NJPW G1 Climax Day 1 results

The first night of the G1 Climax started off really strong with a heated contest between Nagata and Yamamoto. Yamamoto came really close on several occasions to beating his senior, which only infuriated Nagata more leading to Nagata dropping Yamamoto with the wrist-clutch Exploder before applying the Nagata Lock III for the win. AJPW ace Satoshi Kojima took on Jushin Liger in the next match, and Liger was in Battle Liger mode and put on a strong compitative match against the former Triple Crown champion before being put down by Kojima's trademark lariat. The second junior heavyweight in the G1 this year, Koji Kanemoto was pummeled from the opening bell by 2-time G1 winner Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Kanemoto put on a spirited fight, hitting hard with kicks and knee strikes, but Tenzan fended off his assault and dropped him in the TTD before locking on the Anaconda Vice for the win. The final G1 match of the night was a lackluster meeting between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Giant Bernard. Tanahashi seemed to be unable to put anything together and the big gaijin pummeled him for most of the match, literally hammering him with his fists to score the win. NJPW G1 Climax 8/06/06 Niigata City Gymnasium G1 Climax - Block B: Yuji Nagata [2] beat Naofumi Yamamoto [0] in 16’45 with the Nagata Lock III. 83% G1 Climax - Block A: Satoshi Kojima [2] beat Jushin Thunder Liger [0] in 13’13 with a lariat. 72% G1 Climax - Block B: Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2] beat Koji Kanemoto [0] in 14’05 with the Anaconda Vice. 66% G1 Climax - Block A: Manabu Nakanishi [2] beat Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] in 11’57 with a Samurai-bomb. 57%