It's time once again for NJPW's vaunted G1 Climax tournament, what has historically been the most fun four weeks of wrestling all year. The company in recent years hasn't exactly earned that title, but there's always hope....
Thank Christ, New Japan has returned to the classic two-block format this year, as that four-block experiment the last two tournaments stunk. So right off the bat we have an inherent improvement in the 2024 edition. Also you'll notice some stunning omissions in this year's field. For the first time since 2001, we'll have a G1 Climax without Hiroshi Tanahashi. End of a fuckin' era. Also for the first time since I think 2009 there's no Tomohiro Ishii, historically one of the tournament's perennial MVPs. Time marches on, as they say. Couple that with the absences of recent AEW signees Jay White, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay, and this field looks VERY different from last year's. But that actually sets the stage for a very refreshing tourney. We'll see some new faces and many others who have only just begun their G1 tenures. Also the winner is somewhat hard to predict this year, which is always fun.
Let's look at the blocks below:
Block A: Shota Umino, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Sanada, Great O-Khan, Zack Sabre Jr., Gabe Kidd, Jake Lee, Evil, Callum Newman
Block B: El Phantasmo, Hirooki Goto, Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura, Jeff Cobb, Henare, David Finlay, Ren Narita, Konosuke Takeshita, Oleg Boltin
As usual I'll only go through the individual names who have a snowball's chance in hell of winning this thing (or at least their respective blocks), rather than the entire field.
Block A: Shota Umino, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Sanada, Zack Sabre Jr.
Block B: Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura, Jeff Cobb, David Finlay
Shota Umino
Once again Umino is right on the cusp of becoming the new Tanahashi-type guy for this company. Last year I said it was time to really pull the trigger on him, Tsuji and Narita, and it still is. What these fuckers are waiting for, I'm sure I dunno. But Umino is once again a heavy favorite to win at least his block, if not the whole tourney.
Tetsuya Naito
Last year's winner and the current IWGP Champion, who's been limping through the last few years until the next class of main eventers is ready to take the reins. Well, that time is long overdue, and I expect we'll see Mr. Naito take a loss or two in this block to set up title matches over the fall. But clearly he'll be passing the torch to someone at the Tokyo Dome.
Shingo Takagi
Kind of a longshot to win even Block A, but Takagi will undoubtedly take over Ishii's old role of having great match after great match.
Sanada
He's a former IWGP Champion so he's got to at least be considered as a block winner, but Sanada's time to carry the company on his back has seemingly come and gone. He's a very good hand but he just doesn't have the charisma to be The Guy.
Zack Sabre Jr.
Okay now we're talkin'. Zack has been positioned very strongly of late and could end up taking over where Will Ospreay left off, as far as being a gaijin the NJPW faithful love, who can always deliver spectacular action (albeit in a very different way than Will). ZSJ has to be one of the three or four top favorites to win the whole thing, although Naito vs. ZSJ as a Dome main event isn't the most exciting.
Yota Tsuji
Seriously guys, what is it gonna take for you to go all the way with this guy? He's got charisma oozing out his pores, he's capable of powerhouse moves AND he's agile as fuck. Tsuji should be taking over LIJ as its new leader, and a Naito-Tsuji main event at the Dome would make for a terrific story/torch passing moment. I picked Tsuji to win the G1 last year and was rebuffed with extreme prejudice, but I'd say his chances are better this year.
Yuya Uemura
Another of the company's most promising young homegrown stars, Uemura won't go all the way or probably even win a block but he'll prove himself a future main event guy in this tourney.
Jeff Cobb
Jeff is another Ishii disciple of sorts, who will supply loads of great rugged matches but won't go further than "spoiler" in the tournament. Still he could surprise and win Block B.
David Finlay
Finlay is still trying to take over where Jay White left off, and unfortunately while very promising, Finlay is no Jay White. But as the leader of Bullet Club War Dogs, he has to be considered a second-tier favorite.
Top 3 Matches - Block A
Shota Umino vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - The superstar vs. the Technician. Sign me up.
Shota Umino vs. Shingo Takagi - The superstar vs. the Bruiser. Sign me up again.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shingo Takagi - The Technician vs. the Bruiser. Sign me-- fuck it, you know the drill.
Top 3 Matches - Block B
I haven't even mentioned the guy I'm most excited to see in this tourney, and that is AEW's Konosuke Takeshita, who will undoubtedly steal many a show on this tour. I'm stoked to see him mix it up with NJPW stars and my three most anticipated matches in Block B all involve him.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jeff Cobb
Konosuke Takeshita vs. El Phantasmo
All of these should be straight-up bangers and I hope Takeshita makes it to the playoff round.
All of these should be straight-up bangers and I hope Takeshita makes it to the playoff round.
Finals Prediction
This year's final bracket is once again a little different. There will be a semifinal round but also a qualifying round to get into the semis. The leader of each block will get a bye into the semifinals, while the second and third place finishers will battle it out to earn a spot in the semis. Then of course the winners advance to the finals. So it could be two third-place block finishers fighting for all the chips. That makes things a bit more unpredictable. But I think the finals will likely be Zack vs. Tsuji. Could also be Shota vs. Tsuji, but Zack just seems to have the mojo right now. Then the question becomes, who challenges Naito at the Dome? As I said earlier I think the story of Tsuji challenging his mentor for the title and for LIJ leadership just makes more sense than another random Naito vs. Sabre match. So for the second year in a row I'm picking Yota Tsuji as the G1 winner. I'll probably get shafted again, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
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