We are two days away from the beginning of the most prestigious tournament in wrestling that being the G1 Climax. From experience it is excessively difficult to keep track of all the shows and the matches. This is why I will be doing something a little different this year as I will be posting weekly updates on the tournament and the status of each competitor as the G1 progresses. To start we need an overview of the first part of the tournament which for me is the month of July and early August. Below are a list of the matches that have been announced for the tournament take a look, because in my opinion this year's tournament is stacked!!

B BLOCK -- Saturday, July 13 -- Tokyo -- Ota General Gymnasium 
Juice Robinson vs. Shingo Takagi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb
Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Naito
Hirooki Goto vs. Jay White
Jon Moxley vs. Taichi
A BLOCK -- Sunday, July 14 -- Tokyo -- Ota General Gynasium 
Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA
Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL
Will Ospreay vs. SANADA
Lance Archer vs. Bad Luck Fale
B BLOCK -- Monday, July 15 -- Hokkaido -- Hokkaido Sports Center
Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay White
Toru Yano vs. Shingo Takagi
Jeff Cobb vs. Jon Moxley
Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi

A BLOCK -- Thursday, July 18 -- Tokyo -- Korakuen Hall
Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 
Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay
KENTA vs. Lance Archer
EVIL vs. SANADA
B BLOCK -- Friday, July 19 -- Tokyo -- Korakuen Hall
Juice Robinson vs. Jeff Cobb
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley
Toru Yano vs. Jay White
Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito
Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi
A BLOCK -- Saturday, July 20 -- Tokyo -- Korakuen Hall
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Lance Archer
Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA
KENTA vs. EVIL
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bad Luck Fale
B BLOCK -- Wednesday, July 24 -- Hiroshima -- Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall
Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito
Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi
Jeff Cobb vs. Jay White
Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi
A BLOCK -- Saturday, July 27 -- Aichi -- Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA
Kota Ibushi vs. Lance Archer
Will Ospreay vs. Bad Luck Fale
EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 
B BLOCK -- Sunday, July 28 -- Aichi -- Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium 
Juice Robinson vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Hirooki Goto vs. Toru Yano
Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi
Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley
Shingo Takagi vs. Jay White
A BLOCK --  Tuesday, July 30 -- Kagawa -- Takamatsu City General Gymnasium Arena 1 
Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale
Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 
KENTA vs. SANADA
B BLOCK --  Thursday, Aug. 1 -- Fukuoka --Fukuoka Citizen Gymnasium
Juice Robinson vs. Tetsuya Naito
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hirooki Goto
Toru Yano vs. Jon Moxley
Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi
Taichi vs. Jay White
A BLOCK --  Saturday, Aug. 3 -- Osaka -- Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium 
Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi
Will Ospreay vs. EVIL
KENTA vs. Bad Luck Fale
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Lance Archer
B BLOCK --  Sunday, Aug. 4 -- Osaka -- Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium 
Juice Robinson vs. Taichi
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano
Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb
Jon Moxley vs. Jay White
Tetsuya Naito vs. Shingo Takagi

In my opinion, some of the most underrated & most talked about matches in wrestling have taken place during the G1 Climax. A career making performance may not happen every year, but when it does it always sticks. However, the tournament isn't just to make new stars it is also in place to solidfy those who have already made it to the top or give a legend there one last accomplishment which is what a tournament should do. In the WWE they have seemingly forgotten how important and how valuable a tournament can be as they normally just using them as fodder and allowing tournament winners to become jokes instead something to build new stars. 

The first thing I think that people need to learn about to understand the environment New Japan is to understand the G1 Climax. In my opinion, the best way to understand something is by learning it's origin and building forward. The G1 Climax has helped stabilize New Japan in it's darkest periods and has helped make Icons out of Masahiro Chono, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinya Hashimoto, and various others in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Will another legend be made an icon this year in G1 we will have to wait and find out. 

As always wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. These two are very different talent and had two very different careers while they worked in this great business. Sometimes we encounter those that deserve to be remembered and acknowledged. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.​

Following his departure from the WWE during the "Monday Night Wars" the former Earthquake aka John Tenta would head to Japan. His last match on record was in the summer of July 2003 as a member of the All Japan roster. John would also take a tour of New Japan for a short stay in 1993 and this is one of the reasons that most people don't remember that he had a stay in Japan. To change things up we are including a third person for this day. For those who don't know George "The Cobra" Takano was one of the prominent junior heavyweights during the golden age for the division in New Japan. Two legends and one future legend makes this day in wrestling history complete. 

Happy Birthday to George "The Cobra" Takano who turns 61 years old 

​As always wrestling gives us both great memories and memories we try and forget, but with the amount of moments worth remembering that have happened we are bound to forget some. The same could be said about some talent that were very much underrated during their career or never at the top of a company during a run this unfortunately makes it easier for fans to forget certain talent. These two are very different talent and had two very different careers while they worked in this great business. Sometimes we encounter those that deserve to be remembered and acknowledged. I would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating their special day today and especially to the one featured below.​

This past weekend New Japan held their second biggest event of the year called Dominion. Normally New Japan finds a way to tear down the house every year with this event last year we even saw Kenny Omega win the IWGP World Title ending Okada's record setting reign. This year Chris Jericho would challenge for the IWGP World Champion against current champion Kazuchika Okada. Side note hearing that Jon Moxley will be included in G1-Climax this year is surprising, because it really shows just how much things have changed in such a short time. It will be interesting to see Moxley in the ring against Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Tanahashi, Naito, and various others. 

Looking at the card it is difficult to pin down which match was the best match from the event with Will Osprey & Dragon Lee, Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi, and finally Chris Jericho & Kazuchika Okada. In my opinion, this really shows that even after losing The Elite it is still clear that New Japan will be fine in the long run. Now don't get me wrong they were big loses, but the company still has an incredibly deep roster with some of the most talented performers in the world of wrestling right now. 

Overall Chris Jericho continues to impress every single time he is given the chance to be on the top of the card. It's almost like he's getting better with age instead of slowing down like people normally do as they get older. Also I want to point out that Ibushi & Okada are two of the top baby faces in wrestling and prove that a sympathetic good guy can still be a thing if you really try to make it happen. Either way this was a very good show and a spectacular building block for the next major event on the calendar that being the G1 Climax. 

The never ending list is coming to a close with us hitting number two on the list finally. One of the best wrestlers in the world is the former leader of the Bullet Club Kenny Omega. To start the year Kenny attempted to recruit Jay White into the Bullet Club it lead to a match between the two for the IWGP United States title. Omega would move into a civil war feud with Cody over leadership in the Bullet Club this would lead to one of the best feuds of the year and some of the best matches. Omega would side with Kota Ibushi in the early days of the war which saw the Golden Lovers against Young Bucks in a top match from 2018. 

Omega would shock the wrestling world at Dominion in June when he ended the record setting World Title reign of Kazuchika Okada. Omega and the rest of the The Elite would come back together after Tama Tonga would lead the OG's to turn against the rest of the Club. Soon after Gedo would turn on Okada again shocking wrestling to join up with Jay White and the duo would later join the OG's in the new Bullet Club. For the most part everyone knows at this point just how good Kenny Omega is and doesn't need me to tell them, but if you have any doubts just look back at his performance during the G1 Climax last year and you'll see someone who was in the prime of his career. For about half of the G1 Climax, Kenny was undefeated and would put in show stealing performances nightly really living to being the champion. 

At this point though things have changed a lot since last year with Kenny now a member of All Elite Wrestling and New Japan still looking to replace those who walked away. It will be difficult for them to fill the voids left by The Elite, but that just means there is something to in New Japan to see who gets into those spots and All Elite Wrestling still is building momentum as they approach their October debut on television. 2019 will be a year like no other for the world of wrestling. 

I was looking for a match to share with you from the New Japan channel to avoid having to worry about the video being taken down. I don't think I could've asked for a better match to find then a match between two of the top stars in New Japan one of which being the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion. At first this was just going to be focused on one match but instead I got an idea and decided to tie into the upcoming match between Chris Jericho & Kazuchika Okada set for June 9 at Dominion for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. 

For the first time in recent memory we have seen three different World Champions in NJPW which is also very telling considering we've only just gotten into the six month of the year. With "Ace" back on top he now collides with the wild card of New Japan and the victor of the first AEW main event Chris Jericho. To try and put into words how in demand Jericho is right now it would be insanely difficult as he is someone that you just never know what to expect from him at this point. From one day to another he could change even just minor detail about his character and could be a totally different person. Keep in mind at this point Chris Jericho is 46 years old and still is competing at this high of a level which is insane. 

Overall this in my opinion is one of those dream matches you didn't know you wanted to see until it was booked and you knew you'd be getting it. After all the years that Jericho was apart of WWE it is insane to think that he will be challenging Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at one of New Japan's biggest events of the year. 

Not long ago we entered the top five of the never ending list of the best wrestlers from the last twelve months. With Daniel Bryan ranking at number five now we shift gears to the company in New Japan and the former "Ace" of the company. Often times in the world of wrestling father time does catch up to everyone, but even at 42 years old it doesn't seem like age has caught up with Hiroshi Tanahashi. Even though Tanahashi did take off for a few months following losing his championship at The New Beginning in Sapporo. Especially later in wrestlers career it becomes more common for talent to take time off to heal from injuries and recover limiting the aging talent from suffering serious injuries. 

At this point Hiroshi is more then an established name giving New Japan a reliable talent to depend on if they need help establishing new talent for the future. The last couple of years Tanahashi has been in out of the main event leaving room for Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and others to establish new faces on top of the card. In many ways its believable to think that New Japan rewarded Tanahashi with one more title reign for being such a reliable talent for so many years. I believe that very few talent have reached the status of legend in the modern era of wrestling, but Tanahashi is definitely not just a legend and has entered the status of "Icon." Even though his title reign was short it was well deserved and the match with Kenny was one of the best matches from this years edition of Wrestle Kingdom. At this point the list will continue to tick down until we hit the end and Hiroshi Tanahashi has landed at number four. 

When people look at the landscape of wrestling today we see a lot of names on top that really would've never been given a shot ten years ago. Recently, it was announced that wrestling "Icon" Jushin "Thunder" Liger will be retiring from active competition following next years Wrestle Kingdom event and that will be a major moment in wrestling. The man real name Keichi Yamada has been in the wrestling business since 1984 that's 35 years in the wild and crazy world of wrestling which is amazing in itself. 

However, Liger has been under his trademark mask and that full body suit since 1989 which means this coming April will mark 30 years for him in that gimmick. There is no doubting that The Undertaker is the most successful gimmick in the world of American, but on the grand scale I think that Liger has to rank right up there with him as one of the best. I'll go into his career a little more depth at a later date, but for right it's worth noting that Liger has competed in every major wrestling promotion including WWE, ROH, WCW, TNA and various others over the years and been successful. Dream matches with the likes of Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio, Bryan Danielson and other I am sure. It is amazing the career that Liger has had and the legacy he will no doubt leave behind will be unmatched. Enjoy the ride Jushin you've more than earned every second of it. 

Changing things up this week sharing the match that I found earlier than normal. It has been quite a while since the last update from this section of the site and that's the reason I looked for a match from New Japan. For those who don't know on a yearly basis the New Japan holds the G1 Climax tournament which is the way they crown a #1 contender for the World Title at Wrestle Kingdom. This tournament in my opinion is by far the most prestigious tournament in wrestling. 

Often enough in the tournament we see a various number of matches that we didn't normally get to see during the year. In recent years it has also been the springboard to propel borderline main eventers into the stratosphere. Names like Jay White, Kenny Omega, and Tetsuya Naito have been propelled forward based on either performance or winning this extremely prestigious tournament. Now looking at a match that never happened while Kenny held the title that I kinda wish it would've was the leader of LIJ vs the leader of Bullet Club. One of the moments that let you ask what would've happened had they fought for the IWGP Title is something that now will have to go unanswered. But we can always wonder what if!!