10 Things I Learned From The 2016 NJPW G1 Climax

3. New Japan Pro Wrestling Doesn't Miss AJ, Nak Or Guns N' Gallows

Kenny Omega NJPW G1 Climax
NJPW.co.jp

At the beginning of 2016 New Japan Pro Wrestling was dealt a monumental blow when four of its top stars decided to had in their notices. Whilst the loss of Gallows & Anderson was arguably not so difficult to deal with, many predicted doom in the wake of losing AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. That's two of their four biggest stars gone, with a fifth (Kota Ibushi) also no longer with the company at that point.

Well fast forward seven months and New Japan Pro Wrestling is in an immensely strong position. The loss of Styles and Nakamura created space for established guys to move up the card, and boy have they responded.

Tetsuya Naito has finally begun to fulfil the promise he has hinted at for so long, and as leader of Los Ingobernables de Japon many expected him to win this tournament. Naito came up short, but his performances throughout the tournament were every bit as good as expected from a main event player.

Elsewhere Katsuyori Shibata, Ishii, Hirooki Goto, Kenny Omega and even the New Japan Dads (Tenzan, Kojima, Yuji Nagata) have upped their game. The G1 Climax 26 showed that this roster is stacked, and this roster is strong.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.