New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors will compete in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom.
SEScoops staff writers Ian Carey and Jake Jeremy made their predictions for Night 1 of the tournament, which takes place this Saturday, July 14th.
Here are their thoughts:
Jake Jeremy – Ok so we’re talking Night 1 of the G1 Climax, we’ve got some sleeper matches in here but let’s talk winners and losers, here’s the full card:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki
- Togi Makabe vs YOSHI-HASHI
- Michael Elgin vs EVIL
- Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White
- Bad Luck Fale vs Hangman Page
Ian Carey – Definitely not going to win is Yoshi-Hashi. My Prediction to win it all is Kazuchika Okada as I really feel he is going to face Kenny Omega at the Tokyo Dome next year. I think that he’ll face Tetsuya Naito in the finals.
Jake Jeremy: Wow really? I don’t think that Okada is winning, I’ve got Kota Ibushi down as my favourite to face Kenny at Wrestle Kingdom.
Ian Carey – I mean I don’t know but to me Okada seems like the safest pick. I’d love to see Kota win but I feel Okada is a stronger possibility. I also think that Tama Tonga beats Omega in the round-robin and gets the title shot in Long Beach on September 30th
Jake Jeremy – That makes sense for Tama to win with the Firing Squad building momentum, but hey Kenny could win the G1.
Ian Carey – It’s a really important tournament for Tama Tonga. This is where he becomes a main event guy. Ok so my predictions for Night 1 are:
- Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page – Which is really the first Elite vs Firing Squad match and the Firing Squad need to build more momentum
- Kazuchika Okada beats Jay White – Although I could easily see them giving White a win here since he just lost to Juice
- Togi Makabe beats Yoshi-Hashi – in a match I won’t watch
- EVIL beats Michael Elgin – again, a match I probably won’t watch
Jake Jeremy – Here’s my predictions for Night 1:
- Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page – I completely agree, this is the first Bullet Club ‘Civil War’ bout and I see Fale getting the win
- Jay White beats Kazuchika Okada – Night 1 of the G1 tends to have a shock or two so I’m guessing that White gets the win here. He might even get damn close to winning the block
- Yoshi-Hashi beats Togi Makabe – I will watch this match because I hate myself. I’m going for YOSHI-HASHI because why the hell not?
- Michael Elgin beats EVIL – I’m going Elgin because EVIL isn’t going anywhere in this tournament sadly.
Ian Carey – But if Okada is going to go all the way a win here seems important. Though, as you said, he might not be going all the way
Jake Jeremy – I really don’t see Okada doing it, I think he might even be put in the IC Title picture to rebuild it but that’s not highly likely though
Ian Carey – Did you know Okada has had 10 matches that Meltzer has ranked as 5 stars or better?
Jake Jeremy – That doesn’t shock me, 4.5 is average at best anyway according to Omega.
Ian Carey – Tanahashi vs Suzuki is a tough one to call. I think I’m going to take Suzuki though. I feel like a possible route they go is Suzuki injuring one of Tanahashi’s limbs or something which gives Tanahashi an excuse to lose a bunch of matches this summer
Jake Jeremy – Has anyone ever been ‘taken out’ of a G1? Could Minoru just straight out destroy Tanahashi so that he can’t compete in later bouts?
Ian Carey – I don’t know if they’ve ever planned it but wrestlers have had to pull out
they just lose all their remaining matches by default. Alex Shelley had to do it once in the BOSJ
Jake Jeremy – Maybe that’s Suzuki’s strategy…injure everyone and have a shorter run to the final
Ian Carey – Ah ok, so on the final night of A Block its Tanahashi vs Okada. That leads me to believe it could be the two of them in the running on the last day cause nobody else has a big match
Jake Jeremy – Maybe they could go to a Draw like last time?
Ian Carey – In the A Block it has to be Okada coming out…I take it back, I now think Tanahashi beats Suzuki on the first night
Jake Jeremy – I’m going with Minoru
Ian Carey – Somebody will go to a dramatic draw this tournament. Could be Omega and Ibushi on the last day. I find it hard to pick against Minoru Suzuki, possibly because I’m worried he’ll find out…but i think A Block will just be the Tanahashi vs Okada show.
So here’s the full predictions:
Ian Carey
- Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page
- Kazuchika Okada beats Jay White
- Togi Makabe beats Yoshi-Hashi
- EVIL beats Michael Elgin
- Hiroshi Tanahashi beats Minoru Suzuki
Jake Jeremy
- Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page
- Jay White beats Kazuchika Okada
- Yoshi-Hashi beats Togi Makabe
- Michael Elgin beats EVIL
- Minoru Suzuki beats Hiroshi Tanahashi
What are your predictions for Night 1? Let us know in the comments.
