I came across this commercial DVD compilation of the '01 G1 Climax. I was going to just do a small selection but there's too many neat match ups. Since it's a commercial compilation, assume everything is clipped/joined in progress unless noted.

(08/04)
Tadao Yasuda vs. Minoru Tanaka - This was good stuff mainly due to Minoru fighting from underneath with heart and guts. Yasuda is no ring wizard but here he's the bigger, stronger man and he nailed it. I liked it.

Jushin Liger vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan -Fun stuff with Liger taking it to Tenzan.

Keiji Muto vs Osamu Nishimura - Nishimura made this interesting but Muto was just doing his thing.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Manabu Nakanishi - Full match but around 5 minutes. It was fun while it lasted. The old samurai vs the wild caveman.

Satoshi Kojima vs Masa Chono - If you're keeping track, there's been a dragon screw in every match. Thankfully, they don't follow up with a Figure Four! Anyhow, good stuff with these guys grinding their way into an exciting main event. The place looks to be like 80+ degrees inside by this point and they have another show tomorrow. Good Yakuza kicks, lariats and STFs.

(08/05)

Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami - A little over 5 minutes but this was fun. A good length of Yasuda as he was able to do his big moves and he & Fujinami were able to maintain the intensity.

Satoshi Kojima vs Osamu Nishimura - A big clubbering dummy vs a cerebral technician - this was good stuff. I'd say it was really good but Kojima had a section where he did dragon screws and a half crab that was out of place. They both wisely moved past it and had a super rest of the match. It seemed like a fair portion was aired although not in full.

Jushin Liger vs Keiji Muto - 5 minutes shown but it was all really good. Nice surprises. I would have liked an extra move for the finish but that is a minor quibble.

Masa Chono vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - I dunno what it was but I really dug this one. I think this was straight ahead action with great timing on spots and transitions. I liked the finish as well.

Yuji Nagata vs Manabu Nakanishi - Very good stuff! Not sure I "get" the finish but hey it's G1. Nagata is laying in the kicks and Nakanishi is a beast - what's not to like?
    

Oh and Murakami is participating but they just show pictures of the finish and none of the matches thus far...hoping they show a couple but I don't think so...

08/06

Tadao Yasuda vs Manabu Nakanishi - Good, good stuff...another under 10 minute match..so it's pretty simple but tells an interesting story. Yasuda is older but pretty darn big. Nakanishi isn't as tall but he's younger and stronger. He has a really good chance of bowling Yasuda with his power. This felt like a good WWE match where the action is good and you're able to figure out the in ring story just by watching the match. Full match shown.

Jushin Liger vs Masa Chono - Good mat submission stuff to setup a disputed win for Liger. Sorry for the spoiler but that's what's actually interesting. The ref is out of position and doesn't see Chono's shoulders off the map multiple times... however there's no emphatic kick out. It's a tainted win and something you might expect Chono to be the beneficiary of rather than Liger. I'm guessing this angle has more to do with Chono's arc instead of Liger's. ***OK wait... I re-watched the finish and Chono won as he kinda squashed the Magistral and pinned Liger. Hmm...I'm not sure the point of Chono winning this way so maybe this was a flub by the ref. Even the ref didn't seem to know what happened and eventually raised Chono's hand in victory.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Osamu Nishimura - This was OK. They had the opportunity to end this in a smart fashion (the other guy would have won) but instead went stupid. And that went against the whole story that was being told.

Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Tanaka - Pretty interesting stuff from Minoru but he probably didn't have a chance. This could have been sweet if they did this differently and showed more than a couple minutes

Satoshi Kojima vs Keiji Muto - Surprisingly not more was shown. But once I got past the dragon screw, kneecap drop kick, figure four bit this was very good stuff. Muto did some risky moves and Kojima was his charismatic, hard hitting self. Nice finish too!

08/08

Satoshi Kojima vs Jushin Liger - Oh man, this was exciting and only a few minutes are shown. These two are great opponents. Kojima has a great attitude with working with juniors.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Minoru Tanaka - Whew this looked like a great one. Of course, we only get the last four minutes. They were fantastic though. I liked Minoru trying to use Fujinami's moves against him.

Osamu Nishimura vs Masa Chono - Clever match especially from Nishimura. I think I would have liked this in full as both use an old school technical style. Watching this match unfold would have been interesting and perhaps even great.

Tadao Yasuda vs. Yuji Nagata- Very good, intense stuff! 75% of the match is made by Nagata working & the final 25% is Yasuda making Nagata's work look good. That's about the best Yasuda can do from the few matches I've seen of his. But, he does it here and we get a really enjoyable under 10 minute match. I dug Nagata doing the north-south knees like Kaz Fujita uses. Full match

Keiji Muto vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - I really dug the finish but this was a battle of Figure Four holds and that can & did get boring.

08/10

Osamu Nishimura vs Jushin Liger - This went to a draw but looked like my type of match...old school technical wrestling. It seemed like a wizards duel and while it's a shame only 7 minutes were shown, I'm really glad that I saw that much. I think this is one worth watching in full.

Minoru Tanaka vs Manabu Nakanishi - Fun match, pretty good stuff that honestly if a little longer (11 minutes instead of 10) this would have been nearly great. Minoru just added all kinds of neat touches for both he & Nakanishi. I have to think he was calling this match because Manabu looked clever in his choices like chaining moves together. Shown in full thankfully!

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Yuji Nagata - Ohh man, I wish they had this in full. 8 minutes shown but this was my jam. Lots of reversals and counters, good psychology trying to work over each others legs (without over selling the effects). Blistering leg kicks from Nagata. Best Fujinami match so far.

Keiji Muto vs Masa Chono - Great under 10 minute match. This is the Muto I watch for. This was such fun, smart match and honestly would be PPV quality if this was in TNA a couple years later. That's to say, you totally could see Sting as Muto & Jeff Jarrett as Chono and this would have the fans going crazy. It's got great storytelling, history, and action. And they don't need to fill time to make it an epic...so no overwrought dragging oneself to the ropes etc. Shown in full.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Satoshi Kojima - 12 minutes shown and this was very good, hard hitting stuff. These two only seem to do one type of match with one another but I like it. There were some great spots and everything was fought over.

08/11 semifinals, 08/12 finals - these matches were shown in full

Keiji Muto vs Tadao Yasuda - Fun stuff because it was only about 7 minutes long in full. Otherwise it might have gotten silly. We get good punches from Yasuda. Muto is going quasi shoot style. And we get a pretty cool finish. Yeah this is fun

Yuji Nagata vs Masa Chono - Very good match! Oh I wish it was one minute longer since I thought they were really cooking to a great match. Nice pacing and work here. They weren't killing themselves but they were hitting hard, working some spots in, and telling a story. 

Keiji Muto vs. Yuji Nagata - Great G1 final. There's the "Muto doing his thing portion" in the middle but the rest of the match was exciting and had nice surprises/moments. I really like how they chained moves together. This was not just in the beginning but for much of the match. I think that's what made this special. The MMA influence on NJPW and Nagata was definitely here but without any of the negative connotations. This really felt like a pro wrestling match with competition & modern combat sports in mind...but not shoot style. Maybe the closest thing I can think is '87-'88 junior NJ with Takada & Muto. Perhaps that's not a bad comparison at all given Takada trained/mentored Nagata. I don't know if this would be everyone's cup of tea. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this either but I did.

Wrestler run down:

Minoru Tanaka - Very dynamic and flashy compared to the others. Too much of this would have been a bad thing so they did right in the booking.

Manabu Nakanishi - The flashiest of the cavemen, I liked Nakanishi here. He definitely seemed like he could have been plugged into WWE at this time style wise. He had good bouts and his match with Minoru Tanaka was my favorite.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Like most Tenzan I've seen, he could be very good-great or be kinda dull. I think in the edited G1 matches I saw, he was very good more often than not.

Satoshi Kojima - Kojima is a more charismatic Tenzan and had better matches overall. 
Tatsumi Fujinami - Age limited Fujinami but he still had really entertaining bouts. He vs Nagata was the highlight.

Osamu Nishimura - Editing down Nishimura probably doesn't do him justice as he's not about big spots but is more storytelling based on his technical attack. Still his bouts vs Liger and Chono were nice even in edited form.

Jushin Liger - I'm thinking Liger was probably the best overall wrestler of the guys who didn't make the semifinals... and maybe only Chono & Nagata are in the conversation. He's a guy who probably should have been in the semis given the quality of his performances but...he's still seen as a junior

Tadao Yasuda - Not great and not bad. They wisely booked him in under 10 minute matches and everyone else adapted to his style. Didn't dread his matches like I thought I would.

Masa Chono - I dunno what it is but I always dig Chono. His Kenka kick and STF variations are all he needs in my eyes in terms of moves. I think he works really smart and has a great technical/brawling style. He can rake the eyes, rain down punches but catch you with a drop toe hold and stretch you. Very consistent in putting on good matches during this G1.

Keiji Muto is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. My general feeling is if the match is around 10 minutes, you're more likely to get a good (or better) performance. If it's longer then you run the risk of Muto filling time with dragon screw-knee drop kick-figure four-repeat.

Yuji Nagata - I'm a big Nagata fan and this G1 didn't disappoint me. I really liked the crispness of his kicks which I don't remember them being this stiff. I also liked that MMA influence on him here (which may be why the kicks are super stiff). His shoot fights didn't do him any favors but who in the heck would pair him against Cro Cop & Fedor!? Seriously!? Anyhow his performance was excellent stuff for a Nagata fan or anyone interested in checking him out or what 2001 NJ was like (me).

This was a fun project since many of the matches were under 10 minutes. Maybe the full versions are on New Japan World? I know the DVDs are out there so perhaps you can see full matches that way. Either way, if this time period is interesting to you then, you'll be pleased.

Thanks for reading! I'll be back to 2009 ROH next week.