2021 has been a roller coaster ride for fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Things seemingly started off well with the 2020 G1 Climax winner and longtime fan favorite Kota Ibushi finally winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Tetsuya Naito at Wrestle Kingdom, and successfully defending against Jay White the next night.
Then Ibushi retired the old title belt by merging it with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, to create the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to much backlash, and lost in his first defense.
Things are starting to get back on track as Shingo Takagi has claimed the championship, and now we’re on the road to their biggest annual tournament. The G1 Climax is always a hot spot for NJPW, and we know the start date for this year’s tournament.
The G1 Climax 31 Starts In September, Will Run Through To October
Much like last year, the G1 Climax will take place in the fall. It is set to start on September 18th in Osaka, and will conclude on October 21st at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The tour will be 19 shows long like usual, with the final two shows being in the Nippon Budokan, instead of the usual 3 nights. Only the B Block finals & finale will be in the venue, with A Block finals taking place in the new Yokohama Budokan venue on October 15th.
Full list of dates and venues are as followed:
9/18, 9/19: Edion Arena Osaka, Osaka
9/23, 9/24: Ota Ward General Gymnasium, Tokyo
9/26 (start time at 16:00): Kobe World Memorial Hall, Kobe
9/29, 9/30, 10/1: Kourakuen Hall, Tokyo
10/3: Aichi Gymnasium (Dolphins Hall), Aichi
10/4: Kourakuen Hall, Tokyo
10/7: Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall, Hiroshima
10/8: Kochi Prefectural Gymnasium, Kochi
10/9: Edion Arena Osaka, Osaka
10/12, 10/13: Miyagi Zebio Arena Sendai, Miyagi, Sendai
10/14: Yamagata City Sports Center, Yamagata
10/15: Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama
10/20, 10/21: Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
We will likely see the return of the shorter card format once again, focusing just on the tournament action with little in the way of opening tag team matches. The tournament is already grueling enough without talent getting a proper day off in between the action, and the lack of tag team matches seemed to produce less injuries out of last year’s edition.
Guessing The Field For This Years Tournament
While we know the dates of the event at this point, the field of wrestlers has not yet been announced. Rarely does it deviate majorly from the year prior, aside from occasional surprise entrants like Jon Moxley in 2019. This year, it’s expected that Yujiro Takahashi will be out of the field, as he was only in due to a lack of names available in 2020, and Will Ospreay remains injured and is not expected to be back in the ring by September. Minoru Suzuki could also be out, as they have pulled most older roster names from the G1 in recent years.
If three slots do become available, we can expect David Finlay, Aaron Henare, and The Great O-Khan to fill them. All three men have risen the ranks in NJPW this year, and could be ready for the major test the G1 Climax provides. We should know the full field by August, and there is still a small chance of talent from the United States in allied companies like ROH, AEW or Impact making their way in.
Are you excited for the 2021 G1 Climax?Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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