On July 15th, 2023, NJPW kicked off its 33rd annual G1 Climax tournament, but before we get there, let’s get into the history of G1 Climax. The G1 Climax name started in 1991, but before it was called the G1 Climax, it went through four names before it stayed as G1 Climax. This is the history of the G1 Climax tournament.
The History of The G1 Climax
From 1974 – 1977 it was called World League where. Antonio Inoki it in 1974 when he defeated Seiji Sakaguchi & Killer Karl Krupp & 1975 when he defeated Killer Karl Krupp & Seiji Sakaguchi won it in 1976 when he defeated Pedro Morales & 1977 when he defeated The Masked Superstar
Then from there, we had the MSG League & which went from 1978 – 1982 where Inoki won from 1978 when he got a Count Out victory over Andre The Giant, 1979 when he defeated Stan Hansen, 1980 when he defeated Stan Hansen & 1981 when he got the win over Stan Hansen & Andre The Giant won it in 1982 by getting the victory over Killer Khan.
Up next, we go to the IWGP League & which goes from 1983 – 1988.
1983- Hulk Hogan defeated Antonio Inoki by KO
1984- Antonio Inoki won by having the most points (53) (there were no Finals)
1985- Andre The Giant defeated Tatsumi Fujinami (This was a single elimination tourney)
1986- Antonio Inoki defeated Dick Murdoch
1987- Antonio Inoki (2) defeated Masa Saito
1988- Antonio Inoki (3) defeated Riki Choshu
Before we get to the G1 Climax, there was a tournament called World Cup Tournament it was only once in 1989 it went from Nov 24th – Dec 7th, 1989, where it was a 20-man 4 Blocks of 5 with the top 2 from each block going to the Quarter Finals & Riki Choshu (A Block Winner 1) defeated Shinya Hashimoto (B Block Winner 2).
The G1 Climax Tournament is a round-robin tournament with 2-4 blocks (Depending on the year & How many people are in the blocks) except for 1992, 1993, 1997 & 1998 (Those were single elimination tournaments), for the round-robin part they are points whoever gets the most points at the end of the Round Robin part goes to the Semi-Finals (If they are Semi-Finals) but mostly to the finals.
Some of the G1 Climaxs had some Semi-Finals where the top 2 from each block meet; there here are some tournaments with Semi-Finals (Not counting single eliminations).
Semi-Finals
1991- Masahiro Chino vs. Shinya Hashimoto (Block B Tie Breaker Match)
1995- Keiji Muto (Block A Winner 1) vs. Scott Norton (Block B Winner 2) & Shinya Hashimoto (Block B Winner 1) vs. Masahiro Chino (Block A Winner 2)
1999- Keiji Muto vs. Yuji Nagata (Block A Tie Breaker Match)
2000- Yuji Nagata (Block A Winner 1) vs. Kensuke Sasaki (Block B Winner 2) & Manabu Nakaninishi (Block C Winner 2) vs. Masahiro Chino (Block D Winner 1) (There was a Tie Breaker match here I will include in the Quarter Finals portion)
2001- Keiji Mutoh (Block B Winner 1) vs. Tadao Yasuda (Block A Winner 2) & Yuji Nagata (Block A Winner 1) vs. Masahiro Chino (Block B Winner 2)
2002- Yoshihiro Takayama (Block A Winner 2) vs. Osamu Nishimura (Block B Winner 2) & Masahiro Chino (Block B Winner 1) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Block A Winner 2) (There was a Tie Breaker match in here I will include in the Quarter Finals portion)
2003- Jun Akiyama (Block A Winner 1) vs. Yuji Nagata (Block B Winner 2) & Yoshihiro Takayama (Block B Winner 1) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Block A Winner 2) (There was a Tie Breaker match in here I will include in the Quarter Finals portion)
2004- Katsuyori Shibata (Block A Winner 1) vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Block B Winner 2) & Hiroshi Tanahashi (Block B Winner 1) vs. Genichiro Tenryu (Block A Winner 2) (There was a Tie Breaker match as well as Quarter Finals in here I will include in the Quarter Finals portion)
2005- Masahiro Chino (Block A Winner 1) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Block B Winner 2) & Kazuyuki Fujita (Block B Winner 1) vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Block A Winner 2)
2006- Satoshi Kojima (Block A Winner 1) vs. Koji Kanemoto (Block B Winner 2) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Block B Winner 1) vs. Giant Bernard (Block A Winner 2)
2007- Togi Makabe (Block A Winner 1) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Block B Winner 2) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Block B Winner 1) vs. Yuji Nagata (Block A Winner 2)
2009- Togi Makabe (Block A Winner 1) vs. Takashi Sugiura (Block B Winner 2) & Shinsuke Nakamura (Block B Winner 1) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Block A Winner 2)
2022- Kazuchika Okada (Block A Winner) vs. Tama Tonga (Block B Winner) & Tetsuya Naito (Block C Winner) vs. Will Ospreay (Block D Winner)
Not putting this years Semi-Finals in here because we don’t know who’s in it yet.
Quarter Finals (Not counting Single Elimination Tournaments)
2000- Yuji Nagata (Block A Winner 1) vs. Takashi Iizuka (Block A Winner 2) (Tie Breaker) & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Block C Winner 1) vs. Manabu Nakanishi (Block C Winner 2) (Tie Breaker)
2002- Manabu Nakanishi (Block B Winner 3) vs. Osamu Nishimura (Block B Winner 2) (Tie Breaker)
2003- Yuji Nagata (Block B Winner 2) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (Block B Winner 3) (Tie Breaker)
2004- Masahiro Chino (Block A Winner 4) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Block A Winner 3) (Tie Breaker), Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Block B Winner 2) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Block A Winner 3) & Genichiro Tenryu (Block A Winner 2) vs. Kensuke Sasaki (Block B 3 Winner)
Not putting this year’s Quarter Finals in here because we don’t know who’s in it yet.
Tokyo Dome Certificate Matches
From 2012 – 2021 the winner of the G1 does defend his Main Event Spot 2-3 times against the Runner Up & the people that beat the winner in Block matches. (Expect for 2013, where Naito face off against Masato Tanaka twice,2014 where Okada didn’t face Nakamura, 2015 where Tanahashi didn’t face Nakamura & 2020, where Ibushi didn’t defend against Sanada & Shingo Takagi)
2012- Kazuchika Okada (h) defeated Karl Anderson at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 8th, 2012) & defeated Hirooki Goto at Power Struggle (November 11th, 2012)
2013- Tetsuya Naito (h) defeated NEVER Openweight Champion Masato Tanaka (c) to win the NEVER Openweight Title at Destruction (Sept 29th, 2013), defeated Yujiro Takahashi at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 14th, 2013) & defeated Masato Tanaka to retain the NEVER Openweight Title at Power Struggle (November 9th, 2013)
2014- Kazuchika Okada (h) defeated Karl Anderson at Destruction In Okayama (September 23rd, 2014) & defeated Tetsuya Naito at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 13th, 2014)
2015- Hiroshi Tanahashi (h) defeated Bad Luck Fale at Destruction In Kobe (September 27th, 2015) & defeated Tetsuya Naito at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 12th, 2015)
2016- Kenny Omega (h) defeated Yoshi Hashi at Destruction In Hiroshima (September 22nd, 2016) & defeated Hirooki Goto at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 10th, 2016)
2017- Tetsuya Naito (h) defeated Tomohiro Ishii at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 9th, 2017)
2018- Hiroshi Tanahashi (h) defeated Kazuchika Okada at Destruction In Kobe (September 23rd, 2018) & defeated Jay White at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 8th, 2018)
2019- Kota Ibushi (h) defeated Kenta at Destruction In Kagoshima (September 16th, 2019) & defeated Evil at King Of Pro Wrestling (October 14th, 2019)
2020- Kota Ibushi (h) lost to Jay White at Power Struggle (November 7th, 2020)
2021- Kazuchika Okada (h) defeated Tama Tonga at Power Struggle (November 6th, 2021)
2022- N/A (Okada won the 2022 G1 Climax but refused to defend against Jonah) (Jonah was the only one to beat Okada in Block action)
Points System
- 2 Points for a win
- 1 Point for a Draw (Time Limit, Double Count Out & DQ)
- 0 Points for a loss
Winners
- 1991- Masahiro Chono
- 1992- Masahiro Chono (2)
- 1993- Tatsumi Fujinami
- 1994- Masahiro Chono (3)
- 1995- Keiji Muto
- 1996- Riki Choshu
- 1997- Kensuke Sasaki
- 1998- Shinya Hashimoto
- 1999- Manabu Nakanishi
- 2000- Kensuke Sasaki (2)
- 2001- Yuji Nagata
- 2002- Masahiro Chono (4)
- 2003- Hiroyoshi Tenzan
- 2004- Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2)
- 2005- Masahiro Chono (5)
- 2006- Hiroyoshi Tenzan (3)
- 2007- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- 2008- Hirooki Goto
- 2009- Togi Makabe
- 2010- Satoshi Kojima
- 2011- Shinsuke Nakamura
- 2012- Kazuchika Okada
- 2013- Tetsuya Naito
- 2014- Kazuchika Okada (2)
- 2015- Hiroshi Tanahashi (2)
- 2016- Kenny Omega
- 2017- Tetsuya Naito (2)
- 2018- Hiroshi Tanahashi (3)
- 2019- Kota Ibushi
- 2020- Kota Ibushi (2)
- 2021- Kazuchika Okada (3)
- 2022- Kazuchika Okada (4)
- Runner Ups
- 1991- Keiji Muto
- 1992- Rick Rude
- 1993- Hiroshi Hase
- 1994- Power Warrior
- 1995- Shinya Hashimoto
- 1996- Masahiro Chono
- 1997- Hiroyoshi Tenzan
- 1998- Kazuo Yamazaki
- 1999- Keiji Mutoh (2)
- 2000- Manabu Nakanishi
- 2001- Keiji Mutoh (3)
- 2002- Yoshihiro Takayama
- 2003- Jun Akiyama
- 2004- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- 2005- Kazuyuki Fujita
- 2006- Satoshi Kojima
- 2007- Yuji Nagata
- 2008- Togi Makabe
- 2009- Shinsuke Nakamura
- 2010- Hiroshi Tanahashi (2)
- 2011- Tetsuya Naito
- 2012- Karl Anderson
- 2013- Hiroshi Tanahashi (3)
- 2014- Shinsuke Nakamura (2)
- 2015- Shinsuke Nakamura (3)
- 2016- Hirooki Goto
- 2017- Kenny Omega
- 2018- Kota Ibushi
- 2019- Jay White
- 2020- Sanada
- 2021- Kota Ibushi (2)
- 2022- Will Ospreay
Facts
2019 G1 Climax Night 1 was held in Texas for 1st time it’s been the opening night has been outside Japan.
2020 & 2021 G1 Climaxs took place between September & October. Only those 2 have been in the Fall.
The longest G1 Climax Final match was in 2020, with Block A Winner Kota Ibushi defeating Block B Winner Sanada was 35:12
The longest Block match was in 2019 between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada & Sanada was 29:47
The shortest G1 match was in 2020 between Hirooki Goto & Toru Yano, which went 18 seconds.
2nd shortest G1 match was Kenzo Suzuki vs. Tadao Yasuda it only went 37 seconds (2002)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan has the most appearances with 21.
Keiji Muto & Kensuke Sasaki are the only 2 IWGP Heavyweight Champions to win the G1
Mostly the IWGP Heavyweight Champions completed in G1, but only 4 times they didn’t (Riki Choshu in 1992, Kazuyuki Fujita 2001 & 2004 & Keiji Muto in 2008)
IWGP Heavyweight Champions went to the Finals 5 times (Keiji Muto won in 1995 & 1999. He lost to Manabu Nakanishi, Kensuke Sasaki in 2000, Kazuyuki Fujita in 2005 & Yuji Nagata in 2007)
4 men had won the G1 back to back
Masahiro Chino (1991 & 1992), Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2003 & 2004), Kota Ibushi (2019 & 2020) & Kazuchika Okada (2021 & 2022)
Kota Ibushi is the 1st man to make it to the Finals 4 times.
Kenny Omega is the 1st Gaijin to win the G1 Climax.
There’s been 2 Double Count Out (Masato Tanaka vs. Giant Bernard in 2009 & IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi vs. Yujiro Takahashi in 2021)
This year’s G1 (2023) is the biggest field with 32 participants (8 men in 4 Blocks) & the top 2 from each block will meet in the Quarter Finals.
The longest G1 Climax tour was in 2015, with 19 Shows.
2nd biggest group for G1 was in 2022, with 28.
The 2nd Longest Finals Of the G1 Climax was Block A Winner Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Block B Winner Kota Ibushi went 35 mins.
Kazuchika Okada & Jeff Cobb both set a record for most points in a 20 Man G1 with 16 Points
Hiroshi Tanahashi has the second most points in a 20 Man G1 with 15 Points.
Jeff Cobb has the most consecutive wins in a single G1 Climax with 8 wins in a row.
3rd biggest group for G1 Climax was 2014, with 22.
Most G1 Wins
5- Masahiro Chino (1991, 1992, 1994, 2002 & 2005)
4- Kazuchika Okada (2012, 2014, 2021 & 2022)
3- Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2003, 2004 & 2006) & Hiroshi Tanahashi (2007, 2015 & 2018)
2- Kensuke Sasaki (1997 & 2000), Tetsuya Naito (2013 & 2017) & Kota Ibushi (2019 & 2020)
Most Runners Up
3- Keiji Muto (1991, 1999 & 2001), Hiroshi Tanahashi (2004, 2010 & 2013) & Shinsuke Nakamura (2009, 2014 & 2015)
2- Kota Ibushi (2018 & 2021)
Reasons For Why Winning The G1 Climax Is Important
The reason why winning the G1 Climax is important is it will be a career changer & also you get an IWGP World Heavyweight Title match at the one of the biggest shows of the year Wrestle Kingdom on Jan 4th (Wrestle Kingdom is their version of WrestleMania) & plus you have a chance of winning of the biggest title in New Japan.
Another is that it proves you are the best of the best by winning the biggest tournament in New Japan’s history.
Why Making It To The Finals Are Important For G1
The reason making to the Finals of the G1 is because they survive the round-robin part, like going into the Final on the final night of the Round Robin part you can get by having the most points or having a tiebreaker.
Some of the Finals are special because it depends on what venue they are in & how loud the fans can be.
A lot of G1 Finals still get talked about to this very day (Tanahashi vs. Nakamura 2015, Omega vs. Goto 2016, Omega vs. Naito 2017, Okada vs. Ospreay 2022, Tanahashi vs. Ibushi 2018, etc)
Tokyo Dome Main Events (2012 – 2023)
- 2012- Kazuchika Okada lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 7 Jan 4th 2013)
- 2013- Tetsuya Naito lost to Kazuchika Okada (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 8 Jan 4th, 2014)
- 2014- Kazuchika Okada (2) lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 9 Jan 4th, 2015)
- 2015- Hiroshi Tanahashi lost to Kazuchika Okada (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 10 Jan 4th, 2016)
- 2016- Kenny Omega lost to Kazuchika Okada (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 11 Jan 4th, 2017)
- 2017- Tetsuya Naito lost to Kazuchika Okada (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 12 Jan 4th, 2018)
- 2018- Hiroshi Tanahashi (2) defeated Kenny Omega (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 13 Jan 4th, 2019)
- 2019- Kota Ibushi lost to Kazuchika Okada (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 14 Jan 4th, 2020)
2020- Kota Ibushi (Original Winner) defeated Tetsuya Naito (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 15 Day 1 Jan 4th, 2021) & Jay White (Who won the main event spot from Ibushi) lost to Ibushi (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 15 Day 2 Jan 5th, 2021)
2021- Kazuchika Okada (3) defeated Shingo Takagi (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 16 Day 1 Jan 4th, 2022)
2022- Kazuchika Okada (4) defeated Jay White (c) (Wrestle Kingdom 17 Jan 4th, 2023)
