 the New Japan Cup tournament also crowned the U-30 Openweight Champion. Tanahashi won that tournament and the title. In 2006 the tournament was used to decide a number one contender to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. Once again Nagata and Tanahashi found themselves wrestling against each other in the tournament, but this year it was closer to the finals.

Yuji Nagata VS. Hiroshi Tanahashi [Semifinal Match – New Japan Cup 2006]
They lock up and Nagata puts on a wristlock. Tanahashi grabs a headlock but Nagata goes to the ropes. Tanahashi puts on a hammerlock as Giant Bernard looks on. Nagata grabs on a chinlock but Tanahashi counters to a top wristlock. Nagata tries to pass his guard so Tanahashi goes to the ropes. Tanahashi baits Nagata into a dropkick. Nagata dodges a second dropkick and hits a big boot. He hits a fireman’s carry slam but Tanahashi catches him in a leglock. Tanahashi hits a kneedrop for 1. He goes for a cross armbreaker but Nagata counters to a leglock. Nagata puts on a cross armbreaker but Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata hits an armbreaker so Tanahashi slaps him down. Nagata pops up and looks amused. He kicks Tanahashi down in the corner and then hits another armbreaker. He kicks Tanahashi down again and goes back to the cross armbreaker. Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata hits a knee to the gut for 2. He puts on an armbar and holds it for a long time before Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata unloads with kicks and hits another armbreaker. He hits a Yakuza kick in the corner and an exploder for 1. Tanahashi hits two dragon screws and a forearm. He hits an elbowdrop and a senton for 2. He climbs the ropes and comes down with a dropkick. He hits an enziguiri and a German suplex for 2. He puts on a dragon sleeper but Nagata knees out. Tanahashi hits a dropkick to the back and puts on a sleeper hold. Nagata tries to counter to an armbreaker but Tanahashi keeps the hold on until Nagata falls into the ropes. Nagata is too weak to run the ropes and Tanahashi hits the Sling Blade for 2. He hits it again and rolls Nagata up for 2. He hits another enziguiri and a third Sling Blade. He hits the dragon suplex for 2. Nagata fires up and blocks a second dragon suplex attempt to hit a backdrop driver for 2. They trade headbutts and Nagata hits his knee in the corner. He sets Tanahashi up top and hits the second rope exploder. Tanahashi pops right up but walks into the brainbuster, just as he did in the last match. It gets 2 for Nagata. Nagata kicks Tanahashi down for 2 and hits a wrist-clutch exploder for the win at 18:49. Tanahashi was much more aggressive here. Even though he lost he put on a better performance throughout the match than he had in the past. The fact that Tanahashi dominated the opening ground session and then was able to slap Nagata down speaks volumes for how much he’d gained on Nagata. Aside from the little touches this was largely a rehash of their last match, however. I like to think that Tanahashi went down because after his improvements early on he failed to learn from his past mistakes in the home stretch and suffered for it.
Rating: ***½

Nagata ended up losing to the Giant Bernard in the finals. Bernard would wrestle and lose to Lesnar in his IWGP title match. Shortly after that Lesnar vacated the title and left New Japan. In the subsequent tournament to crown a new champion Tanahashi defeated Bernard in the finals. Though Tanahashi was able to defeat Bernard, a man that Nagata could not defeat, Nagata was eventually granted a shot at Tanahashi’s title. Considering the definitive way he defeated Tanahashi in the 2006 NJ Cup and the fact that he won the 2007 NJ Cup I think the shot was well deserved.

Hiroshi Tanahashi VS. Yuji Nagata [IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match – New Japan Brave]
They knuckle up to start and Nagata powers Tanahashi to the corner. Nagata opens up with kicks but Tanahashi comes back with a leaping forearm. They knuckle up again and Nagata is still stronger. He goes for a cross armbreaker but Tanahashi and attempts the move himself. Nagata blocks and puts on a wristlock. Tanahashi hits a dropkick and Nagata bails. Back in the ring Nagata unloads with kicks and stomps. Tanahashi comes back with slaps but ends up getting slugged down. Nagata kills him with kicks and hits a big boot in the corner. He hits an armbreaker and then goes back to the kicks. He puts on an armbar and has the crowd reacting to all of his facial expressions. He puts on a cross armbreaker but Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata tries to kick Tanahashi to the floor but Tanahashi grabs his leg and dragon screws it against the ropes. Tanahashi hits a neckbreaker on the floor and then rams Nagata’s leg against the post. Back in the ring he catches a Nagata kick and hits a capture suplex for 2. He puts on a figure 4 leglock but Nagata gets to the ropes. Tanahashi puts Nagata down with slaps and hits a dropkick in the corner. Nagata goes for the Nagata Lock but Tanahashi gets to the ropes. He hits a legsweep, and elbowdrop and a senton for 2. Nagata comes back with a knee strike in the corner. He sets Tanahashi up top and hits the second rope exploder. He hits the Shining Wizard for 2. I guess he isn’t going to be letting Tanahashi get up from that exploder anymore. He hits a pair of brainbusters for 2. Tanahashi counters a knee strike to a powerbomb for 2. He hits a neckbreaker and a T-bone suplex. He hits the Sling Blade for 2. He hits a dragon suplex and climbs the ropes. The High Fly Flow hits knees and Nagata rolls him up for 2. Tanahashi gets a roll up for 2. Nagata counters a Sling Blade attack to a backdrop driver. Tanahashi hits an enziguiri and a German suplex for 2. He hits another German suplex for 2. He goes back to the slaps and elbows but Nagata puts him down with a kick to the head. He hits a backdrop driver for 2. One more backdrop driver is too much for Tanahashi to handle and Nagata wins the belt at 23:33. This had a truly epic feel to it. Nagata was in control most of the match so any chance he got Tanahashi scrambled for a pin. About a million times better than Tanahashi’s TNA excursion.
Rating: ****¼

Tanahashi had to wait for four months before he’d get his hands on Nagata in another one-on-one match. Before giving Tanahashi a rematch Nagata defended his belt twice. Tanahashi would have to prove to everyone, including himself that he deserved a shot at IWGP singles gold.

Yuji Nagata VS. Hiroshi Tanahashi [Tournament Final – G1 Climax 2007]
Nagata’s IWGP title is not on the line here. Nagata hits a leg kick to start. Tanahashi gets a headlock takedown but Nagata quickly escapes. Nagata puts on a headlock and then goes for a cross armbreaker. Tanahashi responds in kind so Nagata puts on a wristlock. Tanahashi hits a flying forearm but misses an elbowdrop. He hits a dropkick but Nagata comes back with a big boot. Nagata puts on an armbar but Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata takes Tanahashi down with kicks to the chest and doesn’t let up. He kicks Tanahashi to the floor and goes for a vertical suplex but Tanahashi blocks it and hits a neckbreaker. He drags Nagata to the apron and hits a dragon screw over the second rope. He hits a frog splash off the second rope onto Nagata on the floor and gets back in the ring. Nagata gets back in up at 17. Tanahashi puts on a dragon sleeper while Nagata hangs from the top rope and then drives him to the mat with an elbow. He puts the dragon sleeper back on and drives Nagata to the mat with another elbow. He climbs the ropes and comes down with a dropkick. He hits an enziguiri and a German suplex for 2. He knocks Nagata to his knees with slaps but Nagata comes back with a backdrop driver. He hits a knee kick in the corner and sets Tanahashi up top. He hits the second rope exploder but Tanahashi pops up. Nagata kicks him right down for 2. He hits a brainbuster for 2. He puts on the Nagata Lock II but Tanahashi gets to the ropes. Nagata hits a side suplex for 2. They trade slaps and Tanahashi goes down. Tanahashi comes back with a roll up for 2. He gets another roll up for 2. Nagata gets a roll up for 2. Tanahashi hits the Sling Blade and a suplex. He climbs the ropes and hits the High Fly Flow (frog splash) for 2. Nagata hits a back suplex for 2. Tanahashi hits five dragon screws and a German suplex for 2. He hits a dragon suplex for 2 and the High Fly Flow for the win at 19:02. This was another epic feeling match between the two. Tanahashi didn’t have to look for special ways to get around Nagata because he’s improved to the point where’s he’s more on Nagata’s level. He did have to fight himself bloody, busting open his lip and elbow in the process of winning the match. As a reward he is showered with money and trophies.
Rating: ****

For winning the G1 Climax tournament and for defeating the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in doing so Tanahashi was granted a rematch for the title.

Yuji Nagata VS. Hiroshi Tanahashi [IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match –Explosion ‘07]
A feeling out process starts the match. Nagata gets a headlock takedown but Tanahashi quickly escapes. Nagata slaps him across the face and tries to put the headlock back on but Tanahashi escapes and they criss cross. Tanahashi misses a dropkick but manages to duck a kick to the chest. They knuckle up and Nagata puts Tanahashi on the mat, going after the arm. Tanahashi counters to a cross armbreaker attempt but Nagata responds in kind. Tanahashi gets to the ropes. A test of strength leads to northern lights suplex from Tanahashi. He stomps Nagata down and hits the Stun Gun. Nagata falls to the floor so Tanahashi follows him out, only to get kicked around and rolled back into the ring. Tanahashi comes back with a dragon screw against the apron. He slams Nagata’s leg against the post and hits a nasty dragon screw back in the ring. Nagata tries to keep Tanahashi away from his leg with strikes to no avail. Tanahashi hits a splash on the leg but Nagata fires up. Tanahashi dropkicks the knee to keep the old man down. He puts on a figure 4 leglock but Nagata turns it over. Tanahashi gets to the ropes. He hits another dragon screw and goes for the figure 4 again but Nagata kicks him away with his good leg. Nagata hits a knee to the head and kicks Tanahashi down. He tries to slap some feeling back into his leg between kicks, slowing him down some. He goes for a boot to the floor but has to settle for a hanging neckbreaker when Tanahashi catches his foot. After the neckbreaker Tanahashi crawls to the floor so Nagata follows him out and hits a pair of knee kicks. He hits a brainbuster on the floor after pulling up the protective mat. Tanahashi gets back into the ring at 19, but he’s in bad shape. Nagata is relentless, kicking Tanahashi when he’s down and hitting a big boot for 2. He hits a piledriver for 2. They trade forearms until Nagata clubs Tanahashi down and puts on the Nagata Lock II. Tanahashi gets to the ropes. He tries to fight back but Nagata knocks him down in the corner and then kicks his chest. Nagata hits a big boot and an exploder suplex. Tanahashi sweeps his leg and then hits a leaping forearm and an elbowdrop. He hits a senton for 2. He comes off the top with a dropkick for 2. Nagata blocks the dragon suplex so Tanahashi hits an enziguiri. Nagata hits big boot but Tanahashi catches him with the Sling Blade. He climbs the ropes but Nagata cuts him off and hits a superplex. They trade forearms and enziguiris. Nagata hits his knee in the corner and sets Tanahashi up top. He hits an overhead superplex for 2. He hits a brainbuster for 2. Tanahashi counters a second attempt to a roll up for 2. He gets an abdominal stretch roll up for 2. He hits an exploder suplex and the Sling Blade for 2. He hits a German suplex for 2. Nagata puts on the Nagata Lock II and then III before rolling Tanahashi up for 2. He hits a scary wrist-clutch exploder for 1 when Tanahashi pops up. He hits a roundhouse kick but Tanahashi comes back with a dragon screw. He puts on a cloverleaf but Nagata powers out. Nagata counters the Sling Blade to a backdrop driver for 2. Tanahashi catches the leg and hits a capture piledriver and a dragon suplex for 2. He climbs the ropes but the High Fly Flow hits knees. Nagata is really in pain, using his weak point to block Tanahashi’s finisher. As such Tanahashi simply climbs the ropes to successfully hit the move for 2. He climbs again but Nagata cuts him off. Tanahashi fights him down and hits the High Fly Flow again for the win and the title at 31:06. To see Tanahashi control Nagata the way he did early in this match was a great payoff to the entire series. I find fault with Nagata dominating the remainder of the match and neglecting to put anything into selling his leg in the middle portion of the match, but neither of those problems took too much away from the drama of the entire production. The finish of the match was incredible too, really bringing home a great series in admirable fashion.
Rating: ****½

The 411:  This rivalry wasn’t just important for the men involved, or even just for Tanahashi’s career, it was important for the company. Tanahashi’s gradual advancement in skill showed that the younger generation of wrestlers could hang with and even our perform the old guard. His second title win over Nagata signaled that NJPW was poised to get out of their stale doldrums and bring entertaining wrestling back to Japanese fans. As far as this review is concerned Nagata & Tanahashi just have fantastic chemistry, and it made these matches a treat to watch.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]