Great Bash Heel

The Logo of G.B.H.

**Great Bash Heel** (グレート・バッシュ・ヒール, *Gurēto Basshu Hīru*), often abbreviated to **G.B.H.**, was a professional wrestling stable turned tag team in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Formed by Hiroyoshi Tenzan in October 2006, G.B.H. was the top heel group in New Japan Pro Wrestling until April 2009, when the rest of the group turned on their leader, Togi Makabe, and formed a new stable named CHAOS, under the leadership of Shinsuke Nakamura.

## History

### Formation (2006)

On October 2, 2006, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, fresh off his G1 Climax triumph and a big win over former mentor Masahiro Chono and on his way to challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, announced the formation of his first stable and named former IWGP Provisional Tag Team Champions, Togi Makabe and Shiro Koshinaka, as his first recruits. Tenzan announced that the criteria for joining his group was to "be strong, bad and cool" and that the intention of his new stable was to revive the old "beautiful New Japan". Tenzan immediately began sending out invitations to other New Japan wrestlers, such as Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi and even Makabe's and Koshinaka's blood rivals, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano, to join the group, which was unofficially named Mougyu Ikka. On October 9, Tenzan failed in his attempt to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Hiroshi Tanahashi, but despite the setback, announced that his quest had only just begun. Finally, on October 15, Tenzan announced that the official name of his stable was Great Bash Heel, G.B.H., and named their goal to become the biggest heel group in New Japan history by causing "grievous bodily harm", something the group's name was also a reference to. The following day, Tenzan orchestrated a truce between the teams of Makabe and Koshinaka and Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano, who became the fourth and fifth member of G.B.H.

### Makabe takes over (2006–2009)

G.B.H. were then engulfed in a three–way war with the New Japan Seikigun, led by Yuji Nagata, and BLACK, led by Masahiro Chono. While Tenzan began touring All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in December, Makabe acted as the *de facto* leader of G.B.H. The group then attempted to simultaneously capture both the World Tag Team Championship and IWGP Tag Team Championship, but failed on both attempts. In February 2007, G.B.H. was joined by Tomoaki Honma and he was followed by veteran tag team of Jado and Gedo in July, while the following month, Koshinaka turned on G.B.H. and joined Masahiro Chono's new Legend stable. After being pinned by Koshinaka in a tag team match between G.B.H. and Legend, Tenzan announced that he was going to be taking some time off to heal himself up. With his regular tag team partner gone from G.B.H., Makabe formed a new tag team with Toru Yano and together the two of them entered the 2007 G1 Tag League, along with their stablemates, Gedo and Jado. Makabe and Yano would make it to the semifinals of the tournament, before being defeated by the eventual winners of the whole tournament, Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko of RISE, a spinoff group of BLACK, led by Shinsuke Nakamura. After the tournament, Makabe and Yano would remain together as a tag team, naming the unit the Most Violent Players. On January 4, 2008, at Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome, MVP faced Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) tag team Team 3D (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) in a hardcore tag team match in a losing effort. After spending months sidelined, Hiroyoshi Tenzan finally made his return to New Japan on February 17, but after he, Gedo, Jado and Ishii were defeated by Legend in an eight-man tag team match, the rest of G.B.H. turned on their leader and kicked him out of the group. Later that same night, Makabe and Yano defeated Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship, G.B.H.'s first title in New Japan. As the former leader of G.B.H., Tenzan had difficulties in finding new allies, however, long time New Japan Seikigun member Takashi Iizuka was the first to accept him and the two went on to form a tag team. On April 27, Tenzan and Iizuka challenged Makabe and Yano for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, however, Iizuka ended up turning on Tenzan and joining G.B.H. Tenzan would find new allies in Legend and Satoshi Kojima and would spend the rest of the year feuding with the stable he had created. On September 5, 2008, former RISE member, Low Ki, made his return to New Japan, attacking Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask, before being revealed as the newest member of G.B.H. The same day, Giant Bernard and Rick Fuller turned on RISE and joined G.B.H. along with fellow Americans Black Tiger, Karl Anderson and Val Venis. Fuller, Black Tiger and Venis would all, however, leave the promotion shortly after their first appearances as members of G.B.H. On September 21, Low Ki defeated Tiger Mask to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Both of G.B.H.'s title reigns ended on January 4, 2009, at Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome, when Low Ki lost the Junior Heavyweight Championship back to Tiger Mask and MVP lost the Tag Team Championship to Team 3D in a hardcore rematch of their encounter from the previous year.

### Betrayal (2009–2012)

*See also: CHAOS*
On April 5, G.B.H. co–leader Togi Makabe faced RISE leader Shinsuke Nakamura in a singles match, at the end of which Yano turned on both Makabe and Tomoaki Honma and helped Nakamura pick up the win. In the aftermath of the event, Nakamura dissolved RISE and formed new top heel stable CHAOS with Yano, Gedo, Jado, Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson, Takashi Iizuka and Tomohiro Ishii, all of whom abandoned Makabe and G.B.H. The event would kickstart Makabe's singles career and quest for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which he would win on May 3, 2010, and although he and Tomoaki Honma, the only member of G.B.H. to remain loyal to him, would occasionally wrestle together under the G.B.H. banner, the stable was effectively dissolved. On March 28, 2012, New Japan released Honma from his contract, officially ending G.B.H.

### Reformation (2013–present)

On March 23, 2013, Togi Makabe, who had recently begun feuding with Chaos member Yujiro Takahashi, teamed with Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima in a six-man tag team match, where they faced Takahashi, Takashi Iizuka and Yoshi-Hashi. After Kojima had pinned Yoshi-Hashi for the win, Iizuka hit both him and Tenzan with a steel chair, after which Takahashi began choking out his rival Makabe with his own steel chain. This led to Tomoaki Honma making his return to New Japan, one year after his firing from the promotion, chasing Chaos out of the ring and helping Makabe backstage. The reunited G.B.H. had their first match back together on April 7 at Invasion Attack, where they were defeated by Takahashi and Masato Tanaka in a tag team match. In late 2013, G.B.H. started feuding with the Bullet Club stable. In December, Makabe and Honma made it to the semifinals of the 2013 World Tag League, before being eliminated by the Bullet Club team of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. G.B.H. continued teaming sporadically throughout 2014 and in November took part in the 2014 World Tag League, but this time finished last in their block with a record of three wins and four losses. Throughout 2015 both Makabe and Honma were involved in the NEVER Openweight Championship picture with Makabe winning the title twice from Tomohiro Ishii, who defeated Honma twice in his attempts to win his first NJPW title. In November, Makabe and Honma reunited for the 2015 World Tag League, winning their block with a record of four wins and two losses and advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 9, they defeated *Los Ingobernables de Japón* (EVIL and Tetsuya Naito) in the finals to win the 2015 World Tag League.

On January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, Makabe and Honma defeated Bullet Club's Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa) on April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016. In December, Makabe and Honma advanced to the finals of the 2016 World Tag League by winning their block with a record of five wins and two losses. On December 10, Makabe and Honma defeated the Guerrillas of Destiny to win their second World Tag League in a row. On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, Makabe and Honma took part in a three-way match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, which was won by Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano. From November 16 until December 8, 2019, Makabe and Honma took part in the 2019 World Tag League, failing to win the tournament with a record of four wins and eleven losses.

On March 1, 2022, G.B.H reunited for one night only, as part of NJPW's 50th Anniversary Show, where Makabe and Honma would be teamed with their former stablemates Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Shiro Koshinaka in a losing effort against *Los Ingobernables de Japón* (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, and Hiromu Takahashi).

## In wrestling

* **Double-team finishing moves**
	+ *Kokeshi Impact* (Diving headbutt (Honma) / Electric chair drop (Makabe) combination)
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Trick Ster" by Yonosuke Kitamura

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Apache Pro-Wrestling Army**
	+ WEW Heavyweight Championship (3 times) – Makabe (1), Yano (1) and Ishii (1)
* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Makabe
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Low Ki
	+ IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) – Makabe and Yano (1) and Honma and Makabe (1)
	+ NEVER Openweight Championship (2 times) – Makabe
	+ G1 Climax (2009) – Makabe
	+ World Tag League (2015,2016) – Honma and Makabe
* **Tokyo Sports**
	+ Fighting Spirit Award (2009) – Makabe
	+ Tag Team of the Year (2007) – Makabe and Yano
	+ Technique Award (2015) – Honma

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-02. Tenzan's new army, Inoki Bar, Nagata supports Simon, Goto's CMLL debut . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
2. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-29. (Results) New Japan, 10/29/06 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
3. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-04. Nakamura's sinister plans, Tenzan sending out feelers, magazine covers . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
4. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-06. Nakamura's dangerous arsenal, special tour outline revealed, Tenzan's group name (maybe) . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
5. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-09. (Results) New Japan, 10/9/06 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
6. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-09. Some post-Sumo Hall notes . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
7. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-15. Tenzan announces GBH, Nakanishi's three moves . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
8. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-16. (Results) New Japan, 10/16/06 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
9. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-10-28. Three armies ready . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Hiroyoshi Tenzan . *Puroresu Central*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
11. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-11-09. 11/25~12/10 cards; three major title matches in Aichi! . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
12. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2006-12-01. Muto and Tanahashi disagree, Kawada on 1/4, GBH's 2-crown plans, more . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2007-08-19. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
13. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2007-02-25. Makabe in Apache today . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2007-02-27. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
14. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2007-07-29. (Results) LOCK UP, 7/29/07 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Marshall, Stuart. Jul 2007 - 15 Aug 2007 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
16. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2007-10-09. Final G1 Tag League outline . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
17. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2007-11-02. (Results) New Japan, 11/2/07 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
18. ↑ Toru Yano . *Puroresu Central*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
19. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2008-01-04. (Results) New Japan, 1/4/08 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2008-01-06. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Hiroyoshi Tenzan  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Tougi Makabe  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
22. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2008-02-17. (Results) New Japan, 2/17/08 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Archived from the original on 2008-02-18. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Who is Low–Ki . *Doi Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
24. ↑ Giant Bernard  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
25. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2008-09-21. (Results) New Japan, 9/21/08 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
26. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2009-01-04. (Results) New Japan, 1/4/09 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
27. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2009-01-04. 1-4 Tokyo Dome results, TNA teams captures titles . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Archived from the original on 2012-08-29. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
28. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2009-04-05. (Results) New Japan, 4/5/09 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
29. ↑ Golden, Hunter 2009-04-09. Rising Sun Soliloquy Newsletter #19 . *Wrestleview*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
30. ↑ Golden, Hunter 2009-04-30. Rising Sun Soliloquy Newsletter #22 . *Wrestleview*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
31. ↑ *ja:【新日本プロレスからのお知らせ】本間朋晃選手との契約を解除致しました* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2012-03-28). Retrieved on 2012-03-28.
32. ↑ New Japan Cup 2013  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2012-03-23.
33. ↑ Invasion Attack  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2013-04-07.
34. ↑ King of Pro-Wrestling  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2013-10-15.
35. ↑ Namako, Jason 2013-10-14. 10/14 NJPW iPPV Results: Tokyo, Japan (Tanahashi/Okada) . *Wrestleview*. Retrieved on 2013-10-15.
36. ↑ World Tag League 2013  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2013-12-08.
37. ↑ 『World Tag League 2014』出場チーム＆公式戦が決定！ 棚橋はヨシタツとタッグ結成！ 桜庭、AJ、柴田、ROH、NWAも参戦!  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2014-11-11). Retrieved on 2014-12-05.
38. ↑ World Tag League 2014  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2014-12-05.
39. ↑ Caldwell, James 2015-01-04. Caldwell's NJPW Tokyo Dome show results 1/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Wrestle Kingdom PPV - Tanahashi vs. Okada, Bullet Club, Nakamura, Jim Ross, more . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2015-12-09.
40. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2015-04-29. New Japan Pro Wrestling 4-29-15 house show report: Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii highlights three title matches . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved on 2015-12-09.
41. ↑ Show results - 2/14 New Japan "New Beginning" Night 2: Nakamura defends IC Title in main event, new NWA World champion, new NEVER champion, Bullet Club loses, more . *Pro Wrestling Torch* (2015-02-14). Retrieved on 2015-12-09.
42. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2015-11-06. NJPW Power Struggle live results 2015: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson for IC title . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2015-12-09.
43. ↑ NJPW World Tag League Results & Standings . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Archived from the original on 2015-12-09. Retrieved on 2015-12-06.
44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 World Tag League 2015  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2015-12-09.
45. ↑ *ja:新日Ｗタッグ初Ｖ！真壁、本間組の固い絆* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2015-12-10). Retrieved on 2015-12-10.
46. ↑ *ja:Wrestle Kingdom 10 in 東京ドーム* (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2016-01-04.
47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Meltzer, Dave 2016-01-03. Wrestle Kingdom 10 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2016-01-04.
48. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-04-09. NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2016-04-10.
49. ↑ NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter* (2017-01-03). Retrieved on 2017-01-04.
50. ↑ Kitamura, Yonosuke. Biography  (in Japanese). *RMLabel*. Retrieved on 2014-11-14.
51. ↑ World Entertainment Wrestling Heavyweight Title . *Wrestling-Titles.com*. Retrieved on 2014-08-07.
52. ↑ IWGP Heavyweight Championship history  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
53. ↑ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship history  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
54. ↑ IWGP Tag Team Championship history  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
55. ↑ NEVER open weight class  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2015-04-29.
56. ↑ Marshall, Stuart 2009-08-16. (Results) New Japan, 8/16/09 . *Strong Style Spirit*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Puroresu Awards, 2000s . *The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo*. Retrieved on 2011-05-14.
58. ↑ *ja:【プロレス大賞】本間朋晃まさかの“こけし”で技能賞* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2015-12-08). Retrieved on 2015-12-09.