SANADA had a star-making performance in this year’s G1 Climax. Always the bridesmaid but never the bride, SANADA was in need of a big tournament after losing a ton of big matches for the last 18 months. Thankfully for him, he had a colossal tournament, resulting in him reaching his first G1 Climax Final.
SANADA felt like a star in this tournament, which was surprising as he lost his first two matches to Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI. Not exactly inspired competition. That being said, SANADA got it together and provided very good matches against Zack Sabre Jr., Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi before a huge match with Ibushi in the finals.
Had he been able to compete against some better competition, he would have placed much higher.
9. Jay White (6-3-0)
Best Match: Will Ospreay – Day 7
Worst Match: Yujiro Takahashi – Day 13
Jay White is another interesting one to try and place. He is a phenomenal wrestler and his character work is better than most people’s in the promotion. At times his stalling and outside interference can serve as a detriment for his match quality but often he is able to work it into his matches in a dynamic way.
White participated in a rocking A Block and did quite well for himself. Even his worst match was very good as he and Yujiro Takahashi did an angle regarding Yujiro’s allegiance. With so many fantastic workers in the block, White comes in at number nine. Honestly, this says more about the strength of the tournament than White himself.
8. TAICHI (4-5-0)
Best Match: Will Ospreay – Day 13
Worst Match: Yujiro Takahashi – Day 5
Talk about a surprise. Going into last year’s G1 Climax I audibly groaned when TAICHI was announced as a participant. Now, you will find me looking forward to TAICHI matches. Always talented but at times lazy, TAICHI has drastically stepped up his game over the last year with this G1 Climax being his best performance yet.
Obviously aided by stellar competition, TAICHI next felt out of place. His match with Will Ospreay was the best of his career and he managed to have great matches with the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi, and Tomohiro Ishii as well. If this is the TAICHI we get going forward, call me a fan.
7. Tetsuya Naito (6-3-0)
Best Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi – Day 2
Worst Match: EVIL – Day 14
The IWGP Heavyweight Champion does not often come into the G1 Climax with people thinking he will win. This year may not have been any different but that did not stop Tetsuya Naito from having a strong performance. Naito has rarely been the properly pushed top guy in New Japan, highlighted by his two short reigns as champion. However, this year he was the representative of the company in the G1 Climax.
Only losing to KENTA, SANADA and EVIL, Naito often had great matches and was presented as the star he is. With particularly good showings against Tanahashi and Juice Robinson, Naito finally showed that he can be a strong champion.
6. Kazuchika Okada (6-3-0)
Best Match: Shingo Takagi – Day 13
Worst Match: Yujiro Takahashi – Day 3
When I started this list I thought Kazuchika Okada would place much lower. His determination to get his Cobra Clutch “Money Clip” submission finisher over is admirable, even if it lowered the quality of every one of his matches. The move sucks and it simply does not allow for as many exciting sequences in the closing moments of a match compared to his trusty Rainmaker.
That being said, in going over his G1 Climax 30 resume, his tournament really wasn’t that bad. Frustrating? Yes. But bad? Nah, Okada is still fantastic. Even though Okada’s matches were only about 80% of what we would normally see, that still made them better than most of the world. His match against Shingo Takagi, in particular, was one of the best of the year.
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