G1 Climax

The G1 (Grade One) Climax (G1（グレードワン）クライマックス, Gurēdo Wan Kuraimakkusu) is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion.

Since 2012, the winner of the tournament earns the right to challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at the following January's Wrestle Kingdom show.

[11] In 1989, there was a World Cup Tournament (ワールドカップ争奪リーグ戦, Wārudokappu sōdatsu rīgu-sen), which included wrestlers from the then-Soviet Union.

[15][16] Since its inception, the contract has only changed hands one time, on November 7, 2020, at Power Struggle when Jay White defeated Kota Ibushi.

The first tournament was specifically created to make stars out of Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto, three NJPW wrestlers who had just returned to the promotion from their overseas learning excursions.

[13] Past winners include Mutoh, Chono, 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.

Other then-reigning champions to reach the final include Kensuke Sasaki in 2000, Kazuyuki Fujita in 2005 and Yuji Nagata in 2007.

The top finisher advanced to the final match of the tournament, to face the winner of a three-wrestler round-robin semifinal round.

Tatsumi Fujinami missed the tournament due to an injury he suffered on the IWGP Champion Series tour, but acted as a commentator for the final match.

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.

[27][30] Terry Taylor advanced to the quarterfinals, due to a shoulder injury suffered by his scheduled opponent Hiroshi Hase on August 3.

Masahiro Chono advanced out of his block despite being tied with Ric Flair because of his faster match winning time over Shiro Koshinaka.

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.

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.

[87][88][89] Naomichi Marufuji was scheduled to participate in the tournament, but was forced to pull out after suffering an arm injury on July 25.

[91] 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.

[110][111] 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.

[121][122] In an unprecedented move, NJPW broadcast all nine events live on internet pay-per-view (iPPV) through Niconico and Ustream.

[123] On August 8, NJPW announced that Hirooki Goto and Hiroyoshi Tenzan had suffered jaw and rib fractures respectively and would both miss the rest of the tournament.

[134] Kota Ibushi was scheduled to take part in the tournament, but on July 18 NJPW announced that he would have to pull out due to a concussion suffered at the beginning of the month.

[170] On June 27, NJPW announced the participants, which included two outsiders; Pro Wrestling Noah's Katsuhiko Nakajima and Naomichi Marufuji.

However, on July 3, Tenzan's longtime tag team partner Satoshi Kojima gave him his spot in the tournament.

Prior to the tournament, NJPW held two "G1 Special" shows in Long Beach, California on July 1 and 2.

[192] On June 20, NJPW announced the participants in the tournament, which included one outsider: freelancer Kota Ibushi, competing in his third G1.

For the first time in NJPW history, the opening night of the tournament took place outside Japan, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

The 2020 edition of the G1 Climax took place from September 19 until October 18 with the final three days being held at Ryōgoku Kokugikan.

[239] The 2022 edition of the G1 Climax was announced on April 9 at Hyper Battle and took place from July 16 until August 18, returning the G1 to the summer.

[244] The 2023 G1 Climax also featured the tournament debuts of Shota Umino, Hikuleo, Eddie Kingston, Ren Narita, Gabriel Kidd, Alex Coughlin, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, Yota Tsuji and Kaito Kiyomiya with Kingston and Kiyomiya being outsiders from All Elite Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah respectively.

The 2024 edition of the G1 Climax was announced on June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall and will take place from July 20 until August 18.