Written by Alex Marco (@generalreaction)
Summertime is finally here, and that means warm weather, longer days, and plenty of sunshine. But for pro wrestling fans all over the world, summertime means that the G1 Climax tournament is once again upon us! The 29th installment of the greatest pro wrestling tournament on Earth (in my opinion) will feature 20 of the best wrestlers in the world, and both the A Block and B Block promise to deliver dream matches, huge upsets, and show stealing bouts. With that in mind I wanted to take a look at each of the competitors that will be taking part in this year’s G1 Climax tournament, starting with the 10 men who will be part of this year’s A Block. The A Block for the 2019 G1 Climax is filled with past winners, tournament newcomers, high flyers, the defending tournament champion, and above all else the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the competitors in the A Block of the G1 Climax 29.
Hiroshi Tanahashi
What better place to start this discussion the A Block competitors than with the defending G1 Climax tournament champion - the Ace of the Universe - Hiroshi Tanahashi. The Ace turned back the clock last year to win the A Block with a total of 15 points, losing only one of his nine block matches. Tanahashi would go on to defeat Kota Ibushi in the tournament final to earn a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Speaking of Wrestle Kingdom 13, 2019 started off amazing for Hiroshi Tanahashi as he captured the top prize in New Japan for the 8th time in his illustrious career by defeating Kenny Omega. The Ace truly looked like he was back in top form, proving his doubters wrong and captivating countless numbers of loyal fans. But what started out as such a promising year for Tanahashi quickly turned sour when he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Switchblade Jay White at The New Beginning in Osaka just a short time later. This year, Tanahashi seeks to repeat the brilliant run that he had in last year’s G1 by turning in another fantastic performance in this year’s A Block. And based on his tournament stats in the past, it is hard to find a reason why Tanahashi wouldn’t be a favorite to finish at the top of A Block once again. Since 2009, Tanahashi has finished no lower than second at the end of block competition in each of his G1 Climax appearances. In fact, you’d have to go all the way back to 2008 to find the last time that Tanahashi didn’t at least earn a share of second place in the A Block. But if 2019 has shown me anything, it’s that time (and injuries) eventually catch up with everyone - even a once in a century talent like Tanahashi. Does the former 8-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion have one more great G1 Climax run in him? Or will Father Time finally put a stop to Hiroshi Tanahashi’s sustained brilliance.
Kazuchika Okada
From the defending G1 Climax tournament champion to the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada looks to make yet another strong showing as he enters this year’s tournament as part of the A Block. The Rainmaker finds himself in all-too-familiar territory as he will once again be competing in the G1 Climax while holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After a rocky start to 2019 came in the form of a shocking loss to Switchblade Jay White at Wrestle Kingdom 13 (a match that White won in under 15 minutes) Okada rebounded, winning the 2019 New Japan Cup and eventually recapturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to begin his 5th reign with title. Last year’s G1 Climax was an anomaly for the Rainmaker to say the least. While Okada ended up with a strong second place finish in last year’s A Block and a total of 13 points, he began the tournament by losing his first two matches with losses to Jay White and Bad Luck Fale respectively. The summer of 2018 saw a temporary shift in the personality of Kazuchika Okada. In June of that year he saw his record-shattering, nearly two-year-long reign as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion come to an end at the hands of Kenny Omega. That loss, coupled with Okada’s choice to part ways with his long-time manager and mentor Gedo, led to a more carefree and somewhat unhinged version of Okada’s personality to come to the forefront. But now the long pants, dyed red hair, and smiley face balloons are a distant memory. Now the real Rainmaker is back and in top form entering the 2019 G1 Climax. Okada will look to become the first sitting IWGP Heavyweight Champion to win the G1 Climax since Yugi Nagata accomplished the feat in 2007. But with tournament demons like Bad Luck Fale and Hiroshi Tanahashi awaiting Okada in the A Block, the Rainmaker is going to have his work cut out for him.
Kota Ibushi
Last year Kota Ibushi became the first man in the long history of New Japan Pro Wrestling to have reached the finals of the G1 Climax, Best of the Super Juniors, and New Japan Cup tournaments. This year, the Golden Star will look to become the first man in New Japan’s history to win all three of those tournaments. Ibushi rampaged through last year’s B Block and along the way racked up a score of 12 points by defeating the likes of Tetsuya Naito, Tomohiro Ishii, Zack Sabre Jr., and even his long-time friend and partner Kenny Omega. Although Kota Ibushi was not able to overcome Hiroshi Tanahashi in the finals of the 2018 G1 Climax, he more than left his mark on the tournament with gutsy performances and amazing matches. This year Ibushi will look to rid himself of the specter of past defeats, surpass the Gods that stand in his way, and win the G1 Climax to earn the right to face the IWGP Heavyweight Champion at Wrestle Kingdom 14. But do so, the Golden Star may have to overcome even more difficult obstacles than he faced in last year’s G1 Climax. In order to win the A Block Ibushi will have to defeat the man who ended his quest at G1 glory in 2018, Hiroshi Tanahashi. And he will have to overcome the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. He will also have to ward off the challenges of wrestlers like KENTA, Zack Sabre Jr., and Will Ospreay. If this is to be the year that Kota Ibushi wins the G1 Climax, then the Golden Star will have to shine brighter than ever before.
KENTA
You’d be hard pressed to find more a wild card in this year’s G1 Climax, not only in the A Block but in the tournament as a whole. The man who made his mark on the world of professional wrestling during his time in Pro Wrestling Noah, the man who may be the dark horse to win the entire tournament, KENTA is certainly the entrant in this year’s G1 Climax will the most buzz surrounding him. After being granted his release from NXT earlier this year, the man once known has Hideo Itami made his way back to his home country and made a splash when he was introduced by Katsuyori Shibata to a sold out crowd at Dominion in Osaka. This year will mark KENTA’s first appearance in the G1 Climax tournament and, at least to my knowledge, his first appearance on a New Japan Pro Wrestling tour (correct me if I’m wrong). For those unfamiliar with his work, KENTA is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion (the top prize in Pro Wrestling NOAH) as well as a 3-time GHC Junior Heavyweight and a list of countless other accolades that he has achieved over his long career. When the A Block of this year’s G1 Climax was announced, and KENTA was among the participants, my mind immediately began to fill with a list of dream matches that we are about to be treated to. KENTA vs. Tanahashi. KENTA vs. Okada. KENTA vs. Ibushi. KENTA vs. Will Ospreay. Honestly, I am excited for every single match that KENTA will compete in over the course of the 29th installment of the G1 Climax. Whether or not he wins the A Block KENTA will almost certainly turn the heads of fans worldwide, play spoiler to a number of potential tournament favorites, and kick the holy hell out of anyone that stands in his path.
Will Ospreay
The now 3-time, reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion has decided to throw his hat into the ring and enter into the 2019 G1 Climax. The Aerial Assassin will join the likes of Prince Devitt and Kota Ibushi as a Jr. heavyweight wrestler competing in the G1 Climax. Ospreay has spent the last several months proving that his is more than capable of standing toe-to-toe with heavyweight competitors with victories over the likes of Jeff Cobb, Lance Archer, Taichi, and even Kota Ibushi. The native son of Essex, England has been on a meteoric rise since he became a full-time member of the New Japan roster and he will look to continue that rise as he tries to win this year’s A Block. Ospreay will find himself greeted by all-to-familiar foes in this year’s tournament as he will likely be the lightest wrestler in the A Block (excluding perhaps Zack Sabre Jr.) but likely won’t phase him. Ospreay has to feel confident knowing he holds past victories over Kota Ibushi, Lance Archer, Bad Luck Fale, and Zack Sabre Jr. And although he hasn’t yet figured out a way to defeat the likes of Kazuchika Okada, he seems to be getting closer with each attempt. While I would not call Ospreay a favorite to win the A Block, he is definitely someone I would keep my eye on as he has the potential to beat anyone he steps in the ring with right now.
Sanada
One of two representatives of Los Ingobernables de Japon competing in this year’s A Block Sanada will look to have yet another strong tournament performance in the 2019 G1 Climax. Sanada has been a consistent middle-of-the-pack competitor in his previous G1 appearances, earning a total of 8 points each time he has entered into the tournament. Over the course of the last year Sanada has found continued tag team success with his partner, EVIL, but the soft-spoken technician of LIJ has also managed to impress when it comes to singles competition. He was the runner-up in this year’s extremely stacked New Japan Cup, and he gave Kazuchika Okada all he could handle and then some when the two clashed at Wrestling Dontaku. This year’s G1 Climax has the potential to be another breakout moment for Sanada, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his run in this year’s A Block moved him into a more established role as singles wrestler in the years to come. I’ll particularly have my eye on his match against Will Ospreay as though two are likely to have show-stealing match that could wind up being the match of the tournament.
Zack Sabre Jr.
The Submission Master of Suzuki-Gun will make his 3rd consecutive appearance in the G1 Climax as he enters into this year’s A Block. The Vegan Hydra will look to improve on his 12-point performance in last year’s tournament, which left him locked at the top of the B Block where he lost out on a chance at the G1 Finals due to tiebreakers. In his previous two tournament appearances ZSJ has been a matchup nightmare for nearly everyone he’s stepped in the ring with. In fact, in his very first G1 Climax match in 2017, he was able to force Hiroshi Tanahashi to submit in the middle of the ring. With the likely-continued presence of Taka Michinoku as his corner man, and an ever-growing codex of torturous submission holds at his disposal, Sabre Jr. could be poised for yet another strong tournament performance. It will be curious to see what happens when he has to clash with his Suzuki-Gun ally Lance Archer over the course of the A Block in what would truly be a “David vs. Goliath” type of matchup. Will the other 9 competitors in the A Block be able to survive the near-endless array of submissions that ZSJ has in his playbook? Or will they all find themselves victims of painful defeats during “Zack Sabre Time?”
EVIL
The last few months have been rough on the King of Darkness to say the least. While EVIL has been a constant mainstay at the top of the heavyweight tag team title picture in New Japan along with his partner Sanada, it can be argued that he has had a great deal of trouble when it comes to finding consistent success as a singles wrestler. Putting his extremely brief run as the NEVER Openweight Champion aside, EVIL has also seemed just one big win away from really elevating himself in the heavyweight ranks. He has had moments of brilliance in the past there’s no denying that; a shocking win over Okada in the 2017 G1 Climax earned him a main event IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at King of Pro Wrestling in October of that same year. But lately EVIL has seemed almost conflicted in how he carries himself as a member of Los Ingobernables de Japon. After being the man pinned in he and Sanada’s unsuccessful bid to reclaim the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from the Guerillas of Destiny at Dominion this past June, EVIL has declined to join his LIJ partners in crime in their traditional post-match salute on multiple occasions. To me this year’s G1 Climax is going to be a make-or-break type of tour for EVIL. He will either have victories in the A Block that help him solidify himself as a singles wrestler to be reckoned with, or he will suffer a series of defeats that will leave critics asking if he is just better suited to be a tag team specialist.
Lance Archer
The American Psycho and powerhouse of Suzuki-Gun, Lance Archer, will be making his first appearance in the G1 Climax tournament since 2014 as this year’s event kicks off in his native state of Texas. Archer had been focusing the majority of his in-ring time as part of the Killer Elite Squad tag team in recent years alongside Davey Boy Smith Jr., but now he looks to prove that he is a dangerous singles competitor as well. Standing at 6’8” and weighing in at around 265 lbs, Lance Archer will be the tallest competitor in this year’s G1 Climax and the second-heaviest behind Bad Luck Fale. This means that the normal offensive arsenal that the majority of the competitors in A Block would normally try to employ might not be nearly as effective against the towering Texan. In his past G1 appearances Archer has earned a total of 8 points each time, meaning that he will likely be a man who finishes in the middle of the pack in this year’s A Block.
Bad Luck Fale
If I told you that Bad Luck Fale went through the entirety of his block matches in last year’s G1 Climax you’d probably assume that he finished with a double-digit point total. But in reality the Underboss and Rogue General of the Bullet Club only won three of his nine matches, losing the remaining six by disqualification. This year will likely be a change of pace for Fale as I don’t see him getting constantly disqualified like he did in the 2018 G1 Climax. Instead I foresee Fale being a major threat when it comes to playing the role of spoiler for the likes Okada, Tanahashi, and Ibushi, all of whom I would say are odds-on favorites to win the A Block. Okada in particular has had very little success against Bad Luck Fale in their past G1 encounters and the Rogue General will be hoping to continue the Rainmaker’s woes in this year’s tournament. Regardless of who stands across the ring from Bad Luck Fale, all it takes is one Bad Luck Fall to spell defeat for his opponents.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my breakdown of all the competitors who will be a part of the A Block in the G1 Climax 29. I will be writing a follow-up article to this piece over the next few days to breakdown the entrants in this year’s B Block as well. Until then, thank you for taking the time to read this article. And a big thank you to my friends at Turn Tweener Wrestling for giving me the opportunity to contribute content to their website. You can visit them online at https://turntweener.wixsite.com/turntweenerblog to read up on the latest news regarding the world of professional wrestling, and be sure to check them out on Facebook and YouTube as well! Until next time, take care and go watch some pro wrestling.