NJPW brings you the G1 Climax tournament beginning July 20th. The G1 Climax tournament is a world renowned tournament featuring the best heavyweight professional wrestlers that Japan has to offer, broken down into two “blocks,” each block squaring off with one another over a series of weeks, wins earning “points” until eventually those with the most points from block A face those with the most points from block B. If you’re a fan of NJPW you already know that this is one of the most exciting times of the year, as the G1 tournament always gives us some of the greatest matches of the year, and this year should be no exception.
This writer will bring you a fresh article breaking down each days G1 tournament match ups, starting with Monday, July 20th.Every G1 Climax tournament match up can be seen by subscribing to New Japan World for less than $9.00 per month. We highly recommend New Japan World to anyone that is sick of sports entertainment, and wants to see straight up professional wrestling matches inside a ring. Take a look at day one to see how superior it is to anything the WWE is doing at this point.
Hokkaido will host night one, and bring you match ups from the A Block consisting of-
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Doc Gallows-
These two heavy hitting big men should have good chemistry. Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese main stay and the current NWA World Heavyweight champion. Doc Gallows is a WWE cast off that didn’t last in TNA, but is thriving in New Japan with Karl Anderson as the IWGP tag team champions and leaders of The Bullet Club. Look for Gallows to be motivated to defeat the NWA champion as well as further the Bullet Club in G1. Tenzen will be out to show that the NWA champion is to be taken seriously, and to hurt the Bullet Club’s chances of dominating this tournament. As such, expect a very good match up here.
Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano-
Honestly it's hard for this writer to not be a little biased here. Not a fan of Toru Yano; His “gimmick” isn't interesting in the least bit. It appears that he’s trying to be funny, but he comes across as desperate for attention. Not only that, but he has never done anything even remotely entertaining. While he’s not a bad wrestler, he’s just vanilla and dull. Togi Makabe is the current Open Weight champion and very closely resembles Haku of WWF/WCW fame. He a strong style grappler that mostly kicks, punches, and tosses his opponents, but does so very well, and seems to make the crowds happy. If all is right in the world, Makabe destroys Yano, and that will at least be fun to watch.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale-
This should be a very good match for numerous reasons. Tetsuya Naito is in the midst of a major attitude change. Seemingly annoyed to be lower on the card than he believes he should be, Naito has been so…disgusted as of late, showing little desire, but still getting the job done inside the ring. He’s been sporting a black t-shirt and baseball cap to reflect his indifference as well. Every time Naito steps in the ring his new story is being advanced. How will the story advance against The Bullet Club’s “Under Boss?” Bad Luck Fale is a big, powerful, mean, guy with a scary presence. When Fale enters the ring he’s there to hurt someone, get paid, and go home. Naito of old would be there to show the fans that he is the man to take the “Under boss” down, but the new Naito seems to have an attitude similar to Fale’s now. What will that mean for this match up? Hard to be sure, but Its certain that it's going to be fun to watch!
Katsuyori Shibata vs. A.J. Styles-
Since leaving TNA AJ Styles has become one of the best wrestlers in the world today, bar none. He’s now a two time IWGP Heavyweight champion having defended it against major players around the world, and has main evented for numerous companies as well, holding many different championship titles simultaneously. Katsuyori Shibata is an MMA expert, who had an excellent series of matches against the current IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Goto, and has since been working his way up the New Japan card, having recently bested the legendary Sakuraba at "NJPW Dominion" 2015.
Styles, as great as he is, will have his work cut out for him against the grappler, if Shibata is able to go. Shibata was recently pulled from “New Japan Alive” on July 12th due to an arm injury. There has been no word on how serious the injury is, or if it will keep him out of the G1 tournament. Every NJPW fan is hoping he is simply resting in order to make the tournament. A first round match up against the Phenomenal one is a heck of a way to kick it off, so let’s hope it happens!
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi-
The man many call the “John Cena” of NJPW, Hiroshi Tanahashi, based off his sheer dominance and popularity, will face this year’s winner of the “New Japan Cup” (another prestigious NJPW tournament) Kota Ibushi. Sadly, it appears that Tanahashi is on the downward part of his career with nagging back issues. However, if properly rested there are still few better than Iroshi, so Ibushi must not take him lightly. Ibushi recently gave AJ Styles all he could handle before suffering a loss to the then IWGP Champion, and many predict that the IWGP title is in Ibushi’s future.
So here we have a legendary performer against an up and coming legend. One will be fighting to show he’s still the biggest thing NJPW has to offer, and the other will be fighting to show that it’s his time now. This writer suspects this to be one of the best matches of the entire tournament.
As you can see, night one of the G1 Climax tournament will kick things off in a major way, setting the tone for the weeks ahead. If you’re a fellow NJPW fan, you’re going to love it. If you’re new to NJPW, or have been considering jumping on the bandwagon, do so ASAP! New Japan World is currently offering a free trial, but be forewarned, you won’t want to cancel once you’ve experienced professional wrestling the way it’s supposed to be, or as this writer likes to say…Wrestling Done Right!