An excellent, yet long and gruelling, G1 Climax tournament has come to an end as New Japan Pro Wrestling begins their slow build to Wrestle Kingdom 13 in the Tokyo Dome. The Destruction tour is up next in September with Fighting Spirit Unleashed taking place in Long Beach, USA at the end of the month. King of Pro Wrestling takes place in October, followed by Power Struggle in November before World Tag League gives us a cool down before Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th 2019.

Main eventing Wrestle Kingdom will be A-Block winner Hiroshi Tanahashi who defeated B-Block winner Kota Ibushi to become the champion of the G1 Climax 28 to earn his place at NJPW’s biggest show of the year. The match was excellent, brutal and an emotional encounter that I highly recommend watching between two men with great respect for one another. Ibushi was fighting for another match with Kenny Omega, – the man Ibushi defeated to win his spot in the final – inside the Tokyo Dome for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, while Tanahashi was fighting to prove to NJPW fans that he is still The Ace and that he still has what it takes to carry the company on his back.

As Tanahashi was only defeated by one man during the entire tournament, during the fall season leading up to Wrestle Kingdom he will defend his contract against the despicable ‘Switchblade‘ Jay White, who won their match through heinous actions. If Tanahashi is able to overcome the threat of Switchblade, then he will be walking into the main event of the Tokyo Dome as the challenger for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The road of the current champion, Kenny Omega, to Wrestle Kingdom is not confirmed yet either however, as he also has to face, and defend, against some, or all of the three men who defeated him during the G1.

One match that was confirmed on the final day of the tournament is Omega’s defence against Tomohiro Ishii, who handed Omega his first defeat in an absolute classic and one of the best matches of the year that, like the final, I highly recommend you go out of your way to check out .

If Omega is to retain against Ishii, it’s yet to be confirmed whether he’ll be challenged by the other men who picked up wins over him: his Golden Lovers teammate Ibushi, and Toru Yano, who shockingly defeated the IWGP Heavyweight Champion with the assist from the Bullet Club OG – Firing Squad: Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Bad Luck Fale who were doing all they could to ruin Omega’s tournament and taint this year’s G1 by interfering in a plethora of other A-Block and B-Block matches.

As A-Block had no champions going into the tournament, the main story from that block leading up to Wrestle Kingdom 13 will be that of Kazuchika Okada’s path to the biggest show of the year. Having had his two-year IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign ended by Omega at Dominion and now parting ways with his long time manager, Gedo after his failure to defeat Tanahashi on the final day and get to the final, for the first time in four years Okada will not be in the main event of the Tokyo Dome. At present there are two possible feuds he will be involved in over the next five months: against his CHAOS ‘teammate’ Jay White, who beat Okada on the opening day of the G1 and has since professed himself as the new leader of CHAOS, or against current IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho, who defeated Tetsuya Naito at Dominion and has since been conspicuous in his absence from the company. That being said, if the events following the match against Naito are anything to go by, before a possible match against Okada, Jericho will be up against Naito’s Los Ingobernables De Japon teammate EVIL in what should be a solid match.

As for Naito himself, at the moment it’s looking likely over the next few months he’ll be embroiled in another rivalry with Suzuki-gun and, in particular, Zack Sabre Jr, who cost Naito his chance of being in the G1 final and retaining the G1 trophy he won last year. It’s also possible that Naito or ZSJ could become the IWGP United States, or NEVER Openweight Champion as they both picked up victories over the current holders of those respective championships in B-Block, Juice Robinson and Hirooki Goto. Juice and Goto didn’t have the best of tournaments, finishing with eight points each.

The US Champion struggled greatly due to a broken hand, and ended up with losses to the above-mentioned Naito and ZSJ, as well as tournament MVP Tomohiro Ishii, who also defeated Goto as well as Omega, Tama Tonga and Kota Ibushi. The next defence for Juice is likely to be against Cody, who challenged him after a tag team victory during the G1 final event. Goto’s losses were also to these names, with the exception of Tama, but was bettered by Juice in their match against each other.

The road to Wrestle Kingdom is long and will most certainly feature some unexpected twists. What is speculated now may end up being a distant memory by January 4th. Regardless, it’s going to be enjoyable seeing how it all unfolds.

G1 Climax recommended viewing:

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 1

Kazuchika Okada vs ‘Switchblade‘ Jay White – Night 1

Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito – Night 2

Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr – Night 2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs ‘Switchblade‘ Jay White – Night 3

Togi Makabe vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 3

Hirooki Goto vs Kenny Omega – Night 4

Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito – Night 4

Kazuchika Okada vs Hangman Page – Night 5

SANADA vs Zack Sabre Jr – Night 6

Toru Yano vs Kota Ibushi – Night 6

Hirooki Goto vs Tomohiro Ishii – Night 6

‘Switchblade‘ Jay White vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 7

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Hangman Page – Night 7

Juice Robinson vs Kenny Omega – Night 8

Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Jr – Night 8

SANADA vs Kota Ibushi – Night 8

Michael Elgin vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 9

Hirooki Goto vs Tetsuya Naito – Night 10

Tomohiro Ishii vs Kota Ibushi – Night 10

Kenny Omega vs SANADA – Night 10

Michael Elgin vs Kazuchika Okada – Night 11

‘Switchblade‘ Jay White vs Hangman Page – Night 11

EVIL vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 11

SANADA vs Juice Robinson – Night 12

Hirooki Goto vs Kota Ibushi – Night 12

Kenny Omega vs Zack Sabre Jr – Night 12

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs EVIL – Night 13

Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 13

Juice Robinson vs Zack Sabre Jr – Night 14

Tomohiro Ishii vs Kenny Omega – Night 14

Toru Yano vs SANADA – Night 14

Tetsuya Naito vs Kota Ibushi – Night 14

Hangman Page vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 15

Juice Robinson vs Tomohiro Ishii – Night 16

Hirooki Goto vs Zack Sabre Jr – Night 16

Kota Ibushi vs Tama Tonga – Night 16

Toru Yano vs Kenny Omega – Night 16

Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA – Night 16

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada – Night 17

‘Switchblade‘ Jay White vs EVIL – Night 17

Bad Luck Fale vs Minoru Suzuki – Night 17

Tomohiro Ishii vs SANADA – Night 18

Toru Yano vs Tama Tonga – Night 18

Tetsuya Naito vs Zack Sabre Jr – Night 18

Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi – Night 18

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi – Night 19