#MondayMotivation: 7 Things To Look Forward To This Week In Wrestling (July 17)

4. G1 Climax Commences

Wwe Battleground
New Japan Pro Wrestling

Today sees New Japan Pro Wrestling's celebrated G1 Climax tournament kick off, with a Night One main event of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Zack Sabre Jr that would comfortably headline any independent show in the world.

The tournament has rightly been levied with lofty expectations after several breathtaking incarnations of the event in the past few years, but the two loaded brackets offer endlessly intriguing possibilities all tied up by the first round's 'main event' of Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega.

New Japan's miraculous durability following significant injuries, talent raids or both in the last few years will be on display, as 20 of the world's finest in-ring talents will look to steal the show every single night of the gruelling month-long affair.

Furthermore, despite a lineage that stretches back over 25 years (and even longer if the tournament's true origin is investigated), the company has woven the importance of victory into its most recent biggest drama. The Block B Omega/Okada offers so much because of their awe-inspiring rivalry that was fabricated entirely from Omega's G1 win last year.

It is a feud that has showered unseen mainstream attention on the product, and aided their quest to break North America. A perfect storm of in-ring delivery and booking precision, the G1 looks yet again sure to be one of the highlights of the wrestling year.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett