With the 29th edition of the G1 Climax fully underway it's our chance to pull back the curtain and focus our attention on those talents that are putting themselves right into the spotlight for the rest of the year. Currently IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada is tied for the #1 spot in Block A with eight points which is very similar to Kenny Omega's performance last year in the tournament. A number of new faces to the main event level are trying to establish themselves as big names in the promotion two names that have caught my attention are KENTA who returned to New Japan very recently. The other name is former IWGP Tag Team Champion Lance Archer who has never really been given an opportunity as a singles competitor in New Japan. At this point, the biggest surprise of the tournament so far in my book was seeing KENTA defeat the former World Champion and "Ace" of New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi and with his victory it very likely that Taichi will be receiving a title shot against Naito in the future. 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 A BLOCK -- Wednesday, Aug. 7 -- Shizuoka -- Hamamatsu Arena Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. Will Ospreay vs. KENTA SANADA vs. Lance Archer B BLOCK -- Thursday, Aug. 8 -- Kanagawa -- Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium Juice Robinson vs. Jay White Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi Toru Yano vs. Taichi Hirooki Goto vs. Jon Moxley Jeff Cobb vs. Tetsuya Naito A BLOCK -- Saturday, Aug. 10 -- Tokyo -- Nippon Budokan Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay KENTA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. EVIL vs. Lance Archer SANADA vs. Bad Luck Fale B BLOCK -- Sunday, Aug. 11 -- Tokyo -- Nippon Budokan Juice Robinson vs. Jon Moxley Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi Toru Yano vs. Jeff Cobb Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White
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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. |
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July 2021
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