G1 Climax Game: Who You Got?

I always remember getting excited for when the summer rolled around, specifically June into July. School was out until September, the weather would be beach ready and professional wrestling was gearing up for its “Biggest Party of the Summer.”

However, over time you lose faith in that one product of your childhood and look for something to replace it. For me, that is New Japan Pro Wrestling. I started watching last year in an attempt for something new and became immediately engaged with the summer shows. It wasn’t just build up to one big pay-per-view; it was multiple shows that built to a big finale, setting up for the promotion’s biggest show of the year on January 4: Wrestle Kingdom. This chain of events is the annual tournament known as the G1 Climax and I am so ready for my summer to begin in early July.

The tournament is a month long (yes, one whole month) with 20 wrestlers competing against each other to score points with the ultimate winner securing a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom. Here is how this tournament works:

The 20 wrestlers in the tournament will divided into two separate blocks with 10 on each side: A-Block and B-Block.
During the tournament, each wrestler will be required to face each person in their block at least once in one on one competition. The winner of that match scores 2 points regardless of the decision being by pinfall, submission, count-out or disqualification. The loser of the match scores 0 points. Each match is contested with a 30-minute time limit and in the event of a draw, each wrestler is awarded 1 point.
After all wrestlers have faced the other nine wrestlers in their block, the points are tallied and the wrestler with the most points wins the block. In the event of a tie, whoever won the match between the tying parties is awarded the victory.
The finals of the tournament feature the winners from both blocks facing each other in one match – no time limit, winner takes all. The points scored previous to this match don’t matter. One fall, one winner.

Simple right?

When you’re me, you think of way to have some fun with it all. When you are also writing content with an amazing group of guys (and girl) at The Wrestling Estate, you think of some ways to incorporate everyone into your plans.

Recently, I asked if anyone was interested in making predictions for the G1 Climax. Not just predictions on who wins each block or who wins the whole tournament, but I wanted to see everyone make predictions for each individual wrestler’s points and then tell who will win each block, as well as the winner of the tournament based off of the final match.

I proposed the idea that each person picks the points for the wrestlers and when the G1 was drawing to its end, I would compare their predictions to their actual points scored. For example, if I predicted Okada scores 14 points and he only scores 6, then my differential would be an 8. I would do this for each wrestler, and also award a deduction of points for accurately predicting each block winner and overall tournament winner before tallying things up.

The lower the score, the better your predictions were. Let’s play golf because the lowest to par is going to win all the bragging rights.

After feedback from the members of the staff who were interested, I sent out a table similar to how NJPW does its version on TV. Everyone has made their selections and everyone has their picks.

Stay tuned for more content involving this game and let us know who you think has the best chance to win.