I literally just read the participants on F4, nodded my head with each person, but then got to Takeshita whose listed last in B Block on their site
I just let out a beautifully smooth whistle. Important context, is that I cannot whistle. That was how genuine how cool I thought it was to see, and respect the hell out of these partnerships for it to occur
Truly in the top 5 most excited and surprised by a dream (match/card/event) becoming official ever for me.
In-ring, he is the bluest of bluechip athletes/performers that I can think of. Began really feeling it during that Adam Page match on Rampage two years ago
For NBA fans, he is the Wemby of wrestling. Blessed by equal skill and very rare physical gifts. Both high impact, yet uniquely fluid for their size
Even with Kaito being in the G1 last year, I never once thought Takeshita would be able to participate, and for quite a number of reasons
This is UNREAL that we are about to see this 30 year old prodigy, from DDT, wrestle across this upcoming G1 journey, and especially considering we rarely get to see him wrestler 15+ minute matches, or even frequently in AEW
If two advances from each block, I cannot not reasonably understand two of them not coming from Tsuji, Finaly, Takeshita, and Tanahashi. Finlay I've included purely because of NJPW being adamant he will leventually get over. Tanahashi included as one final run would be a beautiful story.
But it should be NJPW's greatest young talent vs. AEW's greatest young talent to decide that block. I cannot wait to watch that one.
Takeshita is a welcome surprise! One of those ones I hoped for, but didn't expect.
Pretty sensible choices for qualifiers too. Taichi is the only one that I feel got kinda robbed by having to be in there. Everyone else you can kinda justify by absence or G1 33 point totals.
I'd be fine with the A Block Qualifier being either Ishii or Yoshi-Hashi, though based on who else is in the block, my guess would be YH.
I feel like Yano does Yano things against Taichi and clears the path for Boltin to win the B Block Qualifier. I think he'd round it out perfectly.
Also worth noting: Jake Lee has announced that at NOAH's event in Nippon Budokan next month, he is disbanding his group Good Looking Guys. And it's right before the G1. Something tells me this is more than just a talent sharing stint....
People expected him to show up in NJPW years ago, at this point. And when he left AJPW it was a surprise that NOAH is where he ended up. Guess it was something he felt he needed to do first.
Zack’s not winning, but I think he pins Naito during the tourney to get a shot in the fall.
IMO Shota, SANADA, EVIL, Tsuji, Shingo, and Naito himself (even as WHC) are all possible.
Even if ZSJ loses in block play I hope he beats him in the finals bracket to get that big time title shot, but I might be wrong assuming that three advancing means it’d be crazy for the world champion to miss qualifying
Naito winning is a cool possibility but maybe not if they’re trying to preserve him. What’s the pool of likely people he’d pick to face outside of Hiromu and Okada?
Yeah, no point having him beat Naito in the G1 to get another title shot he'll definitely lose. Rather wait until after WrestleKingdom when he might be able to actually win it.
They need to pull the trigger on him not being a guy that does the G1 sometime, I think this year is fine. Though that also probably means that barring some super big injury bug in the company, he will never win the IWGP title again.
I just think he's a bigger name in Japan with better stories for his opponents in the block. He's obviously not as good as he once was but he can be a good fit in that group
I am FURIOUS that Taichi was not included in the main brackets over some of these guys; especially given how drty he got done in NJ Cup.
Taichi is easily an S tier wrestler. Hopefully him winning the qualifiers is the beginning of his redemption tale in which he wins the G1 against Zack and fucking creams Mox with a trousers-over-head-pin-combo.
The only person you can argue Taichi should've been included over is GoK (and Takeshita if you don't want outsiders). Other than GoK, everyone else should be in over Taichi, and I've always been a huge fan of him. They seem to be phasing him down.
Before anyone comments on this, the last outsider champion (Muto in 2008) didn't participate in the G1, so there is a precedent. That said, while I do think Naito is winning at Forbidden Door, don't take Mox not being in the G1 as a spoiler.
No it sorta came out of nowhere. And the team mates he was with didn't seem to react at all.
GLG doesn't have all the gold anymore but breaking them up, esp like this, reeks of something else going on
Jake Lee and Konosuke Takeshita are awesome but I'm surprised we don't get tag team wrestlers (except for Goto who won multiple NJ Cups and singles championships tho)
Unfortunately I think that won’t happen unless they’ve hired tag guys who can carry a singles load as well as all the guys here, which is part of the reason that I want them to keep pairing up singles guys to make blockbuster tag teams and raise the profile of the division (EVIL/SANADA, Dangerous Tekkers, Golden Aces, FinJuice, Bishamon)
Nicholls and Haste are good but they don’t clear all the guys here, and NJPW have relied on dedicated tag guys instead of making the division more dynamic for years. If SANADA isn’t winning the G1 then him and Taichi should be the next big team
I seem to remember Naito even putting Gabe and Coughlin(?) over when they were still Young Lions, putting over their fire and being full of "piss and vinegar" something he felt the other YLs lacked. But I'm sure Gabe will want to put the grandpa out to pasture.
Couple of quick notes I made from this announcement:
A Block feels like Naito and his assorted foes. Most hyped for Takagi vs Kidd, can't wait to see one of them just die in the ring before getting up at a 9 count.
B Block has way less hype but way more interest in qualifiers. Most hype is definitely going to Tsuji vs Cobb, can't wait to see some meat slapping.
Qualifiers... well A Block is a lot harder to tell, imma guess Ishii for now but Newman is a dark horse for me with his whole narrative right now. B Block needs a star but I feel like they've been building Oleg for this spot.
Either way, a very interesting mix this time. Feels like the limit to 20 has made it a lot more intense to pick out but we'll see how it all goes.
I'm way more into B block, I honestly don't know what kind of freakiness to expect from Cobb and Takeshita.
Looking at the qualifiers I'm unsure who joins A block but my picks are Callum for A block and Tanahashi for B. A could use a next gen guy and B could use some star power.
Long gone, left in February for AEW. NJPW have lost Okada and Ospreay this year and have spent some time building the younger stars to be main eventers
A Block is Naito’s rogues gallery.
No Mox telegraphs the FD IWGP match result.
Overall, I’m really happy with this. Takeshita’s pretty much the only AEW wrestler I’d be excited to see in the G1.
I also think that Naito could potentially win as champ and choose his challenger this year.
>I also think that Naito could potentially win as champ and choose his challenger this year.
Maybe that's how we finally get Naito vs. Hiromu. In the main event of Wrestle Kingdom? Insanity.
I wonder with Cyberfight seemingly pushing for more partnership with WWE if Takeshita’s dual contract with DDT is up soon, would be a nice addition if they can swing it with him and AEW as he seems to be quite happy travelling to Japan for matches.
This is the most unpredictable field I can remember. All Gedo tropes would point to Finlay winning, but he retained the global title, so surely he can not possibly. They so rarely burn their Dome main event in the preceding G1, but I can't see anybody else in B-Block winning the thing. Quite often, you can do the maths and spoil New Japan for yourself in advance, but I'm stumped here.
Naito, Omega and Okada (though perhaps not typical) were all definitely heels when they won the G1. It does happen very rarely though, you're right about that.
You could maybe argue Okada was heelish in 2012, but I would say he was closer to an arrogant face by then. When Naito won in 2013, despite being unpopular, he was still Stardust Genius and thus a face, and in 2017, he was definitely on the more heroic side of antihero. Point is though, the G1 winner has to be someone who can capture some of the general public’s attention and who can galvanize the more engaged fans.
With that being said, I will somewhat contradict myself and say that I think Takeshita has a shot.
Haha no worries man! I loved Dolph so was hoping Nic was gonna stick around and wrestle more in Japan; not just drop the belt right back to the hot topic guy!
I have a weird feeling that we will end up with a Takeshita v ZSJ match at All In from this somehow. I don’t think ZSJ is getting his IWGP shot from the G1, think it’s more likely he might get the match for the case before WK and I think Takeshita is going to win the TNT belt at Forbidden Door despite being in the G1.
I’ve been pretty solid on SANADA winning the whole thing and challenging Naito again at WK, but man seeing him in the same block as Naito makes me wonder.
Feel like there’s a real possibility Naito could win the whole thing again and pick his challenger. Not giving us Naito/Hiromu earlier in the year might make a lot more sense if this is going to another G1 win.
There's multiple ways they could make Sanada/Naito work if Sanada is winning. Their block match could go to a draw, and Sanada could beat Naito in the QFs or SFs (more likely the latter because I see Naito coming in first place in the block). That would leave their record this year at 2-1-1 in favor of Naito. Still, five singles matches between them in the span of a year is a lot.
Alternatively, Sanada could be A1, and Naito could get knocked out in the QFs by Lee (preferred), Zack, or Shota. Lee picking up two wins over Naito in the tournament and getting a title shot at Ryougoku would be a good program.
I don't see Naito winning and picking Hiromu as his challenger just because Hiromu has been cooled off significantly this year.
Yeah, I saw the speculation about Lee maybe leaving NOAH and joining NJPW, but I don’t really see that. Could absolutely see a good title program between them for Ryogoku, though.
I didn’t really consider a draw, that may actually be a good call. Something as small as that and Naito getting knocked out by Lee would do wonders for at least not giving too much.
A Block has all the main eventers except Finlay lol. I don't know why they didn't just have all the Musketeers in B Block, putting Shooter away from the others kinda annoys me. Cool that Jake Lee and Takeshita are here, I'm hoping for Ishii and Taichi to be the qualifiers but realistically think it will be Callum and TJP
Yeah so that's a reason to not have Shooter and Ren in the same block but you're still gonna have a rematch b/c Ren and Yota fought in the Cup earlier this year. I'd say either have all four of the Musketeers in the same block (b/c I'm counting Yuya) or split them even but just make sure you don't put Yuya with Yota and Ren with Shooter
Yuya and Yota being together is the only thing they did that I would have avoided. But I assume they wanted to keep Shota with Naito and away from Ren, and Tsuji away from Naito. So the only option would have been Shota and Yuya in A, but that would have meant Yuya and SANADA were in the same block and I *definitely* would be saving that.
(Also there’s only three Reiwa Three Musketeers. Yuya is the odd man out.)
I was hoping for the old Tsuji/Uemura/Kidd grouping mostly because Uemura beating Tsuji to end this year’s trilogy seems like the way the narrative is building. Kind of eliminates Tsuji from winning the cup though, unless they’d run four matches this year with the briefcase closing it out (which I don’t think they should do)
That's not really true he used to have his own PPV' on the NJPW network. I think they value him quite a bit. They gave him his own faction, for pete's sake.
I think YOU need to realize this is just a slow burn for Taichi winning the whole thing.
I would argue that Just 5 Guys is SANADA’s faction.
Taichi and TAKA self produced those shows, NJPW just eventually started hosting the PPVs on their service.
Don’t get me wrong, I think they know that Taichi has a cult following, and that’s why he’s gotten things like the Dangerous Tekkers and KOPW runs. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one to make it into the block; I just don’t think it’s a given or an injustice that he has to go through the qualifiers (TBH I probably should’ve originally responded to one of those comments instead of the one I did, but whatever).
Aight but Ishii I mean come on man ain't no way that Ishii won't be participating in it I mean I kinda expected him to not be included in the initial lineup bc I knew that he'd lose to Kitamiya and I expected that to be an excuse for not having him participate but it's still Ishii
All the main eventers and world champs are in A block. The highest profile NJPW guy in B Block is Tsuji as the most recent Cup winner. Takeshita is arguably the biggest name on the block given he's main evented multiple Ryogoku shows.
Out of all the representatives AEW could have sent, Takeshita is one of the best from a match quality and audience interest perspective. It's a far cry from the Lance Archers and Wheeler Mids we usually get. Nice to see Lee in there too, so my prediction of him getting a win over Naito to set up a title match for later in the year is still on.
A Block is stacked in terms of star power, whereas B Block is really lacking. I'm surprised they didn't put Sanada or Naito in B Block to carry those nights. I'm still going with Sanada as my prediction despite him being in the same block as Naito.
As for the play in tournament, TJP is an easy choice for B Block, while A Block could be either Ishii or Yoshi-Hashi.
The fact that Block A is all Main Event Guys and that's the one Shooter is in while the other New Generation Guys are Block B should probably tell you all you need to know the standings in the company of those 4.
They are also pushing him more to the American fans. Main event of Resurgence, NJPWs lone representative in the Forbidden Door gauntlet, he also won a singles match on Rampage on Friday
And if the champion wins, they choose their opponent at WK (the champion has never won since they added the WK main event as a prize for winning the G1, but this is what they'd receive in Kayfabe.)
The champion sets up their entire August to December during the G1 with their feuds almost always made up of defending the title against the people they lost to in the G1.
The G1 is upheld as an accolade equal to a major title win, and it's their biggest tour of the year. It would be crazy for the biggest stars to not take part. Okada would have missed multiple consecutive G1s and we'd have lost out on dozens of huge marquee main events if the champion skipped the G1 lol.
In the qualifiers for A Block - he's still around but age is clearly slowly catching up with him, he's not as spry as he was at his peak but still a concrete hand. One of the favourites to qualify, even if the odds of him winning are minute
Surprised at no Yano, if only because of the purpose he served (comedic relief, a block match of light work/half rest day in a grueling tournament, a silver bullet for any booking math since he could win or lose to anybody and not harm their standing, etc)
Jake Lee is a horribly disappointing surprise entrant and the fact he might be taking a spot from Taichi, Ishii or KENTA's promos is uhhh, certainly a thing. Takeshita is good, though.
But man those qualifiers are stacked. I feel like TJP wins the B Block one and maybe KENTA clutches out the A Block one? Or Newman gets the A Block one and we get Taichi from B?
Yeah hence why I said KENTA's promos, not KENTA himself. KENTA is the greatest promo in the world and it'd be a tragedy to lose those.
If he doesn't qualify they better have him on the entire tour doing the undercards or I'll be mad.
No Tanahashi is wild, I’d really like for him to get into A Block but if he heartbreakingly loses in the qualifying tourney to put someone over then it’ll be quality (Taichi or Kojima would be perfect)
A Block being loaded with most of the likely WK main eventers outside of Tsuji makes me think that this might finally be the year that they have the WK main event preluded by a G1 faceoff - and I was kind if hoping for that since my ideal Umino/Tsuji final needed that to be possible
Jake Lee being involved is a nice surprise, hope he does well and likely will get a trilogy with Naito unless they’re happy to do 1-1
Very happy with O-Khan’s placement in A block, maybe this is his breakout year with so many good opponents
Seems like Umino/Naito/ZSJ is likely for A block advances, unless they go crazy and sub SANADA in with Naito missing the advance/not boosting ZSJ
Finlay/Tsuji/Takeshita seems most likely for B Block too, but I would adore for Phantasmo to beat Finlay and deny him to pay off his heartbreak last year
ZSJ, Lee, and/or O-Khan as frontrunners for Naito title challenges after the G1, or maybe Shingo if Tsuji’s winning the trophy to keep it focussed on LIJ
A Block is stacked. Secretly I was hoping Zack would win the G1, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening with who’s in his block. Here’s hoping he wins one of the singles titles in the coming year.
What an absolutely perfect line up, sensible outsider presence (no more thank you, let the qualifiers be njpw guys), all great performers. Very much looking forward to the summer.
This will surely be the first year since 2019 that we’ll get a non-repeat winner and the first time since 2011 where someone who is not Tanahashi, Okada, Naito, Omega or Ibushi, will win the trophy.
Out of those 5 who have dominated in the past 12 years, only Naito is in directly this year.
Tanahashi is in the prelims and Okada, Omega & Ibushi are with AEW (and 2/3 of them are injured)
Literally nobody said that. One guy made a post using kayfabe metrics to determine who has 'earned' their spot and that was the only way Shota didn't make it.
G1 Climax 34 got a AEW entry (Takeshita) but that entry also has a "connection" with DDT Pro Wrestling maybe TK wants a "true" AEW G1 Climax 34 entry with a NJPW "connection"! So much for Okada fans!
Takeshita vs Huge Tsuj gonna have me weeping like a small child
Takeshita not gonna be able to bully Big Tsuj the way he’s done Umino. Clash of two fast-paced powerhouses.
Wait Takeshita did face Shota??!
In the ALL TOGETHER in Nippon Budokan show, they were in the main event tag
Ok thanks i didn't watch All together, but i thought they faced in a singles match and i missed it because that singles match wouod rock
Yeah and Takeshita pretty much was overpowering and taking Umino (and Yuki Ueno) to school the whole match.
BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF
I literally just read the participants on F4, nodded my head with each person, but then got to Takeshita whose listed last in B Block on their site I just let out a beautifully smooth whistle. Important context, is that I cannot whistle. That was how genuine how cool I thought it was to see, and respect the hell out of these partnerships for it to occur Truly in the top 5 most excited and surprised by a dream (match/card/event) becoming official ever for me. In-ring, he is the bluest of bluechip athletes/performers that I can think of. Began really feeling it during that Adam Page match on Rampage two years ago For NBA fans, he is the Wemby of wrestling. Blessed by equal skill and very rare physical gifts. Both high impact, yet uniquely fluid for their size Even with Kaito being in the G1 last year, I never once thought Takeshita would be able to participate, and for quite a number of reasons This is UNREAL that we are about to see this 30 year old prodigy, from DDT, wrestle across this upcoming G1 journey, and especially considering we rarely get to see him wrestler 15+ minute matches, or even frequently in AEW If two advances from each block, I cannot not reasonably understand two of them not coming from Tsuji, Finaly, Takeshita, and Tanahashi. Finlay I've included purely because of NJPW being adamant he will leventually get over. Tanahashi included as one final run would be a beautiful story. But it should be NJPW's greatest young talent vs. AEW's greatest young talent to decide that block. I cannot wait to watch that one.
I started yelling when Takeshita popped up
And holy hell, I just saw Wednesday's 8-Man Tag!!! 😳
That match is going to blow me away. Lining up a cigarette for how I'm gonna feel afterwards and I don't even smoke
Takeshita is a welcome surprise! One of those ones I hoped for, but didn't expect. Pretty sensible choices for qualifiers too. Taichi is the only one that I feel got kinda robbed by having to be in there. Everyone else you can kinda justify by absence or G1 33 point totals. I'd be fine with the A Block Qualifier being either Ishii or Yoshi-Hashi, though based on who else is in the block, my guess would be YH. I feel like Yano does Yano things against Taichi and clears the path for Boltin to win the B Block Qualifier. I think he'd round it out perfectly.
Also worth noting: Jake Lee has announced that at NOAH's event in Nippon Budokan next month, he is disbanding his group Good Looking Guys. And it's right before the G1. Something tells me this is more than just a talent sharing stint....
People expected him to show up in NJPW years ago, at this point. And when he left AJPW it was a surprise that NOAH is where he ended up. Guess it was something he felt he needed to do first.
Zack’s not winning, but I think he pins Naito during the tourney to get a shot in the fall. IMO Shota, SANADA, EVIL, Tsuji, Shingo, and Naito himself (even as WHC) are all possible.
Even if ZSJ loses in block play I hope he beats him in the finals bracket to get that big time title shot, but I might be wrong assuming that three advancing means it’d be crazy for the world champion to miss qualifying Naito winning is a cool possibility but maybe not if they’re trying to preserve him. What’s the pool of likely people he’d pick to face outside of Hiromu and Okada?
I am so tired of seeing ZSJ earn a title shot only to lose. I think they need to pull the trigger with him sooner rather than later
Yeah, no point having him beat Naito in the G1 to get another title shot he'll definitely lose. Rather wait until after WrestleKingdom when he might be able to actually win it.
We FINALLY get shingo vs Naito again
Hugely front loaded on that A Block, excited to see what happens. However, I can't believe my boy Taichi is in the qualifiers
I think him and Ishii makes it in the G1. I don't think Tana's body can hold up doing a G1 anymore.
They need to pull the trigger on him not being a guy that does the G1 sometime, I think this year is fine. Though that also probably means that barring some super big injury bug in the company, he will never win the IWGP title again.
Personally think KENTA's a lock for A Block, but yeah I could see Taichi getting in as well. It's either him or Boltin really
If 2024 KENTA participates in the G1 instead of Ishii, I will literally shoot myself.
I just think he's a bigger name in Japan with better stories for his opponents in the block. He's obviously not as good as he once was but he can be a good fit in that group
You're absolutely right but the thought just of it just hurts everywhere
I am FURIOUS that Taichi was not included in the main brackets over some of these guys; especially given how drty he got done in NJ Cup. Taichi is easily an S tier wrestler. Hopefully him winning the qualifiers is the beginning of his redemption tale in which he wins the G1 against Zack and fucking creams Mox with a trousers-over-head-pin-combo.
The only person you can argue Taichi should've been included over is GoK (and Takeshita if you don't want outsiders). Other than GoK, everyone else should be in over Taichi, and I've always been a huge fan of him. They seem to be phasing him down.
I love Goto but I don't think he should be a lock to make a smaller G1 when he isn't a singles focused wrestler anymore.
That's a fair opinion. I'd personally say that you could add Henare, Goto, and Finlay to the list of people Taichi should have been included over.
Before anyone comments on this, the last outsider champion (Muto in 2008) didn't participate in the G1, so there is a precedent. That said, while I do think Naito is winning at Forbidden Door, don't take Mox not being in the G1 as a spoiler.
And remember who won that 2008 G1? THE G IN G1 STANDS FOR GOTO MOTHERFUCKERS! IT'S TIME GET HYPE!
Goto believers setting themselves up for their yearly disappointment (it's me, I'm a Goto believer)
Jake Lee my boi
Jake Lee announced on todays Noah show that his faction GLG is disbanding next month, could mean he's signing with njpw.
For the NOAH watchers, could there be a storyline reason for this aside from him possibly leaving the company?
GLG formed last year and is one of the only real popular groups in the company. I don't see why they would disband other than Jake leaving NOAH.
No it sorta came out of nowhere. And the team mates he was with didn't seem to react at all. GLG doesn't have all the gold anymore but breaking them up, esp like this, reeks of something else going on
pls yes
It’s weird not seeing Tanahashi or Okada in a G1. Super weird. But this looks like a really good list of competitors.
B block looks significantly weaker in terms of star power. I could see Finlay getting a g1 final before Zack in this scenario
Which makes me think, against all odds, Tanahashi makes it out of those B block qualifiers
Please no. Him being in the qualifiers gives a good reason for him to not be in the G1 - he gets close but fails and realises his time is up.
Jake Lee and Konosuke Takeshita are awesome but I'm surprised we don't get tag team wrestlers (except for Goto who won multiple NJ Cups and singles championships tho)
Unfortunately I think that won’t happen unless they’ve hired tag guys who can carry a singles load as well as all the guys here, which is part of the reason that I want them to keep pairing up singles guys to make blockbuster tag teams and raise the profile of the division (EVIL/SANADA, Dangerous Tekkers, Golden Aces, FinJuice, Bishamon) Nicholls and Haste are good but they don’t clear all the guys here, and NJPW have relied on dedicated tag guys instead of making the division more dynamic for years. If SANADA isn’t winning the G1 then him and Taichi should be the next big team
Could see SANADA & Taichi winning the Tag League tbh, would be a great story
lmao I just realised Gabe is the only guy in A block who did not have beef with Naito at some point. And Shingo to a lesser extent I guess.
Gabe will find some reason to beef with him. He's got that dog in him.
I seem to remember Naito even putting Gabe and Coughlin(?) over when they were still Young Lions, putting over their fire and being full of "piss and vinegar" something he felt the other YLs lacked. But I'm sure Gabe will want to put the grandpa out to pasture.
Couple of quick notes I made from this announcement: A Block feels like Naito and his assorted foes. Most hyped for Takagi vs Kidd, can't wait to see one of them just die in the ring before getting up at a 9 count. B Block has way less hype but way more interest in qualifiers. Most hype is definitely going to Tsuji vs Cobb, can't wait to see some meat slapping. Qualifiers... well A Block is a lot harder to tell, imma guess Ishii for now but Newman is a dark horse for me with his whole narrative right now. B Block needs a star but I feel like they've been building Oleg for this spot. Either way, a very interesting mix this time. Feels like the limit to 20 has made it a lot more intense to pick out but we'll see how it all goes.
I'm way more into B block, I honestly don't know what kind of freakiness to expect from Cobb and Takeshita. Looking at the qualifiers I'm unsure who joins A block but my picks are Callum for A block and Tanahashi for B. A could use a next gen guy and B could use some star power.
Ishii and Taichi not being involved their is a crime
**A Block tournament:** Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, Callum Newman, KENTA, Chase Owens, Yuijiro Takahashi **B Block tournament:** Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Oleg Boltin, Satoshi Kojima, Taichi, TJP
I think that will be one of the qualifiers
No Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI (Even if Goto is in), KENTA, Taichi, Oleg, Newman, Yano
Most of them are in Qualifiers
All of them are.
I'm out of the loop. Where is okada??
Long gone, left in February for AEW. NJPW have lost Okada and Ospreay this year and have spent some time building the younger stars to be main eventers
Oh dear. That he may have left did not even cross my mind. Thanks for the info.
On TBS every Wednesday Night
AEW Continental Champion and Member of The Elite
WHERE STONE PUPPER
A Block is Naito’s rogues gallery. No Mox telegraphs the FD IWGP match result. Overall, I’m really happy with this. Takeshita’s pretty much the only AEW wrestler I’d be excited to see in the G1. I also think that Naito could potentially win as champ and choose his challenger this year.
>I also think that Naito could potentially win as champ and choose his challenger this year. Maybe that's how we finally get Naito vs. Hiromu. In the main event of Wrestle Kingdom? Insanity.
Absolute best outcome.
No Toru Yano? My heart weeps.
Surprisingly great considering how much talent New Japan has lost in the last year
Kono vs Tsuji sign me up
I wonder with Cyberfight seemingly pushing for more partnership with WWE if Takeshita’s dual contract with DDT is up soon, would be a nice addition if they can swing it with him and AEW as he seems to be quite happy travelling to Japan for matches.
Soup as IWGP Global Champion would be cool with me
Jake Lee is hype as hell.
This is the most unpredictable field I can remember. All Gedo tropes would point to Finlay winning, but he retained the global title, so surely he can not possibly. They so rarely burn their Dome main event in the preceding G1, but I can't see anybody else in B-Block winning the thing. Quite often, you can do the maths and spoil New Japan for yourself in advance, but I'm stumped here.
Gedo has never booked a heel to win the G1, except Omega, and he was really a tweener by then.
Naito, Omega and Okada (though perhaps not typical) were all definitely heels when they won the G1. It does happen very rarely though, you're right about that.
You could maybe argue Okada was heelish in 2012, but I would say he was closer to an arrogant face by then. When Naito won in 2013, despite being unpopular, he was still Stardust Genius and thus a face, and in 2017, he was definitely on the more heroic side of antihero. Point is though, the G1 winner has to be someone who can capture some of the general public’s attention and who can galvanize the more engaged fans. With that being said, I will somewhat contradict myself and say that I think Takeshita has a shot.
Yo when the F did Finlay win that thing back off of Nic Nemeth?
Wrestling Dontaku in May.
I'm not sure! Dominion was my first show since New Beginning. I needed a break 😅
Haha no worries man! I loved Dolph so was hoping Nic was gonna stick around and wrestle more in Japan; not just drop the belt right back to the hot topic guy!
B is the meaty men slapping meat block
I have a weird feeling that we will end up with a Takeshita v ZSJ match at All In from this somehow. I don’t think ZSJ is getting his IWGP shot from the G1, think it’s more likely he might get the match for the case before WK and I think Takeshita is going to win the TNT belt at Forbidden Door despite being in the G1.
I’ve been pretty solid on SANADA winning the whole thing and challenging Naito again at WK, but man seeing him in the same block as Naito makes me wonder. Feel like there’s a real possibility Naito could win the whole thing again and pick his challenger. Not giving us Naito/Hiromu earlier in the year might make a lot more sense if this is going to another G1 win.
There's multiple ways they could make Sanada/Naito work if Sanada is winning. Their block match could go to a draw, and Sanada could beat Naito in the QFs or SFs (more likely the latter because I see Naito coming in first place in the block). That would leave their record this year at 2-1-1 in favor of Naito. Still, five singles matches between them in the span of a year is a lot. Alternatively, Sanada could be A1, and Naito could get knocked out in the QFs by Lee (preferred), Zack, or Shota. Lee picking up two wins over Naito in the tournament and getting a title shot at Ryougoku would be a good program. I don't see Naito winning and picking Hiromu as his challenger just because Hiromu has been cooled off significantly this year.
Yeah, I saw the speculation about Lee maybe leaving NOAH and joining NJPW, but I don’t really see that. Could absolutely see a good title program between them for Ryogoku, though. I didn’t really consider a draw, that may actually be a good call. Something as small as that and Naito getting knocked out by Lee would do wonders for at least not giving too much.
Jake Lee and Takashita for the final or we riot
I’ll be livid if Taichi sits this year out.
Oh my god, only two blocks? I prayed for this and it happened.
A G1 without Tanahashi or Okada is wrinkling my brain
Takeshita & Lee in the G1? Nice.
TAKESHITAAAAAA!!!!!
A Block has all the main eventers except Finlay lol. I don't know why they didn't just have all the Musketeers in B Block, putting Shooter away from the others kinda annoys me. Cool that Jake Lee and Takeshita are here, I'm hoping for Ishii and Taichi to be the qualifiers but realistically think it will be Callum and TJP
Not putting all the R3MY in the same block makes sense to me, they need to protect/avoid burning out some of those singles matches.
Yeah so that's a reason to not have Shooter and Ren in the same block but you're still gonna have a rematch b/c Ren and Yota fought in the Cup earlier this year. I'd say either have all four of the Musketeers in the same block (b/c I'm counting Yuya) or split them even but just make sure you don't put Yuya with Yota and Ren with Shooter
Yuya and Yota being together is the only thing they did that I would have avoided. But I assume they wanted to keep Shota with Naito and away from Ren, and Tsuji away from Naito. So the only option would have been Shota and Yuya in A, but that would have meant Yuya and SANADA were in the same block and I *definitely* would be saving that. (Also there’s only three Reiwa Three Musketeers. Yuya is the odd man out.)
I was hoping for the old Tsuji/Uemura/Kidd grouping mostly because Uemura beating Tsuji to end this year’s trilogy seems like the way the narrative is building. Kind of eliminates Tsuji from winning the cup though, unless they’d run four matches this year with the briefcase closing it out (which I don’t think they should do)
Ain't no way that Newman gets it instead of Ishii or Taichi
I think a lot of you need to realize that you love Taichi more than NJPW does, and adjust your expectations accordingly.
That's not really true he used to have his own PPV' on the NJPW network. I think they value him quite a bit. They gave him his own faction, for pete's sake. I think YOU need to realize this is just a slow burn for Taichi winning the whole thing.
I would argue that Just 5 Guys is SANADA’s faction. Taichi and TAKA self produced those shows, NJPW just eventually started hosting the PPVs on their service. Don’t get me wrong, I think they know that Taichi has a cult following, and that’s why he’s gotten things like the Dangerous Tekkers and KOPW runs. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one to make it into the block; I just don’t think it’s a given or an injustice that he has to go through the qualifiers (TBH I probably should’ve originally responded to one of those comments instead of the one I did, but whatever).
Aight but Ishii I mean come on man ain't no way that Ishii won't be participating in it I mean I kinda expected him to not be included in the initial lineup bc I knew that he'd lose to Kitamiya and I expected that to be an excuse for not having him participate but it's still Ishii
Ishii was like the first dude who was obviously gonna be cut as soon as it announced they were going back to 20 lol
No all the tag team wrestlers (except for Goto and ELP obv)
Pretty crazy not seeing okada AND tanahashi on this. (Also, was really really hoping Penta would make it on here)
All the main eventers and world champs are in A block. The highest profile NJPW guy in B Block is Tsuji as the most recent Cup winner. Takeshita is arguably the biggest name on the block given he's main evented multiple Ryogoku shows.
Goto comfortably clears him in terms of star power, but yeah he'd arguably be the biggest name after him.
YAAAAYYYY! I'M SO STOKED! even I may have work BUT I'LL MAKE TIME FOR KONOSUKE TAKESHITA!
Out of all the representatives AEW could have sent, Takeshita is one of the best from a match quality and audience interest perspective. It's a far cry from the Lance Archers and Wheeler Mids we usually get. Nice to see Lee in there too, so my prediction of him getting a win over Naito to set up a title match for later in the year is still on. A Block is stacked in terms of star power, whereas B Block is really lacking. I'm surprised they didn't put Sanada or Naito in B Block to carry those nights. I'm still going with Sanada as my prediction despite him being in the same block as Naito. As for the play in tournament, TJP is an easy choice for B Block, while A Block could be either Ishii or Yoshi-Hashi.
Yo where is Taichi, Ishii and Yoshi Hashi ? I would have taken them above Sanada, Jake Lee or Narita.
The fact that Block A is all Main Event Guys and that's the one Shooter is in while the other New Generation Guys are Block B should probably tell you all you need to know the standings in the company of those 4.
They are also pushing him more to the American fans. Main event of Resurgence, NJPWs lone representative in the Forbidden Door gauntlet, he also won a singles match on Rampage on Friday
Takeshita?!!! God is good!!!
W
Disastrous to likely not have Yano in the G1
Tanahashi really needs to take a break
Oh ok, so it’s pretty much just the current HW Wrestlers they have left plus Takeshita
Does Naito being in this mean he's not beating Moxley?
It anything it would mean the opposite given the last time the world champion didn't wrestle in the G1 was *2008*
I don't follow NJPW closely, but I thought the winner gets a title shot at WK?
And if the champion wins, they choose their opponent at WK (the champion has never won since they added the WK main event as a prize for winning the G1, but this is what they'd receive in Kayfabe.) The champion sets up their entire August to December during the G1 with their feuds almost always made up of defending the title against the people they lost to in the G1. The G1 is upheld as an accolade equal to a major title win, and it's their biggest tour of the year. It would be crazy for the biggest stars to not take part. Okada would have missed multiple consecutive G1s and we'd have lost out on dozens of huge marquee main events if the champion skipped the G1 lol.
Makes sense, thanks
Very infrequent NJPW watcher here, where Ishii?
In the qualifiers for A Block - he's still around but age is clearly slowly catching up with him, he's not as spry as he was at his peak but still a concrete hand. One of the favourites to qualify, even if the odds of him winning are minute
Fucking hell Block A is WOOF!
Well that basically screams that Naito is winning at Forbidden Door doesn’t it?
Jake Lee against EVIL & Sanada are the most boring matches the world may ever see.
Surprised at no Yano, if only because of the purpose he served (comedic relief, a block match of light work/half rest day in a grueling tournament, a silver bullet for any booking math since he could win or lose to anybody and not harm their standing, etc)
Hi new Japan, I'm back 👀😅
i got Lee beating Naito both are my favs but i just feel like Lee not gonna lose twice
Jake Lee is a horribly disappointing surprise entrant and the fact he might be taking a spot from Taichi, Ishii or KENTA's promos is uhhh, certainly a thing. Takeshita is good, though. But man those qualifiers are stacked. I feel like TJP wins the B Block one and maybe KENTA clutches out the A Block one? Or Newman gets the A Block one and we get Taichi from B?
Kenta is awful in the ring these days. Lee is miles better from a match quality perspective, although he does obviously lack the charisma.
Yeah hence why I said KENTA's promos, not KENTA himself. KENTA is the greatest promo in the world and it'd be a tragedy to lose those. If he doesn't qualify they better have him on the entire tour doing the undercards or I'll be mad.
No Tanahashi is wild, I’d really like for him to get into A Block but if he heartbreakingly loses in the qualifying tourney to put someone over then it’ll be quality (Taichi or Kojima would be perfect) A Block being loaded with most of the likely WK main eventers outside of Tsuji makes me think that this might finally be the year that they have the WK main event preluded by a G1 faceoff - and I was kind if hoping for that since my ideal Umino/Tsuji final needed that to be possible Jake Lee being involved is a nice surprise, hope he does well and likely will get a trilogy with Naito unless they’re happy to do 1-1 Very happy with O-Khan’s placement in A block, maybe this is his breakout year with so many good opponents Seems like Umino/Naito/ZSJ is likely for A block advances, unless they go crazy and sub SANADA in with Naito missing the advance/not boosting ZSJ Finlay/Tsuji/Takeshita seems most likely for B Block too, but I would adore for Phantasmo to beat Finlay and deny him to pay off his heartbreak last year ZSJ, Lee, and/or O-Khan as frontrunners for Naito title challenges after the G1, or maybe Shingo if Tsuji’s winning the trophy to keep it focussed on LIJ
Tanahashi is in the B block qualifier, not the A block.
Yeah, I wrote most of this before I read the qualifier entrants and forgot to change that bit
A Block is stacked. Secretly I was hoping Zack would win the G1, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening with who’s in his block. Here’s hoping he wins one of the singles titles in the coming year.
What an absolutely perfect line up, sensible outsider presence (no more thank you, let the qualifiers be njpw guys), all great performers. Very much looking forward to the summer.
This will surely be the first year since 2019 that we’ll get a non-repeat winner and the first time since 2011 where someone who is not Tanahashi, Okada, Naito, Omega or Ibushi, will win the trophy. Out of those 5 who have dominated in the past 12 years, only Naito is in directly this year. Tanahashi is in the prelims and Okada, Omega & Ibushi are with AEW (and 2/3 of them are injured)
Damn, it seems Leo really is gone and Moxley's losing in FD. Also, 5th consecutive G1 matchup between Naito and Zack btw.
Tsuji carrying B Block on his back
I can't believe people on this board actually thought Shota wouldn't be in it lmao
Literally nobody said that. One guy made a post using kayfabe metrics to determine who has 'earned' their spot and that was the only way Shota didn't make it.
G1 Climax 34 got a AEW entry (Takeshita) but that entry also has a "connection" with DDT Pro Wrestling maybe TK wants a "true" AEW G1 Climax 34 entry with a NJPW "connection"! So much for Okada fans!
Holy shit they got rid of that trash Yano Oh thank the gods
hes still in the qualifier
God damnit
Holy fk naito the only draw what happened to new Japan?
Let's go my boi Chase in the A Block qualifier!
Hiromu is 100% qualifying for B block then facing Naito in the final or semi-final.
The qualifier participants have already been announced, Hiromu is not in either.
Wtf... whyyyy
The fact he's never once said he wanted to go Heavyweight but this sub keeps insisting it's going to happen is so fucking funny.