G1 Climax

Tournament history

New Japan had an annual tournament since 1974 under various names: the World League (1974–1977, based on the World (Big) League tournament from the old Japanese Wrestling Association held between 1959 and 1972); the MSG League (1978–1982); the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) League (1983–1988; although the first winner, Hulk Hogan, was awarded a championship belt, this is not the beginning of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship). Most of these tournaments were dominated by New Japan's founding top star Antonio Inoki. In 1989, there was a World Cup Tournament, which included wrestlers from the then-Soviet Union. No tournament was held in 1990.

With Inoki's dominance over New Japan gone, the promotion established the G1 Climax tournament in 1991 as a platform to showcase the company's top heavyweights and have them compete in round robin matches where the winners of the two divisions would then square off in the tournament finals. Though considered a continuation of the previous tournaments, officially New Japan does not recognize the earlier tournaments as part of the G1 Climax lineage. The first G1 was held from August 7 to August 11, 1991, at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan. The winner of the tournament, assuming they are not already the champion, has traditionally earned a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Since 2012, the winner has earned a contract for a title shot at New Japan's largest event, Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome, held annually on January 4, that they then have to defend until the end of the year (akin to the Money in the Bank contract). In 2015, the tournament format was changed with NJPW reducing the number of G1 Climax matches per show, giving the participating wrestlers more time to rest between matches. This increased the tournament's length to four weeks.

The G1 Climax tournament has often been used as a platform for New Japan to push their rising stars. Wins by young up-and-comers over Japanese legends would usually take their respective careers to new heights. Past winners include Masahiro Chono, Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto, Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and others who have gone on to become wrestling superstars.

Unlike the New Japan Cup, the G1 Climax features the then-reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion as one of the participants, except in 1992, 2001, 2004 and 2008, when then-champions Riki Choshu (in 1992), Kazuyuki Fujita (in 2001 and 2004), and Keiji Mutoh (in 2008), respectively, did not compete in the tournament. Often being labeled as a favorite to win the tournament, the IWGP Heavyweight Champion has reached the final five times, the first one being in 1995 when Keiji Mutoh won the tournament. Mutoh would repeat this feat again in 1999, but would lose the final to Manabu Nakanishi. Other then-reigning champions to reach the final include Kensuke Sasaki in 2000, Kazuyuki Fujita in 2005 and Yuji Nagata in 2007. Mutoh and Sasaki are the only two wrestlers to have won the G1 Climax while holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Overall, Antonio Inoki holds the record for most tournament wins with ten, while Masahiro Chono with his five wins holds the record for most tournament wins under its G1 Climax name. Hiroyoshi Tenzan has taken part in the G1 Climax tournament a record 21 times.

1974

The 1974 World League ran from April 5 to May 8, 1974. The tournament began with 16 wrestlers, eight Japanese and eight gaijin, placed into groups accordingly. All first round matches featured the Japanese against the gaijin. The top four finishers from both groups advanced to a second round of round-robin competition.

1975

The 1975 World League ran from April 4 to May 16, 1975. The tournament featured 16 wrestlers. The top five finishers advanced to a knockout round, with the top finisher receiving a bye to the final.

1976

The 1976 World League ran from April 2 to May 11, 1976. The tournament featured 14 wrestlers. The top finisher advanced to the final match of the tournament, to face the winner of a three-wrestler round-robin semifinal round.

1977

The 1977 World League ran from April 21 to May 30, 1977. The tournament featured 11 wrestlers.

1978

The 1978 MSG League ran from April 21 to May 30, 1978. The tournament featured nine wrestlers.

1979

The 1979 MSG League ran from April 27 to June 7, 1979. The tournament featured 10 wrestlers.

1980

The 1980 MSG League ran from April 25 to June 5, 1980. The tournament featured 10 wrestlers.

1981

The 1981 MSG League ran from May 8 to June 4, 1981. The tournament featured 11 wrestlers.

1982

The 1982 MSG League ran from March 4 to April 1, 1982. The tournament featured 14 wrestlers.

1983

The 1983 International Wrestling Grand Prix ran from May 6 to June 2, 1983. The tournament featured 10 wrestlers. The winner was awarded a championship belt (this was not the beginning of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship).

1984

The 1984 International Wrestling Grand Prix ran from May 11 to June 14, 1984. The tournament featured 12 wrestlers, and was the first time that the tournament featured no sort of final round.

1985

The 1985 International Wrestling Grand Prix ran from May 10 to June 15, 1985. The tournament featured 13 wrestlers, and was single-elimination. This was the first time the tournament did not feature a points system.

1986

The 1986 International Wrestling Grand Prix ran from May 16 to June 19, 1986. The tournament featured the return of the points system, with 14 wrestlers in two blocks of seven each. The top two from each block advanced to a knockout stage.

1987

The 1987 International Wrestling Grand Prix ran from May 11 to June 14, 1987. The tournament featured 14 wrestlers in two blocks of seven each. The top finishers from each block advanced to the final, with the winner becoming the first IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

1988

The 1988 International Wrestling Grand Prix ran from July 15 to July 29, 1988. The tournament featured five wrestlers in a single block, with the winner becoming the number one contender to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami for August 8.

1989

The 1989 World Cup Tournament was held from November 24 to December 7, 1989. The tournament featured 20 wrestlers in four blocks of five each.

1991

The 1991 G1 Climax was a round-robin tournament consisting of two four-man blocks, and running from August 7 to August 11, 1991.

1992

The 1992 G1 Climax was a 16-man single-elimination tournament, and was also for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship. It ran from August 6 to August 12, 1992. Terry Taylor advanced to the quarterfinals, due to a shoulder injury suffered by his scheduled opponent Hiroshi Hase on August 3.

1993

The 1993 G1 Climax was once again a 16-man single-elimination tournament, held from August 3 to August 7, 1993. NJPW invited several non-NJPW wrestlers to participate in the 1993 tournament, including Hiromichi Fuyuki, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa and The Great Kabuki from WAR, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara from Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi.

1994

The 1994 G1 Climax returned to the round-robin format, this time with two blocks of six. It was held from August 3 to August 7, 1994. Guest natives included Yoshiaki Fujiwara from Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi and Yoshiaki Yatsu from Social Progress Wrestling Federation (SPWF).

1995

The 1995 G1 Climax was another eight-man round-robin tournament held August 11 to August 15, with the addition that the top two scorers from each block would advance to a four-man mini-tournament to decide the winner.

1996

The 1996 G1 Climax was held from August 2 to August 6, 1996, and was a round-robin tournament featuring two blocks of five. Junji Hirata suffered an injury during his match with Kensuke Sasaki, which caused him to forfeit his remaining matches.

1997

The 1997 G1 Climax was a 14-man single-elimination tournament, with Kensuke Sasaki and Buff Bagwell receiving byes to the quarterfinals. The tournament was held from August 1 to August 3.

1998

The 1998 G1 Climax was another 16-man single-elimination tournament, held between July 31 and August 2. Genichiro Tenryu, who had separated from his own WAR promotion to become a freelancer since early in the year, was invited.

1999

The 1999 G1 Climax was a 12-man round-robin tournament, held from August 10 to August 15.

2000

The 2000 G1 Climax was a round-robin tournament, featuring four blocks of five, with each block champion advancing to a four-man tournament to decide that year's winner; it was held from August 7 to August 13. Also note that the points system was modified from the original: 1 point for a victory, and zero points for a draw or loss. This was the first time that two recognized junior heavyweights; IWGP titleholder Tatsuhito Takaiwa and previous champion Jushin Thunder Liger, were invited to compete in the heavyweight tournament.

2001

The 2001 G1 Climax was a two-block, twelve-man round-robin tournament held from August 4 to August 12. It returned to the original method of scoring, and also reintroduced the 1995 G1's format of each block's top two scorers advancing to the final four. Jushin Thunder Liger and Minoru Tanaka were the junior heavyweight invitees.

2002

The 2002 G1 Climax was identical in structure to the previous year's, and was held from August 8 to August 11.

2003

The 2003 G1 Climax was another 12-man round-robin tournament, held from August 10 to August 17. Jun Akiyama from Pro Wrestling Noah, along with freelancer Yoshihiro Takayama were invitees.

2004

The 2004 G1 Climax was a two-block, sixteen-man tournament held from August 7 to August 15. As well as the increased number of participants, it introduced a format in which the second and third runner-ups from each block would advance to a four-man tournament, the two finalists of which would advance to a second four-man tournament also featuring each block winner; the eventual winner of this tournament would win the G1 Climax. Also, it would seem that, for this particular year, matches which ended in a double countout or double disqualification would result in zero points for both competitors.

¹ This was a double countout, and so neither Chono nor Nakamura received any points.

2005

The 2005 G1 Climax was another 16-man round-robin tournament, held from August 4 to August 14. It returned to the format of 2003, eliminating the "quarterfinals" seen in 2004, and simply bringing each block's top two scorers into the final four.

2006

The 2006 G1 Climax was a 10-man round-robin tournament held from August 6 to August 13.

2007

The 2007 G1 Climax, featuring twelve men in two blocks, was held from August 5 to August 12.

2008

The 2008 G1 Climax, featuring fourteen men in two blocks, was held from August 9 to August 17 over seven shows.

2009

The 2009 G1 Climax, featuring fourteen men in two blocks, was held from August 7 to August 16 over eight shows. In a tournament first, the exact tie for first place in Block A between Togi Makabe and Hiroshi Tanahashi was decided by a coin toss.

2010

The 2010 version of the G1 Climax tournament was announced in late May 2010 and was the 20th anniversary of the G1 Climax tournament. The tournament took place over eight shows between August 6 and August 15, 2010. Naomichi Marufuji was scheduled to participate in the tournament, but was forced to pull out after suffering an arm injury on July 25. On August 5, New Japan announced that Prince Devitt would replace Marufuji in the tournament. With his victory, freelancer Satoshi Kojima became the third man to have won both the G1 Climax and All Japan Pro Wrestling's Champion Carnival.

2011

The 2011 version of the G1 Climax tournament was announced on May 3, 2011. It took place over ten shows between August 1 and August 14 and included 20 participants, making it at the time the largest G1 Climax in history.

2012

The 2012 version of the G1 Climax tournament took place over nine shows between August 1 and August 12 and included 18 participants. The 24-year-old Kazuchika Okada went on to become the youngest G1 Climax winner in history, breaking the previous record held by the then 27-year-old Masahiro Chono. Okada also became the first winner since Hirooki Goto to win the tournament in his first attempt. Karl Anderson became the first foreigner to make it to the finals of the tournament since Rick Rude in 1992.

2013

The 2013 version of the G1 Climax tournament took place over nine shows between August 1 and August 11 and included 20 participants. In an unprecedented move, New Japan broadcast all nine events live on internet pay-per-view (iPPV) through Niconico and Ustream. On August 8, New Japan announced that Hirooki Goto and Hiroyoshi Tenzan had suffered jaw and rib fractures respectively and would both miss the rest of the tournament.

2014

The 2014 version of the G1 Climax tournament took place between July 21 and August 10 with the finals taking place in Tokorozawa, Saitama at the Seibu Dome for the first time departing Ryōgoku Kokugikan, which housed the finals from every year since the tournament began. With 22 participants, the tournament marked the largest G1 Climax in history. Like the previous year, all events in the tournament were made available on iPPV through Niconico and Ustream. Kota Ibushi was scheduled to take part in the tournament, but on July 18 New Japan announced that he would have to pull out due to a concussion suffered at the beginning of the month. The following day, Tomoaki Honma was named Ibushi's replacement in the tournament.

2015

The 2015 version of the G1 Climax tournament took place between July 20 and August 16. Taking place over 19 shows, it was the longest G1 Climax in history. The final three days took place back at Ryōgoku Kokugikan. Participants in the tournament were announced on June 7. For the tournament, NJPW introduced a new format, where each show would only include five tournament matches all from the same block, giving the other participants more time to rest. Shinsuke Nakamura injured his left elbow in his second match, forcing him to forfeit his third match against Michael Elgin.

2016

The 2016 version of the G1 Climax tournament took place between July 18 and August 14. On June 27, NJPW announced the participants, which included two outsiders; Pro Wrestling Noah's Katsuhiko Nakajima and Naomichi Marufuji. Originally, former three-time G1 Climax winner and the wrestler with the most G1 Climax appearances, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, was left out of the tournament. However, on July 3, Tenzan's longtime tag team partner Satoshi Kojima gave him his spot in the tournament. In the finals, Canadian Kenny Omega made history, becoming the first non-Japanese winner of the tournament under its G1 Climax name.

2017

The 2017 version of the G1 Climax tournament is scheduled to take place between July 17 and August 13. Prior to the tournament, NJPW will hold two "G1 Special" events in Long Beach, California on July 1 and 2.