One of the best stretches in the wrestling year comes with the G1 Climax in NJPW. 20 of their top stars get sorted into two groups, and then they fight it out. Each man faces everyone in their group, and whoever has the most points advances to the finals. It is a simple concept, which has bred some of the best matches of their respective years. The winner gets to face the IWGP Heavyweight Champion at the Tokyo Dome, adding all the more reason to try to win. Kenny Omega is a former winner, having won in 2016. He knows the struggle of the tournament, and would love to bring it to his new home in All Elite Wrestling.
Bringing This Tournament Style To AEW
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Kenny Omega revealed he would love to see this concept brought to AEW. “Every one of those tournaments, they’re rough on the body and it’s tough to figure out a schedule to do so,” Omega said. “Whether it be a round robin tournament, a league style or one night we are definitely looking into a tournament format because people, as a fan myself even, I love tournaments. As, a performer they’re tough to do, but I think it really tests the athletes’ mettle and it really separates the men from the boys. Yeah, I would love to do a tournament. I don’t know what we’d call it. Don’t have any ideas for a name, but all of us have been brought on board with tournament. It’s just a matter of figuring out how.”
Tournaments are a consistently great way to help build stars, and fans love the easy stories that get told. King of The Ring in WWE has become a fan favorite, as well as things like the Cruiserweight Classic & Mae Young Classic. AEW has run a single tournament, and that was to crown their first tag team champions.
AEW Has The Roster To Make It Work
While they wouldn’t have enough to do a 20 man tournament, even just a 10 man league based tournament would work wonderfully. Considering AEW only runs a few PPV events in a year, this would be a great way to fill TV and build up a challenger for the AEW Champion for a show like All Out. They have one of the best rosters in the world in term of in ring action. Putting people like Omega, PAC, Darby Allin, and more in would make for great matches, and some star making performances.
Do you think a G1 Climax style tournament would work for AEW? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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