It can be hard to get into New Japan Pro Wrestling. Don't get me wrong: it's a high-quality product, with some of the best performers in the world and amazing "Match of the Year" candidates on a consistent basis. But NJPW, and puroresu, are a lot different from your typical western wrestling. It has its own rules, quirks, and formulas, and some of them may leave a new spectator confused.

When I first started to follow NJPW, the first big event I ever watched was the G1 Climax. The G1 Climax is a double round-robin tournament held every summer, in which the most important stars of the federation compete for a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The winner faces the champion in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, the biggest event in the New Japan year, held every January 4th in the Tokyo Dome. So, as a concept, the G1 Climax can be compared to a Royal Rumble in WWE. And like a Royal Rumble, is a very interesting access point to the world of the Federation: you get a clear view of all the main characters, rivalries and titles. But unlike the Rumble, the G1 Climax is a long tournament that spans the time of a month. So, it's still good to have a friend introducing you to what is going on with the federation and what matches are worth looking for. That's what this post will try to do. I'll introduce to you all the competitors,

Some basic guidelines

As mentioned above, NJPW has a few peculiarities that are worth noticing. I'll sum them up here before going in deep with the characters analysis.

NJPW has four major stables that include 90% of the roster. Those are: CHAOS , led by current Ace and World Champion Kazuchika Okada. It's the main face stable. Los Ingobernables de Japon , led by Tetsuya Naito. It's mainly a tweener faction, distinguishable by the outcast-ish look of its members. The Bullet Club , led by Jay White. It's the main heel stable. It's made up of mainly western fighters ( gaijins ). The Suzuki-Gun , led by the legendary Minoru Suzuki. It's a yakuza-inspired heel stable. Keep in mind that factions in NJPW are considered like banners, and every member can seek for his own goals.

Disqualification in singles matches rarely occurs, while count-out is set to a count of 20 instead of 10.

The World Champion competes in the G1 too. The tournament history and prestige is high enough to justify this.

Some wrestler's moral alignment is ambiguous. For example, Tetsuya Naito's actions are usually heelish, but he is a fan-favorite in almost every arena, and he seems to observe a very personal moral code.

The G1 is usually a Heavyweight-only competition. This year, Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay will join the fray, but it's an exception.

Alright, I think that's it for the basics. Let's get to the wrestlers!

G1 Competitors

A Block

Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)

Kazuchika Okada, labeled "The Rainmaker", is the Ace of New Japan, the biggest star of the federation and the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, currently at his fifth title reign. Okada is known for being a young hot-headed champion, very proud and self-confident. His character went under a big development during last year Climax. After Kenny Omega ended Okada's record-breaking title reign (lasted 720 days), the Ace tried to change himself, losing some of his confidence and mystique. His historic manager, NJPW headbooker Gedo, betrayed him in favor of new talent Jay White. A more mature Okada returned to his Ace manners at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in January, ultimately recapturing the Championship from Jay White in April. Okada already won the G1 Climax in 2012 and in 2014. In this year's G1, he faces again historic rival and former Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi. Okada is also in for a first-time-ever match against KENTA.

Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzuki-Gun)

ZSJ, the British submission specialist, is competing in the G1 Climax for the third time in his career. Zack's history in the tournament so far has been interesting. He closed his first tournament with 10 points and a huge win against Hiroshi Tanahashi, and the second one in third with 12 points, tied to Kenny Omega and the Block winner Kota Ibushi. He's yet to capture gold in New Japan, but he won the New Japan Cup in 2018, another big competition. This year, NJPW seems to have slowed down on Sabre's push. His chances of winning the Block are very low, but you can still expect some big wins from him. He usually gets the upper hand on Tanahashi, so their next match could be interesting. Due to his peculiar style, Zack's matches can be very slow, so he usually needs a quick opponent to make a good bout: Kota Ibushi has proven to be great in this role.

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tanahashi is probably the closest man to John Cena that you can find in Japan. Huge babyface, ever-loved by the crowd (especially by the women), rich titles history, almost unbeatable during his prime, the air-guitarist Ace Of The Universe truly is a one on a kind talent. He won the Climax three times (2007, 2015, 2018). This last year, however, doesn't seem to be going quite well for him. After a great start with a win over Kenny Omega to capture the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, he dropped the title in his first defense only a month later to Jay White, in what is now known as "the Switchblade Shock". Tana took a break from in-ring action to deal with some injuries and returned to competition this month only to lose again against White. A heartbroken Tanahashi cried on his way to the backstage after the match and stated that he can feel the crowd's trust in him slowly fading away. This tournament could be his redemption, a way to turn a nightmare year around, but the deck is stacked against him, with long-time rivals Okada and Sabre and some young up-and-comers like SANADA and EVIL. His match with KENTA will be another unmissable first time ever.

Kota Ibushi

Kota Ibushi is one of the best wrestler in the world. He can do it all, from flying from the top rope to locking smart submissions. Also, he's probably crazy. Yeah, because there is no other explaination to the insane neck bumps he takes, putting his own healt in danger just to add dramatic tension to his matches. Ibushi was this close to win the competition last year. He won his Block, but lost in the finals against Tanahashi. NJPW was always a reclutant on pushing Kota to the main event due to his tendency to not stick with a company. In fact, you could remember him from the WWE 2016 Cruiserweight Classic Tournament, where he lost in the semi-finals and then left the company. But this has changed: Ibushi signed a deal with NJPW, and in the last months he already won two belts, the NEVER Openweight Title and the Intercontinental Title. After losing the latter against Naito this month, he seems ready to make the big jump and if you ask me, Ibushi is one of the big favourites this year. He's an excellence in the ring, you'll probably never see a boring Kota Ibushi match, so be sure to follow his journey.

EVIL (LIJ...?)

Takaaki Watanabe's wrestling persona, while weird, is quite charming: he comes to the ring with a gothic tunic and a mask, holding a giant scythe and shooting lasers from his gloves. EVIL, "The King Of Darkness", is a member of Naito's Los Ingobernables De Japon... or is him? After some heavy losses, EVIL's morale collapsed, losing faith in the group that brought him back in Japan in 2015. Even his tag team partner SANADA doesn't seem to be interested in convining him to come back. Their clash is one to watch. EVIL is not going to win the Climax, but he knows how to pull an upset. He already did a couple of years ago, when he pinned clean Okada, who was the World Champion at the time.

SANADA (LIJ)

SANADA is the most recently pushed member of the Los Ingobernables. The "Cold Skull" made his way to the finals of the New Japan Cup earlier this year, only to fall short against Kazuchika Okada in a good looking match. From that match, SANADA is using a new "Undead Pirate" look, finally taking care of his hair and beard. He's very over with the crowd and still quite a hot act in the show. As mentioned above, his interactions with EVIL are a point of interest, and I expect him to do good in the tournament, picking up some big wins.

Bad Luck Fale (BC)

Fale is New Japan's big man of choice when it comes to the G1. He's one of the founders of the Bullet Club and one of the two original members still in the faction. Fale is, and probably always will be, a midcarder used to launch other talents, and he rarely has something going on for himself. His matches tend to be slow and quite boring, but (unsurprisingly) he usually does quite well against Ibushi.

Lance Archer (Suzuki-Gun)

Lance Archer is one half of the Killer Elite Squad with Davey Boy Smith Jr. and together they captured the IWGP Tag Team Titles three times. Honestly, he's not great. Or at least, the KES is not a great tag, I don't know. He hasn't been around for a while, and he's probably here to give points to the other competitors.

Will Ospreay (CHAOS)

Will Ospreay is not only one of the best juniors in the world, but probably also one of the greatest wrestlers. Currently the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Ospreay is making a huge statement by entering the tournament, representing the whole division (which, unlike WWE's Cruiserweights, is very consistent). Will has great momentum right now: he has just won the title from Dragon Lee, after winning the Best Of Super Juniors (basically, the Juniors edition of the Climax), overcoming then-undefeated Shingo Takagi in the finals. Ospreay probably won't make it to the finals, but he's going to be a true highlight reel with his performances against the likes of Okada, Ibushi, Tanahashi, KENTA and Sabre.

KENTA

Before becoming WWE's Hideo Itami, KENTA was a top name in Japan and NOAH's biggest star after Mitsuharu Misawa's unfortunate death incident. His stint in the west was tainted by many injuries that kept him on the shelf for months. KENTA made his big return to Japan, debuting for NJPW during the Dominion event. He was introduced by Katsuyori Shibata, an injured performer that basically made KENTA his representative in the tournament. We yet have to see how well KENTA can perform after his hiatus, but there's faith in him. Every match in the block is something new for him, and this raises the interests.

B Block

Tetsuya Naito (LIJ)

Tetsuya Naito is the leader of the rebellious Los Ingobernables. Naito was originally pushed as a simple babyface, just a young man who enjoyed wrestling. But the crowd rejected him with silence even when he won his first G1 Climax trophy in 2013. His challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship failed against Okada, and wasn't even the main event at the Tokyo Dome: the Intercontinental Championship bout between Tanahashi and Nakamura was. So in 2015, Naito left for a couple of months and went to CMLL. In Mexico, he teamed with La Sombra (Andrade) and joined the Los Ingobernables original core faction. When he returned to Japan, he did it with a new, heel persona. He rejected the fans, his rivals, the company, and even the titles. He won the Intercontinental Title just to destroy the belt over and over again, considering it his curse. But this new tranquilo attitude generated an outstanding response from the crowd, making him a fan favourite. He founded his own Ingobernables, and won the World Heavyweight Title and another Climax in 2017. Slowly learning to respect it, right now he again holds the Intercontinental Title. Naito claims he wants to become a double champion, and he's another favourite for this year's Climax.

Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)

The "Stone Pitbull" Tomohiro Ishii is usually one of the most impressing talents for a novice spectator, due to his hard-hitting strong style. With Shibata gone, Ishii has been for a while the flag of strong style in New Japan. For the ones not familiar with strong style, it's a wrestling style based on heavy striking and pain endurance. Ishii is often in the NEVER Openweight Title scene, which is usually associated with the style mentioned above in New Japan. He currently has the belt, which he just won from Taichi at Dominion. Their feud seems to be still kicking and their match was very good, so this is something to look forward for the Stone Pitbull.

Juice Robinson

If you were around during the Adrian Neville NXT Title reign, you might remember CJ Parker. Nothing more than a jobber, Parker terminated his NXT contract and flew to Japan, starting his new training at the New Japan Dojo. Juice Robinson is the result: a lovable, flamboyant underdog that greatly improved his in-ring skills. He recently lost the IWGP United States Heavyweight Title to Jon Moxley, a loss that seems to have greatly changed his ways. Their rematch will be something interesting to watch. Due to his underdog nature, Juice typically gets at least one big W during the Climax, for example against Kenny Omega a couple of years ago.

Toru Yano (CHAOS)

Truly the master of CHAOS, Yano To-Ru is the comedy reel of the G1 Climax. Yano is a sneaky, quirky athlete that always finds a way to evade the rules. He's not always funny, but when he is, it's really good. If you don't believe me, search for his G1 Climax bout with Kenny Omega from 2017 or the video of him singing Okada's theme song, and remember to buy a CHAOS DVD. Yano usually gets to do a big upset. Personally, I'm really curious about possible interactions with Jon Moxley.

Hirooki Goto (CHAOS)

Goto is an uppercarder that can pull out good matches from most of the other performers but hardly feels remarkable by himself. It's weird because Hirooki's presentation is really captivating, with his ninja aesthetics and theme song. He recently lost a feud to Jay White, which served the Bullet Club leader to get back on the higher spots on the card. Don't underestimate him though, he can get some big wins: he won the Climax on 2008 and reached the finals in 2016.

Jay White (BC)

Jay White has been a full-time New Japan wrestler only for two years now, but right now he's probably the top heel around here. Jay is a sly, evil individual. In his first year in NJPW, he joined CHAOS just to attack World Champion Kazuchika Okada from the inside. He allied himself with Gedo and then became the leader of the Bullet Club. Once on top, Jay defeated The Rainmaker at Wrestle Kingdom this January and then won the IWGP World Heavyweight Title from Tanahashi one month later. He dropped the belt in April to a more mature Okada, but never gave up on staying in the title picture, quickly winning a feud against Goto and then giving a harsh welcome back to Tanahashi by beating him once again. His wrestling style is very peculiar, very counter-based. He can pull out some great matches, so keep an eye on him, and don't count him out of the finals until it's mathematically impossible for him to reach them.

Jeff Cobb

One of the most recent signees for NJPW, Jeff Cobb already has a NEVER Openweight title reign on his back. He won the title from Will Ospreay in April, then dropped it to Taichi in May. The former Matanza Cueto is an athletic freak capable of doing amazing things in the ring but has yet to prove himself in the east.

Shingo Takagi (LIJ)

"The Dragon" Shingo Takagi is someone you should absolutely keep an eye on. He won his block in the Best Of Super Junior and went on to the finals completely undefeated in singles competition. The finals against Ospreay marked his first loss, but the tournament made Shingo look like a star. He immediately jumped to the heavyweights, beating veteran wrestler Satoshi Kojima and asking for a place in the Climax. It's hard to describe Shingo's style, he's really good at pretty much everything about this pro-wrestling thing. Just look for yourself, and watch out for the clash with his boss Naito.

Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)

Freshly pushed Taichi Ishikari is your friendly annoying heel by the books. From his pretentious entrance where he lip-syncs his theme song to his in-ring manners and backstage promos, he's just a huge prick. He's not the most skilled individual between the ropes, but can occasionally put out a good performance. He recently lost the NEVER Openweight Title to Ishii, and he might get some big wins over fan favorites. Just because, you know, he's annoying.

Jon Moxley

I don't really need to introduce you to this gentleman, do I? Moxley is the hottest thing in pro-wrestling right now, after leaving WWE to pursue his own creative goals. On his first night in NJPW, Mox won the United States Title from Robinson. In the only other bout he has disputed in the east, he defeated young lion (or rookie, if you will) Shota Umino. In both these occasions, Moxley has been the vicious, violent himself on the ring as you would expect, but never forgot to put over his foes. He seems to have his manners and his personal moral code, so it's hard to tell if he's heel or face at this state. Outside from the Robinson rematch, every matching is fresh for him. The question is: is he capable of keeping up the pace? We'll find out soon.

That's really it.

If you're not hyped about the Climax by now, I don't know what to tell you. In the current wrestling scene, It's hard to find a concept that clashes so many characters and stories in such a coherent way like the G1 Climax does. If you don't have the time or the stamina to watch every match, you really don't have to: lists of must-see matches will start to pop-up as soon as the tournament starts. Another interesting way to follow the Climax could be to pick your favorite wrestler and just follow his journey through the summer. Just, be sure to don't miss out on the amazing wrestling that will eventually occur. Because it will occur, and everything should see it.

Now, I hope this post served its purpose, and I hope my english has not been too cringy. I tried my best, and I hope you enjoyed reading.