Every NJPW G1 Climax 28 Entrant Ranked From Least To Most Likely To Win
Wrestle Kingdom 13 awaits.
NJPW's G1 Climax is the world's most exciting wrestling tournament, and this year's incarnation is right around the corner.
Kicking off on July 14, the 28th annual G1 will gather 20 of the finest wrestlers on the planet for a gruelling 19-night round robin, concluding inside the historic Budokan Hall on August 12. Now, with the participants announced, the blocks set, and the lineups complete, it's time to evaluate every wrestler's chances.
Predicting New Japan is hard. You can't just tap into a genius booking mind like Gedo's, and as always, the G1 will be full of unforeseen twists and turns. An unfancied talent will spark speculation of a major upset by blazing to a 4-0 opening run, then go winless for the remainder. A current or former champion will fall to a Tama Tonga or Hangman Page. At least one block will go down to the final day, with leading wrestlers forced to rely on results elsewhere to advance, the drama going to the line like a classic Premier League relegation battle.
New Japan usually play it safe with the G1 winner, but this year's field is a lot more open than it looks. Let's break it down...
20. YOSHI-HASHI
Though often the brunt of many a New Japan fan's jokes, YOSHI-HASHI is a better performer than he's given credit for. It doesn't help that he looks like a melted Kazuchika Okada waxwork, and usually plays pin-eater when teaming with more celebrated CHAOS stablemates, but he's a solid midcard hand who'll uphold his end of the bargain from bell-to-bell, though he'll be lucky to score anything more than a win or two.
YOSHI-HASHI has precisely zero chance of winning the G1 Climax. He'll have decent matches, but you'll see that $5 million from the fake prince in your spam folder land in your bank account before he wins the trophy.