10 NJPW Stars Who NEED A Memorable G1 Climax Run
1. Jay White
Jay White doesn't just need a memorable G1 Climax run. He needs something borderline legendary to warrant the investment placed in him by Gedo.
White did not project himself as a star at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in what was a merely very good match opposite Hiroshi Tanahashi. We were meant to receive Switchblade as a contender in its aftermath; instead, every other feature match bettered it. We might have considered this an aberration, were it not for a deeply underwhelming United States Title win over Kenny Omega later in the year; the less-fancied Beretta entered a better performance opposite Omega months prior, and this was a mere showreel. White underwhelmed, for the second time, in his own leading star vehicle against the best wrestler on the planet in form for which there are no superlatives left.
White in 2018 resembles the Seth Rollins of 2017; he wrestles the overarching style of New Japan without the explosiveness, nuance or presence of his peers. It's all a bit laboured, a bit hollow. Like Rollins, this translates as a confidence issue. We've seen what White can do in Ring Of Honor. White has threatened the very demise of the CHAOS faction, his eyes trained on its leader and company Ace Kazuchika Okada. The scope of this ambition seems preposterous now.
Still, there are flashes of the man Gedo sees so much in.
The crammed format of the Climax should see White rediscover his sharpness. The sense of oneupmanship fostered by a tournament of which he isn't the focal point is the best platform for Switchblade to flourish.
If it doesn't, the entire act will require a rethink. A performer with so little heat cannot, as he has promised, watch the world burn.