Here Comes the Pain: G1 Climax: The Pinnacle of Professional Wrestling

Throughout the mid-summers unforgiving heat, there is a wrestling tournament that is held every year. The G1 Climax was born in Japan in 1991 and ever since, the best wrestlers in the world have competed in this round robin style tournament. The G1 climax is rich in tradition as many pioneers of professional wrestling have competed and helped elevate the tournament to where it is today. From American legends like Hulk Hogan to Japanese Legends like Kenji Mutoh, and Canadian superstars like Kenny Omega, G1 Climax is a time for the stars to align. These days the G1 Climax is primarily made up of wrestlers under New Japan Pro Wrestling contracts but also will feature a hand full of guys that are apart of other wrestling promotions. 

The G1 climax is a double block round robin tournament where the wrestlers earn points based on match outcomes, the wrestlers with the most points in each block face off in the final. In each block, a wrestler will face every other wrestler in their block which is usually made up of 10 wrestlers. With a win that wrestler will earn 2 points, lose is 0, and a draw will award both wrestlers 1 point; each match has a 30 min time limit so draws happen quite often. The G1 climax lasts about a month with 10 wrestlers in Block A facing off, and 10 wrestlers in Block B facing off. This tournament always serves instant classics, intense feuds, and coming out parties for superstars on the rise. The winner of the tournament usually goes on to face the IWGP heavyweight champion, if the winner isn’t the champion himself.

The best tournament in professional wrestling, and possibly all sports has to be the G1 Climax. We all know that professional wrestling has predetermined outcomes, but NJPW a does a great job in giving us a brand of wrestling that is closer to the sports end of the spectrum. Watching long time rivals like KazuchikaOkada and Hiroshi Tanahasi go head to head makes each tournament match mean much more than simply scoring 2 points. With guys like British submission magician, Zack Sabre Jr. looking to become the first G1 champion from his country helps show the eminence passion that all these competitors have for professional wrestling. 

For any casual wrestling fan looking to broaden their professional wrestling horizon, the G1 climax is the best way to do so. This year, making their G1 debuts are KENTA (fka: Hideo Itami in WWE) and Jon Moxley (fka: Dean Ambrose in WWE), two competitors who fans would recognize as former wwe superstars, and even better, they’re both apart of the B block meaning they will face off. Watching the tournament for former WWE superstars, you’ll be bound to be introduced to NJPW veterans like Tetsuya Naito, Hiroki Goto, and Best of the Super Juniors winner Will Osprey-who currently is the hottest thing in professional wrestling these days. The intense passion and rich tradition of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax is unmatched and the best professional wrestling in the world every summer. New and casual fans, or people just looking for something new to watch in the sports world, this is the time to do so and tune into the G1 climax. 

- Sterling Jeffries