Promotions Watched : NJPW (2 shows), AJPW, NOAH, Dragon Gate, DDT, Ganbare Pro
September was all about the tournaments. So many tournaments. I attempted to cover the three biggest ones but had to bail on the G1 Climax after quickly realizing my initial plan would lead to instant burnout and long-lasting psychological trauma. Ironically, the match of the month comes from that short-lived NJPW review stint, as the ever-reliable Tanahashi put in one of the best performances of the entire COVID-era against Naito in their first match since 2017.
The other two stars of tournament season were GHC champ Go Shiozaki and Zen Nihon Ace Kento Miyahara. Go’s eternally-damaged arms turned all of his N-1 matches into compelling stories while Big Match Kento worked his magic with everyone not named Yoshitatsu. In the middle of tournament madness, Dragon Gate ran a stacked Dangerous Gate featuring three bangers that all made The List. You don’t want to sleep on this show.
The Top 10
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – G1 Climax (NJPW 9/20/2020)
- Go Shiozaki vs. Masaaki Mochizuki – N-1 Victory (NOAH 9/23/2020)
- Naruki Doi vs. Kzy (Dragon Gate 9/21/2020)
- Kento Miyahara vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival (AJPW 9/15/2020)
- Koji Iwamoto vs. Ikuto Hidaka – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title (AJPW 9/21/2020)
- Kota Minoura & Jason Lee vs. Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka – Twin Gate (Dragon Gate 9/21/2020)
- Kento Miyahara vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival (AJPW 9/21/2020)
- Ben-K, Strong Machine J & Dragon Dia vs. Takashi Yoshida, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Diamante – Triangle Gate (Dragon Gate 9/21/2020)
- Takashi Sugiura vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima – N-1 Victory (NOAH 9/23/2020)
- Shotaro Ashino vs. Shuji Ishikawa – Champion Carnival (AJPW 9/21/2020)
Honorable Mentions
- Kenoh vs. Naomichi Marufuji – N-1 Victory (NOAH 9/23/2020)
- Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura vs. Chris Brookes & Drew Parker – KO-D Tag Team Titles (DDT 9/27/2020)
- Go Shiozaki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba – N-1 Victory (NOAH 9/22/2020)
- Konosuke Takeshita vs. Makoto Oishi (DDT 9/27/2020)
- Asuka vs. Shinichiro Tominaga – Independent World Jr. Title (GanPro 9/11/2020)
