Episode 112: The Second Oh Yeah

July 22, 2026

My second G1 victory came in 2015, a full eight years after my first title win. My opponent was Shinsuke Nakamura, and the Ryogoku Kokugikan was sold out to absolute capacity.

Compared to my first victory, New Japan Pro-Wrestling had completely come back to life, and the boos that once greeted me had somewhere along the way transformed into massive cheers.

And somewhere along the way, I had turned into "the man who never gets tired," holding IWGP title matches in practically every single series.

It felt like I had been pouring 100% of my energy into the IWGP Championship, but winning the G1 CLIMAX really is something special.

Honestly, I was so incredibly happy. I accepted the winner’s flag, swung it around wildly... and broke it.

A few years prior, Shinsuke Nakamura had swung the flag around when he won the G1 CLIMAX, and it looked so cool that I guess a part of me was thinking, "I wanna do that too!"

On a different note, when it came to my physical condition, if I'm being honest, I no longer had that innocent, effortless strength of my 20s.

In its place, however, was eight years worth of experience—plus, somewhere along the line, I had developed a huge appetite for singles matches.

This was a period where I overcame my knee injury and adapted to a fighting style that suited who I had become.

What made this G1 victory so special was, yes, the fact that my opponent was Shinsuke Nakamura.

Ten years after our first match in 2005, this turned out to be our final singles match against each other.

Yeah.

I would've loved to see a future where Nakamura stayed with New Japan, too. Ah, but I guess that’s something we promised not to talk about...