NJPW G1 Climax 28: B Block Preview and Predictions

The NJPW G1 Climax is one of the biggest tournaments of the year. 20 of the world’s greatest wrestlers will face off for the chance to win the round tournament, and a chance to challenge for a title at Wrestle Kingdom.

The stakes are high, and the schedule is insane. The NJPW G1 Climax brings together some of the best storytelling in wrestling along with what will likely be some of the best matches of the year. Last year saw many instant classics with Kenny Omega against Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito, an amazing comedy match between Kenny Omega and Toru Yano, and an incredibly dramatic draw between Minoru Suzuki and Okada.

We also witnessed two upsets, as Juice Robinson was able to secure a win against Kenny Omega, and EVIL was able to hand Okada his first defeat in a singles match in over a year. Needless to say, the NJPW G1 Climax gives fans many twists and turns during the month long tournament.

The NJPW G1 Climax is a Round Robin tournament. Each wrestler must wrestle every wrestler in their own block once, with 2 points being rewarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Once everyone has wrestled each other once, the wrestler that has accumulated the most points advances to the finals.

This tournament provides a lot of fresh matches that we don’t normally get to see, and gives us rematches and dream matches too. The winner of the tournament will receive a contract for a title match at Wrestle Kingdom. If a current champion wins, they get to choose their own challenger. For example, if Kenny Omega were to win the tournament, he would be able to select his own challenger for Wrestle Kingdom.

The entire tournament will air live on NJPW World, and have English commentary, making it easy for newcomers to jump on. The first two nights of the tournament kick off on July 14th and July 15th. The July 14th show starts at 2:30 PDT, 5:30 EDT, 9:30 GMT, and 18:30 JST. The July 15th show starts at 11:00 PDT, 2:00 EDT, 6:00 GMT, and 15:00 JST. The cost for NJPW is ¥999, about $9 USD. The card for the first A Block show is here, and the B Block show is here.

The A Block has already been previewed here, and now, let’s look at the B Block and all the stories involved. This will, I hope, serve as a jumping on point for new fans, as I try to give you a handle on the stories involved. The schedule for the whole tournament can be found here.