 We are just two days away from the 27th Annual: G1 Climax Tournament of NJPW! A lot of great and memorable matches are ahead of us in this whole tournament and I just can't wait for it to begin already! For this post, we're gonna be taking a look at every single participant of this year's G1 and talk about the odds on favorite to win,underdogs you might not expect to get surprise victories,and their overall roles for this tournament as a whole. So without further ado, here are the 20 wrestlers that will try to join the elite ranks of Masahiro Chono,Hiroyoshi Tenzan,Kensuke Sasaki,and among many others as a G1 Climax Champion! BLOCK A  Bad Luck Fale  G1 Appearances: 3 Faction: Bullet Club Height: 6'4'' Weight: 344 lbs From: Tonga The first participant we will be talking about is one of the Bullet Club OG's: "The Under Boss" Bad Luck Fale! The former IWGP Intercontinental Champion will be making his 4th G1 Appearance this year. Despite being a "midcarder" though, expect Fale to be booked like the strong big man that he is! Although his actual chance of winning the tourney is slim, you might see him unexpectedly win matches against some big names on the tournament so he's definitely not someone to sleep on if you did your pick'ems or predictions. Hirooki Goto  G1 Appearances: 9 Faction: CHAOS Height: 6'0'' Weight: 227 lbs From: Mie,Japan Hirooki Goto is one of the few veterans of the G1 in this whole tournament with total appearances of 9 so far. He is a former G1 Climax Champion winning it at his debut on 2008 beating Makabe in the finals. He is also a finalist on last year's G1 when he got defeated by Kenny Omega. Goto has won multiple titles in his NJPW career but he's clearly not going to win it this year, he is however a reliable worker and can put on a good match whoever you pit him against. Kota Ibushi  G1 Appearances: 2 Faction: n/a Height: 5'11'' Weight: 190 lbs From: Kagoshima,Japan It will be Kota Ibushi's official return at NJPW on this year's G1 Climax! Of course he has been wrestling shows as "Tiger Mask W" but that doesn't count because kayfabe dammit! Anyway after participating in WWE's Cruiserweight Classic tournament last year, Ibushi has gained the attention of many fans worldwide with his great performances! Now that he's back on NJPW, I can't wait for his matches against wrestlers of his same block such as Naito and Tanahashi. Although his former partner turned foe: Kenny Omega is on a different block so the eventual dream match between the two will be put off for the near future, unless they face each other in the finals of course! The Golden Star is a favorite of many to win but I personally think he won't make it even in the finals. He will however win many matches and perform well because he is Kota Ibushi! Tomohiro Ishii  G1 Appearances: 4 Faction: CHAOS Height: 5'7'' Weight: 220 lbs From: Kanagawa,Japan The Stone Pitbull is going to be participating at his 5th G1 Climax this year. He had a fantastic match against Kenny Omega at the finals of the IWGP US Championship tournament despite going on the losing end! Ishii might get wins here and there but will clearly not win the whole thing. Similar to Goto though, he is a reliable worker himself and even better than Goto in my opinion so expect some great hard hitting battles with the former 4x NEVER Openweight Champion! Togi Makabe  G1 Appearances: 13 Faction: G-B-H Height: 5'11'' Weight: 240 lbs From: Kanagawa,Japan Believe it or not there was a time where Togi Makabe was one of the top stars of NJPW! He won the G1 Climax in 2009 and also defeated Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Champion the next year! Recently though the master of the King Kong Knee Drop has fallen in popularity mainly because of his age. After watching the Press Conference though, it got me hyped for the eventual Makabe vs Fale match! Those two brutes will definitely tear each other apart! Yuji Nagata  G1 Appearances: 18 Faction: Blue Justice Height: 6'0'' Weight: 238 lbs From: Chiba,Japan Out of all the participants this year, the legend: Yuji Nagata has the most experience in the G1 Climax with this year being his 19th and possibly last appearance! Nagata is a former 2x IWGP Heavyweight Champion and has won the G1 Climax in 2001. He is still a pretty good worker for his age but will definitely see many losses throughout this whole tournament, mainly putting over the younger talents. Tetsuya Naito  G1 Appearances: 7 Faction: Los Ingobernables de Japon Height: 5'11'' Weight: 225 lbs From: Tokyo,Japan TRANQUILO My personal pick to win this year's G1 Climax is none other than the leader of LIJ: Tetsuya Naito! Naito is one of the best wrestlers in the world today! He needs some momentum back though after losing the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom on January. He won the G1 back in 2013 and is looking to do so again at his 8th appearance on the tournament! Zack Sabre Jr.  G1 Appearances: 0 Faction: SUZUKI-GUN Height: 6'0'' Weight: 187 lbs From: Kent,England The technical wizard Zack Sabre Jr. will be making his annual G1 Climax debut this year! ZSJ has recently moved up to NJPW's heavyweight division and alligned himself with SUZUKI-GUN. Although he is expected to perform well in matches, I don't think he is winning many of them unfortunately. Hiroshi Tanahashi  G1 Appearances: 15 Faction: n/a Height: 5'11'' Weight: 227 lbs From: Gifu,Japan IT'S THE ACE! Hiroshi Tanahashi will be making his 16th straight participation at the G1 Climax this year! He won two of them at 2007 and 2015. As we all know Tanahashi was the man who raised up NJPW from the "MMA Era" and brought back it's glory with his amazing matches and capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship a record 7 times in the process! He is currently the reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion so don't expect him to lose many matches, although I think he won't be winning the tournament as a whole. He will have many great matches though as expected from Tanahashi! YOSHI-HASHI  G1 Appearances: 1 Faction: CHAOS Height: 5'11'' Weight: 225 lbs From: Aichi,Japan YOSHI-HASHI will be making his second appearance in a row at this year's G1 Climax. Despite being a good worker though, YOSHI might be the one who will be eating up many pins in the course of this tournament. Someone has to do it sadly. BLOCK B  Michael Elgin  G1 Appearances: 2 Faction: n/a Height: 5'11'' Weight: 245 lbs From: Toronto,Ontario,Canada The first member of Block B is one of the best gaijins in NJPW right now: "Big Mike" Michael Elgin! Elgin has consistently put on good matches in his time on NJPW ever since he left ROH. He has also held the IWGP Intercontinental and NEVER Openweight 6 Man Championships. Block B will be full of great wrestlers and I don't think Elgin will be the guy to eat up many pins considering his pretty good record at his past two G1 Climax participations. EVIL  G1 Appearances: 1 Faction: Los Ingobernables de Japon Height: 5'10'' Weight: 234 lbs From: Shizuoka,Japan The muscle of LIJ will be making his second appearance at G1 Climax this year. EVIL is currently 1/3 of the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag-Team Champions but unfortunately I don't see him winning many matches. He can definitely shine throughout this tournament though and prove to the fans that he can be a great worker himself! Satoshi Kojima  G1 Appearances: 14 Faction: n/a Height: 6'0'' Weight: 247 lbs From: Tokyo,Japan Another NJPW Legend that will be participating in this year's G1 Climax is Satoshi Kojima! Last year Kojima gave up his spot for his buddy: Hiroyoshi Tenzan who unfortunately didn't have a great performance. Now it is Kojima's time to shine and as the leader of the presitigious: Bread Club expect him to win some matches here and there! Despite nearing the age of 50 he can still put on some good matches with wrestlers who are much younger than him. The G1 Climax 2010 winner and former 2x IWGP Heavyweight Champion isn't someone you should be sleeping on! Kazuchika Okada  G1 Appearances: 5 Faction: CHAOS Height: 6'3'' Weight: 236 lbs From: Aichi,Japan The Rainmaker has had an impressive run with NJPW the past 5 years and his momentum is still continuing to this day as he is the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion going in to his 6th G1 Climax! Okada won his first G1 at his debut participation on 2012 also making him the youngest wrestler to win it at 24 years old! He also won the tournament again two years later and has held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship four times already! He is THE GUY on NJPW right now so don't expect Okada to lose many matches, hell he might even make it in the finals for all we know and possibly join the club of Chono & Sasaki as the only reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champs to win the G1 Climax! Also Christmas might come early for us as Okada-Omega III is happening with both of them being the same block. Kenny Omega  G1 Appearances: 1 Faction: Bullet Club Height: 6'0'' Weight: 203 lbs From: Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada Another man who is having a fantastic career so far in NJPW is: "The Cleaner" Kenny Omega! The leader of the Bullet Club and the inaugural IWGP US Champion has had an impressive 2016 and is continuing on a roll this year with potentially winning the G1 Climax back-to-back! Omega won the G1 Climax last year and along with Tetsuya Naito, is the odds on favorite to win this year's tournament! And just like I've mentioned earlier it looks like we will be getting Okada-Omega III much earlier! Although his eventual match against Kota Ibushi may not happen at this year's G1 that is of course unless they meet at the finals which a lot of people seem to be predicting. Expect Kenny to gain a lot more wins under his wing during this whole tournament! Juice Robinson  G1 Appearances: 0 Faction: n/a Height: 6'3'' Weight: 220 lbs From: Joliet,Illinois Similar to ZSJ, Juice Robinson will also be making his G1 Climax debut this year! After being released by the WWE, Juice found his resurgence at NJPW quickly becoming one of the top gaijin stars for the company! He has already fought for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship before but sadly failed on winning the belt. Now I don't think Juice will be getting many wins on this tournament though. He is a good worker though and definitely someone that has a bright future under the NJPW umbrella! SANADA  G1 Appearances: 1 Faction: Los Ingobernables de Japon Height: 5'11'' Weight: 220 lbs From: Niigata,Japan SANADA similar to his buddy EVIL will be making his second appearance at the G1 Climax this year! He is currently also 1/3 of the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag-Team Champions. The Cold Skull is one of the top prospects in NJPW right now, many people believe that he will become a huge star one day and it seems like by getting notable victories in this tournament will definitely solidify him on those expectations! Some people even think he will go as far as to reach the finals though I beg to differ. He is someone that we should be keeping an eye out for though as 2017 or 2018 might just be SANADA's year! Minoru Suzuki  G1 Appearances: 6 Faction: SUZUKI-GUN Height: 5'10'' Weight: 225 lbs From: Kanagawa,Japan Minoru Suzuki is back at NJPW after his run at Pro Wrestling NOAH, and is looking to continue his dominance as not only the current NEVER Openweight Champion but possibly this year's winner of the G1 Climax! Suzuki is one of the wildcards to win this year's G1 Climax. He certainly has had a strong momentum ever since returning to NJPW so I definitely cannot blame many people for thinking that! I don't think he will win it but there's a chance the leader of SUZUKI-GUN reaches the finals! Tama Tonga  G1 Appearances: 1 Faction: Bullet Club Height: 6'0'' Weight: 209 lbs From: Tonga Tama Tonga is one of the Bullet Club OG's and has been around NJPW for quite some time now. He just recently loss the IWGP Tag-Team Championships to War Machine at the G1 US Special. I think Tama will be on a role similar to YOSHI-HASHI. Someone has to eat pins and but at the same time put on some good matches and he's definitely that guy for Block B. Toru Yano  G1 Appearances: 10 Faction: CHAOS Height: 6'1'' Weight: 254 lbs From: Tokyo,Japan Last but not the least we got one of my personal favorite comedy wrestlers in Japan right now along with Kikutaro: it's Toru Yano! Yano is far from being one of the best workers in wrestling right now but boy is he entertaining! You will never get bored of a match that is involving this man! Some peple may not like his style but I personally enjoy it. Not every match has to be a 5-Star classic, sometimes the wrestlers need "breather matches" and Yano is the perfect guy for that job. Plus despite being a comedy act, don't just sleep on Yano as he has many tricks up his sleeve to pull off an upset victory! Oh and don't forget to buy the DVD!  To check out the full schedule of matches for G1 Climax 27 check out this article from fansided.com Feel free to leave your own thoughts,picks,and predictions for this year's G1 Climax in the comments below! Thanks For Reading. Sources: NJPW Website Voices of Wrestling |
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