The Best of Japan set is a staple at Golden Boy Tapes. All of the greatest action from Japan, thirty-six hours, jam-packed onto six VHS Tapes or Nine DVD's. Almost all matches are shown in their entirety, and quality is very good overall. If ordering the DVD version, please ensure that your machine is compatible with DVD-R's - some units are better than others.
Some highlights from this year's set:
* Hiroshi Tanahashi's Reign as Under-30 Champion (against the likes of American Dragon, Masayuki Naruse, and Naomichi Marufuji), and his continued rise to the top of New Japan, leading up to an appearance in the finals of the G-1 Climax against Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
* Toshiaki Kawada reigns supreme in All Japan as Triple Crown Champion, including defenses against Genichiro Tenryu, Shinya Hashimoto, Osamu Nishimura, and Taiyo Kea.
* Injuries catch up to Yoshihiro Takayama, as he goes down in a blaze of glory to Kensuke Sasaki in the G-1 Climax after high-profile matches against Shinsuke Nakamura and Kenta Kobashi.
* Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Kiyoshi Tamura and others remind the world of the glory days of the UWF/UWF-I, as they strive for greatness with U-Style.
* Genichiro Tenryu and Kensuke Sasaki split their time between New Japan and All Japan, finding success and facing off with big names.
* HEAT dominates as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, despite a tough set of battles against former friend Koji Kanemoto.
* Kaz Hayashi puts the All Japan Junior Heavyweight division on the map, with exciting matches against Taka Michinoku, AKIRA, and Katsushi Takemura.
* Naomichi Marufuji and KENTA continue their run as GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Champions, feuding with various combinations of SUWA, Ricky Marvin, Kotaro Suzuki, and Yoshinari Ogawa. KENTA undertakes a thrilling series against Misawa, Kobashi, and Marufuji himself!
* Kenta Kobashi completes another year as GHC Heavyweight Champion, with amazing title defenses against Takeshi Rikioh, Yoshihiro Takayama, Jun Akiyama, Akira Taue, and Akitoshi Saito!
Best of Japan 2004 - DVD Set
Volume One
1. Naomichi Marufuji vs. U-30 Openweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi (12/09/03 - New Japan)
2. Toshiaki Kawada, Ryuji Hijikata + Taichi Ishikari vs. Taka Michinoku, Hi69 + Psycho (12/28/03 - Kaientai Dojo)
3. Osamu Nishimura vs. Minoru Suzuki (1/04/04 - New Japan)
4. Yuji Nagata vs. Kensuke Sasaki (1/04/04 - New Japan)
5. NWF Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a Title Unification Match (1/04/04 - New Japan)
6. Masayuki Naruse vs. U-30 Openweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi (1/28/04 - New Japan)
7. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka (2/04/04 - U-Style)
8. Yuji Nagata vs. Koji Kanemoto (2/06/04 - New Japan)
9. Mitsuo Momota vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Lyger (2/15/04 - New Japan)
10. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament Final Match (2/15/04 - New Japan)
11. Taka Michinoku + Shiryu vs. Osaka Pro Tag Team Champions Billy Ken Kid + Tigers Mask (2/21/04 - Osaka Pro Super J-Cup)
12. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takehiro Murahama - Super J-Cup Tournament Final Match (2/21/04 - Osaka Pro Super J-Cup)
13. Blue-K vs. Kaz Hayashi for the Vacant AJPW Junior Heavyweight Title (2/22/04 - All Japan)
DVD BONUS MATCH: Yuji Nagata + Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan + Osamu Nishimura (12/23/04 - New Japan)
Volume Two
1. Shinya Hashimoto vs. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada (2/22/04 - All Japan)
2. American Dragon + Curry Man vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Gedo + Jado (3/12/04 - New Japan)
3. Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs. Shinya Hashimoto (3/19/04 - Fuyuki-Gun)
4. Masayuki Naruse vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Lyger (3/28/04 - New Japan)
5. Koji Kanemoto vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion HEAT (3/28/04 - New Japan)
6. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (3/28/04 - New Japan)
7. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Satoshi Kojima - Champions Carnival Semi-Final Match (4/20/04 - All Japan)
8. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Kazuki Okubo (4/28/04 - U-Style)
9. Shinjiro Ohtani + Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Masato Tanaka + Yoshito Sasaki (5/04/04 - Fuyuki-Gun)
10. Koji Kanemoto + Minoru Fujita vs. American Dragon + Rocky Romero (5/13/04 - New Japan)
11. Koji Kanemoto vs. Jushin Lyger - Best of Super Juniors Match (5/22/04 - New Japan)
12. Yuji Nagata + Kendo Ka Shin vs. AJPW Unified Tag Team Champions Satoshi Kojima + Kaz Hayashi (6/12/04 - All Japan)
DVD BONUS MATCH: Bob Sapp vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki (3/28/04 - New Japan)
Volume Three
1. Koji Kanemoto vs. American Dragon - Best of Super Juniors Semi-Final Match (6/13/04 - New Japan)
2. Tiger Mask IV vs. Koji Kanemoto - Best of Super Juniors Final Match (6/13/04 - New Japan)
3. Wataru Inoue, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hirooki Goto + Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Jushin Lyger, Katsushi Takemura, Gedo + Jado (7/06/04 - New Japan)
4. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (7/06/04 - New Japan)
5. Kendo Ka Shin + Takashi Sugiura vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji + KENTA (7/10/04 )
6. Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Lyger (7/10/04)
7. Jun Akiyama vs. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi (7/10/04)
8. Katsushi Takemura vs. AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion Kaz Hayashi (7/18/04 - All Japan)
9. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Satoshi Kojima (7/18/04 - All Japan)
10. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma (7/22/04 - All Japan)
11. Brother YASSHI, Shunji Condo, Touru Owashi + Takuya Sugawara vs. Kenichiro Arai, Masaaki Mochizuki, Second Doi + Susumu Yokosuka in an Elimination Match (8/01/04 - Dragon Gate)
12. Yuki Ishikawa vs. Masahito Kakihara - U-Style Singles Tournament Quarter-Final Match (8/07/04 - U-Style)
13. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style Singles Tournament Semi-Final Match (8/18/04 - U-Style)
DVD BONUS MATCH: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuyuki Fujita for the Vacant IWGP Heavyweight Title (6/05/04 - New Japan)
Volume Four
1. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Satoshi Kojima (8/23/04 - All Japan)
2. Susumu Yokosuka vs. Milano Collection AT vs. Touru Owashi vs. Dragon Kid in a Four-Way Elimination Match (8/28/04 - Dragon Gate)
3. Osamu Nishimura vs. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada (9/03/04 - All Japan)
4. Susumu Yokosuka vs. Open the Dream Gate Champion CIMA (9/17/04 - Dragon Gate)
5. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi + Yuji Nagata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi + Katsuyori Shibata (10/01/04 - New Japan)
6. American Dragon vs. U-30 Openweight Champion American Dragon (10/24/04 - New Japan)
7. Koji Kanemoto vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion HEAT (10/24/04 - New Japan)
8. AKIRA vs. AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion Kaz Hayashi (10/31/04 - All Japan)
9. Mitsuharu Misawa + Keiji Mutoh vs. Hiroshi Hase + Kensuke Sasaki (10/31/04 - All Japan)
10. Taiyo Kea vs. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada (10/31/04 - All Japan)
11. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki (11/03/04 - New Japan)
12. Koji Kanemoto vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion HEAT (11/13/04 - New Japan)
13. Toshiaki Kawada + Naoya Ogawa vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan + Hiroshi Tanahashi (11/13/04 - New Japan)
DVD BONUS MATCH: Hiroyoshi Tenzan + Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Toshiaki Kawada + Mitsuya Nagai (10/24/04 - New Japan)
Best of 2004 - Volume 1
1. Takeshi Morishima + Takeshi Rikioh vs. GHC Tag Team Champions Yuji Nagata + Hiroshi Tanahashi (12/06/03)
2. Kenta Kobashi, Takeshi Rikioh + Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jun Akiyama, Takeshi Morishima + Makoto Hashi (1/10/04)
3. El Samurai + Wataru Inoue vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji + KENTA (1/10/04)
4. Genichiro Tenryu vs. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada (1/18/04 - All Japan)
5. Takeshi Rikioh vs. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi (3/06/04)
6. Yoshinari Ogawa + Kotaro Suzuki vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji + KENTA (4/03/04)
Best of 2004 - Volume 2
1. Naomichi Marufuji + KENTA vs. GHC Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa + Yoshinari Ogawa (4/25/04)
2. Yoshihiro Takayama vs. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi (4/25/04)
3. Kenta Kobashi + Tamon Honda vs. Jun Akiyama + Akitoshi Saito (6/01/04)
4. Kotaro Suzuki + Ricky Marvin vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji + KENTA (6/01/04)
5. Daisuke Ikeda vs. WLW Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima (6/01/04)
6. Kenta Kobashi vs. Bison Smith (8/01/04)
Best of 2004 - Volume 3
1. KENTA vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (8/28/04)
2. Low-Ki vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru (9/10/04)
3. Masao Inoue + Akitoshi Saito vs. GHC Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa + Yoshinari Ogawa (9/10/04)
4. Akira Taue vs. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi (9/10/04)
5. KENTA vs. Kenta Kobashi (10/09/04)
6. Ricky Marvin + SUWA vs. GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Naomichi Marufuji + KENTA (10/22/04)
Best of G-1 2004 - Volume 1
1. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Koji Kanemoto (8/07/04)
2. Clips of Koji Kanemoto vs. Osamu Nishimura (8/08/04)
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (8/08/04)
4. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (8/08/04)
5. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Kensuke Sasaki (8/10/04)
6. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Koji Kanemoto (8/11/04)
7. Osamu Nishimura vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8/13/04)
8. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Koji Kanemoto (8/13/04)
9. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (8/14/04)
10. Masa Fuchi vs. Osamu Nishimura (8/23/04 - All Japan)
Best of G-1 2004 - Volume 2
1. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kensuke Sasaki - Quarter-Finals (8/15/04)
2. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - Quarter Finals (8/15/04)
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Katsuyori Shibata - Semi-Finals (8/15/04)
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - G-1 Climax Tournament Final (8/15/04)
6. Akitoshi Saito vs. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi (10/24/04)
7. KENTA vs. Kenta Kobashi (11/13/04)
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE BEST OF JAPAN 2004 ON VHS FOR $65.00!
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE BEST OF JAPAN 2004 ON DVD FOR $85.00!
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE BEST OF JAPAN 2004 ON VHS FOR $65.00!
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE BEST OF JAPAN 2004 ON DVD FOR $85.00!