JAS OLAN’S G1 PREDICTIONS
The G1 CLIMAX tournament is going to be filled with absolute barn burners this year. As twenty of the international wrestling scene’s best preparing to do battle in the most prestigious and grueling tournament in all of professional wrestling, everyone has their predictions as to who is going to win. With six debuts and one big return, the possibilities are numerous to say the least. Here are my predictions for G1 CLIMAX 29.
My main pick for this year’s overall tournament winner would have to be the Golden Star, Kota Ibushi. With the momentum he’s built up over the past year, this could so easily be the year wins the iconic gold trophy then goes on to begin next year IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the Tokyo Dome in January. There are two big indicators here. The first one would be when he dropped the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Tetsuya Naito at DOMINION 6.9.2019. History would be the other one as the previous year’s runner up usually ends up winning. Ibushi had a fabulous showing last year so he’ll most likely either do the same this year or go one better.
Ibushi’s biggest rival this year, Tetsuya Naito is also very likely to have a great showing this year, however I doubt he’ll make it to the finals given his status as the current IWGP Intercontinental Champion. The tranquilo one is set on becoming the first to hold the IWGP Intercontinental and heavyweight Championships at the same time, but it doesn’t seem like NJPW is ready to pull the trigger on that just yet. To me it seems more likely that Naito will win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at next year’s DOMINION. His matches will be some of the hardest hitting of the tournament though.
It’ll also be very interesting to see how the tournament will affect the overall group dynamic within Los Ingobernables de Japon as all members except BUSHI will be competing this year. Will all the LIJ on LIJ warfare finally take its toll on the group? We’ll find out soon enough. EVIL and SANADA are sure fire main eventers, and Shingo Takagi is looking to surpass his already stellar performance in this year’s BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS so things can go either way here.
Takagi is among the six big tournament debuts taking place this year, and the Dragon will be taking no prisoners. Also debuting this year are Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, Taichi, Jon Moxley, and NJPW’s newest acquisition, KENTA. The level of talent within this group alone is insane. Each of these guys are hungry and will no doubt have strong showings this first time around. It’s virtually impossible to choose which one will be the strongest.
Among the big fan favorites to win this year are Kazuchika Okada and Jay White. The Rainmaker will definitely be looking to make his presence felt and show whoever his opponent will be at WRESTLE KINGDOM 14 what they will be up against in the Tokyo Dome. His performance last year made for one of G1 28’s most compelling stories. Jay White has been emerging as New Japan’s number one bad guy and is ready to continue making that claim this year. One of the biggest road blocks standing in his way will definitely be Hirooki Goto who’s got one thing on his mind other than winning, revenge. Goto’s journey could end up being one of the best stories of this year’s G1.
Three time G1 winner, Hiroshi Tanahashi once again finds himself on the road to redemption heading into the tournament. The ACE was able to make big things happen last year and win the big one in the Tokyo Dome, and he’s looking to do it all over again. He’ll have his work cut out for him, but you can never count out the Once In A Century Talent. With The likes of Zack Sabre Jr and a returning Lance Archer also competing, it won’t be easy but Tanahashi is more than up to the challenge.
Company Stalwart, Tomohiro Ishii And Juice Robinson will also do big things at G1 29. Ishii was pretty much last year’s tournament MVP and could easily end up delivering an equally impactful performance this time around as well. Juice Robinson has undergone a change of sorts lately and just keeps getting better. Especially after the great run he just had as IWGP United States Champion.
So much can happen at the G1 CLIMAX. There will be huge wins, maybe a few upsets here and there, and fans will be on edge every step of the way. In the end it’ll be a wonderful set up for the rest of the year for NJPW and set the stage for an amazing WRESTLE KINGDOM. G1 CLIMAX 29 will deliver in spades for sure with great storytelling and the hard hitting, fast paced action fans know and love. The battle of the summer will kick off in Dallas on July 6, and New Japan’s finest are more than ready to bring the heat.
