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Following July 7th G1 Special in San Francisco, the G1 Climax itself commences a week later, on July 14th starting with the A Block comprising of former champions, Bad Luck Fale, Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Minoru Suzuki, Michael Elgin and EVIL, 2 debutantes in the G1 Climax in the form of current IWGP US Champion Jay White and Bullet Clubs Hangman Page, and CHAOS member YOSHI-HASHI who's had title opportunities but never succeeded.
The A-Block this year is pretty strong, and with the round robin format, it is everyone versus everyone in the block, so over the 3 weeks the G1 takes place, the wrestlers will wrestle a total of 9 singles matches.
The wrestlers taking part will also wrestle in a multitude of tag team matches as well, usually, 6-man tag matches, teaming with faction members. However, with no tag matches having been officially announced as of yet, we are going to taking a look at all the single's matches the G1 participants are having on Day 1.
Each G1 Climax match has a total time limit of 30 minutes, so each match is quite easy to watch, and with NJPW implementing a website for the G1, the G1 this year is quite easy to keep up with in terms of points, winners and momentum leading into the tour.
Match 1 - Minoru Suzuki vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
The first day of the G1 Climax always starts off with 2-3 big matches. Last year in the G1 Climax 27 tournament it was Zack Sabre Jr vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito, so this year is no different.
The rivalry between the 'Ace of New Japan' and the leader of Suzuki-Gun has been well documented over the years and this year at January 5th New Year's Dash, the rivalry was reignited, this time for the IWGP Intercontinental Title. Suzuki beat Tanahashi at the New Beginning show to claim the Intercontinental title for the first time, but in the process, he viciously destroyed Tanahashi's knee.
With Suzuki just turning 50 and Tanahashi being 41, foreign fans might be a bit skeptical, but I implore you to go and view their match from October 8th's King Of Pro Wrestling in 2012, as Dave Meltzer gave it his rating of 5 stars and it truly is a great match. It may have been 6 years ago, but with Suzuki getting better with age, and Tanahashi constantly wanting to prove that he's still capable, this will be a clash of legends, which I can see Tanahashi winning.
Match 2 - Togi Makabe vs YOSHI-HASHI
This match it going to be fairly average. Makabe is filling in the legends role as is the case with the G1 as you need a legend involved, last year it was Yuji Nagata in his final G1 Climax.
With YOSHI-HASHI being a young up and comer I can see him winning this match after around 10 minutes, but I wouldn't count Makabe out for a moment. He may be more of a tag team specialist as of late, teaming with Toa Henare, Taguchi Japan and other legends.
With his longtime tag partner Tomoaki Honma's recent return on June 23rd at Kizuna Road, he will shift back to being a tag team guy, but he recently had a match with Minoru Suzuki for the Intercontinental Title at NJPW 46th Anniversary and he proved he's more than capable to have a great match and be a hard-hitting brawler.
Match 3 - Michael Elgin Vs EVIL
Elgin Vs EVIL took place in G1 Climax 27, and it was a decent match. With Elgin being solid in the ring and last year, collecting 8 points and wins over Minoru Suzuki, Kenny Omega, Satoshi Kojima and his opponent on day 1, EVIL, Michael Elgin is looking to gain some key wins so that he can enter the main event.
EVIL had a lot of momentum heading into 2018 and at the start. In G1 Climax 27 he claimed 12 points with wins over Tama Tonga, Toru Yano, Minoru Suzuki, Juice Robinson, Satoshi Kojima and the then current IWGP Heavyweight champion, Kazuchika Okada, with EVIL giving Okada his first loss in over a year.
Later on in the year, he then challenged Okada at King of Pro Wrestling for the title and lost but in a good attempt. He then teamed with LIJ stablemate SANADA and won the 2017 World Tag League and the IWGP Tag Team Championships at Wrestle Kingdom 12, but was sidelined in February with an injured left orbital bone. He returned in April but had a lost a considerable amount of strength from where he was prior.
I can see EVIL winning this bout, to gain revenge on Elgin but to also help EVIL get back to where he was a year ago.
Match 4 - Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White
Okada and Jay White are in the same faction, so this match is faction warfare. With Jay White currently holding the IWGP US Title, and now being the only champion in CHAOS, due to Okada losing the IWGP Heavyweight and Ishii most recently losing the RPW British Heavyweight, he has the edge heading into the G1 if he can retain over Juice at July 7 G1 Special in San Francisco.
When Jay White first joined CHAOS, he questioned why can't faction members challenge other members for titles, and with this opportunity, Okada could challenge Jay if he wins. With Jay also stating that he's only using CHAOS for now and vows to take over, it's an interesting prospect if he wins the bout.
This match is easily the most interesting of day 1 with Jay's character of 'Switchblade' being a mystery and the 'Rain-maker' slowly trying to claw his way to the gold Kenny Omega now holds.
Match 5 - Hangman Page vs Bad Luck Fale
The final match of the first day is another taste of faction warfare, and could possibly add on to the current ongoing Bullet Club civil war storyline.
With Fale being an original, founding member, who's now been training, losing a considerable amount of weight making him more agile, and Hangman being apart of the 'Being The Elite' crew aligning himself with Marty Scurll, Cody and the Young Bucks, tensions could be high here.
With this scenario, I believe Hangman might pull the upset in his first G1 Climax and his athleticism and speed might catch Fale by surprise.
What are your thoughts on Day 1 of the G1? Are you looking forward to it? Comment below and share your thoughts.
