The G1 (Grade One) Climax professional wrestling tournament is a weeklong event held each August by the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. The G1 draws standing room only crowds each night, record receipt gates and generates front-page coverage on the sports sections of several of the daily newspapers in Tokyo. Though it has sometimes been held as a single elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners from two blocks wrestling in the final to decide that year's winner. The winner of each block is determined by a points system; two points for a victory, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.
Tournament history
New Japan had an annual tournament since 1974 under various names: the World League (1974–77, based on the World League tournament from the old Japanese Wrestling Association) the MSG League (1978–82) the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) League (1983–87; 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 1987, all tournaments in the company were suspended, although in 1989 there was a World Cup Tournament which also included wrestlers from the then-Soviet Union and also a tournament for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
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. The first G1 was held from August 7 to August 11, 1991 at Tokyo's Sumo Hall. The 1992 edition, which took place from August 6 to 12, was held to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
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 and others who have gone on to become wrestling superstars.
G1 Climax Winners
| Tournament | Year | Winner | Total won | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World League | 1974 | Antonio Inoki | 1 | |
| World League | 1975 | Antonio Inoki | 2 | |
| World League | 1976 | Seiji Sakaguchi | 1 | |
| World League | 1977 | Seiji Sakaguchi | 2 | |
| MSG League | 1978 | Antonio Inoki | 3 | |
| MSG League | 1979 | Antonio Inoki | 4 | |
| MSG League | 1980 | Antonio Inoki | 5 | |
| MSG League | 1981 | Antonio Inoki | 6 | |
| MSG League | 1982 | Andre the Giant | 1 | |
| International Wrestling Grand Prix | 1983 | Hulk Hogan | 1 | |
| International Wrestling Grand Prix | 1984 | Antonio Inoki | 7 | |
| International Wrestling Grand Prix | 1985 | Andre the Giant | 2 | |
| International Wrestling Grand Prix | 1986 | Antonio Inoki | 8 | |
| International Wrestling Grand Prix | 1987 | Antonio Inoki | 9 | |
| World Cup Tournament | 1989 | Riki Choshu | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 1991 | Masahiro Chono | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 1992 | Masahiro Chono | 2 | |
| G1 Climax | 1993 | Tatsumi Fujinami | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 1994 | Masahiro Chono | 3 | |
| G1 Climax | 1995 | Keiji Mutoh | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 1996 | Riki Choshu | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 1997 | Kensuke Sasaki | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 1998 | Shinya Hashimoto | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 1999 | Manabu Nakanishi | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 2000 | Kensuke Sasaki | 2 | |
| G1 Climax | 2001 | Yuji Nagata | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 2002 | Masahiro Chono | 4 | |
| G1 Climax | 2003 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 2004 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 2 | |
| G1 Climax | 2005 | Masahiro Chono | 5 | |
| G1 Climax | 2006 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan | 3 | |
| G1 Climax | 2007 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 2008 | Hirooki Goto | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 2009 | Togi Makabe | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 2010 | Satoshi Kojima | 1 | |
| G1 Climax | 2011 | Shinsuke Nakamura | 1 | |
| G1 Climax
|
2012 | Kazuchika Okada | 1 | |
| G1 Climax
|
2013 | Tetsuya Naito | 1 | |
| G1 Climax
|
2014 | Kazuchika Okada | 2 | |
| G1 Climax
|
2015 | Hiroshi Tanahashi | 2 | |
| G1 Climax
|
2016 | Kenny Omega | 1 | |
| G1 Climax
|
2017 | Tetsuya Naito | 2 |
Statistics
- Most G1 Climax cups: Masahiro Chono, 5
- Most cups won overall: Antonio Inoki, 9
- Most cups won by a foreigner overall: André the Giant, 2
- IWGP Heavyweight champions who never won the cup: Big Van Vader, Salman Hashimikov, Nobuhiko Takada, Scott Norton, Genichiro Tenryu, Kazuyuki Fujita, Tadao Yasuda, Yoshihiro Takayama, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bob Sapp and Brock Lesnar
- Won both G1 and Champion's Carnival cups: Keiji Mutoh, Kensuke Sasaki and Satoshi Kojima
Also see
- NJPW G1 Climax 1992
- NJPW G1 Climax 1993
- NJPW G1 Climax 1994
- NJPW G1 Climax 1995
- NJPW G1 Climax 1996
- NJPW G1 Climax 1997
- NJPW G1 Climax 1998
- NJPW G1 Climax 1999
- NJPW G1 Climax 2000
- NJPW G1 Climax 2001
- NJPW G1 Climax 2002
- NJPW G1 Climax 2003
- NJPW G1 Climax 2004
- NJPW G1 Climax 2005
- NJPW G1 Climax 2006
- NJPW G1 Climax 2007
- NJPW G1 Climax 2008
- NJPW G1 Climax 2009
- NJPW G1 Climax 2010
- NJPW G1 Climax 2011
- NJPW 40th Anniversary Tour - G1 Climax 22 - The One & Only